the headlines: here, the prime minister borisjohnson has been moved to intensive care after his coronavirus symptoms worsened. he was admitted to st thomas‘ hospital in london for some tests after doctors said his symptoms were persisting. on social media, the prime minister said that he was in good spirits. president trump has joined political leaders in the uk and around the world in wishing borisjohnson a speedy recovery. mr trump said the prime minister was "strong, resolute, doesn't quit and doesn't give up." he added that americans are "all praying for his recovery." in the us, more than 10,000 people have now died from coronavirus — as the country braces for the most difficult week of the outbreak so far. there are more than 360,000 confirmed cases. 0nly italy and spain have higher death tolls.

more now on borisjohnson: bronwen maddox is the director of the institute for government. she has more details on how foreign secretary dominic raab will deputise "where necessary" for borisjohnson. i think it's a careful ambiguity, if you like. it's not handing over absolutely every bit of power and saying that the prime minister is com pletely saying that the prime minister is completely incapacitated, but it's clearly delegating a great area of responsibility to him. it's useful ambiguity, if you like. at one point --1.i ambiguity, if you like. at one point —— i.i would also make come up with some of the big decisions have been taken by some of the big decisions have been ta ken by boris some of the big decisions have been taken by boris johnson, some of the big decisions have been taken by borisjohnson, that this is happening at a point that boris johnson was able to make the decision about the locked and explained that people should stay at home and was able to endorse the giant economic bailout as chancellor —— that his chance or put together, had his deputy, if you like, been trying to make those decisions right now, i think he would be in a much more difficult place. but there is still lots of smaller decisions to

be taken in the next week or two about how to get all of this stuff done. does dominic raab come as far as you can tell, get the chancellor have all the prime ministers powers if he so needs, if there is a moment of national, even greater national crisis, which requires an instant decision, what dominic raab have the authority to take that decision? welcome to the uk's governed by the cabinet, and the prime minister is the first among equals in the cabinet. the cabinet would be taking those decisions, dominic raab has had the authority delegated by the prime minister, but the cabinet would have to come to a collective decision on that. he would have to persuade them. and it's really a matter for the cabinet of whether he could have his essay over all of it. now, i think in the circumstances but cabinet will absolutely pull together on these things. he is not a president. the prime minister isn't a president. so it isn't as if dominic raab can go in and to

unilaterally make all of his own bowel. i wonder if you can think back into british history, has there ever been a time where there has been a prime minister who has been seriously unwell, and a stand and prime minister, and a sharing of duties between the two? well, it's the sharing that is the difficult point to get out. there have been moments in british history, and one people i talk about quite a bit is when harold in 1963 felt he was very unwell. i think there is some evidence that he knew the cancer that he was being operated on was in fa ct that he was being operated on was in fact benign, but chose it as a movement to stand down. partly because it was so unclear where the power should flow to, the conservative party developed rules of succession, if you like, after that. the sharing of power... well, it happens in everyday ways, in essence, prime minister goes on

holiday, you know... has to be away ata summit holiday, you know... has to be away at a summit or something and delegate the power to take prime minister's questions or to do some other smaller things, but it's unusual to delegate the day to day running of the government entirely to someone else. we have seen tonight at downing street, that the queen is being consulted. is there a constitutional role for the queen to play in this? she recognises who the prime minister is, and if there is any suggestion of needing you know, if borisjohnson was any suggestion of needing you know, if boris johnson was going to be incapacitated for some time, there would be discussions about how to... whether the conservative party and the cabinet ought to talk about another prime minister, but i think it's a bit early to get into that kind of discussion. jonathan powell served

as tony blair's chief of staff from 1997—2007. he explained how a government would deal with this kind of situation? it certainly did not when i was in government tony blair had to go into a hospital twice for health operations and both times we managed to carry on the government. luckily, each time he was only in hospitalfor 2a hours, he was under general anaesthetic, and we had to think about things like the nuclear button, what happens when you don't have a prime minister in place. and there will be people in downing street, the private secretaries, advisers, worrying about that at the moment. can all of the prime minister's powers it simply be transferred to someone the prime minister nominates, in this case, dominic raab? yes, we don't have a presidential system so you don't have succession, the president, vice president, speaker of the house. instead, we have a system based on a majority. whoever commands a majority in the house is the prime minister. so, the prime minister cannot

nominate the next person. assuming that person has the support of the cabinets, and that his parliamentary party, then he can be prime minister, that's the way it works. jonathan powell. dr carl waldmann is a consultant in intensive care medicine. he explained the process by which patients are admitted to icu. what happens is they come to intensive care either because they are deteriorating, so we can put them under close observation in case we have to escalate to organ support, that means they are in the right place at the right time encase intervention is necessary. that's the first thing to say. if they do show signs of deterioration, we give them oxygen via what we call a cpap mask, continuous positive airway pressure. the mask very similar to what pilots use when they fly very high in an unpressurized cabin stop and if they don't improve, they would be sedated so if they can go to a ventilator. that would be the start

of their treatment. what are the particular difficult as you found when facing covid—19? there have been many because we have had to change the way we work. the normal way of working in intensive care is have one nurse per patient. we have doctors where we may have one doctor for eight patients, so we have a whole range of doctors. we also have allied health professionals, which include physiotherapists, which help with our patients. we are dealing with larger and larger numbers. we have had to train a lot of people with a lot of specialities to come and help us and i have to say it's been very impressive the way these others have come and help on intensive care. it's a different way of working but i have to say, i'm very grateful to all the staff who have come and mucked in and were able to provide a much better service. we who are not doctors, who are not scientists, noted boris johnson,

matt hancock, said they had symptoms at the same time. why has this virus struck different people at different depths? we don't know. most people, they get better. they either get better in their home or either after a short time in hospital, where they may have gotten better after a visit to icu. a few of them do deteriorate quite rapidly. we're learning all the time how treat them. we don't know why it is some of them deteriorate and some get better very quickly, but we are learning, and the problem is when they do deteriorate very quickly, the conventional treatment we give with pneumonia don't seem to be effective in all the patients. so, it's something that all of us are learning. we have these webinars so we can work with other doctors and other countries so we can learn

what is working what is not working. it is a fluid time. intensive care is one of this specialities where every patient is different, but everyone can be assured everyone is doing their best. i would say intensive care in the united kingdom is one of the best training schemes, highly trained doctors, highly trained nurses and highly trained allied care professionals. everyone is working all hours to ensure the best treatment that we can. 0ur news reporter rich preston is here with me. politicians around the world have been reacting. that's right. since the news came through, president trump and his coronavirus press briefing said that americans are praying for boris johnson. briefing said that americans are praying for borisjohnson. he's briefing said that americans are praying for boris johnson. he's a good friend of the american people come as a man who doesn't quit, doesn't give up, on twitter, re—she

soon asked, the british chancellor of the exchequer, and of course the man who lives next door... rishi. —— mac rishi. i know he will be getting the best care possible and will come out of this even stronger. the canadian prime minister, justin trudeau sends his best wishes to boris johnson... trudeau sends his best wishes to borisjohnson... the trudeau sends his best wishes to boris johnson... the president trudeau sends his best wishes to borisjohnson... the president of that you commission says... her thoughts are with the per minister and herfamily thoughts are with the per minister and her family this evening to see in english and a full and speedy recovery. michel barnier wishing borisjohnson all the recovery. michel barnier wishing boris johnson all the best... recovery. michel barnier wishing borisjohnson all the best... the french president, manual macron, all my support to boris johnson, his family and the british people at difficult moment. with social media, my thoughts are with the preminger and his family. the spanish prime minister, pedro sanchez, similar sentiments. as you sayjames, thoughts and wishes from around the world. we have also had the

opposition, labour leader to make your starmer, asking people to pray. we had sadiq khan, the mayor of london. it does remind people of when ronald reagan was shot in 1980, and he was wondering whether his surgeons where republicans and someone said today we are all republicans. look you should get that sense of that international spirit on an occasion like this. let's look at another aspect of this story. that he's been taken to intensive care, if you've been able to do some reading, can you take through what that means. intensive ca re through what that means. intensive care is for the sickest of patients. there is no getting around that. it's for the sickest people. downing street is stressing that this is a precautionary measures taken on the advice of borisjohnson medical team after his symptoms of coronavirus got worse, and his condition deteriorated. there's been some speculation about whether this means he's ona speculation about whether this means he's on a ventilator, we have heard so much about ventilators. the thing we do know about coronavirus is that the attacks are in the respiratory

system, and ventilators really are the machines that do your breathing for you. they are kind of the last line of defence whilst your body tries to fight off the virus. because, of course, no cure. so a ventilators machine that takes over your breathing, while your own body fights off the virus. he is not been put on a ventilator as far as we are aware, that is something that can be donein aware, that is something that can be done in intensive care, and the person needs to be sedated for that. but we do know that he was taken to hospital and oxygen, and that was probably to support them into give him the oxygen he needs to give him the strength he needs to get through this, and various other different breathing supports can be given in intensive care as well. so looked at the reaction. we've explained the health, let's quickly look at the politics. dominic raab, the first secretary of state, the foreign secretary of state, the foreign secretary will be taking decisions as necessary. he is a figure who is reasonably well known in britain, but perhaps not a household name yet. absolutely. as you say, the important thing about british politics is that this is not a

presidential system. there is not a clear chain of command, so dominic raab has been deputized to act for borisjohnson, raab has been deputized to act for boris johnson, and the raab has been deputized to act for borisjohnson, and the worst we are told, as necessary, borisjohnson is still remains prime minister and there are various district systems in place for a different cabinet ministers to take up different roles as well. and we have been told also that the queen has been informed. thank you very much for keeping us up—to—date. spain has registered its lowest number of deaths from coronavirus for two weeks, continuing a recent trend which suggests the spread of the virus is stabilising. with over 130,000 infections, spain has more cases than any other country in the world except for the united states. guy hedgecoe reports from madrid. good news, as another patient is discharged from hospital, having recovered from covid—19. spain has reported just under 640 deaths from coronavirus over the last 2a hours, a marked improvement on just a few days ago, when over 900 deaths

were being reported daily. the number of new infections has also been easing off in recent days, and the government says the virus' spread is now coming under control. translation: more than 40,000 people have already been discharged, and this already represents almost 30% of the reported cases. the government believes that measures that were introduced just over three weeks ago, tightly restricting spaniards movement, are paying off. this week, the prime minister, pedro sanchez, hopes to gain parliamentary backing to extend the national lockdown at least until late april. but although the figures are improving, there there is still enormous pressure on the health service. around 20,000 doctors and nurses have been infected, and tonnes of medical equipment has been shipped into spain since the crisis began. in madrid, the epicentre

of spain's outbreak, the situation appears to be improving. but in the northeastern region of catalonia, hospitals are struggling to keep up with demand. in this restaurant in barcelona, chefs prepare food not for customers waiting at tables, but to be delivered for free to health care workers who are still on the front line of the battle against coronavirus. guy hedgecoe, bbc news, madrid. it's now a fortnight since boris johnson announced the lockdown in the uk — and there are some signs that the rate of infection could be starting to reduce. while the number of people dying in hospital from the effects of coronavirus has been doubling every few days — the figures for confirmed cases and hospitalisations are coming down. so is the peak of the virus in sight — and if it is — what does that mean for our day—to—day lives? 0ur science editor david shukman reports. a village outside rome, hit hard by the virus,

and now isolated by the army. turned into a human laboratory, everyone is getting screened. drastic action in a country where the daily death toll is at last dropping. in spain, as well, which are seen terrible losses, for four days in a row the number dying has fallen, a sign that the strategy of locking down may be working. so, when might the uk see a peak in the outbreak? the working assumption is that ought to happen in about 7—10 days' time, but it's very difficult to predict, partly because it takes so long for measures like social distancing to have an impact on the numbers dying. from the moment of infection, five days might pass before it starts to show, with the common symptoms of fever and coughing and of breathlessness. it could be 16 days before intensive care is needed by the most severe cases. and sometime after 23 days, patients will either recover or die.

and then it may take a few more days to register their deaths. we do have to be patient. hopefully, by the time we come to june, the numbers will have fallen quite a lot, and we can actually start thinking about relaxing social distancing and how we're going to manage that through the summer. so, what does this mean across the uk? in harrogate, construction is under way of another of the emergency nightingale hospitals, one of many. but the disease is striking different parts of the country at different times. this graph shows the number of covid—19 patients in british hospitals. london's numbers have been rising further and faster than, for example, those in scotland and wales. the peaks, when they come, may not be at the same time. so, that raises a really difficult question about whether it's possible to relax measures like social distancing at different times in different parts of the country.

how tricky would it be if some regions are still in lockdown while others are trying to get back to normal? all over the world, governments are wrestling with these dilemmas. injapan, a state of emergency gives the authorities new powers to encourage people to stay at home. and in south korea, a lockdown has been extended. the big worry amid all the talk of reaching a peak in the pandemic is that controls are lifted too soon and that the virus strikes again. david shukman, bbc news. lockdown means many people are spending more time with their families than usual. for some, that's a comfort but for others it makes staying home almost as dangerous as going out. the un secretary—general antonio guterres has called for governments to help women trapped in domestic war zones, locked down with abusive or violent partners. we know lockdowns and quarantines are essential to suppressing covid—19, but they can trap women with abusive partners.

over the past weeks, as economic and social pressures and fear have grown, we have seen a horrifying global surge in domestic violence. in some countries, the number of women calling support services has doubled. meanwhile, health care providers and police are overwhelmed and understaffed. local support groups are paralysed or short of funds. some domestic shelters are closed, others are full. i urge all governments to make the prevention and redress of violence against women a key part of their national response plans for covid—19. antonio guterres. here in the uk, the charity refuge says calls and online requests for support have risen by 25% in the past week. campaigners are warning that self—isolation could potentially escalate tension in some households and increase the threat of domestic abuse,as our home affairs correspondent june kelly explains. one of the key aspects of experiencing domestic abuse is to be isolated.

it's a prison without the luxuries of prison. the fear is immense, it's paralysing. natasha saunders' former husband is now himself in jail. after years of abusive behaviour, he was convicted of multiple counts of raping her. i suffered sexual, emotional, physical, mental, psychological, economic, you know, just about every type of abuse you could think of. natasha works to help others to escape. the lockdown has been described as a perpetrator‘s paradise. for the victims, many of the escape routes, like the school run, are now shut off. i can't imagine now being in this lockdown with my ex—husband — the fear, the panic, the claustrophobia, treading on eggshells. two women a week are leaving their abusers in a body bag. the terrifying fact

is this will increase. i hope i'm wrong, but i think women and children are going to come through this lockdown in a far worse position than they are now. all over the uk, helpline teams are being forced by the lockdown to work apart. the largest charity in the field, refuge, runs the national domestic abuse helpline. it's re—routed its secure phone lines to spare rooms and private places in workers' homes. if you're experiencing domestic abuse, please don't feel alone. refuge is providing its services around—the—clock. the helpline runs every hour, of every day. you know, call us, even in the middle of the night, and we will provide support to you. over the past week, there has been a 25% increase in calls, and women seeking help online. if making a call is difficult, you can type in national domestic abuse helpline. you can then scroll down to "contact us online". click on this, and it takes

you to the help form. there's a quick exit button if you need to get off the site fast, and there will be no trace of your message on your phone. every day now, we're told to stay at home and keep safe. natasha knows that one doesn't always follow the other. when you're annoyed that you couldn't get your favourite bread at the supermarket, remember there is a woman hoping she doesn't get hit tonight, or raped tonight, orjust verbally abused to the point where she feels she can't go on any more. local authorities across the uk are being told not to close public parks — unless it becomes impossible to maintain social distancing and if people ignore the guidelines. the local government association says while outdoor spaces are recognised as a "lifeline" for many — they will be forced to close them — if distancing measures are simply disregarded by members of the public. 0ur correspondent danny savage reports roundhay park is open — and with 700 acres,

there is plenty of space. it should be easy to keep your social distance here but it's not always the case. we try and get out of the way, but if you get a runner comes up behind you and skirts just around the edge of you, you've not even seen them, and they are past you before you've realised. because they're notjust breathing normally, they're breathing heavily. the government has set out new rules and laws on the issue. they say you can exercise once a day, which could be in your local park. you should be on your own or with people you live with, and you should keep at least two metres apart from others. break the rules and the police can fine you. this family of five find a walk in the park invaluable. it's almost like cabin fever when you're stuck inside and you know you're not allowed to leave. at least being able to get out for an hour. walk around, fresh air, great for all of the kiddies. and we have a garden. i'm sure it would be even worse for people who don't have their own garden space at home.

i think it's really important — they cannot close the parks. a few councils were horrified by the number of people in some parks over the weekend. the health secretary then suggested it could lead to a ban on going out for exercise altogether. today, though, the government backtracked on that idea. i think it would be very unfortunate if we had to do so, and make it harderfor people, particularly people who live in flats, in towns and cities to get the exercise they and their families deserve. these new government restrictions rely heavily on you, me, and everyone else voluntarily complying with them. a ban on exercising beyond the home may have led to civil disobedience, although some european countries have gone much further, and people have complied. richton is a guide dog. his owner says he needs his park time because there's only a tiny garden at home. if i'm constantlyjust, like, we're working, we're working, we're always working, and we don't have that break

when he gets his time to play. would you want to work with somebody thatjust every day is the same, really? this afternoon, the police gave parliament an update on the situation as they see it. the vast majority of the public get it. they understand why this is so important, and it's inconvenient and would rather it wasn't the case, but they get it and they want to comply, they want to help, they want to do their bit. the medical experts believe the restrictions imposed by the government are working but it is too early to tell when they might end. we have to get used to this. danny savage, bbc news, leeds. a reminder of our top story... the british prime minister boris johnson — who has coronavirus — has been moved to an intensive care unit in hospital following a worsening of his condition. in a statement on television, the foreign secretary dominic raab, who is deputising for mrjohnson while he receives treatment,

said the prime minister was in safe hands at london's st thomas' hospital. mr raab said the business of the british government would continue. the prime minister, who is 55, was admitted to hospital on sunday after showing persistent symptoms of the coronavirus infection. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @jamesbbcnews. stay with us. hello. the warmth of the weekend was replaced by something a little bit fresher through the day on monday, but many of us were able to enjoy a bit of blue sky and a bit of sunshine from our windows and our gardens too. a bit more of the same on tuesday, things are looking mostly dry after a chilly and a misty start. but, high—pressure very much dominating our weather through the day on tuesday, and into wednesday too. things are going to turn a little bit warmer over the next few days. because, as you can see, the blue colours, the colder air that's been with us gets pushed away, and these yellow colours, the warmer air, starts to move in from the south. but for the here and now, tuesday dawns on quite a chilly note, touch of frost, and some mist and fog patches, particularly across england and wales. lots of dry weather with some long spells of sunshine. cloudier towards the far northwest, but the odd shower

perhaps for the western aisles, perhaps northern ireland by the end of the day too. also quite breezy, particularly for the northwest of scotland, but, elsewhere, lighter winds and the sunshine lasting through the day, but there will be more cloud just pushing into southern counties of england as we head on into the afternoon. but temperatures likely to reach about 20 degrees in london. elsewhere, typically the mid to high teens. so, we're looking at a largely dry night tuesday night into wednesday, particularly across england and wales. scotland and northern ireland will have more cloud, and a few outbreaks of patchy rain moving in here. if you've been during some gardening recently, we are not expecting a frost overnight tuesday into wednesday, so it won't be as cold as it will be first thing tuesday morning. through the day on wednesday, again, most places, largely dry. plenty of sunshine across england and wales, a little bit of cloud drifting around too. thicker cloud for scotland and for northern ireland, with the odd light shower. across scotland and northern ireland, temperatures here around 13—14 degrees, whereas further south, 1—2 spots could get up to 23—24 degrees. wednesday probably being the warmest day of the week. into thursday, high—pressure

still holding on. so, again, quite a bit of dry weather, if you're able to open the window, get out in the garden, perhaps go for a walk if you can on thursday. temperatures in the warmest spots up to about 21 celsius, always a little bit cooler and fresher though further north. into good friday, and it's all change, as we start to see this weather front moving its way in from the west. so some patchy outbreaks of rain heading west to east, and things are turning cooler into the easter weekend. so a bit more unsettled, a drop in temperature, but whatever the weather's doing, remember the rules on self isolation, social distancing, wherever you can, stay home and stay safe. bye— bye.

this is bbc news — our top stories: britain's prime minister is moved to intensive care 10 days after testing positive for coronavirus. he's been receiving excellent ca re he's been receiving excellent care at st thomas ‘s hospital and we would like to take this opportunity as a government to thank nhs staff up and down the country for all of their dedication, hard work and commitment in treating everyone who's been affected by this awful virus. political leaders in the uk and around the world send their best wishes and hopes for a speedy recovery. americans are all praying for his recovery. he's been a really good friend. he's been really good friend. he's been

really something very special. strong, resolute, doesn't