the strengthening wind notable tomorrow. that will temper the field, but otherwise temperatures will be again two, three, 4 degrees above today, well above average, but also with high levels of pollen if you suffer at this time of year and in england and wales it is predicted to be high across the board tomorrow. through sunday night, this weather front pushes eastwards. it looks like it will give some heavy rain. it may well stall across parts of south—east england and east anglia before it clears away, so it could be quite wet for the morning, the start of the afternoon. even once it clears, it freshens up, we have got the showers following behind so temperatures will fall away into the afternoon. then we are into the westerly atlantic flow for a few days before the high pressure builds up, but most of the rain will be in the far north and west. that high pressure then builds as the week goes on and the temperature rises once more. there is

more on the website. hello, this is bbc news. i'm kate silverton. . in the uk now stands at 4,313 — a rise of 708 in just 2a hours. with increasingly fine

weather expected both here in the uk and europe — people are urged to stick to the strict lockdown restrictions to tackle coronavirus. in the uk, police say they will only use their authority if they of coronavirus in absolutely have the uk. to. it comes as the number of deaths when we come to enforcement, that rises by more than 700 — really is the last resort because, prompting the government to urge ina way, really is the last resort because, people to stay at home. in a way, if we come to enforcement than everybody has failed to our thoughts today are also understand the significance with the family of the five—year—old child with underlying of this endeavour. health conditions who has tragically amid of the outbreak, died, sir keir starmer is elected so again you must the new leader of the labour party in the uk. stay—at—home spain reports another 809 to protect th nhs and to deaths to the virus — save lives. it is the lowest figure for a week — 13 residents of a care home in scotland are feared to have and the second day in a row died after becoming that the daily death toll has fallen. the us government infected. sir keir starmer becomes labour leader — issues clear advice — and promises to work cover your face in public to stop with the government to tackle the coronavirus the spread of the coronavirus. but president trump says he has no crisis. intention of doing so himself. under my leadership we will engage constructively with the government, not opposition for the sake of opposition, not scoring party political points, or

making impossible demands. and making a mountain of the lockdown — the man who climbed the equivalent hello and welcome to of everest at this bbc news special. in the next half an home for charity. hour, we'll bring you the daily news conference from downing street. but first, the updates, and 708 people have died in the uk good evening. over the past 2a hours after becoming infected with the coronavirus. a five—year—old child has despite this being the highest daily become the youngest victim rise, analysts say that's fewer than they were expecting — of coronavirus in the uk — because the trend had indicated on a day which saw another large rise in the number a figure of more than 800 deaths. it comes as a hospital of reported deaths. in hertfordshire declares a critical incident and tells patients to stay the child who had an underlying away from its accident health condition was among 708 and people reported dead emergency since yesterday. department. it brings the total number meanwhile, as many as 4,000 of deaths prisoners are to be in hospitals from the released early from jails disease in england and wales because of the pandemic. more than a dozen residents are believed to have died

from covid—19 at a care home in glasgow in the past week. but burlington court care home can't confirm it — as no tests were available to be carried out. and as the weather heats up the association of police and crime commissioners has warned forces are facing a "big challenge" to get people to stay at home this weekend. more on that later, but first, back to the news that the department of health has confirmed that 4,313 have now died after contracting coronavirus. the rising death toll comes as one of the government's most senior advisors on the coronavirus pandemic has warned that the uk could see high rates of infection for "weeks and weeks" if the lockdown rules are flouted this weekend. katharine da costa reports. with warm, sunny weather marking the start of what should have been the two—week easter getaway, there is a risk crowds may be tempted to head to beauty spots and beaches, but the government says "stay at home, save lives" is an instruction, not a

request. police forces are on standby for what could be one of their biggest challenge this weekend. they are being encouraged to engage with people and advise them to return home. when we come to enforcement, that really is the last resort, because in a way, if we come to enforcement then everybody has failed to understand the significance of this endeavour. government guidelines state everyone must stay at home, but you can leave under the following circumstances. for one form of exercise a day — the advice is to stay as local as possible. you can shop for basic essentials like food and medicine. you are also allowed to go out for any medical need or to provide care and assistance to someone vulnerable, and you can travel to work, but only if you cannot work from home. 0ne senior government adviser says people's behaviour this weekend is critical. professor neil ferguson says he expects the epidemic will plateau over the next week to ten days, but flouting the guidelines could see the infection

remain high for weeks. clearly, we want to move to a situation where at least by the end of may we are able to substitute some less intensive measures and more based on technology and testing for the complete lockdown we have now. capacity is key. the government says it is doing all it can to increase beds and ventilators. a number of large field hospitals are opening across the country, with the first at london's excel centre expected to start taking patients from next week. 0n the ground, hospitals like luton and dunstable have the beds to cope with current numbers, but if we see a surge in cases, and numbers of critically ill patients, staff here are fearful. there is no cure for this disease. this is not a virus that we can give antibiotics, medicines, anything to to make it go away, we can keep you alive, using the technology and the equipment, until your body

gets over it, but we can't fix the virus, but the general public, you can fix the virus, you can stay at home, stay indoors and don't spread it. if nothing else, do not spread it. the warning couldn't be more stark. the peak has yet to come, and how we behave in the coming weeks will be crucial. katharine da costa, bbc news. with me now is our correspondent katharine da costa. it is very difficult when we hear those figures and you see the peak is yet to come and we are seeing with the warm weather today, and i've seen it, there are many, many people out and about still. i've seen it, there are many, many people out and about stillm i've seen it, there are many, many people out and about still. it is tempting and today marks the start of what would have been the two—week easter getaway when families may have been preparing to go away on holiday perhaps to beaches and beauty spots but really the message is to stay home to stay lives —— save lives. what we have been seeing with the latest figures, there has been an increase of 3735 new

confirmed cases, and of those who have died, 4313, so that's an increase of 708, the highest daily figure recorded so far. the figures have been roughly in line with the science, the expectation is you would see a lag of three to four weeks after bringing in tougher social distancing measures to stay at home and then seeing the death rate falling. so confirmed cases have slowed in the last week. they had been growing at about 20% a day up had been growing at about 20% a day up until last weekend. this last week it was growing at about 10% a day, and again with deaths that had been growing at just day, and again with deaths that had been growing atjust below 25%, doubling every three and a half days. by looking at those statistics you would have expected 5000 new cases today, so today was my figures are cases today, so today was my figures a re lower cases today, so today was my figures are lower than the expectation. what is that saying in terms of the analysis? is that a cause for hope?

iimagine it analysis? is that a cause for hope? i imagine it is pretty early. it is too soon to say but what they are thinking as there is hope that the slowdown we are seeing with case numbers will eventually feed through to see lower death numbers too. the professor, niall ferguson, he is one of the government's most senior advisers and he today told the bbc that he expects that figures should plateau in the next week to ten days. but if people don't listen to that guidelines, the advice on staying at home, the infection rate could remain high for weeks and weeks. he did offer some hope, though. he said that if we do stay at home he thought that there might be some relaxation of social distancing restrictions, that could be replaced with more testing and contact tracing by the end of may. so it is obviously clearly some weeks off still. so some measures might be able to be relaxed. but

we are still very much a long way from life returning to normal. relatively briefly if you can, we have a hospital in hertfordshire today, as those people are enjoying the sunshine, a hospital in hertfordshire declares a critical incident and tells patients to stay away from amd. huge pressure on hospitals right now and watford general has made this plea that patients should stay away from a&e and instead travel to the nearest hospitals with a&e departments. we are still waiting for a full statement from west hertfordshire hospitals trust. not many details about what has caused this critical incident. but they have been dealing with coronavirus patients. clearly putting a strain on its resources. thank you very much for now. we will hear more in the latest downing street press conference which will be coming soon. let's speak to our political

correspondent chris mason. what are we expecting today, chris? good afternoon, kate. the briefing will get under way in about 20 minutes with michael gove, the cabinet office minister and professor stephen powis, the medical director for professor stephen powis, the medical directorfor nhs professor stephen powis, the medical director for nhs england, professor stephen powis, the medical directorfor nhs england, those two men have been part of these news conferences happening every day for a couple of weeks now. we can expect again some reflection on the numbers katharine da costa was bringing us there but also the latest, because this has been the pattern of these news c0 nfe re nces , this has been the pattern of these news conferences, as far as the data is concern to the extent we are abiding by the social distancing guidelines. because of the lag that katharine was reflecting on, that is all the government and scientific advisers have to go on in terms of where we might be in a couple of weeks' time because of the lag between people catching the virus and then potentially presenting in hospital, and for some, those who

go on to die. absolutely crucial as the government has been repeating is maintaining those guidelines, maintaining those guidelines, maintaining that distance, in order to ensure that in a couple of weeks' time the number of people getting the virus at any one moment is not greater than the capacity of the nhs to cope. we can expect, given the weather in the london and south—east of england, a repeat of the message we got from matt hancock, the health secretary, yesterday about the importance of sticking to the guidelines, staying at home, only going to work if you absolutely have to. those rules we are now very familiar with. in the hope that that distancing is maintained, because there is that fear that as we are seeing this increase in the daily death toll, albeit below what the modellers were fearing at this stage, that some people might think in the context of the sunshine what is the point because the numbers are going up, but it is the lag that is the key thing to remember in all of this. can you put into context

for me, chris, there is another government adviser, another model, one of the senior advisers, professor medley, saying that maybe, just maybe, lockdown will need to be reassessed at some point soon. can you explain a little more as to what he has had to say? where hearing much more in public conversations amongst the experts and indeed from government ministers about what they are going to do at the point where it may be possible to start easing the current restrictions. because clearly the restrictions placed all sorts of burdens that people are having to live with day to day, whether it is families having to cram together in the house, children not being able to get out and about and not go to school as normal. we have seen real concern around domestic abuse as well. the argument being articulated by the professor was one of saying, we have to start thinking about how we are getting out of this. it was necessary to impose these restrictions in order to flatten the curve, to reduce the

number of people catching this virus at any one time because of the potential to exhaust the capacity of the nhs, but there is going to be a reckoning at some point about how you go about getting out of the situation. how do you go about easing the restrictions? the government talked candidly about this yesterday, matt hancock did come about the idea of immunity passports, that if you get to the point where the scientists are confident that if you have had it then you can't get it, or can't get it again for then you can't get it, or can't get it againfora then you can't get it, or can't get it again for a period of time and crucially cannot pass it on. could people in that situation be given some kind of documentation that proves they have that status and therefore the restrictions on them could be limited ? therefore the restrictions on them could be limited? in the more short term, though this could still be many weeks if not months off, what do about unravelling the restrictions and in what order do you do it? is it geographically limited? you do it in certain parts of the country but not in others, or sector by sector? reopen schools

but not pubs, for instance. huge conundrums and questions for the government and scientists to wrestle with. conscious as they are that with. conscious as they are that with every passing week, and we are only two weeks into this in terms of the significant restrictions to our daily lives, with every passing week, we are all human, it perhaps becomes harder to stick to the rules. thank you for that analysis. and finally, some order within the labour party, because they now have a new leader confirmed. they do. if this was a conventional day at the beginning of april a political correspondent like me would be standing outside a conference centre, they would have been choreography and theatrics and applause and a great excitement within the labour movement about a really big moment for them, the election of a new leader, and instead frankly it is a bit of a side bar. we have a new leader of the opposition in sir keir starmer announced via e—mail this morning and then a video message from sir keir starmer, and we can play a chunk of it now.

it is the honour and the privilege of my life to be elected as leader of the labour party. it comes at a moment like none other in our lifetime. coronavirus has brought normal life to a halt. 0ur cities, our towns and our villages are silent, our roads deserted. public life has all but come to a standstill, and we are missing each other. people are frightened by the strangeness, anxious about what will happen next, and we have to remember that every number is a family shaken to its foundation, unable even to carry out the most poignant of ceremonies, a funeral, in the way that they would like. it reminds us of how precious life is but also how fragile. it reminds us of what really matters. our family, our friends, our relationships,

the love we have for one another, our health, our connections with those that we don't know. a greeting from a stranger. a kind word from a neighbour. these make up society, they remind us that we share our lives together. we have to trust one another and look after one another. sir keir has already spoken to the prime minister, boris johnson published a letter inviting leaders of the opposition to meet him next week, one assumes to discuss how the government is approaching this ongoing crisis and the extent to which the political parties can work together and sir keir has said, yes, as leader of the opposition, hisjob is to ask challenging questions of the government, but in the current

context he wishes the government well on behalf of the whole of the country. we should also mention that angela rayner has been elected as labour's deputy leader, and we expect to hear the full line—up of the shadow cabinet probably in the next 24—36 hours or so. the labour mp lisa nandy, who came third in the leadership contest, said it was time for the party to unite around its new leader. well, we have got to show real leadership out in the country. i think ourfront bench leadership out in the country. i think our front bench has leadership out in the country. i think ourfront bench has been leadership out in the country. i think our front bench has been doing a good job of that over the recent weeks, but we got to do two things. we've got to absolutely leave the divisions that characterised british politics behind, and we've got to step up and play our part in helping to resolve this national crisis. but we've also got to make sure that where there are tough questions that need to be asked, and whether government is getting it wrong, that we are unafraid to say so. and in

the conversations that i have had with the other leadership candidates, with keir starmer in particular, over the last few weeks, iam particular, over the last few weeks, i am absolutely convinced he will show that leadership at the top of the party. let's speak now to the labour mp jess phillips, who stood in the party's leadership contest. shejoins us from birmingham. well, are you going to be united around your new leader?” well, are you going to be united around your new leader? i mean, it is early days, but that seems that is early days, but that seems that is the way that everybody feels, it is the way that everybody feels, it is certainly the way that i feel, that we have got you, you know, especially in light of being part of a national crisis, being part of the solution to that national crisis, there is only one option, and that is for us all to get behind keir starmer and make the labour party both electable but also part of the solution to this crisis. yes, i wonder what form that might take. he stressed the need to be collaborative, to be constructive — what you think that will look

like? especially the with boris johnson. look, at the moment, i think any, sort of any old wounds have to be put aside on behalf of the country, who is bleeding collectively. i think that what it will have to look like is that it will be lots of support and genuine guiding principles about some things that, in tory seats, maybe they are not seeing as much as we might be seeing and classically labour seats, some of that intelligence in helping to a better solution. but it will also be about talking about some of the things they are getting wrong, but asa things they are getting wrong, but as a critical friend. things they are getting wrong, but as a criticalfriend. currently, there is a huge amount of intelligence about the lack of ppe, for example, in the nhs, but also in social care, social care still seems to be playing second fiddle, and the labour party will absolutely have a role in making sure that boris

johnson is considering all of those things with the same weight that he might be thinking of other areas. we will pick up on some of those points, but about social care, i am just wondering what you are hearing in terms of your sense from your own constituents in that regard, the challenges that they are facing in the current climate. well, yesterday, i had to arrange for schools in my constituency who are not currently open to full capacity to get together and get, essentially, thrown together ppe for the care homes in my constituency. they had no eye protectors, so brilliantly one of our local schools provided that, but it shouldn't be me calling around to different public sector departments — there needs to be a much, much greater coordination. no—one criticises the fa ct coordination. no—one criticises the fact that we didn't know this was going to happen and things are a little bit amorphous. however, it

shouldn't be that the local school is giving out science goggles to the local care homes. part of the problem is moving people out of hospital so that we can free up beds in hospitalfor hospital so that we can free up beds in hospital for those who critically need them, but without proper testing facilities in our care homes oi’ testing facilities in our care homes or our care facilities, they are endangering other people by taking them there, and it seems like a huge amount of this hasn't been thought through properly. no, and picking up on that point, we have been told that there were preparations in place, there have been pandemic preparations, but also from january, so one does have to wonder about ppe, andi so one does have to wonder about ppe, and i going to be plenty of tough questions that sir keir will have to be asking at this time, constructive though he may well want to be. i think that is absolutely right, but any prime minister in the situation who didn't want to hear that, now boris johnson, situation who didn't want to hear that, now borisjohnson, he is many things, but i don't think even he would claim to know exactly what it is like for all the different parts of our country. he should want

to be welcoming that level of criticism — a critique, rather than a criticism — that make sure he can get this right. i often say that, you know, i will dance with the devil to make women and children safer, and if that means alliances with people i would not classically have alliances with, then so be it, and that is what boris johnson and with, then so be it, and that is what borisjohnson and keir starmer will have to think in this process, is the outcome that matters, and the outcome here is keeping people safe, making people feel confident, keeping our economy afloat, and making sure we know what it looks like coming out the other side of this. and what will sir keir look like as a leader? what kind of leader will he make? well, you know, keir starmer, i think, leader will he make? well, you know, keir starmer, ithink, has leader will he make? well, you know, keir starmer, i think, has a leader will he make? well, you know, keir starmer, ithink, has a huge amount of experience of leading big organisations, he has been a very senior civil servant, so he understands whitehall and how it might work. what i really, really

hope from keir starmer is that the tea m hope from keir starmer is that the team that he built around himself is as broad as possibly can be to reach the parts of the country that the labour party is currently not reaching, whether that is places in the south, where we have never won before, or places in the north which we need to win back. but i think that keir starmer will be a fair leader, and he has to be given a chance — i think he has got quite a short space of time to basically make his mark about what sort of leader he is going to be and whether he can show how he really is in charge, so that people feel confident to follow, but i think that he can do it. he has already apologised for the strain of anti—semitism, as he put it, that has tainted labour in recent years. and that is vitally important to apologise, and that apology matters to lots and lots of thejewish community, but not just to lots and lots of thejewish community, but notjust thejewish community, but notjust thejewish community —— those of us who have found ina community —— those of us who have found in a labourfamily that it

community —— those of us who have found in a labour family that it was a total shame and embarrassment, what has happened over the past couple of years. it is the right thing to do. sometimes the bravest and the best way to lead us to admit when you are wrong. just a quick one, how are you and the family coping with your own isolation? good days and bad days is what i would say, my children are teenagers, and so that makes it considerably easier for them to sort of self—guide their learning, iam for them to sort of self—guide their learning, i am a terrible teacher, it turns out, i lasted one day of home—schooling before i realised it was a profession that should be paid considerably more than it currently is. but there are days when i feel very sad and isolated and i miss my family and my friends, and going to westminster even, i never thoughti would say that! but westminster even, i never thought! would say that! but there are other days when we are just grateful for what we have got and that we are coping all right. but it is up and down, as it will be for everyone. good to see you, jess phillips, thank you so much forjoining us,

thank you so much forjoining us, thank you. across the uk hospitals are pulling together rapid strategies to cope with a surge in covid—i9 cases. the luton and dunstable university hospital in bedfordshire has turned operating theatres and recovery rooms into intensive care facilities to increase its capacity to treat critically ill patients, as jon ironmonger reports. this is what an epidemic does to a hospital. there are no outpatients or visitors and fewer staff members. the battle now is with covid—i9 — managing symptoms, stopping the spread. to that end, a&e has become a hot zone, where all patients are treated as silent carriers, while the real work takes place in intensive care. you need to be on full protection equipment, and then, once you go in, you will be staying there for about four, five, six hours, as long as it needs for your patients to be stable, then we can take a step back. it is very daunting, it is very challenging, but so far my staff are doing a wonderfuljob.

with routine operations cancelled, resources can be diverted. this unit, for treating heart—attack patients, has become a storage room to free up space, so that this ward for the elderly can become an icu. we talk a lot about the front line in the fight against coronavirus, but this is about as close as you're going to get to it. beyond that is the hot zone, the infected area of this hospital, where covid—i9 patients are being treated and isolated. anybody who goes beyond this line needs to be in full protective gear. capacity is key. more beds with ventilators. previously, the hospital could treat seven patients in intensive care. when this unit comes online, it will be 46. so have they done enough? we can get plenty of beds and ventilators, what we can't get is the staff that are skilled to look after those patients. that really is the rate—limiting factor, our skill mix and our staff availability.

i don't think anybody could ever have imagined just what this would be like. i am fearful for the future, because i don't know what the future looks like, and i don't know how long this will go on for. at current rates, we can do this. at increased rates, we could probably do this. but at vastly increased numbers of sick patients, and if the supply chain fails or stocks go down, then that's what i am fearful for. what is the single most important message you would give to people to try and relieve the pressure on you and your staff? there is no cure for this disease. this is not a virus that we can give antibiotics, medicines, anything to make it go away. we can keep you alive using the technology and the equipment until your body gets over it, but we can't fix the virus. but the general public, you can fix the virus. you can stay at home, stay indoors and don't spread it. if nothing helps, do not spread

it. under mounting pressure, staff here are coping, just about, but they continue to rely on people staying at home. jon ironmonger, bbc news. they're used to selling to pubs, restaurants and school kitchens, but wholesalers are now helping to feed the family, after the coronavirus closed the door to the hospitality industry. some suppliers are also providing hundreds of thousands of food parcels for elderly and vulnerable people. our business correspondent emma simpson reports. it's not your usual weekly shop. this is a new drive through click and collect service at a food warehouse in essex. i am shopping for my extended family, so i am getting for myself and my sisters, and i will split up and job to them. i am a teacher, so i am out and about, but i prefer not to be in the shops, so this has been a great help. my daughter lives on tomato sauce. she hasjust come

back from university, and i have realised what she has been eating. just some things for baking. you can say that again — here's his box of eggs. it is fascinating to see what some people are stocking up on, the most popular items, pasta, flour, big beans and tomato ketchup. supermarkets are struggling to stop basic items, but there is plenty of food here. most of the food at this depot is super—sized from tins of beans to bags of pasta. wholesalers generally do not sell direct to consumers, but since the service provider lost 40% of its orders overnight, it then switched its business model to sell direct to to local communities instead. it is a no—brainer, we saw the pressure on the supermarkets and the vulnerability of the community, so we turned on the click and collect to help service those individuals. that includes

government emergency food parcels. they could soon be making 250,000 deliveries a week from across their uk depots. here's another business which has cooked up another way of working. this catering company would normally have 25 chefs on deck live to downing street where michael gove is about to speak in today's press briefing. good afternoon, welcome and thank you forjoining us for our daily briefing. i'm joined by stephen powers, medical director of nhs england. i'd like to update you first on the facts about the spread of the coronavirus. then i will outline why it is so critical that we continue to observe the rules on social distancing. —— stephen powis. i will explain what we are doing to increase the capacity of the nhs

to deal with this disease. and finally i want to say something about how we can all work together to defeat this invisible enemy. first, the facts as they stand today. as of 9am today, a total of 183,190 people have been tested, of which 41,903 tested positive. 15,073 people in england have been admitted to hospital with covid—19 symptoms. but the pattern of hospital admissions in england and wales has regional differences. in london, the number of admissions fell slightly between the first and 2nd of april, admissions are steady in wales. but in yorkshire and the north—east they have gone up by 35% and in the midlands the rate of hospital admissions has gone up by 4796. hospital admissions has gone up by 47%. 708 people have sadly lost their lives as a result of covid—19, their lives as a result of covid—19, the highest daily total yet

recorded. and that means that of those hospitalised in the uk, the number who have passed away now totals 4313. those numbers emphasise again the importance of maintaining social distancing measures to halt the spread of the disease. more than ever, we must stick with it, as the prime minister said in his video message. i know that life under lockdown can be challenging and some will be tempted on this sunny weekend to venture out and about. but as the health secretary underlined yesterday, if we relax our adherence to the rules, we increase the risk for others. that's why it is so important to stay at home, to protect the nhs and to save lives. we need to think of those on the front line and the sacrifices that they are making for us. as the chief nursing 0fficerfor england reminded us yesterday, ruth may asked us to remember those nhs

nurses who died after contracting covid—19, areema nasreen who was 36 and aimee o'rourke aged 39, each had three young children. they died while doing everything they could to help the sick and the suffering. we can all based on them by playing our pa rt can all based on them by playing our part in fighting the disease by staying at home and slowing the spread. several health care professionals have now lost their lives to covid—19 and we offer our heartfelt condolences to their grieving families, and to the many others mourning the loss of loved ones. they include the family of ishmail her mohammed who died in king's college in london. his mother and siblings are showing symptoms of the virus and they were unable to say theirfinal the virus and they were unable to say their final goodbyes at his funeral. in their despair the levelling dignified tributes from ishmail‘s parents are truly haunting. 0ur ishmail‘s parents are truly haunting. our thoughts are with the

five—year—old child with underlying health conditions who has tragically died. so again, you must stay at home to protect the nhs and to save lives. whatever the temptations this weekend, please don't go outside to visit the lakes, the beaches and the countryside. take pride instead in keeping your own families and communities safe. the more we restrict contact, the more we slow the spread of the infection, the more time we have to build capacity in the nhs so that we can treat those who are most in need. i want to outline how we are increasing nhs capacity. yesterday we were grateful to his royal highness the prince of wales, himself recently recovered from coronavirus, for opening the brand—new nightingale hospital in east london, testament to brilliant teamwork and determined leadership from the nhs. two weeks of hard work have transformed a convention hall into a fully functional field hospital that can treat 500 covid—19

patients on ventilators or through oxygenation. new nightingale hospitals are due to be built in birmingham, bristol, cardiff, belfast, glasgow, harrogate and manchester. and given that we know that the midlands are a particular area of concern, the nhs and military are accelerating their existing work to transform the national exhibition centre in birmingham intoa national exhibition centre in birmingham into a 2000 bed nightingale hospital. i have spoken to the mayor of the west midlands andy street earlier today and he is doing all he can with the nhs to accelerate that work. a critical pa rt accelerate that work. a critical part of ensuring the nhs‘s resilience is improving the testing of staff. 10,984 tests were administered yesterday and is the health secretary outlined on thursday we have a strategy to increase that number to 100,000 a day. testing is a critical part of the clinical path that we all follow in seeking to reduce the impact of covid—19. but the next vital step is appropriate pharmaceutical treatment. that is why as the

health secretary explained clinical trials are now taking place to see of antivirals which have helped in the fight against hiv and antimalarial medicines such as hydroxychloroquine can reliably reduce the harm back coronavirus inflicts. the next stage in the clinical pathway is ensuring those patients with impaired lung function is get the oxygen they need and this is where ventilation comes in. we have been working to increase ventilator capacity across the nhs. ventilation can be noninvasive and invasive. defective noninvasive ventilation can ensure patients do not need to be placed on invasive ventilators where they are intubated and supported to breathe with machinery which takes oxygen direct into their lungs. we have secured new noninvasive capacity with the help of uk manufacturers who have worked at a pace to develop new technologies. a team from university couege technologies. a team from university college london working with mercedes—benz have produced a new device which has been clinically

approved. they have produced 250 yesterday, they will produce the same number today and tomorrow, rising to 1000 a day next week. we are also increasing the capacity of the nhs to deploy invasive ventilation. we have been buying invasive ventilators from partners abroad including germany and switzerland and today 300 new ventilators arrived from china. i'd like to thank the chinese government for their support in securing that capacity. we have developed new sources of supply in the uk with existing and modified models being made in greater numbers and new models designed to come on stream soon. the first models which have been scaled up as part of the ventilator challenge will be coming of production lines this weekend. more are to come into operation in the coming weeks are subject to safety a nd the coming weeks are subject to safety and regulatory approvals as pa rt safety and regulatory approvals as part of the prime minister's call to manufacturers to scale up production. increasing this production. increasing this production has involved securing supplies of critical

components from lithium iron batteries to flow regulators from across the globe to assemble here. the first of the ventilators the government has ordered from penryn, medical devices company based in 0xfordshire, will begin arriving in hospitals this week forfinal clinical begin arriving in hospitals this week for final clinical checks and week for final clinical checks and we are grateful to the mod personnel who are delivering them, as we are to all the companies who have devoted time, staff and resources to fighting covid—19. the first devices from smiths group have also been received at mod donington, a military logistics hub in shropshire and have been approved by the regulator. the initial dispatch is the result of scaled up manufacturing of an existing mechanical ventilator design and we are grateful for the efforts of an industry consortium including gkn aerospace and rolls—royce. these ventilators will be distributed to hospitals this week, and next week uk production of another ventilator device from the companies die medic and plexus will start in their factory in kelso in scotland. the

design is based on an existing model already in use in the nhs. the more ventilators, invasive and noninvasive, available to the nhs, the more patients can get the care they need when they need it. but the process of design, testing and assembly and manufacture does take time. we need to make sure that these devices are safe and there manufacture scalable. the challenge in increasing numbers is formidable which is why the engineers, designers and civil servants involved in this work is so impressive. but you don't need to be a scientist or engineer to be helpful. all you need to is to observe the social distancing guidelines that have been put in place. the more we all stay at home and slow the spread of the disease, the more time we buy from more ventilators to come on stream and for the nhs to become more resilient. finally, iwant for the nhs to become more resilient. finally, i want to turn to the way in which all parts of our country are coming together to fight this invisible enemy. teachers have

kept schools open for those who need them. parents have kept their children at home wherever possible. so we enter the easter holiday weeks with school attendance having been around just 2%, ensuring that the most vulnerable can be cared for. for children eligible for free school meals vouchers will be available over the holidays to support household incomes. but i'm conscious that more must be done, particularly over the holiday period, to support children at risk and in need and we will be seeing more next week about work in this area. i also recognise that we are asking a lot of the british people and we in government therefore have and we in government therefore have a responsibility to communicate as clearly as possible clear, factual, timely information and an honest assessment of the difficulties that we all face. as well as proper recognition of the achievements of those on the front line who are doing so much to fight this disease. adapting to this pandemic has meant

developing guidance, implementing new policies and coordinating effo rts new policies and coordinating efforts across government at an unprecedented pace. inevitably, there has therefore been criticism of some government actions. i recognise that that criticism has been designed to challenge government's performance and improve our response, which is why i welcome it. even as we unite in our efforts to defeat the virus, we must also recognise that robust scrutiny is to be welcomed. it is the duty of the media, which is why we are acting to both share robust information and support our media by investing more in our government information campaign, which is being disseminated through the national media and local newspapers and radio. we will share essential health advice and information on the support packages available from the chancellor for workers and businesses. we will share details of how you can help to volunteer to support our nhs or help the vulnerable, and also how you can

help our great british farmers by buying more locally grown products. we will also list other ways in which you can join the national effort against the coronavirus. we are also using social media, in particular to reach young people, some of whom have been more relu cta nt some of whom have been more reluctant than others to follow social distancing rules. and in this united national effort where we need both constructive challenge and shared of national endeavour, we wa nt to shared of national endeavour, we want to make sure that we all work collaboratively to help defeat the virus. that's why we have been coordinating dating with our collea g u es coordinating dating with our colleagues in the devolved administrations. i spoke yesterday to my friends in the trade union movement, frances 0'grady and len mccluskey, and why the prime minister has written today are the leaders of all opposition parties, including the new leader of the labour party, sir keir starmer. i'd like to congratulate sir keir on his victory and wish him well on his important role. i would also like to emphasise once more that all of us can do our bit this weekend in

that united national effort by staying at home, protecting the nhs and saving lives. and now i will hand over to steve. thank you very much. as you all now know, the key to getting on top, to beating this virus, is to reduce contact with each other, to stay at home and to stop the spread of the virus. and this afternoon we are continuing to see people adhering to those instructions, transport use, in particular public transport use, in particular public transport use, in particular public transport use remains extremely low and it is absolutely critical, as you have just heard, that everybody follows those instructions. so, the son might be out but that doesn't mean that you should be out. we all need to make sure that we resist the temptation, whatever the weather, to disregard the instructions that are so disregard the instructions that are so clear. — — disregard the instructions that are so clear. —— the sun. we need to stop social contact, reduce social

contact, stop transmission, and reduce the spread of the virus. and by doing that we will start to protect the nhs and to save lives. and as the next chart shows, the new cases in the uk have continued to rise. but in the last few days they have stabilised. it is really important, as! have stabilised. it is really important, as i have said before, not to read too much into a day or a few days' data, but if we do reduce social contact we know from the scientific evidence, we know from the experience of other countries, that will you will see a reduction in infection rates. a reduction in infection rates, is the next chart shows, means a reduction in hospitalisation rates. for the vast majority of people this is a mild or moderate illness, a bit like a cold or moderate illness, a bit like a cold ora moderate illness, a bit like a cold ora flu, moderate illness, a bit like a cold or a flu, but for a small number of people it does mean that the symptoms are severe enough to require hospitalisation. it will be a week or two before the measures

that are put in place translate into lower hospitalisation rates. but as you can see in london in the last few days, there has been a bit of a plateauing in terms of numbers. in other parts of the country, as you have just heard, hospitalisations are still going up, so this is not the time to be complacent and to ta ke the time to be complacent and to take our foot off the pedal. we need to continue to comply with those instructions because that will translate in the next week or two into a reduction of hospital admissions. and of course, finally, as the next chart shows, unfortunately, and with great sadness, the number of deaths continues to be high. and as i and others have said, unfortunately, thatis others have said, unfortunately, that is likely to continue over the next week or two until we get on top and stop this virus. and by doing that, we will see a reduction in the numberof that, we will see a reduction in the number of deaths. thank you very much, we will now turn to our colleagues in the media for some questions, and first

of all itv. hi, this is a question for you, michael girl. professor neil ferguson, a leading scientist advising the government has warned that covid—19 infection rate in the uk could remain high for weeks and weeks. the weather is nice this weekend, people will be tempted to go out, people will go out. what is the government planning to do to make sure that people stay at home? because some people watching this broadcast will be asking if words are enough. well, thank you very much for your question. i hope that iand much for your question. i hope that i and certainly steve have been clear. when we look at the death rate, the number of increase in fatalities and the pressure on our nhs, everyone has to ask themselves the question, what am i doing in order to relieve pressure on the nhs? how am i helping in

this shared national effort. we all have relatives and loved ones who are at risk as a result of the spread of the disease. if we want them to be spread on the nhs to be as resilient as possible, that means observing these guidelines. i know that lockdown is challenging, very difficult, particularly for families with children, it is a challenge, but people must, you know, at every stage, respect these guidelines, because it is the only way of making sure we restrict the spread of the disease. and of course there are provisions in place if people deliberately flout these guidelines, the police have instructions to engage, to explain, to encourage and if necessary to enforce the rules, but it is vital that all of us recognise that if we weigh up an hour or two outside against the lives of those we love and the lives of those on the nhs front line, then

it should be clear, i hope to all, that we should follow the advice. steve, anything you want to say? yes, my colleagues and friends working on the nhs front line would plead with every member of the 00:49:13,754 --> 1073741526:25:17,673 public 1073741526:25:17,673 --> 2147483052:01:21,592 to 2147483052:01:21,592 --> 3221224577:37:25,512 follow 3221224577:37:25,512 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 the