this is bbc news. the headlines: borisjohnson remains in intensive care in a london hospital, being treated for coronavirus. downing street says his condition is stable. 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. this is the scene at st thomas' hospital in london, where police security has now increased as the prime minister is treated. the prime minister has been given oxygen there. foreign secretary, dominic raab, 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 — where the coronavirus outbreak started — reports no deaths in the past day — the first time since january. whatsapp restricts the forwarding of messages, in an effort to slow the spread of coronavirus misinformation a spokesman for number 10 downing street has in the last few minutes said that the prime minister — who is in intensive care for coronavirus at st thomas' hospital in london — has been stable overnight and remains in good spirits. the spokesman said that

borisjohnson, "is receiving standard oxygen treatment and is breathing without any other assistance. he has not required mechanical ventilation and does not have pneumonia."the prime minister was admitted to hospital on sunday night after "persistent" coronavirus symptoms over several days, which worsened. the foreign secretary dominic raab has been asked to deputise for him. this morning, it emerged that michael gove is also now south isolating, as a member of his family isolating, as a member of his family is displaying symptoms of the virus. our first report is by our political correspondent nick eardley. westminster and the country wait. across the thames from the houses of parliament, the prime minister remains in intensive care, struggling to overcome coronavirus. borisjohnson has shown persistent symptoms since testing positive 12 days ago. alas, i still have one at the symptoms, a minor symptom, alas, i still have one at the symptoms, a minorsymptom, i alas, i still have one at the symptoms, a minor symptom, istill had a temperature... these are pictures from friday were the last time we saw him,

from self isolation in downing street but his condition has got worse. he was taken into intensive care at 7pm last night when his condition worsened during the day and 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. this afternoon downing street has said the prime minister remains stable and in good spirits overnight. he is receiving oxygen treatment, but otherwise breathing unassisted. his spokesman said he hasn't required the use of a ventilator and hasn't been diagnosed with pneumonia. the foreign secretary has been asked to deputise for the prime minister. he's in very good hands, dominic raab said this morning, arriving for the daily meeting with ministers and government advisers, to discuss coronavirus strategy. the prime minister has designated dominic, the foreign secretary dominic raab, as first secretary of state,

that means that dominic takes on the responsibilities of chairing the various meetings that the prime minister would have chaired, but we are all working together to implement the plan that the prime minister's set out shortly after this interview michael gove confirmed he was self isolating after a family member showed symptoms. this virus is impacting the very top of government, at a time of unprecedented challenge. for now, normal political life is on hold. 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 that 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, for that is the right thing to do and push them further where we need to do it. i want to send every good wish to him, to his fiancee and to his whole family. we are all willing you on, boris, get well soon.

one of mrjohnson‘s predecessors had this message. all of us are praying for boris and thinking of him and praying and thinking of his family and hoping that he gets well soon and gets back to number ten where i know he wants to be and where we all want him to be. boris is a very tough, very resilient, very fit person, i know that from facing him on the tennis court and i am sure he will come through this. friends of the prime minister say he a fighter. he's a pretty fit guy, he may not look that fit, he's got a heavy frame, played a lot of rugby at school, a fairly big guy but he plays tennis very well to a high standard, he runs regularly and i think if anyone has got a chance of beating this, then borisjohnson has the chance of doing that. an unprecedented health emergency for the country, unprecedented situation in government, and an uncertain road ahead. as we heard, downing street says the prime minister has been receiving standard oxygen treatment in an intensive care unit at st thomas' hospital, but he has "not required mechanical

ventilation". an icu ward provides treatment and close monitoring for patients who are too seriously ill to be cared for in other parts of the hospital. here's our health correspondent richard galpin. intensive care units are where severely ill patients are brought. their lives, potentially at risk. the prime minister was taken into an intensive care unit like this one, yesterday, after his condition deteriorated. he was conscious, given oxygen via a mask but not put on a mechanical ventilator, a more intrusive procedure. but most patients do need ventilation quite soon. so what's it like to be on a ventilator, which takes over the breathing process? to be able to cope with that 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 on their tummy

and on their backs in a roughly 16 hour cycle. the doctors and nurses working in these intensive care u nits a re co nsta ntly checking their patients. in normal times you might expect your blood pressure, heart rate, breathing rate would be recorded probably once every few hours. perhaps slightly more frequently if they're quite unwell. in intensive care we do it continuously and there is a monitor by the nurses‘ station that can be monitored all the time, even when a nurse is not at the bedside, so we can keep a much closer eye on people. mrjohnson may also have a special needle into one of his arteries that allows us to take blood samples that can very accurately monitor his blood oxygen levels. going through intensive care is, of course, a very difficult experience. getting out of hospital is a huge relief. i came out last week on monday and i don‘t know exactly, when i came out, ijust felt...

i thinkjust coming out of hospital made me so much better, because it was a lonely period whilst i was in there, i had nobody really and to be around my family, and tojust... now i try to get out in the garden. get fresh air. and i‘m really doing so well now. assuming borisjohnson recovers and is discharged from hospital, how quickly would he be able to return to work? if this is a short—term thing and he responds well, just needs a little bit of oxygen and recovers over the coming few days, then he will probably feeling... regaining his strength over the next week to ten days. downing street says boris johnson is not on a ventilator at the moment. but he is getting oxygen, using a mask. richard galpin, bbc news. let‘s speak to our chief political correspondent vicki young —— charlotte gallagher, who is

outside st thomas‘ hospital in central london. bring us up-to-date with what we know. boris johnson remains in intensive care this afternoon. we have heard from downing street that he is in a sta ble downing street that he is in a stable condition. he is in good spirits. he is being given oxygen, but crucially he isn‘t on a ventilator, so he doesn‘t need any mechanical assistance to breathe. as you can probably tell behind me, it is not business as usual at the hospital. there are police at every entrance and exit, they have put out security hoarding around the building, showing the seriousness of the situation and just how unusual and unprecedented is that we find ourselves here. of course, very worrying for borisjohnson‘s family and lots of people have talked about the fact that his partner is pregnant and when you‘re being treated for corona in hospital you can‘t have visitors because the virus is so infectious. incredibly difficult for his friends and family that they can‘t visit him. nadeem

doris, won a borisjohnson‘s colleagues, who has recovered from coronavirus, says she spoke to him a couple of days ago days ago and he was tough, but for stated he pregnant and when you‘re being treated for coronavirus in hospital you can‘t have visitors because the virus is so infectious. incredibly difficult for his friends and family that they can‘t visit him. nadeem doris, won a borisjohnson‘s colleagues, who has recovered from coronavirus, says she spoke to him a also said that he was tough, resilient and fit and he was sure he would come through this. —— david cameron also said this. thank you. we can now speak to vicki young, who is in downing street for us. how will the government coped in boris johnson‘s absence? they are insisting they are determined to carry on in the face of this and making a point that there is a very clear plan that has been set up now for a few weeks. each department, each cabinet minister knows what they have to do, whether that is the chancellor trying to sort out the economic packages to help businesses survive to make sure that people have enough to make sure that people have enough to keep a roof over their heads in some cases, and to keep incomes

coming in, or whether some cases, and to keep incomes coming in, orwhether it some cases, and to keep incomes coming in, or whether it is matt hancock, the health secretary, trying to work out whether —— how to keep the nhs capacity up and help the wider community. all of those aspects are carrying on, with each department knowing what is required of it. they have these meetings every morning at 9:15am. dominic rob, the foreign secretary, is the person chairing those meetings, but of course he is not the prime minister. borisjohnson of course he is not the prime minister. boris johnson remains of course he is not the prime minister. borisjohnson remains the prime minister. dominic raab is the person who steps up to deputise for him when required. that is where it becomes slightly murkier, in what sense does he have the power to take longer term decisions? at the moment we might not need those, but if you look ahead to the coming weeks, on monday for example it is three weeks since borisjohnson sat inside this building behind me and talked about the effective lockdown of the united kingdom and said he would with you

it in three weeks. so what will happen if the prime minister can‘t make that decision? david cameron was talking earlier, saying how civil servants prepare papers, advise and lay out the decisions that need to be made, and that can be done for dominic raab as well, together with the fact that of course there is a cabinet and the cabinet can meet and make important decisions, and a head of the civil service the cabinet secretary will have a crucial role in making sure the system does keep going. many thanks. our chief, political correspondent, vicki young, they‘re in downing street for us. many people have publicly expressed their concern for the prime minister, and sent their best wishes. speaking from the white house, the us. president donald trump said all americans were praying for borisjohnson‘s recovery. i also want to send best wishes to a very good friend of mine, and a friend to our nation, prime minister boris johnson. we are very saddened to hear that he was taken into intensive care this afternoon,

a little while ago, and americans are all praying for his recovery. he‘s been a really good friend, he is really something very special. strong, resolute, doesn‘t quit, doesn‘t give up. messages of support for the prime minister have been echoed across europe. the irish taoiseach, leo varadkar said boris johnson is in his thoughts, tweeting, "we wish him a speedy recovery and a rapid return to health." france‘s president, emmanuel macron said he is sending his support to the british people at this difficult moment. and the german chancellor angela merkel wished boris johnson "much strength and a speedy recovery". we can speak now to the leader of the scottish conservatives,

just stay there one moment because i wa nt to just stay there one moment because i want to bring viewers some news we have just got want to bring viewers some news we havejust got in want to bring viewers some news we have just got in from nhs england and these are the daily figures we received for a number of deaths. these are for england. nhs england say a further 758 people who tested positive for coronavirus have died. this brings the total number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals in england to buy thousand

655. that is up from 4897 —— 5655. that is up from 4897 on monday. 29 of the 758 patients had no known underlying health condition. those are the latest very sobering figures from nhs england for england, a further 758 people who tested positive for coronavirus have died in hospital. i wonder if i could come back to you, jackjackson carlaw. such a grim reminder there of the hundreds of families, thousands of families across the country, who are being so affected by this as well, of course, of the prime minister and his family. i just wonder how much you are in touch with members of the in government westminster. have you spoken to the scottish secretary about what is going on, about their

feelings about what is going on, for the —— further progress? feelings about what is going on, for the -- further progress? absolutely andi the -- further progress? absolutely and i should say there have been further deaths in scotland as well and we expect that figure to grow quite substantially as well, so we are quite substantially as well, so we a re really quite substantially as well, so we are really in the middle of the worst of the crisis and i think we just have to recognise that there area just have to recognise that there are a lot of dark days ahead. but i have been regularly in contact with alistairjack, who himself was a satyr of the virus. he came out of isolation at the end of last week, i think had a pretty rough time with it, but he has recovered now. i have beenin it, but he has recovered now. i have been in touch with him daily. i know this is not a presidential system, we have a collective cabinet of government in the united kingdom and he is very involved with ministers supporting dominic raab, who is deputising, it is part of the decision—making process. that is what is important, that that decision—making process goes on with the support of all the cabinet to dominic raab, participating in the

decisions that are made. you are pa rt decisions that are made. you are part of the opposition in the parliament, do you feel at the moment that traditional party politics have been suspended? moment that traditional party politics have been suspended7m moment that traditional party politics have been suspended? it has to be, but i very much agree with keir starmer. we have taken the same line in scotland as the opposition party, who are there to offer constructive, but critical support to the scottish government. scrutiny has to continue. in a number of different ways, the scottish government has chosen to pursue a slightly different approach. obviously we had the unfortunate debacle at the weekend with the chief medical officer, but there are substantial ways in which we are perhaps operating in a different way in scotland in terms of business support or in terms of the way we had rolled out the shielding policy, and there are issues, which are difficult and i don‘t want to stand there as we might do in normal circumstances and just be a loud and unhelpful critic. we don‘t need to find resolutions and solutions to these problems, but it is our duty in scotland to identify where m ista kes in scotland to identify where mistakes are being made. we accepted

that could happen, we but we got to participate and ensure they are being drawn to public attention and resolved. we are going to have to leave it there. they‘re good to talk to you, jackson carlaw speaking to us here on bbc news. thank you. people who volunteered to support the nhs during the outbreak have been reporting for duty today. they will deliver food and medicines, drive patients to appointments and phone the isolated. 750,000 people put forward their names within four days of the government calling for help, 3 times its original target — but it‘s taken time for security checks to be carried out. with me now is catherinejohnstone, chief executive of the royal voluntary service, which is helping to run the scheme. also i‘m joined by gemma hales, a florist who has volunteered to help with deliveries for those in need. thank you both forjoining us. catherine, can i ask... you have

helped get the scheme up and running, what sort of challenges had they been? royal voluntary services have been working with nhs england and good sam to design and develop the system. obviously with any new system developed there are new challenges, but we have got a digital solution that was already available within the nhs, so that was fantastic. and we have been overwhelmed by 750,000 people stepping forward to actually volunteer. today, as we launch, we are asking for referrals now, so gps, health care professionals, pharmacists, local colleagues in authorities, to actually start referring their patients because we are open for business and the volunteer army stands ready to march forward. it's a fabulous figure, isn‘t it? forward. it's a fabulous figure, isn't it? 750,000 forward. it's a fabulous figure, isn‘t it? 750,000 people. and you are one of those people. why did you get involved? so i decided to get

involved because i am a wedding florist and as you can imagine, i have got a lot more three time over the next three months because i have had a lot postponed weddings. i am in good health, ready to go and i have got an md than sitting outside, so have got an md than sitting outside, soiam have got an md than sitting outside, so i am really happy to be filling that with food and medicines for people and actually being able to help make the deal a lot better coping through this crisis. that's great. what was the application process like for this?” great. what was the application process like for this? i applied on day two after it was originally announced by the government and even though i had recently applied, they did send some communication saying there was a huge volume to go through and it may take a little longer than expected, but actually i had no problems. i was approved probably about a week later and received all of my information through, and was able to register and set up on the app. through, and was able to register and set up on the applj through, and was able to register and set up on the app. i want to go back to catherine if i may.

catherine, you have had to verify people‘s backgrounds, do background checks. how difficult has that been? well, under normal circumstances it would take a very long while to work through 750,000 applications, but obviously we are working at pace and scale and therefore we have devoted 24—hour seven days a week shifts up to 200 people at a time, working through the applications to make sure that we can process them as quickly and efficiently as possible. covid—i9 is not waiting for any others and therefore it is really important for the royal voluntary service to make sure we are mobilised as quickly as we could be, and that actually we have got the opportunity to mobilise at a larger scale. so instead of the original 1.5 million patients that we were going to support, we are actually going to support, we are actually going to support, we are actually going to go live and support 2.5 million, so that is an amazing achievement as a result of all those volu nteers achievement as a result of all those volunteers stepping forward. again,

hope and help are the words that we use a lot at the moment. there are a lot of people like gemma who are at home and want to offer help. help gives us hope. i have had lots of feedback from nhs colleagues on the front line, who just the act of 750,000 people stepping forward has filled them with hope and it them feel really loved and quite privileged, actually. so all round, this has been an amazing effort by oui’ this has been an amazing effort by our country and i would not have thought anything less because we see the best of humanity when the chips are down. it really is very inspiring. i know one or two people who wanted to volunteer and want able to. what you say to those who we re able to. what you say to those who were frustrated at not being able to? don't be frustrated. there are two things. one is it is highly unlikely that once we are mobilised and we are into a rhythm, when wendy

was there as rs in and we had got enough referrals in the system, it is highly likely i will be and call for more applications, so that is one opportunity, but actually in your locality is across britain, there are many, many people calling for volunteers, so i would look locally at your local authority websites, your council voluntary services, it will volunteer bureaus, anywhere where you have a local hub and just see if you can get involved and just see if you can get involved and stepped forward to support your local food bank or silver line with similar check—in and chat calls, those sorts of things. so please don‘t feel that you have to wait for me to be open, although i would be delighted to have you if you are around when we do. 0k, a good message. and you have volunteered to do deliveries, have you had anyjobs yet? so the calls are just filtering through at the moment, so i'd only had the one call so far, but my mobile phone is on and the siren is

very loud when we do get a call through, so i'm looking forward to it. you won't miss it? you don't miss it, it is very loud. iwanted to ask, you are a florist. what happened to the flowers that you had? i did actually have an event that was due to go live the day after the lockdown actually happened, so i had about £600 worth of flowers that were going to go to waste, so i wrapped them all up and put them into little bouquets and left them around battersea park, which is my local park. lots of people found them and sent me lovely messages and cards to say thank you, so messages and cards to say thank you, soi messages and cards to say thank you, so i was really pleased they didn't go to waste and they were able to bring some cheer to people. absolutely. there are some things about this crisis that really bring out the best of people. so lovely to talk to you thank you so much. the japanese prime minister, shinzo abe, has declared a state

of emergency in tokyo, osaka and five other regions in the country. people are being advised to stay inside and businesses will shut. coronavirus infections in tokyo have more than doubled in the past week to about 1,200. it comes after the government announced a massive stimulus package, which abe described as among the world‘s biggest, to soften the economic blow. it‘s worth around $1 trillion us dollars, which is about 20% of japan‘s gross domestic output. here‘s rupert wingfield—hayes in tokyo. so this is exactly what we expected from prime minister shinzo abe. he gave a very clear indication yesterday that this if is what he was going to do, but now we have it, we have the declared state of emergency for tokyo, for osaka and for five other prefectures. mostly those are prefectures that surround these two very, very large urban areas. if you take tokyo and its surrounding areas, it really is the world‘s largest metropolitan area, with a population altogether

of around 37 million people. so this state of emergency really does affect a vast number of people. we understand it‘s going to go into effect initially for a month, but it won‘t be the same as the lockdowns that have been declared in the uk or in america or in some other european countries because the japanese government simply doesn‘t have the power to do that. this is an ‘advisory‘. the japanese government is requesting that businesses close. it‘s requesting that ordinary citizens stay at home as much as possible, but a lot of life will continue to go on. the tokyo transportation network will continue to run. a lot of people will continue to go to work, but it‘s hoped, a because this is a disciplined and law—abiding society, that it will be enough to stem the growth of covid—19 here. officials here are extremely worried that tokyo, in particular, is on the brink of a very serious outbreak. that‘s because cases

here have grown quite rapidly in the last week or so, more than doubled in the last week, and there is a fear that that is the start of something much bigger. it‘s hoped that this state of emergency will stop that. i have to say, there are a number of medical experts here who have said it has come too late, this should have been done earlier, that hospitals are already straining with the numbers being admitted already, but that it is very likely that in the next week or two we‘re going to see covid—19 cases continue to grow very, very rapidly in tokyo and that we may see an outbreak similar to what we‘ve seen in london, new york and in other cities in europe. that was our correspondent rupert wingfield hayes reporting there from tokyo. as you know, we bring you around this time every day of the total is... i do beg your pardon. and that we are now going to the weather with nick miller.

plenty of dry and fine weather out there with some sunshine, albeit hazy in places. clouds thickening up over the channel islands and there may be an isolated structure shower in south england, he went picking up because the far west of scotland. with the sunshine it is feeling warm out there, temperature is about average for the time of year. when pushing across the western isles into the north of scotland, cloud pushing northwards across parts of england and wales and mayjust squeeze out a shower towards southern england in particular. it will be another night, clearer parts of northern england and scotland, which may just of northern england and scotland, which mayjust see a touch of frost. one or two mist and fog patches as chloe across england and wales, an isolated shower or may be a thunderstorm possible across the midlands or south england later. patchy rain and cloud across

scotland, and northern ireland as well. we will get some sunshine though. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines: nhs england say a further 758 people who tested positive for coronavirus have died in hospital. on the other uk nations there have been a further

74 deaths in scotland, 19 in wales and three in northern ireland. still in intensive care but not on a ventilator, downing street says borisjohnson is ventilator, downing street says boris johnson is in ventilator, downing street says borisjohnson is in a stable condition as he is treated for coronavirus. the foreign secretary dominic raab is standing in for the prime minister were necessary. the queen is being kept informed about mrjohnson‘s health. japan‘s minister declares a state of emergency in tokyo and six other regions as the country struggles with the pandemic. china, where the coronavirus outbreak started, reports no deaths in the past day, the first time since january. hello, good afternoon, premier league footballers are "prepared to step up

to the mark" and are "mindful of their social responsibilities" — that‘s according to the pfa chief executive gordon taylor. talks are ongoing about a collective pay deal in response to the coronavirus pandemic. that comes as the former liverpool playerjohn barnes praised the club for reversing its decision to furlough non—playing staff. liverpool‘s chief executive peter moore — seen here on the right — said they were "truly sorry" for coming to the "wrong conclusion last week", following criticism from fans and former players. they now plan to keep the staff on, and say they‘ll find another way to pay them. everybody at this time is looking to see what is right for their business andi see what is right for their business and i remember liverpool also thought about the ticket prices where everybody was up in arms about that and then they change their mind fully recognised it is not the right thing to do but the good thing about it listened to the fans, they see what people think, particularly that area in liverpool which is quite a socialist city and then they change their minds. these are difficult times and people are looking after their own businesses and what the right thing to do is. similar issues

with players and giving money to the nhs, all these issues are issues that people may or may not agree with but in these unprecedented times, i don‘t think anybody is trying to be greedy, they are just out to do what is right for their own business. the fbi investigation into allegations of corruption in football has put forward a new indictment in the us district court. in a fresh document, prosecutors allege that former executive commitee members at fifa, the sport‘s world governing body, took bribes in return for voting for russia and qatar to host the men‘s world cup. it sets out in unprecedented detail how the alleged corruption was conducted, although it doesn‘t state who paid the bribes. fifa says it is "closely following" the us investigations. to date, 42 people have been formally accused, with 26 pleading guilty. the president of ufc says the sport is set to return later this month on a private island. dana white says he is "a day or two" away from finding a location to host fights after being forced to postpone three events during the coronavirus crisis.

ufc 249 is set to go ahead on april 18th at a private island where fighters who otherwise would not be able to get into the united states can fly to. south africa‘s rugby world cup winning captain siya kolisi has joined the fight against coronavirus. his foundation will help to supply hospitals with protective equipment to frontline workers, including sanitisiers and masks. kolisi set up the foundation to support children growing up in townships, as he did, and now as he‘s tackling the pandemic, he‘s reiterated how important it is that everyone plays their part. this is going to be a team effort from all of us and i think the whole world and everybody has a role to play and this is the time i think for us to stay at home and not leave our houses, complete lockdown. for people who can help others, i think food is a big problem at the moment so we are pushing hard on fighting

and making sure people get meals. a lot of kids go to schooljust to get one meal so we lot of kids go to schooljust to get one meal so we want lot of kids go to schooljust to get one meal so we want to try and provide for that. i want to tackle other challenges that i faced as a kid and there are a lot of people doing a lot of good work in the communities and my goal is to try and change a lot of the kids‘ narrative in the townships because i don‘t want them to go through what i had to go through and make sure that they wake up and want to be something. when i stop playing, i think that‘s what i‘ll move towards, to try and change as many lives as i can. that‘s all the sport for now.

borisjohnson remains boris johnson remains in borisjohnson remains in intensive ca re borisjohnson remains in intensive care but is in good spirits and is stable. he is receiving standard oxygen treatment without a ventilator. we have just heard the news that earlier today the queen sent a message to borisjohnson‘s fiance carrie symonds. she said they we re fiance carrie symonds. she said they were in her thoughts and she wished the prime minister is full and speedy recovery. that is the third intervention by the queen in the last few days during this crisis. the former prime minister david cameron described boris johnson the former prime minister david cameron described borisjohnson as a very tough, very resilient, very fit person. it's it‘s very worrying news and we are thinking of boris and praying for him and his family and hoping he gets well soon and gets back to number ten when i know he wants to be and we want him to be. boris is a

very tough, resilient fit person, i know that from facing him on the tennis court and i‘m sure he will come through this. are there any personal reflections? you‘ve known him a long time, is he the sort of character who can come through this? boris is very resilient, he‘s tough and he‘s got a tremendous zest for life and for getting things done and for leading and for taking decisions. i know he will want to get well and get back in charge again and that‘s what we all want from him and we are hoping that‘s the case very soon so all our wishes are with him. he is doing a tremendousjob and are with him. he is doing a tremendous job and we all want him backin tremendous job and we all want him back in there. in terms of running the country, this is unprecedented in modern times. should people be worried about the prime minister being out of action? i don't think people should worry about decisions being made. the government has got a very clear strategy and a clear plan and ministers are working to that plan and in our system, if the prime

minister cannot take a decision, then the downing street team will prepare that decision to be made by the deputy, in this case dominic raab, first secretary of state, so there a good system in place, the civil service is professional and good at preparing these decisions and i‘m sure the right decisions will be taken. we can talk now to andrewjensen, biographer of boris johnson and we can talk now to andrewjensen, biographer of borisjohnson and the author of the book the making of the prime minister. thank you for joining us. david cameron described him as very tough and resilient with a zest for life, who would argue with that? yes, he's a large figure and he has all this work through illness and now we find he can‘t or he has found he can‘t so it is a great shock that his vulnerability

of this robust character has been demonstrated so strikingly. that is partly what is shocking about it, that he is somebody for whom does it seem larger—than—life. that he is somebody for whom does it seem larger-than-life. he's the kind of person who can enter a shopping centre on a very dull wednesday afternoon and completely transform the atmosphere. suddenly it‘s exciting, people want to take selfies, people want to gather around and suddenly there‘s a scrum, around and suddenly there‘s a scrum, a sense of occasion. and he is the person who is doing that and he does that also in meetings, he infuses a particular atmosphere, he makes it exciting and dramatic and motivates people so it is a shame that this force of nature is now suddenly silencing him this way, i think many people are surprised. i‘m certainly surprised by how affected i was because i didn‘t really expect it to happen, ijust because i didn‘t really expect it to happen, i just thought because i didn‘t really expect it to happen, ijust thought it

because i didn‘t really expect it to happen, i just thought it was a precaution, he‘ll be all right, and i still hope and believe that he will be, but it‘s obviously a lot worse and he or anyone else had realised. he thought as usual he could just power his way through and carry on with his team and he couldn‘t. carry on with his team and he couldn't. somebody who used to work for him and knows him well, will walden, was speaking to us earlier and said that although in certain respects the prime minister does not look particularly fit man, these are his words, not mine, he‘s quite a big man but is quite fit, he plays tennis, he‘s in good health. generally. he likes getting up early in the morning. i was staying in the same hotel as him once in blackpool for the party conference once and there was a fire alarm at breakfast time and boris came out and he went for a time and boris came out and he went fora run around time and boris came out and he went for a run around the golf course next to the hotel and the rest of us just stood sheepishly in the car park and eventually were able to go infor park and eventually were able to go in for breakfast but he wasn‘t going

to waste that sort of half hour which the rest of us were in fact wasting, standing around, chatting to each other. he didn‘t have proper running gear but after he went on an ordinary shirt that you might wear with the suit, but he takes much more exercise than you might expect. he will have been suffering in recent months because he can‘t use his bicycle which is good exercise, it‘s more complicated to go for a run, he plays tennis, but he probably hasn‘t ta ken run, he plays tennis, but he probably hasn‘t taken anything like as much exercise as he would have wished, taking the dog down in the early morning to the downing street garden doesn‘t really constitute exercise. since the lockdown, that something everybody has had to deny themselves. everyone has had that, yes, but during the brexit stuff, that was so time—consuming and then the general election, he did go off

to the caribbean to have a complete breakfor a to the caribbean to have a complete break for a few days after that. you‘ll jolly well have break for a few days after that. you‘lljolly well have needed it. but since then it has been full on —— he will have needed it. he is fa ntastically —— he will have needed it. he is fantastically energetic, he is a workaholic. he doesn‘t aspire to sit in the shade with a book and a drink and do nothing, he really craves activity, he craves excitement actually, and people can see that is what he was doing during this terrible pandemic. he was absolutely engaged and he was also learning a new way of talking to the nation, much more sombre, not with jokes and cheering us up and making us laugh and the optimism, although he remained optimistic that we would get through it, but also a more sombre tone. you could see him

learning on thejob how sombre tone. you could see him learning on the job how to do this and absently giving it 100% so yes, he is an astonishingly dynamic person in normal times who is used to making things happen in getting people to do things. but you remind as they are also of the pressures of being prime minister. a lot of people will see brexit as being in the distant past but would they were difficult days and draining times for summary sitting in the top job. yes but he likes the pressure and he wasn‘t good in the house of commons when he became an mp, he didn‘t devote the time you need to as a backbencher and sitting there getting the speed of the court, understanding the kind of auditory which works differently to any kind of public speaking —— oratory. he

had to sit around hour after hour as a backbencher and wait for the speaker to call him, he was bad at that, but he as good as prime minister, he likes being at the dispatch box, he likes living on his wits, he likes working out to be generous to a labour backbencher when he has to agree with, which would be stupid to disagree with, and when to make some party political points. in this crisis, i think he‘s been good at not playing a partisan way but trying to do what he thinks is best for the nation. good to get your thoughts, andrew jemson, borisjohnson‘s good to get your thoughts, andrew jemson, boris johnson‘s biographer. thank you forjoining us. some use to bring you from kensington palace because prince william has tweeted in response to that news about borisjohnson

saying... you can see the prince assigns it with a w. heart surgeon at wales‘s largest hospital has died from coronavirus. they were an associate specialist at the university of wales. the health board said he was an incredibly dedicated surgeon who cared deeply for his patients. the first minister of wales also paid tribute. very senior and very highly regarded doctor here in wales, we‘ve had other clinicians who have been on the front line suffering from coronavirus and it does not respect people or place which is why it is so important we all do everything we can to protect one another from its

impact. tributes have been paid to the first midwife in the country to die of coronavirus. lindsay coventry worked at the princess alexandra hospital in harlow, hospital which has already seen 53 patients die from the disease. the chief midwifery officer said her dedication to bbs and their families would always be remembered. if anyone knows what midwives mean, it‘s the families who receive their care and support. sally neil‘s 21—month—old boy rory was delivered by lynsay coventry, the first midwife to die from coronavirus. the loss has touched many families. she kept me going in those little moments of self—doubt and finding it all a bit challenging, and she wasjust so kind, so caring. she just seemed to almost know what we needed without even having to tell her. what would you say to lynsay‘s family, and to her colleagues, if you had the chance? they should be so proud of lynsay.

she‘s had such an impact on our lives, she is part of a memory that we will treasure and cherish forever and i know we are not unique, there must be hundreds and thousands of women and families that lynsay helped during her time as a midwife. it‘s heartbreaking that... that people are putting their lives on the line to do theirjobs. it‘s just... it‘s hard to imagine. lynsay coventry worked at the princess alexandra hospital in harlow for ten years. in a statement, her family said she was a caring mum, sister, daughter and grandmother. they added... she did her degree at anglia ruskin university. she was very highly thought of, and since she qualified she‘s acted as a mentor and a supervisor for many of our other students,

and she will be very sorely missed. a facebook photo shows the maternity department pausing, a moment of reflection for their colleague. the post said... we have to do everything possible to stay at home, protect the nhs, protect the nhs and save lives, because if we stay at home, we will have less tragedies like this one and we will get over this awful disease quicker. lynsay wasn‘t at work before her death. it‘s not known how she caught the virus. the many families she helped during life—changing moments say they will be forever grateful for her guidance. a digital arts programme for the over 70s are is being launched to help people who are self—isolating.

it will host a series of fortnightly art history it will host a series of fortnightly a rt history lectures by it will host a series of fortnightly art history lectures by the uk‘s leading art historians as well as film screenings and a community forum for anyone using the platform to connect. the aim is to help older members of the population stay connected, educated, entertained and informed over the next three months. we can speak to sarah dunant, broadcaster arts critics who has a lecture on renaissance art and also anjoker who is lecture on renaissance art and also an joker who is in lecture on renaissance art and also anjoker who is in her early 70s and from wiltshire —— anne deuchar. sarah, you‘re going to do lectures for the platform. what are you going to lecture on and are you going to make your lectures relevant to the situation we are in now? on one level i think it‘s very relevant because i‘m going to try to bring to light a city which i think we‘ve all thought about during these last few weeks which is the city of venice in italy, but i think what is very

important for all of us as we stay at home is to try to keep our imaginations working because it is very draining to be dealing with this level of attrition and fear and i think one of the things that we need to do is to stay mentally healthy, particularly those of us who can‘t get out so my lecture is partly about venice, which is now empty, but only a few weeks ago would have been overwhelmed by tourism, and i want to take you back tourism, and i want to take you back toa tourism, and i want to take you back to a period in the 16th century when venice was not a tourist trap, it was actually one of the greatest cities in the world with a maritime empire, with luxury trade all round and i‘ve tried the lecture which looks at venice dressed, full of power and splendour, and venice undress, which is high class

artisans, and i‘ll be working with the art society cosmic images. sitting at home, i will show people in this lecture famous images, one portrait and one portrait of a cou rtesa n portrait and one portrait of a courtesan and talking and through this externally moment in history but as i say, the art society has a lwa ys but as i say, the art society has always done this, to suggest that however old you are, you still have curiosity, be it for the art you can‘t experience or for the past and i think this platform online will be plugging into that curiosity, people who by definition still have imaginations. anne deuchar, i was watching your face, i imaginations. anne deuchar, i was watching yourface, i think imaginations. anne deuchar, i was watching your face, i think you are going to enjoy them.

how does the present affect you? i'm having to be isolated due to medical conditions. i've got quite a few interests. very fortunately i have a garden and the weeds are now terrified of me because it's so important to be able to do some exercise and get out. lots of phone calls and these online talks on this website has connected and isjust

fantastic. i've been on it, i've been sharing, it is for all ages, notjust for those of been sharing, it is for all ages, not just for those of us who are retired. it's full of really good information, it's a very good source, information, it's a very good source , so information, it's a very good source, so i'm finding isolation reasonably 0k. i've got a small dog and that means it's got to be walked so and that means it's got to be walked soi and that means it's got to be walked so i get out at the crack of dawn literally so i'm fine, i'm not sure i will be saying the same thing after a few more months of this but so after a few more months of this but so far, so good. it is an indefinite period and i think that‘s what people are finding particularly difficult. sarah duna nt people are finding particularly difficult. sarah dunant said this should be for all ages and i wonder, why is it targeted at older people? because it sounds fascinating. actually i think it‘s partly that the art society by definition, because many of its lectures take place during the day, is aiming itself are people who are no longer working but i completely agree about this platform actually, i think as

we are all at home now, this is an amazing opportunity for us to actually enter art through a different way. i did a talk on bbc radio few weeks ago about the importance of imagination at moment andi importance of imagination at moment and i believe this is away in so i think whatever age you are, get on that platform and let me take you to venice 500 years ago. anne, have you looked at what other lectures the platform is offering? what has struck you? very much so. the talks are wonderful. there was one on ceramics, it's brilliant, there are so ceramics, it's brilliant, there are so many good talks to go and we are all putting talks that we know of on as well as a chairman of one of the societies who did and arts quiz and i've put that out there and so many people are doing it. . it's a

brilliant platform for that kind of thing. i really recommend it to everybody. that's great, thank you so much. anne deuchar and sarah dunant, thank you both very much indeed for talking to us. for the first time since it began publishing daily figures, china has reported no coronavirus deaths which hasn‘t happened since january but the government remains under scrutiny at whether it has been under reporting the figures. a correspondent sent this report. zero coronavirus deaths in 24 hours. a symbolic turning point in china. many have questioned the veracity of the official figures in a country where the outbreak started. even if the rate of deaths and infections has been underreported, the trend seems to match real—life experience. and that trend would appear to offer

hope to other nations. in wuhan, china‘s worst—hit city, there are more people on the streets every day. after months of lockdown, residents are coming out to bite first the city‘s traditional noodles. things are looking up. translation: the noodles taste even better now. i‘ve really missed that taste. when china stopped for three minutes over the weekend to honour those who have died from the coronavirus, people were also thankful that the disease hasn‘t been even more deadly here. especially when compared to europe and north america. but maybe it has been worse than we know. officially, more than 3,300 people have died from the virus but we don‘t know how many more there might be. some analysts say that it‘s possible

people have actually died from the virus, but been instead recorded as having died from other causes. the return to normality has been gradual here. yet scientists are still warning that the country must guard against a new wave of infections. especially as chinese citizens returned from overseas. translation: overseas returnees including people coming to beijing for the first time, or returning to the city, must all be quarantined. when wuhan city was locked down injanuary it was a signal to the whole world that a crisis had started. in the coming hours, it will finally be opened again to the outside world. this will be a big moment in china. now it‘s time for a look at the weather. plenty of dry and fine weather out there with some sunshine, albeit

hazy in places. clouds thickening up over the channel islands and there may be an isolated structure shower in south england, he went picking up because the far west of scotland. with the sunshine it is feeling warm out there, temperature is about average for the time of year. when pushing across the western isles into the north of scotland, cloud pushing northwards across parts of england and wales and mayjust squeeze out a shower towards southern england in particular. it will be another night, clearer parts of northern england and scotland, which mayjust see a touch of frost. one or two mist and fog patches. cloudy across england and wales, an isolated shower or maybe a thunderstorm possible across the midlands or south england later. patchy rain and cloud across scotland, and northern ireland as well. we will get some sunshine though.

this is bbc news. the headlines: still in intensive care, but not on a ventilator. downing street says borisjohnson it a ventilator. downing street says boris johnson it in a ventilator. downing street says borisjohnson it in a stable condition, and in good spirits.

been japan‘s prime minister shinzo abe declares a state of emergency and six other regions of the country struggles with the pandemic. and in china, where they can read about outbreak started, no deaths have been reported for the thursday for the first time since january. whatsapp restricts the forwarding of m essa g es whatsapp restricts the forwarding of messages in an effort to slow the spread of coronavirus misinformation. good afternoon. in the last half hour, we have heard that a further 758 people who have tested positive for coronavirus have died in hospital in england. there have also been a further 74 deaths in scotland, 19 deaths in wales and

three in northern ireland. these figures come as number ten says the prime minister, who is in intensive ca re prime minister, who is in intensive care for coronavirus at st thomas‘ hospital in london has been stable over night and remained in good spirits. they say that boris johnson is receiving standard oxygen treatment and is breathing without any other assistance. he is not requiring mechanical ventilation and does not have pneumonia. the prime minister was admitted to hospital on sunday night after his symptoms worsened. the foreign secretary, dominic raab, has been asked to deputise for him. this morning, michael gove announced that he also is self isolating, as a member of his family is displaying symptoms of the virus. and in the last half hour, it has emerged that the queen is among the by minister‘s well wishes, saying that her thoughts are with his family and she wishes in a full and speedy recovery. our first report is by our political correspondent, nick adley. westminster and the country wait. across the thames from the houses

of parliament, the prime minister remains in intensive care, struggling to overcome coronavirus. borisjohnson has shown persistent symptoms since testing positive 12 days ago. i still have a temperature, one at the minor symptoms... these are pictures from friday were the last time we saw him, from self isolation in downing street but his condition has got worse. he was taken into intensive care at 7pm last night when his condition worsened during the day and 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. this afternoon downing street has said the prime minister remains stable and in good spirits overnight. he is receiving oxygen treatment, but otherwise breathing unassisted. his spokesman said he hasn‘t required the use of a ventilator and hasn‘t been diagnosed with pneumonia. the foreign secretary has been asked

to deputise for the prime minister. he‘s in very good hands, dominic raab said this morning, arriving for the daily meeting with ministers and government advisers, to discuss coronavirus strategy. the prime minister has designated dominic, the foreign secretary dominic raab, as first secretary of state, that means that dominic takes on the responsibilities of chairing the various meetings that the prime minister would have chaired, but we are all working together to implement the plan that the prime minister‘s set out. shortly after this interview michael gove confirmed he was self isolating after a family member showed symptoms. this virus is impacting the very top of government, at a time of unprecedented challenge. for now, normal political life is on hold. 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 that 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 where that is the right thing to do and push them further where we need to do it. i want to send every good wish to him, to his fiancee and to his whole family. we are all willing you on, boris, get well soon. one of mrjohnson‘s predecessors had this message. all of us are praying for boris and thinking of him and praying and thinking of his family and hoping that he gets well soon and gets back to number ten where i know he wants to be and where we all want him to be. boris is a very tough, very resilient, very fit person, i know that from facing him on the tennis court and i am sure he will come through this. friends of the prime minister say he a fighter. he‘s a pretty fit guy, he may not look that fit, he‘s got a heavy frame, played a lot of rugby at school, a fairly big guy but he plays tennis very well to a high standard, he runs regularly and i think if anyone has got a chance of beating this, then borisjohnson has the chance of doing that.

an unprecedented health emergency for the country, an unprecedented situation in government, and an uncertain road ahead. as we heard, downing street said the prime minister has been receiving standard oxygen treatment in an intensive care unit at st thomas‘ hospital. but he hasn‘t required mechanical ventilation. and i see you would require treatment and close monitoring for patients who are too seriously ill to be cared for in other parts of the hospital. he is our health correspondent, richard galpin. intensive care units are where severely ill patients are brought. their lives, potentially at risk. the prime minister was taken into an intensive care unit like this one, yesterday, after his condition deteriorated. he was conscious, given oxygen via a mask but not put on a mechanical ventilator, a more intrusive procedure. but most patients do need ventilation quite soon.

so what‘s it like to be on a ventilator, which takes over the breathing process? to be able to cope with that 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 on their tummy and on their backs in a roughly 16 hour cycle. the doctors and nurses working in these intensive care u nits a re co nsta ntly checking their patients. in normal times you might expect your blood pressure, heart rate, breathing rate would be recorded probably once every few hours. perhaps slightly more frequently if they‘re quite unwell. in intensive care we do it continuously and there is a monitor by the nurses‘ station that can be monitored all the time, even when a nurse is not at the bedside, so we can keep a much closer eye on people. mrjohnson may also have a special needle into one of his arteries that allows us to take blood samples that

can very accurately monitor his blood oxygen levels. going through intensive care is, of course, a very difficult experience. getting out of hospital is a huge relief. i came out last week on monday and i don‘t know exactly, when i came out, ijust felt... i thinkjust coming out of hospital made me so much better, because it was a lonely period whilst i was in there, i had nobody really and to be around my family, and tojust... now i try to get out in the garden. get fresh air. and i‘m really doing so well now. assuming borisjohnson recovers and is discharged from hospital, how quickly would he be able to return to work? if this is a short—term thing and he responds well, just needs a little bit of oxygen and recovers over the coming few days, then he will

probably feeling... regaining his strength over the next week to ten days. downing street says boris johnson is not on a ventilator at the moment. but he is getting oxygen, using a mask. richard galpin, bbc news. well, we can speak now to charlotte gallagher, who it‘s outside st thomas‘ hospital in central london, where the prime minister, is, as you heard, receiving treatment. bring us up heard, receiving treatment. bring us up to date. borisjohnson remains in intensive care at st thomas‘ hospital and we had some positive news, that he is remaining in a sta ble news, that he is remaining in a stable condition, he is in good spirits and he has been given of the children, but oxygen, but he is not ona children, but oxygen, but he is not on a ventilator. you might notice behind me the hospital looks a bit different from and it usually does. they have erected security hoarding around the building, police officers are patrolling at every exit and

entrance, checking people‘s passes because this is such a serious and unprecedented and dramatic situation. there are other people in their being treated for coronavirus in the intensive care unit, obviously people very seriously unwell. incredibly worrying for lots of people‘s relatives, who won‘t be able to visit anyone in hospital, including borisjohnson. able to visit anyone in hospital, including boris johnson. because able to visit anyone in hospital, including borisjohnson. because the virus is so infectious. know that boris johnson‘s virus is so infectious. know that borisjohnson‘s partner, who is pregnant, his also showing symptoms herself and michael gove is self isolating because of a family member showing symptoms. lots of people around the country, just recently the duke and duchess of cambridge, catherine and william, sent their best wishes to prime minister on social media and we we know people around the world are wishing the banister a speedy recovery. we also heard from an nhs doctor, he said lots of people are recovering and it

is not all bad news. lots of people are getting the treatment and need and they are getting better. thank you so much, charlotte. that is charlotte gallagher there outside st thomas‘ hospital. we can go now to our political correspondent, vicki young, who is outside downing street. as we have been talking about three this afternoon, this very strange situation, the government in the middle of a crisis without its prime minister at the helm. yes, these are not normal times. at the time of a crisis, of course you times. at the time of a crisis, of course you want your prime minister and all of your top team firing on all cylinders and that certainly isn‘t the case at the moment and hasn‘t been for a couple of weeks. it is not just hasn‘t been for a couple of weeks. it is notjust the prime minister, but a couple of cabinet ministers, who have been self isolating. the latest is michael gove, who are self isolating because a family member showing symptoms. chris whitty, has also been in self isolation and the health secretary is also. so this really has been a major blow to the functioning of government in one

sense, but on the other hand the prime minister‘s official spokesman said that the prime minister remains the prime minister and there is a very ca re the prime minister and there is a very care plan that has been put in place at the beginning of this crisis, so each cabinet minister knows what they have to do at each department knows what it has to do and there are committees being set up and there are committees being set up and formed of various cabinet ministers and officials, all working on various aspects of this fight against coronavirus, whether that is the health service and increasing capacity in the health service, whether it is dealing with the economy and the problem is, the impact that there is going to be longer term on the economy, but of course having the prime minister out of action in intensive care is extremely worrying on one hand and also a problem when it comes to making longer term decisions. even though dominic raab, the foreign secretary, can of course chair meetings, chairing that daily regular meeting this morning, there is an issue about if different cabinet ministers don‘t agree about something, if these various committees don‘t agree about something, in the end someone has to

make that decision. and vicki young, this is a tall order for the make that decision. and vicki young, this is a tall orderfor the foreign secretary had, dominic raab, who is an experienced politician, but still to be having to be taking on this role at this time. yes, having to ta ke role at this time. yes, having to take on this role in the circumstances when there is clearly a lot of worry about the panellist‘s house on a personal level and all of his colleagues will be worried about that, but also at a time of national crisis it does make it very difficult. inevitably, dominic raab did talk about there a sense of 18 tea m did talk about there a sense of 18 team effort here and of course there are always going to be contentious issues. there will be things that people don‘t agree about around the cabinet table and that is what the prime minister‘sjob is, to make sure you can come to some kind of resolution, so that anything is difficult and there will be a big role for the cabinet secretary, the most senior official in the civil service. he is still working normally, we are told. he will have a huge role to play in coordinating that effort. michael gove will also

have a huge role, but that is not helped by the fact he has still stuck at home, although still working. all of these things will have an impact at a very difficult time and looking towards the beginning of next week, where it is three weeks since the prime minister was in the building behind me and announced to the nation that effective lockdown and said it would be reviewed at that time, but it is also the moment where lots of scientists and medical professionals are expecting the peak of this illness, particularly in london, and so any change to those lockdown arrangements would be incredibly contentious, i think, arrangements would be incredibly contentious, ithink, but arrangements would be incredibly contentious, i think, but something that will be need to be thought about soon. thank you. vicki young there, our political correspondent. ijust want there, our political correspondent. i just want to bring you there, our political correspondent. ijust want to bring you some pictures that have just come in from the excel centre, the nightingale hospital that has just been sent up in east london. you can see there the huge scale of this new makeshift

hospital, a hospital that has been constructed in a matter of days. as vicki young was mentioning there, london has the highest number of covid—19 patients in england or in the uk and this nightingale hospital is one of several being built around the uk, but this 1‘sjust is one of several being built around the uk, but this 1‘s just started taking in patients yesterday. we know that it has enough capacity for 4000 patients, but we were told it would be starting off initially with about 500 patients. and we know that it has also been staffed by volu nteers it has also been staffed by volunteers from all different sectors of the voluntary service from former military members, former nhs staff, so a huge collective effort to that is really interesting and rather beautiful pictures being

taken from the. —— from the air. we can speak now to doctor matt morgan, who is in intensive care consultant and leader in research and development in intensive care in cardiff. thank you so much for talking to us, doctor morgan, at this time that must be a very difficult and intensive time for you as well, as a doctor. we know that you can‘t comment about the panellist‘s case in particular, but what sort of treatment —— the prime minister‘s case, but what sort of treatment might someone like him intensive care given? intensive care is less of a place and more of a system in many ways. like a concert hall, the important things there are the people, the musicians, be equipment, and somebody they‘re conducting them together as a teen. so the two key parts really are about monitoring, and we can monitor

the amount of oxygen in the blood every second of every day, and secondly the treatments. those treatments coronavirus mainly relate to helping the lungs extract enough oxygen, and that can be through oxygen, and that can be through oxygen breathing or it can be through oxygen pushed in to the lungs, either through a mask fitted externally or through a ventilator, a breathing machine. and that will depend simply on what the patient is able to do for him or herself? yes, correct. and there is normally a great dated way in which we do this, that it great dated way in which we do this, thatitis great dated way in which we do this, that it is only after people when people can‘t breathe enough oxygen themselves that we then move on to some of those other strategies. you work in an intensive care unit in cardiff. what has the mood been like in yourunit in cardiff. what has the mood been like in your unit in this timewe do have to remember that intensive care was

born out of a viral pandemic, be it polio over 68 years ago, so although this is a massive challenge in intensive care, as it is for primary ca re intensive care, as it is for primary care and community care, actually this is kind of what intensive care was first made to do. our passion in life as an intensive care community, which britain has an amazing intensive care community, notjust in london, but in all of those regional hospitals, our passion, the reason we bring people into intensive care is because we think we can make them better and that is what we do. and that is what partly what we do. and that is what partly what keeps you going as well? yes, absolutely. seeing people get better is really important, but remember the intensive care unit is the intensive care unit. it is notjust the intensive treatment unit. so even when people can‘t get better, there is always care there. so it can be scary, the concept of going

in there for families and for patients, but we have experienced staff who can explain things and care. and how prepared would you say that your unit has been to deal with the level of demand that there is now? well, you can never prepare for something as huge as this in every which way, but as a community myjob every day is responding to challenges that change at the drop ofa challenges that change at the drop of a hat, of a second minutes. so i think as a community we have come together, we are talking with collea g u es together, we are talking with colleagues up and down the country, globally all over the world we are working with colleagues around other hospitals, be it extra cleaning staff, extra nursing staff, extra medical doctors, surgeons, and really trying to fight this as a community. but remember, the best way to get through intensive care is do not go there in the first place. and so, the power to treat coronavirus really lies with the things the public are doing and

keeping the social distancing. a huge thank you for doing that. that isa huge thank you for doing that. that is a message that can‘t be reinforced too often. you are kind enough to be taking time out to speak to us here on the bbc news and we are very speak to us here on the bbc news and we are very grateful, but this is a long haul, it feels like a long haul and it must particularly feel so for somebody in your position. what is the personal toll that it takes on you? well, yes, i am a doctor and there are nursing staff and cleaners and physios, but they aren‘tjust those things, of course. i am also a son to parents who are in that at risk category, i am a dad. my children are thankfully being quiet downstairs, but you can‘tjust turn those things on and off. and so i find bizarrely, the medicine, the bit i am trained to do and that i am passionate about, that is hard, but it is ok. actually it is the other aspects in the logistics of life that are actually taking their toll.

0k. it is that are actually taking their toll. ok. it is very good to talk to you, doctor morgan, thank you so much for joining us here on the abc news and we all wish you the very best. thank you. —— he want bbc news. many people have publicly expressed their concern for the panellist and hasn‘t their best wishes. speaking from the white house, the us president donald trump said all americans were praying for the prime minister ‘s recovery. i also want to send best wishes to a very good friend of mine, and a friend to our nation, prime minister boris johnson. we are very saddened to hear that he was taken into intensive care this afternoon, a little while ago, and americans are all praying for his recovery. he‘s been a really good friend, he is really something very special. strong, resolute, doesn‘t quit, doesn‘t give up. and messages of support from the prime minister have also been echoed across europe. leo the radtke said

that boris johnson across europe. leo the radtke said that borisjohnson is in his thoughts, tweeting that we wish him a speedy recovery and a rapid return to health. france‘s president said he is sending his support to boris johnson at this difficult time and the german chancellor angela merkel wished boris johnson much the german chancellor angela merkel wished borisjohnson much strength and a speedy recovery. yesterday, borisjohnson asked the foreign secretary and first secretary of state, dominic raab, to deputise where necessary. but going forward, as the prime minister remains incapacitated from duty, how will the government were? to explain this iamjoined by the government were? to explain this i am joined byjill rutter, who is a senior fellow at the uk in a changing world. is that right, to say that he is incapacitated? yes, i think if you are in intensive care there is no way you can combine being in intensive care with doing the day—to—day business of being prime minister, so what he has very sensibly done is designate someone

to be his deputy and step in for him where he can‘t perform those functions. but dominic raab is doing everything in borisjohnson‘s name, so with the prime minister‘s lent authority, at the moment. so so we are ina authority, at the moment. so so we are in a holding situation at the moment, without any of the big decisions that need to be made about timetable or lockdown. they don‘t quite seem to be necessary at the moment, but if borisjohnson remains out of action for a while, it could be that these decisions fall to dominic raab? i think that is exactly right, but i don‘t think is right to say they fall to dominic raab. they pull to the cabinet, which will be chaired by raab immediately threw that covid—19 committee that meets every day. he chaired it yesterday and he chaired it today. i think dominic raab will be very conscious that he doesn‘t have the same personal authority,

the same sort of personal legitimacy that the prime minister does because after a ll that the prime minister does because after all he didn‘t win the election for party leader and nor did he lead the conservatives to an election victory in december, both of which are the prime minister‘s source of authority, and nor did he appoint a cabinet, so i think what dominic raab will hope to see is that the cabinet can make these decisions together and one of the things obviously that his cabinet members will be thinking about will be if the prime minister where here, what would he want us to do? and so the prime minister will still sort of have a influence, if not explicitly be at the table. but i think the real difficulty comes if there are big divisions and that is usually where you would expect the panacea to come in and knock heads together orjust say, actually, it is a choice between a and b and i have listened to the arguments and actually we are going with a. that is much harderfor someone in dominic raab‘s position than it would have been for someone in boris

johnson‘s position. would have been for someone in boris johnson's position. we do read that there are divisions in the cabinet though. yes, and i think the question is how quickly do those crystallise and how clear—cut they are. we hear rumours and some of those incipient tensions, you might call them, between the health secretary andy chancellor, about the speed of from lockdown, but i think for the time being until we are pretty confident that the scientific advisers, the chief medical officer, can assert that actually the nhs isn‘t in danger of being overwhelmed, that issue isn‘t an immediate choice. it is one that people are preparing for, thinking through options, but i don‘t think it isa through options, but i don‘t think it is a decision we will be expecting imminently. nor do i think, even though technically the lockdown comes up for renewal after easter, nor do i think that we are ina easter, nor do i think that we are in a situation where ministers will either be probably intensifying that or deciding that theyjust don‘t need it any more, so i think we will

probably see a bit more caution and probably see a bit more caution and probably just keep probably see a bit more caution and probablyjust keep things on as now perhaps until the end of april and a real focus on delivering some of those things the government has committed to. things like ramping up testing, the words we hear at every press co nfe re nce , testing, the words we hear at every press conference, ensuring that nhs capacity comes online and ensuring that the economic support packages that the economic support packages that the economic support packages that the chancellor announced are actually achieving their goals and are supporting people and that the money is getting out of the door. are supporting people and that the money is getting out of the door] the prime minister is also somebody who is a figurehead, who is a leader for the country, who people look to perhaps to provide comfort or guidance at a time of difficulty, and this government has been deprived of that person now for some time. and that is something that we are actually just time. and that is something that we are actuallyjust going to have to live with. what is very notable is that there isn‘t another really big, senior figure, that there isn‘t another really big,

seniorfigure, elderstates that there isn‘t another really big, seniorfigure, elder states person in that cabinet, so you could have imagined ifa in that cabinet, so you could have imagined if a theresa may figure had been prime minister, a david cameron, a william hague, was still around in the cabinet and may be in some slightly different role or in parliament in the case of david cameron, that they might be able to assume some of those trappings, so they have to perform that function before. one of the things that is very interesting about the way boris johnson constructed his cabinet as it is very much a cabinet of unequal is. there is a prime minister, who is. there is a prime minister, who is by miles the standout figure in that cabinet. it is not a cabinet with what we used to call the big beasts in it, so there isn‘t a natural person there. you know, we have had a bit of a lead on sunday from the queen. she, after all, is the ultimate unifying figure. there is potentially, i suppose, the ultimate unifying figure. there is potentially, isuppose, religious leaders and things like that. we may

have to rely on more other national unifying characters. boris johnson, obviously, is a unifying and inspirational figure for a obviously, is a unifying and inspirationalfigure for a lot obviously, is a unifying and inspirational figure for a lot of the country, but he has quite a marmite figure as well, so probably the reverse for a lot of others, so... but not having borisjohnson there leaves a big gap and we are back to work outjust how big a gap that is. yes, indeed. have we ever seen a prime minister incapacitated in this way before? or have we ever beenin in this way before? or have we ever been in this sort of crisis situation and not had the prime minister at the helm?|j situation and not had the prime minister at the helm? i think it is a juxtaposition of the two. we have had prime ministers go in for operations. margaret thatcher had an operation, tony blair had a couple of quite quick heart operations and going back in history people are talking about winston churchill‘s strokes in the early 1950s, but actually his number two was also incapacitated, but back in the 50s you could keep this from the public, so we didn‘t find very much out

about it. i think the really difficult thing now is this a not elective surgery scheduled for a private moment when there is not much else going on. this prime minister has fallen victim to a dreadful disease, which has government is locked in huge combat with trying to manage the country through that. i think it is that crisis, combined with the extent of the prime instead‘s incapacitation and the uncertainty about how long, imean it and the uncertainty about how long, i mean it is not the case is perhaps the example of tony blair, where they knew he would be under anaesthetic for a couple of hours but then we come out the other side. this is something we just don‘t know. we have to rely on those health bulletins from st thomas‘ hospital to find out how well the prime minster is and for how long he might be there. it is also a deeply unsettling time for his colleagues, because they will be friends and supporters of the prime minister and just on if you had that happen to a

colleague of yours, you would be concerned for them especially at a time like this. very good to talk to you. jill rutter, senior fellow at uk in you. jill rutter, senior fellow at ukina you. jill rutter, senior fellow at uk in a changing europe. thank you very much. now, people who volunteered to support the nhs during the outbreak have been helping today. they will be fetching medicines and food and found the isolated. 750,000 people put forward their names within four days of the government calling for help. three times its original target. but it has taken some time for security checks to be carried out. mobile messaging app, whatsapp, has introduced new stricter limits on forwarding in a bid to stop the bed of disinformation about, there is. users will now only be able to forward a message that has already been frequently shed to one chat at a time. earlier i spoke to our technology correspondent.

there has been concerned because facebook which owns whatsapp cannot see what‘s going on and they have decided to make it much more difficult to forward those but what we have also seen this morning, interestingly is youtube which has been under pressure, there an awful lot of material on youtube of people making all sorts of dubious about the virus and in particular its connection to the 5g roll—out, the mobile network roll—out, and the bbc alerted youtube last night to a conspiracy theory video featuring david icke in which he made a number of extraordinary claims. this was a live interview seen by tens of thousands of people. he connected the sg thousands of people. he connected the 5g roll—out to the virus and

make claims that any vaccine would include microchips by which people would end up being controlled. just the kind of fake information that youtube has said it will not allow. it has now increased its limits on what can be put on youtube to include the 5g conspiracy theories and it has removed that video but there is a lot more materialfor youtube to review over the coming days because i‘m seeing a lot of that online. time for a look at the weather. sunshine, albeit hazy in places as cloud thickens. there may be an isolated shower into southwest england and the clouds thickening again with the breeze picking up on the far northwest of scotland train moving in during the evening. with sunshine it is feeling warm and temperatures above average for the

time of year. rain pushes across the western isles into northwest scotland, quite breezy overnight, cloud pushing northwards through parts of england and wales, it might squeeze out a shower towards a southern england in particular. it will be a parts might have a clear night to see the supermen. one or two for patches is wednesday begins, gradually clearing. a cloudy day across much of england and wales, still sunny spells, isolated showers and a thunderstorm possible, southeast england, a lot of clouding in scotland had a cloudy day in northern ireland. we get to see some sunshine and it will be warm again. this is bbc news. the headlines: still in intensive care but not on a

ventilator, downing street says borisjohnson is ventilator, downing street says boris johnson is in ventilator, downing street says borisjohnson is in a stable condition and in good spirits as he was treated for coronavirus. the royal family send their support to the prime minister. the queen, the prince of wales and the duke of cambridge which boris johnson prince of wales and the duke of cambridge which borisjohnson are full and speedy recovery. nhs england say a further 758 people who tested positive for coronavirus have died in hospital. elsewhere in the uk there have been a further 74 deaths in scotland, 19 deaths in wales and three in northern ireland. for the first time since it began publishing daily figures, china has reported no coronavirus deaths which hasn‘t happened since january. the official number of confirmed cases is also very low, 32 compared to 39 yesterday, but the government remains under scrutiny at whether it

has been under reporting the figures. our correspondent sent this report. zero coronavirus deaths in 24 hours. a symbolic turning point in china. many have questioned the veracity of the official figures in a country where the outbreak started. even if the rate of deaths and infections has been underreported, the trend seems to match real—life experience. and that trend would appear to offer hope to other nations. in wuhan, china‘s worst—hit city, there are more people on the streets every day. after months of lockdown, residents are coming out to buy the city‘s traditional noodles. things are looking up. when china stopped for three minutes

over the weekend to honour those who have died from the coronavirus, people were also thankful that the disease hasn‘t been even more deadly here, especially when compared to europe and north america. but maybe it has been worse than we know. officially, more than 3,300 people have died from the virus but we don‘t know how many more there might be. some analysts say that it‘s possible people have actually died from the virus, but been instead recorded as having died from other causes. the return to normality has been gradual here. yet scientists are still warning that the country must guard against a new wave of infections, especially as chinese citizens returned from overseas. translation: overseas returnees, including people coming to beijing for the first time or returning to the city, must all be quarantined.

when wuhan city was locked down injanuary it was a signal to the whole world that a crisis had started. in the coming hours, it will finally be opened again to the outside world. this will be a big moment in china. stephen mcdonnell, bbc news, beijing. back japanese prime minister shinzo abe has described a state of emergency in tokyo, osaka and five other regions in the country —— declared. people are being advised to stay inside and businesses will shut. coronavirus infections in tokyo have doubled in the past week to 1200. it comes after the government announced a massive stimulus package which shinzo abe described as among the world‘s biggest to soften the economic blow, worth around 1 trillion us dollars which is about 20% of japan‘s worth around 1 trillion us dollars which is about 20% ofjapan‘s gdp.

this is exactly what we expected from prime minister shinzo abe who gave a very clear indication yesterday that this is what he was going to do but now we have it. we have the declared state of emergency for tokyo, osaka and five other prefectures, mostly prefectures that surround these two very, very large urban areas. tokyo, if you take tokyo and its surrounding areas, it really is the world‘s largest metropolitan area with a population altogether of around 37 million people. so this state of emergency really does effect a vast number of people. and we understand it will go into effect initially for a month but it will not be the same as the lockdowns that have been declared in the uk or america or some other european countries because the japanese government simply does not have the power to do that. this is an advisory. the japanese government is requesting that businesses close, it‘s requesting that ordinary citizens stay at home as much as possible. but a lot of life will continue to go on. the tokyo transportation network will continue to run, a lot of people will continue to go

to work but it is hoped, because this is a disciplined and law—abiding society, that it will be enough to stem the growth of covid—19 here. because officials here now are extremely worried that tokyo in particular is on the brink of a very serious outbreak and that is because cases here have grown quite rapidly in the last week or so, more than doubled in the last week. and there is a fear that that is the start of something much bigger. it is hoped that this state of emergency will stop that. i have to say, there are a number of medical experts here who have said it has come too late and it should have been done earlier. the hospitals are already straining with the numbers being admitted already. but it is very likely that in the next week or two we are going to see covid—19 cases continuing to grow very rapidly in tokyo and that we may see an outbreak similar to what we have seen in london, in new york

and other cities in europe. a heart surgeon in wales‘s largest hospital has died from coronavirus. jitendra rathod was an associate specialist in cardiothoracic surgery. the health board said he was an incredibly dedicated worker and thanked him for his patients. the first minister paid tribute. he was a very the first minister paid tribute. he was a very highly regarded doctors here. on the front line helping those suffering from coronavirus. coronavirus does not discriminate. it tells us that. it is important we

all do absolutely everything we can to protect one another from its impact. next on bbc news we have a special programme with clive myrie bringing you the latest on the government‘s work to combat the coronavirus including today‘s press conference live from downing street but first it‘s sport. good afternoon. the football association chairman greg clarke has admitted that it may not be possible to finish the football season, despite a willingness from those in the game to do so. clarke was speaking at a meeting of the fa council earlier and also warned that clubs across the country could collapse because of the economic and financial impacts of coronavirus. that comes as the former liverpool playerjohn barnes praised the club for reversing its decision to furlough non—playing staff. liverpool‘s chief executive peter moore — seen here on the right — said they were "truly sorry" for coming to the "wrong conclusion last week", following criticism from fans and former players. they now plan to keep the staff on, and say they‘ll find another way to pay them.

everybody at this time is looking to see what is right for their business. everybody was up in arms about that, and then they changed their mind and recognised it is not the right thing to do, but the good thing is it listened to the fans. they seen what people think, particularly that area in liverpool, which is quite a socialist city, and then they changed their minds. these are difficult times and people are looking after their own businesses and what the right thing to do is. similar issues with players taking cuts and giving money to the nhs, all these issues are issues that people may or may not agree with, but in these unprecedented times, i don‘t think anybody is trying to be greedy, they are just out to do what is right for their own business. the fbi investigation into allegations of corruption in football has put forward a new indictment in the us district court. in a fresh document, prosecutors allege that former executive commitee members at fifa — the world governing body — took bribes in return for voting

for russia and qatar to host the men‘s world cup. it sets out in unprecedented detail how the alleged corruption was conducted, although it doesn‘t state who paid the bribes. fifa says it is "closely following" the us investigations. to date, 42 people have been formally accused, with 26 pleading guilty. the 2016 f1 world champion nico rosberg has praised his former team mercedes — and the sport — for playing their part in the battle against coronavirus. several breathing aids have been developed to keep patients out of intensive care in just one of many efforts to help fight the pandemic. i think it is so spectacular how formula 1 has been able to show in this situation how incredibly skilful they are in their engineering and in their technological development. they are second to none. the speed at which the team at mercedes have developed a breathing aid. and aside from that, several of the uk teams have come together in a project called project pit lane, where they are now also helping to develop ventilators. that is really awesome, that my sport is able to help at such

a difficult time like this to such an extent. the 2021 olympic games may feel like a long way off, but one former team gb gold medallist believes it will carry more importance than ever before because of the coronavirus pandemic. alex danson was part of the hockey squad that won gold in rio in 2016 and she insists the games next summer will be the perfect remedy for everyone involved. these olympics are going to be so special to the athletes. i think the tokyo olympics... i have no doubt because after what will be and is the most horrendous time for the entire world, this will affect everybody, and i hope by 2021, it‘s exactly what the world needs.

(pres)the two—time paralympic gold medallist kadeena cox has admitted on her mental health. cox became the first british paralypian to win golds in multiple sports in 36 years in rio — and has been very open about her struggles with an eating disorder. she believes staying physically active has helped her manage her anxiety. the anxiety around the change put me ina bad the anxiety around the change put me in a bad place and i kind of fell off the wagon a little bit but i found a positive space to be in, found a positive space to be in, found my happy place again, and just get back into training and just enjoy training and even notes further away it means i got more time to be a better version of me so ifido time to be a better version of me so if i do get to the paralympics, i‘m going to be vastly stronger. just now it‘s finding a lot of things in training more, sometimes it‘s super ha rd training more, sometimes it‘s super hard and not fun, isjust training more, sometimes it‘s super hard and not fun, is just about being as good as i can be.

the president of ufc says the sport is set to return later this month — on a private island. dana white says he is "a day or two" away from finding