this is bbc news, the headlines: president trump has claimed cases of coronavirus in american hot spots are dropping — and that more states will be in a position to reopen. he claimed the us has flattened the curve of infections, but there is concern about a second, even more serious, wave of infections in the autumn, combined with seasonal flu. american fatalities have doubled in a week, exceeding a6,000. the world health organization has warned of a worrying upward trend in coronavirus cases in africa, latin america and eastern europe. it said most of the epidemics in western europe now appeared to be stable — other countries were now seeing a surge. here in the uk the chief medical adviser — professor chris whitty — has said the policy of social distancing will be needed until the end of the year. he said the chance of a highly effective vaccine being found within the next year was incredibly small.

now on bbc news — wednesday in parliament. hello there and welcome to wednesday in parliament as mps take part in their first virtual pmqs and sir keir starmer makes his debut at the session as labour leader. he says the government hasn't taken up offers from uk firms to supply protective equipment. there's a patern 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. but filling in for borisjohnson, dominic raab rejects the suggestion ministers have been slow off the mark. we have been guided by the scientific advice, the chief scientific adviser, the chief medical officer,

at every step along this way. also on this programme, questions for the first minister of wales about rates of testing there. their laboratories haven't had the go—ahead, haven't had the accreditation, to conduct a single test. but first, prime minister's questions always feels a bit different when one of the key players isn't there, but this pmqs really was unusual. firstly, the prime minister boris johnson stayed away, still recovering from his bout of coronavirus. which meant for sir keir starmer, the newly elected labour leader it was a rather unusual debut at the session. on top of which it was the first virtual pmqs with mps being able to ask questions via video link, rather than being in the chamber. at the start of the day, the speaker, sir lindsay hoyle, welcomed members to their brave new world. 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. so i'd like to welcome everyone,

both membersjoining us remotely from their constituencies up and down the uk and members here in the chamber, to the first hybrid sitting of the house of commons. when pmqs got under way a short time later, sir keir starmer said he'd provide constructive opposition and support the government when it was right to, but he had questions too, beginning with coronavirus testing. the government has an ambition for 100,000 tests a day and says it now has the capacity to carry out 40,000, but sir keir starmer said only 18,000 were being carried out. it's not a question of driving up demand. demand is there. last week, the health secretary said that every care worker who needed a test would get one. but the reality on the ground is very different and there are very few tests indeed. and care workers who were ill or self isolating were being asked to drive to testing sites. social care workers in leicester are being told to go to the outskirts of nottingham,

a 45 minute drive, in order to get tested. there are lots of examples across the country of this. now there's an obvious problem with that system. not all care workers will have access to a car. because they've got symptoms or family members who've got symptoms, they obviously can't use public transport, so it's little wonder we're seeing these pictures of half—empty testing centres. it is about a demand, we need to encourage those who are able to take the test to come forward. but he is right. he is right to say it's also about distribution and some of the logistical and frankly transport challenges that people, particularly some of those he described, will have in terms of getting to the tests. we've got mobile labs to go to some of those areas for the hard—to—reach. we'll be using the army, who have made, along with the other key workers, incredible contribution to support that effort. but ijust come back to the key point. i do think it's important to have a target and to drive towards a target. what about the provision of personal

protective equipment for health staff, known as ppe? sir keir starmer quoted one care worker. "i work in a nursing home. i'm terrified. i don't know if residents have the virus. we're wearing homemade masks. this is horrible and i'm very scared." and that word 'scared' is one i think we've all heard many, many times in these last two or three weeks. a survey by the royal college of nursing found that half of nursing staff felt under pressure to work without the levels of protective equipment set out in official guidance. this has been a stress—test of our resilience, and the government plan is clearly not working. so can i ask the first secretary to tell front—line workers at risk, when will they finally get the equipment they need to keep them safe? since the start of the outbreak, we've delivered 1 billion items of personal protective equipment and tens of millions have been distributed via the devolved administrations. we recognise though that we've got to strive even harder in this

incredibly difficult and competitive international environment to source the equipment. sir keir said the government had also failed to take up offers from british firms to help out. something's going wrong. there's a patern 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've been slow. we have been guided by the scientific advice, the chief scientific adviser, the chief medical officer, at every step along this way. if he thinks he knows better than they do with the benefit of hindsight, then that's his decision, but that is not the way we proceeded and it is not the way we will in the future. the snp‘s westminster leader renewed calls for a basic income for all. polling shows that 84% of the public now support this. a universal basic income is a solution that will provide support from anybody and crucially, it will leave no one behind. we want to make sure

we provide the support to those who need it most. a universal approach, uniform without reference to need or income or the most vulnerable in our society, is not the way i respectfully suggest to achieve it. will the government commit itself now for a future independent, judge—led inquiry into how this crisis has been handled? i won't take up his offer of committing to a public inquiry. i think that there are definitely lessons to be learned, and when we get through this crisis, it will be important that we take stock and come together to understand that with an unprecedented challenge on an international scale, what can be done to avoid it happening again. if the lockdwon is lifted

in one nation or region because it's past the peak, we will see confusion and people starting to move around and that runs of risk of further in section. —— infection. will the secretary of state confirm if the formation the process to be meaningful, governments must have an equal say and that lifting the lockdown can only happen by the unanimous agreement of government together. i think it's fair to say excellent cooperations between all four nations and indeed with the current mayor of london. if she looks at the social distancing measures, there has been remarkable consistency in all four nations in terms of compliance. so i hope we can continue to work together on a collaborative basis as we look towards the second phase. dominic raab, foreign secretary and first secretary of state, filling in for borisjohnson at pmqs. mps were able to take up their concerns around testing and protective equipment when after prime minister's questions the health secretary matt hancock updated the commons on the government's battle plan.

i set the goal of 100,000 tests a day by the end of this month, and i'm delighted to say the expansion of capacity is ahead of plans, even though demand has thus far been lower—than—expected. we are therefore ramping up the availability of this testing and expanding who is eligible for testing to make it easier to access the tests. the tests are conducted in hospitals through our drive—through centres, mobile units and home deliveries. these tests are then sent to laboratories we've completed construction of three lighthouse labs, each site tookjust three weeks to complete and begin testing. as we reach the peak, and as we bring the number of new cases down, so we will introduce contact tracing at large—scale. he said a vaccine trial on humans would start on thursday and that social distancing was making a difference. but labour'sjonathan ashworth

had serious concerns. it looks like we are heading to one of the worst death rates in europe. the government have been careful to say we are following scientific advice. could the secretary of state tell us what the explanation is from the government scientists as to why our death rate seems so poor compared to germany for example? i welcome the stabilisation of covid—19 cases. does he accept that the testing and contact tracing must actually be in place before any easing of the lockdown to avoid a second peak? will he achieve 100,000 test a day by next week? if not when? can i say i absolutely agree with him as it should be business as usual. there are many people who work in our health care arena who do not have business as usual.

can he do everything to support those people as soon as possible? the former labour leader made his first contribution in several years from the back benches. the world health organisation indicated there was a danger of an epidemic from corona injanuary. they later declared it to be a pandemic. the director general of the world health organisation said in terms, the way of dealing with it is test, test, test in order to ascertain the levels of infection across our society. we didn't do that. there was some stinging criticism from another labour mp. every time the secretary of state speaks, he thinks it's a triumph what he's doing. i believe it's a sham of leadership of management. i think we are letting down nhs staff and they have been let down and indeed, i'm particularly angry at the fact

that i understand that those early whistle—blowers were so lent on and threatened with disciplinary action that was to stop brave young doctors and nurses standing up and telling it what it was like on the front line. the health secretary thought barry sheerman had missed what the uk was trying to do as a nation — pull together at a time of grave difficulty. meanwhile in the welsh assembly, there were questions for the first minister about his government's strategy for tackling coronavirus. why are so few test actually taking place and why is the welsh government failing to meet its target, because it's important our key front—line workers are tested as quickly as possible in order to keep them safe. over 20,000 tests are being carried out in wales during the coronavirus crisis. 40% of those tests have been made available to front line health care staff. there is more that needs to be done

to simplify the process from which social care staff in particular can be identified and then offered testing at the different centres that we have. it's almost six weeks since scientists at cardiff university wrote to the welsh government offering their expertise in conducting tests in wales. almost six weeks later, those hundreds of scientists, and by the way i spoke to one of them this morning, and their laboratories haven't had the go—ahead, haven't had the accreditation to conduct a single test a key worker here in wales. is it any wonder you have been accused of a dereliction of duty? we will have more test this week.

there increasing the pick up on them out, particularly from key workers. we have police officers and firefighters being tested. on sir martin evan's comments, i was surprised to see them and i see that cardiff university immediately put out a statement saying his views did not represent theirs, and the university continue to work very closely with the wealth government on a range of pandemic related matters. someone i'm in good contact with and it may be a more general issue, at least at the end of last week did not want to give wider testing to other organisations. they were concerned they did not have data protection and they were waiting for public health wales to share with them a protocol on what should be done. mark drakeford said the data commissioner had put out guidance saying he would look sympathetically on data being shared but the law on data sharing hadn't changed. you're watching wednesday

in parliament, with me, alicia mccarthy. the closure of most schools has left many parents concerned that their children are missing out on their education despite the efforts of teachers to deliver lessons online. a minister told mps it was difficult to measure how long children were learning each day. although some schools have stayed open for vulnerable children and the children of key workers, the chair of the education committee raised reports that fewer pupils than expected were attending school. less than 1% of pupils are going to school under arrangements for vulnerable children and those of key workers. and that 5% of children who are at risk of abuse or neglect or serious educational health or special needs who are eligible for a place during the lockdown are turning up. are you worried about those children? and what is being done

by the government to look after these children and make sure these left—behind children aren't further left behind while this is all going on? so, of course we're all concerned about vulnerable children, which is why we've put them absolutely at the heart of everything that we've been doing since schools closed. why we've been working with the schools, with the local authorities in order to make sure that vulnerable children are prioritised. the attendance numbers are actually a bit higher than that. there's differences across the country, and the attendance numbers, those were taken before the easter holidays. we are very much encouraging vulnerable children to attend school through a number of different means, but as i said, where the child does not attend school, then the school must be in contact with the social worker to make sure that they're being safeguarded. it does concern me that there's so few vulnerable children going to school at the moment.

and of course it does largely seem at the moment that it's on the parents whether or not their child goes to school or not. frankly, it could well be the case that sometimes these parents are part of the reason why the child is vulnerable, so it concerns me... did the government ever consider going further than keeping the option open of vulnerable children going to school and actually making it a requirement? making it a requirement these vulnerable children need to go to school because it is greatly concerns me that the number of vulnerable children and attending is so far below what was anticipated. for children who have a social worker, they are expected to attend school and if they are not, their schools are working with their social workers to make sure that we have eyes on them, they get visits whether or not that's a physical visit, a doorstep visit, a house or a digital visit depending on the risk to that child.

and that is happening in every single local authority across the country. does the dfe know how long the pupils — i brought this up earlier — but are learning each day? and the extent to which that is affected by their socioeconomic position? i think that's difficult to measure, robert, because we know that people have been using a lot of different resources. so, we've put in place the old national academy resources, 180 lessons a week in every year on loads of different subjects. 180 lessons a week in every year and loads of different subjects. i'm not sure it's possible to work out who's accessing those. a labour mp highlighted problems with a voucher scheme to enable children on free school meals to get meals at home. the problems around... there admin problems around administering food vouchers,

and what steps have been taken to address those problems? i do think the government needs to be absolutely transparent about the scale of that problem. and how it will ensure that all families have access to the food that is urgently needed. can i tell you that, as of today, over £15 million worth of vouchers have been accessed through that system? 0k? £15 million worth, 0k? so, that is a million 15 pound—a—week vouchers. hundreds and thousands of families, children are using this. vicky ford there. now, the equalities minister says she's confident women suffering domestic violence during the coronavirus lockdown can get the help they need. liz truss was facing questions from mps on the committee that scrutinises the work of her department. some of the mps were in the commons, but most and the minister were taking part via video link.

we know that the government's advice during this pandemic has been stay home, save lives. but tragically for so many women, staying at home hasn't saved their lives, and we've seen tens of women murdered at the hands of domestic violence and at the hands of their partner during this pandemic. what strategy was put in place to protect people who don't feel safe in their own homes during this lockdown? so, first of all, we recognised straightaway that this was one of the major issues with the lockdown, that it would put domestic violence victims at potentially more risk of abuse. that is why we've been very clear from the start that if you are a victim of domestic abuse, the rules about lockdown, the stay—at— home message does not apply. you should leave that home if you're able to.

we've also launched the campaign and the national domestic abuse helpline number, which is 0808 2000 247, and people should ring that with a view to getting the help they need. we're extremely worried about this problem. we've launched the you are not alone campaign to help people get the support that they need, but to be absolutely clear, the rules of lockdown you're talking about do not apply. if you're in a domestic abuse situation, you should absolutely be able to leave that property where you are facing domestic abuse. how confident are you that if a woman phones the helpline, she would be given help and she would be able to access that support if she needed to flee her home? very confident. very confident, ok. currently, we've been told that 60% of women are being turned away from refuge. and refuge workers and volunteers

aren't classed as essential workers during this crisis. were you aware of that? what conversations have you had with refugees to support these people when they're fleeing their homes? so, i wasn't aware that refuge workers were not classified as key workers, and i will certainly look into that issue. but i have been in touch with the department of communities and local government, who have assured me that when people ring that helpline, there will be accommodation found for those people and they're looking at all possible options for that accommodation. the chair of the committee turned to a different issue — the government's daily coronavirus news conferences. so far, priti patel is the only female cabinet minister to lead one. are we going to see you make an appearance at one of the daily press conferences? it's been really noticeable so far that they have been conducted by men. when's your turn? the home secretary has already made an appearance, as you'll be aware, at the daily press conference.

and there's also been appearances by senior medical officials, such as drjenny harris, who's appeared at that conference as well. and you'll be aware that women are playing a key part in the response. therese coffey, the secretary of state... we've not seen her either, though, have we? she's done a number of media appearances, and i think she's doing an absolutely brilliant job of dealing with the increased number of universal credit claims. i know you previously worked in the department of work and pensions, and it's tough to make sure all of those things happen. and i think she's doing a fantastic job. we're not here to talk about what therese is doing, are you or therese going to appear at a daily press conferences? i've seen one appearance once by one woman. i was about to make a point, which is i don't like tokenism, 0k?

i don't like the idea that somebody should just appear at a press conference or in a media interview because they are women. so, they shouldn't be there just because they are a woman, but you have a remit for elderly people, for the disabled, for those from a bame background, for the lgbtq community, a massive group of people who are being impacted by covid—19, and you think it would be tokenism for you to appear at one of those press conferences? i'm not saying that at all. what i'm saying is the excessive focus on what gender somebody is rather than what they do does a disservice to women, but i think we should be focusing on the right people to present at the press conference. clearly... is that not you, though? are you not the right person? the major issue at the moment is health, and so i think it's right that the health secretary is doing a lot of the press conferences and explaining the specific health issues. liz truss. the house of commons has agreed that

mps will be able to vote from home during the coronavirus pandemic. a new digital system has been developed, but there are concerns that it's not yet robust enough. some mps are worried about its stability, about the ability to verify who is voting and about the alerts telling mps when it's time to vote. the commons leader, jacob rees—mogg, insisted the arrangements would be temporary. he also agreed not to hold any votes until after the procedure committee has reported on the system. i think it's fair to say that i am surprised to be introducing a motion to introduce remote voting in the house of commons. in general, i'm not an advocate of change. to the house's voting system or, to be perfectly honest, to many other things. it's always lord palmerston‘s words always ring in my mind, "change, change, aren't things bad enough already?" i'm very thankful to that the house authorities and the staff of the parliamentary digital service

for their work in developing the digital tool so quickly. i know they are keen to facilitate further testing next week, including with members, which will be crucial to build confidence in the new system. we have to make sure that any remote voting is secure and that everyone is satisfied that any remote working is secure. the optics of seeing votes going wrong is not where we want to be. the work that has been done is incredible, but i would alsojust say that people need to recognise the realities of everyday life for a member of parliament at the moment. which is that we are focused on our constituents, we're focused on our constituency work, we're not sitting with our telephones waiting for a text to come in to say a vote is happening. it's not like it is in the chamber, and there are some real concerns about making sure that members get used to the way that this system works. karen bradley bringing us to the end of this edition of the programme. i'll be back with you on thursday with all the latest from westminster. but for now, from me, alicia mccarthy, goodbye.

hello there. wednesday was a completely dry day across the uk and in the sunshine we had temperatures into the low 20s in southern england. 23 degrees in dorset. but thursday is likely to be the warmest day of the week. mind you, we get off to a bit of a chilly start, 4—5 degrees, typically. maybe, again, a touch of frost in the scottish glens. and a bit more of this mist and low cloud affecting southern scotland, northern england, perhaps into the midlands as well. but it won't last long. it's going to be a dry and sunny day. the sunshine a little bit hazy at times for the northern half of the uk. but the winds on thursday will be even lighter. it'll feel warmer and temperatures may be a bit higher as well. it could reach 25 degrees, somewhere like hampshire into oxfordshire or berkshire. and widely 19 or 20 for england and wales.

a little bit cooler around some of those north sea coasts. but even across western scotland temperatures may reach 20 or even 21 celsius. but away from scotland we've still got some high pollen levels on thursday. it's tree pollen, of course. and at this time of the year we're looking at the oak tree in particular. into friday, we start with the mist and some low cloud, mainly for the eastern side of england. again, it will burn off very quickly in the sunshine. maybe a little more cloud towards the far south—west, threatening a shower. but it will probably be a dry day. a fair bit of sunshine again. another very warm day for the time of year. temperatures peaking at 21 or 22 celsius. now, into the weekend, a couple of things that we can be pretty sure about, temperatures are going to drop away a little, although it's still one for the time of year. the winds will remain light but there's the chance of showers. a lot of uncertainty about those, particularly on sunday. let's look at saturday first of all, and we're looking at more towards wales in the south—west. and this is where we're more likely to catch a shower or two.

although there will be more cloud coming into the north—west of scotland. elsewhere a good chance it's going to be dry, with a lot of sunshine around. still very warm. temperatures around 19—20 towards the coast of scotland, 20 or 21 in the south—east of england. but it's during sunday that there's much more uncertainty. because now it looks like the shower band could move its way further south into england and wales, with a cluster of showers and returning into a more northerly breeze across scotland. there'll be some sunshine around, but those temperatures in northern parts of the uk back down to around 14 or 15 degrees, could make 19 or 20 still, perhaps in the south.

this is bbc news — my name's mike embley — with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. president trump claims infection rates and cases in some hot spots are dropping — and that more us states will be in a position to reopen. these trends demonstrate that our aggressive strategy to battle the virus is working and that more states will soon be in a position to gradually and safely reopen. it's very exciting. the world health organization warns infection rates are rising in africa and eastern europe and says the pandemic will not be over soon. slipping backwards — why japan is facing a renewed outbreak. the bbc gets rare access inside a japanese hospital. here in the uk, according to the chief medical officer, social distancing will be

needed until at least the end of the year.