hi, good morning. i'm victoria derbyshire, welcome to bbc news. let's bring you the latest headlines. the government confirms coronavirus outbreaks at more than 2000 care homes in england — as charities warn many older people are being airbrushed out of official death figures. we have very large numbers of people in care homes who are passing away who are exhibiting covid—19 symptoms but who aren't being classified as having the coronavirus because they haven't been tested. scientific advisers for the government are to meet later to review the impact of the lockdown measures — but ministers say there'll be no early relaxation of the restrictions. in the us, president trump claims "total" power to lift a nationwide lockdown, and clashes with the media over his handling of the pandemic.

what was your administration during... we did a loft. you know you are a fake, you know that. your whole network, the way you cover it is fake. france's president macron extends his country's lockdown for another month — but spain and italy allow some people back to work amid economic fears. good morning. just after 9:30am we'll bring you the latest 0ns figures on registered deaths outside hospitals, which may give an indication of the wider picture on coronavirus deaths, including those in care homes, which haven't so far been included

in officialfigures. so this morning, i'd like to ask you what's your experience of what's going on in care homes — whether you have a relative in one, or you work in or run one — please do let me know. you can email anonymnously if you prefer — the email address is victoria@bbc.co.uk, or you can message me on twitter @vicderbyshire. and that's our top story this morning. there have been outbreaks of covid—19 at more than 2000 care homes in england, the department of health has confirmed. those figures prompted the charity age uk to say that the lack of ppe and testing is leading to covid—19 "running wild" in care homes. age uk hasjoined other leading charities in writing a letter to health secretary matt hancock, demanding a care package to support social care through the pandemic. the news comes as scientific advisers for the government are due

to meet later to review the impact of the uk's lockdown measures. over 11,000 people have died in the uk due to the coronavirus but that figure has been criticised. those numbers do not take into account people who die in care homes, or elsewhere in the community, or who have not been tested for the virus. the office for national statistics will publish latest figures on coronavirus related deaths in the next half hour — which will include community deaths linked to covid—19 in england and wales. we'll bring you those as soon as they come in. our first report this morning is from keith doyle. the faces of two dedicated nhs nurses. their lives lost while helping others. melujean ballesteros, originally from the philippines, died at the london hospital where she worked. her son said she loved herjob. she loved her work as a nurse. raheema sidarni, who was 68,

refused to retire during the crisis. she spent 50 years as a nurse after arriving from trinidad. she died on saturday. her family said she was a nurse until the end. the latest figures show the number of people who died in hospital with covid—19 rose by 717 in the last 24—hour period. bringing the total number to 11,329. that figure does not include deaths in care homes and the community. figures due to be released later from the office of national statistics will give an indication of the number of lives lost there. at this care home run by care uk in durham, 13 residents have died after showing symptoms of coronavirus. the government said there have been outbreaks of coronavirus at over 2000 care homes in england. care home operators say better access to protective equipment and testing is vital. i'd like our teams to have access

to testing, that is now beginning to happen. but i'd also like our residents to have access to testing. at the moment, the only people who get tested out of care homes are people who go into hospitals. and they are then tested when they get there. we have very large numbers of people in care homes who are passing away who are exhibiting covid—19 symptoms, but who aren't being classified as having the coronavirus because they haven't been tested. over the easter weekend, the overwhelming majority of people stayed at home, according to the government, whose scientific advisers will meet later to review the lockdown. at yesterday's downing street briefing, the indications were that decision to keep it in place has already been taken. if we let up now, the virus will only take full advantage, it will spread faster and it will kill more people. if we refuse to give into it, if we keep up this incredible team effort, we will beat this virus and we will come through this national test.

so, with the lockdown set to continue, it will be the numbers levelling or dropping that will bring changes. each of those numbers a life lost and a family grieving. keith doyle, bbc news. let's speak to our assitant political editor norman smith. he is at home. hi, norman. we don't know how many people are dying on ca re know how many people are dying on care homes because we don't have the most up to date figures, they are not included in the daily figures from the government and there is real pressure on the government about that? we don't have accurate figures, but i think we are beginning to get a sense that it could be very, very significant indeed. we heard from the bus of britain's largest private care home provider this morning he said that two thirds of his homes were

infected, one third of all deaths in his home were thought to be coronavirus related and they had had more than 2000 suspected cases of coronavirus. that is one care home provider. you replicate that throughout the sector and you get a sense of the scale of deaths and infections that could be going on, and very obviously care homes are particularly vulnerable because you have elderly, frail people living together. 0nce have elderly, frail people living together. once the virus starts in a ca re together. once the virus starts in a care home, tragically it canjust read through those homes. we had seen the terrible stories of some ca re seen the terrible stories of some care homes who have had 12 or 13 deaths once the virus gets in. added to which, many of the residents are suffering from dementia or alzheimer's and don't understand what is going on, it is not easy to get them to self—isolate quality shield, to wash their hands, and on top of that you have the vulnerability of the staff, who very obviously had to get up close and personal with residents to wash,

bait, clean, feed, tens, touch, they need protection but they have been behind nhs workers when it comes to getting protective clothing and, indeed, testing. matt hancock on friday said there was no capacity to roll—out testing to all those care workers who needed it, but that is a process that is only nowjust beginning when, you know, many, many ca re beginning when, you know, many, many care homes might already have the infection in then, albeit this morning we heard from the work and pensions secretary therese coffey who defended the government's approach to testing.” who defended the government's approach to testing. i think we have been well prepared, weather had been deficiencies we have sought to address them, make changes, we recognise that both still gaps in things like our capacity to test 100,000 people, the target set by the health secretary, we are working with the nhs and the private sector to reach that capacity. the other

keyissueis to reach that capacity. the other key issue is the issue around numbers. the numbers we get at the moment, you mentioned the 0ns figures due 9:30am, they are not very good because they are a week in arrears, we get the hospital numbers davis at we can see what is happening, they are only published weekly, and they are heavily in arrears so the last set of figures related to the week up to march 27. 0n related to the week up to march 27. on top of that they are not even definitive figures for care homes, they relate to all deaths in the community, not specifically care homes. they are not great figures. labour now says can we try to move to daily care home figures, that is harder than it sounds because care homes, some are private, summer charity, some local council, they don't have the unified arch of being in the nhs so it is hard to provide those figures. more broadly, labour are pressing for updated figures on

what is going on elsewhere the economy because of coronavirus, appealing for more information about the amount of loans and grants being given, the number of people being furloughed, the number of universal credit claims. this was the shadow chancellor analyst odds. often there has needed to be changes made, we supported the chancellor in doing that, i supported the chancellor in doing that, lam supported the chancellor in doing that, i am not diminishing supported the chancellor in doing that, lam not diminishing his supported the chancellor in doing that, i am not diminishing his huge workload and particularly his civil servants in this moment, but we do need to know whether these programmes are working on getting to the people they need to get to in short order. groups like the federation for small businesses for example are saying we need data and we need to know more quickly than has occurred until now whether these programmes are working. this is about having a constructive relationship with government, which we have had throughout, but making sure the support needed gets to

businesses who need it right now.” guess the big issue is how quickly the government can roll—out testing to ca re the government can roll—out testing to care homes, it has been a fairly incremental process. the latest figures have been about 20,000 tests a day, 8000 nhs workers. if you realise that more people work in the ca re realise that more people work in the care sector than the nhs, you get a sense of the scale of challenge ahead for the government on testing those care workers. thank you very much, norman, icannot those care workers. thank you very much, norman, i cannot tell you how many e—mails i am receiving from you, telling me what is going on in ca re you, telling me what is going on in care homes. let me read a couple. joanne says in our local covert action page, daily appeals are going out from care workers for sourcing ppe, it is happening everyday. judy says please don't forget thousands of pa rents says please don't forget thousands of parents are working in peoples homes. there is no ppe for them

either. i have tried the local authority, charities, the gp, ccg, aduu authority, charities, the gp, ccg, adult care, with no luck. dacey says my dad has been making visors for ca re my dad has been making visors for care homes for free on my dad has been making visors for care homes forfree on his my dad has been making visors for care homes for free on his 3d printer, he has heard awful stories including staff having to pay a want more protection in one paper mask for the week. he is sending them free from scotland to anyone who needs them. then one person on twitter says can he help my daughter's workplace? hopefully that will happen. let us know if you work ina care will happen. let us know if you work in a care home, run a care home, have a relative in a care home, what is your experience of what is going on? you can e—mail me or message me on? you can e—mail me or message me on twitter. if you want to be anonymous, perhaps you are worried about yourjob, i totally get that, totally understandable. in america, president trump has said he is calling the shots as to when the us will start to ease

lockdown restrictions, after some state governors suggested they would have the final word. mr trump said that he, as president, had total authority to lift stay—at—home orders — a claim that has been questioned by legal experts. 0ur north america editor, jon sopel, asked mr trump how his plan to re—start the economy would work. can i ask you, mr president, if you could sketch for us what reopening the economy looks like? do you think it's going to be everything open? we have some of the biggest from every business on this council. we are actually setting up a number of different councils, committees, i guess you could call them, and we have a lot of smart people. i think that they will give us some good advice. but we want to be very, very safe. at the same time, we've got to get our country up. as i understand, mr president, do you think there is a possibility then that what you do is, you open it incrementally? do you think people will go back to restaurants, to concerts? eventually they will do that. and i think we're going to boom. i think we're going to,

i think it's going to go quickly. people want to get back to work and i think there is a pent—up demand like there hasn't been in a long time. that's why, and that's where you see the stock market, i mean, to think that the stock market is at the level it is right now with all that this world and this country has gone, and look at the european union, how badly decimated and they've been. as part of reopening america, do you want to reopen the borders so that people from europe, from the uk... at the right time. very good question, actually, well, i'm going to have to take a look. i wouldn't say italy is doing great right now and i wouldn't say spain is doing great right now. and we just heard that france is extending its stay inside order, right, they've extended it, i've just seen that. and i think for a short period of time. no, when they're back, we want to do it very quickly, but we want to make sure everything is good. right now, right now we have a very strong band. we going to keep it that way until they heal. weeks, months, what would you... well, i can't tell you that, i'd have to see how you're doing. france just went for another two weeks. we have to see.

you talked about this being the most difficult decision that you're going to have to take about whether to reopen the economy. i wonder how much it weighs on your mind, the thought that if there is a second wave, you have reopen the economy, and you might have to shut things down again. it does, and i hope that won't happen, i certainly hope that won't happen but it does weigh on my mind. the french president emmanuel macron has extended the coronavirus lockdown for another four weeks until may the 11th. he said the current restrictions had slowed the virus but not beaten it, and accepted that the lockdown had been especially tough for poorer families without the benefit of spacious homes and good internet connections. translation: were we ready for this crisis? well, clearly not enough. but we stood up to it. in the next four weeks, the rules put in place by goverment have to be respected. they're shown to be successful, they will not be reinforced or lightened but they should be completely put into place.

in italy, some shops and businesses, including book—sellers and laundries, are reopening after a five—week lockdown. let's speak to our correspondentjean mackenzie. she is in rome. specifically, which shops are allowed to open?m she is in rome. specifically, which shops are allowed to open? it is a very small number, a very select few. shops, shop selling baby clothes and stationery shops. pretty much everything else is staying close. really, this lockdown which has been in place forfive close. really, this lockdown which has been in place for five weeks close. really, this lockdown which has been in place forfive weeks is carrying on as was for another three weeks. italians won't really notice much difference to their daily lives. factories, industries, the ones putting a lot of pressure on the government to allow them to restart are staying close, the government ultimately decided it was too soon. what is the thinking behind some of these smaller shops opening today? i think it is to give a slight boost, to allow some shops, the shops that people want to go to,

particularly baby clothes, stationery, everyday essentials, to open back up. they are small shops, shops people will not go to and big crowds, very strict social distancing rules in place, keeping everything else closed. it is a very gradual reopening. the government wa nts to gradual reopening. the government wants to gradually reopen thing sector by sector, it is currently working on a plan, they don't know what the next phase will look like, they are working out the details, but very cautiously moving forward. thank you very much, jean mckenzie in rome. the headlines on bbc news... the government confirms coronavirus outbreaks at more than 2000 care homes in england. scientific advisers for the government are to meet later to review the impact of the lockdown measures — but ministers say of the restrictions. france's president macron extends his country's lockdown for another month — but spain and italy allow some people back to work amid economic fears.

the indian prime minister narendra modi has extended his country's lockdown until may 3rd. the entire population of more than a billion people has been living under severe restrictions for the past three weeks. the world bank has slashed its predictions of indian economic growth this year — from 5% down to 1.5%. let's speak to our correspondent yogita limaye, who's in delhi. tell us how it is affecting people die? actually i am in mumbai, a coronavirus hotspot in india, it has the highest number of cases and deaths so far as well. india overall has more than 10,000 cases, nearly 360 people had died of the infection so far, i had been speaking to front line doctors over the past week from different parts of the country and

the worrying thing they had told me is that they believe these numbers are being underreported, that the choose scale of the outbreak in india is not yet known, partly because people brought dead two hospitals, the suspicion as they might have died of something which looks a lot like coronavirus, those people are not tested, their families are not tested. the other thing is the shortage of testing kits. 0ne doctor for example tell me 150 to 250 people with symptoms show up 150 to 250 people with symptoms show up at the hospital everyday but we are only able to test about 30. serious questions raised about whether the scale of the outbreak it's really known in india or not. the lockdown announcement that came this morning local time did not come asa this morning local time did not come as a surprise, lots of states in the country had already extended the lockdown until the end of the month. of course, this means very tough times for lots of people who are poorin

times for lots of people who are poor in india, the government announced an eight package earlier this month but given how vast this country is it is reaching some of them but not all of them —— the government announced an aid package. studio: thank you, yogita limaye. this e—mail would like to know about what is going on in care homes. i live in the biggest care home in the country with 300 pensioners, the average age is 84 and we have suffers from every ailment possible. we have a truly fantastic staff looking after us and so far our lockdown measures seem to be working as we have had very few casualties. the care home i live in is the royal hospital chelsea and of course i am talking about us, the chelsea pensioners. i am surprised that nobody has mentioned us as our methods seem to be working very well. that is good to hear. linda on twitter says are you suggesting the government are not trying to get ppe

to all who need it? do you ever considerjust how hard ministers are working to deal with covid—19 or is it too easy to sit back and snipe? peter on twitter says the numbers are meaningless, if you centre a zillion pieces of ppe and you need two zillion, it counts for nothing. there are so many messages about what is going on in care homes. robert says my good friend lucy works in a home where there is zero ppe. she is very worried, i have tried to order some equipment for her off ebay. thank you for those, keep those coming in. as i mentioned earlier, we will get the latest figures from the office of national statistics or the most recent figures, i should say, for those that have died from covid—19 symptoms in the community which includes care homes and private homes as well. more than 11,000 people have now died so far from coronavirus in the uk. they have left behind families

grieving. among the many people who've passed away was caroline walters, who was 64. she died last tuesday, after contracting covid—19 in hospital, where she was being treated for lung cancer. ca roline's daughter, kerry, joins me now from birmingham. kerry, good morning. iam so kerry, good morning. i am so sorry about your mum. please tell us what she was like? she wasjust app she would do anything for anybody, had a massive heart, was bubbly. everybody knew her as happy kaz, she was a lwa ys knew her as happy kaz, she was always happy. how did you feel when you were first told there were potential covid—19 symptoms? you were first told there were potential covid-19 symptoms? my mum was admitted to hospital on the 28th of january, initially to was admitted to hospital on the 28th ofjanuary, initially to have was admitted to hospital on the 28th of january, initially to have lung cancer treatment. and then there was

a problem during the procedure. me and my aunty were called into theatre, my mum was fitting on the bed, she had some sort of reaction. then she was put into intensive care, she has been in therefore the last ten weeks. i was obviously visiting her everyday. and then she was moved to intensive care at the queen elizabeth two weeks ago from another hospital and she caught pneumonia last week. but she had already had... she had already fought three cases of ventilator —related pneumonia and sepsis, she was poorly anyway that she was fighting through. and then on the tuesday morning i had a call from the nerve to say my mum had deteriorated and the doctor needed to have a conversation with me, the doctor called in the afternoon to say my mum had tested positive for

covid and they would have to switch it ventilator off. my goodness. what did you say to them? can you still hear me? what did you say to them when they told you that over the phone? i was heartbroken. when they told you that over the phone? iwas heartbroken. because i couldn't go and say goodbye. they assured me that a nurse would be sitting with my mum as she passed, potatoes horrible. it is the worst feeling ever. nobody should die alone like that, with no family, not being able to say goodbye. but you had been able to see her, when she was there for ten weeks he went everyday, you did as much as she could. everyday, my auntie jackie and becky and my brother leap. we we re and becky and my brother leap. we were going up every day from eight o'clock in the morning to eight o'clock in the morning to eight o'clock at night, the two weeks ago... when they stopped the visiting across hospitals four weeks

ago, intensive care was still allowing visits for an ali each day, which is better than nothing, but they stopped before she was moved to they stopped before she was moved to the kiwi, so i was not able to see her then. —— before she got moved to the qe. she was being treated for lung cancer, she thought sepsis. unventilated pneumonia, a very powerful pneumonia. what kind of funeral will you be able to have for your mum? well, not the one she deserves. 0nly your mum? well, not the one she deserves. only six people are allowed to attend. there is no embalming, she can't be buried in her own clothes. there will be a coffin ina her own clothes. there will be a coffin in a crematorium, literally. can't have a wake. it is horrible. could you do some kind of memorial celebrating her life when all this is over? when it is all over. yeah.

kerry, i am is over? when it is all over. yeah. kerry, iam really is over? when it is all over. yeah. kerry, i am really sorry about your mum andi kerry, i am really sorry about your mum and i am very gratefulfor you talking to us, i know you wanted to come on airto talking to us, i know you wanted to come on air to pay tribute to her, so thank you for giving that. thank you. kerry walters, daughter caroline, paying tribute to her mum who died of coronavirus in hospital last week. there's been an increase in illegal dumping of waste — orfly—tipping — since many recycling centres were closed down to avoid spreading covid—19. that's according to the creators of a new app which tracks fly—tipping, as duncan kennedy reports. just look at the state of this. 0ne infuriated reaction to fly—tipping. this is what people have done. it's the voice of donna pottle outside the london midland railway club she helps run in wolverhampton, bearing witness to this

deluge of detritus. the club's own cctv shows some of the actual dumping taking place. 0ut comes a sofa, then other chunks of furniture. what would your message to these people be? if you don't want that mess in your garden, don't make somebody else's a mess. it's unfair. stop fly—tipping — you're a disgrace. this pile is in hampshire. ever since councils closed waste sites for covid—19, illegal dumping has escalated. a new app logs fly—tipping around britain. its creator says cases have soared. we've seen a massive increase in fly—tipping — over 50% nationwide. some areas, including london, are well over 70%. we've seen thousands of extra reports coming through each

and every week right now. just three miles away, yet another site. here, the hills are awash with the horrors of more rubbish. lots of people are walking, the last thing they want is to find a whole pile of rubbish that's been dumped. what many ordinary householders don't realise is even if they pay somebody else to take away rubbish like this, it's they themselves that will face a fine if the rubbish can be traced. those fines can rise to thousands of pounds, with a maximum of £50,000 being payable. another concerned citizen filmed this from his flat. but whether it's birmingham or burnley, no wonder residents are angry when they see this. i think it's just laziness, because you could store it at home, couldn't you, until all this is over. i think it's disgusting — i don't know how people sleep at night. councils and say they had to close official waste sites to protect workers and the public, and they say the rise in fly—tipping is unacceptable.

we understand people want to potentially spend the time they're self—isolating clearing out their homes, but the message really from councils is very clear — please do not fly—tip. back in wolverhampton, donna surveys her eyesore with a message. if you dare, carry on. and a warning. we'll get you, without a shadow of a doubt. duncan kennedy, bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with carol. hello. most of us will carry on with dry weather, hazy sunshine at times, the exception will be across the far north of scotland where we have a wea k north of scotland where we have a weak weather front producing a third bit of cloud. that is thick enough here and therefore the odd spot of rain. you can see it quite nicely in

the satellite picture. it is quite windy in the final. we have cloud across the south—east and quarter of the uk which will continue to break as we go through the day, allowing more sunshine to develop, and high cloud across scotland, northern ireland and northern england which will turn your sunshine hazy. we can see some of that across the midlands and wales, turning thundery in haiti to the afternoon. temperatures range from 18 lerwick to 13 or 14 in cardiff, potentially 16 somewhere in north—east scotland. this evening and overnight under clear skies, another cold one, we will see patchy mist and fog and low cloud across northern ireland and seven scotland, and with a weak cold front across the north of scotland we have all this cloud, but at least by night it is maintaining the temperature level. away from that cloud it will be cold, temperatures indicate talents and cities. in rural areas there will be first. —— indicate talents and cities. for most of the

nations we will see a fair bit of sunshine tomorrow, but we have a wea k sunshine tomorrow, but we have a weak weather front across the north of scotla nd weak weather front across the north of scotland producing all this cloud, still some spots of rain and quite windy in the north—west. moving into thursday, high pressure still with us, so is the weak weather front moving southwards across scotland. but then we have a new one coming from the south—west, which is likely to produce heavy and potentially thundery showers ranging from the channel islands into south—west england and pushing through wales, potentially into the midlands. in between these two areas, lots of dry weather, a bit of sunshine, temperatures eight to about ten in the north of scotland, 20 oh possibly 22 in the south of england. by friday we still have this weather front bringing this rain, this is where we think it will be, it could push further north, still a weak weather front crossing scotland, temperatures range from seven to about 17.

hello, this is bbc news with victoria derbyshire. the headlines: the government confirms coronavirus outbreaks at more than 2,000 care homes in england, as charities warn many older people are being airbrushed out of official death figures. scientific advisers for the government are to meet later to review the impact of the lockdown measures, but ministers say there'll be no early relaxation of the restrictions. in the us, president trump claims total power to lift a nationwide lockdown, and clashes with the media over his handling of the pandemic. france's president macron extends his country's lockdown for another month, but spain and italy allow some people back to work amid economic fears.

this e—mailfrom this e—mail from margaret. this e—mailfrom margaret. i work in a care home for the elderly near glasgow. the conditions staff are having to cope with her appalling. we have very little effective ppe, putting residents and staff at risk. why are english care home is being prioritised? we why are english care home is being prioritised ? we have why are english care home is being prioritised? we have had several deaths and many residents are in isolation. no testing is being done and staff sickness rates get higher by the day. the hand sanitiser is even being watered down. what is going to take to bring the plight of scottish care homes to the fore? thank you very much that, margaret. the office for national statistics has just released in the last few seconds the numbers of deaths related to coronavirus. these differ from the official daily figures which are given by the government, in that they include deaths recorded in england and wales outside

hospitals. joining me via webcam is nick stripe, head of health analysis and life events at the office of national statistics. good morning. just to be really clear what these figures are? when they are for and what they tell us? ok, so the figures we released today for deaths through the local registration service in the week ending friday the 3rd of april. what they show us is that we have seen they show us is that we have seen the highest number of deaths recorded in a week since we started compiling weekly death figures in 2005. 21% of the deaths recorded included covid—19 mentioned on death certificates. that goes up to 47% of deaths in london which mentioned covid—19. deaths in london which mentioned covid-19. 16,387 deaths in london which mentioned covid—19. 16,387 deaths in total we re covid—19. 16,387 deaths in total were registered in that week. that

is more than 5000 higher than the week before, when we would expect the numbers to be going down at this time of the year normally. and it is over 6000 higher than the recent five year average. 60% higher than the five year average for this comparable week. i am going to ask you to slow down. i am trying to write this down and there is a lot of information to absorb. for that week ending friday the 3rd of april, you are saying they were more than 16,000 recorded deaths? correct. 16,387. of which 21% 16,000 recorded deaths? correct. 16,387. of which 21% mentioned covid—19 on death certificate. 16,387. of which 21% mentioned covid-19 on death certificate. ok. but in london that went up to 47%? yes. the next highest region was the west midlands of 22%. you said that is -- west midlands of 22%. you said that is —— that west midlands of 22%. you said that is -- that 16,000 west midlands of 22%. you said that is —— that 16,000 later than 37 figure is more than? higher than the previous week in terms of deaths

registered under 6000 higher than the average we would expect in this week of the year based on the previous five years. ok. so what is the significance then of these figures, particularly the 21% of those who recorded covid—19 symptoms? it is hugely significant that it symptoms? it is hugely significant thatitis symptoms? it is hugely significant that it is a week in the year which is around about the start of april we should be seeing these highest figures. this goes to show that this is not a normalflu outbreak. this is not a normalflu outbreak. this isa is not a normalflu outbreak. this is a global pandemic and it is clearly reflected in these figures, which are themselves a relatively early stage of the pandemic. can you give us the breakdown of those that work in the community? yes, so we have been tracking that for the last couple of weeks. so last week when we announced these figures there we re we announced these figures there were 70% of the deaths registered

outside of hospital settings. this week for all deaths registered by friday the third, that has gone up to 10% now outside hospital settings. 5% of all deaths we have been able to link to a care home setting, that gives us a number that is 217 deaths. remember the period i am talking about. deaths registered up am talking about. deaths registered up to friday the 3rd of april. he week earlier we had 20 deaths in ca re week earlier we had 20 deaths in care home settings. the order of magnitude increase is quite clear and puts us on track for some of the numbers that we are seeing in press in the last couple of days. sure. that increase of deaths in care homes from the week ending march the 27th, it was, to the week ending the 3rd of april, that is a massive increase? it is ten times higher. it is an order of magnitude increase. what we are doing now is liaising with the care quality comission to get further intelligence from care homes around the country if they can

gather that for us, so we can compare it against the death registrations we are seeing. these figures are already two weeks old. can you explain to our audience why we can't have those who have died in ca re we can't have those who have died in care homes or private homes from the preceding 24 hours like we can get for hospitals on a daily basis? sure. we are compiling lots of different data together to try to shed light on what is going on. when it comes to death registrations before it is registered because it has to be certified by a doctor, then that death has to be registered byafamily then that death has to be registered by a family member or someone he knew the deceased. 0n by a family member or someone he knew the deceased. on average it took us five days between a death occurring and a death being registered. at that point they are transferred to us daily, and then we have two process, we can —— we have to code that, where the deaths have

taken place. to code that, where the deaths have ta ken place. what to code that, where the deaths have taken place. what we have done is we have looked at deaths at the headline level, deaths that were registered up until the end of last week, and we are comparing that now against the figures that were being announced daily at a news conferences. so up to the end of last week we have no about 6000 deaths mentioning covid—19 just last week we have no about 6000 deaths mentioning covid—19just in england. we can compare that against the figure announced on saturday the 4th of april, which was about 4000 in england. we are about 50% of deaths hired in terms of death registrations than the daily announced figure. we can also compare it against the figures that nhs england are now reconciling. they are taking those daily figures and reconciling them back based on data from death. they are at about 5200 for that period. we are about 1596 5200 for that period. we are about 15% more deaths higher in death registrations than the nhs england will reconcile with daily figures,

which corresponds to the kind of levels we are seeing outside of hospital settings. understood. thank you for that. we can now speak to baroness altmann, the conservative peer and former pensions minister under david cameron. good morning. good morning. do you believe people in care homes are being abandoned? that certainly seems to be what i am hearing from so many around the country. that somehow care homes have been left behind in this scramble for more pension, more ppe protective equipment, for the emergency admissions, ventilation, and for the testing as well. so there are a lot more people apparently dying in care homes without having seen a doctor

and without the normal care and treatment that you would have hoped they would be able to receive, because care homes are somehow being left out, visitors are not coming in to see them as usually they would. who is abandoning them? well, it's almost as if the system has been stacked against them. you know, the national health service is a national service, so ministers are focusing on that all the time and getting detailed feedback. we get daily figures. whereas when it comes to ca re daily figures. whereas when it comes to care homes or people getting care in their own homes, that is all left to local authorities and they're spread all across the country. they we re spread all across the country. they were already underfunded. there isn't a national network in the same way as there is for the nhs perhaps. yes, there are local commissioning

groups. but ministers may be getting less information and many of the private care homes, the vast majority, are run by either private companies or charities. so again, they're one step removed from government itself. and we've got to realise what is happening and step up. the measures that we are taking to protect vulnerable elderly people in these care home settings. who is responsible for the underfunding of local authorities? well, successive governments for the last umpteen yea rs have governments for the last umpteen years have failed to grasp this nettle. and social care has been left to councils who don't have enough budget to cope with the rising number of elderly people in our population as a whole. that is a demographic issue. governments have continually promised to sort things

out, they have continually promised a solution to care funding. but it hasn't been delivered. a solution to care funding. but it hasn't been deliveredlj a solution to care funding. but it hasn't been delivered. i mean you're absolutely right that successive governments have not grasped the nettle when it to sorting comes out social care. but you have to acknowledge, as a conservative peer, it is your government that has been in powerfor the it is your government that has been in power for the last ten years and is responsible for cuts to local authority and to local authorities, and cuts to social care, hundreds of millions of pounds? that is absolutely right and it must not be allowed to continue. and i've been campaigning for years for better recognition of the real injustices that there are in the care system. and it is a difficult issue. i'm not trying to suggest that any government will find it easy to deal with this. whoever was in charge would be struggling. certainly at this point. but there is no excuse in my view for this artificial distinction between what is called social care and what called health.

and we need to have parity of esteem between care for the elderly in a ca re between care for the elderly in a care home, and care that is delivered in hospitals by the national health service, because all these people are valuable members of our society. they have made contributions through their lives, they deserve to be treated with the dignity and respect that we would all hope we would be treated with. which means, you know, proper protective equipment and proper funding. yeah. you have written today you think people in care homes are being abandoned like lambs to the slaughter. do you stand by that? it's certainly an expression that has been used to me by people who are in charge of care homes, desperately struggling to find enough staff, to know whether either the staff or the residents are infected with covid—19 and they

can't get adequate testing. and to know how best to protect their staff. they are struggling to get enough protective equipment. the cost of the equipment it's going up. councils have not been able to distribute all the emergency funding that they already have been given. the government has put huge amounts of money into social care. but it's not enough and it's not getting through where it is desperately needed, unfortunately. thank you very much for talking to us today. thank you, baroness altman, conservative peer, calling for more funding for those in care homes when it comes to personal protective equipment. thank you for your money m essa g es equipment. thank you for your money messages about what is going on in ca re messages about what is going on in care homes. my daughter works in a private one. there is no support for nurses when they request ppe. they are told off shamed, accused of carrying only for themselves. when clients have symptoms they are not allowed to isolate them in their rooms as, quote, this is their home. a few have died with symptoms but no

testing has been done. carers have no or little training and infection control. thank you for those. keep them coming in. the headlines on bbc news: the government confirms coronavirus outbreaks at more than 2,000 care homes in england. scientific advisers for the government are to meet later to review the impact of the lockdown measures, but ministers say there'll be no early relaxation of the restrictions. france's president macron extends his country's lockdown for another month, but spain and italy allow some people back to work amid economic fears. we are going to talk about universal credit for the next few minutes. almost 1.5 million people have applied for benefits such as universal credit, jobseekers' allowance or employment and support allowance, according to the work and pensions secretary therese coffey. but many claimants are reporting that they are experiencing issues or delays with their applications, with some saying they feel like they're "falling through the cracks".

joining me via webcam is andrea hodgkinson, who has experienced problems while trying to claim universal credit. andrea, you are a self employed construction health and safety specialist, but you don't have three yea rs specialist, but you don't have three years worth of tax returns, so you can't claim for the help for self employed people. what is a bit like claim universal credit? good morning, victoria. it has been an absolute nightmare, actually. it's been confusing, frustrating, stressful. and i think because your passport had run out, you weren't able to verify your identity when it came to applying for it universal credit. you haven't been able to get past that issue? that's right. i've been going around in circles, actually. they rejected my passport because it had expired, which i knew would happen. i have a new one on the way. so i e—mailed them, they

e—mailed me back. with a, if you still need help please e—mail. that was just still need help please e—mail. that wasjust going still need help please e—mail. that was just going around still need help please e—mail. that wasjust going around in still need help please e—mail. that was just going around in circles. 0ne e—mail after the other. i was getting panicky. i had had an e—mail from universal credit saying, if you don't complete your claim by the 6th of april, we will cancel it and you will have to start again. right. and have you been able to try and get through on the phone, or is that a stupid question? yeah, i did try, i tried several times. cold times were sort of three and a half hours. it was just mind—bogglingly crazy and confusing. and what have you got to live on? well, at started out i didn't initially apply because i have always worked, so i left it until the last minute. that was probably a bit daft. i was applying for otherjobs at the time. so i left it. initially i was down to

about 400 quid. i have got a little less tha n about 400 quid. i have got a little less than that now. as i say, i didn't want to do it. as a first timer it's not easy. why didn't you wa nt to timer it's not easy. why didn't you want to do it? well, there's a bit ofa want to do it? well, there's a bit of a stigma attached really, isn't there? when you have always worked, it's almost shaming to have to apply for benefits. is that how you feel? yeah, it is, definitely. the dwp had something like 1.8 million phone calls on the 30th of march. it had 2.2 million phone calls on the 31st of march. the department for work and pensions have moved 10,000 civil serva nts and pensions have moved 10,000 civil servants into the department to try and help. therese coffey, work and pensions secretary, says, we are doing whatever we can to make claiming a straight as possible. she

says, our it systems have stood up to the challenge, we have a working daily to make sure we can build capacity to process the claims quickly. i mean, i know you understand that they are overwhelmed. but i'm not sure that isa overwhelmed. but i'm not sure that is a particular consolation to you when you are running out of money? no, it's not. it's scary. i mean, when you have rent, bills and you need to eat and go to work when you do get employment, then it is a bit frightening. you used to be a nurse. i know you applied to return when the call went out for former nurses, x health care workers, to come back to the nhs to help. have you had news on that, whether you can go back? yeah. i'm officially back at the nhs now, so it's fantastic. yeah. wow. brilliant. have you done your first shift yet? no, i haven't done my first shift with the

emergency response bank yet. the first one will be training. it's all done by pin. we login, we booked our shifts and we get straight. so at some point you will get paid for those shifts, but presumably you still need the universal credit in the meantime? yeah, i needed it as a safety net, really. i didn't apply, i should have applied sooner. so yeah, that's what it is therefore, obviously, a safety net. so yes, i didn't need it. and i do still needed because even if i work tomorrow i'm not going to get paid probably until, well, at least a week on friday. thanks for talking to us, andrea. really appreciated. take care. joining me via webcam is the labour mp and chair of the work and pensions committee, stephen timms. good morning. good morning, victoria. the dwp is dealing with millions of new claims. it says it

has processed at least 365,000 advanced payments, which is a payment you can get within 24 hours sometimes rather than waiting the five weeks for the first payment. do you think they system is coping well? well, the it has coped. and thatis well? well, the it has coped. and that is a good thing. i think the department is entitled to be pleased about that, because it could have collapsed under the weight of applications. the big question in my mind is, are people who are asking foran mind is, are people who are asking for an advance, you need that money urgently, are they getting it urgently, are they getting it urgently or not? the figure you have just given suggests only a small proportion of the people applying for universal credit have so far got an advance. is that because they don't need an advance, or is it because he department isn't coping with the scale of the demand due i think the department probably is struggling to get the money out of the door as fast as they should do. but we are asking, the select

committee is asking people for information about their experience of claiming benefits at the moment. the select committee website has got a news item on it which is headed, mps want to hear experience of people claiming benefits topples and we would really like to hear from people today or tomorrow so we can ta ke people today or tomorrow so we can take these matters up with the department when we have ministers in front of us next week. you will have heard andrea saying she has never applied for benefits before, and she said she felt it was shaming. what do you say to that? well, it shouldn't be. the system is there to provide support. lots of people are going to need it at different times and more people than ever at the moment. parliament has put their system in place to provide the protection that is required. nobody should feel ashamed about this. it is therefore a very good reason. everybody understands that at the

moment people cannot work. they cannot derive an income. so universal credit is there to help. i just hope it is going to do the job well enough. but the big problem about universal credit is that once you have applied you don't get your first regular benefit payment for five weeks. i think that's a fatal flaw in the whole system. you can ask for what they call an advance. in reality it is a loan, which will enable you to get some cash quickly. and i've never understood that. that has been a criticism of the universal credit system, one of the criticisms. the government has responded to other criticisms and change things. they did listen to that. why you have to wait five weeks for the first payment. if you can getan weeks for the first payment. if you can get an advance payment, a lone on day one. why notjust give the first payment on day one? what's the rationale? that's a very good question. the rationale was supposed to be it was like getting your first salary cheque. you have to wait for

a month until you get your salary cheque. that was the idea. but it assumes that everybody has got him on the's pay in the bank when they apply. 0f on the's pay in the bank when they apply. of course, all sorts of people have not. ever since the 1940s we have had a social security system that has been able to get people their first—ever regular payment within a few days. and suddenly with universal credit you have to wait five weeks. it is not acceptable. it will have to be changed. the select committee is carrying out an enquiry about this five week delay is our first major enquiry of this parliament. and i think we are going to conclude it needs to change. i hope the government will change it. at the moment they are saying that even if they wanted to change it it would ta ke they wanted to change it it would take ages because of it difficulties. but i really think they have got to come up with a way around this, because it is not fit for purpose in its current state. thank you very much. stephen timms, labour chair of the work and pensions select committee. it's about 1.4 million people and

about 200,000 people have also claimed other kind of more historic benefits like jobseeker's allowance or employment support allowance. we have been working daily since the start of this to make sure that we can build the capacity, but also we've directed a lot of our civil servants to make sure we can process the claims so that people can get the claims so that people can get the financial support they need quickly. for those people you don't wa nt quickly. for those people you don't want to wear the amount of time that we would normally pay universal credit, they have been able to get an advance of that money so they can get cash up front if that is what they needed. interested to hear from you if you have been trying to apply for universal credit. how is it going? how challenging or otherwise has it been? many of you getting in touch this morning to paint a picture of what is going on in care homes across the country. really appreciate your personal pertinent experiences. we feed that into all or interviews and conversations. this one says, with the government

be responsible for providing pp for private hospitals? i would have said no. why then is it responsible for private care homes, many of which are runfora private care homes, many of which are run for a big profit by big business. another weather. we have got a weather front trekked across the west of scotland for the moment and it will be with you for at least the next two to three days. here it is producing a fair bit of cloud, breezy conditions and patches of rain in the north of scotland. higher cloud across southern scotland, northern ireland and northern england, turning the sunshine hazy. cloud in the south—east continuing to break up, allowing sunny skies to develop. temperatures between eight and 14. summer in north—east scotland could hit 16. this evening and overnight under clear skies it will be another cold one. patti mist and fog forming in northern ireland and southern scotland. still our week of weather front in the north. that is helping to keep the temperatures up. in

stornoway, 8 degrees. more of the same as we move through wednesday and thursday. cloud in the far north with spots of rain. for the rest of us, dry, getting a little bit warmer with some sunshine.

scotland, temperatures range from seven to about 17. this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the number of people who died with coronavirus by april 3rd is 15% higher than previously reported, according to official data which includes deaths outside of hospitals. the uk government confirms coronavirus outbreaks at more than 2000 care homes in england, as charities warn daily death figures based on hospital deaths are misleading. we have very large numbers of people in care homes who are passing away who are exhibiting covid—19 symptoms but who aren't being classified as having the coronavirus because they haven't been tested. in the us, president trump claims "total" power to lift a nationwide lockdown, and clashes with the media