hi, good morning. it's wednesday, victoria derbyshire with you until 11. welcome to bbc news. here are the headlines. all care home residents and staff who have coronavirus symptoms will now be tested, as the government tries to tackle the rising number of infections and deaths in care homes. we have been working really hard to do whatever we can to protect those receiving care from this truly awful, horrible illness. labour leader sir keir starmer urges the government to show the public there is a plan and publish its strategy for ending the coronavirus lockdown. we do need to take the public with us. we need the public to comply, and therefore they need to know that the government has a strategy for what comes next, and they need to know the government's planning for that. and i think if there

is transparency and openness, you get the trust of the public, and if you get the trust of the public it's likely the compliance levels will go up, and that is a very good thing because what the government is doing now to keep the infection rate down is the right thing and we should support that. president trump suspends funding for the world health organization, accusing it of covering up the spread of the virus in china. and he set out to collect £1000 for the nhs by walking round his garden. now he's passed £45 million. we'll be speaking to 99—year—old war veteran captain tom moore and his familyjust before 9.30.

really looking forward to talking to captain tom moore, the incredible world war ii veteran who has now raised... ifi world war ii veteran who has now raised... if i look at the ipad, it is going up every second. it is £4.6 million now, for the nhs, looking at his page for walking up and down his garden. and possibly while we're on it is money, it will reach £5 million, to you. and we're going to bring him together with a woman from nhs charities together — the ones who will benefit from tom's magnificent fundraising. so some joy for you this moring. our top story. the government has promised that all care home residents and staff with covid—i9 symptoms will be tested for coronavirus. it comes after weeks of calls from care providers for more testing and warnings that the virus is "running wild" amid outbreaks at more than 2,000 care homes. now the health secretary, matt hancock, says he is "determined" to ensure everyone

who needs a test has access to one. labour has welcomed the pledge but said the social care sector needed more support. so, that promise. the government says all care home residents and staff with virus symptoms will be tested as laboratory capacity increases. the government says the care quality commission — the cqc — is co—ordinating the effort to ramp up testing in care homes, and will offer tests to the uk's 30,000 care providers by the end of the week. and today, labour leader keir starmer urged the government to go further and publish an exit strategy from the coronavirus lockdown. sir keir said his party would support the government if, as expected, it extends lockdown measures later this week. but he called for more transparency about how and when the rules will be relaxed. elsewhere, in the us, president trump says he has instructed his government to suspend funding for the world health organization, accusing it of "accelerating the coronavirus pandemic"

and being biased towards china. keith doyle reports. "we'll be there with you." with no family allowed to visit their care home, it's care workers that read the last messages from loved ones. "for now, grandma, this is goodbye, but i know that you will always be with us in our hearts." we've all got on with it and done what we can, and i can sleep well at night knowing that i did give them all the love and care that i could in their last moments. the exact number of deaths of care home residents due to coronavirus is unclear. there has not been routine testing, something care homes have been calling for. the government has now said it will test all care home residents and staff with symptoms. it's also said all new residents discharged from hospital into care this

homes will be tested. further details will be in the social care action plan to be revealed later this week with 30,000 care providers expected to be contacted by the end of the week according to the government. deaths in care homes are not included in the official government figures. the latest number of deaths of people with covid—i9 in hospital has risen by 778, bringing the total to 12,107. the economic cost of the virus has also been laid bare. the economy could shrink by 35% byjune, according to the independent office of budget responsibility, with the effects felt by everyone. these are tough times, and there will be more to come. as i've said before, we can't protect every business and every household. labour says it's critical that the government gets the measures right, but mps believe it's struggling to get some

of them in place. i've no doubt the government is being bold. it has come forward with the right basic approach, but because it's having to happen at pace and a great scope, it is clearly struggling in some areas. getting businesses back open, getting people back to work, getting care workers tested, getting through this pandemic. these are the challenges facing the government and the country in the weeks ahead. keith doyle, bbc news. the labour leader sir keir starmer is urging the government to publish an exit strategy from the coronavirus lockdown this week. the government is expected to announce an extension to the lockdown on thursday. sir keir said labour would back such a move but the government should be more open about how and when it will end. interesting to see what you think about this. i have been asking if

you back the government strategy, don't talk about the lockdown because it might confuse people, risk confusing the message, whereas labour says, let's have the exit strategy published so we know what dealing with. norman smith, what is keir starmer‘s rationale for this call? his argument is that if you wa nt to call? his argument is that if you want to keep public support, you wa nt to want to keep public support, you want to keep public support, you want to keep the public abiding by the lockdown, you have got to give them a sense of hope and direction, and a way out of this. in other words, it is better to retain public support by engaging with them honestly and saying, "this is what we are thinking on the exit strategy". added to which, he argues that when we get an exit strategy, it is going to require an awful lot of planning, preparations, potentially investment if we go for some kind of national vaccination campaign, we will have to set up vaccination centres all around the country. so we might as well crack on with it now rather than leaving it until much later in the day. i

suppose his last point is just as a matter of transparency. we are in a national crisis, let's have the national crisis, let's have the national conversation. i don't think the government would actually disagree with that. it really comes down to timing. they argue that we just don't have the scientific data and clarity yet to formulate the outlines of an exit strategy, but more than that, they fear that if you start saying to people, "we'd like you to stay at home but we're also going to talk to you about how might help you to leave home," that isa might help you to leave home," that is a bit ofa might help you to leave home," that is a bit of a confused message, and i give it which this morning keir starmer rejected. —— an argument which this morning. we do need to take the public with us. we need the public to comply, and therefore, they need to know that the government has a strategy for what comes next. and they need to know the government's planning for that, and i think with transparency and openness, you get the trust of the public, and if you get the trust of the public, it is likely compliance levels will go up and that is a very good thing

because what the government is doing now to keep the infection rate down is the right thing and we should support that. i think the likelihood, because there will be an exit strategy, and there will be an exit strategy, and the opposition parties will be involved, and there will be a big public debate about it, that realistically, it is probably going to have to wait until borisjohnson is back up and running. that could bea is back up and running. that could be a week, several weeks away. at the end of the day, this is a massive political call, which can really only be taken by the prime minister. in the meantime, the effo rts minister. in the meantime, the efforts on the government side are continuing on trying to ramp up testing, particularly in care homes, as we have been hearing, widespread concern about what is going on in ca re concern about what is going on in care homes in terms of deaths and infections. overnight, the government announced all care homes, residents and staff, will be tested if they want to and similarly, people leaving hospital and going into ca re people leaving hospital and going

into care homes will also be tested. the problem is, we are starting from such a low base. i mean, the number of care home workers who have been tested so far is just 500 and the number of tests... well, the latest figures are the ones we had for monday and to be fair, it was a bank holiday, but it was only “1,000 so we are way off the initial target of 25,000 by the middle of the month. it is the middle of the month. even further off the 100,000 target by the end of the month. so there needs to bea the end of the month. so there needs to be a dramatic increase in testing if you are to be able to provide that additional testing to people in ca re that additional testing to people in care homes, albeit a care minister, helen whately, insisted the government had prioritised care homes. our message to them is we are doing and we have been doing everything we can to protect those really vulnerable people who are living in ca re vulnerable people who are living in care homes or receiving care at home. we know those are some of the most vulnerable in our society, and from that moment it looks like coronavirus was coming our way, on

my part as the care minister, and working with the department of health and social care, local authorities and those thousands of ca re authorities and those thousands of care providers and their representatives, we have been working really hard to do whatever we can to protect those receiving ca re we can to protect those receiving care from this truly awful, horrible illness. it is hitting the whole world and bringing the whole world toa world and bringing the whole world to a standstill. elsewhere, some slightly more encouraging news on the issue of numbers, you remember the centre of the debate over care homes is the lack of hard data on what is actually going on in care homes, because we only get the figures published fortnightly in arrears and only once a week from the office for national statistics. the government is saying actually, yes, they are prepared to try and find some kind of mechanism to publish the figures daily. we don't know when we are going to get there are but there does seem to be a desire to move to

daily figures for care homes, too. thank you very much, norman. i am keeping and i on captain tom'sjust giving page and since we have been on air, it has gone up by over £200,000. he has now raised £11.8 million for the nhs and we are due to talk to him live at about 9:25am, so to talk to him live at about 9:25am, so 15 minutes, and i wonder if there is any chance that this might reach £5 million while we have him on air. no pressure, ladies and gentlemen, but who knows? incredible generosity from the british public so far. president trump has announced that he is withholding funding for the world health organization, claiming it "failed in its basic duty" when responding to the coronavirus pandemic. mr trump accused the organisation of failing to investigate the outbreak in the chinese city of wuhan, where the virus emerged. our north america correspondent peter bowes reports. the president of the united states. addressing reporters in the rose garden at the white house,

president trump said the united states was making substantial progress against the coronavirus. he could see light at the end of the tunnel. but it was time to call an end to america's support for the world health organization. today i'm instructing my administration to halt funding of the world health organization while a review is conducted to assess the world health organization's role in severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus. everybody knows what's gone on there. mr trump said the who have promoted what he called china's disinformation, leading to a wider outbreak of the virus than would otherwise have occurred. he claimed the disease could have been contained at its source with very little death if the un agency had objectively assessed the situation on the ground. there was credible information to suspect human—to—human

transmission in december 2019, which should have spurred the who to investigate and investigate immediately. responding to the president's announcement, the united nations secretary general antonio guterres said: critics in washington say the president is trying to deflect blame for the spread of the pandemic in the us. the trump administration has been criticised for a lack of early testing for the virus and for playing down the threat of covid—19. peter bowes, bbc news, los angeles. one of the first countries in europe to impose a lockdown is easing restrictions from today. children in denmark will return to primary and nursery schools, four weeks after they were closed.

other restrictions on borders, leisure venues and gatherings of more than ten people will remain in place. our correspondent adrienne murray is in copenhagen. how are people greeting the gradual easing of these restrictions from today? i think so far, there's been quite widespread support for the measures that the government has brought in because it acted so quickly. actually, the lockdown here is certainly a lot less restrictive thanit is certainly a lot less restrictive than it is in places like the uk or france, for that matter. however, some parents understandably are feeling anxious about their children coming back to school at first. health experts say it makes sense because children appear to be a lot less susceptible to the virus. what has been the scale of the coronavirus infection rate in denmark? well, the latest figures show that around 300 coronavirus —related deaths have been recorded

and about 6500 cases. denmark is a small country. but the health data has been quite encouraging. they think the epidemic curve has started to flatten off at a relatively low level. crucially, what that means is the number of hospitalisations here has actually been falling since the start of april, and also the number of patients receiving intensive care 01’ of patients receiving intensive care or respirators has been falling over the last couple of weeks. essentially, that means that the hospitals have not been overwhelmed and there is still capacity to care for people going forward. 0k, thank you very much. the headlines on bbc news: all care home residents and staff who have coronavirus symptoms will now be tested, as the government tries to tackle the rising number of infections and deaths in care homes. labour leader sir keir starmer urges the government to show the public there is a plan and publish its strategy for ending the coronavirus lockdown. president trump suspends funding for the world health organization, accusing it of covering up

the spread of the virus in china. a couple of messages from you, tim says, "what is the obsession with an exit strategy? we are in the middle of trying to save lives. this is not aperitif." ac says, "keir starmer is not asking for a timeline, just a plan, other countries have delivered this. the government needs to take the people with them on this and we need to trust the pm and he needs to show he is worthy of that trust by offering a plan, plus businesses need time to prepare." you are welcome to get in touch, send us an e—mail or message me on twitter. the government's promise to test all care home residents with covid—19 symptoms, as well as those caring for them, once again raises the question of how much testing capacity there currently is. norman was talking about that earlier. the target of 100,000 tests a day is supposed to be reached at the end of the month, and today marks the half—way point. the latest figures published

by the government show that just under 15,000 tests were done on monday. let's speak to allan wilson, president of the institute of biomedical sciences, which represents lab workers, 75% of whom work for the nhs. good morning. thank you forjoining us. it is estimated we are about 15% of the way to reaching the 100,000 target. is it achievable, in your view, by the end of april? we don't think so. we think there is a real shortage of the basic supplies we need to do these tests, and the frustration is from within my profession, and the nhs, to have staff trained and ready to carry out these tests, we have testing platforms ready, ready and able to carry out the test and we have established these things creatively and innovatively but we lack the basic reagents and elements to carry out the test. so you would need that today if you are to achieve the

100,000 target by the end of the month, do you think? we don't have a secure supply chain for most of the rea g e nts secure supply chain for most of the reagents and testing kits that we need to carry out these tests. we fixed one bit of that supply chain, getting a supply to the laboratory, but it is not a constant supply, we can do so many tears, then we have to stop and try to move another testing platform, so until the supply chain to the laboratories is secure, it is unlikely we will reach the 100,000 target. the irony of this is, we have the capacity within the nhs laboratories to do the 100,000 target. it is there. we have the testing platforms available and we have the staff available to do it. what we don't have is the rea g e nts it. what we don't have is the reagents and the testing kits we need to carry out the tests. so the health secretary of course would have known that so what did you think when you first heard that this was his ambition? i think it would have been nice first of all to have been consulted in this. i think that is one of our issues as well, the

pathology community in general, and i don'tjust pathology community in general, and i don't just mean pathology community in general, and i don'tjust mean the professional body i represent but others as well, have not really been invited to join until later, and certainly, my organisation has not been invited to join into the discussions about how we deliver this so it would have been nice to have had that consultation. i think the other issueis consultation. i think the other issue is that within the testing, the 100,000 samples, 25,000 of those samples have to be delivered through the nhs and 75,000 are to be delivered within the mass testing centres which have been built around the country, including in milton keynes and glasgow. we are not sure what testing modalities they are using. we now seem to have evolved two different testing streams, one within the nhs laboratories and one within the nhs laboratories and one within these mass testing centres and they are running along very different lines with little communication between the two and thatis communication between the two and that is also i think a concern to us that is also i think a concern to us that we should be working together on this. we are doing the same

testing, the same groups of people so we should be working together to pool resources. what we're doing at the moment is we seem to be competing for resources, so nhs labs‘ priority is always to test ill patients, testing for diplomatic patients, testing for diplomatic patients, that is our priority, and any capacity beyond that, we will test staff groups. whereas the mass testing centres are largely for staff grou ps testing centres are largely for staff groups within the nhs. but we need to start working together and to involve those professional bodies that represent those members delivering that testing. so, sorry to interrupt, mr wilson, so there are groups of staff in this country, lab workers, from the nhs and the private sector, who are effectively, are you saying they are in competition for the ingredients for testing, for the swabs and the reagents? largely come yes because some of the core reagents, we are for some of the testing platforms,

we are effectively because there is an international shortage of these so we are all fishing in the same pond for these testing kits and reagents. now, yes, we have a situation where we are inevitably in competition. the involvement of the small laboratories and the approach of them, we obviously need to up the capacity for testing, but by involving all the labs that can possibly do this, all we really do is increase the competition. there‘s no point in involving other laboratories if they are going to be using the same platforms as nhs laboratories because we could do that already. all we are doing is increasing competition for scarce resources . increasing competition for scarce resources. 0k. plenty of people will argue, yes, the 100,000 test per day by the end of the month is ambitious but you‘ve got to have an ambitious target because if you do, you are more likely to get near it. absolutely, there‘s no doubt that is a target but it would have been nice to know exactly what the target is meant to achieve. we still haven‘t seen from the strategy document that

matt hancock published, exactly what the target of the strategy document is. but we do need to up the testing. the main reasons we test is for patients to limit the transmission when we get to hospital —— they get to hospital so we can identify those that are covid positive and treat them accordingly and separate them from those who are negative and we also need to use the testing to identify those staff who are working within the nhs and use it to do two things. one is to identify those that are covid negative and get them back to work on the other is to identify those that are covid positive and then isolate them to stop them transmitting disease to both patients and their colleagues. 0k, thank you very much, mr wilson. the president of the institute of biomedical science. we still have much to learn about covid—19 — including why the virus seems to disproportionately affect people from black, asian and minority ethnic backgrounds. more than a third of those who are seriously ill in hospital

in england and wales fall into that category, according to analysis from the intensive care national audit and research centre. as millions of muslims across the uk prepare to observe the month of ramadan, ankur desai has been finding out how living conditions are making them particularly vulnerable to the virus. boys, it‘s ready! boys, it's ready! meat kinzah. she lives with nine people in the same time. her husband and son, as well as her in—laws, two elderly parents and four brothers. that bedroom, just there, that is my mother and father—in—law‘s bedroom. just there, that is my mother and father-in-law's bedroom. it is a familiar scene, living life under lockdown is a struggle. social distancing doesn‘t really happen here, because we are all in one house together. everyone has their own room and whatnot, but it is just difficult to have, like, two metres between everyone. my father—in—law is getting ready to go to work. it is an issue faced by

many british asian households, often with three and sometimes for generations under the roof.|j with three and sometimes for generations under the roof. i think we arejust giving generations under the roof. i think we are just giving each other space because everyone is normally so busy being out and now, being home. because everyone is normally so busy being out and now, being homem course, you can‘t go to the mosque. normally, everyone will get up at whatever time they do and make their own way to the mosque but this time, it is really nice, everyone praying together at home. although families have found a way to come together for the routine, it is the fear of the unexpected. we know a few people who have passed away and u nfortu nately who have passed away and unfortunately they have only been able to have five people at their funeral. as muslims, we believe that ifa funeral. as muslims, we believe that if a muslim has passed away and has 100 people, practising muslims, at theirfuneral, it 100 people, practising muslims, at their funeral, it is 100 people, practising muslims, at theirfuneral, it is like 100 people, practising muslims, at their funeral, it is like their one—way ticket to heaven. this is a game that i would say a lot of british asians would play during lockdown. despite their fears, this tight—knit family are finding their own way through lockdown, through kindness and keeping busy.

government figures suggest that cramped housing is more likely to be a problem amongst ethnic minority families. if we look at some of the figures, 30% of the uk bangladeshi population live in overcrowded housing. that is in comparison to just 2% amongst the white british population. on the tightly packed streets of bradford, local community leaders who are pulling together to fight the threat of covid—19 see the issues faced first—hand. fight the threat of covid—19 see the issues faced first-hand. the general issues faced first-hand. the general issueis issues faced first-hand. the general issue is that the younger generations are a little bit relaxed about covid are not so concerned, but the risk factor is when they go back into their households, there is a serious risk of them contaminating their parents and grandparents. and thatis their parents and grandparents. and that is why there is potentially a greater danger to the families within these crowded houses, and why the asian community is facing an extra challenge as it attempts to keep covid—19 at bay.

that sponsored walk by the incredible 99—year—old army veteran, captain tom moore, has now raised more than £11.9 million. what was it when we came on—air? £11.3 million? £600,000 in 25 minutes. we are about to talk to him and it would be amazing if we could get to £5 million while we are on air. iam get to £5 million while we are on air. i am trying to refresh the page and it has crashed so i suspect many people are trying to donate right now but we know it is £11,9711,877. so we‘re there. as you know, he is aiming to walk100 we‘re there. as you know, he is aiming to walk 100 laps of his garden in bedfordshire before his 100th birthday at the end of the month. he‘s raising money for the nhs after a hip operation. and he‘s receiving a lot of public support. dame kelly holmes tweeted —

tom, you are our hero — happy 100th birthday, we salute you sir. the actor luke evans gave his reaction saying — "tom — you are a hero many times over." singer michael ball tweeted — "thank you for being such an important focal point when we all needed it." radio 2 dj zoe ball wrote "incredible work by dear tom moore". and the golferjustin rose described tom‘s achievement as "absolutely brilliant" captain tom moore and his daughter, hannah ingram—moore, are with us now. and we‘re alsojoined by ellie orton from the nhs charities together, which will benefit from the funds raised. tom, good morning. you are amazing. morning. nice for you to say that. now, listen, it is at about £11.9 million, and i can‘t check the website because it has crashed because so many people are donating

but it is heading for £5 million. how do you feel about that?” but it is heading for £5 million. how do you feel about that? i think thatis how do you feel about that? i think that is absolutely enormous, and at no time when we started off with this exercise, did we anticipate we would get anything near that sort of money. it just shows would get anything near that sort of money. itjust shows that people have such high regard for the members of the national health service, and it is really amazing that people have paid so much money. i understand, victoria, you had some time in hospital and no doubt you found exactly the same. the service and care and attention you got was out of this world. it really was, tom, the nhs saved my life and i‘m grateful every single day. what do you want to say to tom about the money raised so far which continues to keep going up. i‘m still trying

to keep going up. i‘m still trying to get on thejustgiving page to refresh it to see what the latest is but what would you like to say? absolutely huge thank you, and amazing well done to captain tom. all of his supporters and family as well. this is teamwork on a grand scale, with the ultimate team leader in captain tom. le is the charity we are raising the money for, and she says an enormous thank you and i can justjump in, i've seen on tv this morning, there's been calculations with their kind of things that can be bought with the money that tom has raised, and when it is put into context like that, it becomes so real. we are overwhelmed. we feel so humble. we are so grateful to everyone who supported us. ellie, remind the audience what kind of things this money will be spent on.

so this money is spent on three things, firstly, it is that immediate relief, support and well volunteers and patients impacted by covid—19. so one nhs trust has told us covid—19. so one nhs trust has told us that with the funds that they have been able to buy six sleep pods to go in their critical care unit. they have been able to set up 12 wobble rooms in their hospital, as they call them, to be able to give space for staff to be able to have a moment's contemplation. they have sent out hundreds and hundreds of ca re sent out hundreds and hundreds of care packs. they have put in washing facilities and wash packs within the university accommodation where a lot of the staff are staying overnight and not going home. it makes a huge difference to them. we have also extended the appeal to be able to fund theircare extended the appeal to be able to fund their care partnerships around the hospital that are so vital for

patients to be able to leave hospital safely and quickly and also to be able to remain and stay out of hospital. and then thirdly, it is about the mental health recovery of those staff and the long—term support of that. we even have stories now of hospitals that are already setting up things like listening ear programmes to help with the mental health side of supporting staff and patients. tom, how do you feel about the kind of things that ellie has just described that your money, money the british public has donated to you, can go towards? ellie was describing the wonderful things your money could buy, supporting the staff being able to sleep while they are doing shifts, so they are going home

and it doesn‘t affect their families, to support all of the auxiliary staff, to make sure all of the support structures are receiving that money, how do you feel about what the money is doing? i'm absolutely amazed that this money will do so many things, because from top to bottom in the national health service they deserve everything we can possibly put in. with my knowledge of them, all of them, from top to bottom, they work so them, from top to bottom, they work so hard and they are so humble and i think you are going to say they are also brave, because every morning, or every night, they are putting themselves into harm's way, and i think you have to give them full marks for that effort because they are continuously doing that day after day after day, giving support

to the sick and poor people whilst they can. and i think for many people watching, for you, as a world war ii veteran, to describe nhs and ca re war ii veteran, to describe nhs and care staff workers as brave, will mean such a huge amount, tom. i‘m still trying to get on the website. if anybody can tell me if tom has over 5 million, please let me know. i can‘t get on because it has crashed. what motivated you, tom, to start doing this? i had had so much, such a marvellous service, when i was in hospital with my hip and there is no way i can ever recompense the members of the

hospital's, can ever give back to them the service they gave to me. i think you have to think it is a little bit like having a war at the moment. the doctors and the nurses, they are all on the front line, and all of us behind, we have to supply them with everything they need so they can do theirjob even better than they are doing now. absolutely. and, hannah, it is so remarkable this amount of money raised, because it was only a week last monday when you had a target of £1000? it's extraordinary. just mentioning there, the supporting of the mental health of all of those workers is so important. i think as a nation we are feeling at odds and we are feeling isolated, and if we can support in any way the mental health

which is so profoundly important it just makes it even more worthwhile, and in terms of the money we are ellie, humbled and proud, proud of the british people. we set £1000 and thought it was a stretch, then we set it to £5,000. thinking we might raise £5,000. to be talking about 5 million, it is beyond our wildest dreams, but as tom said he will keep walking and we, team tom, will keep supporting. hannah, literally, well you have just been answering me supporting. hannah, literally, well you havejust been answering me i was told, someone has got onto the just giving page, tom‘s page, and i was told you‘re a £11000 of reaching 5 million. halfway through that a nswer 5 million. halfway through that answer it is 3000, now 2900. i am getting updates on my ear because i can‘t get on the website. where are

we up to now? there is 2000 to be raised before you reach 5 million, so if it‘s all right with you i‘m to keep you on—air because we might... look at ellie smile as well. oh, my gosh, ellie. the money is getting closer and closer to 5 million. how do you feel? absolutely remarkable. just a huge thank you. the inspiration for this is very much, you know, tom is an absolute inspiration but it is also those nhs staff and volunteers who are the huge inspiration and i think it is those two things that have come together, you know, there are characteristics in both of these groups of people and those characteristics are sacrifice, service, our duty. those things that really, really mean a lot and matter. when things get tough, those

are the characteristics that shine through. and those are the characteristics of all the nhs staff who are working tirelessly to care for patients, but that is clearly the characteristic of captain tom as well who has shown that throughout his service, throughout the second world war. but now as he towns up and down his garden —— ellie and down. people are inspired and in awe and he is helping them show their immense gratitude to the nhs. listen, tom, iam immense gratitude to the nhs. listen, tom, i am coming immense gratitude to the nhs. listen, tom, iam coming back immense gratitude to the nhs. listen, tom, i am coming back to you. just £1000 more to be raised, and you will have hit the 5 million mark. i‘m relying on people who have managed to get onto yourjust giving page to count me down because i can‘t get on. i have my ipad, my

phone. you are almost there. i am desperately trying to get online again. i‘m just waiting for a bit of again. i‘m just waiting for a bit of a countdown. £500 to go, tom, and you will have reached 5 million. ok, oh, my gosh... ican't you will have reached 5 million. ok, oh, my gosh... i can't see anything... but can you hear me all right, hannah? i can hear you're all right. i think we have found, the english language, as broad and as deep as it is, we can‘t find the words. well, we haven't got there yet. oh, my gosh. i have two phones and ipod. it says [199.276.91, so it is almost there, but this isn‘t refreshing. my gosh. just agony... 0k, refreshing. my gosh. just agony... ok, i'm refreshing. my gosh. just agony... ok, i‘mjust waiting refreshing. my gosh. just agony... ok, i‘m just waiting for my collea g u es ok, i‘m just waiting for my colleagues who have managed to get

on. i think they have all crashed now! tom, they are counting it down. they are listening, so it is always in theirear. they are listening, so it is always in their ear. their site keeps crashing. as soon as she knows, she will tell as —— the site keeps crashing. this is so frustrating. but is only because of the generosity of people that means it is crashing. goodness me. how is your hip doing, tom? how is your hip? hang on... you've done it, you‘ve done it! you‘ve reached... people have donated over 5 million. 0h, people have donated over 5 million. oh, my gosh, you‘ve done it, tom. that is absolutely extraordinary. completely out of this world. thank you so much, all you people who subscribe to the national health service because for everything, they

deserve every one of it. tom, you are an absolute legend. you have raised over £5 million for nhs charities together. what is your reaction, ellie? i think charities together. what is your reaction, ellie? ithink what charities together. what is your reaction, ellie? i think what hannah said, words are now feeling like they are not coming. this is absolutely incredible. i wish that i had a thesaurus in my brain to be able to express our gratitude and our huge admiration for you, captain tom, for what the nhs and absolutely everyone who is donating, behind you and behind it, supporting the nhs. soa and behind it, supporting the nhs. so a massive thank you from me personally and from all of the nhs charities and staff that are caring for those covid—19 patients. we have a massive gratitude to you. and we

are so a massive gratitude to you. and we are so looking forward to lockdown being over one day and being able to ta ke being over one day and being able to take a nice stroll and also have a fantastic party with you. yes, many thank yous. thank you, victoria. that was ellie as well and, ellie, we will meet, and thank you for all your supportive words. back to tom. i will relate then when we finish. thank you. thank you so much. you are awesome, you are a magnificent, you are marvellous, you are incredible, and we salute you. thank you, victoria. thanks, victoria. thanks for saying all of those kind things. well, every single one of them is true. thank you so much for talking to us and thank you for raising over £5 million so far for the nhs with your sponsored walk up and down the garden. many thanks as

hannah. thank you. ellie, thank you. and the money‘s going to keep on coming in. thanks to you as well, all the people who donated right across the country, you are also amazing. now, europe is still at the centre of a "war" and relaxing lockdown measures too early could bring on a second wave of deadly coronavirus outbreaks. that‘s according to the world health organization. they describe it as a war. the warning comes as some countries, including austria and parts of italy, begin easing restrictions. the who‘s regional director dr hans kluge has been speaking to our global health correspondent, tulip mazumdar. it‘s a story of hope and of caution. europe is still the pandemic epicentre globally. it is not a time to let the guard down. i have never seen such devastation.

many of us have been surprised by the speed and also by the aggression of the virus. a stark assessment from the man in charge of the world health organization‘s response to the pandemic in europe. dr hans kluge told me that despite some very cautious optimism, the region‘s fight against covid—19 is farfrom nearing an end. we see for example, a number of countries like sweden, there is a fresh surge. in turkey, particularly istanbul, there is quite an increase of cases. in belgium, ukraine, norway, the same. but then we have, for example, germany, where there is no more increase in new cases. if we can talk a little bit about what is happening here in the uk at the moment, hundreds of deaths being reported every day, thousands of cases. this is a country with some of the world‘s top scientists, with an internationally celebrated health system. how has it got to this stage here? this is something which can completely overwhelm the best health systems in the world. i would really welcome the decision by the government to extend the testing capacity. we know what has to be done. let‘s do it.

two of the worst hit countries in europe, italy and spain, have just started easing some restrictions, as the rate of infection continues to slow. what happens next? i mean, what do people do? does life perhaps start getting back to some degree of normality, or not? this is indeed the biggest challenge that we are facing. it is a trade—off between going back to what we call the new normal, and lifting the restrictive measures, to ensure there will be no second wave. it means that if we see that there is a second wave, quickly, we can go back and contain. we have to take into account four factors. one is the epidemiology, and that is why it is so important to have expanded testing capacity, that we know to locate the virus. second is the capacity of the health system. are our nurses ready in case

we have another surge? the third very important factor are our people, the acceptability, because we know that such a lockdown has a very high toll. and the fourth one is to look forward to new technology and hopefully new treatments and vaccines. europe remains in the midst of an unrelenting pandemic, but this is a global challenge, which will only end if all countries pull together to bring these outbreaks under control. tulip mazumdar, bbc news. last month the chancellor rishi sunak announced there would be £300 billion worth of state—backed loans to stop businesses from going under during the coronavirus pandemic — but many firms have told the bbc that they‘ve been unable to access emergency loans. well, we‘re expecting to find outjust how much lending is happening under the coronvirus business interruption scheme this morning — and we‘ll bring you the figures

as soon as we have them. let‘s speak now to two small business owners. john callow, who runs an events and training business in manchester, and james callander who runs a recruitment companyin london. welcome, both of you. john, how has your business been affected by the crisis? good morning, victoria, thank you for having me. it is primarily events, so person contact, so over 90%. i do have some online activities but it is very difficult to quickly make up for the loss of those events, sadly. you tried to apply for one of these loans. what has that been like? very difficult. there are a number of stumbling blocks. you have to apply for them through the business bank you use from day to day, and no one seems to understand or be able to explain to me or other small businesses i‘ve

spoken to how they work or what the criteria are or why people might be being denied them. 0k. is it to do with the size of the loan? why can‘t you get one? initially, i filled in the application and it had a number of questions and one of them was relating to the amounts you wanted to borrow. i later discovered that hsbc my bank wasn‘t landing anyone less tha n hsbc my bank wasn‘t landing anyone less than £25,000 under these. and you just need under that, do you? well, yeah, i don‘t need a huge hand—out, i just need well, yeah, i don‘t need a huge hand—out, ijust need a bit of money to keep myself going and adapt to the new environment until this all passes over, really. i don‘t need a massive amount of money. sure. my understanding was you could get gra nts understanding was you could get grants of up to that from your local authority, but presumably you have investigated already and don‘t

qualify? unfortunately, no matter, andi qualify? unfortunately, no matter, and i am not a rateable business. that is only for businesses paying local authority rates with local premises. i've got you. how anxious are you feeling right now, john? i'm quite anxious, because like a lot of other small businesses, you know, we live day to day, week to week, and although we greatly appreciate what has been announced and appreciate it ta kes has been announced and appreciate it takes time to set up, it is the amount of time. every day is more worrying really for our future and finances. i will bring in james. worrying really for our future and finances. iwill bring in james. let me read the statement from the treasury. "we are taking unprecedented action to support business, paying 80% of furloughed workers ats‘ wages and tax deferrals. we have made changes to the loan scheme and are working with get the support out. we are making good progress with the latest stats showing an eightfold increase in the cup la —— last couple of weeks. with loa ns worth cup la —— last couple of weeks. with loans worth just over £800 million. "james, i think you have had a more

positive experience john? yeah, not a full green light but it is looking fairly positive. we find it has got easier. the morning after that announcement rishi made, we enquired to our bank and found it didn't really know what he had said and it was quite a laborious process, and then as things have moved on, about a week later, we reapplied to the bank and found they were kind of more open and had kind of loose and the terms around the loan. we are still in process but we had a positive: bank holiday monday. they are all working over the weekend, i understand. and our loan has an amberlight andl understand. and our loan has an amber light and i think we need to get set up to that credit department then on to the treasury. 0k. how has your business been affected thus far, james? much like john, we are a recruitment and consulting business and we are all about connecting

people and clearly that has not been happening a huge amount in the last month or so. our sales have been hit hugely. down about 70%, actually, which isjust hugely. down about 70%, actually, which is just unbearable hugely. down about 70%, actually, which isjust unbearable really for small business like ours. how many people do you employ? we employ about 44 people and another 100 on contracts around europe. 0k, fingers crossed your money will come through. john, what are you going to do? well, i've done all! can through. john, what are you going to do? well, i've done all i can so far. i‘m fortunate in that i have family looking out for me, and we all have our health, but the other steps i‘ve taken is to apply for universal credit, but that doesn‘t come for a few weeks yet, i‘m just waiting to hear from come for a few weeks yet, i‘m just waiting to hearfrom hmrc come for a few weeks yet, i‘m just waiting to hear from hmrc about the grant that they‘ve extended to self—employed people as well. but that won‘t be untiljune and that is a case of waiting and seeing until hmrc gets in touch with you rather

than actively applying for them at the moment. 0k. all right, well, listen, i will keep my fingers crossed for you, john, and let‘s see if they can‘t come up with something and try keep going. thank you very much. thanks, john, james, for coming on. andy verity is our economics correspondent. i think you have some figures about how many of these loans have been approved. what are the figures? they are just out, victoria, and they show a doubling in the amount lent to more than £1 billion, figures from uk finance, the trade body from the banks and they have been welcomed by the chancellor rishi sunak who has lent his name to their press release. but it is still showing, although £1 billion, only 6020 loan is approved, after more than three weeks of this scheme, which was announced as being hundreds of billions of pounds of support for businesses. what is clear is that support isn't getting through anywhere near quick enough

to help those businesses who are rapidly running out of cash. we know from research that up to a million firms are in a position where they are going to run out of cash within are going to run out of cash within a month. if we go at this rate, where so far after a huge effort over the easter weekend by the banks they have still only approved loans for0.1% of they have still only approved loans for 0.1% of the businesses in this country... more than 5 million businesses in this country, and if you have 6000 loans approved that is only 0.1% so it has to go much faster. people are saying the way the swiss and the germans have done it is better because they underwrite 100% of the loan up to a certain point and that massively helps and means the money gets out there much faster. of course it means some risk but you can mitigate that for example by putting upper limits on it. right now there are some people having a good experience, but a lot more who are feeling hugely frustrated because they have viable businesses that look like they are going under because of the shutdown and they can't get emergency help.

what the government would say, the chancellor, "look, we‘ve had to build a system from scratch, and potentially more people have applied for these loans than perhaps they we re for these loans than perhaps they were expecting, but it is bound to ta ke were expecting, but it is bound to take some time"? and the chancellor has said we are offering all kinds of support. there is unprecedented support for small firms to stop them going under because of the shutdown but it is no doubt they are trouble is because of a government imposed shutdown. a lot of the business is being rejected for loans now wouldn't have wanted or needed one in the first place where it not for the shutdown, but there is this thing where the government requires the banks to check whether they would lend to the firms under normal circumstances, and some firms and mps are questioning whether that makes sense, because these businesses aren't really borrowing for a normal commercial reason. they are borrowing because of the national emergency and a lot of them would have done without bank loans if they could have, but they can't because of the government imposed

shutdown. so there is a real problem here. we already know benefit claims are shooting up. if firms can't access this cash soon, for example, pd is next week, then they will have to take agonising decisions about letting people go or even shutting up letting people go or even shutting up shop. looky -- pay day is next week. thank you, andy. official figures show more than 12,000 people have now died from the virus in hospitals across the uk, and that figure doesn‘t include deaths in the community. the pressure on the front line, particularly in intensive care, is mounting. we‘re going to talk now to drjess potter, a respiratory specialist who has been redeployed to the front line of this virus treating patients in intensive care. tell us what that is like, drjess potter. good morning. good morning. it is pretty overwhelming. to be honest. i think one of the major concerns we have and that we are

hearing from across the country through members of our organisation, every doctor, our concerns around personal protective equipment, and those go far beyond intensive care, where i work, where in fact i have quite good access those go far beyond intensive care, where i work, where in fact i have to all of the kit that we need to protect ourselves including the dr potter —— ffp3 masks, goggles, gowns and gloves. but people are running short... sorry, when you say people are running short, do you mean running out? on occasion, running out, yes. in intensive care? not in my experience of intensive care but in other settings around the hospitals. people are running out of

masks, particularly of goggles, and people also don‘t feel protected, because the government guidance for people outside of areas where they might be producing aerosols, so places like intensive care, and outside of those settings government advice is to wear a plastic apron and a surgical mask. and whilst there is reasonable evidence for surgical masks rather than the ffp3 masks, people don‘t feel protected by the plastic aprons, and across... this isjust, by the plastic aprons, and across... this is just, you by the plastic aprons, and across... this isjust, you know, notjust for doctors, but other key workers and particularly in the community we are hearing that there is a lot of fear, and it is not undue fear, because we are treating many of our colleagues. yeah. thank you. i wish we had more

time, but thank you very much for letting us know that, that some workers, some staff, are still running short when it comes to ppe. we appreciate your time, dr potter. thank you very much for coming on the programme. thank you. thank you for your many messages, particularly on twitter. many of you got a bit emotional as captain tom moore passed the 5 million mark for his sponsored walk. this one. "that got a bit emosh. fantastic force for goodin a bit emosh. fantastic force for good in amidst this pandemic. " "incredibly moving to watch him hit that target live. " "bringing a little joy to the nation this morning. "elaine, "i watch little joy to the nation this morning. " elaine, "i watch that and i‘m not ashamed to say i shed a tear. thank you for my freedom, sir. you are an absolute inspiration". milli, "there genuinely could not

have been a more apt time for this to have happened. so lovely to see your admiration and gratitude. "she says, absolutely amazing. this is bbc news.

this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. all care home residents and staff who have coronavirus symptoms in the uk will now be tested, as the government tries to tackle the rising number of infections and deaths in care homes. we have been working really hard to do whatever we can to protect those receiving care from this truly awful, horrible illness. president trump suspends funding for the world health organization, accusing it of covering up the spread of the virus in china. the reality is that the who failed to adequately obtain that and share information in a timely and transparent fashion.