this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. i'm rebecca jones. the uk government urges people to stay at home as the death toll from coronavirus in the uk rises by 700, including a five—year—old boy. our thoughts today are also with the family of the five—year—old child with underlying health conditions who's tragically died. so again, you must stay at home to protect the nhs and to save lives. as china delivers 300 ventilators to nhs hospitals, the strain shows on front line hospital staff. it feels like a losing battle, but it's not because we've all got hope and we're all trying too.

we're all trying to do what we can. spain records its lowest number of deaths this week, as the government says the crisis might be reaching its peak there. new york, the epicentre of america's outbreak, suffers its worst day as 630 deaths are recorded in the past 2a hours. sir keir starmer becomes labour leader and promises to work with the government to tackle the coronavirus crisis. under my leadership, we will engage constructively with the government. not opposition for opposition's sake, not scoring party political points or making impossible demands. and making a mountain of the lockdown — the man who climbed the equivalent of everest at home for charity.

hello and welcome to audiences in the uk and around the world for all the latest developments in the coronavirus pandemic. as the weather heats up across europe, the authorities are ramping up efforts to keep people at home to help fight the spread of the disease. meanwhile, a five—year—old has become the youngest person in the uk to die with coronavirus. the cabinet office minister, michael gove said it appeared people were adhering to social distancing guidelines to stay inside this weekend. mr gove said seven health care workers have now lost their lives in the uk, fighting the virus. to help the nhs, mr gove said hundreds of new ventilators are being produced every day, with many more being sourced from abroad, including 300 from china.

the spanish prime minister, pedro sanchez said the country was ‘close to passing the peak‘ of the virus as the daily death toll fell to its lowest level in a week in italy. the number of new coronavirus cases is stabilising with fewer people being admitted to intensive care. but in the united states, a record 630 have died in new york state from covid—19 in the last day. here in the uk, the department of health has confirmed that 4,313 have now died after contracting coronavirus, but there are suggestions that the spread of the infection is slowing. 0ur science correspondent pallab ghosh reports. brighton beach would normally be packed on a day like this, but gci’oss packed on a day like this, but across the country it seems that most people are following the

government's instruction to stay at home. the police have been told to engage with those they suspect are breaching the guidelines like these people having a barbecue. they advised them to return home. the message was underlined this afternoon, at the downing street daily press briefing. afternoon, at the downing street daily press briefingli afternoon, at the downing street daily press briefing. i know life under lockdown to 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 oui’ underlined yesterday, if we relax our adherence to the rules, we increase the risk for others. that's why it's so important to stay at home, to protect the nhs and to save lives. the latest projections indicate that if people continue to stay at home, the increase in cases could begin to slow down in seven to ten days' time and then plateau. i'd also like to ask whether we should ta ke also like to ask whether we should take any hard work to —— whatsoever

from the hospital and mentions in some parts of the country. the measures put in place, everybody‘s compliance is reducing transmission will over a number of days and weeks start to be reflected. the benefit will be reflected. first in the reduction of infections, then in a reduction of infections, then in a reduction of infections, then in a reduction of hospitalization, then finally a reduction in deaths. so yes, there is reason to be hopeful. watford general hospital has declared a critical incident and told patients apart to those about told patients apart to those about to give birth to stay away. the hospital trust has not said what has prompted this, but i thought there are several boards for coronavirus patients which is placing significant strain on its resources. 0verall, hospitals currently have the capacity to deal with expected surges and cases. doctors morn they could be overwhelmed if people don't follow the government's advice. we

can keep you alive using the technology and equipment until your body gets over it, but we can't fix the virus. 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. if nothing else, do not spread it. the number of cases and deaths are it. the number of cases and deaths a re protected to it. the number of cases and deaths are protected to rise —— projected to rise before they plateau. the news “— to rise before they plateau. the news —— experts believe in the number of tragedies could be kept to a minimum if we all play our part and continue to stay at home. with me now is our political correspondent chris mason. i'm interested in what you made of today's government briefing. it seemed to me to be this repeated demand to stay—at—home and save lives. yeah, i think that was the

consistent theme, running through every contribution we heard in the presentations from stephen paris from the health body for public health england and also from michael glover. in all of the answers to the questions that came from reporters —— michael gove. we're now two weeks into this locked down and yet of course, we are seeing as was expected by the scientist, an increase in the daily death toll. when you look at those two things in isolation, you think, hang on, what's the point of the lockdown if the death toll is going up? the crucial detail everyone keeps returning to is the lag that it ta kes a returning to is the lag that it takes a period of a couple weeks to for somebody to be infected to show symptoms and for a small proportion of those people to end up in hospital and there's a period after that before they can find themselves requiring ventilation or perhaps dying. so it's only in the next few days or the next week that we'll get

some proper sense of what the actual impact of the restrictions is being on the number of people who are testing positive for the virus and the number who are ending up in hospital. of course it's that statistic that is absolutely key. the whole point of social distancing is to drive down the number of people who are presenting at hospital at the same time of the virus because it's all about ensuring that number is below nhs capacity. i think that was the consistent theme. i think we will hear it again and again. we heard it from the health secretary yesterday. there'll be another briefing tomorrow. as we head into easter, a likelihood it might be better weather. 0bviously likelihood it might be better weather. obviously the desire from scientists and politicians for people to stick to social distancing guidelines. we will come back to this again and again and again. one thing i thought was very striking today following these headlines around 5g phone communications and

the virus and all sorts of nonsense, frankly, being talked about on social media and aerated by celebrities. both michael gove and professor stephen paris could not be more robust and talking about what nonsense it was paris described it as rubbish, the worst kind of face news “— as rubbish, the worst kind of face news —— fake news. he said he was disgusted and outraged. people in birmingham and merseyside are resorting to burning phone mass downs. that was striking, i agree. ina downs. that was striking, i agree. in a development in the last hour, there's been a tweet from boris johnson's fiance. what did she say? she tweeted that she spent the last week in bed with symptoms of coronavirus. you might remember that carrie symonds is pregnant. she do to have her first baby with boris johnson in early summer and she

added to that first week saying being pregnant with covid—i9 is obviously worrying to other pregnant women, please follow the most up—to—date guidance. she tweeted a link to some respected medical guidance around how pregnant women should approach trying to social distance. that is the advice for those in the tail end of a pregnancy to try and minimise the lightning could —— likelihood they could catch the virus. she has been suffering with the symptoms, she hasn't been tested so we don't know for certain she has it. her boyfriend the prime minister has been in self isolation andi minister has been in self isolation and i can tell you he is still in self isolation. suffering temperature. the guidance is remind —— he is remaining in his flat in downing street until that goes away. we know we spoke by telephone with

starmer but both mr and his girlfriend both suffering from the symptoms of coronavirus and i both beenin symptoms of coronavirus and i both been in their own way struggling with it. it's clearly not been easy for carrie symonds. good to talk to you chris. thank you. in spain, the prime minister has said the country is "close to passing the peak of infections" as the number of coronavirus deaths fell for the second day in a row. but pedro sanchez also extended lockdown measures until 25 april, saying the restrictions were "saving lives". the toll of 809 deaths in one day, is the lowest in spain for a week. jon 0choa de eribe is a virologist and scientist at the center of astrobiology in madrid. hejoins me now. we're very grateful

to you. to pick up on the comments of the spanish prime minister, who said the country was close to passing its peak of the virus, do you agree? well i think the president is actually very positive. we still have to see whether this is a peak. i am we still have to see whether this is a peak. lam not so we still have to see whether this is a peak. i am not so confident that we have still —— that we are passing the peak at the moment. we might be reaching it but i think the next week, we will be able to see whether this is the actual peak or not. why are you being cautious? why are you not so confident? the results of today are the negligent actions of the past. the lockdown was being made on the 14th of march and we did not take it very seriously. that weekend, people are still going out to the countryside, people are having beers, going to the coast and

beast is, so now we are still seeing the infections of those negligent actions from the beginning of the lockdown. —— going to beaches. we still need at least i think one more week to be able to determine whether the effects are being controlled or not. that's interesting. why hasn't spain been hit so hard by the virus? —— why has spain. i think mainly for two reasons. the first reason is that spain is a big hub in communication and transport so we have a lot of tourists, a lot of people coming through district humphreys —— different countries. this means spain is very, very connected to the rest of the world. but mainly it's because since the first outbreak, the first person that was announced to be infected,

that was announced to be infected, that was announced to be infected, that was on the 31st in january on the canary islands. it took us a very long time to start the lockdown, so this meant the virus had already been spread widely through the population. had already been spread widely through the populationlj had already been spread widely through the population. i think you've been observing viruses for several years, haven't you? you've been observing viruses for severalyears, haven't you? ijust wondered how much of a surprise was this outbreak? in fact, the scientists have been already warning for the past 17 years that this could be a possibility and it was bound to come. in fact, viral dumps are recurrent in nature and in the planet. —— jumps. there are about 109 million different viruses on the planet. 219 viral species infect humans and there is around 55 that

have the potential of being potentially epidemic. so there are big chances of encountering new viruses that are epidemic and potential and from the initial sars outbreak of 2003, we have been warning that this could be very easy, especially with the climate change and constant increasing human pressure and nature. we're just now taking it very seriously. sadly we have to leave it there but really good to talk to you. thank you. thank you and we still love you, uk, ta ke thank you and we still love you, uk, take care. that's good of you, thank you. the number of new coronavirus cases in italy is stabilising, and fewer people are being admitted to intensive care. but authorities fear this could give

people a false sense of security, with many now asking the government to relax the lockdown restrictions. italy's reported daily deaths have now fallen below the uk's. authorities say 681 people have died since yesterday. jean mackenzie has more from rome. a slice of normal, local market reopening for the first weekend since italy's lockdown began. albeit with some caveats. do you think this is a? there are very few people. everything is under control, its 0k. what difference does it make having the market open again?m seems normal. but things are not

normal. italy may have reached the peak of its epidemic. the country is still on strict lockdown. as the infections plateau and even start to decrease, and the weather keeps improving, its decrease, and the weather keeps improving, it's gotta be a real challenge for authorities to convince people to stay indoors and play the long game. because the lockdown is working, they say, just look to the north. finally the hospitals are starting to see progress. this is the first time in weeks where in that work any more. we are still working following that, they are serious and critical, but we can now cope with it. it is a relief. from a rooftop in rome, this serenade has become a nightly affair. people leave their homes just for a few minutes while police look the other way. the sound of

hope returning. jean mackenzie, bbc news, rome. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, but nothings happening in the world of sport, is it? normally it is one of the highlights of the british horse racing calendar but this year it was virtual after the real race was cancelled due to the real race was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. it was potter's corner that took first place. they beat runner—up in —— finishing third in the race stimulated through the use of computer imageries. makers were taking bets and profits going to the national health service. players

have been told that the english premier league but did —— faces a penalty if the season is not finished and broadcasters demands refunds for matters not on other platforms. the break is led to burnley. that's a loss of matchday revenue worth £5million money that would still be lost if the league resumes behind closed doors as well as a £a5million deficit in broadcasting revenue. league leaders liverpool are to place some non—playing staff on temporary leave. the furlough will mean they get 80% of their salary through the uk government's coronovirus job retention scheme, with the club topping up the remainder, so staff receive full pay.... newcastle, tottenham, bournemouth and norwich have also placed some non—playing staff on furlough. the belgian football association says it is working with uefa to find a "constructive" solution over how to end the season. on thursday, the belgian pro league became the first in europe to recommend that the season

be declared finished. that would mean that club brugges — seen here — would be declared champions with the current league table set to stand. uefa though has warned that "abandoning domestic competitions at this stage is "premature and not justified". it's also threatened to ban teams from european competitions next season, if they don't complete the campaign. and stephen kenny is to succeed mick mccarthy, as republic of ireland manager with immediate effect. the football association of ireland made the announcment on saturday. mccarthy was set to be replaced by kenny after euro 2020, but the postponement of the tournament until next year has accelerated the fai plan. the former dundalk manager's first match in charge will be a european championships play—off semi—final against slovakia. that's all the sport for now. speaking at the uk government's briefing earlier, the medical director of nhs england said that there was still capacity in the health service. posting on social media earlier today, one nurse who works in basildon in essex,

said that staff there were doing all they can. people are appreciating what we're doing, that we are staying away from ourfamilies doing, that we are staying away from our families and putting doing, that we are staying away from ourfamilies and putting ourselves in danger. it's to try and save other people's love ones. it feels like a losing battle, but it's not because we've all got hope and we're all trying to do what we can. we are a lwa ys all trying to do what we can. we are always ‘s sticking together. i'm very positive and i'm saying, guys, you should be so proud of yourselves because you are coming in and we are, we've never done this before. we've never been in the situation before. we are just turning up and we arejust doing before. we are just turning up and we are just doing what we can. new york state has

suffered its biggest one—dayjump in coronavirus deaths so far. the state's governor, andrew cuomo, reported 630 new deaths, bringing the total to just over 3,500. the number of cases now stands at more than 113,000, just over half of them in new york city. new york is the worst—affected part of the united states. the city alone has nearly as many cases as italy, which has recorded more deaths than any other country. mr cuomo warned that the worst was yet to come. so we're not yet at the apex. part of me would like to be at the apex and just... let's do it. but there's part of me that says it's good that we're not at the apex because we're not yet ready for the apex either. we're not yet ready for the high point. we're still working on the capacity of the system. the more time we have two improve the capacity of the system the better,

and the capacity of the health care system, beds, baths, equipment. sir keir starmer has vowed to lead labour "into a new era" after a decisive victory to become the party's new leader. the former director of public prosecutions, who's only been an mp for five years, took 56% of the vote, defeating rebecca long—bailey and lisa nandy. sir keir‘s first task will be to respond to the coronavirus emergency and he has accepted an invitation to take part in briefings from next week. 0ur political editor laura kuenssberg reports. no eager crowd, no hush of anticipation. instead, the ping of anticipation. instead, the ping of an e—mail, the beep of the text. labour's new leader announced in lockdown. it is the honour and 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 toa coronavirus has brought normal life to a halt. under my leadership, we will engage constructively with the government, but we will test the arguments put forward. we will shine arguments put forward. we will shine a torch on critical issues. sir keir starmer was in charge of labour‘s brexit plan. what was ahead from the start of this long contest. a former lawyer, he is considered last left—wing with jeremy lawyer, he is considered last left—wing withjeremy koerber —— jeremy corbyn. today... he's cinched he's been described as sensible and steady but i also think he's very trustworthy and inspirational. mid

50s, wears a suit, but maybe that's what the party needs at this time. 50s, wears a suit, but maybe that's what the party needs at this timelj think his track record shows him to beafairand think his track record shows him to be a fair and determined person. i'm also confident that he will be an effective, incredible leader during this issue. to become prime minister infour this issue. to become prime minister in four years though, jeremy corbyn left behind fewer labour mps than any time since world war ii. the party shriveled in many areas. the new leader already given a grave apology to the jewish community after so many accusations of anti—semitism in the party. 0n so many fronts, there is a hugejob ahead. i understand the scale of the task. the gravity of the position we're in. we have a mountain to climb. that requires —— where that requires change, we will change. where that requires us to rethink,

we will rethink. ultimately labour needs to win the wider world, but after so much bitterness inside there are wounds to heal. in the strangest of times, many of the party hope this is a chance at a new normal. we laura kuenssberg, bbc news. you're watching bbc news. the coronavirus outbreak has disrupted everyday events for people all over the world. childbirth never comes without the risk of complication. all too often, mothers and newborns are separated for various health reasons and covid—19 is now increasing the risk of this happening. if a woman has the virus, they will automatically be taken to a different part of the hospital, away from their baby. 0ne hospital in ireland, has rushed in technology in order for a mother to keep in touch with their baby. i'm joined now by professor eugene dempsey from cork university maternity hospital. he is a consultant

neo—natologist there. thank you so much forjoining us, professor dempsey. before he move on to what you have been doing, ijust like to clarify one query i had in my mind. if a mother does have coronavirus, does she automatically pass that on to her baby? take you for having me on, rebecca. a really interesting and important question. the virus hasn't been identified in amniotic fluid or blood, nor in the dryness of creation so we're not certain about the transmission. it looks extremely unlikely although we have seen some case reports to date from wuhan suggesting it may occur. fascinating. tell us a little bit

more about the technology you're using. how does that work? we're using. how does that work? we're using a system which is a secure video messaging platform that allows clinical teams to take videos, photos and upload these along with m essa g es photos and upload these along with messages for the family when they are not present. unfortunately, in our own unit at present, we had to implement restrictions to our current visiting policy, so we only allow mums at the moment and u nfortu nately allow mums at the moment and unfortunately partners are not allowed at present. we felt this was necessary to do, really, to try and decrease the footfall to the hospital. also to be able to increase social distancing in our unitand increase social distancing in our unit and decrease the overall potential exposure the babies and

mums and the health care staff who are working in the neonatal unit. so the system itself is very straightforward. what it entails is when a baby is admitted to the neonatal unit, the mum will sign a consent form. administration will then send a link via e—mail to the mum and when she accepts the link, it generates a qr code. the qr code is central to the utilisation of the unit. so our nursing staff have been fantastic and have led this out, and the qr code assigns the pictures and videos to that individual e—mail account. so mum and dad get a ping whenever the video is transmitted and they can look at it from home. it may include messages to the

family such as "good night mum and dad," and in the morning they might receive a good morning message. lovely messages like that. professor dempsey, how many mothers and babies are currently separated at your hospital and what's been the reaction to this technology from those who've been able to make use of it? i guess right now we do not have any covid—19 positive mums so we're using it in our unit as a way of ensuring the dad ‘s and partners remain in contact with her baby. the response has been absolutely fantastic. we had a 100% acceptance rate. it allows families —— we had it in place for the last week or so and we had nothing but positive

feedback. in fact the only negative feedback