those, these, we will be an a preserve those, we will be an a better place as a nation with much of this coronavirus epidemic behind us. of this coronavirus epidemic behind us. earlier today we had a co nfe re nce us. earlier today we had a conference call led by secretary ben carson and leaders about the announcement yesterday about re—prefacing the white house opportunity and revitalization council to focus on the impact on the coronavirus on minority communities. they will convene the council tomorrow and will be reporting tomorrow afternoon on their progress. we want to think more than 278 leaders of organisations dedicated to housing, homelessness and improving the lives of people across our urban communities, not only for being with us communities, not only for being with us today by the way they have partnered with our administration and partnered with state and local officials to put the health of all officials to put the health of all of their constituencies first.

as the president mentioned, you will receive a report that has first got from bill bryant of the science and technology director at the department of homeland security and he will outline as the president said encouraging news about the impact that he and sunlight have on the coronavirus. which will increase the coronavirus. which will increase the confidence that we feel. —— heat and sunlight. 0n the subject of testing, at the present moment, we have reports of 4.93 million test, having been performed across america, and encouraging news estates have been engaging commercial labs at a higher level across the country. yesterday our commercial lab system did more than 100,000 test in a single day. we are beginning to activate all the capacity and smile at the presidents direction our tax force will convene a conference call at all of the nations governors to talk about their progress that they are making on testing and we will hear from

governors about the practices and methods that they are implementing to significantly increase testing following our briefing about capacity and laboratories this past monday. for instance, governor mike the wine just announced that ohio testing has been greatly expanded after the fda approved thermo fisher new extraction reagent, saying in his words that the action probably doubled it may be even troubled testing and ohio virtually overnight. governor tim bossa minnesota announces along with the states health care system —— tim watts what he describes as a breakthrough for rapid widespread testing, able to test more than 20,000 people using a molecular test per day. governor kim reynolds of iowa lacks the test i will initiative that will triple test and capacity by partnering with organisation. she worked with the university of iowa hospital also to

leverage further capacity. —— the locks. governor eric holcomb and the governor of kentucky respectively both announced additional drive through testing and locations. our priority has always been to focus first on those impacted by the coronavirus and then on the in their health care workers ministering to those needs every day. and i know, mr present them how proud you are that our men and women in uniform have come alongside health care workers and communities most impacted. —— mr president. i know the american people are proud as well. as of today, fema reports a 35,000 national guards have been deployed across the country, to aid in our coronavirus response. governor kevin state of ohio actually applied the national guard to hospitals across the state to evaluate and protective equipment and hospital capacity and reported into state emergency management and fema. governor greg out of town at six mobilised with the 1200 national guards and 45 teams to provide

greater access. —— out of texas. along with the national guard, at the present apartment direction, more than 4500 active duty military doctors and nurses and medical assistance have been deployed. —— president's direction. yesterday, 1013 medical professionals in our military were actually deployed in 19 hospitals in seven states. to support those amazing health care workers. and with 4.4 million more americans filing for unemployment in the past week, ijoined the president and welcoming passage in the house the day of the paycheque protection programme and it will support working families and the law small businesses to keep up on the payroll for a period of two months. but it also come as the president requested, include a $75 billion to assess hospitals across the country. and in that spirit, the president andi and in that spirit, the president and i will continue to urge states across the country given the unique burden on hospitals, we are now

encouraging states to restart elective surgeries wherever possible. either state—wide, or on a cou nty possible. either state—wide, or on a county by county basis. we recognise the role elective surgeries play and finances for local hospitals and will be working with states to enable that. in that vein, governor doug ducey, issued an executive order not long ago allowing elective surgeries beginning may one for hospitals that meet certain preparedness criteria. an indian apartment governor eric holcomb is a long elected clinical procedures to begin on april 21. —— any enterprise my company. the task force received today our first report on state preopening plans. the present moment, 16 states have released formal opening plans. 13 of those we re formal opening plans. 13 of those were actually released since eight you unveil the opening up america guidelines to our governors into the nation last week. into your point,

mr president, states are beginning to make those plans. and we are encouraged to see so to make those plans. and we are encouraged to see so many to make those plans. and we are encouraged to see so many states embracing the phased approach to reopening their economies that is contemplated in our guidelines for opening up america. for instance, governor mike parson of missouri announced the show me strong recovery plan has two initial phases intended to protect the most at risk. governor tom wolfe announced the plan for pennsylvania that we begin may eight. it will and stayed home order forjust a portion of pennsylvania. but the plan again requires readers to have fewer than 15 new positive cases per 100,000 for a period of 14 days. and it also lays out a phase preopening road map. governor kate brown are oregon updated their framework for reopening, doing three phases again and a county by county basis. governor brad little of either will hold release rebound idaho injust the last few days. that's of idaho.

it will consist of four phases and require specific criteria that idaho and businesses need to meet to begin to reopen. mr president, with the guidelines to open up america again, states are making plans. at your direction, our task states are making plans. at your direction, ourtask force states are making plans. at your direction, our task force will continue to work very closely and providing them with the data and the resources to be able to implement those plans and a safe and responsible way. so with that, let me just in where i began. and say thank you to the american people. the progress that we are saying is a testament to what all of you have done into our extraordinary health ca re done into our extraordinary health care workers. partnership between the federal government and to state and local officials and i am confident also to the prayers that millions of americans each and every day. i love that combined, we are slowing the spread and protecting the most vulnerable and we are saving lives. in every single day, we are one day closer to opening up america again. that is where we

would just pull out of this press conference. mike pence speaking at the end. talking about the 16 states so the end. talking about the 16 states so far have released formal reopening some plans, something the present has been exercised about in the past 48 hours. —— at the president. in talking about how many test have been carried out across america, 4.93 million test and interestingly, a council set up looking at the impact on minority community. listening to all of that as always, katty kay from her basement in georgetown. nice to speak to you again. much more subdued president trump. much more subdued president trump. much more effectual. what did you make of today? yes, not like yesterday's press c0 nfe re nce today? yes, not like yesterday's press conference when he was on fire and clearly very angry about the price of the coverage he has been getting. this is more factualfor the president. i thought the most interesting thing we heard in the press c0 nfe re nce interesting thing we heard in the press conference so far was from

mike pence there. he said quite confidently and the vice president who is leading the task force tends to bea who is leading the task force tends to be a bit more cautious than the president in terms of optimism but saying quite confidently that he felt in the task force feels that by early summer, the us will have the worst of this virus behind them. this epidemic. mr pence not going in ahe this epidemic. mr pence not going in a he thinks it can rebound and come backin a he thinks it can rebound and come back in the autumn but saying that a nyway back in the autumn but saying that anyway in the next month or two, he's thinks it will be good news. i thought that with a striking thing for him to say. also, you got the sense that state—by—state, everything really being prepared for going back to the new normal with elective surgeries as well. mike pence interestingly going through the day to that have been affected and how that was needed financially and how that was needed financially and he was talking about the health ca re and he was talking about the health care sector. he was saying it was important as the finances as well. yes. this was also news that they

said the white house is going to help the states to help restart some of the surgery. there have been stories in the last couple of days and concerns from some of the people dealing with this virus that other issues of health that may have been put on hold, people are not getting attention they need, for example an intensive care, because they are not going to i see you, they are worried about the coronavirus. you've had doctors in the last couple of days saying we don't want to be losing other lives because we are also trying to help cobit patients as well. —— covid—i9 patients. there is a push to reopen and i think it's very slow. yes, you have a few states that are taking some measures over the next few days. anyone that will be watched most of all will be georgia with this reopening of the hair salons and the tattoo parlors in the gyms and etc. but even the white house is saying, take it slowly and take it one step at a time and stick to the guidelines.

katty, thank you forjoining us again. the first human trial in europe of a coronavirus vaccine has begun here in the uk, marking a highly significant moment in the scientific response to the pandemic. this afternoon two volunteers were injected with that potential vaccine, the first of more than 800 adults aged between 18 and 55 years old who've been recruited for the study. the scientists behind it say they are already working with manufacturers to produce millions of doses later this year, should it be found to work. our medical correspondent fergus walsh has this special report. this could change everything. a vaccine against coronavirus. a way out for all of us. ok, so a needle scratch. the first volunteer to receive it was elisa granato, a microbiologist.

she's 32 today. i'm a scientist, so of course i want to try and support science, the scientific process whenever i can, and since i don't study viruses i felt a bit useless these days, so i felt like this was an easy way for me to support the cause, yeah, and that's why i'm here, and i'm excited. half those on the trial will get the coronavirus vaccine, half a different jab. the volunteers don't know which one they have received. i am just basically going to sit here and incubate this thing, and hopefully provide some good follow up data, and we'll see, and hopefully it works. what would normally take years has been done in three months, by scientists at oxford university. around 80 groups world wide are developing coronavirus vaccines. a few others, in the us and china, have also started human trials. there's no guarantee any of them will succeed. personally, i am very optimistic it's going to work. formally, we are testing it in an efficacy study. there's absolutely no suggestion we are going to start using this

vaccine in a wider population before we have demonstrated it actually works and stops getting people infected with coronavirus. so how does the vaccine work? scientists have taken the genes for the spike protein on the surface of coronavirus, and put them into a harmless virus. this forms the vaccine. after it's injected, the vaccine enters cells, which start to produce the coronavirus spike protein. this prompts the immune system to produce antibodies, and activate killer t—cells which should recognise 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. well, at this moment we are chasing the end of this current epidemic wave, and 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 that there will be more cases in the future, because this virus hasn't 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 minus 80 degrees. rarely has a medical 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 itisa big if— it proves to be safe and effective, it would represent science giving us the solution to the coronavirus pandemic.

well, 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 a theoretical risk the vaccine could make a coronavirus infection worse, but the team here think that highly unlikely, and the volunteers will be carefully monitored. it seems like the right thing to do, to ensure that we can, you know, combat this disease and get over it a lot faster. do you have any concerns at all about safety? i think you can neverfully exclude any potential risk, but i think you have to, i guess, walk in faith in these things. you have to trust in what they, that the work is being done as best they can, and know that the cause is important. the oxford team are hoping to have a million doses of vaccine ready by september,

with a huge scale up in manufacturing after that. it is not clear, though, who would be prioritised to get the vaccine first, and for now, we have to wait and see if it works. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: we'll be looking at the road map to easing then lifting the coronavirus lockdown. the stars & stripes at half mast outside columbine high. the school, sealed off. the bodies of the dead, still inside. i'd never thought that they'd actually go through with it. one of the most successful singer songwriters of all time,

the american pop star prince, has died at the age of 57. it's hard to believe it, i didn't believe it. we just — he wasjust here saturday. for millions of americans, the death of richard nixon in a new york hospital has meant conflicting emotions. a national day of mourning next wednesday sitting somehow uneasily with the abiding memories of the shame of watergate. and liftoff of the space shuttle discovery, with the hubble space telescope, our window on the universe. this is bbc news, the latest headlines: any attempt to ease government lockdowns will only happen when politicians and their scientific advisers are convinced that the spread of the coronavirus is under control. 0ur science editor david shukman has been looking at how that might be achieved in the uk.

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 scientists 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 to one and may now stand at something like 0.7. no—one is entirely sure. if you ease any of the restrictions, for example reopening schools, you nudge the rate up a bit. if you get above one to one 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 ways 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 the chinese city of 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 a quick response. it is detective work. actually it sounds as though covering a country like ours would be an enormous feat and impossible, but actually our 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 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, there probably on balance would be a case for them to wear a cloth mask. on the other hand, those of us walking 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.

you're watching bbc news. if you mama so we're listening to president trump and vice president mike pence. the last few moments we heard that the house has approved the administration. —— 483 billion coronavirus bill. —— a few moments ago we were listening to. let's stay in the united states. staying in the us, and the death toll stands at more than 47 thousand, but in a move that has brought widespread criticism — including from the president — the governor of georgia has said nail salons, tattoo parlours and hairdressers in his state can open from tomorrow. restaurants will be able to resume business next monday. 0ur north america editor, jon sopel reports. question, how do you reopen a tattoo

parlor, a nail salon, ora hairdressers and maintain social distancing standing six feet apart? the obvious answer is you can't, but from tomorrow in the southern state of georgia in complete disregard of white house guidelines, those businesses will be free to open their doors on the order of this donald trump supporting governor. we will allow gyms, fitness centres, bowling alleys, body art studios, barbers, cosmetologists... and the improbable list of businesses went on. ..their respective schools, and massage therapists to reopen their doors this friday. though the president, has been at the forefront of reopening the united states, this was too much for donald trump and brought a rare rebuke for a friendly republican governor. i told the governor of georgia brian kemp that i disagree strongly with his decision to open certain facilities which are in violation

of the phase one guidelines for the incredible people of georgia. i want him to do what he thinks is right but i disagree with him on what he is doing. there is no doubt georgia like the rest of america is suffering, but a number of local democrat mayors are joining the president in urging a rethink. i pray that the number of georgians who are infected and die will not increase significantly in the coming weeks as a result of the lifting of these restrictions. the latest unemployment figures show that 26 million americans have lost theirjobs injust over a month. the mantra at the white house is we have to flatten the curve but it seems some governors are more interested in the bottom line. jon sopel, bbc news, washington.

in other news — massive wildfire are burning through poland's largest nature reserve, the beebza national park. so far the blaze has destroyed ten percent of its area— which forms the largest marshland habitat for birds in central and western europe. 0ur warsaw correspondent adam easton has this report. these huge wetlands have been described as a paradise not yet lost. now, they are being consumed by flames. the marshes are home to almost 300 species of birds — eagles, owls, and rare breeds like the aquatic wobbler. in spring, it is easy to spot elk and beaver in the meadows and streams. the fire, say locals, is quite simply a tragedy. translation: is it is impossible to describe the losses. elk have just started giving birth,

the birds are hatching. it is spring. it is an explosion of life. the losses are incalculable. it is impossible to say how big they are. this is a tragedy.