good evening. the number of people known to have died from coronavirus in the uk has now passed 20,000 — a sombre milestone. in the last 2a hours,

813 people are reported to have died, mostly in hospitals across the uk. it brings the total uk death toll to 20,319 people — but that figure doesn't include deaths in care homes or the community in england and northern ireland. last month, the government's senior scientific and medical advisers, said keeping deaths below 20,000 thousand would be a "good outcome". our health correspondent lauren moss reports. it is a devastating milestone no one wanted to reach. more than 20,000 people have now died with covid—19. these are deaths recorded in hospitals. the number who have lost their lives in the community including care homes is not yet known. but it's likely to increase. as the deaths caused by this terrible virus pass another tragic and terrible milestone, the entire nation is grieving. my deepest sympathies

and condolences go to those who have lost loved ones and i would like to pay tribute to the selfless front line workers who have been struck down by this virus. 0n the 28th of march, professor powis, you said "we would have done very well if fewer than 20,000 people died during this epidemic. " we have sadly passed that number now. does that mean the strategy should have been different? this, unfortunately, is not going to be something that we will get over in the next few weeks. this is something we are going to continue to have to work our way through over the months ahead. as i have said before, this is not a sprint, this is a marathon in dealing with this virus. test, track and trace are key strategies to tackle the virus. the drive to check key workers with symptoms continued today and there is a big demand. within a couple of hours of the government's booking website opening, slots had been quickly snapped up once again. when we looked earlier, home test kits were unavailable within 15

minutes, and all drive—through sites in england, wales and northern ireland were booked up by 10am. the cough is not as bad as it was. at one point i was coughing nearly all the time... mandy works in a supermarket. she's been unwell since monday, she has got an appointment but the test centre she has been allocated is 19 miles away and she can't get there. ijust don't understand why, when i know there are test centres closer to me, why they are not on the list of options for me to go to? more than 28,000 tests were done in the last 2a hours. the government is committed to carrying out 100,000 a day by thursday. next week will be our fifth in lockdown but any possibility of it being relaxed has been dismissed. we know that people are frustrated but we are not out of danger yet. it is imperative that people continue to follow the rules, designed to protect their families,

theirfriends and loved ones. the uk will continue to find a way through this pandemic, as a nation grieves those who have been lost. lauren moss, bbc news. 0ur political correspondent iain watson is in westminster. iain, how's the government reacting with more than 20,000 people now reported to have died from coronavirus? we know there are 20,000 grieving families, who have lost loved ones to coronavirus, and priti patel said today marked a sad and tragic moment in the life of the country. but this figure of 20,000 is also a grim benchmark of how well or otherwise we are tackling the virus because various government advisers said we we re various government advisers said we were doing well in the pandemic if were doing well in the pandemic if we could keep the numbers beneath 20000 and that has now been exceeded, so the other message from the government, unsurprisingly, was emphasised at the press conference this afternoon, and that is it is essential to keep the social

distancing measures in place and it is essential that people continue to wallow them because we are not yet out of the woods. —— follow them. some conservative mps privately are getting restless and they see other european countries beginning very tentatively to ease restrictions and we have detailed plans from belgium today on how they are going to do this. these mps are worried about the effect of the lockdown on the economy, and publicly the former chancellor philip hammond told the bbc that the lockdown would have to be eased even before a vaccine is found otherwise the economy could become the biggest casualty of this pandemic. when boris johnson become the biggest casualty of this pandemic. when borisjohnson returns to downing street, he begins work again, laboursay to downing street, he begins work again, labour say they will press him fora again, labour say they will press him for a route map out of the lockdown although they support the current restrictions, but i think what the death toll now shows is that the government will continue to proceed with caution. thanks for joining us. more than 20,000 coronavirus

deaths have now been recorded in the uk — a grim milestone — with the actual death toll likely to be much higher. the disease has forced people to confront a new approach to dying — with government guidelines allowing only immediate family to attend the funerals of loved ones. our home editor mark easton reports. sirens in every neighbourhood and every street, people fear the sirens may be heading their way. the pandemic means death for any of us may be at the doorstep. the final breath, our own or of someone we love, may come with little warning, in a sterile space. you have a sense of loss of control, especially with this virus. we all feel, the whole world, feels out of control. molly has terminal cancer and has put in place clear instructions if covid—19 comes calling. writing an advance plan which says something about how you'd

like it to be when you die... thinking about those things and making decisions gives you back a sense of control. confronting death, it's been said, is like staring at the sun, you quickly need to look away. but however uncomfortable, the advice is for all of us to have those conversations right now. i would like to be at home and i would like my partner to be there. i'd like to be able to hold a hand. intensive care is about preserving life but it must also help people prepare for death. at queens hospital in romford, among the masked and suited staff, is anoushka, an anaesthetist. if people haven't had the conversation we are left guessing. this is horrible, horrific, for relatives who can't see and touch their loved one and can't see what is happening to them. for patients who are in their very last moments of life we offer relatives the opportunity

to come on site. one person, who will be given full ppe and can sit at the bedside if they choose. we are trying as best as we can to make sure that relatives have opportunities to say goodbye, yes. we cope with death's eternal parting by coming together, but the virus denies us many of the comforts of ritual. 0nly close family can attend a funeral. ajaz stood at his father's graveside in bradford but a lifetime of friends could only grieve with him online. it's quite a good idea, what they've pulled out to do the funeral online, because a lot of families are at home watching, who can't get to the graveyard, or who are a far—away distance. like my father, he had friends all over the world. it is quite hard. it's not the same, it really isn't the same. we haven't got to see our uncles

or our dad's side of the family. it was hard. 0rdinary life may have been furloughed but death is still at work. perhaps the emergency will give us the strength to stare it in the face. mark easton, bbc news. the coronavirus pandemic is likely to be the most expensive event in history for the insurance industry — with their estimates putting the total cost at £1.2 billion. but many firms disrupted by the lockdown say they still have not received payouts, while others have been told that their claims are not valid. our business correspondent katie prescott has more. not quite business as usual but both staff and customers are back at this sandwich chain in central london with a reduced service on offer. but most companies still have their doors firmly shut. this clinic had bought insurance

cover known as business interruption insurance to pay out if they ever had to stop trading, but like many others their claim for closure was rejected. it's a bit galling to realise that over the years we've spent over £10,000 in insurance which was not valid, and when we finally came to claim, we were told we can't. i think all businesses thought they'd inoculated themselves by buying this insurance, and they have found that this financial vaccine does not work. sonia's now empty clinic... she had a business interruption policy which covered closure due to human contagion. her insurer is disputing her claim as coronavirus was not directly on her premises. we've paid our premium, always paid it on time, have done the right thing. there's a clause in that document, which is, in my view, really clear. i think we're going to close. without that payment, we can't continue. the bbc has been inundated with e—mails from business owners like sonia, who feel unfairly treated by their insurers. the treasury select committee of mps and the financial watchdogs are all looking at this issue.

but insurers argue that to make this sort of cover widely available and affordable for people would require government subsidies, given the scale of the unprecedented disruption it's caused. most business interruption policies that most businesses have, up and down the country, are very much designed to protect them from standard things like fire and flood. they're not designed to cover and weren't priced either to cover for a global pandemic. many believe the coronavirus outbreak has exposed poor insurance products, unclear and unambiguous policies. we have to distinguish between the moraljustice of the issue and the legalities. the legalities will need to be decided on the wording of each individual policy in the form of the financial services ombudsman, or the court, but i think the moral justice of the issue is very clear. insurance pay—outs for floods are already covered by a government—backed fund, which all insurers contribute to,

and there's speculation that another such scheme could be created for pandemics, but that won't help those who are looking for pay—outs today. katie prescott, bbc news. people across australia and new zealand have been marking anzac day — the day of remembrance for the two nations‘ wartime casualties. with social distancing due to coronavirus preventing mass services, thousands instead paid tribute at daybreak — by holding a candle outside the doorway of their homes. the government is to hold the first of a series of regular meetings with the medical directors of britain's major sports next week to discuss ways of allowing competition to resume. talks have already been held with officials from the english premier league, which was suspended seven weeks ago with liverpool two wins from claiming the title. the sessions are being viewed as preparatory — to avoid further delays once permission to restart events is granted.

south africa, which has had some of the most stringent lockdown restrictions in the world, will be easing some of its rules from next month. some businesses and schools are set to reopen, but the country's borders will remain shut and public gatherings will still be banned. 0ur africa correspondent andrew harding reports. a month under lockdown now, one of the strictest in the world. and a country many feared would quickly be overwhelmed by the virus is proving to be astonishingly successful at holding it at bay. this is very effective and most of the people are wearing masks, most of them are sanitising and most of the people are staying at home. south africa's president hasn't got everything right... ..but as he tours new emergency facilities and prepares to nudge open the economy, you can feel the optimism growing here. i've been hugely impressed

with the level of preparedness. but that confidence comes with a warning... we're going to be reaching a peak somewhere later in august and in september where we will need lots of hospital beds. so, how has south africa kept the nationwide death toll below 100 so far? these nurses hold the answer. tens of thousands of community workers are actively screening millions of people. the advantage of a system already primed to hunt down hiv and tb. send an army of people into the community and do house—to—house surveillance for symptoms, so what that did for us, it put an army on the ground and we went to the most socially vulnerable communities, where this virus was going to most likely spread, that's where we went. so, some extraordinary early successes here in south africa,

but this is going to be a long battle and there are new hotspots emerging all the time and according to the world health organization, the wider continent of africa is still alarmingly ill—prepared for the virus. andrew harding, bbc news. zoos — like many businesses and attractions across the uk —— have had to shut their doors to visitors as a result of the lockdown. keepers at edinburgh zoo say they would normally be busy at this time of the year, but they are still making sure the animals are being cared for during the crisis. lorna gordon reports. the animals of edinburgh zoo. there are over 2,500 animals here. the keepers agreeing to film for us to show how the animals are faring while the gates are closed. so, one of the first things we have to do is check on all our penguins and make sure everybody‘s 0k.