this is bbc news. the headlines: the uk prime minister borisjohnson and his fiancee carrie symonds have announced the birth of a "healthy baby boy". both mother and baby are doing well and i'm sure the whole house will want to join with me in sending congratulations and our very best wishes to them. we all recognise the anxiety that the prime minister and carrie must haveve gone through in past few weeks, unimaginable anxiety, and so i really hope that this brings them incredible relief and joy. millions more people in england are eligible for covid—19 testing after the government loosens rules on who can apply. the us economy shrinks by nearly 5% — the biggest drop since the 2008 financial crisis. don't ignore symptoms of cancer — the warning from doctors as fears over coronavirus lead to a dramatic

fall in patient referrals how lockdown could sound the death knoll of thousands of high street shops with independent, family—run businesses hardest hit. this is bbc news and tributes are paid i‘m reeta chakrabarti. to the bollywood actor irrfan khan, the headlines at 4.30: the prime minister is back who starred in slumdog millionaire and life of pi, at work in number 10, who has died at the age of 53. after he and his fiancee carrie symonds announced the birth of their son this morning. he‘ll take a short paternity leave later in the year. millions more people in england are eligible for covid—19 testing, after the government loosens rules on who can apply. more than half of scotland‘s coronavirus deaths are now happening in care homes, new figures show. and the us economy shrinks by nearly 5% — the biggest drop since as news on the coronavirus pandemic continues to dominate, an announcement this morning the 2008 financial crisis. from downing street that caught everyone by surprise. the prime minister and his fiancee carrie symonds have had a baby boy. just days after borisjohnson returned to work after recovering from covid—19, and she'd had symptoms as well, there'll be a new resident at number 10. it all meant the pm wasn't present

at prime minister's questions where, once again, the focus was the government's handling of the pandemic. in the latest developments, all residents and staff in care homes across england can now get a test for coronavirus even if they've not shown any symptoms. patients with suspected cancer symptoms are being urged to contact their gp as research suggests there's been a 70% drop in the number of referrals since the pandemic was declared. and in the united states, latest figures show coronavirus has killed more americans than the vietnam war. more than 58,000 people have died. we'll have all the latest on the virus shortly, but first here's our political correspondentjonathan blake on that bit of good news from number 10. starting a new chapter back in december, boris johnson and carrie symonds returned to downing street after the conservatives' landslide election win. a lot has changed since then for them and for us all. amid everything, this morning, a new arrival was announced. a statement from downing street said...

both mother and baby are doing very well. in the house of commons, more muted than normal of course, the foreign secretary gave mps the news. i'm sure the whole house would want to join with me in sending congratulations and our very best wishes to them. and well—wishes from the opposition benches, too. can add my congratulations and the congratulations of the labour party, and i'm sure everybody in this house to the prime minister and carrie symonds on the birth of their baby boy. "some good news," tweeted scotland's first minister nicola sturgeon, "wishing health and happiness to the wee one." northern ireland's first minister, arlene foster, said it was wonderful news, adding there were more sleepless nights ahead. and mark drakeford, the welsh first minister, sent his to warmest congratulations to the couple on the birth of their son. we had been told the baby was due

in the early summer so the birth has come earlier than many expected. boris johnson's father, stanley, said he was absolutely delighted at the arrival of a new grandchild. in march, carrie symonds posted on instagram she felt incredibly blessed to be engaged and expecting a baby. weeks later, she and the prime minister were both self—isolating with symptoms of coronavirus. i still have a temperature and, so, in accordance with government advice, i must continue my self isolation until that symptom itself goes. he would go on to spend three nights in intensive care where, as he put it, it could have gone either way. boris johnson is fiercely protective of his private life. this is known to be his sixth child, only the third in recent history born to a serving prime minister. jonathan blake, bbc news. well, while all that was going on, the government announced that all residents and staff in care homes across england can now get a test for coronavirus even if

they've not shown any symptoms. this afternoon, the government will publish up—to—date figures for all coronavirus deaths, both in hospitals and care homes, for the first time. access to coronavirus home testing kits for essential workers ran out injust over an hour this morning, after the government widened access to millions more people. our health correspondent richard galpin reports. it is now known that thousands of elderly people have been dying in care homes. and finally the government is saying that all care home staff and residents can now be tested to see if they have the disease. the st cecilia's care home in scarborough has lost four of its residents to the virus. today staff have been logging on to the government's website to book tests for everyone. but it is not proving easy. we got onto the website very early this morning to see if we could actually book tests and there was no way we could see about getting tests for the residents on the website. we could see the staff portal

but that was the same as it was a few days before. i got the feeling that they were inundated this morning therefore perhaps were not quite sure what they might do and offer. many of those running care homes believe that the elderly and disabled have been left very exposed in this coronavirus pandemic. we have prioritised the nhs to get those tests first and i think that is right but we are already rolling it out to all care homes so they can all get a test today, if they need one. and that, for many care home residents, will have to be done inside the homes. we are also sending swabs directly to care home so in this model, a bunch of swabs are delivered, administered by the staff and sent back in the bunch, so that is the satellite model. there is also the pop—up centres, the mobile testing centres that can visit a care home and set up at the care home and test

staff and residents. beyond care home staff and residents, all people over 65 who have symptoms are now eligible for tests, as is anyone with symptoms who cannot work from home. along with all key workers who can already get tests, it is estimated with this latest expansion around 25 million people can now get tested, a significant proportion of the population. and with capacity being ramped up, the government says it is still aiming to hit its target of 100,000 tests taking place every day. even though earlier this week it was around 43,000. richard galpin, bbc news. 0ur chief political correspondent vicki young is in westminster. rather a lot on the plate of the prime minister. that's right, there was lots of speculation yesterday about why we were not being told who

was going to be doing pmp, prime minister's questions, for the government and i think possibly the reason was that they knew then that maybe something was about to happen and then, of course, that you suddenly this morning that a baby boy had been born. of course, boris johnson, well, quite a month. in intensive care in hospital in st thomas's after having very severe symptoms of coronavirus and then back to work just 48—hour symptoms of coronavirus and then back to workjust 48—hour is before a baby son was born, so lots of questions about whether the prime minister is likely now to take his paternity leave. of course, he is allowed to take that, but the suggestion is that that will not be happening anytime soon and, of course, it's easy to see why, given the huge decisions that he now faces about the country goes notjust with things like testing and getting all that sorted out, but how and when they start to ease the lockdown, so an awful lot to deal with but, of

course, huge congratulations being passed to the couple from lots of people including circular styler, the labour leader, who today talks about the huge anxiety that the couple must have felt over the last few weeks. mrjohnson has talked about it being touch in goal when he was in hospital with coronavirus, but now, of course, is a much happier news. a bit of light in so much darkness. we will get more figures, as we do every day, on deaths, but figures that will also include deaths in care homes and there really does seem to be a problem for the government on this issue, doesn't there? yes, there does. of course, they have been publishing those numbers of deaths happening in hospitals and the reason they talked about originally not doing other ones, collating them, they said it was very difficult. the nhs, as we know, it's pretty centralised and hospital trusts are used to reporting in statistics to the centre, if you like, and that is not the case with ca re like, and that is not the case with care homes. they are far more

disparate and run, of course, by lots of different organisations, so that was a problem. what they have done is gone and looked at the 0ffice done is gone and looked at the office of national statistics. they have been producing numbers but with about a ten day lag on those numbers. yesterday, the health secretary said they would publish them daily figures about deaths in ca re them daily figures about deaths in care homes and the community. we are not quite sure how they are going to be getting those given their problem with getting the statistics together, but lots of questions today are prime minister's questions about whether the government acted soon enough when it came to care homes in terms of testing, making sure that people working and living in those homes could get the tests and that has proven to be a problem, but i think all of that will be discussed later on at the press conference as well as, of course, that testing target of 100,000 tests carried out a day which, at the moment, the government still seems to be quite a far way. lots of pressure on matt hancock on that. what is at stake for him if he does

not reach that target? he has been asked about this and other time when he made this pledge, people were surprised with how we were with testing. the suggestion from behind—the—scenes is that he did that because he wanted to be ambitious and he wanted those involved to be ambitious, just to try and really ramp up those numbers because they were really so low. now, i think they will argue, lets wait—and—see, whether they reach that target or not, but i think they will argue that not matter what happens, there has been a large increase in the capacity but this has always been a bit of an issue that they have not been using the capacity, so you have seen the eligibility for these tests being widened massively in the last couple of weeks, saying that all sorts of people can now get this test. whether the system is working on the tests are being done and the results are coming back, we will learn all about that in the coming days but in the longer term, there is an issue that testing is seen as, if you like, way out of the lockdown. if

you can perhaps reopen schools, teachers will want to know they can get tests pretty quickly if they have symptoms and all of that is about trying to keep the virus suppressed so it is very important that these systems are all up and running. thank you very much. well, new figures from scotland show more than half of the coronavirus deaths recorded last week were in care homes. scotland first minister nicola sturgeon discussed the figures in her briefing a little while ago. the proportion of deaths in scotland in care homes whilst obviously deeply distressing is, however, broadly in line with the proportions being reported now from many other countries. that demonstrates again how crucial it is to make care homes as safe as they can possibly be during a pandemic of this nature. care homes have had strict guidance to follow since the 13th of march and it is incumbent on care home providers, whether they are in the public or the private sector, to follow and to implement that

guidance. the home secretary has announced free visa extensions will be automatically granted to more crucial overseas health and care workers. social workers and pharmacists, with visas due to expire before one october 2020 will receive an automatic one—year extension. it will apply to those working both in the nhs and independent sector and include theirfamily members. the same measure was announced last month for nhs doctors, nurses and paramedics. the us economy has shrunk by nearly 5% ending the longest expansion in us history as coronavirus virtually shut down the country. the gross domestic product figures show a 4.8% fall for the first quarter of the year that's the sharpest drop since the financial crisis of 2008. the latest figures from the department of commerce account only for the first three months of the year, which means figures for the next quarter are expected to be even more dramatic. lindsey piegza is chief economist at stifel,

a wealth management and investment banking firm. shejoins us now from minneapolis. so, in many ways, this is the tip of the iceberg. i am just wondering how the iceberg. i am just wondering how the united states, particularly donald trump, will react to this. well, as you mentioned, if i percent drop whilst unexpected mystique might hide the unexpected does solidify the fact that we were already heading into recession at the start of the year and this is before the hardest—hit is expected to come in the second quarter with most forecasts expecting a 30% drop when we look out to the second quarter, so this was a small decline, as expected, but hardly the worst to come. we are talking about a forced economic shutdown, stalling nearly every industry in the us economy. the fed is due to meet again shortly, they have slashed interest rates, relaxed banking rules, expanding and blending, what else can they do? at this point, we

do not expect much to be announced from the fed. as you said, rates are already at zero, they have committed to asset purchases and we have an series of nine leading accredited programme, so there's not much expected from the fed in terms of new policy initiatives, but we expect here from them regarding how those policies have succeeded in terms of stabilising the us market and whether a not they do expect to ta ke and whether a not they do expect to take further policy measures if these things processed beyond the first half of the year. lots of focus on the difference between state, federal and local government and how they are responding to this. where is the real pressure following your? well, right now, this is a very localised response. different states have different levels of cases and it is incumbent on those local and state governments to respond accordingly. the federal government has put out a general advisory, general guidelines and it is on the state and local

governments to determine how to implement those guidelines and whether or not we see some of those restrictions beginning to left as we have seen in georgia, colorado and a handful of other states you're in the us. the ramifications of the job losses are huge, particularly in america because as well as losing your job, america because as well as losing yourjob, you also lose your health insurance, don't you? absolutely, so what we have seen is the federal government step in with trillions of dollars trying to help stem that shortfall for businesses and workers. as you mentioned, we have seen nearly 26 million americans file for initialjobless claims, so the federal government has not only extended that programme but also extended that programme but also extended coverage and expanded coverage for americans in terms of health care, getting access left in the dark. what is this all doing in terms of presidents from's profile, his image in the united

states given what is going on, the personal controversy that surrounds him particularly over those bleach comments, we are all waiting for his next week to see how he responds to this. well, i think in the us, there isa this. well, i think in the us, there is a general sense of frustration, not necessarily aimed at the president directly but at government officials in totality because of the lack of response, because of the slow nature of the response which, to be fair, we did not have enough information early on so government officials did respond to the best that they could with the information they had but for the general american public, there is still a very high level of frustration, particularly as we see businesses close, workers forced to stay—at—home and, as i mentioned, nearly 20 69 americans now filing for first—time unemployment insurance. thank you so much for joining us from the neapolis. patients with suspected cancer symptoms are being urged to contact their gp

as research suggests 0ur reporter lucie kon has been to see how one of them works. we've got two different trusts operating... joanna franks is a consultant breast surgeon. in normal times, she splits her working week looking after nhs patients at university college hospital in central london and private patients here at the wellington hospital in north london. we have a 57—year—old lady with a right—sided small screening detected cancer... now, because of covid, her nhs team have relocated their entire service here. we have a series of theatres. they would ordinarily have gone to sleep in the anaesthetic room, but now they will go to sleep in the actual main theatre. it is one of 19 covid free cancer hubs. alliances between the nhs and private sector now up and running across england.

excellent, and i've checked the covid swabs, they are all negative... and they make sure it stays covid free by testing every patient for the virus before they are admitted. welcome everybody. so ben, are you going to take minutes for us? joe has weekly meetings with colleagues from the other hospitals in the alliance to decide who they can realistically treat. patients are prioritised according to new national guidelines and difficult decisions have to be made. for some patients it is very clear that they need to have time critical treatment and those patients will be put forward by their mdt to be discussed for prioritisation to make sure that they are going to get an operation slot. three weeks ago during coronavirus, covid—19, i was diagnosed with breast cancer. carine is still coming to terms with her breast cancer diagnosis. she is not a patient at one of the hospitals involved here. if we were not in covid i know that i would be on an operating schedule and have a date for a mastectomy,

with reconstruction. but because of covid everything is on hold. the bbc has been told of patients across the country who haven't been given surgery or treatments like chemotherapy because of covid. 0ne nurse has said that the treatment options are so limited at the moment that she has seen a dramatic increase in the number of patients having mastectomies without reconstructions. nhs england say essential and urgent cancer treatments must continue but that all decisions made have to be balanced against the risks posed by covid. lucy conn, bbc news. tributes are being paid two brothers, from south wales, who died side by side after contracting coronavirus. ghulam and raza abbas passed away within hours of each other at the royal gwent hospital just weeks after losing their father from ill health. their families have pleaded with people to stay at home and stop the spread of the disease.

colette hume reports. united in life, united now in death. brothers raza and ghulam died side by side in intensive care. they were just 53 and 59. at ghulam's home in newport, friends and neighbours come to pay their respects to his widow and two daughters. we were all hoping and praying that he would fall through, and my uncle also. but allah had other plans. it gives us a bit of comfort knowing they were together. i mean, they were in the hospital beds together, next to each other. so it's hard, but then at least we kind of comfort ourself thinking at least they are together now. and they didn't go alone, they had each other. just a few miles away, the family of ghulam's brother raza are grieving too. he was the father of two sons and a grandfather. he and his wife nicola had been together since they were teenagers. he was nothing but a true gentleman

with a heart of gold, and he would do anything to help anyone. i love you, raz. we will never forget you. and she has this message for those defying the lockdown. people going to beaches, having door—to—door barbecues, they do not realise how dangerous this virus is. in a blink of an eye, i've lost my husband and my brother—in—law. and i wouldn't wish this tragedy on anyone. please, stay away from each other, stay home and be safe. colette hume reporting. lam i am looking at the new figures from nhs england, the new figures for the numberof nhs england, the new figures for the number of deaths of people who have

tested positive for covid—19. number of deaths of people who have tested positive for covid-19. they have been a45 tested positive for covid-19. they have been 445 new debts which brings the total number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals in england as we await figures from homes and other committee figures and little later, but deaths in hospitals in england are now 19,740. of that increase of 445 deaths, 96 occurred on april 28, 148 occurred the day before with 42 of them occurring on april the 26th. they also show 116 of new debts which took place between april the 1st and the 25th. 43 of the deaths occurred in march with the earliest new debts taking place on march the 9th and you will be aware over the days of us you will be aware over the days of us bringing relentlessly these updated new figures, there are reasons for delays in bringing figures to you. it is whether the coronavirus was mentioned on death certificates and the details on

their death certificates as to whether coronavirus was part or reason for the death. they are releasing updated figures often including previously uncounted deaths which took place several days even weeks ago and, as i say, that is because of the time it takes for deaths to be confirmed as testing positive for covid—19. we are expecting updated figures for deaths in care homes, which many people are waiting to see because it will give the first real indication as to just how serious this problem is outside hospitals and in care homes and in the community. we have had total figures, but as i say, clearer figures, but as i say, clearer figures for a precise period will be coming out a little later and we will bring them to you. you are watching bbc news. there's more evidence this lunchtime about the huge impact coronavirus is having on our shopping habits. next has warned investors that sales could drop by 40%, while dixons carphone says online sales have soared by 166% in the past few weeks. retailers say the lockdown could lead to the permanent closure

of thousands of struggling high street shops. independent, family run businesses could be the hardest hit. 0ur consumer affairs correspondent sarah corker reports from county durham. you do have the doubt. should ijust close now, should ijust stop now, hand the keys back to the landlord and say thanks very much? martin wiseman swapped a career in a car factory to run a coffee shop. i first met him back in february when he was getting ready for opening. back then, he admitted it was a gamble investing in a high street where almost 25% of shops were empty. they can't get any lower than this, surely. if it gets any lower than this, they willjust bulldoze the place down. but it did get worse. he put his life savings into this business, but the week before he was due to start trading, britain went into lockdown. how long do you think you can last without it being

open? another month, possibly, before it dries up, before the money side of it dries up. i stay awake at night thinking i'm actually going to go bust before i even get a chance to open. retailers have warned that the very survival of our empty high streets will be decided in weeks rather than years and some businesses may never recover or reopen after such a sudden drop in trade. in march, the bbc launched its year—long high—street project, charting the changes of this north—east town. coronavirus has plunged seoul traders like bernie into turmoil. the financial side has just crippled me altogether. she ru ns just crippled me altogether. she runs her sewing business from her garage and says she feels abandoned by the government. i have never ever claimed anything of anybody. i have never been out of work and at the time whenl never been out of work and at the time when i could do with a little bit of help, i can't get any help.

so i'm quite bitter. because she works from home, bernie is not eligible for a one—off grant designed to help small businesses through this crisis. back on the high street, alex, though, could get financial help, a £10,000 grant and her landlord has given her a three month rent holiday. i know that we will be back after this, but it is concerning to think about the other shops in the street and if, when i come back, and i going to be the only one left on one of the only ones left? the great british high street was already struggling and some retailers may not recover from the economic damage caused by this pandemic. we are hearing that the labour leader, kier starmer, who was at prime minister's questions earlier and boris johnson the prime minister's questions earlier and borisjohnson the prime minister have spoken for about half an hour over the coronavirus response. they

have agreed to hold further discussions next week. a spokesman said they had a constructive conversation about the ongoing crisis and they agreed to have further discussions next week. of course, in the house of commons, keir starmer said the effort to source protective equip for health ca re source protective equip for health care workers is getting worse, not better. we believe they discussed this in their conversation. he is also questioning whether britain is on course to have the worst figures for coronavirus deaths in europe. so a discussion, as i say, between the labour leader and the prime minister has taken place with more scheduled for next week. revised plans to mark next month's 75th anniversary of ve day have been announced. the coronavirus outbreak means the usual street parties and parades planned for may eighth cannot go ahead. the queen will instead make a special address to the nation and people will be encouraged to join a doorstep sing along to dame vera lynn's wartime

anthem we'll meet again. now it's time for a look at the weather with nick miller. hello. more wet weather to come as we see several bands of rain spreading across the british isles for the next day or so. here is the one affecting us this afternoon pushing across more of northern and eastern england. for northern ireland and across southern areas of scotland, sometimes wetter here and then a brighter gap before more heavy downpours reach england and wales with many gusty wind as we go into this evening whereas our band of rain from today eventually goes across northern areas of scotland as the night goes on. many of us will see some rain or showers overnight, temperatures holding up into the mid or high single figures as we start the day tomorrow. there will be some drier moments tomorrow, some sunny spells, but the emphasis will be as low pressure remains in control a fair few heavy showers getting going during the day, particularly through england and wales into northern

ireland and southern scotland. some of these will be thundery with a risk of hail, gusty winds and very brisk winds right away through the english channel coasts as well and temperatures in the mid to low teens. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines: the prime minister borisjohnson and his fiancee carrie symonds have announced the birth of a healthy baby boy. millions more people in england are eligible for covid—19 testing — after the government loosens rules on who can apply. the us economy shrinks by nearly 5% — the biggest drop since the 2008 financial crisis. don't ignore symptoms of cancer — the warning from doctors as fears over coronavirus lead to a dramatic fall in patient referrals. how lockdown could sound the death knoll of thousands of high street shops — with independent, family run businesses hardest hit. and tributes are paid to the bollywood actor irrfan khan, who starred in slumdog millionaire and life of pi, who has died at the age of 53.

sport now, and a full round up from the bbc sport centre. hello, there, simon. the president of the international olympic committee, thomas bach, has admitted the postponement of the 2020 tokyo games means the organisation will have to shoulder several hundred million dollars of costs. the olympics and paralympics were due to take place this summer, but will now be held next year because of the coronavirus pandemic. iaaf president seb coe says any further delay may see the games called off altogether. i think it is pretty clear that you couldn't go on forever postponing an olympic games. there comes a point where that you do have to start posing questions, i hope we are a little way off that yet. 0ur ambition is to get the athletes back into competition as soon as we possibly can about only

when it is safe to do so. if it is not safe, then you cannot put them at risk. you should not be putting those communities that you want to be enjoying the sport at risk as well. at the moment is really trying to create some structures that with best endeavours we are able to fulfil. but i do not think any of us really know what the next few months is going to look like. in rugby, glasgow warriors head coach dave rennie has called for the pro 14 season to be stopped and unbeaten leinster awarded the title. that's despite the sports' bosses hopeful of still completing the competition and the english premiership season — even if it means a shorter break for players before a new campaign begins. rennie — who willjoin australia as a coach injune — said integrity was key in making any decision and that it would be hard not to award leinster the title. he's also worried about the impact it will have on players if they are made to play from this season straight into the next.

the england and wales cricket board are meeting later with the new 100—ball competition, the hundred, likely to be postponed until next year. with players joining from all over the world — it was due to start at the oval onjuly the 17th. cricket is suspended until the 1st ofjuly at the earliest. it has been a priority placed on international cricket, but obviously a lot of that depends on whether international travel is allowed by july, and there is also priority on the t20 which also includes all the counties, which is important for the health of the long game. i think there is a decision to be made on there is a decision to be made on the hundred competition, whether it is today or tomorrow, and that would just be a postponement, if anything, rather than cancellation, because that would be vital in the health of

english cricket over the next few yea rs. the chair of the scottish football league has insisted that dundee were not offered a sweetener to change their vote over ending the lower—league season. murdo maclennan also said that the motives of rangers should be considered after they called for an investigation into the league's handling of the ballot. our sports reporter kheredine idessane has more. the walls of worlds in scottish football shows no sign of letting up. there has been a blizzard of state m e nts up. there has been a blizzard of statements in the last couple of weeks and we just had the most recent today. a9 page open letter written by the professional football league chairman, murdo maclennan, which all refers to the controversial vote to end the season out with the premiership, but giving discretion to the spf l to call a decision of its own choosing which would effectively make celtic the champions. rangers very unhappy with

the process, they have called for an independent enquiry, and backed up in that by hearts stranraer. there will be an extraordinary meeting of all for clubs on may the 12th, but murdo maclennan says there will be expensive and contrary to the spirit of scottish football. distractions, scapegoating and sideshows are our enemy, he said. murdo maclennan says they were not offered any kind of sweetener. rangers say they have a dossier of evidence that there was a lack of fair dealing and that there was some bullying and coercion. we have spoken to the spf l chief executive, and will have that interview for you later this afternoon. afc fylde have disbanded their women's team because of

the coronavirus pandemic. they're believed to be the first women's side in the top 40 clubs across england to fold because of covid—19. fylde were ninth in the northern premier division of the national league — the third tier of women's football — when the season was suspended. that's all the sport for now. borisjohnson and his partner carrie symonds have announced the birth of their baby. the prime minister is expected to ta ke the prime minister is expected to take a short period of paternity leave at some point later this year. a spokesman says the prime minister is now back working at number ten following the birth of his son this

morning. so, a short period of paternity for the prime minister later this year. but what is it like giving birth during this pandemic? with me is dr mary ross—davie who is a midwife and the royal college of midwives director for scotland. also i'm joined by rose wilson who gave birth to a baby boy last month. how did that go? it was quite dramatic, it would be fair to say. i had an emergency c—section, and we went in when all the legislation was changed on an hourly basis, so there was a lot of worry, at the time. so, you presumably had plans, you get into the hospital, those plans mean nothing at that point. well, i was an induction, so i had a bit of a plan engine that i knew the baby was

coming the next day or two, but when we got to the hospital we were told that my partner wouldn't not be able to leave the ward, and that if he left he would not be allowed back, which is fine, but we were in a tiny room and we didn't have enough food, and my induction lasted 30 hours... 30?! yes. so, what did it mean to you in terms of how you are treated? were people allowed to get as close to you as you would expect? 0h, yeah, they got very close! it was fine. the midwives, i think because they knew the situation was so unique, they were incredibly kind and reassuring, but, like i said, while you're there it changed again, because my partner was told that once i had had the baby if you left he would not be allowed back, and i ended up staying in the hospitalfor

three days without him, and when we are there, it changed again, and the midwives ended up having to wear ppe, so it went from someone with their faces showing talking to us to gowns, gloves, face masks. so, you are nodding during that, presumably, what changes this meant for your profession? yes, i was nodding because it is so great to hear that thatis because it is so great to hear that that is what midwives do, even during the pandemic, we try to keep things as normal and positive as possible, and once we close the door of the room and we are with you during labourand birth, we are keeping things as normal as possible, and focusing on that, and there can be realjoy even during there can be realjoy even during the time of the pandemic, but as you mention, midwives are needing to wear masks and full ppe. that can change some of the dynamics, it can

be difficult to communicate, it can be difficult to communicate, it can be uncomfortable when you're wearing ppe for long periods. it's quite difficult for people to see that you are smiling when you're wearing a mask, so we have needed to the way that we work, and we know that this isa that we work, and we know that this is a really anxious time. it is anxiety provoking anyway, when you are waiting to give birth, but when you are doing this in the middle of a pandemic, it is hugely worrying, so a pandemic, it is hugely worrying, so we're really trying to make sure that we do try to give as much support as we can, and make sure the partners are there for as much of the time as we can, so during labour and birth, partners who are symptomatic and none on symptomatic marketer, one partner is welcome to be there. one of the things we have noticed on postnatal wards is that as partners aren't around so much that actually women are pulling back the curtains between the beds and talking to each other and spending time giving each other supports,

which has been a really nice thing that has happened on postnatal wards to that is a good thing. rose, i don't how your partner, if you have had symptoms or if coronavirus has affected you anyway, but were you asked as you are rushed in whether you had been exposed to the virus? yeah, we were. when we came onto the ward they asked if we had been coughing or had a fever, which luckily neither of us had, but i guess it is hard to know if you had it or not, because it seems that there are so many different symptoms of it, and before i went on maternity leave, that was the day before i went on with the day that pregnant women were advised to stay home, and a colleague of mine thought he might have had it, so i was nervous that i might develop symptoms, because like we did not know what that would mean, if i or my partner develop symptoms. picking up my partner develop symptoms. picking up on that point, there you are,

going through huge experience yourself, not having people's faces available, does that make a difference? you don't see the smiles, the encouragements. yeah, it made a huge difference, because i was hoping for a hypno bursting experience, —— hypno birthing experience, —— hypno birthing experience, which is quite relaxing, but there was a feeling that it was quite medicalised and quite scary, but the midwives were just incredible, and we try and turned it into a bit of a thing that they had to wear it, but we could see that this was smiling comic because they smiled their eyes, as well, and i felt very supported. absolutely, and what advice would you give to anyone watching now who may be expecting to go into hospital in the next few

weeks? should they be approaching something like this a little differently? i think there are three real things that people need to bear in mind. first of all, it is really protecting themselves against contracting covert. like all of us. so, really practising that social distancing, really washing their hands, all of those things, so that they do reduce their risk of contracting the virus in those last few weeks of pregnancy. i would also say it is really important that they focus on helping a healthy pregnancy, making sure that they get outside and get active, that they do focus on the mental well—being and relaxing as much as possible every day, taking vitamins including vitamins d, and also really noticing if they are developing any symptoms that are worrying if they are not feeling well, if they are getting very swolle n feeling well, if they are getting very swollen or if there is any bleeding or if they are worried about their babies movements, it is so about their babies movements, it is so important that they get in touch

with their midwife and they get those things checked out. so, it's also important to bear in mind about protecting the midwives, so, making sure that we are keeping our midwife say so they're able to still provide good care, so, talking to the midwives, if you have had symptoms of anyone in your household has had symptoms, and thinking how it should be when a midwife comes to visit you at home, so making sure the room that they are innocent really crowded with lots of people and that it is well ventilated, all of those things are really important, so we need to keep midwives safe as well as pregnant women say. in an ideal world, if tests were available easily, it would be useful if a prospective mother and father worked in and said, we are clear, here is a test result from an hour ago. yes, and that is such an important thing, and that is such an important thing, and it is changing. we have had letters coming out saying that people coming into hospitals should be of the tests, and so we are really wanting to make sure that

thatis really wanting to make sure that that is happening on maternity care, and we know that midwives also really need to access testing, and testing for their family, as well, so it is so important that we get that testing right and we really get that testing right and we really get that spread very quickly and make it accessible to midwives and accessible to midwives and accessible to midwives and accessible to pregnant women, and also accessible to women who are wanting to have their babies at home, notjust wanting to have their babies at home, not just women wanting to have their babies at home, notjust women coming into hospital. it is a key issue. thank you, rose, what is your baby's name? it is wealth. it is the you, rose, what is your baby's name? it is the laptop that it was in saint michael's hospital, ijust wa nt to saint michael's hospital, ijust want to say a massive thank you, because they were incredible, and very grateful to them. great to talk to boys. congratulations to you and to boys. congratulations to you and to wealth and to his father. the education secretary told mps this morning that schools in england are likely to re—open in a phased

manner but no date has been decided. gavin williamson said schools would be given plenty of notice and added there were no plans to open schools during the summer holidays. we are working very closely with the whole sector in terms of actually one is going to be the best time to bring schools fully back into rotation. we have set out five clear tests as to what is incredibly important and what will inform the opening of the schools, we want to make sure that schools are given proper notice, but we do not have the data is to when schools are going to be opening. the headlines on bbc news: the prime minister borisjohnson and his fiancee carrie symonds have announced the birth of a healthy baby boy. millions more people in england are eligible for covid—19 testing this

after the government loosens rules on who can apply. the us shrinks by nearly 5% — the biggest drop since the 2008 financial crisis. spain's prime minister has warned that his country faces a recession on an extraordinary scale as the country begins to restart its economy after one of the strictest lockdowns in europe. many fear the downturn could be much worse than the crash of 2008. damian grammaticas reports. in spain, the daily tally of the dead may be falling, but the lines of the hungry are lengthening. queueing for hand—outs to fill empty stomachs. a new wave of suffering brought by the virus is gathering force. norma, a cleaner, has lost all of her work. 300 euros a month is what she's left with.

the poorest being hit hardest. translation: the people whose house i was working at told me, "don't come any more until this is finished." now i don't know if i can even afford to pay my rent. the little she gets she shares with her brother. his work distributing flyers to homes has dried up and there are four in his household to feed. even in the worst of spain's economic crisis, those on the margins could find odd jobs — not now. assistance from others is all that's left. translation: every day we pray for help for the nation's volunteers and thanks to god we're getting them. it is a miracle. a miracle is what many of spain's businesses need too. the plan is they will start reopening next month but customer numbers must be limited. cafes can only serve outdoors. businesses, shuttered for weeks,

may struggle to survive. paco's come back to find the bills piling up, more than he thinks he's able to pay. if his restaurant fails, the five staff he's kept on will be jobless too. translation: even when we open, i don't believe people will go out like before — they'll be scared. nobody knows what is going to happen. we're all scared. those fears are felt right across spain, even in the smallest places. this bullring should be full now. this was it exactly a year ago. the annual fiesta, people crowded in from far and wide. now, nobody. these events help sustain economies in towns like this but how to restart them? events will be the last thing to reopen — just 400 spectators allowed, all spaced apart.

translation: it's a day when, in a small village like this, many thousands come. restaurants, hotels, shops — everyone will feel the impact. it's sad. spain's health emergency may be waning but an economic one isjust beginning to bite. damien grammaticas, bbc news. china has announced that its annual meeting of parliament — the national people's congress — will begin on may the 22nd. that's two months later than originally planned, because of the coronavirus pandemic, but a strong sign that beijing leaders believe the outbreak is under control. 0ur correspondent in beijing john sudworth explains more about the decision. i mean, the national people's congress is largely a rubber—stamp parliament, but it's very important nonetheless. notjust as a way of signalling the communist party's supreme authority, but also as way of unveiling new policy directions to the chinese people and the wider world. so its postponement, when that announcement

came back in february, was seen as a sign ofjust how serious this virus was. that announcement itself back then was shocking to many in china and a real wake—up call. but on the other side of the coin, this announcement today of course will be read as a clear signal that the authorities now think they have things well and truly under control. all right, big questions remain. normally, the national people's congress involves 3,000 delegates travelling from right across china, all gathering here in beijing, staying in hotels, bringing other staff members with them. that in itself of course poses an infection risk, and there has been speculation that the event at least in part may be held via video link, although at the moment no confirmation of exactly what those details are. i imagine that behind the scenes there is some careful planning under way to determine exactly how they're

going to approach some of those issues. a student nurse who spent weeks in a coma after contracting coronavirus said there were tears of joy when she finally returned home and saw her children. natasha jenkins, who is 35 and has three children, spent 22 days on a ventilator after falling sick just before mother's day. nick palit has been speaking to her. let them go by where you are, i think? panting. reunited with her children, natasha jenkins‘ back home in barry after a battle with covid—19 that saw her in a coma for 22 days. i was the youngest person in the hospital to have it. and i think people, i think a lot of people were thinking only older people were getting it. and i don't why i caught it. i don't know how i caught it. but i'm 35 years old, and it's like i'm currently disabled at the moment. even though she's been discharged from hospital,

it's going to be a long road to recovery, possibly up to a year. she's very weak and relatives have had to move into help her in the house. but natasha is just thankful to be alive. my kids were my main priority. i was terrified. i thought — in my head i thought i was going to die and i knew ijust needed to get home and see my children. heartbreaking, scary, especially to think i could have left them without a mum. natasha is a student nurse and had recently completed a placement at the university hospital of wales, only to return as a patient on itu. the care and treatment she's had has made her all the more determined to return to nursing herself. a lot of people are scared with the way things they are at the moment. but after what they've done for me, i would like to give something back. that was nick palit reporting from barry in south wales. it feels like you can't escape the internet now without coming

across a tiktok video. the chinese—owned app has become the world's most downloaded app this year — but is there more to its popularity and funny videos than meets the eye? sophia smith galer reports. how do you keep sane during the lockdown? is it with choreography like this? the next station is... recreating your morning commute? 0r setting up the local pub at home? anyone fancy a drink? barman, whatever they want, put it on my tab. for this family, tiktok has given them light relief during theirfurlough. not tonight, girls! you don't have an account, do you? no. but i do, my mum, sister and me. so we were just looking at funny ones and me and my sister do loads of the dancing ones together as well. we try and get mum in them and dad. before lockdown had even started, tiktok‘s popularity as a platform skyrocketed with a record number

of downloads worldwide in february. but they have also been criticised for not doing enough to stop the spread of misinformation on the platform. tiktok introduced a covid—19 sticker directing users to official sources, but people largely flock here for positive content. watching comic or inspirational videos for hours a day. but for those of us who make tiktoks as well as watch them, it isn'tjust about performing to the internet. what might seem like a little bit of fun on tiktok is also a record of our lives under lockdown. we are unwittingly documenting history as it happens forfuture generations. we are nowhere near done with how we archive internet data. we're just at the beginning of understanding what we should be doing to make sure we retain enough to enable social historians of the future to understand how we dealt with the covid crisis. mia and mia's dad, how does it feel that one day somebody might take your tiktok that got a million views and use it to try

and paint a picture of how we all coped with covid—19? that's what we wanted, isn't it, to get all those views! but yeah, for it to be a part of this part of history, maybe that will be our legacy! sophia smith galer, bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather. hello. after that wet weather that some of us had yesterday that made quite a change, we are going to squeeze out a bit more wet weather before the month is done. we have already had some rain today across parts of wales, it has brightened up a bit since then, but there is more rain on the way. low pressure is in charge and it is around this area of low pressure, as you can clearly pick out here, several bands of wet weather are moving across the british isles over the next couple of days. this is this afternoon's wet weather pushing across northern and eastern england and into southern scotland and through northern ireland. we have got this drier, brighter gap before more heavy downpours bear down on south—west england and wales.

it is breezy wherever you are, particularly where you see the rain, and temperatures in the mid to low teens. into tonight and this first batch of rain will push further north across scotland. we still have this drier gap, but look at all these heavy downpours feeding in across england, wales, northern ireland and into southern scotland. with all of that going on overnight temperatures are not going down too far. they are holding up to mid to high single figures. as we start off tomorrow, low pressure in control and this next feature to the south will bring in further heavy showers tomorrow. it doesn't mean it is going to be raining all the time. some start the day with blue sky and sunshine, but that will not last as the showers get going. some outbreaks of rain in northern scotland, but south of scotland, northern ireland and through england and wales this is where we are likely to see heavy showers, maybe thunder, a chance of gales and gusty winds as well and strong winds in the english channel coast where they will be gusting around 40 to 50 miles an hour and into

the channel islands as well. between the showers there will be drier, brighter moments and temperatures tomorrow are similar to today, the mid to the low teens. on friday still some showers around, in parts of scotland, especially to the south, northern ireland and the midlands and patchy rain in northern scotland, but for the first day of may there could well be very few showers in southern england and wales, places here staying dry, and with a bit of sunshine it will feel a bit warmer. going into the weekend it looks like a gap between weather systems on saturday. still a few showers possible towards the north, but many places on saturday will be staying dry, by sunday low pressure pushes another area of wet weather northwards across the uk.

this is bbc news. i'm simon mccoy. the headlines: downing street says the prime minister is back at work in number 10, after he and his fiancee carrie symonds announced the birth of their son this morning. he'll take a short paternity leave later in the year. both mother and baby are doing well and i'm sure the whole house will want to join with me in sending congratulations and our very best wishes to them. we all recognise the anxiety that the prime minister and carrie must have gone through in past few weeks, unimaginable anxiety, and so i really hope that this brings them incredible relief and joy. millions more people in england are eligible for covid—19 testing after the government loosens rules on who can apply. the us economy shrinks by nearly 5%, the biggest drop since the 2008 financial crisis. how lockdown could sound the death knell of thousands

of high street shops with independent, family—run businesses hardest hit. don't ignore symptoms of cancer — the warning from doctors as fears over coronavirus lead to a dramatic fall in patient referrals. and tributes are paid to the bollywood actor irrfan khan, who starred in slumdog millionaire and life of pi, who has died at the age of 53. as news on the coronavirus pandemic continues to dominate, an announcement this morning from downing street that caught everyone by surprise. the prime minister and his fiance carrie symonds have had a baby boy. mother and baby are said to be "doing very well", and it's understood mrjohnson, who has just recovered from coronavirus, was present throughout the birth, at an nhs hospital in london.

downing street says borisjohnson is now back at work in number 10, and will take paternity leave later this year. the family is expected to live at downing street, in the flat above number 11. in the other latest developments, all residents and staff in care homes across england can now get a test for coronavirus even if they've not shown any symptoms. the us economy has slumped by nearly 5% in the first quarter of this year. its lowest since the financial crash of 2008. we'll have all the latest on the virus shortly, but first here's our political correspondentjonathan blake on that bit of good news from number 10. starting a new chapter back in december, boris johnson and carrie symonds returned to downing street after the conservatives' landslide election win. a lot has changed since then for them and for us all. amid everything, this morning, a new arrival was announced. a statement from downing street said...

in the house of commons, more muted than normal of course, the foreign secretary gave mps the news. i'm sure the whole house would want to join with me in sending congratulations and our very best wishes to them. and well—wishes from the opposition benches, too. can add my congratulations and the congratulations of the labour party, and i'm sure everybody in this house to the prime minister and carrie symonds on the birth of their baby boy. "some good news," tweeted scotland's first minister nicola sturgeon, "wishing health and happiness to the wee one." northern ireland's first minister, arlene foster, said it was wonderful news, adding there were more sleepless nights ahead. and mark drakeford, the welsh first minister, sent his to warmest congratulations to the couple on the birth of their son. we had been told the baby was due in the early summer so the birth has come earlier than many expected. boris johnson's father, stanley,

said he was absolutely delighted at the arrival of a new grandchild. in march, carrie symonds posted on instagram she felt incredibly blessed to be engaged and expecting a baby. weeks later, she and the prime minister were both self—isolating with symptoms of coronavirus. i still have a temperature and, so, in accordance with government advice, i must continue my self isolation until that symptom itself goes. he would go on to spend three nights in intensive care where, as he put it, it could have gone either way. boris johnson is fiercely protective of his private life. this is known to be his sixth child, only the third in recent history born to a serving prime minister. jonathan blake, bbc news. well, while all that was going on, the government announced that all residents and staff in care homes across england can now get a test for coronavirus even if they've not shown any symptoms. this afternoon, the government will publish up—to—date figures for all coronavirus deaths, both in hospitals and care homes,

for the first time. access to coronavirus home testing kits for essential workers ran out injust over an hour this morning, after the government widened access to millions more people. 0ur health correspondent richard galpin reports. it is now known that thousands of elderly people have been dying in care homes. and finally the government is saying that all care home staff and residents can now be tested to see if they have the disease. the st cecilia's care home in scarborough has lost four of its residents to the virus. today staff have been logging on to the government's website to book tests for everyone. but it is not proving easy. we got onto the website very early this morning to see if we could actually book tests and there was no way we could see about getting tests for the residents on the website. we could see the staff portal but that was the same as it was a few days before. i got the feeling that they were inundated this morning therefore perhaps were

not quite sure what they might do and offer. many of those running care homes believe that the elderly and disabled have been left very exposed in this coronavirus pandemic. we have prioritised the nhs to get those tests first and i think that is right but we are already rolling it out to all care homes so they can all get a test today, if they need one. and that, for many care home residents, will have to be done inside the homes. we are also sending swabs directly to care home so in this model, a bunch of swabs are delivered, administered by the staff and sent back in the bunch, so that is the satellite model. there is also the pop—up centres, the mobile testing centres that can visit a care home and set up at the care home and test staff and residents. beyond care home staff and residents, all people over 65

who have symptoms are now eligible for tests, as is anyone with symptoms who cannot work from home. for tests, as is anyone with along with all key workers who can already get tests, it is estimated with this latest expansion around 25 million people can now get tested, a significant proportion of the population. and with capacity being ramped up, the government says it is still aiming to hit its target of 100,000 tests taking place every day. even though earlier this week it was around 43,000. richard galpin, bbc news. 0ur chief political correspondent vicki young is in westminster. it's all about the numbers and the government is under a lot of pressure on testing and other things. yes, and, of course, there is that target which matt hancock, the health secretary, set out a few

weeks ago to get to the point where 100,000 tests were being carried out a day by the end of the month which, of course, is tomorrow. now, they have already said that there will be a slight delay. we are not going to know how many tests have happened tomorrow. we normally know by 5pm the next day although there is some talk of not knowing directly until saturday, so we will have to see. i think behind—the—scenes what they are saying and what ministers have been saying when they are being interviewed about this is that they have managed to massively increase the capacity of testing so they have gone up, they have got a lot of tests that are available. whether they are being carried out or not is, of course, another quite crucial matter but they have, as we have seen, expanded the eligibility for these tests and set up this portal, these tests and set up this portal, the website which you can go on and book a test now and you can get test sent to homes, so although they have improved things and actually the labour leader talked about that today saying there had been a massive effort to get this done, it

is still not, of course, certain whether the target itself is net but in part, i think, announcing that target was to galvanise the whole industry and get everyone really, really focused on this issue because it did seem at that time that the uk was behind other countries in terms of its testing capacity. ok, we will leave it there for now. thank you very much. we did not mention a baby. we are going to do that now. let's talk now to the writer and former labour spin doctor, alastair campbell. iam going i am going to show something from your twitter account, is this tweets not a bit mean? i am perfectly happy tojoin not a bit mean? i am perfectly happy to join everybody else and giving congratulations to borisjohnson and his partner, but i think we saw when he was taken ill that there is too much of a focus, to my mind, on this

almost like a personal soap opera rather than one of the biggest national catastrophe is that we have seenin national catastrophe is that we have seen ina national catastrophe is that we have seen in a lifetime. and i was merely pointing out he is the prime minister and he came back to work, he said he was raring to go and i we re he said he was raring to go and i were simply making the point that i think he should have been in the commons on monday, i think you should have offered a statement, given the scale of what is going on, andi given the scale of what is going on, and i think actually it was perfectly feasible for him to be there, but as i say, i am very happy that if he felt today was not the day to do it, then fine, but i really do think we are losing our sense of priority here and a lot of our media, i'm afraid, when he was very, very ill, there was more interesting that, every time there was a briefing about his spirits being up, his spirits being this and that, while we were rapidly overtaking italy and spain is the place with the worst death in europe. that said, he clearly had a near death experience. his fiancee, she had the symptoms of covid—19

herself. if there is one person who needs lectures on how serious this is, it is probably not borisjohnson right now. i am not giving him a lecture on anything. i am civilly saying he came back to work and said he was raring to go and i am simply making the point, this is as much about the media as it is about the prime minister and his new child, this is so serious and ions they do not believe that most of the media or politics has been reflecting the seriousness of what is happening in our country and if we spend all this time focusing upon the happy news of a new child or the sad news when he was taken to hospital and then for the next few days as if nothing else was happening in the world, so i do not think it is mean—spirited to point out that at a time like this, ido point out that at a time like this, i do think that we should keep our perspective and keep our focus on the scale of the challenge in hand. and that goes for your profession as

well. the thing is, none of us have been through anything like this before. do you go with the argument that in all that darkness, in all the terrible news we are bringing our after our and no one knows that better than you and i what we are doing, but you do need every now and then a little bit of light in all that shade. of course i do. of course i do and that is why, for example, what captain tom more has done some of the other fundraising exploits should be covered. i have been saying this for some time, i think there should be more focus on people who have survived, but my point is... he is the prime minister. whatever you think about him asa minister. whatever you think about him as a person, he is the british prime minister, he had a near death experience, of course we are going to focus on that. i am not saying you shouldn't, i am saying that what happens in the few days he was in hospital, i think it was disproportionate and i worry that when we pick up our newspapers

tomorrow and when we look at some of our news bulletins tonight, it will be disproportionate again. it is privately possible to be happy for a couple to have a child and to wish a prime minister well when he is ill without feeling that on a subject so serious and, to be fair, i think you quys serious and, to be fair, i think you guys at the bbc have done a good job, but i think you go straight down this personality route i think far too readily and i think that is afairand far too readily and i think that is a fair and reasonable point to make andi a fair and reasonable point to make and i think a lot of your colleagues agree with it. we all have that discussion, don't we? we have editorial meetings here and i did before the one o'clock news about whether we should all lead with the birth of the baby and the decision is taken. there are lots of things to ta ke is taken. there are lots of things to take into account, there is no right or wrong on this, but if you are switching on the news a few hours after the prime minister's partner has given birth, that makes it rather a big story, doesn't it quiz like obviously, by the end of the day, it is less of a story. maybe, maybe, but they are not the

royalfamily, simon. maybe, maybe, but they are not the royal family, simon. i maybe, maybe, but they are not the royalfamily, simon. igo maybe, maybe, but they are not the royalfamily, simon. i go back to the point i made earlier. ijust do not feel that we are reflecting just how big and bad the situation is and so, let me give you another example from yesterday, you had, and this is not a criticism of the bbc because i saw this wisely covered across all channels yesterday, but 12,000 jobs going at british airways, the care home figures coming out and revealing, frankly, a catastrophe that people have worn this coming and where there was far to little done and you pick up the papers today and it is like you have to fight your way through some of them to find that this is actually what is going on, so all i am saying is i think there will be people in i media who will now think, 0k, we have a baby story, we love a baby story, therefore we do not need to focus on much on the bad news. i agree with you that people want good news, it is miserable, the weather

has been miserable, people are locked in their homes, but i think we have to keep a sense of perspective and remember that one of the central rules ofjournalism is to hold government to account and to hold the feet of politicians to the fire and if the most powerful politician in the country is treated more like a kind of, you know, a figure in his own soap opera, that becomes more difficult. that is all iam becomes more difficult. that is all i am saying to you. i think you are being unfair because i think in the perspective of what we are doing and we are bringing grim figures almost by the hour on what is going on, i do not think anyone is underplaying the crisis we are all in the, but i just want to move away a bit in terms of what this will mean for borisjohnson as prime minister and a new father. you would know because you did it with tony blair when he had a baby whilst in downing street. what impact might it have on his role, a very important role as you point out? well, i do not know because i do not know him well enough as a human being. i certainly

know that when tony had a wheel, it was in the scheme of things a net positive in terms of the mood around the place and all that, but if you we re the place and all that, but if you were the prime minister, it is incredibly stressful and high octane and never—ending responsibility, never—ending decisions large and small, so i think it will depend on the individual and how much that child means to them and how much they want them to be part of it and do not forget it is much easier, to some extent it's harder, you know, we all know that if you have had young children running around the whole time, but it is also easier when you are living and working in the same place and i know that tony liked the fact that he could nip up and down the stairs a few times everyday and see his son.|j and down the stairs a few times everyday and see his son. i use adjust and this might be a net negative, then, borisjohnson having a baby at this time in this crisis? not at all, no, i am just making the

point that when it happened with tony, i think it was a net positive. i think it was always, for the people involved, it should be a net positive, and actually i do think there are advantages in living and working in the same place if you have a child and, you know, he will be able to do that. out of interest, in the wider discussion about how this crisis is unfolding on a daily basis, there are plenty of people who are saying this is perhaps not the time for us all to be pointing fingers. of course, call politicians into account, but the time for blame will come. this is not it. we all need to get through this together and help one another asbestos possible, sniping from the sidelines helps no one. but i do not think i am sniping from the sidelines, i think i am making fair and legitimate points and i do not like this line that is emerging driven, a lot of it, from right wing media that somehow you should not criticise or challenge government. the thing i know from having worked

on the other side of the media fence, as it were, inside a government operation is that the challenging and the scrutiny and the questioning and the expectation of it is an incredibly important parts of the process of decision—making andi of the process of decision—making and i do not feel, in, say for example, these five o'clock briefings and i have watched everything on minute of every sing one of them, i do not get the feeling that ministers are going into them terribly worried. they are not terribly well prepared, they often do not have straight answers to straight questions, but i do not feel that they feel any kind of heat and my point is that it makes for better government, in my view, if you have proper questioning, proper challenging, proper scrutiny and, you know, with respect, simon, i think what you were saying to me was that because the prime minister has had a baby, we should all start going a bit easy and i do not accept that at all for one second. going a bit easy and i do not accept that at all for one secondlj going a bit easy and i do not accept that at all for one second. i was not saying that because ijust wasn't. speaking of the five o'clock

briefings, and interesting introduction is bringing ordinary people's questions in and would you have done that perhaps a little earlier? i certainly think the formats, i mean, iwrote a piece right at the start of the briefings andi right at the start of the briefings and i said they had to be careful to make sure the format did not come formulaic and dull and i think it is worth thinking about refreshing it every now and then and i think it is a good initiative, not least because, you know, ithink a good initiative, not least because, you know, i think matt hancock said the first time there we re hancock said the first time there were 15,000 people submitting questions, exactly quite useful to find out what it is that people want to ask about because often, i remember working in politics, often you find that the public will ask very, very different questions may be to what is on the media agenda at that time. i have noticed some of your profession are worrying slightly that this is a way of trying to take away from their time in their questioning. i think if it is in addition, it is a very good

one. what would you be doing differently in terms of dealing with immediate? because, let's face it, nobody the answers all the time, particularly as we face something none of us have seen before. is it best to stand back and say, you know what, i don't know? ithink sometimes it is best to say that and thatis sometimes it is best to say that and that is one thing i said right at the start, the first blog i wrote on the start, the first blog i wrote on the several weeks ago, i said sometimes in a crisis you have to be able to say to the public that we cannot confidently say exactly how this is going to play out, we do not have all the answers, but i think what you do have to do and other leaders have been doing this, i think chancellor merkel has been doing it very well, the primaries of new zealand, those leaders who essentially have taken the public into their confidence about the decisions they are making, so they do not say, when they get the question, you know, why can't you get ppe to the front line? they do

not say we are doing the best we can only have delivered a billion of this ina only have delivered a billion of this in a billion of that on the numbers go over people's heads, they give a proper explanation as to why things are difficult. the thing that is coming up now, for example, and every government in the world will be wrestling with this, is how do you ease the lockdown, get back to some kind of social and economic normality without unleashing a second wave and hitting a second peak which might overwhelm the health services. that's what they are wrestling with. what i do not think we get any sense of our government is what the judgments are that i involved in that and i think it is time for them to start treating people on the other side of the lactone, as it were, as grown—ups who are prepared to take bad news, prepared to take difficulties, that level with people about what the choices are. take people into your confidence. did you a lwa ys people into your confidence. did you always level with people when tony blair was always level with people when tony blairwas in always level with people when tony blair was in government? you did not. on big decisions, we tried to.

you make decisions, you set out why you are making those decisions and you are making those decisions and you explain why you are making them, but i think on this, i agree with you, i think it is much more complicated than anything we ever had to deal with and therefore when you are facing some of these choices, explain them in depth. i saw a speech that angela merkel did the other day and i know she is a scientist by background but she did it in very plain language. she gave a whole speech about the r factor and if this happens, 1.1 it is like this, 1.2 it is like this, and she related it to some of the decisions governments are now having to make, so in governments are now having to make, soina governments are now having to make, so in a sense, she was just involving the public more in the thinking that was going on in government and i think in a crisis in particular, i think you have to do that. i could go on for hours, but it would turn into a grumpy old men podcast with us just talking for hours. always good to speak to you. thank you very much. just to let you

know, just infuriate alistair, we are going to talk about the baby for one more moment because buckingham palace has said the queen has sent a private message of good wishes to borisjohnson private message of good wishes to boris johnson and carrie. private message of good wishes to borisjohnson and carrie. we all know about it, not very private, but thatis know about it, not very private, but that is coming out of buckingham palace just now. you're watching bbc news. the us economy has shrunk by nearly 5% ending the longest expansion in us history as coronavirus virtually shut down the country. the gross domestic product figures show a 4.8% fall for the first quarter of the year. that's the sharpest drop since the financial crisis of 2008. the latest figures from the department of commerce account only for the first three months of the year, which means figures for the next quarter are expected to be even more dramatic. lindsey piegza is chief economist at stifel, a wealth management and investment banking firm. here she is explaining the worst is yet to come. as you mentioned, in your 5% drop, whilst hardly unexpected, it does

certainly solidify the notion that the us economy was already heading into recession at the start of the year and this is before the hardest—hit is year and this is before the ha rdest—hit is expected year and this is before the hardest—hit is expected to come in the second quarter with most forecasts expecting a 30% drop when we look out to the second quarter, so this was a small decline, as expected, but hardly the worst to come when we talk about a forced economic shutdown, stalling nearly every industry in the us economy. economic shutdown, stalling nearly every industry in the us economylj think every industry in the us economy.” think the fed is due to meet again shortly. they have already slashed interest rates, relaxed banking rules, expanded lending, what more can they do? at this point, we don't expect much to be announced from the fed. as you mentioned, rates are already at zero. they have committed to unlimited asset purchases and we now have a series, up to nine lending and the crudity programmes, so there's not much expected from the fed in terms of initial policy initiatives, but we do expect to hear from the fed initiatives, but we do expect to hearfrom the fed regarding how much those policies have succeeded in

terms of stabilising the us market and whether not they do expect to ta ke and whether not they do expect to take further policy measures if this persists beyond the first half of the year. a lot of focus on the difference between state, federal and local government and how they are responding to this. where is the real pressure following your? well, right now, this is a very localised response. different states have different levels of cases and it is incumbent on those local and state governments to respond accordingly. the federal government has put out a general advisories, the federal government has put out a generaladvisories, general guidelines, but it is on the state and local governments to determine how to implement those guidelines and whether we see some of those restrictions beginning to left as we have seen in georgia, colorado and a handful of other states you're in the us. the ramifications of the job losses are huge, especially in america, because as well as losing yourjob you also lose your health insurance. absolutely, and so what we have seen is the federal

government step in with trillions of dollars trying to help stem that shortfall for businesses and workers. as you mentioned, we see nearly 26 million americans file for a initial joblessness nearly 26 million americans file for a initialjoblessness claims, so they have not only extended their programme but also extended coverage, expanded coverage for americans in terms of health care, getting access to testing and making sure that individuals who have been forced out of their position as a result of the attempt to contain covid—19 are not left in the dark. the situation in the united states. well, new figures from scotland show more than half of the coronavirus deaths recorded last week were in care homes. scotland first minister nicola sturgeon discussed the figures in her briefing a little while ago. the proportion of deaths in scotland in care homes whilst obviously deeply distressing is, however, broadly in line with the proportions being reported now from many other countries. that demonstrates again how crucial it is to make care homes as safe as they can possibly be during a pandemic of this nature.

care homes have had strict guidance to follow since the 13th of march and it is incumbent on care home providers, whether they are in the public or the private sector, to follow and to implement that guidance. 24 residents at the erskine care homes for ex—servicemen and women are thought to have died from coronavirus. the charity said three residents died after becoming symptomatic and testing positive with covid—19, but they believe another 21 residents who have died "perhaps have had covid—19", but were not tested. erskine cares for 339 residents in four care homes, meanwhile, over 200 staff members have had suspected coronavirus or have had suspected covid—19 in their households, meaning they had to self—isolate. four staff members have tested positive, with one requiring hospital treatment. erskine employs 770 staff.

so 24 residents are thought to have died from coronavirus in our skin ca re died from coronavirus in our skin care homes, that you just reaching us. patients with suspected cancer symptoms are being urged to contact their gp as research suggests there's been a 70% drop in the number of referrals since the pandemic was declared. a network of covid—free hubs has now been set up across the country, to make sure those who need urgent cancer treatment will get it. 0ur reporter lucie kon has been to see how one of them works. we've got two different trusts operating... joanna franks is a consultant breast surgeon. in normal times, she splits her working week looking after nhs patients at university college hospital in central london and private patients here at the wellington hospital in north london. we have a 57—year—old lady with a right—sided small screening detected cancer... now, because of covid, her nhs team have relocated their entire service here. we have a series of theatres. they would ordinarily have gone to sleep in the anaesthetic room, but now they will go to sleep

in the actual main theatre. it is one of 19 covid free cancer hubs. alliances between the nhs and private sector now up and running across england. excellent, and i've checked the covid swabs, they are all negative... and they make sure it stays covid free by testing every patient for the virus before they are admitted. welcome everybody. so, ben, are you going to take minutes for us? jo has weekly meetings with colleagues from the other hospitals in the alliance to decide who they can realistically treat. patients are prioritised according to new national guidelines and difficult decisions have to be made. for some patients it is very clear that they need to have time critical treatment and those patients will be put forward by their mdt to be discussed for prioritisation to make sure that they are going to get an operation slot. three weeks ago during coronavirus, covid—19, i was diagnosed with breast cancer. carine is still coming to terms

with her breast cancer diagnosis. she is not a patient at one of the hospitals involved here. if we were not in covid i know that i would be on an operating schedule and have a date for a mastectomy, with reconstruction. but because of covid everything is on hold. the bbc has been told of patients across the country who haven't been given surgery or treatments like chemotherapy because of covid. 0ne nurse has said that the treatment options are so limited at the moment that she has seen a dramatic increase in the number of patients having mastectomies without reconstructions. nhs england say essential and urgent cancer treatments must continue but that all decisions made have to be balanced against the risks posed by covid. lucy conn, bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with nick miller

hello, more wet weather to come as we see several bands of rain across the british isles. pushing across more of northern and eastern england, northern ireland and southern parts of scotland as it turns wetter here, then more heavy downpours across south—west england and wales, whereas a rebound of rain from today eventually feeds across northern scotland as the night goes on. rain or showers across the night, temperatures holding up into the mid to high single figures, some sunny spells tomorrow, but the emphasis will be as low pressure remains in control, a fairfew emphasis will be as low pressure remains in control, a fair few heavy showers through the day, particularly through england and wales into northern ireland and southern scotland. some thundery, a risk of gusty winds, brisk winds through english coasts, and temperatures in the mid to low

teens. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines: downing street says the prime minister is back at work in number 10, after he and his fiancee carrie symonds announced the birth of their son this morning. he'll take a short paternity leave later in the year. millions more people in england are eligible for covid—19 testing — after the government loosens rules on who can apply. the us economy shrinks by nearly 5% — the biggest drop since the 2008 financial crisis. don't ignore symptoms of cancer — the warning from doctors as fears over coronavirus lead to a dramatic fall in patient referrals. how lockdown could sound the death knell of thousands of high street shops — with independent, family run businesses hardest hit. and tributes are paid to the bollywood actor irrfan khan, who starred in slumdog millionaire and life of pi, who has died at the age of 53.

sport now, and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's jane dougall. good afternoon. the chair of the scottish football league has insisted that dundee were not offered a sweetener to change their vote over ending the lower—league season. good afternoon. the leagues handling of the ballot. our sports reporter kheredine idessane has more. the war of worlds in scottish football shows no sign of easing up for the moment. there has been a blizzard of statements over the last couple of weeks, and we just had the most couple of weeks, and we just had the m ost rece nt couple of weeks, and we just had the most recent today. a nine page open letter written by murdo maclennan. this all relates to the controversial vote to end the season out with the premiership, but also to give discretion for the spf failed to call the premiership at

its own choosing, making celtic the champions and relegating hearts. rangers very unhappy, they have called for an independent enquiry, and they are being backed by hearts and they are being backed by hearts and stranraer. that means there will be an extraordinary general meeting of all 42 clubs on may the 12th, but that meeting is, as murdo mclennan says, extremely expensive and contrary to the spirit of scottish football. all three or one of the questions, were dundee offered any kind of sweetener to change their vote, murdo maclennan says no. rangers say they have a dossier of evidence, of a lack of fair dealing and that there was some bullying and coercion. they say they will release that evidence, and is also spoken to

the spf l chairman. teams in spain have been given the goahead by the government to work towards returning to training following the suspension of la liga since last month due to coronavirus. spain has been one of the most severely affected countries in europe, but the league has created a detailed protocol for the return to training so proper health safeguards are observed with the aim to restart games in mid—june behind closed doors. the swiss league are also hopeful of a return at around the same time. manchester united have been given permission to have a safe standing section at old trafford as a trial measure. united will put 1500 barrier seats in place for the 2020—21 season and, if the trial proves successful, it's understood the club will look to install safe standing in other areas of the stadium. afc fylde have disbanded their women's team because of the coronavirus pandemic. they're believed to be the first

women's side in the top 40 clubs across england to fold because of covid—19. fylde were ninth in the northern premier division of the national league — the third tier — when the season was suspended. arsenal's vivianne miedema says she fears for the future of the women's game. i think definitely, women's football has been going through in the last couple of years, it's really hard situation, and they are missing out ona situation, and they are missing out on a lot of money. i think if clubs need to cut anything, it will be women's football, which for me is not the right decision to make as a club. i definitely think women's football might struggle after this. the president of the international olympic committee, thomas bach has admitted the postponement of the 2020 tokyo games means the organisation will have to shoulder several hundred million dollars of costs. the olympics and paralympics were due to take place this summer, but will now be held next year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

iaaf president seb coe says any further delay may see the games called off altogether. i think it is pretty clear that you could not go on forever postponing an olympic games. there comes a point where you do have to start posing questions. i hope we are a little way off that. our ambition is to get the athletes back into competition as soon as we possibly can, but only when it is safe. if it is not safe, we cannot put them at risk, and we shouldn't actually be putting communities who want to be enjoying the sport at risk. the england and wales cricket board are meeting later with the new 100—ball competition, the hundred, likely to be postponed until next year. with players joining from all over the world — it was due to start at the oval onjuly the 17th. cricket is suspended until the 1st ofjuly at the earliest.

it's probably going to be too much to squeeze in, trying to squeeze in over the last couple of months of the season, and just getting the hundreds, it will be hard work, and it is such a big deal for us, with the hundred, we want it to be something, and there's problems around the world. coronavirus testing is available for millions more people in england the labour party is saying the findings ofan the labour party is saying the findings of an enquiry into priti patel should be made available as soon as possible. a spokesperson for downing street says that an enquiry is ongoing, and they will make the findings known. eventually, they can

provide a time or date. asked whether the result to reach the prime minister's does, it was said that they are ongoing. the prime minister says that they want to establish the facts. she was interviewed as part of the process and has denied the claims. coronavirus testing is available for millions more people in england today from today after the government loosened rules on who can apply. expanded eligibility now means care home residents and staff with or without symptoms can request testing. 14,700 home test kits are available from this morning, and of all those ordered by nine pam 30 this morning,

they are still accepting photos and bookings the last time that i was checked. mike padgham is manager of st cecilia's care group and chair of the independent care group north yorkshire. it is good to talk to you once again. i'm just it is good to talk to you once again. i'mjust wondering it is good to talk to you once again. i'm just wondering what your experience has been at this. good afternoon. 0ur experience has been at this. good afternoon. our experienced, first of all, iam afternoon. our experienced, first of all, i am glad that the secretary of state said yesterday that residents in care homes can be tested with or without symptoms, couldn't quite do it this morning, so we run public health england, we were told we could book in, but they cannot yet tell us how the testing will be done. either we get the kids tested to posted to us, or rearjust waiting for the news. so, it is not working yet? it does not seem to be. when we spoke to them this morning, they said the first they heard of it

was at the press conference, and they're still waiting to hear. it seems they were caught on the hop. we were told that we will get tested, but they cannot tell us quite yet, and obviously would like that done as soon as possible. we are now concentrating on care homes, it seems it is quite clearly the front line in terms of tackling the virus. why do you think this is taking so long? i think my own view is that social care in care homes have always been the cinderella service in the past. it was called sometime the government to catch up to a cce pt sometime the government to catch up to accept that social care is as critical as front line services. we didn't think we would be suffering as much as we are, so that is why they didn't act quicker. care should have been a priority from the beginning rather than have a fish through. if someone wants to get the test from where they are, what they

have to do? a member of staff can go through the portal. normally, our staff would go probably around 120 miles to be tested. we are waiting for guidance and stuff, as well, that when we looked at the portal this morning it was no different to earlier in the week. we want to get stuff tested, we want to get clients tested, we want to see the warm words spoken in downing street to come to fruition at the sharp end. what difference would it make to not just the sharp end. what difference would it make to notjust to staff but to residents to know who has got this? it would help us immensely. if we know who is positive we can treat them separately, and other clients who have not got the virus could then have a bit of interaction with staff in other parts of the home. at the minute in our homes people are isolated in their rooms where we

have covid—19 cases, so the risk of this breading is as small as possible. people are working their socks off across the country to keep people safe about the can, but we need more resources at the front line. you are also at the front line with the relatives who can't visit relatives at home, so while they tested as to what's going on? the public and relatives are quite rightly anxious i need to know that something is being done. we are reassuring them that something is happening, but it is the government needs to answer as to why things are taking so long. in their own home as well as elsewhere people are using skype, but it doesn't replace the face—to—face contact, so we hope we can overcome and allow this to come in the right time, we don't want to be too quick, because we locked ourselves down a bit quicker than the government told us, and we want to make sure it is completely safe before we reopen, but it's hard to relatives and residents. if tests are delivered by post, how would you expect to receive them, i don't know, but somebody is going to have

to test the residents, that has an inherent risk. yes, in the past, we have had cases that have been done in the post by their own staff. would like to see happen is that people will come from public health england to come and help us deliver them, or someone from outside, because we are very stretched for staff at the moment, so we are asking for help, nothing as yet forthcoming. many of your residence may well be watching right now, certainly many around the country. what do you say to allay fears that this is a very frightened time, and you have a role in coming that, in some way, don't you? yes, i would try and reassure people that living in care homes, care home providers and staff are doing the most utmost to make sure people are safe as possible, and are telling government that we need help and more

resources , that we need help and more resources, so they're working hard externally, but there is as safe as they can be in a cry home, and try to feel as relaxed as you can knowing the people working on your behalf every minute of the day. there was a question from you at the conference, what would you like to ask? i would like to make sure that they have learned the lessons of the past and that they don't let care homes to be a cinderella service again, but the nhs is doing a fantasticjob, again, but the nhs is doing a fantastic job, social again, but the nhs is doing a fantasticjob, social care again, but the nhs is doing a fantastic job, social care must again, but the nhs is doing a fantasticjob, social care must not be forgotten. thank you. there's more evidence this lunchtime about the huge impact coronavirus is having on our shopping habits. next has warned investors that sales could drop by 40%, while dixons carphone says online sales have soared by 166% in the past few weeks. retailers say the lockdown could lead to the permanent closure of thousands of struggling high street shops.

independent family run businesses could be the hardest hit. 0ur consumer affairs correspondent sarah corker reports from county durham. you do have the doubt. should ijust close now, should ijust stop now, hand the keys back to the landlord and say thanks very much? martin wiseman swapped a career in a car factory to run a coffee shop. i first met him back in february when he was getting ready for opening. back then, he admitted it was a gamble investing in a high street where almost 25% of shops were empty. they can't get any lower than this, surely. if it gets any lower than this, they willjust bulldoze the place down. but it did get worse. he put his life savings into this business, but the week before he was due to start trading, britain went into lockdown. how long do you think you can last without it being open? another month, possibly, before it dries up, before the money side of it dries up.

i stay awake at night thinking i'm actually going to go bust before i even get a chance to open. retailers have warned that the very survival of our empty high streets will be decided in weeks rather than years and some businesses may never recover or reopen after such a sudden drop in trade. in march, the bbc launched its year—long high—street project, charting the changes of this north—east town. coronavirus has plunged seoul traders like bernie into turmoil. the financial side has just crippled me altogether. she runs her sewing business from her garage and says she feels abandoned by the government. i have never ever claimed anything of anybody. i have never been out of work and at the time when i could do with a little bit of help, i can't get any help. so i'm quite bitter. because she works from home, bernie is not eligible for a one—off grant designed to help small businesses through this crisis. back on the

high street, alex, though, could get financial help, a £10,000 grant and her landlord has given her a three month rent holiday. i know that we will be back after this, but it is concerning to think about the other shops in the street and if, when i come back, and i going to be the only one left on one of the only ones left? the great british high street was already struggling and some retailers may not recover from the economic damage caused by this pandemic. the headlines on bbc news: downing street says the prime minister is back at work in number 10, after he and his fiancee carrie symonds announced the birth of their son this morning. he'll take a short paternity leave later in the year. millions more people in england are eligible for covid—19 testing, after the government loosens rules on who can apply. the us economy shrinks by nearly 5% — the biggest drop since the 2008 financial crisis.

the bollywood actor irrfan khan — who was known around the world for roles in the films slumdog millionaire and jurassic world — has died. he was 53. he died in hospital in mumbai — where he was being treated for a rare form of cancer. 0ur correspondent yogita limaye reports. it's a sad day to think of his passing, but it is also a day when you can remember everything he gave us, all the lovely roles he played, and an actor who effortlessly bridged to cultures. here and own

country, he was the unlikely leading man. a performer who broke the stereotype of what it takes to be a protagonist indian movies. 0n stereotype of what it takes to be a protagonist indian movies. on a bbc programme seven years ago he was askedif programme seven years ago he was asked if he sees himself as bollywood or hollywood.” asked if he sees himself as bollywood or hollywood. ijust see myself as an actor and i want to embrace the whole world. he acted in more than 100 movies. this was his last film. it hit cinemas just as they closed because of the coronavirus crisis. two years ago he shared a note about his battle with cancer. today, indians superstar called him the greatest actor of our time. he leaves behind heartbroken fa ns time. he leaves behind heartbroken fans in india and around the world.

spain's prime minister has warned that his country faces a recession on an ‘extraordinary scale' as the country begins to restart its economy after one of the strictest lockdowns in europe. many fear the downturn could be much worse than the crash of 2008. damian grammaticas reports. in spain, the daily tally of the dead may be falling, but the lines of the hungry are lengthening. queueing for hand—outs to fill empty stomachs. a new wave of suffering brought by the virus is gathering force. norma, a cleaner, has lost all of her work. 300 euros a month is what she's left with. the poorest being hit hardest. translation: the people whose house i was working at told me, "don't come any more until this is finished." now i don't know if i can even afford to pay my rent.

the little she gets she shares with her brother. his work distributing flyers to homes has dried up and there are four in his household to feed. even in the worst of spain's economic crisis, those on the margins could find odd jobs — not now. assistance from others is all that's left. translation: every day we pray for help for the nation's volunteers and thanks to god we're getting them. it is a miracle. a miracle is what many of spain's businesses need too. the plan is they will start reopening next month but customer numbers must be limited. cafes can only serve outdoors. businesses, shuttered for weeks, may struggle to survive. paco's come back to find the bills piling up, more than he thinks he's able to pay. if his restaurant fails,

the five staff he's kept on will be jobless too. translation: even when we open, i don't believe people will go out like before — they'll be scared. nobody knows what is going to happen. we're all scared. those fears are felt right across spain, even in the smallest places. this bullring should be full now. this was it exactly a year ago. the annual fiesta, people crowded in from far and wide. now, nobody. these events help sustain economies in towns like this — but how to restart them? events will be the last thing to reopen — just 400 spectators allowed, all spaced apart. translation: it's a day when, in a small village like this, many thousands come. restaurants, hotels, shops — everyone will feel the impact. it's sad. spain's health emergency may be waning but an

economic one isjust beginning to bite. damien grammaticas, bbc news. analysts from the ordnance survey have formed an emergency response team to help the nhs, emergency services and local authorities. precise location data is playing a crucial role in supporting the government departments in their response to the covid—19 pandemic. chris chambers is the head of national mapping services at the ordnance survey. how does it work, what exactly are they doing? i think the first thing is to say that we are not the heroes and heroines on the front line. what we do basically support the organisations that they work for with data and expertise that they can trust when they are planning or making decisions. so, the service that we run for all of the public sector is formatting for emergencies, helping with help and support that they need to implement

their practices so they can respond appropriately to the pandemic. sort of things like where care homes are owned by pharmacists are? exactly, very things we have experts on, where is the nearest pharmacy, where is the second nearest pharmacy, in case that one has closed down, to things like identifying the locations of flat land that have good public transport networks and road networks so people can get that the mobile testing sites that are being rolled out in coming weeks. so, you have an emergency response team, are they meeting every day, how to work in practice? yes, the tea m how to work in practice? yes, the team is on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, every day of the year, and we have been doing that service for several years now, responding to foot—and—mouth disease in flooding, but we have never been

as busy as we are now, and we do a com pletely as busy as we are now, and we do a completely free of charge and have it available all the time, and we would really urge everyone in the public sector or who is working with the public—sector on covid—19 to get in touch on the hyperlink. anyone who has used europe maps, they are so detailed. it is things like that that are quite important when you are trying to plan an ambulance or something like that. yes, it's interesting, people. we were wearing my 0rd nance interesting, people. we were wearing my ordnance survey badge to tell me that they love the maps, but what people don't know is we are just a big data company. we maintain the massive map of the country with many features, and the data is used by the, as you say, the proudest application i have, is when emergency services need to get someone in trouble, they use alligator to get there as quickly as possible. it is also used by utility

companies, and insurance companies, as well as local authorities collecting bins and satnav using our data, and also mobile devices to get from a to b as quickly as possible. it's always working in the background to make sure that you and your viewers can rely on us. wish your viewers can rely on us. wish you well with it, thank you for your time. now it's time for a look at the weather with nick miller. hello. after that wet weather that some of us had yesterday that made quite a change, we are going to squeeze out a bit more wet weather before the month is done. we have already had some rain today across parts of wales, it has brightened up a bit since then, but there is more rain on the way. low pressure is in charge and it is around this area of low pressure, as you can clearly pick out here, several bands of wet weather are moving across the british isles over the next couple of days. this is this afternoon's wet weather pushing across northern and eastern england and into southern scotland and through northern ireland.

we have got this drier, brighter gap before more heavy downpours bear down on south—west england and wales. it is breezy wherever you are, particularly where you see the rain, and temperatures in the mid to low teens. into tonight and this first batch of rain will push further north across scotland. we still have this drier gap, but look at all these heavy downpours feeding in across england, wales, northern ireland and into southern scotland. with all of that going on overnight temperatures are not going down too far. they are holding up to mid to high single figures. as we start off tomorrow, low pressure in control and this next feature to the south will bring in further heavy showers tomorrow. it doesn't mean it is going to be raining all the time. some start the day with blue sky and sunshine, but that will not last as the showers get going. some outbreaks of rain in northern scotland, but south of scotland, northern ireland and through england and wales this is where we are likely to see heavy showers, maybe thunder, a chance of gales

and gusty winds as well and strong winds in the english channel coast where they will be gusting around 40 to 50 miles an hour and into the channel islands as well. between the showers there will be drier, brighter moments and temperatures tomorrow are similar to today, the mid to the low teens. on friday still some showers around, in parts of scotland, especially to the south, northern ireland and the midlands and patchy rain in northern scotland, but for the first day of may there could well be very few showers in southern england and wales, places here staying dry, and with a bit of sunshine it will feel a bit warmer. going into the weekend it looks like a gap between weather systems on saturday. still a few showers possible towards the north, and east, but many places on saturday will be staying dry, by sunday low pressure pushes another area of wet weather northwards across the uk.

this is bbc news. the headlines at 4pm: millions more people in england are eligible for covid—19 testing after the government loosens rules on who can apply. new figures from scotland show more than half of the coronavirus deaths recorded last week were in care homes. downing street says the prime minister is back at work in number 10, after he and his fiancee carrie symonds announced the birth of their son this morning. he'll take a short paternity leave later in the year. the us economy shrinks by nearly 5%, the biggest drop since the 2008 financial crisis how lockdown could sound the death knell of thousands of high street shops with independent, family—run businesses hardest hit. and tributes are paid to the bollywood actor irrfan khan, who starred in slumdog millionaire and life of pi,

who has died at the age of 53. good afternoon. we'll bring you the latest coronavirus briefing from downing street in an hour, which will be led by the foreign secretary dominic raab. but first, as news on the pandemic continues to dominate, an announcement this morning from downing street that caught everyone by surprise. the prime minister and his fiance carrie symonds have had a baby boy. mother and baby are said to be "doing very well", and it's understood mrjohnson, who has just recovered from coronavirus, was present throughout the birth, at an nhs hospital in london. downing street says borisjohnson is now back at work in number 10, and will take paternity leave later this year. the family is expected to live at downing street, in the flat above number 11.

in the other latest developments, all residents and staff in care homes across england can now get a test for coronavirus even if they've not shown any symptoms. the us economy has slumped by nearly 5% in the first quarter of this year, the lowest since the financial crash of 2008. we'll have all the latest on the virus shortly but first here's our political correspondentjonathan blake on that bit of good news from number 10. starting a new chapter back in december, boris johnson and carrie symonds returned to downing street after the conservatives' landslide election win. a lot has changed since then for them and for us all. amid everything, this morning, a new arrival was announced. a statement from downing street said...

in the house of commons, more muted than normal of course, the foreign secretary gave mps the news. i'm sure the whole house would want to join with me in sending congratulations and our very best wishes to them. and well—wishes from the opposition benches, too. can add my congratulations and the congratulations of the labour party, and i'm sure everybody in this house to the prime minister and carrie symonds on the birth of their baby boy. "some good news," tweeted scotland's first minister nicola sturgeon, "wishing health and happiness to the wee one." northern ireland's first minister, arlene foster, said it was wonderful news, adding there were more sleepless nights ahead. and mark drakeford, the welsh first minister, sent his to warmest congratulations to the couple on the birth of their son. we had been told the baby was due in the early summer so the birth has come earlier than many expected. boris johnson's father, stanley, said he was absolutely delighted at the arrival of a new grandchild. in march, carrie symonds posted on instagram she felt incredibly

blessed to be engaged and expecting a baby. weeks later, she and the prime minister were both self—isolating with symptoms of coronavirus. i still have a temperature and, so, in accordance with government advice, i must continue my self isolation until that symptom itself goes. he would go on to spend three nights in intensive care where, as he put it, it could have gone either way. boris johnson is fiercely protective of his private life. this is known to be his sixth child, only the third in recent history born to a serving prime minister. jonathan blake, bbc news. well, while all that was going on, the government announced that all residents and staff in care homes across england can now get a test for coronavirus even if they've not shown any symptoms. this afternoon, the government will publish up—to—date figures for all coronavirus deaths, both in hospitals and care homes, for the first time. access to coronavirus home testing

kits for essential workers ran out injust over an hour this morning, after the government widened access to millions more people. 0ur health correspondent richard galpin reports. it is now known that thousands of elderly people have been dying in care homes. and finally the government is saying that all care home staff and residents can now be tested to see if they have the disease. the st cecilia's care home in scarborough has lost four of its residents to the virus. today staff have been logging on to the government's website to book tests for everyone. but it is not proving easy. we got onto the website very early this morning to see if we could actually book tests and there was no way we could see about getting tests for the residents on the website. we could see the staff portal but that was the same as it was a few days before. i got the feeling that they were inundated this morning therefore perhaps were not quite sure what they might do and offer.

many of those running care homes believe that the elderly and disabled have been left very exposed in this coronavirus pandemic. we have prioritised the nhs to get those tests there are 354 deaths a day from corbett being reported. this is a large number and we have to add to that the number of people dying at home as well from first light. at the moment, there is probably as many deaths happening from the disease outside of hospital as there are inside hospital in england. the government said earlier on in this crisis it has to focus the testing programme for the virus on staff working in the core medical services. we have, yes, prioritise the nhs to get those tests first and i think that is right, but we are already now rolling it out to all

ca re already now rolling it out to all care homes and so they can all get a test today if they need one. and that, for many care home residents, will have to be done inside the homes. we are also sending swabs directly to care home so in this model, a bunch of swabs are delivered, administered by the staff and sent back in the bunch, so that is the satellite model. there is also the pop—up centres, the mobile testing centres that can visit a care home and set up at the care home and test staff and residents. beyond care home staff and residents, all people over 65 who have symptoms are now eligible for tests, as is anyone with symptoms who cannot work from home. along with all key workers who can already get tests, it is estimated with this latest expansion around 25 million people can now get tested, a significant proportion of the population. and with capacity being ramped up,

the government says it is still aiming to hit its target of 100,000 tests taking place every day. even though earlier this week it was around 43,000. richard galpin, bbc news. 0ur chief political correspondent vicki young is in westminster. we are waiting this afternoon for these new figures that will show all coronavirus deaths in both hospitals and care homes for the first time, ideally figure, and the focus really is shifting now politically, isn't it, to the situation in care homes? i think at the time where hospital admissions appear to be going down in most parts of the country, it does seem that care homes are a particular area where there is a significant problem. now, the government denies that it has been

too tardy in addressing all of this. they say that from the beginning where there were suspected cases, they were doing some testing, but they were doing some testing, but the testing was not widespread and ethic that is partly because they simply did not have the capacity. we have heard a lot about the capacity being ramped up over this month, but thatis being ramped up over this month, but that is quite a recent event and so lots of concern that, of course, people in care homes are the most vulnerable. they are elderly and it's seems that at some point somewhere going into hospitalfor treatment and then maybe catching the virus there and bringing it back to the care home. they were not being tested before coming back to the care home, plus, of course, ca re rs we re the care home, plus, of course, carers were going in and out and going to various different locations all, of course, that could spread the virus, so this is a privately. the government has been under massive pressure over this so they are now talking about giving it daily figure not only on deaths in hospitals. what we have had is this retrospective figure, if you like, from the office of national statistics that goes back with a lag

of about ten days, so they have been publishing two graphs, if you like, two trajectories on that. how they are going to do it today will be interesting to see, how up—to—date the figures are for care homes, who is collecting that data because at the beginning the government said it was very the beginning the government said it was very difficult to do that because there are so many different ca re because there are so many different care homes and so many different settings coming under some many different companies. that was what they said then and they are now saying that they should be able to get some kind of figure daily. we will bring people those figures are soonest we have them. it may be that they are revealed in the downing street press briefing which is at 5pm. the other point, vicky, which he mentioned there was the capacity for testing which has clearly increased dramatically, that people are still having difficulty getting access to those tests. yes, what the government has done after that pledge of 100,000 tests a day by the end of the month which, of course, is tomorrow is that they have set up a portal. you can go onto the

website and book these tests because even though the capacity was there, to some extent, although not usually at the beginning, it was never being fully used. that was because they we re fully used. that was because they were concentrating on people in hospital who had suspected symptoms, thenit hospital who had suspected symptoms, then it was broadened, the eligibility was broadened and that was being done even more so. drive—through centres, again, the number of those have increased but there are lots of complaints from people saying they are out of town without a car you could not get there because you would have to go on public transport, so the roll—outs of logistical problems that the government has been grappling with and which they do feel have improved, but there still seems to be a bit of a difference between the capacity and the number of people having a test. whether that can be sorted out by tomorrow does not seem likely although matt hancock says he is confident that he will reach that target of 100,000 tests a day although we may not know that, of course, for at least another 24 may be hours or perhaps longer because there is a slight lag on the number of tests. that will be

interesting to see if he has made that, but there is no question that the capacity has been increased and i think part of the reason for setting that incredibly ambitious target was to focus people's mines on that as a priority. ok, many thanks. we will be back with you a little bit later just thanks. we will be back with you a little bit laterjust before that downing street press briefing. thank you so much. free visa extensions will be automatically granted to more crucial overseas health and care workers, the home secretary has announced today. frontline workers, including midwives, radiographers, social workers and pharmacists, with visas due to expire before 1 october 2020 will receive an automatic one—year extension. it will apply to those working both in the nhs and independent sector and include theirfamily members. the same measure was announced last month for nhs doctors, nurses and paramedics. new figures from scotland show more

than half of the coronavirus deaths recorded last week were in care homes. that's according to the national records of scotland which has published its details of cases where covid—19 is mentioned on a death certificate. at the four care homes for ex—servicemen and women, run by the erskine care homes charity, 24 residents are thought to have died from coronavirus. 0ur scotland correspondent lorna gordonjoins me now. first of all, just those figures, that proportion, 39% of deaths in ca re that proportion, 39% of deaths in care homes. does that represent a weekly figure, ideally figure? what is that? those figures give some context, that figure ofjust over a third of total deaths since this outbreak began have been in care homes, but what was interesting in the figures that were released today is that they show that just over half of deaths in the weekjust past we re half of deaths in the weekjust past were in care homes, so for the first time, care home deaths related to

covid—19 overtook the number of deaths happening in hospitals. scotland's first minister, nicola sturgeon, touched on it on her press briefing earlier today for she acknowledged how accepting these deaths are. the proportion of deaths in scotland in care homes whilst obviously deeply distressing is, however, broadly in line with the proportions being reported now from many other countries. that demonstrates again how crucial it is to make care homes as safe as they can possibly be during a pandemic of this nature. care homes have had strict guidance to follow since the 13th of march and it is incumbent on care home providers, whether they are in the public or the private sector, to follow and to implement that guidance. scotland's first minister in that briefing emphasise some of the measures that the scottish government has brought in to try to protect residents of care homes. the testing of symptomatic residents and staff, wanting to see two negative

tests from any resident returning to their care homes and the testing and isolation for 14 days of any new residents entering a care home. opposition parties here in scotland are urging the scottish government to ramp up its support of homes here in light of these new statistics which really do show what has long been suspected that while care home staff are doing everything they can to stop coronavirus getting into ca re to stop coronavirus getting into care homes, once it does get in, it can be devastating. many thanks. the us economy has shrunk by nearly five percent — ending the longest expansion in us history as coronavirus virtually shut down the country. the gross domestic product figures show a 4.8% fall for the first quarter of the year. that's the sharpest drop since the financial crisis of 2008. the latest figures from the department of commerce

account only for the first three months of the year, which means figures for the next quarter are expected to be even more dramatic. lindsay piegza is chief economist at stifel, a wealth management and investment banking firm. here she is explaining the worst is yet to come. as you mentioned, in your 5% drop, whilst hardly unexpected, it does certainly solidify the notion that the us economy was already heading into recession at the start of the year and this is before the hardest hit is expected to come in the second quarter with most forecasts expecting a 30% drop when we look out to the second quarter, so this was a small decline, as expected, but hardly the worst to come when we talk about a forced economic shutdown, stalling nearly every industry in the us economy. i think the fed is due to meet again shortly. they have already slashed interest rates, relaxed banking rules, expanded lending, what more can they do? at this point, we don't expect much to be announced from the fed.

as you mentioned, rates are already at zero. they have committed to unlimited asset purchases and we now have a series, up to nine lending and liquity programmes, so there's not much expected from the fed in terms of additional policy initiatives, but we do expect to hearfrom the fed regarding how those policies have succeeded in terms of stabilising the us market and whether not they do expect to take further policy measures if this persists beyond the first half of the year. a lot of focus on the difference between state, federal and local government and how they are responding to this. where is the real pressure falling? well, right now, this is a very localised response. different states have different levels of cases and it is incumbent on those local and state governments to respond accordingly. the federal government has put out general advisories, general guidelines, but it is on the state and local governments to determine how to implement those guidelines

and whether we see some of those restrictions beginning to left as we have seen in georgia, colorado and a handful of other states you're in the us. the ramifications of the job losses are huge, especially in america, because as well as losing yourjob you also lose your health insurance, don't you? absolutely, and so what we have seen is the federal government step in with trillions of dollars trying to help stem that shortfall for businesses and workers. as you mentioned, we see nearly 26 million americans file for initialjoblessness claims, so they have not only extended their programme but also extended coverage, expanded coverage for americans in terms of health care, getting access to testing and making sure that individuals who have been forced out of their position as a result of the attempt to contain covid—19 are not left in the dark. speaking to simon a little bit

earlier. spain's prime minister has warned that his country faces a recession on an ‘extraordinary scale' as the country begins to restart its economy after one of the strictest lockdowns in europe. many fear the downturn could be much worse than the crash of 2008. damian grammaticas reports. in spain, the daily tally of the dead may be falling, but the lines of the hungry are lengthening. queueing for hand—outs to fill empty stomachs. a new wave of suffering brought by the virus is gathering force. norma, a cleaner, has lost all of her work. 300 euros a month is what she‘s left with. the poorest being hit hardest. translation: the people whose house i was working at told me, "don‘t come any more until this is finished." now i don‘t know if i can even afford to pay my rent. the little she gets

she shares with her brother. his work submitting flyers to homes has dried up and there are four in his household to feed. even in the worst of spain‘s economic crisis, those on the margins could find odd jobs — not now. assistance from others is all that‘s left. translation: every day we pray for help for the nation‘s volunteers and thanks to god we‘re getting them. it is a miracle. a miracle is what many of spain‘s businesses need too. the plan is they will start reopening next month but customer numbers must be limited. cafes can only serve outdoors. businesses, shuttered for weeks, may struggle to survive. paco‘s come back to find the bills piling up, more than he thinks he‘s able to pay. if his restaurant fails, the five staff he‘s kept on will be jobless too.

translation: even when we open, i don‘t believe people will go out like before — they‘ll be scared. nobody knows what is going to happen. we‘re all scared. those fears are felt right across spain, even in the smallest places. this bullring should be full now. this was it exactly a year ago. the annual fiesta, people crowded in from far and wide. now, nobody. these events help sustain economies in towns like this, but how to restart them? events will be the last thing to reopen — just 400 spectators allowed, all spaced apart. translation: it's a day when, in a small village like this, many thousands come. restaurants, hotels, shops — everyone will feel the impact. it‘s sad. spain‘s health emergency may be waning but an economic one isjust beginning to bite.

damian grammaticas, bbc news. patients with suspected cancer symptoms are being urged to contact their gp as research suggests there‘s been a 70% drop in the number of referrals since the pandemic was declared. a network of covid—free hubs has now been set up across the country, to make sure those who need urgent cancer treatment will get it. our reporter lucie kon has been to see how one of them works. we‘ve got two different trusts operating... joanna franks is a consultant breast surgeon. in normal times, she splits her working week looking after nhs patients at university college hospital in central london and private patients here at the wellington hospital in north london. we have a 57—year—old lady with a right—sided small screening detected cancer... now, because of covid, her nhs team have relocated their entire service here. we have a series of theatres. they would ordinarily have gone

to sleep in the anaesthetic room, but now they will go to sleep in the actual main theatre. it is one of 19 covid free cancer hubs. alliances between the nhs and private sector now up and running across england. excellent, and i've checked the covid swabs, they are all negative... and they make sure it stays covid free by testing every patient for the virus before they are admitted. welcome everybody. so ben, are you going to take minutes for us? jo has weekly meetings with colleagues from the other hospitals in the alliance to decide who they can realistically treat. patients are prioritised according to new national guidelines and difficult decisions have to be made. for some patients it is very clear that they need to have time critical treatment and those patients will be put forward by their mdt to be discussed for prioritisation to make sure that they are going to get an operation slot. three weeks ago during coronavirus, covid—19, i was diagnosed with breast cancer. carine is still coming to terms

with her breast cancer diagnosis. she is not a patient at one of the hospitals involved here. if we were not in covid i know that i would be on an operating schedule and have a date for a mastectomy, with reconstruction. but because of covid everything is on hold. the bbc has been told of patients across the country who haven‘t been given surgery or treatments like chemotherapy because of covid. one nurse has said that the treatment options are so limited at the moment that she has seen a dramatic increase in the number of patients having mastectomies without reconstructions. nhs england say essential and urgent cancer treatments must continue but that all decisions made have to be balanced against the risks posed by covid. lucy conn, bbc news. the bollywood actor irrfan khan — who was known around the world

for roles in the films slumdog millionaire and jurassic world — has died. he was 53. he died in hospital in mumbai where he was being treated for a rare form of cancer. our correspondent yogita limaye reports where do we begin? irrfan khan in life of pi, one of the several english language movies he starred in. one of his biggest successes overseas was slumdog millionaire, directed by danny boyle. so it‘s a sad day to think of his passing, but it‘s also a day when you can remember everything that he gave us, all the lovely roles that he played. and an actor who effortlessly bridged two cultures. here in his home country, he was the unlikely leading man. a performer who broke the stereotype of what it takes to be a protagonist in indian movies. he is a big star in india. on a bbc programme seven years ago, he was asked if he see himself as bollywood or

hollywood? i just see myself as an actor and i just want to engage the whole world, so it can be bollywood, hollywood, tollywood, collywood, whatever—wood. irrfan khan acted in more than one hundred movies. this was his last film. angrezi medium hit cinemasjust as they closed because of the coronavirus crisis. two years ago, he‘d shared a note about his battle with cancer. "little had i known that my search for rare stories would find me a rare disease," he wrote. today, indian superstar shahrukh khan called him "the greatest actor of our time." he leaves behind heartbroken fans in india, and around the world. now it‘s time for a look at the weather with nick miller. hello. more wet weather to come as we see several bands of rain moving

across the british isles in the next day or so. here is the one affecting us this afternoon pushing across more of northern and eastern england, for northern ireland and across southern areas of scotland as it turns better here stop then a brighter gap before more heavy downpours reach south—west england and wales with dusty went as we head into this evening whereas our band of rain from today eventually feeds across northern areas of scotland as the night goes on. for many of us, we will see some rain or showers overnight with temperatures holding up overnight with temperatures holding up into the mid to high single figures as we start the day tomorrow. there will be some drier moments tomorrow, some sunny spells, but the emphasis will be as low pressure remains in control, a few heavy showers getting going during the day particularly to england and wales, into northern ireland and southern scotland. some of these will be thundery with the risk of hail, gusty wins and a very brisk wind right the way through the ingot channel costs at as well and tempers 02:27:54,384 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 in the mid—to high teens.