video call, something we've never done before. she's tried, and failed, to get hold of medical scrubs — so she's improvised, buying a pair of overalls. it isn't particularly professional, but at least i know it's protecting me and it's the best i can do. gail has brought this patient in for tests. she's been ill for several weeks with suspected coronavirus and is still struggling for breath. she's young and fit. she is not unwell enough to go to hospital, but she does need more tests. one of the things that's really important is that we are still here in primary care for non—covid related things, and we have had someone this morning who has a problem with her lower abdomen. it's essential that we see her to make sure that we are not missing anything.

so they split the surgery into two zones. red for suspected coronavirus cases and green for everyone else. gail has to go out and visit patients who just aren't well enough to come into the surgery. home visits are never very easy because you have to put the ppe on in the car, and you can see i've got a sheet on my car seat to actually protect the inside of the car as well. it's hard to know who's my doctor and who isn't. i'm your doctor, you cheeky monkey! she laughs i have been on my feet now for ten hours without a break. an incredibly rewarding day, but i really now need to go and be a mum again. she wants people to know that gps are a key part of the fight against coronavirus, but that they're still there for all other health problems too. catherine burns, bbc news.

time for a look at the weather here's helen willetts. george, thanks very much. hello. 22 degrees today in highland scotland, the west of wales and the south coast, and as we continue to lose the nagging east breeze we've had recently temperatures will be higher still tomorrow. what you can see on the satellite picture is very little cloud, and with the weather so benign at the moment very little will change actually. through the night under the starry skies, yes, once again it will turn chilly and we start to use that breeze, even more so so we we start to use that breeze, even more so so we pick up more mist and fog over the hills at lower levels. temperatures not as low as recent nights but still chilly enough for a frost in the glens of scotland and a chilly start anyway to our thursday morning. any bits of mist, low cloud and fog will clear very quickly in that strong april sunshine, of which there will be plenty on thursday. a little hazy sunshine and cloud at times and as a result of that and lighter winds, temperatures will be

a bit higher, perhaps 25 to the west of london. again, warmer parts of wales, northern ireland and scotland, and feeling warmer than it has done for the east coast having lost that breeze, but it is tree pollen season and again the forecast is high for many parts again tomorrow. subtle changes on friday, bit of a northerly breeze, and cloud again for the northern isles. perhaps a little more cloud being picked up in the south and west so temperatures perhaps edge degree down again on friday and we could even see the odd shower being the exception rather than the rule, but again the high pressure keeping things settled is declining into the weekend which does mean the chance ofa weekend which does mean the chance of a shower will increase. for most, still looking fine, dry and settled, but a bit more cloud around. it will bea but a bit more cloud around. it will be a little cooler but still warm for the time of year and there could just be the odd shower. thank you, helen.

hello, i'm sarah mulkerrins with your latest news at the bbc sport centre. let's begin with the national league football season because it has been ended immediately. the decision came this afternoon and it could be the first of many to come. their chief executive officer, michael tattersall, said... the options concerning the sporting outcomes of the season remain barrow are top of the national league and reckon this is the fairest way. firstly, it is a position we

support. i think it feels certainly asa support. i think it feels certainly as a cop it felt inevitable for a bit a while. i broke up the clubs need that financial certainty and we don't have masses of cash pound up u nfortu nately don't have masses of cash pound up unfortunately that we can fall back on. and i think the site gives us certainty particularly on player contracts that we can look at for budging to back injune, july. because you are on top of the national league so we know what that would do if that was the position at the end of the season, but we do not know what will happen now, what would you like to see happen? from a personal perspective i would like anything that brings which intimacy to the league table rewards success. i have seen points and final standings mentioned. i like the idea of being able to earn promotions and possibly playoffs in possible and

getting teams up and the higher levels maybe not even taking teams downs, so no relegation. so maybe you have been in larger weeks next seasons even if they are just a one enlarger relegation zones. that would allow more games next season, increase game revenue and give cubs a head start walking back onto their feet. while treating this way —— this season in a way that hope he doesn't have people feeling too embittered. 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 as stoke city manager. on the big nice we had in belfast when it was, we gave our all and every game. we were not outplayed very often and we played against the best nations in the world and the

best nations in the world and the best nations in europe. those are what i will take away from that and asi what i will take away from that and as i say, it is important that going forward we hold on to those times because the national stadium is a great place to play football. and i hope that continues to be the case. phil neville's future as england women's manager is set to be revealed on thursday when dates for the delayed european championship are confirmed. his contract lasts untiljune 2021, which would have been after the euros, but they have been delayed by a year to avoid a clash with the tokyo olympics. plans to stage the world snooker championship in the summer have been announced today. 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 take place behind closed doors. it depends on what lockdown restrictions remain in place. 2005 champion shaun murphy says the sport desperately needs the event.

i can't ican't imagine i can't imagine that the world chapin chips at the crucible will be a full 970 also about and seated sell—out tournament. i think it might bea sell—out tournament. i think it might be a bit early for that. i would love to be wrong. please god let me be wrong. but i have to say i think from the players point of view but we would just be so thankful to have that event on anyway, anyway it can be on to get our cues out again and have the opportunity to play and go back to work and bring some much—needed normality back to all of our lives. and finally various sports are dealing with this question of behind closed doors and hood may or may not favour. in snicker is there any way of knowing who that might favour?” snicker is there any way of knowing who that might favour? i don't know. i think snicker is in a great

position because we are not football or rugby or tennis point to tens of thousands of people. —— i think snooker. behind closed doors it might be strange for us and obviously the audience not having a chance to be there. snooker might find its niche there in the weekend with quite a small crew, put an event on and then everybody can watch it from home. we may havejust found our niche. yeah, you never know. 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 significant 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 rafa nadal was also in agreement it's been more than six weeks since a premier league game has been played — and it looks like it'll be some time before there's another. in the meantime, the league has been keeping players busy at home,

with a virtual competition to raise money for the national health service. some of the biggest names in football have been taking part. our sports correspondent natalie pirks reports. i'm decent, yeah. i can hold my own. they are unable to showcase their talents on the pitch right now, but in a virtual world, there is no such barrier. it's in! some of the premier league's biggest names are representing their club in a knockout tournament from their homes and clearly, players are taking this seriously. raheem! great build up play. goal! vamos! in the us, video game sales have soared by one third since lockdown began and for football starved fans here this could be the next best thing. i think it's really important especially at a time like this for people notjust in esport and gaming but people who are fans of sport and entertainment to still be given something they can watch and get involved in.

when you see your favourite footballer kind of crossing into this virtual world, i cannot imagine anyone not being happy with something like this taking place. lockdown is clearly the perfect time for some of these players to hone their gaming skills but this is notjust about bragging rights. the prize fund from this tournament will all be donated straight to the players together initiative. that was the brainchild of liverpool captain jordan henderson. he brought together players from all other premier league clubs to generate funds for the national health service charities. some reports suggest the fund has already reached £4 million but when the initiative was announced, one player told me they have big plans. i do not think there is a limit, that is the most important thing and that is the great thing. as much as we possibly can, i do not think there is a maximum figure. i think anything we can put together is going to be a huge help to those that need it. no help needed today for raheem sterling, the victor over crystal palace's wilfried zaha in a 5—4 goal fest.

as in real life, their attack better than their defence. natalie pirks, bbc news. as competitive as other. that's all from sportsday. we'll have more throughout the evening. —— as ever. you are watching bbc news. let's ta ke you are watching bbc news. let's take a look at some of the key points from today's coronavirus daily briefing. it was confirmed that the uk reported 759 more coronavirus deaths in hospital bringing the total to 18,100. first secretary dominic raab warned that the current restrictions shouldn't be lifted as it may cause a second spike that would trigger a second walk down that would prolong the economic pain. the government on—site chief medical officer professor chris whitty set the public should not expect the number of covid—19 deaths to fall away

suddenly and the head of the armed forces, general sir nick carter said that the coalition of the armed forces was the single greatest which is what challenge in his a0 year career in the military. speaking at the briefing, chief medical adviser chris whitty said it was wholly unrealistic to think life can return to normal soon and social distancing members would —— measures would be needed for a long time. this disease is not going to be eradicated, it is not going to disappear. we have to accept that we are working with a disease that we are going to be with globally, this is a global problem, for the foreseeable future. and what we are trying to work out is what are the things which actually add up to an are the things which actually add up toanr are the things which actually add up to an rof are the things which actually add up to an r of less than one? and there area to an r of less than one? and there a re a lots to an r of less than one? and there are a lots of different options which we will then have to consider. but that narrows our options quite significantly if you're having to keep the r below one. and ethic we have to be very realistic that if

people are hoping that it is suddenly going to move from where we are now in lockdown suddenly to everything is gone, that is a wholly unrealistic expectation. we are going to have to do a lot of things for really quite a long period of time. chris would eat speaking a short time ago for some was talk to jess parker who is at westminster and he really did seem to be saying that social distancing would be continuing until the end of the year. i think there were some pretty clear indications and we have got those indications before, but i think it was particularly the case today the long—term nature of this challenge. because of course over the last few days and weeks, those immediate tasks of getting personal protective equipment out to front—line workers, getting people tested, the people who need to be tested, the people who need to be tested, those important and immediate challenges and at how well the government is doing with them have been very much debated and you heard sir keir starmer the labour leader today accusing the government

of being too slow on those issues something that the government rejects but stepping back from that almost today, chris whitty talking about the long—term nature of this disease and i thought something that he said that was quite striking is in the long term, he sort of thought there were two ways out of this. one of them being a highly effective vaccine, the other as a sort of and or, highly effective drugs to treat the disease and he said realistically, it was a very unlikely that we would see either of those two things within the next calendar year. i think ssa amongst all this debate about how well the government is taking on those very immediate but important challenges of distributing ppe, getting test out the people, again todayjust that emphasis from one of these lead scientists, the chief medical adviser chris whitty that this is a very long—term challenge for the government but of course also for the country. interesting hearing from general sir nick carter who

made his first briefing appearance today who said this was the biggest which is what challenge in his a0 yea rs which is what challenge in his a0 years in the military. explain the role that his militaries and in this, and the hospitals. the military has had a wide—ranging role that he was talking about there and i think we have heard the government acknowledge it has been challenging terms of distributing ppe, getting the supply in and getting test out the supply in and getting test out the people. talking about how the people has been involved in it and i think general sir nick carter today at slightly emphasising that point. when you have the head of the armed forces saying that this is the greatest which is a good challenge he has ever seen, very much involved ina very he has ever seen, very much involved in a very wide range of tasks, building those nightingale hospitals across the country, getting this test out the people, distribute and personal protective equipment, and bringing british people abroad who had been stranded back home as well is something the military has been involved in as well. i think today

he did to some extent reinforce the point the government has been making that this is a vast logistical challenge but of course when you hear about stories of front—line workers not gain the personal protective equipment they need, when you hear about that big gap between the capacity of tests, the number of test available and the number of tests actually being carried out, there is still some anger and frustration at the government's response. jessica parker, thank you. also at the briefing, dominic raab defended the government's response to the growing crisis in the country bonsai care homes. preliminary figures for the caregiver to suggest the number of people die from coronavirus dying in england could have doubled in just five days was that mr robbins said the government was doing all it could. we are conscious there is a challenge with ca re conscious there is a challenge with care homes, i said that in my early remarks that we are doing everything we can come at the situation is improving, we are improving ppe to the spaces that need it. we are working with the military in relation to some of the mobile

testing labs because we know it is difficult for some people in care homes to access the testing. we have revised the guidance although the nhs revise the guidance to make sure that discharge we are being careful with those who go into care homes. we are doing everything we can. we understand that there are concerns and anxiety. i feel for those who are living in care homes and are nervous about this or their loved ones and we are doing absolutely everything we can to protect them. dominic raab. was taught to the executive director at the national ca re executive director at the national care forum. thank you forjoining us. the situation you see it is what? the situation in care homes is very difficult and i recognise the government is feeling they had made a strong response but our take on it is the response is certainly not been sufficient. has not been sufficient. it is been very clear that care homes in the care sector

more widely housed many of the most formal people within our communities and yet all of the early efforts have been on focusing on the acute sector, focusing on flattening the peak within hospitals, and not having the same level of attention and focus on the care sector and it is only now when we have these official statistics, these very sad official statistics, these very sad official statistics, these very sad official statistics that have come out from the care quality commission today and building on those ons figures and indeed we have produced other figures would suggest that the level of deaths within homes is very significant, is that we are beginning to see more attention place on the care home sector. and we need that attention to be doubled. all the things you have been talking about in your bulletin in terms of the kind of input from the army, the logistical efforts there that has gone into supporting there that has gone into supporting the acute sector, we need to see that now being played out with great kind of energy, innovation,

resource, and effort and that be put into the care sector. and the problem has been used suggest that the figure suggests, the problem for you has been there hasjust the figure suggests, the problem for you has been there has just not been enough tests, hardly anybody is being tested for the first five people to have suspected coronavirus being tested and beyond that there have not been tests. the government has promised to step that up, has that changed ? has promised to step that up, has that changed? there are two strand store testing. the testing you are talking about in the context of people being tested within care homes i think has not been operationalized the way that it has been talked about last week. there are still lots of questions about how that happens in reality and clearly we need to make sure that whoever is going to be delivering on those tests are going to be highly skilled and expert and able to be able to work with some of these very formal people. i think the other level of testing is around the testing of the workforce. and we've had a system now in place for the best pa rt had a system now in place for the best part of ten days. i recognise that with any new system you will

have some challenges and problems with that but actually some of the kind of fundamental parts of that drive—through test process are proving very difficult for care staff including the affected. there are only a number of tests and to. the average distance that people had to travel to to get to a test centre was 60 mile round which clearly a big trunk of somebody‘s time and cost. and for many care staff, they don't have cars. in order to make that kind of testing system work and as you rightly say get the capacity use to the maximum, then we need to build some very urgent flexibility into the current system so that all ca re into the current system so that all care staff who need that test can get a ccess care staff who need that test can get access to it. the other big word and carrying —— and care homes is ppe and staff, has not improved at all? ppe remains one of the biggest

concerns for ca re all? ppe remains one of the biggest concerns for care providers and all those incredible staff who are working in those environments. absolutely we are still hearing about lots of problems in terms of getting access to the ppe that people require. but the types of equipment so big focus around use of facemask and i advisers both of which are new in many ways to care organisations so they would not have had pre—existing stocks around that. these issues are getting access to that and clearly the shortages within the supply chain still and the parallel system that has been a promise isn't yet online and doesn't look like it will be available for some time. there is also very significant increases in cost both around ppe but also around delivering services within a covid—19 environment that organisations are struggling with and thinking about how they will plan and move forward within that very resource intensive environment.

vic rayner think you very much for joining us this evening. the nhs has begun testing an app that could prove vital in helping the uk emerge from a lockdown. on an raf base in york surface of the beeps he has had excessive a ccess york surface of the beeps he has had excessive access to the first test ofa excessive access to the first test of a contact tracing app designed to let people know if they have been in contact with someone infected with the virus but critics are worrying there will be pectoral and privacy issues to be sorted out before it can be released. here's our technology correspondent roy catherine jones. on an raf base in yorkshire, the process of what the government hopes will be a key weapon in the battle against the virus. these servicemen and women are trying out an app designed to trace anyone who has beenin designed to trace anyone who has been in contact with an infected person. you can just go into your phone, on the bond we have checked symptoms. the app uses the phone's bluetooth connection and works out who you have been in contact with prior to having symptoms of the virus. here is how it works. once you have installed the app every

time you come into close proximity with someone else who also has it, your phones record that fact. then later if you tell the app that you have symptoms of the virus, the phones of everyone you have been in contact with over the previous 1a days get an overt telling their owners they need to self—isolate. as the base is also purchasing social distancing, this early test is a little artificial but scientists are advising the nhs saying that if the app eventually works, it could make app eventually works, it could make a big difference. now, this could all help in the easing of restrictions, letting us get out of our houses but and it is a big but, more than half the population need to download the app if it's to really work well and that is probably about 80% of all smartphone users. that is a high hurdle. if enough people use the app and i have to emphasise adhere to the app and i think this is important, it is an integrated public health solution, it would not just integrated public health solution, it would notjust reduce the size of

the epidemic, it could contribute to stopping the epidemic. singapore had a similar contact tracing app but only around 20% of the population used it. now after a resurgence of new cases of the virus, the country has lockdown again. critics here say the nhs has to confront a host of issues not just about whether the app would work but it's privacy implications. should employers be allowed to require their employees to download the app as a condition to download the app as a condition to return to work with mike or should delivery services be allowed to require customers to download the app before a delivery driver will attend their house? getting back to normal life may also need to involve mass testing as well as contact tracing. and the nhs app will also need a few more trials before it is ready to play its part. let's have a look at the weather now with heifer mullets.

good evening, 20 degrees in the highlands of scotland. it is likely to be warmer tomorrow because we are losing the brisk easterly wind that we had. it is not been such a feature in scotland, we have had an abundance of sunshine here and rather high cloud making the sunshine hazy in the west but with clear skies and very little changing through the overnight period, temperatures will again fall away. and as i mentioned the winds will continue to ease allowing low cloud to drift back up to the pennines, southeast cotton, west wales but forgot both of us potentially as well. the temperature is not as low as they were about site but there was still be a frost in the glens of scotland, chilly first thing thursday morning. that mist and bo cloud, any patchy fog will clear in the strong april sunshine and it looks as though there will be lots of strong april sunshine through the course of the day for supper and because the winds are liked her, the winds will see a temperature of degree or two up or so. we could see 25 in localities west of london. in

other parts of wales and northern ireland and scotland and for the east coast where it has been gently recently it won't feel as cold but high levels of pollen are forecast once again. these are the pollen bubbles for the day on thursday. as we head into friday though, our high pressure starts to decline somewhat so it is giving an increase for showers developing. subtle changes under way by the end of the week picking up a northerly wind for the northern isles and then a chance of the arch are coming in across southwestern england and wales. still mostly dried with temperatures and more cloud it probably will not be quite as high for many but still only in degree or so down. the high—pressure declines further as we go through the weekend allowing the risk of the chance of a few showers coming up the south and west animatorfrom the coming up the south and west animator from the north as well. the devil is in the detail for the weekend except where those showers will occur. most parts of the united kingdom looked dry. more hazy

sunshine, temperatures into the high teens and go 20s that could just have the odd shower around. and by sunday we start to pick up that northerly northwesterly more widely across cotton so it will feel cooler here, to contemptuous down a few degrees was up as ever, there is plenty more on the website.