this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. i'm james reynolds. another grim milestone: the worldwide death toll from coronavirus has now passed 150,000. 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. could the pandemic cause more damage to the global economy than expected 7 we've been looking at the numbers.. hi! and the duke and duchess of cambridge on helping families cope with the pressures of lockdown. don't tell the children we've actually kept it going through the holidays, ifeel very mean!

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 number of people known to have died from the coronavirus pandemic around the world is now more than 150,000, according to latest figures collated byjohns hopkins university in the united states. almost one quarter of those deaths have occurred in the us itself — the number is now almost 37,000. four european countries — italy, spain, france and the uk — make up half of the worldwide toll. as efforts continue to develop effective antibody tests, experts at the world health organization have cast doubt on the idea. they said there was no evidence that having had the virus would guarantee immunity from future infection. 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. 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. donald trump has said the us death toll is likely to land between 60—65,000. earlier, mr trump mounted pressure on state governors to reopen their economies, following the publication of federal guidelines to phase out lockdown measures. in a series of tweets, he called for minnesota, michigan, and virginia to be — in his words — liberated. all three have democrat governors — and are considered swing states at federal elections. 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 donald trump of failing to provide the necessary support. let's speak to our north america correspondent david willis. those tweets sounded like something more that che guevara would say more than the president of the united states. what did he mean by that and what has been the reaction? the reaction has been particularly swift, especially from democratic governors who have accused him of goading the protesters in those states. a white house press briefing is still ongoing, i might add, and this after a day which has seen some pretty testy exchanges. yesterday all was sweetness and light as far as relations between state governors and the white house were concerned. but that harmony it turns out was

pretty short—lived. it started with governor andrew cuomo giving a test briefing, and trump pressed a button on his twitter feed, saying that governor cuomo should spend more time doing and less time complaining, then going on to make the point of the federal government has given more resources to new york state than any other state in the union. asked about that in real time, governor cuomo said, "what am i supposed to do? sent the president a bunch of flowers ? h ow the president a bunch of flowers? how many times do you wa nt to flowers? how many times do you want to say thank you?" then we had those liberate tweets regarding virginia, michigan. the press conference got into this briefly a short time ago, where he said that 3.7 million test kits so far have been carried out for the coronavirus here in the united states. he

said reports of a shortage of test kits were false. but i have to say that the consuming issue here at the moment is the apparent shortage of test kits. business leaders and now state governors are arguing, "how can we make any accurate assessment on whether or not it is time to open our states economies without knowing precisely who has the virus?" then how can they get more tests? well it seems that they'll have to try and fall back on their own resources , and fall back on their own resources, because mr trump reiterated at that news conference a short time ago that it would be up to individual states. governor andrew cuomo made the point that this issue is simply too confusing and complicated for mrtrump to get confusing and complicated for mr trump to get his head around. but they will be returning to that issue in this press co nfe re nce returning to that issue in this press conference as i returning to that issue in this press conference as i came on tojoin you, the press conference as i came on to join you, the vice president

mike pence was addressing the issue as well. but it is the burning topic here. meanwhile we have one state, texas, a republican state of course which has intimated that it will be starting to relax its social distancing guidelines and other things in the next week or so. david, thank you so much. latest figures show that 847 people who'd tested positive for the virus have died in british hospitals in the past 2a hours. it brings the total number of dead in the uk tojust over 14,500. the british government is setting up a new task force to back the development of a vaccine, but it'll be many months before one is available. 0ur 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. the head of the international monetary fund is warning that the impact of the pandemic on people's earnings around the globe 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. here's our economics editor faisal islam. this extraordinary crisis has notjust 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. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: as people stay indoors, 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 are a 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 died across the globe. donald trump says the final us death toll could be the death toll in britain from coronavirus is fast approaching 15,000 people. and that's in the space ofjust six weeks. behind every number

is a family grieving. 0ur correspondent allan little looks at some of those who have lost their lives in the pandemic. each face represents an immense private grief. together, they are the faces of a shared national sorrow. none of us is immune, but some are more vulnerable than others. health care workers, like dr fayez ayache, knowingly placed themselves in harm's way. he was 76, a retired gp in suffolk, but returned to work because, he said, he felt it was his duty to help. isobel and arty vallely had been married for 53 years. they died within hours of each other in hospital in belfast. their daughter said it hadn't sunk in that she'd lost both parents so close together. margaret 0rman, a fit 76—year—old, ran the whitmore arms in grays, in essex. a mother, grandmother and great—grandmother. her family said she was a much—loved figure at the heart of community life. she was the queen of

the whitmore arms, in 0rsett, ourfamily business. she'd been together with my dad for 62 years. she was a friend to everyone. she loved to sit and talk to people. she loved to help as much as she possibly could. nhs staff are mourning their own. donna campbell, who was 5a, was a support worker at velindre hospital in whitchurch. her colleagues said they were heartbroken. areema nasreen, who was 36, was also on the front line of the pandemic. she was a nurse and had three children. her sister said she was an amazing person who put herself last. giuseppe casciello was enjoying life in his care home and loved joining the shared activities there. # que sera, sera... he died two days after his 95th birthday. he'd had a career as a head chef at some of london's most prestigious restaurants. friends said he was proud,

private and charming. a cherished father, a wonderful husband and a really funny great—grandad and great grandad. he won't ever be forgotten in our hearts — ever. love you, dad. it is not only the elderly. danny sharma, a dj from london, was 38. he didn't expect to die. he'd been documenting his time in hospital on facebook. hilda churchill was 108 and died of covid—19 in her nursing home. she lost a younger sister to the spanish flu pandemic more than a century ago and lived through two world wars. she remembered seeing the soldiers off to the first world war, which very few came back. she'd only be a young girl then. she was tremendous. she remembered all of those things, and didn't half tell us about them as well! we weren't even able to say goodbye to her, which is very upsetting. dave roland was 65 and planning

to retire this year. three decades ago, he survived the hillsborough disaster. this photograph of him was taken that day. he'd tried to help a 17—year—old caught in the crush. he later rang the boy's family to tell them that their son had not been alone when he died. his family said he was a proud scouser, youthful, unique, kind and fun. elsie sazuze, who was 44, was originally from malawi. she came here to work in the care sector. her death reminds us of the power of the virus to reach well beyond our hospital wards. individually, each represents a great private anguish. together, a national sorrow, still accumulating. allan little, bbc news. let's get a round up of other coronavirus news.

germany's health minister says the country's covid—19 outbreak is now under control, after a month—long lockdown. that's because the number of recovered patients has been consistently higher than the number of new infections. experts credit the country's mass testing rates as playing a crucial role in containing the outbreak. france has distanced itself from us allegations about the coronavirus originating in a chinese research laboratory. president macron's office said there was no evidence to back the reports, which have been circulating in american media. beijing says the claims have no scientific basis. the virus is thought have been passed to humans at a market selling wild animal meat. malawi's high court has temporarily prevented the government from introducing a three—week coronavirus lockdown. market traders staged violent demonstrations in cities across the country saying they will go hungry if the restrictions were imposed. new figures from one of the provinces of ecuador suggest the actual number of deaths is much higher. in the first two weeks of this month, 6,700 people died in guayas province — just one part of the country — nearly seven times as many deaths as normal.

it's not clear if they died of coronavirus. the coronavirus outbreak has had far reaching consequences for many parts of the world — with a terrible human and economic cost. but the natural world has had a much needed boost from the lockdown, as reged ahmad reports. a silver lining for the animal world in the covid—19 crisis. lebanon is one of the most important migratory routes for birds. and with the country under strict lockdown, the natural world has been thriving. avid bird watchers say they are documenting more species than usual in less remote areas. translation: in our garden, we are seeing species of small birds that i'm seeing for the first time. i don't know why. maybe they're more relaxed because there's no shooting. no noise from the people or cars, no flights. even a tree frog made an unexpected appearance.

you will not see the frog that we saw on the walkway that we walked today. there's too much human traffic. so now, we're the only ones here. so we saw the frogs over there. across the ocean in the united states, yosemite national park — famed for its epic scenes — is experiencing something of a revival too. more bears are being spotted in the park as they strike out with greater confidence, taking the opportunity to hang around a little bit more. i think nature is obviously welcoming the change. the wildlife in yosemite certainly are. there's more bears around right now, the bears are coming out from their normal hibernation at this time. there's usually three million visitors a year at yosemite. but for the moment, animals are enjoying the peace and quiet, and getting a little bolder as they go.

as difficult as the coronavirus lockdown has been for humans, nature at least has been getting a much—needed break. reged ahmad, bbc news. the duke and duchess of cambridge are urging people to look after their mental health as the lockdown continues. prince william said the stress and isolation was building, and people needed to know where to access help and support. he also spoke about his concern for his father, the prince of wales, when he was diagnosed with the virus last month. the couple were speaking to the bbc‘s tina daheley. tina, hi. hi! i can't see you! hello! we can see you! oh, i've got you on a different screen! hi! hello. there may be many who are experiencing mental health challenges for the first time during the lockdown. what can we do to help them and help each other? like you said, a lot of people won't necessarily have thought about their mental health, maybe ever before. and, suddenly, this environment we're in catches up on them quite quickly.

i think the most important thing is talking. i mean, social media, again, it can be, and is providing a lot of relief, connectivity for a lot of families, a lot of people. you've spoken before about traumatic call—outs you've had to deal with as an air ambulance pilot tipping you over the edge. nhs front line workers are being exposed to things that will be very difficult to deal with. what would you say to them, based on your own experience? the scale and the speed of what's going on in hospitals, bearing in mind also the isolation — a lot of these patients are sadly dying with no family members around them. i think for the nhs front line workers, that is very difficult because they are there right next to the bedsides, looking after and caring for each and every patient who's in a critical condition and i think they take away that pain and sometimes that fear and that loneliness that these patients have to go through. they are the ones who absorb that and take it home to theirfamilies. we're not superhuman, any of us, so to be able to manage those emotions

and that feeling is going to take some time after all this is over as well. do you think this will fundamentally change who we are and what we value? because at the moment, we have some of the lowest—paid people doing the highest—value jobs in society. i think it's going to dramatically change how we all value and see our front line workers. and i think that is one of the main positives from this, that you can take from this. they do an extraordinaryjob. it goes unrecognised daily and now i think all of us, as a nation, can really see how hard they work and how vital their work is. how did you feel when you found out your dad had the virus? i have to admit, at first, i was quite concerned. he fits the profile of somebody, at the age he's at, which is fairly risky, and, so, i was a little bit worried. 0bviously, speaking to him made me feel more reassured that he was ok. the hardest thing he found was having to stop and not being able to get a bit of fresh air and go for a walk. he's a mad walker, loves

his walking, so i think he found it quite difficult, especially also with his mental health, being sort of stuck inside and not being able to go for walks. and, obviously, ithink very carefully about my grandparents, who are at the age they're at and we're doing everything we can to make sure that they are isolated away and protected from this. but it does worry me, what's going to happen to a lot of the vulnerable people and the high—risk people who are going to potentially have to isolate away for quite some time. how have you both been coping? it's been, yeah, ups and downs, probably, like lots of families, but also spending lots of time at home. lots of home—schooling, which was challenging. yeah, home—schooling's fun! don't tell the children we've actually kept it going through the holidays. i feel very mean! the duke and duchess of cambridge speaking to tina daheley. and in the uk, you can read more about the campaign on the nhs every mind matters website.

well prince william also talked about captain tom moore — the 99—year—old who has walked 100 laps of his garden to raise money for the britain's national health service. he called him a "one—man fundraising machine." and he's not wrong there because captain tom has now raised more than 20 million pounds — that's nearly $25 million. he's now said to be "speechless". the money is for nhs charities together — and it is still pouring in. a reminder of our top story: the number of people known to have died from the coronavirus pandemic around the world is now more than 150,000, according to latest figures collated byjohns hopkins university in the united states. meanwhile in an extraordinary series of tweets, donald trump has appeared to encourage protests against lockdowns in several us states. he called for minnesota, michigan and virginia to be — as he put it — liberated. don't forget you can get in touch with me and some of the team on twitter — i'm @jamesbbcnews.

please stay with bbc news. hello once again. friday was an absolute sparkler of a day. this was the scene late in the day across mallaig in the western side of scotland. and there was 13 hours of sunshine or so to be had in stornowayjust a wee bit further to the north and west. come a good dealfurther to the south, though, and it really was wet at times thanks to an area of low pressure in biscay throwing these with weather fronts up and across the southern half of the british isles. and it will continue to do that during the course of saturday. there's no great rush to really change things, so a lot of cloud across the greater part of england and wales and some really quite heavy bursts of rain as well. a little bit of organisation about it. there's a band of weather trying to move a little bit further north into the north of england. and then come the afternoon, the remnants of something just pushing those showers

over towards wales. all the while, the very far north of england, scotland, northern ireland, variable amounts of cloud, but a deal of sunshine. but an onshore breeze just pegging those temperatures back along the north sea—facing coasts. eight, nine or ten degrees yet again. this is sunday. starts off pretty cloudy again for the greater part of england and wales. but just hopeful through the day that some of that cloud willjust drift a little bit further away towards the west, allowing better chances of sunshine to break out across many of those eastern counties. and again, scotland doing very well. temperatures in a range of 11 to about 19, so feeling just that tad warmer right out across the piece. and we stay with the theme of a lot of dry weather with some decent spells of sunshine, although it will be really rather windy, as we get on through the forthcoming week. as i take you from sunday on into monday, we've got a big area of high pressurejust to the north—east of the british isles. very disturbed weather across the southern parts of france and into eastern parts of spain. and it's the squeeze between those features that give us the easterly wind, and the wind will be quite a

noticeable feature of the day. could be quite a chilly start for the northern glens of scotland. and the wind will be a feature wherever you happen to be stepping out of the door for that brief spell of exercise. i'm showing you the mean speeds. on top of that, we've got the gusts. could be around 30 mph or so. temperatures, though, not too bad. 13 to about 18 or 19, particularly where you can tuck yourself away from that wind over towards the west. and it's that same combination of high and low pressure that will keep us going with the dry weather into the middle of the week.

this is bbc news.

the headlines: the number of people known to have died from the coronavirus global pandemic is now more than 150,000, according to the latest figures collated byjohns hopkins university in the united states. the world health organisation has cast doubt on the usefulness of antibody tests for covid—19, which many countries had hoped to use to determine if people have developed immunity to the virus. who officials in geneva said there was no evidence that having had the virus would guarantee immunity. 847 people have died in british hospitals in the past 2a hours. it brings the total number of deaths tojust over 14,500. the uk government is setting up a new task force to back the development of a vaccine, but it'll be many months before one is available.