this is bbc news. the headlines... the prime minister borisjohnson says he is in good spirits after spending the night in hospital, ten days after being diagnosed with coronavirus. colleagues say he'll be back as soon as possible. i'm sure this is very frustrating for him, somebody like boris who wa nts to for him, somebody like boris who wants to be hands—on running the government from the front. but nonetheless, he is still very much in charge of the government. scotland's chief medical officer catherine calderwood resigns after making two trips to her second home during the lockdown. nicola sturgeon says the decison was made by mutual agreement. she made a mistake, she made a serious mistake. people are right to be angry about it. it was clear

yesterday she couldn't continue to be the face of public health advice campaigns. concerns that the sunny weather is making people linger longer outside than absolutely necessary when going to exercise. in spain, the pace of the country's coronavirus deaths slows again. the number each day there has been falling since a peak last week. a sharp spike in calls to a national helpline for victims of domestic violence, which experts link to the coronavirus restrictions. and a tiger and six other big cats at the bronx zoo in new york test positive for the coronavirus. it's thought the animals were infected by a zoo keeper.

borisjohnson says he is in "good spirits" after spending the night in hospital with coronavirus. the prime minister was taken to st thomas‘ hospital in london on sunday evening with "persistent symptoms" — including a temperature and a cough — for routine tests. he remains in charge of government, although foreign secretary dominic raab chaired today's coronavirus meeting. a short while ago, borisjohnson wrote on twitter, ‘i'm in good spirits and keeping in touch with my team, as we work together to fight this virus and keep everyone safe.‘ he also thanked the nhs staff taking care of him, saying they were the ‘best of britain'. scotland's first minister, nicola sturgeon, has said she came to a ‘firm view‘ that the country‘s chief medical officer should resign after they had a long conversation last night. dr catherine calderwood quit after it emerged that she‘d made two trips to her second home during the coronavirus lockdown, ignoring her own advice about avoiding unnecessary travel. the charity refuge says there‘s been

a 25% increase in calls to the national domestic abuse helpline since the coronavirus lockdown was introduced. there‘s also been a sharp rise in traffic to its website. the head of the un has urged governments to make the prevention of violence against women a key part of their response to the pandemic. and there‘s continued concern that the sunny weather is encouraging people to linger for longer in parks and outside of their homes than is absolutely necessary for the purpose of exercise. our first report this afternoon is from our political correspondent helen catt. this was the prime minister ten days ago. hi, folks, i want to bring you up to speed with something that is happening today. i have developed mild symptoms of the coronavirus. that is to say a temperature and persistent cough and on the advice of the chief medical officer, i have taken a test that has come out positive.

his symptoms have not gone away. and after more than a week of self isolating in downing street, with a brief appearance at the door of number 11 on thursday, he is now in a london hospital undergoing tests. he said last night he went in under doctor‘s advice. he has been working extremely hard leading the governance and being constantly updated. that is going to continue. obviously that he is in hospital having tests. but he will continue to be kept informed as to what is happening and to be in charge of the government, and as i say, i hope, that we all do, that he has a speedy recovery and get back to number ten and can take charge in the way he would want to. so it was the foreign secretary, dominic raab, that chaired the government‘s coronavirus meeting this morning. sir keir starmer, who became the new labour leader on saturday, has wished johnson a speedy recovery. as has the new shadow chancellor, although she too says

that work goes on. obviously i am concerned that we really need to make sure that the british parliament, the whole political system responds correctly to this unprecedented challenge. certainly from the economic side, i am aware of how much of so many businesses are really struggling and individuals as well. downing street has been keen to reassure people that borisjohnson‘s condition hasn‘t worsened, it‘s just hasn‘t improved. despite the reassurances, it is clear that borisjohnson has found it harder to shake off this virus than others. and the prime minister being admitted to hospital at this time, whatever the circumstances, is lively to prove unsettling. and there is an immediate impact. tomorrow‘s cabinet meeting has been postponed, although the daily covid—i9 meeting will still take place. our political correspondent jonathan blake

is at westminster... you suspect sympathy but also concerned. undoubtedly questions and concerned. undoubtedly questions and concern about how sustainable the situation of the prime minister being in hospital with what has been described by danny read as persistent symptoms of coronavirus and still being, we are told, in charge of the governance. we learnt very little more from a briefing this morning about the prime minister‘s condition and the reason specific lead that he was admitted to hospital. other than to say that he still has a temperature and a cough. he was able to speak to a doctor last night and the advice was that he be taken to hospital as a precaution to undergo tests. we don‘t know what those tests are and we are told he had a comfortable night in hospital at a hospital in central london and is in good spirits. in fact, central london and is in good spirits. infact, in central london and is in good spirits. in fact, in the last hour oi’ spirits. in fact, in the last hour orso, spirits. in fact, in the last hour or so, the prime minister himself has tweeted, we assume from his hospital bed, saying that on the

advice of his doctor, he went into hospital with some routine tests as he is still experiencing symptoms and says he is still in good spirits and says he is still in good spirits and keeping in touch with his team. he thanked workers from the nhs and urged people to follow the rules set out to slow the spread of the coronavirus. so it seems the prime minister is staying in hospitalfor the time being. whether that will end up being another night, we will have to wait and see. but we were told by downing street the foreign secretary in his capacity as foreign head of state, chaired the daily coronavirus ci’osscut head of state, chaired the daily coronavirus crosscut mental meeting this morning. it seems that the cabinet meeting will not be happening as planned tomorrow morning. other than that, asjohnson is in hospital getting papers for sign off and remains in charge. jonathan, many thanks.

pharmacists say they‘re being put at risk because of a lack of personal protective gear. they‘ve reported a surge in demand as patients visit pharmacies for advice. nhs england says millions of pieces of protective kit has been delivered. meanwhile there‘s continued concern that the sunny weather is encouraging people to linger longer in parks and out of their homes than is absolutely necessary for the purpose of exercise. our correspondent richard galpin reports. pharmacists are key health care professionals and playing a crucial role in this emergency. often the first port of call for people with coronavirus symptoms, and demand is increasing. but they say they are needlessly at risk as they don‘t have the right protective equipment to keep them safe. we are in my pharmacy at the moment... the owner of this south london pharmacy describes the makeshift measures they have had to put in place to reduce

the risk of infection. we were initiallyjust allowing three people in at a time and we had created these clear areas for patients to stand in so they could have the social distance between each other. we are now to a one—in one—out policy to keep it safe for everybody. what they really need is the proper masks, gloves and aprons. i'm very concerned that staff are not getting access to the ppe that was promised to them a week ago and i believe that most of our staff now are seeing regular people coming into the pharmacy. they are getting up close and personal. we have some perspex screens in some of our pharmacies, but that recognises the fact that our pharmacies need protection and our staff need protection. nhs england says that any issues with the supply of equipment should be raised via the dedicated hotline. meanwhile, the spell of warmer weather in many parts of the country at the weekend looks set to continue for much of this week.

there will be more concerns about people ignoring the government‘s instructions on social distancing. already more parks have closed and there are threats of tougher measures. the vast majority of people are adhering to the guidelines, compliance is very high. please, the small minority of people who are not doing so, don‘t spoil things for every body else. the lockdown measures, which have emptied our streets and shut down our economy, are due to be reviewed next week. they have been hints some measures could be lifted by the end of may if infections decrease sufficiently. but as for fully getting out of the lockdown, experts say that exit strategy is still a work in progress. the precise strategy has not yet been formulated. it will be in the next week or two, it is the highest priority of, i would say, the whole scientific

and medical community in this country and many countries. and of course, of the policy community. other countries are also planning to easy lockdown. today, austria has announced that due to a big drop in the rate of infections, some small shops could reopen in a weak‘s time. scotland‘s first minister, nicola sturgeon, has told the bbc it was her view that the government‘s chief medical officer, catherine calderwood, had to resign after breaching the terms of the coronavirus lockdown. dr calderwood admitted twice making non—essential journeys to visit her second home. here‘s our correspondent james shaw. caught on camera visiting her holiday home in fife. scotland‘s chief medical officer, the public face of the campaign to slow the spread of the virus. this is a vital update about coronavirus. to help save lives, stay—at—home. it could hardly have been more embarrassing for ms calderwood and the first minister, nicola sturgeon.

at first, it looked as though the chief medical officer might hang onto herjob. then came the realisation of the huge damage that could be done to public confidence in the official advice to stay at home and save lives. i did hope that i could continue to call on her expertise, because, to be frank, in a situation like this at this particular moment in time, it is farfrom idealfor me as first minister not to have that continuity of advice. last night it became clear that the bigger risk was the damage it could be doing to the very important message the government is putting forward. even before her resignation, catherine calderwood said she was sorry and did not try to excuse her behaviour, even admitting to a earlier visit to fife. i have already issued a statement this morning apologising unreservedly for travelling away from my home whilst restrictions were in place. as well as this weekend, it is important to be clear that i also was there last weekend with my husband. i did not follow the advice

i am giving to others. i am truly sorry for that. opposition politicians have acknowledged the difficulty of the situation. politicians and senior civil servants need to lead by example and it is only with that example being set very clearly that people will observe the guidelines in place. the streets of scotland‘s cities remain quiet, but this is a challenging moment for the scottish governance. ——government. the central question, whether it will make a difference to compliance with the lockdown. in spain, deaths from the coronavirus have fallen for the fourth day running. the spanish health ministry says that 637 deaths have been recorded over the past 2a hours, the lowest number for nearly two weeks. spain is now planning to widen its coronavirus testing to include people without symptoms. it‘s seen as a first step to easing a lockdown in the country which has had the second highest number of deaths after italy.

spain‘s health ministry said the fall in the lastest figures was very encouraging. austria has announced it will ease some of its lockdown measures from next week. on the 14th of april if austrians keep to the restrictions over the easter week. according to offical figures, austria has now managed to flatten the curve in its fight against coronavirus. the headlines on bbc news... the prime minister borisjohnson says he is in good spirits after spending the night in hospital, ten days after being diagnosed with coronavirus. scotland‘s chief medical officer catherine calderwood resigns after making two trips to her second home during the lockdown. concerns that the sunny weather is making people linger longer outside than absolutely necessary when going to exercise. a national helpline for victims

of domestic violence has seen 25% increase in calls and online requests for help since the uk lockdown — that‘s according to the charity refuge. they say they had hundreds more calls last week compared to two weeks earlier. campaigners have warned the coronavirus restrictions could heighten domestic tensions and cut off escape routes for victims. tomos morgan reports. oh, it has been bad. it didn‘t care if i didn‘t wake up, like, from the night before. ijust knew, ijust knew what was going to happen then, the next day and the next day, ijust wanted the days to go past. it got worse and worse. tara told me she has been mentally and physically abused by her partner for six months. he deleted her social media accounts, stopped herfrom seeing family and controlled all aspects of her life and since having to isolate with him, things escalated. you must stay at home. recently things have been getting worse, since the lockdown as well. mentally abusive,

verbally, hitting me. just causing an argument, i had done nothing. and obviously if i fired back, just said something wrong, he would just hit me. new figures seen by the bbc give a picture of the potential consequence of lockdown for victims. the national domestic abuse helpline has seen a 25% increase in calls and online requests over the last week. refuge, the country‘s largest domestic abuse charity, who run the line, say there has also been a daily rise of 150% in people visiting the website. tara has now fled her abuser and is being supported a charity in wales, but charities and campaigners have expressed concern that those in violent relationships could be at serious risk as the lockdown continues. the homicide rate will go through the roof. you can‘t stop the perpetrator unless he is visible. rachel williams suffered violence

from her husband for 18 years. when she decided to leave, he shot her with a sawn off shotgun. she is now one of the country‘s main campaigners battling on behalf of those still suffering. we will never do enough until we eradicate domestic abuse and violence, end of. we have an epidemic at the moment in the uk, with a pandemic on top. the police are there for you and you must feel you can contact us and in emergency but also that you can seek advice from us, seek advice from us, so please, if you are in danger, or if your family are in danger, contact us on 999 and we will prioritise your call and we will support you and we will deal with this. speaking to me online from the safety of the refuge, tara told me that although things got worse for urgent isolation, it made her realise and pushed her to escape the relationship forever. i‘d been thinking about it for a long time. it can escalate from into an everyday thing and he has been getting more and more abusive. with me now is hera hussain, the founder of chayn,

a volunteer—led organisation that addresses gender—based violence. good afternoon. thank you for joining us on bbc news. a 25% increase in calls and online contact. increase in calls and online co nta ct. to increase in calls and online contact. to this national helpline. i think rather sadly you are not surprised by this. i am not. thank you for covering this because we have seen this happening in china, israel, other places. we were expecting it. we were often asked, shows the numbers and we are saying that we think that those numbers will show up soon and unfortunately now we know it is a grim, very grim situation and we all agree that we are all in the safety of our homes. they seem safe for us and we want to keep everybody else say. but actually the people in these situations, the home is the most u nsafe pla ce situations, the home is the most unsafe place for them to be. not just for them, but the children that we live in the property, the animals, intergenerational homes,

everybody else could either be a threat or could be in threat as well. it is unimaginable for most people, that sort of situation. are there certain women, and it is by and large women who are victims of this, are there certain groups of women who are particularly vulnerable? these can happen to absolutely anybody. you could be the most influential person in society, but it could still happen to you. of course what makes it different is that people‘s circumstances make it so that people‘s circumstances make it so that there are more stressful homes so it may be that you can no longer go out, like we can‘t out of you don‘t have access to the support networks like your work, friends and family, or because, you know, you are literally cut off from state aid oi’ are literally cut off from state aid or support from the state, like migrants could be. there are certainly certain things that make

you more vulnerable, because of circumstances, but abuse can happen to anyone. there is help out there, there is support out there through organisations such as yours, how do you get the message to the people who needed? all of us have a part to play. who needed? all of us have a part to play- my who needed? all of us have a part to play. my message is to everyone who thinks there is someone in their neighbourhood, their family, workplace, who needs to be checked on, please check in on them. and through covering it by the news and stories, use your platform. that could just be your friendship circle. check in on people and people may not open up to but the fa ct people may not open up to but the fact they know you care means they may open up. and if you know that someone may open up. and if you know that someone is going through it, please tell them the police are still there, the refugees are still working, even though they are under immense pressure, and we think that there is a bigger part for the governance to play for example,... in france hotel rooms on being onions and are being offered to

survivors of domestic abuse and assault. there is no reason why we can‘t have these physical assets to support survivors as well. and what about your own organisation is met are you experiencing more calls, more requests for assistance? yes, it has increased by three times compare to last year. chayn is a volu nta ry compare to last year. chayn is a voluntary organisation so our volu nteers voluntary organisation so our volunteers are working around the clock to support people, be it through social media where we are seeing a lot more people reaching out to us, we have also launched a text—based support group for people to get some support in terms of coping skills and internal resilience. the sad thing is that many people will not be reaching out to police even if you should if it is important for you and your safety. please do. but for those that don‘t, this is not a new thing. the abusers have a pattern of behaviour and people have been living through this for months and

yea rs living through this for months and years and it is just now that these factors have created a pressure cookerfor a situation factors have created a pressure cooker for a situation that is even more lethal. 0k, we are going to have to leave it there. very good to talk to you. the founder of chayn. thank you so much. if you are affected by any of the issues we‘ve been hearing about, you can call the freephone 2a hour number 0808 2000 2a7 — that‘s for the national domestic abuse helpline. or go online to www.nationalda helpline.org.uk japan‘s prime minister shinzo abe has proposed a stimulus package worth $1 trillion. it comes as he is preparing to declare a state of emergency for the capital tokyo and a number of other large cities. the number of covid—i9 cases injapan began to grow rapidly last week. in tokyo there are now over a thousand confirmed cases, more than double the number

a week ago. the coronavirus pandemic is a huge blow to economies across the world. new research says low earners and younger employees in the uk are likely to be hardest hit financially by the lockdown. the institute for fiscal studies — an economic think tank — says those on low incomes are seven times more likely to work in sectors which have effectively shut down, compared to those on higher incomes. joining me now is our business presenter, ben thompson. then, why is this group particularly more badly affected than others? you touched on it there, it is essentially because those are the workers in those groups that attend to work in industries that are most badly affected by the shutdown. because they are quite simply the jobs that you can‘t do from home. industries like travel, tourism and hospitality and retail. you

mentioned women, they predominantly make up the bulk of the workforce for retail and hospitality. they are a third more likely than men to be affected by this shutdown. younger people, those under the age of 25 or two and a half times more likely to work in one of those industries. an industry you can‘t just transfer and do from home. it is also worth bearing in mind, of course, that there are big questions about whether those jobs will be available when all of this is over. we have heard from a number of retailers recently suggesting that this shutdown could be devastating to their business. if they don‘t get more government help. so we could see that in industries like travel and tourism and retail, there are far fewer jobs and tourism and retail, there are farfewerjobs at the and tourism and retail, there are far fewerjobs at the end of all of this, even when the restrictions are lifted and businesses can reopen. they may be fewerjobs lifted and businesses can reopen. they may be fewer jobs for those people to go back to. it is also every member in that whilst supermarkets had a great march, last month sales in supermarkets where up by 20%, that is nowhere near enough

to compensate for the slowdown that we have seen elsewhere on the high street. many firms have been shut, they are unable to operate and so many retailers are warning of a stock future for their businesses. and so whilst some have done quite well out of this, the supermarkets with record sales, elsewhere on the high street it is a very difficult picture. we have already heard of a number of retailers who have said that they cannot survive this and therefore, at the end of all this when the restrictions are lifted, we could see it being a very different market for retail and hospitality and for travel and tourism. and the jobs that go with them. well, then, there is a more bad news, there has been a big slump in car sales, unsurprising, i suppose. and you might be wondering why we are talking about car sales. cars and, new factoring in this country area and, new factoring in this country are a huge employer and therefore

what happens in the car market will have a direct impact on many fetching jobs in this country and the work and supply chain that goes with it. and yes, the trade body that represents car—makers suggests that represents car—makers suggests that new car registrations are slumping by 44%, a huge fall in march. that is the biggest full since they changed how they do these records in the mid—90s. worse in the financial crisis of 2008. therefore, lots of indications for the jobs that go with it. you are right, not a huge surprise entirely. but i think it is worth bearing in mind, compared to mainland europe where we have seen much biggerfalls, the uk picture seems pretty resilient for now. but as we have heard from the chief executive of the firm, a is a stark realisation of what happens when economies grind to a halt. and ben, some news also on the high street chain debenhams. a further

update many will know and it is facing tough times. it has been through a number of what we call cvas, that is discussions with landlords and creditors about how much they own landlords and this month debenhams have called in the admin street is once again. but by no means, and we have seen this before, this is no longer the line, the shutters go up and places close, they say they are operating normally online for they are not open on the high street right now given the restrictions of the describe this as a soft touch administration. essentially, . .. a light a soft touch administration. essentially,... a light touch, i should say for it is subject than from legal action and creditors and this will allow them, they hope, to resume training in stores when the restrictions on travel and business are lifted. it has got 142 stores across the country. it says, as i touched on, it is trading normally

online and what it wants to do now is renegotiate how much rent it is paying on some of these big stores. remember, as more of us do a shopping online and few of us are going into the high street stores, they are big stores and they pay lots of rent and high rates and they pay staff as well, they are trying to renegotiate what they own and hopefully come out of the other side. 0k, ben, many thanks. that is our business correspondence, ben thompson there. thank you. viewers will know that we normally get figures from the public health group. first of all, england‘s hospital death toll from the coronavirus rose by 403 to 4897. those figures from the nhs. and we are also told that of the 403

patients who had died, 15, one, five, had no known underlying health conditions. we have also got some figures coming in from public health wales and they say that 27 more people have died after testing positive for covid—19, taking the total number of deaths in wales to 193. those two sets of figures coming in. we are expecting a uk total for the last 24—hour is to come at some stage a little later this afternoon. the number of newly confirmed coronavirus cases in south korea has decreased to below 50 — its lowest daily number since the outbreak peaked in february. south korea has been widely praised for its approach to tracing and testing for cases of covid—19 but is warning against complacency. in a televised address from windsor castle, the queen has paid tribute to the nhs and key workers,

keeping goods and services going amid the coronavirus pandemic. her majesty gave the message of reassurance to britain and the commonwealth, urging people to remain united and resolute. she also acknowledged the grief, pain and financial difficulties that many were facing but urged people to take comfort in the fact that better days will return. we will succeed, and that success will belong to everyone of us. we should take comfort that while we may have more still to endure, better days will return. we will be with our friends again. we will be with our families again. we will meet again. but for now, i send my thanks and warmest good wishes to you all. that broadcast from her majesty the queen last night. i‘m joined now by ingrid seward, a royal biography, and editor of majesty magazine.

what did you make of the message from the queen last night?|j what did you make of the message from the queen last night? i think the message was perfect timing, and i think it was obviously beautifully delivered. she is extremely experienced at delivering these televised messages. and i think it hitjust televised messages. and i think it hit just the right tone. televised messages. and i think it hitjust the right tone. a lot of people are separated from their families and children and grandchildren and i think to hear her sort of understand that was very important. and also, it was a very charmingly personal message, because she said the last time actually that she said the last time actually that she was incarcerated at windsor castle was in 1940 during the war when she was there with her sister, princess margaret, and they went for the weekend and ended up staying there five years. it obviously reminded her of those days because

that was her very first broadcast, a radio broadcast, to the evacuated children of the blitz. that was in october of 1940. here she is again, never expecting to have to give a broadcast of this type of contact —— content last night. it is rare she does something outside of the christmas broadcast, but the tone last night felt very different. christmas broadcast, but the tone last night felt very differentlj last night felt very different.” think it was very measured and dignified. she always is measured and dignified. but i think her feelings, certainly with the christmas broadcast, and this was a similar setting is that you want to come into peoples homes and you want to be in their sitting room, and they want to be in your sitting room, and that is what makes it very personal. i think that‘s exactly the

message she got across. it certainly had huge viewing figures last night. what were they? one or two lines from the message had been trailed earlier, so what do you think of that? personally i had preferred they wouldn‘t trail it. they seem to trail everything now. i know it was trailed by buckingham palace but i think it would have had just a little more impact if it had been a total surprise, what she was going total surprise, what she was going to say. she knew she would praise the national health and we knew she would praise all the nursing staff and her subjects, you know, for sticking to it and sticking at it. that was predictable. but i don‘t think we needed to know any of it before it was broadcast, that‘s my very personal opinion. good to talk to you, thank you so much for speaking to us on bbc news. now it‘s time for a look at the weather with nick miller.

most of us have had a recent splash of rain and dust that clears eastern england, brighter skies following with the odd shower for england and wales but more in northern ireland and scotland where they could be accompanied by a rumble of thunder. temperature still reaching to the high teens across the east and south—east of england. tonight, gusty winds in north—west scotland, around 50 mph today, will ease a touch, but still staying breezy with enough clout to keep temperatures up whilst elsewhere as the wind eases further and under largely clear skies we will see a touch of frost, especially in rural spots. one or two mist and fog patches around as we start the day tomorrow. tomorrow delivers a fair amount of dry and occasionally sunny weather. still cloud to the western isles, we could see the odd spot of rain, still breezy, and cloud pushing on towards southern england and south wales that may produce an isolated shower and temperatures up a few degrees once again.

this is bbc news, the headlines... the prime minister borisjohnson says he is in good spirits — after spending the night in hospital, ten days after being diagnosed with coronavirus. scotland‘s chief medical officer catherine calderwood resigns after making two trips to her second home during the lockdown. concerns that the sunny weather is making people linger longer outside than absolutely necessary when going to exercise. in spain, the pace of the country‘s coronavirus deaths slows again. the daily number of dead has fallen for the fourth day in a row. a sharp spike in calls to a national helpline for victims of domestic violence, which experts link to the coronavirus restrictions. let‘s go to the bbc sports centre for a full round up. good afternoon.

confirmation this hour that the england mens manager gareth southgate and womens boss phil neville will take a 30% cut in wages from the fa. the organisation said their highest earners would take the reduction, while the senior management team would take a 15% cut. it comes on the day the west ham manager david moyes told the premier league that he‘s also willing to take a pay cut. meanwhile, afterfive premier league clubs including liverpool were critisised for furloughing staff and their players for not giving up wages — the head of the players union has hit back. the pfa‘s gordon taylor says he‘s astonished that the health secretary matt hancock asked players to take a reduction in pay. he also says players know they must help — but they want to know where their money will go. tottenham, newcastle, norwich and bournemouth have have also all used the government‘s 80% pay scheme for those no longer working, funded by the tax payer. players and coaches are to begin individual negotiations with clubs over wages. formula one team williams

are furloughing a number of staff — while drivers and senior management will take a 20% pay cut — as the sport battles against the impact of coronavirus. they‘re the second british based team, after mclaren, to put employees on leave and say it will last until the end of may. f1 bosses are meeting this afternoon to duscuss major cost saving plans while mclaren chief executive officer, zak brown, says there‘s a danger that some teams could go under. we currently have ten teams, 20 cars on the grid. not too long ago after the financial crisis we had 18 cars, but i think that‘s about the limit. so in reality we could probably afford to lose one, two becomes the red zone and with three i think we have very substantial problems. and breaking county cricket news in the last half hour — yorkshire have put all players and coaches on leave until further notice. england captainjoe root and team mate johnny bairstow are amongst those impacted.

yorkshire had already furloghed their non playing staff, with the sport on hold until the end of may at the earliest. england rugby head coach eddiejones admits the current group of players don‘t have another world cup in them and that his squad for the next tournament in 2023 could be 60% different from the one that reached last year‘s final. jones has signed a contract extension that takes him through to the world cup in france and expects to be making major changes. i don‘t think this group can have another world cup in them. i think the team continually changes and teams are continually dynamic. whilst core members of the team will be able to continue to the next world cup, there will be a new influx of members coming in. the great thing for us, we were the youngest team to ever play in a world cup final so if those players have the desire and want to keep working and keep improving then we are going to be in a good position because we will have a hell of a

competition for spots. one other rugby line which you can get more details on via our website... exeter chiefs and sale sharks have been given places in the top flight of women‘s rugby for three years. that‘s from next season after richmond and firwood waterloo ladies lost their spots in the premier 15s after their re—applications were rejected. that‘s all for now — more from me in an hour. ed miliband returns to the shadow cabinet and defeated leadership contender rebecca long—bailey is shadow education secretary. the newly appointed labour leader, sir keir starmer, has unveiled a full list of who‘s in and who‘s out. our political correspondent, jonathan blake, is at westminster. can you run us through some of the names. 32 appointments in all. keir starmer making all the appointments to his shadow cabinet, and those names have been released in the last few minutes. the headline as you say

is former labour leader ed miliband making a return to the front benches in opposition as shadow energy, business and industry secretary. keir starmer‘s main rival in the contest, rebecca long—bailey, will play a role in the shadow cabinet. she will be shadow education secretary. there are also a few more names you may recognise. lord falconer, charlie falconer, who served under tony blair and also in the shadow cabinet more recently whenjeremy the shadow cabinet more recently when jeremy corbyn first became leader and was charged with a review into labour‘s handling of anti—semitism, he is given the post of shadow attorney general, meaning shami chakra bati is of shadow attorney general, meaning shami chakrabati is out, and she is one of several names who are leaving the shadow cabinet. a couple of other promotions from the backbenches. david lammy, the mp for totte n ha m backbenches. david lammy, the mp for tottenham will be shadowjustice secretary. moving from the housing brief to defence isjohn healey.

emily thornberry, another contender in the leadership race, and a familiarfigure to in the leadership race, and a familiar figure to many underjeremy corbyn as shadow foreign secretary now ta kes corbyn as shadow foreign secretary now takes on the brief of international trade secretary. some significant appointments there from sir keir starmer. as we digest this it will give us more of a sense of the type of party he is hoping to lead and the make—up of his shadow cabinet. we are told this is gender balanced effort in this list of appointments. 17 women and 15 men on the list. and it has seven bame members as well. perhaps an unfair question because you have onlyjust looked at the list, but what is your assessment of what sort of cabinet he has put together politically?” think what strikes you is that it is an attempt perhaps to be neutral, but not in the sense of pulling people from different factions of the party to try to keep people

happy or make sure each wing and each faction is fairly represented. but as well as the familiar names from the past that we have talked about there, there are some relative unknowns. we saw that in the appointment of the big jobs yesterday with anneliese dodds being made shadow chancellor. many names on the list will not be that familiar to people. perhaps it‘s an attempt to promote from the relatively recent intake of labour mps, or those that are left after their numbers were drastically reduced after the last election, to present a fresh face of the shadow cabinet which is in many respects quite new to the public. political correspondentjonathan quite new to the public. political correspondent jonathan blake, thank you. a tiger at a zoo in new york has tested positive for the coronavirus. the four—year—old female — named nadia — is thought to have contracted the virus from a keeper at the bronx zoo, who didn‘t have any symptoms. it‘s believed to be the first known case of an animal infected

by a human with covid—19. hotels owned by the best western chain are today welcoming their first patients — as they‘re being turned into hospitals for people deemed to be low risk — to relieve the pressure on much—needed hospital beds. patients over the age of 65 with minor health conditions are beginning to be moved into the chain‘s weymouth hotel this afternoon. duncan kennedy reports. the rembrandt hotel is normally used by people enjoying the beautiful south coast. i am just going to show you some of our rooms. now a team of carers like violet are turning it into a form of hospital. when the clients come in we are going to be using that. a place where wards are being swapped for private rooms. it would not necessarily be harder to do ourjob. at the minute they are going to have to be eating in their rooms. so basically, their bedroom is going to be everything. the carers have come from all over britain and have already been welcomed by local people.

keep up the good work. much appreciated. the aim is to move non—covid—19 patients out of local hospitals, so hospitals can concentrate on those with the virus. it‘s tricky because actually you don‘t know what is going to come out of hospital. we have people with a variety of needs, some with strokes, some who are bedridden, all sorts of complexity is there that we have to handle. but we do all understand it in strange times and we are all working our hardest to make it work. this hotel will be taking around 31 patients from four local hospitals. where necessary, specialist medical equipment will be installed here. they will be looked after by 13 carers, but also 13 members of the hotel staff will act as back—up. there will be hotel standard service, including the food. we do have quite a high standard of food here,

so hopefully we can pass that the elderly patients. that on to the elderly patients. it will be slightly different to the hospital food they are currently getting. how suited is a hotel to be run as a hospital? it‘s certainly very different to what i‘ve been trained to do for the last 40 years, but we are very proud to do our bit. we have been working very hard to prepare the hotel for this. and hopefully we will help in a small way, in a small way we will help the nhs to fight the virus. best western is one of many hotel chains opening their rooms to create more room in hospitals. duncan kennedy, bbc news. turkey — which is facing one of the world‘s fastest growing outbreaks of covid—19 — has introduced more restrictions to try to halt the spread of the virus. the number of cases has risen rapidly since the first was confirmed just under a month ago and now stands at more

than 27,000 — a steeper rise than in italy, spain orthe uk. from istanbul, our international corespondent, orla guerin reports. police checkpoints at the edge of istanbul. the latest stage of turkey‘s fight against the virus. 31 cities now sealed off to all but essential traffic. still, president erdogan says, the wheels of the economy must keep turning. so many are still going to work. wearing masks is now compulsory. staying home is not, except for those under 20 or over 65. istanbul‘s mayor, a key opposition figure, has a lot on his hands. his city has the highest number of cases. he told me there should be a general lockdown before it‘s too late.

translation: when we counted, there were about 1.1 million people using public transport on a workday, and we‘ve seen a lot of private cars out on the streets. 15% of the normal population is still on the move so between two and 2.5 million people — equal to the population of a european city. do you think it‘s crazy that this number of people are still being allowed to move around? absolutely. here, as elsewhere, the virus is killing those trying to save others. like dilek, whose relatives shared this video with us. she was a nurse and an only child. turkey‘s death toll is still in the hundreds, not thousands, but its corona outbreak is one of the fastest growing in the world. i can not sleep well. i am so concerned.

my grandparents are old — 89, 90. this turkish molecular biologist, based in the us, is tracking the virus in his homeland. the cases are increasing very rapidly, much more rapid than many countries, including italy, spain and the us and china, so this is very alarming. as the virus spreads, many of istanbul‘s storied streets have fallen silent. the blue mosque, a historicjewel, no longer open for communal worship. the message now — pray at home. orla guerin, bbc news, istanbul. we can go live to parliament where senior police officers are giving evidence to mps by video conference about the public response to

coronavirus restrictions. chief superintendent paul griffiths, president of the chief superintendents association of england and wales, and simon captain from the police federation, are giving evidence. are forming concerns they have put across. we wa nt a ccess concerns they have put across. we want access to ppe where and when they need it and in a timely fashion get it replaced and make sure it‘s the right speck of kit. secondly, communications. what my colleagues do is an incredibly difficultjob in these unprecedented circumstances. what makes it easier is if munication is with chief officers and government, the guidance they are given is clear, concise and consistent across the country. the issue of testing is very important to my colleagues, partly because it affects them, but also it gives reassurance to their families as well. we have a huge amount of staff unable to work at the moment because they are in self isolation and the

issue of testing could relieve pressure on the front line to get some people back. and the fourth area of concern, we are in unprecedented times, we have never done this before, but we need to do ourjob to protect the public in a different way. we need to be innovative and protect the public without putting officers and the public at greater risk of contracting this virus. around the country there are pockets of superb practice going on where we can still do ourjobs and be there for the public but without putting ourselves at risk. i would love to answer questions on those areas. thank you chief superintendent griffiths. thank you for the opportunity to speak today. the pace and scale by which we have had to deal with this crisis is incredible. our members are trained and equipped to deal with many crises, major and serious incidents, but this is unprecedented and uncharted waters. when we have

spoken to members, this is similar to simon's narrative, raising four key areas that we as a service need to focus on to deliver the best possible service and support for colleagues and the country. i think reiterating what simon has already said, the safety and well—being of our staff is paramount to make sure we can conduct our duties. simon has already mentioned ppe and also testing. they are both key to enable staff to either return to work if they are self isolating on the testing front, but when they are deployed to make sure they have the appropriate kit and advice and guidance as to how to do their duties effectively. the second thing is both in the immediate and forward—thinking, is around the resilience of the service. we have, over the last ten years, taken quite a dip in the amount of police office rs a dip in the amount of police officers we a dip in the amount of police office rs we have a dip in the amount of police officers we have available to do our

duties. that was changing over the la st duties. that was changing over the last 6—9 months with the announcement of 20,000 uplift. there is the immediate issue in terms of staff absence around those that are affected by the disease, those in self isolation, and those who have caring duties. but our members are also looking forward in terms of the resilience of the service as the crisis continues over the weeks and months to come. it's something we really need to forward bloc in terms of the impact it could have on all police officers at all ranks. the third issue our members are raising is the change in demand that will come through society. we are clearly seeing a downward trend in what are called public offences, inquisitive crime, etc. and there is a dip in terms of emergency calls, nonemergency calls, and naturally

arrests and custody. but crime and demand will change. that's where our concern lies about the private space in terms of the risk around domestic abuse, child sexual abuse, and other matters that might be carrying on in a domestic residence. there is also the rise in online crime and technical crime and cyber crime. those are areas that we need to properly focus on in terms of changing demand and changing incidents. the final areas members are raising is in terms of our relationship with the public. it is dear to relationship with the public. it is dearto us, it relationship with the public. it is dear to us, it is what we are about in terms of consent and policing by consent. with the new emergency powers we need to maintain that working relationship with the public. it's really important for us to do so. we recognise the powers we have been given but our strategy remains strong in terms of trying to

engage and explain the situation before we ever, as a last resort, have to turn to enforcement. those are the four key areas that our members are raising as we look forward into the crisis as it continues to develop. cani can i ask you a particular question about testing then. have you been given any idea about when the police might be able to access testing in any form as part of the government's testing strategy? would you like me to answer first? the key workers, what they are focusing on at the moment is the national health service and we recognise the importance for national health colleagues and social care. but we are also key workers in the system. we are very keen to make sure we have a positioning within the

testing regime and prioritisation. at the moment we have been given no indication as to when the testing will take place. we understand that from the there is an order for tests to go through and they will be delivered to critical roles but we are waiting for definitive numbers and timescales around that. so the police has done ordering off testing? that is my understanding. orders have gone in and we are hopeful during the course of this month that test. to be made available for the police service. and who have they been ordered from and what kinds of tests are they? are they antibody tests or the current infection swab tests? my understanding is they are the current tests, to test whether you have the disease in your immune system. do you know who they have been ordered from? no, i'm afraid i don't know where they have been ordered from. simon captain? i don't

know where they have been ordered from but i am aware of some really welcome innovative practices. we are looking to re—purpose some of the existing laboratory network, forensic science services, to try to build up the amount of tests we can process. but even then, if we are able to do that, there will be some really difficult decisions about which officers get the tests and which officers get the tests and which don‘t, or who get them first and who have to wait. one of the jobs of our senior colleagues will be to manage that effect that it might have on our colleagues. again, we need to be really clear and honest in communication with collea g u es honest in communication with colleagues so the expectations are met and we meet the promises we give them. have you been given a timetable or any indication of the timetable? my expectation is we will begin to see tests come online from the middle to the end of april. it‘s not long, but it‘s still an anxious

wait. holly lynch. thank you to the chairand to wait. holly lynch. thank you to the chair and to echo the chair‘s sentiments, thank you forjoining us this afternoon. i know it‘s a busy time for you both. you both touched on ppe as a concern for your members. we are hearing from senior officers that ppe is available, however picking up the anxiety from police officers on the front line, that that ppe is not always readily available and the advice is that it‘s not always necessary for day to day routine policing. is that the feedback you are getting from your members? sarto a captain first. thank you, you are right. on behalf of the federation we have taken a quite wide—ranging piece of work to temperature check the picture of ppe across the country. i know uk policing has taken possession of a huge amount of ppe. i also know from what members tell me and also from what members tell me and also from what i have seen, only last week i

was on an arrest enquiry for somebody known to be violent, suspected of having covid—19. my colleague and i did not have the ppe when we made that arrest enquiry. so we know it is in the system but we know it is not getting to all our colleagues, so that tells me in the middle here something has gone wrong, whether it‘s with the supply chain or local management. what some of my early indications are, on a very localised level it has been really careful, we need to be much better at managing stocks of ppe. to give an anecdotal example, a big box of ppe comes into a local police station, and officers coming off duty end up taking a couple of masks, some bottles of sanitiser and goggles and go to the next call, as you would expect. but when the late shift or the night shift come in, that ppe isn‘t there any more so even within a very localised area, if you ask those officers if they have the ppe, you will get a different answer we need to lock

down that localised control. what we are picking up, particularly through our relationship with npc see who are coordinating a lot of this, there is energy and focus around this. there were certainly teething problems around the distribution to forces earlier on but the concern is the distribution within forces to make sure they reach the officers dealing with daily contacts and potential covid—19 victims. the second issue is the wider issue around supply chains. i know the service is working hard to make sure supply chains are there to make sure the flow of ppe is continued for the weeks and months ahead but it remainsa weeks and months ahead but it remains a concern and with the demand going on for many agencies, health colleagues and social care and others, we could potentially run short in terms of the number of ppe

availability. another aspect of the question. i apologise i didn‘t a nswer question. i apologise i didn‘t answer it. it‘s around conflicting guidance and conflicting advice and how that might have frustrated the policing efforts to get the right ppe in place. my colleagues in the npcc tell me there has been confusion with different advice from phc and hsc and how that might have borne confusion and fed confusion into the ppe guidance that has then filtered down to officers. over the weekend a huge amount of work is put into getting some really good guidance to officers. but even this morning we are seeing there is a conflict in some of the advice, and that‘s one area where we perhaps need to get to the bottom of it very quickly so operational colleagues know they have the best possible advice they can follow clearly. and are you satisfied your getting a hearing from the home office when

you are feeding these concerns back to your members and can i alsojust, before we move on, i have been appalled to see some of the arrests and charges related to those coughing deliberately on offices and then saying they have got covid—19. are you satisfied that you have got the support of the cps and the court in prosecuting those individuals? on your second question, broadly speaking, iam your second question, broadly speaking, i am seeing what i have seen some superb sentences speaking, i am seeing what i have seen some superb sentences handed down. crime are terrible at the best of times, but when coronaviruses been weaponised against my colleagues, it heightens that fear. because when you‘re dealing with summary because when you‘re dealing with summary with a knife or other sort of weapon, unit that once you have dealt with that situation, the danger is over and you go home. covid—19 is different. you don‘t know if you are taking that home

with you. that is why weaponised covid—19 is so reprehensible. i‘m very grateful we have seen some strong sentences. perhaps on the back of the work that some overcommitted members have done. but still, only this morning, i won‘t go into the case, obviously, but a colleague of mine from a northern force last week was racially abused and spat at by a number of the public who said he had covid—19. and u nfortu nately, public who said he had covid—19. and unfortunately, on this occasion, that hasn‘t been charged as an aggravated offence. that is something i‘m 20 to the bottom of today. —— that is something i am getting to the bottom of today.” think the majority of the public have been supportive of the police. there are extreme and vile behaviour is going on in relation to coughing and spitting. i can only reiterate what simon has said in terms of

strong sentences being issued. we really are supportive of that and continue to send that message out that this is really unacceptable behaviour. on the point of raising ppe with the home office and home secretary, i had a meeting by telephone on tuesday with her and stressed the importance of this for our members to make sure that the whole of the police service has sufficient quantities availability of ppe. that was well recognised, well appreciated and i'm confident that my confidence that the energy and drive is there from the home office and the home secretary. please convey our support to any office rs please convey our support to any officers who have faced those circumstances. on the ppe, what is your estimate of the precaution of office rs your estimate of the precaution of officers going out to response calls, arrest somebody, who do not

have the appropriate ppe?” calls, arrest somebody, who do not have the appropriate ppe? i am afraid i have to give you an unhelpful answer because it is a disparate picture across the country. i have spoken to some collea g u es country. i have spoken to some colleagues in different areas in every single one of them says ppe available whether it is in their person or in the vehicle. in other parts of the country they are saying they have to share ppe amongst a group of officers. some of that is down to the supply chain, or down to the innovative practices being adopted by some places. some forces have adopted what they call covid—19 ca rs have adopted what they call covid—19 cars so have adopted what they call covid—19 cars so that any covid—19 related incident will send an vehicle that stephanie has ppe. some —— that definitely has ppe. remax i don‘t think we have the data collection

thatis think we have the data collection that is sharp enough to identify the precautions. but we can try to deliver you a written reply. that will be helpful because i think we need to know what the scale is of the problem here. and i think that the problem here. and i think that the other thing that it would be helpful to come back to us on is the extent to which you have an oversupply in each area. if you are going to have some distribution problems or sometimes where different shifts are going to need different shifts are going to need different levels of ppe, surely you are going to need an oversupply in each area to make sure that you have got a buffer, to make sure you have got a buffer, to make sure you have got enough as for when you needed, in case you need more. certainly, andl in case you need more. certainly, and i do get to the fact that the force has indicated there requirements under ppe and that relationship in terms of the supply chain is in place. to actually gauge

the amount of officers that may be devoid of the equipment that they may need, we haven't quite got the date on that. sol may need, we haven't quite got the date on that. so i will try to get you a written response in relation to that. i would like to acknowledge and thank the various forces for having to respond and be versatile at this time of national crisis to do with coronavirus. obviously legislation came into force on the 26th of march. i can see in these two briefings i have in front of me from the college of police and the other from the npc c, i'm just wondering what training has been given to front line officers, both present offices and retired officers come back as well. and in terms of

the ability to enforce the government's latest legislation. and maybe if paul could and that first. the pace and scale by which this change in the o'kane in what triggered by the prime minister's announcement. that's probably started the police to try to enforce the policy of the governance quite early on, even before the legislation have gone through parliament. it was a clear need to e nforce parliament. it was a clear need to enforce social distancing. to try and safeguard the spread of the disease. we then worked really hard with the home office and the police powers unit for the next 48—hour is to influence in the best way possible the criticality is of trying to introduce legislation to achieve this policy intent. and we gave advice in terms of the practical issues that need to be

considered and had the opportunity to consider the draft legislation to offer a ny to consider the draft legislation to offer any views from a practicality perspective. upon the introduction of that advice, very quickly, the npccand of that advice, very quickly, the npc c and the college moved to try to create guidance to best inform officers, but actually, most offices are starting to try to influence the behaviour of the public based on the prime minister's announcement. usually, we have plenty of time to bring legislation in, consult, engage and work with parliamentarians as the law goes through parliament. this was quick, swift, and directive, where we acted quickly to try to resolve issues and work together with the public to try to keep the social distancing. so since the legislation has been introduced, they have been efforts across the whole service to introduce the guidance and do

training ona introduce the guidance and do training on a force by force basis. but it is... it has been introduced ata but it is... it has been introduced at a pace and scale that we have never experienced before. and simon? i guess the briefings you are talking about two power points. one thatis talking about two power points. one that is black and red and one that was blue and green. your question was blue and green. your question was what training has been received and that is the training we have received. to echo paul‘s point, first of all, the regulations and swiftly afterwards, the legislation, wasjudy so swiftly afterwards, the legislation, was judy so quickly swiftly afterwards, the legislation, wasjudy so quickly and there can be no criticism of parliament —— was introduced so quickly. we need the training in place so we are all trained up before the legislation lands. it was the other way around on this occasion. we had a period of time of several days where actually, our only briefing was the very

clear, very stark guidance that ministers and other government officials were giving to the public. so my colleagues on the ground were left in the position of understanding that this is so important, we hours the maxi ourjob as protecting the nhs so they can predict the rest of us, and it is important we follow that guidance and we didn‘t have anything in writing at that time. that might have led to some inconsistencies. what we have seen since then, and the college police have been very good with engaging with the federation, my colleagues alike, we have seen some guidance that is clear, concise and easy to follow, and that has been disseminated to all officers. one of the things that we are going to have to consider for returning officers, retirees, is making sure they are up—to—date, not only with everything involved in policing, but the newest block of legislation. because at the minute we are in the middle of a pandemic

and it is scary and unprecedented. but it is going to end. and when it ends, the public are going to emerge and is going to be a very different world. they will need protecting by the police that point. we can best protect them not just the police that point. we can best protect them notjust by having the right equipment, but maintain the relationship and the good relationship and the good relationship we have of the public. we need to have that balance and protect the nhs and maintain that relationship with the public. that is why this guidance is so key. thank you. you have been watching a very different —looking home affairs select committee going on. all done remotely select committee going on. all done re m otely of select committee going on. all done remotely of course. mps were taking evidence there from paul griffiths, the chief superintendent, the president, i beg your pardon, of the police superintendent‘s association

of finland and wales, and simon kempton, the head of the police federation. if you want to go on watching that, this is being carried out on parliament tv. for the moment, i can bring in our political correspondence chris mason who is listening into that and interestingly, simon kenton saying that when we emerge from this, it will be a very different world. people will need the police. ain‘t in quitea people will need the police. ain‘t in quite a picture of how much things are changing now and how much the demand for policing it might change over this crisis.” the demand for policing it might change over this crisis. i thought that was fascinating. it‘s got to the heart of what the police are currently having to wrestle with. wrestling with these new regulations, only around for a few weeks, and right at the heart of it, their desire, as expressed there, to maintain that principle of policing by consent. that is a long—standing tradition in the uk. of course, in

the context at the moment of having to demand of us behaviours that deal so to demand of us behaviours that deal so alien. we saw the pictures over the weekend of police officers on motorbikes going into parks and breaking up picnics and barbecues and that kind of thing, having to enforce a lack of liberty that normally is so so far from the british tradition. a couple of other things that were quite striking in the briefing. unsurprisingly certain crimes have fallen on the last few weeks. concerns expressed repeatedly now around the world about the mastic violence. in the context of people being cooped up in their homes through many hours a day full soft —— domestic violence. we have seen soft —— domestic violence. we have seen it so often with nhs staff and those working in social care, personal protective equipment. concerns from police officers about

a lack of access to ppe. and then the bigger point that i think is worth reflecting on, the reality or scrutiny taking place in this remote virtual world. two weeks tomorrow, parliament here is due to returns of the expectation is that it will return but in a very different guys than we are used to. plans are afoot to see parliament itself, and discussions on this famous green benches, can happen on remote computers. wheels back to shortly. for the time being. borisjohnson says he is in ‘good spirits‘ after spending the night in hospital with coronavirus. the prime minister was taken to st thomas‘ hospital in london for on sunday evening with persistent symptoms — including a temperature and a cough — and is having routine tests. the death toll in england has risen by 403. 27 more people have died in wales

and two more in scotland after contracting the virus. well, a short while ago, borisjohnson wrote on twitter, ‘i‘m in good spirits and keeping in touch with my team, as we work together to fight this virus and keep everyone safe.‘ he also thanked the nhs staff taking care of him, saying they were the ‘best of britain‘. scotland‘s first minister, nicola sturgeon, has said she came to a ‘firm view‘ that the country‘s chief medical officer should resign after they had a long conversation last night. dr catherine calderwood quit after it emerged that she‘d made two trips to her second home during the coronavirus lockdown, ignoring her own advice about avoiding unnecessary travel. the charity refuge says there‘s been a 25% increase in calls to the national domestic abuse helpline since the coronavirus lockdown was introduced. there‘s also been a sharp rise in traffic to its website. the head of the un has urged governments to make the prevention of violence against women a key part of their response to the pandemic.

and pharmacists say they‘re being put at risk because of a lack of personal protective equipment. they‘ve reported a surge in demand as patients with concerns about symptoms visit pharmacies for advice. our first report this afternoon is from our political correspondent helen catt. this was the prime minister ten days ago. hi, folks, i want to bring up to speed with something that is happening today which is that i‘ve developed mild symptoms of the coronavirus, that is to say a temperature and a persistent cough. on the advice of the chief medical officer, i have taken a test which has come out positive. his symptoms have not gone away, and after more than a week of self isolating in downing street, with a brief appearance at the door of number 11 on thursday, he is now in a london hospital undergoing tests, a precautionary step,

says downing street. he has been working extremely hard leading the government and being constantly updated. that'll continue. today he is in hospital having tests, obviously, but he will be continue to be kept informed as to what is happening and to be in charge of the government. i hope, and we all do, he has a speedy recovery and he gets back to number 10 and can take charge in the way he would want to. so it was the foreign secretary dominic raab who chaired the government‘s coronavirus meeting this morning. he will continue to do so while borisjohnson remains he will continue to do so while boris johnson remains in he will continue to do so while borisjohnson remains in hospital. sir keir starmer who became the new labour leader on saturday has wished mrjohnson a speedy recovery, as has the new shadow chancellor although she, too, says work goes on. obviously, i am concerned that we really need to make sure the british parliament, the whole political system responds correctly to this

unprecedented challenge, certainly, from the economic side, i am aware of how much are so many businesses are struggling and individuals as well. downing street has been keen to reassure people borisjohnson‘s condition has not worsened, it just hasn‘t improved. despite the reassurances, it‘s clear borisjohnson has found it harder to shake off this virus than some others. and the prime minister being admitted to hospital at this time, whatever the circumstances, is likely to prove unsettling. and there is an immediate impact. tomorrow‘s cabinet meeting has been postponed although the daily covid—19 meeting will still take place. helen catt, bbc news. our political correspondent chris mason is at westminster... people at westminster obviously very sympathetic towards the prime minister, but there are clearly concerns about having the head of the government in hospital. yes, thatis the government in hospital. yes, that is right. for all the talk that the prime minister isjust

that is right. for all the talk that the prime minister is just over the river in a hospital for routine tests a nd river in a hospital for routine tests and as we are hearing from helen, it is because of the persistence of existing symptoms, temperature and a cough, as to a deterioration in his health, the simple reality is that this is about as far detached from normality as you can possibly get. we have seen repeatedly in this crisis the coronavirus‘s ability to turn the normal into the remarkable very quickly. downing street pointed out this lunchtime that he remains in charge of the government, despite the fact that dominic raab, the foreign secretary, the first secretary of state, the defect notes deputy, diddley beat daly covid—19 briefing in the government at 915 this morning. he received his ministry or boxes, the paperwork you

get every day to sign and keep the wheels of government turning. they point out, as they did last night, he was taken to hospital on the advice of his doctor, who felt it was important he was seen face—to—face by other clinicians as opposed to being consulted on the phone, but was driven there not in an ambulance, it was not an emergency admission, and that he is receiving tests. the expectation, though, is that despite the fact he had a comfortable night in hospital, he won‘t be leaving hospital today. he will spend a further night in hospital under observation. and, chris, news just hospital under observation. and, chris, newsjust in hospital under observation. and, chris, news just in the last hour of sir keir starmer, the new labour leader, and his shadow cabinet. and somebody called ed miliband seems to be back. yes, the former labour leader is back in the shadow cabinet on the front bench for labour as shadow is this an energy secretary. that is a gig he did in government way back when when labour were in

power. he was energy secretary during the time of gordon brown and mike as prime minister. ed miliband returns to the labour front bench, and a couple morejobs i can rattle through. rebecca long bailey, she is going to be the shadow education secretary. what is striking is when you look beyond rebecca long bailey, it is quite striking that this reshuffle amounts to a call of the corbyn easter is. —— corbyn supporters. quite a few of them you can slot into the box of being very loyal tojeremy can slot into the box of being very loyal to jeremy corbyn can slot into the box of being very loyal tojeremy corbyn and tojeremy corbyn‘s politics. people like the shadowjustice secretary, corbyn‘s politics. people like the shadow justice secretary, now returning to the backbenches. a couple of other names for you that are new to the list today. emily thornbury stays in the shadow cabinet, she is now going to be the

shadow international trade secretary. she used to shadow the foreign affairs brief. jo stevens as culture and media and sport, and who else shall we pick? jim mcmahon, coming in as shadow transport secretary. one or two names that are familiar, one or two held onto, andy mcdonald, who was in the shadow cabinet under mr corbyn, carrying on as civil employment rights secretary, a job that labour have created, but other than that, plenty of fresh faces around sir keir starmer‘s top table. of fresh faces around sir keir starmer's top table. won over that you might not have in your list, lord faulkner, back as shadow attorney general. he served in tony blair‘s cabinet. yes the indeed. shadow attorney general. lord

faulkner. he was tony blair‘s flatmate way back when they were both relatively young men and as you say, had a role within government when labour were in government. he never entirely vanished from the scene. never entirely vanished from the scene. he popped up as a significant labour presence in the house of lords. here he is back at that top table. a smattering of people from when labour was in government. a smattering from the five years after labour fell out of government in 2010 during the period of ed miliband‘s leadership. some people being retained from the corbyn project years. but a good number of them returning to the backbenches. 0k. them returning to the backbenches. ok. thank you so much, chris. just a bit of news to bring you about the 149th open championship. that is due to be played and that

has been cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. golf‘s governing body has announced that today. the next championship will be played at st georges in 2021. the open championship following so many other major sporting events that have had to be either but on hold or simply cancelled for the year because of the pandemic. pharmacists say they‘re being put at risk because of a lack of personal protective gear. they‘ve reported a surge in demand as patients visit pharmacies for advice. nhs england says millions of pieces of protective kit has been delivered. meanwhile there‘s continued concern that the sunny weather is encouraging people to linger longer in parks and out of their homes than is absolutely necessary for the purpose of exercise. our correspondent richard galpin reports. pharmacists are key health care professionals and playing a crucial role in this emergency.

often the first port of call for people with coronavirus symptoms, and demand is increasing. but they say they are needlessly at risk as they don‘t have the right protective equipment to keep them safe. we are in my pharmacy at the moment... the owner of this south london pharmacy describes the makeshift measures they have had to put in place to reduce the risk of infection. we were initiallyjust allowing three people in at a time and we had created these clear areas for patients to stand in so they could have the social distance between each other. we have now moved on to a one—in one—out policy to keep it safe for everybody. what they really need is the proper masks, gloves and aprons. i'm very concerned that staff are not getting access to the ppe that was promised to them over a week ago and i believe that most of our staff now are seeing regular people coming into the pharmacy.

they are getting up close and personal. we have some perspex screens in some of our pharmacies, but that recognises the fact that our pharmacies need protection and our staff need protection. nhs england says that any issues with the supply of equipment should be raised via the dedicated hotline. meanwhile the spell of warmer weather in many parts of the country at the weekend looks set to continue for much of this week. there will be more concerns about people ignoring the government‘s instructions on social distancing. already more parks have closed and there are threats of tougher measures. the vast majority of people are adhering to the guidelines, compliance is very high. but please, the small minority of people who are not doing so, don‘t spoil things for every body else. the lockdown measures, which have emptied our streets and shut down our economy, are due to be reviewed next week. there have been hints some measures could be lifted by the end of may

if infections decrease sufficiently. but as for fully getting out of the lockdown, experts say that exit strategy is still a work in progress. the precise strategy has not yet been formulated. it will be in the next week or two, it is the highest priority of, i would say, the whole scientific and medical community in this country and many countries. and of course, of the policy community. other countries are also planning to ease the lockdown. today, austria has announced that due to a big drop in the rate of infections, some small shops could reopen in a week‘s time. scotland‘s first minister, nicola sturgeon, has told the bbc it was her view that the government‘s chief medical officer, catherine calderwood, had to resign after breaching the terms of the coronavirus lockdown. dr calderwood admitted twice making non—essential journeys to visit her second home. here‘s our correspondent james shaw.

caught on camera visiting her holiday home in fife. scotland‘s chief medical officer, the public face of the campaign to slow the spread of the virus. this is a vital update about coronavirus. to help save lives, stay—at—home. ——stay at home. it could hardly have been more embarrassing for ms calderwood and the first minister, nicola sturgeon. at first, it looked as though the chief medical officer might hang onto herjob. but then came the realisation of the huge damage that could be done to public confidence in the official advice to stay at home and save lives. i did hope that i could continue to call on her expertise, because, to be frank, in a situation like this at this particular moment in time, it is farfrom idealfor me as first minister not to have that continuity of advice. last night it became clear that the bigger risk was the damage it could be doing to the very important message the government is putting forward. even before her resignation, catherine calderwood said

she was sorry and did not try to excuse her behaviour, even admitting to an earlier visit to fife. i have already issued a statement this morning apologising unreservedly for travelling away from my home whilst restrictions were in place. as well as this weekend, it is important to be clear that i also was there last weekend with my husband. i did not follow the advice i am giving to others. i am truly sorry for that. opposition politicians have acknowledged the difficulty of the situation. politicians and senior civil servants need to lead by example and it is only with that example being set very clearly that people will observe the guidelines in place. the streets of scotland‘s cities remain quiet, but this is a challenging moment for the scottish government. the central question, whether it will make a difference to compliance with the lockdown.

now it‘s time for a look at the weather. hello, most of us have had a recent splash of rain. as that clears eastern england, brighter skies have followed, with the odd shower for england and wales. more especially, though, for northern ireland and scotland, where if you catch one, it could be heavy and perhaps with a rumble of thunder. and although it is cooler than it was yesterday, still temperatures reaching towards the high teens across east and south—east england. into tonight, the gusty winds in north—west scotland, about 50 miles an hour or so today, will ease a touch — though it still stays breezy enough under enough cloud to keep temperatures up. whereas elsewhere, as winds ease further and under largely clear skies, we‘ll see a touch of frost, especially in rural spots. one or two mist and fog patches around as well as we start the day tomorrow. and tomorrow delivers a fair amount of dry, occasionally sunny weather around. still some cloud towards the western isles, it may see the odd spot of rain here. still breezy here and cloud pushing

on towards southern england and south wales may produce an isolated shower. and temperatures up a few degrees once again. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines: the prime minister, who‘s been ill for 10 days and has worked while in self—isolation, will be back as soon as possible, says a cabinet colleague. nhs england say the death toll from the coronavirus has risen by more than 400. the royal pharmaceutical society says high street pharmacists are being put at risk due to a lack of personal protective equipment. in spain, the pace of the country‘s coronavirus deaths slows again. the daily number of dead has fallen for the fourth day in a row. a sharp spike in calls to a national helpline for victims of domestic violence, which experts link to the coronavirus restrictions. and the labour leader, sir keir starmer, has appointed a new gender—balanced shadow cabinet, which he says showcases

the breadth, depth and talents of the labour party. a national helpline for victims of domestic violence has seen a 25% increase in calls and online requests for help since the uk lockdown — that‘s according to the charity refuge. they say they had hundreds more calls last week compared to two weeks earlier. campaigners have warned the coronavirus restrictions could heighten domestic tensions, and cut off escape routes for victims. tomos morgan reports. oh, it‘s been bad. i didn‘t care if i didn‘t wake up from like the night before. you know, ijust knew, ijust knew what was going to happen tne next day, the next day. ijust wanted the days to go past. yeah, it‘s just gone worse. tara told me she has been mentally and physically abused by her partner for six months. he deleted her social media account, stopped her from seeing family and controlled all aspects

of her life. since having to isolate with him, things escalated. you must stay at home. it‘s obviously been getting worse since the lockdown as well. mentally abusive, verbally. he‘s been like hitting me. just causes an argument over nothing. and obviously if i fire back, say something wrong, he‘lljust hit me. new figures seen by the bbc give a picture of the potential consequence of lockdown for victims. the national domestic abuse helpline has seen a 25% increase in calls and online requests over the past week. refuge, the country‘s largest domestic abuse charity, who run the line, say there has also been a daily rise of 150% in people visiting the website. tara has now fled her abuser and is being supported by a charity in wales. but charities and campaigners have expressed concern that those in violent relationships could be at serious risk as the

lockdown continues. the homicide rate is going to go through the roof. you can't stop the perpetrator unless he's visible. rachel williams suffered violence from her husband for 18 years. when she decided to leave he shot her with a sawn—off shotgun. she‘s now one of the country‘s main campaigners battling on behalf of those still suffering. we'll never do enough until we actually eradicate domestic abuse and violence, and of. you know, we've got an epidemic at the moment in the uk, with a pandemic on top. the police are there for you and you must feel that you can contact us in an emergency, but also that you can seek advice from us. so please, if you are in danger, if your family are in danger, contact us on 999. we will prioritise your call and we will support you and we will deal with this. speaking to me online from the safety of the refuge, tara told me although things got worse for her during isolation, it made her realise and pushed her to escape the relationship forever. i‘d been thinking for a long time, with it escalating

to an everyday thing, you know, with him getting more abusive. tomos morgan, bbc news. if you are affected by any of the issues we‘ve been hearing about you can call the freephone 24—hour number 0808 2000 247 — that‘s for the national domestic abuse helpline. or go online to www. nationaldahelpline. org.uk. hotels owned by the best western chain are today welcoming their first patients, as they‘re being turned into hospitals for people deemed to be low—risk, to relieve the pressure on much needed hospital beds. patients over the age of 65 with minor health conditions are beginning to be moved into the chain‘s weymouth hotel this afternoon. duncan kennedy reports. the rembrandt hotel is normally used by people enjoying the beautiful south coast. i am just going to show

you some of our rooms. now carers like violet are turning it into a form of hospital. when the clients come in we are going to be using that. a place where wards are being swapped for private rooms. it would not necessarily be harder to do ourjob. at the minute they are going to have to be eating in their rooms. so basically, their bedroom is going to be everything. the carers have come from all over britain and have already been welcomed by local people. keep up the good work. much appreciated. the aim is to move non—covid—19 patients out of local hospitals, so hospitals can concentrate on those with the virus. it‘s tricky because actually you don‘t know what is going to come out of hospital. we have people with a variety of needs, some with strokes, some who are bedridden, all sorts of complexity is there that we have to handle. but we do all understand it

in strange times and we are all working our hardest to make it work. this hotel will be taking around 31 patients from four local hospitals. where necessary, specialist medical equipment will be installed here. they will be looked after by 13 carers, but also 13 members of the hotel staff will act as back—up. there will be hotel standard of service, including the food. we do have quite a high standard of food here, so hopefully we can pass that the elderly patients. it will be slightly different to the hospital food they are currently getting. how suited is a hotel to be run as a hospital? it‘s certainly very different to what i‘ve been trained to do for the last 40 years, but we are very proud to do our bit. we have been working very hard to prepare the hotel for this. and hopefully we will help in a small way, in a small way

we will help the nhs to fight the virus. best western is one of many hotel chains opening their rooms to create more room in hospitals. duncan kennedy, bbc news. the private health care group the rutherford cancer centres says it has today started to treat more nhs patients, in a bid to relieve pressure on the national health service. a spokesman said those who require urgent cancer treatment will now receive it. it‘s understood that six patients are being treated today and there is capacity to take many more. mike moran is the chief executive of the rutherford health group. mike, this will be very welcome news because we have heard a lot about cancer patients who have had their treatment cancelled or postponed due to the virus. tell us more about what you are doing. well, we have a

network of cancer centres called the rutherford cancer centres across the country, in newport in south wales, in reading, northumberland and we also have a centre that we are trying to commission in liverpool to support cancer patients. and it is the case, is it, that you have had your first patients today? yes, so we already have nhs contracts, which we are going through. we have increased our capacity, we are working with the nhs and in particular with the nhs in wales to ensure that we can meet the needs of poor capacity and we are having those discussions at the moment. but we are treating cancer patients already. can you give us an idea of how many patients you have the capacity to take? across our group can treat this 1500 patients

with proton beam therapy. the same number with radiotherapy, and that is on an annual basis. but each of our centres will work on a single shift at the moment, but we are also looking at weekends and double shift to meet the additional capacity required for the nhs. so this requires a lot of work, a lot of organisation from you, that you have had to do a tremendous speed? yes, thatis had to do a tremendous speed? yes, that is right. and we have worked hard, we have done some robust planning in terms of our capability and our capacity. we have put extra measures in place, for instance, we have just employed retired measures in place, for instance, we havejust employed retired military cbi and trained specialists, who will work across all of our centres. their role there will really be to make sure that we keep covid—19 outside of our centres. so we will do some screening for patients to make sure that both patients and

staff are safe in all of our centres. can you give some indication of the sort of patients that you are going to be taking on? well, we have got a mixed capability, so imaging, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, radiotherapy and of course high—energy proton beam therapy, which we specialise in. so we have got a full range of services, all of our services are operational and we will meet the needs of the oncologists as they require us to do so. oncologists as they require us to do so. ok. very good luck with it all. thank you very much for talking to us. that is mike moran, who is the chief executive of trading the rutherford cancer centres. in spain, deaths from the coronavirus have fallen for the fourth day running. the spanish health ministry says that 637 deaths have been recorded over the past 24 hours,

the lowest number for nearly two weeks. spain is now planning to widen its coronavirus testing to include people without symptoms. it‘s seen as a first step to easing a lockdown in the country which has had the second highest number of deaths after italy. spain‘s health ministry said the fall in the lastest figures was very encouraging. austria has announced it will ease some of its lockdown measures from next week. chancellor sebastian kurz said small shops will reopen on the 14th of april if austrians keep to the restrictions over the easter week. according to official figures, austria has now managed to flatten the curve in its fight against coronavirus. japan‘s prime minister shinzo abe has proposed a stimulus package worth $1 trillion. it comes as he is preparing to declare a state of emergency for the capital tokyo and a number of other large cities. the number of covid—19 cases injapan began to grow rapidly last week. in tokyo there are now over

1,000 confirmed cases, more than double the number a week ago. a tiger at a zoo in new york has tested positive for the coronavirus. the four—year—old female, named nadia, is thought to have contracted the virus from a keeper at the bronx zoo, who didn‘t have any symptoms. it‘s believed to be the first known case of an animal infected by a human with covid—19. in a few moments we‘ll bring you a special bbc news programme ahead of the daily downing street press conference we‘re expecting, but for now let‘s get a full round—up from the bbc sports centre here‘s jane dougall. hello there, thank you. a breaking news this hour is the 149th open will not go ahead this summer at all because of the coronavirus. the chief executive of the royal and ancient, martin slumbers, said they had explored every option for playing, but that it would not be possible. hopefully we will have

more from a golf correspondent later. now, some sad news to bring you and the mother of manchester city manager, pep guardiola, has died. manchester city said that his mother passed away in barcelona aged 82 years old. manchester united are amongst the clu bs to manchester united are amongst the clubs to pay tribute on social media. it is believed that she died from coronavirus. the injured man‘s manager, gareth southgate and the women‘s manager, will take a 30% pay cut from the football association, who say they are looking at the government‘s scheme as a contingency plan for the coronavirus. the essay‘s highest earners, including gareth southgate, who and three million pounds a year will take a 30% pay cut production, or those earning £30,000 or more will take a 7% pay cut. it says clubs like

wembley could have a loss of 100 and 50 million pounds. david moyes has said he is also willing to take a pay cut. meanwhile, afterfive premier league clubs, including liverpool, were criticised for following staff, the head of the players union has hit back. the head of the players union said his astonished that players will asked to ta ke astonished that players will asked to take a reduction in pay. he also says players know that they must help, but they want to know where the money will go. tottenham, newcastle, norwich and bournemouth has also all use the government‘s 80% pay scheme for those no longer working, funded by the taxpayer. players and coaches are to begin individual negotiations with clubs over wages. let‘s get more on the news that we what you just mm moment ago about the open being cancelled. our goal correspondence joins us

now.