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. the uk's 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. nursery and primary schools have reopened across denmark, as the country gradually begins to ease coronavirus restrictions. and he set out to collect a £1000 for the nhs. now he's topped £5 million. veteran captain tom smashes his target with the help of the world. well... you've done it, you've done it! you've done it! people have donated over 5 million, oh, my gosh, you've done it, tom! that is absolutely extraordinary! completely out of this world!

hello and welcome to audiences in the uk and around the world. we're covering all the latest coronavirus developments here in britain and globally. our top story. the uk government has promised that all care home residents and staff with covid—19 symptoms will be tested. 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. so, that promise. the uk 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, uk labour leader keir starmer urged the government 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. and in denmark, the government there begins to reopen day care centres and primary schools after a month—long closure due to the coronavirus. children are being kept further apart than usual, schools must implement strict cleaning regimes, and where possible, lessons are to be held outside. keith doyle reports now on the situation in care homes in england and the news that residents and staff with symptoms will now be tested for covid—19. "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 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. china has urged the united states to fulfil its obligations to the world health organization after president trump suspended its funding. mr trump accused the who of failing to adequately assess the outbreak when it first emerged in the chinese city of wuhan, even though injanuary he himself praised china's response and downplayed the danger of the virus at home. total deaths in the us have now reached 28,300. 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. back to the uk, and 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. let's speak to our assistant political editor norman smith. why does he want this published? because he thinks it is the big question and people need to be able to get to grips with it, really to give themselves a sense of hope and thereby, to retain support for the lockdown. his view is that if people are to abide by the restrictions, they have to be given a sense of endgame, of how we get out of this. added to which, he believes that when we look at the different measures, some of them are going to ta ke measures, some of them are going to take quite a long time to put in place, if you go for some kind of national vaccination programme, you will have to set up vaccination centres all around the country which will mean investment and a lot of planning so let's get started now rather than leaving it until later in the day when it is all a bit of a rush. and lastly, just basic

transparency. it is a big question, let's talk about it. to be fair, the government don't disagree with that. for them, it isjust government don't disagree with that. for them, it is just a government don't disagree with that. for them, it isjust a question of timing. they argue it is too early in terms of the science, we don't know quite what the scientific data will tell us about what bits of the economy we can relax earlier than others. but overall, they take the view, if we try to start formulating an exit strategy now, it sends out a sort of conflicting message to people because you are saying at the same time, "please stay at home but take, let's talk about how can leave home the theory is that is counter—productive and it may lead people to relax and think they don't have to bother about the lockdown. sir keir starmer‘s view is that more important is to have an open and frank conversation and it is as well to have it early. that was the argument he was making 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 if there's 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. the other truths, victoria, is it is such a big decision that realistically, the prime minister would have to be up and running again before it could be taken. we know he is going to be in recuperation for another week and may be several weeks so that is the kind of timeframe we are probably looking at for the government —— before the govan seat to genuinely engage on the issue of exit strategy. —— the government seeks. elsewhere, the attention is focused on the social care row, yesterday, we had the stark figures from some ca re we had the stark figures from some care home providers about the level

of deaths and infections. overnight, we had a pledge from matt hancock, as we have heard, to provide testing for everyone in the care sector, residents and staff and all of those moving from hospitals to care homes. the problem is, of course, that they're just simply aren't enough tests to go around, frankly. the latest figures suggest just 111,000 tests, those are overwhelmingly focused on nhs staff, albeit this morning there care minister, helen whately, insisted the government had not taken its eye when it came to social care. 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 care homes or receiving care at home. we know those are some of the most vulnerable in our society, and from the moment it looked 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 care providers and their representatives, we have been working really hard to do whatever we can to protect those receiving care from this truly awful, horrible illness that is hitting the whole world and bringing the whole world to a standstill. the difficulty of course is that we know care homes are being hit hard, and the death rate in care homes seems to be increasing very rapidly indeed. the level of testing is still frankly minimal, i think 500 ca re still frankly minimal, i think 500 care workers so far have been tested. they are now in the midst of the crisis. no doubt care home leaders will welcome today's announcement but i think above all they will want to see matt hancock's words actually resulting in tests in their homes in the very near future. thank you, norman.

at this time each day, we get the figures from spain on the latest numbers of those infected with coronavirus and the latest number of people who have died in spain. so the total number of coronavirus cases in the country rises to 177,633, for the preceding 2a hours, and the numbers of people who have died, that has gone up again, on tuesdayit died, that has gone up again, on tuesday it was 80,056 people who had died in spain and yesterday, they recorded 18,579. —— 18,056. 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 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 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 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. the headlines on bbc news. 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. president trump suspends funding for the world health organization, accusing it of covering up the spread of the virus in china. 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. steve leonard steve leona rd says steve leonard says regarding the labour party's

steve leonard says regarding the labour pa rty‘s call for steve leonard says regarding the labour party's call for publishing an exit strategy that it is far to rally and the msm should stop asking about it. jeffrey says to those of us with no income and hung on the near horizon, the publishing of it isa near horizon, the publishing of it is a priority. as we've been hearing, the uk government has now announced it will test all care home residents and staff who show symptoms of coronavirus, and that all new residents discharged from hospital into care homes will also be tested. yesterday, the office for national statistics said 217 people had died in a care home setting, but those figures are 11 days out of date. charities and care homes believe the figure is much higher. graham satchell has been speaking to workers at a care home where 16 residents have died with the virus. these pictures were taken for us by care home staff. it looks normal but what has happened here at oak springs in liverpool is truly awful. i can't tell you how hard it is to lose 16 residents. 16 residents in the space of three weeks is just completely devastating, and you don't have time

to grieve the one, that you're losing another one and another one and another one. it's... it's horrendous. it's absolutely heart rendering and horrendous. staff have been doing absolutely everything they can here to protect their residents but there is a growing anger in the care sector, a feeling that they have been forgotten, from the supply of protective clothing to testing to counting the number of dead. age uk are saying the current figures are airbrushing older people out, like they don't matter. do you think that's right? yes. i think what they are saying is right. we was very much bottom of the list, i feel, when the government was first aware of the coronavirus and the impact it would have on the country. i think care homes and the care sector was very much at the bottom of the list. the government says residents

in care homes have not been forgotten, that protective clothing is being delivered, and today they have announced all residents and staff in care homes who need a test will be given one. but is it too late? we've not been tested at all, nobody in this care home has been tested. and i do feel cross about that because i think we should be tested. you're not tested, you don't know, do you, whether you are bringing it in... no. ..whether you are taking it out? no, you don't. i took time off as a precaution to protect the residents from catching whatever i had. but if you are not tested, you are kind of flying blind, aren't you? yeah, you are, yeah. at one stage, 5a of the 72 staff there were self—isolating, including the manager, andrea. this is herfirst day back at work after having the virus herself. when i was looking after my residents, i knew full well that, you know, it won't be long before i will be presenting with symptoms of covid—19.

does it stop me holding that resident's and that resident's hand while they are passing away? no, it doesn't, because that is the nature of the job and what i do, i care for people. you care for people no matter what. we now know more than 2000 care homes in england have an outbreak of the virus. here, there's no doubt, lives could have been saved if action had been taken earlier. the government should have said, "right, ok, we're going to lock these care homes down, we are going to protect them. we are going to test the staff, we are going to test the residents. we are going to minimise this risk before it hits them. we are going to protect these people who fought a war for us. we are going to protect these vulnerable people because, you know what? that is the reason that me and you are here because these people fought for our country. so let's look after them." yes, you think they were let down? yeah, ido. i do.

i think they were let down by the government. new zealand's prime minister, jacinda ardern, has announced she will take a 20% pay cut. she said her ministers would take a similiar salary reduction to recognise the financial difficulties faced by many new zealanders. new zealand has so far been very successful in fighting coronavirus. the number of new cases has fallen significantly and there have been just nine deaths across the whole country. they have a death rate of two per million of population, compared to the uk's death rate of 178 per million. let's speak to one of the scientists who has been advising the new zealand government, dr siouxsie wiles, who is a microbiologist at the university of auckland. thank you forjoining us. good morning. how much did the early lockdown of your country, how much was that key to your success at

tackling the virus? 0h, was that key to your success at tackling the virus? oh, i think it was absolutely key. i mean, the prime minister was very clear that she wanted to move fast and early and that is what she did. and it began with a strategy i think of trying to suppress the curve of the infection but then moved to a strategy of trying to eliminate it completely. why? i guess the buzzword or phrase was flat in the curve, that if you spread out the number of infections, you can stop your health system from being overwhelmed. but it was clear that if we moved very early, because we are so far away and we had a few weeks to watch what was happening in other countries, we knew that if we moved early, we could do better than flatten the curve and stop the spread and that has been our strategy. so in terms of your lockdown, describe it? everybody but an essential worker, which are people involved in food production, health care, and those people involved in sort of services like, you know, electricity and various

things, they are allowed to go to work. the rest of us are locked in our homes. we are not actually locked in but we are in lockdown. we can leave our home to go for a walk or bike ride. we can move locally or to access health care but other than that, we are supposed to stay at home. yeah, we are moving into weak four, now, and it was originally a four, now, and it was originally a four week lockdown but we have been told on monday, the government will decide what happens next. what have you done about new zealand citizens coming home or international travellers visiting? that has been an evolving situation. recently, people good come in but had to self—isolate —— could come in. then a little while ago, only new zealand citizens and residents could come home, and now they are basically being met and essentially quarantined. for how long? two weeks. interesting, so anybody flying into new zealand during the

lockdown has got to be in quarantine for 1h days? lockdown has got to be in quarantine for 14 days? yes, lockdown has got to be in quarantine for14 days? yes, and it lockdown has got to be in quarantine for 14 days? yes, and it has been like that for a while, that anyone coming in were supposed to self—isolate at home but the numbers we re self—isolate at home but the numbers were too great to be able to put in an actual place and then because the numbers have been dropping everyday, now they are at a number where they can be managed 0k. british politicians have told us, where i am broadcasting from this morning, in the uk, that they are constantly following the science, and they are flanked each day by public health officials and scientists. is it the same in new zealand? was jacinda ardern following the science? absolutely. she has a chief science adviser who also runs a group of chief science adviser for the different ministries, and they brought a group of us together who have been looking at the evidence. but what the prime minister was doing was looking at different countries, and looking at the

countries, and looking at the countries that had it more under control than others and she was clear we wanted to minimise infections and death and those where the countries we would follow, rather than those that were having a much more difficult time of it, like spain and italy. so can you remember what date you went into lockdown in new zealand? what date you went into lockdown in new zealand ? the what date you went into lockdown in new zealand? the actual date? what date you went into lockdown in new zealand? the actual date ?m what date you went into lockdown in new zealand? the actual date? it was 21 days ago, whatever that was. three weeks ago, we went into lockdown, sometime in march. every day feels like, "what they are we on?" day feels like, "what they are we on?'i day feels like, "what they are we on?" i know, absolutely, obviously, there are many differences between there are many differences between the populations of the uk and new zealand but i am contrasting, the uk went into partial lockdown on the 23rd of march, the night of monday the 23rd. so we would have been a couple of days after that, because it was a wednesday or thursday, yes, midnight on wednesday. white ok, thatis midnight on wednesday. white ok, that is really interesting, obviously, many differences between the demographics and the spread of the demographics and the spread of the population in terms of you have got islands, and we are we are not

exactly the same but we are an island. but we were also looking at other countries but our lockdown, some people suggest, came a little bit too late. the leader of the labour party today is suggesting it was a bit too late. yes, but that is because your initial policy was heard immunity. although our government denies that.|j heard immunity. although our government denies that. i watched boris johnson's government denies that. i watched borisjohnson's discussion of government denies that. i watched boris johnson's discussion of what was going to happen and he said, you know, every family should expect to lose loved ones before their time stuff i mean, that was clearly what he said, try to protect the vulnerable. but that is a fact, families are losing loved ones before their time, it does not mean that heard immunity was the policy. it certainly sounded like it, protect as many people as you can but allow the virus to infect the young so can go back to work and thatis young so can go back to work and that is very clearly a dangerous policy that several countries have tried them even if they have not quite called it that. it is really clear that the sooner you act and

the more you break the chains of transmission, the faster you can get it under control. the reason i asked about your prime minister following the site and obviously, you are one of those advisers, is, are the scientists all coming up with the same science around the world, and it is the politicians who are interpreting it differently, or are different scientists in different parts of the world coming up with different evidence? that is actually a really good question because in new zealand, we have some people who are advocating for a different approach, and their approach is that we should be getting back to normal, whatever normal is going to look like, as soon as possible, while protecting the vulnerable, which, we know, if there are cases, people still infected, the moment we start moving around, that virus will spread and we will start to see an exponentially spread and that is what countries that have come out of those measures to soon have seen,

singapore, all sorts of countries have seen this. so we have to be in a position where the numbers of people with the virus are so low that that is where it can be stopped by co nta ct that that is where it can be stopped by contact tracing and the other measures we have if we don't have a vaccine. yes, really interesting. finally, what do you think and i don't know if you want to answer this but what do you think of the fa ct this but what do you think of the fact the prime minister has announced she is taking a 20% pay cut? yes, i would like to see more leaders do that sort of thing and not... you know, business leaders, i'm an academic, so the people in universities that can afford it, more of us should be doing it because this is a difficult time. there is no doubt lockdown is difficult economically but it is the least worst of a bad scenario because it is definitely clear that when you allow the virus to spread more than we have done, that it is even worse economically. grateful for your time, really interesting.

thank you forjoining us. my pleasure. a microbiologist at the university of auckland who has been advising the new zealand government on their coronavirus strategy. they have had nine deaths new zealand. a 35—year—old man in perth has become the first person in australia to be jailed for breaking new social distancing laws that were introduced last month. jonathan david was sentenced to six months in jail after he snuck out of a mandatory 14—day isolation period in a hotel to visit his girlfriend. he had flown to perth from the state of victoria in march, which required him to remain in quarantine for 14 days, but he was caught on cctv leaving through a fire exit. thank you for your e—mails about the magnificent sum of money that captain tom moore has raised for the nhs across england and wales. people have donated from all around the world, so he is hugely grateful to

all of you. every e—mail to say, "i am in tears watching this morning, captain moore is a fabulous gentleman and deserves the praise and thanks from the nation." ray says, "what i wonderfully achievement. " martin says, "without doubt, this man should be considered for a knighthood." and one more says, "watched captain tom hit the £5 million live on—air, what a wonderful and fantastic gentlemen, i had tea rs wonderful and fantastic gentlemen, i had tears in my eyes, tears ofjoy watching. he deserves to be honoured by the queen. well done, tom. much love and respect." despite the coronavirus pandemic, people in south korea have been voting in parliamentary elections. hand sanitisers and plastic gloves are being provided, and voters are also required to wear masks and maintain social distancing. it's taken a lot of preparation to get polling stations ready, but the government has reassured the 44 million eligible voters that it's safe to leave their homes. from seoul, laura bicker reports.

this is an election like no other. voters must wear masks, stand at least a metre apart. their temperature is taken, they disinfect their hands and wear plastic gloves. these two days of early voting have seen a record turnout. despite the ongoing pandemic, people are still coming here in the thousands to cast their vote. they are going into these little booths here with their plastic gloves, they mark their ballot, and then put it in the box. translation: i thought maybe the election should be postponed because people wouldn't turn up. but now that i'm here and see so many others i'm not worried. translation: i don't think we should be worried. this is about our right to vote. patients with coronavirus are also able to vote. special polling booths have been set

up outside treatment centres. this woman told us she was thankful for the opportunity. campaigning during a pandemic requires some thought. gone are the mass rallies, replaced by mostly masked encounters. candidates whose main concern was once a slowing economy and stalled peace talks with north korea have now had to show they're doing their bit to fight covid—19. south korea controlled the spiralling number of cases quickly and effectively, aggressively tracing and testing infected patients. the widely praised response has given president moon's once embattled democratic party a boost. the opposition, however, credit the thousands of health professionals on the front lines. there are fears that holding an election could trigger a second wave of infections.

but, for now, south korea is determined to prove what is possible during this pandemic. laura bicker, bbc news, seoul. hello. this is bbc news with victoria derbyshire. the headlines from 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. president trump suspends funding for the world health organization — accusing it of covering up the spread of the virus in china. the uk's 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. nursery and primary schools have reopened across denmark, as the country gradually begins to ease coronavirus restrictions.

and he set out to collect £1000 for the nhs - now he's topped 5 million. veteran captain tom smashes his target — with the help of the world. the message "stay at home" has been issued to people across europe and much of the world, but what about those without a fixed address? in the uk, the government has said everyone sleeping rough will be found accommodation, but some charities say too many people are still on the streets. so what can be done to help those people in the midst of this public health crisis? we'rejoined by michele ferraris from the italian federation of organisations for homeless people, and jon glackin, founder of the british homelessness charity streets kitchen. good morning, both of you. thank you very much for talking to us.

michele, what is the scale of the homelessness problem across italy in normal times? good morning. in normal times in italy we have around 55,000 homeless people, not all of them in the street, but all of them without a home. so this is the normal scale before the coronavirus. presently the situation is not so clear. definitely we have no more places in dormitories or shelters because a few of them closed. most of them extended their opening time from the normal ten, 12 hours to 24 hours, but no city has decided to open new dormitories because it was difficult. this was the appeal be

launched last week, a few weeks ago. what is the situation now? do you have any idea how many people are still sleeping outdoors during this crisis? probably the same number it was before, maybe more. really? yeah, becausejust a before, maybe more. really? yeah, because just a few cities organised and you kind of shelter, an exceptional external as shelter, an exceptional external as shelter, for maybe a few hundred people, but there are other shelters and dormitories that closed, and people refusing to stay in the dormitory where they are because if you are in a dormitory with 40—60 people, where one or two of them are positive for covid—19, they are sent to the hospital but all the other people that are inside, they should be kept in quarantine, but if the

quarantine is not organised and managed maybe they want to go out and there is no system to avoid this, so maybe they went around under around the streets, so it is not known for sure how many people are actually on the street, and whether they are positive or not, they should stay in quarantine. yeah. jon, hello. the british government promised to make sure everybody would be offered accommodation. has that happened? no, it hasn't happened. they made the mistake a few weeks ago, that over the weekend they were going to get, they made the statement a few weeks ago. that they would get everybody in, and we knew that wasn't the case and it still isn't the case. a lot of outreach workers and the councils are trying hard to get everyone in, but the beds are not there, there are communication problems, and we are finding a lot

of homeless people... we need to do this immediately. far too many people are still out on the streets rough sleeping, and there is this feeling that all homeless people are indoors now and safe. it is not. we are getting reports of people getting abused on the streets, because people are asking, why are you on the streets? there should be no homeless people. if there are not enough beds, jon, let's think this through. i know some hotels potentially have offered to put a roof over the head of some homeless people. where do you think these beds should be coming from? well, it's quite apparent that... yes, there are thousands and thousands of empty hotel rooms sitting in london at the moment we could use immediately to put people into very adequate temporary accommodation. sitting there, it is a travesty that amount of empty buildings in normal circumstances that are around. there are plenty of places around. there are plenty of places around. there are whole blocks of flats lying empty in manchester, london, all

over the place. there are empty buildings. yeah. let me ask you, on the hotel idf, would you expect the hotels to offer their rooms for free? , on the hotel idea. sci am i i presume they will need some sort of security or some sort of cost, andi of security or some sort of cost, and i don't think any of the hotels are giving them for free, they are actually charging for the room, well, i presume they will need some sort. this is an opportunity for hotels to keep their industry going slightly, re—employ the cooks, re—employ the people back in there, keep people working.|j re—employ the people back in there, keep people working. i have a statement from the government here. a spokesperson for the ministry of housing said, "over 90% of rough sleepers known to local authorities at the beginning of this crisis have now been made offers of safe accommodation — ensuring some of the most vulnerable in society are protected from the pandemic. "this is the result of a collaborative effort across government and with local authorities, health providers and charities — backed by £1.6 billion of government funding to help councils respond to coronavirus, including support

for the most vulnerable." cani can i go back to you, michele? is it true that italian police have handed out fines to some homeless people on the streets during this crisis? yes. unfortunately it happened at the beginning. presently, probably, it has reduced. it happened because the government has said, "stay home" i the government has said, "stay home" ,so the government has said, "stay home" , so everybody has stayed home, but people who didn't have a home where find on the street, so we launched a campaign and wrote to the ministers to ask them not to do something special but just to to ask them not to do something special butjust to ask to ask them not to do something special but just to ask the to ask them not to do something special butjust to ask the police and people that have the order to clear the streets to verify the status of the people, and if someone is asked why they are on the street

and the answer is because they don't have a home, just to verify with social services, and if it is true bring them to some safe place and ta ke bring them to some safe place and take care of them, but don't find them. it is not useful and a waste of time. , but don't fine them. 0k. i wanted to ask you, jon, did you have any concerns that the economic impact of the lockdown in britain might mean there are more homeless people in the long term? absolutely. that is the biggest problem, the influx of new people coming to the streets. in london you have lots of the tourist backpacker hostels, they have all closed. you have landlords kicking people out. totally illegally. are you sure that is happening, jon? because, as you know, the government has put in

place restrictions banning landlords from evicting people for three months. that is correct. just going back to what you said earlier, i think it is a bit of an insult when the government say 90% of people have been offered positions. i could offer you a steak dinner tonight but it doesn't mean you will get one. what we need to hear about is the actual amount of beds out there, and how do we steer people into them. this is a big problem grassroots groups are facing. we know there are beds there but there is a communication problem of others trying to get people into beds. that is not there and needs to be improved. we are seeing lots... there are illegal evictions occurring. definitely? yes. where are those people going when they are evicted? one doesn't know. they are going to the streets. this is the problem at the moment. all services are closed, day services, advisory services, they are all closed. you go through the phones, it is very

ha rd go through the phones, it is very hard to get advice and find out what is happening in the world. it is great to hear that my cue from our italian friend there what is going on because i wasn't very aware of what is happening in italy on the streets, great to hear from our italian friend. it is not being reported. well, we are reporting it now. thank you very much for coming on air, jon glackin, founder of the uk homelessness charity streets kitchen, and michele ferrari, a spokesperson for the italian federation of organisations for homeless people. many thanks to both. 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. 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's 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.

this e—mailfrom this e—mail from people watching this e—mailfrom people watching in spain. "thank you for keeping us updated. very proud of captain tom," says jackie. they ask about waiving the standard fees... and says we need to support a campaign on him getting a medalfrom need to support a campaign on him getting a medal from the queen. stay safe and keep up all the good work. ican safe and keep up all the good work. i can tell you he has now raised over £55 million. so at... let me see, an hourand over £55 million. so at... let me see, an hour and a over £55 million. so at... let me see, an hourand a half ago over £55 million. so at... let me see, an hour and a half ago it reached 5 million. in 90 minutes another £500,000 has been donated by people around the world for captain tom's sponsored walk. look at that, refreshing it as we go. going up all the time, a magnificent some. thank you to everyone around the world who has donated. let's bring you the headlines on bbc news.

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. president trump suspends funding for the world health organization — accusing it of covering up the spread of the virus in china. 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 has come under fire for suspending us funding to the world health organization. he accused it of failing to adequately assess the coronavirus outbreak when it first emerged in the chinese city of wuhan — even though mr trump himself insisted the coronavirus was a "hoax" until early march. i , until relatively recently.

—— until relatively recently. america is the largest overall donor to the world health organization, contributing just under fifteen percent of its budget last year. earlier, richard horton, the editor of the lancet scientific journal, tweeted this damning response, saying president trump's decision is a "crime against humanity" and calling on "global solidarity" against his "betrayal". and richard horton joins me now, in fact. hang on, i willjust turn up your volume. perfect, we can hear you know. why do you believe president trump's decision is a crime against humanity, to use your worlds? —— use your words. the world health organisation's primary role is to defend the health of the world population and a crime against humanity is a systematic attempt to heart the health and well—being of a population. president trump has clearly committed that crime. the world health organisation is the

world's only health agency, its primary responsibility is to coordinate international activity to defend the health of people in the world, and to defund it in such a dramatic way is an appalling act that violates every principle of solidarity that we need more than ever today. are you saying it won't be able to defend the health of the world without the 15% that the usa contributes? i think actually it's more than 15%. the us contributes about a fifth of the funding to the who. who has already suffered major erosions to its funding in the last two decades. it's funding base is no more than a district general hospital in the uk and yet it does incredibly important advice that it might work in setting out advice to countries. this pandemic is affecting almost every single

country in the world —— incredibly important work in setting out advice. we need to help to provide that advice... what about his point that advice... what about his point that the who are too close to china and actually should have been criticising china at a time when they seem to be praising it? this is a complete misreading of history. the chinese authorities provided information about this new outbreak to the who office in beijing on december31. outbreak to the who office in beijing on december 31. immediately that information was conveyed to geneva, and in the early weeks of january conversations took place between the chinese authorities and who in geneva to try and understand better what was taking place in wuhan. the issue about person—to—person transmission that you mentioned is another red herring. at the very early stages of the outbreak, we really didn't know

whether there was person—to—person transmission and that was only prove n transmission and that was only proven scientifically in a publication that we actually published on january 24th. publication that we actually published onjanuary 24th. i think we need to not let history be rewritten by those such as president trump who would like to criticise who for his own personal political ends. thank you very much, from the lancet, doctor richard horton. for the nhs, by walking round his garden. captain tom moore initially hoped to raise £1000. i've been talking to him together with his daughter, hannah ingram—moore, and ellie orton from the nhs charities together, which will benefit from the funds raised. the five million mark was reached when we were live on air about an hour ago, and captain tom began by telling us how he felt about raising so much money.

i think that's absolutely enormous. at no time when we started off with this exercise did we anticipate we would get anything near that sort of money. itjust shows that people have such high—res are for members of our national health service, and it is really amazing that so many people have paid so much money. i understand, victoria, you had some time recently in hospital and no doubt that you found exactly the same. the service and care and attention that you got was out of this world. it really was, tom. the nhs saved my life. you know, i am grateful every single day. ellie, let me bring you in. i wonder what you want to say to tom about the money raised so far which continues 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 to him?

absolutely, huge thank you and amazing well done to captain tom and all his supporters and his family. this is teamwork on a grand scale, with the ultimate team leader in captain tom. so ellie is from the charity we are raising the money for. she says an enormous thank you and tojustjump in, i've seen on tv this morning there have been calculations with a type of things that could be bought with the money that tom has raised. when it is put into context often like that, it becomes so real. we are overwhelmed. we feel so humble and we are so grateful to everyone who supported us. oh, my gosh, it says here, look, i've got two microphones —— two phone and an ipad, it says four... 4999276.91, almost there. this isn't refreshing, though. oh, my gosh. it is agony! ok, i'm just waiting for my

collective have managed to get on. oh, they have all crashed now! within a few pounds of £5 million, not quite there, they are listening, so it is in the air but the website keeps crashing so as soon as she knows, she is going to tell us. yes. oh, this is so frustrating but it is only because of the generosity of people it is crushing. goodness me. how is your hips doing, tom? how is your hip? at the moment... hang on, hang on, hang on, you've done it! you've done it! people have donated over 5 million — oh, my gosh, you've done it, tom! woo! woo hoo! that is absolute extraordinary. completely out of this world. thank you so much for all of you people who subscribe

to the national health service, because for every penny that we get, they deserve every one of it. they do. tom, you are an absolute legend. you have raised over £5 million for nhs charities together. ellie, what is your reaction? wow, well, i think what hannah has to say, words are 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, forthe nhs and for absolutely everybody who is donating, and behind you, and behind it, supporting the nhs. so a massive thank you from me personally, and also from all of the nhs charities and staff that are, you know, caring for those covid—19 patients. we have massive gratitude to you.

legend, absolute legend. now it's time for a look at the weather with carol. hello again. if you have an allergy to tree pollen, levels in england and wales today and tomorrow are likely to be high. scotland and northern ireland, they're moderate for you. a lot of dry weather around today. some hazy sunshine with some high cloud around too, but across the far north and north—west of scotland there is a weather front producing thicker cloud, some patchy light rain or drizzle and some gusty winds as well. temperatures today ranging from nine in lerwick to 17 in aberdeen, 18 as we push down towards london, and also cardiff.

through this evening and overnight our weather front continues to push south, taking its cloud and patchy rain eventually into northern england and northern ireland. showers by the end of the night coming up toward the south—west and also the risk of patchy mist and fog in southern counties. some of us and some of the frost haulers in southern england will see some frost. tomorrow again some showers in the south and some of those could be heavy. asimilarstory in the south on friday. the further north you are, the drier and brighter it will be.

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 organisation, 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 the reality is that the who failed

to adequately obtain, vet and share information in a timely and transparent fashion. the uk's 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. nursery and primary schools have reopened across denmark, as the country gradually begins to ease coronavirus restrictions. and he set out to collect £1,000 for the nhs, now he's topped 5 million. veteran captain tom smashes his target with the help of the world. well... you've done it, you've done it! you've done it! people have donated over 5 million, oh, my gosh, you've done it, tom! that is absolutely extraordinary! completely out of this world!

hello and welcome to audiences in the uk and around the world. we're covering all the latest coronavirus developments here in britain and globally. our top story... the uk government has promised that all care home residents and staff with covid—19 symptoms will be tested. it comes after weeks of calls from care providers for more testing and warnings that the virus is "running wild" among the elderly and vulnerable. more than 2,000 care homes have confirmed outbreaks. so, that promise. the uk government says as laboratory capacity increases all care home residents and staff with virus symptoms will be tested. 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. our other top stories today... 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. the uk labour leader, keir starmer, urged the government go further and publish an exit strategy from the coronavirus lockdown. he called for more transparency about how and when the rules will be relaxed. and in denmark, the government there begins to reopen day care centres and primary schools after a month long closure due to the coronavirus. children are being kept further apart than usual, schools must implement strict cleaning regimes and where possible, lessons are to be held outside. keith doyle reports now on the situation in care homes in england and the news that residents and staff with symptoms will now be tested for covid 19. "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. and staff in england with symptoms. it's also said all new residents discharged from hospital into care 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—19

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. in the last half hour, north middlesex university hospital have confirmed the death of one of their nurses, cheryl williams, from the coronavirus. in a statement the hospital said... "with greatest sadness, we can confirm the death of our much—loved colleague cheryl williams. as a ward housekeeper on one of our care of the elderly wards, cheryl was a lynchpin of the care, comfort, and compassion that our patients and local people value so highly, and her personal contribution to patient care is irreplaceable". and they add, "we will miss her more than words can describe." 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. in the last half hour, the eu's foreign minister said eu said he "deeply regrets" the funding freeze. 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. everybody knows what's going 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. professor anthony costello from ucl‘s institute for global health, is the former director of the world health organisation's department of maternal and child health. he joins us live now from yorkshire. thank you forjoining us. first of all, what is your reaction to that decision from donald trump?|j all, what is your reaction to that decision from donald trump? i think it isa decision from donald trump? i think it is a political distraction from domestic criticism and also from president obama's endorsement ofjoe biden yesterday. on the facts, he is entirely wrong. if you look, china first announced a cluster of cases in the 31st of december. the next day, who set up an instant management support team. three days later they announce it on social media and technical journeys. later they announce it on social media and technicaljourneys. by january ten, they had come out with

technical guidance for all countries and said alongside other expert opinion, that there was limited evidence or no evidence of human—to—human transmission. that changed three days later, when our own new and emerging virus in expert committee agreed there was very little evidence but then there was a case and 14 or so health care workers were infected in china. at the next press conference, the who epidemiologist announced this. so it was clear that there was a threat of transmission around that stage. they we re transmission around that stage. they were desperate to get into wuhan, they were only allowed in by the chinese for to back days a week later. —— two days. the who asked foran later. —— two days. the who asked for an international review team on

about february the 16th. the who has not hidden anything and has also shared information as it is they had it and shared the opinions of experts around the world so i am not quite sure why president trump is doing this. of course, it will do great damage to america's reputation and all the countries the who is trying to support if it goes ahead. in terms of the impact on what the who can do, with funding being reduced in this way and at this stage it is not forever, present trump says there will be a 60—90 day review in which they will consider what they do next with funding, but it isa what they do next with funding, but it is a large chunk of the who's money. what impact will the it have? if it goes ahead i am not sure it well, the who can certainly survive for a few months on its funds but if it did stay in place, it is going to affect their distribution ppe and testing and training support around the world. remember that most of the

more per countries are onlyjust starting their epidemics —— more poor countries and they need all the support they can get. the who is one of the only countries doing that. on february the 4th, the who asked for millions of dollars to support a global campaign. when i spoke later i asked how much he had received and he said $1.2 million. that is one month into the major explosion of this pandemic. $1.2 million. this is the reality that they have to work under. they are grossly underfunded andi under. they are grossly underfunded and i don't think this announcement by president trump is helpful. it is very damaging to america's reputation and i think it will be reversed. when you see in practical terms cutting the money will have the effect on the ground, would have the effect on the ground, would have the effect on the ground, when it to

go ahead, of impacting on the distribution of personal protective equipment, would you say that it would directly cost lives? it could do in the longer run. who is very used to receiving delayed payments from countries. the us is the biggest country, wealthiest country in the world, so it gives the largest contribution. bill gates and others give very large voluntary contributions. i imagine other countries will step up as well other philanthropists so in the immediate term i don't think it will make a huge difference. longer term, term i don't think it will make a huge difference. longerterm, it could be extremely damaging to an agency that in my view is already grotesquely underfunded. you give a very clear breakdown of the steps along the way for the who in assessing and sharing information, president trump says that the disease could have been contained at its source if things had been done differently. do you believe this disease could have been contained at

its source if things, whoever is responsible, if things had been done differently? i think he is referring to travel bans and of course all the expert advice to who committees is that travel bans don't work. if they had implemented a travel ban, from wuhan in mid—january it had already spread to other problems provinces and reached 17 other countries by around about the 21st of january. so i don't think travel bans work. president trump had the option when they had their first case diagnosed in near seattle onjanuary they had their first case diagnosed in near seattle on january 20 they had their first case diagnosed in near seattle onjanuary 20 to introduce travel ban around washington state and he did not do it. nor did the uk ban italian movement after we had cases come from italy so i think this is a better bar red herring. generally, these measures do not work. what would work and what did work in

korea was early testing. as soon as there was any sign of community transmission in korea they did 66,000 tests in a week. u nfortu nately 66,000 tests in a week. unfortunately in european states, the uk and especially the united states they delayed testing for a long time. and hence we have seen this massive explosion of cases. thank you very much indeed for joining us. former director of the who department of maternal and child health. the uk's opposition 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 the labour party would back such a move but the government should be more open about how and when it will end. let's speak to our assistant political editor norman smith. there is a lot of pressure further to be the sort of move, norman, is the government continuing to resist

it? they are for now. their view is that to have a discussion about the exit strategy frankly send contradictory messages to people because you would in effect saying to people we want you to continue with a locked—in and stay where you are while at the same time saying let's chat about how we can ease the lockdown and the fear is that would basically undermine the lockdown. they are prepared to have the discussion, frankly not now, added to which the science they say is not there. they need more time, for modelling and data to come up with a coherent approach to strategy. i have no doubt in time they will want to engage with the opposition parties or the general public and set out a broad framework for how they will do this because they want some political cover and support for this. keir starmer‘s view as it will actually now is the time because if you want to retain public support you want to retain public support you have to engage the public and give them a sense there is a route

out of it. he was arguing that now is precisely the time to have this discussion. 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's 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. the other issue as it is such a huge decision realistically it is going to be have to be a decision taken by the prime minister. as we know, borisjohnson is still recuperating at chequers and will probably be out of action for another week at a minimum, possibly weeks plural. so this decision i suspect will be put off until he is back and in charge.

meanwhile, the focus of the government has to be on testing and trying to ramp up testing, particularly in care homes, following the increasingly alarming evidence we're hearing from the bosses of various care homes about the level of and infections. an announcement we heard overnight that in future all care home residents and staff who want to be tested can be tested and all hospital, people from hospital going into care homes will also be tested, whether or not they are showing to symptoms of coronavirus. all well and good but as we know there is a shortage of tests. the latest figures i think for bank holiday monday were down at 14000 and priority for at the moment is still being given to nhs staff. actually rolling out a big ramp up in care home testing seems quite away the line. albeit this morning the care minister was defending the government's approach to prioritising supporting 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 care homes or receiving care at home. we know those are some of the most vulnerable in our society, and from the moment it looked 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 care providers and their representatives, we have been working really hard to do whatever we can to protect those receiving care from this truly awful, horrible illness that is hitting the whole world and bringing the whole world to a standstill. understandably there has been a welcome from care home bosses for the government asked for to provide testing for everyone who needs it in the care home. delivering it of course is another matter. because we

are due to get to 25,000 tests a day by the middle of the month. maybe late in the month. but here we are, 15th of april and we're still quite a long way off the pace, mind getting to matt hancock's bigger target of 100,000 tests by the end of the month. still a lot of pressure on the government to increase the level of testing available. norman, joining me now me now is martin green who is the chief executive of care england. there has been this new development that those in care homes will be tested as they want but that is obviously dependent on capacity being increased so it could be some time away. how do you react to this development? i am really pleased the government has now decided to make

sure that testing of people in care homes, particularly those who are symptomatic and also testing staff, is going to be significantly ramped up. this is something we have been asking for since the pandemic began. we have also seen some of that starting so we have seen some care home providers being asked to send staff testing. there is a massive logistical problem in how to first make sure that there is enough capacity for the enormous numbers of ca re capacity for the enormous numbers of care home and also home—care staff. and we also need to be mindful that the testing of evidence will have to ta ke the testing of evidence will have to take place either within the care home or indeed if people are being discharged from the hospital before they arrive in care home. so don't underestimate the logistical challenges but i do think it is really good we have now got this firmly on the agenda and the government has a plan. lots of estimates are being put out there in terms of the number of people potentially affected in the care

sector. you represent a large number of care home. what are your best estimates in terms of the spread and the number of people in care homes who have possibly died directly as a result of covid—19? who have possibly died directly as a result of covid-19? certainly if we looked at the latest figures around deaths, we are into nearly 500 deaths. that is a significant number. we have also heard about 2000 care homes have outbreaks that the virus so i think you can see this as a major challenge. what we have got to do is first of all make sure that all the support that is needed for those care homes gets to them. so we need the ppe and that has started to improve the distribution of ppe. we also need some very distribution of ppe. we also need some very clear guidance from public health england about what level of ppe is to be used in what situations. unfortunately, there has been conflicting guidance and frankly that is not good enough. what we need is some clear guidance and we need also public health

england to take responsibility for telling every bit of the system this is the guidance that we will use. we then need to look at how we make sure that we get testing to both residents who are symptomatically and that will have to be done on the basis of some kind of swab test. we are also conscious we don't want people necessarily going into care homes. we have been locked in for a while in order to protect people. hopefully, the testing process will be enabled by staff so the staff are already in the care home should be able to do the testing. if we get some clarity about these issues, we will be able to begin the process. it will be difficult, it will be complex. one of the things i think people should acknowledges that care homes are literally scattered everywhere in the local communities. so it is not quite as easy as doing it in, for example, a large hospital but there is certainly a great desire to get on with this and the ca re desire to get on with this and the care home sector is fully willing to support government to make sure that

the targets they set are achieved. you said at the beginning that you have been asking for testing on the scale that is now being promised. you have been asking for that since the pandemic began. are you angry that things have come to this and that things have come to this and that so many people have been put in a very vulnerable position, people who are already vulnerable? certainly wish the testing process had started a lot sooner. i think talking about anger is not helpful in this situation. let's start from the moment when we have got this clear commitment to testing. we in the care sector are absolutely ready to support the government and to make sure that this works. i was pleased to hear that the minister, helen whately, who had have to say has done a huge amount, has also said that she has asked to see care homes is priority. i think it is really important to underline that ca re really important to underline that care homes are full of the most vulnerable people, people who are most susceptible to this virus and to its location. people who live in

ca re to its location. people who live in care homes have several health conditions. so every single one of them would be in the high—risk category. that is why we be prioritising care homes for this testing process. thank you very much indeed forjoining us. we are hearing the worldwide number of covid—19 cases has gone over 2 million recorded globally. the latest statistics are shocking, more than 2 million covid—19 cases now 127519 127 590 i ,1.3 million , 1.3 million currently active patients. hard to get us round the these statistics. each one is an

individual and those around them obviously dreadfully affected by what is happening. let's take a look at some of the other developments around the world... in spain, the number of coronavirus—related deaths in a day continues to fall. 523 people died in the last 24 hours compared with 567 the previous day. over 18,500 people have now died in spain. authorities are continuing to hand—out face masks to people in public areas. a day after extending a nationwide lockdown to the 3rd may, the indian government has announced plans to partially ease restrictions in some key industries, especially in rural areas. workers in sectors such as agriculture, construction and coal production will be allowed to resume activity from april 20th, provided their place of work is not a virus hotspot. a 35—year—old man in perth has become the first person in australia to be jailed for breaking new social distancing laws.

jonathan david was sentenced to six months in jail after he snuck out of a mandatory 14—day isolation period in a hotel to visit his girlfriend. he had flown to perth from the state of victoria in march, which required him to remain in quarantine for 14 days, but he was caught on cctv leaving through a fire exit. in the past hour, the european union has announced it will hold a fundraising conference next month to raise money for the development and distribution of a vaccine against coronavirus. speaking in brussels, the head of the eu commission also said it was vital that european countries coordinate their plans before lifting national lockdowns. the world health organization's director for europe has told the bbc that the continent continues to be at the centre of what he called "a full blown war". 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. the 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 i would really welcome the decision by the government to expand 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 is 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. denmark, one of the first countries in europe to impose a lockdown is easing restrictions from today.

the lockdown in denmark started in early march, with the schools closed on the 12th. four weeks later, children up to the age of 11 are returning to nurseries and schools as they reopen. other restrictions on leisure venues and gatherings of more than ten people will remain in place. with me now is emma firth, who's a journalist based in copenhagen. thanks forjoining us, tell us how it is going to work? well, children start going back from today, but it is is really not going to be like your average day at school or nursery, there are lots of guidelines that teachers and pupils have to adhere to and they have been busy trying to put those in place, so for example, pupils will be sitting at desks two metres apart, the smaller children in nurseries, when they sit at a table they also have to be two metres apart. the smallest children will be split into

groups between three and five, and they have to be with that same group of people everyday. most lessons and play will be outside. children and staff have to for want their hands every two hours at least and staff have to help the younger pupils wash their hands after their cough and sneeze, before and after food, and they also have to clean toys and surfaces like door handles twice a day. the floor space as well, in nurseries, has also doubled, the standard regulations, so some nurseries, my children's included can't accept all children back right away, so, they are accepting halfback as of tomorrow. so things will feel very different as pupils start going back today. this isjust for children up to the age of 11 for now, is it? is there guidance or clear decision on what happens for the older kids? no, all older

children are still studying at home and the summer exams have been cancelled. there was a press conference last night because figures are going better than they hoped for, so they want the open up more than schools, primary schools and nurseries in the first phase so we are waiting to air what that will be but the feeling is it will be businesses rather than older children but that remains to be seen. and so, i mean obviously every country looks to another where they are doing something that indicates a return to anything resembling normality, we can't use that word probably any more, but in terms of howden mark has got to this point, what is deemed to have worked?m was almost five weeks ago, on 12th march that this lockdown started, and it was a pretty much full lockdown that happened very quickly,

before any deaths of the coronavirus had occurred. the prime minister called this decisive and full lockdown which people adhered to, a few days after that, the borders we re few days after that, the borders were closed and a few days after, all shops were closed accept those selling food and pharmacies. there have been police out and about. they can issue fines but they haven't had to do much of that. there can be gatherings of less than ten, there we re gatherings of less than ten, there were posters round saying keep at a distance, but the prime minister said last night in the press conference people had done well, kept to this, because of that, hospital rates have been falling for almost two weeks now, there are currently 380 patients in hospital in denmark and that is in a conference of a population of 5.6 million, and the death rate at the moment is 299 people, so people have

really supported the government's tough lockdown, but people are wary about the next few weeks, going back in to society, how this will affect those rates. you mentioned the prime minister, i wa nted you mentioned the prime minister, i wanted to bring in pictures of him welcoming some of the pupils, welcoming some of the pupils, welcoming some of the pupils, welcoming some of the pupils returning to school, i think these are moving picture, we will see. 0k, are moving picture, we will see. ok, there we can get a flavour of what is happening in the classroom there, with that social distancing. so, emma, it is good to talk to you, thank you forjoining us, that positive development in denmark with primary school pupils returning to school today, not all of them because they have had to restacked the numbers in order to follow the social distancing rules but there is movement and some some start of things going back to some where near where they were before. although it

is obviously going to be a very long time and in terms of whether we return to what we now call normal, is anybody‘s guess. let us go back to events in the uk. the government has handed over a billion pound to business firms. uk finance which is overseeing the programme says more than 28,000 applications have been received but fewer than a quarter have so far been approved. the business group the british xhaimers of commerce has called for it to be accelerated with a survey suggesting only 2% of companies have accessed the scheme successfully. joining me is our personal finance correspondent, simon gompertz. there was hope and excite. but there is frustration with people trying to access it. bring us up—to—date with the picture. as you say businesses are clamouring for this money. which

is dispensed by banks by backed by the government. the government says it will guarantee 80% of the loan values, for small business, and that gives the banks the incentive, the freedom to lend the money, where they might not otherwise have done so. but, businesses are saying their applications are taking a long time, some are finding they are not eligible or they are applying through the wrong bank, and that means whereas you know, we are talking about possibly a million businesses that might benefit from help schemes like this, as you say there have been 28,000 applications, 6,000 have been successful. now, it doesn't mean that all the rest of those 28,000 won't get through, probably most of them will, but it is really the tip of the iceberg of, for firms that need help, i is really the tip of the iceberg of, forfirms that need help, i mean is really the tip of the iceberg of, for firms that need help, i mean the british chambers of commerce have said that 2% of a survey of their

members had engaged successfully with this loan scheme, so that is a small proportion and there are many more than need the money and they need it now. and so, for so many then, the reality of cash flow causing problems, whether it is immediate or soonin problems, whether it is immediate or soon in the future, what is the timescale for these businesses? well, it is pretty immediate because if you are running a business you tend to think in months often, and many businesses have the end of the month, typically, it is this month it is likely to be the 25th they pay staff, so there is a big crunch come, they are hoping for this, these tiding over loans which typically have been worth round £185,000, the ones that have come through, so in the next ten days or so, thousands of businesses are going to find they are really under pressure for cash, and perhaps haven't yet got the help they need. and how is the furlough system

working? so many workers have been furloughed. yes, a new concept for many people, furloughing means that you remain on the payroll but you are sent home and told to stop working, and the way that operates is that you, the employer then applies to the government for 80% of the employee's salary over three months up tow £2500 a month, so that sounds great but again it is getting it up and running, and, the che pers of commerce say two thirds of their members are waiting in line for in scheme to start operating, —— chambers. they need to keep paying people, so they are paying them out of the cash they have o, or the loa ns of the cash they have o, or the loans they already have and they are worried about how easy it will be to carry on over the weeks ahead, applications going in perhaps later this month, and the money for this

furloughing scheme unlikely to appear until later than that. thank you very much simon. we still have a lot to learn about covid—19 including why it seems to protect people from black, asian and minority 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! meet kinzah. she lives with nine people in the same home. 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. it's 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 all under one roof. i think we are alljust giving each other space, because everyone is normally so busy being out and now, being home. of 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 unfortunately they have only been able to have five people at their funeral. as muslims, we believe that if a muslim has passed away, has 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. now 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. the general issue is that the younger generations are a little bit relaxed about covid and 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.

despite their fears, this tight—knit family are finding their own way through lockdown, through kindness and keeping busy. 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. and ankur desai from the bbc asian network is with me now. really interesting report from you there, and just really highlighting there, and just really highlighting the difficulties, the concerns for people living in multi—generational households. absolutely, that was one ofa number of households. absolutely, that was one of a number of families we have spoken no the last few weeks and multi—generational living is a key component of british asian family, often three to four generations under one roof. a lot could be key worker, working in the take away industry as well for example. the family there, the father—in—law runs a take away business, he is often running in and out coming into contact with a lot of people. it's a challenge. and, the issue of funerals is

obviously affecting everybody, it is very distressing for people not to be abe able to properly see their loved ones and say goodbye but an interesting point in your report about actually the important symbolism round a funeral for many. . yes, so muslims believe if you have 100 or more people at a gathering, at a burial, that person will go to leven. and it is significant because people will want to pay their last respect respects. —— heaven. it goes across other religion, a lot of people are struggling to have their nearest and dearest at the gatherings, my mother said she had to watch one funeral online for example. it is an unusual experience for people. and how are they dealing with that, then, because those things are going to affect people for a long time. yes, affect people for a long time. yes, a lot of people are often struggling to say farewell to somebody who might be stranded abroad, we have

spoken to people, case studies who say they have been stranded abroad so someone has passed away and been unable to say farewell to them, that has taken an emotional toll. people don't recally talk about mental health or personal feelings so it is essential that people learn to talk to each other and during these difficult times support each other. everybody is going to be dealing with different things but everybody has emotions as you say, it is important to share and feelings. thank you, thank you. for every death reported there is is a human cost for friends and families left behind. the grieving process is made worse because of restrictions on hospital visits and only limited numbers being allowed to attend funerals. here in the uk reporters from the bbc‘s inside out programme have been talking to families of coronavirus victims who've shared their experience at this troubling time? kevin was small in stature but certainly larger than life. you couldn't really walk up

the street in cockermouth, with kevin, without having to stop every five, ten yards to speak to somebody. lorraine and i were able to go through to the hospital, but only lorraine was allowed to go in to see kevin, which she did, over the weekend. on monday, they phoned up to say he'd deteriorated a bit further and that he was running a high temperature, and they recommended we didn't go to see him. then sadly he passed later that night, about 10pm. this may be, for you, the most heartbreaking and difficult time to have your loved one suffering from an illness that is affecting the whole world, here alone, and i want to assure you that we are going to do our absolute utmost best to be the love to your loved one, that you would be to them if you were here. ready, steady, 90. we're going to turn them when they need turning, we're going to clean them when they need cleaning. we will talk to them,

we will hold their hand. please know we have your loved ones in our hands and we will treat them like our own, and we will be your love to them. on wednesday 8th april my grandad was sadly found dead in his room in this care home. we, as his family, haven't seen him to hug him or anything in weeks. we only spoke to him through one of the windows, which i know is the case for a lot of families. i'm not going to allow one of my residents, one of my amazingly beautiful residents, to die alone, and die in pain. we will sit by them, we will comfort them, we will do everything we possibly can. and if family want to sit there and be with them in their last moments of their life, then that's fine, family will be with them in the last moments of their life, in a responsible and sensible way. what's really difficult now is a funeral. it's not going to be the send off everyone wants, it's going to be low numbers, and, you know, only 20 minutes,

and there's no wake to raise a glass for him in his memory, and, you know, he was quite a lively character, he led a full life. he was a chef in the army and then he was a crane driver. we would love to get together and share the happy stories, as you normally would when someone passes, but we're not going to get that opportunity, and its heart breaking. i don't believe that people should be stopped from attending a funeral service all together. i know that so many families have been gutted they haven't been able to hold a wake or a reception, or really celebrate that person's life in the way they would have wished, but there will come a time when we can meet together again, and i know that so many undertakers and funeral directors will work hard with families to provide a really meaningful and wonderful celebration of life. we do plan, when all this is over, to have some sort of fitting memorial to kevin in cockermouth, judging by the support we've had.

let's get the latest now on the situation in brazil, where there are concerns the spread of disease in some communities could spiral as cases continue to rise. the country became the first in the southern hemisphere to record 1,000 deaths — more than 1,500 have now died and there have been more than 25,000 confirmed cases, but numbers are expected to be higher. the impact of coronavirus in favelas, which are crowded and lack basic sanitation, is causing real concern. i'm joined now by gustavo ribeiro, co—founder of the english language news site the brazilian report. thanks forjoining us, those numbers where still relatively low, in comparison to other countries, obviously that are further down the track, but how quickly is it

spreading in brazil? covid-19 is expecting to sky rocket very soon, and the problem is we actually don't know the full extent of the outbreak here, because testing has been very low in brazil. the authorities don't have enough material to run tests, and the scarcity of materials have led states and the federal government to direct tests only to severe cases, so we actually have no idea of the full, the real numbers, and, even here, for instance, the highest authority the covid—19 pandemic effort said that that ideally he would test massively the population, but there is the ideal world and the real world and brazil cannot run enough test, we have been one of the countries with the lowest

amount of testing, less than 300 tests per one million inhabitants. even the us which has been accused of testing very few people have done it 30 times more than brazil. so what is being done to try to limit the spread? well, in brazil, local governments have a lot of authorities so every state in brazil have adopted some sort of socialise lacing measure, the problem here is that the president has undermined this effort, he has adds viced people to go about their business as usual, he has called the covid—19, and he has said that it is more important to save the economy than actually to control the pandemic, which once again he has undermined almost on a daily basis. so does that mean people are not then taking notice of the suggestion they do stay at home? no. early march,

people were highly compliant with social isolation measures in adopted by states but in recent days, we have seen this compliance rate going way lower, and people are becoming just less worried about the outbreak. in brazil it also has to do with the fact we have a very informal economy and a lot of people depend on going out and working to make there, to making ends meet, so the government has been very slow to adopt economic measures to counter the effects of the pandemic, which also contribute to pushing people out of their homes. stay safe, thank you forjoining us. thank you. being stuck at home because of covid—19 can bring plenty of worries — about your health, finances and job. but for dog owners it also poses

a more immediate concern — who will walk my dog? well, help is at hand. not all heroes wear capes but it turns out that some of them carry pooper scoopers. david sillito reports. dogs are amazing. the daily walk has for many come to an end. but tha nkfully for many come to an end. but thankfully help is at hand. volu nteers thankfully help is at hand. volunteers signing up as a charity that has become a dog walking service. during the covid-19 crisis, we have redeployed services to allow us volunteers that usually take on lots of different tasks to help people that are in vulnerable situations. so we are delighted by how people have come out to help in this time of need. dogs like leo hee, each volunteer is vetted. hand overs are done at a

safe distance, leads are cleaned and the current is understanding is that dogs don't understand the virus. but thatis dogs don't understand the virus. but that is not everything. because there is no shortage of dogs needing a walk and there is no shortage of volu nteers a walk and there is no shortage of volunteers who want to give them a walk, the issue though is bringing them together. he will be back soon. so that is high the hearty wants of to get the word out. i found myself feeling very u nwell word out. i found myself feeling very unwell for about two or three weeks and i thought gosh, what i will do, i can't take my dog for a walk. and i found will do, i can't take my dog for a walk. and ifound this wonderful charity online. and for me it has been a life saver. so we may be limited to one walk a day but hundreds are keen for a bit of canine company and a chance to help those who can't get out.

i have some amazing new, you know captain tom who said he wanted to raise £1,000 for the nhs but walking round his garden, he is 99 and here is he is. this is what he has been doing since he was going to do 100 la ps doing since he was going to do 100 laps of his garden and raise money for the nhs, well, he raised, the total kept going up, earlier it went above 5 million, that was like a couple of hours ago, well, now, it has gone over 6 million so this is really obviously touching people at home as they watch, money coming in, there he is, in his prime, when he was a young man in the army, now 99, and he is still doing his bit and he had this goal to raise the money before his 100th birthday, here we 90, before his 100th birthday, here we go, he has done it and so much more, he has gone above £6 million raised to for the nhs. that money coming in from all round the world, so a

really brilliant achieve. by him. we are all proud of you captain tom, well done, now we say goodbye to viewers on bbc world news. bye. now it's time for a look at the weather with carol. hello again. pollen levels across england and wales today and tomorrow for most are going to be high, and it is tree pollen, so if you have an allergy to that, and you are heading outside to the garden or for your permitted walk, bear that in mind. but the forecast today is dry for most of us. sunny spells, as high pressure continues, to dominate our west. having said that, we do have a weather front across the north of scotland, that is still producing a fair bit of cloud and patchy rain, and here too, we have got gusty winds. but for eastern and southern scotland, northern ireland, england and wales, a lot of dry weather, some sunshine, albeit hazy at times, because there is some high cloud around as well. temperature—wise today, well, nine in lerwick,

but generally 17 to about 18 degrees as we sweep further south. now through the course of this evening and overnight, our weather front will continue its descent southwards, taking its cloud and patchy rain eventually into northern england, northern ireland. at the same time, we will have showers coming up from the south—west, and we could also see some patchy mist and fog forming across some southern counties of england. here and there in some of the frost—prone hollows in the south, we could also see pockets of frost, but that will be the exception rather than the rule. so tomorrow dawns on a dry and bright start, our weather front sinking south, still taking its cloud, any patchy light rain in it still with it, and some showers coming in from the south—west. one or two of those could well be sharp, and we could also possibly hear the odd rumble of thunder. temperatures could get up to 22 around the london area. this is the culprit bringing in the showers, in front the south—west, during the course of thursday and into friday. still a level of uncertainty as to how far north the showers are going to travel, but this is what we think at the moment.

some of those will merge to give longer spells of rain, they could be heavy and they could be thundery. some of this will be welcome, because some parts of england and wales haven't had rain for a month, so if you are a farmer or a grower this could be good news for you. as we travel further north, we are closer to an area of high pressure, so things more settled and certainly drier. on saturday, still the risk of rain coming in across southern counties, pushing north as a bit more cloud with the odd shower. the brighter skies will be across scotland and the far north of northern ireland.

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, vet and share information in a timely and transparent fashion. the uk's 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. nursery and primary schools have reopened across denmark, as the country gradually begins to ease coronavirus restrictions. and he set out to collect £1,000 for the nhs, now he's topped six million. veteran captain tom smashes his target with the help of the world. well... you've done it, you've done it! you've done it! people have donated over 5 million, oh, my gosh, you've done it, tom! that is absolutely extraordinary! completely out of this world! hello and welcome to audiences

in the uk and around the world. we're covering all the latest coronavirus developments here in britain and globally. our top story... the uk government has promised that all care home residents and staff with covid—19 symptoms will be tested. it comes after warnings from care providers that the virus is "running wild" among the elderly and vulnerable. more than 2,000 care homes have confirmed outbreaks. our other top stories today... international criticism is mounting against president trump's decision to suspend funding for the world health organization while the coronavirus pandemic is still raging. the uk labour leader, keir starmer, has urged the government to go further and publish its exit strategy from the coronavirus lockdown. sir keir called for more transparency about how and when the rules will be relaxed. and in denmark, the government has reopened day care centres and primary schools after a month long closure. children are being kept further apart than usual and where possible, lessons are to be held outside.

let's start with the uk and speak to our assistant political editor norman smith. keir starmer is calling for an a nswer to keir starmer is calling for an answer to the big question, namely how do we get out of here? demanding the government publish an electric strategy. this week or next. his reasoning being that keep government support, they need to be candid with people. give a sense of how we can emerge, a sense of hope and that will retain their support for the lockdown. he is also arguing that when we moved to easing the locked—in it is going to require a lot of planning and preparation may require a lot of investment to build vaccine centres in the light. better to start now. his argument is it is about transparency. to be clear and candid and honest with people. the

government view is that is all fine but not now. because they say the science simply isn't there to provide the sort of clarity we need to formulate electric strategy but their realfear is to formulate electric strategy but their real fear is that if we all start discussing electric strategy, that results innovative a confused message in terms of the current restrictions on lockdown. if the government is on one hand saying to people we want you to carry on staying indoors but at the same time, let's talk about how you can leave indoors, that could potentially be counter—productive to maintaining lockdown. not so, says sir keir starmer, better to have that discussion now. 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's 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. elsewhere, a lot of focus today still on care homes, following some of the stories that have been emerging from care home bosses about the level of infections and death rate in care homes with the overnight announcement from the health secretary, matt hancock that he will endeavour to provide testing for all residents, all staff in care homes who display symptoms, or who wa nt to homes who display symptoms, or who want to test, and also for those leaving hospital to go into care homes. that has been applauded by ca re homes. that has been applauded by care home providers but with a big but and the but is art there enough tests are ground ? but and the but is art there enough tests are ground? at the moment the evidence is not because so far only something like 500 care home workers have been tested, the number of tests on bank holiday monday was down at 14,000. priority is still being given to nhs workers. although the aspiration to roll out testing

for all care workers and residents is there, delivering on it is another matter altogether. albeit, the cannons for helen whately this morning was defending the priority she said. 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 care homes or receiving care at home. we know those are some of the most vulnerable in our society, and from the moment it looked 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 care providers and their representatives, we have been working really hard to do whatever we can to protect those receiving care from this truly awful, horrible illness that is hitting the whole world and bringing the whole world to a standstill.

a further complication when it comes to testing and care homes is that ca re to testing and care homes is that care providers want their staff to be able to do the testing in the homes. what they don't want is yet more people going into care home to carry out testing which of course carries with it the risk of infection and how viral that is we simply don't know. one other element which has been is on the numbers. the figures on death tolls in care homes are something like two weeks in arrears. only published weekly. yesterday we had a promise from the medical director of public health england that they would try and move to daily figures. sounds to me like thatis to daily figures. sounds to me like that is proving quite difficult to do. because care homes are such diverse organisations, some are run by the private sector, some by charities, some by local councils. soi charities, some by local councils. so i think the signs are we could

still be some way off getting to daily death rates from care homes. norman, thank you very much. we're just hearing that the tour de france has been postponed. it was scheduled for the 27th ofjune until the 19th ofjuly, we hear it will be postal and from august 29 to 20th of september. —— it will be postponed. the planned route will not be changed but the dates have. there is more information on their website. 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. the european union's foreign policy chief has said he "deeply regrets" the funding freeze. 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 going 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.

back now to the news that the uk's opposition party leader, sir keir starmer, is urging the government to publish an exit strategy from the coronavirus lockdown this week. it's expected to announce an extension to the lockdown on thursday. sir keir said the labour party would back such a move but the government should be more open about how and when it will end. let's speak to the backbench conservative mp laura trott, who's a member of the health select committee. welcome, thank you forjoining us. why will the government not publishing strategyjust why will the government not publishing strategy just to why will the government not publishing strategyjust to say why will the government not publishing strategy just to say asks sir keir starmer says, "this is what needs to happen in orderfor the current position of lockdown to change and this is how we are planning for it? " of course i understand that people would like to know when we're going to get out of that... sorry to enter up to, it is not about when in terms of needing a date,itis not about when in terms of needing a date, it is what needs to happen for

the strategy to turn towards that?|j the strategy to turn towards that?” understand people might desire to have that. however, it is really not possible i don't think for a really conclusive plan to be drawn up u nless conclusive plan to be drawn up unless you reach the peak of the epidemic and that is indeed what all the scientists are telling us today. until we reach the peak until we understand the impact the measures we are currently taking that are so difficult, how that is affecting hospital admissions, the number of deaths and how the nhs is coping with those, we can't really formulate a proper plan for how we are then going to exit the current restrictions that are in place. so what planning is being done then?” think it is important and i am a member of the athens social care committee, i think it is really important to look at the various measures that could get us out of this. looking at testing, looking at where we are with the antibody test, looking at where we are in terms of the technology that can be useful so

think all of those aspects that we absolutely should interrogate where the government is getting too but i think expecting any plan when we are not at that stage yet is unrealistic andi not at that stage yet is unrealistic and i would respectfully say probably not best at this point. ok then, looking at the testing, looking at the antibody tests, looking at the antibody tests, looking at the antibody tests, looking at exactly where we are in the statistics, obviously these are things that are being much discussed and the latest is that testing is going to be rolled out. once that has the capacity for those in social ca re has the capacity for those in social care and that is something that is obviously needed and has been called for, the capacity is nowhere near it though, is it? because the government said by the end of this week there would be 100,000 tests per day. it is currently about 14,000. in the care sector there have been 500 tests and the care sector still remains behind the nhs in terms of priority. if you say that testing is one of the key criteria, does that give us some

sense of where we are and how this whole thing is going to take? health secretary set at a very clear plan on testing and as you see this as wrapping up, i think we are at 18,000 this weekend and the target is to be 100,000 by the end of the month. —— ramping up. ithink is to be 100,000 by the end of the month. —— ramping up. i think that will be key for nhs but also in terms of how we actually get out of this and make sure that we are in a position will be totally understand what is happening in the community. sorry to interrupt you again because thatis sorry to interrupt you again because that is a target and we keep being told that as the target, we have 15 days to get to the target and we are less than... 20% of the way they are, so is that target really realistic? that is one of the things that we will be asking the health secretary about at the committee tomorrow and i think it is important that we are on track that because that we are on track that because that will be critical to our recovery. but the signal from the government is that everyone is working day and night to meet that target. and i look forward to hearing more about that from the health secretary tomorrow.”

hearing more about that from the health secretary tomorrow. i will be speaking to someone from the care home sector and one thing that bosses of care. in saying would be extremely healthy to them right now is if the vat on personal protective equipment dropped for care homes in the same way that it has been for the same way that it has been for the nhs. is that going to happen?” don't know. i think it is an interesting proposal. ithink everything at anything should be done to mitchell that we have the ppe that is required. in care homes. —— everything should be done to make sure. iam —— everything should be done to make sure. i am an mp for sevenoaks and thatis sure. i am an mp for sevenoaks and that is something happening talking to my own care homes about and actually, this supply is ok where we are at the moment. i think the government is doing a herculean task in terms of shipping millions and millions of pieces of equipment out everyday but that means to continue editing to be robust over the coming weeks and months and i think that any and all should be done to take into account to try and achieve that. laura trott, thank you for joining us.

let's pick up on testing in care homes. joining me now is sir david behan, the chief executive of one i don't know if you could hear laura trott there but how are you feeling about where things are going in terms of what you're hearing the government? i am the executive chair, rather than the chief executive, but that is not the important issue. we welcome the announcement today that staff and residents in care homes are going to be subject to testing. i think over the past few weeks we have been making the case for social care to be regarded as a priority alongside the nhs and to receive the same attention in relation to personal protective equipment and also in relation to testing. so today's announcement is incredibly welcome. i think it will do three things.

firstly, it will allow us to ensure that suspected cases of covid—19 in ca re that suspected cases of covid—19 in care homes can be tested and we know whether we are dealing with an outbreak, or whether we're just dealing with some of the other illnesses that older people can be affected by. secondly, it will allow us to give the assurance to staff as to whether they have got the virus and remove some of this anxiety that i think staff feel. that they are going to pick up the virus and either take it into the care home and pass it on to residents or, and this is one of the acute anxiety is for care home staff, is that they will take it home and pass it on to their own families. so this is hugely important. it is obviously hugely important. it is obviously hugely important. it is obviously hugely important for all of the reasons that you outline. but when it is it actually going to happen? i mean, you don't know the answer, we don't know, i was just speaking to a

conservative mp from the health select committee but it could be some time off and the workers in the ca re some time off and the workers in the care sector are still vulnerable? we are and! care sector are still vulnerable? we are and i have been making this case about the heroism and courage of ca re about the heroism and courage of care home workers coming into work and continuing to deliver the care to people in our homes over this period which is why we have been asking for the testing. the issue now is having made the commitment, theissue now is having made the commitment, the issue now will be our people being able to access the testing? and we were contacted last week by two local authorities in the north west of england, east cheshire and, we we re west of england, east cheshire and, we were contacted over the weekend by the c2c opening up some of the testing arrangements and this confirmation today is really helpful. the challenge now is the delivery of that and making sure that those members of staff the priority will go to those who were

self isolating because they are either living with somebody who is covert symptomatic or the other cells are covid symptomatically. a priority that we have in having as how commuter that the staff work in our own organisation can get to those testing sites and go through the testing regime. we have gone through this being a matter of policy, government has decided the policy, government has decided the policy, that is incredibly welcome, so the focus now goes on to the challenge of delivery and a conversation we are having about the ramping up become critical. to ensuring that the staff in care homes and the residents, can be tested as we go through this next stage. so, the first stage of this was to agree a policy and the second stage is going to be ensuring that all those that need to be tested are indeed being tested is because through the next days and weeks. the virus has had quite a head start being able to spread through care

homes in the way that it has? yes it has and i think we need to understand more about transmission. one of the things that i feel quite strongly about his care home staff being quite outstanding in the service that the have been delivering over this past period. social care does not get the same attention to health service gets and i understand that but the role that ca re i understand that but the role that care home staff play is fundamentally important but whether staff are picking the virus up from being in the care home or whether they are picking it up on the way to they are picking it up on the way to the care home or whether they are picking it up and their families, understanding the transmission of this virus is something we need to understand much, much better than we do at the present time. as many people have said we are dealing with this for the first time but this is one of the reasons why testing is important, it allows some of the tracking to be undertaken. and

understand much more effectively what the transmission of this virus actually is. so it is notjust that this testing will save lives, protect staff, provide reassurance, it will help us to better understand the way this virus spreads from one person to another. thank you very much. thank you. away from coronavirus for a moment, because today marks 75 years since british troops marched on the bergen—belsen nazi concentration camp in northern germany and liberated over 50,000 prisoners. approximately 120,000 people were imprisoned in the camp over its five—year operation period, and though the number of people killed is unknown, its estimated to be around 50,000 or more. the horrors of the camp and its liberation were documented on film, and have become emblematic of nazi crimes against humanity.

joe hayman is the managing director of the holocaust educational trust and joins me now. as does susan pollack, who survived bergen—belsen. welcome both of you. susan, what are your thoughts and feelings today on this anniversary? two things. the first is enormous gratitude to the british army. who liberated me and others on that fateful day and possibly the following day on the 15th of this month. and possibly if they had come later, fewer of us would have survived. the conditions we re would have survived. the conditions were so critical. and the british army had fought hard to get there

and were unprepared to see is that film you mentioned. how old were you when you are rescued from bergen—belsen and how long have you been there? i was 15 years old, coming up later on. i was still 14. and i wasn't very long there, i would not have survived the conditions because it wasjust would not have survived the conditions because it was just a death count. the part that i was placed on was completely devastated and neglected completely. it was just there to die. and to suffer. i was therefore about, i would say, ha rd to was therefore about, i would say, hard to tell, i had no idea, but about a few weeks, perhaps. at the most. without any food, without any water, no hygiene, nothing. so, you

came out after as you say, not so long, long enough for you to have seen the horrors of it, you were not yet 15, shortly after you left your 15. what was it like emerging that into a world where you idea screwed start to think of a future? that is excellent. to actually consider that. the difficulty is that most of us faced. we did not want to go back to the country that, some of the countries, i mean i am from hungary, collaborated with the nancy government. and where could we go? —— nazi government. i wanted to go to israel but i was not strong enough. i was just stronger to

to israel but i was not strong enough. i wasjust stronger to help to clean the polluted waters there. the marshes. there was malaria and various other difficulties. where could i go? that was very difficult. i was fortunate that i made, in sweden, i made a recovery, a physical recovery. and that allowed me to be taken to canada. could you start to look forward immediately? or have you always been looking back as well? i had always lived with that, but my concentration, my hopeful attitude towards the here and now, saved my life. i wanted to have a family, my children, realising that my family were all

murdered. except my brother survived. but with huge psychological problems. thank you so much for sharing with us. he susan, do stay with us, we are currently broadcasting in the uk and on bbc world. i would like to bring in while you stay with us, joe hayman is the managing director of the holocaust educational it is so powerful to hear the testimony of susan, one of many whose lives were just changed by what happened there. what are your thoughts on this day of, the legacy of that? at the holocaust educational trust we are incredibly

privileged and proud to work with survivors like susan. as you say, she is an inspiration and people like herare an she is an inspiration and people like her are an inspiration to people like us around the country and it is really important for us to help people like susan to tell her story. on days like today, it is not really about organisations like ours, it is about the brave survivors like susan. it is about the people who lost their lives, the communities which were turned upside down by the nazi regime and on a day like today, it is about the brave liberators who freed susan and the ca re liberators who freed susan and the care workers who went into bergen—belsen and other camps afterwards and looked after people and nursed them back to recovery. here we are 75 years on and susan is still telling her story and that is an inspiration to us all. and you obviously working with the holocaust

educational trust as somebody who is very young but feels very passionate about what you do, spreading the message, how important is it that it just keeps on being told? absolutely. and it has an obligation on all of us. i think the story of bergen—belsen in particular, liberated by the british as you say, many survivors have now come to britain and told their story and it is up to us and future generations to keep telling that story. we are 75 years on from the liberation of the camps in the end of the war, our beloved survivors are becoming fewer and frailerand it beloved survivors are becoming fewer and frailer and it falls on all of us to keep telling the story, to keep remembering the victims of the holocaust and keep telling the stories of the survivors and keep learning the lessons and it can never be more important than right now. thank you joe, i want a final

thought, susan, you survived bergen—belsen. you have obviously spoken to us very movingly about the effect on your life. now, we find ourselves in a completely different situation. the situation where people are facing real challenges. how are you today? what are your thoughts on where we are now?” how are you today? what are your thoughts on where we are now? i am inspired and very much moved by the support and that cohesion from my community here. the helpfulness. that is offered. and that feeling of togetherness. and hopefully we well all reach the end shortly. we hope. susan, thank you very much indeed. thank you forjoining us and thank you again tojoe from the holocaust educational trust.

now it's time for a look at the weather with carol. tree pollen levels will be high tomorrow. in england and wales. a lot of dry weather around today, hazy sunshine with some high cloud around but across the far north and north—west of scotland as a weather front producing thicker cloud, some patchy light rain or drizzle or some gusty wind as well. temperatures today ranging from 9—17, 18 as we push down to london and cardiff. through this evening and overnight, a weather front continues pushing south, taking the cloud and patchy rain into northern england and northern ireland. some showers by the end of the night coming from the south—west and also the risk of patchy mist and fog. some of us in southern england will see some frost. tomorrow some showers in the south, some could be heavy. similar story in the south on friday. the further north that you are the drier

and brighter it will be. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines. 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. president trump suspends funding for the world health organization — accusing it of covering up the spread of the virus in china.

the uk's 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. let's cross to edinburgh, where nicola sturgeon is giving her daily update. we expect to hear from her and we expect to hearfrom her and her scientific adviser shortly. let me tell you we have had the statistics through. every day these new figurings the number who are sick and who have lost their lives so the latest statistics from scotland. 962 people reported to have died in scotland, after testing positive for covid—19, or being suspected of having it. 25% of those died in care

homes, that was 237. 62% died in hospital. that is 596. 128 died at home or in a non—s institution, and one person died in what is being described as another institution. these figures are interesting because they break down where these deaths are happening, so there is nicola sturgeon, just getting ready to give us the latest update, so we will listen to what she has to say. good afternoon, everybody, thank you yet again to all of you forjoining us for this daily briefing. i want to start as usual with an update on some of the key statistics in relation to covid—19 in scotland. and as was the case last wednesday, today's will have two parts, firstly, i will give an update of the daily figures you are used to hearing me present at these briefings, and secondly, i will give a summary of the key points from the

latest weekly publication from national records of scotland. that does mean my update today will be a little bit more complex than usual, but please bear with me. let me turn firstly to the daily figure, that is the number of confirmed case, the number in hospital and intensive ca re number in hospital and intensive care and the number of deaths that have been registered in the last 24 hours of people who had tested positive for the virus. as at 9.00 this morning, i can report that there have been 6748 positive cases confirmed. that is an increase of 390 from the figure reported yesterday. a total of 1748 patients are currently in hospital, with either suspected or confirmed covid—19. that is a decrease of 53 from yesterday's figures. and a total of 195 people as of last night we re total of 195 people as of last night were in intensive care with

confirmed or suspected cases of the virus, and that is a decrease of one on yesterday's figures. asi on yesterday's figures. as i said yesterday, these hospital and intensive care figures do give us cause for some very and intensive care figures do give us cause for some very cautious optimism at this stage, but i want to caution again that it is still too early for us to be definitive about that, so my caution is not against cautious optimism but against cautious optimism but against reading too much into the figures at this point. not least because in the last 24 hours i am afraid 84 deaths have been registered of patients who had been confirmed as having covid—19. that ta kes confirmed as having covid—19. that takes the total number of deaths in scotla nd takes the total number of deaths in scotland as of 9am this morning under that measurement and i will come on to explain that in a moment to 69. i would —— 699. i would remind you as i have said, death registration is likely to have been lower over the easter weekend, which means that the figures we have

reported in the past couple of days may have been artificially lower because of that, so today's higher figure will in part be a recollection of that. now i spoke last week about the way in which we are recording deaths caused by covid—19. for a daily update figure, the one you have just heard me give, the one you have just heard me give, the one you have just heard me give, the one i give every day we report on deaths registered, where the individual who has sadly died had been tested and confirmed through that test, as having had the virus. those figures are the most accurate ones we are able to provide on a daily basis, but they don't capture all deaths from or related to this virus. to national records of scotla nd virus. to national records of scotland or nrs began last week to publish each wends a new weekly report. this weekly report captures all deaths registered within a seven day period ending on the preceding sunday, this includes notjust those people who have died having had a

confirmed laboratory diagnosis of covid—19, but it also includes deaths which are presumed to be linked to the virus. so it includes cases where covid—19 has entered on the death certificate as a suspected cause of death or contributory factor but where no formal test had been carried out. the number of deaths that will be reported under this system is therefore larger than under the daily system when you compare the two figures on the same dates but it is a comprehensive figure and therefore, obviously, a more accurate one. nrs published the second of these weekly reports today, just about half an hour ago. it covers a period up to sunday 12th april, just days ago, and let me remind you that at that point, we reported a total of 566 registered deaths of people who had tested positive. however, today's report shows that by sunday, the total number of registered deaths linked

to the virus confirm and presumed was 962. 608 of those were registered in the seven days up to the 12th april. now, i am aware this information is is really hard to hear, it is also very hard to report on. these numbers are higher than anybody would have want to think about, but we do need these fuller information to understand the toll this virus is having, how and where the virus progressing and also, to inform what we do next. there are three other points that i want to highlight about these fission your, the first is they provide further break down of the numbers who have died, break downs according to health board area, sex and age. and for the first time, this week's report provides information about the setting in which people died. they show that 596 of these deaths as of sunday were in hospital, 237

took place in care homes, and 1 29 happened at home, or in some other setting. i want to say more particularly about the 237 deaths, that is almost 25% of the total that had occurred in care homes until sunday. we know that older people are more at risk of become seriously unwell or dying from this virus, although i should stress people of all ages are at risk. we know that care homes can be places that are more susceptible to infection outbreaks, care inspectorate figures to be published daily from now on show that 433 care homes have so far recorded incidents of coronavirus since this epidemic began. so i want to stress again today, how hard we are working and will continue to work with care home provider, local health protect #14u7b steams to ensure that care home staff have the support and

equipment they need. i also wanted to make clear this shouldn't need said but i want to say it, that the residents of care homes matter, every bit as much to us, as people in the community or in hospital. it is just as important in the community or in hospital. it isjust as important in care homes as it is anywhere else, in fact i would say it is more important, given their vulnerability and susceptibility to infection spreading we do all we can to prevent infection, and also, to control it when there is infection ina care control it when there is infection in a care home. the role of testing in this has also been raised. we already test the first residents in any ca re already test the first residents in any care home who become symptomatic of coronavirus in order to establish the presence of the virus in that home and ensure all appropriate measures are ta ken home and ensure all appropriate measures are taken to protect all residents. however, we are moving now, to test all symptomatic patients in care homes, the cmo can say more about this if there are questions later. but his advice to me is that while this is not

strictly necessary for nor will it change the clinical mangement of cases in care homes it is nevertheless important for the confidence of relatives and the wider public given the vulnerability of care homes. let me also stress that guidance to care homes is already very clear about isolation and social distancing and that remains the most important factor in making sure we are managing and preventing infections in care homes. second point i want to make about the weekly figures is the overall number of deaths registered last week is again much higher than the average for the same week in previous years, and while this week most of that can by a tributed directly to covid—19 not all of it can. that issue is one which has been observed in other country, it isa been observed in other country, it is a very serious issue for us to look into, and explore further. as our understanding of this development we intend to publish

more information about it in future reports that we will talk about at these briefings. and the third point is these figures record deaths as i have said according to the date on which a death is registered. while registration normally happens reasonably quickly listen three days there can be a gap of eight days up to somebody dying and the death being registered. i can can't publish information by the date of someone's death as we would like to do right up until the 12th april. nrs has published this information which is the number of deaths by date of people dying rather than date of people dying rather than date of people dying rather than date of registration for the period up date of registration for the period up to 5th april. while this is not quite as up—to—date as the other figures it still gives us a more accurate picture of the spread of the virus to this point. now, a focus on the statistics because they are focus on the statistics because they a re really focus on the statistics because they are really important, they give some overall sense of how the virus is spreading, and at a briefing like

today's the statistics need some explanation. but i am always aware, iam explanation. but i am always aware, i am always very acutely wear standing here, that each death is not just a statistic. standing here, that each death is notjust a statistic. every standing here, that each death is not just a statistic. every single one represents a unique irreplaceable individual and we should keep that in mind. i wanted to express my condolences to everybody who has lost a friend, a family member or a loved one to this virus. i also want to a knowledge that listening to these figures and statistics is hard and it is horrible. it is hard and horrible to stand here talking about them. and i know it can also make you feel powerless, that something we can't see is claiming so many lives among us. but, the point i want to stress, asi us. but, the point i want to stress, as i always do is none of us are powerless, all of us have some control here, by following the rule, staying home, by self—isolating when we have symptom, all of us can help reduce the number of deaths. i have one other issue i wanted to

briefly update on today, before i hand over to others and take questions and that relates to support for businesses, we have reflected whauven is a health crisis has become a economic crisis and we must do everything we can to support businesses and the economy because jobs and living standards, prosperity and ultimately our health all depends on that. today, the finance secretary has announced measures worth a further £220 million to help companies affected by the panned. £120 million of that will allow us to widen eligibility for the small business grant, in order to help businesses with more than one rateable property. in addition to being able to claim a grant up to £10,000 or some £25,000 for one property, these businesses will be able to apply for grants up tow 75% of that for each subsequent property they own. that is a measure that directly addresses a concern that directly addresses a concern that businesses had expressed to us.

in addition a further £100 million will target people who might not be currently eligible for other forms of support, either from the scottish government or the uk government. it will be open to self—employed people, o particularly newly self—employed who are suffering hardship and ineligible for the uk scheme. very who might be ineligible for other scheme, this funding will be open for application no later than the end of this month. we will publish further detail on eligibility in the coming days and as soon as possible. these measures if they are taken up in full as i would expect them to be would mean the overall support offered by the scottish government will exceed now the £2.2 billion of budget consequentials that we received and which were so welcome from the uk government's package of support. they are a direct response to feedback from businesses and they, i hope, demonstrate our determination

to support to the maximum we possibly can, businesses across the country, which are suffering through no fault of their own and i hope it demonstrates as well our willingness to listen and to asylum seeker to respond to concerns expressed. before i hand over to the chief medical officer, i want to end by repeating the public health rules, other than for a few specific reasons, you should stay at home, you should not be going out, you should stay two metres apart from other people when you go out, you should not meet up with people from other house hole, if you and others in your should hold have symptomles of covid—19 you should be isolating completely. you should not be going out at all. i know how difficult these rules are, but i have taken longer to go through this update today but the figures i have read out, some showing signs fossil fuel cautious optimism but others deeply distressing the figures demonstrate

how important it is we all don't follow the rule, they are making a difference, and they will continue to make a difference, they will bring closer the time when we can start to get our lives and the country back to normal. so thank you once again to each and every one of you for doing the right thing and sticking with the rule, by doing this we are helping to slow the virus, save lives and protect the national health service from being overwhelmed. thank you to all of you. i hand over to the interim chief medical officer who will say a few more words before i hand to the health secretary. so the first minister spoke about the toll coronavirus is having. we see that starkly in the figures reported by frs aid. that is why once again i emphasise it is important the need to comply with the social distancing measures in place, i make this appeal, to continue to do so. i know

this isn't easy and i know it isn't without impact on your lives but let me asure you it is necessary to continue to do so. i want to also express my own condolences to those whoa have lost loved ones and friends and ask even to remain resolute in the behaviours and actions to limit further losses by come palestining with the measures we have outlined today. the figures emphasise that older people are more vulnerable. but as first minister has also said we have all vulnerable and must work together as a society to do all we can to reduce the level of risk and to try to prevent exposure to this virus. that is why shielding and social distancing are in place, i want to thank everybody to comply with these. i understand the burden this brings, the figures also show the impact this virus can have in places like care homes. homes. i continue to speak with health protection teams across the

country to make sure their response to these outbreaks as they occur, are everything they should be, and are everything they should be, and are mac—mized. once again i have emphasise my expectation about how they will provide support to care homes, and i know that across the country, staff in care homes are providing dedicated and high quality care, but i want them to feel supported by their local clinical teams too. i spoke before about my time asa teams too. i spoke before about my time as a gp and one of the most important relationships that we had in the practice was with our local ca re in the practice was with our local care homes where we recognised the vulnerability of that population that lived as, in their house, their ca re that lived as, in their house, their care home as their house, even in better times. across the country i know the gps will continue to provide support to those care homes, andl provide support to those care homes, and i appeal to fellow colleagues just to make sure that the way they are providing that support is done with the utmost of sensitivity and

they are reracketing to the situation in the way that all of us as clinicians would feel appropriate to do so. thank you. i hand over now to do so. thank you. i hand over now to the cabinet secretary who will cover a couple of other issues. thank you very much first minister. i want to just speak briefly about some additional work that is under way with respect to residents and to our care homes. let me also restate what the first minister and dr smith have said about just what the first minister and dr smith have said aboutjust how much residents in our care homes matter, as well as those whoa are living at home, and patients in our hospital. that is why we undertook the additional work i have spoken about before, in order to ensure that care homes have all they need in terms of ppe, with direct order, route, now to our national stockpile and that direct distribution route. it is why we take so seriously the concerns and issues that are raised directly

with me from scottish care, who represent a significant proportion of those care homes across the country, we will continue do that. we have had taken steps to provide further assurance, we have had taken steps to provide furtherassurance, first we have had taken steps to provide further assurance, first minister has spoken about testing, i also wa nt has spoken about testing, i also want to add that we have now asked our public health directors to take forward a local leadership role, harnessing what dr smith has said there, about the primary care tames and the health protection teams to ensure we can offer the maximum support, both in terms of clinical support, both in terms of clinical support, but also, infection prevent shin and control to individual care homes across the country, there is over 1,000 homes across the country, there is over1,000 of them homes across the country, there is over 1,000 of them and our work will intend to provide support to every single one of those. there will be more steps we will take we are finalising at this point and when all of that has come together, then i will be very happy to come back

and set those out for you. thank you. iam and set those out for you. thank you. i am going to move straight into questions now. as usual we have a long list but we will get through. jim matthews from sky. thank you very much first minister. you have spoken about care homes, about maximum support, care homes i can tell you at least one major provider since your announcement has said this is too little too late. he has got 15 care homes, 1100 staff, of those 23 have been tested. 700 residents, of those seven have been tested. can you give me your figures for residents and staff in care homes and tell me how many have been tested thus far, given you acknowledge now the importance of testing? so when i give figures i wa nt to testing? so when i give figures i want to make sure they are robust, we are providing in scotland more up—to—date information than anywhere else, it is important we do so, so i

no over 8,000 nhs and care staff have been tested, i, as soon as we have been tested, i, as soon as we have a robust reliability break down we will report that as well. on residentsly hand over to the chief medical officer in a moment on the issues with testing among residents. it is important we have used testing generally in the most effective way. in care homes, the most important use of testing has been to establish whether the virus is in a care home, to then allow that situation to be managed properly and proper infection control measures to be in place. as i said earlier on, moving to test more symptomatic resident, all, doesn't change that clinical approach but it is about continuing to build confidence. we have very clear guidance if place for care homes which provider, i don't know which provider you are quoting, we are happy to engage and are engaging with all providers who have responsibilities to make sure that the guidance within their own homes,

with the relevant support from health protection teams and the inspectorate is being properly implemented, so i know how much focussed, hard work is going into this, and it is right that is the case, because we know how vulnerable older people are and we know how susceptible care homes are to infection spread, so this is an area where there is already significant work being done and that will continue. i will ask the cmo to say a word or two more about testing in terms of symptomatic residents, bearing in mind we will be providing further information as soon as we can about numbers of care home—workers, who have gone through testing. it is very important to make sure we are clear and... studio: we will leave that news briefing from nicola sturgeon and her scientific advisers, the daily news briefing there, and there will bea news briefing there, and there will be a news briefing of course later this afternoon from the government

in westminster. a 99—year—old second world war veteran — who was hoping to raise a thousand pounds for the nhs — by walking 100 laps of his garden before his hundredth birthday this month — has now raised more than six million pounds. captain tom moore — from bedfordshire — com pletely completely out of this world. thank you so much for all those people who subscribe to the national health service because for every penny we get, they deserve every one of it. they do. and it is extraordinary, isn't it, how it is ticking up. 5 million earlier and it has already gone above 6ml. simon mccoy will be here with the bbc news at one shortly. now it's time for a look at the weather. not much change with the weather at the moment, it is very quiet out

there, with high pressure in control. that means that in many of us are seeing sights like this. lots of sunshine coming through. the only exception further north yet again we have thicker cloud, thick enough for drizzle as well. put the two weather watcherers on the satellite. it helps tell the story. to the north and west it is a cloudy disappointing day but for the vast majority, lots of dry sunny weather to look out for. a wit more of a breeze perhaps on channel coasts and more of a breeze up to the north feeding that cloud in. here nine to 11, but elsewhere we could see the temperatures into the high teen, particularly anywhere in the east. through the night, tonight, the cloud will sink south across scotla nd cloud will sink south across scotland into the north of england. and we will see drizzle. elsewhere a quiet story with patchy mist and fog. temperatures holding up between four and eight. that continue front pushes through scotland and behind it colder air, at the same time an area of low pressure moves into the

south—west and it feeds in, this warmerair south—west and it feeds in, this warmer air for south—west and it feeds in, this warmer airfor a time. so thursday looks likely to be the warmest day of the week. so a contrast on thursday. again, thicker cloud as that front sinks south. no significant rain but a difference in the feel. lots of sunshine in england and wales, a few sharp showers arrive by the end of the afternoon but we could see temperatures peaking at 21 or 22 degrees as opposed to just eight to 11 further north. that cold front will ease away, and then preesh builds and thing also quiet endown in the north as we move into the weekend. at the same time that low will bring us some rain. useful rain, some gardeners and growers might be shouting as it pushes into the south—west, moves up through wales, some the showers could be heavy for a time. a feed of north—easterly wind means it will feel cold on those exposed coasts. not as warm generally cross the country for friday. there will be

showers and some heavy, possibly thundery for the start of the weekend across england and wales, drier further weekend across england and wales, drierfurther north, sojust weekend across england and wales, drier further north, so just to summarise for, if you haven't got the picture, it looks as though as we head to the weekend showers for england and wales, dry and sunny elsewhere.

a promise to test all care home residents and staff in england with covid—19 symptoms. laboratory capacity will be increased as the government says it's "determined" to ensure everyone who needs a test has access to one. going right to the front of the queue for tests, because we recognise it is so important to look after really vulnerable people and also the workforce who are looking after them. the government pledge comes after weeks of calls for action from charities, who claim the virus is ‘running wild' in care homes. i certainly wish that the testing process adds started a lot sooner, but talking about anger is not helpful in this situation. we'll be getting the latest reaction to the government's promise. also this lunchtime: with the lockdown set to continue, labour leader sir keir starmer urges

the government to publish