the prime an hour with the news that the prime minister borisjohnson an hour with the news that the prime minister boris johnson has an hour with the news that the prime minister borisjohnson has now been discharged from hospital. as we have been reporting on the last few days he has been treated here at st thomas‘ hospital in london and he has paid tribute to nhs staff who treated him for coronavirus saying he owes them his life. we can speak to correspondent helena wilkinson who is at the hospitalfor helena wilkinson who is at the hospital for us. helena wilkinson who is at the hospitalfor us. we helena wilkinson who is at the hospital for us. we knew helena wilkinson who is at the hospitalfor us. we knew he helena wilkinson who is at the hospital for us. we knew he was recovering, he was doing well, but this will be excellent news for friends, family and his colleagues. yes, we‘ve had that statement from number ten yes, we‘ve had that statement from numberten in yes, we‘ve had that statement from number ten in the last few minutes, confirming that the prime minister has now left st thomas‘ hospital, less tha n has now left st thomas‘ hospital, less than one mile away from downing street. he has been in hospitalfor a week. to redo the statement from number ten downing st, the prime

minister has been discharged from hospital to continue his recovery at chequers, the prime minister‘s official country residence in buckinghamshire. on the advice of his medical team, the prime minister will not be immediately returning to work. he wishes to thank everybody at st thomas‘s hospital for the brilliant care he has received. all of his thoughts are with those affected by this illness. in the last couple of minutes, confirmation from downing street that the prime minister has been discharged from here at st thomas‘ hospital. he spent a week in hospital, he came in on sunday as a precaution, we were told, because symptoms continued to persist, in particular that high temperature. things then developed very quickly for the prime minister. monday we were still being told he was working from his hospital bed, ministerial papers. then by monday

evening the prime minister was transferred to intensive care, which was a shock to everybody and there was a shock to everybody and there was obviously grave concern, as there would be with anyone transferred to intensive care. that was a precaution, we were told again, so he could be near a ventilator. he didn‘t need a ventilator, but he had what was described as standard oxygen treatment throughout his stay here. he stayed three nights in intensive ca re he stayed three nights in intensive care but we now have the confirmation that the prime minister has been discharged from the hospital here. he has thanked the medical team who have given excellent ca re, medical team who have given excellent care, as he says. he has gone to chequers in buckinghamshire, the official country residence of the official country residence of the prime minister. he has not returned to downing street and will be out of action for some time, but it is not clear as to how long that will be. at number ten said earlier they did not want speculation as to how long it would be until he is

backin how long it would be until he is back in charge and in the meantime foreign secretary dominic raab will lead the efforts against coronavirus. that's right. the foreign secretary continues to be making those decisions. the prime minister will need time to recover. no one knows how long that will take. he will obviously be continuing to take advice from his doctor in terms of his recovery. we heard a couple of days ago that the prime minister was able to make short walks here in hospital. that gives you an indication ofjust how seriously unwell the prime minister was. but every patient differs in terms of how long their recovery ta kes. terms of how long their recovery takes. crucially, the prime minister didn‘t need to go on a ventilator. that would of course have been much more serious for him and would have taken him longer to recoverfrom. but he will be based at chequers. no doubt he will monitor what is going

on and have conversations with colleagues, but he will not be working as such. dominic raab, as you say, the foreign secretary continuing to be in charge and making those decisions. helena wilkinson at st thomas‘ hospital in london, thank you. our political correspondentjessica parker london, thank you. our political correspondent jessica parker is here. with dominic raab still in charge, we mustn‘t expect the prime minister to be back at work fully for quite some time. it means the cabinets led by dominic raab will be in charge of this review of lockdown measures when it comes. that review is due this week. the prime minister originally talked about a three week timetable from when the lockdown measures were brought in. dominic raab, the first secretary of state, as well as the foreign secretary, but it‘s that title of first secretary of state which means he is effectively the prime minister‘s deputy and was asked to deputise for borisjohnson when the prime

minister was admitted to intensive care, so he will be in charge of the government this week, as it looks weather to continue with lockdown measures. the mood music in terms of whether that will continue, the expectation is lockdown measures will continue. i think the daily briefings we have seen, whilst health officials and ministers have said social distancing measures are having an effect, it is still time to bear down on the virus and try to cut transmission rates and therefore save lives. when anyone is diagnosed with coronavirus, particularly if they have pretty severe symptoms, as they have pretty severe symptoms, as the prime minister clearly did, those closest to them hold their breath. it is no different for boris johnson and not least carrie symonds, his fiancee, who is seven months pregnant. it was thursday evening when we learned boris johnson had been taken from intensive care back to the ward. at around the same time, at 8pm, when the clap for carers happens, people

across the country go out onto the streets to applaud front line staff who are putting themselves at risk in the fight against coronavirus, carrie symonds tweeted this picture ofa carrie symonds tweeted this picture of a rainbow and the applause symbols on social media. clearly joining in with the clap for carers but perhaps also a hint as to how grateful she was for the care the prime minister had at saint thomas‘. we understand boris johnson prime minister had at saint thomas‘. we understand borisjohnson has been telling friends he believes he owes his life to those doctors and nurses who were there at st thomas‘ hospital during his stay. something we heard from downing street earlier this week, when he was moved from intensive care back to the ward, he was waving his appreciation to those workers as he was moved. as helena was saying, borisjohnson did become very ill and showed severe symptoms and initially we were told he had a temperature. he was doing south shot videos from downing street and it

was on sunday evening he was admitted as a precaution. it was the following day he was admitted to intensive care and the concern over that period was the persistence of the symptoms, they had lasted beyond the symptoms, they had lasted beyond the one—week period. i think a lot of people will be very pleased the prime minister, who i‘m sure we‘ll return to work at some point, but he is out of hospital and his recovery continues. i suppose it is highly likely that by the time he comes back to work parliament will be sitting again in some form, because that‘s not many days away. sitting again in some form, because that's not many days away. it is the let that's not many days away. it is the 21st of this month that parliament is to return. there have been calls day from sir keir starmer, the labour leader, to make sure it does return in some form. i think it‘s unlikely you will see mps from across the country travelling down to westminster and going into the house of commons chamber, which is pretty small when you get all mps in the air, for obvious reasons, because they would not be suitably

socially distanced. we know they are looking at the possibility of a virtual parliament. they have done something similar in the welsh assembly. my understanding is they will discuss that further as to how it would work. we might still see a limited number of people on the estate while mps across the country can engage virtually. we expect to see more details this week. opposition parties have been saying they think it‘s important that they can scrutinise the government‘s handling of coronavirus as we move forward. yes, because for weeks we have been talking about the provision of ventilators and personal protective equipment. now some of the headlines are about the provision of drugs, which are needed to get people onto ventilators. they area bit to get people onto ventilators. they are a bit stretched as well, so there are some issues that no doubt other parties will want to look at. from the government‘s point of view they say this is an unprecedented challenge and they are ramping up

effo rts challenge and they are ramping up efforts on testing. matt hancock set the target of reaching 100,000 tests per day by the end of this month. i‘m pretty sure that is something that opposition parties will keenly have their eyes on to see how the country is moving towards that target, if it gets close to it by the end of this month. testing is seen as a key element of tackling the virus. borisjohnson himself, in one of those self shot videos from downing street said testing was a way to unlock the puzzle. so i think there will be scrutiny of that. and there will be scrutiny of that. and theissue there will be scrutiny of that. and the issue of personal protective equipment has become particularly discussed over the last few days with a suggestion from matt hancock, as part of a plan to ensure front line workers have the ppe they need, urging people to use it wisely and suggesting there had been examples where perhaps it had been overused. that caused something of a backlash amongst opposition parties but also representative bodies of medical practitioners and carers. these are

the kinds of issues that opposition parties will want to bring to the fore and grill the government on whilst emphasising at the same time, ina time whilst emphasising at the same time, in a time of national crisis they wa nt to in a time of national crisis they want to work constructively with the government to see the country through the outbreak. we can have a look at social media. carrie symonds, the prime minister‘s fiancee, has tweeted. following the discharge from st thomas‘ hospital of borisjohnson, discharge from st thomas‘ hospital of boris johnson, she discharge from st thomas‘ hospital of borisjohnson, she says, i can‘t thank the magnificent nhs enough. the staff at st thomas‘ hospital have been incredible. i will never be able to repay you and i will never stop thanking you. there were times last week that were very dark indeed. my heart goes out to all those in similar situations worried sick about loved ones. thank you to eve ryo ne sick about loved ones. thank you to everyone who sent such kind messages of support. today i‘m feeling incredibly lucky. those comments will resonate with so many people

across the country who also are either poorly themselves or are very worried about friends and relatives who are being treated in hospitals and in care homes with coronavirus. we can quickly go back to our correspondent helena wilkinson at st thomas‘ hospital. yes, he has been discharged but you don‘t bounce back immediately. if you have been in intensive care for any reason. that‘s right. it obviously depends on each patient, each patient is different in terms of how long it ta kes different in terms of how long it takes them to recover. but let‘s not forget boris johnson ended takes them to recover. but let‘s not forget borisjohnson ended up in intensive care on monday. that‘s stating the obvious, the place in the hospital where the most critical patients are taken. we were told at the time he was taken there as a precaution. i think doctors felt they wanted him to be close to a

ventilator so if he had to go on a ventilator so if he had to go on a ventilator it was there. he didn‘t need that kind of intervention. we we re need that kind of intervention. we were told he needed what was described as a standard oxygen treatment. now having been discharged from saint thomas‘, he is on his way or perhaps already at chequers where he will continue to make his recovery. to give you an indication ofjust how unwell the prime minister was, it was a couple of days ago when we were getting those updates from the hospital and from downing street, they were saying the prime minister was able to make short walks during the early phase of his recovery. that gives you an idea ofjust how sick the prime minister has come. he will ta ke prime minister has come. he will take time out at chequers now. a statement from downing street in the last ten minutes. it‘s worth reading that bit about the prime minister

going to chequers, and on the advice of his medical team, the statement says the prime minister will not immediately return to work. he wishes to thank everyone at st thomas‘s for the brilliant care he has received. and the prime minister‘s thoughts are with those affected by this illness. so many families across the country going through similar situations. but the prime minister has now been discharged from saint thomas‘ after spending a week. he was admitted here on sunday as a precaution. things got work for him. he spent three nights in intensive care and he will now continue to make his recovery at chequers. in terms of how long that will take, no one knows apart from boris johnson, how long that will take, no one knows apart from borisjohnson, and he will be taking the close advice from his medical team as well. helena wilkinson at st thomas‘ hospital, and political correspondence jessica hospital, and political correspondencejessica parker is

still here. yesterday, at the daily coronavirus government briefing that was led by home secretary priti patel, who had received criticism for not being around for the last three weeks, she said whenever the prime minister was discharged, and we don‘t know then that it would be today, he would need time and space today, he would need time and space to rest, recuperate and recover. but nonetheless huge relief that he is now out of hospital, as shown by those tweets from his fiancee. regardless of anyone‘s politics, the fa ct regardless of anyone‘s politics, the fact the prime minister was admitted to hospital and then clearly got quite seriously ill was a concern, because this is the man who has been elected to run the country. for now, dominic raab, the foreign secretary, will continue to deputise for him. interestingly looking at these tweets from carrie symonds, boris johnson‘s fiancee, she is saying here that there were times last week that were very dark indeed, perhaps

giving us a clue as to how seriously ill the prime minister was. we were getting some indication from downing street that had gone through boris johnson‘s medical team, but the fact she said it felt like a very dark time indeed, at a certain point in the last week, possibly a clue that the last week, possibly a clue that the prime minister was very seriously ill. we knew he was on oxygen treatment, but was never put ona oxygen treatment, but was never put on a ventilator. she has also thanked the nhs and tweeted a picture of a rainbow, the symbol of thanks for front line workers. you walk around and see those pictures and images in peoples windows, that kids have drawn stop during the clap for carers at 8pm every thursday, it‘s that symbol of thanks that people across the country have for those people who are putting themselves at risk and working in very difficult conditions to take on this unprecedented challenge. and the anguish she clearly felt is evident from those tweets. and it is being felt by thousands and thousands of families across the

country. yes, absolutely. and with those recent death rates over 900 yesterday, we know many families across the country are being affected by this virus. it‘s something that is alluded to in the downing street statement where boris johnson talks about this. i think it‘s obvious that clearly people across the country who are affected directly by this, whether it‘s their loved ones, friends and family, it is devastating, and also lots of people are still in hospital and being treated by this virus. it is a hugely worrying time for people and i think that‘s why the government keeps reiterating its message. as we have discussed today the government has been criticised for its handling of the outbreak in some aspects, but one of the key messages they keep trying to send to people is to keep observing social distancing rules because that is the best chance of really trying to cut transmission rates and save lives. it has been

emphasised obviously at every government briefing we attend. there is another one this afternoon and our coverage of that will begin at around 3:15pm on bbc one and the bbc news channel. particularly because this is the easter weekend, a message of hope that religious organisations, charities and christian organisations are promoting, of course, but with a virus like this, the very nature of it means relatives, when they want to be at the bedside of someone, they can‘t be. it was just the same for carrie symonds, even though her partner happens to be the prime minister. because this virus is so infectious. as you say, people cannot see their loved ones even if they are very ill on a ventilator in hospital and that makes it extremely difficult for those families affected. as you say, the easter weekend, and we have had this a couple of weekends in a row now, clear concern that the warm weather,

particularly over a bank holiday could tempt people out and the police have been using increasingly robust language in the last couple of weeks saying they were ready to use the powers they have been given to break up gatherings that shouldn‘t be taking place because there is the consent of people are tempted out and don‘t observe social distancing measures, we could see transmission rates rise and the government are really keen, not exactly subtle in government briefings, keen to hammer home the message that it doesn‘t matter what the weather is like outside, people must observe the rules and only go out for that one daily exercise, to the shops were necessary, or for medical supplies. really trying to hammer home that message because in the warm weather there is that concern that it can take people not just outside in their local area but we see people going to beauty spots further away. we have heard concerns from local authorities who have said they don‘t want people to do that, they don‘t want people to do that, they want people to stay away and

stay—at—home. they want people to stay away and stay-at-home. we know the economic impact has been immense, but the psychological, social and emotional impacts are yet to be measured. initially there was a three—week lockdown that was due to be reviewed, but based on the experience of other countries that are further in front of us with the pandemic, spain and italy as two obvious examples, they have extended their lockdown and it‘s likely we have to be prepared for hours to be as well. it seems very unlikely at this stage that you will see lockdown measures lifted in the immediate future. you are right, though, there are other effects of the lockdown that are almost yet to be explored and fully understood yet. the effect on mental health for example. we know the effect on the economy will be severe. the chancellor of the exchequer, rishi sunak has said it will be significant, but it will take a

while to realise the full extent and there are serious concerns the country could enter into a recession, but the government has said measures must be taken to save lives. that‘s the priority over the economy of the uk. so lots of different things to juggle but the primary concern is clearly the health of the nation and trying to stop the spread of this highly contagious virus. we can remind ourselves of the latest breaking news that we have been reporting on the last few minutes, the prime minister, borisjohnson, the last few minutes, the prime minister, boris johnson, has the last few minutes, the prime minister, borisjohnson, has been discharged from hospital and has been treated in intensive care for three nights at st thomas‘ hospital in london. we are told he will now rest and recuperate further at chequers, his country residence. but we are told he will not be returning to work immediately, as you could expect. we were told it would not be an imminent return, even when he was

deemed to be well enough to leave hospital. his fiancee, carrie symonds, has been tweeting about her gratitude to the nhs and also how there were some very dark days for her, as she waited to hear whether her, as she waited to hear whether he was recovering well enough or not. here are those tweets from carrie symonds. we can speak to sonia purnell, boris johnson‘s biographer. she joins we can speak to sonia purnell, boris johnson‘s biographer. shejoins us on the line. very heartfelt tweets

there that many people out there who are ina there that many people out there who are in a similar situation with loved ones ill with this appalling virus, they will all be able to relate to what carrie symonds is expressing there. absolutely. this is obviously very good news, it is great he is out of hospital but you have to think about all of those, including a very good friend of mine, who is still in icu. and what they are facing now. it was a shock for many people, wasn‘t it, when he was taken into hospital. we knew he had tested positive. he had been sending updates, but for someone like borisjohnson, sending updates, but for someone like boris johnson, and sending updates, but for someone like borisjohnson, and the character of the men, it was quite a shock to many people that he had to be hospitalised. yes, it was. including for me. it was all very strange. but he is someone who isn‘t normally ill. i have known him since the early 1990s. i worked with him

well and i have rarely known him to be ill. but it‘s nothing to do with character in the end. it‘s an absolutely horrible and strong virus that can take down anyone. it‘s a biological thing, it‘s not about character. i really worry when people talk about fighting this thing. there is nothing you can do apart from trust to luck and very good doctors. and of course he had very good doctors at st thomas‘ hospital, including the leading doctor on this, who is an italian. it's doctor on this, who is an italian. it‘s rather ironic when you think that boris johnson it‘s rather ironic when you think that borisjohnson has been such a supporter of brexit and so many eu doctors and nurses have left the nhs asa doctors and nurses have left the nhs as a result. possibly rather regretting that now i imagine. as a result. possibly rather regretting that now i imaginem will be interesting what his story will be interesting what his story will be interesting what his story will be and what he will tell us about his experience. how expansive do you expect him to be?” about his experience. how expansive do you expect him to be? i think this is probably new territory for

him. he was very seriously ill at one point, which is not something he is used to. but i hope he will take the time, now he is not coming back to work for a bit, to reflect on some of his policies, and including obviously the very dire mistakes that were made by the government at the beginning of this pandemic, meaning that our figures... the prime minister has been lucky and thatis prime minister has been lucky and that is good news, but there are so many people right now we are losing to this virus. those who were probably infected before we had that really quite late lockdown. that‘s too late to do anything about now, but the fact is someone has to get a grip and make sure our doctors and nurses are protected with ppe, make sure the money is getting to all these companies that are going bust. we hear money is not getting through despite rishi sunak‘s efforts, i think it‘s only 4000 companies who have received loans compared to the

80 or 90,000 in switzerland for example. testing here has to be ramped up. while borisjohnson is recuperating, which is fantastic news that he is out, but the fact is the rest of us are still in a very, very dark place. that‘s what we must focus on. he will certainly face a lot of challenges when he returns to work because we know this pandemic is not going away quickly. it will be interesting to know whether you think his view of the nhs and his policies regarding how we approach the pandemic and the nhs in the future might be affected by his own experience of it. i wonder if it will. i do hope so, again, that he puts more focus and emphasis on our public services because they certainly need it, rather than being seen as the enemy, something we should support. but the immediate narrative is that he has been a

great hero to survive. that‘s almost being used as a pr story. i‘m not sure that‘s the right way to treat it, because the rest of the country is in such a bad place and it doesn‘t seem quite the right tone to take. but it is good to see him recover, reflect and come back and may be change his stance on certain very important things. sonia pernell, borisjohnson‘s very important things. sonia pernell, boris johnson‘s biographer, thank you for speaking to us. much more on the fact the prime minister has been discharged from st thomas‘ hospital soon at two p m. ben brown will be in the hot seat. he is the weather with tomasz schafernaker. hello. still some very warm and sunny weather around but the chill has reached scotland and northern ireland, and easter monday for all of us will be quite a bit colder. the temperature will drop like a stone by more than 10 degrees in some areas. the satellite picture, the clouds are coming straight out of the north, the norwegian sea, so—called

scandinavian air will spread across the uk. this is what it looks like as far as temperatures go on sunday at 8pm. five in aberdeen, still 21 in london, so a huge temperature contrast. with the weather front moving through we could see showers and thunderstorms through the day and evening across parts of wales and the midlands. the arrows coming from the north, cold air, and frost in scotland first thing on monday and 9 degrees in the south. you will definitely notice the chilly wind on monday, particularly on the north sea coast and the coasts around east anglia, the south—east of england and the channel coast too. you can see the blue colours spreading into parts of europe as well. it‘s notjust us cooling down, other parts of the continent as well. monday, a chilly northerly wind with occasional areas of cloud, perhaps overcast in places. the winds, these are average wind speeds on the arrows.

if you double them you get gusts, so gusts in excess of 30 and perhaps even in some instances approaching 50 mph around the south—east. the temperature now, from 25 on sunday in london down to 12 degrees, a huge drop in the space of one day. on tuesday, high pressure over us and there will be plenty of sunshine around and the sunshine is strong so it won‘t feel that cold if you are out and about but it‘s still quite a bit colder compared to recent days. you can see around 13 degrees across most parts of the uk on tuesday. high pressure still with us on tuesday and into wednesday with overnight frosts as well. high pressure basically means dry weather conditions. as far as the eye can see the weather will remain chilly but at least dry and towards the end of the week those temperatures picking up a little bit across some parts of the uk.

this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the british prime minister, borisjohnson leaves hospital to continue his recovery a week after he was admitted following his testing positive for coronavirus. the number of people who have died with coronavirus in the uk is expected to pass ten thousand today a leading government scientific adviser says the outbreak in britain may be the worst in europe. the the uk is likely to be one of worst, if not the worst affected country in europe. spain‘s daily death toll from the coronavirus rises by 619, having fallen for three days in a row. the us overtakes italy to have the highest death toll