‘day! captain tom, conscripted into the regiment. there he goes. it's an extraordinary story and we shared it with the british public, we've shared him with the public who had taken him to their hearts and he has truly gone global. he served his country in the past. he is serving his country now. what an inspiration to us all. here he comes. captain tom, approaching his 100th birthday, guard of honourfrom tom, approaching his 100th birthday, guard of honour from the first battalion, the yorkshire regiment and there he is. congratulations!” keep on going, while people are still contributing to the national health service.

this is bbc news with the latest headlines. ministers in the uk are expected to announce a three—week extension to the coronavirus lockdown — labour call for details on how and when the restrictions would end.

if we just released all the measures now, then this virus would run rampant once again, and we can't let that happen. we would expect the lockdown to continue. we would support that. i actually called for a lockdown before the government introduced one. but we also want more detail from the government about what happens next. social care officials in the uk deliver a scathing assessment of the government's handling of the pandemic — in a leaked letter, they describe the distribution of protective kit for carers as "shambolic". president donald trump says parts of the us economy could reopen as early as this month. the battle continues, but the data suggests that nationwide, we have passed the peak of new cases. hopefully, that will continue and we will continue to make great progress. and the 99—year—old war veteran captain tom moore completes 100 laps of his garden before turning 100, raising over 12 million for the nhs. i'm surrounded by the right sort

of people, so yes, i feel fine. i hope you're all feeling fine too. the health secretary says everyone can see it is "too early" to make changes to the nationwide coronavirus lockdown. matt hancock says a formal decision will be announced this afternoon, when leaders of the devolved nations will have their say on the impact of social distancing restrictions in the uk. labour say they will back the government, but are asking for more clarity on the exit strategy of how and when as the number of victims grows — tributes have been paid

to a pregnant nurse 28—year—old, mary agyapong worked at luton and dunstable hospital. her baby was successfully delivered by c—section on sunday, and the hospital said the child is doing ‘very well‘. in a leaked letter seen by the bbc, senior social care officials criticise the government's handling of the pandemic. it describes the national distribution of personal protective equipment to care homes as ‘shambolic‘. and president trump has said the united states has passed the peak of new covid—19 cases and will later announce plans to reopen parts of the american economy. let's talk to our assistant political editor norman smith. hejoins us from his home in north london. they are expecting an announcement on what is going to happen with lockdown restrictions later today? we will get the formal announcement at five o'clock at the daily downing

street news conference. dominic rab, first secretary of state, will confirm what we all know, which is that the lockdown is going to be extended by a further three weeks. that is pretty much confirmed already. we have seen the first minister in northern ireland saying they are going to extend by another three weeks, with mark beckford in wales saying they are going to extend, and nicola sturgeon. it is going to happen and we will get the formal announcement later. the reason it is going to happen is, blu ntly, reason it is going to happen is, bluntly, the science. although the figures are gradually getting more encouraging, if you look at hospital infections and new admissions to hospitals, those are beginning to tail off. in london, the rate of admissions to hospital actually fell by 5% yesterday, so there are genuinely encouraging signs. but there is still a long way to go and there is still a long way to go and the view of the scientists is that it is too early to know that we are absolutely passing the peak and we are now on the downward curve. so

they want more time and for that reason, the view of the politicians is that they have to hold back for a bit longer before they can be certain about moving into the next phase, which is about how we go about using a lockdown. have a listen to the health secretary matt hancock this morning. i'm not going to prejudge the formal decision that is going to be taken. however, i think everybody can see that we have been clear that we think it is too early to make a change, and whilst we have seen a flattening of the number of cases and thankfully a flattening of the number of deaths, hasn't started to come down yet. as far as i'm concerned, it is still far too high. the truth is that ministers would also like to see what happens in other european countries who are ahead of us in terms of coronavirus, some of whom have begun to ease the

lockdown. so in a way, they are sitting back and thinking, let's see how the other guys get on before we decide to follow them, added to which there is a reluctance to take what would be a huge decision, lifting the lockdown, until the prime minister is back in charge. so for those reasons, the key moment is going to be in three weeks' time, may 7th. pencil it in your diary. that will be the key decisive day when the government will decide whether to persist with extending it further or whether to begin to ease it. part of that will be a calculation about the public mood. are people ready to go beyond six weeks or is that the outer limit? from may the 7th, we have to look at easing the lockdown. the government can also for the time being count on the support of the labour party to persist, with the lockdown confirmed this morning by the shadow health secretary, jon ashworth.

we would expect the lockdown to continue. we would support that. i actually called for a lockdown before the government introduced one. but we also want more details from the government about what happens next. last night, the junior health minister nadine dorries was complaining on twitter, saying people shouldn't be asking about an exit strategy because there is no exit strategy until we get a vaccine. that could be 18 months away, so if the government are saying we're in lockdown for 18 months, they probably need to tell us. i would probably argue that the best way to come out of lockdown or to manage a way out of lockdown in the coming months is to move to a testing and contact tracing strategy. and that is where the debate around coronavirus is now going away from the lockdown to the exit strategy. it's a given that the lockdown will continue for another three weeks, but many people are now wanting clarity about, 0k, we accept that, but how do we move beyond that? we had an extraordinary exchange this

morning on the radio between matthew hancock and the presenter nick robinson when matt hancock literally bit the head off my colleague when he started to ask questions about the exit strategy, saying now is not the exit strategy, saying now is not the time for journalists the exit strategy, saying now is not the time forjournalists or pundits 01’ the time forjournalists or pundits or presenters to ask these sort of questions. wejust or presenters to ask these sort of questions. we just want people focused on staying at home. but that is exactly what journalists are meant to do on behalf of those at home who wonder how long they are going to be under these restrictions, which of course for some people are much tougher than others. and when you see other countries starting to lift their restrictions, norman, those questions are going to become louder. that is absolutely the point. as you say, we have seen other european countries beginning to ease restrictions and president trump talking about it. you can't really say no questions, we are british, we won't discuss it. of course everyone wants to know. and underpinning it, you want to be sure

that the government has a strategy, that the government has a strategy, that they actually know where they are going. so i think they will be under increased pressure over the coming days to start spelling out a bit more and saying to journalists "no questions" on this is not going to hold. norman smith, thank you very much. let's talk more about when the lockdown should be ended. i'm joined by dr bharat pankhania, who is senior clinical lecturer at the university of exeter medical school. well, he was there, but now we have got him. and also karol sikora, a professor of medicine. we will speak to them both soon. let's get more now on that very strong criticism of the government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic by leading social care officials, in a leaked letter seen by the bbc. the association of directors

of adult social services has written to the department of health accusing ministers of presiding over a "shambolic" supply chain for personal protective equipment and says conflicting messages have created confusion and extra work. the department of health says it is continuing to work closely with the sector. i'm joined by our health correspondent nick triggle. tell us what more is in this letter. this letter was actually sent before the government set out its new approach to the social care sector at yesterday's press briefing. but the association says the criticisms are still relevant. they say there have been mixed messages and conflicting guidance given to care homes, which has caused confusion and added to workloads. as you say on personal protective equipment, they said it is shambolic. in the early days, hardly any of the equipment staff needed to protect themselves from infection was getting through to care homes. they also talk about testing. the

criticisms are twofold. unlike hospitals, care homes don't have large pools of staff they can redeploy when staff test positive and then have to isolate and stay off work sick. but also for the residents of care homes, when they test positive, there is no dedicated isolation facility in care homes. and these residents are also frail and vulnerable. many have dementia and vulnerable. many have dementia and will therefore find it difficult to follow some of the advice they are being given. finally, even in what has been one of the success stories of the outbreak of coronavirus, which is the recruitment of 750,000 volunteers, they had some concerns about that. they say it has diverted local volu nteers they say it has diverted local volunteers from social care services. local volunteers may help staff day centres, and befriending schemes and visit people in their own home, and they say that national recruitment has taken some of that resource away from local services,

which is having an impact. 0bviously, which is having an impact. obviously, the government set out a new approach yesterday towards more testing for all residents and a better supply line of protective equipment into their homes, which they say will address some of these problems. we are talking about a huge number of people who work as carers who these care homes rely upon. absolutely. there are over 400,000 residents in care homes. these are spread across 15,000 locations, so we are talking about hundreds of thousands of staff working in care homes, but also supporting people in their homes. it is not just care supporting people in their homes. it is notjust care homes, it is the frail and elderly being supported in their own home. and there is such concern that this vulnerable group, the government has been late to address some of the concerns. a lot of people say they are not even surprised that the government has been late in addressing this. given

the parlous state at times of the social care system in britain. this is one of the big concerns, that the sector itself has been for years crying out for more money, wanting reform. the government has been saying for a number of years, we are going to reform the way it is funded and we will get more money in. there are huge vacancy rates in the sector, bigger than in the nhs. the problem goes back to when coronavirus first started spreading around the world. a lot of the focus was on health services and not having them overwhelmed. understandably, the government put a lot of effort into making sure that didn't happen. the latest indications are that the health service is well set for the coming peak, but that appears to be to the detriment of the social care sector. thank you very much. let's talk more about when the lockdown should be ended. i'm joined by dr bharat pankhania,

who is senior clinical lecturer at the university of exeter medical school. how do you manage to lift restrictions but not allow the infection rate to rocket again? we need to ask ourselves the fundamental question, which is, why did we have a lockdown? we had the lockdown to prevent the surge in the number of cases. we need to be aware of that and work with that in mind. so this shutdown that we have had is an opportunity to build up stocks of personal protective equipment, respirators and all the other things we need, testing kits and an army of people recruited to do contact tracing and follow—up these cases at home. when we feel we are ready with that, we may consider opening up the economy a little at a time. this has

to be taken very slowly and carefully. how likely is it that we will see some lifting of restrictions in three weeks?” will see some lifting of restrictions in three weeks? ijust do not see it, because i have no evidence. the government has told us —— there is no evidence that the government has stockpiled ppe and testing kits and is definitely going to do contact tracing. it is better to do contact tracing. it is better to be clear with people. even the shutdown isn't a cure. it is only a cure for one thing, reducing the surge in the number of cases. after the shutdown is over, we will expect a rise in the number of cases. that is normal. so we need to be prepared for another surge when the shutdown is lifted. but how likely is it that we will have restrictions lifted and reimposed in an almost yo—yo between

the two states? it is inevitable. this is a conversation we should be having now. it is always better to say up front, this is our expectation, so that people can be prepared. every time you remove the shutdown, people are vulnerable to infection. this is a new virus. it isa infection. this is a new virus. it is a pandemic strain. therefore, people will get infected and there will be a rise in the number of cases. it is inevitable. you mentioned testing and contact tracing. how important is it going to be to have a vaccine and an antibody test so that we will know whether we have individually built up whether we have individually built up some immunity? testing is very important. let me address the issue of this antibody test. coronavirus is very peculiar in that the coronavirus doesn't necessarily produce immunity post infection. 0r

should we say, we don't know if it produces strong immunity post infection. therefore, all that an antibody test can tell me is that you have survived an antibody test can tell me is that you have survived and infection. we need to be clear about it. antibody positive does not mean you are immune. we need to find that out. how wise is it that we are seeing some countries like austria, denmark and the czech republic beginning the process of trying to return to normal this week? it will of course add pressure to our politicians to do the same. this is what i am observing, which is that people follow in a concertina manner. we need a strong backbone. we were slow. we were dragging ourfeet. we were reluctant to do dragging ourfeet. we were reluctant todoa dragging ourfeet. we were reluctant to do a shutdown. we finally did a shutdown. now we shouldn't suddenly start following our european partners unless we are absolutely sure that we can manage, post shutdown. the three criteria are,

are we prepared? if we are prepared, you gently lift it, not because the europeans have done it, but because you know you can manage. there has been criticism that countries even within the european union have not been working together. they have acted in a self—interested way at times, which i suppose you can understand. how important is it going to be to have an international effort to make sure we don't see another surge in cases? you ask a really important question. it pains me immensely to hear president trump removing funding from the who, because what will happen is, you will have run away infection in other parts of the world. and when you have run away infection in poorer parts of the world, it will come to harm us in second, third and fourth waves. and the virus can become endemic, meaning it stays within the community and it keeps on

circulating. therefore, international efforts are extremely important. we need to work for our country, but we also need to work to help other countries suppress their cases. that way, we will succeed. fascinating to talk to you. dr bharat pankhania from the university of exeter, we appreciate your insight. ! let's get more reaction of the criticism of the government because my failure to provide personal protective equipment for social care workers. let's get more reaction to this from melanie weatherley — co—chair of the care association alliance which brings together local care associations. you have heard about this letter that was sent to the government describing its response as shambolic. do you agree? shambolic isa shambolic. do you agree? shambolic is a strong word, but it is

important that there is candour between partners. this was not meant to bea between partners. this was not meant to be a public dialogue. it does express the frustration that has been felt across the sector that despite lots of people trying really hard, we haven't been getting the ppe as easily as we wanted. and it has felt at times like the message has felt at times like the message has changed every day. there are lots of people in national government trying to talk to lots of people outside national government, but i do think the new plan brings it all together and if we can implement the plan that was issued yesterday, the shambles is probably over. how much to your own devices have you been left to get their ppe you need? have you been left to get their ppe you need ? there have you been left to get their ppe you need? there has been more of a concerted effort for the nhs, although they have been shot, as you know. it is varied in different parts of the country. i think we

have probably been able to get our hands on the ppe that we needed, but not the ppe that we would normally have in stock, and that has created lots of anxiety. it has been very just in time in terms of supply. there are perhaps different messages getting to local people compared to the national message. there were four distributors we were supposed to go to, but by the time our members find out about that, they didn't have any. so emergency stocks have been dropped off locally. i just think it was a much bigger logistics challenge than anybody anticipated. there are 58,000 organisations delivering social care through cqc, and over 100,000 people who manage their own care. they have

been even more left on the back burner. they are struggling to get ppe for their personal assistants. we often talk about the national health service and social care in the same breath. how unhelpful is that? i think that is incredibly helpful, actually. 0ne that? i think that is incredibly helpful, actually. one of the benefits of this challenge will be that social care becomes more visible. i don't think we're ever going to get back into the cinderella role we were in previously. but that has again called challenges because it is not just about national government talking to local government. national government has also brought the providers to the table, which means longer conversations and then you eventually get to a plan which covers the whole thing. melanie weatherley, co—chair of the social ca re weatherley, co—chair of the social care alliance, thank you forjoining us. in the united states, president trump has claimed

the country has passed the peak of new coronavirus infections. at his daily briefing he said that states across the country were in a strong position to re—open the economy, and that he would announce guidelines for that in a news conference later today. the president has been at loggerheads with state governors about the timing of easing restrictions and reopening businesses. his upbeat assessment comes as the number of deaths is shown to have doubled within the last week. david willis reports. he has been itching to do this for weeks. now the businessman turned politician president is poised to announce the world's biggest economy will soon be back in business. thank you very much. the data suggests that nationwide, we have passed the peak are new cases. hopefully, that will continue and we will continue to make great progress. these encouraging developments have put us ina encouraging developments have put us in a strong position to finalise guidelines for states on reopening

the country. we will be talking about that tomorrow. more than 30,000 americans have died from the coronavirus, more than in any country anywhere else in the world. and although hospital admissions are down anti spread of the virus has slowed, health officials continue to one of the dangers of a second surge if social distancing guidelines are lifted too quickly. the key issue is testing. so far, just over 3 million americans have been tested for the coronavirus. not enough, according to several leading employers, who believe that more testing is needed before people will feel safe to return to work. ultimately, it will then be state leaders who decide when the economy reopens, and not the president. it is the governors of the states who have the actual authority to shut down or reopen

facilities within their borders. the president can provide guidance and suggestions and of course, being the president, that carries a certain amount of persuasive weight. but it is the governors of the united states who hold the power. some workers are as keen to see a return to normal as the president himself. conservatives in michigan organised this protest against a stay at home order imposed by the state's democratic governor, defying social distancing guidelines to make their point. millions of americans have lost theirjobs in recent weeks, and the coronavirus has brought an economy that president trump had taken to calling the greatest in the history of the world to its knees. his aim now is to rebuild it before people go to the polls in november. now, in the last hour

captain tom moore, who's raised more than 12 million for the nhs by walking laps in his garden, has completed his 100th lap. we'll bring you that moment shortly — first, ! let's see some of the messages of gratitude that have flooded in for tom. hi, tom, ben stokes here. what you've achieved is absolutely fantastic. the funds you've managed to raise for the real heroes today is simply sensational. i hope that i'm moving just as well as you at 50, never mind 100. keep up all the great work and you should be seriously proud of what you've done. ijust want to say a massive congratulations for everything you've achieved. you're a massive inspiration to myself and everyone very difficult times. i want to say a huge thank you for all your hard work. you are a hero. captain moore, we are truly impressed on this side of the pond.

i think you are remarkable. i think that what you have done is an inspiration. so congratulations. thank you very much for everything you have done. it's amazing. congratulations on a brilliant idea and pulling it off and doing it all before your 100th birthday and donating millions of pounds to the national health service. what an incredible achievement and a very generous thing to have done. hi, this is a message for captain tom moore. thank you so much for all of your efforts and how much money you've raised for the nhs. lots of love from ward 4b at the royal liverpool. what you've done is extraordinary, and the millions of pounds you have raised for the nhs will be put to good use as we continue to tackle this virus together. as an adopted yorkshireman, i've come to recognise true yorkshire grit, and your story is an inspiration to us all. it just goes to show that british spirit is as strong as it's ever been. on behalf of the whole yorkshire regiment family, i'd like to say thank you to you,

captain tom moore for your amazing fundraising efforts on behalf of the nhs. when i last looked, you had raised over £8 million, and that number continues to rise. captain moore, you are an absolute legend and you come from an exceptional generation that are still an inspiration for our yorkshire soldiers today. thank you and good luck in completing your endeavour. thank you, captain tom, from the nhs! when the bbc first spoke to him on good friday, he told us he wanted to raise one—thousand—pounds for the nhs by walking 100 laps around his garden — all before his 100th birthday. he completed his final lap live on bbc breakfast this morning. here's the moment he went across the finish line. to hear he comes, captain tom, approaching his 100th birthday. all the money going to nhs charities. guard of honour. inches to go. there

he is. congratulations! well done! absolutely amazing, amazing achievement. captain tom, how do you feel this morning? achievement. captain tom, how do you feelthis morning? fine! i mean, i'm surrounded by the right of the people. yes, i feel fine, surrounded by the right of the people. yes, ifeel fine, and i hope you are all feeling fine as well! taking it in his stride. let's show you the fundraising page now. 12 million pounds. not sure who put the 75p on, but i am sure we can round that up! a better rating that first, rather modest goal of getting £1000, still going up, plenty of time to donate, if you'd like to. time for a look at the weather. here is carol. hello. compared to yesterday, some parts of the north and east of the

country will have a good 10 degrees drop in temperature. this with a front draped across northern england, scotland, northern ireland, breaking up in northern ireland to allow sunshine as it will across the northern isles. much of england and wales it will be a day is sunny spells but we have this arc of cloud coming from the south turning sunshine hazy and we will see some showers, many of us missing them. top temperature is 21 or 22 in the south—east, much cooler down the north sea coastline. as we head through this evening and overnight come under clear skies in the north, likely to see frost in a sheltered clea nse, likely to see frost in a sheltered cleanse, quite a lot of cloud around for the rest of the uk, no frost problems but there will be some showers and some of those in the south could be heavy and thundery. tomorrow, more rain sweeping in across southern areas, the north staying dry and fine, still some shrubbery outbreaks on saturday but once again, the north dry and fine.

hello, this is bbc news with martine croxall. the headlines... ministers in the uk are expected to announce a three—week extension to the coronavirus lockdown. we think it is too early to make a change. and whilst we've seen a flattening of the number of cases and thankfully, a flattening of the number of deaths, that hasn't started to come down yet.

social care officials in the uk deliver a scathing assessment of the government's handling of the pandemic — in a leaked letter — they describe the distribution of protective kit for carers as "shambolic". president donald trump says the us has "passed the peak" of new covid—19 cases and predicts some states will reopen this month. and 99—year—old war veteran — captain tom moore — has completed 100 laps of his garden before turning 100 — raising over £12 million for the nhs. let's take a look at the latest in europe. yesterday, the world health 0rganization warned that europe is still at the centre of a "war" and relaxing lockdown measures too early could bring on a second wave of coronavirus outbreaks. but now some countries are moving to ease restrictions on movement which have been in place for several weeks. rich preston has this report. there are still checks on who enters and leaves

germany but within its borders, a relaxing of the rules as of next week. small shops will be allowed to open, children who were due to sit exams will be allowed back to school and hairdressers will start working again. germany has had over 3,500 deaths from coronavirus but that's relatively few compared to some of its neighbours. a success widely attributed to early, rigorous testing. translation: we have achieved something which was in no way certain from the beginning. 0ur doctors, nurses and all of those who work in the health care system, in the hospitals, are not overburdened. but the rules and socialising with stay in place for another two weeks, along with a government recommendation that everyone wear a face mask, a similar rule is being introduced in poland. anyone out in public must now wear something covering their nose and mouth. italy, europe's worst hit country, is slowly starting to relax some of its

restrictions, a sigh of relief that, whilst not out of the woods, the worst may have passed. in venice, book shops will open once more, so, too, will children's clothing stores. caution remains high elsewhere. france is extending lockdown rules early may. belgium until mid may. across europe, there is hope, with infection rates slowing and hospital admissions decreasing, that life might soon slowly, cautiously, return to normal. and this morning our europe correspondent gavin lee gave us this update on the reasons behind the changes to lockdown restrictions. if you look at the cases, just under a million covid 19 cases across europe, 87,000 people have died, but notably, a growing number of countries are seeing a decline in

the number of cases, at least that spread is starting to reduce, day on day and that's one of the fundamental point is the european union, the commission, has put forward to countries, to say if the spread starts to decline and of the intensive care unit capacity starts to dropa intensive care unit capacity starts to drop a little so you can cope with what inevitably will be a second spike you can look at starting to open up again and that's a decision for each member state. germany, for example, is starting as of yesterday, saying we will look at easing measures, hairdressers, book stores, bike shops can open as of monday, at fragile, intermediary success , monday, at fragile, intermediary success, schools opening in a couple of weeks but in one region, they are saying they should open as of monday, bit of a row breaking out as to whether that is too early or not but seven other countries doing the same thing. i think it's going to start to grow. briefly, belgium and france saying wait for a couple of more weeks, the care home debts here are still very high. gavin lee.

the first of six flights carrying farm workers from romania will arrive in the uk today. the flights have been arranged by food producers who say the pandemic has caused an acute shortage of fruit and vegetable pickers. they'll be given health checks on arrival, and will be quarantined in small teams on farms. we've just had some more figures on the impact of coronavirus from the office for national statistics. today's figures concern the number of deaths based on those with with covid 19 given as the reason for death. they contain additional information such as pre—existing health conditions. for more on this we can speak to nick stripe the head of health analysis for the office of national statistics. give us an overview of the latest figures, if you would. all deaths that occurred in march, the actual date, 3912 involving covid 19, that occurred in march, the actual date, 3912 involving covid19, of those, 86% of them had an underlying

cause of death, covid 19 was the cause of death, covid 19 was the cause of death, 86%. that makes it the third most common cause of death in march as a whole, 7% of all deaths and you need to remember the number of deaths from covid 19 was relatively low until the middle of march so by the 31st of march, 28% of all deaths that occurred on that day were due to covid 19. of all deaths that occurred on that day were due to covid19. 91% of people dying with covid 19 had at least one pre—existing health condition. and let's put that into context. between 30 and 40% of all adults have at least one pre—existing health condition and about two thirds of all adults over the age of 65 have at least one. so, people dying with covid 19 had between two and three pre—existing health conditions, of the most common pre—existing health condition or disease was the highest, 14% of

people dying with covid 19 had an underlying condition of heart disease, others include chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, dementia, asthma, diabetes. now, about things that are interesting, we start to see, looking at the whole of march and all deaths in the month of march, the overall mortality rate in march from heart disease itself, as a cause of death, has gone down very significantly by 2596. has gone down very significantly by 25%. and the cause of death of strokes, aneurysms, has gone down by 18%. these are common conditions in those dying of covid 19, that helps to explain some of the drop. but these are very difficult and challenging things to understand and analyse, it's crucial that we do but it's very difficult to do so we are presenting this analysis as it gallops to help further expert debate and research in this field. yes but it's important not to jump

to too many hasty conclusions. tell us to too many hasty conclusions. tell us about the age profile of the people who are dying, a little more. yes. it won't come as any surprise from the news that's been coming out, most people dying or in older age groups but let's set that into context as well. most people always die in older age groups. so about 20% of people dying from covid 19 are in the 80—84 age group but that's not uncommon. if we look actually at the proportion of deaths in each age group, we see a similar figure, apart from the very young. from about the age of 15 up, it's about six and 8% of every death in different age groups, in march. was due to covered. so it's affecting every age group but it's affecting every age group but it's affecting

every age group at the same age group ata every age group at the same age group at a normal mortality level, except this is on top of the normal mortality level. how much of a factor is a person ‘s six in this? 61% of deaths from covid 19 are males, 39% female. the mortality rate of males, that's higher than female already, men die at a younger age but what we can see on age standardised mortality rates, this ta kes a standardised mortality rates, this takes a standard population and standardises those rights against it is that your chance of dying is about twice as high if you are a man. you said it's the third most common cause of death, what are the top two? dementia and heart disease are the top. in march. but by the end of march, just look at the very end of march, just look at the very end of march, covid 19 was by far the most common cause of death, 28%

of all deaths on the 31st of march. april could look very different from the beginning of march? yes, based on the data that we had coming through from death registrations, based on the data that the government has been announcing every day, we know that the number of deaths in april is looking higher, significantly higher than it was in march. so again, i would expect these numbers of deaths due to covid 19 to be higher again in april. nick, talk to us about out these deaths are collected. i mean, we talk about them in their thousands, each one is an individual tragedy for the person concerned and their family. how do the statistics differ, those that you collect, compared with the ones we get from the government each day, which are hospitalised deaths? correct. our data is from death registrations, registering a death is a legal requirement, you are supposed to do it within five days, normally its

next of kin or someone that knows the person who has died very well, will go to their local registration office, run by local authorities and register that death. because we are in lockdown, you can phone those death registration details through and because we are in lockdown, other people are now able to register at those deaths. but on average, there is a five—day delay between date of death and date of registration and once those registrations have happened, that's when we get those deaths on a daily basis to enable us to perform statistical analysis. the difference between that and the data you are getting from hospitals, is those hospitals are notifying centrally, deaths that they are aware of where there has been a positive test for covid 19 there has been a positive test for covidi9 in there has been a positive test for covid 19 in a hospital setting, directly into nhs england and the department of health. but again, there are lax on the process, perfectly understandable lags, perhaps a postmortem has to take place, perhaps the family haven't

yet been informed. we can see from the data from nhs england, actually, when things are announced today, figures are announced today, not many will be four deaths yesterday, the majority will be from possibly even five days previously and some from weeks previously because there are understandable delays in the process. nick, we really appreciate you talking us through the figures, thank you very much. and we've also had new retail figures out today which show some devastating news for the high street. emma simpson joins us. it's a snapshot of what happened in the retail industry last month. figures from the british retail consortium, total sales in march followed by 4.3%, compared to the previous year and you might think that doesn't sound too much but it's the worst rate of decline on record. and if

you look at them and in particular, bit of a roller—coaster, first of all, we saw the tremendous surge in food sales. we piled into the supermarkets, there was a lot of panic buying, stockpiling. but then, the final two weeks of the month which actually extends into the first week of april, when lockdown happened, much of the high street shut down because of the government imposed restrictions on nonessential retail. so for the final two weeks of the survey, sales collapsed by 2796. i of the survey, sales collapsed by 27%. i mean, fashion went into hibernation, the boss of one retailer said you don't want to buy a new dress to stay at home but sales and office equipment like computers, games, fitness equipment, soa computers, games, fitness equipment, so a bit ofa computers, games, fitness equipment, so a bit of a spike, families adapting to life under lockdown. 0nline picked up but it wasn't enough to offset this tremendous decline in sales and of course, that only covered a couple of weeks of lockdown, next month, this month we

are in now could be lots worse. normally, when the weather is good, people start spending, they get ready for summer, they can't even do that so we shouldn't be at all surprised, and as we've heard from a lot of companies, employers, they've effectively shut and they don't know when they are going to reopen. if you are doing 0k, when they are going to reopen. if you are doing ok, it's probably because you've been able to remodel how you serve your customers? of course if you are selling food, supermarkets, you are open, you are doing business but if you are a fashion retailer, for instance, you have bought all that spring summer stock that you cannot sell, there has been some activity online but if you've got lots of shops, sales have just gone off a cliff and retailers are having a pretty tough time before coronavirus. the boss of next, it's one of the most successful players on the high street, he called this crisis, unprecedented in living memory and

he thought sales at the company could take £1 billion hit in the year ahead, non—food retailers under enormous pressure right now and if you look at what happened yesterday, oasis, warehouse, going into administration, debenhams and administration, debenhams and administration, laura ashley, administration, laura ashley, administration, closing 70 stores. lots of problems brought to a head because of coronavirus. emma, for the moment, thank you. throughout its long history, the house of commons at westminster has witnessed many changes. now with several mps staying at home, work is under way to create the uk's first online parliament, so important debates can continue away from its famous green benches. 0ur political correspondent nick eardley has been finding out how it will work. a world away from westminster, the isle of skye in scotland. home to these newborn lambs, and the snp‘s westminster leader, ian blackford. this is my home office. it's got everything i need in it. it's got a decent enough connection

under the circumstances. from next week, it's likely he'll be asking government ministers questions from this office. i can keep my eye on our sheep and our lambs at the same time. we have to take our responsibilities seriously. 0ur constituents expect us to be holding the government to account. the reason that we have to do that on a virtual basis is we are telling the public not to travel, we are telling the public to work from home. quite simply, it would not be a good look for parliamentarians to be travelling long distances to london when we don't need to. this morning, the commons commission is expected to approve changes which will mean mps don't need to be here next week. they'll be able to ask questions from home, and take part in statements and urgent questions. some have already been trying it out. tory mp stephen crabb, who lives in pembrokeshire in wales, has been chairing committee meetings from home. inevitably, there's a few teething challenges. chairing a meeting of the committee where you have ten other people

in the room, all wanting to perhaps talk at the same time, it's much easier to chair that when you're physically in the same space. these changes are of course a response to the current crisis but in truth, nobody really knows when things will get completely back to normal here. and so some are hoping that the changes are long term and could lead to further reforms like electronic voting. i think we need to have the capacity to vote remotely, it's something that we are talking to the other parties about, and we are speaking to the parliamentary authorities about. the wheels of change in parliament turn very slowly but i think what this virus is going to do is force us to look more urgently at potential reform. using remote technology, video conferencing, i can see that being brought on stream as a permanent fixture, not just for this period of lockdown. there is some debate still on exactly how virtual parliament functions, but for now, mps will have a bit more time for views like this. nick eardley, bbc news, westminster.

across the country people have been coming together during the coronavirus crisis in unprecedented ways — through the power of social media. since pubs were forced to close last month, one landlord has been running a virtual pub quiz — at first for his regulars, but now for tens of thousands of people who are taking part every thursday. and the quizzes run by jay flynn have also raised nearly one hundred thousand pounds for the nhs. and we can speak to jay now. what have you started?” what have you started? i would love to know! it's been probably the most surreal three weeks of my life, that's for sure. how did it get started ? that's for sure. how did it get started? i used to run pub quizzes, i really enjoy going to quizzes on thursday night. so i thought, i could do for myself, for my family soi could do for myself, for my family so i set up an event on facebook. i didn't really, i never really set up an event on facebook, next thing i know it was public by mistake and

really, just went crazy. the first one had over half a million people interested on the event, it was just, yes, it's been crazy, really mad three weeks so far. because you set the settings to public by mistake, everyone got to hear about it. what have people been saying to you about how much they've enjoyed it, how important it's been for them, bringing them together? the m essa g es them, bringing them together? the messages on twitter, instagram, facebook have been absolutely brilliant, people sending pictures, they've been doing video conference calls with people, they've been catching up with friends and family, they've not spoken to four months, even they've not spoken to four months, eve n years . they've not spoken to four months, even years. it seems to be bringing a lot of people together, which is wonderful. after the first one, said, if you want this to carry on, i will do this for as long as you wa nt i will do this for as long as you want and the overwhelming response was, you have to keep this going and a lot of people said, after the is finished! it's been a great response, it's a real community. how

do you mark the answers? how do you make sure people are honest? well, i mean, for 155,000 people on thursday, it's nigh on impossible. what i've said is, a lot of people are competing in friends and family, communities, i saw a great message the other day, a lot of people saying that my playing on the same street, having to give away prizes to the loser, kind of thing. so i've just said, play along at home fun, grab just said, play along at home fun, gmba just said, play along at home fun, graba pen, just said, play along at home fun, grab a pen, piece of paper, watch the video on the youtube channel. market yourself. but don't google, you are not going to benefit going to search for the answers. no, there's no point, if you are going to cheat. your wife works for the nhs which is the point of all of this. she does, yes, immensely proud of her. she's still out there or three days a week. at our local health centre here in durban, in the front line, working really hard, i'm immensely, immensely proud of her andi immensely, immensely proud of her and i know how hard all of her

collea g u es and i know how hard all of her colleagues are working as well. for us, it's giving a small part back, it's just our little way of doing it. super quick, how do people take pa rt it. super quick, how do people take part and it. super quick, how do people take partandi it. super quick, how do people take part and i time? go on to the youtube channel, 7:50pm, virtual pub quiz. we pause for the club for carers at 8pm, we get going at 8:15pm. wonderful to talk to you, thank you for bringing everyone together. thank you very much. with many of us spending more time at home during the lockdown, there's perhaps never been a better opportunity to start a new hobby. birdwatching seems to be a particular favourite, with charities reporting that thousands of us are heading out into the garden to get involved. fiona trott reports. enjoying the spotlight. this little wren may not have been noticed weeks ago but now, thousands of families are attracting birdsjust like him into the garden.

during lockdown, it's a welcome distraction and children are learning more about them. cut round that neatly, and then you get a hole like this. 8—year—old marie from surrey is making bird feeders. the results are good. the birds that i've seen so far around my garden are a robin, long—tailed tit, magpie, blue tit, wren, sparrowhawk and a wood pigeon that apparently is sitting on the roof. this one is occupied by a blue tit at the moment and there is a mini television camera inside. for the more experienced, lockdown is a chance to be able to witness something you'd normally not be able to see. it was only in the morning on saturday that it was empty now, it's full, she'd been going backwards and forwards. she is incredibly fussy. she stockpiled a huge amount of nesting material, bringing in moss, rabbit fur, feathers, straws and for some reason decided she didn't like half of it and took half of it back out again.

normally i'd be away at 8:30 in the morning, if not earlier, back at 6 o'clock at night and i'd get no chance to see what was going on during the day and it's been fascinating. from the regular visitor to something quite rare — a common crane wandering through a garden in wales. thousands of images from houses and flats across the uk have been sent to the royal society for the protection of birds. during the pandemic, it's organised a breakfast birdwatch. in normal times, what would be happening was between 8:00 and 9:00 in the morning, people would be going off to school or they would be commuting to work and now actually it's an opportunity to be together as a family and we've been encouraging people to look out into their gardens to see what they're finding. for these birds, lockdown doesn't exist but while we're staying at home, their busy lives are keeping us all entertained. fiona trott, bbc news. for the fourth week in a row,

millions of us will ‘clap for carers‘ at 8pm tonight. it‘s to show appreciation to all the nhs staff and key workers who are keeping the country running and saving lives. come out with your pan, wooden spoon. just to bring you up—to—date with capt tom moore, the 99—year—old war veteran, walking around his garden, completed his 100th lab today, we were telling you he was raising money for the nhs, now topping 12 million, £375,000. raised £30,000 in the last few minutes. still taking donations. now it‘s time for a look at the weather with carol kirkwood pollen levels high again across northern ireland, england, wales, the forecast for most of us is dry, sunny spells, feeling much cooler in the north and east compared to yesterday. high pressure in charge,

still have this with a front draped across cotton, northern ireland, northern england, reducing some spots of rain here and there, more cloud stop cloud coming from the south introducing thicker cloud across southern england, turning sunshine hazy, we are likely to see some showers as we go through the day but fairly hit and miss. in between, lots of sunshine, hazy at times, i can‘t come up in northern ireland. temperatures today peaking at 21 or 22 in the south—east. much cooler in the north and east, onshore breeze and more cloud than yesterday. through this evening and overnight, we still have cloud in the north but where it breaks, it will be cold enough in some sheltered grants for frost. also showers coming in across southern england and south wales, some of those heavy with the odd rumble of thunder and by the end of the night, look at this, more substantial rain crossing the channel islands. through tomorrow that rain pushing steadily northwards. when you catch it you could have it for quite a few

hours and the cloud will build ahead of it, behind it a return to showers, some of which could be heavy and thundery. but northern england, northern ireland, scotland, north wales, sunnier, drier diaper you but across the board, temperatures down and it will still feel cool across the north sea coast. moving through friday you can see the weather front drifting northwards and into saturday as well, still an element of uncertainty as to how far north it travels but this is what we think at the moment for saturday. lots of cloud across england, wales, northern ireland, as the weather front northern ireland, as the weather fro nt m oves northern ireland, as the weather front moves north, producing showers, some could be heavy but for scotland, closer to an area of high pressure, we will have a dry day with some sunshine, temperatures ranging from eight in the north, 17 in the south. as we head into sunday, looks like the dry state for us over sunday, looks like the dry state for us over the weekend. you can see a fair bit of sunshine, one or two showers dotted in some western areas but they will be the exception, rather than the rule. miller along north sea coast, temperatures of 90

degrees. —— 19 degrees.

this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. ministers in the uk are expected to announce a three—week extension to the coronavirus lockdown — labour call for details on how and when the restrictions would end. if we just released all the measures now, then this virus would run rampant once again, and we can‘t let that happen. we would expect the lockdown to continue. we would support that. i actually called for a lockdown before the government introduced one. but we also want more detail from the government about what happens next. president donald trump says parts of the us economy could reopen as early as this month. the battle continues, but the data suggests that nationwide, we have passed the peak of new cases. hopefully, that will continue

and we will continue