this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. i'm simon pusey. the uk government admits ppe is in short supply in england and that more needs to be done to secure stock. we've got to do more to get the ppe that people need to the front line. this is an extremely challenging situation. president trump insists that the united states is performing better than other rich countries in its response to the virus and can relax the lockdown soon. doctors injapan warn that the country's medical system could collapse amid a rising number of coronavirus cases. and police in hong kong arrest leading figures in the pro—democracy movement on charges related to last yea r‘s mass protests.

welcome to bbc news. we're covering all the latest coronavirus developments here in britain and globally. the virus has been spreading rapidly around the world, with more than 2.2 million cases now confirmed in 185 countries. at least 153,000 people have died, but the true figure is likely to be significantly higher. the us has the highest death toll in the world with more than 37,000. one third of those are in the state of new york alone. spain is the second european country after italy where more than 20,000 people have now died. the uk recorded 888 deaths in hospital in the last 2a hours, bringing the total to more than 15,000. we'll cover the situation in the states and across the world a little later,

but first, with the latest in the uk, here's our health correspondent dominic hughes. john coker, a detective constable for british transport police, who leaves a wife and three children. retired paediatrician judith darmady, founder of a children's charity, awarded an obe, who dedicated her life to the care of others. two of more than 15,000 deaths caused by covid—19. it's hitting families across the country, but the really sad thing for people is when someone dies, they are dying alone. they are probably scared, and theirfamily are not able to console them, not able to know how it happens, and after all this is over, there are going to be many stories required to be told by nhs staff who were the last people with loved ones as they died. more lives are being saved than lost, but medical staff are worried

they're being put at risk because of the continuing shortage of personal protective equipment, ppe, especially gowns worn when treating the sickest patients. as hospitals face the possibility of running out of some kit, public health england changed its guidance — some gowns could be reserved for the most high—risk procedures while staff could re—use washable clothing. and today, a promise that fresh supplies are on the way. 84 tonnes of equipment, including 400,000 gowns. we are trying to do everything we can to get the equipment we need. we're trying to source more internationally. that is difficult at times, and there is a great deal of demand for it and the security of that supply ca n prove very challenging, but we are making progress there. but medical workers are anxious about where this leaves them. a&e doctor nick works directly with covid—19 patients. back on shift tomorrow, he doesn't know how much ppe will be available.

there are apprehensions about what there might be and what might there not be and how much has deteriorated and changed, especially when we see news reports saying stocks might be close to zero, nationally, it is really worrying, especially being on the front line. and we have to do what we do and it comes with the job, but it would just be good if we were adequately protected. the new guidance is in line with world health organization advice and hospital managers are facing a global shortage of ppe. we have to really focus on what we can do because there is a shortage of gowns, and in that situation, following world health organisation guidelines has to be the way that we go. they are saying that if other stocks are not available, then this is the way to go and this is safe to use. the new guidance only applies

when ppe stocks are running low, and the picture across the uk is mixed, but the patience of healthcare workers is also in short supply. dominic hughes reporting. in the us, demonstrations have continued in several states against lockdown restrictions imposed by state officials to try and stop the spread of coronavirus. in his white house briefing, president trump said some states would start lifting restrictions soon. rich preston has this report. these protesters want lockdown restrictions lifted. angry at how measures to control the spread of coronavirus have impacted on work and the economy, some have lost their jobs, their livelihoods and their incomes and say they'd rather risk catching the virus then continue like this. president trump using saturday's white house press briefing to reaffirm that

america will again be open for business. texas and vermont will allow certain businesses to open on monday while still requiring appropriate social distancing precautions. montana will begin lifting restrictions on friday. ohio, north dakota and idaho have advised non—essential businesses to prepare for a phased opening starting on may the first. but there is concern that lifting restrictions too early could lead to more people becoming infected and potential for a spike in the death rate. in new york, by far the worst affected state, a counter protest by this far smaller crowd who say the trump administration's measures haven't gone far enough and that the president is responsible for the deaths of thousands of americans. when the virus first hits america, president trump said the cure for the disease should not be worse than the disease itself. america is often referred to as

a divided nation, whether it's on issues like health the environment. that division remains. even on an issue like this, with a death toll of more than 38,000 people and the world's richest nation, amongst fears that the nation's wealth is now too injeopardy, all ahead of a presidential election due in november. doctors in japan are warning that the country's medical system could collapse because of a new wave of coronavirus cases. japan initially appeared to have the virus under control but there has been a recent surge and there are now more than 10,000 confirmed cases. reged ahmad reports. a much quieter tokyo in the wake of the state of emergency declared by the government. japan had its first recorded covid—19 infection injanuary and, since then, the government has been criticised for not doing enough to prepare for an increase.

now, two medical associations say the outbreak is reducing japan's ability to treat other serious medical emergencies, even strokes. it is understood one patient with a fever was turned away by 80 medicalfacilities before he was accepted by a tokyo hospital. like many countries, doctors are complaining of a lack of protective equipment too. critics have taken aim at the prime minister, saying he has delayed restrictions in favour of the economy. shinzo abe says he is trying to effectively reduce people—to—people contact. translation: people out on weekdays in city areas like shibuya in tokyo have been reduced by about 60%. in umeda in osaka, it's been reduced by about 70%. but we have not yet reached our target level.

japan is facing a new wave of infections, and with it, a push to increase relatively low testing levels. it now remains to be seen if the country has done enough quickly enough to protect its medical system and head off a major outbreak. reged ahmad, bbc news. i'm joined now by satoru hashimoto, director of the intensive care division at the the kyoto prefectural university of medicine. thanks a lot for joining thanks a lot forjoining us. a lot of talk about a lack of intensive care beds at the moment. what is the current situation in japan? there are so situation in japan? there are so many alternatives in this situation as we only have very limited knowledge about covid—19. but in japan everywhere they are struggling to prepare for the worst case situation, but the progress is very slow. the biggest problem injapan is very slow. the biggest problem in japan is that very slow. the biggest problem injapan is that we do not have enough icu beds to cope with overwhelming numbers of

critically ill covid—19 patients are expected in the very near future — patients are expected in the very nearfuture — maybe patients are expected in the very near future — maybe one or two weeks. and according to publications, the numbers of icu beds are one third of that of germany. also our icu beds are defined as one nurse to two patients, compared to much of europe, as one nurse per one patient. so we do not have enough manpower or intensive ca re enough manpower or intensive care medicine. the number of specialised intensive care physicians is also limited and small. given the number of criticisms against the government and the handling of the crisis, how have the government responded? their response is very slow. u nfortu nately response is very slow. unfortunately the numbers of patients with covid—19 double

every ten to 11 days injapan, and this is slow compared to european countries and the us. that is preventing us from going into the medical crisis. i think the government is doing their best, but i feel we need more. we've seen pictures fairly recently of people on subways going about their normal lives, pretty much, or it looked that way. have things changed much in japan? every day, commuting is very hard for japanese people on trains and buses, but now it's very difficult to ride. they do not have any lockdown of the city, so the public transport station

is working as well. just to finish the interview, if that's 0k, finish the interview, if that's ok, what do hospitals need? you've talked about icu beds. is there anything else — protective personal equipment — that hospitals need to work safely under these conditions? yes, osaka city has asked citizens to donate their own use raincoats for protective equipment. we do need more ppe, but we don't have any sources, because much of our equipment is imported from china. that's all we've got time for, but thanks so much for bringing us up—to—date on the situation in japan. almost all of europe is still in lockdown, and while some countries are beginning to ease restrictions, many others have extended the measures introduced to fight the virus. the impact is clearly visible, with empty streets being seen all across the continent, as the bbc‘s

tim allman reports. this is madrid, one of the world's great capital cities, looking more like a ghost town. spain has been one of the ha rd est spain has been one of the hardest hit countries, with more than 20,000 dead. the prime minister says the state of emergency is to be extended for another 15 days. nearly 500 more fatalities in italy, but that figure is down from the day before — the death rate appears to be slowing. in france, more positive news. this military field hospital is being partly dismantled as the situation in the country improves. heading east to baku, the capital of azerbaijan, where the streets are being sprayed with disinfectant. quarantine will last at least another two weeks. the country's borders are closed. in lithuania they have seen a

record jump in the number of coronavirus cases, just a day after the health minister insisted the virus outbreak had reached its peak. the hot spot just outside vilnius, the military police stopping anyone going in or out. translation: it's been decided to test virtually all the adult residents of town. tests will be carried out to find not only active cases of the disease but also to try to identify residents who might already have immunity. this situation is indeed dangerous. in poland the presidential election is due to take place next month, but how does a country of nearly a0 million people vote in the middle of a global pandemic? translation: the coronavirus epidemic will be part of reality for the coming months. a presidential election in the traditional manner would be possible in two years' time at

the earliest. if the parties don't agree, the only secure form of a presidential election would be postal voting. form of a presidential election would be postalvoting. and this is istanbul, where europe meets asia — another place where the streets are deserted. a two—day curfew is in place. anyone younger than 20 or older than 65 has been told to stay home. the fight against the virus goes on. tim allman, bbc news. this is bbc news. the headlines: the uk government admits ppe is in short supply in england and that more needs to be done to secure stock. president trump insists that the united states is performing better than other rich countries in its response to the virus and can relax the lockdown soon. the world health organization is warning that coronavirus antibody tests — tests that show whether someone was once infected with the virus — do not prove they are now immune. it's a disappointing announcement for many who hoped that antibody tests would help end lengthy lockdowns in place

across the world. for more on this, i'm joined by anne rimoin, professor of epidemiology at the ucla school of public health. thanks a lot for coming on. this report out earlier, look for people working to the hope that once you were in it, would then be immune. a lot of disappointment i get around this report out today. well, the thing is that antibody document having antibody does not necessarily mean that you have immunity, and i think there has been a lot of confusion about this. having antibody just suggest that you may have been exposed to this virus, but it does not mean that you are protected against future infection, and i think thatis future infection, and i think that is really the crux of what who, what they are trying to get out there. it is important, we do need to understand how this virus is spread and who has had it, but that is not the a nswer to

has had it, but that is not the answer to view is immune. essentially, you could be immune, people could be immune, but we just need to do more test and discover more about how this virus works. yes, a lot of work needs to be done. we need to understand not only who has been infected, but does infection, previous infection actually equal having immunity? if we do have immunity, how long the immunity last? and in fa ct, long the immunity last? and in fact, can people get reinfected? there are so many questions that need to be answered. antibody tests are great for understanding how many people have had the virus, it does give us some data, but it does give us some data, but it does give us some data, but it does not answer this question about who is immune and who isn't, we still need a lot more research on this topic. absolutely, and a lot of people looking to the governments for guidance as to how we kind of come out of this period, the phrase exit strategy use a lot. i guess exit strategies depend on the circumstances of the particular country and the state in terms of what kind of tactics they

employ. exactly. exactly. we are still... exit strategies... for most of us, for all of us, because of the lack of testing, in particular here in the united states, we don't know where we are on the curve, we don't know how many people have had it, we don't know how many people currently have it and it is all compensated by this issue of asymptomatic infection, which we know is a driver of spreading disease. based on what you just said about a lack of knowledge, how do you feel about donald trump and his ambitions to open up the country now? i think that thinking about opening up the country right now is somewhat premature. we have done an excellent job of premature. we have done an excellentjob of mitigating spread of the disease, but i read on several social media tweet that opening up the country now is much like jumping out of an aeroplane and taking out your parachute, pulling the parachute and then once you start slowing down,

saying, great i don't need a parachute anymore! let's cut it off. if we open up the country before we have, we have really good solutions about making sure we have good contact tracing, good case identification, good contact tracing, ability to isolate people who have the disease, being able to quarantine people who have been exposed, and making sure that all of our hospitals have ever thing they need, we are just not there. so i think it is too soon. as a professor of epidemiology, you are probably very busy now. tell us about the work you have been doing. at ucla, i am leading a study with some other collea g u es leading a study with some other colleagues to be able to test healthcare workers and first responders, so everybody working in a hospital, everybody from the does, nurses, janitorial staff, administrative staff, everybody ina administrative staff, everybody in a hospital setting and first responders, paramedics, firefighters, to be able to

know who has a cinematic infection or presymptomatic infection, so having been acutely infected without having symptoms, this is really important for us to know because people could be unwittingly spreading to other people, and as you know, our health force and a first responders are in contact with people every day, and they are a symptomatically infected, they could be spreading it to colleagues, to patients or to theirfamilies at colleagues, to patients or to their families at home. so we need to give them this information. then we are also looking at their antibodies and drilling down to be able to understand, does having antibodies actually mean that they are immune? again, how long, if they are immune, how long, if they are immune, how long does immunity last, and can people get reinfected? this study has started at ucla and we expect this to be really important in terms of informing what we know about this virus and how we might be able to structure these kind of re— openings. but it needs to be based on data and science.

sorry to interrupt you. super interesting to talk to you, thatis interesting to talk to you, that is all we have time for. now, away from coronavirus — 15 prominent members of hong kong's democracy movement have been arrested for organising illegal protests last year in what's being seen as a fresh attack on anti—government activists. britain has expressed its concern over the arrests, calling the right to peaceful protest fundamental david campanale has more. it's the biggest crackdown on the democracy movement since the outbreak of mass protests last year. those detained in a coordinated swoop by the police include several who have, for decades, been important figures in hong kong's campaign for greater freedom. among them, the 81—year—old barrister martin lee, known in the territory as the father of democracy. translation: i am proud to have had the chance to walk along our road to democracy with hong kong's excellent young people. the publishing tycoon

jimmy lai was also arrested. he runs the apple daily newspaper, which is frequently critical of the hong kong and chinese communist leadership. the detentions relate to a series of anti—government protests last year. the first of these was attended by 1.7 million hong kong citizens. the authorities have not said why it's their high—profile figures, among them, former members of the legislative council, who've been targeted for detention. peaceful protest is protected in both the joint declaration between britain and china and the basic law. but hong kong police maintain that the rounding up of the suspects is simply the impartial application of the law. translation: they were arrested on charges of organising

and participating in unlawful assembly at hong kong island and kowloon on 18 august, 1 october and 20 october 2019. before the coronavirus outbreak, hong kong had witnessed almost weekly demonstrations for greater democracy and less control from beijing. over recent days, chinese officials seeing the city have been making increasingly belligerent noises. some think beijing is worried about losing ground in local elections later this year. in this climate, it's hard not to see this coordinated series of arrests as anything less than a warning of beijing's intention to tighten its grip on hong kong. david campanale, bbc news. lockdown condition, many young people are consuming social media like never before. tiktok

puzzling bigger stars have decided to isolate together. this is how six of the uk's biggest tiktok stars announce their arrival in the country's tiktok house with a tiktok video of course. i am in the house right now. this collective social media stars moved in together in london in mid march and have been documenting theirjourney mid march and have been documenting their journey in online videos. their aim is to create a kind of reality tv show, but with an important twist. millions of people watching this so far i'm not seeing it on tv. they are glued instead to the online video sharing platform tiktok. this is common in america where you two people live and work together. recently tiktok stars had got in on the act as well, someone who has worked with one of those stars explained to me the logic behind them. these have been a proven way of the audience, being able to grow together as well as create

engaging content. though this uk house was months in the planning, questions have been raised about the timing. it has just been announced the uk is officially in lockdown, so i hope you all stay safe. you quys hope you all stay safe. you guys moved injust before monday 23rd march with is when the big lockdown measures were announced. did you know things are getting serious with coronavirus? did you have any doubts about moving in? it was obviously a lot earlier on in the development of the virus, so we didn't actually understand it fully at point. it was something very serious happening in the world, i am missing my mum and missing my sister. as aspiring influences, the housemates are trying to grow their followings and earn money doing paid product promotions. but they are also working on a project by public health england to come up with activity ideas to keep people was achieved during the lockdown.

that is it from me. stay tuned right here to bbc news. hello. if you saw a bit of rain on saturday, sunday is looking like a brighter day, and plenty of dry and at times sunny weather to come in the week ahead. sunday is looking dry for most, still a bit of cloud across southern and western parts of the uk, but even through this, there will be some sunny spells coming through. this produced a bit of rain, this weather front on saturday, it's dying away. high pressure is building back in across the bulk of the uk, and that's going to give several days of settled weather. this is how it looks temperature—wise to start sunday. there will be a few spots in scotland down to —a, maybe —5 in the highlands. there may just be a touch of frost across the coldest parts of northern england as well. there is where there is plenty of sunshine to come

during sunday, increasingly so across the eastern side of england. that cloud toward southern and western england, wales and northern ireland breaking a bit. but we will keep a fair amount of cloud in northern ireland, even into the afternoon. now, there is a freshening easterly breeze, that pegs the temperatures back a bit along north sea coasts, whereas further inland and to the west, a few spots could be as high as 18 degrees celsius. as we go on through sunday night and into monday morning, again, we could see a touch of frost, parts scotland and northern england, and the chance of seeing some heavy showers pushing in towards the channel islands and the far south—west of england. there is a lot of uncertainty about that, but the potential is there for a weather disturbance coming in as we go into monday. whereas for most of the uk, it is high pressure, so it is dry. but there is a brisk easterly breeze. with these showers, again, a lot of uncertainty about where they'll exactly be, but the chance of seeing some for the channel islands, cornwall, isles of scilly, whereas elsewhere, there should be plenty of sunshine around. the arrows indicating that brisk easterly breeze, these are average winds, gusts will be higher, around 30—a0mph in places,

especially across parts of england and wales. it does peg those temperatures back along these north sea coasts, maybe just around ten degrees in some spots, whereas further west, getting to around 19. temperatures head up a little bit more as we go through the week as the easterly breeze starts to ease. just a selection of locations here, but you get the idea. with that area of high pressure around, there is a lot of dry weather in the week ahead. there's lots of blue sky and sunshine on the way as well for a bright weather view, a bright look through your window at the weather outside.

this is bbc news. the headlines: the uk government has admitted that more needs to be done to get personal protective equipment to health workers. a00,000 new gowns are due to arrive from turkey later on sunday. it comes as the uk recorded another 888 coronavirus deaths, taking the total number of hospital deaths to over 15,000. president trump has insisted that the united states is performing better than other rich countries in its response to the virus. at his daily news briefing he said there were signs that the virus has passed its peak and that the lockdown could be relaxed soon. doctors injapan have warned that the country's medical system could collapse amid a rising number of coronavirus cases. two medical associations said the extra burden caused by virus infections meant emergency rooms were refusing to treat some people, even those suffering from strokes and heart attacks.