tonight at 10:00 — the total number of deaths in the uk during the week after easter was much larger than initially reported, and double what's normally expected. and a third of all deaths linked to coronavirus in england and wales are now happening in care homes, as relatives describe their loss. she wasn't eating or drinking and then itjust came that theyjust said to come and see her and i knew then that that was the end of her life. during the day, ministers announced that millions more people will be eligible for testing, including care home staff and residents. also tonight... in scotland, the government recommends that people should cover the mouth and nose

when in enclosed public spaces. a minute's silence observed across the uk to remember the key workers who've died in the struggle against the pandemic. british airways warns that 12,000 jobs could be lost, as demand for air travel collapses. and a warning about the dangers of resuming the football season before it's judged safe to do so. and in sport, concerns as the tokyo 0lympics chief says if the postponed games can't go ahead next year, they will have to be scrapped completely. good evening. a third of all deaths linked to coronavirus in england and wales are now happening in care homes, according to the latest figures.

and that's against the context of the wider picture across the uk because the total number of deaths during the week after easter was much larger than initially reported and double what would normally be expected. in the week of the 17th of april across the uk, nearly 2,400 people in care homes died with coronavirus — twice as many as the week before. but the number of deaths in hospitals is going down overall, 586 deaths have been recorded in the past 2a hours. that brings the total number of coronavirus deaths reported in this daily tally to 21,678. the daily figures mainly cover deaths in hospital. the care sector says it's now the real front line in the battle against the pandemic, as our social affairs correspondent alison holt reports. at st cecilia's nursing home in scarborough, like many homes across the country,

they believe the fight they've been waging against coronavirus for weeks is only now being reflected in officialfigures. this is the area that we will have for anyone that is being barrier nursed. they locked down early, have areas set aside for nursing coronavirus residents, and people stick to their rooms, but still, across the three homes in the group, they've had 11 deaths, four confirmed as covid—19. i was called and did see her for the last, on the day that she died... one of the residents who died was reg kemp's wife liz. they were married for more than 50 years, and she loved spending time with her grandchildren. he says staff did all they could for her. ijust hope that the ministers do recognise the wonderful work that's gone on and goes on up and down the country in nursing homes just like where liz was. they are doing a job equal to anyone

in the national health service. the latest official figures from england and wales, combined with numbers from scotland, show that in the week ending april 17th there were nearly 8,000 deaths in care homes. that's an increase of almost 2,500 from the week before. nearly a third of those were recorded as linked to covid—19. the equivalent figures are not available for northern ireland. information collected by the care regulator up to last friday suggested deaths in care homes are still rising. even so, homes like this one continue to struggle to get the testing and protective equipment they need. there are far more people being cared for outside the nhs than in the nhs and they all need looking after. they deserve better than they've got. i think it's been too little, too late. the government says mobile units and home kits are making testing easier and that all residents and staff will be eligible for checks. it insists it is also

providing millions of people providing millions of pieces of protective equipment. but that offers no comfort here. ayse is struggling to explain to her two—year—old granddaughter why her mother, a care worker, isn't coming home. 26—year—old sonya kaygan died of coronavirus. her family say she loved herjob looking after others, but they want people to understand the anguish and questions they are left with. they showed us the mask that sonya had bought online to protect herself. i believe what my sister has confirmed, that they have arrived when she was in hospital. so, too late for her? too late for her. sonya was one of the kind—hearted persons. she cared for others, she loved her life with others. in time, there will be questions that many families need answering about the impact of the virus on care homes. alison holt, bbc news.

the scottish government says it's decided to recommend that people should cover the mouth and nose when they're in enclosed public spaces such as supermarkets, or on public transport. the first minister nicola sturgeon said people should continue to follow social distancing guidelines, but that using face—covering would provide extra protection to other people. but scientists advising the uk government say that wearing a mask has only a small effect on stopping a coronavirus carrier from infecting someone else. 0ur scotland editor sarah smith has the story. some do, some don't. face coverings are becoming more common. now you are advised, in fact, expected, to wear one in scotland in busy places. a move that may help protect others, but won't necessarily stop you from getting the virus. especially the supermarkets, i don't like how close people are, so, yeah, probably will have to start wearing one. i don't feel particularly comfortable wearing it, but i would for the time i was in a situation

where it would maybe protect me or somebody else. nicola sturgeon sees the same scientific advice as the uk government. she is happy to reach her own conclusions and make different recommendations. there may be some benefit in wearing a face covering if you leave the house and enter an enclosed space where you will come into contact with multiple people and safe social distancing is difficult. would you go so far as to say it's our duty to do that if we are in crowded spaces? i believe right now that all of us want to do everything we can to protect each other from this virus, and this is an additional way that we can do that. 0n public transport, or anywhere it's hard to keep your distance, the hope is face covering could stop people who are infected but don't yet know it, from spreading coronavirus. the advice from the scottish government is to wear a face covering, definitely not a medical mask. so you could just pull a scarf over your face. or you could make one yourself with any piece of fabric, some kitchen towels and a couple

of elastic bands. it's not compulsory to wear a face covering in scotland, but the government say it could become so. as home sewers get busy, the advice is to cover your face as well as staying at home and social distancing. is it a concern that people wearing masks might think they are better protected than they really are and start taking risks? there is no study that shows that happens, and it's a bit like arguing that if you wear a seat belt you will drive dangerously. uk government advice says evidence on the benefits of face masks is weak. westminster would prefer all the devolved nations follow the same script, but the scottish government are confidently moving in a different direction. sarah smith, bbc news, glasgow. the health secretary for england, matt hancock, says a ‘mammoth effort‘ is under way, to get protective equipment to front line workers. his remarks follow a bbc panorama investigation,

which claimed the uk government had ignored warnings, from its own advisers, about the availability of personal protection equipment. 0ur health editor hugh pym has more details. hospital staff treating the sickest coronavirus patients need appropriate personal protective equipment, known as ppe, including gowns. but surveys of some doctors suggest a proportion of them still feel they cannot always get the right kit. i have been in a position where i know where i'm coming towards the end a shift and i know that as things stand, or stood at that moment in time, that the gowns that we had at that time would run out at some point during the next day. i have been lucky because my trust has managed. hospital managers say supply problems are easing, though it is still difficult to find gowns and visors. the government has been accused of not building up stocks early enough and allowing guidelines to be altered to protect supplies. the bbc‘s panorama programme revealed that injanuary,

covid—19 was designated a high consequence infectious disease. but in march, this was changed, and a lower level of ppe was required with aprons rather than gowns for some staff. the government says this was based entirely on scientific consideration as to the nature of the infection. what assurances can you give front line staff that there will be adequate supplies of ppe in the days and weeks ahead? we have been moving heaven and earth to get the amount of ppe that we need to the front line, both buying it from abroad and also then distributing it. that system is getting stronger all the time. doctor abdul mabud chowdhury died earlier this month soon after urging the government to give nhs staff more ppe. today his son challenged the health secretary on a radio phone in. do you regret not taking my dad's concerns seriously enough? my dad that we have all lost. intisar, i'm really sorry

about your dad's death. we took very, very seriously what your father said and we have been working round the clock to ensure there is enough protective equipment. more ppe is arriving. this flight landed with a consignment today. with a very clear message to those who are going to use the equipment. hugh is here. when we look at today's figures, we are always looking for trends and the latest signals. what do you take out? up to and including today, the daily death figure has been broadly speaking just from hospitals but from tomorrow we will get a daily figure from care homes as well, which will be interesting to see. today we got an international comparison which makes very interesting reading on both measures. we can take a look at it 110w. measures. we can take a look at it now. in each country it shows the

number of deaths after the first 50 recorded in each instance. the two red lines for the uk, first of all in uk hospitals which has been broadly tracking france and italy, and uk all settings, including care homes and community, two weeks behind because of the lag in data and that is rising faster, and it is quite a stark finding. but deaths are measured differently in each country and france includes care homes and italy does not. we are still talking about testing today. it has been a persistent theme. the government has been under a lot of pressure on this issue. what is the latest initiative that ministers have unveiled on that? and online booking scheme for key workers was set up last friday and it will now be extended to a lot more people, all people over 65 and their households with symptoms. people who have to leave home to go to work and their households with symptoms. everybody in care homes, residents and staff, whether or not they have

symptoms. the latest daily figure was 43,000 tests. matt hancock's target for the end of the month, thursday, is 100,000. a minute's silence was observed across the uk this morning to remember the essential workers who are sustaining public services — often at risk to their own lives. more than 100 nhs and care staff have died from the effects of coronavirus, as have many transport and other key workers, as our correspondent daniela relph reports. the familiar marker of remembrance in unfamiliar times. they paused for those dying now, working to protect and look after us.

political leaders from all four nations also stopped

at derby and burton nhs trust, three members of staff have now died. consultant amged el—hawrani, fellow consultant manjeet singh riyat, and at the weekend, hospital cleaner eileen landers. she had been with us quite a long time and was really well loved. she was described as somebody with a heart of gold who always went the extra mile. today's silence was for all essential workers who have died, a tribute to their bravery. fear and apprehension is not a sign of weakness, it's what makes us human. i feel that every worker in this country has been exhibiting immense courage. after a minute the silence was broken. applause today was about remembering, but also another chance to say thank you. daniela relph, bbc news.

british airways has warned it could make up to 12,000 workers redundant because of the collapse in air travel caused by the pandemic. its parent company predicts that it will be several years until demand returns to the level seen last year, as our transport correspondent tom burridge reports. parked up for weeks. but no one knows when they'll be flying again. tonight british airways' parent company announced plans to lay off up to 12,000 staff. that's more than a quarter of its entire workforce. in a letter to staff, ba's boss said it was unclear when countries will reopen borders. so the airline had to be reimagined and reshaped. he said substantial change was required to get through the pandemic and withstand longer term reductions in customer demand.

the pilots and staff that work for british airways are shocked. i've been in touch with some of them this evening. it is a real bolt out of the blue. now begins a tricky negotiation with the unions. british airways didn't ask for any government bailouts. they told their workforce that they would survive quite comfortably and lo and behold they turn around and announced 12,000 job losses. now they've got to come up with some very, very good reasons for that. i'm not convinced about any of those reasons yet. i suspect there's a bit of opportunism going on here by british airways. ba's transatlantic rival virgin atlantic is in a much worse financial position. it has applied for a bailout from the government. first it needs to attract new investors. it's a hugely competitive industry and it's populated by a lot of low—cost carriers which operate

on the thinnest of margins. and we could possibly be seeing an end to cheap air travel anyway. paying to park and maintain them is costly. some aircraft are leased for huge sums so airlines are haemorrhaging cash. more job losses elsewhere are almost inevitable. tom burridge, bbc news. the government's scientific advisors have confirmed, again, in the clearest terms, that some social distancing measures will be in force until the end of the year — and quite possibly into next year. among the businesses most likely to be affected in the longer term is the hospitality sector, with pubs and restaurants already badly hit. our business editor simonjack has more details. bell rings the closing bell. it's five weeks since the coronavirus rang time on the hospitality industry, and the government says venues big and small across the uk could be among the last to leave the lockdown.

social distancing of two metres will be here for months, and venues like pippa cole's cafe in chester are barely two metres wide in places. we have such a small cafe, even if we did take tables out and tried to reconfigure the layout, it would be extremely difficult to keep the social distancing required. we have to think about our customers as well as our staff. remember this? seems like a long time ago. fuller's operate 400 pubs and restaurants, and the boss says even in bigger venues, social distancing will make life difficult, and frankly miserable. you think of the practical problems of going to the loo, being served at the bar, being served a plate of food at your table, and then you align that with the fact we go to a pub to socially interact with friends. it simply wouldn't be the same,

having a two metre gap. it would be a very soulless experience. would that be financially viable? it would mean that our revenue would be down as much as 80%, but our costs would go up, so it's actually, potentially, more catastrophic for the sector to operate under social distancing guidelines than it is with us being closed down at the moment. fuller's has 5,000 workers whose wages the government is paying under thejob retention scheme, orjrs. that's until the end ofjune. then what? we visited this east london venue the day the job retention scheme was announced. it has worked up to now, but there are grave warnings about the very near future. at the start of all this, we had 100 employees. we put 90 onto furlough. if thejob retention scheme is not extended beyond the end ofjune, i doubt very much we will have more than seven employees still working in the business, it is that serious for us. i think that more than half of hospitality businesses and perhaps as many as 2 million jobs are at risk. this is notjust about missing a night out. it's about large parts of an industry going missing. but the wages tab tojune could hit

£50 billion and the government knows it can't pay it forever. simon jack, bbc news. a paper published in the medical journal the lancet today has highlighted what is known and not known about immunity after a person has been infected with coronavirus. understanding the nature of immunity is key to developing successful treatments and vaccines, as well as helping governments decide on the way various lockdowns might be relaxed. 0ur science correspondent rebecca morelle has been investigating. it's the virus that has mobilised the world's scientists. and a majorfocus now is how the immune system responds to it, because understanding this could help us to stop covid—19 spread. and the big question is, if you've had the virus, are you immune or can you catch it again? how does immunity work? the coronavirus is covered in spikes which allow it to dock

onto a structure on the surface of our cells. it is like a key opening up a lock, so the virus can enter and infect the cell. to fight this off, we produce antibodies. these block the spike. it is like a cap covering the key. it means the virus cannot get in and replicate, so eventually it is killed off. the antibodies, though, stick around. the idea is if the virus comes back, they can rally an immediate response. a small study revealed that monkeys who had the virus didn't catch it again a month later. for humans, though, there's still much we need to learn. early data's showing that there are antibodies being generated, but it is really important to follow up with more in—depth studies about whether these are the right kind of neutralising antibodies, because those are the ones that can then give protection if there is enough of them

and they last long enough. building up antibodies is just the first step. what scientists want to find out is how long any immunity last. what scientists want to find out is how long any immunity lasts. because covid—19 is so new, scientists are having to look at the viruses it is related to. from everything we know so far, it would be very hard for me to reassure you with any certainty that if you've been exposed to the virus you will definitely have protective antibodies in one or two or three or four years' time. so that makes it very hard to know how we would mitigate against a second wave if it comes along. coronavirus affect people in different ways. but does the severity of symptoms alter immunity? some people with covid—19 are so ill they end up in intensive care. but others have very mild or even no symptoms. scientists are trying to understand what difference this makes. people who've got severely ill make a lot of antibody in general and people who haven't got so ill make a lot less. what that means may be that people who've only had a mild infection

might lose their immunity faster than others and might not be protected if the virus comes back. scientists say we need answers on immunity urgently to determine the next steps to take in the fight against covid—19. rebecca morelle, bbc news. in france, the government has announced a significant relaxing of restrictions, from the middle of next month, which it says is necessary to prevent economic breakdown. the package of measures, which depends on infection rates remaining low, includes schools and shops reopening. and people will be able to travel within 60 miles of their home. 0ur paris correspondent lucy williamson has the story. of all the lessons learned during lockdown, the hardest for the government has been working out how to end it. aurelie's four children have been studying at home since the middle of march.

primary schools will reopen on the 11th of may but aurelie says it's too soon. translation: i don't think my kids are going back in may. i'm going to wait before i send them into a group environment. the prime minister warned today that france risked the collapse of society if it kept the restrictions in place for too long. translation: never in the history of our nation have we known a situation like this. not during war, nor occupation, nor in previous epidemics. never has the country been confined as it is today. it can't go on forever. if infection rates stay low, most major restrictions will start to be lifted next month. schools will begin opening from 11th may on a voluntary basis. all shops will reopen. and people will be free to move within 60 miles. but beaches, cinemas and large museums will stay closed. and a decision on bars and restaurants has been pushed back to the end of may.

pressure to lift the lockdown here is coming from the top. earlier this month, president macron set a date of 11th may to ease restrictions and start reopening schools. his government has quickly pulled together a plan for how to do that. but it's delicate, it's complicated and there is strong opposition from those on the ground. teachers' unions have described the reopening of schools next month as unworkable, even mission impossible. translation: the scientific advisers have proposed that classes are staggered, that the children are a metre away from each other at all times, that they shouldn't circulate in the corridors. all this will cause us enormous problems. the plan for lifting lockdown here rests on keeping new infections low, under 3,000 a day. some areas may need to relax the rules more slowly. but the task of containing this epidemic is shifting

from government responsibility to individual response. lucy williamson, bbc news, paris. hospices providing the most essential end—of—life care to thousands of people every day are having to transform how they deliver their services, and that often means strict limits on visitors. the government says it's working around the clock to ensure hospices have the equipment and support they need, but one hospice director says that they do feel like the forgotten sector in this pandemic. our special correspondent ed thomas has this extended report, which starts with the story of 57—year—old dina, who was a patient at east cheshire hospice. every day they're there for me, every meal time they bring me beautifulfood. they're just so kind, so considerate in every way.

dina's been in east cheshire hospice for eight days. a much—loved grandmother, mother and sister. coronavirus restrictions mean her family can't visit. these guys have replaced my family. i'm very happy, very at peace. my family are a little bit devastated they can't come. i've got six brothers and sisters. and i thought i'd never see them ever again. so these guys here have kept me going. dot taylor is 96. she's a great—great—grandmother. anybody who went round, they were always almost forced to have a bit of whiskey in theirtea. only because it flavours it! at the very end of a patient‘s life, two family members are allowed inside the hospice. so only now can chris and nigel be with their mum, even though she doesn't

have the virus. mum came in last wednesday. at that point, we were told no visitors until a few days before the end. what we haven't had is an opportunity to talk to my mum because we're almost now at that stage where she's not able to talk to us in that way. butjust listen to us. it's cruel in many ways. we'll eventually have to say goodbye to my mum. and that's a different level of cruelness. can't have a pint with my brother. i've just been saying that we're here, mum. just letting her know we're there for her. and just holding her hand, really. and that's it.

coronavirus has prevented some families from reaching their loved ones. i sat with a patient a couple of weeks ago. i said he was quite safe and that his family sent their love. and just told him not to be frightened. and just, like i say, held his hand and stroked his hand as he actually passed away. the hospice told us that five patients have died with suspected coronavirus symptoms. now all medical staff wear ppe. it's really hard, especially as most of us are huggers, aren't we? we are huggers, yeah. and the other day a patient said to me, she was upset and i couldn't hug her, and i said, "i'll send you a kiss." and she went, "caught it." eight staff members here have tested positive for coronavirus, five more have suspected symptoms. are you worried about coronavirus? yeah, of course.

absolutely, yes. you've got to get on with it, really. it's something we do, we can't just walk out.