full of covid patients and possibly beyond. protective equipment it is, you know, we — for all medical staff. 917 new coronavirus deaths have been none of us have ever seen recorded in the country — anything like this. this used to be a recovery area the second day in a row that the number of victims for patients after surgery. now it's an intensive care unit has exceeded 900. for covid—19 patients. a huge part of the hospital has been transformed in order the united states has recorded to deal with coronavirus. almost 2,000 deaths in a single day and overtaken italy for the highest i've been in intensive care number of deaths from pandemic in the world. nearly 20,000 americans nursing for 23 years now. have been killed so far. i've never seen anything like this — pope francis live—streamed his even the london bombings. easter vigil on saturday never seen it in such a short, from an almost empty st peter's basilica, and will give his easter address condensed period of time. later today in a st peter's square many of the patients devoid of the usual crowds. here are elderly or have underlying health problems, but not all. christians around the world will celebrate easter despite coronavirus restrictions, with many putting services online. i think perhaps i was a bit naive when we started. i'd assumed that it would be the older and sicker. now it's time for coronavirus — what you need to know.

in here, we've got a mixture, from people in their 40s to their 70s, a lot of them have high blood pressure and diabetes or a bit of respiratory disease. but some of them who are coming through are young and fit. the patients here have severe pneumonia, inflammation of the lungs. they must be heavily sedated while on a ventilator — a machine which takes over their breathing. hello and welcome to patients can spend two weeks like this. many drugs are being tested but there is, as yet, no proven treatment for coronavirus. this bbc news special. so it's oxygen and...? 0rgan support, and amazing nursing care, really. one thing that helps is turning the patients onto their front. it increases the oxygen getting into their lungs. what seems like a simple procedure takes time. and lots of pairs of hands. 0k, everyone all right? more of the myths about coronavirus. and a reminder that there is further yep. advice, news and information about coronavirus in your area ready, steady. 90. with ventilated patients, extreme care is needed. all of this while staff wear full personal protective equipment... on the bbc news website.

well done, that's great. 0k, can we check on the ventilation? ..their only barrier scale of people requiring specialist treatment. against coronavirus. every time a doctor or nurse goes 0ur medical correspondent fergus walsh and cameraman on the unit, they must don adam walker got exclusive access full safety gear. to an intensive care ward 00:02:13,875 --> 2147483051:37:51,652 at university college hospital 2147483051:37:51,652 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 in central london to give us this you can't wear this and work for more than a couple of hours. you've got a crushing headache. you've got a dry mouth. you have to get out. staff write their names on their aprons so they can be quickly identified. so there's an emergency on the itu. the head of critical care was asked via a walkie—talkie if he would give a second opinion. but he needs to be there, so the full kit has to be put on. they use walkie—talkies because their visors mean they cannot communicate on phones. it is draining, physically and mentally. it's really hard, and some of our staff really cannot

cope with it. you know, we've got a huge number of nurses, doctors, physios and not all of them can deal with it, so they can only spend a short time, or notjust any time. it's not uncommon for some of our staff to have panic attacks, and finding this so, so stressful. so we've got to support people — some people just can't do it. despite the possible risk to themselves, the medical staff carry on. 12—hour shifts, 60 hours a week is the norm. they worry about the patients, about each other, and about those they love. i think it's very hard on our families. my kids are at home. my wife is home—schooling. it's easy, in a way for me — i'm doing myjob, and busy all day. they don't really know what it's like here, whether we are bringing home the virus. and they've just been amazing. just let me do what i need to do, and i'm incredibly grateful to them. what is striking here

is the sense of calm. in the face of adversity, doctors and nurses simply get on with thejob. the staff here are dealing with the biggest challenge ever faced by the nhs. they can save many of the patients but sadly, not all of them. and still, more patients keep coming every day. coughs. and no—one is sure how long this will last. for now, they can cope. but that depends on all of us playing our part. what is your message to people watching or listening to this? if people don't stay at home and they sneak out, this is going to continue to happen, and our staff are going to be exposed for longer, we are not going to have the equipment to do the best that we can by everybody who needs it. we do need to flatten that curve and it is so serious. and ijust wish people would really listen to what the government and you are saying.

it is harrowing to see the devastation caused by coronavirus. and harrowing to witness the resilience of nurses and doctors. —— and humbling to witness the resilience of nurses and doctors. the heroes of this crisis. i didn't take this seriously enough. imran isjust 37 and has breathing difficulties because of the virus. you don't know how bad it is until it actually hits you and so, i would absolutely urge everybody to listen to the government guidance and stay away from people. he has a wife and two children — everything to fight for. i have felt times,where my body has been willing to just give up completely. and i'm not — i'm a very

young and fit individual. from the moment patients arrive at a&e, nurses and doctors face the risk of infection. i do worry about my staff, because they are being exposed to patients who have a dangerous disease. the man in charge of the hospital through this crisis leads from the front. i am a doctor myself, i work in a&e with coronavirus patients. i'm also anxious. but on the other hand, we are all professionals, we know how to protect ourselves and we know the risk, so we can deal with this. the biggest transformation has been in intensive and high dependency care, where the number of beds has increased fivefold, with plans for even more. but will it be enough? can they cope with the surge? all those questions are really critically dependant on three things, really — people, kit and oxygen. we got enough people,

that's difficult, because inevitably we've had staff go off. we currently have enough oxygen. our current problem today is having enough medical—grade ventilators. if you are purple, you are a confirmed coronavirus case, orange you are suspected, which is the very sickest patients will need a ventilator to breathe for them. look at the intensive care unit, there are two non—corona patients, both of them a longer stay, weaning off ventilators slowly. the rest has been taken by corona. we've got another hospital that's doing urgent cancer, but this place is essentially becoming a huge corona centre, yep. sorry. that's ok. everyone going into intensive care must wear full protective clothing. beds have been created in every available space. so this is an anaesthetic room attached to an operating theatre, and just look inside here. this operating theatre has been repurposed for two

intensive care beds. i mean, it's actually rather overwhelming, because it just reinforces the level of threat, the level of preparations that are going on here and just what we are facing. it's the same layout in ten operating theatres, leaving just two of them for emergency surgery. are you feeling stronger? yeah? great. all hospital visits have been stopped. only in exceptional circumstances might a family member of a very sick patient be admitted. it's the personal cost of what's happening to patients, which is devastating sometimes. it's really hard because we cannot let the relatives in to see their loved ones, so while the patients may not be aware, the relatives are really feeling this. like all of us, the doctors and nurses wonder when life will return to normal. certainly in my family,

we've got a holiday booked certainly in my family, we've got a holiday booked in august. —— certainly in my family, we've got a holiday booked in august. we ‘ve all kind of got that as a date, i don't know if that's a hope. like everyone in the country, in some ways, i've got a job, i'm getting an income, i know i'm not suffering like a lot of people are. but the whole country is suffering here. and the whole country knows it owes an immense debt to nhs frontline staff, putting themselves at risk from coronavirus day after day to save lives. that report by our medical correspondent fergus walsh with cameraman adam walker. next, it's becoming clear widespread testing for coronavirus is going to be crucial as countries try to navigate their way out of the crisis. but there is confusion about what that means and how it might be achieved, as jim reed reports. most scientists agree testing for this virus is critical, part of the way we can save lives and break out of the lockdown.

we have a simple message for all countries — test, test, test. there are two main types of test for coronavirus. at the moment, we are using something called a pcr test, normally taken with a swab. these look for genetic material related to the virus. you're asking the question does that person have the virus in their system at the time of the test? so it detects the rna genome of the virus itself. so pcr testing can tell if someone currently has the virus — crucial for both patients and healthcare workers. but it needs to be analysed in a laboratory. that takes time and is expensive. it needs skilled staff and chemicals called reagents, which are in short supply. that's one reason why many countries have struggled to increase testing rates. some, like south korea, have moved much faster than others. testing, along with infection tracking, is partly how it's managed to keep deaths at a low level.

translation: we've set this up as an alternative when many people could get tested in a short space of time. the second type of test looks for antibodies in blood. this is much faster. itjust needs a prick of blood that can either be sent off in the post or even analysed at home. so the antibody testing reveals who's been exposed and who has mounted an immune response to the virus. so it's a pretty good guess as to whether a person may already be immune to this virus. an antibody test is cheap and doesn't need a laboratory to process the results, but it doesn't work straight away — it can take weeks after infection to produce enough antibodies to measure and there are real questions about the accuracy of the tests produced so far. if we can prove they work there are clear advantages. it will allow us to test health care workers and their families to see if they have had a covid infection. and that might allow a lot of health care workers to return

to the front line. the other topic that has been widely discussed is the use of some sort of covid—i9 passport to say you've had the infection and you can now return to work more generally. the idea is an immunity passport might allow some to leave lockdown if tests show they've already had the disease but it's controversial. it's going to open up ethical issues about will we create a tiered society, one group allowed to go back to work, the other is not? we are already being accused in the media today of a police state. there's an awful lot of societal ramifications about how this is going to be used. there is a third type of test which firms are developing — rapid antigen tests. these should be far cheaper and quicker. based on a nasal swab or saliva sample. that could be critical for parts of the world that might not have advanced testing facilities.

we might expect some companies would be able to deliver a rapid test, that would be a game changer, especially if after ten minutes we could identify a large proportion of those who have been infected. the next step is to prove these tests can work effectively and quickly. it's not one but a combination of all these technologies that can, perhaps, help us keep the virus in check until a vaccine is developed. one of the latest countries to advise people to wear masks or cover their faces in public is the united states. despite the guidance from experts at the world health organisation, that medical masks should be reserved for health care professionals and not used by the general public. israel, indonesia and morocco are now amongst countries that have made wearing of face masks compulsory in public. the bbc‘s science editor has been investigating how effective wearing them can be.

a computer simulation of someone coughing in a supermarket. this is new research, still to be confirmed, that shows how coronavirus could spread and linger in the air, infecting people nearby. the scientist involved says the obvious conclusion is to avoid places that might be busy. first of all, don't go there if you don't need to go there. if you need to go there, go there only as seldom as possible. and stay there as short a time as possible. if someone is showing symptoms they shouldn't be going to a supermarket or anywhere else but there is growing evidence that people can have the virus and not show symptoms. and that's one reason why the us government and many others, are now urging people that if they have to go out, they wear a mask. in morocco, for example, there is now a government order to wear masks.

with the threat of prison or fines to back that up. but the world health organisation and the british government believe measures like this just aren't needed. here in the uk, the guidance is it's health care workers and carers who should wear masks. and the worry is that supplies might run out if the public are trying to buy them as well. there are different views about this among scientists. one is that if you wear a mask, you might reduce the risk of passing virus to others. another is that once you put a mask on, you might get a false sense of security. you might think you can get close to people again or stop washing your hands so often. and you might treat the mask much too casually. wearing a mask must be consistent, it's not on to wear a mask and decide to take it off and smoke a cigarette or eat a meal, it must be worn full—time. at the same time as the mask is taken off, the outside surface may be contaminated as well.

and hands become contaminated and then could serve as a source of infection. in any event, more and more countries are demanding that people wear masks. in indonesia, they are handing them out. and the italian region of tuscany is scaling up deliveries because everyone will have to wear one. attitudes are changing fast. we're headed to cape town now, where an unprecedented truce has broken out between rival gangs in the townships around the city. south africa is trying to control the spread of coronavirus. gang leaders have halted their turf wars and turned the delivery networks usually used for drugs trafficking, to get foods into poor households instead. andrew harding, the bbc‘s africa correspondent, reports. these are some of the most dangerous streets in south africa and the world.

poor communities fought over relentlessly by rival drugs gangs. but today a virus and nationwide lockdown, many have achieved what the police and the army failed to do. this is the american gang. most of these men have been injail, some are killers. but today, instead of selling drugs and robbing people, they are backing up food supplies for hungry families. i got a phone call from different gang leaders saying we've never asked you for anything but i thought, hey, if these guys are starving, they are at the top of the food chain, the rest of the community will be in serious strife. to help, the gangs are drawing on their own particular skill set. the best distributors in the country, they know how to distribute things, they are used to distributing other white powders but they are distributing things and they know everybody. what does the community think of the criminals‘ sudden change of focus?

there is relief here for sure, that gang ceasefire has taken hold during lockdown. we rely on one another to help each other, even if it's gangs, people, not gangsters. there is no such thing as gangsterism, in these times all of us stand together. but it is hard to tell what people here really think about the men who have terrorised their neighbourhoods for decades. the authorities are sceptical. i don't think it exonerates you when you've done so much evil, one good deed doesn't wipe it all away, maybe they can commit to slightly more long—term good, put away arms permanently and stop intimidating and robbing residents. then we are good. because of the lockdown, i'm not able to film. i am in johannesburg, not cape town but leaders agreed to talk over the phone. do you think south africa, your community will be changed by this experience?

yes, it as well. and that's what's happening now? yes. do you think that will last? maybe, maybe not. once the virus is over, may the fighting will start again? maybe the fighting will start again, but we trust in god. god will make a way. so, a temporary ceasefire, temporary lockdown and just a sliver of a chance that the virus will bring lasting change to some of the most dangerous streets in the world. andrew harding, bbc news, south africa. finally, throughout our series, we've been hearing from chris morris and the reality check team who have been myth busting some of the big stories, treatments and cures you may have heard about covid—i9. we are all going to be in this for the long haul and separating

fact from fiction is really important. so here are some myths you should be aware of. number one. lemonjuice protects you from covid—i9. there have been plenty of claims about things you should eat or drink to thwart coronavirus. and the lemonjuice myth just won't go away. it started with a viral social media post containing advice from a fake chinese scientist. to be clear, lemonjuice is obviously not bad view, in fact, all fruit and vegetables are essential while nearly all of us have to stay at home. they can help keep you healthy. but they don't stop you getting a virus like this. myth number two. mosquito bites can infect you with the virus. we know you can get diseases from mosquito bites but there is no evidence at all that the little brutes can infect you with coronavirus. again, remember, this is a respiratory virus, spread mainly when someone who is ill coughs or sneezes. and the best way to protect yourself is to avoid close contact with anyone who is sick. and keep washing your hands!

myth number three. blood donations will get you a free test. some people are hoping they might get a free coronavirus test if they donate blood. that's absolutely not the case. but there's been a persistent false belief on social media that it might be. to be clear, you don't get tested for covid—i9 if you give blood. the last thing staff who man blood banks want is sick people coming in. nor, of course, can you get the virus from a blood donation. so, the best advice for now, try to stay healthy, while scientists work towards medical breakthroughs. that's it for now. before we go, here are some of the latest striking images from the last few days as the coronavirus continues to affect so many of us. a reminder, you can keep up—to—date with all the latest information on the lockdown in your area and your country on the website,

a reminder, you can keep up—to—date with all the latest information on the lockdown in your area and your country on the website, and you can contact me on twitter at any time. thank you for watching. hello there. the weather is set to change through the second half of this easter weekend. after a couple of very warm days, things are going to be turning cooler. initially in northern areas through easter sunday and then all of us much cooler by easter monday. there'll be a few showers along the way as well. this is the weather set up. it's quite complex. high pressure to the west, low pressure up to the north—east. another area of low pressure developing just about here. but all you really need to know

is that this whether set up is going to bring us a northerly wind over the next couple of days and that will bring this cold air southwards across all parts of the uk, particularly by easter monday. but as far as the day ahead goes, we're going to start off with cloud and some patchy rain through southern scotland and northern ireland, that sinking very slowly south—eastwards. for the northern half of scotland, some brightness for a time, but more cloud and patchy rain remaining here. and with a brisk northerly wind it's going to start to feel really chilly. further south across england and wales, some spells of sunshine, but into the afternoon a scattering of really heavy and possibly thundery downpours, partly due to another day of warmth. 25 degrees there in london, but further north, ii for aberdeen, that colder air making its presence felt. now, during sunday night we will continue to see some hefty and possibly thundery downpours across england and wales.

but more and more of of us start to feel the effect of that northerly wind. so while monday morning will be a mild affair across south england and south wales, further north a chilly start of the day. and that sets us up for what is going to be quite a cold feeling day across the british isles. a lot of cloud feeding into northern and eastern part of scotland and down the eastern side of england. the best of the sunshine to be found further west, so through parts of wales, south—west and north—west of england, south—west scotland, and northern ireland. a noticeable wind, particularly for eastern and southern coasts. the channel islands could see gusts of 50mph. and look at these temperatures — way, way down where they have been. seven degrees there in newcastle, cardiff, plymouth 14 degrees at best. ans as high pressure builds strongly across the british isles through tuesday morning, you can see this blue shade on the chart — a widespread frost. that's one to bear in mind if you've spent the weekend gardening. a fairly cool feeling day on tuesday, but a lot of dry weather through the coming week and it turns warmer once again.

good morning. welcome to breakfast, with sima kotecha and rogerjohnson. 0ur headlines today: the number of people who have died with coronavirus in the uk is set to pass 10,000, as tributes are paid to nhs staff who have lost their lives. boris johnson says he "owes his life" to staff at st thomas's hospital in london where he's spent the last seven nights. the urgent search for a vaccine — billionaire bill gates speaks exclusively to breakfast about how he's trying to help. this is the whole world working on possibly the most urgent tool that's ever been