hello, how are you? this is victoria derbyshire with you on bbc news, with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. three days after it was promised, an raf planeload of protective equipment, for frontline workers, arrives in the uk from turkey. the uk's care minister explains why it was delayed. you're in a situation where there is the global shortage and factories around the world are making ppe as fast as they can. what we've seen, whether it's with this delivery or previous deliveries, is sometimes they get delayed — sometimes they don't turn up. it comes as the uk government faces fresh questions over an eu scheme, to source medical equipment for staff. spain's prime minister asks parliament to extend the country's state of emergency until may, and warns that easing restrictions must be done extremely carefully.

the un warns the coronavirus pandemic could almost double the number of people suffering from acute hunger. more details on president trump's plan to temporarily halt immigration into the united states — he says restrictions will last for at least 60 days. and — for many of us in lockdown, exercising outdoors offers a chance to clear the cobwebs, but we'll be asking, how safe is it? hello. also today, we're going to talk to british companies who say they can help with sourcing and distributing ppe — that's coming up in 15 minutes. but first, an raf plane carrying personal protective equipment for nhs workers has arrived in the uk.

the shipment from turkey, including 400,000 surgical gowns, arrived in the early hours of the morning. it had orginally been due to arrive on sunday but suffered a series of delays. meanwhile, the british government is facing more questions over the confusion overjoining an eu scheme to bulk buy potentially life—saving medical equipment. ministers have insisted it didn't happen due to communication problems — and wasn't a political decision. in westminster, the new labour leader sir keir starmer will get his first chance to challenge the government at prime minister's questions. only a limited number of mps will be allowed in the house of commons because of social distancing, and others will dial in via zoom. elsewhere in the world, the spanish parliament is deciding whether to extend its national lockdown for another two weeks. the country has had one of the higest rates of covid—19 infections, but the number of daily deaths has fallen. and the un's world food programme has warned

there could be famines of "biblical proportions" because of the coronavirus outbreak, estimating the number of people going hungry could double to more than 250 million. it comes as the uk ramps up the hunt for a vaccine with human trials due to begin in oxford tomorrow. andy moore has this report. here at last, the raf plane loaded with personal protective equipment that's so desperately needed in the uk. it's part of an 80—tonne shipment that's said to include 400,000 gowns, one of the items in shortest supply. ministers said this flight was due to arrive on sunday. nobody has been able to give a clear reason as to why it was delayed. just some of the thousands of people who have died with coronavirus. in fact, figures from the office for national statistics revealed deaths in england and wales at a 20—year high. the daily figures for hospital deaths showed 823 fatalities

reported yesterday, bringing the total to 17,337. it's now believed a peak of hospital deaths was on april the 8th. so, the worst of the first wave may be over but vaccines will be needed to stop the virus spreading again. there's hope on the horizon from two trials in this country. the vaccine from the oxford project will be trialled in people from this thursday. in normal times, reaching this stage would take years. and i'm very proud of the work taken so far. at the same time, we'll invest in manufacturing capability so that if either of these vaccines safely works, then we can make it available for the british people as soon as humanly possible. but the uk is still struggling to source personal protective equipment made here. this car parts maker in nottinghamshire is

i don't understand why it's so difficult for people to be getting in touch with companies like ours to make the products here in the uk. the ppe loaded in istanbul should be on its way to its various destinations as soon as possible. it will no doubt be much appreciated but more, much more, is desperately needed. andy moore, bbc news. let's speak to our assistant political editor norman smith. you have some new figures for us on ca re you have some new figures for us on care homes and testing? yes, i think this is going to compound a lot of the disquiet about what is happening in care homes because the national care forum which represents charity care homes have done a survey of their members to find out exactly what sort of testing is going on. for staff and residents because you remember last week matt hancock said he would provide testing for everyone in a ca re provide testing for everyone in a care home who displayed symptoms of

coronavirus. they have done a survey of their members that they have found out that 75% of those care home staff who have put up their hands and said, yes, i have a problem, had still not been tested. 7596. problem, had still not been tested. 75%. the problem seems to be the fa ct 75%. the problem seems to be the fact that these drive—through testing centres are miles away. they say, on average, care staff are being expected to do a round trip of wait for it... 62 miles. 62 miles to get one of these drive—through centres. never mind the fact that many of them are obviously lower paid, having to rely on public transport. at the end result is we have a situation where many care staff are either having to remain at home and self—isolate themselves because they are displaying symptoms and can be tested or, worse still, who knows, some may be even carrying on working and risk infecting other

staff and, crucially, residents. this, of course, after we had the figures yesterday from the 0ns saying that terrible increase in ca re saying that terrible increase in care home deaths, up fourfold in a week. so i think there is really going to be enormous pressure to try and geta going to be enormous pressure to try and get a grip on what is happening in care homes. interestingly, we heard from the care minister this morning, who is now saying that the government is going to look at providing mobile testing units. that would be a massive step forward, obviously, if mobile testing units could actually drive up to cairns i'd staff could pop out and be tested. but i get the feeling we are very much in the beginning of that. they are also talking about home testing, sending out testing kits to ca re testing, sending out testing kits to care staff is matt holmes. but where we are at the moment, a clear majority, according to this survey, of care home staff who have coronavirus or suspected coronavirus are still not getting tested.

cani are still not getting tested. can ijust are still not getting tested. can i just put are still not getting tested. can ijust put this to, nor men, this has just can ijust put this to, nor men, this hasjust come in can ijust put this to, nor men, this has just come in from can ijust put this to, nor men, this hasjust come in from our colleague in brussels, gavin lee. it's about the eu procurement scheme and we yesterday a senior civil servant said the uk's decision to stay out of the joint eu scheme was a political decision. he later retracted that after he was contradicted by the health secretary, matt hancock. so the eu has got fourjoint secretary, matt hancock. so the eu has got four joint procurement agreements, four schemes. the first two are for ppe. the third is for ventilators and the fourth is for mostly testing kits. the eu commission hasjust mostly testing kits. the eu commission has just confirmed that the uk isn't involved in any of them and they say has not officially requested to be involved in any of them. imean, them. i mean, it's extraordinary, if true. i say that because, as i understand it, there are different sort of

phases of this that have been launched. although there are four different tiers in that programme relating to ppe equipment, test kits, ventilators and so on, the we re kits, ventilators and so on, the were to be got from the government that was the second programme, whether it is entirely distinct to that first programme, the second programme we are part of. at that second programme, as i understand it, is predominantly focused on vaccines and antiviral drugs, where we are in a much better position. we are probably world leaders when it comes to vaccines. so that is not so helpful to us. we are in difficulties over ppe. they shall answer, we will have to get to the bottom of it but if it is genuinely the case that we are not part of any of the eu programmes, then that would contradict what matt hancock said yesterday at the news conference in response to my colleague, laura kuenssberg, when he

said very categorically that they we re said very categorically that they were now part of an eu scheme. my instinct is there are probably different schemes and we may not be pa rt different schemes and we may not be part of that initial scheme but we may be part of a subsequent scheme but we will have to delve into this. iam sure but we will have to delve into this. i am sure it will come up at pmqs as well today for some thank you, norman. thank you. scotland's first minister nicola sturgeon says there have been a further 12 deaths of people who had tested positive with coronavirus. in total, 915 people who had tested positive have now died. 263 people have tested positive for the virus in the past 2a hours. that brings the total number of positive cases to 8450. last night, there were 1809 people in hospital with either confirmed or suspected covid—i9. 169 of those were in intensive care. that's five fewer than yesterday. the spanish parliament is deciding

whether to extend its national lockdown for a further two weeks. spain has one of the highest rates of covid—19 infections in the world but the number of daily deaths has fallen. spain's prime minister, pedro sanchez, wants to extend the lockdown until the 9th of may and warned that any easing of restrictions needs to be done extremely carefully. translation: in the last few days, we've seen some positive steps in spain which shows that we are flattening the curve of contagion. as the health minister said, we have overcome the critical moment, in relation to the spread of the virus. 0ur health system has resisted and the amount of people who have recovered is cause for hope, but now it's not the time to lower our guard. 0ur correspondent guy hedgecoe is in madrid and explained more about what the prime minister is proposing. as of the 10th of may, when the next, this extension to the lockdown ends, he hopes to start what he calls a de—escalation of the lockdown, which has been in place

since the middle of march. a de—escalation will be the lifting of restrictions. we don't know what those lifting of those restrictions would be exactly. first of all, he has to get approval from parliament today in a vote for this extension of the lockdown. another two weeks until the middle of may. we believe he will get that. also, we have seen one or two lifting, incidents of lifting of restrictions already. as of sunday, children will be allowed to go out onto the street and take short walks with their parents — something which they haven't been able to do for the last five and a half weeks. last week, we saw some industries return to work. so, that's been the beginning of the lifting of restrictions, but we're likely to see a lot more of that in the second half of may. we have just had the figures in from spain, as we do at this time every day, which tell us the number of people that have died from coronavirus. the death toll in spain has now risen to 21,717. that is up

from 21,282 on the day before that. that just in from from 21,282 on the day before that. thatjust in from the health ministry. so in the last 24 hours or so, a further 500 people have died of coronavirus in spain. the headlines on bbc news... three days after it was promised, an raf planeload of protective equipment, for front line workers, arrives in the uk from turkey. it comes as the uk government faces fresh questions over an eu scheme, to source medical equipment for staff. spain's prime minister asks parliament to extend the country's state of emergency until may, and warns that easing restrictions must be done extremely carefully. the un's world food programme has warned of famines "of biblical proporations" because of the coronavirus outbreak. the agency estimates the number of people going hungry could double to more than 250 million. even before the pandemic hit,

parts of east africa and south asia were already facing severe food shortages caused by drought and the worst locust infestations for decades. here's our chief international correspondent, lyse doucet. queues in a kabul lockdown. not for medicine to fight the virus, four sacks of wheat to fight hunger. the poorest now deprived of daily rate to survive. translation: no one would help you if you stay home, this lady says. i cried for the last two to three days. whoever talks to me, it makes me cry. i don't know what to say. millions more people around the world now need food aid fast. the wfp is warning of a global hunger pandemic. this airdrop is for the starving in south sudan. there is social distancing here.

but few other defences in poor countries torn by war. the un security council met virtually to hear how bad it could get. when it ended, the head of the wfp told us of his worst fears. if we lose our funding, or lose supply chain access, we're talking about 30 million people, literally over a few months could die. that's without putting the new numbers of covid on top of that. so, we are literally looking at biblical proportions of famine, the possibility in anywhere from ten to 36 countries. what do you say to donors who say, they would want to help the world's poor but there are hungry people in our own countries so we cannot help you now? you know, i haven't had a donor yet say, we are turning our back on these vulnerable people. they all say, we're going to do everything we can. of course, they've got to stimulate their economies, do what they can and

let's see what happens. understand that in many places, if we have chaos and destabilisation, you could have migration by necessity, you could have destabilisation by extremist groups, you'll end up paying for it one way or another. in yemen, no lockdown yet. millions here already a step away from starvation. to reach them, the un also says it needs a ceasefire. for all sides to fight the common enemy. in syria, too, war takes its toll. in this poor neighbourhood, they queue for wfp aid. like millions around the world, if they don't receive this daily bread, there is nothing to eat. lyse doucet, bbc news. the eu commission has confirmed that the uk is not involved in any of the eu's joint procurement agreement schemes and has not officially requested to be involved in any of them, despite being "repeatedly invited" by the eu to do so. gavin lee is in brussels.

fill us in. there are four schemes as part of what is called the eu joint procurement agreements in step two are related to personal protective equipment. the third is to do with ventilators and bulk buying ventilators across europe. the fourth is to do with things like testing and equipment for laboratory tests. the first meeting, the european commission said, was in january, days before brexit was due to happen. and before the transition period was to start but there wasn't a single british representative at that meeting the stuff they had several meetings after that over the course of the following months up until the 17th of march. eu officials say british representation was there some other time. on the 17th of march, this policy for this joint bulk buying programme is launched, whereby each member state

would look for suppliers internationally and send out a tender process and it was fast tracked, the eu took ten days to coordinate this. by early april, roughly got most of the supplies in place. i'm not given a lump sum, we're told its hundreds of millions well. there are still some supplies being sought. it is notjust the eu, norway, lichtenstein and i slow down some of the balkan countries as well i'm told britain didn't request to be part of any of those programmes, isn't part of any of those programmes are now cannot be. the boat has passed on that. they have missed it. if they want to take part ina new missed it. if they want to take part in a new procurement programme for other things, for example medicines, there are ongoing discussions. they are quite clear, they were invited and sometimes they didn't turn up and sometimes they didn't turn up and they didn't take part. thank you very much, gavin. gavin lee brussels. there has been a lot of debate about how well certain countries are tackling the coronavirus pandemic compared with others. infection, death and testing rates

have come under scrutiny as countries take different approaches to fighting the virus. but how useful are these international comparisons and are we really measuring the same things? the bbc‘s reality check correspondent chris morris is here. chris tell us more. comparisons are really difficult. you have to make sure the numbers are the same, comparing like with like and then the epidemiology, or the other factors surrounding the disease have to be taken into account. if we look at the numbers first, the numbers dying. if you ta ke first, the numbers dying. if you take the united states, for example. it has by far the largest number of deaths in the world. its population is 330 million. the number of deaths as of april 20 was just over 40 million. so it is an awful lot of people. if you then take the five biggest countries in western europe, the uk, france, spain, italy and germany, their population is more or less at the same as the united states to stop 320 million. but the number of deaths if you put them together from those five countries,

more than 85 million... more than 85,000, twice as much as the united states. it's a reminder, number one when we compare countries, the virus doesn't respect international borders. then you need to think about death rates, where are more people dying per head of population pressure but this is the graph the uk government puts out every day. you can say, how many people have died per head of population, per million, for example? what this graph does, what a lot of people are doing, in the small print at the top it starts from the day in which each country has reported 50 deaths. it tries to have a baseline from which to begin. but again, there are problems with that because any country which started earlier in the pandemic is likely to have had less time to prepare. if the pandemic arrived in your country later, maybe you have had a bit more time to prepare. right at the bottom there is china, of course. it has a population of 1.5 billion. if it's numbers are accurate, it has phenomenally low death rates but do

we know if the data is accurate? we don't because it's an authoritarian country with no independent check on statistics. so there's all sorts of things you have to take into account when you are trying to compare like with like. before we move on, you said the deaths in the us were 40 million, you meant 40,000? yes, indeed. what else do you have to ta ke indeed. what else do you have to take into account when making these comparisons? a lot of the things, the epidemiology, the factors surrounding the disease. one of them, for example, is the state of your population, what it looks like. the density of population is important because obviously if social distancing is critical, then in cities it's much more difficult to do that. there have been a lot of comparisons made between the uk and ireland, for example. but ireland doesn't have a global city like london. then there are things like cultural attitudes to distancing. some countries, they are much more

liable to have people living in closer proximity. and age is really important as well. if you compare for example europe and africa, it's a bit difficult because africa has a much younger population and we know covid—19 affects the older people disproportionately. 0n the other hand, help systems, we know health systems in europe are, on the main, better than africa, said that bush is at the other way. what is your capacity, how easy is it to get to hospital, do you have to pay for any treatment? all these things need to be taken into account when you are trying to compare two different countries. so, we have to be really cautious when we are comparing countries? we have to be really cautious. the one thing that seems to be clear is testing, in terms of comparisons. those countries that tested early and then traced the contacts of the people they found to be positive, countries like germany and south korea, so far have kept the number of deaths much lower. countries like italy in the uk have only really started trying to do mass testing when the pandemic has already arrived and that doesn't appear to

be as successful. you also have to think when you are talking about testing, some countries when they put out numbers for testing are talking about the number of people tested. 0ther talking about the number of people tested. other countries are talking about the number of tests done and thatis about the number of tests done and that is an important difference because some people need to be tested more than once. some people many times to get an accurate result. 0verall, are we comparing like with like and what are the other conditions around it? it's only really when this pandemic is over that we can make accurate comparisons may be learn lessons for the future. thank you very much, chris. let's bring you this breaking news. it is from kent. the police say they were called this morning to a disturbance at a flat in chatham. members of the public reported seeing a man on the balcony with weapons and armed officers are at the scene. got a little more information now... there with me. this was an incident in chatham. a

police helicopter has been deployed. a man in his 30s has been arrested on suspicion of firearms possession. officers have located four suspected imitation firearms, they say, as pa rt imitation firearms, they say, as part of their enquiries. kent police saying there was a disturbance in chatham this morning. charlotte rose is here, i think you can fill us in with somebody to? these details, as you say, are just emerging. with somebody to? these details, as you say, arejust emerging. it with somebody to? these details, as you say, are just emerging. it seems after 8:30am this morning, kent police were called to doc head road in chatham. that area is an area with shops, restaurants, normally would be quite busy and thriving but at the moment very quiet because of the lockdown. there is a large block of flats, around 30 stories high, at the back of that development, which is near to the medway tunnel. the

medway tunnel has been closed in both directions because of this incident. we know that police were called after members of the public said that they had seen a man on a balcony with firearms and other weapons. he was seen balcony with firearms and other weapons. he was seen to be shooting those into the air. armed police then attended and it seems they have now apprehended a man. they say they have arrested a man in his 30s on suspicion of firearms offences. they also deployed the police helicopter and they say that patrols remain on the scene and they have located four suspected imitation firearms. an eyewitness called sandra, who spoke to the bbc, said that she was going to the bbc, said that she was going to work at the capnext mega range, a shop on dock head. she heard shouting and gun shots as she was about to go in the shop. she said she saw a man standing on the balcony with a rifle and possibly other weapons. she ran inside the

shop and immediately called the police. she says that as she stood inside the shop looking up towards the block of flats, she could see a man on the top floor on a balcony firing into the air with sparks coming from those weapons. she said she saw armed police entering the block, going up to the balcony and apprehending the man. she could see ca rs apprehending the man. she could see cars attending, all of the police in attendance where armed officers wearing full riot gear. thank you very much, charlotte. charlotte rose reporting. as we've been hearing, the uk government has said some supplies of protective equipment are still "very tight" for front line health staff tackling the coronavirus crisis but the government is working "really hard" to ease shortages. helen whateley is the care minister, she explained why the delivery of ppe from turkey was delayed by several days. i'm really, really worried about deaths in care homes the reality of importing ppe at the moment is you are in a situation

where there is a global shortage and factories around the world are making ppe as fast as they can. but what we've seen, whether it's with this delivery or previous deliveries, is sometimes they get delayed. sometimes they don't turn up. one reason why we face a shortage of sub—deliveries is they haven't arrived. the important thing therefore is we are working to secure an excess of supply, to make sure that we have more than we need, or at least what we need, because it is so important, to come back to health and care workers, that they have the equipment they need for their own safety and also for the safety of people they look after. with me isjon tolley from printers prime group which says it has capacity to make 1 million ppe kits. and by volker schuster, who owns chemicals firm ecologix and says he offered the government ten milloin mid—level protection masks for medics.

i'm alsojoined by mr schuster‘s local mp, labour's bill esterson. gentlemen, good morning. jon, what we're trying to do for the nhs? we have been making ppe visors for the nhs as quickly as we can, essentially. and did you get in touch with the british government to say you had these and they were available anywhere up for doing it? yes, absolutely. we did that fairly early on in the process. i appreciate that it an enormous task right now for them to coordinate all the supplies, but we did that very, very early on in the process. trying to get our details in front of the right people to make decisions we needed to continue to manufacture. how early was that, do you remember the date? yeah, that was towards the

end of... about a month ago now, towards the end of march. and what happened? we got automated responses for quite a long time. got pushed to their portal website, which we completed on numerous occasions. we went for british standards ce certification just to ease the red tape process, if you like, and achieved that. applied again and we heard nothing for at least a month, until we heard from them recently. just to be told we are put in a portal and we will get back to you. so far, to date, we have not heard anything from central government. and what you think about that? it's difficult. you know, as the uk manufacturing can react and respond,

as we have done. all we want to do is help and get ppe visors to those who need it most. we know that our visors are needed. we know they are loved by those that are using them, but to have the reassurance is the most important thing, to say, yes, we wa nt most important thing, to say, yes, we want them or no, we don't and we have enough. but to see stocks coming in from china at the moment, when there are manufacturers in the uk that are equally as capable and more than willing to help is... it's hard. so to have that stock underwritten, the raw materials, as was mentioned earlier on your call, is the critical thing, getting hold of raw materials right now for any product which is related to ppe globally is extremely difficult. we had to do that very early on in march, to secure volume. we have to

do the same to secure volume for june. half of the well plasma stock forjune has already gone. we need to secure that, really. the only way of doing that right now is to pay for their out of our own cash flow. so it's important that we get some decisions on what is needed. and if it's needed, more importantly, to tell us that yes, we are ok to proceed and get on with it, basically. let me bring in volker, what were you offering to the nhs, what were you offering to the nhs, what can you offer? i had been offering 10 million masks which i had been offered by a contact in germany in collaboration with swiss supplier, they had pre—booked production and delivery slots, and i was offered that through a chain of contacts, people who have worked with each other for many years. and have you had an order now from the british

government? no, i sent an e-mail, i cold on 26th of march, cold the department of health, i called on the department of health, i was told to send an e—mail which i did, i got an automated response saying i should fill in a form, which i did, the delivery was the following week, tuesday or wednesday, they were available more or less available, to have that amount of masks within five days is pretty incredible. i had then heard nothing by friday, midday. as you said, i then called my local mp, midday. as you said, i then called my localmp, and midday. as you said, i then called my local mp, and communicated with him, bill esterton, asking if they could help. apparently they sent a message to matt hancock directly and i heard nothing back at all until sist i heard nothing back at all until 31st of march, and on the 31st of march i got the first acknowledgement that my form had been submitted. and then on the 2nd

of april, please rememberthis been submitted. and then on the 2nd of april, please remember this is after the potential supply of the masks, i got an e—mail asking me for further detail like the ce certification number which i had entered into the original form. you must have sympathy that the government has been overwhelmed by about 8000 contacts, they said yesterday, of companies like your own, offering their help. yesterday, of companies like your own, offering their helplj understand that there is a bandwagon, many people would jump on a bandwagon, people have started companies from nothing, and have been supplying things, i have been supplying the medical industry since 2007. i understand the government would have been overwhelmed with offers, and i understand but i didn't expect a call back within an hour or half a day. but i was a

little bit surprised when i called my mp and when bill esterson got involved, that there was no word either. i willjust have a quick word with mr esterson, before i come back to you and see what you are going to do with the supplies you have sitting in factories. mr esterson, it sounds like these companies meet the right safety standards for the kit they are supplying although we don't know because we aren't experts. it sounds like thousands of companies have got in touch with the government to try and help. do you feel that it is understandable that some have not been contacted back? good morning, victoria, good morning to volker and john. i think they both deserve enormous credit for trying to help to save lives and that's what it's about. those companies that have come forward have come through in

the right spirit of trying to help. the problem that i can see here is that we have a very complicated procurement system in this country, it's very hard to trade with the government. something i experienced when i run a government before i became an mp in 2010. we still have a system running that works to a degree in normal times, a system running that works to a degree in normaltimes, and is completely inappropriate now. ok, so as we are where we are right now, what do you feel it should change? if you are in the department of business, department for international trade, what would you change right now? i would have a dedicated team where john or volker or all these other businesses could phone up, have somebody to guide them through the process, who could do the initial sifting, to work out who was a credible source of ppe. the same thing applies to testing of ventilators, of course. and then go through the process. bothjohn ventilators, of course. and then go through the process. both john and volker are taking a risk. they will

be out of pocket if they end up supplying something which isn't fit for purpose. so there must be a way of doing this, and i think it's a real problem that the government did not anticipate the volume of enquiries given they were asking for so enquiries given they were asking for so many, enquiries given they were asking for so many, so enquiries given they were asking for so many, so much of them. i think as we heard from the minister before, it is really problematic, there is a massive shortage globally for obvious reasons. and what we have is companies who have got contacts who are able to break into those supply chains, andl are able to break into those supply chains, and i think we need to find a way where the government to put in place a really good team of officials to help those companies deliver what our country needs right now. ok. we know that one of the men involved in delivering the london 2012 olympics is now in charge of ppe, we are told, we'll see if that makes a difference. let me come back to you both, john and volker. you have 1 to you both, john and volker. you have1 million kits, to you both, john and volker. you have 1 million kits, john, to you both, john and volker. you have1 million kits, john, of

visors, . .. we have1 million kits, john, of visors,... we have got... if the british government doesn't take you up british government doesn't take you up on this, will you be able to export them to other governments around the world ? export them to other governments around the world? we actually, i shared all of my technical know—how and our drawings with 30 different countries around the world, people like myself around the world. and the consensus between those of individuals is the raw material stocks are the most difficult thing to get hold of right now. as of friday, i will complete the stock that i have available to me at the moment. i have more stock coming in to the country right now that i ordered and paid for many weeks ago. and i'm facing the challenge actually, do i now spend the money and the resource in time and people, converting that extra stock into

visors? that's the uncertainty i face. if i can't, then i'm left with raw material stocks that i then have to move out to those suppliers in europe that are also equally desperate for it. i then faced no alternative and i don't want to do that, i genuinely want our products in the front line of our carers. here in the uk, understood. thank you very much, john, volker, and bill esterson, thank you for your time. with many of us around the world in lockdown, our allocated one form of exercise per day is a chance to clear the cobwebs and get outdoors. but after a recent us study found that coughs and sneezes can travel much further than the two meter distance, we have been told to keep from others, how safe is it for us to be exercising outdoors? michael cowan reports. much of our world is lockdown. our movements severely restricted.

if we're lucky, we are allowed out for one form of exercise a day. across the globe, countries are taking different approaches to exercise. in paris, authorities have stopped exercise outdoors, apart from walking, between 10am and 7pm. in spain, all exercise outside the home is banned, unless you have a dog, in which case you can take it for a walk. japan's prime minister says it's ok to exercise outdoors, as long as you're alone. and in australia, exercise is permitted in your neighbourhood, and you're allowed to work out with one person. scientists agree that the virus is spread through droplets expelled when an infected person coughs or sneezes. what they still don't know is how easily the virus can spread through breathing. when we exercise, we inhale and exhale much more, so could you be putting yourself and others at risk from exercising outdoors?

to help answer that question is professor bert blocken. he's been researching how droplets from your nose and mouth travel during exercise. his research hasn't been officially published in a journal yet, meaning other scientists haven't evaluated it. can you tell us, professor, what your research found? yes, our research actually looked into the social distance, the distance that you need to keep when you are running fast or cycling behind another person. and found that two metres is plenty if you are cycling and running next to each other, or in staggered formation, more than enough. but if you want to directly run behind each other or cycle behind each other in the slipstream, then two metres is not enough. professor blocken's research assumes there is no wind in the air

and suggests when you exhale while exercising, you emit droplets of breath that form what is known as a slipstream. it typically forms behind you. if you came into contact with droplets from an infected person, you could catch the virus. professor blocken says exercise side by side or in formation is safer than walking behind someone. but what about the benefits of exercise? professor claire brian specialises in immunity at the university of cambridge. she is also a keen runner. i started by asking her about the impact of exercise on the immune system. chronic or regular exercise is an immune booster. it protects you against a whole load of chronic diseases, associated with chronic inflammation. it's also thought to help reduce the ageing of your immune system as well, it all makes a lot of sense now with the epidemiological evidence that's out there.

what is more important, do you think? the exercise all the risk of catching the virus? it's a risk—benefit analysis. so if you don't exercise, you are increasing your risk of getting lots of diseases long term. if you go outside, obviously, you have the potential to be exposed to the virus. but at the same time, you are boosting your immune system, so that is helping to protect you against the virus. academics we have spoken to say there is no convincing evidence you are at a heightened risk from exercising outdoors. but research into this pandemic is still in its infancy. if you're going to exercise outdoors, you shouldn't do so if you have a cough, or a fever. and you must observe the world health organization guidance of keeping at least two metres from others. michael cowan, bbc news. let's speak now to anna harding who is a marathon runner and youtuber. hello, anna. how can runners make sure they aren't putting other people at risk? i guess it all comes

down to being a responsible human being, just notjust a responsible manner. we see that there are plenty of people in the minority in the moment who are breaking lockdown rules for social gatherings, in the same way for runners, you see that there are people on social media saying that perhaps runners are not being responsible here. the advice is simple, to exercise alone or with members of your household, keep two metres apart from everybody else that you come out with and do not exercise if you show any symptoms. it's all about being a responsible person. where it is really busy in overcrowded city areas and on rivers on towpaths where you get a lot of people, what kind of things are run is doing to minimise risks when it comes to picking a route? -- are runners doing? being creative with route planning is key, plenty of apps are there to plan routes, and their is opportunity to explore your

local area, going to the obvious green spaces like parks and tow paths, that's why people are going to be going to walk their dogs and go for walks. so going out and finding somewhere new to one of the beating track is exciting as a runner right now. i found lots of places which i didn't know existed where i am. being creative with planning of these routes means you can stay away from as many people as possible. if you aren't generally a runner, in normal times, possible. if you aren't generally a runner, in normaltimes, but possible. if you aren't generally a runner, in normal times, but you have found that because things are so have found that because things are so limited now, you have had to start a bit of running, like myself, or you would be doing a zero exercise completely, what tips can you give people? great to hear that you give people? great to hear that you have started running... when i say running, i have usually i don't mean running, i mean vaguely jogging- -- mean running, i mean vaguely jogging. —— obviously i don't mean running. that is running, if you are

a faster than walking, you are a runner! don't try and do too much too soon, it can be tempting to go out and do as much running as you can because you have the time that he wants to take step out from your homes which have become offices and schools and everything else. it's tempting to do too much but don't do that because then we will see people picking up injuries. set yourself mini goals and targets. you say that you are light jogging, mini goals and targets. you say that you are lightjogging, set yourself doing some running and walking intervals and trying to increase those each time you go out. setting those each time you go out. setting those goals and having the sense of achievement really is a great feeling about running and is why people like myself end up signing up for marathons over and over again because of that sense of well—being and the endorphins you get from achieving your goals. the idea that i would be tempted to do too much is, frankly, anna, hilarious. but thank you very much for your advice! take care, stay well. you too. anna harding isa

take care, stay well. you too. anna harding is a marathon and ultramarathon runner and founded a running channel on youtube. germany's handling of the corona crisis — early mass testing and an effective lockdown has been the focus of international attention. now, the world is watching as authorities begin to gradually ease some restrictions. and the country is relying on more testing and contact tracing to keep the outbreak under control. our berlin correspondent jenny hill sent this report. slowly, cautiously, germany is feeling its way back to life. schools reopening for exams. small shops back in business. at the same time, more testing and a focus on contact tracing. every time someone tests positive, public health officials must track down anyone they could have infected. translation: of course it's not always possible to find everyone. we depend on the support and the memory of the infected person. they have to work with us, try to remember who they have had contact with.

it's why the army is helping to test a more high—tech solution. it's hoped a phone app could help identify potential chains of infection, but there are concerns about privacy and the technology is considered at least a month from being ready. in the meantime, germany's studying its own population. looking for antibodies, the aim to establish the true rate of infection, but also to learn more about how immunity might develop. you also need to have a better idea clinically, if antibodies are detected, how does it really reflect in terms of protection? and if it reflects in terms of protection, how long does that protection last? and obviously since we are very early in the stage of the pandemic, we don't know that for sure yet, but this data will be coming in. meanwhile, oktoberfest's annual revelry has been cancelled. public gatherings are still banned, pubs and restaurants still closed. germany may have got its outbreak under control, but it's far too

soon, warn scientists, to celebrate. jenny hill, bbc news, berlin. let's get some of the day's other developments. italy's prime minister says he will not compromise on his desire to see the european union share debts brought on by the pandemic despite opposition from germany and the netherlands. finance ministers say they are prepared to agree a recovery package worth 500 billion euros, that's just under £440 billion, but so far have rejected plans on agreeing to mutualise member states‘ debts. in france visitors are being allowed in to some care homes. many residents have not been able to see relatives and friends for the last seven weeks. social distancing measures stiill have to be observed and strict health protocals need to be followed to allow limited meetings.

us and european oil markets have been hit by further volatility as the coronavirus causes a major drop in demand. the us benchmark dropped to close to —$40 dollars a barrel, before staging a recovery to climb to just above ten dollars a barrel. the price of the european benchmark, brent crude, dropped below twenty dollars a barrel for the first time in nearly two decades. president trump has outlined more measures to try to curb the spread of the coronavirus in the us and help smaller businesses hit hard by the lockdown. new york's governor andrew cuomo, fresh from a meeting at the white house, has said further federal funding would be provided to ensure more aid peter bowes reports on donald trump's plans for suspending immigration as part of the us response to the virus. an economy paralysed because of covid—19, the us unemployment rate has skyrocketed at a pace never seen before.

22 million americans have lost theirjobs over the past month. president trump says his prime objective is to ensure those unemployed americans get theirjobs back as soon as possible. it would be wrong and unjust for americans laid off by the virus to be replaced with new immigrant labour flown in from abroad. we must first take care of the american worker, take care of the american worker. he said immigration would be put on pause for 60 days for people seeking green cards, permanent residency in the united states. it would then be a review of the decision based on the economic conditions at the time. the ban will not apply to people entering the us on a temporary basis. farm workers, those helping to secure us food supplies and workers responding to the coronavirus. help is also on the way for more small businesses with a nearly $500 billion package

of measures to make it easier for firms to keep workers on the payroll during the economic shutdown, which the president believes will soon be over. in a separate development, the state of missouri is suing china for its handling of the coronavirus outbreak. a lawsuit alleges that chinese officials were responsible for the enormous death, suffering and economic losses they inflicted on the world. a crucial element to reopening the economy is coronavirus testing, something the governor of new york has been urging the president to step up. after a meeting with mr trump at the white house, andrew cuomo said a deal had been reached to increase testing capacity in new york. to quantify that situation in the state of new york, we now do, on average of about 20,000 tests per day. our goal, which is very aggressive and ambitious, but set it high and then try. our goal is to double the 20,000 to get the 40,000 tests per day. that's our goal.

and it was a very productive conversation. the governor and the president also agreed that new york no longer needed a us navy hospital ship, which was sent there to ease the burden on city hospitals. the ship, comfort, will return to its base in virginia in case it's needed for other locations around the country. peter bowes, bbc news, los angeles. holiday companies are being accused of breaking the law by refusing refunds for trips that have been cancelled because of the coronavirus outbreak. under eu law, you are entitled to a full refund within 14 days for a package holiday, and seven days for a flight. it comes as the av action —— aviation sector's future is looking very precarious. let's talk now to alexandre de juniac who is the ceo, of the international air transport association. how many people in the industry might potentially lose their jobs?

in the industry, we employ 2.8 million workers. and as we are struggling for our survival, almost half of the employees could be under a big threat. but if you have a larger vision, more than 25 million people depend directly and indirectly from the industry are endangered by the covid—19 crisis impact. virgin australia and virgin atla ntic impact. virgin australia and virgin atlantic are members of your trade association, and sir richard branson has asked the british government for a commercial loan of, it's believed, £500 million. critics say, as he hasn't paid tax in the uk for around 14 years, his firm which employs thousands of people should not get that loan. what do you say? what we say is we are urging governments to

fit together rescue packages for airlines. whatever measures, whatever means they would use, credit loans, credit guarantees, cash injections, whatever, we desperately need government support. and i understand that there is a question about virgin atlantic, and what its owner has come the tax relationship with the country, we don't comment on that. i willjust tell you that we desperately, we need government financial support. everybody does and it's urgent, we are running out of cash and we could be bankrupt if we don't have this financial support. and that government support from governments around the world, you say, is necessary to keep people in work, and also so that there is some kind of aviation sector to bounce back when this is all over? yes, the

survival of our industry relies on cash injections that will be done by governments. it's not done, half of the companies will be bankrupt in june, and probably 90% of them in july or august. so it's a matter of survival. shore. in the meantime, there are some airlines and holiday companies who are not giving refunds to customers, or certainly not giving refunds within the legal timeframe. what should happen to airlines who break the law in this manner? what we have advocated is to propose to passengers who have got a ticket and did not fly, because flights were forbidden because of restrictions that were imposed because borders were closed, we propose a voucher. a voucher for the next 12 to 15 months. we understand

that passengers could consider that a negative measure, they would prefer a direct refund but if we do that now... i'm going to have to do, sorry, thank you so much. thank you for your company on bbc world. now it's time for a look at the weather with carol kirkwood. hello again. there is a lot of dry weather in the forecast for most of us over the next few days, even into the weekend, and we're hanging on to a bit of sunshine as well. today dry and sunny, feeling warmer than yesterday because the wind is not as gusty. but you still notice it. we have high cloud drifting across south—west england, wales, northern ireland, north—west england into southern and western scotland, and that is turning the sunshine hazy. but not spoiling it. more cloud developing across the northern isles, particularly shetland, later on and we have also got not

as gusty winds coming in across the north sea. so not feeling as cool along the north sea coastline. temperatures are between 12 and 16. higher temperatures further west, so cardiff seeing 21, liverpool, 20. this evening and overnight, looking at a low cloud forming across parts of wales, the pennines, southern and eastern scotland, and it will be cold enough in some sheltered glens for a touch of frost. three in aberdeen, six in liverpool, eight in london and nine in st helier. the low cloud will burn away quickly in the strong april sunshine tomorrow morning, and tomorrow for all of us, we are looking at another dry day, and a sunny one. the wind won't be as strong, in fact it willjust be a breeze, really, and a sea breeze develops along the coast. it could be the warmest day of the week, around west london it will get up to 25 degrees. thursday into friday,

high—pressure dominating our weather starts to weaken, and we can see the spacing in the isobars, not much in the way of a breeze either. on friday, we start off with low cloud and mist and fog across eastern areas, that will burn away. then we are looking at dry weather, a lot of sunshine, more cloud coming in with drizzle across the northern isles and here it will feel cooler. top temperatures in lerwick of nine. still warmth across the rest of the uk with top temperatures of 22. saturday, more cloud in the east will burn back towards the north sea coastline, allowing a lot of dry weather and sunshine. temperatures are slowly starting to slip, the top will be 19.

this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the eu commission says the uk is not currently involved in any of its procurement schemes for ppe and ventilators despite repeated invitations. three days after it was promised — an raf planeload of protective equipment, for front line workers, arrives in the uk from turkey. the uk's care minister explains why it was delayed. you're in a situation where there is the global shortage and factories around the world are making ppe as fast as they can. what we've seen, whether it's with this delivery or previous deliveries, is sometimes they get delayed — sometimes they don't turn up. spain's prime minister asks parliament to extend the country's state of emergency until may — and warns that easing restrictions

must be done extremely carefully. the un warns the coronavirus pandemic could almost double the number of people suffering from acute hunger. in the uk, the first prime minister's questions, since the lockdown started, will get under way in an hour's time, with many mstoining virtually. and, here's another creative way to cope with these uncertain times — baking! we'll be speaking to a former finalist on the tv show the great british bake off, about how he's found solace in his passion. hello. it's been confirmed the uk has not

officially requested to be involved in any of the four eu schemes to bulk buy potentially life saving medical supplies, including ventilators and personal protective equipment. the eu commission said the uk was not involved in any of the plans, despite being "repeatedly invited" tojoin them. ministers have insisted it didn't happen due to communication problems — and wasn't a political decision. an raf plane carrying personal protective equipment for nhs workers has arrived in the uk. the shipment from turkey, including 400,000 surgical gowns, arrived in the early hours of the morning. it had orginally been due to arrive on sunday but suffered a series of delays. in westminster, the new labour leader sir keir starmer will get his first chance to challenge the government at prime minister's questions. only a limited number of mps will be allowed in the house of commons because of social distancing, and others will dial in via video link. elsewhere in the world, the spanish parliament is deciding whether to extend its national lockdown for another two weeks. the country has had one

of the higest rates of covid—19 infections, but the number of daily deaths has fallen. and the un's world food programme has warned there could be famines of "biblical proportions" because of the coronavirus outbreak, estimating the number of people going hungry could double to more than 250 million. it comes as the uk ramps up the hunt for a vaccine with human trials due our europe correspondent gavin lee explains the eu schemes. ,..the the fault is to deal with things like testing equipment for laboratory like testing equipment for la boratory tests. like testing equipment for laboratory tests. the first meeting of the european committee members actually back at the end of january

days before they brexit was to happen but there was a single british representative at that meeting. they had several meetings over the course of the following months up until march the 17th and eu officials say british representation was their quote some other time. on the 16th of march a policy was launched where each member state would look for suppliers internationally and send out a tender process it was fast tracked i'm told that you took ten days to coordinate this, by early april, roughly got most of the supplies in place, i'm not given a lump sum, we are told its hundreds of millions worth, there are still some suppliers being sought. it is not just the some suppliers being sought. it is notjust the eu, also norway and liechtenstein and iceland and some of the balkan countries as well but iam of the balkan countries as well but i am told britain didn't request to be part of any of those programmes, isn't part of any of those programmes, and the alp cannot be,

the boat has passed on that, they missed it. but if they want to take pa rt missed it. but if they want to take part in new per chromium programmes for other things for example medicines, that's possible —— procurement programmes. but they're quite clear that they were invited, sometimes they turned up, and they didn't turn take that. didn't —— didn't turn take that. didn't —— didn't take part. let's speak to our assistant political editor norman smith. it matters very obviously not just because we seem it matters very obviously not just because we seem to it matters very obviously not just because we seem to have been missing out on an awful lot of ppe equipment with the eu saying they have in the coming days got potentially up to £1 billion worth of garments we seem to have missed out on that when other non—eu countries such as iceland, norway, switzerland, have taken advantage of those schemes, but also the eu is saying that we had ample

opportunity tojoin the eu is saying that we had ample opportunity to join in. the eu is saying that we had ample opportunity tojoin in. the line we have heard from the british side is that it was all a bit of a communications foul up, the e—mail we nt communications foul up, the e—mail went to the wrong address and we have just missed out because of a mishap. what the eu seem to be saying is no, actually, you had ple nty of saying is no, actually, you had plenty of opportunities to say you wa nt plenty of opportunities to say you want to take part in this and chose not to. it matters for a third reason in that it would appear to directly contradict what the health secretary, matt hancock, said at the downing street news conference yesterday, remember, when he was asked about this and he acknowledged that they were not part of the scheme that they had but he said that the department of health had opted to take part in another eu scheme. judging on what the eu are now saying we scheme. judging on what the eu are now saying we are scheme. judging on what the eu are now saying we are not part of any scheme at all, so there are an awful lot of other troubling questions over those facing the government. and of course there is prime minister's questions today, it is going to be the first time for keir

starmer is leader of the opposition and also the first time for dominic the rabbit stand—in leader, it is going to be done very differently from normal with people participating via video link, what are the questions that dominic raab. —— one is going to be focusing on. they have already challenged the government over why it is try to source government over why it is try to source supplies from turkey and china in may and march when labour say there are plenty of indigenous british textile companies and other companies that have said they can produce closing —— myanmar. they said that they have had offers from 8000 british firms, why not use them instead of trying to access equipment from the other side of the road? well, so i am sure that keir starmer will want to press on that andl starmer will want to press on that

and i wouldn't be at all surprised if he doesn't want greater clarity born exactly what happens on whether he is correct as the eu procurement scream he is correct as the eu procurement scream and actually whether it is correct as he is now staying that we are now not part of any eu procurement schemes despite what the health secretary had said yesterday. our political correspondent jo coburn is in westminster. yes, it is going to feel very different because for the first time that set piece of the commons, prime minister's questions time, is going to be taking place virtually. we would normally expect to see hundreds of mps rolling upjust behind me to the building to pack into the chamber for that most

important requirement of parliament and that is to hold the executive to account. that's of course won't change, that is the point of holding today's prime minister's questions. it will be mack mone who was deputising for the —— it will be mack mone who was deputising forthe —— it it will be mack mone who was deputising for the —— it will be dominic raab he was deputising. but it is also a first for keir starmer, the new labour lead who will be stepping out for the first time. it will be sombre in tone i would expect, keir starmer would normally be greeted with some fanfare from his side but of course it will be sparsely populated inside the chamber. most of the mps will have been told to stay at home. some of them will be able to put questions. but, as! them will be able to put questions. but, as i say, it is the role of holding to account what the government has done so far when it

comes to this coronavirus pandemic, holding them to account for the actions that they have taken and have said that they are going to take, so matching the action to the rhetoric, well, to find out exactly what the feelings are among two mps we can talk to an mp from the snp and also a tory mp. let's speak now to conservative mp and chair of the defence select committee tobias ellwood, and pete wishart, scottish national party mp for perth and north perthshire. exactly in your mind, how important is today? it is critical. i am the chair of the defence select committee. i haven't had the opportunity to scrutinise the government as i would like to on the government as i would like to on the government is very conscious of this andi government is very conscious of this and i think we should commend the chief whip and indeed the speaker of the house for getting this hybrid parliament going. these are incredibly testing times as you

mention, very difficult for any business, any school to get that going but we have done it, we are making it work and we have been able to ask these important questions which we have been touching on already. what do you want to hear inside the chamber today?” already. what do you want to hear inside the chamber today? i think it's going to be fascinating and i have seen first— hand it's going to be fascinating and i have seen first—hand the skill and dexterity of the digital committee and a broadcast committee to deliver this kind of parliament in only three weeks, and i think people will be quite fascinated and similar things today, this is a big day for parliament and think of all of these traditions of how they conduct them business, this is a total break in how they engage with each other, it's a landmark, and i think it is going to be really, really interesting. i can't overstate what an event this is today. you are

right. but tobias, what is the key for today in terms of posting questions to dominic raab who, in the end, is standing in for the prime minister and who many feel cannot make the source of decisions that people are expecting until borisjohnson returns? that people are expecting until boris johnson returns? well, there is the micro and there is the macro which is the detail, which we seem to be focused on following an aircraft from turkey which is important but is only part of the wider picture of making sure that we get the right equipment to the front line and that is what matt hancock is doing this of course i want to hear from the is doing this of course i want to hearfrom the government is doing this of course i want to hear from the government what the next steps will be. the nation is disciplined, is educated, we are far better at understanding what each of our roles are here, and that is why those numbers, the data to grasp is actually going on the right direction, but we do want to look ahead and! direction, but we do want to look ahead and i hope that we will get

some information about what steps are going to happen next because we need to prepare for it. but tobias, it is about making sure that the government delivers on what it has been saying in those briefings on a daily basis. let's take one example. the health secretary matt hancock has promised 100,000 tests by the end of april. do you think that is achievable? he is absolutely committed to it and he wants to make sure that happens but the logistics behind it is incredible. we actually have testing operations which are not being utilised appropriately to date, he needs to improve on that, but absolutely i would encourage the government to be honest with the people because as i say, british people because as i say, british people are behind this government, we are willing the government on, and these are untested times, ace has been tasted in a way that no other government has been in a generation and that is across the

globe itself. let us make sure that we put our hand up and we move forward because otherwise as a nation if we lose the will of the nation if we lose the will of the nation life will become very difficult indeed. he won't be there in the chamber but what would you like to ask? i think it is all about their procurement scream and what is going on. obviously someone is not telling the whole truth about this. —— the telling the whole truth about this. -- the eu telling the whole truth about this. —— the eu procurement scheme. i telling the whole truth about this. —— the eu procurement scheme. lam really hoping that this government's obsession with the eu has not undermined, underwritten their approach to this whole scheme and i think that huge questions are going to be asked today, i am pretty certain that this is going to be the issue that is going to dominate and it is absolutely right that we do, because i want this government to be told police great with us because if there is something wrong, tell us.

—— iwant there is something wrong, tell us. —— i want this government to be totally straight with us. we just wa nt totally straight with us. we just want what's best in the spy endemic and to hear about stuff like this this morning. —— what's best in this pandemic. prime minister's question time is due to start in half an hour injust like everyone else i'm intrigued to see what is involved. yes, let's see if all the technicals work, injust over 45 yes, let's see if all the technicals work, in just over 45 minutes yes, let's see if all the technicals work, injust over 45 minutes it yes, let's see if all the technicals work, in just over 45 minutes it is starting. an update on our headlines. the eu commission says the uk is not currently involved in any of its procurement schemes for ppe and ventilators, despite repeated invitations. three days after it was promised — an raf planeload of protective equipment, for front line workers, arrives in the uk from turkey. spain's prime minister asks parliament to extend the country's state of emergency until may — and warns that easing restrictions

must be done extremely carefully. the un's world food programme has warned of famines "of biblical proporations" because of the coronavirus outbreak. the agency estimates the number of people going hungry could double to more than 250 million. even before the pandemic hit, parts of east africa and south asia were already facing severe food shortages caused by drought and the worst locust infestations for decades. here's our chief international correspondent, lyse doucet. queues in a kabul lockdown. not for medicine to fight the deadly virus... ..for sacks of wheat to fight hunger. the poorest now deprived of daily wages to survive. "no one would help you if you stay home", this woman says. "i cried for the last two to three days. "whoever talks to me, it makes me cry. "i don't know what to say." millions more people around the world now need food aid fast. the wfp is warning of

a global hunger pandemic. this airdrop is for the starving in south sudan. there's social distancing here, but few other defences in poor countries torn by war. programme. the un security council met virtually to hear how bad it could get. when it ended, the head of the wfp told us of his worst fear. if we lose our funding, or lose supply chain access, we're talking about 30 million people, literally over a few months, could die. that's without putting the new numbers of covid on top of that. so, we are literally looking at biblical proportions of famine, the possibility in anywhere from 10 to 36 countries. what do you say to donors who say, we would want to help the world's poor but there's hungry people in our own countries so we can't help you now? you know, i haven't had a donor yet say, we are turning our back

on these vulnerable people. they all say, we're going to do everything we can. of course, they've got to stimulate their economies, do what they can and let's see what happens. understand that in many places, if we have chaos and destabilisation, you could have migration by necessity, you could have destabilisation by extremist groups — you'll end up paying for it one way or the other. in yemen, no lockdown yet. millions here already a step away from starvation. to reach them, the un also says it needs a ceasefire, for all sides to fight the common enemy. in syria, too, war takes its toll. in this poor neighbourhood, they queue for wfp aid. like millions around the world, if they don't receive this daily bread, there's nothing to eat. lyse doucet, bbc news. the big question for governments around the world is when to relax lockdown procedures and how to decide the next steps

in managing the pandemic. health officials warn that further waves of coronavirus cases could hit the worst—affected countries. they are calling on governments to work together to tackle the crisis. among those calling for greater international cooperation is professor keiji fukuda, director of the school of public health at the university of hong kong. mr fukuda worked at the world health organization for more than a decade, including as assistant director—general for health, and he led the response to the 2009 swine flu pandemic. thank you very much forjoining as professor. so, different countries are obviously at different stages and are therefore starting to ease their lockdowns at different times and in different ways. what is your view of the wave that is being handled and how it might play out in the months ahead? yes, i think that what we're seeing right now is

really a patchwork of everything across the globe, a patchwork of activities, a patchwork of how the disease is impacting different countries and how different countries and how different countries are responding in the either implementing control measures or relaxing them. i think this is one of the striking things about this pandemic. and what,.. i mean, in the end everything will get reconciled, won't it, because although places might have different start points, if others hasn't finished the same systems will be in place to allow things to spread so how would you envisage this playing out in the months ahead? when i think in the months ahead you are exactly right. because countries are going to different places in terms of having more cases of fewer cases, the risk for countries which have fewer cases is still going to be high, because they can always have

new infections enter their country, andi new infections enter their country, and i think this is going to be hard for countries to handle. it is clear that we are not going to have say a single peak but it is really live to expect countries to have multiple peaks playing expect countries to have multiple pea ks playing out expect countries to have multiple peaks playing out over the next several months. so how would you say country should handle it when you think about relaxing despite the fear of another peak? well i think if you're going to be in a long situation, which several months is, you are going to have to do one, really monitor what is going on in your country carefully, and then you can make adjustments over time. all countries are basically trying to do the same thing, keep levels of infection and transmission as low as possible, but how they are going about doing that, that's varies a lot, but i think that, you know, it

makes sense that when you have more activity going on you are,.. you have tighter regulations and then when it is lower, you can relax them again. so, is it possible to see best practice so far from countries that started out earlier? so obviously china at the forefront and the way that it implemented the lockdown and started to come out of it and lockdown and started to come out of itand in lockdown and started to come out of it and in some cases starting to reappear, but in terms of the way that they have handled it and other countries have handled it, what is the best practice? because obviously every country is desperately looking at those that were earlier in the system to see what is the ideal lockdown period, it seems to be around two months, for instance. well i think there were some common elements which were similar across the locations and countries that have weathered it pretty well, at least up until now. i think in

countries and locations where they took the threat seriously very early, brought together the whole of government, and i think really emphasise communicating with their populations, these are some of the common elements, and then also in terms of surveillance trying to test as many people as possible, so we basically have the idea of what is going on. then you begin to see a loss of differences. some countries have emphasised lockdowns, other countries have used less restrictive measures to reduce travel in general, every place has emphasised using social distancing. so i think that it's hard to generalise in terms of those things specifically. i think that if we look at different countries they have mixed it together differently. but you need all of those measures, you need personal measures, you need social distancing, and you need the

government and the public basically to work with each other in order to have the best outcomes. how long do you think this could go on for?|j think that we have to expect that we are going to be in this,.. this period. for months. again, you know, there is kind of an idea that we have to get over a single peak and then things are going to be better on the other side but i think this is really unrealistic. i think this is really unrealistic. i think this is more realistic is that for several months all countries and all people are going to have to do things differently than they did before coated in terms of their work habits, —— before covid—19 in terms of their work habits and personal habits and this will be for several months. and several months, it depends on perspective how long that might be. in your mind, could you put a number on it? would you see it

stretching into next year, there are obviously no absolutes. stretching into next year, there are obviously no absoluteslj stretching into next year, there are obviously no absolutes. i think we should distinguish a couple of things. i think that the disease actually, the actual infections, are likely to go on for years. i think the crisis period, however, is going to be different. once we begin to have vaccines, for example, i think our approach to covert is going to change and the world is going to change. i think before that we seek countries are beginning to find ways to normalise. —— approach to covid—19. if places like china and like hong kong can go ahead to begin their businesses and their activities more towards normal than other countries are going to see a pathway towards that and it is going to do pathway towards that and it is going todoa pathway towards that and it is going to do a lot to restore the sense that we are moving back to normal and hopefully that can begin to happen in the next few months. but the disease activity is going to go on for a long time. a professor and

former member of the world health organization, thank you very much for talking to us. a man in his 30s has been arrested on suspicion of firearms offences in southern england. armed police were deployed near a shopping centre in kent this morning after a man was reported to be on a balcony with weapons. officers have located four suspected imitation firearms as part of their enquiries. road closures are in place in the area. the muslim holy month of ramadan is due to begin later this week and many muslim countries have banned communal worship because of the coronavirus. but pakistan has decided not to stop gatherings at mosques. as a result there are concerns that the country — where access to health care is poor — will see a rise in transmissions. so far there have been more than 9,000 confirmed cases — though the true figure may be higher due to low levels of testing. professor iftikhar malik teaches courses on the contemporary muslim world at bath spa university

and joins us now. thank you very much forjoining us. obviously ramadan is a time when people do is get together and it is going to be very, very different this time. what is your view of the impact of covid—19 notjust practically but also psychologically? i think these are of normal times, these state functionaries would like people to stay at home and not to go to the mosques and do their fasting and to do the fasts at home, to have congregational prayers within their own homes but i think the situation is going to be very tough because traditionally during ramadan more and more muslims, especially men, they go to the mosque, they pray there, they undo their vast in the evening, and there are late evening prayers, in some muslim countries

there is a complete lockdown. pakistani authorities have tried to dish away the clerics. most of them may obey the government advice but there are concerns that people will be congregating for fares in the evening when they do their fast, —— if she weighed the clerics. and in friday there will be a lot of traffic. so there is a concern that during ramadan there might be more gathering so religious regions and that could cause more people to become infected. —— there is a condensed —— did away the clerics. the prime minister is there and also imran khan sent an appeal is that asking people to stay away from the mosques, will technology play a part in bringing people together see this

as it has obviously for so many people insert different contests? well it can, they can give a call for prayer on the loud speaker and then people can fray at home like they're doing in saudi arabia but my feeling is that ramadan is a very special month and lots of rituals happen and these rituals are all very communal so happen and these rituals are all very communal so people are going to turn up. also i think they are worried about where most of the people live especially in big slums in karachi and lahore and in refugee camps because there are people who are huddled together so they are going to do these prayers together, they are going to listen to the recitation of the koran together, and they are going to do and undo their fast every day together so thatis their fast every day together so that is where i think the concerns are. maybe in small towns, may be in rural areas it will be easy to segregate people but i think in bigger areas where most of the people, especially in urban centres,

in poorer areas, people, especially in urban centres, in poorerareas, i people, especially in urban centres, in poorer areas, i think two people away from the mosque, away from one another is going to be a test case andl another is going to be a test case and i think ramadan is going to get into a kind of confrontational situation with the worshippers because there are some clerics who are hotheads who want to hold first together and this is notjust in distant cities, it happened in islamabad last week when one of the clerics asked people to come and play. because of the traditions over the last hundreds of years people will go to the mosque even though the government asking them not to. so it is going to be tough. thank you very much forjoining us. the number of people recorded as having died of covid—19 in care homes in england could have doubled in five days, earlier this month. that's according to a statement from the government and the care regulator. the eu commission says the uk is not

currently involved in any of its procurement schemes for ppe and ventilators, despite repeated invitations. three days after it was promised, an raf planeload of protective equipment, for frontline workers, arrives in the uk from turkey. the uk's care minister explains why it was delayed. you're in a situation where there is the global shortage and factories around the world are making ppe as fast as they can. what we've seen, whether it's with this delivery or previous deliveries, is sometimes they get delayed — sometimes they don't turn up. spain's prime minister asks parliament to extend the country's state of emergency until may, and warns that easing restrictions must be done extremely carefully. the un warns the coronavirus pandemic could almost double the number of people suffering from acute hunger. in the uk — the first prime minister's questions, since the lockdown started, will get under way in

the next half hour, with many mstoining virtually. and, here's another creative way to cope with these uncertain times — baking! we'll be speaking to a former finalist on the tv show great british ba ke—off, about how he's found solace in his passion. he is also anaesthesiologist. the spanish parliament is deciding whether to extend its national lockdown for a further two weeks. spain has one of the highest rates of covid—19 infections in the world but the number of daily deaths has fallen.spain's prime minister, pedro sanchez, wants to extend the lockdown until the ninth of may and warned that any easing of restrictions needs to be done extremely carefully. in done extremely carefully. the last few days, we ha some in the last few days, we have seen some positive steps in spain which shows we are flattening the curve of contagion. as the health minister

said, we have overcome the critical moment in relation to the spread of the virus. our health system has resisted and the amount of people who have recovered is cause for hope. now, is not the time to lower ourguard, hope. now, is not the time to lower our guard, though. our correspondent guy hedgecoe is in madrid and explained more about what the prime minister is proposing.) as of may the 10th peace hopes to start a de—escalation of the lockdown. this would be the lifting of restrictions. we don't know what this lifting of restrictions would be, first of all he has to get approvalfrom be, first of all he has to get approval from parliament today in a vote for this extension of the lockdown, another two weeks until the middle of may. we believe he will get that. also, we have seen one or two incidents of lifting of restrictions already. as of sunday, children are going to be allowed to

go out onto the street and take short walks with their parents, something which they haven't been able to do for the past five and a half weeks and last week we saw some industries return to work, so that has been the beginning of the lifting of restrictions but we are likely to see a lot more of that in the second half of may. now, with more time spent at home, people are finding creative ways to cope in these uncertain times. and, here in the uk, if the supermarket shelves are anything to go by, it seems a lot of people have been turning to cooking. if you've been lucky enough to bag any kind of flour you might be like our next guest who has found solace in his passion for baking tamal ray is a former finalist on the uk tv show great british ba ke—off. he also works as an anaesthesiologist and has witnessed, first—hand, the chaos brought about by the virus. tamal joins us now from his home in london. we will get onto the baking, it has been interesting in the supermarkets because flower is really the thing

that has proved very hard to get hold of consistently. first of all, and thejob hold of consistently. first of all, and the job that you do day to day asa and the job that you do day to day as a medic, just tell us what you have been up against and what you have been up against and what you have been up against and what you have been doing. so, i am an anaesthetist, my regular job have been doing. so, i am an anaesthetist, my regularjob would be mainly in theatres, taking people through their surgeries and anaesthetising them. but, we have moved on to an emergency rotor which is us providing more intensive care cover. that is most of what i do at the moment now, is looking after patients in intensive care and seeing people who have become unwell and the rest of the hospital, in a&e or on respiratory wards, people who might need to come to intensive care. so, it has been quite busy i would say, the past two weeks has been the busiest that we've had and that was just a constant pace of people becoming very very unwell, bringing people into intensive care. i would say in the last week, things, touch wood, seem to have

calmed down a bit, we still have a lot of coronavirus patients but we don't seem to be getting as many admissions to intensive care. don't seem to be getting as many admissions to intensive carem don't seem to be getting as many admissions to intensive care. it is interesting because now the date thatis interesting because now the date that is being talked about as having been the peak is the 8th of april, so been the peak is the 8th of april, so it is just a case every day of watching and seeing where the number of cases is going. for you, adapting to working in those conditions, with people who are very sick, with fears around your own safety, is anybody working in these conditions would have, what is it been like? it has been strange, you were talking about fears and i think definitely at the beginning, i think all of us were quite afraid, to an extent, so we got tested for our ppe masks and i remember the first week when i was seeing a lot of coronavirus patients, even though we had been tested for these masks, apart is

still thought, i wonder how effective it is really going to be, i leaving work and thinking, i will definitely have my answer as to how effective these are because either i will get ill or i won't, because i have definitely been exposed to coronavirus patients. i have been well so far, so obviously it is working. i think that fear, for me at least, has subsided a little bit, the fear of getting unwell, but what we have settled into this kind of been a new normal, but also just this new normal of how we are living day—to—day, it is a bit strange, it feels like the world is on pause a little bit at the moment, life is on pause. that is a good way to put it. baking. obviously you love baking, lots of people are discovering a love of baking, i guess that satisfaction is well as when you make something, you don't think about the other stuff going on and

ina very about the other stuff going on and in a very fairly quick time you have something really satisfying to enjoy. how important is baking being for you through this time? yes, it's been pretty amazing actually, it's nice having a skill or a hobby that you can for your energy in and my boyfriend always says when i am cooking that it's almost like i'm meditating because i go really quiet, iam meditating because i go really quiet, i am in meditating because i go really quiet, iam in my meditating because i go really quiet, i am in my own little world. idid quite quiet, i am in my own little world. i did quite a lot of it yesterday for us, but also to take things in four people at work. and it is great, it's as lovely to be able to lose yourself in a task for a few hours and kind of forget everything else that is happening for a while. obviously, you also have this delicious treat at the end of it which is always good. i have been baking loaves of bread as well and i'd forgotten how amazing bread smells fresh from the oven. we've

had some of that at home. one of the issues there has been getting older yes, so it has been nice to see on instagram and twitter that everyone has been baking but getting older flower has been a bit of a pain. we have been 0k flower has been a bit of a pain. we have been ok so far, we have enough plain flour, we are running low on bread flour and all the places i would normally buy it online are sold out and every time i go on, it is sold out, but i kind of thing, i am hoping that it is that initial flurry of people buying stuff, people will be stocked up so soon there will be more stock of it, or i hope so, because i don't want to miss out on more bread. know, and you mention is taking things into work to share with others, it is been a real, there are good and very bad things about what we are going through but one of the joys has sometimes been the sharing. how has that been for you, that sort of communal aspect of this? yes, it has

been really lovely at work, i have taken some stuff in and my boyfriend has been baking loads as well, so he took ina has been baking loads as well, so he took in a massive box of cupcakes for everyone at work last week and lots of my colleagues are bringing things in as well but what has also been really lovely is that we are being showered with food from well—wishers outside the hospital, like food companies and also just people at home making things for us, getting cupcakes made by the family as well, that has been quite useful as well, that has been quite useful as well, that has been quite useful as well because it has been a bit of as well because it has been a bit of a pain trying to get to the supermarkets with the hours that we are working so we're kind of well stocked for food in the hospital at the moment. it has been a joy to talk to you, thank you very much. president trump has said his plan to ban immigration into the us will last for sixty days and apply only to those seeking to become permanent residents. he said the measure would protect americans who had lostjobs because of the coronavirus. peter bowes reports.

an economy paralysed because of covid—19, the us unemployment rate has skyrocketed at a pace never seen before. 22 million americans have lost theirjobs over the past month. president trump says his prime objective is to ensure those unemployed americans get theirjobs back as soon as possible. it would be wrong and unjust for americans laid off by the virus to be replaced with new immigrant labour flown in from abroad. we must first take care of the american worker, take care of the american worker. he said immigration would be put on pause for 60 days for people seeking green cards, permanent residency in the united states. it would then be a review of the decision based on the economic conditions at the time. the ban will not apply to people entering the us on a temporary basis. farm workers, those helping to secure us food

supplies and workers responding to the coronavirus. help is also on the way for more small businesses with a nearly $500 billion package of measures to make it easier for firms to keep workers on the payroll during the economic shutdown, which the president believes will soon be over. in a separate development, the state of missouri is suing china for its handling of the coronavirus outbreak. a lawsuit alleges that chinese officials were responsible for the enormous death, suffering and economic losses they inflicted on the world. a crucial element to reopening the economy is coronavirus testing, something the governor of new york has been urging the president to step up. after a meeting with mr trump at the white house, andrew cuomo said a deal had been reached to increase testing capacity in new york. to quantify that situation in the state of new york, we now do, on average of about 20,000 tests per day. our goal, which is very aggressive and ambitious, but set it high

and then try. our goal is to double the 20,000 to get the 40,000 tests per day. that's our goal. and it was a very productive conversation. the governor and the president also agreed that new york no longer needed a us navy hospital ship, which was sent there to ease the burden on city hospitals. the ship, comfort, will return to its base in virginia in case it's needed for other locations around the country. peter bowes, bbc news, los angeles. the number of people recorded of having died of covid—19 in care homes in england could have doubled in five days, according to the care regulator. our social affairs correspondent alison holtjoins me now. what are these figures? this is an

analysis that is being done working with the national office for statistics looking at the number of deaths reported by care providers in ca re deaths reported by care providers in care homes. they have looked at a period from the 10th of april to the 15th of april, so that picked up where official statistics which were published yesterday finished, so those official statistics calculated, or said that there had been 1043 registered deaths as a result of covid—19 in care homes in england and wales. the c0 see numbers look at between the tents and the 15th of april and they haven't actually published the figures yet because they are still verifying them and they only look at england, but what they say is that in that five—day period, they believe that the official numbers will double the deaths in care homes related to the coronavirus. so, it isa related to the coronavirus. so, it is a complicated picture but what they are saying is that they are giving us a heads up about what we

are likely to see in the numbers that they publish on the 28th of april. so, a picture of what is happening in care homes. but even those figures will not be up—to—date because they are just taking us to the 15th of april. yes, that is part of the problem. the issue in care homes, and in the community, is that there is this significant time lag in terms of what is happening in the community in relation to covid—19. so, hospitals, through the nhs, we get daily reports on what is happening, so it is a fairly up—to—date picture of what is happening in hospitals with care homes we have and about an 11 day time—lag from the official statistics. now, this look by the c0 see based on reports by care providers is an attempt to speed up those figures in the community but there is still a bit of a time—lag. they are working this out, they haven't done it in this way before

so one haven't done it in this way before so one of the things they have to do for instance is those care provider figures include people who lived in a care home but may have died in hospitals. so, they have to take those people who have died in hospitals who have already been counted in the nhs figures out of their figures counted in the nhs figures out of theirfigures and counted in the nhs figures out of their figures and then come up with a number of the deaths in the community. so, that is why it is taking a bit of time to verify the figures to find out the best way of working through them. but, the bottom line of it appears, based on their preliminary findings, that in a five—day period, the number of recorded deaths in care homes will be seen to have doubled in that period, the tense to the 15th of april. so,. so, just to confirm, it is another thousand in that period. so, they are not publishing the

actualfigures so, they are not publishing the actual figures but we so, they are not publishing the actualfigures but we know so, they are not publishing the actual figures but we know that, so, they are not publishing the actualfigures but we know that, in england, alone, there werejust under 1000 people reported in the official statistics up to the 10th official statistics up to the 10th of april who died as a result of covid—19. those figures go from the tenth to the 15th of april and if we extrapolate from that official figure of 1000, that would suggest that about nearly another thousand people in care homes in england would have died in that five—day period. and obviously, it is a very high number but there are lots of things to consider when looking at statistics, one of the things when the figures came out yesterday, that showed that the number in a week and gone up to 1000 was the comparison with the previous week where it was just above 200, so obviously it was a huge leap. if there's not another

huge leap, it is a really significant number, but it puts the trajectory on different path. yes, and we do have to remember that obviously we have seen upwards trajectory reflected in the nhs figures. the time—lag means that we are seeing that upward trajectory in ca re are seeing that upward trajectory in care homes now. rather than reported ten days ago. so, that is part of theissue ten days ago. so, that is part of the issue we have here. there has been huge frustration amongst those working in the care sector but at that period of time with a felt they we re that period of time with a felt they were absolutely going through it, they felt nobody was listening to them and nobody was hearing what they were saying about what was going on in care homes. i think these figures reflect, when we have these figures reflect, when we have the final data, and i have to emphasise here because, as you say, numbers are really tricky in anything like this but if this preliminary data is confirmed, then it underlines the absolute

difficulties, pressure and heartache that has been going on in care homes over that period of time. thank you very much. british war veterans, supported by the charity help for heroes, are returning to the front line, alongside thousands of others, to support the national health service, in the battle against coronavirus. many of them have spoken of the comparisons between their life in the military, and life in the nhs during the pandemic. they are using their experience to help health workers with the intense daily stress of dealing with the virus. i am delighted to say that we can speak to two of those who are doing just that. i am joined by gavin lewis who is an operation theatre support worker and also, i'm joined by physiotherapist kelly leonard. welcome to both of you. gavin, what are you doing them for the health service right now? ok, right now, we are supporting the it you staff the

doctors, the intensive, i am helping and assisting with the sick cobit patients. you are not a medic by training, but! patients. you are not a medic by training, but i guess your army experience will be helping, to an extent, what is your past experience brought to this role and what have you had to find within yourself to be able to do it? past experience, you have a lot of lifelong essential life skills with the army. when you come back as a civilian, you have a massive tool box of military skills and then it is just that ability and you just crack on, you crack on with thejob in hand. you just crack on, you crack on with the job in hand. is it important to you to be, obviously it is important

to you to be involved with this, what has it given to you being able to play a role? 32 years ago i swore an oath to the queen and country to support my country and i am still doing it now, it never goes away. because it is very busy at hospitals all around the british isles but in south wales, it is extremely busy, so we are south wales, it is extremely busy, so we arejust south wales, it is extremely busy, so we are just cracking on and helping where we can. and where you can. kelly, i know that after leaving the military, you retrain as a physiotherapist for children. what is your role now during covid—19?” actually recently just started is your role now during covid—19?” actually recentlyjust started as a team leader for the midland partnership foundation trust, right amid the cobit pandemic in april. and our team had to do some

retraining on respiratory so if we we re retraining on respiratory so if we were needed to go into the woods to help out there, then the team are ready to be deployed there, we are looking on standby to go to some of the smaller hospitals to help with the smaller hospitals to help with the rehab and recovery of getting the rehab and recovery of getting the patients after covid issues back into the community. how are you finding it? it is overwhelming for myself and obviously, lots of change, lots of everyday changes, we are told one minute we are possibly going to be going into the hospital, next minute it is back on standby, so next minute it is back on standby, so obviously it is trying to impart that back down to the team and i think the military side of things, the training for it, is trying to deep together as a unit and just keep that open communication through the trust, which is what the middle partnership foundation trust is doing. it is great to talk to both of you, keep up the great work, thank you so much forjoining us.

thank you. thank you. thank you. coming up at midday we'll have prime minister's questions which will see mps taking part remotely for the first time in order to maintain social distancing in the chamber. jo coburn is in westminster. there will be some in the chamber but many more joining virtually? yes, in about 20 minutes' time we are going to find out whether this will all work, no doubt lots of politicians will be crossing their fingers that it does because it is so fingers that it does because it is so important that we have this prime minister's questions today, the first time that the new labour leader, keir starmer, will be able to probe the government on the actions it is taken thus far and the steps that they would like to see the government take over the coming days and weeks. now, i understand that obviously, the tone of that questioning will be forensic, it will be sombre, it will not be rabble rousing the costs it will be sparsely populated inside the chamber, because quite rightly, mps

will be carrying out this partially virtual pm cues because they are abiding by social distancing rules. so, you will have some questions on politicians, not least dominic raab for the government and keir starmer there in person and then up to 50 or so there in person and then up to 50 or so mps, the others will be dialling in with their questions and the speaker, lindsay hoyle, who to some extent has driven this whole process will be waiting to see how successful it is, it may take a bit longer of course the normal, there won't be quite the spontaneity, but it will still be extremely important for those questions to be posed. so, as they wait, no doubt for the start of prime minister's questions, mps will also want to be able to reflect the concerns of their constituents, and it will be on a whole range of issues and fronts, whether it is on that personal protective equipment and other front—line questions,

that personal protective equipment and otherfront—line questions, it will also be about the treatment of people in care homes and whether the government has treated them fairly and equally as they say they have. of course, people will want to ask about the shocking figures in terms of the deaths that have occurred over the last month or so, whether in hospital or in the wider community. and then the issue of testing, matt hancock, the health secretary has pledged 100,000 tests by the end of april. at the moment, the capacity is at 40000 and actually the ta ke—up the capacity is at 40000 and actually the take—up has only been up actually the take—up has only been up to 20,000, there is still an awful long way to go. then, that is the economy, there will no doubt be thousands and thousands of businesses who have contacted their mp with their concerns or maybe their successes at getting that money that has been promised through a number of schemes that have been set up by rishi sunak. and, they will want to be reflected as well.

and there are wider issues, all of which keir starmer will attempt to put to dominic raab. well, there are few people in the house of commons chamber, we will be live there as it unfolds. you're watching bbc news. and now it is time for a look at the whether with carol kirkwood. there's a lot of dry weather and the focus for the most of us over the next few days, hanging on to the sunshine. today, dry and sunny, feeling warm and then it did yesterday because the wind isn't quite as gusty as it was yesterday. mind you, you still will notice it. the other thing we haveis will notice it. the other thing we have is high cloud, drifting across south—west england, wales, northern ireland, into southern and western scotla nd ireland, into southern and western scotland and that is turning the sunshine hazy, but not spoiling it. more cloud developing across the northern isles particularly shetland later on and we also have not as

gusty winds coming in across the north sea, so not feeling as call along that north sea coastline. temperatures are still between about 12 and 16 degrees. the higher temperatures are as you travel further west so cardiff seen 21 degrees, liverpool 20 degrees. through this evening and overnight, looking at some low cloud forming across parts of wales, the pennines, southern and eastern scotland and it will be cold enough in some sheltered glens for a touch of frost. temperatures ranging from three in aberdeen, six in the report to eight in london and nine in hellier. that is low cloud will burn away quite quickly in the april sunshine tomorrow morning and tomorrow, for all of us, we are looking at another dry day and a sunny looking at another dry day and a sunny one. looking at another dry day and a sunny one. the wind won't be a strong at all, in fact it willjust bea strong at all, in fact it willjust be a breeze really and sea breeze is developing along the south coast and tomorrow could prove to be the warmest day of the week because we are looking at temperatures in parts of central and southern england, around west london, up to 25 degrees. thursday into friday, high

pressure has been dominating the weather and it starts to weaken and you can see the spacing in the isobars, not much in the way of a breeze either. on friday, we start off with some low cloud, some mist and fog across eastern areas, that will burn away as well and we are looking at a lot of dry weather, a lot of sunshine, more cloud coming in with some drizzle across the northern ireland woods and here it will fill cooler with top temperatures in... on saturday, again more cloud along the east, that will tend to burn back towards the north sea coastline allowing a lot of dry weather and a lot of sunshine. temperatures are slowly starting to slip, the top will be 19.

hello, this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. deaths in ca re uk and around the world. deaths in care homes from covid—19 in england could have doubled in the past few days, the eu commission says that the uk is not currently involved in any of its procurement schemes for ppe and ventilators despite repeated requests. three days after it was promised, ppe arrives in the uk. three days after it was promised — an raf planeload of protective equipment, for frontline workers, arrives in the uk from turkey.

the uk's care minister explains why it was delayed. you're in a situation where there is the global shortage and factories around the world are making ppe as fast as they can. what we've seen, whether it's with this delivery or previous deliveries, is sometimes they get delayed — sometimes public is clear, please stay at home to protect the nhs —— on message to the british public. we continue to ta ke the british public. we continue to take the right measures at the right timei take the right measures at the right time i did buy the science and the medical experts. i want to pay tribute to the enormous contribution

that our nhs and other front line workers have made to tackling this virus, we owe them an enormous debt of gratitude and we will continue to do whatever it takes to support them. ouraim has always do whatever it takes to support them. our aim has always been to protect the nhs and to save lives and with the public‘s incredible support, we are doing that by flattening the peak of this virus. thank you, mr speaker, for all of your efforts to ensure parliament can meet and apply the scrutiny to government that we expect and we embrace. this house meets in challenging times. we can and we will defeat this virus. can i echo the sentiments about the prime minister, we wish him a speedy recovery. the honourable member thorough rotherham valley has withdrawn and i will call in sick keirstarmerto withdrawn and i will call in sick keir starmer to his first outing in the dispatch box. thank you, and can i thank you, the

house authorities and the staff for allowing us to meet in this way today because it is important that we have the scrutiny. can i also send all of our best wishes through the first secretary to the prime minister for a the first secretary to the prime ministerfor a full and the first secretary to the prime minister for a full and speedy recovery. i am minister for a full and speedy recovery. i am sure minister for a full and speedy recovery. i am sure i speak for the whole house and sending our best wishes to all of those affected by coronavirus and condolences of the whole house to all of those who have lost loved ones. and for the whole house, our deepest thanks to those on the front line, risking their lives to keep us safe and our country going. mr speaker, i promised that we would give constructive opposition, with the courage to support the government whether that is the right thing to do and we all want and need the government to succeed in defeating coronavirus. but we also have to have the courage to challenge where we think the government is getting it wrong. and in that spell it, i wa nt to it wrong. and in that spell it, i want to start with testing. testing

is obviously crucial and every stage of the pandemic. but we have been very slow and we are way behind other european countries. now, the house secretary made a very important commitment to 100,000 tests a day by the end of april. but yesterday, the forgetful actual tests was 18,000 a day and that was done from monday, which was 19,000 tests a day —— the actual tests. the end of the month is a week tomorrow, what does the first secretary expect to happen in the next eight days to get us from 18,000 tests a day to 100,000 has today? first secretary. congratulate him on his success of being elected leader of the labour party, i will pass on his best wishes to the prime minister. i know he would want to be

here in person. can ijoin him in paying tribute to all of our nhs and other front line workers. he paying tribute to all of our nhs and otherfront line workers. he rightly raises the question issue of testing which is going to be an important pa rt which is going to be an important part of our strategy for transitioning from the current social distancing measures but i do have to correct him. our capacity for tax is now at 40,000 per day. i think that is an incredibly important milestone and he is right to say that in the final week, that will require a big increase. of course with a project like this, it does require an exponential increase in the final days and the final week of the programme. i can reassure him that we are working with a range of commercial pastors to boost the testing, to get to that 100,000 tests a day, two of our super labs in milton keynes are now fully functional and glasgow will be open later this week. keir starmer. thank you very much, thank you for his kind comments. i

did not need correcting because i gave the figure for the actual tests a day. the first secretary says that this capacity for 40,000 tests a day, and i think it is really important that we fully understand what the first secretary just said. that means that the day before yesterday, 40,000 tests could have been carried out. but only 18,000 tests were actually carried out. now all week, i have heard from the front line, from care workers who are frankly desperate for a test for the residents and for themselves, desperate. they would expect every test to be used, every day, for those that the them. there is clearly a problem, why isn't the common using all the test available every day? first secretary. i thank the honourable gentleman, there are two elements of this, getting the capacity up as part of it and we are

making good progress and i hope that he is conceded that point. the issue of than increasing the demand is something that we have got control over, of course we are making sure that the eligibility is brought in, our focus is, i that the eligibility is brought in, ourfocus is, i think you that the eligibility is brought in, our focus is, i think you would ee, our focus is, i think you would agree, should be on front light nhs staff, broaden out to care workers and other key workers, and then done ina way and other key workers, and then done in a way which the system can manage. we are confident that based on our test capacity that we will be able to deliver that and we have, in relation to the capacity itself getting to the 100,000 target, range of deals, we've got the cambridge university working together to set up university working together to set upa new lab university working together to set up a new lab that we will deliver on the test will be crucial, notjust in terms of controlling the virus but allowing the country to move to the next phase. keir starmer. i am grateful and i welcome the fact that the capacity has gone up. it is not now a

question of driving up demand, demand is there. last week, the telemark health secretary said that every co—worker that needed a test would get one. the remounting on the ground is very different and there are very few tests indeed. —— make the reality on the ground. the position is theirs. ifa the ground. the position is theirs. if a care worker has symptoms i've coronavirus or a family member has symptoms, he or she has to south isolate quite rightly. to get a necessary test, they are instructed to travel to a testing centre which is often very many miles away. an example is social care workers in leicester are being told to go to the outskirts of nottingham, a 45 minute drive, in order to get tested. there are lots of examples across the country of theirs. there's an obvious problem with that system. there's an obvious problem with that syste m. n ot there's an obvious problem with that system. not all care workers will have access to a car, because of the got symptoms of family members have

got symptoms of family members have got symptoms, they cannot use public transport. it's little wonder that we are seeing these pictures of half empty testing centres. it doesn't look like that is a good plan. it's not about driving up demand, it's about tests, where they are needed. what regions come the first give to ca re what regions come the first give to care workers on the front line that things will improve and un—fast? —— what reassurances can the first secretary give. it is about demand. we need to encourage those who are able to take the test to come forward. he is right. he is right to say it is also about distribution and some of the logistical and transport challenges that people, biblically some of those he described, will have in terms of getting to the test. we are working with the local resilience forum is to make sure that we could distribute the test as effectively as possible. we have got mobile labs to go to some of those areas for the heart to reach. we

will be using the army, who have made, along with the key workers, incredible contribution to support that effort. i come back to the key point. i do think it is important to have a target and to drive towards a target. we are making good progress, we are confident we will meet it and i think he should join with me, as we engage in this national effort, i've sent to labour‘s welsh health minister, who has abandoned the welsh target and labour run wales of 5000, that actually we need to work together in all four corners of the united kingdom, to make sure that we reach that national effort. it is about capacity, it is about distribution, we'll only be able to hit that target if all of us come together to deliver on it. keir starmer. ido starmer. i do recognise how hard people are working to try to drive the number of tests up. there is a significant gap and there is only eight days left. mr speaker, on monday, an a&e

co nsulta nt left. mr speaker, on monday, an a&e consultant at the royal derby hospital sadly died of coronavirus. i think it was the first seek a&e consultant, and instrumental in bringing up emergency services. manjeet riyat is sadlyjust one of the work is to die from the coronavirus during this crisis. can the first secretary tell us how many nhs workers have now died from coronavirus? and how many social ca re coronavirus? and how many social care workers have now died from coronavirus? first secretary. i entirely agree with the broader point he makes that as our key workers, whether they on the nhs, whether they are in social care, who are fighting for us, tending to the most vulnerable in our society need the full support, that is why it is so the full support, that is why it is so important that we ramp up the testing, ramp up the ppe deliveries. my testing, ramp up the ppe deliveries. my latest figures are 69 people have

died within the nhs of coronavirus, and don't have the precise figure for care homes, they are more difficult to establish in terms of ca re difficult to establish in terms of care home workers than residents. i think we can all agree, every one of thoseis think we can all agree, every one of those is a tragedy and double down our our efforts to tackle this by less and do everything we can to support those amazing workers in the nhs who are delivering so much to ta ke nhs who are delivering so much to take the battle to the coronavirus. keir starmer. i thank first secretary for giving us the figure in relation to nhs workers and of course a tragic case, each and every one of them. i am disappointed we do not have a number for social care workers and i would put the first secretary on notice that i will ask the same question again next week and hopefully we will have a better answer. mr speaker, let me turn to protective equipment. clearly this is crucial to those at risk on the front line who are risking their lives to save hours and the least they deserve is the right protective equipment. we have all had countless

exa m ples of equipment. we have all had countless examples of front line workers not getting the equipment they need. this is an example from a unison ca re this is an example from a unison care worker, just last weekend. and i quote, i work in a nursing home, i am terrified, i don't know if residents have a virus. we are wearing home—made masks. this is horrible and i am very scared. in that word scared is one i think we have had many times in the last two or three weeks. the survey by the royal college of nursing found that harvard nursing staff fell under pressure to work without the levels of protective equipment set out in official guidance. this has been a stress test of our resilience. the government plan is clearly not working. can i ask the first secretary to tell front line workers at risk when what they finally get the equipment they need to keep them safe? first secretary thank you mr speaker. can i first say that in relation to the first—line staff who have passed away and they work so

ha rd to protect have passed away and they work so hard to protect other people who are suffering, our hearts go out to them and he is absolutely right that we must do everything we can to protect them. i know we recently had a consultant that passed away at kingston hospital, where both my boys were born and delivered, how important thatis, born and delivered, how important that is, how personal it is just so many of us and we absolutely agree on the need to protect them. he will know that getting the ppe to where it needs to be is a massive international challenge, but every country faces, globally from china to germany. and we have done a huge effort to provide, for example, the ventilators which have bolstered the nhs. if we had not been able to you that, the nhs would not have coped. since the start of the outbreak we have delivered 1 billion items of personal detective equipment and tens of millions have been distributed via the devolved initiation. we recognise though we

have got to strive even harder in this incredibly difficult and competitive international environment to source the equipment. that is why we brought in my noble friend, formerly chief executive at the london 2012 olympics, who has been appointed to lead or not the london 2012 olympics, who has been appointed to lead on our domestic efforts. we have delivered 34 million items of ppe across 38 local resilience forums and we have established the hotlines, a new pilot website to make sure that not only have we got the amount of ppe, so we can only have we got the amount of ppe, so we can get to the most vulnerable and those on the front mic you need it most. cani can ijoin in the sentiments for all those working on the front line and also pay tribute to those who have ramped up in the nhs. i know that has been a huge effort. i understand the challenge of getting the right equipment to the right place every time but as the first secretary

knows, there is a significant gap between promise and delivery. over the last few days it has emerged that british manufacturers have got in touch with many members of the opposition, properly members across the house, saying they offered to help produce equipment but didn't get the response from the government. i understand due diligence and that all the offers could not be taken up but some of those who offered to help are now supplying to other countries so they clearly could have supplied in this country and something is going wrong. there is a pattern emerging here. we were slow into lockdown, slow on testing, slow on protective equipment and now are slow to take on these offers from better terms. the prime minister has said this is a national effort and he is right about that. in that spirit, can i ask the first minister to commit to working with the opposition to identify and take up these offers from a dish manufacturer's for a protective equipment as soon as

possible? i think the gentleman other i don't accept his promise that we have been slow. we have been guided by the scientific advice, the chief scientist said advice. if he thinks he knows better than they do, that is his decision, but that is not the way we have proceeded. it is not the way we have proceeded. it is not the way we have proceeded. it is not the way we will in the future. he has mentioned offers from british businesses and it is not quite right to say they must have been a cce pta ble to say they must have been acceptable for uk standards just because they are supplying different needs in different countries abroad but i can reassure him that 8,000 businesses have offered ppe in response to the governments call and every business receives a response. 3,000 of those are followed up where they got either the specification or a volume that makes it sensible for the nhs today, and he did make a sensible point about specifications

and health standards. he will know from the reporting that in other countries that have distributed ppe without those high standards, they have been just with full source laws and have had to be recalled and health workers in those countries have had to go into isolation. i appreciate he wants to put pressure on and scrutinised the government andi on and scrutinised the government and i hope he will understand the need to take the right decisions and scrutinise very carefully the pressures ppe we are putting on the front line to protect our key workers. david mandel, we have been unable to connect. so we go to in black. thank you, mr speaker. as the covid—19 pandemic continues, we are reminded everyday of the terrible toll that it takes on our society. but also of the heroic efforts by our front line workers and i would like to take the opportunity to put on record our gratitude for

everything that they do. mr speaker, it is now 34 days since the chancellor first announced a package of economic support. at the time, heralded as a package of support for our businesses and workers during this health emergency and yet, 34 days on, thousands of businesses and individuals have found themselves with no income, no support and no end in sight and all because of arbitrary cut—off dates and bureaucratic barriers imposed by this uk government. people are being left behind. today the scottish national party is leading a cross particle for a universal basic income to finally protect everyone. it will put cash in peoples pockets and it will help ensure a strong economic recovery and a fair society. can the first secretary of state to give us a straight answer today, does he support this proposal does he reject it?

festival can i pay tribute, along with the honourable gentleman, to the key workers that have served every one of our four nations. can i also say in relation to scotland that we recognise the uk—wide effort to tackle coronavirus. the helicopters, the regiment of scotla nd helicopters, the regiment of scotland setting up test centres in glasgow and the 11 million items of ppe that have been delivered from central uk government stocks to make sure that that is one united kingdom, we defeat the current iris. i don't agree with his point on the universal income. the chancellor has quite rightly adopted and announced a series of measures, second to none in the world, to support workers three thejob in the world, to support workers three the job retention scheme, to make sure that for those who don't qualify, other support like an

increase in universal tax credit and other tax credits are able to deal with the challenge and i think we need to have a very focused approach, providing the resources we need for those who need it most. a universal income without being based on that were not provided. thank you, mr speaker. of course, the simple fact is that many people are being left behind, many people are being left behind, many people are not getting an incomejust are being left behind, many people are not getting an income just now. a universal basic income is the right economic policy at the right time. mr speaker, it's time has come. over 100 members of parliament from seven political parties, parties from across the four nations and regions of the uk, have come together to support the solution. pulling shows that 84% of the public now support this. a universal basic income is a solution that will provide support for anybody and crucially it will leave no one behind. first secretary of state, it

isa behind. first secretary of state, it is a solution that deserves more than the answer that we gotjust now. the government should think again because we should not be left in the situation that either self—employed or those that are seasonal workers and others don't get the support they deserve. when the government think of this again and do the right thing, make sure that no one is left behind? yes, or new? as i made clear in my earlier answer, we want to make sure we provide support to those who need it most. a universal approach, uniform without reference to need or income by the most vulnerable society is not the way i respectively suggest to achieve it. our plan is one of the most extensive in the world, it makes sure workers receive 80% of their salary. with already extended this tojune. salary. with already extended this to june. we have salary. with already extended this tojune. we have made otherforms of support available for those that don't qualify. we've talked about

the self—employed or others who may not within the criteria of the scheme. i've made clear the increase is for universal credit and the working tax credit basic rate, the mortgage holidays, the energy builder fails. mortgage holidays, the energy builderfails. that is mortgage holidays, the energy builder fails. that is the way we have a focused approach that is targeting the resources at those who need it most and allows our economy asa need it most and allows our economy as a whole tripled with through this coronavirus. mr speaker, at this time of national emergency, many people are being forced to use their bank overdrafts. yet the banks are charging 20% interest per year, which they are going to increase to 40% injuly. at the same time, they are offering save rs the same time, they are offering savers a pathetic interest rate of 0.1%. these are the same banks that we re 0.1%. these are the same banks that were saved by billions and billions of pounds of taxpayers money. what

on earth is going on? when other banks going to act in the national interest? i think my honourable friend. i'm pretty sure i got the just and he i think my honourable friend. i'm pretty sure i got thejust and he is right to refer to this support that banks need to be providing for customers. thanks to the work of the chancellor, the main banks and building societies have provided relief to those impacted by coronavirus including differing mortgages and other loan repayments, including increasing overdraft limits, including increasing credit ca rd limits, including increasing credit card limits. by the first week of april, 1.8 million mortgage payment holidays have been granted and in this national effort, is a page of each of those across the country stepping up to the plate, we certainly expect the banks to do their bit.

like the frog and bucket and hundreds more in manchester, nearly three quarters of hospitality businesses don't qualify for grants and foremost, loans are just not an option. given that the hospitality and retail sector are the lifeblood of our high street and are likely to face the longest government enforced enclosure, will he extend cash gra nts enclosure, will he extend cash grants and come up with a rescue package to stop thousands of pubs, restau ra nts, package to stop thousands of pubs, restaurants, shops and venues up and disappearing altogether? cani disappearing altogether? can i thank the honourable lady and i certainly agree with her about the challenge we have across all the sectors she mentioned making sure that we see them through this incredible difficult period. we want to make sure that the country, the economy, all those small businesses and sectors she mentioned can bounce back. the chancellor has introduced measures in relation to both finance

gra nts measures in relation to both finance grants where they are capable of being made and also other tax deferral is to enable small business and those in the sector she described. if there are particular businesses, i would take them away and look at them carefully and make sure the chancellor can assess whether there is any more we can do but we got a mixture from the high street to those sectors which are adding huge value to the economy, that we are in a position after the coronavirus ends and once we come through the initial crisis, to bounce back and we will do that by looking after all those small businesses that she rightly described. thank you, mr speaker. beautiful hastings and wright is heavily dependent on tourism as a major driver in the local economy. covid—19 has badly hit the tourism, leisure and hospitality industries and has my right honourable friend

considered what measures are needed to firstly encourage domestic tourism, and secondly, ensure that tourism, and secondly, ensure that tourism and tourism —related businesses are given the right support to enable recovery from the impact of covid—19 and revive our local economies? we know that the coronavirus is significantly affecting the tourist industry. that was a point made by the previous honourable lady as well. the chancellor has set out unprecedented support for businesses and workers including those in the tourism sector, that includes business rate support hospitality and leisure businesses. with also announced £1.3 million scheme three visit england to provide support to organisations at risk of closure because of the coronavirus of pandemic to see them through this difficult time and we are committed

to helping the industry get through this crisis so that we can encourage people to take holidays and revive the tourism sector as we come through the crisis. the government's scientific advisory group on emergencies recommended an urgent lockdown to save lives on the 26 library. but it took another 3.5 weeks to implement it. the government likes to claim that it has been following the scientific advice. but it has not, has it? i thank the honourable gentleman, we have, at every stage, from january when the original crisis started to break out in china, right the way through to the moment, several weeks ago when we announced our social distancing measures, followed

meticulously and carefully the advice both from the chief scientific adviser and the chief medical officer and as a result of that and the measures we have taken, two things have happened. firstly we have protected our precious nhs. it has not been overwhelmed in the way some had feared and also, i paycheque did not just some had feared and also, i paycheque did notjust to the key workers but the huge sacrifices made by the great british public. because of their compliance with the social distancing measures, we are starting to come through this peak and that has only happened because we have taken the right decisions based on the evidence we have had at the right moment in time and i have to say, that is exactly what we will continue today. cani continue today. can i ask what recent staff —— make steps the government has taken to make sure the nhs adequate supply of ppe. this has been raised already in this house, it is critical important and

i totally agree with him on the imminent need for getting the ppe to the places that need it most. since the places that need it most. since the start of the outbreak, we have delivered 1 billion items of personal protective equipment. with nature we have distributed it by the devolved administration is so all four nations get the equipment needed. we are also working through the local resilience for months with our local authorities and with the support of the military, making sure whether it is nhs key workers on the front line or care workers, that eve ryo ne front line or care workers, that everyone who needs it is getting the ppe they need and with the help of my noble lord who ran the olympics, we are going to ramp up even further our capacity to not just we are going to ramp up even further our capacity to notjust procure and produce ppe, but get it to where it is needed most. thank you, mr speaker. it is critical the government keeps its word. local councils and showing the

commute is get the support they need. i know that from the work that is taking place in bradford. we can confirm that the government will meet its promise to fund whatever is necessary and fully comp 874 the costs a nd necessary and fully comp 874 the costs and loss of income related the covid—19 crisis and notjust the funding already announced, but only partially covers what the councils have already spent. first secretary. she is absolutely right and i pay tribute to the councils up and down the country, whether it is through social care or the services they provide to the residents. ican provide to the residents. i can assure that we have announced an additional £1.6 billion in funding justice this weekend to support councils, delivering there essential services on the front line. we are now going over to matt vickers. thank you. i welcome the government's commitment to write off 13 billion pounds of debt of

hospital trusts across the country, freeing up other hospitals to work across the crisis. can my right honourable friend confirm that the government remains committed to record levels of investment in the nhs, so that the world's greatest health service can become even better and were to be willing to look at the case of capital investment in the ageing north—east hospital? first secretary. can i thank the honourable gentleman, he will know under this, the nhs will have record funding, enshrined in law, the largest hospital building programme ina largest hospital building programme in a generation, 50,000 more nurses, 50 million extra gp appointments in response to the coronavirus, the chancellor has launched a 14.5 billion pad on the edge of the current vice response, of which 6.6 billion will go to the nhs. in relation to the north—east, we'd encourage the trust to continue to develop their plans and their parties for local nhs infrastructure

and we are looking very carefully at all of those. we are now going over to stephen kinnock. thank you, mr speaker. the port talbot steelworks is the beating heart of the economy and the community in my constituents. there will be no post—pandemic recovery for our country unless we have a strong and healthy welsh and british steel industry. they come the's coronavirus large business interruption scheme is capped at £50 million which is only one tenth of what they believe will be the cash flow i m pa ct what they believe will be the cash flow impact on the company over a six—month period. while the government take steps urgently to lift the loan cap to a level that will give us deal industry a fighting chance of surviving this crisis? first secretary. he is right to refer to the business interruption loa ns, refer to the business interruption loans, we have made grants of up to 25,000 available for small businesses. i understand the point he makes about the sector in his

constituency. we have made changes to the loan scheme, principally to make it quicker to access. 12,000 lives have now been approved and i know that the chancellor is looking very carefully ——12,000 loans. the chancellor is looking very carefully and all of those who are not directly benefiting from this particular scheme to make sure that in the round we are providing the measures that we need in a targeted way to support all of the different, crucial elements of the economy. james sunderland. mr speaker, one of the most striking features of the past few weeks has been the way in which so many public, private and volu nta ry which so many public, private and voluntary organisations have let themselves out of shape to deal with themselves out of shape to deal with the pandemic. could i please ask the first secretary to join with me in commending the remarkable resilience initiative and split of the british people, and also perhaps to outline what he sees as the essential

ingredients for getting our country through this? first secretary. i thank my honourable friend, we are facing a challenge we have not faced for decades in recent memory and it isa for decades in recent memory and it is a national effort on a team effort. the critical ingredient is that the country comes together, as it has done, in this incredible national acid and national mission to defeat coronavirus. i pay tribute not to the care workers, key workers on all those on the front line but all those in the voluntary sector, the people that we are understanding more and more are part of the key workers in our economy and in our society. the delivery drivers, the people working in the supermarkets and all of those who are staring us through the time of national crisis. together, we can rise to the challenge and i'm absolutely confident we will rise to the challenge and come back as one united kingdom, stronger than ever. we are now going over to reef cabaret.

thank you. for weeks, there has been a significant gap between promises from government and the reality that has been expensed by a constituents. so, when were the government learn from the delays they've expended so far, learn from other countries and also learn from the success of the speedin also learn from the success of the speed in which the nightingale hospitals were delivered? when will they learn from the best and crisis decision—making and start to deliver solutions that fit the promises? first secretary. can i say to the honourable lady, she is absolutely right, an unprecedented crisis, of course we will learn lessons. there is no country in the world addressing this crisis that doesn't. she is also right to refer to the nightingale hospitals, an incredible achievement in this country, people said that we cannot build a hospital in this country at that kind of speed and with beat several with more to come. people have said we have not been able to get the 1

billion items of personal protective equipment, that's exactly what we've done. we don't say there are no challenges and when she is absolute right to make the point to learn the lessons as we go, but we are absolutely convinced that going along in a very deliberate away, learning the lessons, listening to medical evidence, listening to the advice from the chief scientific adviser but following it consistently, that is how we will get through this crisis. it is worth noting that one of the big risks as we go through the peak was that we would find the nhs overwhelmed. it has not been. if you look at the ventilators we have managed to secure, the nhs has looks held up well. we are now going over to nicola richards. nicola richards.

thank you, mr speaker. a number of my constituents are stuck in india. i welcome the government's commitment to work with our international partners to bring back british nationals. can my right honourable friend update us on the progress of the scheme? first secretary. can i thank the honourable lady, i have been working flat—out with the foreign office and our international network. it is worth saying that working with foreign governments and the allies to return stranded, we have returned over1 million british nationals on commercialflights. over1 million british nationals on commercial flights. i think the skill of that operation, she can understand, is incredible and unprecedented. we have also introduced a special charter arrangement, with that £75 million, arrangement, with that £75 million, a whole range of international uk airline signed up to it and we have returned over 10,000 on charter

flights. in the last few weeks, which charted to get 10,000 people back from other countries. 5000 from india, we have confirmed further flights going there in the next few days, including india, pakistan and bangladesh. sir edward davey. the foreign secretary mentioned a co nsulta nt the foreign secretary mentioned a consultant who died at kingston hospital, my local hospital. the co nsulta nt‘s hospital, my local hospital. the consulta nt‘s name was hospital, my local hospital. the consultant's name was anton sebastien. anton came to the uk after qualifying as a doctor ensure an anchor in 1967. he worked in our nhs for decades and he was cheating coronavirus patients when he caught the disease and —— he was treating coronavirus patients when he caught the disease and died. on behalf of

anton and other nhs workers who made the ultimate sacrifice for others, we learn the lessons urgently, will be government commit itself to an independentjudge led enquiry and how the crisis has been handled. first secretary. can i thank the right honourable gentleman, ijoin him with the tribute that he made to doctor anton, i know first hand, i've been into kingston hospital, by boys web born there, i've been treated there, the incredible work they do. it's my local hospital too andi they do. it's my local hospital too and ijoin with him in paying tribute to what they have done. i won't take up its offer of committing to a public enquiry. i think there are lessons to be learned, and when we get to this crisis, it will be important that we ta ke crisis, it will be important that we take stock and we understand with an unprecedented challenge on the international scale, what can be done to avoid i think right now from

a nhs workers. i think they would rightly expect full focus to make sure that we save lives protect the nhs and steer the whole country through this rather than engaging in that process and that sort of deliberations right now. thank you, mr speaker. the first secretary of state would aware that the army has played a vital role in the army has played a vital role in the uk's response to the coronavirus. but he may not know that in wales the joint military command was stood up in brecon barracks in our constituency. from there they have been supporting resilience forums around the country including our seven regional health boards. i am extremely proud that brecon is the home of the army in wales and as the ministry of defence ponders the future of it double can

i thank my honourable friend. ponders the future of it double can i thank my honourable friendlj absolutely join with i thank my honourable friendlj absolutelyjoin with her in pain tribute as i did in relation to one of the questions in relation to scotla nd of the questions in relation to scotland of paying tribute to the heroic effort that our armed forces are making in all four corners of the united kingdom, in particular in relation to wales. our service men and women work tirelessly to help build the hospitals, drive the ambulances and deliver the ppe to where it is needed most. and along with the other key workers we pay tribute to the fact that it is the uk armed forces in all four corners of the united kingdom who are helping to deliver and get this country through the coronavirus challenge. as the lockdown is lifted in one nation or region, we will start seeing people move around and

that runs the risk of further infection. will the first active state confirm that if the four nations approach is to be meaningful, the four governments must have an equal say that lifting the lockdown can only happen by the unanimous agreement of the four governments together. can i thank the honourable lady. can i first of all pay tribute to the administration in both northern ireland, scotland and wales through the cobra meeting is we have. i think it is fair to say we have excellent co—operation between all four nations and indeed with the current mayor of london. that is critically important. if she looks up critically important. if she looks up the social distancing measures, there has been remarkable consistency in all four nations in terms of compliance. so i hope that we can continue to work together on a collaborative basis, as we look towards the second phase and certainly on behalf of the uk government we are committed to doing that. doctor luke evans. whitecross

sue in my constituency is world—renowned for the conservation andindeed world—renowned for the conservation and indeed —— whitecross zoo. with huge overheads every month with no income coming in they have joined together with other zoos asking for £100 million from the government to help care for the animals. will the government commit to support good zoos are so government commit to support good zoos are so just like the animals they protect the zoos will be here for us all to learn from in the future? can i thank my honourable friend. i absolutely agree with his question. we have got to look after zoos and all of the incredible animals that they put on display for all of us. and i am very pleased to be able to announce that as a result of our engagement and consultation we can announce a new zoos support fund that will be launched in open

soon. fund that will be launched in open soon. it will be able to provide dedicated support alongside that already made available by the treasury to help zoos to care for their animals during this crisis. i urge the zoos concern to look at the range of financial support already available but also to make contact with defra officials so we can see how it can best be tailored for them. we now come to the final question. thank you, mr speaker. last sunday, the uk and 18 countries of the g20 endorsed a comprehensive communique on future pandemic preparedness. this much—needed action plan was then effectively vetoed by the usa as part of its unfounded attack on the world health organization. given that the prime minister is reported to have spoken to donald trump yesterday, can the right honourable gentleman assure

this house that britain believes that the world health organization is critical to the future of global health security and that this country will not be drawn into the us president's disgraceful vendetta against the world health organization. can i reassure the honourable lady first of all that we fully support the international effo rts fully support the international efforts and indeed we are a leading player whether it is on vaccines or supporting vulnerable countries in helping get through what is a global crisis. in relation to the who, we recognised that it has a role to play, it is not perfect, no international institution is. but we have made clear we consider it an important part of the international response in the uk will continue to lead the way in that effort. right, we are now going over to the statement i want to tell people that we are running this for 45 minutes. the opening speeches will be for ten

minutes from the secretary of state, i minutes from the opposition and two minutes from the snp. so in doing so i now call the secretary of state for health and social care right honourable matt hancock. with permission, mr speaker, iwould right honourable matt hancock. with permission, mr speaker, i would like to make a statement on coronavirus. first of all, can i say how pleased iam first of all, can i say how pleased i am that the house is sitting once again. at this important time it is critical that we have the scrutiny and debate provided by this house. and i'd like to thank everybody involved in setting up the new arrangements. because this has demonstrated that no virus and no threat will thwart our democracy. mr speaker, coronavirus continues to spread throughout the world. the latest figures show that 17,337 people have sadly died here. our hearts and the hearts of the whole house go out to their loved ones. i know that across the house we are

united in our determination to fight this virus with everything we've got. and today, mr speaker, iwanted to update the house on each part of our battle plan. first, the resilience of the nhs. i can tell the house that for the first time we now have over 3000 spare critical ca re now have over 3000 spare critical care beds in the nhs. that is more than three times more than we had at the start of this crisis. it is thanks to the incredible work of an awful lot of people that we now have this extra spare capacity, even before we include the new nightingale hospitals. over the past two weeks i've been lucky enough to attend either in person or virtually the opening of four of these new nightingales in london and manchester, birmingham and harrogate. and there are several more to come all across the uk in belfast, glasgow, cardiff, exeter and sunderland. these incredible effo rts and sunderland. these incredible efforts from dedicated staff,

supported by our armed forces, mean that our nhs is not at any point being overwhelmed by coronavirus. some said this would be impossible. and today, i want to reinforce the message that non—covid—19 nhs services are open for patients. the nhs is there for you if you need advice and treatment. and i want to address very clearly this message to those who might be vulnerable, heart attacks or stroke, to parents of young children, to pregnant women and to people with concerns that they may have cancer. i want to emphasise that people with non—coronavirus symptoms must still contact their gp. if you think you need medical help, please contact yourgp need medical help, please contact your gp either online or by phone to be assessed. if you need urgent medical advise, use nhs111online or if you can't get online or call

111 . or if you can't get online or call 111. and because if it is serious or life—threatening call 909. if you're told to go to hospital, the place you need to be is in hospital. the nhs is there for you and can provide the very best care if you need it. the second point of our battle plan is on supply and working to boost supplies of core equipment. now, the full weight of the government is behind the effort and again we have brought in the armed forces to help us meet this demand. this includes ventilators, both purchasing extra stock and increasing the production of new ones. we now have record numbers of ventilators with 10,700 available for use for patients. it includes medicines, so we can make sure everyone has access to the supplies and treatment they need. and of course it includes personal protective equipment too. in normal times, the nhs bp supply chain supplies 233 hospital trust.

currently, 58,000 separate health and social care settings are being supplied with ppe. so we are creating a whole new logistics network from scratch and we have some of the best minds in the country working on this. i'm grateful to colleagues from the nhs, public health england, the cramped commercial service, cabinet office, the communities department, the mod, the communities department, the mod, the armed forces again, devolved administrations, territorial officers, the treasury, foreign office and the department of foreign trade because they all play their part. and last week i appointed lord dighton who delivered the olympics toa dighton who delivered the olympics to a new role in driving forward ppe manufacture in here. since the start of this crisis, we have delivered over a billion items are ppe and we are constantly working to improve the delivery system and buying ppe from around the world. we are working to make more at home andi we are working to make more at home and i would like to thank for uk businesses who generally have come

forward with offers to turn their production lines towards this effort andi production lines towards this effort and i would like to thank members from the house would put us in contact with members in their constituencies. we are actively engaged with over 1000 companies who buy from abroad and working with 159 potential uk manufacturers. we have a rigorous system of verifying the offers that we receive because not all offers that we receive because not a ll offers offers that we receive because not all offers have been credible and it's important to focus on the biggest most credible offers first. this work is crucial, so we can get our nhs and care staff the kits they need so they can do theirjob safely and with confidence. the third part is to scale up testing. i have set the goal of 100,000 tests a day by the goal of 100,000 tests a day by the end of this month. i am delighted to say that the expansion of capacity is ahead of plans even though demand has thus far been lower—than—expected. we are therefore ramping up the

availability of this testing and expanding who is eligible for testing and making it easier to access tests. the tests are conducted in nhs hospitals, drive—through centres, mobile units and home deliveries. they are then sent to the laboratories, we have completed the construction of three la bs completed the construction of three labs in milton keynes, glasgow and cheshire. each site tookjust three weeks to begin testing. as we have reached the peak and as we bring the numbers of new cases down, so we will introduce contact tracing at large scale. the introduction of the new nhs app for contact tracing is also in development. and as we do this we are working closely with some of the best digital and technological brands, renowned experts in clinical safety and digital ethics, so we can get all of this right. the more people who sign up this right. the more people who sign upfor this right. the more people who sign up for this new app when it goes

live, the better informed our response will be and the better we can therefore protect the nhs. fourth, we need to make sure the best possible, we make the best possible use of science and research. to pursue the vaccines and treatment that are essential to defeat the virus once and for all. here, the uk is at the forefront of the global effort, we have put more effort into the global effort to search for a vaccine than any other country. yesterday i announced over £40 million of funding from the two most promising uk projects, imperial and oxford. the vaccine for this oxford project will be trialled in people from tomorrow. i'm sure the whole house will agree this is a very promising development. i will repeat what i said yesterday which is that in normal times, reaching this stage would take years and the combination of this innovative group of people at the institute in oxford

and the mh ra regulator who deserve our special praise because they are ensuring the process is safe yet is also conducting more rapidly than ever before. and they deserve the support of the whole house in that work. at the same time we will invest in manufacturing capability because if either of these vaccines work then we must be able to make them available for the british people as soon as humanly possible. the fifth measure i will talk about in the time available is the one where everyone can play their part. social—distancing. and i just where everyone can play their part. social—distancing. and ijust want to thank everyone from across the country for their steadfast commitment and following the rules, including in this house. it is making a difference. we are at the peak. but, before we relax any social—distancing rules, or make changes to them, we have set out the five tests that have to be met.

first, that the nhs can continue to cope. second that the operational challenges have been met. third that the daily death rate falls sustainably and consistently, forth that the rate of infection is decreasing and most importantly, fifth that there is no risk of a second peak. finally mr speaker, we are working to protect the most vulnerable through shielding. this is the sixth part of a battle plan. there has been a huge effort across government to contact and support those at risk. we have been boosted by the support and help of the heroic nhs volunteer rep responders who signed up in their droves within two days of our call, an unbelievable 750,000 two days of our call, an unbelievable 750 , 000 people two days of our call, an unbelievable 750,000 people put themselves forward for this initiative. with the volunteers and the supportive community department had been nhs and local councils who have done amazing work on this, we are shielding the most vulnerable. mr speaker, these are unprecedented times for us all. and we have all

seen times for us all. and we have all seen the extraordinary impact of coronavirus in our constituencies and across the country. and even though today we are physically separated, this house is at its best when we are united in our purpose and resolve. so i will keep working with members right across the house in this fight against this invisible killer because this may be akin to a war but it's one where the whole of humanity is on the same side. and i commend this statement to the house. we now go over to the shadow secretary of state, jonathan ashworth. i am grateful for you making the arrangements for us to be able to participate in these circumstances. can i thank the secretary of state in advance for his statement and my thoughts to all those who have lost their lives to this horrific virus. can we pay tribute to those nhs staff who have

lost their lives. i hope when this is over we can find an appropriate way to remember those nhs staff on the front line who gave their lives for all of us. can we also remember those social care staff that also lost their lives. could the secretary of state tells what the actual number of social care staff is, the first secretary did not have those statistics a few moments ago. it looks like we're heading to one of the worst death rates in europe. the government have been careful to a lwa ys the government have been careful to always say we're following scientific advice. good to secretary of state tell us what the explanation is from the government's scientists as to why our death rate seems so poor scientists as to why our death rate seems so poor compared for example with germany. will he undertake to publish the minutes which are not being published and would he also undertake to publish the evidence as to why we are following a seven day rule for isolation and that appears to contradict the world health organization who suggest a 14 day rule of isolation. as the virus

develops rule of isolation. as the virus d evelo ps we rule of isolation. as the virus develops we can see that it although it attacks the respa tree system is also attacks cells throughout the body —— respiratory system. this leads to cardiovascular and renal failure. will he convene the clinical societies so we can share understanding of the disease amongst clinicians and how best to treat the disease as things, as research emerges? i'm sure he will be struck asiam by emerges? i'm sure he will be struck as i am by the high number or proportion deaths among black, asian and minority communities. we see this in the united states as well. can he update us on the inquiry? i am sure he is a horrified as i am at the deaths in care homes and nursing homes. this was always a high—risk sector and it is why we were long calling for a social care strategy. can he undertake to do four things? cou nty can he undertake to do four things? county ensure all deaths are recorded on a daily basis, the ctc

has suggested the deaths in care homes is double what was recorded yesterday. can he ensure testing is insured for nhs staff, it is ludicrous to expect care workers to drive miles and miles for testing. can he ensure ppa supply systems for the nhs system is now expanded to the nhs system is now expanded to the social care system? we need to be pursuing the preventative agenda with much more vigour than we have been, perhaps, and making sure that ppe is available on so that the staff can protect themselves as well