this is bbc news, with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. another grim milestone: the worldwide death toll from coronavirus has now passed 150,000. could the pandemic cause more damage to the global economy than expected? we've been looking at the numbers. a top uk health specialist warns the country could end up with the highest death rate in europe, due to early errors made in the pandemic. we have to face the reality of that. we were too slow with a number of things. but we can make sure that, in the second wave, we're not too slow. and donald trump is about to give his daily white house briefing, as deaths in america near 35,000.

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. first: the latest figures charting the human cost of the coronavirus pandemic have passed another grim record. 150,000 people have now lost their lives. just how we know who has died has come under the spotlight again, as china has released new figures for the city where the outbreak began. it announced a 50% jump in the official total of people who died in wuhan. the total number of confirmed deaths in china is now over 4,500 — a rise of more than 1,200. state media also reported another key number. china's economy had contracted by a substantial 6.8% — the first time it had shrunk for three decades. taken together, the numbers have led some to accuse china's government of concealing just how bad

the outbreak was and how seriously it affected the country. but officials say there has been no cover—up. 0ur china correspondent, john sudworth reports. three months of economic pain, the shuttered shops and bankrupt businesses, summed up in one figure — a 6.8% economic contraction. officials, though, are putting a brave face on it, highlighting the few recent glimmers of hope. wouldn't a more honest assessment be to call this — the worst figures since records have been published — a disaster? translation: that's a very challenging question. overall the economy has had a relatively big drop, but because of our policies in the month of march, there's been a significant improvement. china has been taking slow steps towards normality, even in wuhan,

where the virus began. but the big question here is not over the economic figures, but the death toll. having been accused of downplaying the seriousness of the outbreak, now more than 1,000 have been added to the city's total, taking it to over 3,800. so, for the second time in a day, officials found themselves defending china's use of statistics. translation: in the early stages of the epidemic, hospitals were overloaded and medical staff were busy treating patients. but there has never been any cover—up. so, tell me, mr yu, how is business? in businesses like this one, there is support for the government. the virus may have cost it 40% of its sales, but here too they think the worst is over. translation: since late march

the number of customers coming into our shop has suddenly increased. so long as there's no big problem, we can achieve our original target by the end of april. there's optimism, and then there's the hard economic numbers — the first real measure ofjust how far china has fallen. john sudworth, bbc news, beijing. the world health organization has cast doubt on the usefulness of antibody tests for covid—19. many countries want to use the tests to determine if people have developed immunity to the virus. but mike ryan from the who says there's no evidence that having had the virus will guarantee immunity. a lot of the preliminary information that's coming to us right now would suggest that quite a low proportion of the population have actually serial converted. so it may not solve the problem. —— zero converted.

there's been an expectation that maybe herd immunity may have been achieved, and that the majority of people in society may have already developed antibodies. i think the general evidence is pointing against that and pointing towards a much lower zero prevalence. so it may not solve the problem that governments are trying to solve. in the us, donald trump is putting pressure on states to reopen their economies. in a series of tweets, he called for minnesota, michigan and virginia to be — in his words — liberated. all three states have democrat governors. some governors — including michigan and minnesota — have announced plans to partially re—open their economies, at the start of may. but others — including andrew cuomo, the governor of new york state — are accusing trump of failing to provide the necessary support. let's bring in the bbc‘s katty kay, who joins us now from washington. seeing donald trump saying liberate — that almost sounds like something che guevara would say, as opposed to

donald trump. what does he mean? it's an interesting choice of words, and donald trump, it seems to me, is appealing directly to his base to some conservatives who have been out of places like michigan, protesting that their freedoms have been taken away because of this lockdown. and they want to have the freedom to go back to school or work, or restau ra nts a nd back to school or work, or restaurants and bars, and mix in public. there's this debate going on between public health workers and people on the business and economic side, and it seems to be setting up this clash here with trump's tweets, with him saying "liberate minnesota, liberate michigan, liberate virginia." but at this time, the white house is generally recommending until the end of april that people shelter at police and socially distance, which would seem to be at odds with this liberation. but those states that you pointed out are run by democrats, but also

three key swing states come election in november. for those of us who don't follow america like you do, is the decision to end the lock down a decision for the president or each individual government? therein lies another argument that's been rolling around in america the last few weeks. we've all heard mr trump saying he had total authority, then yesterday as he announced to the guidelines from the white house to reopen the country, he said that this would be the governors's decision, the states's decisions. constitutional is up to the states, they can choose when to shut down and went to open up again. now ideally everyone is working in tandem, but there is a cooperative spirit going on between the government and the states. in between the states themselves, you've travelled around america, james, as many of us have, and it doesn't really help much if virginia opens up, but maryland, a neighbouring state, remains shut down. what's to stop people from

going to maryland to virginia to go to the bar or the cinema, or to be friends? this is why states are also try to have a coordinated response between them, but also wanting to co—ordinate with the federal government because it is up to the federal government to do many of the things that need to be done. i've been fascinated by these clumps of governors getting together. you got the ones on the west and the midwest getting together. how many of these groups have sprung up? there are three big ones now, the east coast, the west coast, and the midwest. i don't think there is one in the south which is interesting because the south took longer to shut down. i wouldn't be surprised if we got one soon. and it is because of this issue of freedom of movement between the states, that if one state opens up the states, that if one state opens up they need to know that the neighbouring state is open at the same time, otherwise you will get people — pennsylvania, for example has shut down liquor stores, eve ryo ne has shut down liquor stores, everyone seems to be buying more alcohol and toilet paper during the

shutdown. what happens is people we re shutdown. what happens is people were driving from pennsylvania into ohio to buy booze. so that ohio had to say, "anyone coming in with a pennsylvania licence plate, we're going to stop you from doing that." so that's a message to quote —— to co—ordinate all liquor stores. so that's a message to quote —— to co-ordinate all liquor stores. we almost lost you. among the 50 states, is there one state that scientist might be pointing to to say, "that state has done it properly. everyone look at how they've done and take notice." i'm interested in some of the studies that have come in, speaking to health and national security experts. one of them pointed out... coming up in new york, looking at this issue of antibodies, and a study coming up today from santa clara county, california, also looking antibodies. california is interesting because that is the state people would point to that has done the bestjob relative... in the

conclusion seems to be, just as it is in europe, was because california shut down early. if you shut down early, you're more likely to get ahead of the curve, therefore you can ahead of the curve, therefore you ca n start ahead of the curve, therefore you can start reopening early. thank you so much. we await the start of the white house news conference, it starts at every afternoon around this time. the impact of the virus is being felt in countries across the globe, with the head of the international monetary fund warning that the impact on people's earnings could be even worse than feared. here in the uk, the government is extending its rescue scheme for workers who have been furloughed, and so are not able to work for another month until the end ofjune — to give more help to those struggling to cope. our economics editor faisal islam reports. this extraordinary crisis has not just hit the world's biggest cities, but almost every single country in the world, because even if the virus hasn't infected everywhere, the economic contagion

certainly has, with huge long—term consequences. before the crisis, most of the world was expected to have a prosperous year, with only ten, such as libya and venezuela, forecast to be worse off. now the imf predicts that most of the world, 155 nations, will have reduced income this year, many of them sharply so, but even that might not be a worst—case scenario. this may be actually a more optimistic picture than reality produces. epidemiologists are now helping us make macroeconomic projections. never in the history of the imf have we had that. the sheer numbers, the hits to the economy, are staggering. but it isn'tjust that. it's happening in nearly every single country around the world as a result of the fact that this

virus respects no borders. and it means that an organisation like the international monetary fund is saying to the world's finance ministers, now is not the time to worry about public borrowing. it's the imf that traditionally worries about too much government borrowing. are you saying that this is a time when finance ministers should not be worried about those things? governments should spend as much as they can afford and more. but keep the receipts! without stopping the pandemic we simply cannot restart the economy to the fullest. that is what the government here is doing, extending the lockdown, but now also today, extending the job retention scheme until the end ofjune, which could mean over £10 billion to help firms essentially pay to park their staff during the crisis. extraordinary times meaning extraordinary measures here and across the globe.

faisal islam, bbc news. there has been another largejump in the uk's coronavirus death toll — 847 deaths have been reported in the past 2a hours, bringing the total number of deaths to 14,576. that's as a leading health expert, has warned that britain will likely face "further waves" of covid—19 and have the highest death rates in europe. meanwhile, the government is setting up a new task force to back the development of a coronavirus vaccine. however, it'll be many months before one is available. our medical correspondent fergus walsh reports. more than 70 scientific teams across the world are trying to do in months what would normally take many years — develop a coronavirus vaccine. one of the leading groups, at oxford university, says manufacturers in europe, china and india are set to produce their vaccine so it's ready to roll out in september if by then it's shown

to be effective. it's pretty clear the world is going to need hundreds of millions of doses, ideally by the end of this year, to end this pandemic, to let us out of lockdown and ensure we can do that safely. a vaccine is the exit strategy for this pandemic. the government has announced a coronavirus vaccine task force to help scale up manufacturing and support teams like this one at imperial college london. at the number ten briefing, the scale of the challenge and its importance was all too clear. producing a vaccine is a colossal undertaking, a complex process which will take many months. there are no guarantees, but the government is backing our scientists, betting big to maximise the chance of success. when we do have a vaccine, how will you prioritise who gets it first? well, first of all, i think we have

got to get a vaccine. that isn't two days away, it's not two months away. making a vaccine is a difficult, complicated process. it doesn't only have to work, it has to be safe. i think it is going to be important that we vaccinate in the way that you normally do for these diseases, which is to make sure the most vulnerable are protected and then to roll out to wider vaccination. but that's some way off. until then, community testing of all those with symptoms will be vital to help rein in the epidemic, but the capacity simply isn't there yet. today, the government announced testing will be extended to front line police, fire and prison staff. but many nhs workers are still not getting checked. welcome to this session of the house of commons... a committee of mps led by the former health secretary was told britain should expect further waves of infection and must learn from its mistakes. where were the system errors that

led us to have probably the highest death rates in europe? and we have to face the reality of that — we were too slow with a number of things. but we can make sure that in the second wave we're not too slow. we could see 40,000 deaths by the time it's over. it is a sobering thought, and a reminder that social distancing is the crucial measure that will ensure the epidemic here is brought under control. fergus walsh, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: as people stay indoors across the globe, we'll look at how nature has been taking back the world's empty parks and streets. the two main symptoms of coronavirus to look out for our continuous dry cough and/or a fever. now some people say they've lost their senses of smell and taste because of covid—19.

but the research on this is still at an early stage. also, other viruses can make this happen too, like the common cold. so it doesn't necessarily mean you have this new coronavirus. so how high a fever is a coronavirus one? and what exactly is a continuous dry cough? well, it's when you cough and there's no mucus or phlegm. basically, no gooey substance in your tissue. and this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or having three or more coughing episodes in a single day. this dry cough can also then lead to breathing problems. but how high a fever is a coronavirus fever? if you have one of these, you will know about it. technically it is a body temperature of more than 37.8 celsius, or 100 fahrenheit. but if you've got not a thermometer — basically, you will feel hot, and your chest and back would be hot if someone touched you. this is bbc news,

the latest headlines... the worldwide death toll to the coronavirus has passed a new terrible milestone — 150,000 people have in africa, egypt has now surpassed south africa as the country with the highest number of people infected with the virus — that now stands at more than 2,800 cases. the world health organization says as many as ten million of the continent's one point three billion population could become infected in the coming months. -- 1.3 —— 1.3 billion population. it urges people to observe whatever restrictions their governments have put in place as the virus starts to spread away from african capitals. here's a round up of the latest developments on the continent starting with nomsa maseko in johannesburg. the biggest threat to south africa's extended coronavirus lockdown is food security. in some places in the country, looting of supermarkets and protests have already been reported because people are without food. there are also fears that these protests could also escalate to other places in the country

if people are not bad. -- if —— if people are not fed. the government and a number of ngos have been putting together food parcels and delivering them to those who cannot fend for themselves. now to dr charles in lagos, nigeria, where the government has threatened to close private hospitals who are secretly treating covid—19 patients. that's right, nomsa. this is an issue that has been raised a few times during daily presidential briefings. these hospitals have been warned that secretly treating a positive coronavirus case could be dangerous for health staff and other patients. but a national human rights commission here says security forces have killed more people than coronavirus. 18 people have so far died during clashes with law enforcement while trying to enforce lockdowns. and now to nairobi, with more on the planned roll—out of weekly stipends for the poor in kenya. thank you. in kenya, the president announced an additional $18 million

for the poor and the needy under the cash transfer programme. he also announced that families in nairobi have already been identified and will start receiving weekly stipends. it is likely they will get direct cash transfers, as a minister pointed out that some of the agencies supposed to be distributed these government reliefs have been pocketing at least half of the funds. in uganda, there has been widespread outrage after members of parliament awarded themselves about $3 million for this provision for covid—19. at least one member of parliament criticised that move as "selfish and insensitive", and promised a wire that money back as soon as he gets it. when the coronavirus first started spreading in asia, the use of facemasks rocketed, with people forming long queues outside stores to buy up supplies. but while many countries have made wearing them in public compulsory during the pandemic, others say the evidence about their effectiveness is not convincing.

so who's right? here's our science editor, david shukman. popular in asia before the pandemic, masks are now appearing in more and more countries around the world. the government here is weighing up the options, and the mayor of london believes we should cover our faces anywhere crowded. think about when you're using public transport, if you really have to, or you're in a shop and you can't keep two metres apart. wearing a non—medical facial covering makes it less likely you may inadvertently give somebody else covid—19. one reason is that coughs and sneezes can travel much further than previously thought. another is that people can spread the virus before they have any symptoms. but the government has a serious worry — that the best masks, which are vital on the medical front line, will get snapped up by the public. here is how you can make your own face covering in a few easy steps.

that is why in the united states, the authorities are urging people to make their own masks. america's top medic showing how. then you fold either side to the middle, and you have yourself live now to the white house, where donald trump is about to speak. thank you. thank you very much, i just had a great conversation with the leading faith leaders of our country. it went externally well, we learned a lot, i learned a lot. we're working on some things that are very interesting and very positive. i thank them for being on the call, and yesterday we revealed detailed guidelines for america's governors to initiate a phase and gradual reopening of america. the

guidelines provide governors with the fact driven and science —based metrics they will need to make the decisions that are right for their own particular state. to view the guidelines, you can go to the website at white house talk of slash opening america. treasury has sent out economic relief payments to more than 80 million americans who have their direct deposit information on file with the irs, and an incredible success it has been. if you've not received your check, please visit the irs's website. irs dog of slash get my payment. that way you can get your payment within days, and they've done a fantasticjob, i have to say, and you won't have to wait for a check in the mail. i have some

very good news. we sent out 80 million deposits and less than 1% had even little problems, a couple had even little problems, a couple had minor glitches, but it is substantially had minor glitches, but it is su bsta ntially less had minor glitches, but it is substantially less than 1%. so out of 80 million deposits, less than 196, of 80 million deposits, less than 1%, and that gets corrected immediately. so please do as i say, you will get that very quickly, very easily. today i'm also announcing that secretary perdue, who happens to be right next to me, handsome man, and the department of agriculture will be implementing a $19 billion relief programme for our great farmers and ranchers as they cope with the fallout of the global pandemic. very honoured . be doing pandemic. very honoured to be doing this. ourfarmers, pandemic. very honoured to be doing this. our farmers, ranchers, pandemic. very honoured to be doing this. ourfarmers, ranchers, these are great people. great americans. never complained, theyjust do what they have to do. the programme will include direct payments to farmers

as well as mass purchases of dairy, meat and agricultural produce to get that food to the people in need. the usda will receive another $14 billion injuly usda will receive another $14 billion in july that usda will receive another $14 billion injuly that will have funding to continue helping — and this will help our farmers and are ranchers, and it is money well deserved. so not only were they targeted at one point by china, and that was a period of time, and use saw that happening, and they never complained, but that worked out very well for stop $12 billion they got, and $16 billion they got. now it is 19 billion, and i'm just going to ask secretary perdue to explain how exactly were going to handle it. thank you. mr president, you may remember earlier this year that you tweeted a message to our farmers and ranchers that no matter the circumstances, you pledge to stand

behind them. and while none of us could have ever anticipated this kind of pandemic that we are currently in, i think the day's announcement as proof that you have our farmers's backs and will continue to do what it takes to support them. and they are very grateful. we've heard a lot recently about our food supply chain. i think american now knows more than ever that the wholesome foods that our families depend on it starts with farmers and ranchers. american agriculture has been hit like most of america by the coronavirus, and donald trump is standing with our farmers and all—americans to make sure we all get through this national emergency. so today, thanks to your direction and leadership, the usda is announcing the coronavirus food assistance programme. as you mentioned this new $19 billion programme will take several immediate actions to assist farmers, ranchers and consumers in response to the covid—19 national

emergency. the programme is divided into two parts — one is a direct payment of $16 billion to farmers, ranchers and producers who have experienced unprecedented losses during this pandemic. since we wa nted during this pandemic. since we wanted to get these payments out to producers as quickly as possible, we decided to use the funds in the ccc of $6.5 billion combined with $819.5 billion of covert money rather than waiting for a replenishment the ccc funds into july. waiting for a replenishment the ccc funds intojuly. based on industry estimates of damage, it is becoming apparent we will need the extra ccc funds as we continue to track the economic losses. secondly, and this is really important, the usda will be purchasing $3 billion in fresh produce, dairy and meat products to be distributed to americans in need through our food bank networks as well as other community and faith—based organisations. having to

dump milk or plough vegetables on the market is not only financially distressing, but heartbreaking as well to those who produce them. this programme will not only provide direct financial relief to our farmers, but allow for the purchase and distribution of our agricultural abundance in this country to help our fellow americans in abundance in this country to help ourfellow americans in need. in recent weeks all of us have seen heroic patriotism of our food supply chain workers, and they've shown day in and day out, doing their work to serve the needs of fellow americans. our farmers serve the needs of fellow americans. ourfarmers have been in the fields doing what they do every spring to feed the american people, even with a pandemic as we speak. i want to thank you for your unwavering support. they want to thank you for your unwavering support, and i want to commit to you into the american people the usda will do in our power to implement this programme as quickly and efficiently as possible

to help ourfarmers, ranchers, producers and consumers doing this great time of need. so thank you very much for having me here today and god bless you, god bless america, god bless... thank you. so our great secretary of agriculture was the governor of georgia for eight years, and the only reason he isn't still there frankly is that he was term limited. i said let's get you for agriculture. we want to thank you very much. eight years in georgia. really appreciated, great job. even as we prepare to rebuild our economy, america continues to wage an all—out medical ward to defeat the invisible enemy. to date, we have conducted more than 3.78 million coronavirus tests, by far the most of any country. it's not even close. in the hardest hit areas such as louisiana and new york,

we've also tested more people per capita than south korea, singapore and every other country. the united states has the most robust, advanced and accurate testing system anywhere in the world. as of yesterday, we have distributed nearly 660,000 ids. that is an incredible test, and it is fantastic. it's the hot one. from within this business, it's a hot one till about two days from now, because we have a saliva test that just came out and that can be self administered, and it is said to be fantastic. i want to think and it laboratories who have been incredible and roche have also been incredible. we have in the dramatic increase in the number of tests conducted by hospitals and academic institutions

which is now performed nearly 600,000