this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. i'm james reynolds. coronavirus has now taken the lives 200,000 people around the globe. the grim milestone was recorded as the number of deaths in uk hospitals passed 20,000. the british prime minister borisjohnson is to return to work on monday, two weeks since he was discharged from hospital after being ill with the virus. the governor of new york — the us state worst hit by the outbreak — is authorising independent pharmacies to carry out tests. sporting bodies including premier league clubs prepare for talks next week to focus on how they can — eventually — restart the season. lockdown at the zoo — we find out how keepers in edinburgh are looking after their animals in this time of crisis.

hello and welcome to audiences in the uk and around the world. we're covering all the latest coronavirus developments here in britain and globally. first, the number of people known to have died with coronavirus in have died with coronavirus in hospital in the uk has passed 20,000. a sombre milestone and a figure thatjust last month government experts hoped would be the outbreak‘s total death toll. total deaths around the world have passed 200,000 according to data compiled in the us. we know the vast majority of people survive the illness but the world health organization has issued its strongest warning yet that it shouldn't be assumed they're immune, that will include prime minister borisjohnson who is expecting to return to work here in london on monday.

belgium has revealed plans to gradually ease its lockdown from may 11th. let's look now at the situation here in the uk with this report from our health correspondent, lauren moss. it is a devastating milestone no one wanted to reach. in less than two months, more than 20,000 people have now died with covid—19. these are deaths recorded mainly in uk hospitals. the number who have lost their lives in the community, including care homes, is not yet known, but is 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've 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've said before, this is not a sprint, this will be 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's 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 this morning, home test kits were unavailable within 15 minutes, and drive—through sites were only available in scotland after 10am. more tests will be available tomorrow. the cough isn't as bad as it was. at one point i was coughing

nearly all the time... mandy works in a supermarket in derby. she's been unwell since monday. she has got an appointment but even though she lives near some test centres, she's been allocated one 20 miles away in nottingham and 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's committed to carrying out 100,000 a day by thursday. next week will be our fifth in lockdown and there's no prospect of measures being relaxed. 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 their loved ones. the uk will continue to find a way through this pandemic as a nation mouring those it's lost. lauren moss, bbc news.

tonight, it's been announced british prime minister boris johnson will return to work on monday following two weeks of convalescence after being ill in hospital with coronovirus. for more, i wasjoined by our political correspondent, iain watson, from westminster. well, he certainly spent the last week preparing for his return to downing street. we were told he was convalescing, of course, but, in truth, apart from those public calls with president trump and with the queen privately video conferencing with his team every day, and, crucially, he had a three hour summit with some of the senior cabinet members on friday, and that was really, i think, getting his head around when he would be returning to downing street amongst those that he met where the chancellor, rishi sunak i think that's quite significant, because there is a lot of noises, a lot of murmurings from inside his own party about the lockdown and the damage it may be

doing to the economy, doing to the economy, but he also had the health secretary at that meeting, and the de facto deputy, dominic raab, so i think he will be prepared for what he is facing when he goes through the front door of downing street early on monday morning, but, there will be a series of challenges, not just on his own side, but also from the opposition, so kier starmer sending him a welcome, perhaps an unwelcome letter, criticising the slowness of his response in the past, but also saying, he wants more details now from borisjohnson now he's back in the saddle on what he's going to do in the longer term to ease restrictions in the lockdown entry tried to get the economy back to normal? does borisjohnson have to pick between economy and health, or is it more complicated than that? i think it's incredibly more complicated than that. there we go! i will try to be brief, but, basically, what his advisers would say, some of those who are with him on friday at that summit, is that he does not see it

as that's kind of huge dichotomy. what he's keen to do is avoid a second wave of this virus having suffered, of course, the first wave. in order to do that, he believes that he has to be quite cautious, really, when it comes to modifying the conditions of the lockdown. but his argument is that, effectively, you will make the economy worse if you have to go into a second and perhaps even tougher if at all possible lockdown and create uncertainty for businesses if you do so, so he is much more cautious of lifting the lockdown thinks that anything suppressing the virus will harm the economy and harm peoples health, but that complicated factor from all sorts of things have been discussed around how the government can ease restrictions, and i think what we are seeing is sometimes shifting alliances between different cabinet members who support some options and some who support other options, so it's notjust a question of these hawks and doves, as people say,

it's economy first, and those who say you are risking peoples lives if you exit the lockdown, there is going to be a lot of arguments about how the lockdown is eased. iain watson, thank you very much. let's get some of the day's other news. health officials in iran have warned there could be new waves of coronavirus infections as the country starts to reopen some businesses. the official death tally now stands at more than 6,500 although there are indications that the real figure may be much higher. the french government has set out a package to help air france and the car maker, renault. under the plans the national carrier would receive 7.5—billion—dollars in loans, to save 350—thousand jobs. renault could recieve more than five—billion dollars. the indian government has allowed neighbourhood stores to reopen more than a month after they were shut due to the crisis. the interior ministry said only fifty per cent of staff should work and and only if they adhered to safety precautions. the governor of new york state, andrew cuomo, says independent pharmacies will be authorised to carry out tests for coronavirus, as part of efforts to increase testing

in the state, which is by far the worst hit by coronavirus in the us. it comes amid news that the outbreak seems to be slowing in new york — as rich preston reports. new york state has reported more than 21,000 deaths from coronavirus, but the positive news that the number of hospital admissions is declining. we are back where we we re declining. we are back where we were 21 days ago. 21 days of hell, but we are back to where we were. the move to allow high street pharmacies to carry out scope with 19 tests is a significant test in increasing testing available to new yorkers. —— covid—19. the governor also said for hospitals will expend antibody testing starting with the essential workers. as we continue to develop our testing capacity, and the labs are coming up to scale some of the collection sites are opening, the more testing we have, the more we will open

eligibility. hopefully, one day, we get to the point where anybody who wants a test can walk in and get a test, right? that was the dream. there are 300 labs across the state to analyse these tests, the aim? to process more than 40,000 a day. but the governor warned people not to get complacent, the virus is still keeping thousands of new yorkers in hospital and killing more than 400 every single day. rich preston, bbc news. 0ur north america correspondent peter bowes joined me a little earlier and told me why authorising independent pharmacies to carry out tests was significant. this is a very significant ramping up of testing in new york state. the governor says he wants to get up to something like 40,000 tests every day. now, currently, those larger pharmacies have been carrying out tests in new york and elsewhere around the united states, but this executive order, which he says he plans to sign, will allow those smaller pharmacies, high street chemists,

to carry out these tests, clearly making it easier for people to have a test. the test will be taking place at the chemist‘s store, and then the sample will be sent away to a laboratory to be analysed. the governor also announced that he is increasing the availability of antibody testing for those first responders. doctors, nurses, firefighters, police officers, perhaps people more likely to come into contact with others who might infect them with the virus. four hospitals, starting from today, will be carrying out those antibody tests that will determine whether those people are immune to the virus. new york still has confidence in those antibody tests, given, of course, the number of reservations that have been shown, that have been expressed by the who, saying there is no guarantee of immunity. yes, and it seems that the governor is aware of those reservations amongst some scientists, but he's clearly determined to press ahead,

stressing that at the moment, focusing on those people most at risk, and the governor seems pretty determined to pursue this line, saying that testing, both diagnostic testing and immunity testing, is ultimately key to getting the state back to work, getting people out of their homes, and associating with other people. the number of people being admitted to hospitals in new york seems to be slightly falling or stabilising, according to the governor, is there a sense that the state is on top of things now? well, that's the sense that he's giving. as you say, that number, the number of hospital admissions, the number of new cases of people initially with symptoms and then being tested positive for coronavirus and admitted to hospital, that is reducing. now, it's still high, it still more than 1000 today, still more than 400 people dying in new york state every day, and the governor talks about this every day

at his daily briefing, and emphasises every time that the state, and, indeed, the rest of the country, are in a terrible situation as far as this virus is concerned, but there are glimmers of hope, and the fact that few fewer people are being admitted to hospitals, albeit a slow decline of that curve, is promising. well usually at this time we would be going to a white house press conference. not today. president trump tweeted. .. this comes a day after the president refused to take questions or declined to take questions or declined to take questions after the initial briefing coming to comes two days after he had said that detergent might be a possible treatment for the virus, something he later said he

meant only sarcastically. meant only sarcastically. the world health organization has warned against countries trying to use what have become known as "immunity passports" to enable people who've recovered from the coronavirus to return to work or travel. the who says there's currently no evidence that antibodies protect survivors from a second infection. reged ahmad reports. closed for business, weeks of lockdown in many parts of the world has crippled local economies, and governments are desperate for a longer—term solution. one idea being touted is a so—called immunity passport. some countries are looking at issuing those to people who have been screened for the presence of antibodies, in the hope they can return to work. but the world health organisation has poured cold water on this, saying in a statement... it goes on to say...

there are many countries already testing for the presence of antibodies to see who's been exposed to the virus, but much more research is needed. so they are arranging immunological techniques, which are being used to study whether or not these antibodies are actually protective and neutralise the virus, or whether they are simply markers of past infection, that is a crucial area of science which we need to understand. the who says some existing studies of people who have recovered from covid—19 are showing low levels of antibodies, that means it's not clear if it's enough to protect against reinfection. it even warns of immunity passports could increase virus transmission or stop people from taking precautions. none of this will be welcome news to many countries, who want a way out of this pandemic.

but until the science is clearer, it looks like social distancing at least could be here to stay. reged ahmad, bbc news. this is bbc news. a reminder of our headlines: the number of people around the world who have died as a result of the virus has passed 200,000. the british prime minister borisjohnson is to return to work in downing street on monday, after recovering from the coronavirus. government—imposed lockdowns continue around the world as the pandemic shows few signs of slowing. tens of millions of people are having to stay at home and businesses have been told to shut their doors. some countries, however — particularly in europe — are considering easing the restrictions. from berlin, damien mcguinness reports. for the past six weeks, a quickjog in the park has been one of the few ways people in belgium could leave the house. apart from exercise and essential work and shopping, they have been confined to their homes. belgium has suffered the highest per capita death rate in the world

from coronavirus, almost 7,000 deaths so far. but, infection and death rate appears to be slowing. so, the government has now announced a three stage plan to ease the lockdown. in may, most shops will be open, then a week later children will start going back to school. but, to minimise the risk of another wave of infections, new rules will be introduced. translation: wearing an item of protection that covers both the mouth and the nose will be compulsory when taking public transport starting may the 4th, for travellers aged 12 and over. spain is also starting to ease restrictions. on sunday, children will be allowed to be out for the first time in more than a month, despite a death toll in spain of more than 22,000. there have been worries about the physical and psychological harm the children cooped up in small flats. so, pressure has been growing to exit the lockdown.

translation: despite these measures that will alleviate the current situation for the population, we have to avoid excessive euphoria, because we must maintain collective responsibility in order to stop and control this epidemic. italians are also hoping that some of the toughest measures can be lifted. as the country celebrates the anniversary of the defeat of the nazis in world war ii, there are hopes that the government may announce a plan for lifting restrictions in may. and in germany, where small shops opened again this week, there are rows about which sectors are being allowed to go back to work. larger shops, cafe and restaurants say it is unfair, they can't reopen. in some ways, leaving the lockdown is proving harder and more divisive than implementing it was. and angela merkel has warned against easing restrictions too quickly. translation: nobody likes to hear it but it is the truth. we are not living in the final phase of the pandemic,

we are still at its beginning. we will have to live with this virus for a long time. that is the big dilemma facing all european countries. how to get the economy going again without sparking another wave of infections. damien mcguinness, bbc news, berlin. south africa, which has had some of the most stringent lockdown restrictions in the world, will be easing some of its rules in the coming week. our africa correspondent andrew harding reports. a month under lockdown now, one of the strictest in the world. in 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. at the lockdown here, as elsewhere, is causing huge economic damage, in a country that was already in recession. a lot of families here are really battling, and not able to work, so the food package we received today was really a blessing. but it's been tough, it's been tough. 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. even here in south africa, there has already been some looting and growing frustration, the lockdown may be easing soon, but it will still be more restrictive

than in many countries. andrew harding, bbc news, johannesburg. the uk government is to hold the first of a series of regular meetings with the medical directors of england's major sports next week, to discuss ways of allowing competition to resume. talks have already been held with officials from the premier league, which was suspended seven weeks ago. our sports correspondent laura scott has more. sports up and on the country have been really struggling with the financial implications of the lockdown. and what this is being described as is a quickening of the pace in terms of the detail in the planning going into helping sport resume as soon as possible, when it's safe to do so. and what we understand is the government wants to set up the first of these meetings this week and that it will be a weekly meeting involving the chief medical officers of the major sports — football, rugby, cricket and racing — meeting with the government's

medical advisers on logistics of behind—closed—doors sports — that's sports without fans. things like testing, social distancing, hygiene standards and sort of sealed venues. and, clearly, some sports will be able to resume sooner than others. but it's important not to overstate that this isn't about the timeframe of when sport can come back, this is about avoiding any further delay when approval is given. it isn't them readying themselves for an imminent return of sport. so we won't necessarily have premier league football back within the next few weeks, but these meetings are hoped to mean that sports don't waste any time when they get the green light. and whether or not these plans are to help finish this season or start the next one remains the big unknown. zoos — like many attractions across the world — have had to close as a result of the lockdown. keepers at edinburgh zoo say they would normally be busy at this time of the year, but despite the lack of visitors they are still making sure the animals are being cared for and sticking to their usual routines during the crisis. lorna gordon has more. 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 ok. the famous penguin parade is, for now, no longer happening but the breeding season here has started, so both the penguins and their keepers have plenty to do. this is one of our breeding nests for our northern rockhoppers this year. so, we are currently at this moment waiting for this chick to hopefully hatch in the next couple of days. the city's zoo would usually get thousands of visitors every day but the lockdown means the pathways here are now deserted. but obviously today we are...empty. however, we've still got a panda. the solitary creatures are among the most popular animals here. their adoring audience may have disappeared but it has made no difference to them. social—distancing isn't really a problem for pandas, because they quite like being solitary and he certainly doesn't miss having company. a lot of people worry that if he's on his own, he's lonely.

he's not. as long as yang guang has got food, he is perfectly happy. the keepers are always careful around their charges but coronavirus means they are taking even more precautions now. we wear gloves when we're handling any food and things like that but we have started wearing facemasks all the time. one of the things that could potentially happen is that we could pass coronavirus onto the chimps. as far as i know, there are no known cases of chimpanzees catching coronavirus but they are susceptible to things like the flu, so we really don't want to take that chance. the zoo is a charity so, like other similar organisations, it has worries now its income from visitors has dropped away. its priority, ensuring the animals here receive the best care possible during this crisis. lorna gordon, bbc news. more on our stories on our

website. please stay with us. hello. april is a month often known for its showers. that's unlikely to be the case for this april, however. it's turned out to be particularly dry across some parts of the uk. the northwest of england has only seen 4% of its april rainfall so far. challenging conditions, certainly, for growers. latter days of april could just redress that balance somewhat, as things become increasingly unsettled, also a little cooler as well. here we are with sunday's chart, there is an area of low pressure to the north of the uk, don't they normally bring rain? well, yes, and this one will bring some showers to northern scotland, but the weather front pushing its way south is a pretty weak affair. mostly a band of cloud, may some patchy rain later

in the afternoon for northern england and north wales. to the south though, we've still got some heat around through the afternoon, we could trigger some thunderstorms across south wales, the midlands, into yorkshire and lincolnshire through the latter part of the day. so, perhaps some heavier rain locally here, and some sharper showers across northern scotland. showers though across england and wales tend to fizzle out as we head overnight and into monday. a much milder story across the southern half of the uk. overnight, to the north, a risk of a frost across scotland. and here's what that weather front really marks, the boundary between warmer air across the southern half of the uk, and colder air trying to feed into the north or northwesterly breeze as we look at monday. showers across northern scotland, but, actually, quite a lot of sunny spells across the northern half of the uk through the day, whereas the cloud will tend to build further south. still pretty warm in the far southeast. elsewhere, probably mid teens at best, and then showers starting to break out in the southwest later on in the day on monday, as this area of low pressure winds itself up, and into tuesday, we are talking about heavier and more

widespread rain spreading across england and wales. still taking a time to work its way north for scotland, northern ireland, parts of northern england, i think a dry day with some bright or sunny spells. for the south though, a good chance of rain for many areas, and the temperatures sitting in the mid—teens at best. then from mid week onwards, that area of low pressure will throw the influence of its showers further north. a pretty unsettled story across the board, as we look at the forecast through the latter part of the week.

this is bbc news. the headlines: the number of people killed by the pandemic worldwide has passed 200,000. that's according tojohns hopkins university in the united states. the uk has recorded a total so far, of more than 20,000 deaths in hospitals alone. downing street has announced that the british prime minister, borisjohnson, will return to work on monday a little more than two weeks after being discharged from hospital, where he'd been treated in intensive care for coronavirus. he's been recuperating at his official country retreat. the governor of new york state, andrew cuomo, says independent pharmacies will be authorised to carry out tests for coronavirus. it's part of efforts to expand testing in the state, which is by far the worst hit by coronavirus in the us. now on bbc news, as the coronavirus takes hold around the world, global questions invites

its international audience