because it is time for a street, because it is time for a news bulletin. but if you are in the uk and you want to keep listening to this news conference, you can do so on bbc radio five live. now, it is the tea—time bulletin.

the number of people who've died with coronavirus in the uk has gone up by 917 since yesterday. it comes as doctors issue a stark warning about access to personal protection equipment. the government says it's doing everything it can. we doing everything it can. are in an unprecedented g| health we are in an unprecedented global health pandemic right now. it is inevitable that the demand and the pressures on ppe and the demand for ppe are going to be exponential, they are going to be incredibly high. and we are trying to address that as a government. the authorities have repeated their request that people should stay at home over the easter weekend. in the united states, there are now more than half a million confirmed infections with the number of dead at nearly 19,000. and here, the cafes and restaurants

of cardiff providing meals for medical workers on the front line against coronavirus. good afternoon. the number of people who have died in a single day after contracting coronavirus has risen by more than 900 for the second day in a row. yesterday the uk recorded europe's highest daily death toll yet. it comes as the british medical association issued a stark warning that many medics are unable to access the personal protective equipment they need to keep themselves safe while treating patients with coronavirus. they said that supplies in some areas were at dangerously low levels. earlier the health secretary matt hancock said there was enough ppe to go round if it was used according

to guidelines, but doctors and nurses should treat it as a "precious resource". 917 people have died in hospital in the latest 2a hour period but that number does not include people who have died from coronavirus in care homes or in the community. it brings the total number of deaths in hospital to 9,875. here is our science editor, david shukman. 19 of those who have died are nhs workers. a human cost on a scale unimaginable even a few short weeks ago. and the warning is that we are not through it yet. that more families like that of doreen hunt, buried last week, will suddenly find themselves in the grip of covid—19. will suddenly find themselves in the grip of (avid-19. the risk is real. me and my and were actually speaking about the three or four weeks ago. we didn't realise how hard it was going to hit ourfamily, obviously.

we all thought it would be somebody else but we had been hit with it. among the casualties, 19 nhs staff who died after working on the front line. fuelling demands for more personal protective equipment. we spoke to a nursing practitioner in the west midlands who doesn't want us the west midlands who doesn't want us to use his name. we got a lot of ppe in the beginning but now, because we are running out, they've changed the policy and are sending us changed the policy and are sending us in with covid—19 patients are just a surgical mask only. before, we used to count, now they're asking us we used to count, now they're asking us to coincide with just an apron. we are scared, seeing colleagues pass away every day. we are on the front line and we don't deserve it, we don't deserve it, we need more. the government has said it is providing huge quantities of equipment. the health secretary matt hancock has suggested that staff might be wasting it. and he also questioned where the victims became infected. the is going on to establish whether they caught

coronavirus on the line of duty, while at work, or whether it like so many other people in the rest of their lives, it's obviously quite difficult to work that out. but research by the british medical association shows that more than half of doctors working in high—risk environments said they were short of face masks, or had none available. around two thirds said they didn't have eye protection. and more than half said they were being pressured into working in a risk area despite not having the adequate gear to protect them. —— in a high risk area. doctors are also human beings, they don't want to become ill, they don't want their lives to be at risk. and what is really worrying us is the numbers of health care workers who have tragically died. so doctors are naturally afraid, but the one thing that is important is to give them the protection, and thatis to give them the protection, and that is something the government owns us.

that is something the government owns us. so at today's government briefing, ministers and officials we re briefing, ministers and officials were under pressure under personal protective equipment. it's absolutely critical that we get ppe out to all those working on the front line so they not only are protected but they feel safe. would it be possible to give a commitment toa it be possible to give a commitment to a date by when the right quantities will reach the right people? because everyday we hear from certainly nhs front line staff that they don't have the equipment that they don't have the equipment that they don't have the equipment that they need. there is a clear plan, we are working with not just suppliers but manufacturers to really bolster the supplies we need for ppe which quite frankly is unprecedented during this crisis. this question is bound to keep coming up. as long as health workers and others feel they are not getting the support they need. let's go live now to our home affairs correspondent, tom symonds. tom, some details announced surrounding enforcement.

the enforcement of the lockdown restrictions. yes, we are all having to learn to navigate life in lockdown, keeping two metres distance, it's a particular issue in places like this popular with dog walkers and runners. we had from police today at 108a finds have been issued so far from senior police officers at the press conference this afternoon. that is a relatively small number, from 37 forces so far in england and wales, and there will be more full data next week. crime, incidentally, is down 21% compared to the same period last year but there is a concern that domestic violence is rising because we are all cooped up at home will stop violence against men and women. the national helpline run by refuge has reported a rise of 120% in calls to the helpline. the government announced today it would put £2 million into better online services

to help potential victims and victims of domestic violence and it is launching an advertising campaign with a new symbol, a hand embossed with a new symbol, a hand embossed with hearts, to show that we as a society will not tolerate domestic abuse. the home secretary priti patel wa nts abuse. the home secretary priti patel wants us to share it online and in the windows of our home is where we are all going back to tonight. many thanks. i am joined now by our health correspondent, laura foster. the number of deaths continues to be horribly high. we were only certain figures during that press briefing, talk us through them. yes, the figures the number of deaths as it nears 10,000 is horrible to read. the charts that we were shown this afternoon suggests that things are looking to turn which is something to hopewell. the first chart shows the number of people in hospital beds with covid—19. we are told there are around 20,000 people

receiving treatment in hospital for this virus at the precise moment. the regions identified are the regions of the highest number of cases, london, where the spread began, the midlands, the north—west and north—east and yorkshire. the nhs midland medical director said we are seeing the first signs of plateauing during the results, there was a little bit of dip from london because some hospitals did not report the figures. the good news is there is some levelling off but there is some levelling off but there are still more deaths. the next chart compares the uk with other countries. not quite such a bad scenario when compared to the united states of america or indeed with spain, but what is worrying is, a similar trajectory with italy at the moment, the lines perfectly in sync. the government is adamant that if people keep following the lockdown and social distancing instructions, we will start to see that line bend. laura, many thanks.

well, with the weather set to stay fine for many this weekend, the government has repeated again the need for people to stay at home unless they go out for the following reasons. you can leave home to exercise once a day locally, alone or with members of your household. you can shop but only for basic necessities and as infrequently as possible. and you can go out for any medical need or to provide care for a vulnerable person. you can also travel to or from work, but only if you can't work from home. the united states has become the first country in the world to record more than 2,000 deaths associated with coronavirus in a single day. it now has more than half a million confirmed infections. we can talk now our north america editor, jon sopel. these are extraordinary figures. yeah, they are very grim indeed. if you look at them, it is fast approaching 20,000 deaths in the us,

it is now overtaken italy as the country with the highest number of mortalities as a result of the coronavirus. and everything from new york, another 783 people have died overnight in new york state. against that, you have donald trump weighing up that, you have donald trump weighing up when is the right time to open up the country, he would like to start that happening at the beginning of may. but new york city's governor, mayor, i should say, has said that the schools would not reopen for this academic year if he has this way. this gives you an indication of what's happening. the new york governor has quoted churchill after the battle of el alamein and said, it's not the beginning of the end, but it is the end of the beginning. and i think that americans are starting to think that may be the curve is being flattened, and though the statistics are horrible, they are turning the corner. 0k, bame, thank you. —— 0k, jon, thank you. labour are calling on the government

to urgently investigate why people from ethnic minority backgrounds are more vulnerable to coronavirus after early research has suggested they are being disproportionately affected. it comes after the majority of front line doctors who have died in the nhs have been of black, asian and minority ethnic heritage. new research has also found patients from these backgrounds are being disproportionately admitted to critical care units across the uk. our community affairs correspondent, rianna croxford, reports. when you can't even hug your mother, two hours after your father passes away, that pain really does affect you, it hurts you so much. this man's father died on wednesday. this is his message. if you love your pa rents is his message. if you love your parents and you love your family and friends, please stay at home. the grandfather of six was described by his family as a legend. the backbone of his community, a man who loved his city and gave so much back to it. we said, you're going to get

through this and you're going to fight this. and he lost his battle, he lost his battle within two days. he is one of thousands of people who have lost their lives to coronavirus. early research is suggesting that people of black, asian and minority ethnic heritage are being disproportionately affected. 0nly1li% of people in england and wales are from these backgrounds, yet they currently make up backgrounds, yet they currently make up 34% of patients in critical care units. i do have colleagues who have taken to units. i do have colleagues who have ta ken to buying units. i do have colleagues who have taken to buying their own goggles advisors... taken to buying their own goggles advisors. .. this taken to buying their own goggles advisors... thisjunior taken to buying their own goggles advisors. .. this junior doctor works in ealing hospital in london, one of the worst hit areas in the country. she said there could be many factors behind the figures. whether there is a genetic factor, we don't know, but we have seen certain comorbidities like diabetes and blood pressure etc can like diabetes and blood pressure etc ca n affect like diabetes and blood pressure etc can affect the way you experience this disease. places of worship can bea this disease. places of worship can be a huge source of spread because there are so many people in a small

space. there is clear evidence to show that coming from a lower socioeconomic back and, if you can't speak english, and particularly in the current environment when you cannot bring a family member with you, because that can have a huge impact, just being able to say, i'm in pain, short of breath. labour has called on the government to urgently investigate the data and said it was deeply disturbed by the number of ethnic minority doctors who have died. this doctor working on the front line of kings hospital has recently lost his father and collea g u es recently lost his father and colleagues of the virus and says more data is needed. it's really important we look at why people have died, look at the patterns so if there are any lessons we can learn for the future, i think it would be very important. i'm hoping the department of health and public health england are collecting that data so we can help support communities in the future. the department of health says its current data on coronavirus did not track ethnicity but these families hope it will not lead to them being

overlooked. as nhs staff across the uk continue the battle on the front line, other industries have had to stop working. but a group of cafes and restaurants in cardiff have crowdfunded together to buy ingredients so that their chefs can cook in some cases michelin—starred meals, for the medical workers across the welsh capital. tomos morgan has the story. under enormous pressure, working 12 hours straight in exceptional circumstances. 0ur nhs workers are now needed more than ever. and as they battle on during this most crucial time, other industries, like the hospitality sector, have had to put their careers on hold. but cafes and restaurants in cardiff have come together to do what they can for nhs staff. there we go. we felt helpless. we wondered what skills we had to give to the nhs staff. and we wanted to raise a flag. so we started a fundraiser to be able to buy ingredients

for local food businesses. ingredients bought via a crowdfunding website are going straight to the welsh capital's top chefs. probably got ten kilos of cheese in amongst this. chefs who are volunteering and cooking in their empty kitchens. some serving up michelin—starred meals for our medical professionals. normally we cater for about 50 people maximum. and last week, we managed to serve about 3000 meals, which was, you know, an eye—opener, to be fair. to upscale to that sort of level is something i've never done before. the least we can do that here, we can cook and help feed them, and isjust giving something back, really. bore da. those workers that can leave the wards are coming down here for a quick break to choose their meal. those that can't, such as workers on covid—19 wards or critical care wards, are having their meals boxed up and take up to them. we can't get out at all, we don't have the freedom to just leave the unit.

so this really, really helps, actually, just having some snacks on hand, if wejust need to run in. everyone hasjust come together, it's brilliant. it'sjust so helpful. it's lovely. we've had loads of donations from local cash—and—carries, entertainment venues that have given us loads of drinks, you know, you name it, people have come forward and giving us donations, it's been brilliant. the original gofundme target was smashed in just one weekend. now there's a new one in place. and the long—term goal? a 2a hour cafe, serving thousands of meals a day for the front line staff working around the clock across the welsh capital. tomos morgan, bbc news, cardiff. there's more throughout the evening on the bbc news channel. we're back with the late news at ten. now on bbc one it's time for the news where you are.

good evening, a big change on the way through the second half of this easter weekend. after a couple of very warm days, temperatures will drop from the north on sunday and particularly into easter monday. a few hefty downpours in places throughout sunday as well. a complex weather setup, high pressure drifting to the west, low—pressure to the north east. all you really need to worry about is weather white lines are coming from because they area lines are coming from because they are a long way north where the air will increasingly come from, with a brisk wind as well, and the cold air sped southwards on easter sunday and into easter monday. a very different feel by the end of the weekend. back to the here and now, if you have and thunderstorms across england and is this evening intimate. they fade, looking guy with clear spells for the most part. cloud and patchy rain in scotland and northern ireland. not optically cold night, south east england and northern scotland could get two or three degrees. tomorrow, this band of cloud and rain making

erratic progress south eastwards, rainfora time erratic progress south eastwards, rain for a time across northern ireland and southern scotland. trying to fringe into west wales and the south—west of england, but generally, sunny spells and hefty showers. into the afternoon, showers could get really heavy with frequent lightning and thunder. 25 degrees once again in london, but further north, much cooler as we introduce this northerly wind. sunday night, still some showers for a time in england and is, more of us feel the effects of the north or north—easterly wind and on monday, that drags a lot of cloud into northern and eastern scotland and down the eastern side of england. further west, with shelter from the winners, we will have the best of the sunshine. the wind particularly at risk for eastern and southern coasts. gusts of up to 50 mph for the channel islands. look at the temperatures, cardiff and plymouth, higher a0 degrees. 0n

temperatures, cardiff and plymouth, higher a0 degrees. on monday night, as this area of high pressure builds strongly across the british isles, noticed the blue colours developing on the chart. with light winds, it is going to get cold, a widespread frost for tuesday morning. weight bearing in mind if you have been gardening over the weekend. quite cool feeling on tuesday, but it turns warm relating into the week. -- it turns warm relating into the week. —— it turns warmer, late into the week.

this is bbc news. now, you've been sending in your questions about covid—19 in your thousands and, this evening, we're focusing on the spread of the virus and the numbers of people involved in ‘your questions answered'. with us to answer those questions is professor keith neal, retired professor of the epidemiology of infectious diseases, from the university of nottingham. that is quite a title! the right man for thejob. thank that is quite a title! the right man for the job. thank you so that is quite a title! the right man for thejob. thank you so much, professor neil, forjoining us, a lot of interesting questions. kim asks, how come we have more deaths than nearly every other european countries, yet we are smaller than some of them, were we to late calling for a lockdown? we are actually the second largest country in europe with germany being the largest and our population is about 10 million larger than france or italy. so in fact, our number of deaths per million population are smaller than those two countries.

spain is probably just smaller than those two countries. spain is probablyjust over half the size of britain on population scale. but should we have called for a lockdown sooner? i know you kind of a nswered lockdown sooner? i know you kind of answered the question in relation to that particular question, but many people say we didn't lockdown soon enough and we allowed things like the cheltenham race events to go down, hundreds of thousands of people milling about and also on public transport. i think the answer is we were in a sort of lockdown, we have been in lockdown for three weeks but, more importantly, a week before that, people were asked to self—isolate if they had in fact had a fever or a cough and also work from home if they could. i think there is always going to be, could we have called for a lockdown earlier or later? it is very easy to bea earlier or later? it is very easy to be a genius in hindsight. estelle asks, how can we compare to other countries when different countries have different rates of testing? we know germany has tested a lot more

than we have so far. is there a more reliable way to measure how we are doing compared with other countries? does that even matter how we are doing or is the overall number of infections and deaths what really matters rather than a comparison? there are two parts. it is called a pandemic but, in fact, it is a series of epidemics across different countries. and also within countries, different epidemics in the sense that london and now birmingham area are much more badly affected than us. and if you go to the united states, new york, the city itself, seems to be responsible for about half the total cases for just one city, so it is very different in different parts of the world. with respect to testing, it isa world. with respect to testing, it is a strategy for control. we bypassed that by asking people with symptoms to self—isolate. and if you do more tests, you do end up with more cases. i think the waiter

followed this because generally within countries of western europe, you will end up in hospital generally in the same criteria. and deaths is another unfortunate way of following what is happening. does it matter how we fare compared with us? we just want to reduce the number of deaths, don't we? yes, it does. i am not into comparing how we are doing to other countries, it is what we are doing, is that working? as i mentioned in the first part of the answer, our epidemic may be somewhat different to other countries. quite clearly, the epidemic in germany seems to have started with people who had returned from skiing in north italy. so it affected fit younger people. in particular. also, germany has nuclear families and there was less sped up to older people. in italy, they have far more intergenerational households and mixing between the generations which

has allowed much larger numbers of older people to be hit with the virus early on, particularly before anybody realised what was happening. it is fascinating, that aspect of it, how the fabric of society is connected to the spread. claire asks, how is the lockdown likely to be lifted? asks, how is the lockdown likely to be lifted ? the asks, how is the lockdown likely to be lifted? the stages, she means, not necessarily when, but how do you lift the lockdown? i am afraid i haven't got insight into exactly what is being considered, but a number of things are probably well on top of the list. and we will use this to learn from other countries because denmark and austria are higher on the stages of lifting restrictions. 0ne higher on the stages of lifting restrictions. one thing that has been suggested is reducing the number, surrey, lifting the restrictions on schoolchildren, particularly those under 11, the junior school age and below, this age group is rarely affected

severely and several weeks ago, there had been no death in someone under ten anywhere in the world, i don't know if that has happened since. so we have a risk group that themselves will not get seriously ill, so it is much safer to let those people go back to school. this would have quite a significant impact in that people are having to ta ke impact in that people are having to take time off work. 0r impact in that people are having to take time off work. or they will be able to look after their children, that will no longer be an effect. they may still have restrictions because of an inability to social distance at work. whatever happens, it is very likely to be gradual, in stages, then monitoring the effects to make sure the epidemic doesn't pick up again. dave asks a question that really does follow on from that. how will all of this end? if we stop the lockdown and one person goes on to develop it, surely it will all start again? that is the problem we have got and that is what the whole world has got. china has

gone to the stage because, in a sense, china gave this to the world and there is a risk the world will give it back to china. to do that, they are going to a level of restriction that people have to go into two weeks proper quarantine and supervised before they are allowed out having returned from the country, to the country. so we are ina country, to the country. so we are in a position that what we will need to do and why we are ramping up testing is that we will be in a position in a few weeks' time but as we left the restrictions, we will be able to test those with possible symptoms and go back to a containment phase to reduce and control the spread of the infection. sean cunningham asked the question about how we are recording the deaths and which ones we are recording. why isn't england and the uk recording the volume of coronavirus deaths in the community including nursing and care homes, rather than only recording deaths of

patients in hospital? he goes on to say, the volume of deaths in the community and in nursing and care homes is increasing day by day and of course, hospitals are discharging some patients into those nursing and ca re some patients into those nursing and care homes, which has increased the percentage of deaths, so why are we not looking further into widening how we record the death toll?|j think from a day monitoring point of view, we need accurate data on a timely basis. so that is why we are using hospital deaths. last week and the week before, the office for national statistics, which covers england and wales, is also releasing the number of people with covid—19 on the death certificate. i think the answer is, it is not possible, if you have gotjust one or two deaths in a care home, it is very difficult to know why they actually died and without a diagnosis of covid—19 in another resident, you

can't assume that death is due to covid—19. there have been reports from spain and france where 20 people have died under a week in a home of 80 odd people and that is almost with respiratory courses, thatis almost with respiratory courses, that is likely to be covid—19, but not every person who dies with a respiratory case will be covid—19. ina respiratory case will be covid—19. in a sense that we have now tested large numbers of health care workers who have had covid—19 symptoms and under a third of those have had covid—19. i think this figures importantly, the office for national statistics records the deaths from everybody in england and wales and it is only since the 20th of november has the number of deaths per week exceeded the five year rolling average. we will come back to how we record those numbers in a minute, but paul asks, to how we record those numbers in a minute, but paulasks, if to how we record those numbers in a minute, but paul asks, if people really start listening to the rules, will we see the lockdown lift

sooner? i think there is a good chance that if people, if the government, what the government will do is they will attempt to model what the impact of changing the restrictions is. it is interesting that niall ferguson earlier on mentioned he was surprised at the level of compliance so enough fact, his model, which has actually under predicted the effect of the regulations because people have behaved, if the government believes that people will follow the rules when they are lifted, it will make it much easier to estimate what the effects will be and actually to have less restrictions. alison asks, how are numbers recorded in the uk? you could have terminal cancer with a matter of days or weeks to live, but then you contract covid—19 and that is recorded, she says, is that recorded as a cause of death and

included in the official numbers? because there is a distinction between dying with it and dying from it? well, that is actually, given the fact that many people have comorbidities, that is notjust a problem for terminal cancer. largely, for people with those comorbidities, it will go down as covid—19 as the leading cause of death. it really depends on what the person telling in the death certificate thinks should go on and in what order. there is a part one ofa in what order. there is a part one of a death certificate and part two, and as long as covid—19 ends up in either the first or second part, the office for national statistics will be able to count it. that sounds like it is open to subjectivity. be able to count it. that sounds like it is open to subjectivitym they have got covid—19 and they are known to have covid—19, then you have got somebody with terminal cancer, somebody may choose to put, depending on how terminal disease was, it is many people with

covid—19, terminal cancer at the moment are likely to be ending up in hospital to be tested for covid—19. cani hospital to be tested for covid—19. can ijust hospital to be tested for covid—19. can i just say hospital to be tested for covid—19. can ijust say it is going to affect the total numbers of covid—19, because the office for national statistics are counting anyone where there is a covid—19 on the death certificate in any part. 0k. liz says, iam certificate in any part. 0k. liz says, i am a nhs worker working as a district nurse, a visit people in their own homes, there are patients being discharged from hospital who are coming home for end—of—life care because they wish to die at home. many of these people are suspected of having or have been tested whilst in hospital and they are covid—19 positive. are these numbers are people that die out of hospital included in the daily, the death rate daily figures? because they may have been tested and found positive or not. i don't know exactly because i'm not sure exactly... those who

are negative and coming out of hospital, they will have been tested. so those who are negative won't have had covid—19. those who we re won't have had covid—19. those who were known to have had covid—19 should have been discharged with infection control advice if they we re infection control advice if they were thought to still be infectious. they will still end up in the death certificate because of what i said in my previous answer. indeed, because of how it is noted down on the death certificate and helvin office for national statistics interpret those and record them, thatis interpret those and record them, that is very good to know, thank you. -- and how the office. tony in norfolk says, my understanding is that there are an average 1600 people who die under normal circumstances in the uk every day. how many of those deaths are now associated with covid—19, meaning that the non—coronavirus death rate

is in fact reducing? i think i will a nswer is in fact reducing? i think i will answer this in two parts. clearly, we are having nearly 1,000 deaths a day at the moment, although looking at the figures, this is hopefully going to fall quite quickly. so clearly, with 1600 people dying, normally, and then another 1,000 on top of that, there is going to be clearly most of those would not be people who would have died that week. what is well recognised when there has been a bad flu winter is there has been a bad flu winter is the number of deaths in the winter increased, but if you look forward into the summer, there is a number of deaths which are somewhat lower and that has been a transfer forward are people who would have died further forward. these numbers are people who would have died furtherforward. these numbers are actually much larger per day and we would see in that situation. and with 1,000 people dying on top of 1600, admittedly, some of them, a number would have died quite soon, but it is unlikely they would all

have died within a week. interestingly, the deaths are only above the national trend of the five year rolling average since the 20th of march. these figures are available from the office for national statistics website if anybody wants to look themselves. national statistics website if anybody wants to look themselvesm is immensely complicated, isn't it? it is very hard to distill it, particularly if you are not a statistician or for that matter an epidemiologist! and frankly, how many of us are? but yes, how many cases do you think we have in the uk, notjust cases do you think we have in the uk, not just the cases do you think we have in the uk, notjust the recorded numbers? until we test every single person to find out whether they have got it or have had it, we don't know, do we? no, we don't. my answer is, i don't know! this is why an antibody test is so important. we do know that in the initial stages of the pandemic, in the epidemic in the country, it was estimated there were 1,000

people infected for each death. that multiply can no longer apply because the control measures will have reduced the number of cases going on over the last month. we do know that probably only 15 to 20% of the people end up in hospital and get tested. so we can probably multiply the number of known tests by five and that gives quite a figure, anotherfigure. and that gives quite a figure, another figure. importantly, the government and public health england have started doing routine tests and people to look for antibodies and they can only do about 3,500 a week because to get the tests to work, it isa because to get the tests to work, it is a very time consuming and laborious test. not many can be done. and i think it would be very helpful if the government should release these results weekly. because actually, when you have done 10,000 tests, you will actually have a very good estimate of what the percentage of people who have already been infected. so it might

be that down the line, will we be able to work out after the fact an exact figure, without testing every single person for either whether they have got it now or have had it? if we test 10,000 people on a regular basis, to see who have had it, we will be able to monitor the spread of the epidemic through the population. this is relatively easy to do and it only requires the ability to do antibody test in large numbers. i think it is actually, many people possibly will have had this infection and not have symptoms because we now recognise asymptomatic infection is being increasingly recognised. the only thing being debated is, is it 50% or even higher? even though percentage getting symptoms. we currently really don't know because we are tending to only test people with

symptoms. how accurate are the antibody tests? will they pick up from someone who has only had mild symptoms or been asymptomatic? that has been a problem with these tests people wanted to buy. the tests i was talking about are probably very accurate, but not capable of being used en masse. antibody tests to see whether people have had past infections using techniques like eliza, with and s if anybody wants to look it up! you can do up to 100 tests very quickly after you have collected people's blood and this goes through an automated machine. so it is really very easy for nhs and other laboratories to do that en masse. when we have got that has come at the moment, that is a test as you correctly say that is not working and is very good and people we know you have been affected —— infected and severely ill, but we know they have been infected because they were ill and had a positive pcr test. we need to find those with

very mild or asymptomatic infection and the current available mass testing is not suitable. and the current available mass testing is not suitablelj and the current available mass testing is not suitable. i have one final question for you. given that quite a lot of people sadly have had underlying health conditions and then have caught coronavirus and died, white —— might we see then a lower annual death rate or a monthly or weekly death rate later in the year? because effectively, some of these deaths have been brought forward , these deaths have been brought forward, as sad as that is.|j forward, as sad as that is.” touched on that to the question of the 1600 people who die every day. in fact, there is no doubt going to bea in fact, there is no doubt going to be a lower rate of people dying in the next, certainly, in the next few months. it might be difficult to measure that over the years, particularly as the number of deaths are occurring in people under 50 who we won't expect to die even if they have things like diabetes, high blood pressure. professor keith

neal, i have had many people saying, he is really good, isn't he? and you have been, and we are very grateful to you forjoining us. it is a horribly sad subject we are discussing but it is fascinating the insight you have brought to us as a retired epidemiologist from the university of nottingham. keith, thank you very, very much for joining us. and thank you very much if you are one of those people who kindly sent in those questions. we can't do it without you. good evening, a big change on the way through the second half of this easter weekend. on the way through the second half after a couple of very warm days, temperatures will drop from the north on sunday and particularly into easter monday. a few hefty downpours in places throughout sunday as well. a complex weather setup, high pressure drifting to the west, low—pressure to the north—east.

all you really need to worry about is where the white lines are coming from because they are a long way north, where the air will increasingly come from, with a brisk wind as well, and the cold air sped southwards on easter sunday and into easter monday. a very different feel by the end of the weekend. back to the here and now, thunderstorms across england england and this evening. they fade, clear spells for the most part. cloud and patchy rain in scotland and northern ireland. not a cold night, south east england and northern scotland could get two or three degrees. tomorrow, this band of cloud and rain making erratic progress south—eastwards, rain for a time across northern ireland and southern scotland. trying to fringe into west wales and the south—west of england, but generally, sunny spells and hefty showers. into the afternoon, showers

could get really heavy with frequent lightning and thunder. 25 degrees once again in london, but further north, much cooler as we introduce this northerly wind. sunday night, still some showers for a time in england and wales, more of us feel the effects of the north or north—easterly wind and on monday, that drags a lot of cloud into northern and eastern scotland and down the eastern side of england. further west, with shelter from the wind, we will have the wind particularly brisk for eastern and southern coasts. gusts of up to 50 mph for the channel islands. look at the temperatures, cardiff and plymouth, 1a degrees. on monday night, as this area of high pressure builds strongly across the british isles, notice the blue colours developing on the chart. with light winds, it is going to get cold, a widespread frost for tuesday morning. worth bearing in mind if you have been gardening over the weekend. quite cool feeling on tuesday, but it turns warm

late into the week.

the british home secretary says she is sorry after doctors warned they are still not getting the protective equipment they need to help care for patients with coronavirus. i'm very sorry there have been failings. at the same time, we are in an unprecedented global health pandemic right now. the number of people who have died with coronavirus in the uk has gone up with coronavirus in the uk has gone up by with coronavirus in the uk has gone up by 517 since yesterday. the first time the queen has recorded an easter message in which she offers hope and says coronavirus will not ove rco m e hope and says coronavirus will not overcome us. police in the uk say there has been a 21% drop in overall crime in the last four weeks, but over