this is bbc news. i'm clive myrie. our top stories... the uk foreign secretary, dominic raab, urges "caution", rejecting calls to ease the coronavirus lockdown. we will need to make sure sure that we can proceed in a sure—footed way, which is why — i know the temptation is to start announcing proposals now — but actually until you've got the evidence that's not responsible. he was speaking as the prime minister, borisjohnson, prepares to return to work tomorrow, after recovering from infection. experts suggest a contact—tracing app will be available in the uk within weeks, in the battle against the virus. and children in spain are allowed out for the first time in six weeks, as one of europe's strictest lockdowns is relaxed.

hello and welcome to bbc news. the foreign secretary, dominic raab, has rejected calls to ease the uk's coronavirus lockdown, stressing the outbreak is still at a "delicate and dangerous" stage. the government is coming under increaspressure to relax social—distancing rules, amid concern over damage to the economy. mr raab, who's been standing in for boris johnson while he recovers from coronavirus, says it's irresponsible to speculate on specific, individual measures to ease the lockdown. meanwhile the armed forces are planning to deploy at least 96 mobile testing units by the end of this week, for essential workers and the most vulnerable. in spain, children are being allowed out of their homes for the first time in six weeks, as the government relaxes lockdown rules. those under the age 01:14 can go out for one hour a day provided they're accompanied by an adult,

but parks and playgrounds remain closed. and in america for the first time in the pandemic, donald trump didn't hold his daily coronavirus briefing. after his remarks earlier in the week about using disinfectant to help treat people were ridiculed, he tweeted that it wasn't worth his "time or effort." well, we'll bring you today's uk government briefing in a few minutes, which will be led by the environment secretary, george eustice. but first, for the latest developments, here's our health correspondent jane dreaper. once busy streets now deserted. when will there be an end to the new lockdown quietness? the government says the coronavirus pandemic is still at a delicate and dangerous stage, and the restrictions on our way of life won't be lifted quickly. we'll end up moving to a new normal, and i think we will need to make sure that we can proceed in a sure—footed way, which is why — i know the temptation to start announcing proposals now — but actually until you've got the evidence that's not responsible, it risks you ending up misleading... we need to take a sure—footed way forward which protects life and preserves

our way of life. but the scottish government has again signalled it might take a different route out of lockdown. that would mean if, and it is an if — i'm not saying we are likely to get into this territory, and if the uk government took decisions that i thought were premature in terms of coming out of the lockdown then clearly i would want to make sure scotland did what ijudged was best to protect the population. the british army is involved in the push here to get more essential workers tested for coronavirus. at these mobile units, which can be set up injust 20 minutes, specially trained military staff are collecting swabs and sending them to labs. test—booking through the government website is open to critical workers who currently have symptoms of the virus, but slots have quickly disappeared.

yesterday at 10am the only testing slots were available in scotland. as of this morning, appointments can be booked in england too. but there was still no home testing kits available, nor any slots for people to drive to centres in wales or northern ireland. and care home providers in england say testing still isn't widely available for their staff. labour are calling for some public buildings to be reused as testing centres. keir starmer in his letter today has urged the government to work with local authorities to open up, for example, town halls and libraries that at the moment are closed to have testing in the community. more will be known about the spread of coronavirus when testing reaches many thousands more people, including those without symptoms. in the meantime, lockdown continues. jane dreaper, bbc news. the figures for the number coronavirus victims in spain are slowly improving, prompting the government's decision to partially lift the country's lockdown which has been in place since the middle of march. children are now allowed out of their homes for one

hour each day. more than 23,000 people have died in spain so far. guy hedgecoe reports now from madrid. it's been six weeks since spain has seen sights like this. children have been the most confined group under spain's tight lockdown. today's easing of restrictions is still cautious. under—14s can go out for an hour each day, accompanied by an adult, and they can't go further than a kilometre from home. even so, it is a welcome change. translation: the streets, the streets and the park. feel the air on yourface. i never thought i would miss school but i really miss it. translation: we appreciate being able to go out, because staying at home is getting very boring. even though we have the playstation and we can talk to our friends on whatsapp, it is good to be able to go out. to be able to get some fresh air, because we were feeling overwhelmed at home. the government says the lifting of the lockdown will

be slow and gradual. the prime minister has said he hopes to ease restrictions further from next saturday, allowing adults out to take some exercise. but he has stressed that such a move will depend on the continued stabilisation of covid—i9 in spain. new infections have been falling steadily over the last three weeks. so, too, have daily deaths. today, 288 deaths were recorded over the previous 2a hours. the lowest figure since march the 20th. guy hedgecoe, bbc news, madrid. we are expecting, at the top of the hour, the daily downing street briefing, coming up soon, and we will bring you that as soon as we get it. meanwhile, our health correspondent jane dreaper is with me. we don't have the latest

figures for deaths in the past 24—hour period, but the england figures? a further 336 deaths recorded in the past 2a errors in england, obviously a huge tragedy for all of the individual families involved in that figure. we don't have the uk round—up as yet andi don't have the uk round—up as yet and i think the first we will hear that this afternoon is at the press briefing. but the trend, although the figure yesterday was still over 800, there still seems to be a trend downwards, that this famed curve is beginning to flatten? that's right and we are talking about huge numbers that i think feel ha rd to about huge numbers that i think feel hard to make sense of for most of us. hard to make sense of for most of us. when i bring these daily figures, there can be real variation between them, but they actually relate to paperwork being filed on each sad death. when you look at the days that the deaths actually happened on, there is a gradual downwards decline, very gradual, so thatis downwards decline, very gradual, so that is why the government is being

so that is why the government is being so cautious about any suggestion of easing lockdown. they really don't wa nt easing lockdown. they really don't want people to start thinking about that too soon. but it seems as though some of the peak has been reached, so that is good news. we hold onto that. these, of course, our hospitalfigures, hold onto that. these, of course, our hospital figures, and hold onto that. these, of course, our hospitalfigures, and we have hold onto that. these, of course, our hospital figures, and we have to remember that. the figures for care homes are calculated separately, and also in the community. that's right, and we still don't know enough about what is happening in care homes and in the community in terms of the spread of care homes —— the spread of coronavirus which is why it is important to get the tests rolled out. that is why the government is relu cta nt out. that is why the government is reluctant about saying that relaxing any measures because we don't know about the true spread of the virus yet. is there any measure that might suggest to the government, this is the time to start easing things? imean, we the time to start easing things? i mean, we have heard about the r number. at what point are we with

that? that number is below one, and the question is how far below that it goes. this is the measure by which if i have it how many other people i would pass the virus on to. at the moment it would be less than one person. that's really good news when you are looking at things on a grand scale, but we don't know yet what their measure is for how far down this needs to go and i think they would feel they want the picture of what is happening in care homes, in the community, to really be able to make that assessment. we await that press briefing in the next few minutes. so this r number critical. at the height of the pandemic it was between two or three, something like that. now it is below one. how much further below does it need to go? we don't have that magic assessment. i think people would like to know that from scientists but they want to know what is happening in ordinary towns, villages and homes. all

right, here's the press from downing street... lam i am pleased to be joined by the national medical director of nhs england. before i update you on the latest developments in the food supply chain, let me give you an update on the latest data from the cobra coronavirus data file. through the government's ongoing monitoring and testing programme, as of today 669,850 tests for coronavirus have now been carried out in the uk, including 29,058 tests carried out yesterday. 152,840 people have tested positive. that's an increase of 4463 cases since yesterday. 15,953 people are currently in hospital with a coronavirus in the uk, down from 16,411

on the 25th of april. sadly, of those hospitalised with a virus, 20,732 have now died. that is an increase of 413 fatalities since yesterday. we stress our deepest condolences to the families and friends of these victims. at the beginning of the outbreak of this virus, we saw significant problems in panic buying. that episode quickly subsided and food availability now is back to normal levels and has been for several weeks. all supermarkets have introduced social distancing measures to protect both their staff and their customers, and it is essential shoppers respect these measures. the food supply chain has also seen a significant reduction in staff absence over recent weeks. staff who had been self isolating through suspected coronavirus have

returned to work. absence levels are down from a peak of typically 20% in food businesses three weeks ago to less than 10% at the end of last week, and in some cases individual companies reporting absences as low as 6%. we have put in place measures to support the clinically vulnerable. so far, 500,000 food parcels have been delivered to the shielded group. that is those who cannot leave home at all due to a clinical condition that they have. in addition, the major supermarkets have agreed to prioritise delivery slots for those in this shielded group. so far, over300,000 slots for those in this shielded group. so far, over 300,000 such deliveries have been made, enabling people to shop normally and choose the goods they want to buy. we recognise that there are others who are not clinically vulnerable and therefore not in that shielded group, but who may also

be in need of help. perhaps through having a disability or another type of medical condition, or indeed being unable to draw on family and neighbours to help them. so we have been working with local authorities to ensure that those people can be allocated a volunteer shopper to help them get their food needs. charities such as age uk and others can also now make direct referrals on the good samaritan app to locate volunteers for those in need. many supermarkets have ta ken volunteers for those in need. many supermarkets have taken steps to increase the number of delivery slots that they have. at the beginning of this virus outbreak, there were typically 2.1 million delivery slots in the entire supermarket chain. that has now increased to 2.6 million, and over the next couple of weeks we anticipate

that grow further to 2.9 million. so supermarkets have ta ken further to 2.9 million. so supermarkets have taken steps to increase their capacity, but while this capacity has expanded it will still not be enough to meet all of the demand that is out there. some supermarkets have already chosen to prioritise some vulnerable customers with a proportion of the delivery slots that they have, and others have offered to work with us and also with local authorities to help establish a referral system so that when somebody is in desperate need a local authority is able to make a referral to ensure that they can get a priority slot. as we look forward more generally towards the next stage in our battle against this virus, there are encouraging signs of progress. but before we consider it safe to adjust any of the current social distancing measures, we must be satisfied that we have met the five tests set out last week by the first secretary. those tests mean the nhs can

continue to cope, that the daily death rate falls sustainably and consistently, that the rate of infection is decreasing and operational challenges have been met, and, most important of all, that there is no risk of a second peak. for now, the most important thing we can all do to stop the spread of the coronavirus is to stay at home to protect the nhs and save lives. thank you. i would now like to pass over to stephen powis who will give you a further update. thank you, secretary of state. i would like to take you through the slides to show how the epidemic is progressing in the uk. the first relates to the use of transport and you will have seen these before. the first shows public transport usage throughout the uk and in london, together with motor vehicle transport usage, and you will see we continue to see a great reduction in

the number of journeys ta ken continue to see a great reduction in the number ofjourneys taken on public transport and also a decrease in the use of motor vehicles. there is may be the hint of a little increase in the use of motor vehicles, and as i said yesterday i think we need to ensure this does not mean that we are not continuing to comply with the government instructions on social distancing, which are of course so key to ensuring we get on top and control the spread of this virus. the next slide which again i showed you yesterday is data taken from the use of apple maps. it looks at the requests for directions, and again this shows a decline from the start of the introduction of social distancing on public transport but also request for directions for working and driving. although again you can see there might be a hint there of an increase in

walking and driving. again, i must emphasise how important it is we comply with those measures. the reason that is important is shown in the next set of slides. the first of which shows the number of new cases determined by testing in the uk and you can see the benefit of social distancing is beginning to be reflected in the number of new cases determined by testing. we are not seeing increases in that, we are seeing a fairly sta ble in that, we are seeing a fairly stable number and that is on the backdrop of an increased number of tests becoming available. that in turn, of course, then placed through into the number of hospital admissions. for the vast majority of people this is a mild illness but for some it requires a hospital stay, and you can see we now have a very definite trend in reduced number of people in hospitals. that is most marked in london and i think

you can also see that in the midlands and the beginnings of that in other areas of the uk. and so thatis in other areas of the uk. and so that is definitely showing that our compliance with social distancing is proving to be beneficial, it is reducing the transmission and spread of the virus. and of course for those unfortunately or more critically ill, again a minority, in the next slide you can see the proportion of critical care beds that are being used for covid—19 patients in the uk. you can see that proportion is declining, as indeed the absolute number. again, evidence that all the hard work everyone has been doing to maintain the social distancing rules is paying off. then finally the last couple of slides are deaths. all deaths are tragic and my heart goes out to those who

have been affected by deaths of loved ones. the number of deaths in hospital shown here is now starting to decline. the deaths outside hospitals are reported differently andi hospitals are reported differently and i will show you data on that in and i will show you data on that in a minute, but this is absolutely because we as a british public have paid attention to the social distancing guidance we have been given. finally the last slide is an international comparison, and there are two lines here for the uk. the first is hospital deaths which we can report very quickly, but also you will see a line at around day 25 in all settings which include data that becomes available through the office for national statistics, that includes all deaths, but because of the way deaths are reported outside of hospital there is a lag in reporting that. it is updated weekly and we are looking at ways in which we can ensure that reporting is done quicker, but there were —— will

inevitably be a lag on that. thank you. i would like to turn to question starting with david shukman from the bbc. thank you, a couple of questions if i may. first of all in the modelling of the infection rate and the different measures, the effect they have on that rate, it is pretty clear that reopening schools has one of the least impact on increasing the rate. might it be that when you look at relaxing different measures, reopening schools might be one of the first things you consider? and a second question about care homes, we keep hearing from care homes that they are still having trouble getting testing for their residents with symptoms, let alone residents who are suspected possibly of having covid—19. can you give a commitment toa covid—19. can you give a commitment to a date by when they might get the testing they say they

need?” to a date by when they might get the testing they say they need? i will pick up on those briefly and asked stephen to come in after. on opening schools, dominic raab addressed this this morning and stressed the importance that even as you started to consider steps such as that, it would still be important in such a setting to have social distancing measures in place. on the second point on testing, we have been ramping up our capacity to do those tests, it currently stands at over 50,000 per day tests, it currently stands at over 50,000 perday and tests, it currently stands at over 50,000 per day and we have started to invite large numbers of people working in the care sector and care homes to undertake those tests and significant numbers have. i will now pass to steven who may have the precise number. i think a few days ago the chief medical officer chris whitty gave a clear description at this podium of the sort of strategy that scientifically we would have to think about adopting in order to ensure that we don't see a rise in infection and the spread of the virus in the forthcoming

months, and in order to make sure we don't put ourselves at risk of a second peak of infections. that is broadly to make sure that we keep the transmission rate below the number we always talk about, the r of one, which basically means ensuring we don't go back to a situation where one individual is passing the virus onto one or more individuals. the rate needs to be below that. scientifically, as you have heard in these press briefings, there are a number of different measures and approaches that can be taken to keeping that transmission rate below one, and that is exactly the work of sage to work out what that rate of measures looks like school closures is one of those measures. i think it is one of those measures. i think it is highly likely there will be different combinations of measures, some of which are in place

at the moment, but others such as more sophisticated track and tracing that in combination will keep the number below one. it is the role of the scientists such as me and others to look at that and provide advice, but of course it is the role of government quite rightly to look at those and decide on the appropriate combination to take forward. on testing i don't have much to add other than to say testing is clearly expanding at the moment. in the nhs we are responsible for testing in hospitals and we are expanding testing in hospitals. i know outside of hospitals testing is expanding as well and i think what's important is that continues to expand so those residents in care homes who are symptomatic and asymptomatic and ca re symptomatic and asymptomatic and care workers have access to that testing. thank you very much. next to mr gilmore from channel 4. question to the minister if i

may. we have been hearing serious concerns about the lack of public health experts who manage infectious disease outbreaks on your government advisory group sage. we now know dominic cummings and ben warner attended but if you won't say who else attended how can the public get a sense of the balance of current expertise you say you are relying on? secondly, the question to stephen powis, data is not being shared by central government and it makes attempts to trace and contact difficult. when will that change? the important thing to note is that sageis the important thing to note is that sage is unusual in the way it operates in an expert advisory group in that it is convened to respond to specific emergencies and the scientists that go onto that group

will change depending on the type of emergency. it is important that those scientists are able to have discussing themselves free of external influence and also that we protect their own security as well. so for those reasons we don't publish the names of those on the group. however their minutes and deliberations are published, and stephen might be able to tell you more about that. yes, so i am a member of sage, that is in the public domain and personally i have no problem, providing people give permission, the chief medical officer has said the same, with the names of participants in sage being published. that's not my decision but i'm happy for my name to be in the public domain. on contact tracing, you broke up a little bit but i think the question was, when is contact tracing likely to come in and be effective. i think there is probably a general

comment on that. contact tracing is a tried and tested way of managing outbreaks. it is more difficult in an epidemic but it isa is more difficult in an epidemic but it is a tried and tested way of managing outbreaks. it takes a lot of resource and time to trace effectively the contact of an individual person who has tested positive. it can be aided by technology, and the development of an app will help in that setting, but the lower number of uk cases in the population, the easier it is to do because it involves contacting less people overall. to give you a number, if there are 4000 cases, new cases per day, and you have to contact trace on average 30, that is 120,000 people to contact trace. the point is getting the infection rate as low as possible will put us in a position where contact tracing will be at its most effective. as the secretary of state for health and

social care said here a couple of days ago, public health england are building up the capacity to do contact tracing, technology is being used to develop an app that will assist, but the point at which to introduce that is the point at which we have maintained social distancing, we have driven the infection rate down and it can be introduced in a way that is most effective as possible. so the core message is really to continue to comply with the social distancing instructions because by getting the infection rate down, which is what is happening at the moment, we'll get that in the best position for track and trace. thank you. next we have paul brand from itv. given the prime minister's return tomorrow, when do you expect him to follow the first ministers of scotland and wales and start setting out a strategy to potentially begin lifting the lockdown? and on care homes, today the foreign secretary said the numberof homes, today the foreign secretary said the number of deaths in care homes was coming down in

a similar rate to hospital deaths. what is the evidence for that, please, and can you share it with us? on your first point, the prime minister has been in all our thoughts as he has faced a difficult encounter with the virus and we are all delighted that he will be back at the helm and returning to work tomorrow. the government has set out its approach, which is that we we decided it was too early to ease any of those social distancing measures. it will be reviewed again in a couple of weeks' time, and that will be the right moment to consider the scientific evidence that we have, particularly the latest medical evidence. very important that we don't do this prematurely and risk a second peak. very important that we see a consistent downward trend and sustainable reduction in the number of infections. and that is our position. but look, i'm sure at some

stage during the course of the week ahead you will be hearing from the prime minister. stephen. as i've said before, it is important to rememberthe said before, it is important to remember the approach needs to be taken to keep on top of this virus, to keep transmission down, will need to keep transmission down, will need to evolve over time and it will need to evolve over time and it will need to evolve over time and it will need to evolve over time because the science and what we know about the virus is developing all the time. we are learning more and more. and even as we stand here today, there are certain pieces of key information we would love to have to help us plot a way through the coming months. it's not available. so one piece of information is how many people develop immunity to the virus, and how long it lasts. the truth of it is of course we won't know how long immunity lasts until we have some way into this epidemic and we have been able to follow individuals in a serial way, in other words take blood tests over months, to see

what happens to their immunity and antibody levels. as that information becomes available and there are studies and going in this country that will do that, we will be able to evolve the scientific advice as to evolve the scientific advice as to how to manage this virus. this is not a binary choice between being in one place and another set of measures. this is going to be a continually evolving approach based on the science and the emerging science as we learn more about it. thank you very much. heather stuart from the guardian. you have talked about some of the changes supermarkets have made to make delivery slots are available. it's still very difficult for people to get a food delivery slot and some basic foodstuffs are hard to get hold of. i wonder if some shortages of food products and price increases for others are part of the new normal we will have to get used to in the

coming months. we have been monitoring the food supply chain quite closely and to date there isn't any serious disruption to international trade flows. we ' re disruption to international trade flows. we're also seeing retail sales have that episode in panic several weeks ago. we are returning to normal levels now or in some cases slightly below normal levels. it is the case that the social distancing measures supermarkets have had to put into place mean there are times when they are not as able to restock shelves, as freely as they would, ordinarily, but that is not a problem of food supply. it is not a problem of food supply. it is the fact that the rules of social distancing sometimes makes it hard for them to get the goods on their shelves, but generally we are seeing a dramatic improvement from the problem we saw 3—4 weeks ago. the international food supply chain continues to work well, although there are isolated cases of trade being disrupted, particularly for instance with some goods coming from india, but most of our

trade with our near neighbours in europe is continuing to flow normally. we are also acutely aware we are about to start the british season in fresh produce, in soft fruits and salads. we estimate that probably only about a third of the migrant labour that would normally come to the uk is here and was probably here before lockdown. and we are working with industry to identify an approach that will encourage those millions of furloughed workers, in some cases, to consider taking a second job and helping get the harvest inn injune. it is not an issue at the moment since the harvest has barely begun, but we do anticipate there will be a need to help recruit staff for those sectors in the month of june. kate ferguson, from the sun.

thank you, secretary of state. one question for you and one for stephen powis. the reports today that passengers arriving would be told to quarantine for two weeks. how are you going to enforce this, and if the lockdown is eased, with they have to take another two weeks off work to self—isolate at home here when they return? and to mr stephen powis, we have seen today that death figures are the lowest they have been in... are we turning a corner and our way through the peak now, basically? on your first point, i know there is a lot of speculation around these things, and the point is this. as we move to a new phase at some point in the future— we are not there yet, not ready to make

that decision yet, then international travel could become a more significant part of the risk to manage. at the moment all of the evidence suggests it is only a tiny proportion of because of the coronavirus outbreak. if we got to that point, a number of measures would be considered. but no decisions have even been taken in this space yet. we have taken a conscious decision as a country not to close our borders. it is important we keep trade flowing. and should there be medical advice at some point in the future, as we move to new stages, this is an area that should be looked at and considered, then obviously that is the time to do that. thank you. i think when you go back a number of weeks ago when i started presenting, as others do, that —— the chart to be present at the start of these briefings, what i was pointing out was that as we began to see reductions in the use of transport, indicating that the british public were beginning to

comply with the guidance that had been issued on social distancing, that if that was sustained then over time it would translate into a reduction in the number of cases, reduction in the number of cases, reduction in the number of hospital admissions, then finally a reduction in the number of deaths. and of course a number of weeks ago those charts all showed that infections and hospital admissions, people and critical care, and deaths, they were on the increase. over the last few weeks we have seen of course because those social distancing measures have been adhered to that those calves have started to change, and asi calves have started to change, and as i showed you just a few minutes ago we are now beginning to see declines, particularly in london —— those calves are beginning to change. yes, the deaths are now either plateauing around the country are beginning to decline. but i should emphasise, those benefits have only occurred, not by luck, as i have said before, but because people have complied with

instructions we have all been given, and they have followed the science. the science of this is quite straightforward. if we reduce the number of people that can be infected from an individual person who has the virus to below on average one then the virus starts to go into decline and the number of infections start to fall. that is the simple principle behind the measures of social distancing. and what you have seen is all our efforts, hard though they might be, have begun to pay off. but of course the other point to make, of course the other point to make, of course, is it will only continue to pay off if we continue to keep social distancing and we continue to comply with those messages. because of course my fear, as the fear of all of us is, is those set—mac won't continue to be on a downward trend but will go on an upward trend, and we cannot be absolutely confident that that won't be the case. we want

to avoid a second peak, avoid arise, soi to avoid a second peak, avoid arise, so i can't emphasise enough that this is not the time to say, we've done a good job, we need to stop complying with our social distancing instructions and the government guidance. this is exactly the time to keep that up, it's exactly the time. that's why when i showed you the transport graphs and curves earlier, that slight uptick in motor vehicles, in the use of apple maps, we need to keep a close eye on that. we need to remind ourselves that this has been a really tough four weeks and we don't want to lose the benefits that have come from this, we need to keep going and we need to make sure the number of infections continues to decline. thank you very much. finally, jen williams from the manchester evening news. thank question first to the minister then one for both of you. delivering social care on the front line on the pandemic, the government has

promised money from local government but one conservative councillor i spoke to today said greater manchester councils alone are forecasting a financial hit of over £500,000 this financial year, and are warning cuts to services... will the government make good on its promise to do what it takes and commit to fully reimbursing councils for their losses? secondly, i just wanted to come back to the question asked earlier about death in care homes. and what the evidence actually is currently that they are falling, and properly something i would add to that, by where deaths in care homes not factored into the same kind of counting as deaths in hospitals at the start of this? was that an oversight? what is the actual reason for the fact we didn't start this process with a daily care home death figure? thank you. look, the government of course recognises that these are extraordinary

times, and local authorities have indeed taken on additional burdens to help get through this crisis, and it's in recognition of that, as you alluded to in your question, that a package of additional financial support was announced four local authorities. we estimate that that is the right approach to support them through this difficult time. some of the things they are doing now, they are often geared up to do that anyway, and they have their own emergency response centres and emergency response centres and emergency response procedures in place and that they do on a regular basis. but we recognise there are new burdens and that is why there has been that additional financial package announced by the secretary of state. i will turn to stephen... thank you. obviously as nhs england national medical director, i am obviously as nhs england national medical director, iam most concerned with the reporting of deaths within hospitals, of

course, we ca re deaths within hospitals, of course, we care about all deaths absolutely, but the mechanism of reporting debts within hospitals falls within nhs england and the other devolved administrations, so i think it is worth pointing out their differences with the way the data is collected. within the nhs we work with several hundred hospitals in order to collect that data on a daily basis, and we are collecting the data from people who have died in hospital who we know have tested positive, so that's one important thing to remember. the nhs, all those organisations are within the nhs family, all nhs organisations, who are used to putting in daily reports to in my case nhs england. so there is a system that already exists, for instance, that we use during winter pressures , instance, that we use during winter pressures, that means it is very straightforward for those trusts to report that data on a daily basis. in the care home sector, of course, there are many, many thousands of ca re there are many, many thousands of care homes. they are operated by

many, care homes. they are operated by any care homes. they are operated by many, many dfid independent organisations, so that daily rhythm of reporting in isjust organisations, so that daily rhythm of reporting in is just not something that occurs in care homes in the same —— many different independent organisations. of course other important difference, as i said in hospitals what we report is deaths will be no summary has tested positive. in the community, deaths that have been reported are deaths where the registration process, the doctor who has certified death, has put covid—19 on the death certificate, then that has gone through the usual death certification process, and it is the office for national statistics, as i said earlier, that gathers that data. as i'm sure everybody knows, that process takes several days and can take longer. again, as said earlier, i know colleagues in government are looking to speed that up, but there is an inevitable longer time for those deaths to be recorded, and the very quick reporting we can get on a daily basis within the nhs. it simply reflects the differences in the two processes and the difference in

what we are reporting in terms of test positive deaths in hospitals and death certificates in the community. thank you very much, stephen. we are out of time. i simply want to conclude, though, by recording my thanks and paying tribute to all of those working throughout the food supply chain, from farmers, manufacturers, retailers. the response of this industry to ensure we have dfid as a country that we need has truly phenomenal. i thank you all very much. the environment secretary there, george eustice, bringing to a close today's daily coronavirus briefing from number ten. he today's daily coronavirus briefing from numberten. he was today's daily coronavirus briefing from number ten. he was alongside professor stephen powis, national medical director for professor stephen powis, national medical directorfor nhs professor stephen powis, national medical director for nhs england. that last question was interesting. why is it that the daily figures for deaths only relate to hospitals and not care homes? that is collected separately by the office for national statistics. why not collect them together, basically? the point

was being made it is simply a lot easier to collect the data for hospitals. there is a mechanism in place for doing that, and as a result those figures can be updated much more easily everyday. that is a point a lot of people are making. why are those two figures separated and not collected together? so a bit of response to that. let's bring you up—to—date with the main points from that briefing. as i say, professor stephen powis, the national medical director of nhs england, said the benefits of social distancing are clearly showing, with the number of hospital admissions and the number of critical care beds in use both declining. the environment secretary george eustice said lockdown measures will be reviewed in a couple weeks, but it was very important not to act too soon. he also said the food supply chain has seen a significant reduction in staff absence over recent weeks as staff absence over recent weeks as staff who had been self isolating suspecting coronavirus have returned

to work. and, indeed, he went on to suggest that increased delivery slots at supermarkets are beginning to rise as well, which is a good thing for those people who cannot get out to the shops themselves. our health correspondent jane draper is with me. that death toll, 403 in the last 24—hour accounting period, as it were, seems to be, well... a little under half the figure we had yesterday. why the disparity? you do get some times, clive, these huge jumps in the new reports of death figures each day. we have seen this. we need particular care looking at the death figures over the weekend, because obviously it is harder to report and record them in the system at the weekend so we tend to see a bit of a slowing down then and just after the weekend. these figures that come through each day are when the paperwork has been done, so they actually reflect on some of the debts from the previous day but some of the deaths from previous days, ——

some of the deaths. they are not precise and that is why the numbers can vary, precise and that is why the numbers can vary, but essentially those further 414 deaths bring the death toll in the uk now from hospital patients testing positive for covid—19 to patients testing positive for covid-19 to 20,732. to be clear, these are hospital deaths, and 00:46:19,1000 --> 00:46:20,440 not in the community or in care homes. testing. george eustice said there we re testing. george eustice said there were 29,058 tests yesterday. we think there is capacity for around 50,000. still way off the hundred thousand target they have to hit, what, by next thursday? yes, the government set themselves this bold, ambitious target, and they are doing everything they can to really increase the capacity of testing. i think putting aside the government targets it is really important to remember that testing is vital. individual people need to know whether or not they have the virus, so of course they can then protect themselves from spreading it on to other people in their home and workplace. and, overall, the government and the scientists need

to know what the spread of the virus is, what it is doing in the uk as a whole. that is why testing is so important. there are these measures. if you are an essential worker and you have symptoms of coronavirus, you have symptoms of coronavirus, you can go on to the government website. but as we saw on friday those tests and those lots for them get picked up very quickly and that continues today. and we know there will be mobile testing labs moving around the country so that should improve. the majority of people who get this virus do survive, and that point was made by the national medical director for point was made by the national medical directorfor nhs point was made by the national medical director for nhs england, pointing to the statistic of 15,953 people in hospital currently, down from 16,411. yes, and that is an important point. this virus carries a particular risk if you are older, particularly over 60, and if you

have underlying health conditions we know it is much more dangerous for those people if they get covid—19. but many people do experience it mildly and survived. although the number of cases in hospital is still relatively high, this is a pandemic after all, that number isn't increasing and that is is more testing is being done. we had been warned cases might go up as tests increase but they are not so that is a good picture for the moment. so tests up, the numbers of critical ca re tests up, the numbers of critical care beds up and the number of people leaving hospital up. lots of good news. the overall point though from mr eustis and from stephen powis is that it is the social distancing causing it to improve. and they are aware it is

testing pupils —— pupils patients. they are asking everyone to continue to be mindful of what we are all asked to do. the five tests we know dominic raab talked about when he extended the lockdown a week ago and reiterated again by the environment secretary today that the nhs has to be able to cope, the death rate is going down exponentially, infections are going down, operational challenges are met for the nhs and no second peak. it does feel, despite the good news, we are a bit off all of that being accomplished so that we can see the easing of social distancing. once again there has been no hint today that we are any closer. there has been talk about when we do get to the point things can be relaxed, it's highly likely there will be a different combination of measures and the approach will evolve over time, so

some hint of what lies ahead but no hint that we are nearer to it yet. the message from the government is to try to get people to stick with the rules for the moment. that last confidence measure that you mentioned i think is particularly significant out of the five, the one that any adjustments don't risk a second peak. that is very broad and could cover a lot of scenarios which means they won't even start to relax things until they are sure we won't risk any curves going upwards again. jane, thanks again. jane dreaper. ian, one suspects borisjohnson was watching that and potentially could be back at work tomorrow. is he likely to lead the conference, do you think? it is certainly possible. george eustice made it clear we would be hearing from the prime minister this week so if not tomorrow it will be pretty soon

afterwards. he will be getting briefed by his downing street team early tomorrow, then sharing what is called the c—19 meeting, a smaller group of cabinet members. he had been doing some of that by video conferencing when he was isolating. i think it's a measure of saying he very much back in charge by chairing that meeting tomorrow morning. but yes, we will certainly be hearing from him personally and at the moment i think everyone is interpreting what he and government ministers are saying is a clue to what boris johnson ministers are saying is a clue to what borisjohnson will do. what i have been told through conversations with people in whitehall and downing street, it does seem that the message is the prime minister will proceed with caution when it comes to dealing with the lockdown. we will expect an announcement on may seven when this is all reviewed

again. ido seven when this is all reviewed again. i do think he will at that stage take his foot ever so slightly off the brakes, looking at means —— a range of measures to announce, but he will be careful not to feel a second wave of infections. everything works back from that. although they have set out a clear route map out of lockdown, those discussions are most certainly going on behind the scenes and indeed took place at his country residents chequers with senior cabinet members on friday. david shukman asked a question at the conference today concerning the possibility of schools are reopening, the suggestion that infection rates within schools are at the point in this kind of pandemic where perhaps you could reopen them. no suggestion from george eustis that that was going to be potentially happening,

but that must be an area that the government is looking into pretty closely. it is, clive, no question of it. i think they are very keen they don't get the hopes of parents at this stage that schools might reopen, because the kind of discussions happening behind the scenes is how they could reopen. in scotla nd scenes is how they could reopen. in scotland for example they have asked whether you could have children going on some days and not others, and dominic raab gave a hint of too that there would have to be social distancing in place. in some countries they are looking at only reopening schools for a certain age group. for example the recognition very young children would find it very young children would find it very difficult indeed to socially distance. so it is not so much being opposed to reopening schools purely for the reasons of restricting the spread of infection, it's actually

practically how do you do this, and i think they don't want to send out signals at this stage that it is in some way imminent. i think the other thing i should say is as for schools, like so many other areas, they are worried that what they do may have unintended consequences further down the line. for example if you let people out for more reasons to socialise in the open air as summer comes on and keep pubs shut there will be a problem with social order, so there's a whole range of detailed practical things which they have to concentrate on. sometimes this is overly simplified by saying there are those in government pressing for a big lift of the lockdown, and those who say they want to keep the restrictions in place and put public health first. the key message borisjohnson will have to get across to some in his own party as well as the wider public when he is fully functioning again and in charge in downing

street is this belief that he has that it's a false dichotomy to say on the one hand you stand up for the health of the nation and on the other you stand up for a healthy economy. he says they are inextricably linked and if they raise the restriction is too early at the wrong time, and if there is a second wave, that will be the worst possible outcome for the economy. that is a message some in his own party have not necessarily been listening to, and perhaps they will if they hear it directly from the prime minister rather than some other ministers who have been keeping the show on the road in his absence. another question put at the news briefing was concerning the make—up of the scientific advisory group, sage. no suggestion we will know the full identities of those on the body advising the government every step of the way in this pandemic. that's right. the

guardian have recently announced dominic cummings and another adviser, and the government has said obviously they want to listen to the scientific discussions and many in government are saying it is a bit of a nonstory. it is right the advisers would find out what scientists were thinking during the worst pandemic for a century. but i think the wider issueis for a century. but i think the wider issue is who is offering that the vice of the government, do we know if there are any conflict—of—interest. it is a bizarre situation we are in because chris whitty, the chief medical officer, was saying on friday he has no problems with the rest of us knowing who sits on sage and a p pa re ntly knowing who sits on sage and apparently sir patrick vallance, he has no problems either. they said they were advised because it is a subcommittee of cobra, sometimes in national emergencies you would want to keep the membership secret and perhaps they should not set a

precedent by naming people now. what chris whitty said while the formulation was not public it wasn't secret by there. in other words individual members of sage were at liberty to say if they sit on that body, but there is pressure on the government to publish who is on it and who attend the meetings. we will leave it there. thank you. ian watson at westminster. let's recap the main points from the briefing at downing street. the medical director professor stephen powis said there isa professor stephen powis said there is a reduction in hospital admittance of people with coronavirus symptoms. he said it is down to the public observing social distancing measures.

we now have a very definite trend in reduced number of people in hospitals. that is most marked in london and i think you can also see that in the midlands and the beginnings of that in other areas of the uk. and so that is definitely showing that our compliance with social distancing is proving to be beneficial, it is reducing the transmission and spread of the virus. and of course for those unfortunately or more critically ill, again a minority, in the next slide you can see the proportion of critical care beds that are being used for covid—19 patients in the uk. you can see that proportion is declining, as indeed the absolute number. again, evidence that all the hard work everyone has been doing to maintain the social distancing rules is paying off. then finally the last couple of slides are deaths. all deaths are tragic and my heart goes out to those who have been affected by deaths of loved ones. the number of deaths in hospital shown here is now starting to decline.

the deaths outside hospitals are reported differently and i will show you data on that in a minute, but this is absolutely because we, as a british public, have paid attention to the social distancing guidance we have been given. professor stephen powis there. as more stores open across the country, such as diy, there have been calls to open gardening centres as one of the first steps in easing lockdown restrictions. joining me now from his home in hampshire is broadcaster and gardener alan titchmarsh. if we do get an easing of the lockdown restrictions, why do you believe garden centres should be pa rt believe garden centres should be part of the mix? several reasons really. first is mental health. everyone has found over the past month or more the beneficial effects of being out in a garden, the

piece of being out in a garden, the piece of space you are allowed to go into. pay a lot of lip service to mental health and gardens are a practical and spiritual way of ensuring that mental health the other consideration is the fact that the british horticulture industry will be on its knees byjune if they don't open until then. we have a situation now where if this carries on untiljune and no trading is allowed, then a third of all growers will go out of business. holland have been very clever, the dutch government have put in place a system of compensation for growers so they know they have a future. if a third of our growers disappear, what it means in the future is we will have to impart far more and the controls of plant health in europe are not always as effective, as efficient and as ours. we risk plant health declining, we have implications for climate change, but

we also have implications for 25 billion horticulture industry in the uk which could be crippled. do you in your own uk which could be crippled. do you in yourown mind uk which could be crippled. do you in your own mind understand why the government has made a distinction between garden centres and diy centres ? between garden centres and diy centres? i did, but then i think when they decided that b thank you for instance as a chain was allowed to stay open could open its garden centre end, as it were, but pure garden centres which are earning an entire living from plants could not open, then there is a disparity —— b&q. this is a disparity and it needs to happen soon. obviously with strict health protocols in place, but surely they are far easier to put in place outdoors in a garden centre than internally in a supermarket which is air conditioned. it has come to a point now where it is looking really rather silly and ill considered that

garden centres have not been allowed to reopen. but having said, as you've made the point, strict protocols need to be put in place. you allow the manager ofa put in place. you allow the manager of a garden centre to come in, and the staff. they travel to work somehow. this increases the potential of the spread of the virus. i suppose the government there will be a fraction of

a horticulture industry left at the end of this. of course, you must balance human health with economy. but the point is, so much has been worked out over the past few decades for british planned health, for the beautification of the environment, for mental health, for physical health. gardeners play such an important part in that. you cannot look at them and say, it is not essential. it is essential. it is essential. it is essential. it is essential for the well—being of people and the wildlife and the countryside. you say that a third of all countryside. you say that a third of a ll g rowers countryside. you say that a third of all growers could go out of business. they will be lost for the foreseeable future and there is no way of coming back? a lot of them are family businesses that have been handed down generation to generation. but they are not multimillionaires, these people. we are talking about family businesses, and growing skills are innate within them. they will be lost.

what we will find because they will still be a demand from british pipers for pla nts a demand from british pipers for plants for their gardens, more and more will have to come overseas. in the year that we voted for brexit, it is ironic that having developed an industry that is capable of raising brilliant plants, healthy pla nts raising brilliant plants, healthy plants and looking after the environment, that we are throwing that away, throwing a third of it away. those are going to have to... if this goes on untiljune, one third will have disappeared, gone to the wall. it is good to get your perspective. thank you forjoining us. narendra modi has described his country's fight against coronavirus.

.. ..as a "people—driven" war. mr modi called on people to end the habit of spitting in public — and hailed the value of traditional indian medicine in boosting immunity. he also called on citizens to pray more than ever during ramadan to help beat the outbreak. our correspondent in delhi, zubair ahmed, is following developments. across the country there is a general approval of the way the government has handled the crisis so far. of course, if you are looking at the indian media, there is wall coverage of mr modi's half—hour radio broadcasts this morning. the government efforts are being covered every day. but if you look at the opposition, much of the opposition is silent, but there is one party, the main opposition party, which has been critical of some of the ways the government has handled the lockdown so far. for instance, the government recently... the opposition recently demanded that if the government has any exit strategy for the lockdown it should come out

with it, because so far the imposition of the lockdown was sudden, and when it was being extended on the 14th of april not many people were aware of it, but the prime minister is going to meet, he is going to have a video conference tomorrow with the chief ministers. maybe there could be some decisions whether to extend the lockdown further or to lift some of the restrictions partially. studio: the congress party have written to the government urging for a lifting of some restrictions particularly to help smaller shops. how difficult has it been for people to get food and access to things like that during the course of the lockdown, particularly outside of the cities? it is very difficult. first of all, if you are

sitting in delhi perhaps you will not be able to see those people who are suffering. there are millions of people in those big cities like mumbai and delhi and chennai, they were caught in a sudden lockdown, and they have nowhere to go. but of course the government agencies have been feeding them, they have given them food and lodging, but they want to go back home and there is no respite for them if the lockdown is extended. —— no lockdown for them. if the lockdown is extended, they will get... i have just read that the chief of maharashtra has urged six indian states to take their workers back home, but since then all the modes of transport are suspended, so it is very difficult for them to transport all of these stranded workers back home. but, you know, one thing is for sure. the government is desperate to open up

the economy. but if it does that there is the possibility of people not maintaining social distancing norms and that might become a big problem for the government. that was the bbc‘s zubair ahmed from delhi. president trump didn't go ahead with his daily coronavirus briefing at the white house yesterday, tweeting that it was not worth his time or effort. his absence after weeks of attending briefings comes two days after he caused an outcry by suggesting that people could be treated for the virus with disinfectant. daniela relph reports. the president said we authorised the first... president trump last appeared before the media on friday. but, unlike previous weeks, his statement was short, he didn't take questions and the whole thing was over after 22 minutes. then yesterday, no presidential briefing, just a tweet. "what is the purpose of having a white house news conference when the lamestream media asks

nothing but hostile questions, and then refuses to report the truth or facts accurately? "not worth the time and effort." there has been ridicule of the president's comments earlier this week that has worsened his already tense relationship with most media. then i see the disinfectant where it knocks it out in a minute, one minute, and is there a way we can do something like that? by injection inside, or almost a cleaning? cos, you see, it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on it, so it'd be interesting to check. with an eye on the election due later this year, his advisers will have to carefully gauge if donald trump is an election asset or a liability. more than 50,000 people have now died of coronavirus in america, as some states choose to loosen their guidance. in georgia, you can now get a haircut, a manicure and even a tattoo — despite health officials warning it's just too early for such a drastic lifting of the lockdown. daniela relph, bbc news.

the australian government has released a coronavirus contact tracing app as it seeks to contain the spread of the pandemic. the development there comes as an an expert advising the uk government says a tracing app could prevent one covid—19 infection for every one to two users who download it. professor christophe fraser, from oxford university's big data institute, said that the traditional way of contact tracing is not quick enough because of how rapidly the virus is passed on. he told andrew marr that the app could be released "within weeks" — to prevent a resurgence of the outbreak. the app is going to be one of the building blocks of how to get we found that when we project over the next two months, for everyone— two users who download the app and adhere to instructions, you will prevent one infection, and we found that for this intervention alone to stop the resurgence of the

epidemic, but 60% of the population would have to use the app. andreas, germany's foreign minister says the country is considering phone tracking apps, but said it was unlikely to happen beforejune. said it was unlikely to happen before june. we are interested to introduce them, but we don't see this happening before march and june, because it has to be fitted into an overall contact tracing concept. just to give you an idea, we will have to hire, we are in the process of hiring people at the level of the local health authorities and district level here that are able to do the contact tracing, and we think the ratio of roughly a team of five for 20,000 people is roughly what we have to come up with. that's a huge number. i will give you an idea, i think it's about 650 teams in the case of bavaria. which is not easy. so the

app bavaria. which is not easy. so the app by it's self is an important factor in moving into that phase, but it has to be complemented by other measures as well. professor stephen prowess, the medical director of nhs england was asked about contact tracing. this is what he had to say. contact tracing, which is a very tried and tested way of managing outbreaks of managing outbreaks, it's more difficult in an epidemic, but a tried and tested way of managing outbreaks. obviously, it takes a lot of resource, a lot of time to trace effectively the contacts of an individual person who has tested positive. it can be aided by technology, and the development of a digital app will no doubt help in that setting. but i think the general point is that the lower the number of uk cases in the population, the easier it is to do, because it involves contacting less people overall, so to give you a number, if there are 4000 cases, new cases, per day, and you have to contact trace, say, on average, 30, that's

120,000 people to contact trace. trace, say, on average, 30, that's if it's 2000, it's half that. trace, say, on average, 30, that's so, the point is, getting the infection rate as low as possible will put us in a position where contact tracing will be at its most effective. is getting the infection rate as low as possible will put us in a position where contact tracing will be at its most effective. let's get more on track and trace with greg fell, director of public health sheffield. hejoins me from leeds. good afternoon. we heard stephen powis and the german minister say this is a difficult thing to do, contact tracing, but the problem is this will underpin any loosening of the strict rules concerning social distancing? yes, it will, it will be one of the key methods to get us out of the lockdown phase of this epidemic, and my sense is it will be introduced in three weeks, thereabouts, when the number of new cases per day is much

lower than it is now. as professor stephen powis was saying, we need a very coordinated national strategy to enable that. how will it work in practice, do you think? so i don't know. my sense is the strategy being developed now is probably changing by the day, i may be changing by the hour. but it will be a combination of the use of our nhs at, which will probably help. we don't know that, but will probably help, supplemented by skilled human tracers, as professor powis was saying, one of the benchmark methods to get us out of the disease outbreak problem. it has never been tested on the scale and at this level before, but my senseis and at this level before, but my sense is that the app will help but it will be supplemented by a tiered set of contact tracing which will be led by public health england but will also involve a range of other returning health professionals and others. is that it hasn't been done on the scale before. the south

koreans have done this to an effective degree, haven't they? and the germans are beginning to look into it as well? the germans are looking into it. south koreans are the outlier, the poster child, in this case, and we all want to be like south korea. it is fair to say that south korea seem to have been quite successful. in this country, and actually most other countries in the world, we have never done anything like this on the scale before. so we need to make sure the strategy is 100% right. clearly, there will be a national element to that strategy, but every local authority in the country stands ready to help when asked. you say it will require skilled people to do the actual work. are we yes, my sense is there will be a tiered system. for example people at public health england are experts at this and they have been doing contact tracing in different

contexts for many years. we will properly supplement that by using sexual health staff who are again pretty good at this, and also use the nhs returning professionals. so we are used to having these kind of conversations with people and will supplement that, so my sense is that will be a big national and local effort connected together to make it all work. this is as we have discussed likely to be what underpins any relaxation of social distancing rules. also key to preventing a second wave as we get through the summer and into the winter months and have the influence of flu potentially on top of this? definitely. that is the thing we all wa nt to definitely. that is the thing we all want to avoid, an unmitigated second wave. the potential is for it to happen. we know not that many people

have been infected and are immune to the virus, far less than anticipated, so that gives a big potential reservoir of more people to be infected and the take—up of the second wave, so contact tracing is one of the mechanisms that we will definitely use to keep the number of new cases as low as possible. ok, thanks forjoining us. apologies for the break—up in some of the audio. let's get more reaction to the daily downing street briefing. joining me now isjust in ——justin briefing. joining me now isjust in —— justin madders. thank you for joining us. good news on the death rate over the last 24 hours. yes, it

is encouraging. i think we have to probably be a little bit cautious on the number of deaths because we know from previous weeks there does tend to bea from previous weeks there does tend to be a bit ofa from previous weeks there does tend to be a bit of a lag from previous weeks there does tend to be a bit ofa lag in from previous weeks there does tend to be a bit of a lag in terms of being regarded at the weekend. we also know we are a long way off getting accurate figures for the social care sector and there is a lot of concern that actually that is really where the biggest issue is at the moment in terms of infections and deaths. testing numbers are going up and we are a long way away from the target in four days' time and at the moment it doesn't look like it will be reached. do all of these improvements they suggest to you that potentially there should be more of a road map now being put out there relating to a decrease in the severity of the social distancing rules that we have at the

minute? well, we have called today through kier starmer for a well, we have called today through kier starmerfor a proper conversation with the british public about what the shape of a lockdown might look like. i think it is really important the public are engaged in that. one of the key thing is the government has said that in order to have a relaxation we must ensure there isn't going to bea we must ensure there isn't going to be a second wave of infections, and pa rt be a second wave of infections, and part of that will of course be down to the public adhering to whatever new rules are in place. it seems to me obvious that part of the success of that end strategy will be to have the public involved in that in an early stage. clearly the government in scotland have decided to something they have engaged the public there on and i think we should be doing that too. we have seen by the way things have been introduced by the government over the last couple of months they have been fairly short notice and have sometimes had to be changed. i think actually it would be a benefit

for eve ryo ne actually it would be a benefit for everyone if we got a dialogue on that at an earlier stage to make sure we have the best possible solutions in terms of an exit strategy. the government maintains its five key points for any relaxation of the rules still haven't been met. no. we know for example this morning there was a story that suggested there would be about a billion items in terms of shortages of ppe. i don't know if thatis shortages of ppe. i don't know if that is accurate or not. actually the fifth and most important part of it is really something that we cannot possiblyjudge it is really something that we cannot possibly judge until we it is really something that we cannot possiblyjudge until we know what the exit strategy looks like, and that's why it's really important that the public have an idea what it might begin to be. people need a bit of time to prepare, people need to make sure any investments they make about their own businesses in terms

of what the future might look like are the right investments so actually we do need to have that dialogue now with the government about what some of the possibilities of the exit strategy might look like. there is no suggestion, is there, that we, the public, or you in the opposition will find out who is on the sage committee? no, there has been a very robust response to that. we do know for example dominic cummings appears to be on it, and it is important that we understand the full remit of his role there. does he have enough opportunity to contribute? one of the answers that came back from george eustice today was that the identity of these people would be kept secret so that they were free from outside influence, but we have a government special adviser attending these meetings influencing them, potentially. so actually i'm not quite sure what the rationale

is for not revealing that information. it is important for the public to have confidence that these briefings are being conducted in an open way. i think there is every argument to open up that process that we have seen so far. ok. i should make the point the government said that dominic cummings attended a meeting and that he is not actually a member of the committee, but we will leave it there. labour shadow health ministerjustin madders, thank you. here, reports suggest passengers arriving at british airports and ports could be placed in quarantine for up to a fortnight. the sunday telegraph newspaper says the move is part of plans for the second phase of the government's response to the coronavirus pandemic. earlier the travel editor of the independent, simon calder explained how a two—week quarantine might work

in australia you are marched to a hotel and kept there for two weeks. the government would not be doing that, what they would be doing is basically saying to everyone who comes in, you have to tell us where you will be for the next two weeks and you must not leave their property, and there's even talk about officials being able to come round and check you are there, and if you are not you would be fined. this is in complete contrast to what we have at the moment. if you come into heathrow, there are no checks whatsoever. you are given a piece of paper telling you what to do if you feel symptomatic, and that is in line with the international advice from the european centres for disease prevention and control, and the world health organization. they say checks like testing everyone's temperature frankly isn't worthwhile. a bit of breaking news for you, good news out of italy, one

of the worst affected countries anywhere in the world concerning the coronavirus pandemic. italy is now reporting its lowest total of deaths since the middle of last month, since the middle of last month, since march 14. 264 deaths related to coronavirus. their lowest total out of italy since march 14, so good news coming from the continent. spare a thought today for the thousands of runners, many from around the world, who should have been taking part in the london marathon. all that training is now on hold until october 4th at the earliest. it also means that charities are missing out on millions of pounds in fundraising, so the organisers have come up with another way for runners to raise money without leaving home. holly hamilton has this report. it's the world's biggest one—day fundraising event, and today, more than 40,000 of you should have been strapping on your trainers to take part. and with no london marathon this year, thousands of charities

are missing out on the millions of pounds that would have been raised. but organisers have come up with an alternative. it's the 2.6 challenge. now, you don't have to run 26 miles round your garden. it could be something as simple as bouncing a cricket ball off a tennis racquet. 11,12,13,14... like shane warne. ..18, 19, 20! 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6! or you could try swimming 2.6 kilometres in your paddling pool, like sophie. and if you'd already got your fancy dress costume for the marathon, well, you could still put that to good use. among those taking on the challenge, eleanor davis. she was due to compete as an elite athlete, but instead will be at work as a doctor looking after patients on the covid ward. i normally work part—time so i can train and compete at a high level, and just at the minute, obviously, there's not a lot to train for!

everything's on hold. so i'm doing a few extra shifts on the coronavirus wards through this pandemic. but i'm still managing to fit in the miles, so i run to and from work most days, which has been really positive to me. ifind running really therapeutic. just a bit of head space and a bit of calm amongst the chaos. so, yeah, i think this little project as well has given me something positive to think of outside of work, which has been really nice. to put it into context, last year's london marathon raised over £66.4 million for charity, and that's just one event. in fact, the uk charity sector estimates it will lose £4 billion of income as a result of the pandemic, making it a worrying time for smaller charities. all of our events that happen in spring, we've lost them all, and there's probably quite a few more to come. we believe it's going to affect us to the region of £1 million before the end of the crisis, and that's the lockdown part

of the crisis, not the longer economic impact of this. # i'll rise up, i'll rise like the day. # i'll rise up... our diversity choir, i'm particularly proud of. and we have a group of 22 residents and four carers that have come together to sing andra day's rise up. most of them are signing because, actually, physical communication is quite difficult and quite challenging for them, so they've had to invent all sorts of ways of trying to get together to become the diversity choir. it's a very emotive youtube to watch and i really recommend anyone to watch it because it's exactly why the 2.6 challenge is going ahead — to support organisations and people that we are supporting too. # we will rise. it's hoped, however, the 2.6 challenge can make a real

difference. it's already raised more than £1.6 million so far as people across the country come together while remaining still very much apart. holly hamilton, bbc news. a reminder of the news that in italy, one of the worst affected countries following the pandemic concerning coronavirus, italy is now reporting 260 virus deaths, their lowest total since the middle of march. so some good news there. and just check out these pictures from italy. there you go, an example of the extent of the coronavirus lockdown across the country. these drone images from venice. that is saint marks square, where in normal times you would expect to see

thousands of tourists and local people enjoying the spring sunshine beside the canals. but now, in these extraordinary times, hardly anyone to be seen. hopefully the situation improving across europe, fingers crossed, over the next few weeks or so. you can see more on all of today's stories on our website. the next news on bbc one is at ten to six. good evening. here at the bbc sport centre. the wolves forward diogo jota says he thinks that the premier league season will resume and be played to a conclusion even if it's

behind closed doors. i spoke to him in the last hour, he was the winner of the epremier league invitational over the weekend. a fifa video game tournament the portuguese international beat liverpool's trent alexander arnold in the final. regarding a return to real football, with the dutch league being called off and the german bundesliga targeting a return in 2 weeks, jota says the premier league shouldn't pay too much attention to other nations. i think, ithink, in i think, in my opinion, that we don't need to look to other countries, because each country has its own problems, and each country needs to deal individually with their own problems, because some countries are in worse scenarios than others, so that's why i think that although some leagues can end right away, others can start sooner, but i think we will do a good job

when we start the competition. what is your gut feeling, you are trying to remain positive and think that the premier league season can finish in some way? yeah. i do believe that. i know that almost every country of the world has a premier league has a league to watch, it's major that we can finish the season, but, obviously, health is first. major that we can finish the season, but, obviously, health is firstm seems like years ago, doesn't it? but it was only 6—7 weeks that you we re but it was only 6—7 weeks that you were playing in an empty stadium in athens, your last game, itjust seems like years ago now. yeah. i do remember that game and i said i remember that game and i said i remember saying to my team—mates during lunch, this could be our last game ina during lunch, this could be our last game in a while, and it was. it was strange. i think we need to finish the season behind closed doors, but, obviously, everyone wants the fans in the stadium because that's what

makes