this is bbc news i'm simon pusey. our top stories: a second night in intensive care for borisjohnson — his condition is said to be stable. the american state of new york now has more confirmed cases of covid—19 than almost any country — it's health system is in crisis. the city where covid—19 emerged, wuhan in china, ends 2.5 months of total lockdown. while its handling of the art may raise many questions, it offers some hope as well. —— outbreak. these roads in beijing were deserted just a few weeks ago but look at them now. barred from the world health organisation — but taiwan's response to the pandemic has been highly effective. what can it teach the world?

hello and welcome to bbc news. borisjohnson is a fighter and he will recover — that's the pledge of the man who is standing in for the british prime minister. downing street has said he was being given oxygen at st thomas‘s hospital in london. the queen — in a message to his family and his pregnant partner, carrie symonds — has wished him a "full and speedy recovery". overall, the number of new infections in the uk is showing signs of levelling off but the figure for deaths is still rising. our political editor laura kuenssberg reports. nothing stops the spring. but the country's on pause. not knowing how deep this crisis will really cut, if the prime minister himself will recover. after a night for boris johnson

in intensive care, the foreign secretary in his place at the lectern. he remained stable overnight. he is receiving standard oxygen treatment and breathing without any assistance. he has not required any mechanical ventilation or noninvasive respiratory support. he is notjust the prime minister, for all of us in cabinet, he is notjust our boss. he is also a colleague and he is also ourfriend. so all of our thoughts and prayers are with the prime minister at this time, with carrie and with his whole family. and i am confident he will pull through because if there is one thing i know about this prime minister, he is a fighter. politicians in other parts of the globe have been laid low, but boris johnson is the only world leader needing this kind of emergency care. stable for now, but in a fast—moving situation. the last public glimpse of the prime minister was on friday. obviously ill, speaking from his flat.

admitted to hospital on sunday, then into intensive care last night. behind whitehall‘s closed doors and empty spaces, the government's machine still whirs. specific cabinet committees are grappling with different challenges from the crisis, the civil service continues whatever happens, but many dilemmas are ahead. with the prime minister absent at this vital time, if there is a genuine disagreement in the cabinet, who actually makes the decision? decision—making by government is made by collective cabinet responsibility, so that is the same as before, but we have got very clear directions and instructions from the prime minister and we are focused with total unity and total resolve on implementing them. of course, any prime minister is actually the ultimate decision—maker. good morning, everybody, it's great to see you here. the chancellor, rishi sunak, on the left of mrjohnson, would take the foreign secretary's place if he fell ill.

michael gove, on the right of dominic raab, the latest, along with many downing street staff, stuck in isolation at home, but a rare appearance from the former boss of this table sought to reassure. the infrastructure is there day by day, it is the infrastructure of the civil service and the cabinet and ministers and of course junior ministers. and there is always somebody who, if the prime minister is not available, is able to step into that place and lead that cabinet government. normal politics on hold. our thoughts are with the prime minister, his fiancee and his family. 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's 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. a stressful and strange moment of history. an impromptu poster taped

to mrjohnson‘s own hero. get well messages from the ward and from windsor, the queen sending her own message of support to the prime minister's family and his fiancee, expecting her first child. boris johnson, prime minister, politician, a partner and a father, too. laura kuenssberg, bbc news. the us state of new york is on the cusp of overtaking italy for the confirmed number of covid—19 cases. it's recorded to have almost 132,000 and has recorded its highest single—day increase in the number of deaths. 731 people have lost their lives. but there also signs the outbreak is peaking in the state. but that is 731 people that we lost, behind every one of those numbers is an individual, is a family, is a mother, as a father, is a sister, is a brother so a lot of pain again today.

joining me now from new york is dr craig spencer, director of global health in emergency medicine at columbia university. thank you forjoining us. a lot of criticism about donald trump in the press conferences here holds, would you say that criticism is valid and just defied absolutely. what we hearing right now public health messaging is not being are advised of a political pandering. people are getting confused and mixed messages, people don't know who to turn to for sound advice because right now we are focused more on the unproven benefit of medicines like hydroxychloroquine when we know the real impact is on already marginalised communities in the us, the economically disadvantaged, the undocumented and indigenous —— indigenous, people of colour being in acted ata people of colour being in acted

at a much higher rate than other communities in the united states and that messages getting lost in a lot of the political messaging. is it fair to say the us in general wasn't prepared for this virus, like many countries around the world may not have been? china warned us, we didn't prepare. italy warned us, we didn't prepare. new york city quite frankly wasn't as ready as we could have been but was much more prepared than any many other cities in the us. in 2014, i was treating ebola patients in guinea, iwas was treating ebola patients in guinea, i was infected and was taken care guinea, i was infected and was ta ken care of guinea, i was infected and was taken care of in a new york city hospital and survived. we have that architecture here but a lot of that has been torn apart in the us over the last couple of years with political decisions and funding cuts. my goal now is to let people what i'm seeing on the front line in emergency rooms, the bleak situation that the rest of the country can get prepared and start taking this seriously because right now, we are focusing again on this political ideology, not com pletely political ideology, not completely on preparedness. you

mentioned earlier minority communities. which element of society will be hardest hit by this virus? we are seeing this virus hitting the already marginalised communities in the united states, people who don't have the ability to social distance, people who don't have a country home or someplace they can go to, people who can't day —— take days off work 01’ can't day —— take days off work or cooking or cleaning and doing other things that the rest of us required during this pandemic. it's hitting these communities really hard. i'm concerned about that but also the fact we not about the international impact here in the united states. we are so inwardly focused on what is happening here, we don't recognise this could be worse than mozambique here in missouri. any populations i work with that are struggling with weak healthcare systems, we know that mechanical ventilation for many patients is the only thing that can save lives here and a lot of mechanical ventilation, a lot of ventilation and personal

protective equipment is being sent here and bought up by wealthy countries as opposed to going to places where it's neededin going to places where it's needed in places with the wea kest needed in places with the weakest healthca re systems that people are going to be disproportionately impacted. new york most recently incredibly hard hit especially in the last 24 hours. it's all got time for, doctor craig spencer. we stay safe. doctor craig spencer live us in new york. let's get some of the day's other news. the acting secretary of the navy in the united states, thomas modly, has resigned after criticism of his handling of a crisis in which the commander of a ship stricken by coronavirus was removed from his post. on sunday, mr modly told the crew of the aircraft carrier that captain brett crozier was too naive or too stupid to remain in command. voters in wisconsin are facing long queues to cast their ballot as the state's presidential primary goes ahead despite concerns over the coronavirus outbreak. in the city of milwaukee, only 5 out of 180 polling stations are open due to a shortage of volunteer workers. national guard troops are assisting instead. wisconsin, like most us states,

has imposed a stay—at—home order on its residents. the co—founder of twitter, jack dorsey, says he's committing $1 billion of his personal fortune to coronavirus relief through his philanthropic fund. mr dorsey says the needs are increasingly urgent and said he wanted to see the impact in his lifetime. other tech entrepreneurs have pledged funds to help those affected by the virus, including amazon'sjeff bezos and and facebook‘s mark zuckerberg. the chinese city of wuhan, where covid—19 first emerged, has allowed people to leave the area for the first time since a lockdown went into effect in injanuary. those with a green code on a widely used smartphone health app now have permission to leave wuhan, as restrictions within the city have been gradually easing. our correspondent john sudworth reports. after 76 days of lockdown, the trains were lined up and ready to go, the barriers taken down

from the highways and wuhan reopened its links to the outside world. it's a long way from this. the outbreak which began in the city had by late january spiralled out of control. so strict were the quarantine rules that only a select few were allowed to move around the city, including delivery drivers, providing a vital lifeline. translation: the roads were empty, it made me feel sad. as people couldn't leave their homes, people would ask us for help with things like delivering medicine to their elderly parents. president xi's walkabout in wuhan last month was the first sure sign that the infection rate was now under control, but questions remain.

social media footage of the long lines outside funeral homes led to claims that deaths were far higher than officially reported. and there is still deep anger directed at local officials for covering up the outbreak early on. zhang hai lost his 76—year—old father to the virus. translation: it is because of the cover—up by a small group of wuhan officials that led to my father's death. i need an apology and i want compensation. but for the authorities, the focus is on getting the country moving again. the reopening of wuhan is a hugely symbolic moment in china's efforts to declare victory over this virus. while its handling of the outbreak may raise many questions, it offers some hope as well. these roads in beijing were deserted just a few weeks ago — look at them now. officials admit new outbreaks could still occur but for now they are celebrating.

wuhan‘s success was marked with a light show. john sudworth, bbc news, beijing. the city of wuhan its taking its first tentative steps towards normality today. but anyone who's able to work remotely is still being asked to remain in their residential compound. li kuang is one of those people. he's an english teacher who's been at home since 23 january. hejoins me now from wuhan. you are in lockdown but things are lifting. things are getting better now. the lifting is mainly for the transportation going out of wuhan people have to work on site, they are free but the people like me, our company doesn't need us to work on site yet so we are advised to stay inside. and so many weeks in quarantine. tell us how you've coped. i think i just spent time watching tv series or eating snacks and doing work, nothing much, so that's it. how would you describe the balance that the authorities have got? have they got it right between being too

heavy—handed and taking safety into account? i think the government is doing quite ok because of their swift act ‘s, we can be safe now but also we don't feel quite safe now because me myself, even if i can go outside, i wouldn't because i think there still are 2000- 3000 because i think there still are 2000— 3000 patients getting treated in hospital right now and also there are some patients carrying the virus without showing any symptoms so i don't think it's still safe outside so i think the lifting is quite a good thing but it's maybe a little too early. talk about the lifting of restrictions. national exams have been postponed, school exams, and it is a big deal in china. it's quite a big deal, it's the university entrance examination. it's the first time it's been put off. and how would you say that the kind of healing is, the nature of the city? because it was almost a celebratory feeling a couple of

weeks ago with the big light show and fireworks. because at first, when the city is being locked down, i think everybody, some people would be panicking because it's never happening but gradually, with the help coming into wuhan, i think people's mind are easing and i think people are generally very happy about the lifting. thank you very much indeed for bringing us your insights into life in lockdown in wuhan. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: it's a bottling plant — but not as it used to be. how one american distillery switched from serving up whiskey to delivering hand sanitizer. 25 years of hatred and rage, as theyjump up on the statue... this funeral became a massive

demonstration of black power. the power to influence. today is about the promise of a bright future. a day when we hope a line can be drawn under the bloody past. they were intelligent and it's a sad loss to everybody who loves art. welcome back. this is bbc news.

borisjohnson is spending a second night in intensive care with coronavirus. his condition is described as stable. and after 2.5 months, the lockdown of the chinese city of wuhan where the coronavirus pandemic started has ended. while many countries are struggling to contain the coronavirus, the island of taiwan has had some success, despite being right next door to china where the outbreak began. taiwan has so far had 376 confirmed cases and only five deaths. this could be thanks to a swift response from the taiwanese government. on the very last day of 2019 — authorities began assessing passengers arriving on direct flights from wuhan, checking for symptoms of fever and pneumonia. soon after, on the 20th of january — the government activated the central epidemic command centre, to directly co—ordinate efforts by different ministries and agencies. that organisation has overseen crucial measures, including border control, fighting misinformation and providing financial relief for businesses. with us to discuss his

country's approach is the taiwanese vice president, dr chen chien—jen — he is also an epidemiologist who is recognised for his leading role in the battle. thank you forjoining us. your country seems to have dealt with this virus incredibly well. what can other countries learn from your approach? firstly i would like to wish prime ministerjohnson a speedy recovery and all the best to the people of the united kingdom. the situation in taiwan is quite good and by april seven there were 376 confirmed covid—19 cases with five deaths. most were imported cases. it is very important for us cases. it is very important for us to take very quick actions so us to take very quick actions so in the battles against

covid—19 we implemented many measures and we held meeting of the national security council to co—ordinate the ministry effo rts to co—ordinate the ministry efforts including a quick announcement of a travel alert, optimisation of border quarantine, reinforcement of a 14 day home quarantine, up reading the healthcare for disease and in adequate supply of ppe and other medical material and promotion of communication and last but not least is the development of rapid diagnoses. you have been praised for your fast response to the virus. how much has the country learned from previous outbreaks? from the previous outbreaks? from the previous outbreaks we can see that it is

very important for us to take a very important for us to take a very quick response and so taiwan's actions basically have employed rapid diagnoses and other measures into our response. after the sours outbreak we already had a comprehensive review and made amendment to our communicable disease control act. —— after the sars outbreak. and we strengthen our border quarantine capacity and diversify the system and imposed our density monitoring institution. we formulated a response plan and conducted drills and we also established a reference laboratory to improve testing technology and

capacity. we also organised a medical network and finally we implemented a mechanism to activate the central epidemic centre. privet action, rapid response and early movement is responsible for the good early control of this pandemic. you have been helping other countries as well. how have you been helping foreign and international countries? on aprilfour taiwan is international countries? on april four taiwan is helping and we would like to let people know that taiwanese president said that they would help from humanitarian concern for the other countries in need of help. taiwan is cooperating

with other countries and is ready to provide assistance to the international community in pharmaceuticals, facemasks and technologies. we also tried, we also committed to donate 10,000, the mother sorry, 10 million facemasks to support medical personnel in country severely affected by the disease including the uk and we are actively helping the uk government procure critical materials and resources in taiwan to contain the pandemic and protect frontline medical staff and the citizens of the uk. and the us have already signed a cooperation document with taiwan and we would also like to collaborate with the uk to improve the containment of the pandemic and also to protect the people in the

world. thank you so much for your thorough answers there and it is kind of you to come on the show. that is live from taipei. now let's take a look at how the virus is impacting the rest of europe. france continues to suffer — 1417 deaths were reported on monday — the country's worst figure to date. more than 10,000 people with the virus have died in france since the start of the pandemic. better news from italy, the country that is so far recorded the highest number of fatalities worldwide although another 600 people have died, the number of those currently with the virus has risen by less than 1%. the european commission says doctors and nurses from romania and norway are being deployed to badly hit areas of the country. spain has seen a rise in the daily figure of coronavirus related deaths after four consecutive fall. 743 deaths were registered but the authorities say some of

these numbers can be attributed to deaths that took lace over the weekend but had not been reported. as the usa continues to battle against coronavirus, a number of unlikely heroes have stepped forward to join the fight. among them, a local distillery in branson, missouri which is now making more hand sanitizer than whisky in a bid to stop the spread of covid—19. matt graveling reports. we are able to supply notjust missouri but also people in oklahoma and in texas with their hand sanitiser. the state of america united. residence here in new york try to keep spirits high as cases of coronavirus continue to rise, people across the country are doing whatever they can to help. here in missouri, this distillery normally makes whiskey. but with regulations relaxed they switched to hand sanitiser to help supply demand. it is important to me

to get this stuff into the hands of those keeping all of us hands of those keeping all of us safe. earlier today a gentleman with the american kidney foundation left with 250 gallons of it and they will probably be back in a week. he is transporting this stuff to chicago. the distillery has made 3000 gallons of the product, selling edited production to medical professionals as well as supplying local pharmacist.“ we had not had a local supplier it would be difficult for us to find product for our customer base and even for the staff. he was able to come up with a source for it and provide stop he has done a fantasticjob for meeting needs. people like this make you proud of what the industry has done. and that is it from me for now you can find more news on our website. that will be for all of the stories on this programme related to coronavirus and much more. you can also reach me in the team

on twitter. stay tuned here on bbc. hello. we have had clear skies across parts of northern england and southern scotland. and some of our weather watchers have been taking pictures outside their windows of their gardens of the super pink moon, such as this one from county durham. we have had clear skies, but cloud amounts have been increasing. and, really, through the day on wednesday, although there will be a bit of sunshine breaking through, it will feel quite warm. there will be more cloud in the skies then we've seen in recent days. so this is how we start wednesday morning, then. a weather front bringing thicker clouds across parts of northern ireland, northern and western scotland, some outbreaks of light rain here. and further south across england and wales, a bit more cloud than we've seen recently. probably the best of the sunshine on wednesday for northern england into the southern scotland as well. temperatures doing pretty well, up to around 23 degrees down towards the south—east, but quite widely in the high teens, a little bit cooler for parts of scotland and northern ireland.

and if you are across england and wales and you suffer from hay fever, you will probably notice we've got high levels of pollen out there at the moment. into wednesday evening then, and overnight into thursday, this weather front in the north clips a bit further south. a few spots of drizzle but not very much on it. further south, it's going to be a frost—free start to your thursday morning, and a bit of sunshine from the word go as well. so not a bad day on thursday, a lot of dry weather. but regardless of what the weather is doing, of course that doesn't change the rules on self—isolating and social distancing. stay at home and stay safe wherever you can. but in the sunnier spells in the south, we are likely to see temperatures up to about 22 degrees or so on thursday. further north, a little cooler in scotland and northern ireland as well. looking ahead towards the easter weekend, it will be all change as we start to see weather fronts slowly moving in from the west, heading their way eastwards, bringing a little bit of rain at times. equally, there'll be some drier weather, if you're hoping to get a little bit of gardening done before

the easter weekend. for good friday itself, we start off a lot of dry weather, but more cloud and showers working in from the west. central and eastern england probably staying dry and pretty warm here for a quite good part of the day, in fact temperatures reaching around 24 celsius. the cloud and showers further north and west will edge their way further eastwards through the rest of easter weekend. so a bit of a mixed picture, one or two showers around, equally some spells of sunshine through into the easter weekend. but you will notice that things will start to turn a little bit cooler. but don't forget, we have got high levels of pollen out there. stay at home and stay safe where you can. bye— bye.

this is bbc news, the headlines:

britain's prime minister, borisjohnson, is spending a second night in intensive care. his condition has been described as stable. across the entire country, 786 people with coronavirus died in hospital — the highest figure to date. however, officials say the number of new cases may be slowing. the 2.5—month lockdown on the chinese city of wuhan — where the pandemic started — has been lifted. transport connections have been re—established between the city of eleven 11 million people and the rest of the country. china registered no new deaths in its official coronavirus figures on tuesday. and the american state of new york is on the cusp of having more confirmed virus cases than any single country. only spain has more. state recorded its highest daily death toll from the pandemic on tuesday, 731. now on bbc news, victoria derbyshire has more