tonight at ten, there's a stern warning for the public to stay indoors this weekend to beat the coronavirus, as another 68a people die in the uk. among the dead, aimee o'rourke, one of two nurses today to lose their lives. this advice is not a request. it is an instruction. stay at home. protect lives. and then you will be doing your part. (pres) social distancing remains key to the government's strategy to beat the pandemic. also tonight.... so, here we are ready to start our ward round.

we are outside of itu you at the moment. stories from the frontline, the video diary of intensive care doctors. teachers in england will have to estimate gcse and a—level grades, because of cancelled exams. battling the virus in asia's biggest slum, where social distancing is virtually impossible. and premier league clubs are to ask players to take a 30% pay cut to protectjobs, because of the pandemic. and coming up on sportsday on bbc news, england's cricketers are donating £500,000 to the england and wales cricket board and also to some good causes amid the coronavirus crisis. good evening. "stay at home and protect lives." that's the clear warning from the health secretary matt hancock, who says it's "not a request but an instruction" to the british people, to beat the coronavirus. with warm weather expected this weekend, he says any relaxation of social distancing rules will mean

more people will die. in the uk, the number of dead has risen by 684 in one 24—hour period. that brings the total number of deaths in hospitals from the disease to 3,605. that number however doesn't include deaths in the community or in care homes and is in line, sadly, with scientific predictions. today two nurses lost their lives to the virus, with each leaving behind three children. here's our health editor hugh pym. aimee o'rourke, one of two nurses who've lost their lives to covid—19. tributes were paid today to their bravery, including at the downing street press conference, and there was this warning to the public from the health secretary. we cannot relax our discipline now. if we do — people will die. so, i end with the advice that 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. it was the same message from borisjohnson, still in self—isolation. in my own case, although i'm feeling better and i've done my seven days of isolation, alas, i still have one of the symptoms, a minor symptom, i still have a temperature. everybody may be getting a bit stir—crazy and there may be just a temptation to get out there, hang out and start to break the regulations, and ijust urge you not to do that. earlier, there was an unusual official opening of the newest nhs hospital. the key players keeping their distance at fixed points, the moment marked by a royal video contribution. perhaps i could invite nightingale‘s head of nursing, natalie grey, on my behalf, to unveil the plaque to declare nhs nightingale hospital open. applause.

in less than two weeks, huge empty exhibition halls have been transformed into specialist hospital wards for covid—i9 patients. the hospital is ready for new patients. it had been thought the first group would've arrived by today but london's hospitals have built up enough extra capacity to cope with the caseload at this stage. so, the nightingale won't be needed until next week. good, i'm glad you got the protective clothing... getting things done is the message the government wants to convey, but matt hancock, meeting staff in 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's now 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 tests going to come from? who's going to do them? itjust hasn't really been explained, you haven't given any detail.

well, we have. i set out a five—point plan yesterday. the first stage is the expansion of the testing capacity within the nhs and with public health england, who are doing an amazing job. and then, also, the next stage is to bring in the private sector companies, the existing testing companies. testing nhs staff helps get more of them back to work quickly. the scottish government is increasing facilities like this. this expansion of testing capacity means, amongst other things, that we will be able to test more key workers with every day that passes. however, in addition to increasing capacity within nhs scotland, we are also working with the uk government and other partners to further increase testing capacity beyond that. the nhs needs all the protective clothing and ventilators it can get and 350,000 items arrived from shanghai today. virgin atlantic working with guy's

and st thomas hospital trust. there was a virtual graduation ceremony for doctors at the university of bristol today. it happened early so they could move straight to the nhs front line, where they'll certainly be needed in the months ahead. hugh pym, bbc news. so, as we've been hearing, borisjohnson is also urging people to stay at home this weekend, as forecasters predict good weather. 0ur chief political correspondent vicki young is at westminster for us tonight. borisjohnson was due to end social isolation yesterday, what happened? it has been obvious from some of the photos and the video footage this week that the prime minister has not been well. of course, at a time of national crisis, you want your top tea m national crisis, you want your top team firing on all cylinders. look at the list, notjust team firing on all cylinders. look at the list, not just the team firing on all cylinders. look at the list, notjust the prime minister but his most senior adviser, the health secretary until early in the week, the chief medical 0fficer, all self isolating, and

there is no doubt that make the task much harder. i think it has shown at times this week, when you needed people with a real grasp of the detail, they simply weren't there. downing street insists the prime minister does have mild symptoms, he has continued to work and he is chairing meetings throughout the day. as we saw today as well, very keen to get the key messages out, head of the weekend, saying to people like him, stay at home to save lives. the prime minister of course preparing to go into his night stay in isolation. thank you for joining night stay in isolation. thank you forjoining us. key workers in all sectors are facing enormous difficulties in dealing with the coronavirus outbreak, none more so of course, than front line nhs staff. 0ur health correspondent catherine burns is keeping in touch with some of the men and women battling the pandemic, and asked one intensive care consultant to keep a video diary. this comes from the front line in the fight against coronavirus. joy halliday is an intensive care consultant, looking after some of the very sickest patients.

she started her video before a night shift. i've got three children and they're all bathed, fed and watered. i'm just waiting for my husband to arrive home, who's a gp and obviously busy, very busy at work as well at the moment. so we're a bit like ships in the night. good evening again, it's now nine o'clock and we finished our intensive care handover. my trainee is with me, so we've got johnny who's our sho for the night. and stephen, registrar. hello. and then another stephen, who's restocking our intubation trolley as we speak. so, we are now going to go and don our ppe so we can start a ward round and we'll take you with us for that. so, here we are ready to start our ward round. we're outside of itu at the moment. johnny and myself are ready to go, in our ppe. stephen is about to don his. joy and her team have to wear ppe, personal protective equipment, that offers the fullest possible cover. all the patients they see on this night have coronavirus

and are unconscious, on breathing machines. they have to get very close to them. and that is us done so we're going to start our ward round for this evening. i will leave the phone outside, so that we do not bring it in with us and we will touch base with you again later. so, it's now 5:20am and we've had a really busy night here in intensive care. the nursing staff and doctors have worked non—stop and it's really important that we look after ourselves as well as our patients. sadly, there's some battles that we're not going to win. the team try not to phone families overnight, but they have to call if they think a patient is about to die. but even then, relatives can't come here for their own safety. at these times, normally families would be present in intensive care all the time by their loved ones‘ sides, and with visiting rules being changed and the risk to relatives coming in and catching coronavirus themselves, we don't have visitors any more. and we're therefore providing

relatives with daily updates about their loved one. we all know in the nhs as health care workers that these are unprecedented times. we also know that there may come a time when we start looking after people we know, colleagues we work with, and we need to be prepared to manage this. joy halliday ending that report, and we'll hear more from her, and others working on the front line, in the weeks to come. on sunday evening, the queen will make a special televised address to the nation — something she's done on only a handful of occasions during her 68—year reign. 0ur royal correspondent nicholas witchell is here. it isa it is a highly unusual mood and as such, a clearly significant one. yes, broadcasts like this are reserved for moments of particular national significance, as you said, there have only been a handful of them during the 68 years of her reign, the broadcaster night before

the —— the night before the death of —— funeral of diana princess of wales, when british troops went into combat in 1991. consultations have been had about the timing of this for several weeks. the broadcast is being recorded at windsor and it will be transmitted at 8pm on sunday. it will i'm sure embrace some of the themes that were in the written message from the queen issued by the palace on the 19th of march, when it talked about a period of great concern and uncertainty, the need for people and communities to come together and how we all had a part to play as individuals. personal responsibility, community cohesion, national solidarity, and i'm quite sure that she will also wa nt to i'm quite sure that she will also want to express her own profound gratitude to those in the nhs and others, other key workers, for the truly heroic efforts that they are making to look after people and to keep the wheels of our society turning. it will be a message from the head of state, the head of the nation, if you like, at the start of

the easter week, to reassure the country and to rally the nation's result at this moment of great national difficulty. thank you for joining us. nicholas witchell, there. the government has set itself the target of 100,000 tests per day for the coronavirus by the end of the month. 0ur science editor david shukman looks at the two different types of test, and what they may tell us about the pandemic. 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 health care workers and many others, because if they've got mild symptoms

but 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 complex tests, and the existing technology is difficult to scale up quickly. 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. well, here's a reminder of the government's coronavirus restrictions and while everyone must stay at home, you can leave under the following circumstances. for one form of exercise a day, but there has been confusion over whether you're allowed to drive

to an area to take a walk. the health secretary matt hancock says a five—minute drive is permissable, but government advice is to stay as local as possible. you can go out to shop for basic necessities such as food and medicine, but as infrequently as possible. you're also allowed out of the house for any medical needs, including giving blood, and you can travel to work, but only if you cannot work from home. but with temperatures across parts of the uk set to soar this weekend, the temptation to head outdoors will also increase, and some welsh farmers have called for certain footpaths to be closed. here's hywel griffith. spring should signal the end of hibernation. but this year, it's blossoming just as we're meant to stay at home. for abbie in the vale of glamorgan, stopping the spread of covid—19 is vital for her dairy farm and its place in the food chain. but despite the lockdown,

she's seen more people than ever taking country walks. several footpaths cross her land, one right through the yard. everybody‘s getting very nervous that they just won't be able to do theirjob. and unfortunately, with a farm, you can'tjust say, "that's it, we'll shut up shop for a fortnight." the animals have still got to be fed, milked. crops have got to go in the ground. we are producing food for today, tomorrow, going on into the winter. two weeks ago, this was snowdonia, as people ignored government advice and flocked to national parks. the fear is that this weekend, despite the restrictions, the sun will draw the walkers out again. taking daily exercise isn'tjust allowed — it's recommended. the official advice is to stay local and use open spaces near your home. driving somewhere hasn't been banned, but we're meant to avoid unnecessary travel, which leaves quite a bit of room for interpretation.

driving somewhere to walk the dog is fine according to the health secretary in england, but not ok according to the government in wales. here, some forces are promising greater enforcement of social distancing. in the lake district, officers have used social media to tell tourists to stay away. while in scotland, the police say this weekend will be the real test. as the weather gets better, people may be tempted to go out. i would say to them, "don't do that. stay at home, think of the implications of your actions. protect the nhs. and by doing that, we'll save lives. " with google announcing it will release tracking data from people's mobile phones, there will be more checks than ever on where we all choose to roam. but here, theyjust want people to keep clear of the countryside until this lockdown is at an end. hywel griffith, bbc news, in the vale of glamorgan. schools and colleges in england have been given more details about how gcse and a—level grades

will be calculated for pupils whose exams have been cancelled because of the pandemic. the exams regulator, 0fqual, says teachers will be asked to estimate a mark when ranking students. the results will be published no later than august, but could be earlier. here's our education editor, bra nwen jeffreys. it's quite a freeing, strange thought, not having to worry about revision and exam stress for the next few months. but it is a weird feeling, yeah. a lot of people are worried about the work that we have done till now because, obviously, a lot of people don't put the effort in until the last minute and they can sometimes turn it all around, just at the last minute. i don't know if i'll necessarily definitely get the grades that i need for my first choice any more, now that i can't pull it up in my exam at all. every year till now, exams meant grades. but now, in england and wales, teachers asked to estimate instead and rank students top to bottom. the results then adjusted across the nation.

so, i wanted to ask — will these gcses and a—levels be just as valued as any other year? the student certificates this year with their grades will be like any other certificates. they will use those grades to progress, they will use those grades in their lives, just like any other set of students and that's hugely important. in chester today, two anxious students. for max, it's his gcse year. charlotte needs her a—levels to get into uni. all the hard work we want to put in, we want to make sure it's shown in our grades and through the seven years we've spent learning haven't gone to waste. but i trust my teachers. i think that for people who perhaps didn't get the grades that they'd like to go into sixth form, or college, or an apprenticeship, then they might consider retaking the exams. but for most, as long as they get a suitable grade, i think it would be harder to get back and get the grade

they want than just to continue with what they've been given already. the challenge is going to be to make this system feel fair for everyone. but most of all for those kids in the middle who've worked really hard in the last few months to try get above a grade 4. they already have a sense of what grades they're working at, or were prior to the school closures. they also therefore know, from that dialogue with their teachers, where, in essence, those teachers will be predicting that those grades are going to be in the summer. in northern ireland, students still waiting for details. the real test everywhere will be results day. branwenjeffreys, bbc news, chester. some disability campaigners say they're deeply concerned about the latest ethical advice from the british medical association, which they fear could mean some won't get treated for covid—19. the bma's guidance says if resources are scarce,

doctors will have to prioritise the patients most able to benefit from treatment. 0ur disability news correspondent, nikki fox, has more. i'mjon. i'm 39 and i have duchenne muscular dystrophy and gradually saw my muscles deteriorate and now i use a ventilator to breathe. based on my current health, i could live another 15 years. and jon's got a lot to give. he has a phd, is the chief exec of a charity and a campaigner. he also volunteers for nhs england. he's doing his best to isolate but he has multiple personal care assistants coming in and out of his home every day, sojon still feels he's at risk of contracting the virus. he's concerned that if hospital beds are in short supply, he may not receive the treatment he needs to recover. this is a resource issue, not an ethical one. i understand the rationale for doing this and i want

to save as many lives as possible. but surely not at the cost of our humanity. and likejon, many disabled people have chosen to self—isolate because they're scared. there's concern that these guidelines have exacerbated that fear. they're based on the principles that everybody matters, that everybody matters equally and in making decisions about who should receive treatment, we have to focus on those who are most able to benefit and most able to benefit quickly. tonight, 200 disabled people and organisations have signed a letter urging the health secretary, nhs england and the bma to not forget the human rights of disabled people during this crisis when hospital staff may have to make tough choices. the number of decisions they'll be making daily are going to be difficult, but it's about not just looking at whether someone has a learning disability or if they're a wheelchair user and making

assumptions that they have no value. it's about trying to balance that against all the other decisions. it's difficult but disabled people are genuinely worried that this will be a wayjust to get rid of them. forjon, he doesn't want to be favoured he just wants the same opportunity to survive as everyone else. i've done everything i can to give something back and everyone else is doing what they can right now to shield vulnerable people. we are not statistics — we are real people. please don't write us off. drjon hastie, speaking to nikki fox. the world bank has pledged $1 billion to india to help tackle the coronavirus pandemic there. more than 2,500 infections have now been confirmed in the country and more than 70 people are known to have died. the city of mumbai has some of the highest numbers of patients in india, with many living in congested slums,

sparking fears the virus could rapidly spread further. yogita limaye reports. the virus has reached here, asia's biggest slum, and the most densely populated area on earth — dharavi. nearly a million people live in less than a square mile. social distancing is next to impossible. translation: people are extremely scared here. if italy's health care system, which is ranked second in the world, couldn't cope, india is far behind them. here in dharavi, as well as in other slums of the city, people have tested positive for coronavirus. once that happens, they usually try to seal the area, and then go door—to—door to check who else might be infected. but you can imagine that challenge the government faces trying to trace the spread of the infection in cramped spaces like these.

the number of cases are doubling every three days, now. the health care system is already struggling. a doctor treating covid patients at a hospital that caters to at least three million people described the condition there. fearful of speaking out, she didn't want her face to be shown. we are totally unprepared. in our institute, there are only six ventilators, so we have been finding ways where we can use one ventilator for two patients. it is very scary. all of us are just really overworked. there are so many places, rural setups, which lack basic health care facilities. they have no hospital. they have no doctors working there. and i think they are going to be hit the worst by this, in this. india's spending on health care is among the lowest in the world. a doctor here treats four times as many patients as one in the uk.

and india has less than 11 ventilators per million people to treat covid patients. if the virus is a threat, so is the stigma of contracting it. in the city of indore, health care workers were attacked for trying to screen a woman. this stadium is being converted into an isolation centre, as are train coaches, today lying empty. the railways were shut down nearly two weeks ago, as was the rest of india. it took months for coronavirus to affect a million people around the world. if not contained in a country the size of india, that number could multiply very quickly. yogita limaye, bbc news, mumbai. there are now more than a million confirmed cases of coronavirus in 181 countries, with europe

still the epicentre of the outbreak. italy, with more than 111,000 dead, is the worst affected, but the daily mortality rate is coming down. spain comes next, but it does have the highest number of confirmed coronavirus cases anywhere in europe. and in france, the number of dead continues to rise, with deaths in care homes now included. in paris, police are strictly enforcing the government's tough quarantine measures over the easter holidays. railway stations, airports and major roads will be monitored, to prevent people leaving the city. lucy williamson reports. it's 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, ta—dah! johan made it through.

he's 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've 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's issued more than 400,000 fines. but questions over when the confinement will end are 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 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 of severe patients with signs of covid—19. hafid says there were no new admissions to intensive care in his hospital today — a first since the epidemic began. the first glimpse of hope here after weeks of fear and frustration, the first sign that confinement might have worked. lucy williamson, bbc news, paris. premier league clubs are to ask

players to take a 30% pay cut in order to protectjobs. the league also says the top—flight season won't resume until "it's safe and appropriate to do so". 0ur sports correspondent, andy swiss, has that story. cheering. it is the richest league in football but with sport in shutdown, it seems even the premier league's millionaires are now paying a price. with the clubs facing what they called "substantial and continuing losses", they said they'd consult players about a combination of reductions and deferrals amounting to 30% of their total annual renumeration. the move follows growing criticism after clubs, including tottenham and newcastle, announced they were using the government's furlough scheme for non—playing staff,