this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the uk government issues an easter message to urging people to remain at home this weekend as governments across the world ask people to stay indoors to stop the spread of coronavirus. the british prime minister is spending a sixth day in hospital after leaving intensive care. his father urges him to rest. eu finance ministers agree a 500 billion euro rescue package to help countries worst affected by the pandemic. new york starts to bury some of its dead in mass graves with nearly 160,000 people infected with coronavirus across the state. and a bbc investigation reveals british businesses have lost nearly £2 million in coronavirus related

fraud buying nonexistent medical equipment online. hello and welcome to audiences in the uk and around the world. i'm joanna gosling, bringing you all the latest covid—19 developments here in the uk and globally. as the easter weekend begins, we are all being reminded again not to go out unless it is absolutely necessary, whatever the temptation, with temperatures in some parts of the uk expected to hit 26 celsius. the government has launched a publicity campaign with the message — stay home and have a "safe easter". the uk prime minister borisjohnson is out of intensive care and is said to be in "extremely good spirits"

at st thomas‘ hospital in london. speaking to the bbc, his father stanleyjohnson said that he must now rest up. and he said "we must play properly now. this has certainly made me feel more cautious." spain recorded its lowest daily death toll from coronavirus in 17 days, with 605 people dying taking the total number of deaths to 15,843. new york state now has more coronavirus cases than any other country outside the us, according to latest figures, with almost 160,000 people infected. and european union finance ministers have agreed an emergency rescue package worth half a trillion euros for the economies worst hit by the coronavirus pandemic. let's get the latest in the uk from our reporter, charlotte rose. cheering and applause. pots banging and whistles blowing. across the country, it's become a national thursday night ritual

to thank those front—line carers for putting themselves at risk in the fight against coronavirus. and one person in particular was showing her gratitude. the pm's fiancee reacting to the news that borisjohnson is out of intensive care at st thomas‘ hospital in london. brilliant news. yeah, i mean, it's really good news. it's also a reminder that people can recover, more generally. that's good news. it's good to have some positive news generally, but it's really good to know that the prime minister is on the road to full recovery. i was always confident that he would, and it's really good to know that he's now out of icu. well, i'm really pleased for the prime minister and his family. it is a relief for them, and i really hope this is the beginning of a speedy recovery, and i think everywhere across the country, people will be wishing him well. so, this is good news. but whilst there's good news for the pm, yesterday's figures were a sobering reminder that not all are so lucky, with 881 deaths in the past 2a hours, taking the total to nearly 8,000. that's why ministers and police

chiefs say it's so important that people stay at home this easter weekend, despite the good weather. in cumbria, police stopped two men who'd travelled to the lakes to go canoeing. they were told to go home. and a warning from one chief constable that they were prepared to take drastic action. we will not, at this stage, be setting up roadblocks. be starting to marshal supermarkets and checking the items in baskets and trolleys to see whether it's a legitimate, necessary item. but again, be under no illusion, if people do not heed the warnings that the police and i are making today, we will start to do that. the force later clarified it would not interrogate shoppers. but one cabinet minister has been forced to defend his own actions during lockdown. for weeks, the housing secretary, robertjenrick, has been hammering home the government's message. this is really on all of us, and we can all play a part in tackling the virus,

in many cases by doing something as simple as choosing to stay at home for the coming days. last night, responding to a report in the guardian, he explained he travelled a0 miles to deliver food and medicine to his parents in shropshire last weekend, but insisted he had respected social distancing rules. for all of us, another challenging weekend lies ahead. but the message stays the same — to help nhs workers and ease the strain on our carers over easter, we all need to stay at home. charlotte rose, bbc news. 0ur reporter helena wilkinson is outside st thomas' hospital in london. that is where the prime minister is being cared for. that good news that he is out of intensive care. yes, good news for his family, of course,

for his friends and colleagues that the prime minister, we learned last night, was moved out of the intensive care unit here at st thomas's hospital. he had spent three nights in intensive care. we know he was moved from the ward on monday and things actually turned quite quickly for the prime minister on monday. he was admitted here on sunday as a precaution. he did not come in as an emergency. 0n sunday as a precaution. he did not come in as an emergency. on monday, he was still getting his ministerial documents and working from his hospital bed, but then by the evening, his condition, we were told, worsened and he had to be transferred to the intensive care unit. we understand that because doctors felt it was needed that he had to be close to a ventilator in case he needed to be on one. it turned out that the prime minister did not need to go on a ventilator. he did receive what was described as a standard oxygen treatment while in intensive care, but, yes, last night, he was moved out of intensive care. he is now on a ward. the

latest we have had from the hospital and downing street was that he is continuing to receive and being closely monitored during the early phase of his recovery. just not that phrase, early, you can issue that this is not going to be over quickly for the prime minister. he will need time to recover in the hospital but, of course, no one knows apart from his medical team how long that is going to take for him before he can be discharged from here and then go back and get back to work. but we may get a bit more detail when we hear from the dailyjournalist robbie briefing, a briefing that is given to journalists by downing street in the next couple of hours 01’ so. street in the next couple of hours or so. we may get a bit of an update from them as to how the prime minister is this morning. thank you very much, helena. 0ur political correspondent leila nathoo is here. just picking up on what we were

hearing there from helena about nobody knowing how long it is going to ta ke nobody knowing how long it is going to take the prime minister to fully recover from this, one senior government source has been accorded a scene we government source has been accorded a scene we need him back in full health, he is the energy that drives the machine. is there any sense of how long he may be out of action and how long he may be out of action and how they are managing that? no, i mean, ithink how they are managing that? no, i mean, i think this is definitely being taken day by day in terms of how the prime minister's health is progressing. he is still in hospital, remember. he is out of intensive care but he is in a hospital bed for now and we do not know how long it's going to stay there. there is an absence of the government's figurehead at this time, we have not seen borisjohnson at the daily briefing for quite awhile. that is something to note, but dominic raab is debiting for m, he has been tasked with fulfilling the prime minister's duties, if you like, but the message from government is that this is a cabinet government is that this is a cabinet government and the strategy for tackling coronavirus has been drawn

up tackling coronavirus has been drawn up by tackling coronavirus has been drawn up by boris johnson, tackling coronavirus has been drawn up by borisjohnson, many decisions have been made so far and the plan is being put into case by the cabinet and dominic raab is clear that he is able to put into place any plans that are needed. the lockdown measures will not be reviewed until at least the next of next week who knows what the prime minister's condition will be then, but i think there is an absence of borisjohnson, but but i think there is an absence of boris johnson, but it but i think there is an absence of borisjohnson, but it is likely he will be out of action. he is not working in hospital at the moment and it is likely he is going to be out of action for some time. temperatures are expected to hit 26 celsius in some parts of the uk this easter weekend and it will be tempting to spend time out of doors for many people, particularly people who do not have their own green spaces or anywhere outdoors that they can be. the message coming out from the government is absolutely stay home, whatever the temptation. at the same time, there has been rather unfortunate news from the government that one of their own ministers has apparently been breaking the rules. on the

messaging, i mean, you heard yesterday definitively that this was not the time to let up and i think dominic raab yesterday when you heard from him tried to convey a bit of humanity, talking about how he would usually spend his easter weekend with his young sons, a recognition that this has been tough and is tough now that we are approaching week three of these restrictions, especially this bank holiday weekend, but the message is that it holiday weekend, but the message is thatitis holiday weekend, but the message is that it is too early to think about relaxing the restrictions. we do not wa nt to relaxing the restrictions. we do not want to undo the work we have done so want to undo the work we have done so far in giving some potentially positive news about the spread of the disease. i really strong message to be but head of this easter weekend. you mentioned robert jenrette, the communities secretary. there have been some reports about his movement today. one report that he had a trip to his parents' home in shropshire and another said he had travelled to a second home in herefordshire after the lockdown restrictions were in place. i think it is important to say that the context for this is... scrutiny of

ministers, you will remember the chief medical officer in scotland had to resign last week because she was found to have made trips to her second home and had to apologise for that. there was obviously a lot of scrutiny on the people who are imposing these restrictions. robert jenrick has said he was delivering essential medicals supplies, he may social distancing rules and both his pa rents a re social distancing rules and both his parents are self isolating. that is actually within the guidelines from the government which they that if relatives are elderly or vulnerable, you may leave your house to help them by dropping shopping or medication on the doorstep. the issue of him travelling to a home in herefordshire, this is where his wife and three young children have been based. it is not his constituency home. clearly, minister's travel between london, there are many ministers still working out of westminster as we have seen, so you working out of westminster as we have seen, so you can working out of westminster as we have seen, so you can expect them to be travelling from westminster to their homes. basically, he said,

look, my family were already there before the lockdown restrictions we re before the lockdown restrictions were put in place and i travelled to be with them and that is where he is now, working from home. clearly there is some slight muddying of the water here saying perhaps causing people to ask question about what qualifies as an essential or nonessential journey. i qualifies as an essential or nonessentialjourney. i do not think thatis nonessentialjourney. i do not think that is helpful at this time. the government is trying to ram home that message of staying at home. thank you. new york state now has more coronavirus cases than any other country outside the us, according to latest figures. there are almost 160,000 people infected. that's more than spain or italy. the state has started to bury some of its dead in mass graves. images, taken by drones, show labourers working on hart island near the bronx, laying pine coffins in long trenches. president trump reaffirmed his desire to reopen the us economy as quickly as possible, in the face of surging jobless figures. david willis reports.

every day for the last three days, a new record has been set in new york. more than 7000 people have died here, but despite that, officials believe there is still cause for hope. the number of people admitted to hospital with symptoms of the virus is starting to level out, and that is boosting president trump's belief that the united states might soon start to return to normal. it looks like we are at the lower end of the curve in terms of death and i think we are going to open up strong and very successfully, and i would like to say even more successfully than before. the president is itching to see america back in business, the world's largest economy has devastated by this crisis. government figures show that in the last three weeks, nearly 17 million people here lost theirjobs.

april's unemployment rate is forecasted to hit 15%, a number not seen since the days of the great depression. in a ground—breaking move, america's central bank, the federal reserve, has announced it is to provide more than $2 trillion in loans to help small businesses and local governments pay their bills. but the cost of testing everyone here who thinks they might have the coronavirus could prove unsustainable, so how then could the trump administration start sending people back to work? at the present moment we have now cleared more than two million tests across the country, and i am pleased to report we are testing more than 100,000 people per day now. but more testing is crucial, especially of reports that the president is pushing to reopen the country by the beginning of may are true. the united states is expected to see its biggest death toll

from the coronavirus this coming easter sunday. david willis, bbc news. the headlines on bbc news: the uk government issues an easter message to urging people to remain at home this weekend as governments across the world ask people to stay indoors to stop the spread of coronavirus. the british prime minister is spending a sixth day in hospital after leaving intensive care. his father urges him to rest. eu finance ministers agree a 500 billion euro rescue package to help countries worst affected by the pandemic. the bbc‘s europe correspondent, gavin lee, gave more details european union finance ministers have agreed a 500 billion euro package to help member states' economies. loans will be provided to help pay health care costs and support

companies and unemployed workers. the ministers stopped short of accepting a demand, by france and italy, to share out the cost of the crisis by issuing so—called corona bonds. matt graveling reports. while video links kept ministers apart, the message did not. solidarity is key. a phrase born through weeks of discussion and part of the first major step to repair economies left battered by the coronavirus pandemic. we can all remember the response to the financial crisis of the last decade, when europe did too little, too late. this time around its different. different to the tune of 500 billion euros, being made available to help countries pay for the health care, cure, and prevention—related costs of covid—19. the move comes after the world trade organization warned the pandemic will cause the deepest economic recession in living memories. currently, we rely solely on the safety nets that are in place

in each member state. but these safety nets are facing unprecedented pressure in some parts of our union. that is why we welcome the creation of a temporary european instrument to support national safety nets in this crisis. with quarantine measures leaving countries counting the cost of the outbreak, ministers say they will work hard to make funds available within two weeks. but the discussions were not without problems. talks broke down on wednesday without an agreement, including a dispute between italy and the netherlands over how to apply the recovery fund. this emergency plan will shield our economic and social fabric as we dive into a recession. when the health crisis abates, we will need to spur the economic recovery. it is imperative that we grow together. the eurogroup described the rescue package as unprecedented,

but it's still only a third of the 1.5 trillion euros the european central banks say will be required to tackle the crisis. matt graveling, bbc news. the number of coronavirus deaths in spain has fallen, part of a trend suggesting the outbreak is beginning to be contained. the country recorded 605 fatalities in the past 2a hours, according to health ministry officials. that's its lowest total in 17 days. 0verall deaths on spain now approach 16,000 people. spain, one of the worst—affected countries in europe, has been in lockdown for three—and a—half weeks. a police service have clarified

their position after this tweet which said they were checking on people in supermarkets to make sure they were not shopping in nonessential isles. they later clarified that they were not checking what people were buying. schools go back in south korea for online lessons for the first time since their winter break. the government says all students across the country will be given the technology to learn. laura bicker reports. it's difficult. 0ur teacher is having difficulty talking in an empty room, right? this is not how the teacher wanted to greet her first year students. you see me, 0k, let me see... she never dreamt that her phone could become a blackboard, or that she would have to introduce herself online. i spent my vacation with keeping social distancing... at first, i was so nervous, and even scared, because i've never used these technologies before. but you know, having my first class, finishing my first class, i think that it wasn't as bad as i thought. it can never be like

an original class, but still, in a situation like this, this is the best option. how has this time been for you? so, we are supposed to go to school in february, but since we are still staying home for the last few weeks, our lifestyle has become more slack and lazy. the teacher tells me she can check her students' work in real time to ensure they are indeed studying. but learning to work in a virtual classroom in just a few days has been a real challenge. it's overwhelming. you really have to adapt to a new change, which is so fast that it feels like a tsunami. the government is handing out over 300,000 smart devices. there are huge digital gaps to fill, even in this tech savvy country. the charity good neighbours

is delivering food parcels to ensure students from low income families can focus on schoolwork. and they're offering tech support, including free wi—fi, to thousands. translation: when i talk to the parents, they're less worried about the access to smart devices and more about whether the kids will be able to learn properly by themselves. the fear is that some students will be left behind in an already tough education system. the government admits this is an experiment, but in a year were normal life has become a distant dream, this is as close as pupils can get, for now. laura bicker, bbc news, seoul. that's the situation in south korea. meanwhile in the uk, british children are struggling to share limited resources

in their homes, with many not having access to the internet. dr michelle dickinson is a nanotechnologist and science educator based in new zealand. she puts together videos aimed at helping children develop their academic skills in science, technology, engineering and mathematics through experiments with everyday household items. shejoins me now. thank you very much forjoining us. imean, the thank you very much forjoining us. i mean, the internet is absolutely a lifeline, obviously, for some many people right now. questions about whether people have got access to everything that they need. but when there are people at home trying to keep their kids entertained, trying to keep themselves entertained, what are the simple ways that you would suggest of doing that? so, the simple ways are not trying to make it too complicated, making sure that there are a structures and a visible schedule for your children and then recognising that lessons are everywhere and in everything. it is easter week and so one thing we have been building are these easter bunny yea rs, very been building are these easter bunny years, very simple and made out of paper but teach you all about why

your shapes and biology about different your shapes in different animals so my advice is do not make things complex, look around your house, see what you have and are plenty of things that you can use to make lessons out of. i like the bunny years, something simple to make. 0bviously bunny years, something simple to make. obviously the parents, are meant to investigate the different your shapes because we do not have that knowledge ourselves but we can find out online. what are other good, simple experiments using things around the house?|j good, simple experiments using things around the house? i have a couple with me. one of them only requires a piece of paper which i have rolled up into a tube here, a sheet of baking paper and everyone seems to be baking in the lockdown and a rubber band over the top. it is very simple and you can make an instrument with this and this is another way to teach a very complex subject which is the science of sound and so sound is actuallyjust a vibration. it goes into art years and uighurs some hair is in our

eardrums —— wiggles some heroes in oureardrum. you eardrums —— wiggles some heroes in our eardrum. you can eardrums —— wiggles some heroes in our eardrum. you can recreate how the mouth works with this baking paper and showing how it vibrates. really fun ways that children can come up with creative things they can do with just at that home. kids are missing out, obviously, on what they are learning around the range of subjects at school right now, but different things that might unexpectedly come onto the radar could send brainwaves whizzing in all different directions and ashley provide inspiration and a sense of excitement in areas that they might not otherwise have come across through more traditional learning. so there is a fine balance between the academic learning which is very important but i wrote a book in new zealand and looked at entrepreneurs and innovators and all of them had their soundings basically from tinkering at home, in their shared or their garage, they think they really loved to do which was not

actually the schoolwork but the deep dive learning that we know can instil creativity and create passions and so this may be the time that i future entrepreneurs are actually training. necessity is the mother of invention, it is said. definitely and there is so much you can do. cardboard and paper, i have here an lesson on wind energy, renewable energy, it is a little car made of cardboard wheels and a stick and a bit of paper and there are so many ways you can be creative and so many ways you can be creative and so many resources online that you can use to actually help your children to learn and to doing those under a structure, so very structured under a lockdown period is very important with some of these having a parent cheat sheet so making sure you are picking the right resources that have thought about how to help pa rents have thought about how to help parents at home during this lockdown period as well as what to provide for children instead because this is

going to be the future of ourjobs. we are seeing right now... thank you, loads of brilliant ideas and inspiration. thank you very much. if you have been watching us around the world, we will say goodbye now. stacey. bye—bye. —— stay safe. nearly two—and—a—half million dollars has been lost due to coronavirus related fraud in the uk since the outbreak began, according to police. most of it relates to bogus companies selling nonexistent protective equipment and sanitisers. a bbc investigation has found criminals in west africa have set up hundreds of websites in the last month. angus crawford reports. somewhere in west africa there are facemasks for sale. hot demand and plenty of suppliers. look at this.

as fear of the virus spreads, so do the adverts. everyone is looking for masks, disposable gloves and hand sanitiser. just one click away. even a covid—19 testing kit. and there's glowing reviews. except it's all fake. time to bring in an expert. scammers are all fairly parasitic and reactionary in nature. when there is spikes in a need for a product, they will flock in towards the need for that product and exploit it. the damage is actually huge. i spoke to a business last week that was actually defrauded of £180,000 which was frankly shocking. so just how easy is it to place an order? do you sell surgical gloves and masks? yeah. oh, good, good. i'm looking for quite a lot, how many can you sell me? the maximum we can supply

is 300,000, maximum. how many? 300,000. 300,000 masks? but you're not, are you? you're a scammer. you're not, are you? we know you're a scammer. is that the end of this discussion, sir? you are a scammer, though, aren't you? you're trying to rip people off, people in need. call disconnects. so, he hung up. i don't think he's got any masks or gloves. he just wants my money and then won't send me anything. scammers don't care at all. so long as they get their money, that's all that matters to them. i think people are very desperate right now, there's so much of a shortage of these things, people are looking everywhere to try to find them. they feel betrayed, they feel completely ripped off, they feel angry. at a time of crisis, fear and exploitation go hand in hand. angus crawford, bbc news.

let's show you the scene live in hyde park in central london where you can hyde park in central london where you can see hyde park in central london where you can see cyclists out and about, people on foot as well, runners and walkers. 0f people on foot as well, runners and walkers. of course, everyday, we are all allowed, even encouraged, to get out of the house and spend some time doing some exercise whether it is a run, walk, but with the hot weather and lots of people converging in the same place to do the same thing, there are concerns about the whole social distancing issue. it is going to bea social distancing issue. it is going to be a hot one this weekend. 26 celsius so let's catch up with the weather. hello there. it is a dry good friday across most parts of the uk and a fairly warm one as well, temperatures rising continuously during this afternoon. there could be a few showers in the far north of scotland and out towards northern ireland later on, and maybe one or two

in the far north of wales. but temperatures could peak at around 23—25 degrees, making it even warmer than yesterday. along the east coast, with an offshore wind, it won't feel quite as chilly. north wales, isolated sharp showers, drifting into northern england. some bursts of rain across parts of scotland and northern ireland this evening and overnight. not too much, though, some places will stay dry. but into the morning, it will be a frost—free start, cloudy and damp for some in scotland and northern ireland. turning drier and brighterfor a time. the sunniest conditions, the further south and east you are, where temperatures could peak at around 26 celsius. feeling cooler to the west of scotland later in the day. and as we go through the second half of the easter weekend, temperatures will drop for all, with an added windchill along some eastern coasts. see you soon.

hello, this is bbc news. the headlines... the uk government issues an easter message to urging people at home this weekend as governments across the world ask people to stay indoors to stop the spread of coronavirus. the british prime minister is spending a sixth day in hospital after leaving intensive care. his father urges him to rest. eu finance ministers agree a 500 billion euro rescue package to help countries worst affected by the pandemic. new york starts to bury some of its dead in mass graves, with nearly 160,000 people infected with coronavirus across the state.

a bbc investigation reveals british businesses have lost nearly £2 million in coronavirus related fraud buying nonexistent medical equipment online. now on bbc news, it's your questions answered. with me is drjess harvey, who is a gp in the west midlands in the uk. and also i'm joined by professor sian griffiths, a global public health expert and emeritus professor at the chinese university of hong kong. welcome both of you, thank you for joining us. i will come to you first of all in oxford. the question from an anonymous questionnaire, with so many people isolating, why have infection rates not plummeted? well, the disease takes a little while, so

without understanding the cause of the disease, people may be infected but not have signs of the illness for a few days, then they may have that initial phase that goes for a week and then they may end up with worse symptoms and have to be admitted to hospital and then u nfortu nately admitted to hospital and then unfortunately some of them will go toi unfortunately some of them will go to i see you and not survive, so on the course of the journey of this disease, it can be around for — six weeks. yesterday at the press conference, we were told that there we re conference, we were told that there were signs that the lockdown was working. there were fewer admissions to itu beds, there were fewer emissions to hospital. —— admissions. we are beginning to see that curve beginning to flatten, but that curve beginning to flatten, but that will only translate into a change in the death rate u nfortu nately over a change in the death rate unfortunately over a period of time. jess, paul anderson asks, with offering a small, controlled viral load to an individual allow a lesser

infection to develop in the individual, and make them immune?m what paul is asking is the basic principles we use for immunisations, that could be something we look for in the future in terms of a vaccine, but at the moment, we do not know enough as to whether that would be an option, so in terms of should he speak exposure to it and try to get a small exposure, that is not something any of us can control, so that it something in development and we will leave it for the experts are to develop those vaccines, that the moment i would strongly advise him to keep across the government guidelines which is to stay away from people, stay at home and keep distance. sian griffiths, dominic asks, why does the government not make it compulsory to wear face masks? 0bviously some countries just do it whether they are compulsory or not, but here it has not been a thing, although when you are out and about, there are simply people wearing them. the government is following the world health

0rganization, which last week reviewed all the evidence on face masks. as you say, many people do wear them and i have worked a lot in hong kong where everybody wears masks if they have a car and the evidence shows that wearing masks alone could be this misleading. if you touch them then touch your face and eyes, they can actually be infectious, either yourself or other people. they are useful, and the recommendation is to be worn by carers, either in hospital settings or care home settings or by people who are symptomatically, so if you are sick then facemasks are useful. if not, it is really up to you it is not something the government mandates. i have one of these plastic visors which i have been wearing with my mask. what about those? i think these are rather new, and they will of course protect you when you are wearing it, and they

will also protect anybody else, but the same would apply. when you take it off, you need to take it off and make sure that you place it somewhere safely, wash your hands and don't risk spreading any infections you may be carrying because you are asymptomatic or might have been on the external surface of the mask from someone who has come into contact with you. just ta ke has come into contact with you. just take great care using protective equipment in the general public is the message. laura asks, can the people who have had or think they have had coronavirus go out and meet other people? jess, if you could a nswer other people? jess, if you could answer that. if you think you had it, then they may have some immunity to getting ill, but that does not mean they can't prejudice in the no necessarily spread it. —— that does not mean they cannot necessarily spread it. in future, not mean they cannot necessarily spread it. infuture, it not mean they cannot necessarily spread it. in future, it may be the case that people who have had it could be allowed out, but at the moment we do not know enough, that

is what the experts are trying to work out now. they are doing as much as they can to find out, but at the moment unfortunately the only thing we can say is for people to carry on following the advice, staying at home and keeping a distance and hopefully in the future then we will start to make more plans about who can go out, and we will hopefully get immunity to it. obviously without testing, people may think they have had it but not really know, but if you are in a house where you have been in quarantine with someone who does seem to have it, can be an assumption that eve ryo ne it, can be an assumption that everyone else in that house is not going to get it? if they haven't shown symptoms were living alongside people who have? you kind of mention pa rt people who have? you kind of mention part of the problem, because at the moment we are not routinely testing everybody, we cannot be 100% sure. because of the symptoms are quite similarto because of the symptoms are quite similar to other flu—like illnesses, at the moment until we have those tests, we cannot be sure that it is coronavirus the person has had, and it may be that because that household has been following all the

guidelines using different towels, being in the kitchen at different times, all household members might not have been exposed to that virus, so we could not guarantee that everybody in that family would therefore be immune just everybody in that family would therefore be immunejust because everybody in that family would therefore be immune just because one person has had symptoms and they haven't developed them, so that is why we need to keep following those rules. as difficult as it is, that is why it is so important we keep doing that. this next question follows on, is there any evidence of natural immunity to covid—19? because it does seem it affects people very differently.” because it does seem it affects people very differently. i don't think natural immunity is a phrase that can be used with this virus, because as jess says, that can be used with this virus, because asjess says, it is very new. the research to date doesn't actually give us the answers, so i would not assume you have natural immunity. you may have had an asymptomatic infection. it is unlikely that it is a natural immunity, but obviously being fitter, healthier, not smoking,

sleeping well, eating well, all of those things will help fight any virus and so your immune system will be able to cope better with the disease. so is that what it boils down to? just having a good immune system if you are and a symptomatically patient? we do not know the science yet, and we also don't know the rates of asymptomatic infections. this will become clearer, and we are talking about testing, which is at the moment for those who have the disease, that is the antigen test, and that is being wrapped up so we can be done more broadly in the public. now it is for those who are sick and for health ca re those who are sick and for health care workers, but when we get the antibody test, it will show whether or not you have had the disease. it will tell us whether or not we are protected against future exposure to the virus, and that is a test that there is a lot of work going on in academia to come up with that test, because it is proving to be quite obligated to produce a sensitive test that can be used safely in the

public. there are suggestions of there being several strains of covid—19, and heather asks are there different strains of covid—19 with differing severities? could that be pa rt differing severities? could that be part of it? it is too early to say. there was a paper from china that talked about the s type and the l type but that has not been followed up, and more research is needed. every virus can mutate and can change, and for example stars back in 2003 because of the epidemic and then pass out... it was no longer pathogenic and really very little of it was seen again, and that occurred. we have not seen that in this disease, although it is just a matter of time and monitoring the science that will tell us the a nswe rs. science that will tell us the answers. there are some questions we are getting on second—hand smoke that i will come to you for, jess. first of all, alan asks, can you catch coronavirus from a smoker‘s

second—hand smoke? in a similar vein, helen asks should vaping and snogging the band when queueing to enter a shop? what are the chances of catching the disease from this kind of exhalation? the first thing i would say in reply to that is for anybody who is a smoker, now would bea anybody who is a smoker, now would be a good time to start, because the one certain thing i know in terms of answering this question is we know that smoking does put you at risk as having more severe illness if you get infected with covid—19. in terms of can you get it from second—hand smoke, there is a differing opinion, and again, because it is such a new virus, we are learning about its every day and our knowledge is improving, there is no current firm evidence that can be transmitted in second—hand smoke. at the moment, we know that if somebody was too as they exhale the smoke, be it through vaping ora they exhale the smoke, be it through vaping or a cigarette, if they were to cop at the same time, then there

would be a riskjust like there would be a riskjust like there would be a riskjust like there would be if anybody coughed into the air, because those droplets are going into the air. the certain types of smoking, so if people are sharing vaping pipes or in some of the other types of smoking where you share devices, then certainly that has a risk of transmission because people are using it. smokers have an increased risk because as they are lifting the cigarette to the mouth, they are touching their mouth with their hands, they have those virus particles on their hands and are likely to transmit through that. should it be banned? it is a difficult one. we know that we banned it in public places, in restau ra nts a nd banned it in public places, in restaurants and bars, and now people do it outside, and certainly at the moment there are people having to queue to go into shops, so i can understand that would cause some anxiety. what i would advise is to make sure that when you are in that queue, and there is a body that is smoking, make sure you keep the distance because the further away you are from that person, then if there is any potential risk, you will be able to minimise that as

much as you possibly can. there are concerns emerging about people not going forward to see medical services, whether it is the gp or a&e at the moment because of concerns about going to hospital. 0ne concerns about going to hospital. one question here, this is brain, probably for you jess, could the government use emergency facilities after the pandemic to catch up another delayed medical procedures? with that make sensefirst thing i would like to reassure all of your viewers is that we are still working with gps, the gps are still there. bank holiday has been cancelled for general practice this weekend, so we are all there and working because if somebody does have a problem related to covid—19 or something else, then we are all still there and we are there and ready to work and help you. this is regardless of what the problem is, so please do not feel that we are not there to help. i can understand that there are people

there who might feel a lot of anxiety about going into hospital and perhaps presenting their problems to us, but what i would say is you are far better to present to us, to bring a sad and have a chat and we can come to a plan about the best way forward, and we understand that people do not want to go into the hospital at the moment, and we are doing our most to make sure we do not have anybody that does not need to be in. in terms of catching up, i have no doubt that there are nhs planners right now who are working on how we can catch up on things that have been cancelled or postponed during the period, and whether we use the extra facilities. that could be part of the plan, and i agree it could be a sensible option. we need to see how this pans out, because unfortunately there is a great degree of uncertainty right now, about what is going to happen and when, so we can do is try and lay the best plans we can and hopefully we will catch up. i would like to reassure everybody that we are still there, we are still working. it is ourjob to help you

and we will be there. the chair of the royal college of gps is saying the royal college of gps is saying the doctors aren't seeing the usual cases of early cancer or conditions such as diabetes. there has also been a big drop in the number of people going to a&e. what are your thoughts on what is going on? is it what you would expect to see from your experience of what has happened in previous pandemics?” your experience of what has happened in previous pandemics? i think if you look back to sars, you did see a fall off in people attending for heart disease, people were more severely ill, and more routine care was definitely... they did not keep their appointments, because people do get anxious and concerned. i would just reinforce jess's do get anxious and concerned. i would just reinforcejess's advice just now. it is really important that if you have a long—term condition and you are not well, you should phone your gp and discuss with your gp. there has been more of

a use of phone consultations, scape consultations, ways in which you can get the advice you need, and i am sure if you do need to go to hospital, then the hospitals are very hospital, then the hospitals are very aware hospital, then the hospitals are very aware of the need to keep people separated, social distancing, the hygiene, all of those issues, so if you need care, it is important you go to get care. the first step is to get some advice, so use the phone first and get advice so that your condition does not worsen and your condition does not worsen and you do not end up seeing, having more problems. that applies for a mental health as well as physical health. it is very important that if you feel you cannot cope, see the doctor. isabel asks will you get more sick if you take on a virus as opposed to just one exposure? this is something that has been discussed from the start, isn't it, where medics in medics in china in particular, they were realising you

seemed to get more sick because of the viral load they were coming up against? yes, and this is something that as we have said before, because it is so new, we are learning every day about it, so in terms of if you have a higher viral load and more exposure, the more chance there is of the virus of making you ill, but essentially at the moment nobody can really ta ke a ny essentially at the moment nobody can really take any risks about how much ofa really take any risks about how much of a load they have. obviously the more exposure you have to a situation with the virus, the bigger the chance of getting it. but it is still not a chance worth taking. the second part of that question was what would that mean in a household where someone may have it and you don't know? this is the issue, and this is why we have the rules on isolating, so if a member of the household should get symptoms and thatis household should get symptoms and that is why all of the member of the household should stay inside and isolated for 1h days, and that is

because it could take up to 1a days for the symptoms to start. that is what is most important about that, and that is why we have that rule. in that period, they are obviously up in that period, they are obviously up close with somebody who seems has covid—19. up close with somebody who seems has covid-19. they are, and this is what we don't know, and it could be that most people have had very minor symptoms and have hardly noticed, and this is where we come back to theissue and this is where we come back to the issue of testing and all those sorts of things that we have previously discussed. it is essentially at the moment that we don't know enough to be completely sure, but what we know is any exposure to the virus is more than too many. on the issue of testing, sian, the government's chief scientific adviser has suggested that probably less than 10% of people in the uk have had the virus. we do not know in the absence of testing, but speaking to people here in the newsroom today and

anecdotally with people i know and other stories that are being told, there seems to be a lot of people out there who think they have it or have had it, so what is the true picture? are we actually lulling ourselves into a false sense of security if the 10% figure is right, thinking maybe we have had it and have immunity when we don't? as he said yesterday, we don't know, and we don't know. that is the message, we don't know. that is the message, we don't know. that is the message, we do not know who has had the virus, we do not know who is saved, we do not know he has antibodies and thatis we do not know he has antibodies and that is why we all need to stay home and protect those around us. the test for antibodies is proving quite difficult, as i said earlier, to get a robust test that will be sensitive enoughin a robust test that will be sensitive enough in the population to give us a true picture, and so if only 10% of the population have been exposed, that leaves 90% who have not, which

again the message is protect that 90%. as the research is produced and vaccines are produced, more information will be created and when we have a test, we will have more of an understanding, but it is a new disease is at the best thing to do is take precautions and not think about is at 10%, 20%? as he says, we do not know. in the 1950s, we sterilised letters and magazines for 20 minutes to kill chickenpox or polio germs. is that a good idea now? certainly what we have learned so far about the virus is that it can live on different services for different lengths of time, so the harder services like plastics —— services like plastics, it could live up to 72 hours or longer. in terms of cardboard, may be up to 2a hours. what i would say tojohn is handling a letter itself is not going to give you coronavirus. how

you will get it is when you handle that letter and then touch your face, eyes and mouth with your hands, so in terms of opening letters, that is fine to do, just wash your hands after you have done it. same goes for handling anything else that you have any concerns about. it is ok to handle them, it is just about. it is ok to handle them, it isjust a then about. it is ok to handle them, it is just a then wash your hands straight after and that will minimise your risks. i do not think trying to sterilise every letter is feasible or appropriate, really, trying to sterilise every letter is feasible orappropriate, really, but certainly making sure that you are washing your hands after you have handled anything or after you have been outside, all those sorts of things is really important. you would drive yourself crazy if you try to sterilise everything you touch, because it is constant when we are touching different things. just keep hands away from faces. 0n that, rachel asks should we quarantine mail and deliveries for how long, ? you have quarantine mail and deliveries for how long,? you have answered quarantine mail and deliveries for how long, ? you have answered that, the idea is to keep your hands away

from your face and wash them. one doctor says is coronavirus airborne and could sufficient droplets be carried far on the wind, and how many virus units are needed to establish infection?” many virus units are needed to establish infection? i cannot answer how many virus units would establish infection. if the general thinking is that it is droplet spread and the distance to stay apart from people is two metres, and although other wig is being done in their lives on —— other work is being done on aerosol spread, and the most common form of spread is droplets, so stick to the advice, stay two metres apart and when you are out exercising, make sure that you keep your social distance from other people. louise asks, if food is quarantine in a fridge orfreezerfor asks, if food is quarantine in a fridge or freezer for three days without sterilisation, will the virus die or lay dormant when lifted out? to either of you know that?

another of the unknown is possibly. unknown, but people do prefer to wipe down milk bottles with soapy water or a disinfectant to keep theirfridge is water or a disinfectant to keep their fridge is clean, water or a disinfectant to keep theirfridge is clean, and that water or a disinfectant to keep their fridge is clean, and that may be helpful to avoid any contamination should it perhaps have occurred. one person asks can the virus be transferred via mosquito bites? is there a raised concern to this due to the change in the weather? that is a good question. what do you think? from what we know so far, it is transferred by those respiratory droplets, so that is the droplets we talk about when we cough, sneeze and those sorts of things. we know that being in close contact with people for a long period of time, so being less than one metre away from people for a cynic and period can also potentially transmit it, but my honest answer in terms of mosquito bites is that i don't know, we will have to ask some of the experts. i haven't seen or read anything about

it, andi haven't seen or read anything about it, and i couldn't say confidently yes or no. anything to add to that, sian? no. if it is transferred by the respiratory system, does it follow automatically it would be transferred by blood ? follow automatically it would be transferred by blood? is that totally different? it is different, and the thing about temperature here, because mosquitoes tend to be in warmer climates, and the virus is so far preferring colder climates, but i do not know if that is releva nt but i do not know if that is relevant and we will have to wait for the science. susie asks is the virus also spreading in our hair strands? i am guessing that is a similar thing to what we have been hearing about animals, it can settle on the fur of animals, presumably on our hairas on the fur of animals, presumably on our hair as well on the fur of animals, presumably on our hairas welland on the fur of animals, presumably on our hair as well and whether you touchit our hair as well and whether you touch it and then put your hands on your face touch it and then put your hands on yourface again. touch it and then put your hands on your face again. it is the touching. do not touch your hair and then

touch eyes and mouth, just in case it has landed on your hair, and there was some period during the wuhan lockdown when people were shaving their heads, and the general advice then was it was not necessary. a government source has told the sun newspaper, we will only consider easing lockdown measures once the deaths start to go down, and they are saying they think that is three weeks away. i mean, we obviously don't know. this is all based on modelling, but in terms of getting messages out there that people will kind of taken, understand, think, that this is the period we will be in lockdown and we will observe it. what do you think has previously proved to be the most helpful? because there is not that sense of clarity and target when we get the official government briefing. if you look around the world at all the trajectories, we

are beginning to see turning in the trajectories of the disease in europe, italy, spain. we have seen a different experience in the far east, but we have seen that when lockdown is a slightly released such as in hong kong when they thought they had a good grip on the disease, then they had imported cases and had or have another spike of the disease. it is a very tricky time, and the message is that i think we will not be going back to normal as we is to think about it. i think it will be a slow return to doing things, lots more testing, lots more contact tracing. actually, following up, if there are cases of the disease, following up if it has been imposed on groups of people. we are going to have to be vigilant and the surveillance by the public health system and ourselves will be quite

important. so i think when we are looking at the total lockdown that we have at the moment when we cannot see ourfamilies we have at the moment when we cannot see our families at easter, that may be only for a few more weeks, but after that, there will be a strategic approach. professor sian griffiths, thank you for your expertise, and thank you to doctor jess harvey. hello. a dry easter weekend for the vast majority, although we will see a few isolated, maybe even thundery showers break out at times through the weekend. the big story otherwise will be how the temperatures shift around, from a pretty warm start, 25 degrees across some southern areas today, above average for the time of year, southerly winds wafting the warmth northwards, but towards the end of the weekend, north to north—easterly winds develop and that will limit temperatures across eastern areas to single figures, with an added windchill, too. 0ut there at the moment, eastern

parts, warmer than yesterday. most places dry across the country. hazy sunshine in the north with one or two isolated showers, particularly in scotland and northern ireland later. for all of us, temperatures above where they should be for the time of year. may be peaking at 23—25d. as we finish the afternoon, isolated showers, maybe thunder in north wales and northern england. the west of scotland and northern ireland could get some heavy bursts this evening. for all, frost—free as we head into saturday morning. could still be a damp and cloudy start across parts of scotland and northern ireland initially, turning drier and brighter, some hazy sunshine. further south, varying amounts of cloud but some longer sunny spells the further south and east you after. wales and the south—west of england could catch an isolated thunderstorm late in the day. temperatures higher than today in the south—east corner. cooler in western scotland and northern ireland.

this area of low pressure moves from iceland through to norway. area of low pressure as well out towards ireland, and across southern ireland, we could see some heavy rain, maybe some splashes in the west of wales. elsewhere, variable cloud. some thunderstorms developing across southern counties of england later. temperatures starting to fall away. it gets colder on sunday night, quite a windy night in store as this high pressure brings the winds all the way down from the north, adding to the chill along the eastern coasts. sunshine becoming more widespread further west. but even here, we will see temperatures around 10 degrees lower than where they have been for the next few days. and winds touching gale force in the south—east.

this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the uk government issues an easter message urging people to remain at home this weekend as governments across the world ask people to stay indoors to stop the spread of coronavirus. the british prime minister is spending a sixth day in hospital after leaving intensive care. his father urges him to rest. eu finance ministers agree a 500 billion euro rescue package to help countries worst affected by the pandemic. new york starts to bury some of its dead in mass graves with nearly 160,000 people infected with coronavirus across the state. and a bbc investigation reveals british businesses have lost nearly £2 million in coronavirus related fraud buying nonexistent