this is bbc news. lam iamjane i amjane hill. we had lines to be. the number of people who've died with coronavirus in care homes in england is thought to have doubled in five days — figures suggest more than 2,000 deaths. in the first ever virtual prime minister's questions, the new labour leader strongly criticises the government over a lack of testing and supply of personal protective equipment. something's going wrong, but there isa something's going wrong, but there is a pattern emerging here. we were slow into lockdown, slow on testing, slow into lockdown, slow on testing, slow on protective equipment. i don't accept his premise that we have been slow. we have been guided by the scientific advice, the chief scientific adviser, the chief medical officer at every step along

this way. many holiday companies could be breaking the law by refusing to give customers refunds for coronavirus related cancellations. the number of people recorded as having died with coronavirus in care homes in england is thought have increased dramatically in a matter of days. preliminary figures by the care regulator suggest more than 2,000 care home residents have died in england since the beginning of the outbreak. the latest figures show the number of people dying with covid—19 in care homes in england could have doubled in five days. the health secretary, matt hancock, has said 15 social care workers have died during the outbreak. but the government insists it will meet its target to carry out

100,000 coronavirus tests a day by the end of the month. meanwhile, cancer research uk says more than 2,200 new cancer cases in the uk could be going undetected each week. and the new labour leader sir keir starmer has said "serious mistakes have been made" by the government and "ministers do need to be held accountable for those mistakes," 0ur health correspondent richard galpin reports. there can be little doubt now that there is a major crisis in care homes, particularly in england. the latest figures are provisional, but indicate the number of deaths in the ca re indicate the number of deaths in the care homes in england could have doubled between april ten and 15th. and that would mean an increase of

around 1000 deaths linked to coronavirus in just five days. back on april three, 217 deaths in care homes had been reported in england and wales. 0n homes had been reported in england and wales. on april ten, the number had increased to more than 1000. and now, if these latest figures, which are for april 15 are correct, then the total just are for april 15 are correct, then the totaljust in england is around 2000 deaths. we need to be pursuing the preventative agenda with much more vigour than we have been, perhaps, and making sure that ppe is available, so that the staff can protect themselves as well as protect themselves as well as protect themselves as well as protect the residents in our services. scotland has also seen increases in the numbers dying in ca re increases in the numbers dying in care homes compared to elsewhere. there were 25% of last week's total figure. this week, they are 33%. meanwhile, the struggle to get enough protective equipment, or ppe,

for health and care workers continues. this raf plane has finally flown back from turkey to the uk with a consignment of protective equipment, three days later than expected, and it is carrying just half the 80 tonnes of equipment which had been ordered, which included urgently needed gowns. it is not clear when the rest will arrive. and this is the european union has now told the bbc of the british government failed to ta ke of the british government failed to take up offers to join a european union initiative to bulk buy protective equipment. the european union says the uk has not officially requested to be involved with any of the procurement schemes, despite being repeatedly invited by the eu to do so, but the eu does so the uk can be part of a procurement programme in the future. to try to boost supplies of ppe, the government has been asking

manufacturers in the uk to help, but some are already frustrated with the government processed. we had 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, but so far, to date, we have not heard anything from central government. the government says it has already contacted 3000 companies. meanwhile, there are reports some protective equipment is being shipped abroad, despite the shortages here. we are taking in so much more ppe than the small amount we may be exporting. we area small amount we may be exporting. we are a net importer of ppe, and literally millions of items of ppe are coming to the uk every week to get to the front line. you heard the plane from turkey learned this morning, we had a shipment of gowns from myanmar earlier this week, i'm expecting delivery of millions of

facemasks this week was not with so many countries needing huge supplies of protective equipment, it is not easy getting the required amounts, but the lives of health and care workers are at stake. richard galpin, bbc news. 0ur head of statistics robert cuffe has been explaining what we can learn from the preliminary figures. doubling in five days is pretty scary, but actually we have to remember that that's what the virus has been doing, the number of deaths announced every day across the uk for the population as a whole was doubling every three —ish days up into the week before easter, then it slow down a bit and has flattened out since then, so doubling every three days versus doubling every five days, they are in the same ballpark, the question is what happens going forward, and the issue we have had is knowing exactly what is going on in care homes, because the daily numbers we hear every day from the department of health, they are hospitals, so we can't know the full story full stop we get more information from the death certificate and the death registrations the office for

national statistics do, but that is ten days delayed, so getting information directly from the care quality commission who have to be told whenever somebody dies in a ca re told whenever somebody dies in a care home will enable us to get a clear picture of what is going on in ca re clear picture of what is going on in care homes and let us know whether they are following the same pattern as the rest of the country, slowing down, or whether deaths continue to grow. and we can speak now to nadra ahmed, chairman of national care association, who we just saw in that report. good afternoon to you. what are your thoughts, first of all, when you hear these latest figures, albeit they are preliminary?” hear these latest figures, albeit they are preliminary? i think it is very upsetting. it is upsetting for everybody who loses somebody in a ca re everybody who loses somebody in a care setting. it is upsetting for out care setting. it is upsetting for our staff to hear those figures, but also to be living those figures if they've got deaths occurring in their services, and i think the devastation bit is around all of that, and the long—term on this

workforce will need to be looked at as we go forward and on the care services. i mean, i think as we go forward and on the care services. i mean, ithink it as we go forward and on the care services. i mean, i think it is perhaps the best part of a week since you and i last spoke. you were talking then about the need for ppe. you still wanted that for your staff, i wonder whether the situation, you feel, and people are telling you has changed at all in that time? well, no, not in any great way. i think the access to ppe is still an issue, because obviously we are having to source it from suppliers have been sent it or sold it, andl suppliers have been sent it or sold it, and i think it remains a problem. masks are a great problem for our staff, and our providers are very careful about making sure that the staff do have it. i've heard of providers who say conveyor on the phone three or four hours to be able to access the amount of ppe they need, depending on the size of the

service, and i think this whole thing about ppe has exploded, if we had been able to access it straightaway, our suppliers had been given that and it hadn't been diverted towards the nhs at the very beginning we may have had a slightly different scenario, but who knows? these are unprecedented times and we can look at all sorts of things. it isjust the can look at all sorts of things. it is just the same can look at all sorts of things. it isjust the same as can look at all sorts of things. it is just the same as testing. can look at all sorts of things. it isjust the same as testing. we have talked about testing a lot. we are now at the point where it is being rolled out and we understand all these things are new and i keep being told this is being set up really quickly but actually on the ground, the messages people saying they're having to travel hundreds miles oran hour they're having to travel hundreds miles or an hour away to try to get this testing, and i have just taken a call before coming on from somebody who has said, i have been told the residents in my service who are coming through the nhs will be tested, but what about the rest of my residence? you know, there needs

to be some consistency in the messaging. we need to get all of that ironed out because it is increasing anxiety at a time where provider failure is actually staring us provider failure is actually staring us in the face. we've got money that has been given by government to local authorities, and to lots of 1.6 billion, which has no ring fencing for social care, and from what we hear only a third of local authorities have been in contact to see how they will be supporting the sector. this is a time that central government needs to think really carefully about how they are going to support this sector, because if we get what i'm fearing the most, which provider failure, then what will happen is those people are going to have to go somewhere, and i don't know that there has been enough forward planning on this to understand the circumstances. i know that providers are contacting me and saying, we are really worried, we've

got nothing coming forward, and we are spending huge amounts of money trying to sustain the services, and i think, you trying to sustain the services, and ithink, you know, i trying to sustain the services, and ithink, you know, lam trying to sustain the services, and i think, you know, i am at a loss to understand why we are not being... you know, we are talked about a lot, imean, i've you know, we are talked about a lot, i mean, i've done more press interviews now than probably the whole of my career, but actually what is moving forward? where are we going with this? we've got vulnerable people who are identified as people that are most at risk, and yet we have absolutely no major plan that can support our providers. you know, just things like zero rating vat for example would make a huge amount to providers a difference, because at this moment in time that isjust a cost because at this moment in time that is just a cost they are having to bear. sorry. no, ithink you end

is just a cost they are having to bear. sorry. no, i think you end on a very salient point there, and if we managed to speak to anyone from government i will certainly put all those final points you made to them. thank you very much, we will talk again, i know. we will stay with elements of the story. a bit about the picture in scotland. more than 1,600 have died in scotland with confirmed or suspected coronavirus since the pandemic began. the figures for all coronavirus deaths up to last sunday come from the national records of scotland and show that a third of deaths recorded were in care homes. 74% of those who died were 75 or older. nicola sturgeon announced the figures whilst speaking earlier at the scottosh government's daily coronavirus briefing. so national records of scotland now produce a report each wednesday, which captures all deaths registered

within a seven day period, ending on the preceding sunday, and that includes not just the preceding sunday, and that includes notjust those with a confirmed laboratory diagnosis of the virus, but also deaths which are presumed to be linked to covid—19 and mentioned on a death certificate. the number of deaths covered under this reporting system is therefore larger than under the daily system, when you compare the two figures according to the same date, but it is a complaints of one. nrs published a third of its weekly reports today, just around half an hour ago, that covers the period up to sunday 19th of april, three days ago. at that point, according to our daily figures, if i can remind you at 915 deaths had been registered of people who had tested positive for covid—19. however today's report shows that by sunday the total number of registered deaths linked to the virus, confirmed and presumed, was 1616. 651 of these

we re presumed, was 1616. 651 of these were registered in the seven days up until sunday, and that's an increase of 41 from the week before, when 610 covid—19 deaths were registered. now, these figures are extremely difficult to report on, and i know that they will be difficult for all of you to listen to. they are higher than any of us would ever want to think about. that was scotland's first minister, just to bring you the figures that have just come through for england. a further 665 people have sadly died in the last 24—hour is, that is reporting on the last 2a hours, having tested positive for coronavirus. this isjust england again —— in the last 24—hour is. this is just again —— in the last 24—hour is. this isjust a again —— in the last 24—hour is. this is just a figure in again —— in the last 24—hour is. this isjust a figure in hospitals, we are well aware of the debate between care homes and hospitals. it brings the total number of confirmed

deaths in hospitals in another 665 people sadly reported in the last 2a hours. those people were aged between 26 and 102. as ever, we tend to get the figures from around this time each day, and it does take a while to really get the context of them to drill down into what it all means, and to look at the trends, such as we understand them, because there is a way is a delay with these things, but our health correspondence will be going through those figures and we will try to bring you a little more context on those a little later in the afternoon. well, much of this is what is being discussed, particularly today, wednesday, prime minister is question the new labour leader the new labour leader sir keir starmer has trongly criticised the government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

speaking during the first virtual prime minister's questions, with more than a hundred mps taking part via video link, sir keir told dominic raab, deputising for the prime minster, that the government had failed to deliver the number of coronavirus tests required — and had not provided enough personal protective equipment for health workers. 0ur political correspondent leila nathoo reports. so many questions for the health secretary and his cabinet colleagues still to answer. why are we playing catch up on ppe, mr hancock? were there missed opportunities to better prepare the uk for the coronavirus outbreak? and are we now doing enough? mps can once again voice their concerns in parliament. speaker: order. order. yesterday the house agreed to a motion to allow members to participate virtually in proceedings of the house for the first time in 700 years of history of the house of commons. the commons is now sitting in a part

physical, part virtual way, and for the labour leader keir starmer in his first appearance at the dispatch box in his new role, a chance to press the government on testing. 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've heard from the front line from care workers who are frankly desperate for tests for their residents and for themselves. desperate. they would expect every test to be used every day for those that need them. so there is clearly a problem. why isn't the government using all the tests available every day? the foreign secretary dominic raab, still deputising for borisjohnson while he recovers. of course we are making sure that the eligibility is broadened. our focus is, as i think you would agree, should be on front line nhs staff, broadened out to care workers and other key workers.

keir starmer questioned why british manufacturers are apparently still exporting protective equipment. 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's going wrong, and there is a pattern emerging here. we were slow into lockdown, slow on testing, slow on protective equipment and now slow to take up these offers from british firms. i don't accept his premise that we have been slow. we have been guided by the scientific advice, the chief scientific adviser and chief medical officer, at every step along the way. if he thinks he knows better than they do, with the benefit of hindsight, then that is his decision, but that is not the way we have proceeded and it is not the way we will in the future. a hint of the arguments that usually take place here but a more muted tone. parliament has been forced to adapt to find a way for mps and peers to play their part in scrutinising government policy at this critical time.

with huge decisions being made affecting all of our lives, the commons can now act as another powerfulforum for concerns to be raised. speaker: ian blackford. mps, like all of us, are adjusting to a new reality, that they may not all be here in person they will make sure their voices are still heard. leila nathoo, bbc news, westminster. iain watson, there is a new leader of the opposition, let's start with your thoughts on his opening in pmqs stop a very different one from jeremy corbyn's. he was mentioning what embers of the public wanted to talk about but increasingly as the end of his time, he was getting into much more emotional language being directed at the government, i think partly because we are now in this virtual setting, partly because of the nature of this crisis, partly

because of the character involved, keir starmer was asking questions in a very measured tone. he obviously has a background in the legal profession, a very eminent lawyer before becoming a politician, and what was interesting was he made a general argument that there was a gap between the government does make promises and its delivery, but then asked very specific questions of the government, questions he could anticipate they would find difficult to answer, so he didn'tjust attack them on whether they could meet their testing target, he said if there is a capacity to test 40,000 people now, why are you only testing 18,000? on another question, on the ca re 18,000? on another question, on the care home deaths for example, he was asking why the government did not have a specific figure for the number of care workers who may have died of coronavirus. incidentally, that question was answered subsequently by the health secretary matt hancock, who said 15 tragically had died. but on ppe as well, was again accusing the government as we heard of being slow, but what was interesting this new approach i

think labour has, is again they are being very specific, so they quickly issued a dossier saying 36 companies had contacted them saying they haven't had an answer from the government when they were offering to provide ppe. so he is very much taking his position of challenging the government but doing it in a measured way. he said he would have the courage to challenge the government if they were failing and they would be held to account for their mistakes. so i don't think it was a soft questioning of the government but it was a very different tone, a tone that seemed too much i think the mood of the country, in terms of how the crisis should be carried out, but one which didn't evade or avoid asking some of the difficult questions, without getting into some of the emotional language and the kind of barracking, the punch and judy politics we have seen the punch and judy politics we have seen so the punch and judy politics we have seen so often from prime minister's questions. interesting, such a different dynamic when you only have a handful of people actually there and then lots of people from their home offices. let's talk about matt hancock specifically as well, because he made a statement after

pmqs, which viewers might not have seen pmqs, which viewers might not have seen all of that. tell us what leapt out from what he had to say. there are two things which i think we are very important actually from matt hancock's statement. i should also say dominic raab and matt hancock together i think have also got this general approach they are taking at the moment, which is that the government is following the science, and when it comes to labour‘s attacks, they are saying it is quite straightforward to be able to say all those things with the benefit of hindsight. so to some extent they are pushing back on the specific criticisms from keir starmer but the two things that stood out from me from matt hancock's statement, first of all he said he had confidence that the peak of this virus had been reached. now that can be a very significant thing to say. also he is saying work is under way in ramping up saying work is under way in ramping up the testing and tracing of people with the virus, which the government can then do only of course when the

rates of infections fall. he wasn't very specific on what that looked like at the moment but he suggested there is a way out of this but of course the government are very keen to avoid doing anything that would cause a second wave in the virus. and i think the other interesting area he went into as well was this question of people not going to hospital or seeing their gp if they have something other than coronavirus, and he is clearly very concerned that some people who need treatment are staying away from a health care setting, from hospitals, from doctors surgeries at the moment, and he wanted to encourage them to go along and encourage them that the nhs is open for business, it is not simply a covid—19 service. thank you very much, iain watson at westminster. we will talk about ppe for quite a few minutes now in various guises. earlier today, an raf aircraft has landed in the uk with a delayed

delivery of personal protective equipment from turkey. the flight arrived at raf brize norton in the early hours. its arrival coincides with the government remaining under pressure for failing to supply enough ppe. as iain wasjust as iain was just talking about and as came up so much as iain was just talking about and as came up so much at prime minister's questions. still so much is needed, we headed in the guest i was just talking to from the national care homes, that represents national care homes, that represents national care homes, a massive problem, as we have reflected since the beginning of this pandemic. just a moment we will talk to someone who is actually making ppe but let's first just give you is actually making ppe but let's firstjust give you a sense of how much is required. some really interesting stats. an nhs trust in lincolnshire, made up of three major hospitals, and that trust gave us details of how much ppe they need every single day. it amounts to just

under 40,000 surgical masks, nearly 11,500 pairs of gloves, more than 1500 gallons and more than 4000 specialist tight—fitting respiratory masks. it is a total of 72,000 items, including other ppe items, and that is just one day at one trust in one corner of england. one group of people using its skills to help those working on the front line are costume makers, who ususally work in theatre and television. lots of them are part of a nationwide scheme called "helping dress medics", making scrubs for doctors and nurses. one of the theatres involved is the royal exchange in manchester — let's talk to the head of its wardrobe deparment nikki meredith. hello. hello. explain what you are making, how much can you make in a day, just tell us all about the scheme? so this is something that was set up by the his dark materials

costu me was set up by the his dark materials costume department. they have this idea at the beginning of april when all of us were starting to shut down, and they started a go fund me site, and it sort of escalated from there. they are down in the south—west, and we have sort of joined in the manchester area. there are little hubs because the idea is to keep it as local as possible. that is one of the excellent things, it isa that is one of the excellent things, it is a nationwide scheme but absolutely local. it is worth explaining that what you are making is absolutely nhs grade, isn't it? this is the real deal, and it goes out to hospitals in your area? yeah, and that is what our skill brings to it. you will see talks about the ladies they work with have worked on

casual t and holby city and things like that, so the fabric we are getting is from nhs suppliers, it is the right grade, it needs to be a really good make, withstand lots of boil washes, be able to be used over and over again. like you said before, things are having to be turned round, washed, worn again, and people are really short of these scrubs. so our contribution is so vital, which is heartbreaking really, but that's what we're doing is making sure it is really, really good standard, using the skills that all these amazing costume makers across the north west and the north can bring to that. of course, and you are all working from home by definition. what can you run up in a day, i don't mean run up in a

pejorative sense at all, because what you do is very skilled, but how much could you produce in a day? talking about the extraordinary amount we need. day is difficult, there is a small group, 36 people in our manchester hub. i can give you some idea of how many we have produced. yes, do. because people at home and they have kids and other commitments, but so far we have delivered 400 sets of scrubs to the nhs, and the target by the end of the month is 700. everybody is working really hard, there is us from the theatre, there are all the tv people who are freelance, all of theirjobs got cancelled, as our theatre shows got cancelled, so it is great that we can, particularly for me, it isjust is great that we can, particularly for me, it is just having that opportunity to play a very small pa rt opportunity to play a very small part in something that is so essential. of course, and what you

are doing is invaluable and i'm sure it is so welcomed by any of the hospitals that receive what you are doing. theatres are dark up and down the country, a very, very difficult time for something that is a huge pa rt time for something that is a huge part of the british economy. how much do you know about when the royal exchange and other theatres might be able to get going again? what has been said to you and everybody else in the theatre where you were? well, we are sort of like eve ryo ne you were? well, we are sort of like everyone else is sort of finding out each time how long the lockdown is going to continue. 0ur general idea is we would probably not be looking at opening anything until september, because it has affected all of our shows coming up, because we need to... we are a month in advance getting ready for rehearsals, making the costumes and the sets, so i think it is looking like september before we can really do anything, but it all depends how long everything continues. yes, it is

such a hard time. thank you very much, lovely to hear what you are working on instead of running time. thank you very much indeed. nikki meredith, head of the wardrobe department at the royal exchange theatre in manchester, talking about that nationwide scheme helping to address medics. join us at two thirty where we'll be about the travel industry in the next half hour because many of you are not getting refunds for holiday bookings that have been cancelled because of coronavirus. what because of coronavirus. are your rights? what shol you what are your rights? what should you do? a lot of advice coming up in the next half—an—hour. i will be

joined by lisa and steve. you can contact us on twitter using the hashtag #bbcyourquestions and you can email us on yourquestions@bbc.co.uk. now it's time for a look at the weather with helen willetts. the weather is settled at the moment. it is under an area of high pressure that so they won't be a great deal of change to what we have at the moment through the rest of the day. there is more high cloud in western parts, particularly northern ireland, some cloud across shetlands but even into the evening, temperatures will hold into the high teens and low 20s. feeling warm as the wind continues to ease but it has been quite brisk near the north sea coast and that eases overnight. some cloud over the hills in the north and although not as chilly as recent nights, there will be some frost on the glens of scotland. many bits of mist, low cloud or even hill fog first thing tomorrow it will clear quickly. this sunshine and strengthening all the time. it does look as though it will become of the

time. it does look as though it will be, for most parts, temperatures topping at 24, 25 to the west of london and warm elsewhere as well. particularly noticeable in eastern areas with less breeze at the pollen is forecast hi in many parts committee. hello this is bbc news. i'm jane hill. the headlines: the number of people who've died with coronavirus in care homes in england is thought to have doubled in five days — figures suggest more than 2,000 deaths. in the first ever virtual prime minister's questions, the new labour leader strongly criticises the government over a lack of testing and supply of personal protective equipment. something's going wrong, but there is a pattern emerging here. we were slow into lockdown, slow on testing, slow on protective equipment. i don't accept his premise that we

have been slow. we have been guided by the scientific advice, the chief scientific adviser, the chief medical officer, at every step along this way. many holiday companies could be breaking the law by refusing to give customers refunds for coronavirus related cancellations. sport now and a full round up from the bbc sport centre. good afternoon. plans to stage the world snooker championship in the summer have been announced in the last half hour. judd trump would have been defending his title right now but the tournament has been rescheduled to start at the end ofjuly. it's still hoped it will happen in front of fans at the crucible in sheffield but could even be behind closed doors. it depends on what lockdown restrictions remain in place. in the last hour i spoke to shaun

murphy who was champion in 2005. i'm just thrilled that it has been rescheduled at all, to be honest. there has been quite a lot of worry amongst the players in our little whatsapp groups we chat between is that the tournament might not happen at all, which opens a big can of worms where these players are concerned who are down at the bottom end of the rankings are fighting for their tour survival. that is really their tour survival. that is really the bigger issue here. now i would love to see a little bit more meat on the bone as to when the qualifiers are going to be and a little bit more infrastructure around the event. so the 31st of july to begin with, you talk about those qualifiers and even the event to proper happening at the end of july. i know it is going to be hard to plan, but does it feel like right timing foryou? to plan, but does it feel like right timing for you? it does that feel achievable? we are supposed to be

having these rescheduled tour championships in llandudno on the zist championships in llandudno on the 21st ofjuly, that was supposed to happen five or six weeks ago and got cancelled, postponed sorry, at the very last minute. that was supposed to be on do you like the 21st of four or five days on the north coast of wales so that will give us some idea as to if that happens, it will certainly give us a positive idea of whether the world championships is going to go ahead for i think it is really positive for everyone involved in snooker that world snooker tour have tried to reschedule the world championships. gives us all a light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak. but it will be interesting to see whether it actually does go ahead or not. the national league football season has been scrapped. the decision has been made this afternoon. so let's get more on this from our sports news reporter laura scott who has been across this. the clubs were asked to support and

ordinary resolution to end the season immediately. that is all the fixtures that's where remaining to be paid up until the 25th of april. we have today that those votes in, almost like 90% of those, not the full 100%, but what is clear as there is a majority in favour of ending the season immediately and the remaining votes whether or not they come in, that won't change the decision. the chief executive of the national league said he hopes that cancelling the remaining fixtures brings a degree of certainty in what is obviously a challenging time. do we know what they are going to do now? has there been any hints as to how this may play out in that regard? no, that is the major question that still remains. they have said that the sporting outcomes of the season, that is obviously promotion and relegation, is still under consideration and they will update in due course but clearly thatis update in due course but clearly that is something that the three divisions and the clubs in those divisions and the clubs in those divisions will be really keen to find out the outcome of.

michael o'neill has permanently left his role as northern ireland manager after eight years in charge. o'neill was set to oversee the postponed euros qualifier with bosnia—herzegovina in march. however due to uefa's proposal to reschedule the game in the autumn, he will now solely focus on his job as stoke city manager, saying he "feels it is only fair that now is the right time for me to step aside." that's all the sport for now. see you in the next hour. just a brief line through from our collea g u es brief line through from our colleagues at westminster, we are just hearing that the prime minister borisjohnson is just hearing that the prime minister boris johnson is due just hearing that the prime minister borisjohnson is due to speak to the queen this evening on the phone. that is what we have been told in the last few minutes. we are being told that borisjohnson watched the ministers questions from chequers, he is of course still very much recovering from covid—19. he spent

time in intensive care in hospital so time in intensive care in hospital so he is at chequers where he is recovering. he did watch pmqs. we are being told. but isn't yet doing government work, he has not yet doing government work, that is what we are hearing in the last few minutes. now on bbc news, it's time for your questions answered. this afternoon we're answering your travel related questions because many of you are not getting refunds for holiday bookings that have been cancelled because of coronavirus. under existing rules, passengers are entitled to a full refund within 14 days for a package holiday, and seven days for a flight. we have had a lot of questions and

it seems there has been a lot of confusion. i'm joined by lisa minot, travel editor at the sun and steve novotney, news and investigations editor at money saving expert. very good afternoon to both of you. a lot of questions, let but i can start with one parent paul who says he is meant to be going to greece in july with tui. —— one from paul. the final instalment is due next week, ifi final instalment is due next week, if i pay it when i get a refund if the holiday is subsequently cancelled? the holiday is subsequently cancelled ? tui says the holiday is subsequently cancelled? tui says i am set protected. —— atol protected. cancelled? tui says i am set protected. -- atol protected. in order to get the full protection in the law as it stands, it would be best to pay that final amount. as difficult as that seems because you don't know if you are actually going to get your holiday, if you pay that

final amounts, you have that atol protection. i must say that tui have been... my inbox is full of e—mails of how they have been mucked about by tui about getting refunds and the good thing i can say is that that if you do make that final payment, you do have the final protection. if you don't make that final payment, you lose everything that you already put down as a deposit. yes, so really do. it may seem counterintuitive but pay the full amount. tui not here to a nswer pay the full amount. tui not here to answer criticisms but i am interested whether, what your thoughts are on this specific point from paul? i don't think he is hearing me. lisette still can. let's go to the next question which is about something that he believes is

protected which is a holiday due to be happening in england. he says i have already booked it and paid it in full have already booked it and paid it infulland it have already booked it and paid it in full and it was cancelled by the company, so what recourse is there fur vic? it is basically making sure... it is not protected by atol as it is a holiday in the uk. check the compa ny‘s terms as it is a holiday in the uk. check the company's terms and conditions andi the company's terms and conditions and i very much doubt they can deny your refund. at that point, you go to them and say i have checked my terms and conditions from this booking and i need my full refund. it should be given to me. if they continue to say they won't give the refund, then they should contact the company and say they are not doing what they meant to be doing. steve is back with us. a question about uk

holidays but specifically cottage holidays but specifically cottage holidays but specifically cottage holidays but i know there have been a lot of issues around this. andrew says we have a uk holiday cottage cancelled, all we were offered was a rebooking at a later date was up i'm interested to know whether or not we should be entitled to a full refund instead of just should be entitled to a full refund instead ofjust a rebooking? yes, unfortunately this is a really common problem. money saving expert, out common problem. money saving expert, ourinbox common problem. money saving expert, our inbox is swamped with this kind of query. the problem is that a lot of query. the problem is that a lot of the big companies are doing this, they are offering rebooking but not refunds. you're right, it is a little bit tricky because unlike with a package holiday what you do have the protection and travel regulations, you don't necessarily have that automatic entitlement to refund. what you really need to do is check the terms and conditions of your booking. hopefully there will be wedding in that which entitles you to a refund in which case certainly take that up with the provider. —— in the wording. you

don't necessarily have that automatic protection but morally if nothing else, you certainly should be giving refunds to people in this situation because to make people rebook and sometimes make people rebook and sometimes make people rebook at the time of year they have no intention of going, that is a difficult situation to be in. we are hearing a lot about cottages. it is interesting that morally, the moral issue versus the legal issue and yet we know, in broader terms, the travel industry is really suffering here and is going to suffer into the future, isn't it? there is a conundrum here. there really is because, it is all very well and good saying, yes, they should be giving their money back, they shouldn't be holding onto the consumer's money, but at the same time, if you are a tour operator on an airline and you have fixed costs, airlines are paying out for leasing planes, as a tour operator you probably pay money out to other suppliers, so that they are stuck in the middle and don't have the money and that could then mean that we are

going to see quite a few companies going to see quite a few companies going bust and that is not going to help anyone in trying to get the money back at any point in the future or to start going on holiday again. yes, it is a difficult area. i know we have talked about it a lot. steve, a question here from gillian who says, who has busily had a flight cancelled, says they have had a refund but a flight fee of about £40, should be i be getting a full refund ? about £40, should be i be getting a full refund? it kind of depends. i said many of these questions do on the specifics of the situation. if you booked with an airline, and certainly if it is covered by eu flight certainly if it is covered by eu flight rules, which those will be, then you certainly should be getting then you certainly should be getting the full refund, they shouldn't be a handling fee or administration fee on that. if you booked via a travel agency, it can be a little bit more tricky. some travel agents will take a handling fee. the important thing there is to make sure that it is very much in proportion to the

overall cost of the booking pulled up overall cost of the booking pulled up it shouldn't be an unreasonable amount they're taking. it depends on the situation but hopefully it shouldn't be happening. the situation but hopefully it shouldn't be happeningm the situation but hopefully it shouldn't be happening. it is interesting. i will stay with you, steve, because we were talking about british holiday cottages will up there is a question from robert about a villa in spain. the villa is privately owned and has... was booked and had been booked and paid a lot of money for. the owner has already got the money but is refusing to give us any money back. where do we stand legally? that is a really interesting one. steve, did you first on that one. it is very interesting full dub it is difficult to comment on very specific cases because you don't know the full ins and outs but in general terms, this is the situation where there are certain kind of protects you can get under protection you may have which may not apply in this case will stop often, if you booked via an agency

or you booked via a booking site, you will have some protection through their mechanisms so that probably doesn't apply in this case. if you book and you pay via credit or debit card, you may have some protection on section 75, if you paid by bank transfer you may not haveit paid by bank transfer you may not have it on my case. assuming, again there are a lot of assumptions here, but assuming it is the traveller who has decided to cancel rather than the holiday cottage and saying you can't come visit, you probably need to check the terms of the contract. it isa to check the terms of the contract. it is a tricky situation will stop it may be one that you need to perhaps speak to your insurer about because if the foreign office is advising against travel then hopefully insurance would kick in. lisa, your thoughts on that? it is not an uncommon problem but anyone who is looking to book a villa abroad, the very last thing you should do is use bank transfer because you have no address

whatsoever. you can try on your insurance and that might be a way out but other than that you are really looking at actually having to go through the courts in the country where you have booked your villa, in this case spain, that would take a lot of time and probably very expensive so not worth any money. it is always better with the bellows to go with the company that will give you some form of protection such as a atol certificate if your booking flights and book with a certain company because you do get more protection. good advice there. a question about travel insurance, alistair has said what about travel insurance that you can't use? the company i booked insurance through says it is only going to refund 50%. that is a little unclear, i am wondering whether alistair has perhaps paid for annual travel insurance that by definition isn't being used at the moment, it is a little unclear, i wonder if you have any thoughts on this? lisa, first to you. unfortunately, with travel

insurance, the idea is that the minute you booked your holiday that is when you get the travel insurance, so it should anything happen in the run—up to your holiday, you are protected, say you fall holiday, you are protected, say you fa ll over holiday, you are protected, say you fall over or break your leg and you can't go on holiday, it is still going to be protecting you and you can get your money back. it is the same situation with this, because you have had that protection from the moment you what the policy, effectively they could argue that they have actually provided a service to you, you haven't had to use it but they have provided you with a service for a length of time but it is very much a case where insurance companies are where they are because they are making money. i naturally quite impressed that they have given it back 50% because i'm hearing more and more from my readers that they are just been told absolutely no, you have taken the insurance out and we will not give you the money back. so 50% might not be such a bad deal after all. steve

watt, what are your thoughts? this is something we are looking up. 50% isn't bad. they may approach rata it, if you have an annual policy and having travelled on hits at all, you may be up to probe after it. my mum did this last week and she managed to get money back so it is certainly worth a go if you are sure you won't be travelling to top the flip side is that if you are at the start of an annual travel insurance, you might want to use it much later in the year and if we come round to taking out insurance in six months' time, who knows where the travel industry will be so there might be a case for sticking with it. really interesting. did your mum phoned up and say my son works for money saving expert? don't answer that question. who knows. it is interesting, a broader thought the memory as we get was the end of our

session because it touches on the thoughts about the long—term impact of all of this. she is asking, what do they think is the long—term effect on the travel industry? will places like hotels and bars be open when people are allowed to travel again and by the time we come out of lockdown, with a lot of them have gone bust? it is a bigger question, lisa, to you first. i think it is going to be extreme and challenging. there are places in europe and other parts of the world where tourism is a huge part of the local economy and it is going to have a massive impact. i think we're going to see, to start with, maybe some quite good deals once we finally come first out travelling again but i really can see that flights are going to start to become more expensive and holidays in general because, as tragic as it is, i don't think all travel companies are going to survive this. when you have fewer travel companies, there is less competition and travel companies that remain could charge higher prices so i can see that prices are going to get much higher once we

finally do start to go travelling again, but hopefully that gives as an opportunity to look at doing a staycation and start to look closer to home at the amazing stuff we have to home at the amazing stuff we have to see and do here in the uk. steve, do you foresee that? higher prices? i think it is certainly possible. we are out to such an early stage in an unprecedented situation, we just don't know what the long—term impact will be, particularly on the infrastructure, on people's travelling pattern, too. one thing thatis travelling pattern, too. one thing that is interesting can consider is that is interesting can consider is that there is not a siren that is going to sound and then normality will completely return, we will properly see a phased return to people travelling, people being more adventurous, wanting to go to different parts of the country and that situation will vary from country to country around the world. i think we are going to see a staggered return to travel, hopefully. it is very difficult to say about the prices but there is a

lot still to come on this story. yes, a staggered return for top rather brilliantly, you're taken us onto ourfinal question. rather brilliantly, you're taken us onto our final question. it rather brilliantly, you're taken us onto ourfinal question. it is rather brilliantly, you're taken us onto our final question. it is from jack who, i understand, he is trying to look to the future, aren't we all? butjack to look to the future, aren't we all? but jack wandered, to look to the future, aren't we all? butjack wandered, when you both think international travel from the uk will start again? steve, you half a nswered the uk will start again? steve, you half answered it, lisa, iwill come to you first. it is crystal ball time, but what are your thoughts at the moment? it very much is a crystal ball time. as steve said, it is going to be very much dependent, not just about us is going to be very much dependent, notjust about us wanting to go places but countries wanting to letters in. there are a lot of countries still amount to be that have bands on air traffic on the borders are closed. —— countries wanting to let us in. i would like to think that by august we could be going to france and spain and places like that, perhaps a little bit further afield but the portuguese tourist board were telling me today that they really aren't expecting to welcome any british tourists until

january next year, and so we really can't tell. i would like to say that we could possibly be seeing an autumn where we could perhaps get that last little bit of sunshine in europe but that is very much fingers crossed. that is so interesting, isn't it? you mentioned portugal there, but also so many countries that are so reliant on tourism income so you have to question, if you're talking about next january, family hotels and bars and pubs are still going to be open by then? also airlines, there are airlines in great difficulty. yes, that is absolutely right and as i say, over the next few months, before normality returns, we will see some really big developer and is in the travel industry and i think the other thing is going back to the original question we started the segment with, this will have shaken people's confidence in travel to a certain extent. there will be people who are always interested in travel who are always interested in travel who are always interested in travel who are willing to take a chance and hop on a plane and see what happens and up to lately they will continue to travel but to people perhaps have

one holiday a year and they have saved up for it, sadly they may have lost a lot of money or at the very least they are left in limbo for months trying to get their money back, that will really shake people's confidence over the next few years in travel so it will be very interesting to see how quickly things return to normality and if that normality returns at all. really, really interesting to hear both your perspectives, thank you so much for giving us a lot of time this afternoon. just a reflection of how many questions there on this topic, thank you so much looser and steve. —— lisa and steve. and just one more story to bring you before we go to the weather prospects. 0ne element of the coronavirus story. only a tiny proportion of vulnerable children in england are taking up the emergency school places that are available for them. figures show that as many as 95%

of the most needy children haven't been at school during the coronavirus crisis and the children's commissioner says she's concerned they may drop off the radar of social services. 0ur education correspondent frankie mccamley reports. some are struggling. some are really, really struggling. jade, not her real name, has a child who's classed as vulnerable. they have been attending school for the last four weeks. if she didn't come to school, we'd be clashing, arguing all the time, constantly. there wouldn't really be much of a relationship there if i'm honest, it's structured, she's got a routine. she knows she's got support here. she's safe here. jade struggles to make ends meet. so school is a relief. when your kid comes to school, they get lunch every day. so you know you haven't got to worry about that meal. i know it sounds silly, but you haven't. from a monday to a friday, you haven't got to worry about that meal. now, you've got to worry about that every day. there are all sorts of reasons that a child will be on a list classed as vulnerable. some may have been allocated a social worker. for others, there could have been violence or abuse at home.

so it's essential for schools and support services to stay in touch with these children. ultimately, to make sure they're safe. but children and families are falling off the radar. this school has lost contact with a handful of children, despite phoning home and knocking on doors. to be honest, it gives me sleepless nights worrying about those particular children. we are trying to work really hard with children's services and with kind of the other schools in our locality to try and find out where those children are, to see who has been in contact with them. when was the last time they have been seen? government data shows as many as 95% of the most vulnerable children have not been attending school during the coronavirus crisis. some may be self—isolating or living with vulnerable people, but others should be attending. most of the vulnerable children in this country are not going into school, despite the fact that schools are open for them.

and what that means is they're at home with potentially this kind of cocktail of secondary risks. now government needs to do everything they can to ensure they reduce the dangers that these families are facing during this time of crisis. the government says it's providing extra funding to councils and children's charities to offer support to vulnerable youngsters, but for children who rely on schools to keep them safe, some stuck at home could be facing a greater risk, hidden from those who are trying to protect them. frankie mccamley, bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather. good afternoon. this settled spell of weather brought by high pressure will stay with us throughout the rest of the week. there is just more ofa rest of the week. there is just more of a question murk over how the weekend detail will play out. in some places there is a bit of hazy

cloud around, otherwise there's very little across mainland parts of the uk and more cloud in shetland. they won't be a great deal of change really throughout daylight hours because the weather is quite stag na nt because the weather is quite stagnant and even into the evening, temperatures will hold to around about 20 degrees in central parts, away from the north sea coast because it has been quite a blustery day. the wind is not as brisk as yesterday and it will ease overnight to tell us at low cloud again over the hills, some passable mist and fog at low levels but is not as last night. —— possible mist. there is still that low cloud over the hills of scotla nd still that low cloud over the hills of scotland and a little bit at lower levels but that will clear at in no time given the strength of the april sun ten full up it looks as though thursday will be the warmest day of the week. we could see the odd 25 to the west of london and you can see, for many parts, temperatures will be above where they should be at this time of year, even for the east coast as we have lost that easterly breeze, it will feel a little warmer. high pressure sta rts feel a little warmer. high pressure

starts to losing its identity with low pressure in the south so we will start to bring just a little bit more cloud, that could come down from the north, some cloud coming in from the north, some cloud coming in from the north, some cloud coming in from the south and west, just the hint here that they could be the odd showerfor hint here that they could be the odd shower for parts of south—west england, perhaps south wales but it looks like another dry, warm day just increasingly hazy that sunshine. into the weekend, as that height becomes less established if you like, there is a greater chance it will put up a few showers, either from the north or coming up from the south, but for most, again it does look like that will be a lot of dry weather, hazy sunshine. what we will notice, because we have a bit more cloud in the breeze in the north, is that it won't feel as warm but even here, 17 to 20, is still above where it should be temperature wise for this time of year. you can see that increasing shower risk, there is a bit more uncertainty over the detail of where those showers will be but we will keep you updated and is

about there is more on our website. —— as always. this is bbc news. i'm jane hill. the headlines at 3pm. the number of people who've died with coronavirus in care homes in england is thought to have doubled in five days — figures suggest more than 2,000 deaths. there have been 759 new recorded uk coronavirus deaths in hospitals — it brings the total death toll to 18,100. in the first ever virtual prime minister's questions, the new labour leader strongly criticises the government over a lack of testing and supply of personal protective equipment. something is going wrong, and there isa something is going wrong, and there is a pattern emerging here. we were slow into lockdown, slow on testing, slow into lockdown, slow on testing, slow on protective equipment.

i don't accept his premise that we have been slow. we have been guided by the scientific advice, the chief scientific adviser, the chief medical officer at every step along this way. borisjohnson is expected speak to the queen this evening by phone. a number 10 spokesman said he watched prime minister's questions from chequers, but that he "isn't yet doing government work". many holiday companies could be breaking the law by refusing to give customers refunds for coronavirus related cancellations. the number of people recorded as having died with coronavirus in care homes in england is thought have increased dramatically in a matter of days. preliminary figures by the care

regulator suggest more than 2,000 care home residents have died in england since the beginning of the outbreak. the latest figures show the number of people dying with covid—19 in care homes in england could have doubled in five days. the health secretary, matt hancock, has said 15 social care workers have died during the outbreak. the latest figures from hospitals in england show another 665 deaths related to covid—19, bringing the total number to 16,272. in scotland, the first minister nicola sturgeon said 1,000 and 62 in scotland, the first minister nicola sturgeon said 1,062 people have now died in hospital after testing positive for coronavirus, an increase of 77. and in his first appearance at prime minister's questions as labour leader sir keir starmer said "serious mistakes have been made" by the government and "ministers do need to be held accountable for those mistakes. for those mistakes".

0ur health correspondent richard galpin reports. there can be little doubt now that there is a major crisis in care homes, particularly in england. the latest figures are provisional, but indicate the number of deaths in care homes in england could have doubled between april 10th and 15th. and that would mean an increase of around 1,000 deaths linked to coronavirus in just five days. back on april 3rd, 217 deaths in care homes had been reported in england and wales. on april 10th, the number had increased to more than 1,000. and now, if these latest figures, which are for april 15th, are correct, then the total, just in england, is around 2,000 deaths. we need to be pursuing the preventative agenda with much more vigour than we have been, perhaps, and making sure that ppe is available, so that the staff can protect

themselves, as well as protect the residents in our services. scotland has also seen increases in the numbers dying in care homes, compared to elsewhere. they were 25% of last week's total figure. this week, they are 33%. meanwhile, the struggle to get enough protective equipment, or ppe, for health and care workers continues. this raf plane has finally flown back from turkey to the uk with a consignment of protective equipment, three days later than expected, and it is carrying just half the 80 tonnes of equipment which had been ordered, which included urgently needed gowns. it is not clear when the rest will arrive. and this as the european union has now told the bbc the british government failed to take up offers tojoin a european union initiative to bulk buy protective equipment.

the european union says the uk has not officially requested to be involved with any of the procurement schemes, despite being repeatedly invited by the eu to do so, but the eu does say the uk can be part of a procurement programme in the future. to try to boost supplies of ppe, the government has been asking manufacturers in the uk to help, but some are already frustrated with the government processed. we had 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, but so far, to date, we have not heard anything from central government. the government says it has already contacted 3,000 companies. meanwhile, there are reports some protective equipment is being shipped abroad, despite the shortages here. we are taking in so much more ppe than the small amount

we may be exporting. we are a net importer of ppe, and literally millions of items of ppe are coming to the uk every week to get to the front line. as we heard the plane from turkey landed this morning, we had a shipment of gowns from myanmar earlier this week, i'm expecting delivery of millions of facemasks this week. with so many countries needing huge supplies of protective equipment, it is not easy getting the required amounts, but the lives of health and care workers are at stake. richard galpin, bbc news. just to try to update you on the uk death figures that emerge around this time. the latest figures we have been sent is 759 new recorded uk deaths in hospitals. this is the

figure for hospitals again, and in terms of testing, more than 4011 people have been tested, and about 133,500 have tested positive, but the key figure is 759 new recorded coronavirus deaths in uk hospitals. in terms of the deaths in care homes we have been focusing on so much today, we heard a little bit from the head of statistics, who had been explaining of those preliminary figures. doubling in five days is pretty scary, but actually we have to remember that that's what the virus has been doing,

the number of deaths announced every day across the uk for the population as a whole was doubling every three —ish days up into the week before easter, then it slow down a bit and has flattened out since then, so doubling every three days versus doubling every five days, they are in the same ballpark, the question is what happens going forward, and the issue we have had is knowing exactly what is going on in care homes, because the daily numbers we hear every day from the department of health, they are hospitals, so we can't know the full story full stop we get more information from the death certificate and the death registrations the office for national statistics do, but that is ten days delayed, so getting information directly from the care quality commission who have to be told whenever somebody dies in a care home will enable us to get a clear picture of what is going on in care homes and let us know whether they are following the same pattern as the rest of the country, slowing down, or whether deaths continue to grow. the new labour leader sir keir starmer has trongly criticised the government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic. speaking during the first virtual prime minister's questions, with more than a hundred mps taking part via video link, sir keir told dominic raab, deputising for the prime minster, that the government had failed to deliver the number of coronavirus tests required —

and had not provided enough personal protective equipment for health workers. 0ur political correspondent leila nathoo reports. so many questions for the health secretary and his cabinet colleagues still to answer. why are we playing catch—up on ppe, mr hancock? were there missed opportunities to better prepare the uk for the coronavirus outbreak? and are we now doing enough? mps can once again voice their concerns in parliament. speaker: order. order. yesterday, the house agreed to a motion to allow members to participate virtually in proceedings of the house for the first time in 700 years of history of the house of commons. the commons is now sitting in a part physical, part virtual way, and for the labour leader keir starmer in his first appearance at the dispatch box in his new role, a chance to press the government on testing. 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've heard from the front line from care workers who are frankly desperate for tests for their residents and for themselves. desperate. they would expect every test to be used every day for those that need them. so there is clearly a problem. why isn't the government using all the tests available every day? the foreign secretary dominic raab, still deputising for borisjohnson while he recovers. of course we are making sure that the eligibility is broadened. our focus is, as i think you would agree, should be on front line nhs staff, broadened out to care workers and other key workers. keir starmer questioned why british manufacturers are apparently still exporting protective equipment. 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's going wrong, and there is a pattern emerging here.

we were slow into lockdown, slow on testing, slow on protective equipment and now slow to take up these offers from british firms. i don't accept his premise that we have been slow. we have been guided by the scientific advice, the chief scientific adviser and chief medical officer, at every step along the way. if he thinks he knows better than they do, with the benefit of hindsight, then that is his decision, but that is not the way we have proceeded and it is not the way we will in the future. a hint of the arguments that usually take place here but a more muted tone. parliament has been forced to adapt to find a way for mps and peers to play their part in scrutinising government policy at this critical time. with huge decisions being made affecting all of our lives, the commons can now act as another powerfulforum for concerns to be raised. speaker: ian blackford. mps, like all of us, are adjusting to a new reality, that they may not all be

here in person they will make sure their voices are still heard. leila nathoo, bbc news, westminster. 0ur political correspondent iain watson is in westminster a peculiar feel to it, a peculiarfeel to it, because they said a maximum of 50 mps were allowed into the chamber of course go it made things quite curious. allowed into the chamber of course go it made things quite curiousm did, actually, it lacked the usual atmosphere for better or worse at pmqs, the kind of punch and judy politics, and barry drink control of that had gone, even on the labour front bench for example, usually they crowd around the labour leader and pointand they crowd around the labour leader and point and howl at times towards the government benches and vice versa, the government benches and vice versa , now the government benches and vice versa, now it is quite some way away from the new labour leader sir keir starmer, chief whip nick brown and his new deputy angela rayner, so it did look and feel very different, partly because so many mps were asking questions via video link and not in the chamber, but partly also

because we had a new cast list, borisjohnson still recuperating a course at chequers, sir dominic raab standing infor course at chequers, sir dominic raab standing in for him, and course at chequers, sir dominic raab standing infor him, and sir course at chequers, sir dominic raab standing in for him, and sir keir starmer of course taken over from jeremy corbyn. his style was very different from his predecessor and it was interesting in a number of ways, started out with a big thought, this idea he wanted to pin on the government there is a gap between the promises and the delivery, but the way he went about iti delivery, but the way he went about it i think was in a very measured tone, none of the emotive language about failure or disgrace or anything like that, but he asked very specific questions. we had a hint of that, things you could anticipate it would be difficult to answer. he didn't simply say they had reached their hundred thousand target on testing, he said if we have capacity for 40,000 why are we only testing 18,000? he asked specifically for the number of care home workers who had died, notjust those in the health service. dominic raab could not answer that initially

although matt hancock said tragically 15 members of care home staff had died. keir starmer also asking about ppe, we know part of the turkey consignment has arrived in britain but he was saying that 36 companies had approached labour, saying they haven't got an answer from the government when they were offering to provide some of that equipment here in the uk, so i think that approach rather than a straight politician's approach was very different and also the tone from dominic raab very measured as well but he did push back on this idea that the government could have foreseen some of the difficulties will stop he said they are following scientific advice and perhaps keir starmer only really found out what was going on because he had the benefit of hindsight. 0n testing, something else i can tell you, there has subsequently been a briefing from downing street, and they say they are now beginning a programme of mobile testing for care home staff. keir starmer said people

might have to travel many miles to try to get these tests and will not have access to ca rs. try to get these tests and will not have access to cars. people in leicester expected to go to for example. to some extent, what were the government prepared to and able to do to try to make this an easier process for ca re to do to try to make this an easier process for care home staff to get tested ? we process for care home staff to get tested? we are now told there will be mobile testing secure units that can drive around the country and at least begin this process of care home staff. i am nowjoined least begin this process of care home staff. iam nowjoined by least begin this process of care home staff. i am nowjoined by the acting leader of the liberal democrats, sir ed davey, he took pa rt democrats, sir ed davey, he took part in the virtual session of parliament and in the spirit of the time he isjoining us from the video link from surbiton. hopefully you can hear me, who called for a public enquiry, a judge led independent enquiry, a judge led independent enquiry into what was going on with the coronavirus crisis and how the government had been handling it, why did you make that call today? well, clearly after a massive crisis like this, there needs to be a public enquiry, andl

this, there needs to be a public enquiry, and i think the government needs to pre—commit. we have seen many questions in the media, many questions from nhs and care workers, and the whole point of the public enquiry is to reassure those nhs and ca re enquiry is to reassure those nhs and care workers and reassure the whole country that we have learned the lessons ahead of any future pandemic. of course the most important thing is to tackle the crisis, and the liberal democrats have been very constructive throughout this, but i think there isa throughout this, but i think there is a moment now where people have so many questions, the government could help the whole country by announcing it supports what i called for, an independent, judge led, public enquiry. that call was rebuffed by dominic raab, he said he was refusing your offer for a public enquiry, his focus was very much on remaining on tackling the virus was top isn't there a sense that you are a little bit opportunist, perhaps reminding us of the liberal democrats are still there when the

new labour leader was getting so much attention? no, we have been thinking about the need for a public enquiry for some time but we decided not to call for it until today, because we needed to show that actually the government hadn't been listening to people because 's questions, and i'm afraid what has been frustrating is a lack of answers from ministers when it came to that daily press conference, and although parliament has been recalled, and i called for that and very much welcome that, we are still not getting the answers to those questions, and whether it is keir starmer asking those all liberal democrats, i am concerned, and the best way we have done that, is to have an independent enquiry. i think it should be judge led. i am not asking it now, we need to focus on tackling the crisis. you would like to see a specific timescale? for

when they would start this enquiry? because they are saying it is all hands to the deck at the moment with a virus? and it should be all hands to the deck during the virus will stop i don't want the enquiry to start now but i think that setting a date for the future make sense, because let's remember it is possible another pandemic could happen next year or the year after, and we have shown how ill—prepared the garment was despite having a special exercise in 2016 looking how to prepare for a pandemic and they didn't follow their recommendations of their own pandemic exercise. sol think this time we need a public enquiry and we do need to learn the lessons to make sure we are safe next time. usa learn the lessons but how do you still been in coalition with the conservatives, what would you have been gearing differently, what would your ministers have been pressing for that the government is not doing specifically? don't forget

in 2016 the government was obsessed with brexit and everything was around brexit. liberal democrats wouldn't have been in that, and i believe we would have implemented the recommendations of that 2016 review. although it hasn't been published, we have seen whole numbers are very published, we have seen whole numbers are very well grounded leaks from it. for example, dr phillip lee, who was a minister at the time and took part in the exercise has told us that some of the findings we re told us that some of the findings were that there weren't enough ventilators. remember that? that there wasn't enough ppe equipment, that we didn't have enough critical ca re that we didn't have enough critical care beds. many of the things we are seeing now. the government would say that there are enough critical care beds because the way they have handled the crisis, they have increased capacity, no one has been refused ventilation if they need it. well, there has been a scramble to meet these things, and there are certainly not enough ppe equipment, i'm sure you can agree with that, iain. i have to say, it has really been quite tricky this crisis, and i don't think the government has

managed to answer the questions people are asking. one more question to ask you very briefly, we are hearing perhaps that care home deaths are much greater than have been reported publicly so far. what is your reaction to that? extremely alarming. my health colleague minera wilson has for the liberal democrats been asking from the get go that we needed to do far more for care workers and care homes, and the government was very slow workers and care homes, and the government was very slow in responding, and we are now seeing what appears to be a huge number of deaths in care homes, and that must be very wondering, and i feel for the relatives and their families, the relatives and their families, the staff, the people who run those ca re the staff, the people who run those care homes, and they must be worried about their own health. so the government really has got to step up. it has been slow, it needs to respond far more quickly, and whether it is ppe kit for their workers, testing them, you have heard today they have still not

managed to deliver on, despite all their promises, the garment has to get its act together. ed davey is the acting leader of the liberal democrats. beginning this process of mobile testing care home staff to find out if they have the virus. thank you very much iain watson. talking to sir ed davey from the liberal democrats. a little analysis of the figures we brought you, 759 new recorded uk coronavirus deaths. those are the figures for hospitals. it brings the total death toll now to 18,100. 0ur health correspondent anna collinson is here. give us a sense of context to these figures. every afternoon at about

this time, these figures are released from the department of health, and they cover the whole of the uk. so we have had england and other parts of the uk earlier. and what they are saying is in the past 24 hours there have been 759 deaths on these figures, which takes the total in the uk up to more than 18,000. now, we also saw a big jump in those figures yesterday. there we re in those figures yesterday. there were more than 800 deaths announced yesterday following a bit of a dip at the weekend, which is what we have been seeing over the recent weeks. so this set of figures is a slight drop, compared to yesterday, but as we have been saying, you can't read too much from one set of data. overall, though, the trends we are seeing in the figures is that we are seeing in the figures is that we are going down and this is backed up by the number of people we are seeing in hospitals, and the number cases we are seeing. seeing in hospitals, and the number cases we are seeing. the peak is expected to have taken place on the 2nd of april, two weeks ago today but we have to be cautious with

these government figures because we have seen lags over the weekend, and also they only cover deaths in hospitals, they don't cover deaths within the community. the government says they are working to bring that up says they are working to bring that up to speed. whenever we see these figures, we must remember it as a family affected. absolutely, and a quick thought about the peak. we are interested in it, we can't help but be interested i suppose, but the government would want to say remember the social distancing rules. just because matt hancock might be thinking about, we have reached the peak, we hope over that, that doesn't mean everyone can go out and lie in the sun in beautiful weather, much as we would all like to at the moment. this is it. even though we are seeing we have passed the peak, they expect, we are starting to see a decline, we are still talking about 759 deaths

yesterday. we are still a long way off it. the lockdown is expected to last for three more weeks at least. and the main focus is social distancing measures, people staying at home and also washing their hands, that basic advice again. we can't say that too often. thank you very much. spain's parliament is debating a request from the prime minister to extend the country's lockdown. spain is one of the worst—hit nations in the world, and has been under severe restrictions for more than five weeks. the request, which is likely to be approved, will extend the state of emergency until the 9th may. a man in his 30s has been arrested on suspicion of firearms offences, after a disturbance at a block of flats in chatham in kent. police were called to reports of a man firing from a balcony. four suspected imitation firearms were seized. global oil prices are continuing to slide as the pandemic causes a huge drop in demand. the main european benchmark,

brent crude, has dropped to its lowest level for more than 20 years. captain tom moore broke all kinds of records when he walked 100 laps of his garden to raise more than £27 million more than £27 million for the nhs — and in just over a week's time he'll hit another incredible milestone. but before the war veteran celebrates his 100th birthday, he's got another mammoth task on his hands — sifting though tens of thousands of cards from well—wishers. john maguire reports. it may look like christmas, but this is much bigger than christmas. it's the morning delivery at captain tom moore's local post office, a himalayan mountain of cards arriving ahead

of his 100th birthday next week. it's overwhelming, the support that captain tom has from the general public. the whole country is behind him. he's such a legend. reminiscent of election night, this has become a military—style operation. the cards and parcels are being taken to tom's grandson's school, where volunteer staff are flat out. i think a lot of the cards are so heartfelt and it really shows the effort people have put in. i think he will really appreciate that. i'm going to try and take pictures of as many as i can and show him to them because he will happily sit through and read them all. this shows that people really do care about this sort of things, especially in tough times. i think people really have joined together to make the effort for this. well, these are the cards that were opened just yesterday afternoon. there are 3,000 cards here. but today we've seen 30,000 delivered. who knows? they may even fill this entire hall. it's a wonderful story at a time where, frankly, everybody needed it. and it's also a real reaffirmation

of people's kindness. and i'm a great believer that people are fundamentally kind. and this is just the most wonderful way to show it. we know that his record—breaking fundraising for nhs charities has touched hundreds of thousands around the world — from the old to the young — such as melissa grace. she has angelman syndrome, a rare genetic disorder of the nervous system. helped by her brother, jacob, she used her ipad to tell me how she'd been inspired by the war veteran. i wanted to send captain tom a card to help him celebrate his 100th birthday, to show him that i think he is amazing and tomorrow will be a good day. it's a fabulous message to us all, the way he says "never give up — we can achieve more than we think". hi. hi, john. how are you? good. and reegan, with her mum, lisa, told me why she's raising money for captain tom's fund and has organised thousands of children to send him virtual birthday cards.

reegan, why do you think he should receive so many cards? why do you think people should support him? well... for my opinion, i never saw a 100—year—old before because that's probably how i started his campaign, i said i'd never seen a 100—year—old before and started making cards. he's a war hero. yeah, he's a war hero and now he's my hero and the nation's hero. that's a point. and he's carrying on walking. he reached his goal and then he carried on. you so at least 35,000 cards and more than a week to go until captain tom moore clocks up his 100 — years, this time, not laps. but as we know with this man, a total or a target is just a number. john maguire, bbc news bedford.

now it's time for a look at the weather with helen willets. could afternoon. the weather is settled at the moment, under an area of high pressure but there won't be a great deal of change through the rest of day like today. more high cloud and western parts, some cloud across shetland but even into the evening temperatures will hold into the high teens, the low 20s. so feeling warm as the win continues to ease but it has been quite brisk. that eases again to allow the cloud to ease over the north are not as chilly in recent nights, there will be some frost in the glens of scotland. 0nly bits of mist, low cloud or even hill folk first thing tomorrow will clear quite quickly, the april sunshine strengthening all the april sunshine strengthening all the time. it does look as if it will be the warmest day of the week for many parts, temperatures dropping to 24 to 25 degrees to the west of london, and warm elsewhere as well,

particularly noticeable in eastern areas, but the pollen levels are forecast high in many parts too. hello this is bbc news. i'm jane hill. the headlines: the number of people who've died with coronavirus in care homes in england is thought to have doubled in five days — figures suggest more than 2,000 deaths. there have been 759 new recorded uk coronavirus deaths in hospitals — it brings the total death toll to 18,100. in the first ever virtual prime minister's questions, the new labour leader strongly criticises the government over a lack of testing and supply of personal protective equipment. something's going wrong, but there is a pattern emerging here. we were slow into lockdown, slow on testing, slow on protective equipment. i don't accept his premise that we

have been slow. we have been guided by the scientific advice, the chief scientific adviser, the chief medical officer, at every step along this way. borisjohnson is expected speak to the queen this evening by phone. a number 10 spokesman said he watched prime minister's questions from chequers, but that he "isn't yet doing government work". many holiday companies could be breaking the law by refusing to give customers refunds for coronavirus related cancellations. time to catch up with some sports news. good afternoon. plans to stage the world snooker championship in the summer have been announced. judd trump would have been defending his title right now but the tournament has been rescheduled to start at the end ofjuly. it's still hoped it will happen in front of fans at the crucible in sheffield but could even be

behind closed doors. it depends on what lockdown restrictions remain in place. 2005 champion shaun murphy says a full house is too much to hope for. i can't ican't imagine i can't imagine that the world championships will be a full 970 all sold out seated foal sell—out tournament. i think it might be a bit early for that. i would love to be wrong, please, god let me be were wrong but i think from a players point of view, we would be so grateful to have that event on, a nyway grateful to have that event on, anyway it can be on to get our queues out again and to get back to work and bring some much—needed normality back to all our lives. finally, on that, various sports are dealing with this question about behind closed doors and who it may

favour or not, in snooker is there any way of knowing who that might favour? i don't know. ithink snooker is in a great position because we are not football or rugby or tennis playing to tens of thousands of people each week. behind closed doors, whilst it might be strange for us and obviously the audience not only a chance to be there, snooker might just find audience not only a chance to be there, snooker mightjust find its niche there in that we can come up with quite a small group, put an event on and then everyone can watch it from home, we mightjust have found our niche. you never know. the national league football season has been scrapped. the decision was made this afternoon. so let's get more on this from our sports news reporter laura scott who has been across this. the clubs were asked to support an ordinary resolution to end the season immediately. that is all the fixtures that were remaining to be paid up until the 25th of april. we have heard today that those votes

are in, almost 90% of those, not the full 100%, but what is clear is there is a majority in favour of ending the season immediately and the remaining votes, whether or not they come in, that won't change the decision. the chief executive of the national league has said that he hopes that cancelling the remaining fixtures brings a degree of certainty to the clubs in what is obviously a challenging time. do we know what they are going to do now? has there been any hints towards how this may play out in that regard? no, that is the major question that still remains. what they said is that the sporting outcomes of the season, that is a busy promotion and relegation, is still under consideration and they will update in due course but clearly that is something that the three divisions at the clubs in those divisions will be really keen to find out the outcome of. michael o'neill has permanently left his role as northern ireland manager after eight years in charge. o'neill was set to oversee the postponed euros qualifier with bosnia—herzegovina in march. however due to uefa's

proposal to reschedule the game in the autumn, he will now solely focus on his job as stoke city manager, saying he "feels it is only fair that now is the right time for me to step aside." roger federer has called for the men's and women's tours to merge when tennis resumes. he posted on social media and got some signficant support for the idea. wimbledon champion simona halep said federer "was not the only one" who thought the two bodies should merge. while two—time grand slam champion garbine muguruza gave her approval. and argentine diego schwartzman also agreed. there are plenty more sports stories on the bbc sports website. that's all the sport for now. i'll have more for you in the next hour. 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 international comparisons — are we really measuring the same things? the bbc‘s reality check correspondent chris morris is here. you have been looking at the approach of various countries and are trying to unravel it all, tell us more. are trying to unravel it all, tell us more. first of all it is about the numbers. there are numbers flying in every direction and you have to consider, are we comparing the same thing? is this a comparison of like with like. if you take an example of counting the number of deaths. if you look at the united states, for example, a continental site country. we know its population is 330 million and it has had that... that number is actually wrong unfortunately, that graphic has been made wrong, that should really over 40,000 deaths is of the of april. 40,000. yes, with europe,

correct number now, you put together the uk, germany, france italy and spain combined, roughly the same population as the united states but the number of deaths combined is more than 85,000 to more than double that of the united states. in other words, for starters, the virus doesn't respect national borders and thatis doesn't respect national borders and that is important to remember. then you gone something like death rates and we have a copy of the graph which becomes familiar, which is shown at the daily government press conferences. can you compare the rate of deaths in different countries? we are pretty confident we know what the populations are but when we talk about the number of deaths, are we comparing the same things? in england, we know it is only counting deaths in hospitals. in france and germany it includes deaths in the community as well. belgium appears to have an incredibly high death rate until you look into the numbers and realise that more than half the deaths it reports are in care homes rather

than in hospitals. china, another example down the bottom there, the population of one and a half billion people, its death rate appears to be incredibly low but can we trust the data? it incredibly low but can we trust the data ? it is incredibly low but can we trust the data? it is an authoritarian country, there isn't really an independent assessment of the statistics so you have got to be really careful to make sure you have got the right numbers. in your graphs as well as everywhere else. there are so many things to take into account when making comparisons but i always think about the population, that is such a big issue but there is more besides that. democratic says the first thing, population density for top and other people been trying to compare the uk and ireland, for example. ireland for starters doesn't have a big global city like london where people are much more squashed togetherfull some it makes more sense in a way to compare somewhere some it makes more sense in a way to compare somewhere like dublin with a comparable size city in the uk rather than comparing the two countries as a whole. far more people live in rural areas in ireland where social distancing is

easier. then there's this thing about cultural attitude. there has been some speculative and that in italy, people are just simply live closer together and that is one of the reason is perhaps why the outbreak there wasn't so bad to start with. age is also important for top it is difficult to compare a country in europe with a country in africa because the african population by and large is much younger. we know the disease affects the elderly disproportionately. 0n the elderly disproportionately. 0n the other hand, if you turn it around, you come onto the next graphic which is health systems. of course, the health systems, we know that by and large, help systems in europe... is what is the capacity your health system has come out how easy it is to get to hospital? de have to pay for treatment? you have to put all those things in the mix as well when you're trying to decide, what are the numbers telling you? what are the other factors around the spread of the disease as well? yes, that is so interesting because it tells you and just reminds you how many differences that are. i wonder what we cannot pull together from it and

that are. i wonder what we cannot pull togetherfrom it and i wonder what we can learn in terms of the thing we keep talking about which is testing. testing is one thing, as a lot of medical statisticians in the last week or so and one thing they have learned from it is trusting, early testing and tracing in places like south korea and germany were done. that appears to have been successful in keeping their death rates, so far, lower than other countries. places like italy and here in the uk, it really only ramping up testing once the pandemic has taken hold and the death rates have been higher, but even then you have been higher, but even then you have to think, are we comparing the same things? some countries report the number of people tested, others report to the number of tests that are done. many people have been tested more than once, because the tests aren't always reliable to deliver or so to get a reliable clinical results, the number of tests done aren't necessarily the same as the number of people tested.

if you take all of these things, really, it is only when the pandemic is over and we have the here when we what we have all ended up, perhaps this country has done better than this country has done better than this country has done better than this country and then we can see what lessons we can learn for next time. that is a very interesting point. sorry to the united states, we inevitably doubled the number of deaths. thank you. many holiday companies are being accused of breaking the law by refusing to give customers refunds for bookings that have been cancelled because of coronavirus. under existing rules, passengers are entitled to a full refund within 14 days for a package holiday, and 7 days for a flight. but as our business correspondent sarah corker reports, that hasn't been happening. dream holidays on hold. flights across the globe cancelled.

the travel industry is now facing a massive backlog of claims due to the coronavirus lockdown. holiday makers are fighting to get their money back. tim and becka from belfast had their wedding in march cancelled. the hotel was sympathetic. the airline providing honeymoon flights to canada, less so. we weren't able to fly obviously, and we are still waiting for nearly £1,500 in refunds to reach us via air canada. we've been offered flight credit. but, personally, we cannot accept that. research from the consumer group which found that none of the uk's 20 biggest airlines and package operators were giving refunds within the legal timeframe. under eu law, travel firms must refund customers within 14 days if their package holiday is cancelled. while air passengers should get their money back within seven days for cancellations. some airlines and package holiday companies just

aren't offering refunds, while others are providing credit notes and vouchers, which won't be of much use if the firms later go bust. and it's estimated that £7 billion worth of payments by uk customers are affected by this. the trade body airlines uk said carriers are facing a far longer than usual volume of refund claims to get through, and the current restrictions imposed nationally mean they are not able to bring in additional staff to deal with them. i can't use a credit note... in wigan, roy's trying to get £2,500 back from tui for a cancelled holiday to barbados. the money should be back in my bank within 14 days, not a refund in four weeks with a lengthy time after that to actually get hold of the money again. that money could be far better of use to myself and other families in the same position. it's of far better use to us than it is sat in tui's bank.

tui uk said it's working through requests as quickly as possible and proactively contacting customers. you may now kiss your fiancee! back in belfast, tim and becka had a virtual commitment ceremony instead. the couple said air canada has also offered them a partial refund. sarah corker, bbc news. the muslim holy month of ramadan gets underway from thursday and countries around the world have banned communal worship because of the coronavirus. but pakistan has decided not to stop gatherings at mosques leading to concerns that it will see a rise in transmissions. so far there have been more than 9,000 confirmed cases there — though the true figure may be higher due to low levels of testing. secunder kermani reports from islamabad. gaps between worshippers at friday prayers. a compromise between social

distancing and religious observance. 0ther muslim countries have suspended all gatherings, but here, many remain defiant. i know it is better to stay home, of course, but otherwise you can't avoid it, you start leaving, you go for groceries, you go for a gas station, there are so many other things you do. ramadan begins this week. normally a time of spirituality, attendance of mosques is likely to soar. some rules are in place on spacing out the congregation and not allowing the elderly to take part, but it is not clear how it will be enforced.

pakistan's health care system is weak and would be quickly overwhelmed by major outbreak. many doctors are concerned that they don't have enough protective equipment. dozens have been infected already. it seems certain there are more coronavirus cases than the official tally, which remains comparatively low. this charity received 60% more dead bodies at their morgues in one city in the first two weeks of april than the same period last year. with no tests being performed on them, they can't say what the reason is, but are now treating every body they collect as potentially being linked to coronavirus. shortly after our interview, the head of the charity tested positive for covid—19 himself. sometimes their relatives even don't touch them and sometimes we get the feeling that here there is something like coronavirus. the capacity to do

the test is very low all over pakistan, but it is increasing very gradually, but without doing the test, we cannot have the larger picture and the exact picture of what is happening around the coronavirus in pakistan. but coronavirus isn't the only killer here. so, too, is potentially poverty. last week, lockdown restrictions were partially eased over fears that the poorest sections of society couldn't afford for it to continue. now streets and markets are busier, but there are concerns as the economy restarts, the number of infections will rise. prime minister imran khan is being tested after meeting the infected charity head. but he seems to want to keep the country running. 0n the one hand, we have coronavirus, he says. 0n the other, hunger. charities and the government are distributing food and money on a huge scale and whilst

ramadan is normally a period for generosity and quiet reflection, the coming weeks look set to be the worst yet. secunder kermani, bbc news, islamabad. the headlines on bbc news: the number of people who've died with coronavirus in care homes in england is thought to have doubled in five days — figures suggest more than 2,000 deaths. there have been 759 new recorded uk coronavirus deaths in hospitals — it brings the total death toll to 18,100. in the first ever virtual prime minister's questions, the new labour leader strongly criticises the government over a lack of testing and supply of personal protective equipment. today is earth day, and it is 50 years since the environmental movement begun — though because of the coronavirus lockdowns, the planned events, protests and marches

won't be taking place. but the positive side of thes pandemic is that skies are clearing of pollution, and wildlife is returning to newly clear waters. the head of the united nations says world leaders should not squander the opportunity to make these changes stick. antonio guterres says the pandemic is a wake—up call, and could be good for the environment. the impact of the coronavirus is both immediate and dreadful. but there is another emergency. the planets unfolding of our mental crisis. biodiversity is in steep decline and climate disruption is approaching a point of no return. we must act decisively to protect our planet from both the coronavirus and the existential threat of climate disruption. the current crisis is an unprecedented wake—up call. we need to turn the recovery into a real opportunity to do things right for

the future. that was antonio guterres, the head of the un. dr mikkal nakkmanny is an advisor to the earth day project — and currently home—schooling a nine—year—old of her own. how old are you? nine. bid to have you with us. what are your thoughts, doctor, on what should have been a big day, being held in very different circumstances? —— good to have you with us. do you think that appeal that we had from the head of the un is something that everyone should be waking up and paying attention to, particularly today? absolutely. we have a couple of crises, both we have to flatten the curve four. the immediate one is of course the pandemic which we are all dealing with on a very personal

basis, right now with our families and loved ones. we need to remember that this is not only a health crisis but also an economic crisis and will add to that the education crisis which i will touch upon in a minute, my son next to me is living proof of that, as are 1.5 billion kids around the world who are out of school. as we exit this crisis, and we will eventually exit this crisis, we cannot go back to normal as we have another severe challenge that we have to deal with which is the climate segregation, the climate crisis. we have an opportunity, as we had the un secretary general saying, to match the solutions for societal revival after the pandemic meant to be sustainable, to keep us all... to create a future that we all... to create a future that we all can live, even at this —— after

this pandemic. the climate crisis isn't going away. there is a lot and pick there and you talked about the education process will stop this is a tough time for parents. they are not necessarily trained teachers, they are suddenly having to school children at home, perhaps holding down a job at the same time. talk to us down a job at the same time. talk to us about your own challenge, how you have found it and what perhaps you are both learning from this? sure. asi are both learning from this? sure. as i mentioned earlier, this is a global education crisis and it is a global education crisis and it is a global crisis that of course doesn't affect everyone equally, not eve ryo ne affect everyone equally, not everyone has affect everyone equally, not eve ryo ne has a ccess affect everyone equally, not everyone has access to online resources , everyone has access to online resources, not everyone has access to schools. we know that school staff are off ill or shielding and we know that there are a lot of children out there who really need, not only friends and not only human contact, but also really need to keep up their education. 0ne contact, but also really need to keep up their education. one of the amazing things that has happened out of this birthday is today we launch,

and we as the united nations environment programme, and other partners including the bbc, have launched earth school which can be found online. —— out of this earth day. it is a nature challenge for children home—schooling adventures situated around the burning issues of nature aiming to connect children and their parents to nature, to science and to their personal and collective agencies in coming out of this crisis stronger and more connected to nature from everything from food, to medicine, to biodiversity and the climate crisis of course. personally, at home... cani of course. personally, at home... can i cut you off because we are running out of time for i don't know if your son can hear me, ijust wa nted if your son can hear me, ijust wanted to know crucially of course, what he thinks of mum as a teacher? well, it is actually my dad as a teacher. how is dad? he is a good

teacher. how is dad? he is a good teacher. if i need help with something he will explain it and stuff. and we just did the first day of the earth school today. what did you learn about in earth school?|j you learn about in earth school?” learnt about how we use to eat bugs but then we lost our appetite for them. i learnt about pollinating and i learnt about how to make chocolate. and chocolate. you already know a lot more than me so thatis already know a lot more than me so that is fantastic. thank you very much to both of you. she is from the grantham research institute. we have the weather in just a moment. first one more story, we have talked about what people can do to cope during lockdown. but what about our pets? if you're a dog owner,

chances are you've had to find new ways to exercise and entertain your canine companion, particularly if one walk a day isn't enough — or if you're isolating. nicola rees reports from yorkshire about how to cope when walkies is not an option. yeah, good boy. across yorkshire, dog owners are finding new ways to exercise and entertain their pets. roxy is a bit fed up of lockdown now so she has decided she is pretty much ready for holiday. you ready for a holiday? good girl. from tricks indoors to agility in the garden, this is a dog's life in lockdown. just playing games with them, them playing with each other, with toys, and also things like hide and seek hiding their treats around the house so they have got to find them.

she is definitely a comfort during this whole thing. she is keeping me sane. of course, social distancing applies to dogs, too, and many owners are already seeking help for stressed out pets. neil losada is a professional dog trainer in barnsley. obviously people are quite worried about how it is going to affect the dogs, being at home, because a lot of people live in flats and places that don't have outside spaces, especially if we went into a full lockdown, so it is really important to find games that you can play with your dogs to psychologically stimulate them and have lots of fun with them. do you think there will be an issue, when all this is over, with separation anxiety, behavioural issues? yes, i think that is going to be a massive problem. now you can have dogs that are actually in the home all the time with the owners and so it is really important to prepare for the time when you do go back to work. another big concern is vaccinations, which had been severely restricted since the lockdown began. it is not a blanket, oh, yes, everything gets vaccinated. there are immune compromised animals, immune mature animals like the puppies.

each individual is treated as an individual and what is the actual risk and is this of real benefit to do now or can we delay things? if you're worried about your dog, contact your vet for advice and if walkies is not an option at the moment, there are plenty of other activities you can do at home. tasty things. just sprinkle those in there. close it up, give it to your dog, take it! and they can go and enjoy that. adjusting to new routines takes time for people and pets, but there are some naturally suited to life in lockdown. that afternoon. this settled spell of weather brought by high pressure will stay with us throughout the rest of the week. there is more of a question murk over how the weekend detail will play out. as you can see here, there is a little bit of hazy cloud around. here it is on the

satellite picture, otherwise there is very little across may 90 parts of the uk, a bit more cloud for shetland and it won't be a great deal of change because the weather is quite stagnant and even into the evening, temperature is will hold it around about 20 degrees in central parts, away from the north sea. it has again been quite a blustery day. not as brisk as yesterday and it will ease overnight and some low cloud over the hills, possible mist and fog at low levels but not as chilly as last night because we will have to hire klymenko hire daytime temperatures and still some frost in the glens of scotland. still that low cloud across the hills of savvy scotland, through the pennines, into the marshes but that will clear in no time given the strength of this sunshine. it looks like that it will be the warmest day of the week for that we could see the odd 25 to the west of london. you can see for many parts, temperatures will be above where they should be at this time of year. as we have lost that easterly breeze, it will feel warmer. that high pressure starts to lose some of

its identity as a going to friday. we have no pressure on the south as well so we will start to just bring a little bit more cloud, that cloud coming down from the north, some cloud coming from the south and west, just a hint here that they could be an odd shower for parts of south—west england, south wales, but it looks like another fine, dry and warm day for most. increasingly hazy, that's and ten. into the weekend is that high becomes less established if you like, there is a greater chance that we will pick up showers from the north or coming up from the south but for most, again, it doesn't like there will be a lot of dry weather, hazy sunshine. what we will notice because we have a bit more cloud and a breeze in the north, is that it won't feel as warm but even here, 17 to 20 is still about where it should be temperature wise for this time of year but you can see that increasing shower risk. don't take this as read, there is a bit more vain than certainty over the details of where that shower will be but as ever we will keep you

updated and there is more on our website. —— bit more uncertainty. this is bbc news. the headlines at 4pm... the number of people who've died with coronavirus in care homes in england is thought to have doubled in five days — figures suggest more than 2,000 have lost their lives. there have been 759 new recorded uk coronavirus deaths in hospitals — it brings the total death toll to 18,100. in the first ever virtual prime minister's questions, the new labour leader strongly criticises the government over a lack of testing and supply of personal protective equipment. something's going wrong, and there's a pattern emerging here. we were slow into lockdown, slow on testing, slow on protective equipment. i don't accept his premise that we have been slow. we have been guided by the scientific advice, the chief scientific adviser,

the chief medical officer at every step along this way. borisjohnson is expected speak to the queen this evening by phone. a number 10 spokesman said he watched prime minister's questions from chequers, but that he "isn't yet doing government work". many holiday companies could be breaking the law by refusing to give customers refunds for coronavirus related cancellations. the number of people recorded as having died with coronavirus in care homes in england is thought have increased dramatically in a matter of days. preliminary figures by the care regulator suggest more than 2,000 care home residents have died in england since the beginning of the outbreak. the latest figures show the number

of people dying with coronavirus in care homes in england could have doubled in five days. the health secretary, matt hancock, has said 15 social care workers have died during the outbreak. in the uk, another 759 people who tested positive for covid—19 in hospital have died, taking the total to 18,100. the first secretary dominic raab is expected to respond to the figures at today's downing street briefing. meanwhile, the government insists it will meet its target to carry out 100,000 coronavirus tests a day by the end of the month. and in his first appearance at prime minister's questions as labour leader sir keir starmer said "serious mistakes have been made" by the government and "ministers do need to be held accountable for those mista kes". 0ur health correspondent richard galpin reports. there can be little doubt now that there is a major crisis in care homes, particularly in england. the latest figures are provisional, but indicate the number of deaths in care homes in england

could have doubled between april 10th and 15th. and that would mean an increase of around 1,000 deaths linked to coronavirus in just five days. back on april 3rd, 217 deaths in care homes had been reported in england and wales. on april 10th, the number had increased to more than 1,000. and now, if these latest figures, which are for april 15th, are correct, then the total, just in england, is around 2,000 deaths. we need to be pursuing the preventative agenda with much more vigour than we have been, perhaps, and making sure that ppe is available, so that the staff can protect themselves, as well as protect the residents in our services. scotland has also seen increases in the numbers dying in care homes, compared to elsewhere. they were 25% of last week's total figure.

this week, they are 33%. meanwhile, the struggle to get enough protective equipment, or ppe, for health and care workers continues. this raf plane has finally flown back from turkey to the uk with a consignment of protective equipment, three days later than expected, and it is carrying just half the 80 tonnes of equipment which had been ordered, which included urgently needed gowns. it is not clear when the rest will arrive. and this as the european union has now told the bbc the british government failed to take up offers tojoin a european union initiative to bulk buy protective equipment. the european union says the uk has not officially requested to be involved with any of the procurement schemes, despite being repeatedly invited by the eu to do so, but the eu does say the uk can be part of a procurement programme in the future. to try to boost supplies of ppe, the government has been asking manufacturers in the uk to help, but some are already frustrated with the government processed.

we had 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, but so far, to date, we have not heard anything from central government. the government says it has already contacted 3,000 companies. meanwhile, there are reports some protective equipment is being shipped abroad, despite the shortages here. we are taking in so much more ppe than the small amount we may be exporting. we are a net importer of ppe, and literally millions of items of ppe are coming to the uk every week to get to the front line. as we heard the plane from turkey landed this morning, we had a shipment of gowns from myanmar earlier this week, i'm expecting delivery of millions

of facemasks this week. with so many countries needing huge supplies of protective equipment, it is not easy getting the required amounts, but the lives of health and care workers are at stake. richard galpin, bbc news. 0ur head of statistics robert cuffe is here. let's talk about the numbers of people who are now believed to have died in care homes, and there has been a big rise, hasn't there? there has, yes, doubling in five days from this dataset seems quite scary but we have to remember that is what the epidemic has been doing. deaths in the uk we were hearing announced in the uk we were hearing announced in the daily figures from the department of health were doubling every three days until about a week before easter, then it slowed down to doubling about every week. we have to put the care home figures in context with that. the key question really is not what is happening in

ca re really is not what is happening in care homes a week ago or ten days ago but what is happening now, and thatis ago but what is happening now, and that is the really hard part to a nswer that is the really hard part to answer from those daily department of health figures from the ons data. just to be clear, the figures we get every day, the daily death toll, those are recorded deaths, not necessarily in the past 24 hours, they could be from days before, and they could be from days before, and they are people who have died in hospital only, because those are the only places people are being tested, isn't it? pretty much exclusively, particularly in england, so that mrs debts in care homes. —— mrs deaths. that will capture care home deaths but it takes about ten days before you get that, so the real benefit of what is coming from the care quality commission is they can plug that 93p- commission is they can plug that gap. deaths that happen in care homes, to improve the accuracy you could say this is related to covert,

so could say this is related to covert, so that means we can find out what is going on in this vulnerable section of society, particularly vulnerable to coronavirus, and find out ina vulnerable to coronavirus, and find out in a more timely way what is going on, is it still doubling or has it slowed down like in the rest of the population? the new labour leader sir keir starmer has trongly criticised the government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic. speaking during the first virtual prime minister's questions, with more than a hundred mps taking part via video link, sir keir told dominic raab, deputising for the prime minster, that the government had failed to deliver the number of coronavirus tests required — and had not provided enough personal protective equipment for health workers. 0ur political correspondent leila nathoo reports. so many questions for the health secretary and his cabinet colleagues still to answer. why are we playing catch—up on ppe, mr hancock? were there missed opportunities to better prepare the uk for the coronavirus outbreak? and are we now doing enough? mps can once again voice their concerns in parliament.

speaker: order. order. yesterday, the house agreed to a motion to allow members to participate virtually in proceedings of the house for the first time in 700 years of history of the house of commons. the commons is now sitting in a part physical, part virtual way, and for the labour leader keir starmer, in his first appearance at the dispatch box in his new role, a chance to press the government on testing. 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've heard from the front line from care workers who are frankly desperate for tests for their residents and for themselves. desperate. they would expect every test to be used every day for those that need them. so there is clearly a problem. why isn't the government using all the tests available every day? the foreign secretary dominic raab, still deputising for

borisjohnson while he recovers. of course we are making sure that the eligibility is broadened. our focus is, as i think you would agree, should be on front line nhs staff, broadened out to care workers and other key workers. keir starmer questioned why british manufacturers are apparently still exporting protective equipment. 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's going wrong, and there is a pattern emerging here. we were slow into lockdown, slow on testing, slow on protective equipment and now slow to take up these offers from british firms. i don't accept his premise that we have been slow. we have been guided by the scientific advice, the chief scientific adviser and chief medical officer, at every step along the way. if he thinks he knows better than they do, with the benefit of hindsight, then that is his decision, but that is not the way we have proceeded and it is not the way we will in the future.

a hint of the arguments that usually take place here but a more muted tone. parliament has been forced to adapt to find a way for mps and peers to play their part in scrutinising government policy at this critical time. with huge decisions being made affecting all of our lives, the commons can now act as another powerfulforum for concerns to be raised. speaker: ian blackford. mps, like all of us, are adjusting to a new reality, that they may not all be here in person they will make sure their voices are still heard. leila nathoo, bbc news, westminster. 0ur political correspondent iain watson is at westminster. just reflect first of all on this extraordinary moment, the virtual pmqs. that's right, sophie, very different atmosphere from the usual when you get from pmqs, barracking and catcalls, what people sometimes refer to as punch and judy politics.

a much more restrained tone, and i think that is in part due to the fa ct think that is in part due to the fact that some people were appearing virtually if you like on big screens around the chamber rather than the chamber being packed full of mps so less of a tribal, partisan atmosphere, but i think also it was due to the fact we had a new cast list. sir keir starmer of course replacing jeremy corbyn as labour leader, dominic raab standing in for borisjohnson, still convalescing at chequers. keir starmer said very clearly he would have the courage to challenge the government where they we re challenge the government where they were getting things wrong but most of the criticism were in a very measured tone, and with his legal background, he laid down a charge sheet, a big gap between the government's promises and his delivery but then he asked very specific questions which i think he felt the government finds difficult to answer, so he asked dominic raab for example not simply you fail to meet your target of 100,000 tests,

he said actually you have the capacity for 40,000 tests, so why are you only testing 18,000? he asked not just about the are you only testing 18,000? he asked notjust about the nhs staff who have died from coronavirus but the number of people in care homes, ca re the number of people in care homes, care home staff who may have succumbed as well, again a difficult question for the government to answer, subsequently they told us it was 15, and ppe, this very contentious issue, again some specifics from the new labour leadership, saying that 36 companies had contacted them to say they hadn't heard from the government, despite offering to supply ppe. so it was a very restrained tone, equally restrained from dominic raab but he was also determined to push back on some of the criticisms from labour, saying they were doing this with the benefit of hindsight, and the government had followed the scientific advice from the start. i must say, sophie, actually this 45 minute pmqs as it turned out to be, might be something that has just caught the mood of the nation during a crisis, something i think the

wider public not the people at westminster might have found refreshing in its tone. the pressure was on, testing and ppe and the government still insisting very much they can reach this target they have set for themselves by the end of the month. that's right, some kind of suspicion began was going to talk about reaching hundred thousand, not tests, but having testing capacity by the end of the month, but actually no, downing street has doubled down on this and said the hundred thousand target remains, it will be there in eight days' time and actually the government very clearly is saying it is 100,000 tests that remains the target and they remain confident of meeting it. that is still some way short, even in terms of capacity, 41,000 tests i think could be carried out at the moment, that is less than half promised. but they were able to say this afternoon that they have now been beginning the process of mobile testing. keir starmer had raised this question of whether people in

ca re this question of whether people in care homes could have access to a car, travel some miles to mobile testing centres, could somebody travel from leicester to nottingham easily, for example, he said. the government said they would have testing centres, six by the weekend, travelling around to test people, and in addition to that they say a small number of home testing kits had been sent to care homes. 0n the wider issue of ppe, the first consignment from turkey has now actually arrived, it has been inspected, but downing street could not give us a specific date as to when it would be on the front line, but there are more supplies to come, and from the government's point of view they are trying to defuse this issue as much as possible but that one consignment they believe people are focusing on far too much, but nonetheless that one consignment put them in difficulties because again this plays into labour's charge that they are promising more than they are able to deliver, a charge they are able to deliver, a charge they are very are able to deliver, a charge they are very keen to try and extinguish before it goes very much further. iain watson in westminster, thank you. the headlines now.

the number of people who've died with coronavirus in care homes in england is thought to have doubled in five days — figures suggest more than 2000 deaths there have been 759 new recorded uk coronavirus deaths in hospitals — it brings the total death toll to 18,100. in the first ever virtual prime minister's questions, the new labour leader strongly criticises the government over a lack of testing and supply of personal protective equipment. only a tiny proportion of vulnerable children in england are taking up the emergency school places that are available for them. figures show that as many as 95% of the most needy children haven't been at school during the coronavirus crisis — and the children's commissioner says she's concerned they may drop off the radar of social services. 0ur education correspondent frankie mccamley reports.

some are struggling. some are really, really struggling. jade, not her real name, has a child who's classed as vulnerable. they have been attending school for the last four weeks. if she didn't come to school, we'd be clashing, arguing all the time, constantly. there wouldn't really be much of a relationship there, if i'm honest, it's structured, she's got a routine. she knows she's got support here. she's safe here. jade struggles to make ends meet. so school is a relief. when your kid comes to school, they get lunch every day. so you know you haven't got to worry about that meal. i know it sounds silly, but you haven't. from a monday to a friday, you haven't got to worry about that meal. now, you've got to worry about that every day. there are all sorts of reasons that a child will be on a list classed as vulnerable. some may have been allocated a social worker. for others, there could have been violence or abuse at home. so it's essential for schools and support services to stay in touch with these children. ultimately, to make sure they're safe. but children and families are falling off the radar.

this school has lost contact with a handful of children, despite phoning home and knocking on doors. to be honest, it gives me sleepless nights worrying about those particular children. we are trying to work really hard with children's services and with kind of the other schools in our locality to try and find out where those children are, to see who has been in contact with them. when was the last time they have been seen? government data shows as many as 95% of the most vulnerable children have not been attending school during the coronavirus crisis. some may be self—isolating or living with vulnerable people, but others should be attending. most of the vulnerable children in this country are not going into school, despite the fact that schools are open for them. and what that means is they're at home with potentially this kind of cocktail of secondary risks. now government needs to do everything they can to ensure

they reduce the dangers that these families are facing during this time of crisis. the government says it's providing extra funding to councils and children's charities to offer support to vulnerable youngsters, but for children who rely on schools to keep them safe, some stuck at home could be facing a greater risk, hidden from those who are trying to protect them. frankie mccamley, bbc news. germany's handling of the coronavirus pandemic, with its early large—scale testing, effective lockdown and low death rate, was the focus of international attention. now the world is watching again, as its restrictions are gradually lifted. to ensure the outbreak is kept under control authorities are relying on further mass testing and contact tracing. 0ur berlin correspondent jenny hill reports. slowly, cautiously, germany is feeling its way back to life. schools are 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 is not always possible to find everyone. we depend on the support and the memory of the infected person. they have to work with others to try to remember who they have had contact with. it is why the army is helping to test a more high—tech solution. it is hoped a phone app could 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 is 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. antibodies are detected, how does it 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 this 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 are still closed. germany may have got its outbreak under control, but it is far too soon, warn scientists, to celebrate. jenny hill, bbc news, berlin. many holiday companies are being accused of breaking the law by refusing to give customers refunds for bookings that have been cancelled because of coronavirus. under existing rules, passengers are entitled to a full refund within 14 days for a package holiday, and 7 days for a flight. but as our business correspondent sarah corker reports, that hasn't been happening.

dream holidays on hold, flights across the globe cancelled. the travel industry is now facing a massive backlog of claims due to the coronavirus lockdown. holiday makers are fighting to get their money back. tim and becka from belfast had their wedding in march cancelled. the hotel was sympathetic. the airline providing honeymoon flights to canada, less so. we weren't able to fly, obviously, and we are still waiting for nearly £1,500 in refunds to reach us, via air canada. we've been offered flight credit, but, personally, we cannot accept that. research from the consumer group, which, found that none of the uk's 20 biggest airlines and package operators were giving refunds within the legal timeframe. under eu law, travel firms must refund customers within 14 days if their package holiday is cancelled. while air passengers should get their money back within seven

days for cancellations. some airlines and package holiday companies just aren't offering refunds, while others are providing credit notes and vouchers, which won't be of much use if the firms later go bust. and it's estimated that £7 billion worth of payments by uk customers are affected by this. the trade body, airlines uk, said carriers are facing a far longer than usual volume of refund claims to get through, and the current restrictions imposed nationally mean they are not able to bring in additional staff to deal with them. i can't use a credit note... in wigan, roy's trying to get £2,500 back from tui for a cancelled holiday to barbados. the money should be back in my bank within 14 days, not a refund in four weeks with a lengthy time after that to actually get hold of the money again. that money could be far better of use to myself and other families in the same position.

it's of far better use to us than it is sat in tui's bank. tui uk said it's working through requests as quickly as possible and proactively contacting customers. you may now kiss your fiancee! back in belfast, tim and becka had a virtual commitment ceremony instead. the couple said air canada has also offered them a partial refund. sarah corker, bbc news. captain tom moore broke all kinds of records when he walked 100 laps of his garden to raise more than £27 million more than £27 million for the nhs — and in just over a week's time he'll hit another incredible milestone. but before the war veteran celebrates his 100th birthday, he's got another mammoth task on his hands — sifting though tens of thousands of cards from well wishers. john maguire reports. it may look like christmas, but this

is much bigger than christmas. it's the morning delivery at captain tom moore's local post office, a himalayan mountain of cards arriving ahead of his 100th birthday next week. it's overwhelming, the support that captain tom has from the general public. the whole country is behind him. he's such a legend. reminiscent of election night, this has become a military—style operation. the cards and parcels are being taken to tom's grandson's school, where volunteer staff are flat out. i think a lot of the cards are so heartfelt and it really shows the effort people have put in. i think he will really appreciate that. i'm going to try and take pictures of as many as i can and show him to them because he will happily sit through and read them all. this shows that people really do care about these sort of things, especially in tough times.

i think people really have joined together to make the effort for this. well, these are the cards that were opened just yesterday afternoon. there are 3,000 cards here. but today we've seen 30,000 delivered. who knows? they may even fill this entire hall. it's a wonderful story at a time where, frankly, everybody needed it. and it's also a real reaffirmation of people's kindness, and i'm a great believer that people are fundamentally kind, and this is just the most wonderful way to show it. we know that his record—breaking fundraising for nhs charities has touched hundreds of thousands around the world — from the old to the young — such as melissa grace. she has angelman syndrome, a rare genetic disorder of the nervous system. helped by her brother, jacob,

she used her ipad to tell me how she'd been inspired by the war veteran. i wanted to send captain tom a card to help him celebrate his 100th birthday, to show him that i think he is amazing and tomorrow will be a good day. it's a fabulous message to us all, the way he says "never give up — we can achieve more than we think". hi. hi, john. how are you? good. and reegan, with her mum, lisa, told me why she's raising money for captain tom's fund and has organised thousands of children to send him virtual birthday cards. reegan, why do you think he should receive so many cards? why do you think people should support him? well... for my opinion, i never saw a 100—year—old before because that's probably how i started his campaign, i said i'd never seen a 100—year—old before and started making cards. he's a war hero. yeah, he's a war hero and now he's my hero and the nation's hero. that's a point. and he's carrying on walking. he reached his goal and then he carried on. so at least 35,000 cards and more than a week to go until captain tom moore clocks up his 100 — years, this time, not laps.

but as we know with this man, a total or a target is just a number. john maguire, bbc news bedford. now it's time for a look at the weather with helen willetts. this settled spell of weather brought by high pressure will stay with us throughout the rest of the week. even into the evenings temperatures will hold on to the high teens and low 20s, feeling warm as the wind continues to ease but it has been quite brisk near the north sea coast, that eases overnight, with some low cloud, cloud over the hills in the north, and although not as chilly as recent nights, there will be some frost in the glens of scotland. any bits of mist, low cloud or even hill folk first thing tomorrow will clear quite quickly, the april sunshine strengthening all

the april sunshine strengthening all the time. it does look as if it will be for most parts the warmest day of the week, temperatures topping at 24, 25 to the west of london. and warm elsewhere as well, particularly noticeable in eastern areas with less breeze, though the pollen areas are forecast high in many parts too.

this is bbc news. i'm sophie raworth. the headlines at 4.30... the number of people who've died with coronavirus in care homes in england is thought to have doubled in five days — figures suggest more than 2,000 have lost their lives. there have been 759 new recorded uk coronavirus deaths in hospitals — it brings the total death toll to 18,100. in the first ever virtual prime minister's questions, the new labour leader strongly criticises the government over a lack of testing and supply of personal protective equipment. something is going wrong, there is a pattern emerging here. we were slow into lockdown, slow on testing, slow on protective equipment.