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 to get the ppe that people need to the front 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.

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 38,000 — 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 0be, 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 their family 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 can 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 0rganisation 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 areas 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. from new hampshire to minnesota, ohio to texas, 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 theirjobs, their livelihoods and their incomes and say they'd rather risk catching the virus than 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. 0hio, 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 hit 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 healthca re, guns or the environment.

that division remains. even on an issue like this, with a death toll of more than 38,000 people in 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. 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 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 spotjust 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. 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.

doctors injapan 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 spoke to satoru hashimoto, director of the intensive care division at the the kyoto prefectural university of medicine, he told me more about the situation he is facing.

there are so many alternatives in this situation as we only have very limited knowledge about covid—19. —— uncertainties. but injapan everywhere they are struggling to prepare for the worst case situation, but the progress is 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 — 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 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? yeah, their 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 injapan?

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 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, 0saka 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. this is bbc news. the latest 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 bbc understands that public health england is to start recording coronavirus cases and deaths by ethnicity. it comes after research suggested people from black, asian and minority ethnic backgrounds appear to be at greater risk of becoming seriously ill with covid—19. here's our community affairs correspondent, rianna croxford. because, without him, you can do nothing... sylvia douglas was an 82—year—old pastor and grandmother from slough. she tested positive for coronavirus and died in hospital at the beginning of this month.

they called me, video called me from the hospital on the thursday, so i saw her. i prayed with her and prayed for her, and i said, "oh, you're looking really strong, aunt. you're going to come through this. i can see you're struggling to breathe, but you look really, really well otherwise, and very strong. so, you know, you will come through this." i was really surprised, shocked, to say the least, when a few hours later i was informed that she had actually passed. i did not expect that at all. research shows that people of black, asian and minority ethnic heritage are being disproportionately affected by coronavirus. 0nly14% of people in england and wales are from these backgrounds, yet they currently make up 34% of patients in critical care units. bbc news analysis of reports in the public domain show almost three—quarters of 51 health care workers who have died are from ethnic minority backgrounds. you have a higher proportion of bame population working in key roles such as transport, taxi drivers, bus drivers,

shopkeepers, supermarkets, all of which are necessary in the lockdown to provide essential services, and in addition, of course, care and health care workers. while there are many factors, it's clear more data is needed. the bbc understands that the government has asked public health england to start tracking coronavirus cases and deaths by ethnicity. can you confirm this, and will this data be made publicly available so that further deaths can be prevented? there does appear, as you say, to be a disproportionate impact of the virus upon bame communities in the uk, and we've also seen that in some other countries around the world as well. and it's for that reason that the chief medical officer commissioned work from public health england to better understand this issue. sylvia's family hope

more answers will come soon. rianna croxford, bbc news. 0rthodox christians have been celebrating easter in the middle east, transporting the holy fire from the church of the holy sepulchre in jerusalem to bethlehem. the ceremony, which is considered as a miracle in the religion, took place despite the lockdown, which prevented any crowds from gathering to watch. thousands of greek police officers have been deployed to deter 0rthodox christians from gathering to celebrate easter communally. drones are on patrol and road blocks have been set up to prevent the customary exodus to the countryside. plain—clothes officers are keeping watch on closed churches to prevent the celebration of midnight mass. vladimir putin has warned russians that, as the number of coronavirus cases rises, covid—19 continues to pose a high risk to his country. russia has seen its biggest daily increase in the number of confirmed coronavirus cases, up nearly 5,000 from yesterday. 0ur moscow correspondent steve rosenberg has this

report. rarely has moscow felt so calm. bells chime so quiet. so empty. in lockdown, a city of 12 million people so peaceful. but not everywhere. 0n the edge of moscow, ambulances queue outside a hospital that's treating covid—19. the crews had to wait more than nine hours to bring in their patients. this is a health system under pressure. at another facility, doctors are preparing for their shift in the coronavirus ward. with moscow the epicentre of the outbreak, the hospital is already overcapacity. but its head doctor is used to emergencies — he was a paramedic in chernobyl.

translation: the pressure on us has increased. we're getting around 150 new patients every day. we're not at breaking point yet, but we're getting close. when georgiy got sick with suspected coronavirus and was struggling to breathe... coughing ..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. but coronavirus isn'tjust a medical challenge. it's a political one too. in the 20 years he's been in power, vladimir putin has never faced the challenge of this magnitude. a virus, an invisible enemy that's not only threatening lives, but the entire russian economy.

and with it, the image that vladimir putin has been keen to cultivate, ‘mr stability‘. the epidemic has already forced the president to postpone the annual may 9 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 — to slow the spread of the virus by keeping more muscovites off the streets. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. 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 to hong kong's way of life. earlier this week, beijing's

most senior official in the city called for a new security law to deal with dissent. 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, 10ctober and 20 october 2019.

before the coronavirus outbreak, hong kong had witnessed almost weekly demonstrations for greater democracy and less control from beijing. 0ver 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. there is to be no gun salute on queen elizabeth's 94th birthday next week because of the virus. buckingham palace said that her majesty decided it would not be appropriate at this time. it is

the first time in her reign of 68 years that they will be no salute, which normally takes place at hyde park and the tower of london. captain tom moore will be the guest of honour at the opening of a new nightingale hospital in yorkshire next week. the 99—year—old war veteran will appear by video—link. it's been announced that the £25 million — that's $31 million usd — raised by captain tom will be used to buy food parcels and counselling sessions for national health service staff, as well as electronic tablets to allow patients to talk to their families. let's bring you a quick reminder of our top story. president trump has said texas and vermont will allow some businesses to open — might reopen on monday. he said the virus had passed its peak and several straights. right—wing demonstration supported by the president have demanded to go back to work, saying stay measures are too harsh. but health experts and some state governors one lifting restrictions too early could result in a new wave of

covid—19 infections. —— warn lifting. you can reach me on twitter. i'm @sipusey. 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 “11, maybe —5 in the highlands. there mayjust 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. 400,000 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. and 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.