this is bbc news, with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. there are now more than a million confirmed cases of coronavirus around the world. 50,000 people have died. ten million americans have lost theirjobs in two weeks, as the economy shuts down to slow the spread of coronavirus. in the spread of coronavirus. recent weeks, as the vir spread in recent weeks, as the virus has spread and economic hardship has followed, we've seen americans unite with incredible selflessness and compassion. after days of criticism, the uk government announces plans to significantly increase coronavirus testing.

clapping and applause and applause rings out from homes across the nation to show the immense gratitude to nhs workers, britain's carers and all those helping to keep the country going. hello and welcome to audiences in the uk and around the world. we're covering all the latest coronavirus developments here in britain and globally. first: the coronavirus pandemic has infected one million people around the world, and the us is the epicentre of the outbreak, with more than 235,000 cases. the virus is striking at the heart of the us economy. a record 6.6 million americans filed for unemployment benefits in the last week. the scale of the economic disaster is stunning, as the us shuts down to contain the virus. here's our north america

editor, jon sopel. it's a perfect spring day in washington, and this is one of the cities busiest shopping streets, except it's not. the stores are closed, the streets empty, nobody is buying and this is what that looks like in graph form. years of unemployment going up a couple of hundred thousand here and there, but 10 millionjobs have gone in the last two weeks. these workers in california are among the many who have suddenly found themselves out of a job, victims of coronavirus. we still have to pay rent, we still have to pay bills, that's a lot of stuff that we still have to pay and with nojob, what will we do? the us is closed for business, the old saying goes that when america sneezes the rest of the world catches cold, maybe not the right phrase to use during a pandemic but this will hit

the global economy, but the president is confident the rebound will be swift. nobody‘s ever see anything like this. the entire world has shot down. you go from having the most powerful economy in the world to everything being shut down. it's very sad but we will get it going and be stronger than ever. that is tomorrow's battle. the fight against covid—i9 is the immediate concern and in new york, the governor says they will run out of ventilators soon. right now we have a burn rate that would suggest we have about six days in the stockpile, but we have extraordinary measures in place that can make a difference if we run into a real ventilator shortage. america is adjusting to a new reality — queueing forfood, unemployment soaring — the most powerful country in the world somewhat powerless in the face of this invisible enemy. jon sopel, bbc news, washington.

president donald trump has been speaking in the last few minutes in his daily news briefing. he promised more federal aid to new york state. we've got formerly only toa95 york state. we've got formerly only to a 95 respirator ‘s, 460,000 face shields, 1.4 million gloves and 4400 ventilators just to the city and to the state of new york. some of them now are being sent with both... i spoke with governor cuomo and bill de blasio a while ago and all are being sent to the city. the government stands with new york at this time of need, it's definitely a hotspot but there are other hotspots also. before the coronavirus crisis, the jobs figures were looking pretty goodin jobs figures were looking pretty good in the united states for months

but now we've got these extraordinary job but now we've got these extraordinaryjob losses? you think about a few months ago, we had unemployment here of under 4%. historically low levels of unemployment here in the states at that time. the growth wasn't as strong as they hope about the economy was growing quarter on quarter, and here we are, because of the virus, asjohn was saying, two weeks, 10 million people out of work, claiming unemployment insurance. extraordinary times. its pretty arguable and probably fair to argue this is not about the underlying economy, it's about an extraordinary once in a century event. the question is will the underlying economy be able to return as quickly as it's disappeared because of the damage that's been done to those businesses while they are not operating properly? that's why we've heard today in the

briefing a very strong message from donald trump himself and his treasury secretary that the loans to those small businesses, people employing less than 500 people at $350 billion in the rescue package, those will be available from tomorrow, and also their promising these cash payments to individuals will at least start going out, as they put it, in the next couple of weeks or so. $1200 for individuals and $1000 for each child they have too. and he also talked about ramping up ventilator production? that's right, and they've had problems with the stockpile. they have a federal stockpile. it looks like from the reports that they haven't been maintained properly, a lot of them aren't working properly, so they've had to try to find people to try to fix them. there's a firm

in california that had nothing to do with medical equipment or ventilators or anything, it was an engineering company that has retooled and is starting to supply something like 1000 refurbished ventilators a week to the state of california, so they'll be looking to people like that. still the question is- people like that. still the question is — will the spike in infections, the spike in serious illness, spike in critical illness be too sharp in places like new york, maybe detroit, new places like new york, maybe detroit, n ew 0 rlea ns places like new york, maybe detroit, new orleans as well, will it be too sharp to outpace any kind of provisions federal and state governments can provide? gary, for the moment, gary 0'donoghue in washington. the uk government has announced plans to significantly increase coronavirus testing in the uk. the health secretary, who has just returned from self—isolation after contracting the virus, said he hoped that 100,000 tests could be carried out every day in england by the end of the month. after days of intense criticism, he admitted there had been big challenges with testing

from the beginning. here's our political correspondent, laura kuennsberg. will there be enough? not a pleasant process, but a vital one. this is horrible, and i can only apologise for it. because health workers are desperate to know if they have the virus, so they can be, if they can, where they belong, treating patients on the front line. ijust can't see that this is right. we're both keen to work, both desperate to work, and as with most gps, we would work through a minor illness. we don't take time off lightly. after days of accusations of missing targets and mishandling, the health secretary, just back at work after the virus himself, is trying to show the government is getting a grip. i understand why nhs staff want tests, so they can get back to the front line, of course i do. but i took the decision that the first priority has to be

the patients for whom the result of a test could be the difference in treatment that is the difference between life and death. privately, the government admits they have been too slow, so now, with help from business and a huge new push, they are setting a vast new target. i am now setting the goal of 100,000 tests per day by the end of this month. that is the goal, and i'm determined that we will get there. can you give us a firm date by when any nhs staff that need a test will get a test? because in a fast—moving crisis like this, the end of the month is still a long time away. i will, over the coming weeks, seek to ensure that every nhs front line staff member who needs a test gets one. would you put a date on that? would you give it a deadline? because people are very worried about this right now. well, they are, and i'm glad that we are able to speed it up.

it will absolutely be before the end of the month. but we are — and i'm saying, over the coming weeks. remember, there are two kinds of test, one to show if you've had the virus after recovering, but the one these nhs staff are queueing up for at a superstore car park turned testing drive—through, records if you have the virus right now. if the drivers of these cars are negative, they could get back onto the desperately stretched wards as doctors and nurses. that's why it is so urgent now. it is so frustrating. we should be the first so that we can look after our patients. i'm very sad. it is quite efficient and it allows us to go back to work as soon as we could, really, so that is the best thing we could possibly do for nhs staff, to be honest. testing has become the most acute political problem in this crisis, with senior labour mp dawn butler, who lost her uncle

to the disease, in grief and anger, insisting the government needs to test everyone who works in hospitals without delay. we are going to need a strategy for community—based testing for really the majority of the population over time, because that is the route out of lockdown. but a former cabinet secretary, no stranger to managing crises, suggests there might be deeper roots to the problem. does it seem to you, though, that the government was too slow? i think when we look back on it, and i think all of us should take a share of the blame here, pandemics, even in my time, was top of the risk register. did we do enough to build spare capacity? did we do enough to think that through and actually get materials in hand? have enough ventilators, have enough protective equipment, probably not. but let's not worry too much about the mistakes of the past. even if testing centres become a familiar sight, with no cure, no government can make coronavirus go away. but the actions they take can make a difference to how it affects us all.

laura kuenssberg, bbc news. let's get some of the day's other developments. president putin has extended until the end of april the russians time off work because of the coronavirus pandemic. mr putin acknowledged the outbreak still hadn't reached its peak, but he didn't announce any new measures such as the lockdowns. russia has its highest number of deaths caused by covid—19. as lockdown measures continue in egypt, thousands of people there have taken to twitter to call for palaces belonging to the country's president to be turned into quarantine centres. it follows social media outrage after expats locked down at a 5—star hotel were told they would have to foot the bill themselves. global oil prices have surged after president trump said he expected saudi arabia and russia to end a feud that has driven the price of crude to 18—year lows. mr trump said he thought the two countries would agree to cut supply by at least ten million barrels.

western europe remains one of the hardest—hit regions in this crisis, with death tolls mounting at alarming rates. 950 people died in a single day in spain — that's the highest daily total anywhere in the world so far. the number of people dying in france and italy is also rising by the day. 0ur europe correspondent, mark lowen, has this report, which starts with exclusive footage from inside a spanish hospital. hoping for a sign of life. when the disease hits, it decimates. fighting it demands precision and speed to cope with these numbers. this is one of spain's biggest hospitals, vall d'hebron in catalonia. but it could be anywhere else that the virus has struck, for this is its hallmark — to plunder a country, overwhelming its hospitals. the doctor shows just one of the patients here needing assisted ventilation.

there are 200 in this intensive care unit. catalonia, spain's wealthiest region, is at its limit. "look how vulnerable we are when it hits, a complex living soul stripped bare," lying face down to help clear the lungs — a basic technique to battle a stronger killer. spain, as elsewhere, is short of supplies for its medics, who make up around 15% of all cases. they try to prepare for the front line, but nurses, likejoanna, say it's taking its toll. emotionally it's also hard, because you're worried for yourself, your own safety, you worry about your patient, your own families. lots of people have relatives or friends who are at home unwell, so it's quite stressful. after a record daily rise in deaths, spain says it's now flattening the curve and the infection rate

is reducing, but it won't be quick. nor will it in france, where deaths there have now jumped to more than 4,000. a specialist plane was configured to transfer the sickest to germany for treatment. european states using every tool at their disposal. germany, with far fewer deaths of its own, also took in patients from italy. the critically ill loaded into air ambulances. a virus that knows no borders is taking a worldwide effort to confront it. mark lowen, bbc news, rome. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: applause rings out from homes across the uk in support of the health service. the accident that happened here was of the sort that can, at worst, produce a meltdown. in this case, the precautions

worked, but they didn't work quite well enough to prevent some old fears about the safety features of these stations from resurfacing. the republic of ireland has become the first country in the world to ban smoking in the workplace. from today, anyone lighting up in offices, businesses, pubs and restaurants will face a heavy fine. the president was on his way out of the washington hilton hotel, where he had been addressing a trade union conference. the small crowd outside included his assailant. it has become a symbol of paris. 100 years ago, many parisians wished it had never been built. the eiffel tower's birthday is being marked by a re—enactment of the first ascent by gustave eiffel. this is bbc news.

the latest headlines: the number of people around the world who have been diagnosed with coronavirus has passed 1 million. over 50,000 of them have died. more than 10 million american workers have lost theirjobs in the last two weeks alone, as the economy shuts down to slow the spread of coronavirus. the latest figures suggest that more than a million people around the world have tested positive for coronavirus. more than 50,000 have died, over half of them in europe. but the united states, where there are more than 220,000 confirmed cases and more than 5,000 deaths, has now become the epicentre of the pandemic. here is our global health correspondent tulip mazumdar. a milestone that nobody wanted to reach. it is believe the outbreak started here, at a wholesale seafood

market in wuhan, in china, at the end of last year. by early january, the country confirmed it had identified a new coronavirus, and cases there started to soar. it didn't take long for covid—19, it was late —— as it was later named, to then spread all around the world. it took more than two months from the first reported case in china for the first reported case in china for the number of infections to reach 100,000. then, just two weeks later, cases double to 200,000. now, in the last week alone, the number of infections have jumped from 500,000 last friday to more than 1 million now. so a million is obviously a huge number, and presents an important milestone. but i think what we need to remember is that these are the numbers of diagnosed cases, and in fact, the unknown, the amount of people who haven't had a test to know that they are infected, is obviously likely to be much greater than that. so my worry, really, is what this means globally,

and we are keeping an eye on many other countries around the world, especially for example africa, where some of the case numbers are really beginning to creep up. we have seen what happens when this virus hits countries with relatively strong health systems. in europe and the us, medics have been overwhelmed, there are grave concerns about what will happen in countries with far wea ker will happen in countries with far weaker healthcare facilities. south africa currently has the largest outbreak on the continent, with more than 1400 known cases. smaller outbreaks are also under way in countries including burkina faso, cameroon and senegal. elsewhere, there is some very early, very cautious optimism. china says it has largely stopped the spread of the disease there, with parts of wuhan now reopening. south korea has also seen cases now reopening. south korea has also seen cases fall in the last couple of weeks. but it is still extremely

unclear how this pandemic will play out, as cases globally continue to rise. there are two types of tests for this virus. one is the swab test, which tells you if you currently have the virus or not. the other which is being developed is an antibody test, which will be able to tell you whether or not you actually had coronavirus. many people may get it without ever knowing. a number of different companies and research institutes are working on this antibody test, as our medical correspondent fergus walsh explains. this is what a home antibody test looks like. this one is for hiv, and can be bought online. it is this kind of highly accurate fingerprick blood test which is needed for coronavirus. an antibody test would tell you if you've previously been infected with coronavirus, and have built up some immunity which might protect you in future.

the british company behind the hiv test says it hopes to have a similar one for coronavirus ready within weeks. i think it would make an incredible difference. the question everyone's asking themselves is, have i had it? you know, i had a cold injanuary and i didn't feel well. so for us, antibody detection is the key, really, to accelerating how we handle this. the government agrees. it has already bought 3.5 million antibody tests, but these are still being evaluated to check they're accurate. we're currently working with nine companies who've offered these tests, and evaluating their effectiveness. these antibody tests, blood tests, offer the hope that people who think