this is bbc news, with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. a clear warning for the british public to stay indoors this weekend yorkshire as well. bye—bye. you will be doing your part. in the first broadcast on the opry, the queen will admits that meeting the target to test 100,000 people a day for coronavirus in the uk by the end of this month is a huge undertaking.

the government says they need urgent help from outside. spain overtakes italy as of the european country with the most confirmed coronavirus cases. 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 uk's health secretary has issued a stark warning that more people will die if the public doesn't adhere to government measures to prevent the spread of the virus. people in the uk have been urged to stay at home this weekend over fears that a warm and sunny weather forecast could tempt people to go outside. almost 700 more people have died in the uk after becoming infected with covid—19.

the uk's newest and largest hospital facility is preparing to open its doors to take in coronavirus patients needing intensive care treatment. the nightingale hospital based at the excel exhibition centre in london was constructed injust nine days. new york, the us state worst hit by the coronavirus, has suffered its deadliest day yet. the state's governor, andrew cuomo, said the number of victims had gone up by more than 5,000 to nearly 3,000. -- 500 to —— 500 to nearly 3000. spain has overtaken italy as the european country with the most coronavirus cases. the total number of confirmed coronavirus deaths in the country is now almost 11,000. we'll have much more on all that news from around the world. our first report tonight on the situation in the uk comes from hugh pym. amy o'rourke, one of two nurses to lose their lives after contracting

covid—19. tributes were paid today for their bravery, including at the downing street press conference, and there was this warning from the health secretary. we cannot relax our discipline now. if we do, people will die. so i end with the advice we all know. this advice is not a request, it is an instruction. stay at home, protect lives, and then you will be doing your part. earlier, there was an unusual official opening of the newest nhs hospital, the key players keeping their distance on fixed marks, at the moment marked by a royal video contribution. perhaps i could invite nightingale‘s head of nursing, on my behalf, to unveil the plaque to declare nhs nightingale hospital open. applause. prince charles was on the bow moral estate having recently come

out of self—isolation after contracting coronavirus. —— bell moral estate. in less than two weeks, huge empty exhibition halls have been transformed into special hospital wards were covid—19 patients. a joint effort involving army planners working alongside nhs staff. the hospital is ready for new patients. it had been thought the group would have arrived today. the nightingale will not be needed until next week. nhs england announced new locations for further temporary hospitals — one in bristol, won in harrogate to add to those in manchester and birmingham. nhs scotland has announced similar plans for the scc in glasgow, and in wales, the principality stadium in cardiff is to house patients. -- scc. getting things done is the message the government wants to get across, but matt hancock, meeting staff and training at the nightingale has

faced claims he hasn't done enough on testing for the virus. having set a target of 25,000 tests a day, which slipped to later this month, he has come up with a hugely increased figure of 100,000 by the end of april, including many more done by academic and industrial laboratories. where are the test going to come from, who is going to do them? it hasn't been explained and you haven't given any detail? i set out a five—point plan yesterday. the first stage is the expansion of the testing capacity within the nhs and within public health england, who are doing an amazing job. then, also the next stage is to bring in the private sector companies, the existing testing companies. one of the key aims of testing is to allow nhs staff who think they have symptoms to get back to work quickly. the scottish government says it is expanding testing facilities like this and moving slightly higher, proportionately than the rest of the uk.

this expansion of testing capacity means, amongst other things, we will be able to test more key workers with every day that passes. in addition to increasing capacity within nhs scotland, we are working with the uk government and other partners to further increase testing capacity beyond that. there was a virtual graduation ceremony for doctors at bristol university today. it happened early so they could move straight to the nhs front line where they will certainly be needed in the months ahead. hugh pym, bbc news. the english health secretary's warnings about relaxing lockdown coditions have been echoed by the world health organization. it's said ending lockdowns has to be done in the right way. we need a transit strategy — transition strategy that gets us back into more control of the virus. we need to get a ahead of the virus.

and if we are in control, we can protect our economies. but if we lurch from lockdown to poor control, then back to lock down and back to poor control, that is not what anybody needs right now. so the investment we need to make — the lockdowns have taken some time. they've taken some pressure out of the epidemic, we see that. this is precious time not only to strengthen the health care system, but precious time to put in place the public health architecture, the testing, the community education, and to build this response from the community up. the queen will address the uk and commonwealth this weekend about the coronavirus outbreak. her statement will be broadcast on sunday. earlier we heard from our royal correspondent, nicholas witchell, who says these broadcasts only happen at moments of national significance. there have only been a handful of them during the 68 years of the queen's rain. one things of the broadcast on the eve of the funeral of princess diana, or is the first

british troops went in to action on the first gulf war. this broadcast has been recorded, it will go out at 8pm sunday evening. it will embrace, i'm sure, the themes we've heard from the queen in the written statement that was issued on 19 march. she talked then about communities coming together to work as one. she said now more than that any time in our recent past, we all have a vitally important part to play as individuals. so personal responsibility, community, cohesion, national solidarity. and i'm quite sure that the queen will wish to express her own profound gratitude to the national health service, to others, to all the key workers for their heroic efforts to look after patients and keep the wheels of society turning. it will be a message at the start of the easter week from the head of state, the head of the nation, to reassure the country and to rally the nation's

resolved at a moment of particular difficulty. the issue of testing is one that the uk government has been heavily criticised over and it's now set itself a target of carrying out 100,000 tests a day by the end of the month. our science editor david shukman looks at the two different types of test and what they may tell us about the virus. the government is under relentless pressure over why more testing isn't happening. so, why does that matter in the struggle against coronavirus, and what are the different tests involved? the first kind of testing is the most urgent, because it's to try to find out who actually has the infection. this is done with a swab inside the mouth and throat to look for clues about the virus. this is really important for patients in hospital, because if they're infected, that will determine the course of their treatment. it's also vital for healthcare workers and many others, because if they've got mild symptoms that turn out to be negative, then they can go back to work. and longer—term, relaxing measures like social distancing

will all depend on working out who's got the infection and who hasn't. testing for the virus is now being scaled up, and scientists say that without it, we simply can't tackle the pandemic. it's like trying to fight with almost both hands tied behind your back. it means you're always responding a little bit after the effect. we're not really able to work out the extent, we're not able to plan as well as we could do, if we had more information. the second type of testing is to look for evidence that you've had the virus in the past. this involves a blood test — just a pinprick on the finger — to look for antibodies, a sign of your own response to infection. now, this should help answer the question about whether you have immunity — having had the virus and then recovered, and that would allow you to return to work. but how long would that immunity last? months? years? at this moment, no one can be sure.

the hope is that the public will eventually get tests to see who's had the virus. but government scientists want to check the technology first. well, it's been recognised from the outset that testing is critical, and a huge effort has gone in. these are complete tests, and the existing technology is difficult to scale up quickly. —— complex tests. everything now hinges on a research effort on a scale that wasn't expected. a race to catch up with a dangerous threat. david shukman, bbc news. let's speak now to professor paul hunter, the professor of medicine at the university of east anglia. good to have you with us, professor. two types of tests there, do we know what the mix will be within the 100,000 tests a day we are aiming to get to? what will take priority?”

don't know the proportion if and when we reach the 100,000. i think the priority at the moment is certainly the antigen test for the virus. because really, we've already said about people going to work, if they are negative and staying at home, if they're positive. it also if you go into hospital with a chest infection, there is a risk people assume you have covid—19, and if it isa assume you have covid—19, and if it is a bacterial pneumonia, you will not get your antibiotic. so we need to be able to make sure that we know which of our patients actually has the covid—19. and if they don't, then we can investigate what other causes, and possibly treatable causes, and possibly treatable causes might be causing their illness stop what you can understand why the government is focusing on these antibody tests, because we can all be released from lockdown to get out there and drive the economy again. but is there an antibody test

thatis again. but is there an antibody test that is working, that is fail proof? no test ever in medicine is fail proof. what we are hoping is there isa proof. what we are hoping is there is a test that will come along with sufficiently low false positives and false negatives that we can be confident most of the time in the results. and i think probably what is happening here is the tests that people have been trying out, they have shown to not be as reliable as they had originally hoped. and perhaps as the manufacturers suggested. so it is crucial that we get these right, because if we send out tests that actually give false results, as the minister himself said not so long ago, that would actually be worse than not doing any tests at all. so we do have to wait until the tests are working and have been shown to be reliable, and do what they are supposed to do. so

originally public health england was only using its own eight laboratories, just eight. that has been to expanded nhs labs, of which there are a0. so we have a8 labs in total. he wants to bring on universities and research institutes, commercial partners like boots and amazon. do you think it is possible, in fact would we even know if we could get to 100,000 tests by the end of the month? we don't know whether all those 100,000 tests will be antigen tests. it may well be that a lot of that 100,000, he could be talking about the antibody test, which will be done in people's homes. so until we know a little bit more about what actual mix of tests he's talking about, it is not possible to be definitive. i think it is possible that we can achieve those targets, but they are very ambitious targets. so it is very

difficult to predict whether or not we will achieve them. but one can only hope, really. you have an -- a lab at east anglia? they are laboratories in the university. most universities are shut down now, very few staff are allowed in. i've not been able to go into my office for a couple of weeks, i am staying at home. it will be difficult because if you are hoping to use university laboratories where the rest of the campus is closed, there's all sorts of security and other issues. then you have to get the swabs, the reagents, the staff in. it is not straightforward. definitely not straightforward. definitely not straightforward. these are tests that cannot just straightforward. these are tests that cannotjust be done by anybody, they do need people who are experts in the national health service, these tests are done by biomedical scientists who have several years training in laboratory work so they can actually work to produce results

that are reliable and consistent. and there is a worry when you are using people who are not normally working in a hospital environment to actually ensure that you maintain that degree of quality and consistency. very interesting. very good to talk to. my pleasure. meanwhile, in the us, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases has topped a quarter of a million, making it home to about a quarter of all confirmed cases across the planet. the state of new york has been particularly badly hit — today it suffered its deadliest single day, with 562 additional coronavirus fatalities. the total number of deaths across the state is now 2,935. that is nearly half of the entire deaths in the united states. new york's governor andrew cuomo has warned that that people will continue to die due to a lack of ventilators. and he called on other states to help out. help the place that has the crisis! this is that on a macro scale.

new york is in crisis — help new york. and then, pick up the camp and go to the next place as this rolls across the country. there's not a perfect timing. there will be two parts of the country that hit an apex at the same time. there will be three parts of the country that hit an apex at the same time. but i do not see any operational, practical alternative to dealing with this going forward. how the profile of governor cuomo has risen to the crisis. my colleague, katty kay, is in washington. when you look at the figures, a quarter of a million, when you look at the figures, a quarter ofa million, 6000 when you look at the figures, a quarter of a million, 6000 deaths, and half the deaths in new york state, you can see why he is so

concerned to. both the governor of new york and bill de blasio say they think new york is actually only a few days away from what they are calling d—day, the moment when they will have this huge influx of patients coming into the hospital system, a hospital system that is already feeling the strain. that is why cuomo is coming up with this idea. but the problem is that you are hitting up against the conflict between having states that have some power, and a federal government that has other powers, and the two are not always working in cooperation together. what andrew cuomo is talking about their might make sense in terms of limited resources being needed now, but they will be needed in detroit soon. let's have them in new york, then detroit, than texas, than wherever they are needed next. but ina than wherever they are needed next. but in a sense, that means the white house will take control that. governors are presumably jealously guarding their own kit. yes, i think

what you've got now is a moment in which we have to ask if we are all going to co—operate, or all the american states going to co—operate? are we going to co—operate between countries as well? because as cuomo is saying, we need more help, we need more respirators, we need the uss mercy, a 1000 bed ship that travelled to new york at the beginning of the week to take more than 20 patients as it did last night. but at the same time, we have the story breaking that the white house has asked a respirator manufacturer not to sell respirators to canada. is that ok? m3 does not like that idea, they say they could put lives at risk because then canada potentially retaliates against the us. how much cooperation both states have and how much cooperation our country is prepared to have when resources are limited, get the whole world is facing this pandemic was make i think we are seeing that play out in his

comments. meanwhile, the expert we see at the white house briefings every night who is becoming the most respected voice in this, doctor faucl he respected voice in this, doctor fauci, he says he cannot understand why there isn't a stay—at—home order across the whole country. several states are going their own way. as of yesterday, i counted them up, there were 12 states that were still going their own way. some other states have patchwork stay—at—home requests, not orders but stay at home requests. some of those states have exemptions for religious services which we know is where crowds might get together, so that is not particularly helpful. fauci has been a leading voice on a more national level, but it is not up to the white house. this is not something donald trump can do in the american system, he cannot say the whole country is on lockdown. the government has to do independently. one governorfrom government has to do independently. one governor from georgia yesterday said he would issue a stay guideline in his state because he onlyjust realised that you can spread the coronavirus if you are a symptom

attic. people have been speaking about that for a couple months now. but when you leave it to governors to make their decisions, sometimes they're political, sometimes they just don't know like brian kemp. you get this patchwork response, which is the weakness of the american system in responding to a crisis like this, whether it is resources 01’ like this, whether it is resources or state's response is to stay at home. you have not got a consistent approach which is a real problem. and it is the epicentre, so it must be taken seriously. thank you very much also spain now has more confirmed coronavirus cases than anywhere else in europe. the latest figures show the country has nearly 118,000 cases, overtaking italy. the total number of deaths in spain has now reached almost 11,000, with 932 people dying in the past 2a hours alone. spain's health ministry, however, says the rate at which people are becoming infected is continuing to stabilise. our europe correspondent gavin lee has been putting those figures in perspective for us.

it's the second highest figure released for any country in a single day, the death toll 932 people in the last 2a hours confirmed fatality of coronavirus, and the optimism we just heard from maria jose sierra, who is the country's emergency health director, the standing director — because the previous emergency health director has coronavirus, and they are still recoverin in isolation — that there is an 7% increase rate of spread, so 7,000 cases in the last 2a hours. go back a week or so, there was a 19% spread. so it's significant over the past week, but, just to put it into context, you said a second ago, spain overtaking italy for the first time, 117,000 total cases in spain. 115,000 in italy. we are going to get those figures for italy later tonight, as always, around 5pm in the evening. so that means that we are expecting

italy to go back above spain, but in terms of the comparison here, i think if you compare the last seven days, spain has had 67,000 new cases in a week. italy has had around 30,000 in that time. so spain has doubled the rate, and as well, we heard from the ministry of health, we also heard from the civil guard in spain to say that they have given out more than 5,200 findsein the past few days for people still not sticking to the strict confinement measures. things like walking fake pets they've set, trying to justify reasons for being out and about, pets that didn't exist. going to friends' houses for something to eat, and refusing to comply with the police as well. police in the capital paris says they will strictly enforce the french government's tough quarantine measures over the easter holidays. our correspondent, lucy williamson reports from paris. it is not only nations that thrive on liberty — epidemics, too. at stations across paris today, every journey began with a police check.

freedom of movement, a new national threat. do you have the piece of paper? of course. this person made it through. he is on his way home to brittany after two years abroad. but even the smallest mistake means being turned away. translation: i wrote the wrong date, not today's date, and they told me i need to go back home to prepare another form. i have to go to work but i can't. france carried out almost six million checks during the first fortnight of confinement, far more than neighbouring italy, and it has issued more than a00,000 fines. but questions over when the confinement will end our growing. france's tough approach to the confinement runs the risk of losing public support if it becomes too harsh or too long. the interior minister has advised sensitivity in applying the rules, and says the police operate differently in the countryside compared to the big cities, in the poorer suburbs,

compared to the towns. but the paris police chief was forced to apologise today after taking a very different tone. translation: the ones who are hospitalised today, the ones on life support now, are the ones that didn't respect the quarantine when it began. this is not a video game, it's real. there are dead people. with few life—support beds left in the paris region, patients are being sent across the country for care. this is now the worst—hit region of france, but is there a light at the end of the tunnel? if you asked me this question two days ago, i should say no, but there is a reduction in the patients coming to the emergency wards, and also a reduction in severe patients with signs of covid—19. he says there were no new admissions to intensive care in his hospital today — a first since the epidemic began.

plenty more to come, do stay with us. hello. a dose of spring warmth on the way, and there's every indication that the warm weather will last well into next week as well. so i think the weekend is going to be gradually warming up. the warmest of the weather will occur on sunday, that's when temperatures could hit 20 degrees celsius. notjust in the south of the uk, but even further north, we could get those values. this is what's happening on the satellite picture. it's this low here out in the atlantic to the west of europe that's changing wind directions for us. so you can see this plume of warm southerly air coming in out of iberia, and it's heading in our direction. and this process has actually already begun. you can see behind me, the winds blowing out of the south, they're falling light

during the course of the night, so this change in the direction is occurring through the early hours of saturday. now, first thing in the morning, still a little bit of a nip in the air. temperatures of around say 3—5 celsius i think in most major towns and cities. possibly a touch of frost in the highlands. and then saturday, really, as far as england and wales is concerned, a fine day. plenty of sunshine. the most amount of sunshine, i think, the further east and south you are. but out towards the west, always a little bit more cloud, and a chance of some showers. still cool in the northwest, 11 degrees, but notice around 16 expected in the southeast of england. and then saturday night into sunday, this weather front approaches us, and that also means that the southerlies will strengthen. and strengthening southerlies also means a more warm air heading ourway. but at the same time, the front gets closer, so that means that perhaps in northern ireland, perhaps some of these western extremities,

it could be cloudy at times with a few spots of rain. and notice the gusts here. these are wind gusts of 30—a0 mph, real breeze out there. further towards the east and the south, we've got somewhat lighter winds, and those temperatures getting up to 18, you can see, in newcastle as well, and easily touching 20 celsius in the london area. on top of that, the pollen levels will also rise through the weekend. touching high values come sunday in the southeast. and you can see that warm weather lasting through the course of the week. that's it for me. bye— bye.

this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. a clear warning for the british public to stay indoors this weekend to beat the coronavirus, as the number of dead continues to rise. in herfirst broadcast on the outbreak, the queen, will address the commonwealth on sunday. the english health secretary admits that meeting a target to test 100,000 people a day for coronavirus in the uk by the end of this month is a "huge undertaking". new york sees the highest single rise in deaths from coronavirus in a day as the governor andrew cuomo says the state needs urgent help from outside. spain overtakes italy as the european country with the most confirmed coronavirus cases.

you've been contacting us in your thousands with questions about covid—19. we're going to do our best now to answer some of them now — on the bbc‘s your questions answered. with me is dr elisabetta groppelli, lecturer in global health at st george's university of london. she is an expert on the spread of viruses and social distancing measures. and also i'm joined by university of cambridge virologist and presenter of the naked scientists podcast, dr chris smith. welcome to you both. maybe i could start with you, doctor chris start with welcome to you both. maybe i could start with you, doctor chris smith on masks. because there's a lot of talk of the moment about mask. here is one from tess in newport in wales. cani make a mask at home —

what would be the best material? once used, would the virus be destroyed by cleaning or heating? to be honest with you, the current evidence we have and the guidance of the public health england is sticking to that these masks will not be helpful. in the hospital setting, used appropriately, the right sort of masks in the right sort of setting in the right sorts of additional production including protection for your eyes, they can save lives, they can be helpful, but for general public, walking around in the supermarket, for example, getting her shopping, they are probably not going to do you any good. the only possible exception to this is if you wear a mask and you are highly symptomatic and you are coughing and splattering, they might cut down the creation of what we call an aerosol, the release of virus particles into the air around that might go on to infect other people, they might reduce that a bit, but the kinds of masks available to the general public, the

materials they are made of don't actually cut down as far as we can tell with the transmission any better than just adopting the other social distancing and hygiene measures that the government are urging you to use. there is a debate 110w urging you to use. there is a debate now in the united states, the mayor in los angeles and in new york are saying wear them as you say, the aerosol effect. yeah. there's not really a ny aerosol effect. yeah. there's not really any compelling evidence about this. what we do know about the masks is that people don't fit them properly, and they don't form an airtight seal around your mouth, and i was watching a television programme the other night, some people in italy, from the camera angle, i could see the individual‘s mouth around the side of the mask. now if i can see from a television camera, that means the virus, which is 110,000th of a millimetre a customer that a gripping gaping hole for a virus to sneak there. people

end up of air leaking all around them. if you have something on your face, encourage due to touches your face, encourage due to touches your face more if not less often. that means if you've touched the surface of the virus was on it you could then transfer it to the mass command with prolonged wearing they tend to get damn come in that dampness encourages virus particles to go through the mask. so you could increase your chances of picking up a virus. it's better to follow the guidance we think about the moment, that the government is giving up, which is to stay away from people, because people are the only source. you've got to catch this virus from the infected person from about the only source in case you touch the surface that might have viruses on and stay at home. good advice. sadly, the death rate is rising, here is a question some have asked from riley o'toole, when a person dies from the virus, does the virus dies from the virus, does the virus die as well? the short answer is that yes it well. but, unfortunately, not exactly at the same time as the person. so, the virus we know can survive on

surfaces. it will be able to survive, you know up two hours after a person has died. so it's crucial that you know, appropriate ppe is actually used to prepare the body for funeral and for burials. also it's absolutely crucial and recommendations maintaining a social distancing during a funeral. as this is why we are having such tight regulations around funerals? absolutely. funerals are a big event, where lots of people join, and those have been spelled out in the legislations about only two or three close family members could be allowed to participate at a funeral. 0k. allowed to participate at a funeral. ok. here is one from john callan in bedfordshire. who is being tested is make everyone with symptoms, or are they testing to see who has it? ok, the government has drawn up a specific case definition. if you have symptoms and a new cost, thatis if you have symptoms and a new cost, that is how they are defining someone who is potentially infected

at the moment. if you have those symptoms and you've come into hospital and we need to bring you into hospitalfor hospital and we need to bring you into hospital for treatment, hospital and we need to bring you into hospitalfor treatment, then we would do a test on you at that stage, because we need to know what you've got wrong with you, and what you've got wrong with you, and what you got wrong with you determines how you get treated, and where in the hospital you are puts, because one of the most important priorities is to do infection control, and we cohort patients, what that means is we put people together who have either not got the virus or have got the virus, because in that way, we are not spreading the infection to uninfected at risk people. so that's one uninfected at risk people. so that's u . uninfected at risk people. so that's one group. the other group that can get tested under matt hancock's number one pillar are health care workers. because we know that the significant number of people are currently at home who could be at the front line, and this is because

a member of their family or they themselves have some of these symptoms, but because the symptoms are so common, and they are shared with many other respiratory reactions can make do well be that they don't have to run have something else much more trivial, they don't need to worry. so testing them will enable us to return more members of staff to the front line. as the number of tests increases towards the goal of public health england think we need about 25,000 tests to be done per day in order to meet the needs of doing our health care, how are we going to move patients rooms, test or health care workers, then once we get to that stage, the pillars of the testing algorithm will kick in, and we will be able to test more people, potentially also test people for long—term immunity. but at the moment, it's all about who has got the virus right now, so that we can

sort out who is infectious and who is not. the health secretary said yesterday they supplied a5 million pieces of ppe, masks, gloves, downs to the nhs in one day. so sandy from minster in kent asks what happens to all used ppe? is a being recycled? as it burned ? all used ppe? is a being recycled? as it burned? as it laundered? what happens to it? so, unfortunately, if that ppe has been used in a health ca re that ppe has been used in a health care environment, especially in the context of the infectious disease, that large amount of ppe is going to have to be disposed of safely, and appropriately. the usual channels to dispose of this waste is absolutely not recycling, but is actually incineration. i know it's a large amount, but it's the only way that you can actually make sure that we are safe, because reusing increases the chances of transmitting infection. chris, i don't know if you go for a run every day, i know i do come it's the only way i can get by, but fiona marlowe asks from weymouth in dorset, when i walk for my daily exercise, there are lots of runners like christian and cyclists who passed me breathing heavily. amiat am i at risk of contracting the virus? well, if you get close to a person and you share air with that person and you share air with that person for an appreciable length of time, and they've got something that

they could infect you with, yes, there is a slim chance you could catch something. but, you've got to remember, out in the fresh air, there is a huge dilution effect anyway, be, if that person is feeling like they've got coronavirus, the chances are they are probably not going to be pounding the pavement. they are going to be doing what boris is doing, they are going to be in bed. that's where we are told he is at the moment. chances are, they are not going to be that infectious when they are out. i know what you're going to say... i will preempt you. but people make it symptomatic after they've already got the infection and have already shattered the virus, that may be trip to a point, but what we do know is that the longer the infection goes on, so the maximum peak of the symptoms, the infectivity rises. so therefore, someone who is not feeling very unwelcome they may have virus recovera ble, unwelcome they may have virus recoverable, but they are probably not that infectious. so the chances of you encountering a runner who breathed enough virus on you for you to pick it up in the fresh open air are very very slight. so i wouldn't worry about it, i would concentrate more on the enormous benefit you are doing to your health through getting some fresh air, sunshine and exercise. and the advice to runners would be be polite, try and stay two metres away. yep, that's right.

exactly. here is one from tim sands in herefordshire, elizabeth, who says that if the number of tests being conducted rises, logically, will the number of confirmed cases rise equally? why is so much important given to the data?” think, yes, we havejust heard that there is a possibility of asymptomatic patients, and therefore, testing, you know, in a surveillance setting. so without asking if people have symptoms or not. we will actually be able to give a numberabout not. we will actually be able to give a number about who has got the virus, even if they are well. but, also, testing generally, not only the people who are presenting with the people who are presenting with the most severe symptoms are requiring hospitalizations, or health care workers, but also testing more widely in the community will allow us to discriminate —— to identify who has the coronavirus and who hasn't. therefore, not only will

we have it in much more accurate ideas or pictures of how much the virus is circulating, but there is the potential there that we could start targeting, for example, south isolation —— self isolation to the people who we know are infected. so, increasing the number of tests would be the one that is determining whether you have an ongoing infection it's extremely invariable. imean, infection it's extremely invariable. i mean, maybe you could give me up —— maybe you both could give me an a nswer to —— maybe you both could give me an answer to this, do you think antibody testing is more important, or is it more important to isolate people who are sick? is that the most important as far as you are both concerned chris? well, i think there are two slightly different things that answer to slightly different questions. at the moment, antibody testing isn't very useful, and that's because very few people have had the virus. you make antibodies coming to make antibodies and appreciable amounts. about three

orfour and appreciable amounts. about three or four weeks after you've cleared the virus. so, actually come at the moment, as we have not had a very large number of people who have been actively infected, we wouldn't be testing very many people and returning positive, so antibody tests, we have got time to wait a little while before they come useful, and they will be very useful, and they will be very useful, we will definitely want them, but what we need to focus on right now is telling people whether or not they really have this virus, and the people we need to prioritise are the health care workers, because something like one and four doctors and about one in five nurses are currently affected. they can't actually get to theirjobs or go to theirjobs actually get to theirjobs or go to their jobs because they actually get to theirjobs or go to theirjobs because they are self quarantining, because they might have this infection. they probably don't have this infection, they probably have something else, because at the time that they would have been catching it, we know that from the test we are doing in our laboratory, about 10% of the tests we we re laboratory, about 10% of the tests we were doing were actually positive or coronavirus. in the last week or so, that's really changed. in the last week we have gone from small numbers of tests of positive to maybe not half the tests we are doing returning positive. so the numbers in the community really have

lea pt numbers in the community really have leapt up, but that's why it's not getting really valuable to be able to test people who have the symptoms to test people who have the symptoms to see who really does and doesn't have it, because that will inform who can come to work or not, and look after the people who really do have it. ok. do they fumigate the roads in italy? not that i'm aware of. ck, roads in italy? not that i'm aware of. ok, because this next question is lost on the come i wasn't aware of any country was doing that, but this person from london to my being told that china do this. kp from london says my question is why aren't the government fumigate inroads with disinfectant sprays like other countries are doing to prevent the spread of the coronavirus? i think it's. .. yeah. i'm sorry, i think it's disinfecting, not fumigated. sorry. i think when there is a large circulation of virus wild in the community potentially, it's seen as a good public health measure, and intervention. i would've thought,

however, that actually, social distancing and self isolation and cleaning those surfaces where we do actually come in contact, because we've touched it with our hands like candles or, you know, if we have to come on public transport, for example. or trolleys at supermarkets. those actually are the services that we need to specifically look at. i'm not sure how disinfecting an entire road on the tarmac, but i do have to admit that i tend to look at viruses from the molecular point of view, not when they are on tarmac. 0k, all right then. here is one, chris, which is puzzling me, actually, from edward pickton. how long is the average time it from contracting covid—19 to death actually occurring? therein lies the rub with why this is proving such a challenge to tackle, because it's a long time. unlike the flu, where you get symptoms almost from one day after you get the virus and then within

five days you are done and dusted, the whole thing is over, this thing is only just the whole thing is over, this thing is onlyjust getting going by five days. so the average incubation time for the night before people even have symptoms as five days, it could be as long as 11 days. we are using 14 be as long as 11 days. we are using 1a days as a safety factor. having actually started to get symptoms, people then usually go along for about a week or so feeling nine specifically on well, maybe their cough gets a bit worse, they have fevers, they feel that very well at all. at that point, they either recover or they then spend another week getting worse, at which point, they may present medical services, and often, it takes another week before people get really, really unwell. so the entire illness can be very long and drawn out, maybe three weeks or so. and we think there are two phases to this. we think the initial phase, that first week or so is the virus attacking her tissues and teaching your immune system what it looks like. we think the next phase of the illness is when people get very severely unwell, and may need to go into hospital and may end up need to go into hospital and may end up in intensive care and could pass

away. that seems to be an immune reaction to the virus. that is your own body damaging your own tissues, and this is why we need to learn a lot more about how this virus makes us unwell, because we need to know how to intervene meaningfully, and with what sorts of drugs are up there, or what sorts of treatments come at what point in the illness. so to put this very crudely, there are some bodies that overreact to it, a smaller percentage, because the vast majority of us recover, but some people just overproduce response within the lungs and within the throat? that's the theory. we don't know at the moment, but there are some tantalising theories as to why this might be happening. one suggestion is that because the coronavirus that we are seeing now isa coronavirus that we are seeing now is a member of a big family of corunna viruses, it could be that other members of the coronavirus which circulate and have done for many years in humans and cause common cold type symptoms, if you've got one or more of those in the past, you may have educated your immune system to make certain classes of antibodies, which when

you encounter this new coronavirus they stick to it, they don't destroy it or deactivated, theyjust make it stickier. so it's actually even more attractive to your tissues, and it finds it easier to spread and make you unwell. it may be, therefore, people who are older are more likely to have encountered these other corunna viruses and that's why they are more likely to get sick or in addition to having other kinds of pre—existing health problems. younger people on the other hand, who haven't had enough time in their life yet to encounter so many of these other corunna viruses wouldn't have that. and that explains why we get this age depended defect. it's just a theory. no evidence to back it up apart from anecdotal evidence of the moment, but it does sound reasonable and biologically plausible that that's what's going on. that's an interesting segue into this next question from surrey, which says there was a report a few days ago that having a flu jab at may offer a degree of immunity, is there any evidence of this, and the likelihood of research into its? the flu virus on the coronavirus are

completely different viruses. there is no cross protection that the flu jab can give against the coronavirus. this does not mean, however, absolutely do keep getting the flu shot, especially in the current climate, because we can at least prevent ourselves from becoming infected with the flu. then we can concentrate our resources on actually tackling the coronavirus. i'm not familiar with the report itself. but there is no cross protection. which probably answers this next question in colchester. maybe you can pick this up as well. i have the aunt in ammonia injection as soon as i turned 70, so i wondered if it would still protect me from the west of the covid—19 effects ? me from the west of the covid—19 effects? so it would not protect at all, again, directly covid—19, the coronavirus, however, when it comes to potentially other infection, that can occur as the coronavirus symptoms, covid—19 symptoms

progress, having had a jab against some bacterial infection is a good thing. so, again, keep getting the jabs that are offered to you, that are available to you, but, unfortunately, we do not have a jab now that allows us to protect against coronavirus, but lots of people are working on it, and it will come. good. here is the million—dollar question, chris, from karen flavian in hertfordshire. can you catch this virus again if you've already had it? i'm doubtful. there have been some reports circulating of people testing positive, then testing negative, and then testing positive again. i don't think that that's people reacquiring the virus, some people are speculating that that's the case, i think that's unlikely. i think what's more likely to be happening is that the test is not very good. we know that the tests that we are all using do miss cases. and that's because this virus is very good at growing in lung tissue, it's much less good at growing and nose and throat tissue. so when we take a swab from the back

of the throat, we are often detecting just trace amounts of virus, very low levels, so it's possible to just swab the wrong bit of the nose and throat, you may not pick upa of the nose and throat, you may not pick up a threshold amount, a detecta ble pick up a threshold amount, a detectable amount of virus there, that's why when the person is in recovery phase, and then mount a virus and body is dropping you may pick it up one day, test him again, it's pick it up one day, test him again, its negative now, and then if you look again, you may find it again. it would be unlikely having developed a strong immune response to clear it from your body that you would then catch it again so soon. soi would then catch it again so soon. so i think those are probably facetious reports, the immunity make at least, for the short term will be robust and resilient and you won't catch again. those tests that you say you've seen where people think they have had it again, what is the false negative statistic on fat? how many people are we talking about? well, i can speak from many people are we talking about? well, i can speakfrom experience here, because we have had samples in our laboratory where we have tested people, we have tested them and said they were negative, we think that further samples about a week later from deep down in the lungs and these people, because by then, they had regrettably ended up in

intensive care, and at that point, we we re intensive care, and at that point, we were testing them as positive. we then went back and looked using a different test at the samples in the nose and throat and we got a weak positive. showing that actually they have the virus all along, its just that the test we are using mrs result sometimes, and that's nothing to do with our test, nothing to do with the fact that we are not doing ourjob properly, nothing like that, it's purely because all tests have great areas where they miss cases. in this case, if you are falling down the cracks between the flagstones, that can happen. that's why it's so important that when we use a test, we use a very good test. which doesn't do that as often, or does that as least often as possible. michael robbins in richmond asks a fairly legitimate question, where in we not testing or quarantine people who are arriving in fights from abroad?” quarantine people who are arriving in fights from abroad? i think, actually, the recommendation from the uk government and the fco is that anybody who has to travel back, especially a british citizen who

needs to be repatriated, do have to self—isolate for seven needs to be repatriated, do have to self— isolate for seven days, needs to be repatriated, do have to self—isolate for seven days, and in terms of testing, again, it goes back to what chris has explained. so at the moment, we are testing symptomatic patients who need admission to hospital and also health care workers, those have been given the priority. so if people have been allowed to travel, it's very likely that they do not have any symptoms, and that they are well. and sojust as any symptoms, and that they are well. and so just as a any symptoms, and that they are well. and sojust as a precaution it's probably not a priority right now. this next question interests me, chris, because there will be a lot of people who might have had an insta nce lot of people who might have had an instance like this. it comes from welding garden city after seven days of quarantine, with no testing, what happens if you get another period of raised temperature? my husband is worried about his job raised temperature? my husband is worried about hisjob in raised temperature? my husband is worried about his job in a shop. clearly someone there has been self—isolate them for seven days and wa nts to self—isolate them for seven days and wants to get back to her, but may be still has a temperature. rights, the

bottom line here is... and i can recommend a government's and hs web pages very very good on this and explains it very clearly. so thumbs up explains it very clearly. so thumbs up to them for that. what they say is if you fit the case definition, so you have a new cough and you have a fever, 37.8 or above, etc. and this goes on for it's notjust a one—off income it's a persistent cough, then you should self—isolate. now, at the end of that period of isolation, if your profit is still there, it's not a problem. but if that meant because cost can persist for a while afterwards... but if you're are solving temperatures like boris is at the moment, and hope he is going to be ok, then actually, you should at that stage, not d isolate yourself, regardless office symptomatic. the next question becomes, ok, i recover, nowi symptomatic. the next question becomes, ok, i recover, now i feel better, what if it happens again? well, the thing is we don't know at the moment whether that episode was coronavirus or just the moment whether that episode was coronavirus orjust one of the other very common respiratory infections that are going around at the moment that are going around at the moment that because of temperature and to call. so you are back to square one,

and you need to re—isolate yourself or another period of seven days, or until your fever has gone away. i've learned so much. we are out of questions, we will have many more, i know, because there are hundreds of questions coming into us at the bbc. doctor chris smith and doctor elizabeth, thank you so much indeed. thank you both. for millions of families stuck indoors for almost a fortnight, it's been a bit of a challenge. the guidance is to get an hour's exercise a day, but health experts are concerned about the impact on the long term fitness of many, especially children. so what can we all do to keep in shape? our sports correspondent, natalie pirks, has been finding out. three, two, one... home workouts are nothing new, but as a nation, we're embracing them like never before. campaigns are urging us to stay in,

work out, and youtube searches for home workouts in the uk are more than a00% up on this same time last year. let's get to it. at the elite end, a postponed olympics has been no excuse to slack. how are you getting on with the like that we lent you? good, shame i can't keep it! dame sarah storey is usually in the saddle six hours a day but is now racing in a virtual world. training has had to be quite significantly adapted. technology is just so good, you can choose a group to ride with or you can just go around the courses and do it by yourselves. but what about kids in all this? the recommendation is they need an hour of exercise daily, but that has just become a lot harder. we know staying active in childhood can help prevent diseases in the future, not to mention how good it is for our children's mental health.

with school pe off the agenda and playgrounds closed, health experts are urging parents to keep their kids as active as they possibly can in anyway they can during this lockdown. we are the fattest nation in western europe, a third of all children are overweight or have obesity by the time they leave primary school. everybody appreciates that people are staying at home to save lives by stopping covid—19, but the danger is that it is going to have a real adverse effect on the overall weight of children. keep active to stay healthy and start from now. double olympic champion max whitlock agrees. the father of one has been devising workouts for kids and believes we've been handed an opportunity. it's a great way to kickstart you into that journey, and that could be something that could be created for a lifetime, a habit, which will bring so many benefits to so many families. to help fight the virus now, or to help protect the nhs in the future, there are plenty of reasons we should

all get off the sofa, even if you look a bit silly in the process. see? you can do in yourfront room. i hesitate to give you the weather, because it's going to be a nice weekend, and we all have to do our bit and stay indoors. but here it is anyway. hello. a dose of spring warmth on the way, and there's every indication that the warm weather will last well into next week as well. so i think the weekend is going to be gradually warming up. the warmest of the weather will occur on sunday, that's when temperatures could hit 20 degrees celsius. notjust in the south of the uk, but even further north, we could get those values. this is what's happening on the satellite picture. it's this low here out in the atlantic to the west of europe that's changing wind directions for us. so you can see this plume of warm southerly air coming in out of iberia, and it's heading in our direction. and this process has actually already begun. you can see behind me, the winds blowing out of the south,

they're falling light during the course of the night, so this change in the direction is occurring through the early hours of saturday. now, first thing in the morning, still a little bit of a nip in the air. temperatures of around say 3—5 celsius i think in most major towns and cities. possibly a touch of frost in the highlands. and then saturday, really, as far as england and wales is concerned, a fine day. plenty of sunshine. the most amount of sunshine, i think, the further east and south you are. but out towards the west, always a little bit more cloud, and a chance of some showers. still cool in the northwest, 11 degrees, but notice around 16 expected in the southeast of england. and then saturday night into sunday, this weather front approaches us, and that also means that the southerlies will strengthen. and strengthening southerlies also means a more warm air heading ourway. but at the same time, the front gets closer, so that means that perhaps in northern ireland, perhaps some of these western extremities,

it could be cloudy at times with a few spots of rain. and notice the gusts here. these are wind gusts of 30—a0 mph, real breeze out there. further towards the east and the south, we've got somewhat lighter winds, and those temperatures getting up to 18 celsius, you can see, in newcastle as well, and easily touching 20 celsius in the london area. on top of that, the pollen levels will also rise through the weekend. touching high values come sunday in the southeast. and you can see that warm weather lasting through the course of the week. that's it for me. bye— bye.

this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. as governments around the world battle to slow the spread of the coronavirus, a clear warning for people to stay indoors this weekend. we cannot relax our discipline now. if we do, people will die. scaling up coronavirus testing remains a worldwide priority, but the english health secretary admits that meeting but the british health secretary admits that meeting a target of 100,000 a day is a ‘huge undertaking'. queen elizabeth will address the commonwealth on sunday, delivering a message on the outbreak, in a rare special broadcast. new york sees the highest single rise in deaths from coronavirus in a day as the governor andrew cuomo says the state needs urgent help from outside.