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 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 venue where fighters who otherwise would not be able to get into the united states can fly to.

this is bbc news, i'm clive myrie, we will be bringing you the downing street news conference in a short while with the latest on the battle against coronavirus but first the top stories. borisjohnson is still in intensive care but not on a ventilator. downing street says the prime minister is in a stable condition and in good spirits during treatment for coronavirus point he remains at st thomas hospital in central london and has been given standard oxidant treatment but does not have pneumonia. the royalfamily sent their support to the prime minister, the queen, the prince of wales and duke of cambridge wish him

a full and speedy recovery. nhs england says a further 758 people who tested positive for coronavirus have now died in hospital. elsewhere, there have been a further 74 elsewhere, there have been a further 7a deaths in scotland, 19 in wales and three in northern ireland. abroad, the japanese prime minister declared a state of emergency in tokyo and six other regions as the country struggles with the pandemic but in china, where the virus outbreak began, there are no deaths reported in the last day for the first time since january. and whatsapp restrict the forwarding m essa 9 es whatsapp restrict the forwarding messages in an effort to slow the spread of coronavirus misinformation.

good afternoon and welcome to this bbc news special programme ahead of the daily downing street news conference with number 10 sake the prime minister, who was in intensive ca re prime minister, who was in intensive care at st thomas has hospital in central london, has been in a stable condition overnight and remains in good spirits ponder the spokesman said mrjohnson is receiving standard oxygen treatment and is breathing without any other assistance. he has not required mechanical ventilation does not have pneumonia. the prime minister was admitted to hospital on sunday night after his symptoms worsened. foreign secretary dominic raab has been asked to deputise for him. this morning michael gove announced he was also psycho foot —— self—isolating is a member of his family displayed symptoms of the virus and in the last hour it has emerged the queen as sent best wishes and saying her thoughts are with his family and she wishes him a full and speedy recovery. our first

report is from 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 of the symptoms, a minor symptom. i still have a temperature, and so... these 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 after his condition worsened during the day and, i'm 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 the 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 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, 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 a chance of doing that. an unprecedented health emergency for the country, an unprecedented situation in government, and an uncertain road ahead. nick eardley, bbc news, westminster. and intensive care unit provides treatment and close monitoring of patients who are too seriously ill to be cared for in other parts of the hospital. with more on help the prime minister may be receiving, here 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. let's get more from our correspondent charlotte gallagher who is out of hospital in central london where the prime minister is being treated. is there any update on the prime minister's condition? borisjohnson remains on the prime minister's condition? boris johnson remains in on the prime minister's condition? borisjohnson remains in intensive ca re borisjohnson remains in intensive care this afternoon. we had an update earlier from downing care this afternoon. we had an update earlierfrom downing street saying he is in a stable condition and in good spirits and receiving oxygen. crucially, he is not on a ventilator. that is the most important thing at this point, he is breathing unaided and does not need mechanical assistance. only the sickest patients are treated in intensive care, however, so the situation is very serious and they are monitored 20 a7. as you can see, idid not are monitored 20 a7. as you can see, i did not look like a normal

hospital, security holdings have gone up around the building —— monitored 2a/7. they are checking people's passes, making sure they come into the hospital when they should or should not be so an unprecedented and dramatic situation here arejust a unprecedented and dramatic situation here are just a few minutes walk from the houses of parliament. obviously very worrying for boris johnson's family and that is the coolest thing about coronavirus, when you are in hospital being treated —— the most cruel thing. you can't be visited by friends and family. the prime minister's partner is pregnant and a self—isolating after showing symptoms. we have heard from a lot of people who know the prime minister and say he is tough and resilient and fit and they are confident he will get through this. nadine dorries, one of his conservative colleagues, has recovered from coronavirus herself and she said she had spoken to him a few days ago and he said he was feeling down and a bit sad he had not bounced back as quickly as he

had expected to do. but a lot of people are offering well wishes recently prince william who tweeted, also the queen and prince charles, nicola sturgeon, a lot of good feeling out there for the prime minister. thank you, charlotte. let's speak to our chief political correspondent vicki young who's in westminster. the reverberations of this are wide—ranging and through government? yes and the spokesman said the prime minister was determined to fight the virus on every level and that includes of course making sure the health service is prepared product there is extra capacity. that testing goes ahead in the way they wa nt testing goes ahead in the way they want it to. of course the economic impact, making sure enough money will save businesses and livelihoods. and there is a plan, thatis livelihoods. and there is a plan, that is what they say, that has been put in place and everybody knows what the pm wants them to do, including cabinet ministers who have

daily briefings, a meeting chaired this morning by dominic raab who is deputising as is necessary. of course, a lot of questions about what that means in terms of decision—making. there is a plan in place which they are following but if big decisions need to be made next week, for example, and the prime minister is still unable to do that, is that something dominic raab can do? a lot of questions about that but there is of course a cabinet government, they get together and can meet and make decisions collectively and the role of the cabinet secretary who is the most senior civil servant will be crucial to make sure this is all pulled together and every department knows what it's doing to. but no doubt it is having a huge impact not just with the chief medical officer who has been in south isolation, the health secretary, to date michael gove having to do the same when a family member experienced symptoms. it is affecting everybody but of course the prime minister is the most serious at the moment and is still in intensive care. and former prime minister theresa may has been

speaking? yes, we heard from david cameron earlier, talking about how government can keep running at times like this and theresa may of course, the predecessor to borisjohnson, has also been speaking. my thoughts and prayers are with boris and his loved ones today, it must be a terribly difficult time for him and those around him. but i wish him well and i want him to have a speedy and good recovery. obviously people are worried about his health but also the functioning of government. is the infrastructure in vital robust enough to deal with something like this? yes, cabinet system of government in this country and in boris's absence, dominic raab is leading that cabinet andl dominic raab is leading that cabinet and i know from everything i have seen and heard, the cabinet which is supported by excellent scientific advice from a first—class civil service, they are absolutely committed to dealing with this crisis. they have been doing the right thing, listening to the scientific advice, putting a good

plan in place. and they are ensuring that that place is being, that plan is being put into action. and i know that it isn'tjust about government, people need to listen to what the government is saying and stay at home and only leave in those very limited set of circumstances that the government has set out. and we must remember that out there today there are excellent nhs staff, and i would like to thank them all, who minute by minute are dealing with those and caring for those and treating those who have covid—19. this is about saving lives. and protecting our nhs. of the cabinet system and that well oiled machine, the starts to fray and you get

disagreements. we know there is mild tension between health secretary matt hancock and rishi sunak about when the lockdown might come to an end and the economy can start to pick up again. that's when you need a figurehead and mrjohnson simply isn't there at the moment for that. that's the thing. michael gove was talking today about a team spirit at the moment, as everyone tries to fight the same enemy. but of course there will be situations where people don't agree with what is the best way forward. as you allude to, this three weeks will be up on monday, three weeks after the prime minister announced to the nation this effective lockdown he said it would be reviewed but the question is, what are the next steps. since we are heading towards what is the peak of the pandemic, certainly in london, it's unlikely a big decision will be made on monday but it's that kind of thing where there are disagreements, you can have all the committees in the world and the cabinet sitting together but they won't always agree and that's the role of the prime minister. downing

street very keen to make it clear the prime minister remains the prime minister even though he is in hospital, that is still his role, but at the moment dominic raab has been given that role of making decisions. vicki young at westminster, thank you. let's speak now to the former international trade secretary, doctor liam fox, who worked as a gp before entering parliament. and you know the prime minister very well, good to see you. thank you for joining us. mere mortals like myself, i suspect we alljust gasped when we heard the prime minister was going to have to go into intensive care. as a former gp, when you heard the news, what went through your mind? i was very disappointed to hear because you hope it will be a short and limiting illness, as it was for example for the health secretary, but if you move into the second week and you continue to have symptoms then you clearly become a

little more concerned. i am very pleased that it seems the prime minister is simply getting oxygen to help and doesn't require any assistance with breathing, that's a good sign and i am very grateful, as we allare, to good sign and i am very grateful, as we all are, to all the medical staff at st thomas' hospital who are helping. i'm not sure there are many places in the world i would rather be ifi places in the world i would rather be if i were in that position. given his condition has deteriorated since he first went into self isolation, the fact he can be monitored co nsta ntly the fact he can be monitored constantly in the fact he can be monitored co nsta ntly in a n the fact he can be monitored constantly in an icu unit is critical for this. people are only moved in to icu if they need that level of monitoring, and they want to ensure his blood gases and blood oxygen to ensure his blood gases and blood oxyg e n level to ensure his blood gases and blood oxygen level is maintained. if you have some impairment of lung function that can be more difficult so function that can be more difficult so they are giving him additional oxygen so they are giving him additional oxyg e n by so they are giving him additional oxygen by mask but he is not requiring any mechanical ventilation

for which we are all extremely grateful and we hope this is the beginning of his full recovery. you have known him for a long time. one suspects he could well have been pretty frustrated at having to go into hospital, given his zest for life and his continuation of work, even while he was in self isolation. 0h, even while he was in self isolation. oh, boris has always been a battler and that's no surprise to anyone. most people in positions of authority will be frustrated they can't carry out what they regard, not just as a can't carry out what they regard, notjust as a role, a job, but as a vocation. he is dedicated to getting britain through this particular crisis. we have cabinet government, the point has been made and one of the point has been made and one of the advantages we have in this country, we don't have a presidential system, so we have the ability for government to continue. you see that for example at a general election, we can change government almost overnight, literally overnight, whereas other countries, like the united states

for example, it takes a long while to make that transition so continuity is one of the strongest suits we as a country have and we have a lot of talent at the top of the government able to carry on their roles at the current time. dominic raab is the first among equals, he has been touted as, he is deputising for the prime minister. he is effectively running a cabinet where everyone needs to agree in orderfor a decision to be made, bearing in mind he doesn't have the political mandate to make big decisions. the prime minister is not elected as a prime minister in this country, remember. the prime minister is first among equals in the cabinet. in all the cabinet meetings i had under different prime ministers, everyone will have their view and then the prime minister, chairing the cabinet, will sum up the view and there is a collective agreement, so that process will

continue, as will the subcommittees that are dealing with the coronavirus crisis in its different elements in health care, the economy, in foreign affairs, the of uk nationals, all those things will continue. our system gives us enormous stability in the united kingdom and we sometimes take that for granted. kingdom and we sometimes take that forgranted. —— kingdom and we sometimes take that for granted. —— the repatriations of uk nationals. we should be grateful for that at a time like this. but if there is a disagreement potentially and boris johnson is there is a disagreement potentially and borisjohnson is still incapacitated, for instance, when to lift the lockdown, for the sake of argument. where does the decision fall and who will that come from in order to separate the two potential factions that might exist within the cabinet? the prime minister is still the prime minister and hopefully he is recovering and will be back. in any case, i have never been in a cabinet that didn't have disagreements and ultimately you resolve those come to a collective agreement. that is what cabinet

government actually is, and that situation constitutionally will continue. i have no doubt whatsoever in dominic raab's ability to chair the cabinet in a very fair and responsible way. is there a sense that there may be issues at the top of the government with michael gove now self isolating, matt hancock has only just now self isolating, matt hancock has onlyjust come back. dominic raab has stepped into a new role and the prime minister is not there. are you confident that the very top of government is still able to function the way it should? yes, i am, and i think there is a danger in trying to find difficulties that don't exist. we have a system of government designed to give us continuity and the government has a big majority in the government has a big majority in the house of commons which gives it added strength and it's very important people abroad can see that the united kingdom is functioning perfectly well, our system is designed to cope with this. we have

the talent and the individual is in place as well as the constitutional arrangements, and while the prime minister is re—gathering his strength, the system of government will continue. there is the sense we have not reached the peak of the pandemic here in the uk. we may well not have. what the prime minister has demonstrated more clearly than may be it would be possible to do in any other way is that this virus will not discriminate between old and young, and will not discriminate between those in power and those not, those who are famous and those not. everyone is at risk from this virus and there has been some view amongst some people and some groups in society that they are not vulnerable. everybody is vulnerable and therefore its all the more important to recognise that we still need to continue with the arrangements and advice the government has given and we must

maintain the social distancing. we have not yet reached the peak and when we do then we will still have to continue until the level of infection comes down substantially, so we have some way to go in this country but i think people in general are behaving remarkably well. we have seen some of the best of our country in recent times, acts of our country in recent times, acts of tremendous personal kindness, and i think of tremendous personal kindness, and ithink in of tremendous personal kindness, and i think in general tremendous restraint and responsibility from the british people. and everybody from health professionals down to volu nta ry from health professionals down to voluntary groups keeping some of the most vulnerable going in our society. it's a great deal for the good that's out there, sometimes it's a good that we understate. there was always going to be a three—week review of the lockdown situation, that comes next week. it's clear nothing will change in that regard. obviously it will depend on the medical advice and the advice of experts when we get to that point next week. that's the point, isn't it, that these have not

been policies plucked out of the air by the government. it is done on the best advice we have and also looking at the international picture, britain is not alone in this. we are looking at the patterns of disease around the world and what looks like the most effective way of dealing with it until we get a vaccine, which is the best way to deal with it, but that's probably still some time away. we will leave it there, good to see you and thank you for joining us, doctor liam fox. mr johnson's friend and former director of your will walden says he is optimistic that he will make a full and speedy recovery and will be running the country again soon.|j imagine on sunday evening he took the decision to go to hospital pretty reluctantly. he is not a good patient in the sense that he often battled through colds and flu and that sort of thing. he is pretty stoic and can be bloody—minded about this sort of thing but i don't think he has been that in this case. the

doctors are in constant contact with him and they advised him it was right to go to hospital. while he is there clearly there is more cause for concern than he was but he is in the best possible hands at st thomas's hospital with the best clinicians are. that was will walden. we saw michael gove in nick ea rdley‘s walden. we saw michael gove in nick eardley‘s report earlier, who has also said he is self isolating after also said he is self isolating after a member of his household began to display virus symptoms. earlier in the day he gave a response to the prime minister being in intensive care. as we speak the prime minister is in intensive care being looked after by his medical team and receiving the best care from the tea m receiving the best care from the team at st thomas's hospital and our hopes and prayers are with him and his family. the prime minister loves this country and wants to do his very best for us. that's one of the reasons why he has made sure he has been involved in the decision—making and has chaired meetings, but he also has a stripped back diary that has reflected the medical advice he has reflected the medical advice he has received. ultimately, ithink

one of the things about this new and uniquely challenging virus is that we must all follow the appropriate medical advice and all of us are discovering that this virus has a malignancy and malevolence that is truly frightening. michael gove. we can show you some pictures of the chief scientific adviser, patrick valla nce chief scientific adviser, patrick vallance and chief medical officer chris whitty, arriving for the press conference at downing street this afternoon, which will be keenly viewed in light of events concerning the prime minister. chris whitty on the prime minister. chris whitty on the left in the black suit. he is just coming back from self isolation himself. we understand he didn't have a coronavirus test but he was showing some symptoms so he decided the best thing to do was go into

self isolation. he is back now. he appeared at downing street's news conference yesterday will stop scotland's first minister nicola sturgeon said she was personally shaken when she heard borisjohnson was taken into intensive care. she sent a message of support. at times like this, things that divide us in normal times just seems so much less important. we are very much reminded of that again today. right now all of that again today. right now all of us arejust of that again today. right now all of us are just human beings united inafight of us are just human beings united in a fight against this virus. as we know, the prime minister as well as leading the uk government's response is currently in hospital fighting his own personal battle against coronavirus. i chaired a meeting of the scottish government cabinet this morning and we recorded our best

wishes to him. and now, and i am sure i do this in behalf of all of scotland, i wish to send every good wish to him, to his fiancee and his whole family. we are all willing you won, boris. get well soon. nicola sturgeon was also questioned about a growing number of deaths in care homes across scotland including eight deaths at castle view care home in dumbarton where residents we re home in dumbarton where residents were showing symptoms of coronavirus and she said work would continue to show the impact on the care sector. the care inspectorate will be notified and do whatever investigation they need to do in the case of deaths in care homes and i think it is appropriate that happens. heart surgeon at wales's largest hospital has died after contracting to advise pandit he was a specialist at the university hospital of wales pulled at the cardiff and vale university health board said he was

amicably dedicated surgeon who cared deeply for his patients. the first minister has also been paying tribute. a very senior and highly regarded doctor here in wales. we have other clinicians who have been on the front line who are suffering from coronavirus and it tells us that this is no respecter of persons or place which is why it is so important we all do absolutely everything we can to protect one another from its impact. some breaking news, and good news hopefully from new york state opened up hopefully from new york state opened up the governor there, andrew cuomo, isa up the governor there, andrew cuomo, is a saying that he believes that coronavirus deaths might be reaching a plateau, the crisis might be reaching a plateau in his state, his area. hopefully, it seems they have managed to start flattening that curve. an increase in infections and the death rate may be about to stop

there in new york. the governor of new york also believes the state is doing well and he wants to thank president trump for his help in all of this. he also says that the us and s cabin! comfort, a naval ship which is docked in new york harbour, it's reaching full capacity in terms of treating patients. are some good news from new york with the governor saying he believes that state is reaching a plateau in the coronavirus crisis. the prime minister went into intensive care here last night, ten days after being diagnosed with covid—i9 but what decisions were made prompting the move and what type of treatment would he receive? we can try to understand a bit more of this now and what treatment intensive care patients get.

joining me now from sheffield is doctor danielle bryden, vice dean of the faculty of intensive care medicine. thank you forjoining us. when you heard that the prime minister was going into intensive care, what went through your mind as to how serious the situation was? i am not able to talk about the prime minister because obviously i don't know any details of his medical condition and they would be private but there are two reasons anybody goes into intensive care. firstly because they need more monitoring than is able to be provided on a board and secondly, they need treatment in a way that is not able to be provided on a ward. what kind of treatment might get involved with the prime minister? anybody that goes into an intensive ca re anybody that goes into an intensive care unit is having treatment and monitoring for whatever problem they have and the impact it has on their organs. what we know about people with the coronavirus is that it is a condition that particularly affects the lungs. people need to have monitoring of the oxygen levels in

their blood and additional treatment with oxygen. that is often the most common reason why with oxygen. that is often the most common reason why people with coronavirus infection would go into intensive care. at the moment it's clear he is getting extra oxygen but not from a ventilator. there are a number of ways of giving oxygen, it can be given via a face mask, by different kinds of hood or mask systems and also by a ventilator. people tend to assume that an intensive care unit is aboutjust a ventilator but it's far more than that and often people will go to the icu because there are expert and specialised staff who are able to monitor and treat somebody in a close and rapid responsive environment. it is far more than just a ventilator. indeed, but it is that monitoring of oxygen levels in his blood that is critical and has to be done pretty much every minute?

there are different ways of monitoring the oxygen levels. some of the monitoring is absolutely co nsta nt of the monitoring is absolutely constant and almost a second by second constant monitoring. other kinds give far more detailed analysis of oxygen and carbon dioxide levels in the blood and blood chemistry, they can be done very regularly as well. what information you are trying to get determines how often you would do a particular test or investigation. but it is impossible at this stage to predict how long he might be in the icu? anybody that goes into an intensive care unit, how long they spend their will be determined by what support and monitoring they need their. at the average length of stay in the uk is five days but that is for all conditions and reasons and all ages. is perfectly feasible if someone has gone to an intensive ca re if someone has gone to an intensive care unit for monitoring purposes only, and if they are responding

appropriately to treatment, for them to spend 2a or a8 hours there and some people will spend longer. it is a very variable pattern in terms of how long somebody would spend. we will leave it there, thank you very much forjoining us. some breaking news again, this is the daily total concerning the number of patients who have died in hospital after testing positive for coronavirus. today the figure for the uk from 5pm yesterday up until now, according to the department of health, is up 786 from 5373 the day before, so the total now is 6159 patients who have died in hospital after testing positive for coronavirus in the uk as of 5pm yesterday afternoon. those are the latest numbers but that of

course does not include figures for those who have died in the community or in care homes. this simply refers to those who have passed in hospital. members of the public who volunteered to support the nhs during the pandemic had begun reporting for duty. they will be helping those most in need by delivering food and medicines or driving them to appointments. the 750,000 volunteers joined driving them to appointments. the 750 , 000 volunteers joined countless others already doing what they could to support their communities. our corresponded unit what sent this report from hartlepool where one woman has been keeping a local baby bank running. another busy day for emilie de bruijn. dozens of mums have called her and need her help. inside this container are things they can't find or struggle to afford. hundreds of nappies, toys, clothes, all donated to the baby bank that emily set up. it works like a food bank and, in this town, some parents

can't manage without it. at the moment i have had to ask all my volunteers to stay home because of health reasons, or because they have young children, so there's just me, trying to make as many families across hartlepool as i can. hi, how's it going? busy. yeah, good. you know! first stop is charlie's house. she has an underlying medical condition and is self—isolating. she's looking after her baby son but her daughter is having to live elsewhere. it's heartbreaking. ijust want to be able to hug her, to kiss her. sorry. it's breaking... breaking my heart. if it wasn't for people like emilie, then jesse would have to go without, 'cause i wouldn't have another way to have access to that. we've lost our safe space because we can't use our buildings. we've lost our community feel.

now we're just trying to reach as many isolated and lonely families as we can, and just do what we can. i suffer with anxiety and depression, so being in big supermarkets isn't my kind of thing. and i think there is that fear there now that there is a virus going about, and you have got a child, that you don't want to leave your door and go to the shops, so the baby bank have been brilliant and given me the things that i can't go out and get myself. the demand has just been incredible. my son is asthmatic and obviously we are concerned about him and my husband and i took a really long, hard look at it and said, should i still do this? and we decided i had to, because no—one else is doing it. other provisions aren't in place for families, they are not in place for tiny babies. it's people looking at elderly but they are not looking at pregnant women, they are not looking at how scary it is to be 30 weeks pregnant and told to confine yourself for 12 weeks when you haven't finished your shopping. how positive are you about the future? we see a problem and we find our own

solution because we are used to being forgotten by the government and we are used to being left on our own. we are not part of any other authority, so we are used to grafting and coming up with our own solutions. so that's why we will, because we always have and we always will. fiona trott, bbc news, hartlepool. the foreign secretary, dominic raab, has chaired a meeting of senior ministers now that he's deputising for the prime minister and will shortly chair the downing street news conference. he said earlier mrjohnson was in "very good hands". the former cabinet secretary, lord o'donnell said it was important all strands of government worked together in the absence of the prime minister. borisjohnson remains prime minister until he resigns. he is the prime minister, dominic raab is deputising for him, where necessary. as number ten said. and he will chair various meetings but i'm sure the cabinet as a whole, you know, there are various strands, this isn't a one—man show.

there are lots of them who will pull together, working with the cabinet secretary and the civil service to make sure that the essential things are done, there's a lot to be done. you know, people say decisions on exiting the lockdown are some way off, yes, they are but you have to do the analysis now, you haveto be working on what kind of things are we looking for, what kinds of things would work, so there's an enormous amount going on at the minute. and that work needs to carry on. with the prime minister in intensive care, where does this leave the government, and how is it likely to function? let's discuss this with professor robert hazel from the constitution unit at university college london. thank you forjoining us on bbc news. there is a clearframework here that has kicked into gear since the prime minister went into intensive care and it is functioning fine. indeed, and i don't think anybody should be surprised at that point of the cabinet office always

had contingency plans for the prime minister being temporarily absent, sometimes simply when he is a broad, sometimes simply when he is a broad, sometimes if he were to fall ill as has happened now, and those plans have been put into action and it's very clear that dominic raab is heading the government as the acting prime minister. it is clear that in this country we have a system of cabinet responsibility and decisions are shared equally amongst the members. if there is a dispute, if there is an issue that cannot be resolved and there is a split within the cabinet, who will take that final decision if the prime minister himself is not there? i think that is when dominic raab, as acting prime minister, would take the final decision. it's not uncommon for cabinets to disagree because they

have to discuss and decide often really difficult questions. and the most important question at the moment being the sacrifices being made by the economy and all the people who have lost theirjobs in the greater interest of public health. when they come to have those difficult discussions, and have to come to a decision, i would expect dominic raab, as the acting prime minister, to sum up the discussion in the way the prime minister would and tell his colleagues the decision they have come to. and generally the prime minister or acting prime minister would reflect the majority view in the cabinet but not always. famously, margaret thatcher when prime minister, when summing up, would clearly sum up against the wishes of a majority of her collea g u es wishes of a majority of her colleagues but she was the ultimate decision maker and because she was the prime minister, they accepted her authority to do that. and i

would expect the cabinet to do the same with dominic raab so long as he is acting prime minister. so dominic raab clearly does have the authority to side with a minority within the cabinet on any particular decision if necessary? if necessary, yes. clearly, he would feel his weight much more carefully than boris johnson might as prime minister —— feel his way. becausejohnson won a whopping election victory only a few months ago and had all the political authority of the party leader who led his party to victory. i think dominic raab would need to tread more carefully with his cabinet collea g u es more carefully with his cabinet colleagues but ultimately, they would respect his position and authority to sum up their discussions and make those decisions on their behalf. or right, we will leave at that, professor robert hazel, thank you forjoining us.

let's get more reaction to the fact that the prime minister is in intensive care. let's get more reaction now from the conservative peer baroness morgan, who served in boris johnson's cabinet as culture secretary until earlier this year. she join us from loughborough. give us your thoughts on the prime minister being transferred to intensive care. i think it is obviously deeply unexpected news and very worrying. what was interesting was the number of people and friends who are not particularly political who are not particularly political who contacted me and many others to express their concern. i think people respected the leadership he was showing at this time it's not what you want to come for anybody in a leadership position but on a personal level, extremely worrying for his fiancee and friends and family but also a reassurance is in the best place, getting excellent medical care and hopefully it'll

give him the to recover and be treated and recover properly and get back on his feet as quickly as possible. absolutely in the best place. he can be monitored 2a hours a day. which is critical. he is not ona a day. which is critical. he is not on a ventilator at the moment, he is getting oxygen through a mask apparently. given that, he is clearly conscious, how do you think is bearing up from what you know?m will not have been what he wanted to do in the sense that the boris johnson i worked within cabinet is someone who leads from the front, he has a clear view of what he wants to do and he will have a clear view on how he wanted to handle this crisis and the things that needed doing, but he will have followed medical advice. i think the report that was given at lunchtime, he is stable and in good spirits. he has a great sense of humour and i am sure he will be finding... if you can find

any humour in a situation, he will be making sure he will try to put the people around him at their ease as much as they possibly can be. but i think it's right as well, he obviously needs this time to step back from day to day decision making and focus on his health and i think that's what we all want for anyone in this situation. we are all talking about one particular patient today but we know there are hundreds, thousands of patients up and down the country being expertly looked after by our nhs. of course there are grieving families as well. i think we need to remember all of that. i think he has everybody‘s prayers and thoughts and best wishes for that speedy recovery. we have three weeks since the lockdown, that comes to an end next week, or at least that three week period after which there will be a discussion as to whether or not that lockdown should come to an end. it is clear

it will have to go on for a wee while. i am obviously not in cabinet soi while. i am obviously not in cabinet so i don't receive those detailed reports. ministers who are will be discussing that and taking the best possible medical and scientific advice in making those decisions but i think looking at other countries who are slightly ahead of us in all this, it seems inconceivable that the lockdown will be eased at this point. i know that we are all wondering what will happen and when it will end, but i think what has happened to the prime minister is a message for all of us. anyone can get this virus and anyone can spread it. for those of us who are not working on the front line, in health or care or public services, the best thing we can all do is absolutely to stay at home and give the nhs and ca re stay at home and give the nhs and care services the best possible chance to be able to pull as many people as possible through this. nicky morgan, thank you forjoining

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". 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 over whether it's been underreporting the figures. our corrrespondent stephen mcdonell sent this report. zero coronavirus deaths in 2a hours. a symbolic turning point in china. many have questioned the veracity of the official figures in the country where the outbreak started. but 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 because 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 return 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. i'm joined now from west london by the broadcaster and journalist

michael cockerell, who has made a number of behind the scene documentary films about british politics, including one about boris johnson. thanks for being with us. we know he isa thanks for being with us. we know he is a larger than life figure and we know he has a zest for life as well. we also know that while he is clearly in a serious state, he is not getting air through a ventilator, he is getting it through a mask. he is conscious, and he knows what's going on around him. how do you sum up how he is probably feeling at this moment about the fa ct feeling at this moment about the fact he is simply not as mobile and able to perform the duties that he so much feels he needs to do? absolutely. if you think about it, here is a guy who when he was five yea rs old here is a guy who when he was five years old was asked what would you like to be when you grow up. and he said world king. no hesitation, he thought this was a position that existed and at the age of five he

was absolutely qualified to fill it. five years later, at the age of ten, he decided to lower his sights and set his sights on becoming the prime minister of the united kingdom. and he dedicated himself to that. and all the hard work he put in, the scheming and plotting and many, many political skills he has, especially the skills of being able to communicate to ordinary people when he is out in the street, as they say, good on you, boris, and you have people booing as well, but people liked him and his performances on have i got news for you and so on. he retains that lova ble you and so on. he retains that lovable rogue status and then became prime minister. and then as prime minister, i saw him when he was first made prime minister and he was like a kid with a new toy, he was

relishing everything, the buttons he could press. and then suddenly to have this appalling disease spring up, and he was the guy who was going to be in charge of our response to it. his life is an extraordinary roller—coaster and suddenly he gets struck by the virus himself, and he has now, with all the problems that are facing the country in dealing with the virus and dealing with our economy, health and wealth, and he is stuck in an intensive care bed. this is a guy who normally never stops. he is the most competitive quy' stops. he is the most competitive guy i have ever met. i have played tennis against him. playing tennis against him is an extraordinary thing. he came up with a warped wooden racket that looked as if it had been behind the radiator since fred perry was a boy. the good thing

for him with playing with a warped racket, you couldn't tell quite which direction the ball would go in onceit which direction the ball would go in once it hit his racket. it was extraordinary. he would play a shot well out of his reach and he would jump up well out of his reach and he would jump up like a gorilla and say, this is mine! very competitive and from a very competitive family, so to be laid low in intensive care, it must be really awful for him. it must be really awful. the fact is he is fighting as well, that's clear, he wa nts to fighting as well, that's clear, he wants to beat this thing, no question about that. he lived about four or five streets up from me when he lived in north london, and you would see him jogging and cycling. he looks as if he is out of shape but actually he is very fit. you talk about him playing tennis as well. he's the kind of man who does have a lot of energy and a lot of juice, as it were. tremendous amount

of energy. it's quite difficult for him to sit still. the pictures we would always see of him as mayor of london on his bike, he liked to keep himself fit. he is an odd mixture because he looks like, you know, a front row rugby forward, which indeed he was at eton, and he broke his know is four times playing by. —— his know is four times playing rugby. —— broke his know is. a very aggressive sportsman, and he was worried as prime minister he wouldn't get the exercise he had before and cut back on the jogging and was not allowed to cycle any more. “— and was not allowed to cycle any more. —— broke his nose. he has a gymnasium area in his flat in number 11. he is only five foot nine, but he has weighed 16 stone, there is a

lot of solid flesh there. when we we re lot of solid flesh there. when we were last in contact with him?|j haven't were last in contact with him?” haven't seen him since his illness, but i saw him at an event which was the book launch for the last volume of margaret thatcher, the book by charles moore on margaret thatcher. i talked to him then. given the fact that, as you say, he has always wa nted that, as you say, he has always wanted to be world king, he has got to the top of british politics, he is the prime minister, and everyone is the prime minister, and everyone is hoping he will get through this, this kind of national crisis, while no one as a leader would want to have to deal with this, because of the ramifications and so on, it is the ramifications and so on, it is the kind of crisis that he certainly feels he was destined to deal with.

i think that's right. it's quite interesting because he wrote this biography of churchill, winston churchill, who is his hero, really, and ina churchill, who is his hero, really, and in a way when you read that biography, winston churchill, who was the journalist who became a politician, it was almost as if he saw it as winston churchill having modelled his life and borisjohnson rather than the other way round. but he certainly relished the thought of taking decisions, as churchill did, and having a real challenge. thejob of prime minister is always challenging but this is much more than he thought it would ever be. and because he said in an interview in 2016 that churchill was the man

who, in19a0, in 2016 that churchill was the man who, in 19a0, decided we would fight on and win the war despite all the problems that there were in 19a0, and he said, you couldn't imagine that within a year there were 300,000 deaths, and you couldn't imagine... sorry, within a year there were 30,000 deaths of british men, women and children, and you couldn't imagine a modern politician taking a decision like that to fight on, so certainly he is having to ta ke on, so certainly he is having to take these life and death decisions. idid ask take these life and death decisions. i did ask him before he became prime minister whether he had any doubts about his ability to fulfil the role of prime minister. and he said... i think there'd be something seriously awry if you didn't have doubts. we

all have doubts, but i think i've done a good job as mayor of london and if the ball were to come loose out of the back of the scrum it would be great to have a go at it. we will leave it there. the grieving family of a london bus driver who died after contracting coronavirus had made an emotional appealfor workers on coronavirus had made an emotional appeal for workers on public transport to be given access to proper protective equipment. he was one of at least ten transport workers who have died with covid—19 so far in the capital. our transport correspondent tom edwards has been speaking exclusively to his family. is him with his son. max wasjust 36. he passed away at the weekend. his family is bereft. a bus driver in london for seven years. he was an

absolute charming, charming boy, man, who loved his family, who lived for his son. max had been hospitalised with covid—19 but seemed to recover and was discharged. he was at home when his condition deteriorated suddenly.” went and knelt in front of him, held his face with my hands and i said, look at me, talk to me. and he said to me... " mum, i'm not going to make it, i'm not going to make it." the doctor came in and asked me to sit down. i said, no, the doctor came in and asked me to sit down. isaid, no, we're the doctor came in and asked me to sit down. i said, no, we're not going to sit down. tell me what's going to sit down. tell me what's going on. and he said...

toxic who worked at the hollow eyed bus depot and another driver there has also died. tfl said it making improvement to safety and working with operators and unions but the family say bus drivers need more protection. it's extremely tough, knowing that his life was put at risk. not just knowing that his life was put at risk. notjust his life, all of the bus drivers in london and all of the bus drivers in london and all of the bus drivers in the country, their lives are at risk because of this, without having adequate protection. this family says it's not determined to fight for more protective

equipment for drivers in memory of their son. as we have been reporting, the prime minister is now being treated in the intensive care unit at st thomas' hospital in london. icus are specialist wards set up to provide treatment and close monitoring for patients who are too seriously ill to be cared for in other parts of the hospital. they have fewer patients and more staffing to provide one—on—one care when its needed and they are kitted out with sophisticated monitoring equipment. ria lakhani is a sales executive from harrow who hasjust returned home after a stint in hospital with coronavirus. shejoins me now after her over a week on a covid—19 ward. thank you forjoining us. you are looking well and you have managed to get over this. what were the first symptoms you were feeling?” get over this. what were the first symptoms you were feeling? i had a

scheduled operation for an existing condition called achalasia i had the operation on thursday the 26th of march. i was absolutely fine before surgery, had no symptoms. it was the day after when i was struggling to breathe and the nurses realised my saturation levels were not high enough. at first we just thought it was part of major surgery and i had some respiratory physiotherapist help me with my breathing but i wasn't making a lot of progress. so a covid—19 test was given to me. i had been isolating for weeks so i really didn't think i had it but 2a hours later at the news came it was confirmed. might temperature started increasing and rethink started getting harder and harder and increasing and rethink started getting harderand harderand i increasing and rethink started getting harder and harder and i was transferred to uclh hospital ——

breathing. that was the hardest part, it got harder and harder to breathe, it was like climbing a mountain but not being able to take a break, feeling like i was at a high altitude. it was exhausting and of course with the operation i had as well, i was in a lot of pain. it was just really worrying time. as well, i was in a lot of pain. it wasjust really worrying time. the fa ct wasjust really worrying time. the fact was, as you now know, you are not getting enough oxygen into your bloodstream and not getting enough oxygen bloodstream and not getting enough oxyg e n into bloodstream and not getting enough oxygen into your body in general so you had to go to the icu? that's right. i was transferred to uclh where i was taken to the emergency ward which is where i spent most of the day. i was then transferred to the day. i was then transferred to the acute medical unit. it was later that night that the doctors told me i needed to be transferred to icu but obviously it is a very busy time in the hospital at the moment and i

think there were some delays in getting removed. i stayed think there were some delays in getting removed. istayed in think there were some delays in getting removed. i stayed in the acute medical unit and did not move into the icu ward as such but my bed was treated and i was treated as an icu patient. and what was the kind of treatment you were receiving?m was co nsta nt of treatment you were receiving?m was constant monitoring. the doctors and nurses couldn't do enough, they set up their workstations at the foot of my bed, there was someone with me at all times. my breathing levels and saturation levels, my pulse and blood pressure was being monitored more than hourly, i think at one point it was every 20 minutes or so. but there was a large monitor behind me which constantly read my oxygen levels as there was a long stint where my oxygen levels just we re stint where my oxygen levels just were not improving and i was on the maximum oxygen available before going forfurther maximum oxygen available before

going for further treatment. you have now been discharged. is there some suggestion that potentially you would have preferred to stay in a bit longer? i think the hospitals are bit longer? i think the hospitals a re really bit longer? i think the hospitals are really busy right now and that bed that i gave up has gone to someone who needed it more and i'm confident the doctors would not have sent me home unless they were certain i was out of danger. i am sure if it was a normal time for the hospitals i would have stayed longer. i think even the doctors we re longer. i think even the doctors were surprised at how quickly i managed to get home. but ijust really grateful for everything they did. it is hard being at home, night times are especially difficult and i continue to self—isolate as well. i just hope that this road to recovery, it's a long one but it's going well so far. thank god for that. and the fact is you still have

no idea how you may have got it? no, i felt isolated because no idea how you may have got it? no, ifelt isolated because i knew i no idea how you may have got it? no, i felt isolated because i knew i was having an operation and i didn't wa nt to having an operation and i didn't want to put myself or anyone at risk —— i cells isolated. there was only one occasion when i left my house and that was to collect a sick note from my gp who were unable to post it to me because of my surgery because i needed to have up to date sick note for myjob. that the only i left the house and my husband has not left the house, my family are nearby and are supported, leaving food outside the house every day it is crazy how it happened. you have recovered and that is the main thing. ria lakhani, thank you for joining us. injapan, a state of emergency has been declared in several regions including the capital tokyo and the city of osaka. people are being ordered to stay inside and businesses have been told close. coronavirus infections in tokyo have more than doubled

in the past week to about 1,200. the government has also announced a massive stimulus package worth one trillion us dollars, about 20% of japan's gross domestic output, to help the economy through the shutdown. here's our tokyo correspondent rupert wingfield—hayes. 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. rupert wingfield—hayes there. we can talk now to our chief political responded as we wait for the downing street briefing. vicki young is at once minster —— is at westminster but we understand it will be chris whitty and sir patrick vallance with dominic raab? that's right, dominic

raab, the foreign secretary and the person who is deputising for the prime minister while he is in hospital, he will share the press conference and has done previous ones as well. —— he will chair the press co nfe re nce . ones as well. —— he will chair the press conference. a difficult time for him, we would expect some kind ofan for him, we would expect some kind of an update on the condition of the prime minister if there is one to give. downing street have said they wa nt to give. downing street have said they want to be transparent about this. of course it is a fine judgment between the personal details of somebody‘s medical condition but of course when that person is the prime minister, there is a national interest in that. i think they do wa nt to interest in that. i think they do want to be transparent but will only tell us things when there is something to safe. we don't know an awful lot more than we did last night apart from the fact that the prime minister was stable and although he has needed some oxygen, he has not needed a ventilator but he has not needed a ventilator but he does of course remain in intensive care. these press conferences i've followed a pattern with a short opening statement by

dominic raab or whoever is chairing it and then questions to all of them. i think there will be many questions about the prime minister but also about dominic raab and his position. what power he really has at this moment. the prime minister remains at the prime minister, that's how it works under our unwritten constitution and of course there is a cabinet style of government so the cabinet can get together and make collective decisions and the message very much from downing street is they are determined to carry on in their fight against coronavirus on all levels, whether that is helping people in terms of the economic packages announced previously. and talking about the nhs and its capacity, which i think they feel has been a great success. even though so many hospitals are under an enormous amount of pressure, they have managed to up capacity particular when it comes to critical ca re particular when it comes to critical care beds and that has been crucial. of course, keeping staff on the front line who themselves are

falling ill, others who are in self—isolation, i think more questions about testing and longer term, the exit strategy, as they call it. how do we get out of this given a vaccine is not likely in the coming months? what do they do about that? it will be three weeks on monday since the prime minister announced to the nation there would be this effective lockdown. he said it would be reviewed but what happens in terms of that decision? we all know that ministers know the job they have to do and what they are having to carry out but they will at some point need to be an important decision made about the next steps. chief medical officer chris whitty has come out of self—isolation himself. one suspects that, as was the case towards the end of last week, he will be feeling a lot of those questions that fielding. concerning the health of the prime minister? he will but he made it clear he is not the prime minister's personal doctor and, as

of sunday evening, the prime minister has come under the care of the doctors at st thomas' hospital just across the river in westminster. they are the ones in charge of what happens to the prime minister and they will make the decisions. in terms of how much of thatis decisions. in terms of how much of that is related to the public, that of course is a decision for others about how much they say. as we know from yesterday, at this point during the press conference we were told the press conference we were told the prime minister was working from his bed, had sent his ministerial papers and was in good spirits and within two hours we were told he was taken to intensive care. they did make it clear at that point it was a precaution in case he needed ventilation so much more invasive help with his breathing and that has not been the case according to the official spokesman as of noon today. that has not happened so we will hear from that has not happened so we will hearfrom dominic that has not happened so we will hear from dominic raab that has not happened so we will hearfrom dominic raab to that has not happened so we will hear from dominic raab to see if there is any further update on all of that. but i'm sure he will want to be reassuring to people watching

that government does continue to function and i think interesting today that we've heard from not good afternoon and welcome to today's downing street press conference. i'm joined today's downing street press conference. i'mjoined by today's downing street press conference. i'm joined by chief scientific adviser patrick vallance and chief medical officer professor chris whitty. before we get onto the detail, can i first give an update on the condition of the prime minister. i know a lot of people will be concerned about that. he is receiving the very best care from the excellent medical team at st thomas's hospital. he remained sta ble thomas's hospital. he remained stable over night and is receiving standard oxygen treatment and breathing without any assistance. he has not required any mechanical respiration or noninvasive support. he remains in good spirits and in keeping with the usual clinical practice his progress continues to

be monitored closely in critical ca re be monitored closely in critical care and we will give further updates on his condition when there are any material developments. i know there has been a groundswell of m essa 9 es know there has been a groundswell of m essa g es of know there has been a groundswell of messages of support from people here at home, from leaders across the world, and i know everyone will want tojoin with me in world, and i know everyone will want to join with me in wishing world, and i know everyone will want tojoin with me in wishing the prime minister a very swift recovery. as you know, the prime minister asked me to deputise for him whilst he recovers and in line with the prime minister's instructions, this morning i chaired the meeting of senior ministers tackling coronavirus and this afternoon i chaired an update for members of the cabinet. it's probably worth remembering that, as will be the case for many people up and down the country who know someone at work who has fallen ill with the coronavirus, it comes as a shock for all of us. he is notjust the prime minister. he is notjust the prime minister. he is notjust the prime minister. he is notjust our boss in cabinet. he is notjust our boss in cabinet. he is notjust our boss in cabinet. he is also a colleague and he is

also ourfriend. all of he is also a colleague and he is also our friend. all of our thoughts and prayers are with the prime minister at this time, with carrie symons and with his whole family. i am confident he will pull through. if there is one thing i know about this prime minister, he is a fighter and he will be back at the helm leading us through this crisis in short order. and for us in cabinet, we know exactly what he wants from us and what he expects from us right now. following the cabinet discussion today i can reassure the prime minister and we can reassure the public that his team will not blink, we will not flinch from the task at hand at this crucial moment. we will keep all of our focus and resolve with calm determination on delivering the government's plan to defeat the coronavirus. it is with that objective and that unity of purpose that the cabinet turned to business today. we have reports from

four ministerial groups on the actions we are taking across all the strategic priority areas including nhs capacity, procurement of ventilators and personal protective equipment, the delivery of public services including social care, on the economy and our support for both businesses and workers and on the international action we are taking to reinforce our efforts on the home front. as we have explained before, our action plan aims to slow the spread of the virus so fewer people need hospital treatment at any one time and that will help us protect the nhs's ability to cope. we have been following the scientific advice, the medical advice, and we have been very deliberate in the actions we have taken so we take the right steps at the right moment in time. we are increasing our nhs capacity by dramatically expanding the number of beds, key staff, life—saving equipment on the front line, so people have the care they

need when they need it most. as we have consistently said, we are instructing people to stay at home so we can protect the nhs and so we can save lives. today i can report that through the government's ongoing monitoring and testing programme, as of today, 213,181 people have been tested for the coronavirus. 55,2a2 people have tested positive. the number of people admitted to hospital with coronavirus symptoms now stands at 18,589. of those who have contracted the virus, 6159 have, i'm very sorry to say, died. every death in this pandemic is a tragedy and our thoughts and prayers are with their loved ones at this incredibly difficult time. i think these figures reinforce that the single most important thing we can all of us do right now in this national

effort to defeat the coronavirus is to keep on following the government's advice which is to stay home, protect the nhs and save lives. i will now turn to sir patrick who will talk us through some of the data. thank you, can we have the first slide? it is worth remembering this is a brand—new illness. it transmits relatively easily and in some people it is severe. it is therefore important we break the transmission in society and we do not allow this virus to go from household to household. that is what social distancing measures are about, trying to slow the rate of transmission. in order to know whether those measures are working we track a number of things and here you can see we track a number of things and here you can see the transport use change, which we have shown before, indicating very substantial reductions in the use of london underground, the buses, national railand underground, the buses, national rail and use of all motor vehicles.

this and other measures show that the contact between people has reduced dramatically as a result of the social distancing measures that have been put in place. that in turn should lead to a substantial reduction in the transmission of the virus in the community. if we can have the next slide. this then moves through into the fewer new cases appearing, that's the aim, to try to reduce the number of new cases. this shows the number of new cases from 16th march through to the 7th of april. what you can see is there is not a big upswing of growth we talked about at the beginning. there isa fairly talked about at the beginning. there is a fairly steady increase in numbers. it is possible we are beginning to see the beginning of change in terms of the curve flattening a little bit. we will not know that for sure for another week or so. know that for sure for another week or so. but we are not seeing an acceleration. it's important we keep these new cases down because this in

turn leads to the number of people going into hospital and the aim all along is to reduce the number of cases below the capacity for the nhs and to save lives. next slide. this graph shows the number of hospital admissions in london at the top and then in other areas. you can see again there has been a steady increase since16th march up to the 7th of april but there has not been the accelerated ta ke—off. 7th of april but there has not been the accelerated take—off. again, it is possible we are beginning to see the start of a change where we might see the start of a change where we might see numbers flattening off. we can't be sure about that and we won't be sure for another week or so, but it suggests things might be moving in the right direction in terms of numbers and it is important we carry on with the measures we have in place in order to make sure this does go in the right direction. the

important thing beyond these numbers is what happens in intensive care units, and we keep intensive care units, and we keep intensive care unit numbers down as well. that's another thing that might be moving in the right direction but i do want to say a big thank you to everyone in the nhs, front line staff who are working so hard to make this happen. one other point, as well as looking at numbers, clinical trials are starting to try to look at treatments that might make a difference. as of this afternoon there are over 1900 patients in clinical trials across 100 hospitals. that's an important part of how we will tackle this. the icu beds are important. this next slide shows the number of icu beds has been increasing, this is a graph over time from 21st march up to the 6th of april showing an increase in icu beds, and that is most marked in

london, which has had the biggest outbreak so far, but it will the re st of outbreak so far, but it will the rest of the country and the new nightingale hospitals in london, birmingham, manchester, bristol, harrogate, and further increases in capacity what the nhs is planning four to cope with the numbers we are talking about. finally, we have talked about the beginning and the fa ct we talked about the beginning and the fact we need to see that coming through into admissions to hospitals and to icu, and then it takes a few weeks for that to feed through, unfortunately for some people into death. to show the death figures, these are the graphs showing the numberof these are the graphs showing the number of deaths across different countries and you can see despite a little uptick in numbers today, and the numbers bounce around, the uk is on track, we are a couple of weeks behind france and a few weeks behind italy in terms of numbers but you can see italy in terms of numbers but you can see broadly things across europe are moving in the same direction and we expect the numbers of deaths to

be lagging behind the icu cases by a couple of weeks. these should start to come down in two or three weeks' time. thank you, patrick. i'm happy to ta ke time. thank you, patrick. i'm happy to take some questions from the media. laura kuenssberg, bbc. thank you, foreign secretary. with the prime minister absent at this vital time, if there is a genuine disagreement in the cabinet, who actually makes the decision and if i can ask the chief scientific adviser, you have shown there has been an increase in capacity in the numberof been an increase in capacity in the number of intensive care unit beds available around the country, but on the current numbers, will there be enough beds as this grows? decision by government is taken by collective cabinet responsibility and that is the same as before but we have clear and direct instructions from the prime minister. we focus with total unity and resolve on implementing them so that when he is back, i hope in short order, we will have made the

progress he would expect in the country would expect. in terms of that i see you beds, and chris whitty has been clear about this as well, there are always times every winter when icu beds top out in hospitals and that may happen and i can't guarantee it won't, but we can say that the numbers as we look at them now, look as though we should come in about right. there shouldn't be an overall increase above the numberof be an overall increase above the number of beds available. i think the nhs has done an amazing job in increasing the capacity of icu so things are tracking in the right direction but i can't say more than that. i don't know if chris whitty wants to add anything. laura, anything else? foreign secretary, the cabinet always in theory runs on collective responsibility but there are always times when in the end one person has to make a decision under normal circumstances the prime minister is ultimate decision—maker.

in these circumstances, are you that person and what happens if there is no agreement? as i say, we have collective cabinet responsibility but the arrangements are clear with the prime minister asking me to deputise for him and discharging responsible it for as long as he is unable to do that. we have in the discharge of those responsibilities, and frankly the direct instructions he has given, we have clear plans so we are all focused with a unity of purpose and clear, calm determination to get that done, from the procurement of ppe, getting it to the front line, supporting businesses and all the work in the department for industry, and reinforcing that in the home department as well. robert preston, itv. foreign secretary, you say you have very clear instructions from the prime minister as to what to do, but if there needed to be a significant change of direction, do you have the authority to make that change of direction or would you

wait for the minister's return? and ifi wait for the minister's return? and if i could ask sir patrick and mr chris whitty, your own chart today does show that the rate of growth and the numberof does show that the rate of growth and the number of deaths in germany is much slower than the other european countries, including the uk, that you cite. what is there that we can learn from germany? on your question to me, i have been tasked, when i was appointed i was given a clear steer from the tasked, when i was appointed i was given a clear steerfrom the prime minister and as we have gone through this crisis i have had clear instructions in terms of dealing with coronavirus and he has asked me to deputise for him for as long as is necessary but the normal cabinet collective responsibility and principles that inform that will apply. patrick. we look at all other countries and try to understand what differences there are in terms of responses. we looked right across

the world, and are in regular contact with chief scientific advisers and chief medical officers in other countries to try to understand different approaches taken and different effects. you are right that the german curve looks lower at the moment and that is important. i don't have a clear answer to you for the reason for that. there are two main things we can look at in terms of any response to any outbreak. one is the virus itself and the other is the society into which that virus comes. there are things to do with demographics, and the way systems are organised, and the way systems are organised, and there may be differences in the way certain responses have been taken and we don't know but we are in regular contact with other countries. i don't know if chris wants to add anything. one thing to add to that is germany got ahead in terms of its ability to do testing for the virus. there is a lot to learn from that and we have been trying to learn lessons from that. any follow—up, robert?

you didn't quite say that if you had to make a change of direction and we re to make a change of direction and were not able to communicate with the prime minister, would you have the prime minister, would you have the confidence in doing that?” the prime minister, would you have the confidence in doing that? i have total confidence in the arrangements of the prime minister is put in place so i can discharge responsibility for him, deputising for him when he's out of action and obviously we hope that is for a very limited period of time. marc austin from sky. thank you, foreign secretary. first and foremost, everybody on this programme at the end at sky news since their best to the prime minister and we wish him a speedy recovery. the prime minister is in intensive care, the health secretary caught the virus, the chief medical officer caught it and we are pleased to see him back but three key people responsible for telling the country how not to get it got it. with respect, and i mean that, how did it come to this and how was that allowed to happen?

because you have a virus which is totally indiscriminate. we follow, all of us, the guidance as carefully as possible but it is a very dangerous virus, it's very contagious and itjust goes to show that no one is impervious to it and we all need to follow the guidance. did you want to come back? and chris? does he have an answer? the a nswer chris? does he have an answer? the answer is exactly the same, really. we all know that it is an extremely easy virus to pass on which is exactly why the lockdown was necessary and why the very large number of things we have had to ask people to do and not do are in place. because it is extremely easy to catch this virus and extremely easy to pass it on, even if people ta ke easy to pass it on, even if people take really careful precautions in terms of things like washing their hands which remains critical. it's a

very clear illustration in fact that this is why we have to do this, to ensure we protect the nhs and save the lives of other people. jason g roves from the lives of other people. jason groves from the daily mail. thank you. you mentioned you had instructions from the pm, i wonder if you have had instructions about what he wants to do about the looming decision on whether to extend the lockdown and can you give the country any idea what that might be? we are seeing germany and austria are level with people about how long things might take and when they might be lifted. and a question for sir patrick, last month you told us we were three or four weeks behind italy. we seem, given the shocking death toll today, to still be getting a similar outcome to italy. are there things we could and should have done or was this always inevitable and are there things we can do now to make a difference?m

terms of the review, we are not at that stage yet. we will take any decision when the time is right based on the facts and the scientific and medical advice and our overriding focus right now, as has been demonstrated by the previous question, is to remain absolutely focused on conveying the key m essa g e absolutely focused on conveying the key message which is everybody needs to keep adhering to this guidance, because we have a long bank holiday easter weekend coming up with warm weather. we understand people are making big sacrifices to follow this guidance. it is helping, it is contributing to our ability to tackle the coronavirus but that the worst thing would be to take our foot off the pedal and ease up on that and risk losing the gains that have been made. it's absolutely critical that people keep up that discipline and the vast majority will do, and we hope everybody will follow that example. because it is the way to make sure we consolidate

the way to make sure we consolidate the progress we have made and do not lose it. this is a pandemic, meaning it is everywhere. that is why we are seeing it across many different countries and all populations. we are probably three or four weeks behind italy in terms of the outbreak, it does not mean we end up with the same numbers and of course it is important that, as the ice eu capacity has been built up, this idea of keeping the numbers below the capacity is critical —— the icu capacity. but the most important thing we can do is implement the measures in place now to keep this suppressed which is really important and what we have to focus on now it is how we will come out on the other side to be able to say that the numbers are under control and we can move onto the next phase. did you wa nt to move onto the next phase. did you want to come back, jason? just to clarify, it sounds like the

instructions you are getting from the pm is that this lockdown will have to stay and we have to keep our foot on the pedal for a few more weeks at least? is that a fair interpretation? no, we have been clear a ll interpretation? no, we have been clear all along that we would be guided by the evidence and the measures we have put in place on a social distancing and everything else, the impact they have had. when we have reliable data on that, which will come up in the days ahead, we can consider whether and when and how we want to take any further decisions but our number one focus right now is to keep the discipline of compliance with those measures because it will help us make progress and that is the way we will get through this crisis and out of the other side as quickly and effectively as possible. heather stuart from the guardian this is a follow—up to jason's question to some extent. we re were you suggesting we will not see a three—week review of the measures as promised when they were put in place? we won't see that if the

prime minister will still in —— is still in hospital? will you wait until he is out of hospital to do that? and a report published on friday suggested that measures might have to stay in place for many months at least with periodic lockdown is in order to keep the outbreak within the capacity of the nhs andl outbreak within the capacity of the nhs and i wonder if that seems plausible and whether it is time to level with people with kids who are wondering if they will see their friends before the end of the summer term, that this will have to go on for months and not weeks?” term, that this will have to go on for months and not weeks? i think we have levelled with everyone from the outset and been as transparent as possible in relation to all the data and information which is why we have the chief scientific adviser and chief medical officer here. the critical thing is to take evidence decisions. we said that we would ta ke decisions. we said that we would take any review when we have the evidence that the measures are working and having the kind of impact to take us past the peak which means they can be responsibly

done but were not at that stage yet. the only thing i would add, said yesterday, it's important we get to the point where we are all confident we are beyond the peak and at that point start making it clear what kind of combination of things and over what period of time seems a sensible combination to take us through. as i said yesterday, there area large through. as i said yesterday, there are a large number of different things to take into account here in terms of the impact on health, the direct effects of the virus itself and also the indirect effect on the health service more widely. did you wa nt to health service more widely. did you want to follow up? just in terms of when we might see that review, it depends on when you feel you have enough data? we won't necessarily see a three week review? it will be evidence—based and we will rely on the evidence we get from the impact of the measures already taken and, as chris said, we need to get beyond the peak when we can responsively

ta ke the peak when we can responsively take any further decisions based on the evidence we have got. we have set that position out all along and wa nt to set that position out all along and want to follow it because it's the right thing to do. again, it's the right thing to do. again, it's the right thing to do. again, it's the right thing to do to get as effectively and as quickly as possible through the coronavirus challenge. joe murphy from the evening standard. can ijoin you in wishing the best to the prime minister in his recovery? can you say how the government is doing on the course to meet the target of 100,000 tests per day and as the man now in charge, will you ensure personal it is delivered by the end of the month? and professor chris whitty, a lot of people are worried that care homes for the elderly are not getting the same support as other branches of the health and ca re other branches of the health and care service. can you address such worries as to whether doctors and nurses will go into homes? whether there will be medically qualified professionals going in, and whether

you can stop agency nurses or carers rather from looking after more than one home and risking spreading? and why are the deaths in care homes not included in the daily tally of figures? thank you, on the most recent data that has been released on tests, there were 1a,000 in a single day which shows progress. we have had a 7500 nhs workers and theirfamilies have had a 7500 nhs workers and their families tested and we have nine drive—through sites currently operational in nottingham, chessington, greenwich, wembley, sandwell, manchester, belfast, edgbaston, glasgow and cardiff will be the tenth which will open shortly so we are making progress on that. in terms of the data question, ons versus in terms of the data question, ons versus nhs, i don't know if certain patrick wanted to address that? the international reporting standard for deaths, all the other countries are based on hospitalised deaths confirmed and that is the same as the date that you are seeing. the

ons data look at overall deaths on death certificates where coronavirus is mentioned. so that they are not confirmed deaths necessarily and it's important to have both of those but that is what the difference between the two numbers is. and on ca re between the two numbers is. and on care homes, firstly, to add to that, the ons data does include care home deaths. at the hospital data obviously does not. that is one of the key differences. in terms of looking after the residents of care homes and indeed nursing homes, we have said from the beginning this is one of the most difficult things we have to do and one of the most important thing is we have to do and ina important thing is we have to do and in a sense that it needs to balance the need to have the right nursing, medical and other care support for the care homes whilst minimising people going into care homes unnecessarily. because almost by definition, most residents at care homes are relatively vulnerable people and it is important we get

that balance right, that we protect people, for example, when they come back from hospital, that they get the right medical care but, as i said right at the beginning of this epidemic, care homes and nursing homes are going to provide us with some of the biggest challenges. we have already seen that over 9% of ca re have already seen that over 9% of care homes have reported cases. i regret to say i think the number will go up over time despite excellent work by the care home staff and nurses who go in and by doctors. and i would encourage people not to go into care homes u nless people not to go into care homes unless they need to. what from the independent. . a question first, the independent had seen a letter to gps from jenny harris which appears to raise concerns that some highly vulnerable people who need to be shielded are not being shielded but we have spoken to the family of 895—year—old deaf and blind woman who is totally dependent on her daughter for care who does

not apparently meet the criteria —— a 95—year—old woman. are you concerned there are people out there who are being shielded that they should and what will you do about it questioning and returning to the previous question, the government made a promise to the british people la st made a promise to the british people last week that 100,000 daily test would be carried out by the end of the month. we learnt yesterday the antibody tests will not be ready by that date so can i be clear, are you promising you are going to carry out an hundred thousand daily antigen tests, the virus itself and if you can't meet that commitment, will somebody carry the can? on that, the health secretary was clear on the target and what i have tried to set up target and what i have tried to set up with the progress we have made. clearly there is more work to be put important we have made the progress we have so far. on shielding, the situation is that there are broadly three groups of people we have asked to do different things. there is everybody who we want to stay at home unless they are going out for

work, necessary food and medicines, medical care or exercise and we have been very clear about that because thatis been very clear about that because that is the way we protect everybody including the people who are shielded. then there is a higher risk group of people who are people, on the whole, over 70 and have pre—existing health conditions which makes up roughly 16 million people overall. and the recommendations are the same for those but we really need them to do it for their own protection, not just to need them to do it for their own protection, notjust to protect the nhs and wider society although it does help with that, but it really helps to protect them. but there was a particular vulnerable group of around about1.5 a particular vulnerable group of around about 1.5 million people, the exact numbers are being sorted out at the moment, who we are very keen to have the absolute minimum contact possible for quite a long period of time and! possible for quite a long period of time and i think what we have been very clear about is that there is a

group of people who we are able to identify, the great majority, who have been identified and written to in the first wave and there is a second wave of letters going out today from nhs digital over this week which is we have identified centrally from their medical records this is necessary. there are additional people who have been identified either by specialist medical groups or, in some cases, by gps who know that someone has a group of conditions or a particular condition that is not on the list but makes them particularly vulnerable. equally, people have been added to the list as a result of that, but equally there have been some people who will have taken a decision in discussion with their gp that they simply do not wish to be pa rt that they simply do not wish to be part of this, the idea being, for many weeks, completely cut off, at least physically come from a society accept from the absolute basic necessities, of course we hope people will be linked by social media and other errors, but this is not something they wish to do and

particularly this might apply to people who have had a terminal diagnosis under palliative care and are on the last stages where they would make a rational life decision that that was not what they wished to do. there will be people in terms of around the big group you will have been identified, there will be some people who go into the shielding programme who were not initially identified and there will be people initially identified who either because their medical condition is different from how it has been centrally recorded or because of their own choices in discussion with their doctor, they will choose not to be part about and that was always something we expected to happen. did you have a follow—up? expected to happen. did you have a follow-up? can i come back to you? i don't think he really answered my question. we know the antibody tests will not be ready by the end of the month but can you say your promise today that the government will carry out 100,000 daily antigen tests by the end of the month? i'm not going to say anything different from what the health secretary has said and

what i hope people understand is that we are striving every sinew to get both sets of tests to the highest level we can and that involves tapping the domestic sources and supplies but also using the foreign office network and teaming up with dle and the department of international trade to get as many international supplies put a lot of these things are in high demand but were doing everything we can on every front to get all of the testing capabilities we need and yes, the health secretary's100,000 per day target still stands. thank you very much. studio: dominic raab, foreign secretary, deputising for the prime minister while he is in intensive ca re minister while he is in intensive care in central london. let's get some reaction to that news conference from our political correspondent jonathan blake. lots of questions at the beginning for dominic raab about the fact that

if there is a big decision to be made in cabinet, as the deputised prime minister, he has got to make that decision, but he seemed reticent to come out and say that. he continued to talk about collective cabinet responsibility. yes, several questions to dominic raab about his role as the prime minister's effective deputy having stepped in for borisjohnson while he is in intensive care in hospital. and about what authority exactly he has to take decisions which could alter the course of the government's response to coronavirus. because for all dominic raab was saying about the clear instructions the prime minister has given and the plan the government has put in place, there have been and will continue to be disagreements at the top of government between cabinet ministers about the best way forward on a day to day basis and perhaps more broadly about the overall strategy, but as you say, dominic raab was careful to say there is a system of

collective responsibility in place and he has every confidence, as he put it, in the arrangements put in place by the prime minister, saying ministers were united in following through with that plan. collective responsibility is all well and good but there is often a process of discussion, debate and disagreement between cabinet ministers before you arrive at a position and somebody has to take the final decision on set course and that is the prime minister's job. set course and that is the prime minister'sjob. dominic set course and that is the prime minister's job. dominic raab set course and that is the prime minister'sjob. dominic raab did not go as faras minister'sjob. dominic raab did not go as far as saying he would take any decisions which could solve disagreements or change the course of the government's response to coronavirus. very much trying to keep it to following the plans and instructions that the prime minister has set. and one of those key decisions could well be coming up next week, three weeks into the lockdown we were told there would be a review. potentially it's up to dominic raab to decide whether or not the lockdown continues or it comes to an end. it sounded a bit

like the government is backing off from making any significant changes or decisions at that three—week point. dominic raab and the chief scientific adviser said repeatedly that they needed the data and information to show what effect the restrictions were having and they weren't at that point yet in terms of having a clear picture of how the restrictions that have been put in place have affected the number of cases and the number of hospital admissions. so it seems we are not at this point really in for a dramatic change or any easing or lifting of those restrictions in the next week or so. it is also interesting to hear what the chief scientific adviser had to say about the number of hospital admissions and striking a cautiously optimistic note i thought, saying it was possible we were starting to see a change where we might see numbers flattening off, as he put it. we

can't be sure for a week or so but things might be moving in the right direction in terms of numbers, so potentially the early signs of some positive news in terms of the number of cases in hospital admissions. jonathan blake, thank you. to pick up jonathan blake, thank you. to pick up on that last point from jonathan with our health correspondent sophie hutchinson. sir patrick vallance, chief scientific adviser, making it clear that there may be light at the end of the tunnel, asjonathan alluded to, no big upswing in the growth of new cases. he made it clear, but the caveat was of course we can't know for sure for a week or so but we are beginning to see a change, he suggested.” so but we are beginning to see a change, he suggested. ithink so but we are beginning to see a change, he suggested. i think what they are talking about is the fact there is no big escalation here. they are not seeing these cases, they are not seeing deaths either, really swing up. we are on a trajectory that seems to be steady and he repeated the word steady over and he repeated the word steady over

and over again. it is still rising, there is no doubt about it, but the great concern was that it might start to literally rise out of control. they don't think that is happening. they think they know at the moment it is on this particular trajectory so perhaps we are seeing around a000 new cases per day in the uk. and in terms of admissions to hospital in london, which has the largest amount, we know london is a real problem area, around a000 admissions per day. after that the midlands with around 3000 and then the northwest, northeast and yorkshire. but they are all sitting on this trajectory and i think the government and scientific advisers are pleased that they are at least sticking to that. so causes for muted celebration there potentially. also from patrick vallance, the number of icu beds is increasing to the point where he doesn't believe

evenif the point where he doesn't believe even if there is, once we reach the peak, that that will potentially overwhelm the nhs. the way he described it was, he couldn't guarantee that icu wouldn't stop out but he thought we would come in about right. that means icu wouldn't be overwhelmed. —— wouldn't topped out. he said in the past that in particular areas there might be icu areas that would really struggle, but he said today that overall they think they are in about the right place. there has been a 30% increase in the number of icu beds and there will be more when the nightingale hospitals in london, birmingham, manchester, bristol and harrogate come online and they will be increases as well in the nation is in scotland, wales and northern ireland. in the moment they think they are injust ireland. in the moment they think they are in just about the right place. a three week review of the lockdown period coming next week. professor chris whitty, the chief medical officer, said we must be

confident we are beyond the peak for the lockdown to be eased in some way. we haven't reached the peak yet and we potentially might not reach it by next week, in which case the lockdown is staying. absolutely. they really just lockdown is staying. absolutely. they reallyjust don't know where the peak is coming. they had hoped it might be in the next ten days. they simply don't know and there are many scientists doing a lot of modelling at the moment saying it will be right in the middle of april, but until it happens, wejust don't know. and to release this lockdown and free people up again before that happens would be particularly dangerous in terms of the virus just taking off again. particularly dangerous in terms of the virusjust taking off again. on testing, a pointed question towards the end, the government target is 100,000 tests by the end of april. we are now in the first week in april, three weeks to go, and the antibody tests, they have not yet

found one that is reliable, in which case it will be the antigen tests. from your knowledge of the situation, are they on course to reach 100,003 weeks? it does seem very ambitious, doesn't it? at the moment they were carrying around 1a,000 every day that's the maximum, and tojump to 100,000 would seem pretty difficult. they weren't saying they could absolutely promise that today. to remind people, this isa that today. to remind people, this is a test to know whether you are actually unwell with the virus in the moment. it's not the test to tell you, have you had the virus and recovered. that particular test, the antibody test, is the one that many people are waiting for. they would love to know, have they had it and are they now safe in a way. getting that particular test right is difficult. that's because there are

other coronaviruses and many, many of us have been exposed to them. so finding one that pins down covid—19 is very tricky. professor chris whitty was talking about care homes, that's interesting because the numbers of deaths in care homes of people who have contracted coronavirus, that's not counted in the official figures but he made coronavirus, that's not counted in the officialfigures but he made it clear he was very worried about the situation in care homes and his advice to the public was basically don't go into one. absolutely, these are amongst the most vulnerable people, the residents of care homes. elderly people with complex needs who are particularly at risk from this virus. and professor chris whitty said that care homes and nursing homes provide us with the biggest challenge, that 9% of them at the moment had reported cases and protecting those residents is absolutely key and vital. we will leave it there, thank you, sophie.

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.

tributes have been paid to the first midwife in the country to die of coronavirus. lynsay coventry worked at the princess alexandra hospital in harlow, where 53 patients have already died from the same disease. the chief midwifery officer says lynsay‘s dedication to babies and theirfamilies, will always be remembered. nicki fox reports. you've coloured in so many! 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, what we also know is how proud she was to be an nhs midwife. lynsay followed her dream and trained as a midwife later in life. it was a role she committed herself to. 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 stand apart to minimise spread, but stand together in mourning the loss of our midwife. i beg you, stay home. 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. members of the public who've volunteered to support the nhs during the coronavirus pandemic, have begun reporting for duty. they'll be helping those most in need by delivering food and medicines or driving

them to appointments. the 750,000 volunteers join countless others who are already doing what they can to support their communities. our correspondent, fiona trott has sent this report from hartlepool, where one woman has been keeping her local baby bank running. another busy day for emilie de bruijn. dozens of mums have called her and need her help. inside this container are things they can't find or struggle to afford. hundreds of nappies, toys, clothes, all donated to the baby bank that emily set up. it works like a food bank and, in this town, some parents can't manage without it. at the moment i have had to ask all my volunteers to stay home because of health reasons, or because they have young children, so there's just me, trying to make as many families across hartlepool as i can. hi, how's it going? busy. yeah, good. you know! first stop is charlie's house.

she has an underlying medical condition and is self—isolating. she's looking after her baby son but her daughter is having to live elsewhere. it's heartbreaking. ijust want to be able to hug her, to kiss her. sorry. it's breaking... breaking my heart. if it wasn't for people like emilie, then jesse would have to go without, 'cause i wouldn't have another way to have access to that. we've lost our safe space because we can't use our buildings. we've lost our community feel. now we're just trying to reach as many isolated and lonely families as we can, and just do what we can. i suffer with anxiety and depression, so being in big supermarkets isn't my kind of thing. and i think there is that fear there now that there is a virus going about, and you have got a child, that you don't want to leave your

door and go to the shops, so the baby bank have been brilliant and given me the things that i can't go out and get myself. the demand has just been incredible. my son is asthmatic and obviously we are concerned about him and my husband and i took a really long, hard look at it and said, should i still do this? and we decided i had to, because no—one else is doing it. other provisions aren't in place for families, they are not in place for tiny babies. it's people looking at elderly but they are not looking at pregnant women, they are not looking at how scary it is to be 30 weeks pregnant and told to confine yourself for 12 weeks when you haven't finished your shopping. how positive are you about the future? we see a problem and we find our own solution because we are used to being forgotten by the government and we are used to being left on our own. we are not part of any other authority, so we are used to grafting and coming up with our own solutions. so that's why we will, because we always have and we always will. fiona trott, bbc news, hartlepool.

the government in china remains under scrutiny about whether it has been and are putting the figures ponder our correspondent stephen mcdonell has more details. zero coronavirus deaths in 2a hours. a symbolic turning point in china. many have questioned the veracity of the official figures in the country where the outbreak started. but 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 because 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 return 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. remind you of the main points from the downing street news conference this afternoon. dominic raab, deputising for the prime minister, gave an update on the condition of borisjohnson gave an update on the condition of boris johnson and said gave an update on the condition of borisjohnson and said all ministers wished him a speedy recovery.” borisjohnson and said all ministers wished him a speedy recovery. i can tell you he is receiving the very

best care from the excellent medical tea m best care from the excellent medical team at st thomas' hospital. he remained stable over night, he is receiving standard oxygen treatment and breathing without any assistance. he has not required any mechanical ventilation or noninvasive respiratory support. he remains in good spirits and, in keeping with usual clinical practice, his progress continues to be monitored closely in critical ca re be monitored closely in critical care and we will give further updates on his condition when there are any material developments. and i know there has been a groundswell of m essa g es of know there has been a groundswell of messages of support from people here at home, leaders across the world, andi at home, leaders across the world, and i know everyone will want to join with me in wishing the prime minister a very swift recovery. as you know, he asked me to deputise for him whilst he recovers and in line with his instructions, this morning i chaired the meeting of senior ministers tackling coronavirus and this afternoon i chaired an update for members of the

cabinet. i think it is probably worth remembering that, as will be the case for many people up and down the case for many people up and down the country who know someone at work who has fallen ill with the virus, it comes as a shock to all of us. he is not just it comes as a shock to all of us. he is notjust the prime minister, all of us in cabinet, he is notjust our boss, he is also a colleague and he is also ourfriend. boss, he is also a colleague and he is also our friend. all of our thoughts and prayers are with the minister at this time, with carrie and his whole family and i'm confident he will pull through because if there is one thing i know about this prime minister, he is a fighter. the foreign secretary also reiterated the government's stay at home a message. the government's ongoing monitoring and testing programme, and as of today, 213,181 people have now been tested the coronavirus. 55,2a2 people have

tested positive. the number of people admitted to hospital with coronavirus symptoms now stands at 18,589. and of those who have contracted the virus, 6159 have, i'm very sorry to say, died. every death in this pandemic is a tragedy and our thoughts and prayers are with their loved ones at what must me and could be adequately difficult time. and these figures reinforce the single most important thing we can all do it right now in this national effort to defeat the coronavirus is keep on following the government advice which is to stay at home, protect the nhs and save lives. dominic raab. now it is time for the weather with nick miller. hello. until the easter weekend it will be warm to very warm but for many but whatever the view, more cloud compared to today and more cloud

overnight and we keep temperatures up overnight and we keep temperatures up compared to last night so not much frost pulled out from the cloud in southern england, especially on the south coast, a few showers and rain covering more of north—west scotla nd rain covering more of north—west scotland with a stiff breeze. still clear enough in parts of northern england and southern scotland to have temperatures for close to freezing and a touch of frost but when it's clear, the best place for a view of the super moon but on a two mist and fog patches developing through the night which clear in the morning. more cloudy tomorrow for many compared to today but are still some sunny spells around. you might catch a shower in southern england and the midlands, maybe sundry in south—east england later and northern scotland still sad some outbreaks of rain, may be in northern ireland and we have rain but still quite breezy but elsewhere the winds are reasonably light and even though there was more cloud, there are sunny spells, still warm with temperatures in the high teens from a few places in the south—east in the low 20s. the pollen levels are high in england and wales, warm now and the windows are open perhaps

and that is why even if you are inside you might be suffering as a result. some fog patches around parts of southern england to start thursday. still a lot of cloud in scotla nd thursday. still a lot of cloud in scotland which might squeeze out some patchy light rain, you might catch a show in wales, the midlands and northern england but most places will be dry. cloud breaks allow some sunshine to come through and especially in england and wales, temperatures in the low 20s but more chilly in northern scotland where we are into single figures. things start to change on good friday, this frontal system edging in east into saturday taking some rain with it, and another area of low pressure following as we go into the easter weekend. what's it mean? nowhere will be particularly wet although there will be, as you can see, a chance of catching a few showers. still some sunny spells but where it has been so warm, temperatures will come down quite considerably by the time we get to mandate with a

developing north—easterly wind. turning cooler over the weekend, a chance of rain but not a wash—out.

borisjohnson is boris johnson is being borisjohnson is being treated at saint thomas is hospital, where he is on oxygen, but not a ventilator, cabinet colleagues have and —— offered their support. all of our thoughts and prayers are with the prime minister at this time, with carrie and his whole family. and i'm confident he'll pull through, because if there's one thing i know about this prime minister, he's a fighter. we will have the latest on the prime minister's condition on the day the

number of deaths in the uk was