this is bbc news — with the latest headlines — for viewers in the uk and around the world. the british government is forced on to the backfoot over dwindling supplies of protective equipment for hospital workers. signs of normality — as a number of european countries, including germany — start taking tentative steps towards relaxing restrictions. 140,000 uk firms sign up for government's job retention scheme. the chancellor says it will save more than a million staff members from redundancy. us oil prices slump to levels not seen since the mid—1980s. it comes despite a landmark deal to cut production and boost the value.

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 uk government has faced further criticism over shortages of vital equipment to protect medical staff with leading health organisations here expressing their frustrations about the delivery and shortage of key items. ministers are defending the government's position, saying that officials were working around the clock to make sure that everyone on the front line had what they needed to do theirjob safely. in other news, a further 419 deaths were confirmed today in uk hospitals, bringing the total to over 16,500. a scheme to help safeguard uk jobs threatened by the pandemic saw more than 140,000 companies apply on the first day of its launch. elsewhere, spain's daily death toll

falls below 400 for the first time since a pandemic was declared on march the 11th. a collapse in demand has sent the price of us oil plunging to its lowest level in 21 years as border restrictions with mexico and canada are extended for 30 days. we'll have more on all these developments this hour. but first, our health editor hugh pym reports on the warnings over the shortages of protective equipment. we recently got these gowns made locally. 0ne care home's response to equipment shortages, get it made by local contacts. these are the supplies we had in head office. they are very limited. we have ten litres of hand rub. while supplies are coming in, they are hard to get and staff look after residents with symptoms fear they may run out. these are some of the most selfless people i have met and we are putting

notjust our residents at risk, but also our staff, and that makes us feel awful and it keeps us up at night. we are trying our best. first of all, we are putting our gowns on. for hospitals, specialist gowns and masks used in intensive care are in short supply. some, though not this one, say they are down to only a day or so of stock. usually staff put on new items every few hours, but the guidance has changed so they are allowed to wash and reuse gowns. front line staff are concerned about the situation. we work in the nhs because we want to help patients and we never expected we would be putting our own health at risk by doing that. not knowing whether you are going to be able to protect yourself is a worry we should not have to have. 0ne trust in lincolnshire made up of three hospitals has revealed how much protective equipment, or pte, they use in a single day. 39,500 surgical masks,

nearly 11,500 gloves, nearly 1500 gowns and 4200 specialist masks. that is 72,000 items of ppe forjust one day. i raised the concerns about shortages in some areas at the downing street media briefing. are you ashamed as a government that there are so many nhs staff going into work who say they are worried about their safety because they say they fear their hospitals might run out of ppe. absolutely everybody working hard on the front line deserves to have the equipment they need to do theirjobs safely and we are working around the clock to make sure we can deliver on that. a billion pieces of ppe have been delivered, 12 million yesterday, and we are improving our sourcing internationally and domestically to make sure we can get the ppe we need in what is a challenging international context. the chancellor said there were delays with the planned turkish consignment of ppe, but a shipment

of gowns from myanmar had arrived. but the opening ceremony for cardiff's new temporary hospital, the principality stadium, with room for up to 2000 patients, there was a message from the prince of wales. that is an amazing undertaking and that it should have been completed and the such short space of time is rightly a huge sauce of pride. i want to add my voice to the tributes that have been paid to all those involved. elsewhere on the front line nhs staff gave one of their own a round of applause, a nurse who was leaving critical care. hugh pym, bbc news. across the world, other countries are taking the first tentative steps towards lifting lockdown restrictions, as the rate of infection appears to slow. in germany, some small shops have re—opened, while denmark and norway have begun

opening their schools. new zealand has today announced that rules on local travel will be relaxed. what happens next, is likely to be keenly watched by governments around the world, as our science editor david shukman now reports. even when the worst seems to be over, the virus remains a threat. in china, the authorities are still on their guard — checking for fever, a common symptom of covid—19. every government is now trying to work out what to do next. new zealand is held up as an example of a country that's got it right so far. it cut itself off from the rest of the world. an extreme lockdown was introduced rapidly and cases of deaths have been kept unusually low. so, the prime minister has announced the first cautious moves to open up. we believe that decisive action — going hard and going early — give us the very best chance of stamping out the virus. and it has.

we have done what very few countries have been able to do. we have stopped a wave of devastation. in europe, germany is seen as a model for how to handle the virus. it's leading the way in testing. in munich, this team is checking a thousand people for antibodies, to discover who's been infected. right from the start, mass tests were seen as vital and now, like in new zealand, there is a first step to re—opening. julia runs a shop in heidelberg. closed for weeks, she's now got permission to start again, this time from behind the protective screen and with only one customer allowed in at a time. do you think it's the right time in germany for shops like yours to re—open? yes, i think so, because if we couldn't do that it would be very, very difficult to take this. it is maybe more important

for the small businesses. but what's happening injapan show it is risk of easing measures too soon. controls were introduced, but then relaxed, only for cases to rise sharply again. and the world health organization is warning countries against moving before they're fully prepared. please make sure you have got the defences in place at the community level. please make sure that everybody knows what their responsibility is. please make sure that older people are given special care and attention. please make sure that hospitals are got ready. japan's hospitals are now struggling. they're short of personal protective equipment. the government there is accused of assuming they had got the outbreak under control. david shukman, bbc news. in italy, there's been a one—day drop in the number of people currently infected for the first time since the coronavirus outbreak began. but there's no sign yet, that the country's government is ready to ease the lockdown there,

by more than a little. earlier, i asked our rome correspondent mark lowen about today's figures. yes, it's an important milestone. for the first time since the outbreak began here over eight weeks ago, italy has now registered a one—day four in the number of currently infected people, so there are now 108,237 people who currently have a coronavirus. that is 20 fewer than yesterday. it is a small drop, but it is an important psychological step in that respect. in terms of total cases which includes numbers of deaths and numbers of those who have recovered, that has risen by its smallest proportional increase since the fabric began, just 1.26% on yesterday, so the infection numbers are optimistic, they are, is incredibly encouraging today. however, the number of deaths is

slightly up on yesterday, 454 people have died in the last 24 hours. that is still significant in way than we we re is still significant in way than we were seeing two or three weeks ago, but really it is still stubbornly high and until the death toll comes well below 400, into two 300, italians are not going to really that they are reaching towards the latter stages of the pandemic. that is still an incredibly high number of deaths. what is the government saying therefore on restrictions and how long they stay in place? they are hammering home the message that italians must not let down their guard, that they must continue to make the sacrifices they have made for the past two weeks —— a few weeks otherwise does will have been in vain. the italian prime minister has said the 4th of may is now the extension date for the lockdown to be lifted. we will see whether an art that is pushed back even further. last week, we saw some

shops, some book shops, stationary shops, some book shops, stationary shops, baby clothes stores reopening some parts of the country. we will expect more of that in the days ahead but i have to say that when i have been out speaking to people where i have been able to in the past few days, no one has an appetite to live this prematurely. yes, there are people suffering immensely, the italian economy is expected by the imf to shrink by 9% this year and that is, i think, an optimistic expectation, but italians feel that, on the whole, this is a sacrifice worth making and they do not want to let down their guard to early, they do not want to lift these rejections are too early, so we will have to seal quite when they are ready to go back down the streets, ready to open their businesses or go back to schools, cinemas and playgrounds which i think i may months away still. in rome. another place that's been particularly badly hit by the virus is the state of new york — and like italy — there's been some encouragment. the number of people to have died from coronavirus in a single day, has dropped below 500 for the first

time since april the 2nd — although it's still an enormous figure. andrew cuomo — the state's governor — has warned that infection rates could spike for a second time if residents leave their homes more frequently as the weather gets warmer. the question for us is our we passed the apex? we have had a number of days that have seen a reduction, reductions across the boards, we have also had anecdotally that there are fewer patients in emergency rooms. across the us, protesters have taken to the streets demanding that governors in half a dozen states relax their lockdown is and begin the work of reopening the economy. let's speak now to the bbc‘s katty kay — who's in washington dc. we have a stark contrast with what we have heard there from the governor, warning about the potential of a second spike and the

president only yesterday at his news conference described bills protesters as responsible people. n0 sound apologies, as you can see, we have lost the sounds link to washington. we will try to fix that and returned to her in a short while. here, the british government's scheme to help businesses keep their staff on their payrolls, even if the pandemic means they can't work, has opened today. by this afternoon 140,000 firms had applied for support under the scheme. the government will cover 80% of workers' wages, up to a value of two and a half thousand pounds a month. our business editor simonjack reports. lockdown britain, streets deserted, shops closed, workers at home. but due to a government scheme that went live today, nearly 10 million of them will be paid by the government to stay there.

i'm peterjackson... a godsend for businesses like this jewellers who has 40 staff across four closed stores. it's a lifeline. it's always been my wish that we would be able to look after all our team and continue to pay their wages, but while we have so little income coming in, we simply wouldn't be able to do that without this scheme. so the fact that it's there means that everybody can stay on our books. his employee, gemma, has just moved into a new home and feels grateful she will have money coming in. i've got a job to go back to, i got colleagues i can keep in touch with, the fact that i can keep my house, keep my bills going. it does just mean you've got that added comfort which i know for a lot of people, they haven't actually got that in place at the moment. the scheme should cover over 8 million employees who were on the payroll as of march the 19th. it will pay 80% of employee wages to a cap of £2500 a month and it will run

until the end ofjune and could cost the government as much as £50 billion. this is a direct grant to employers, unlike the 330 billion in government—backed loans. so farjust over 2% of that money has been approved with many businesses finding themselves unwilling or unable to borrow their way out of a crisis. the treasury says take up is accelerating and also say they are deferring 30 billion in vat to protect company cash flows. currently the treasury offers an 80% guarantee to the lender. there has been mounting pressure on the chancellor to increase that to 100% as other countries have done. i'm not persuaded that moving to a 100% guarantee is the right thing to do. i think if you take a step back and look at the sum total of everything we've done to support business, we've done a lot of direct cash support in the form of cash grants that are going to businesses, we've obviously cut business rates for a large number of businesses. people are asking the question will that help speed up delivery of the loans? i am very sympathetic to that and i also want to see that. the state stepping in like this

to pay workers' wages is unprecedented in its scale and its cost, but the alternative, mass unemployment, would turn a recession into a depression, which would cost more and be felt for longer. also today there was a reminder of how some of britain's most famous business names are not being spared. sir richard branson said without additional government help, airline virgin atlantic may not survive. but the chancellor has admitted not every business can be saved, not every worker protected. the list of economic casualties will be a long one. simon jack, bbc news. let's speak to our political correspondent at westminster, nick eardley. i will come back to the furlough scheme in a moment or two, but let's start with protective equipment because that dominated the first pa rt because that dominated the first part of that news conference. yesterday, the deputy chief medical 0fficer yesterday, the deputy chief medical officer said in terms of preparedness, the uk was exemplary.

today, the chief executive of nhs providers talked about a hand to mouth existence for hospitals on supplies, so campbell things be true? i suppose in some ways, they can, because if the hand to mouth success can, because if the hand to mouth success mistake my existence is successful, you can argue that you have a scheme that works even if it means certain things have to arrive on certain days. but the anecdotal evidence is that in some circumstances, it is just not, saw the biggest issue so far, the government believes, with ppe, has been distribution, getting it out of central stockholding systems and into the hospitals and care homes etc that's needed. there have clearly been problems with that because we have been covering it for days now, hospitals and care homes that do not have the equipment they need. but what is also increasingly happening is we are seeing certain pieces of equipment, the most obvious one in the past few days being gowns, running out and that suggests that there is a supply

issue now becoming greater as well. so the government is trying to get more produced in the uk and more brought in from abroad, but, again, we are clearly seeing issues everyday with certain places not getting what they need and it does not seem like that is going to stop anytime soon because, as you say, the hand to mouth existence means that if something goes wrong, there isa that if something goes wrong, there is a knock—on effect. i do not think the ppe issue is going to disappear anytime soon. let's turn to testing because the government also said that yesterday 19,000 tests were done. 0ne remembers that matt hancock, the health secretary, talked about 100,000 by the end of this month, so all the couple of weeks away. we still have a huge gap, don't we? a massive gap to plug there. it is worth pointing out that there. it is worth pointing out that the capacity is actually higher than the capacity is actually higher than the number of tests being done so border is only around 20,000 tests being done every day, the government

says it does have the capacity to test around 36,000 people. bizarrely, that went down over the weekend, but we are told that as a short—term issue and consistently it is around 38,000. that is still far short of their 100,000. where i am sitting right now, it is hard to see without some big change, perhaps another testing centre or two coming on board and a number of test being made available, it is hard to see at the moment how the government is going to meet that 100,000 target. it is another area where they have just had incredible levels of pressure, promised things and so far not been able to deliver them. quick final question on the furlough scheme, a huge take—up of that on the first day, still questions about gaps in that scheme and the overall cost ultimately. the cost is going to be huge. i do not think there is any doubt about that. the calculation the government has made it it is better to basically bring a lot of people onto the state's books

and pay 80% of their wages than let mass unemployment become the norm and the economic consequences that come with that. that scheme in the uk only opened at 9am this morning. it is now half past seven in the uk. at 4pm, there had been 140,000 businesses covering more than 1 million people who had put those applications in to be furloughed. it isa applications in to be furloughed. it is a huge change to the way the economy works, it is designed to be a scheme that works until the end of may or the end ofjune now actually, it has been extended slightly. that is going to have a massive cast for the uk government and the truth is that at the moment we just do not know how high that bill is going to be at the end and ultimately how it is going to be paid for. thank you very much. a moment ago we lost the line to the united states. the death there has surpassed 40,000. we heard today's briefing by new york's governor.

let's speak now to the bbc‘s katty kay — who's in washington dc. i wanted to ask you about the contrast about the potential of a second wave and also the view of the president where in that news briefing yesterday, he described protesters urging an end to lockdown as responsible people. protesters urging an end to lockdown as responsible peoplelj protesters urging an end to lockdown as responsible people. i wish that i could say we had lost sound and it was a deliberate strategy because i am gladi was a deliberate strategy because i am glad i heard that reporting from the uk because it makes me realise the uk because it makes me realise the debate going on in italy, as we heard earlier, and the uk is the same as the one here, the conflict between needing to have a lockdown for public health and needing to try to shore up jobs and try to protect the economy. the difference here in the economy. the difference here in the united states, i think, is there isa the united states, i think, is there is a mixed message from the administration. we had the president saying yesterday, as you point out, the people having these protests are behaving responsibly, tweeting his

support for these protesters, but then we had the expert on disease saying these protests are misguided, there is a mistake if we end the lockdown to soon, we will lose all of the progress that we have made, so no of the progress that we have made, so no wonder people are confused. you know have protests going on around the country. they are not enormous, i should around the country. they are not enormous, ishould point around the country. they are not enormous, i should point out that they are dozens, perhaps hundreds of people in some places. people should not think there are thousands of americans turning out to protest against the lockdown and if you look at the opinion polls, people are still in favour of keeping the lockdown as long as necessary. there is not, according to polls, a huge push for america to open up before the country is ready to do so. having said that, in terms of all those questions about easing lockdown is, the way out of this is through testing. that is what all the medical experts are saying, softwa re the medical experts are saying, software as the us in terms of that basic building block which is tests

ready to go in place? so, this was what president trump was really pushed on yesterday at his press briefing and it has been the theme over the last couple of days ever since governors, both republican and democratic governors, have made it clear they do not think they have enough tests yet in order to open up their states. some of the states have enough tests, but they do not have enough tests, but they do not have enough tests, but they do not have enough reagent and they do not have enough reagent and they do not have enough reagent and they do not have enough swabs. it is like having a car but having no petrol or ignition key, you have to have the whole package in orderfor these tests to work and i think you will see another press briefing in another couple of hours where there will be more push on this testing because some of the official estimates are, and i have spoken to several officials over the course of the last week, some of the estimates of how test mistake make many test america needs are ten, 20 or even 100 times more than has at the moment so until they have full tests, i do not think the american public, even if the white house or

governance say they are popping up, i suspect the american public will still feel cautious. finally, donald trump speaks so much about the economy, stock markets, another big hit on the stock market when it opened earlier today. yes, well, we will see the stock market go up and down and one thing that economists are pointing to is that it is all about therapies and vaccines. this is going to be driven. the economic recovery is going to be driven by public health. we have actually seen a bit ofa public health. we have actually seen a bit of a stock market rally in the last week or so. it went down again today but i think it is all going to be around public health and no one is thinking that the recovery, the economic recovery, is going to be quick. all right, thank you very much. let's take a look at some of the other developments in the coronavirus crisis around the world: dozens of members of staff working at afg hanistan's presidential palace are reported to have tested positive for coronavirus. it comes as the number of confirmed cases in afghanistan has reached over 1000 and that

number is thought to be an under—estimate, since testing has been extremely limited. the country currently has lockdown restrictions in place and only health workers, security forces and people shopping for basic necessities are allowed onto the streets. the daily number of coronavirus deaths in spain has fallen below 400 for the first time since the world health organisation declared a global pandemic on march 11th. it's the second day running that a substantial decline in the number of daily deaths has been reported. in france, the number of deaths due to coronavirus has passed 20,000. the health ministry described it as a "symbolic" and "painful" number. there were 547 deaths in the last 24 hours. but the french government says the restrictions it has imposed are saving lives. france becomes the fourth nation after the us, italy and spain to

pass that mark of 20,000 deaths. i will be back with more headlines here injust a moment will be back with more headlines here in just a moment or two. will be back with more headlines here injust a moment or two. do not go away. hello there. the day's highest temperatures were all in shelter away from the cool easterly wind so many areas with temperatures in the warmest spots of around 18 or 19 degrees under these clear blue, sunny skies. they were widows pretty much nationwide as end extent of the day's sunshine but we saw an area of cloud affecting france are bringing parts of mystic migraine to brittany. as we go through this evening, a chance we could see the odd shower drifting into the channel islands and the isles of scilly overnight, but other where dry. not d eftly overnight, but other where dry. not deftly cold with temperatures between four and seven celsius overnight. perhaps cold enough for a

little frost in the sharper scottish valleys. tuesday, any cloud in the isles of scilly and the channel islands will move away quickly and we will be left with clear blue sunny skies, sunshine from don till dusk for the majority of us, but with easterly wins, travelling away across the cold north sea, it is across the cold north sea, it is across the cold north sea, it is across the eastern side of scotland and eastern areas of england that we will see lower temperatures with highs of around 13 to 15 degrees. not bad in the sunshine but the warmer areas further west with temperatures pushing up into the low 20s with hotspots across southern wales, the south midlands, south—west england, north—west england and northern and western counties probab not doing too badly either. high pressure still with us on wednesday but weakening a little, the gradient opening out meaning that the wins will be blowing a little bit strongly —— less strongly. as well as being a sunny date,it strongly. as well as being a sunny date, it should be a warmer day for many of us. temperatures and west of scotla nd many of us. temperatures and west of scotland reaching 18 or 19 celsius, but ina scotland reaching 18 or 19 celsius, but in a number of areas and in with

the rails, temperatures pushing on into the low 20s. they will feel warm in the sunshine and warm are given those lighter winds. thursday looks like it will be the warmest day of the week ahead, lots of sunshine, perhaps a few isolated mist and fog patches to start the day although not lasting very long at. in the sunshine, we should see temperatures pushing on to around 23, 20 four celsius in the warmest areas. another fine day 23, 20 four celsius in the warmest areas. anotherfine day coming up on friday but heading into the weekend, generally things will will offer a little bit and an outside chance of a few showers moving in for some. that is the latest weather.

this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the british government says its working around the clock to get protective equipment to front line health workers. its facing sharp criticism over its dwindling supplies. parts of europe start to open up — lockdown restrictions relaxed in several nations including germany. oil prices slump to levels not seen since the mid—1980s. it comes despite a landmark deal to cut production and boost the value. 140,000 uk firms sign up for government's job retention scheme — the chancellor says it will save more than a million staff members from redundancy.

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. more now on the challenges being faced around the world by heath services, and their workers, as they treat coronavirus patients. we're about to hear the experience from both sides of the atlantic. in a few minutes we'll hear from a doctor working in michigan, but before that, a special report from inside university hospital wishaw, part of nhs lanarkshire, from our correspondent ed thomas and camera operator phil edwards:(vt she's been unwell for about a week now. she's a carer who works with other cases in the community. look beyond the daily statistics. these are the lives changed forever. that's you completely breathing on your own. listen, i'm a lucky one. i'm seeing my family tomorrow.

from those trying to save the sickest. we've had three deaths which has totally floored the staff today. it's probably the most amount of death in one shift that we've had so far. to the eldest, most vulnerable, and the youngest. the last thing you want to hear when you pick up the phone is your baby has got coronavirus. hospital life has been transformed. normally it's full of parents all day. all day, all night, so it's difficult. mums and dads of babies kept in for observation can only visit for an hour a day. what was it like being away from your baby for 15 nights? i couldn't sleep. it was so hard. but these babies are never alone, receiving constant care. what have the nurses and doctors been like here?

honest to god, they have been, they've been amazing. they deserve a medal, every one of them. to contain the virus, the maternity ward is now divided. no one is allowed in. it's to isolate coronavirus right there. peyton is three weeks old and has the virus. i can't thank them enough for what they've done for her. she's always watched over. definitely privileged to have such a great team behind her, cheering heron. they've been brilliant. when you got your phone call saying your baby has got coronavirus, that's the worst thing, i can only imagine, but wejust need to power through and provide the best care we can give at this horrible time. tracy has now taken the decision to isolate with her baby. obviously staff, the now, are absolutely risking their life by looking after her. and let's not forget that. as cute and beautiful as she is, she has tested positive, so the staff that are handling her,

they are being put at risk. consultants now triage patients arriving at a&e. what we're doing in the front row is splitting patients. if they are possible covid coming in one entrance. we've kind of split them from the start. with separate paths throughout the hospital. suspected covid—19. all are seen quickly. she's been unwell for about a week now. and are you in painjust now, lyn? ijust feel really sore, quite breathless and very, very, very tired. week after week, lyn has been in and out of homes working as a carer. i work in the community. i've been on the covid—19 team. home care. we've been working really hard just to help the vulnerable stay in their own homes rather than... because the hospital staff don't have the space for them, so... i don't know whether

we're really appreciated. she's away, she's got her prescription. injust weeks, the hospital has created three specialist wards for coronavirus patients. terrifying, terrifying. i am indebted to the nurses and the doctors. i trusted them all, without doubt. without doubt. they're working in an environment that they've never worked in before and to get the results they're getting, it's unbelievable. and it's here, the icu, where staff face to the greatest uncertainties. how intense has it been? it's been overwhelming, to say the least. the staff have felt completely overwhelmed. some patients are spending up to three weeks here. you are, in fact, theirfamily, because you're the only person that's here visiting them, so the staff are finding it really difficult. they're bereft when people are dying.

in the time we were here, there was no reprieve. u nfortu nately, we've had three deaths, which has totally floored the staff today. injust weeks, this intensive care unit has quadrupled capacity. you think we're getting to grips with this and then you get another onslaught of admissions again, so every day, you think, "today will be a better day." the better day never, ever comes. the concern for andrea is how long they can keep going. everybody‘s working more than their normal working hours and everybody‘s willing to do thatjust now and my main worry as the ward manager is how long can staff sustain that? there is going to come a point where staff are going to have burned themselves out. but this is what sustains them. after 12 days in intensive care... amazing. guy heath is getting stronger. made me feel absolutely helpless.

have you ever felt like this before ever with any illness? bagpipes playing amazing grace and every thursday, our country echoes to the sound of thanks. thanks to the physiotherapists working 12—hour nursing shifts in intensive care, the nurse living apart to protect her three—year—old daughter. that's you breathing completely on your own now. so kenny can finally breathe unaided. i love them all and thank you for all the support that they've given me since i've been in here.

and once again, guy can be with his family. thomas with that snapshot of what it is like on the front line for health workers in the front line. let's go back to the us now, which is still recording covid—19 figures that dwarf any other nation. in states with big cities, hospitals are being overwhelmed, and healthcare workers have raised concerns about shortages of critical medical supplies, including personal protective equipment, ventilators, and testing swabs. in some cases, there are questions around how to ration access to critical care beds and ventilators should resources fall short. dr may—lan han is a doctor at the university of michigan and a spokesperson for the american lung association — she began by telling me what life is like for healthcare workers on the frontline in the us. it's incredibly stressful for all of our physicians worrying about their

patients or whether they will have enough protective equipment, and whether we will have enough supplies like ventilators to care for patients. i've never seen a health ca re system patients. i've never seen a health care system this stressed. all doctors in their careers will have dealt with harrowing cases, is this different because it is so relentless and so often the outcomes are so relentless and so often the outcomes are so bleak? i think absolutely different. just because of the sheer volume, the seriousness of the illness and how ill—equipped we were asa illness and how ill—equipped we were as a health system and in terms of preparedness to profess this. as a health system and in terms of preparedness to profess thism terms of the human level what it's like to know your husband works in a community hospital, are you able to talk to him at the end of the day about what you have gone through or do you deliberately avoid talking about it? having to health care workers in the family that's almost impossible not to be talking about it constantly. i worry a little bit

about my kindergartners son and trying to shield him a little bit from it. but it is relentless. in terms of the equipment in the preparedness you were touching upon everything from ventilators to tests you told our producer that it felt like 50 little countries in the united states fighting for those supplies, tell me more about that particular attention. unfortunately we don't have a good centralised supply chain here in the united states, so every state has been essentially charged with fending for themselves to get access to testing supplies and each hospital system is also faced with that same challenge, the governors are doing the best they can in the health care system is doing the best they can, but it's really a fortune in my opinion that we don't have a centralised way of resources when they need the most. you say they are doing the best they can, where does that leave you?

whatever their efforts what is it like on the ground with his basic building blocks? to certain areas that don't have enough supply. the university of michigan did have enough ventilators, but we are running short on personal protective equipment. it was never developed that it will be recycled. and we short on swabs and rationing the testing ever want to get ahead of this want to beat this and get back to normal we will need to expand testing way beyond what we are currently doing. i will come back to testing but in terms of what you are saying about recycling equipment how scary is that? given what you know medically about what's supposed to be the usage to have to reuse it, what is that like going into work doing that? it's incredibly frightening for many of us. doing

our best to trust the system and telling us that everything that's been tested and that everything is 0k. been tested and that everything is ok. you might colleagues are feeling the stress from this. university of michigan talking to me just a short while ago. now for the first time ever, the price of us oil has fallen below zero. it means sellers have to pay buyers to take the oil futures. the price of us oilfor may delivery is now below minus eight dollars a barrel. demand has collapsed because of coronavirus lockdowns. the oil price has plunged despite a landmark deal this month to cut world output. but what is behind the negative prices? let's speak now to amrita sen — chief oil analyst at energy aspects consultancy. welcome here to the programme. it is staggering to read that oil prices are in negative territory. just expendable but more about how we have ended up there.|j

expendable but more about how we have ended up there. i do think we need to put this into context, i don't think global prices are in negative territory, that's the price thatis negative territory, that's the price that is still in the 20s. this is very specific to us oil, infrastructure constrained. setting the signal that there will be no storage available for wti which is a us benchmark in may, because we are effectively up storage around the world and particularly the delivery point for wti. that's why they have gone negative, it's paying you to just not send the oil. it is also financial issues over here that gets quite complicated, a lot of retail investors have bought the oil contract thinking it is too cheap and now ahead of expiry they need to sell out of it to buy the next contract. it's very much to do with infrastructure constraints wasn't anything else. you talk to but the storage facility problems and the struggles there. practically what will then happen to the oil? once

you run out of storage with this is exactly what happens. prices go to crazy territory, they apparently settled at —$37, and never seen this before in the history of the market. it's saying just shut down production right now. globally we think in the next few weeks we will hit tank tops everywhere which is from the very next moment supply has to be on demand because there's no other place to put the oil. prices will be very low in supply will be forced to shut until it equates to demand. we had the deal to cut production with russia, has that not alleviated the situation or is it still to work through? that will alleviate the situation, but they only start from may and the demand drop is right now. it's going to ta ke drop is right now. it's going to take time, but also the volume they have cut by close to 10 million barrels per day is nowhere close to

the demand loss which is close to 30 million barrels a day. given all this quick turnaround with oil it probably does not and it's of the coronavirus and we get past that and who knows when that will actually be. what can producers actually do in the intervening time? not very much, really. as you say it's demand that's driving the coronavirus, it depends on the trajectory and recovery that will be very gradual. evenif recovery that will be very gradual. even if prices don't recover we don't see a lot of upside much beyond $30. this could be a lot of pressure on producers. every bleak scenario for all of this producers, there we believe about thanks very much for now. millions of people in india

have been allowed to go back to work from today, as individual states are given the power to ease lockdown restrictions. the relaxation is most likely to be implemented in rural areas, where there have been very few confirmed cases of covid—19 and it comes amid growing concerns about food shortages. delhi, punjab and tamil nadu all are refusing to lift the lockdown. the bbc‘s yogita limaye in mumbai explained why some places are easing restrictions. last week when prime minister modi had announced that the shutdown would be extended up to the 3rd of may, he had also said that his government would look at areas and sectors where perhaps some of the restrictions could be eased with a view to reduce the economic distress that the lockdown is causing. so the areas that have seen that happening today are largely rural parts of the country, not very densely populated and where there have so far not been any confirmed cases of coronavirus. farming, fishing, dairy activities have all been allowed to resume,

work on plantations, any work for public utilities like constructions of roads, laying of sewer lines, any of these in these green zones, as the government are calling them, so areas where there have been no confirmed cases of coronavirus so far, these activities have been allowed to begin. also up until now, transport between the different states in india was not allowed, but now lorries that are carrying produce, agricultural produce from one state to the other will be allowed to move and, as you said, partly it is because india does not want to have food shortages, but it is also partly to try and keep in employment at least some dayly wage earners. of course, millions of them are stuck in coronavirus hotspots which are largely cities in india like mumbai, delhi and for them, each day is a struggle. the uk—based airline virgin atlantic has been hit hard by the covid—19lockdown.

in an open letter to staff, the virgin group boss sir richard branson said he was asking for a commercial loan from the uk government, but he's been criticised for appealing to the taxpayer rather than drawing on his own fortune. it comes as poland and denmark announce that they‘ re excluding companies that are registered in tax havens from bailout schemes. robert palmer is the executive director of taxjustice uk — hejoins me now. so what do you make of that? should the bailouts include the likes of richard branson with his personal wealth, or is that the wrong way to look at this? i think the problem is that you have companies, not in a socially talking about version here but companies that have dodge their obligations in the good times, and are now coming to the taxpayer asking for a bailout when things get tough. and this is really difficult. we live in a society where we all

need to contribute and get things back. and i think people are really angry and feeling big—company stage of the obligations whether that comes to paying tax, or treating their workers fairly and now suddenly asking for help from the government. a lot would depend on the definition of you saying dodging tax, because we know that tax internationally is a complicated arena, and the companies we are talking about in these discussions are doing nothing that is illegal. so you've got a basic problem there. i think you have companies thatjump through as many hoops as they possibly can to slash their tax rate, and now asking for a bailout. but a lot of this behaviour is legal. so what we would really like to see is much better discussion around how do we tax big companies? how do we ensure that companies their wealthy individuals are paying their wealthy individuals are paying

their way? how do we feel that they have faith in the way that our tax system works? ultimately talking about bailouts now, but in the long term we need to be thinking after the crisis, how to can we fix our tax system so that we cannot, we don't allow big companies and wealthy individuals to stash their money offshore to lower their tax rates to not contribute in the way that all of us are. polluted denmark about excluding certain groups from many of their bailouts. —— poland and denmark. if you take a hard line on those positions ultimately if those companies go to the wall thousands of individual workers will be affected. and left high and dry. and governments have to be flexible. if companies are coming to them like a virgin is and asking for really big bailout that bailout needs to come with decent conditions. one of those conditions should be around to

tax, andi those conditions should be around to tax, and i think the prime minister said that in 2008 with the financial crisis we bailed out the banks and not the people and this time we need to bail out the people first. we cannot have a situation where big companies are able to keep going and not contributing properly to the services that all of us rely on. and they are now relying on when things get tough. we have run out of time but thanks so much for your time. the former uk chancellor of the exchequer, philip hammond, has said tonight that government interventions for business affected by the coronavirus must be short term, and it's ‘very important that we are not intimidated into silence on the economic implications and consequences of this health crisis.‘ he says there would come a point where people will start to be concerned about the economic implications. our economy will be different after this crisis and there will need to be restructuring and the government will have to be prepared to tell people that the high levels of support

that are currently being provided cannot be provided forever and they cannot prevent an essential restructuring as businesses that have become non—viable half to fail and jobs that have become non—viable have to go and that point will come and i think it's probably more of a political challenge than a fiscal challenge because we can't keep the economy shut for long periods of time and in the short—term, what the government is doing is perfectly sustainable and manageable although we shouldn't delude ourselves that it will have a consequence in the longer term. there will be less fiscal capacity available for some of those laudable objectives that this government set out, was it really only five or six weeks ago in the budget?

campaigners say the coronavirus crisis is creating an unprecedented national emergency for mental health which could go on for years. charities say helplines are dealing with an overwhelming increase in calls with millions of people also downloading advice from websites offering support. jon kay reports. another day over. but we face more weeks of lockdown. the aim is to protect our bodies, but what's the impact on our minds? along the bristol channel we found people only too aware of the strain on mental health. it's just too aware of the strain on mental health. it'sjust the fear too aware of the strain on mental health. it's just the fear of you getting at, or a loved one getting it, yeah, it's hard to even talk about it. just loneliness, i think. i think that lack ofjust not being able to have face—to—face

conversations is a really big deal. i'm not sleeping that well put it that way. just feel totally useless. what can you do? you've just got to try and pick yourself up, i think. keep yourself motivated and doing stuff. if you just sit there and watch tv it will grind you down. you spoken to some of the uk prospect mental health charities. some of them help veterans and other support young families or people with financial problems. they've all told us financial problems. they've all told us there's been an unprecedented increase in demand for help over the last month. whether it is grief or anxiety, isolation or loss of control, charities say people of all ages and all backgrounds are asking for support. many of them have never thought of themselves having mental health problems before. somehow clients are getting 50% more calls than usual. two thirds of people are

turning to a saner mental health is worse in the last two weeks and we think it's the start of the assignment people are beginning to really struggle with their mental health. alone time for me is quite frankly hello. then blogs about his battle with alcohol, he says not being able to attend meetings right now is putting his recovery at risk. i would give anything to be able to walk into an aa room tomorrow full of people in my situation and just share our pain at the moment. and without that opportunity how tough are things? incredibly. without connection you feel, i like to think i won't drink, but i honestly cannot say. have to put my head on the pillow every night and say that's another battle won and that's another battle won and that's another day over. campaigners feel this is triggering a mental health emergency needing more support than ever before and lasting four years

after lockdown is over. that's it, you're up—to—date with the main developments. thanks for watching, next up its outside source. hello there. the day possible high temperatures were all in shelter away from the school easterly winds. southern england did quite well whales and parts of northwest england. all of these receptor bridges in the warmest parts were 18 or19 bridges in the warmest parts were 18 or 19 degrees. a clear blue sunny skies with us pretty much nationwide. as the extent of the day sunshine. we did to this area of cloud affecting northwest france and bringing a little bit of rain to parts of britain. as we go through this evening is a chance we could see an odd shower creeping into the channel islands overnight but otherwise it's a dry night. not desperately cold and temperatures four to seven celsius overnight. perhaps cold enough for a nip of

frost. any cloud in the aisles and the channel islands move away pretty quickly. sunshine in dawn till dusk for the vast majority of us, again with those easterly winds travelling the way across the north sea it's across the eastern side of scotland and eastern areas of england with the lower temperatures. highs of around 13 to 15 degrees. not feeling that in the sunshine, but the warmest weather will be for the rest again. should the temperatures into the low 20s with the hotspot to get across other whales, southwest midlands, southwest and northwest england and northern ireland and western counties not doing too bad the other. on into wednesday it will be weakening a little bit, pressure gradient opening out that it meets the winds will be blowing a little bit less strongly. wednesday and so is being a sunny day should be a warmer day for many of us, temperatures in western scotland reaching around 18 or 19 celsius. but ina reaching around 18 or 19 celsius. but in a number of areas we will see

temperatures pushing on into the low 20s. the will feel warm and the sunshine and warm given those letter wins. thursday looks like the warmest day of the week ahead, again lots of sunshine and perhaps a few isolated mist and fog patches to start the day although not lasting very long at all. in the sun change seat temperatures pushing onto around 23 or 24 celsius in the warmest areas. another fine day coming up on friday but heading into the weekend generally things will cool off a little bit with more clout in the sky and an outside chance of a few showers moving into some. that's your latest weather.

this is outside source on bbc news for viewers in the uk and around the world. we're covering all the latest coronavirus developments here in britain and globally. the british government is forced on to the backfoot — concerns over the supply of protective equipment for hospital workers. we work in the nhs because we want to help patients, we want to treat patients. and we never expected we'd be putting our own health at risk by doing that. signs of normality as a number of european countries, including germany, start opening up for business. but in the us, oil prices have

slumped to levels not seen