this is bbc news, with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the uk prime minister boris johnson is back in downing street, two weeks after being discharged from hospital treatment for conronavirus. — treatment for coronavirus. uk ministers say the public must adjust to "a new normal" in the fight against coronavirus. medics insist that social distancing remains vital. we now have a very definite trend in a reduced number of people in hospital. it is definitely showing that our compliance with social distancing is proving to be beneficial. there's continuing concern in care homes in england, over testing for staff and residents. italy — the first country in europe to introduce a lockdown

because of the coronavirus outbreak — is to ease some restrictions from early may. meanwhile, children in spain are allowed out for the first time in six weeks, as the daily number of deaths fell to its lowest level in more than a month. i will be running 2.6 miles every day for ten days. keep on running! the creative ways london marathon participants have come up with, now that the event has been postponed because of coronavirus. this is bbc news, reporting on the latest in the cornavirus crisis, both here in the uk and around the world. today's main developments: prime minister borisjohnson is back in downing street tonight after recovering from coronavirus. his return comes as the national

medical director of nhs england — professor stephen powis said the uk is now seeing a very definite downward trend in the number of people in hospital with the coronavirus. but the latest figures show a further 413 people have died across the country. that brings the total number of deaths in hospitals in the uk to 20,732. and those figures do not include deaths in care homes or other settings in england and northern ireland. the environment secretary, george eustice said lockdown measures would be reviewed in a couple of weeks, but it was very important not to act too soon. mr eustice also said that more staff were back at supermarkets as absence from illness and self—isolation has more than halved. more european countries have begun easing their restrictions. in spain, millions of children have emerged from weeks of lockdown, as the number of deaths and infections continues to fall. meanwhile the italian prime minister has announced measures to ease the lockdown from next month. it comes after the country's lowest daily death toll for more than a month.

we'll have more and all these stories in the next half hour. first, this report from our science editor david shukman. in towns and cities, usually busy streets remain empty, a scenario set to continue, as scientists warn that any relaxation of the lockdown could risk killing tens of thousands more people. the government insists on moving very carefully. 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 is to start announcing proposals now, but actually, until you've got the evidence, that's not responsible, it risks you ending up misleading... i'm not going down that route. i know you're not going down. but we need to take a sure—footed step forward which protects life but also preserves our way of life. the key measure that all governments are worrying about is the rate of infection. a month ago in the uk, it was about three, which means that anyone infected could pass it to three others.

since then, it's come right down to something like 0.7 — crucially, below the line of one. anything above that and the virus takes off again. so, what about the effect of easing some of the restrictions? well, allowing public gatherings again would probably take you above that key line. but reopening schools might be possible and still stay below it, but no one's entirely sure. at today's downing street briefing, the government suggested that social distancing within schools might be an option, but wouldn't be drawn. might it be that when you look at relaxing different measures, reopening schools might be one of the first things you consider? of course, school closures is one of those measures. i think it's highly likely that there will be different combinations of measures, some of which are in place at the moment, but others that you have heard about, such as more sophisticated track and tracing, that in combination will keep that number below one. all of this is being assessed by the different nations in the uk.

they may come out of lockdown in their own ways, but all face the same challenge. some of the margins we will be faced with as we start to ease things are very, very fine indeed, so there will be a need for real care and caution and perhaps in some instances to go back again if we find that things that we have done have allowed the virus to run out of control. everyone is struggling to find an answer. in germany, small shops are reopening, but at the same time, the german foreign minister has warned everyone not to expect a normal holiday on a packed beach this summer. and sweden, which has allowed cafes to stay open, is now seeing the numbers of deaths rising, but it doesn't want to risk a public backlash. and some british scientists share that concern, as the uk's lockdown drags on. i think this is going to be a lot harder for people. in terms of the finances, i think quite a lot of people have some savings and are able to borrow from friends and family.

again, the evidence shows that as time goes on, that becomes more difficult. also, if there are tensions between people, those can escalate, and we've sadly seen there has been a big increase in domestic abuse reports. and all the time, warnings from countries that thought they had the outbreak under control. singapore is now installing thousands more hospital beds after a new surge in cases. until there are new treatments or vaccines, there's no easy way to deal with the virus. david shukman, bbc news. tonight, the prime minister boris johnson is back in downing street following his two weeks of convalescence at his country residence chequers. our political corrrespondent iain watson is at westminster. how does the prime minister ‘s return change the shape of wouldn's response to the virus? it will change it to this extent, he will be chairing some meetings that he could

not do during this convalescence and time in hospital to crucial meetings that discuss where britain may next go in terms of the lockdown and how they may ease restrictions in future. at nine tomorrow morning he is to meet senior cabinet ministers and the chief medical officer, the chief scientific advisor. this is what is sometimes referred to as the war cabinet what is sometimes referred to as the warcabinet in the what is sometimes referred to as the war cabinet in the covid—i9 meetings is that the official name. they will undoubtedly talk about some of the issues that have had to be grappled with in recent weeks. there is pressure from conservative mps to ease the lockdown to the chairman of the 1922 backbench committee of mps was telling bbc radio this evening that he felt some restrictions were illogical and needed to be eased. the prime minister needs to take on the pressure but given this authority he can perhaps make a more convincing case that there is no

dichotomy between the hills of the nation and the hills of the economy. that is the key message that he wa nts to that is the key message that he wants to get across. to some extent i don't think he risked —— resists pressure to ease restrictions but he wa nts to pressure to ease restrictions but he wants to ease them gently and incrementally and given some of the pent—up worries that some of this own mps have, never mind the wider public about the effect of the economy, it may well take this authority to manage this difficult process. the one thing it does not wa nt to process. the one thing it does not want to do is anything that may risk a second wave of infections. have big decisions been building up in this absence. have this deputies managed to take the decisions in this absence or is there for weeks of clogged? they've taken many the decisions but some of the big decisions but some of the big decisions are more by luck than by design. for example, the government

said they will review the restrictions on may seven and that will be about ten days away now. what we will expect to see and this is where the prime minister can use this influence, is more of a roadmap as to where we go from here. there may be an easing of restrictions for example. some have been discussed behind—the—scenes such as allowing a wider range of shops to open. put more people be encouraged to return to work as long as employers make sure there are proper social distancing in the workplace? these are things discussed as initial steps. there may be more of a route map for reopening schools if infection rates stay down. those decisions are about ten days away. and at the end of this month we were meant to have reached 100,000 tests. will the government do that? will borisjohnson put

will the government do that? will boris johnson put this will the government do that? will borisjohnson put this heft behind trying to reach that target? thank you so much forjoining us. some positive news from italy now. the country has reported its lowest coronavirus death toll in over a month, and the prime minister has announced a gradual easing of the country's lockdown. the 260 daily fatalities reported by the civil protection service today were the lowest since 1a march. in a televised address, prime minister giuseppe conte outlined the restrictions that were being lifted or reduced. he did confirm, however, that social distancing would remain in force for months to come. i spoke to bbc‘s mark lowen a little earlier and asked him how prime minister conte's decison was being received by the italian public. it is almost seven weeks to the day since italy became the first country to impose a lockdown since the coronavirus pandemic again and now a roadmap has been laid out for unlocking italy. on may four there

will be various things allowed to pass will reopen, funerals will be allowed to resume with a maximum of 15 people. bars and restaurants can offer ta keaway 15 people. bars and restaurants can offer takeaway again. manufacturing, construction and wholesale will restart. people will be able to move around again within their own region but not want and they will be allowed to visit family members but will have wear face masks and no large social gatherings will be allowed to individual sport will be allowed to individual sport will be allowed so you can go out running and athletes will be able to train behind closed doors. two weeks after that there will be a further relaxing in which smaller construction companies will be allowed to restart, libraries and museums will reopen and sports teams can practice behind closed doors. on june one, that is the date currently planned for bars cafe's restaurants and headdresses and beauty salons to

reopen, schools will remain closed until september. are the italians getting used to the fact that they may have to do this distancing for many more months, even if there is some easing of restrictions? that was absolutely the line that was stressed during this press conference. people are aware that this will be the norm in terms of social distancing for months to come until they find a vaccine. and he said if we love italy we will keep our distance and he was stressing at each moment that social distancing will be the absolute priority when restrictions are raised. he said in some instances you will have to wear a face mask and he also said that the government will be able to monitor the infection curve and if infections rise again the government will have powers to intervene and reimpose certain restrictions. this isa reimpose certain restrictions. this is a cautious unlocking, a cautious easing of the restrictions but this country which has endured real hell

for eight weeks, 89 weeks since those infections began in northern italy, this is a taste of freedom. —— eight weeks, nine weeks since those infections began. how is the prime minister dealing with the crisis? giuseppe conti was an unusual choice for prime minister. he was plucked from obscurity as an academic and not intended to be prime minister. but he has absolutely soared in popularity during this coronavirus outbreak and he leads a fractious coalition government the poles consistently show that the vast majority of italians think he is doing a good job and that is the case with other leaders around the democratic world where they have also got a boost from their handling of the outbreak thatis from their handling of the outbreak that is certainly the case here in italy. spain, which has had one of the strictest lockdowns in europe, is now allowing children

to leave their homes if they are with an adult for the first time in six weeks, and the government is hoping to extend the relaxation further so that everyone can exercise outside. there have been more than 23,000 confirmed deaths in the country, with 288 reported today, the lowest number in well over a month. damian grammaticas has more from madrid. released... ..after 42 days cooped up inside. all six members of this family, finally today able to get out of their apartment block. spain's lockdown rules banned children from going outside. so while the boys played cluedo, the six—year—old had the balcony as her playroom. but today, spain relaxed those rules. eight million children, freed from their confinement. translation: i was bored inside. i don't like it. i want to be outside.

now they can, for an hour a day. and this is what the boys have missed most, a kickabout. for them, it was the hardest thing. yeah. playing football, they love it. they... they miss it really much. they couldn't do this in your apartment. no, no, no! they are not allowed to do it. i couldn't go out for 40 days. well, me and all my family are people who like to go out and have fun outside. but this opening up is limited. almost everyone in spain is still confined, allowed out only for essential tasks. spain has some of the toughest lockdown restrictions of any country in europe. it's why it's still so quiet here. if the rate of infections continues to decline, though, the prime minister says adults may be allowed out to exercise, but only

in a week's time. today, though, was the children's day, maria's day. for six weeks, maria and pablo had been stuck with a tantalising view of the park across the road. and that's what she made a beeline for as soon as she was outside. "papa", the four—year—old says, "look at this, look at this! "look what i have for mum." before heading off to pick some more. spain's moves are cautious. more than 23,000 people have died here, and no one wants to take risks. translation: of course it's worrying. a lot of people have been infected and we worry about the older generation. at least paloma can now catch up with friends from a distance, while maria gets used to life in a mask and the smalljoys of being outside. damian grammaticas, bbc news, madrid.

in other news tonight, police have launched a murder investigation after a baby girl and a three—year—old boy were stabbed to death at a property in ilford, east london. police were called out in the early evening to reports of a man and two children injured at a home in aldborough road north. our correspondent charlotte gallagher is here. charlotte, what do we know so far? well, as you said, police, paramedics in the air ambulance were called to this home at ilford at around 5:30pm this evening. a % around 5:30pm this elem girl