this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. unions representing doctors and nurses in england express concerns about new guidelines allowing the reuse of personal protective equipment. some uk hospitals warn they may run out of equipment this weekend. ona on a global pandemic, we have to really focus on what we can do because there is a shortage of gowns, and in that situation, following world health organization guidelines has to be the way that we go. the department of health says over 15,000 patients have now died in hospital after testing positive for coronavirus in the uk — an increase of 888. russia records nearly 5,000 new cases of coronavirus in the past 2a hours — its biggest daily increase since the start of the outbreak.

president trump angers democrats after tweeting in support of protests against stringent lockdown measures in three democrat—run us states. germany's health minister says the country's covid—19 outbreak is now under control, after a month—long lockdown. in pakistan, communal prayers will take place during the holy month of ramadan which starts next week on the condition certain precautions are followed. hello and welcome to audiences in the uk and around the world. i'm shaun ley and we are covering all the latest coronavirus developments both here and globally.

unions representing doctors and nurses have expressed concerns about revised guidance that allows personal protective equipment to be reused in hospitals in england. an official from the doctors‘ union, the bma, said the change could lead to some front line staff deciding they're unable to treat people with covid—19. the government insists the guidance is safe. it comes as the head of the organisation which represents national health service trusts has warned some hospitals could run out of the gowns used in intensive care units this weekend amid a global shortage. the department of health says there's been an increase of 888 deaths in uk hospitals on the previous day, taking the total now to 15,464 uk deaths. in other developments, the world health organization has questioned whether tests for covid—19 antibodies are effective in showing immunity to the disease. some countries hoped the tests would be a way to end lockdowns.

president trump has defended a series of tweets encouraging protests against lockdown measures in minnesota, michigan and virginia, three states with democratic party governors. more on all those stories coming up, but first, here's our health correspondent helen briggs, on the shortage of protective equipment in england. the government has been under fire over ppe shortages and there are fears that stocks of medical gowns used in intensive care could run out at some hospitals this weekend. public health england has issued new guidance on what to wear instead, which may involve washing and reusing some protective clothing. "some of the ppe in the nhs covid—19 ensemble is designated by the manufacturers as being single use. however, the hse recognises that some compromise is needed to optimise the supply of ppe in times of extreme shortages. "advice includes wear plastic aprons with coveralls or other similar suitable clothing rather than long—sleeved, fluid repellent gowns."

but saffron cordery from nhs providers, which represents trusts, says it's in line with what has been advised around the world. this is a temporary change in guidance until the supplies come through. however, what i would say is that everybody is concerned about the situation and none more so than hospital trust leaders and chief executives who are responsible for keeping their staff, their frontline staff, safe. the government says it's working round the clock to source extra items with textile manufacturers being mobilised. hundreds of millions of masks, aprons and gloves have already been delivered up and down the country but gowns are in short supply globally.

i don't think any health care worker should be expected to expose themselves to potential risks to their lives during the course of their work. it is a real disappointment to us that the government has been unable, even after a month, to address this progressively worsening shortage of ppe. the pandemic is proving a massive test for the nhs, with more unchartered territory ahead. helen briggs, bbc news. the department of health has said

that the reusable items is a safe. said the advice, ended yesterday, was in line with guidance from the world health organization had been assessed by the health and safety executive. it comes after concerns we re executive. it comes after concerns were raised that the updated guidance could put hospital staff and patients at risk under. we will move on. the world health organisation has questioned whether tests for covid—19 antibodies will be of any use in helping to lift global lockdowns. who officials said there was no evidence that having had the virus would guarantee immunity. some countries have planned widespread antibody testing, in the hope that people who are proven to have immunity would be able to return to work. a member of the uk government's new covid—19 vaccine task force has said that a jab may be ready to go into production by the autumn. speaking to the bbc, professor sirjohn bell said human trials of a potential vaccine began at oxford university on thursday. he said by the end of next month it

should be clear if it works, allowing safety testing to be completed towards the end of summer. the crucial thing is you have to do a proper trial because safety is really important for these things. but if we can see evidence of a strong immune response by the middle or the end of may then i think the game is on, and they may well get across the finish line by mid—august. then of course there is a massive issue of how you manufacture at a scale many billions of doses. council leaders in england have warned the government that they need urgent extra funding to tackle the challenges caused by the pandemic. the bbc has seen a letter from the local government association to the communities secretary, robertjenrick, warning that some local authorities may have to take "extreme cost—cutting" measures to avoid financial failure. vladimir putin has warned russians covid—19 continues to pose a high risk to the country. russia has seen its biggest daily increase in the number

of confirmed coronavirus cases, up nearly 5,000 from yesterday. our moscow correspondent steve rosenberg has this report. rarely has moscow felt so calm... so quiet... so empty... in lockdown, a city of 12 million people, so peaceful. but not everywhere. on the edge of moscow, ambulances queue outside a hospital that is treating covid—i9. the crews had to wait more than nine hours to bring in their patients. just look at this line. it's a sign of a national emergency. at another facility doctors are preparing for their shift in the coronavirus ward. with moscow the epicentre of the outbreak, the hospital is already over capacity. but its head doctor

is used to emergencies. he was a paramedic in chernobyl. translation: the pressure on us has increased. we are getting around 150 new patients every day. we are not at breaking point yet, but we are getting close. when gyorgi got sick with suspected coronavirus and was struggling to breathe... he coughs. ..twice he called for an ambulance but none came. the system was overloaded. translation: when i did get to hospital it was like watching a conveyor belt, ambulances constantly coming and going, bringing in new patients. the strain on the system is close to catastrophic. i decided to go back home. most of the patients were sicker than me. this pandemic is putting an enormous strain on public health systems everywhere, including russia. officials here are warning that moscow could run out of hospital beds for coronavirus patients

within two weeks. for the president, this epidemic is the biggest challenge he has faced. it has already forced vladimir putin to postpone the annual may 9th victory day parade on red square, huge celebrations for the 75th anniversary of the end of world war ii now on hold. and in moscow the lockdown is tightening. to use a car or public transport, you now need a digital permit. the aim is to slow the spread of the virus by keeping more muscovites off the streets. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. president trump has defended a series of tweets encouraging protests against lockdown measures in minnesota, michigan and virginia — three states with democratic party governors. three are regarded as swing states

in the presidential election in november. at a white house briefing, mr trump said the measures imposed in some states had been too tough. he called for the three states to be "liberated". our north america correspondent david willis reports. testing for the coronavirus is seen as crucial to assessing the true nature of this crisis. it's a massive undertaking in a country of this size, and president trump believes the responsibility for carrying it out rests with individual states, not the federal government, which he oversees. in new york, the epicentre of the virus here in america, the state's governor, andrew cuomo, has said he has neither the money nor the manpower to carry out widespread testing for the coronavirus, and he's not alone among state governors. he accused the president of passing the buck, but not the bucks — an accusation which prompted president trump to take to twitter to urge the democrat governor to spend more time doing and less time complaining. later, it fell to the vice

president to assure reporters that there are sufficient resources to carry out widespread testing. our best scientists and health experts assess that states today have enough tests to implement the criteria of phase one if they choose to do so. horns blast. president trump has made little secret of his desire to reopen the american economy quickly ahead of elections later this year, and he appeared to lend his support to protests over stay at home orders that have sprung up in several us states. protests in minnesota, michigan and virginia are thought to have been orchestrated by conservative groups that want to see the president re—elected. each has targeted democratic governors whose lockdowns the demonstrators want to see lifted. the president, in a series of tweets, called for all three of those states to be "liberated",

as he put it, adding a call to his supporters in virginia to save what he called your great second amendment, which he said was under siege. the second amendment grants american citizens the right to bear arms. last week, virginia's governor ralph northam signed several gun control measures into law, a move prompted by the mass shooting at virginia beach last year in which 13 people died. the president denied suggestions that his tweets could foment dissent and undermine his calls for national unity. he also denied suggestions that by defying social distancing guidelines, the demonstrators could add to the spread of the coronavirus. these are people expressing their views. i see where they are and i see the way they're working. they seem to be very responsible people to me. horns blast. the protests in michigan are said to have involved around 3,000 demonstrators, some of whom were armed.

that state has seen more than a thousand new cases and more than 100 new deaths a day. and the state's governor said she hoped the president's tweets would not be seen as encouraging the protests. i totally respect people's right to dissent and to voice their disagreement with decisions i've made. i'll tell you this, every decision i've made has been centred around what's in the best interests of the public health of the people of michigan. instead of the big re—opening of the american economy that president trump had hoped to see, his administration is putting a tentative toe in the water. the reopening of the world's largest economy will be slower and more cautious than many in his administration might have liked and quite possibly fraught with controversy. david willis, bbc news, los angeles. germany's health minister says the country's covid—i9 outbreak is now under control,

after a month—long lockdown. latest figures show the number of confirmed cases has risen to more than 137,000 and 2112 more people have died. that brings the total number of deaths to more than 4,000. however, the rate of transmission has been lowered. experts say the country's mass testing rates have played a crucial role in containing the outbreak. here is damien mcguinness, our correspondent in berlin. so far, the government here has been quite cautious really, even though the numbers have been going in the right direction for quite a few weeks now. under control is indeed a very positive way of putting it, very optimistic indeed, given especially that we still have quite high numbers, really. germany still has one of the highest infection rates in the world but, as you say, the german authorities here appear to be under the impression that they are doing quite well in terms of logistics

and i have to say, according to what most people believe now, that does seem to be the case. now, if we are looking at, for example, the provision of ppe, the medical equipment to protect medical workers, even that is a big debate in all countries across the world. germany announced this week it's importing 80 million face masks, it has now announced that it will be able to produce 50 million within germany. all these measures, which countries across the world are struggling with, germany seems to be doing relatively well. i have to say, though, still relatively, because we have similar debates here in germany to elsewhere in the world and not everyone can get a test, even though tests are more widespread than elsewhere. and still there is the debate about whether hospitals are well—equipped enough and of course the big question is, now that we are starting to ease restrictions on certain businesses — so from monday, some pupils are going to go back to school and smaller shops are going to open here in germany — the big question is, what does the future hold and will there be a fresh outbreak of the pandemic? because that is what

no one really knows. if you start to ease those tough restrictions, are you then going to risk increasing that infection rate again? the headlines on bbc news... unions representing doctors and nurses in the uk express concerns about new guidelines allowing the reuse of personal protective equipment — some hospitals warn they could run out this weekend. the department of health says over 15,000 patients have now died in hospital after testing positive for coronavirus in the uk — an increase of 888 from the day before. russia records nearly 5,000 new cases of coronavirus in the past 2a hours — its biggest daily increase since the start of the outbreak a trade body that represents the road, rail, air and shipping industries has said that illness rates are beginning to stabilise amongst its members which include delivery drivers, who are key workers, delivering medical supplies to hospitals and food to the supermarkets.

elizabeth dejong is the policy directorfor the freight transport association, a trade body that works across the road, rail, air and shipping industries. thank you for being with us. let's look at the overall picture for the people who work in particular for delivery drivers, how is that looking at? the logistics industry keeps britain stocked with everything it uses, clothes, construction products, fuel, medicines and foods. and overall, oui’ medicines and foods. and overall, our industry represents the economy. overall there has been a downturn in business, 85% of businesses are experiencing that, but the variation by sector is huge. an obvious want to talk about is the food sector because that is critical in terms of the most fundamental supplies we all need, not the things we perhaps can manage without for a couple of months but the things we need day to day. how is that holding up because

that was a big concern at the start of the lockdown? certainly was. we had a stockpiling phase in march, with christmas demand levels, 50% or 100% more for three or four or five weeks. that has settled slightly and in fact demand overall is just below normal, about 5% below. but there is an increase in demand for local convenience stores with shopping more locally and also for certain products. we are doing a lot more home baking, for example. but food has stabilised and it is one of the areas of our sector which is really holding up at this time. and what about the sickness rates in terms of delivery drivers particularly? i understand that a certain amount of stuff ca n understand that a certain amount of stuff can be freighted by rail but usually that still involves a lorry ora usually that still involves a lorry or a truck of some kind at the beginning or end of thejourney. that's right and you are absolutely

correct. the self—isolating from coronavirus, it was about 20% a few weeks ago and it has now stabilised, now around 5% in lorry drivers and about 11% in warehouse staff. but the impact of that is very different according to the sector. we talked about food being a very busy but there are other areas which are not busy at all. we have found that people are sharing their resources, there are portals and campaigns, we run to some, and the areas which have demand and need people are advertising and those who have spare capacity are taking those spaces with a lot of sharing happening. capacity are taking those spaces with a lot of sharing happeningm other words, there are things like delivery companies collaborating with some having enough drivers or a surplus and others not having enough through ill—health? surplus and others not having enough through ill-health? that's right and this week we have been focusing on getting 500 fans for an organisation which has a contract with the nhs.

-- 500 which has a contract with the nhs. —— 500 vans point we think flexible tea in the supply chain, notjust with delivery drivers but also in the air market. there has been a big fall in air passengers and 60% freight is in fact in belly hold a passenger planes. but freight flights have increased and also some passenger airlines, like ba and virgin, are taking freight on their passenger planes, strapping them in to the seats. a lot of flexibility in the system for logistics to survive. a brief thought on the fresh food side because we have been hearing about picking and the delays and some farmers have experienced in getting crops in and presumably that has a knock—on effect, slightly delayed the expectation of when the peak will come? we are in early summer, a lot of fresh products grown in this country and only growing at this time of year because of our climate? yes, we need the

fresh produce from the uk and we wa nt fresh produce from the uk and we want our economy to benefit from that demand and from us buying from the uk but the good news is that from italy and spain and other countries, freight has been prioritised as a key essential industry pundits freight is coming in with lettuces and tomatoes and so on from abroad. i am pleased those farmers in murcia who had a lot to get out. elizabeth dejong, thank you very much for updating us. in 2012, dr alexander kumar spent nine months living in a sealed pod in antarctica — the entirety of the continent's harsh, dark winter. it was part of a research mission for the european space agency, to see what level of isolation humans could cope with, psychologically and physiologically, with an aim to teach astronauts how to survive life on mars. we spoke to dr kumar a little earlier.

gave me his insights into that experience. my mission wasn't extended down there, fortunately, though, as the government's done for us. three months of darkness hasn't come upon us yet, but we are in a dark time. we certainly are. and, what's your kind of top tips, if you like, for dealing with it? because it must‘ve been quite a psychological adjustment. well, indeed. for those that don't know, antarctica is a very large, vast area. it's the size of india and china put together and there is only about 2000 people down there so it's very sparsely populated with no indigenous population, but it really throws everything that the extreme can throw at you — three months of darkness, —84 celsius, that's about —120 fahrenheit, and there is only 12 of you there for a good 11 months around the year. other teams will only come and join in the summer. so it is known as the worst

winter in the world, but small things can become nuclear, there, and i say that in terms of small disagreements. space is limited, but then on the other hand, creativity isn't. i would say one word of advice is don't pick up a banjo and try and learn that during the antarctic winter! shaun laughs. an english sense of humour only goes so far, especially when it travels abroad. the french and italians may not appreciate it as much as we do. and you say small things can become kind of blown out of all proportion, i suspect that may be the experience of some families over the last couple of weeks. what sort of small things that you squabble over and how did you resolve them? well, anything over internet megabytes of space to use and, bear in mind that we're all addicted to social media and the internet and that has got a dark side, a poisoned chalice, if you will, for all the benefits of communication it brings, actually, was working as a training gp in london and when i pick up the phone to patients now or see patients,

there is a lot of probably what will be termed corona—anxiety syndrome and so i think of the megabytes we download and expose ourselves to, the time spent on our phone has gone up exponentially. so, with that in mind, i think we all have to bear in mind that we should probably stop listening to so many armchair twitter experts in epidemiology outbreaks and medecine and instead maybe trust more the experts who are leading us, like chris whitty for example. and listen to each other a bit more when we're talking about being in a closed environment with a limited number of people and very few opportunities to go into another place to get away from them. indeed. and as you spend more time inside, you also spend more time in yourself. i think one of the greatest challenges is the iceberg of disease is going to start growing with this and that has the mental health burden. it's terrible to think how long this

is going to go on. that is it for viewers on bbc world news. the latest headlines on the bbc news website. and coming up we'll be answering your questions on the travel implications of coronavirus. that is from cruise line companies to travel insurance companies. get in touch with the hashtag #bbcyourquestions — or you can text 61124 or you email yourquestions@bbc.co.uk now it's time for a look at the weather with darren bett. hello, the weather could not be more different from north to south across the uk with plenty of sunshine for northern areas, particularly here in western parts of scotland but even further east in the country, after the dell and miss the start it has

brightened up. more stubborn cloud affecting much of england and wales and earlier we had more persistent rain in the midlands. the cloud has been effecting the southern half of the country, bringing outbreaks of rain to many areas with some sunshine earlier in northern ireland, the far north of england and scotland. that rain has got about as far north as it will do, probably petering out late afternoon and in the evening and many places become dry overnight. may be a few more cloud breaks in the south but still pretty mild pond with the clearer skies in scotland, may be some frost in the gland but there will be areas are missed and low cloud forming later which should burn off on sunday morning. elsewhere, a fairly cloudy start on sunday, the breeze will tend to push the cloud to the west, allowing much more sunshine to arrive through the midlands and eastern parts of england together with the scotland and there will be more cloud in northern ireland, wales and the south—west where, in the far south—west, they could be a couple of showers. but warmer on sunday,

significantly warmer in the midlands and eastern england with the sunshine. looking to the early part of next week, some very wet weather to come in europe pushing into the mediterranean. everything gets blocked off by that area of high pressure in scandinavia and that will be dominating the weather and shaping the early part of next week. a lot of sunshine to come on monday, just about dry everywhere pundits are more cloud clearing in the far south—west that could get a bit of early main. that will be blown away by stronger wind, much stronger on monday it is an easterly wind and with that direction it will always bea with that direction it will always be a bit cooler on the coast. higher temperatures further west. we could reach 19 or 20 degrees in southern and western parts of wales. looking further ahead to tuesday and wednesday, it will stay windy. we don't see the winds dropping until thursday. it will stay dry and also sunny. and it continues to get a bit

warmer. again, higher temperatures in western areas, you could have 21 or 22.

good afternoon, i'm kate silverton. financial experts are warning that university students graduating this year will suffer "scarring effects", from starting work in a downturn. the institute for fiscal studies says the experience of previous recessions is that some will spend years in lower paid, non—graduatejobs. here's our education editor, branwen jeffreys. 65% of my grade comes from work completed during coronavirus, so i am worried about my grade. i think my biggest concern about the economic impact of covid—19 is that there is not going to be anyjobs. i won't have the closure of finalising my three years at this university due to the fact that i will not be having a graduation. fearful voices of a student generation graduating into the chaos of the pandemic. sophie wants students to get a tuition refund. more than 300,000 have signed her petition to mp5.

strikes by lecturers earlier this year had already disrupted learning. now, instead of lecture halls, universities are online. this campus would normally be buzzing with students on their way to the library, revising for the finals. instead, they are stuck anxiously at home, waiting to do online exams, and worrying about their future. that's why many students are calling for universities to guarantee that they won't lose out as a result of this virus. liverpool is one of the universities making that promise. students cannot fall below their average, but the university told me that doesn't mean lower standards. they will not want to graduate feeling that they have had an easier pass through their degree. and that is certainly not the case. today, a warning that new graduates may pay a heavy economic price. they're going to find it harder to get a job at all.

in particular, they are much more likely to end up with a non—graduate job. shona is among the lucky ones. she is about to graduate as a physio. i spent the last four years of university striving towards the day i can get out and help the nhs and help people, and to be honest, there's no better time to be doing that than now. a job's waiting for her in just a few weeks' time. the department of health has defended asking doctors and nurses to re—use some items of personal protective equipment when treating coronavirus patients. ministers insist it is safe to do so. but groups representing medical staff have reacted angrily, with the unite union describing the continued shortage of ppe as a "national scandal". let's talk to unite's national officer for health, colenzo jarrett—thorpe. let's kick off with your thoughts on all of this today. thank you. it is

all of this today. thank you. it is a national scandal and unfortunately the government has a litany of broken promises over the last month about ppe and this is absolutely shameful. the public is looking at brave doctors and nurses and other health care workers, risking their lives, looking at a very sick patients and they do not have the necessary protection to carry out theirjobs so we believe the secretary of state for health, matt hancock, has to consider his position if they do not sort this out and get the ppe out to the nhs workers that they deserve to protect themselves. you're asking for him to consider his position questioning is that a helpful call in the current climate? doctors, nurses and health ca re climate? doctors, nurses and health care workers climate? doctors, nurses and health ca re workers are climate? doctors, nurses and health care workers are putting their lives on the line and not getting the help they deserve. —— protection they deserve. it is the right of everyone not put themselves at health injury hazard. that is what they are asking

nhs workers today. too many nhs workers have lost their lives as a result of this pandemic and, u nfortu nately, result of this pandemic and, unfortunately, a big proportion of those people have been from black and asian ethnic minorities. it is time for the government to sort it out and get ppp to workers and stop putting pressure on nhs workers to putting pressure on nhs workers to put their lives on the line by not the sufficient protective personal equipment that they need to look after sick people. can you understand the argument that a given? let's first talk about the supply chain and then about the argument is given that defender calling for some staff to reuse protective equipment, but let's talk about the supply chain festival. the government is not any position to magically ppe and have them here, so what is the response that? the government had been for this pandemic. you may have seen in the press a few days ago that it could have actually been part of an scheme to bring millions of pieces of ppe

to bring millions of pieces of ppe to the workers of this country, the health care workers of this country, but the government refused to be pa rt but the government refused to be part of that scheme was across europe at the moment billions of pieces of ppe have been delivered to european countries, not been delivered here. this is a crisis of their own making, i'm afraid. what is the situation at the moment? i know there was a similar crisis last week and haven't spoken to clinical staff and any supplies about is there hope that more supplies will be delivered? there hope that more supplies will be delivered ? it there hope that more supplies will be delivered? it sends very hand to mouth, i grant you, but where exactly a re mouth, i grant you, but where exactly are you right now, according to the people that you're speaking to, your members? i'm speaking only to, your members? i'm speaking only to doctors and nurses and other health care workers, but also you have got to think about cleaners, porters, catering staff. i have had workers come to me and say, they are not given ppe to transport the deceased when people have died from this. they are not being given body bags to transport the deceased. because of public health in the guidance, they have been told they

have got to transport people not in body bags, polythene bags and that is unacceptable. that guidance that has been published goes against the guidance from the health and safety executive. so they are cutting corners because they do not have the necessary equipment that is needed. for the health workers and actually the guidance is actually skewed towards the shortages of equipment against what people actually need. also, this new guidance will put nhs staff under further pressure to not have the necessary personal protective equipment and to put their lives and their families at risk. we think that is unacceptable. there seems to be sorted out. and how long do you think clinical staff will be prepared to continue if they do consider that their lives are now being put at risk? and if they don't, is your thing, being put at risk? and if they don't, is yourthing, do being put at risk? and if they don't, is your thing, do not have the trust of the confidence in government? that trust and confidence in government has evaporated. we have been asking for this for almost four or five weeks now. we have advisor members, those

that feel that they are putting their lives at risk, they are at risk of danger a hazard or injury because they need to treat sick patients, they can should consider, relu cta ntly, patients, they can should consider, reluctantly, not to go into those situations that put themselves at risk. that has a statutory right of theirs to do that. so we are saying that people ought to consider that now. unfortunately. but the government should not put health ca re government should not put health care workers in this situation. this is going against their professional tendencies. it is going against everything they want to do, they wa nt to everything they want to do, they want to look after sick patients, serve sick people, ensure that we are safe so the government should not be putting health care workers in the situation. and if not, what happens next? what will happen next is that things will get worse and, obviously, health care workers will be any really difficult situation. they should not be put in a difficult situation. the government just needs to sort this out, make

sure they engage uk manufacturers and suppliers, talk to people about getting the most amount of ppe that is possible and not continue to put health care workers under such pressure, under such stress, when they are already any stressful situation. it has a scandal and it does not look good on the uk, but this is not a surprise. the nhs has been run down for ten years under this conservative government and things need to change. to make sure that we invest in the nhs, to invest in our public services. we know who the key workers are and that needs investment. we have not had the the last ten years, i'm afraid. thank you forjoining us from unite. the pakistani government has decided to allow communal prayers to take place during the holy month of ramadan on the condition certain precautions are followed. many other muslim countries have suspended congregational prayers over fears they will lead to an increased spread of coronavirus. secunder kermani reports from islamabad. today the pakistani president and a number of other senior government ministers met

with a group of influential religious clerics to try and work out what regulations should be in place during the month of ramadan when, normally in mosques, there are special communal prayers every night. now, they decided to allow congregational prayers to go ahead during ramadan at mosques, but with a number of conditions attached, and those conditions include not allowing children and the elderly to attend, maintaining a distance between worshippers, and regularly cleaning the mosque with chlorinated water, but i think the key challenge will be enforcing these rules. over the past few weeks in pakistan, a partial ban on congregational prayers has been in place with no more than up to five people allowed to perform prayers together, but many mosques, or a significant number of mosques, haven't really been following those rules. i was at friday prayers yesterday at two fairly small mosques in islamabad,

each of which had at least 100—odd worshippers. now, the government has said that it has the right to revise these rules if the situation in pakistan deteriorates, but critics say the government is too reluctant to engage in a confrontation with the religious lobby here and that is endangering people's lives. so far in pakistan, there have been around 7500 confirmed cases of coronavirus, but the true figure may be higher because levels of testing have been quite low. captain tom moore has already raised more than £23 million for the nhs with his sponsored walk, but he's not done yet. he wants to go even further, this time by releasing a charity single. # you'll never walk alone.

# you'll never walk alone. # you'll never walk alone. you # you'll never walk alone. you just can't help but smile. the 99—year—old war veteran has teamed up with the singer michael ball, and released a version of "you'll never walk alone". if he tops the charts on friday, it would mean that he'd be number one on his 100th birthday. i'm not ashamed to say that brings a tear to the eye. captain tom covid has raised a staggering amount of money. captain tom moore has raised a staggering amount of money but where is it all going and how will it be spent? well, ian lush is the chairman of nhs charities together, which is going to distribute the money raised. thank you forjoining us. how will his extraordinary amount of money be distributed? how his extraordinary amount of money be distributed ? how can his extraordinary amount of money be distributed? how can you decide? we have about 160 members and we are

also tracing other nhs charities around the country who are not already members and making sure they get their share as well. we have already given at 35,000 and it is another distribution going out next week. according to the number of hospital staff or community trust that that each charity supports. so it will be pro rata, which we thought was the fairest way to do the next distribution. and then we will look at it each time you're doing another distribution because, of course, the money is going literally every minute. and what exactly will it be sent on because i know it is not going to be spent on things like ppr ventilators, is that correct? no, that is undoubtedly the government funding and we as charities do not replace government funding. what we're doing looking very much at staff well—being and also trying to help patients and families so, for example, we are paying for extra counselling, for staff because they are going to a been a traumatic time and we are paying for food packages and well—being pack that they can pick up well—being pack that they can pick up after a shift so they do not need

to shopping and for patients things like electronic tablets and whipping for extra wi—fi as well so that they can communicate with their loved ones her are not able to visit them and that is making a huge difference to. i listening that the charges themselves are saying they are neededin themselves are saying they are needed in their feeding themselves are saying they are needed in theirfeeding back themselves are saying they are needed in their feeding back to you in this wonderful collaborative effort? i'm trying to get a sense of what staff themselves are especially seeing that they need. yes, it is accepted that. each charity has a really strong relationship with its hospitals are my charity supports five hospitals in west london. we are talking to the clinical staff there and to what do you need? the first thing they needed in those couple of weeks was a food deliveries. we have done some really great deals with some really generous sponsors and food companies and then they were talking about what happens when they finish a chef, they are often too tired or the shops the shops are closed and they were also —— they finished a

shift. it is tragic that these patients cannot talk to their term families at the end of their lives, thatis families at the end of their lives, that is what they were saying, if you can get some tablets they can at least communicate with them. that very much came from the front line. just one final question for you please, in one sentence if you can. what would you personally like to captain tom. i was fortunate to say that to him on bitsy breakfast on thursday, we are incredibly grateful. you're an extraordinary man. and there is not no words to say how much we want to thank you, keep going, you'rejust say how much we want to thank you, keep going, you're just a wonderful gentleman, thank you so much. thank you for reiterating that point. thank you so much. any moment, we will bejoined by thank you so much. any moment, we will be joined by viewers on bbc one as we build up to today's government coronavirus briefing. that daily briefing you're watching bbc news.