guys, all me some attention. thanks, guys, all the best. that's it from us, we will be back tomorrow from 6am, as ever. thank you for watching. goodbye.

good morning. welcome to bbc news, i'm victoria derbyshire. here are are the headlines this tuesday morning: the prime minister has spent the night in an intensive care unit being treated for coronovirus after his symptoms worsened yesterday evening. borisjohnson is at st thomas‘ hospital in london, where he was admitted on sunday. the prime minister is in intensive care, being looked after by his medical team, receiving the very, very best care from the team at st thomas‘, and our hopes and prayers are with him and with his family. the foreign secretary is standing in for the prime minister where necessary — the queen is being kept informed about mrjohnson‘s health

we have a prime minister who, as somebody said, is first amongst equals. the rest of those equals are still in post, and dominic raab is one of them, and he will lead them through this using the same policy positions and the same decision—making process, until boris is able to step back up again and take charge, and that we fervently hope from the bottom of our hearts. mr raab will chair the government's daily coronavirus meeting in downing street this morning — we'll keep you across all today's developments. staff and patients pay tribute to heart surgeonjitendra rathod, who has died from coronavirus in hospital in wales. and the first of the three quarters of a million people who volunteered to help the nhs in england will get down to work today.

borisjohnson has spent the night in intensive care, after his coronavirus symptoms worsened. the prime minister has been given oxygen but hasn't been put on a ventilator. downing street says mrjohnson, who's 55, was moved to the unit in london on the advice of his medical team yesterday and is receiving "excellent care" at st thomas‘ hospital. the foreign secretary, dominic raab, will deputise for the prime minister where necessary. buckingham palace says the queen is being kept informed about mrjohnson‘s health. messages of support have been flooding in for the pm. his predecessor theresa may tweeted to say her thoughts and prayers are with borisjohnson and his family. president trump described the prime minister as a "good friend of his" and said he‘d offered the help to mrjohnson‘s doctors and president macron of france wished mrjohnson a "speedy recovery".

our political correspondent chris mason reports. the man tasked with steering the country and the government through a crisis without parallel is this morning still here in intensive care at st thomas‘s hospital in central london. the prime minister has been attempting to shield us from the very worst consequences of a virus that has now left him stricken. the main thing that comes across with boris all the time is this irrepressible optimism that we will get through and that‘s what he projects that‘s what he believes, that‘s what he tells himself constantly. and that‘s what he was like about a week ago when he knew he had the virus. he thought he‘d get through it and britain would get through it and we‘d all be fine. this clearly shows just how serious it is. this was the prime minister last thursday, joining the applause for health care staff. thanks, nhs, thank you! it‘s now doctors and nurses less than a mile from downing street in hospital helping the prime minister beat the

coronavirus. and so this man, the foreign secretary, dominic raab, has been asked to deputise for mrjohnson, where necessary. there‘s an incredibly strong team spirit behind the prime minister and making sure that we get all of the plans the prime minister has instructed us to deliver to get them implemented as soon as possible and that is the way we will bring the whole country through the coronavirus challenge that we face right now. the worsening of the prime minister‘s condition has prompted reaction from around the world, including from the white house. i also want to send best wishes to a very good friend of mine and a friend to our nation, prime minister boris johnson. americans are all praying for his recovery, he‘s been a really good friend, he‘s been really something very really special. strong, resolute, doesn‘t quit, does not give up. buckingham palace said the queen was being kept informed about the condition of her 14th prime minister.

the capacity of every branch of government was already stretched in a way no—one could possibly have imagined just a few months ago. and for now at least, its leader is sidelined too. chris mason, bbc news at westminster. we can speak now to charlotte gallagher, who is outside st thomas‘ hospital in central london where the prime minister is receiving treatment. what do you know about the prime minister‘s condition? what do you know about the prime minister's condition? only the sickest patients are treated in intensive pair, which shows the seriousness of the situation. we are being told the prime minister has received oxygen but is not on a ventilator, the reason why they have moved on into intensive care, they say, is so he is near a ventilator if he needs one. sources close to the prime minister say his condition has not changed overnight but we‘re

expect an update from downing street later. his colleague michael gove said it showed the fact that the most powerful man in britain could be struck down with coronavirus showed we were all at risk. obviously an incredibly worrying time for obviously an incredibly worrying time foer obviously an incredibly worrying time for mrjohnson‘s friends and family. his partner is pregnant, he has other children as well. one of the worst things about coronaviruses the worst things about coronaviruses the fact that it is so infectious that your loved ones cannot visit you in hospital, usually, if you are being treated for coronavirus. and speaking to the bbc earlier, an nhs doctor on the front line of the situation said we need to remember that lots of people are getting the ca re that lots of people are getting the care they need and are recovering fully, so something positive to think about. thank you, charlotte. our assistant political editor norman smith is in north london. at his home. how serious is this? massively. psychologically it is huge for the country, because until friday we were pretty much being

told that borisjohnson was just suffering from mild symptoms, he himself did a video posted on friday in which he said he was getting better and described himself as suffering from a minor symptom, a high temperature. then on monday he has admitted to intensive care, that is an enormously and i think that compounds the sense of shock about what has happened —— that is an enormous leap. it might be that borisjohnson has pushed himself too hard, we know he has been working pretty much at full tilt when in self isolation. only yesterday we we re self isolation. only yesterday we were told that he was still talking to officials, still getting a bit —— red box with his government papers delivered to himself. so he clearly has been determined to keep going and keep going. we do not know but maybe that has made it harder for his body to rest and recover, albeit michael gove this morning, when asked about the pm, insisted he

had followed medical advice while in self isolation. as we speak, the prime minister is in intensive care, being looked after by his medical team, receiving the very, very best care from the team at st thomas', and our hopes and prayers are with him and with his family. and the prime minister loves this country and wants to do his very, very best for us. that's one of the reasons why he's made sure that he's been involved in the decision—making and he's chaired meetings, but he's also had to strip back his diary, and that affected the medical advice that the prime minister has had, but ultimately think one of the things about this new and uniquely challenging virus is that we must all follow the appropriate medical advice and all of us are discovering that this virus has a malignancy, a malevolence that is truly frightening. the other aspect of this

which is incredibly serious is the business of government. that will be handed over to dominic raab, to step in, if you like, as the acting pm. actually, most of the big decisions and coronavirus, the bay, strategic decisions anyway, have been taken. there is also a government structure, four different cabinet committees focused on coronavirus, looking at different aspects, whether it is health, involving other countries, the economy, the impact on public services, so the infrastructure of decision—making is in place. although dominic raab will be acting prime minister, it will not be such a big gear change. it might bea not be such a big gear change. it might be a slightly more limited role than it sounds. this morning iain duncan smith, himself a former tory leader, said he believed cabinet government would in effect ta ke cabinet government would in effect take over. he is a singular character, ebullient, upbeat, always wanting to give people he meets and the public in general a sense of optimism. that's what he

does, it's the way he works and that's what makes him, in a sense, cut through. and so many of the people that would have met him, or manyjust watching on television, will worry about this, but, you know, i honestly genuinely believe that boris couldn't be in better hands right now, this brilliant nhs that we've got, and i had to say that he will fight this through and we are with him on that. but with regard to the country, with regards to the running of the country, i hope i can reassure everybody, having sat at the table myself, the cabinet system of government allows this to happen. it's not a presidential system, we have a prime minister who's, as some have said, first amongst equals. the rest of those equals are still in post and dominic raab is one of them, and he will lead them through this using the same policy positions in the same decision—making process until boris is able to step back up again and take charge, and that we fervently hope from the bottom of our hearts. the other thing i think worth saying is that the only

other big decision coming up quickly is this review of the lockdown which is due on tuesday. that is a colossal decision, but having listened to what the scientists had said, jn, jh, is almost as if this decision has been taken by the scientists that it will be too early next week that it will be too early next week that it will be too early next week that it will be too early to ease the lockdown. maybe that decision is not one that dominic raab has to take. maybe when we get down to the critical decisions, the prime minister will be back on his feet and back in charge. let's hope so. thank you, norman. let‘s speak now to dr ron daniels, an icu consultant who has just finished a night shift at his hospital in birmingham. you must be pretty exhausted, we are grateful. what do you read into a patient being taken to intensive ca re patient being taken to intensive care but not needing a ventilator to help with everything? this of course

is not any old patient, this is the prime minister. we know thatjust as in the west midlands where i am, intensive care units in london, their capacity is very stretched, those bed spaces are incredibly precious. i would find it surprising if they had taken this decision lightly and what it suggests to me is that mrjohnson puts my blood oxygen levels were found to be abnormally low and they were bringing them there because we were concerned —— they were concerned he might need help with ventilation. we have been told he was given oxygen through a mass, noninvasive ventilation, that is to get oxygen to the blood in order to be able to breathe properly? —— given oxygen through a mask. there is the normal oxygen mask, there is a slightly more hi—tech device which can be described as cpac, which opens the

lungs and people can be awake with that, that can be delivered on the ward or in intensive care, then there is the ventilator itself. and at what point would you make a decision to put a patient on the mechanical ventilator? this condition is unlike many others we have dealt with before. blood oxygen levels full very low but they look remarkably well with it. at the moment there are two indicators, number one, dangerously low blood oxygen levels, that could affect organs like liver and kidneys, and number two, simply tiring and becoming and unable to clear their carbon dioxide and breeze adequately. to go on to the ventilator, patients are sedated? for mechanical ventilation with a breathing chiva in the throat are then absolutely they will be sedated. —— breathing tube in the throat. that is not me they had to

stay sedated, we like people to be slightly sedated, responsive, awake but calm and pleasantly drowsy. the face as you know, you tell us, you‘re the expert, there is one to one monitoring in intensive care. the patient has such diligent care. in the prime minister‘s position, if i was any slight deterioration, the medics would be on it immediately? u nfortu nately we have medics would be on it immediately? unfortunately we have had to flex beyond one to one monitoring with the increased demands but we give a much higher standard of monitoring. if you already loved one are unable to normal times, you might expect your blood pressure and heart rate would be recorded every few hours. perhaps slightly more frequently if quite unwell. in intensive care we do it more frequently. they can be monitored all the time even when a nurse is not at the bedside. mr johnson might also have a special needle into one of

his arteries that allows us to take blood samples which can very accurately monitor blood oxygen levels. in terms of the patients you are cheating in intensive care at the moment, how many are you looking after? —— patients you are treating? most intensive care units have at least doubled their capacity, and in london, the west midlands and we are starting to see it in other areas, that has now been achieved, so we are starting to look beyond intensive hair, do we know send patients to the operating theatre? we are looking after between 15 and 20 right now. what is that like for you? if we had our normal levels of staffing, it would be hugely challenging. it is made challenging by ppe, by the mental health challenges, relatives not visiting, having to do conversations with relatives over the phone, working in unfamiliar environments. because we have brought in staff from all disciplines, everyone is smoking

in to help, our nhs hospitals and intensive care units are just about coping —— everybody is pitching into help. thank you for speaking to us, particularly as you have just come off night shift. i hope that you have a good sleep. borisjohnson‘s former director of communications, will walden, is now executive director of the pr firm edelman and personal friend of the prime minister. good morning. you have been in touch with number ten. how is mrjohnson? i had brief exchanges with some senior people at number ten, i can‘t honestly tell you any different than the pro forma honestly tell you any different than the proforma that they have put out. i think the way they are is, like the rest of the country, they area bit like the rest of the country, they are a bit discombobulated, there is are a bit discombobulated, there is a sense of shock and a bit stunned at the turn of events in the middle ofa at the turn of events in the middle of a national crisis, but i think they are being as transparent as possible with his condition and i think it is important that he ——

important to discern that he is awake and conscious, not on a ventilator, they are talking about the trip to intensive care is purely precautionary. he was well enough last night to delegate authority to dominic raab. as somebody who knows him asa dominic raab. as somebody who knows him as a former colleague, he was my boss that he is also a friend, he is incredibly strong and resilient, mentally and physically. he is pretty fit, he might not look that fits, he has a heavy frame, he played a lot of rugby at school, he is fairly big but he plays tennis to a high standard, he runs regularly and if anyone has a chance of beating this and i think boris johnson does. from what you know, the people you have spoken to, do you feel optimistic? i am not a doctor and it would be wrong of me to pronounce. we need to be in the hands of the hospital in terms of his progress, but what i would say, andi his progress, but what i would say, and i say it again to try to reassure people as much

as possible, none of this has been taken lightly, my understanding is he had his workload mentor back significantly. in the last week he was in constant contact with doctors. —— had his workload cut back significantly. but this can take hold suddenly, you might have mild symptoms and suddenly becomes a lot worse, that is what has happened with him. i would imagine that on sunday evening he took the decision to go to hospital pretty reluctantly, he is not a good patient in the sense that he often battled through colds and flu and that sort of thing and it‘s pretty stoic and can be a dead bloody—minded about this sort of thing. the doctors were in constant contact with him, i do not think he has been that in this case. the doctors advised it was right to go to hospital and while he was there it has become clear that was more cause for concern than there was, that he is in the best answer pace, he has the best clinicians and i am

optimistic, like iain duncan smith, that boris will a speedy recovery and will be back running the country. he was still running things, effectively from hospital bed, and then we heard he was taken into intensive care yesterday. bed, and then we heard he was taken into intensive care yesterdaylj think into intensive care yesterday.” think that is true, he was running things. i have read some stuff and seen some commentary things. i have read some stuff and seen some commentary about our number ten being completely transparent? i think it is hogwash. they had to be guided by the hospital and my understanding was that as of yesterday afternoon, he was getting full briefs and is in charge of the government and there was a reasonably rapid turn of events which meant the best thing to do was to take into the icy you. i do was to take into the icy you. i do not think this changes anything. —— take him to the icu. dominic raab isa —— take him to the icu. dominic raab is a very able foreign secretary and the secretary of state. when boris

johnson made him first secretary of state last year, i was in the room and that decision was made, boris has absolute trust in his ability and will be supported by fantastic ministers and a fantastic civil service. i think the cabinet secretary, the principal private secretary to boris johnson, secretary, the principal private secretary to borisjohnson, these are very, very able people and i fully expect the prime minister will make a full recovery and in the interim, difficult decisions will be made by dominic, if they had to be made, with the support of the cabinet. thank you very much, will walden, a personalfriend the prime minister. the new labour leader, sir keir starmer sent his best wishes to the prime minister, and said he would work constructively with the government in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. i know i speak on behalf of the whole country when i say our thoughts are with the prime minister, his fiancee, his family. we have amongst the best staff —doctors, nurses in the world in the hospital he is in

so i know he will be well looked after but people are clearly anxious. i know the business of government will continue, i was in touch with the foreign secretary last night and i want to say the labour party will act in the national interest. and that‘s why i‘ve offered to act constructively with the government and support them when that‘s the right thing to do and push them further when we need to do it. we will get through this, but until we do, we‘ve got to follow the government advice. many people have expressed their concern for the prime minister. the archbishop of canterbury, justin welby, invited everyone tojoin him in praying for borisjohnson and his loved ones. the former home secretary, amber rudd, shared her support, saying she received a "light—hearted and positive response" from the prime minister when she last spoke to him. theresa mayjoined herfellow mps, tweeting that "her thoughts and prayers are with borisjohnson and his family as he continues to receive treatment in hospital." across the political divide, the newly appointed labour leader, keir starmer said "all the country‘s thoughts are with the prime

minister." and the first minister of scotland nicola sturgeon says she is sending him "every good wish". messages of support for the prime minister have been echoed across europe. irish taoiseach, leo varadkar said borisjohnson is in his thoughts, tweeting "we wish him a speedy recovery and a rapid return to health." french president emmanuel macron said he is sending his support to the british people at this difficult moment, and german chancellor angela merkel wished borisjohnson "much strength and a speedy recovery." as we‘ve heard, the foreign secretary and first secretary of state, dominic raab will deputise for borisjohnson ‘where necessary‘. the commons speaker, sir lindsay hoyle said it was imperative that government continues to operate as normal. dominic raab got the phone call from the prime minister. he is the first

secretary of state, he is the chosen one by the prime minister, he has been handed the reins, he is in charge, he will be running it on a day—to—day. government will always continue, the people are there, the supporters there, whatever happens, no matter how bad it is, the country continues, government continues, the advisers are there, there are other people stepping in as we had seen each night, government continues. what we have to do is wish this prime minister well, a speedy recovery. i don‘t think it will be as quick as one expects but we had to get him back at the helm, but in the meantime government will always continue, people pulled together. their arson big beasts ready to help and assistance have been doing, but we always know, no matter what is thrown at this country, this country will always continue and always do the right thing to get us to the right spot where we need to be. we had to get beyond coronavirus, we had to get beyond coronavirus, we had to get beyond coronavirus, we had to make sure we do the best.

this is a pandemic, this is the world that are suffering together, and what we do know is that this country will always pull together in our hour of need, and this is our hour of need, when we had to support each other, look at each other, listen to the advice and stick by the adviser government has given us —— look after each other. please, people stay at home. look after yourselves, isolate. let‘s get beyond it. the sooner we do that, the sooner we are beyond it. government continues, government will always continue, that is what happens to this country. let‘s speak to former cabinet secretary lord o‘donnell, and also catherine haddon from the institute of government. thank you both forjoining me. you will want to send your best wishes to the prime minister? we‘re all hoping he pulls through, thoughts and prayers are with his family. i have known him for a very long time, since he was with the

daily telegraph, in the data that eitherjohn major‘s press secretary. i feel with him at a eitherjohn major‘s press secretary. ifeel with him at a personal eitherjohn major‘s press secretary. i feel with him at a personal level and the country needs and we are all hoping that the brilliant people at st thomas‘ hospital can pull him through. how do you think he will be dealing with this? is your previous speaker said, he a great optimist. he loves running around at tennis and jogging he loves running around at tennis andjogging and he loves running around at tennis and jogging and all of that, we are hoping he is physically fit, it is a very difficultjob hoping he is physically fit, it is a very difficult job tuesday hoping he is physically fit, it is a very difficultjob tuesday fit in, as cabinet secretary i was very clear about it, really important that either set aside to stay physically fit because it is demanding, both physically and mentally. i am very hopeful he will come through this. he has a lot of support, a great medical team, the nhs team are standing there and i am hoping all of his cabinet will pull

together through this. we have heard from keir starmer, somebody who worked on my team before, i now think we have this wonderful world, we are seeing the best of the british system, a permanent civil service that can keep things going on day cabinets into cross—party consensus all battling the same challenge, namely to get on top of this virus. it is a personal crisis for borisjohnson this virus. it is a personal crisis for boris johnson but this virus. it is a personal crisis for borisjohnson but we are in a national crisis. is the 00:27:32,1000 --> 00:27:33,627 foreign secretary dominic raab essentially the temporary prime minister? we don‘t have that. borisjohnson remains prime minister until he resigns. dominic rav is deputising for him where necessary, as number ten said. he will chair various meetings but i‘m sure the cabinet as a whole, there are various strands,

this is not a one—man show, there are people working with the cabinet secretary and the civil service to make sure the essential things arjun, there is a lot to be done. people say decisions and exiting the lockdown some way off, they are, but you have to be working on what kinds of things we are looking for, what kinds of things will work. there is an enormous amount going on at the minute and that work needs to carry on and not be distracted. catherine haddon, what authority will dominic raab have now? it is a kind of borrowed authority. he has been nominated by the prime minister, as gus wasjust saying, nominated by the prime minister, as gus was just saying, to take nominated by the prime minister, as gus wasjust saying, to take on his duties where necessary. we do not know the full details. it will be chairing things, it may also be managing red boxes of daily decisions, a huge number of them that can come a prime minister's way. officials will be trying to

keep that to a minimum and make sure it the most urgent things. there is also a coordinating role for the prime minister or whoever is in numberten of bringing prime minister or whoever is in number ten of bringing ministers together and to try and keep things going, but i think everyone emphasising cabinet government is quite right, at this time a prime minister in this country has a lot of power but a lot of it is political power and personal authority, they are the leader of the party in this case, he is the person who led them to an election victory. for dominic raab, he has been given the status of carrying on those duties but he will have to work closely with his cabinet colleagues who had to try and make sure that he is working courageously. sorry to interrupt, does that mean he is only able to ta ke does that mean he is only able to take a decision with the consent of the top team? absolutely, that is the top team? absolutely, that is the purpose of cabinet government. he will need to emphasise that now

more than prime ministers often do. they can have a lot of individual power to take decisions themselves that the cabinet then signs up to or has to rebel against the prime minister. raab (inaudible) heis minister. raab (inaudible) he is continuing the direction the prime minister has set, he is not looking to emphasise his personal role but what he is doing is substituting for others. there are some other politically senior people within the government playing a very key role in this response. matt hancock, michael gove, rishi sunak. he will need to work very closely with them as well.” sunak. he will need to work very closely with them as well. i just wa nt to closely with them as well. i just want to read you this tweet, gus o‘donnell, from former defence minister tobias ellwood, a conservative mp, it is important to have 100% clarity as to where responsibility for uk national

security now lies. we must anticipate adversaries attempting to exploit any perceived weakness. do you agree? well, i think at this moment the world is concentrating on finding one particular enemy and that‘s this virus. so i would say, yes, of course, we always need to be careful about these things but, you know, the queen is, if you like, formerly commander—in—chief of the armed forces, she delegates that power to the prime minister and the secretary of state for defence, in the absence of state for defence, in the absence of the prime minister, that is delegated to dominic raab but we still have a secretary of state for defence so that would not be number one in my list of concerns at the moment. and that's absolutely fair enough but don‘t you, like tobias ellwood is suggesting, do you feel that you need 100% clarity as to where this responsibility lies for

uk national security or are you saying it‘s in the hands of dominic raab? it's absolutely clear. yes. we have cabinet secretary, also national security adviser, all of these things are brought together, to be honest, that‘s not one of my concerns. ok. thank you both very much. thank you. lord gus o‘donnell, former cabinet secretary, very senior civil servant and catherine haddon from the institute for government. a heart surgeon at wales‘ largest hospital has died from coronavirus. jitendra rathod was an associate specialist in cardio—thorasic surgery at the university hospital of wales. the cardiff and vale university health board said he was an ‘incredibly dedicated surgeon who cared deeply for his patients‘. the first minister of wales also paid tribute. a very senior and very highly regarded doctor here in wales. we‘ve

other clinicians who have been on the front line who are suffering from coronavirus and itjust tells us, doesn‘t it, this virus is no respecter of persons or place, which is why it is so important we all do absolutely everything we can to protect one another from its impact. it's protect one another from its impact. it‘s just gone at 9:30am. the latest headlines in a moment. now it‘s time for a look at the weather with carol hello again. if you are going out for your permitted exercise today, worth noting tree pollen levels are high across england and wales. dry out with sunny spells, one or two exceptions to that, they could cloud towards the north—west, could produce the odd spot of rain and brisk winds, more cloud across the south—west of the country could produce an isolated shower. but in the sunshine we are looking at temperatures higher than yesterday, nine in lyric, possibly 21 around the london area. tonight the weather

front sinks further south with its heavy and persistent rain for a time across north—west scotland, that bit more cloud than the nightjust gone so asa more cloud than the nightjust gone so as a result not as cold. any mist and fog patches that form through the course of tomorrow morning will disperse quite readily. the weather front syncing across scotland and northern ireland will be a fairly wea k of northern ireland will be a fairly weak of her tomorrow, brighter skies behind it, lots of sunshine ahead but the risk of a shower, highs of 22 or 23. hello, this is bbc news with me, victoria derbyshire. the headlines... the prime minister has spent the night in an intensive care unit being treated for coronavirus after his symptoms worsened yesterday evening the prime minister is in intensive care, being looked after by his medical team, receiving the very, very best care from the team at st thomas‘ and our hopes and prayers are with him and with his family. the foreign secretary

is standing in for the prime minister ‘where necessary‘ — the queen is being kept informed about mrjohnson‘s health staff and patients pay tribute to heart surgeon, jitendra rathod, who has died from coronavirus in hospital in wales. and the first of the three quarters of a million people who volunteered to help the nhs in england will get down to work today the foreign secretary, dominic raab, is deputising for the prime minister — where necessary. his first task this morning is chairing a meeting of ministers along with the chief medical officer and the chief scientific adviser. it's it‘s underway actually, it began about 9:15am, i am told. our political correspondent helen catt is at downing street what kind of things are top of the priority list right now? this is the government ‘s morning coronavirus meeting that they have each morning,

they look at the data, they have scientific experts there, we saw professor chris woody going in about ten minutes ago. the difference today, dominic raab in the chair, the foreign secretary, and he also holds this other post of first secretary of state, it‘s because of that second post that boris johnson has asked him to step in and deputise for him were needed. so what dominic raab said when he took over, he was asked to do this before borisjohnson was over, he was asked to do this before boris johnson was taken over, he was asked to do this before borisjohnson was taken into intensive care last night but he‘s been keen to stress that while he will be in charge of the everyday, day—to—day running of government, along with the cabinet, they will be putting into effect, the plans, the strategy that boris johnson had putting into effect, the plans, the strategy that borisjohnson had been pushing forward, so he was very clear it was still the government overall strategy they would be putting into effect. they will be discussing part of that this morning, the interesting thing is there are some big decisions looming in the coming weeks, for example, next week will be the three week period after which we were initially

told would be when the lockdown rules will be reviewed. that will be coming up towards the end of the week. of course, what happens there i think will depend largely on how long borisjohnson i think will depend largely on how long boris johnson is i think will depend largely on how long borisjohnson is out of action. as to who that decision will fall helen, thank you. with me in the studio isjo coburn — the presenter of the bbc‘s politics live programme. good morning, haven‘t seen you for a while, are you well? yes, i am well andi while, are you well? yes, i am well and i hope you are too. yes, yes, right, i think we should pause for a moment and we‘ve talked about who ta kes moment and we‘ve talked about who takes over and all the rest of it but borisjohnson takes over and all the rest of it but boris johnson is takes over and all the rest of it but borisjohnson is a father, about to bea but borisjohnson is a father, about to be a father again, a fiancee, a son, brother, this is a really worrying time for all of those people love him. at a human level, as you say, like many thousands of families, he is unwell, he is in hospital, he‘s been moved to intensive care. and so, you

are right, he is a family man on the one hand, but he is also the prime minister who leads this country, charged with keeping us safe. in this battle against coronavirus, at a time of national emergency. so, of course, it is a huge shock to hear that that person, in charge of the uk, is in hospital and is struggling. now, it was a precaution to put him into intensive care, but he hadn‘t been able to shake off the symptoms, that was clear, because they‘ve gone on for ten days or so since he tested positive. it‘sjust that that deterioration has happened extremely quickly. that again, points to the seriousness of covid 19. things can change very rapidly, there was dominic raab yesterday, there was dominic raab yesterday, the foreign secretary, first secretary of state as you‘ve been discussing, the de facto second if you like, first among equals, standing there saying the prime minister was in good spirits. that

he had been working from his bed side, there will be those who say, perhaps he should have taken a step back a little earlier, perhaps he should have rested a little more, hindsight is a wonderful thing. no prime minister wants to take their hands off the levers of power unless they have to. and again, as a precautionary measure, those tests have been carried out clearly, in the time of the press conference at around 5p yesterday, and just a few hours later, the news comes out. which is why it was such a shock. because dominic raab had effectively said, look, he may be in hospital but it‘s kind of business as usual. absolutely and its routine as far as anything can be to do with covid 19 and we saw the prime minister slapping on the steps of downing street on thursday last thursday, and... street on thursday last thursday, and butwe street on thursday last thursday, and but we also saw his video on friday and he did look a bit rough, let‘s be honest. friday and he did look a bit rough, let's be honest. and i suppose you do, don‘t you, when you have these sorts of symptoms and

he himself admitted, it was persistent. and it is that persistence that has clearly caused some concern amongst your team. he not on a ventilator. he has been given oxygen. and he is still in charge. he is the prime minister. but dominic raab will take over the day—to—day, if you like, running meetings, virtual or otherwise. that borisjohnson meetings, virtual or otherwise. that boris johnson might have meetings, virtual or otherwise. that borisjohnson might have done. right, you talked about the fact that perhaps he should have stepped back a little earlier. we‘ve talked to one of his friends this morning he said he is quite bloody—minded when he wants to be. but there also been commentary, suggesting that perhaps number ten wasn‘t being straight with everybody and perhaps the prime minister ‘s symptoms were worse than they were telling us. these arejudgement worse than they were telling us. these are judgement calls. and we are ata these are judgement calls. and we are at a very precarious time. this virus as we know is something that

all governments are trying to grapple with. the person who is leading the charge here, obviously number ten will want to protect as much as they possibly can. they would argue they‘ve been very candid, as you said we saw the prime minister ina candid, as you said we saw the prime minister in a video, where he spoke directly to the nation about how he was feeling. you are darned if you do, darned if you don‘t, how much do you say? i think there was some consternation at the fact that dominic raab, the first secretary of state, honorary title bestowed upon him by the prime minister, hadn‘t spoken to borisjohnson since saturday. and the press conference was yesterday and then as you said, it all happened so quickly a few hours, dominic raab is deputising. actually, to some extent, looked daunted, as you would come up when he was interviewed by the bbc political editor, laura kuenssberg, feeling the weight, no doubt come of what is unfolding, falling on to some extent his shoulders. so there will be concern but they‘ve also got

to reassure number ten. in the prime minister will no doubt have been saying, i‘m fine. and things should continue as usual. these are fine judgement calls and i think there is a balance to take. thank you for the moment. you are staying right here, do not worry, she‘s not going anywhere! next on the programme, a ca re anywhere! next on the programme, a care worker who spent her life serving the needs of the most vulnerable in society as died after contracting the virus. catherine sweeney spent 20 years working as a carer and she died on saturday at the royal alexandra hospital in paisley. herfamily the royal alexandra hospital in paisley. her family thanked the doctors and nurses who heroically looked after her in her final days. people who volunteered to support the nhs will begin their work today. 750,000 of you signed up to the

government called for volunteers when the scheme launched, three times the original target. university college hospital in london is one of the biggest facilities in the uk and it has transformed the words in order to deal with the surge in covid 19 patients. our medical correspondent fergus walsh has been inside to meet the nhs staff and the patients and witness the extraordinary pressures that they are facing. in the space of two weeks, university college hospital has been transformed into a coronavirus treatment centre. almost all the nearly 700 beds are being set aside for patients with covid—19. at the moment, most of our positive patients are of an older age, over 70, although we have had some positive patients that are currently with us now that are in their mid 30s. so it‘s quite a broad spectrum actually. among the patients on this covid

ward, we met imran from enfield. he‘s just 37 years old and was previously fit and healthy. i think it's very progressively slow. i don't feel better at the moment. ido... i am hoping i will get better, but i am struggling to come to feel better and to do normal things. imran is over the worst. despite the terrible toll of the virus, which is claiming hundreds of lives a day, the hospital says we mustn‘t lose sight of all those who recover, and the work of nhs staff that help them. if you watch television or if you read the newspaper, it's mostly doom and gloom and a lot of negative stories. but if you look at the response of a lot of nhs hospitals, if not all nhs hospitals, it's absolutely fantastic what's happening there.

the nurses and doctors have been inundated with gifts from local businesses and residents. this is the staff room for those who work in intensive care. hi, everyone. thank you so much on behalf of all the team on itu at uch who‘ve really helped keep morale up and we‘re just doing what we love to do, look after people, so thank you so much. they‘ve urged the public to stay at home to slow the spread of the virus and save lives. fergus walsh, bbc news. with me is professor hugh montgomery who specialises in intensive care medicine at university college london, and carl heneghan who is professor of evidence based medicine at university of oxford and an urgent care gp an urgent care gp. good morning both of you, hugh montgomery, tell us about a patient

who is moved into an intensive care unit but doesn‘t need ventilation at this point. this is part of the pathway we are seeing, many people who contract this disease don‘t appear to show many symptoms, some will get what is described as flu—like symptoms but i should make clear this disease is not a version of flu, this is as close to flu as a stroke is to an ingrowing toenail, totally different disease. the primary problem that takes people to hospital is low oxygen levels, on a war, they would normally be watched to see if those levels fall, the next step up will be to ask them to lie prone on their tummy which can help with oxygenation for some reason. to add supplemental oxygen and is the oxygen requirements go up, move people to much higher dependency care areas and the reason for that is while many patients will slowly improve with nothing but a little oxygen, some become acutely u nwell little oxygen, some become acutely unwell very, very quickly and they need to be in a situation and a place where if that happens, it can

be moved onto fitting oxygen masks to help with delivery or to be rapidly intu bated to help with delivery or to be rapidly intubated and put onto a ventilator. i should rapidly intubated and put onto a ventilator. ishould make rapidly intubated and put onto a ventilator. i should make clear, this is a standard pathway of care. to my knowledge, borisjohnson won‘t be receiving any different care from anyone else in the country, everyone can expect the same high standard. coral, we are told he has been given oxygen through a mask. that is to help get oxygen to his blood, to help get oxygen to his blood, to help him breathe. one of the things about this disease, boris is typical of what people are running, at the end of seven or eight days, of the illness, for some people, they are unable to fight the infection and their breathing gets worse, there oxyge n their breathing gets worse, there oxygen levels come down and that's what's happening with boris so what the oxygen there is is to support him so his body can do the job, his bodyis him so his body can do the job, his body is fighting the infection. the good thing, as an optimist about boris, he's got something in his

favour, he doesn't have court morbidity, he does not smoke and he is generally a fit man sol morbidity, he does not smoke and he is generally a fit man so i feel optimistic about him but he is in a grave position right now because he could as you said, deteriorate rapidly and that's why he is in the intensive care unit department. it's jo coburn in the studio, the prime minister as you say is in intensive care, there‘s been some discussion about whether he should have stepped back earlierfrom some about whether he should have stepped back earlier from some of his duties in order to rest but how long will it take a patient to recover, if they do come through this successfully in the next few days? right, you are quite right, it depends on the trajectory so let‘s ta ke depends on the trajectory so let‘s take the other side, if he ends up being ventilated, then current mortality rates in britain or somewhere around 50%. the length of stay, we don‘t know, we haven‘t got enough people through to see, most of our experience at the moment is it‘s going to be a couple of weeks ona

it‘s going to be a couple of weeks on a ventilator. if this is typical of other cases, one can lose around 2.496 of other cases, one can lose around 2.4% of muscle mass every day for the first ten days, patients will be debilitated for a very long period afterwards but if this is a short—term thing and responds well and just needs oxygen and recovers over the coming few days, then he will probably be feeling and regaining his strength over the next week to ten days, that seems to be the pattern for people who had this disease. anyone listening to this who has had it badly will tell you they feel pretty exhausted for quite some time. but it‘s that sort of trajectory we are looking at, it depends which way he‘s going, worse or better in the next day or two. depends which way he‘s going, worse or better in the next day or twom terms of the care in intensive care, hue, tell us about the ratio of medics to patient. yes. this is a good point because it requires a bit of nuance. we ran out of the intensive care beds as we know them, a very long time ago. that used to

be one qualifying intensive care nurse to every single intensive care bed with a very high ratio ofjunior doctors and consultants to those beds, there was a consultant for every ten or 12 ventilated beds. we now have expanded dramatically, ulster trusts have gone up may be threefold in london, the number of patients they are ventilating. that means you have potentially one qualifying intensive care nurse looking after six beds, not one come up looking after six beds, not one come up with a bunch of helpers working at each bed space and those might be community physiotherapists, not even necessarily nursing staff. and whilst we try to expand the number of consultant staff for instance, juniors, on at any one time, you cannot mend new consultant staff so we are having to find new ways of working to look after them. so the sorts of care they get, if they hit the intensive care unit and have moved on from the tight fitting oxygen mask to intubation is a breathing machine, to be able to

cope without breathing machine one needs to be very heavily sedated and usually given a paralysing agent, that stops the muscles working so the breathing machine can do its work. the patients are often nursed lying flat, in a rotation between lying flat, in a rotation between lying flat, in a rotation between lying flat on their tummy and on their backs in a roughly 16 hour cycle. there will be a neckline line usually more than one to deliver the sedation, the paralysis and also drugs to support blood pressure because commonly, blood pressure falls under the circumstances. there are other drugs we have to give as well. kidneys are failing, currently at around 25—30% of patients in this country, a lot more in other countries, less in others and a lot of patience now ending up with a large tube into a vein in the neck or the groin to try and clean the blood and take over at the work of the kidneys. there will be a feeding tube into the stomach, to

provide food and if that doesn‘t work we feed into the veins. so this is not a benign environment. for the staff. it is incredibly pressured. the nursing staff, i have to take my hat off to them, working under the most extraordinary pressure and are still managing to be civil and indeed joyful in their work and positive. and that is remarkable. there is a really instructive film on our website, from our medical editor fergus walsh who was filming inside an intensive care unit, frenetic activity, number of patients, but as you say, positive staff, exhausted stop as well, 12 hour days, 60 hour weeks, one of the most watched films and has been for a number of hours and has been for a number of hours andi and has been for a number of hours and i would recommend people watch that. carl, iwonder and i would recommend people watch that. carl, i wonder if you can help us that. carl, i wonder if you can help us with why it is that men in their

50s are around two and half times more likely to be critically ill with this than women?” more likely to be critically ill with this than women? i think the first thing is to set the majority of people will deal well with this virus and you are right, some people at the end, they get these severe symptoms and the prime minister is exhibiting exactly what the problem is with this virus. in other parts of the country, the world, like italy and china, there are particularly higher rates of smoking in men, also potentially more co—morbidity and there are theories underlying this that there are genetic issues we don't understand that might increase the complications for a small number of people. the other thing that's also out there which is not well understood but is seemingly important as what we call viral load, the amount of virus that you get right up front. if you only get a little bit of the virus, what happens is your immune system is time to gear itself up, get in place and fight it off but it right up

front, you get repeated doses, this is the concern in health care workers and and contain spaces, you get overwhelmed so it's like your body doesn't have an ability to fight off the virus. the exact answer though, to that, we don't know, we also don't know if men are disproportionately getting it at higher rates than women, we don't understand critical bits of the right now. thank you both for your time, we really appreciate it. we don‘t know, this disease is only three months old, there is so much that the professors and others have yet to find out. yes, that is the problem. clearly that was in the minds of people at number ten and in the mind of borisjohnson himself, by contrast, we saw matt hancock the health secretary, also had covid 19

symptoms. and was back at the lectern for the downing street press conference within a week. he recovered very quickly. as we‘ve seen recovered very quickly. as we‘ve seen borisjohnson hasn‘t been able to throw up those particular symptoms. and it is data collection thatis symptoms. and it is data collection that is going to be critically important for the decisions that will be made politically further down the line. because yesterday, the vast majority of the questions, other than about the health of the prime minister were about what we are calling an exit strategy from the restrictions and all of the medical experts and the team of advisers around number ten are saying, we don‘t have enough data, we don‘t have a sustained plateau or a flattening of the curve or anything that would indicate that we mustn‘t do anything other than stay at home, social distance and only ta ke at home, social distance and only take essential travel. more from you through the morning, of course. a hospital in londonderry has

apologised after a 73 year old woman with coronavirus symptons says she was told that a decision on whether to rescusitate her if it got to that point, would be a ‘clinical one‘ — despite her clear wishes to be revived if she became gravely ill. we can talk to milda grundle‘s son glen who says his mum was left feeling frightened and isolated. we haven‘t got that much time but thank you so much for talking to us. no problem. your mum went into hospital on friday. what did they say to her about being resuscitated? she was asked to sign a dnr when she went to hospital. she of course refused, she said she wanted to live. then the next day, the saturday, pressure was put on her to sign the dnr again. the doctor told her that even if she disagreed with him, at the end, it would be the decision of a doctor. i think it‘s

very important to point out that this really is events over the weekend, that has drastically changed. since yesterday, my mum is now under the care of a consultant that we build trust. who successfully treated her caught pneumonia last year. but how did she feel about that conversation and i know you got in touch with the hospital and had a similar kind of conversation, didn‘t you? hospital and had a similar kind of conversation, didn't you? she was terrified. i mean, i‘m not sure people realise the experience that patients go through with suspected coronavirus. you are taken to hospital by paramedics who are exemplary, i mean, absolutely fantastic with her but they are suited up with masks, you are taken m, suited up with masks, you are taken in, you are told that you are suspected of having this virus that‘s killing lots of people and then you are being asked to

sign a dnr before you‘ve been tested for anything. on top of that, we had to wait until monday morning for the results to come back, we had been worrying all weekend. we didn‘t know what was going on. and then, you know, i got a phone call on saturday night from the consultant who had actually asked my mum to sign the dnr. i'm going to post there because i need to read the statement from the health and social care secretary run the hospital for your mum the health and social care secretary run the hospitalfor your mum is being treated. a spokesperson from the northern health and social care trust who run the causeway hospital in coleraine said :"it has always been considered best practice to have appropriate and realistic discussions with patients and, if felt necessary, their next of kin about their wishes for cardiopulmonary resuscitation, if this is deemed clinically appropriate. the trust‘s policy in relation to this provides guidance for all relevant staff working within the trust regarding the process of making, recording and reviewing dnacpr decisions. we apologise to this lady and

her family for any anxiety caused." here is carol with the weather. good morning. for most of us, it‘s a dry day, one or two exceptions to that. the cloud to the north—west, the odd spot of rain, brisk wind here and a bit more cloud coming across the south—west of the country today could produce an isolated shower. in the sunshine we are looking at temperatures higher than yesterday, nine in lerwick, possibly 21 around the london area. this weather front sinks further south tonight, heavy and persistent rain for a time across north—west scotland, bit more cloud than the nightjust gone so as a result, it‘s not going to be cold. any mist and fog patches that form through the course of tomorrow morning will disperse quite readily. with a front syncing across scotland and northern ireland will be a fairly wea k and northern ireland will be a fairly weak affair tomorrow, brighter skies behind it, an ahead of it, the risk of a shower, highs of it, the risk of a shower, highs of up to 22

or 23 degrees. this is bbc news, with the latest

headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the prime minister has spent the night in an intensive care unit being treated for coronovirus after his symptoms worsened yesterday evening. borisjohnson is at st thomas‘ hospital in london where he was admitted on sunday. the prime minister is in intensive care, being looked after by his medical team, receiving the very, very best care from the team at st thomas‘ hospital, and our hopes and prayers are with him and his family. the foreign secretary is standing in for the prime minister "where necessary." the queen is being kept informed about mrjohnson‘s health. mr raab will chair the government‘s daily coronavirus meeting in downing street this morning — we‘ll keep you across all today‘s developments. japan‘s prime minister, shinzo abe, will declare a state of emergency in tokyo and six other regions, as the country struggles with the pandemic.

—— declares a state of emergency. china says it has recorded no new coronavirus deaths for the first time since january. the uk prime minister has spent the night in intensive care after his coronavirus symptoms worsened. borisjohnson has been given oxygen but hasn‘t been put on a ventilator. downing street says mrjohnson, who‘s 55, was moved to the unit in london on the advice of his medical team yesterday and is receiving "excellent care" at st thomas‘ hospital. the foreign secretary, dominic raab, will deputise for the prime minister where necessary. buckingham palace says the queen is being kept informed about mrjohnson‘s health.

messages of support have been flooding in for the pm. his predecessor theresa may tweeted to say her thoughts and prayers are with borisjohnson and his family. president trump described the prime minister as a "good friend of his" and said he‘d offered the help to mrjohnson‘s doctors, and president macron of france wished mrjohnson a "speedy recovery". mrjohnson puts my friend and former director of communications told us he was optimistic that the prime minister will make a full and speedy recovery and be back running the country scene. i would imagine on sunday evening he took the decision to go to hospital pretty relu cta ntly, to go to hospital pretty reluctantly, he is not a good patient in the sense that he often battled through colds and flu and that sort of thing, he is pretty stoic and can be a bit bloody—minded, but i do that thing he has been that in this case. the doctors were in constant contact with him, they advised and

it was right to go to hospital. while he is there, there is more cause for concern than i was, but he isn‘t the best possible hands at st thomas‘ hospital with the best possible clinicians. we can speak now to charlotte gallagher, who is outside st thomas‘ hospital in central london where the prime minister is receiving treatment. tell us about the treatment he has been receiving? he was moved into the intensive care unit yesterday, since then he has been treated with oxygen and not based on a ventilator. we are being told the reason he has been moved into that unit is so he is near a ventilator if he needs one. michael gove, one of his colleagues, told the bbc that the fact that the coronavirus has struck one of the country‘s most powerful man shows it can take anyone, but doctors have told as many people are recovering, lots of people are coming down with it and leaving hospital. a very worrying time for boris johnson leaving hospital. a very worrying time for borisjohnson and his

family, he has a pregnant partner, and one of the worst things about coronavirus is, of course, when people are in hospital suffering from it, they cannot be visited by friends and family because coronavirus is so infectious. we are being told from sources close to the prime minister that his condition has not changed overnight, but we expect an official update from number ten later today. thank you very much, charlotte. our assistant political editor norman smith is in north london. i was struck listening to michael gove on the radio, one of boris johnson‘s top team, he was asked was ita johnson‘s top team, he was asked was it a shock when you heard and he said oh, god, yes. it was a shock for us all. i think downing street had downplayed the severity of those symptoms. last week they were repeatedly describing them as mild, on friday when he put out that video, do you remember? he said himself he was beginning to feel better and only had a

minor symptom, which was a high temperature. so listening to that, you thought it has been difficult but it seems to be getting through, and then suddenly on sunday night he is admitted to hospital and on monday he is in intensive care, and the juxtaposition between him seemingly being on the road to recovery on friday and then intensive care on monday, that is probably genuinely shocking to everyone. you have to wonder whether mrjohnson himself has in anyway contributed, he seems to have worked and worked and worked throughout his illness, he has not really let off. we were told that he was still talking to officials in hospital on monday, still getting his government red box delivered with papers inside it. all of which said, michael gove was clear that in this instance, just as will walden said earlier, the prime minister had followed clear medical advice. this

is what he said. as we speak, the prime minister is in intensive care, being looked after by his medical team, receiving the very, very best care from the team at st thomas', and our hopes and prayers are with him and with his family. and the prime minister loves this country and wants to do his very, very best for us. that's one of the reasons why he's made sure that he's been involved in the decision—making and he's chaired meetings, but he's also had to strip back his diary, and that affected the medical advice that the prime minister has had, but ultimately i think one of the things about this new and uniquely challenging virus is that we must all follow the appropriate medical advice and all of us are discovering that this virus has a malignancy, a malevolence that is truly frightening. another couple of interesting things i think we learned from mr gove, one is that the prime minister is

not, he says, any ventilator and he was not aware that he was currently suffering from pneumonia. the other big aspect of this, apart from the prime minister‘s health, of course, is the governance of the country. dominic raab will step up, in effect, as acting prime minister. there is a series of cabinet committees in place to handle the coronavirus outbreak and it is looking at the impact on public services, the impact on the economy, on the health service, all that. the structure of government is there. this morning former tory leader iain duncan smith said he thought cabinet government would also take most of the key decisions. boris is a singular character, ebullient, upbeat, always wanting to give people he meets and the public in general a sense of optimism. that's what he does, it's the way he works and that's what makes him, in a sense, cut through. and so many of the people that would have met him, or manyjust watching on television,

will worry about this, but, you know, i honestly genuinely believe that boris couldn't be in better hands right now, this brilliant nhs that we've got, and i had to say that he will fight this through and we are with him on that. but with regard to the country, with regards to the running of the country, i hope i can reassure everybody, having sat at the table myself, the cabinet system of government allows this to happen. it's not a presidential system, we have a prime minister who's, as some have said, first amongst equals. the rest of those equals are still in post and dominic raab is one of them, and he will lead them through this using the same policy positions in the same decision—making process until boris is able to step back up again and take charge, and that we fervently hope from the bottom of our hearts. for what it‘s worth, it seems that most of the big strategic decisions in terms of coronavirus and our approach to testing and getting more

ventilators, prioritising different groups for ppe, most of those big decisions have been taken. one outstanding one we are waiting for is this three week review of the lockdown strategy. to be honest, eve ryo ne lockdown strategy. to be honest, everyone who followed this and listen to the scientists, it seems pretty clear they are unlikely to recommend next monday or tuesday that the lockdown will be lifted. even a big decision may not be one that mr raab has to take, that might be pushed back too. thank you, norman. many people have expressed their concern for the prime minister. the archbishop of canterbury, justin welby, invited everyone tojoin him in praying for borisjohnson and his loved ones. the former home secretary amber rudd shared her support, saying she received a "light—hearted and positive response" from the prime minister when she last spoke to him. theresa mayjoined herfellow mps, tweeting that her "thoughts and prayers are with borisjohnson and his family as he continues to receive treatment in hospital." across the political divide,

the newly—appointed labour leader keir starmer said "all the country‘s thoughts are with the prime minister." and the first minister of scotland, nicola sturgeon, says she is sending him "every good wish." messages of support for the prime minister have been echoed across europe. the canadian prime minister said his thoughts were with mrjohnson and his family. the australian prime minister said he was thinking of all friends in the uk. indian prime minister narendra modi told the prime minister to hang on in there and that he hoped to see him in perfect health soon. with me in the studio isjo coburn, the presenter of the bbc‘s politics live programme. you get percent everybody is rooting for him, as they should be? party politics is put to one side, you saw that in the outpouring of sympathy

in tweets, some from within the uk and some from abroad. interestingly, labour has its new leader in pace, keir starmer, he has been quick, like its predecessor, jeremy corbyn, to send his best wishes. they want the prime minister well and they wa nt the prime minister well and they want him back at number ten, where he should be, particularly at this point of national crisis. keir starmer was asked in his first bbc about whether he would accept an invitation to be part of a government of national unity. we had seen government of national unity. we had seen that before, not for a very long time, during the 1930s when the country was a crisis. we are not at war in that specific sense but many people think this is a real battle, a life—and—death battle for many people, against coronavirus. he ducked that question, but as would normally be the case at times like this, he is being invited to all the important top—level

briefings, the cobra camila batmanghelidjh meetings, the privy council office just how far he will be brought in will be interesting to see. the cobra covid meetings. we heard from norman smith about the structure of government in place. it is very clear, the cabinet is functioning in the way it normally would, the secretaries of state are executing their responsibilities, whether it is about the health service, transport or bringing brits home from abroad. but as time goes on there will be more pressure, we have not heard the latest update from number ten about the prime minister‘s condition, to have some clarity about what sort of decisions, if there were serious decisions, if there were serious decisions to be made, who would make them, would it be dominic raab, who is taking over as necessary on a daily basis? let me be clear, the

prime minister is not incapacitated and is still making those decisions, that questions will be asked about what might happen if, and as the days go on, if the prime minister is still very unwell, those questions will get louder. we don‘t have a clear succession line in terms of who makes those decisions. dominic raab has been asked to deputise, he is the first secretary of state, he will take overfor is the first secretary of state, he will take over for the moment but beyond that, it is not entirely clear. more questions in a second, jo, clear. more questions in a second, jo, iwant clear. more questions in a second, jo, i want to bring the business from the queen. she has released a statement on the occasion of world health day. she says i want to thank all those working in the health care profession for yourself was commitment and diligence as you undertake vitally important role to protect and improve the health and well—being of people across the commonwealth and around the world. interesting times, we often observe that the best of the human

spirit comes to the full, the dedication to the service of countless nurses, midwives and other health workers in these most challenging of circumstances is an example to us all. my family and i sense our enduring appreciation and good wishes. it is world health day, but interesting she is sending out the statement when she only spoke to the nation on sunday night. what a role she is playing, seen as an incredible figure, notwithstanding her age, her length of service and her age, her length of service and her ability to communicate to the country. the millions of people who tuned in to hear her speak, she evoked a british wartime spirit in some of what she said. you know, many people in the country will appreciate edge, find it reassuring, particularly at this point when the

prime minister is in intensive care. to some extent it is falling to the queen, and she is writing to that challenge and stepping in and trying to keep a conversation going with the country. interesting times we often observe that the best of the human spirit comes to the full. it's inspiring stuff. of course we have seen inspiring stuff. of course we have seen it at all sorts of levels across the country, whether local, in your street, your community, the nhs volunteer scheme and hundreds and thousands of people who have signed up to help at amazing report that you mention by our colleague fergus walsh, about the intensification of the job in intensive care units by our medical staff, by people returning to the nhs who have gone into retirement. i think there has been a really huge rallying by people across the country and of course not least by

staying at home. of course, there will always be people who perhaps don‘t quite abide by the rules in the way that the government and the police would like to see, but in general and in the spirit... people have been doing it. they have. you watch that film by our medical editor in the intensive care unit as they are battling to save lives, please watch it on the bbc website, i think anybody not following the rules just has to see that and they will realise the seriousness. because there are two parallel universe tuck or a parallel universe anyway, the medics keep saying this is really tough, that is why you have to stay at home, people in a pa konate in the afternoon when it is 20 degrees, there seems to be such a disparity. many people will have come away listening to all the reports, watching that and then seeing the prime minister really shining a spotlight on what is

being experienced by many others suffering from covid—19, i don‘t think you can come away without thinking this is really serious. more from jo shortly. some breaking news from japan — the prime minister, shinzo abe, osaka and five other regions in the country. people will be ordered to stay inside and businesses will shut. coronavirus infections in tokyo more than doubled to about 1,200 in the past week. it comes after the government announced a massive stimulus packages, which abe described as among the world‘s biggest, to soften the economic blow. it‘s worth around one trillion us dollars, which is about 20% of japan‘s gross domestic output. let‘s look at some other global stories now. china — where the pandemic began — says there were no new deaths from the virus on monday, for the first time since officials started releasing a daily count in january. some good news from china. new cases of the infection fell to 32 — all of

which came from overseas. however, china has faced criticism that is has under—reported the extent of the outbreak. singapore is introducing its toughest measures yet to combat the spread of coronavirus. most workplaces are closed, they‘ll be followed by schools on wednesday. food establishments, supermarkets, hospitals and transport services will remain open though. the indian government says it will allow some exports of the anti—malarial drug, hydroxychloroquine, after president trump urged delhi to release supplies of the drugs seen as a possible treatment for covid—19. forgive my pronunciation of that drug, iam forgive my pronunciation of that drug, i am so sorry. the government had earlier put a hold on exports of the drug. experts say it has not been clinically established that the drug can successfully treat coronavirus symptoms. let‘s go back to china now, with more details from stephen mcdonnell in

beijing. i can‘t help but notice that the day that there are no new deaths of coronavirus in china it is the first time since back injanuary, since the authority started publishing these daily figures that we have heard, in terms of deaths from the virus. zero deaths from the virus. that is despite the fact that people have questioned the veracity of these figures, i mean, there are a lot of debate about whether or not they are capturing all the infections and all the deaths, but i still think there is a lot of reason for hope in this zero new deaths figure and that is because, according to the expert, even if those figures are underreported, what is important is the trend. it doesn‘t quite matter whether the graph goes like that, or whether it goes like that, we are still at the bottom end of that progression, if you know i mean. in theory, it should give hope, not only to people in

china, but the rest of the world, that there is light at the end of the tunnel. which is so good to hear. the german chancellor, angela merkel, says the coronavirus pandemic represents the biggest challenge the european union has ever faced. france biggest challenge the european union has everfaced. france has recorded its deadliest 24—hour since the outbreak began, with 833 new coronavirus deaths reported in the past eight. italy‘s daily dev patel also rosa mendes after several days of slowing, but spain‘s fell for a fourth day. sirens blare. the daily call of sirens through the streets of france. more than 7,000 people are in need of intensive care and authorities warn the grim situation is far from over. translation: this is not over, farfrom it. we are not at the end of the epidemic‘s ascension,

the path remains long and nothing is over. in italy, the lockdown is working. day by day, fewer people are contracting the virus, but italy‘s death toll continues to climb — more than 16,500 people. the standstill is costing the country. milan is italy‘s finance capital, a global fashion hub, but everything must remain closed. spanish police and nurses shared a moment in solidarity. they are on the front line of their country‘s war against coronavirus. there are signs of hope — the number of deaths has dropped for a fourth day in a row. it‘s all thanks to these essential workers, putting their lives at risk to save others. freya cole, bbc news. as we‘ve heard, the foreign secretary and first secretary of state,

dominic raab, will deputise for borisjohnson where necessary. borisjohnson is boris johnson is in borisjohnson is in intensive care, as you know. the commons speaker, lindsay hoyle, said it was imperative that government continues to operate as normal. dominic raab got the phone call from the prime minister. he is the first secretary of state, he is the chosen one by the prime minister, he has been handed the reins, he is in charge, he will be running it day—to—day. government will always continue, the people are there, the support‘s there, whatever happens, no matter how bad it is, the country continues, government continues, the advisers are there, there are other people stepping in as we had seen each night, government continues. what we have to do is wish this prime minister well, a speedy recovery. i don‘t think it will be as quick as one expects but we have

to get him back at the helm, but in the meantime government will always continue, people pull together. there are some big beasts ready to help and have been doing, but we always know, no matter what is thrown at this country, this country will always continue and always do the right thing to get us to the right spot where we need to be. we have to get beyond coronavirus, we have to make sure we do the best. this is a pandemic, this is the world that are suffering together, and what we do know is that this country will always pull together in our hour of need, and this is our hour of need, when we have to support each other, look after each other, listen to the advice and stick by the adviser government has given us. please, people stay at home. look after yourselves, isolate. let‘s get beyond it. the sooner we do that, the sooner we are beyond it. government continues, government will always continue, that is what happens to this

country. rousing words. let‘s speak to with baroness kate fall, a conservative peer and former downing street deputy chief of staff under david cameron. i gather you have known boris johnson since university?” i gather you have known boris johnson since university? i know him and his family. as you maybe you would like to send word to him as he battles the virus? my thoughts go to him and his family, it is a very distressing situation and i hope you makes a swift recovery. and his fiancee, he was pregnant with his child, is herself coming through the sentence —— who is pregnant. child, is herself coming through the sentence —— who is pregnantm child, is herself coming through the sentence -- who is pregnant. it must be very distressing for them, awful. in terms of running the government, dominic raab will deputise where necessary , we dominic raab will deputise where necessary, we are told. what kind of authority will he have? at the moment he is running the show for now. boris johnson

moment he is running the show for now. borisjohnson is still conscious, he is operating the morning covid meetings and if anybody is trying very hard to pull together, to make the right decisions, matt hancock is heading up decisions, matt hancock is heading up the nhs operation in the rishi sunak on the economics and ashok sharma trying to help business, it is cabinet government. we need to keep going, trying to enforce a strategy and improving on some of the difficult issues like the testing. kate, it is jo coburn in the studio with victoria. how difficult is it, you know what it is like to be at the heart of government, the heart of number ten, to run operations when it is remote, when a to run operations when it is remote, whena numberof to run operations when it is remote, when a number of advisers have been self isolating and have been away. is there any danger in your mind of a vacuum,

is there any danger in your mind of a vacuum, despite the cabinet government you have set out?” a vacuum, despite the cabinet government you have set out? i think layer under enormous pressure. this isa layer under enormous pressure. this is a really unprecedented time in history. a crisis is always difficult, you have to make decisions that often have a cost, whichever way you go. no perfect decision but right now the lives of the country at stake, the livelihoods of many people. as you say, it is not like they are all meeting in a real everyday and thrashing things out. we used to find that the 8:30am meeting when we all gathered, and the four o‘clock meeting, was a time when all the key people were in the room, we could see each other and thrash things out ina see each other and thrash things out in a really positive, functional way, and i think that it‘s very difficult, remote is not as good as all being in one room. anxiety levels must behind, despite the fact that of course government expansion, the structures are there and the

individual cabinet ministers will be carrying out their duties at this time of national crisis, but there will be concern pressure on number ten and those around boris johnson to have a plan to explain what will u nfold to have a plan to explain what will unfold over the coming weeks, because with the best will in the world, borisjohnson will because with the best will in the world, boris johnson will need time to recover? —— anxiety levels will be high. they have a plan, but as the science changes and the numbers change, the plan is evolving. it is important it evolves, because there isa important it evolves, because there is a balance between them making a decision between lives and livelihoods and the effects of shutting down the economy has very real impact on families and peoples jobs, people‘s mental health. we need —— michael richardson very difficult decisions and it is about saving lives in the nhs. there are other factors at play, the key people in government, including the experts, the political people, the

officials implementing, nhs staff, are all working together and looking at the evidence and making decisions as they go. functional government that made more difficult under this stress. their leader is ill in hospital, our leader of our nation who we democratically elected, that it‘s very difficult for him personally but also the morale of the country at this difficult time. thank you very much for talking to us, baroness katie four, a conservative peer. jo, you spoke of the anxiety levels, watching dominic rather talk to our little editor, laura kuenssberg, he looked ashen faced, understandably —— watching dominic raab talk. it is not surprising. but at this time, the government needs to present a reassuring face, needs to present that it

reassuring face, needs to present thatitis reassuring face, needs to present that it is in control, even though there is concern about the health of there is concern about the health of the leader of the country, the prime minister. dominic raab is an experienced politician, he was brexit secretary and resigned from that role under theresa may, he has held other more junior ministerial positions injustice held other more junior ministerial positions in justice and held other more junior ministerial positions injustice and housing, he was elected as an mp in 2010, but it is daunting. it is daunting and there was not really any time to prepare for what unfolded over the la st 24 prepare for what unfolded over the last 24 hours, despite the fact that the prime minister had been ill. i think you saw that realisation on dominic raab's face as he steps in and steps up. it is true to say that the major decision in terms of the government strategy with dealing with coronavirus, staying at home, reducing transmission. we heard

briefly from stephen palace, one of the advisers, that there were some green shoots, but it would not change and anyway the policy of the government. and they are very relu cta nt, government. and they are very reluctant, rightly or wrongly, to discuss any idea of deviating from that. at the moment now, that feels less likely, with what is unfolding, despite the fact that the numbers of deaths actually reduced from previous days. we are in this situation where they are holding firm to the strategy as it is, and that will continue, despite this three—week review of those restrictions and the effect of lockdown on the country coming up, i think next week. it will go beyond that. and for the moment, think next week. it will go beyond that. and forthe moment, it think next week. it will go beyond that. and for the moment, it feels like everyday at a time. but that anxiety felt, no doubt, by members of the cabinet and by advisers and family and friends of boris johnson will be very seriously

doubt. you mentioned carrie symons, his fiancee, herself recovering. pregnant, expecting her sons boris johnson's child. it's family, his wider family and his children, they will be worried. and we know from all of the scenes and heart—rending reports from other families who are going through this that you can't be at the bedside. and also, boris johnson and also, borisjohnson and carrie symonds will not have been able to see each other. they will have been separated. yes and that will not aid the situation for them and any other families and you heard the situation for northern tarmac from northern ireland, paramedics in full protective gear, it's a lonely experience, clearly, that is something borisjohnson experience, clearly, that is something boris johnson will be experiencing himself in protective gear. looking on social media, not just high—profile people and

politicians from across the divide, normal british citizens are saying, come on, boris, get well soon, we are rooting for you, which is good to see, isn‘t it? are rooting for you, which is good to see, isn't it? yes. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines. the prime minister has spent the night in an intensive care unit being treated for coronavirus after his symptoms worsened yesterday evening. the prime minister is in intensive care, being looked after by his medical team, receiving the very, very best care from the team at st thomas‘ and our hopes and prayers are with him and with his family. the foreign secretary is standing in for the prime minister ‘where necessary‘ — the queen is being kept informed about mrjohnson‘s health. japan‘s prime minister, shinzo abe, declares a state of emergency in tokyo and six other regions, as the country struggles with the pandemic.

china says it has recorded no new coronavirus deaths — for the first time since january. the foreign secretary, dominic raab, is deputising for the prime minister — where necessary. his first task this morning is chairing a meeting of ministers along with the chief medical officer and the chief scientific adviser. our political correspondent helen catt is at downing street. and obviously, they will be sending their best to borisjohnson but they‘ve also got to get on with running the country? absolutely, government has to go on and we think that meeting might now be over, we‘ve seen the chief medical officer professor chris whitty and the health secretary matt hancock leave number 10 downing street in the last five minutes so we will find out probably later today what will be looked at, and what will come out of the meeting but government has to go

on, the big difference about the meeting this morning, it happens every morning in government, dominic raab was in the chair, not the prime minister. he is the foreign secretary, the first secretary of state and actually chair this meeting yesterday morning but again, there is a difference from then. during the whole time so poor that borisjohnson had during the whole time so poor that boris johnson had been during the whole time so poor that borisjohnson had been ill he was still, downing street said, in charge of leading the government response, even when he was self isolating in his flat in downing street, he was still taking video calls, talking to ministers and officials. as of last night when he asked dominic raab to deputise for him, that situation has changed so dominic raab is effectively in day—to—day charge although he was keen to stress last night in interviews that he is following the instructions, the strategy, the plan of borisjohnson instructions, the strategy, the plan of boris johnson and instructions, the strategy, the plan of borisjohnson and of course he will have other senior ministers, the cabinet, to make decisions as they go forward. but of course at this stage, nobody knows how long the situation will be in place

because it was ultimately dependent on the health of borisjohnson. helen, thank you and we are awaiting an update on the condition of the prime minister. the former cabinet secretary, lord o‘donnell said it was important all strands of government worked together in the absence of borisjohnson. borisjohnson remains prime minister until he resigns. he is the prime minister, dominic raab is deputising for him, where necessary. as number ten said. and he will chair various meetings but i‘m sure the cabinet as a whole, you know, there are various strands, this isn‘t a one—man show. there are lots of them who will pull together, working with the cabinet secretary and the civil service to make sure that the essential things are done, there‘s a lot to be done. you know, people say decisions on exiting the lockdown are some way off, yes, they are but you have to do the analysis now, you have to be working on what

kind of things are we looking for, what kinds of things would work, so there‘s an enormous amount going on at the minute. and that work needs to carry on. let‘s speak now to the former conservative cabinet minister, sir david lidington who was de facto deputy under theresa may. he joins us from aylesbury. good morning to you, sir david. i‘m guessing you want to send your best wishes to the prime minister at this time, first of all? completely, i note boris, as a former parliamentary and government colleague, and my heart goes out to him but also to carry and the johnson family. as a whole, i think the entire nation is willing him to get better as quickly as possible. have you had any steer on whether we should be optimistic about his recovery? i've got no more information about his condition than you heard from

michael gove this morning and frankly, i‘m not a doctor so i‘m not going to get into speculation about his medical condition. he‘s in very good hands with the nhs. the team there. and let us just all hope and pray that he makes a swift and complete recovery. absolutely. it is a personal crisis for boris johnson recovery. absolutely. it is a personal crisis for borisjohnson in the middle of this national crisis. how does your government trying to reassure the country that it‘s got a grip on this? well, i think what we are seeing is the system working properly. dominic raab has been given, by the elected prime minister, designated authority to act on the behalf of the prime minister where that is necessary and because that authority has been formally delegated by the elected boss, the whole civil

service machine is going to swing in behind that and they will be giving full support to dominic but also to the cabinet collectively in taking on these additional responsibilities. there it seems to me to be a good structure in place, with four different cabinet subcommittees on covid—19 reporting into the overarching committee that the prime minister now, dominic raab is first secretary of state chairs every day. and don‘t let‘s forget that most of what governments decide doesn‘t need the arbitration of the prime minister, most things are sorted out at cabinet committees or less formal meetings between different ministers from different departments to discuss things, resolve any differences, talk through what the consequences, good or bad of a particular initiative would be and come to an agreement. so i think, i think, i‘ve worked as an mp but also

asa think, i‘ve worked as an mp but also as a government minister, i think all of the cabinet, these are all people who, whatever their views, you know, came into politics for the right reasons, to make life better for people in this country, and that‘s true for the opposition as well. i think in this national crisis, there will be a real determination to set any sort of personal interest to one side and to do their very best of the country and to support dominic raab and help him in the cabinet collectively to come to the right decision in the national interest. it's interesting you mention setting personal interest to one side and you will be aware of reports that i‘ve also read in the last few days that they have been disagreements between certain ministers about the future government strategy when it comes to releasing the lockdown restrictions, for example. the reports involve matt hancock, the health secretary and the chancellor at rishi sunak. are you saying those can automatically be put to

one side? first of all, it is routine for there to be differences of view, different perspectives from different perspectives from different government departments that are brought into discussions between ministers and a collective view is then formed at the end of that. and only in very difficult circumstances, where ministers cannot agree, does the prime minister of the day take a decision to arbitrate. normally, this is agreed, people tweak, you listen to the debate, you listen to the discussions amongst your colleagues and you are just to trying to come up and you are just to trying to come up with a policy initiative that deals with the complexity of the issue in front of you, takes account of the different interests that need to be looked after in the country. but i think also, you know, not having told anyone in particular, but the media often do exaggerate what these differences but i think single minister in the government

came into politics for the right reasons. and they will know that the overriding duty at the moment is to deal with the crisis that is causing huge numbers of families in this country, including the johnson family, but many others as well, to worry about the health and well—being of their nearest and dearest and so, ministers will want to do their utmost to get the right decision in the public interest. on the question of coming out of lockdown, i think as your colleague said a few minutes ago, i think it‘s very unlikely that this is going to happen at the end of the first three week period. and i was listening to what the scientific advisers were saying on air yesterday and they we re saying on air yesterday and they were saying, look, there‘s a few very early green shoots but this is not a clear trend and we need clearly, to be on top of the disease, to be getting

the plateau ina disease, to be getting the plateau in a downward movement in the key statistics. before we take any decisions about what comes next. of course, and shoot and i‘m sure is discussing the various options so that the balance of risk and advantages can be teased out of all the various options for future stages but the immediate priority has to be to persuade the public to tolerate these very severe restrictions on people‘s everyday lives and a planned business activity. in the interests of getting on top of this dreadful epidemic. and if there are some early signs that social distancing is working, good. but then we need to have the resolve to continue with that. let‘s not forget it‘s going to be two or three weeks from the introduction of those measures before we will start to see what the results are before we will start to see what the results a re really before we will start to see what the results are really going to

be. ok. thank you so much for coming on the programme. take care. sir david liddington. it was a fair point about the media, sometimes exaggerating. differences within government. the office for national statistics has released new figures on the number of deaths involving coronavirus which unlike stats we‘ve heard before, include every community death linked to covid—19 in england and wales. notjust people who have died in hospitals. the data gives us the most accurate picture of where deaths are occurring. the bbc‘s head of statistics is with us. first of all, give us the figures and let‘s remember of course, these, behind the figures, are people who have lost their lives and their families. yes. these figures come from a few weeks ago, as you said they tell us where the debts are happening. in the ending 27th of march, deaths

mentioning covid—19 but of the 539, the vast majority were in hospitals, the vast majority were in hospitals, the main thing coming from these, most deaths, these figures suggest, most deaths, these figures suggest, most deaths, these figures suggest, most deaths occurring on the wards. 501 out of the 539 were in hospitals. 15 i think were people at home, 28 people in care homes, one or two others but the vast majority of these figures people dying in hospital. right. which one would expect. i think one would probably expect. i think one would probably expect this but what may be unexpected to some people is a smaller number than they are used to hearing, 539 deaths when coronavirus seems small when we have passed over 5000 is announced yesterday and one thing to bear in mind these are figures from over ten days ago, the total number of deaths announced from the government at that time was about 1000. ten days ago was actually a very long time when the epidemic has been accelerating and accelerating. one thing that comes out from this data is a warning we

shouldn‘t pay too much attention to the daily data that we are receiving from the department of health and social care, they don‘t cover everything. back at that time the department reported under 1000 deaths and those were deaths that had been reported to them but wait a little longer, you get all of the debts registered and look back at the data, and the date people died, the data, and the date people died, the day it was reported to the department of health, the figures are higher, going from about 900 up to 1600 and it‘s worth being aware when we are looking at the daily health figures, things take a while to record, to get reported. and the patent looks a little bit different when you wait two weeks and then look at things in the cold light of day but of course it‘s very hard to do that when it‘s a fast—moving epidemic. it's a good morning to look across the piece rather than stick to those daily flow charts that we see in the briefings. the epidemiologists who work in the field say it‘s an emotional roller—coaster when you‘ve got, you know, the numbers are up

today, down yesterday and we see reporting lags over weekends and things like that so we over weekends and things like that so we can‘t read too much into that. robert, thank you very much. the rescue package in germany which forced the country to take on new debt for the first time in years is worth more than 750 billion euros, businesses all over the country have applied for help and as our berlin correspondent has been finding out, some have received funds. the german government has never moved so fast. ina government has never moved so fast. in a matter of hours, politicians agreed to throw hundreds of billions of euros at their own economy. agreed to throw hundreds of billions of euros at their own economym agreed to throw hundreds of billions of euros at their own economy. it is serious because i am a freelancer. freelancers and small businesses, that means a payment not a loan of at least 9000 euros.

this film—maker applied and within a few days the money was there. it's a relief. it's just great that somebody is taking ca re of just great that somebody is taking care of people like me who are freelance. who are not able to work and give you a hand for a certain period of time. for the medium sized companies in germany which underpin its economic success, the model is different, the government is offering loans but the man who runs this business doesn‘t want to take on debt. hello. hello. we first met paul when he was worried about brexit. that, he says, was nothing compared to this. translation: every month, every day that passes in this frozen country is vital. there are costs that come, i cannot expect the landlord to give me the property for free. expect the landlord to give me the property forfree. everything is interlinked, the longer it lasts,

the harder it gets for companies. i think many will to survive. germany ‘s industrial giants, sleeping now. it's ‘s industrial giants, sleeping now. it‘s two weeks since the last car plant workers headed home after their final shift. plant workers headed home after theirfinal shift. the national carrier branded as well. one of many big businesses which the government says it would rather take under its own wing than leave it vulnerable to colla pse own wing than leave it vulnerable to collapse or foreign takeover. a recession is, most accept, unavoidable. we need a much stronger european solution and i think that‘s where the german government needs to push ahead, agreed to compromises, because we must realise that germany economy is open, dependent on trade, dependent on europe and if a country like italy collapsed, certainly it cannot be in the interests of anyone in europe, especially not germany. europe has weathered some storms in recent yea rs, europe has weathered some storms in recent years, the eurozone crisis, the refugee crisis, brexit. but

it‘s this, the corona crisis which is finally forcing german politicians to abandon a cherished principle and ta ke to abandon a cherished principle and take on new debt in order to finance their own rescue package. for a country which values certainty and stability, these are the most unsettling of times. jenny hill, bbc news, berlin. the coronavirus infection rate amongst the religious ultraorthodox community in israel is double the rest of the population. they‘ve also shown resistance to government measures like social distancing. the community often trusts its religious leaders more than the politicians — so, as tom bateman reports, the government has a difficultjob ahead. they are known as the god—fearing. in packed neighbourhoods, lives follow scripture. faith protects as much as science. but danger is visiting israel‘s most devout.

the new virus of an interconnected world hitting the poor in crammed households. but also, pitting police against the pious. the ultraorthodox community make up around 12% of israel‘s population. but they‘re accounting for a far greater proportion of coronavirus cases. we spoke to some of the major hospitals in israel who told us that of the virus patients they are treating, between 30% and 50% come from the ultra religious communities. avigail prepares herself to help, part of an army of volunteer paramedics whose founder, her father, has been seriously ill with coronavirus himself. how do you start to protect the sick when few have smart phones, even tvs? sometimes it‘s hard ‘cause they want to talk with their rabbis and we have to wait for an answer to know what‘s the next step. but the orthodox community wants

to know more and wants to help with the disease. police hover as they try to break up crowds below. then officers go in. some in secularjewish israel accuse the ultra religious of not playing their part, failing to distance. here was a rabbi‘s funeral where hundreds gathered. in one jerusalem neighbourhood, religious fervour turns to rebellion. "nazis," some shouted the police. it‘s a very, very strict orthodox community. everything the government is telling them, even to save their lives, they will still go against because it‘s the government. but many do vote for the powerful religious parties.

first came resistance. but israel‘s leader now seems to have convinced their rabbis of the need for social distancing. very hard for us because normally here in this city, we‘re always together, we‘re trying to do the best, even if it‘s much more harder than other places. one of the big ultraorthodox areas is now locked down. a military operation is planned to evacuate the over 80s. now, masks and social distancing join prayer in protecting people here. tom bateman, bbc news, jerusalem. let‘s talk about some other news. the former vatican treasurer cardinal george pell has been freed from jail. he‘s won his appeal against his conviction for sexually abusing two choirboys when he was archbishop of melbourne in the 19905. archbishop of melbourne in the 1990s. the 78—year—old who was once

the treasure in the vatican and one of the popes most senior aides said that truth had prevailed. we have this report from sydney. he is the most senior catholic official ever convicted of child sexual abuse, his arrest and subsequent trial rocked the church. now george pell is a free man, after sevenjudges in the now george pell is a free man, after seven judges in the country ‘s highest court ruled that a jury was wrong. from the moment allegations we re wrong. from the moment allegations were put to him by the police, the cardinal had always maintained his innocence. absolutely disgraceful rubbish. completely false. madness. in 2018, ajury rubbish. completely false. madness. in 2018, a jury found george pell guilty of abusing two choirboys at melbourne sympatric cathedral in the late 90s while serving as archbishop. he was convicted of five cou nts archbishop. he was convicted of five counts of sexual abuse including rate. after losing his

appeal the lawyers came to australia‘s high court, arguing that the verdict relied too much on the testimony of the alleged victim, and ignored other evidence. the judges agreed, saying the jury should have had some reasonable doubt. the cardinal said the decision remedied a serious injustice but that he held no ill will to his accuser. he added that the trial was not a referendum on the trial was not a referendum on the catholic church or on the way it‘s officials dealt with the crime of paedophilia. at the time of his arrest, cardinal pell was in charge of the vatican finances and one of the pubs closest advisers. now his future is unclear. i think the options that he‘s got a pretty narrow. i mean, on the rome front, someone narrow. i mean, on the rome front, someone has already been appointed to hisjob in rome, in terms of voting in a conclave to elect the next pope, he will lose that right when he turns 18.

the australian catholic church is in a disastrous state with regards to leadership but i don‘t think that cardinal pell is the person will be able to that leadership. survivors of sexual abuse say quashing the verdict in such a high—profile case will discourage victims from coming forward. this will make people reticent to report a crime because they will feel that they won‘t be believed by the justice system and that the rich and powerful will appeal it, over and over again and victims won‘t be believed. what would you put yourself through that? george pell ‘s acquittal ends a case that shocked australia but the division and controversy around him will continue. going to bring you this breaking news reported by our colleagues at itv, they say cabinet office minister michael gove is self isolating because a member of his family is displaying coronavirus

symptoms. ina in a moment, all the latest unused with carrie gracie but now, time for a look at the weather, here is carol kirkwood. good morning. if you have an allergy to tree pollen, the levels in england and wales are high, worth bearing in mind if you are going out for your permitted amount of exercise. today, for most of us again, dry with lengthy sunny spells, albeit they are a little hazy as we go through the afternoon. the exception to that is across northern ireland and parts of scotland, we have this with a friend with thick cloud and the odd spot of rain, you can see cloud coming up across southern rain, you can see cloud coming up across southern areas. rain, you can see cloud coming up across southern areas. this card from france and it could produce the chair in the channel islands and south—west england. that will be about it. for the rest of us, fairweather cloud developing through the course of the afternoon, hence the course of the afternoon, hence the hazy sunshine and the thicker cloud in the north—west of northern ireland and also the north—west of scotland. temperatures up on

yesterday, looking at nine in lerwick, highs of 20, possibly 21 somewhere around the london area. through this evening and overnight we hang on to a little clutch of showers in the south—west, we also have this weather front coming in from the north—west, pushing south—east, bringing cloud with it and fora time, south—east, bringing cloud with it and for a time, heavy and persistent rain. generally, more cloud around than last night, not as cold but they will be some breaks in the cloud, if you are hoping to see the supermen. tomorrow, we start with this weather front, turning weaker through the day so they rain in it increasingly patchy. behind that, in the north highlands, brighter skies and ahead of it, still a lot of sunshine but a bit more cloud tomorrow coming up across southern england, south wales and the midlands. that could produce the odd heavy chart which could be thundery but top temperatures here 22 or 23. wednesday into thursday, still high pressure with us but we got a couple of weather fronts not too far away. for thursday, first of all, we are looking at a lot of dry weather,

this weak weather front still with us and again, producing a bit of cloud, maybe some drizzle here and there, the far north of scotland is brighter. behind that, more cloud bubbling through the course of the day but still dry with lots of sunshine, temperatures up to 21 degrees. but cooler air already in the north, things change on good friday, this weather front comes from the atlantic, introducing thicker cloud and rain, moving west to east, the driest skies in the south—east. here is where we had the highest temperatures.

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headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the british prime minister, borisjohnson, has spent the night in an intensive care unit being treated for coronavirus after his symptoms worsened yesterday evening. borisjohnson is at st thomas‘ hospital in london where he was admitted on sunday. the prime minister is in intensive care being looked after by his medical team, receiving the very, very best care from the team at st thomas‘ and our hopes and prayers are with him and with his family. the foreign secretary is standing in for the prime minister "where necessary". the queen is being kept informed about mrjohnson‘s health. dominic raab has chaired the government‘s daily coronavirus meeting in downing street this morning. we‘ll keep you across all today‘s developments. japan‘s prime minister, shinzo abe, declares a state of emergency