today at six p:m.. the start of the first human trials of the coronavirus vaccine. it is under way in oxford. two of them were injected today. well, i'm a scientist so of course i want to try and support science, the scientific process whenever ican. scientists at this lab in oxford have achieved in three months, a process that would normally take years. there is absolutely no suggestion we are going to start using this vaccine in the wider population before we've demonstrated that it actually works and stops getting people infected with coronavirus. also tonight — nicola sturgeon is the first uk leader to describe what easing

the lockdown might look like. some social distancing measures are here to stay for months she says — we'll have to get used to a new normal. talk of lifting the lockdown as if it's a flick of a switch moment is misguided. a tribute in death to a man respected in life — colleagues of dr sadeq elhowsh bid farewell as the cortege passes his place of work. and the nurse who cared for borisjohnson when he was taken to intensive care was just doing herjob, she says. he was just another patient that we were trying to do our best for. so it was business as usual. and coming up in sport later in the hour on bbc news... phil neville will stand down as lionesses boss next summer after three years in the post. but should he leave now?

good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six. the first human trial in europe of a coronavirus vaccine has begun in oxford. it's a highly significant moment in the scientific response to the pandemic which has led to more than a 185,000 deaths worldwide. in the last 2a hours 616 deaths were recorded across the uk. it brings the official number of deaths in the uk linked to coronavirus to 18,738. but that does not include deaths in care homes or in the community in england and northern ireland. this afternoon two volunteers were injected with a potential vaccine,

the first of more than 800 adults between 18 and 55 years old who've been recruited for the study. our medical correspondent fergus walsh has this special report. this walsh has this special report. could change everyti vaccine this could change everything. a vaccine against coronavirus, a way out for all of us. 0k, needle scratch. the first volunteer to receive it was a microbiologist. she is 32 today. i am a scientist so of course i want to try and support the scientific process whenever i can. asi scientific process whenever i can. as i don't study viruses i felt a bit useless these days so i felt this was a very easy way for me to support the cause. i am excited. half of those on the try will get the vaccine and half in a different injection. the volunteers don't know which one they have received. injection. the volunteers don't know which one they have receivedlj injection. the volunteers don't know which one they have received. i am going to sit here and incubate this thing and hopefully give some good

follow u p thing and hopefully give some good follow up data and see how it works. what would normally take years has been done in three months by scientists at oxford university. around 80 groups worldwide are developing coronavirus vaccines. a few others in the us and china have also started human trials. there is no guarantee any of them will succeed. personally, i am very optimistic it is going to work. formally, we are testing it in an efficacy study. there is no suggestion we are going to start using this vaccine in the wider population before he have demonstrated it works and stops people getting infected with coronavirus. so how does the vaccine wire? scientists have taken the genes from the spike protein on the surface of coronavirus and put them into a harmless virus. this forms the vaccine. after it is injected, the vaccine. after it is injected, the vaccine. after it is injected, the vaccine enters cells which sta rts the vaccine enters cells which starts to produce the coronavirus spike protein. this prompts the

immune system to produce antibodies and activate killer t cells which had recognised the coronavirus in future and destroy it, preventing infection. the scientists will only know how effective the vaccine is if lots of volunteers are exposed to coronavirus. at this moment we are chasing the end of this current epidemic way. of course, if we don't catch that we won't be able to tell whether the vaccine works in the next few months. but we do expect there will be more cases in the future because this virus has not gone away. why not simply infect people with coronavirus after they have had the vaccine, then you would know? at this moment it would be very difficult to do that with a disease which potentially has quite a high fatality. so i think if we reached a point where we had some treatments for the disease and we could guarantee the safety of volunteers, that would be a very

good way of testing the vaccine. the vaccine is stored in this freezer at -80 vaccine is stored in this freezer at —80 degrees. rarely has a medical trial had so much riding on it for so trial had so much riding on it for so many people. it is hard to overstate just how important this vaccine could be if, and it is a big if, it proved to be safe and effective. it would represent science giving us the solution to the coronavirus pandemic. science giving us the solution to the coronavirus pandemiclj science giving us the solution to the coronavirus pandemic. i think everybody agrees it is the only way we are going to get out of the lockdown, the social distancing and really be able to still have people protected as they go about their daily lives. edward, a cancer researcher was next up. there is that the arrest daily—macro theoretical rich the vaccine could make a coronavirus infection worse, but the team think that is highly unlikely and the volunteers will be carefully monitored. it seems like

the right thing to do to ensure that we can combat this disease and get over it a lot faster. your family, do they know what you are up to? yes, my wife is fully aware. my son just thought daddy was going to work today. i guess i was going to work for a different thing than normal. local health care workers are being recruited to the trial as they have a higher chance than most of getting exposed to coronavirus. the oxford tea m exposed to coronavirus. the oxford team are hoping to have1 million doses of vaccine ready by september with a huge scale of the manufacturing after that. it is not clear though, he would be prioritised to

coronavirus, mairs, which has done very well in early clinical trials and they have developed vaccine against playing a malaria. back in 2006, in one of these blue chairs, i was immunised against h5n1 bird flue, a pandemic that fortunately never happen. so they are hugely experienced. we know the type of vaccine that they have produced does produce a good antibody response in the immune system. but that doesn't necessarily equate to protection. if it is effective, how effective does it is effective, how effective does it need to be to be regarded as successful? would 50% protection or 60% protection be enough? now there are more than 80 teams working on vaccines. it is a race, but not

against each other, but against the virus. we need several of those teams to be successful, because we are going to need hundreds of millions of doses and then we have to decide who gets them first. thank you very much, fergus walsh. as we've heard, a vaccine will not be ready for many months. before that politicians are going to have find a way of easing the lockdown without risking a second wave of infections. well, we got the first glimpse of what that might look like from scotland's first minister, nicola sturgeon, who proposed some options for the way forward in scotland. classrooms may have to re—designed — all children may not attend at the same time. businesses would have to ensure that staff could work two metres away from colleagues. and she said there might have to be different approaches for different areas of scotland. the first minister warned that any or all of these options might have to reveresed and she was, of course, setting out proposals for scotland. but as our political editor

laura kuenssberg reports, her willingness to set out possible options is in contrast to what the westminster government has done so far. that was then, this is now. busy streets now empty avenues. traffic lights, strange statues on roads without hardly any cars. but what might be the long route out of lockdown? in one part of the uk today, the sketch of the beginning. iam today, the sketch of the beginning. i am seeking today really to start a grown—up conversation with you, the public. talk of lifting the lockdown as if it is a flick of a switch moment is misguided. steps, when we ta ke moment is misguided. steps, when we take them will have to be careful, gradual, incrementaland take them will have to be careful, gradual, incremental and probably quite small to start with. schools and some firms that store to open up, but with limited ways with different days for different staff

01’ different days for different staff or children perhaps, so everyone can keep their distance. some kinds of outdoor pursuits might return, but forget anything like a normal match day where thousands crammed together. and for the most vulnerable, those in ill health of elderly, the instruction is likely to remain for a long time, stay at home. we have said today it is only right you treat people like grown—ups. do you think the government in westminster risks treating the public like children if they don't share their thinking in they don't share their thinking in the way that you have today? these are horrendously difficult decisions for all governments, notjust across the uk but governments across the world. there are no absolute rights and wrongs in this and it is incumbent on all of us to try to involve the public in that as much as possible. that is what the scottish government will do every step of the way and that is what the government will seek to do as well. i encourage all governments everywhere to do that. ministers here are reluctant to give much away for now, although they have set out

five tests. but they are being pushed by labour at some of their own mps to open up. there is broad public support for the lockdown but the scottish minister, the opposition and some of your own mps should think you should be more transparent about what might come next, are they all run? i understand the thirst for knowledge, but the test that we have set out, which are the basis from which others for instance, the scottish government have then developed their plans, those tests are the critical tests for when changes can be made. we have not met them yet and therefore we must keep the social distancing measures in place. on the way income as the faces of our towns and cities start to change, different administrations of the uk have stuck together, sharing the same data and scientific advice. but on the way out? you could see different parts of the united kingdom move in a different time to other parts

because it will be criteria led. but thatis because it will be criteria led. but that is that when, not the how. as limits on our lives have slowed the loss of life everywhere, the economy is injeopardy in every loss of life everywhere, the economy is in jeopardy in every corner of the country, too. all parts of the uk could look different on the other side. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. as the government has said, any attempt to ease the lockdown will not happen till ministers and their scientific advisers are convinced that the spread of the coronavirus is under control. so testing for who has the infection is clearly going to play an important part in monitoring the spread of the coronavirus. this afternoon the health secretary matt hancock said essential workers will be able to book coronavirus tests online from friday. the army will be helping with mobile testing facilities. as our health editor hugh pym reports, the government remains under pressure to meet its target of 100,000 tests a day by the end of the month. home testing for coronavirus, kits are sent out and people take their own swa bs are sent out and people take their own swabs and send them back to be tested. it will be rolled out gradually, along with the expansion

of drive—through centres currently available for key workers and their mobile testing facility is going to work places. we are also currently working with the army on a new p°p‘up working with the army on a new pop—up mobile testing option, which was developed for us by the army and is really working very well. so we are going to have 48 of these pop—up facilities which can travel around the country to where they are needed most, for example, in care homes. key workers with symptoms will be able to put tests online but a government target for testing still looks difficult to meet. the number of tests on hospital patients and key workers is not moved up much in the last couple of weeks, it's now about 23,000 a day, but ministers have set a target of 100,000 by the end of this month. just a week away. three so—called mega labs, staffed partly by volunteers have been set up partly by volunteers have been set up to handle the big expansion in virus testing, including this one in glasgow which opened this week. it hopes soon to be doing thousands of

tests each day. at the moment there area large tests each day. at the moment there are a large number of manual processes we are doing. we are going to bring in automation and a further scale of our capacity to meet, what will inevitably be significant demand. but a survey of one group of doctors found nearly 40% of respondents said they were struggling to get access to testing. we want to be able to go to work and if we have symptoms and we cannot access a test, then we are required to stay at home. we are also, we are nervous of infecting others, particularly family and loved ones. the measures set out today for england, including more drive—through facilities like this one in gateshead are four key workers, but there is a plan soon for testing to be made available to the public. hugh pym, bbc news. as the government has said, any attempt to ease the lockdown will not happen till ministers and their scientific advisers are convinced that the spread of the coronavirus is under control. our science editor david shukman has been looking at how that might be achieved.

everything hinges on how rapidly the coronavirus spreads, and on how we try to stop it. that is what all the restrictions are designed to do. as we keep hearing from the scientist tracking the pandemic and now from the scottish government as well, the key factor is the rate of infection. at the height of the outbreak it was running at about one to three, meaning if one person is infected they could pass it on to up to three others. since then that rate has been driven right down below one 21 and may now stand at something like 0.7. no one is entirely sure. if you ease any of the restrictions, for example opening schools, you nudge the rate up a bit. if you get above 1-1 the rate up a bit. if you get above 1—1 you run the risk of the virus taking off again. keep it low and the outbreak is contained, so how do

we move forward from this? essential in any strategy is mass testing to discover where the virus is spreading. there are different of doing this. researchers in munich are checking people for antibodies. it's a blood test to see if they have had the virus. a similar project is starting here. then there is testing for the virus itself with a swab. 20,000 households are being asked to take part, a crucial way of tracking the outbreak. alongside the testing there is the job of tracing contacts. in wuhan, 18,000 people checked everyone infected and followed everyone they were close to, and a similar number will now do the same in the uk. that is how environmental health inspectors work. when they track down infections from contaminated food, it is vital for infections from contaminated food, it is vitalfor a infections from contaminated food, it is vital for a quick response. infections from contaminated food, it is vital for a quick responsem is detective work. actually it sounds as though covering a country like ours would be an enormous feet

and impossible, but actually our first cases of coronavirus were picked up by ourflu first cases of coronavirus were picked up by our flu surveillance team, so this is a routine that goes on. it is obviously on a much larger scale. another strategy could be encouraging the public to wear face coverings. this animation shows how fara cough can coverings. this animation shows how far a cough can linger in a supermarket. wearing some kind of mask could limit the spread. government advisers think there could be benefits. for people who are coming into contact with a large number of people during the day, such as shop workers or people working on public transport, they probably unbalance would be a case for them to wear a cloth mask. on the other hand those of us working round the streets and the parks with every day business, the balance of probability goes the other way. but for the moment the lockdown remains the central strategy. a crude but reliable way of reducing infections,

and that will continue until the virus itself is brought under much firmer control. david shukman, bbc news. now, since the lockdown began we've all seen the closed signs on high street shops and businesses. figures out today give a clearer idea of what that means, both for the government and companies. our economics editor faisal islam is with me. so what do these latest figures mean actually on the ground for companies, for workers, for the government? today we are seeing some of those businesses that were always allowed to stay open but chose not to, like diy retailers, housing construction, carfactories, they are finding ways to safely reopen. if you take a step back and look, we have heard the dire forecasts and we are now starting to get the hard data through. there is a carefully watched gauge of economic activity. we tend to report it being bad news when it is below 50, it was in the 30s in march and has gone down to 12

point ninth, unheard of, which illustrates activity is very low, way into recession territory. we had the government announcing how much they would borrow from the financial markets, 60 billion per month for three months, four orfive times what has been normal as they seek to fund rescues. we also heard from a bank of england rate setter who said the shape of the economy we haven't seen the shape of the economy we haven't seen for a century, may be several centuries, in terms of how fast the decline would be, all of which adds to the sharpness and dilemma for the government in safely reopening the economy. faisal, thank you very much. more than 100 health workers from heart surgeons to nurses, porters and volunteers, have now lost their lives to coronavirus. bbc analysis shows they came from across the uk, in both the nhs and the private sector. our special correspondent allan little reports. they have known from the start that

they would be more exposed to the danger than most of us, their vocation places them in harms way for our benefit. siddique was 58, an orthopaedic surgeon from saint helens. husband and father of four. you can see the esteem and affection with which he was held in the client poignancy of this moment. it isa it is a big loss to me and a big loss to the trust, a big loss for his family. it will be very difficult for me as well because in every corner of the hospital we have a memory. it is striking how many health workers who have died are from black and minority ethnic communities or are themselves immigrants. josephine peter who was 55 and from west london was an agency nurse, she 55 and from west london was an agency nurse, she grew 55 and from west london was an agency nurse, she grew up 55 and from west london was an agency nurse, she grew up in

apartheid south africa and was planning to go back to be near her grown—up children. her husband said, she was my heroine. this 46—year—old was a mental health nurse in yorkshire. one colleague said he was a man of integrity, honour and wit with an astounding ability to put people at ease in difficult situations. sophie fagan came to britain from india to train as a nurse nearly 60 years ago. latterly she rana nurse nearly 60 years ago. latterly she ran a carer support network at a hospital in hackney. she was 78 but refused to retire. my mum was all for the nhs, that is all she knew. she didn't want to retire. she said to mea she didn't want to retire. she said to me a little time ago that if she retired that would be it for her, so she wanted to keep going and keep going and that is what she loved. she was an absolute gem, a diamond. if you ever met sophie, everyone would fall in love with her. kirsty jones was a healthcare support

worker from jones was a healthcare support workerfrom lanarkshire jones was a healthcare support worker from lanarkshire and a jones was a healthcare support workerfrom lanarkshire and a mother of two, she was a1. her husband said she was a constant source of happiness who devoted her life to caring for others. julie penfold was 53 and had four children and two stepchildren. she was a nurse in merseyside and had fostered more than 20 children. she was always checking on other people, her husband said, i was really proud of her. barbara sage was a marie curie nurse and begun as an ambulance driver at age 18, then worked in palliative care for a0 years, and was still working at 68. her daughter said something that surely applies to all of them, that she was applies to all of them, that she was a very 1—person, dedicated to for people. "i guess you have to be like that in their line of work. " allan little, bbc news. the emotional and physical strain of looking after a relative who is elderly, sick or disabled can be challenging under normal times but carers uk says the coronavirus

outbreak is adding to the pressures on the estimated 8.8 million unpaid adult carers in britain. the charity has found that many carers are unable to get any respite because of reduced support services. our disability correspondent nikki fox spoke to one mother in cambridgeshire, who's been keeping a video diary. it's day 30 of lockdown. another day at home for sarah and her mum, debbie. sarah needs full time care. she has a rare genetic disorder. this is our bathroom. we're having to wash with a bowl. she would normally spend much of the week at a local respite centre, but her mum has made the decision to keep her at home so she can protect her from coronavirus. debbie, why did you decide to have sarah with you and not allow her to stay in the respite centre? i wouldn't be able o visit her if she was unwell,

i wouldn't be able to visit her if she was unwell, touch her or have any connection with her at all. i suppose in a way i felt that although i know that it is harderfor me, you know, obviously i felt that she was safer here. would you have it any other way?” would worry if she wasn't with me. let's put it that way. so, you know, i wish i could... i'm sorry. oh, debbie, ididn't mean to upset you. are you ok? yeah, sorry. as strong as she is, the strain is showing. the charity carers uk says in a survey 55% of unpaid carers said they are feeling overwhelmed by their responsibilities, and are worried they'll burn out in the coming weeks. we estimate that there are 8.8 million people caring unpaid for a loved one in this country. they need recognition, they need financial support, they need to be included in the contingency plans that the government is making. we need to make sure that services come back as soon as is humanly possible when all this is over. carers really need to know that they will. .. this will come to an end

and they will get respite. i'm totally responsible for sarah now. i have to do everything for her. it's very stressful. if i do become unwell, then the whole deck of cards comes down. itjust all falls down. the government says at this time the role of unpaid carers is even more important. it's advising them to create an emergency plan in case they fall ill and can't look after their loved ones. but, until vital services fully resume, carers like debbie feel theyjust have to get through it. start again tomorrow. nikki fox, bbc news. for the fifth week in a row, people across the uk will show their support for nhs staff and front line workers by clapping for our carers. well, one nhs nurse who has already received praise isjenny mcgee, who was thanked by the prime minister for looking after him in intensive care. she's been speaking for the first time. sarah campbell reports.

three weeks ago an increasingly sick prime minister clapped his thanks for the care workers. within days he would be in intensive care, totally reliant on a team which included nursejenny mcgee. reliant on a team which included nurse jenny mcgee. the patients who come to us, it is very scary for them so we don't take it lightly and he absolutely needed to be there. when i got into the car after work every night i could hear things about boris johnson on every night i could hear things about borisjohnson on the news. that was very surreal because i thought, wow, i havejust been looking after him. as the country waited nervously for news and best wishes were sent, nursejenny mcgee stayed by his bedside. there was a lot of media interest about him being in hospital and to be honest that was probably the toughest thing of the lot. as a unit, he was just another patient we were trying to do

our best for, so it was business as usual. on his release from hospital and to the nurse's surprise, the prime minister gave the public and personal thank you. two prime minister gave the public and personalthank you. two nurses prime minister gave the public and personal thank you. two nurses who stood by my bedside for a8 hours when things could have gone either way. they are jenny from when things could have gone either way. they arejenny from new zealand, the south island to be exact, and luis from portugal near porto. it was shock, i couldn't believe what he said on tv. and her message to other front line workers... keep strong. we are doing such a fantasticjob. everyone is pulling together and we are winning, and we will get through this together. sarah campbell, bbc news. time for a look at the weather — here's ben rich. good evening, it's been yet another

dry, mostly sunny and very one day. temperatures across parts of southern england reached 2a degrees. cooler for some southern england reached 2a degrees. coolerfor some north sea coast, and we are expecting a lot of cloud, mist and we are expecting a lot of cloud, mistand murk we are expecting a lot of cloud, mist and murk to develop here through this evening, rolling inland through this evening, rolling inland through parts of yorkshire and perhaps into the midlands by the end of the night. clear spells elsewhere, temperatures up to 9 degrees but some parts of scotland could see a touch of frost. the grey and murky start eastern england tomorrow but the murky fog should break up and clear, then once again we are looking at dry weather with spells of sunshine. some patchy cloud, then another fairly one day. maybe not quite as warm as today in the south, but further north in the glasgow you will get to around 20 degrees. on friday evening the chance of the odd shower in the moors and west country, most places will be dry as we start the weekend. at that chance of showers is slowly going to increase as the weekend goes on, and at the same time it

will turn cooler. nothing changing quickly though. not many white lines or isobars on the chart which means the winds are very light so the only thing you will notice on saturday is a little bit of cloud. perhaps the odd showerfor wales a little bit of cloud. perhaps the odd shower for wales and the south—west once again, another one day for the time of year. we will see patchy rain to the north of scotla nd see patchy rain to the north of scotland later in the day. the band of cloud will drift southwards towards england and wales on sunday, the odd hefty of it. showery rain into northern scotland, cooler across the western half of the uk, still warm further south. that's all from the bbc news at six. on bbc one we nowjoin the bbc‘s news teams where you are. goodbye.