you're watching bbc news you're this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. how did we get from your prediction of zero to 1 million? well, it will go down to zero, ultimately. a third of all deaths linked to coronavirus in england and wale are now happening in care homes. france will ease its restrictions from next month but masks will remain a way of life. and as japan's olympics boss warns the games might be scrapped if they don't take place next year we'll ask a former olympic executive

just why changing the date can be so problematic. hello and welcome to audiences in the uk and around the world. we're covering all the latest coronavirus developments here in britain and globally. first... with more than a million coronavirus cases the united states is now the world's epicenter of the coronvirus outbreak, accounting for more than a third of all global known infections. that's roughly four—times that of the 2nd—worst affected nation, spain. the milestone comes as more states take steps towards re—opening parts of their economy. jane o'brien has the latest. a salute to the covid—19 warriors, the blue angels and thunderbirds

paying tribute to those on the front lines in the battle against coronavirus. they flew formation across the northeast, and uplifting spectacle for the residence and lockdown. new york continues to be the worst hit but today a glimmer of hope. but we had seen is clearly progress and it gets us closer to the day where we can. sta rt start to make some of the moves to start to make some of the open things up. but i had said it before and we will be cautious and careful and governed by the facts. more than one million people in the us are now known to have been infected and the emphasis is on more testing. in manhattan, people lined up at the latest facility. other states are moving faster even without the recommended levels of testing. georgia has taken a aggressive steps to restart its economy, opening salons, gyms, restaurants and some salons. making plans even if they have no clear timeframe. it will go down to zero ultimately

and when it comes to cases we do more testing than anyone else and we will show more cases because we do more testing, double than anybody else and someone said if you. and at an appropriate time it will be down to zero said. though some businesses open their doors, it is not clear whether it some americans at home will open there is. consumer spending drives the us economy but with no clear ——cu re to coronavirus and social distancing the only proving clear so far, they may not feel safe enough to spend outside. a third of all deaths linked to coronavirus in england and wales are now happening in care homes according to the latest figures. 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 cecelia'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's been barrier nursed. they lock down early, have areas set aside for nursing coronavirus patients, 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, they asked me. 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're doing a job equal to anyone in the national health service. information collected up to last friday suggesting debts and care homes are still rising. even so homes are still rising. even so homes like this one continued to struggle to get the testing for protective equipment that they need. there are far more people being careful and outside the nhs and in the nhs. ithink careful and outside the nhs and in the nhs. i think it's been too little too late. the government says mobile units and home kids are making testing easier. and that all residents and staff will be eligible for checks. it insists it's also providing millions of pieces of protective equipment. but that offers no comfort here. she is struggling to explain to her granddaughter why her mother, i care worker, isn't coming home. 26—year—old sonia died of

coronavirus. herfamily 26—year—old sonia died of coronavirus. her family say she loved herjob coronavirus. her family say she loved her job looking 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 sonia had bought online to protect yourself. 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. in time there will be questions that many families need answering about the impact the virus and care home. until now, the virus has largely been concentrated in europe, the united states and china —— where health systems are well established. developing countries —— so far have been less affected —— but are particularly vulnerable should the virus takes hold. and the dangers are amplified in parts of the world affected by conflict as our middle east editor jeremy bowen explains.

welcome home, syrians face 14 days quarantine in regulate disinfectant dormitories. the last theory and profit out against the regime. with almosti million people by war. social distancing and washing hands are not easy if you live in a tent with little or no clean water. she knows all about the coronavirus but much more about sudden death. she's ten, her brother mohammed is 13. they've been bombed and shelled for most of their lives. she fares chemical weapons more than virus but she still scared. translation: yes i am because it would spread rapidly. people gathered to get bread lots of people in a small place. 300 people for share toilets. more than 300. if

someone for share toilets. more than 300. if someone catches it, the whole camp would be infected in a day. even before the pandemic yemen was locked in the worlds worst humanitarian crisis. across the middle east at least 60% of people are under 30. as a plus in the fight against the virus but it could be cancelled out by illness, poverty, malnutrition and war. the us aid organisation international rescue committee works in 30 forfragile international rescue committee works in 30 for fragile countries and sees disaster looming. we think that behaving tonight between half a million and a billion people could become infected in those countries. and between one and a half a million people are in risk of dying. how confident are you about the numbers? if you're it's also down is only few data leaders. if you're in syria areas are being bound by the government in the last six months. i fear if anything this will be in

under estimate not an overestimate. in afghanistan he treats moral casualties. now he's in another fight. we are soldiers. we are caught on the front line but without weapons and ammunition. we don't have any number of ppe kit. the challenge is huge. rich nations that might have helped are struggling. even though they have individual hospitals with more ventilators than entire countries. and time is short. let's take a look at some other stories making the headlines in the uk today. british airways is set to make up to 12,000 workers redundant. its parent company —iag — announced the planned job cuts as revenues had plunged 13% in the first quarter of the year. british airways has currently

furloughed its 22 and half thousand employees. iag says the recovery of passenger demand to 2019 levels will take years. in scotland, the government is advising people to wear cover theirfaces in enclosed public spaces, such as on public transport and in shops, in order to prevent the spread of coronavirus. the announcement marks a divergence with the uk—wide approach, with borisjohnson‘s government reportedly considering scientific evidence for introducing similar advice. a minute's silence was held across the uk this morning to commemorate the essential workers keeping the nation going, in the face of personal danger. more than a hundred nhs and care staff have died with coronavirus, as have many other key workers. china has insisted it should not be blamed for the covid—19 outbreak and has suffered along with the rest

of the world during the pandemic. president trump has made it clear he feels beijing should have done more when the virus first emerged. but speaking to stephen sackur on our hardtalk programme, china's ambassador to the uk said, it was the virus, rather than his country, which the us should be targetting. i think presidency and president trump keep a very close contact. they are two telephone conversations. compare notes. ijust wa nt to conversations. compare notes. ijust want to let american know that china is not an enemy of the united states. this virus is the enemy of the united states. they need to find the united states. they need to find the right target. and you'll be able to watch stephen sackur‘s full interview with the chinese ambassador to the uk on hardtalk here on bbc world news on wednesday and thursday. the head of the tokyo olympics says

the games will be scrapped altogether if they can't take place next year. it follows the decision to postpone the games from 2020 tojuly 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic. let's take a look at the sums involved: the official budget for the games is $12.6 billion, following the construction of numerous venues including a national stadium and athletes' village. but japanese media has reported that the figure could be much higher. and an eye—watering $2.8 billion dollars is how much the delay is expected to cost although an official figure is yet to be released. i'm joined now by michael payne who was the international olympic committee's marketing and broadcast director for many years. this has happened to japan before. i was reading back in 19 a0 during a

japanese war, it was going to be held, in helsinki and then scrapped altogether because of the second world war. do you thinkjapan will be forced to scrap this?” world war. do you thinkjapan will be forced to scrap this? i hope not. let's be clear. it 16 months away. now that the postponements been decided an awful lot can happen in that time. i think everybody hope that time. i think everybody hope that the world will be back to normal by summer 2021. these classes we just seen normal by summer 2021. these classes wejust seen are normal by summer 2021. these classes we just seen are gigantic. who would cover those? aren't these costs insurable, where they have been insured or will this fall to japan in the big tv sponsors? eight lot of the costs are insured that i'll be honest, i struggle with some of those calls. tokyo will be my 20th olympic games. that summer and winter. and normally in organising committees because if you exclude the capital expenditure, is between three and for $1 billion. all of that investments been made. they

built all the venues, but the technology infrastructure together. so you're not only talking about keeping the committee but the people running for the next 12 months. they haven't declared what the true costs will be. it will be important. but i don't understand how it is going to be billions of dollars when you look at the cost of all the previous games. 0k, and the cost for a postponement, how big will of those have been? because that's where we are at the moment, isn't it? that is where we are at but the organising committees already done all that heavy lifting. they built the venues, the infant structure, all the investments been made. so you are now just the investments been made. so you are nowjust keeping the machine running for an extra 12 months. that's a fraction of the real cost of staging the games. the problem is just briefly, a vaccine needs to be developed. that could be a year or so developed. that could be a year or so away which would push the olympics off the schedule. and presumably athletes himself, young, fit people wouldn't be at the top of

the blast to get the vaccination in the blast to get the vaccination in the first wave, anyway with a?|j think everybody‘s hoping that we can see a vaccine before the end of this year. a lot of sports are already planning to come back in september 01’ planning to come back in september or sooner. planning to come back in september or sooner. as i said, the games are 60 months away. three months ago the japanese didn't even want to postpone the olympic games. they said that was impossible. the ioc said that was impossible. the ioc said look, the world situation under the advice of the who, you have to postpone. let's see what the next 16 months brings. stay with us on bbc news, still to come, understanding immunity. we'll look at whether you can get covid—19 a second time, after you've already recovered.

this is bbc news,

the latest headlines, the united states now has more than one—million known coronavirus infections. president trump claims the us has more cases a third of all deaths linked to coronavirus in england and wales are now happening in care homes according to the latest figures. in france, the government will relax the lockdown measures from the middle of next month. schools and shops will begin reopening, and people can travel within 60 miles of their home. but that depends on infection rates remaining low. our paris correspondent lucy williamson reports. the idea is that may the 11th, two weeks from now will be the kind of turning point. in the french reaction to the coronavirus after

which things start moving towards a new normality. that will be the date at which the confinement which will two months to an end. but it will be gradual and progressive. the key points that he wanted to make or one, we have to learn to live with the virus. it's not to go away. to any change will be progressive and introduced with a series of checks to make sure that targets will be met and if they're not being met then we will go back. and three, there is room for a certain amount of regional adaptability. in other words, department x in the south of the country with very few cases does not necessarily have to have the same rules of department why in the north of the country or east of the country with very urban environment and a lot of cases. these are the sort of guiding principles which will allow us to move from may the 11th into this new world in which for example, schools, primary schools initially will be open. shops will be open. businesses will

be open but all within the constraints of a very, very different way of operating governed by social distinctions. in the way of mast and has which of course are going to be coming in big time and a couple of weeks. as the pandemic and lockdown continues, the united nations has highlighted that women in low and middle income countries as the pandemic and lockdown continues, the united nations has highlighted that women in low and middle income countries may be at a higher risk of gender based violence. and its specically these women who could have trouble accessing contraception as a result of health services being overloaded. there are also fears that child marriages may end up increasing as a result of the virus. to discuss this, is dr natalia kanem, the executive director of the united nations sexual and reproductive health agency. these are large numbers. have you modelled this and if so, in which countries and are there any cases of this already? well, tim, this has

been research as part of a consortium. the un's secretary direction with directed all participate in. for example, victoria university in australia, john hopp skin university, the model is conservative. so the numbers that lam is conservative. so the numbers that i am quoting from our studyjust released of upwards of a7 million women who may not be able to access contraception, leading to 7 million unintended pregnancy in the next six months, these are conservative values with a rigorous methodology. and this is because the supply lines themselves will be exhausted or people just won't be able to acquit attend clinics either through fare clinics being overloaded with covid—19 cases? clinics being overloaded with covid-19 cases? well, it's a dual prompt issue. and may i say that regardless, during a pandemic there isa regardless, during a pandemic there is a crisis within a crisis when a

woman and a girl cannot access vital life—saving care. so when you've alluded to is that the health systems especially in the 150 locations where unfpa is working can be weak. there can be difficulty even under the normal system to access maternity care, contraception, treatment for gender—based violence counselling, this type of thing. i'm sorry we haven't got a great deal of time but are not point gender—based violence, violence against children violence marriage. how does affect her and? it factors in because a weak health system is not responding during a pandemic. resources are diverted. the second issue which you put on the table is at the supply chain is disrupted. so if there is no there there when you arrive we insist that women and girls issues should be prioritised was that that they should not be set aside for another day. that this is part and parcel of

life, of survival. 0k, very good to speak to you. i'm sorry we didn't have more time. 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. our 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. 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. now — for those who need ‘extra' reason to stay inside and follow lockdown rules. how about this? an alligator in south carolina has given one family extra motivation to stay indoors. the snappy alligator hung around outside theirfront door until security guards were able to capture and release it — into a nearby lake. definitely one —to social distance from.

free to roam another day. we are backin free to roam another day. we are back ina free to roam another day. we are back in a few minutes' time with more headlines and another look at the international papers. hello again, it's been the sunniest april on record. up until today it was unusually warm and unusually dry. but all that change across england and wales today. this was yesterday and although the heat was more limited months to look to 19 degrees. a significant drop in the cloud and rain today. and in coventry it was only 7 degrees this afternoon. she was in wet weather around at the worst that rain pushes away easter it. it stays cloudy and misty some he'll fog some drizzle around as well. where we had the clearing skies across northern and eastern scotland as the showers reduce, so they could be a touch of frost but elsewhere, temperatures remain six or 7 degrees. and whilst it's running a bit drier figfirfiléfif -