a very warm welcome to bbc news. my name's i'm mike embley. our top stories: the us economy slumps and worse is still to come. spending nosedived in the last quarter, as the lockdown began. the number of coronavirus deaths in the uk passes 26,000. for the first time, the figure includes deaths in care homes and the wider community. hope for a treatment — one of the most senior health advisers in the us says there's "clear—cut" evidence an antiviral drug can help people recover. it is a very important proof of concept because what it has proven is that a drug can block this virus. and the british prime minister and his partner are celebrating the birth of their baby son.

hello. we're covering all the latest coronavirus developments here in britain and globally. we start in the us where over 2,000 deaths have been recorded in the last 2a hours. it takes the country's total number of fatalities to over 60,000. the figures come as officials said the us economy is shrinking at the fastest rate in more than a decade. figures from the last quarter show a 4.8% contraction, but economists say the worst is yet to come. the international labour organisation has warned that over a billion people workers have seen their incomes plummet dropping on average by about 60%. here in the uk the number of dead has passed 26,000, as official figures now include fatalities in care homes and the wider community, for the first time. more on all that shortly. first nick bryant in new york

on the latest signs of how the pandemic is impacting the world's biggest economy. new york is a city caught between dread and desire. desperate to open up after six weeks in lockdown, but fearful of the fatal consequences of doing so too soon. a new york without new yorkers has hammered the economy. its tourism and hospitality sectors have also been decimated. wall street, america's financial hub, fears the onset of another great depression. but even though the city has passed the peak of its outbreak, the density of its population makes it especially hazardous to quickly open up. that covid conundrum. it's...| can't even wrap my head around it. it's incredible. steve ma rga rella owns a road—building firm in staten island, which he fears will be bankrupt byjune. he's a trump supporter, who believes the democrats who run new york are being too cautious. if i'm not working and this

economy's not opened up, and these fear—mongers don't back off, where they've got everybody scared to death, we all go out of business. steve, it's a vicious virus, i've had it myself, you accept that? and i'm sorry to hear that. the reality of it is, people are going to continue to get sick. i don't think they're going to continue to get sick at any alarming rate. horns honk. we're seeing more beggars on new york's streets. this is harlem, a mainly african—american community, severely hit by this health and economic contagion. and this is upscale soho, the home of high—end retail, boarded up like a hurricane is about to rip through, which, economically, it has, every single shutdown day. don't open up too soon. but public health officials, such as danielle 0mpad, who live in these communities, warn against the rush to reopen. people are hurting financially, they're struggling to feed theirfamilies, but we really need to take this slow

because i would hate for us to have to shut down the economy again, if we get more cases. this is one of the most impatient cities in the world. they talk about the new york minute — it means right now, immediately, without hesitation. but although some parts of this state could start the gradual process of reopening in mid—may, here in new york city, the tough restrictions will remain in place certainly for weeks, and maybe for many months. every night, at nine o'clock, the empire state building is illuminated in a red—and—white siren light to honour the emergency workers providing care. it's a ritual that will continue until this crisis is over. but that's the unanswerable question — when will new york return to being new york? nick bryant, bbc news, new york. 0ur north america correspondent, david willis,

says the economic impact will become worse. what these figures really enforce, i think, is the fact that the world's largest economy is in freefall, and bear in mind, of course, that that first quarter gdp figure reflects about three weeks of the pandemic lockdown, meaning that the second—quarter figures are likely to be much, much worse. the fear of some here is that this could prompt some states to reopen their economies early, with all the attendant risks that that potentially entails, in order, in hope of boosting employment. unemployment here, of course, we have seen about 26 million people filing claims in the last five weeks alone. but some economists warn that, even that won't be enough to return this economy to pre—pandemic levels anytime soon. that, they say, could take years. it is a real dilemma, whatever your politics, trying to chart a course between economic disaster

and health disaster. a huge problem for health advisors and politicians. absolutely and, talking of politicians, we will seek congress prevailed upon to pass another stimulus plan. there have been four so far, of course, totally $3 trillion, but disagreement amongst some democrats and republicans on the form that another stimulus package should take. democrats wanting money allocated to individual states, like new york. republicans are opposed to that. but the prospect of a sort of v—shaped recovery is starting to recede, economists here believe, for the simple reason that many of the businesses that have shut their doors throughout this pandemic now may never reopen. david willis. the full human cost of the uk's coronavirus outbreak is becoming clearer. latest figures combine,

for the first time, the total number of deaths in hospitals with those in care homes and the wider community. they showjust over 26,000 people have died so far — a surge of more than 4,000 recorded deaths compared with the previous day. most of the newly—announced fatalities have come from care homes, where there are growing concerns that the number of cases is continuing to rise. 0ur health editor, hugh pym, explains the implications. happier times for betty, celebrating her 97th birthday. she's now in critical care in hospital with coronavirus. her daughter, andrea, says she picked up the virus in a nursing home and testing at an earlier stage for residents and staff might have kept her safe. i think it's a bit late. i think that coronavirus, if the truth be known, is endemic in our nursing homes, and the people that are going to suffer the most are the elderly and the vulnerable. not to mention the staff.

testing for all care home residents and staff, including those without symptoms, has now been made available, either with kits sent to the homes, or mobile units visiting them. managers say they need help running the testing and it's urgently needed. i do think that there is a tsunami of deaths that we probably... we may have been able to avoid, should we have had this testing an awful lot earlier. because the elderly do not... ..they don't present in the classic way. they don't normally have rip—roaring temperatures. it can be quite insidious, they are just a bit off colour. i asked about the new care home testing plan at the downing street media briefing. couldn't testing really have started sooner than that? the scale and the speed of this epidemic is really in the last couple of weeks. and there is a huge national and local endeavour to both

not just test, which is very important, but to also understand the measures that would make a difference in care homes. and to look at that in a very rapid way, looking at the evidence so we can put in place measures that protect people. drive—through testing or home kits have been made available to millions of others with symptoms, including heather, who did her swab test at taunton today. because i'm a private carer, i work for myself, so i couldn't get tested before today. and it is really important, not for me, but also for my clients. over 65s qualify for testing as well, like mac and anthea. well, we both had the symptoms for a few days. and so therefore we really wanted to get checked, but the symptoms hadn't increased, so we didn't need to phone 111, but as soon as the tests for over 65s, which we are, came available, we were quite happy to come and have a test. home test kits can be ordered online but only by those with symptoms. we haven't opened the

packaging on this one, so it is safe for future use. there are a couple of different types of home testing kit. this is one of them. before you do anything, you need to register online and book the free courier collection service to come and pick it up. then you take the swab sample from your nose and throat, put it in the plastic container, and in the packaging, and then it's ready to be collected. slots for drive—through tests have been in high demand. home test kits ran out earlier today, but with new supplies, are bookable again this evening. the health secretary, matt hancock, has set a target of 100,000 tests a day by the end of this month. and that's tomorrow. hugh pym, bbc news. let's get some of the day's other news: there have been clashes for a third night between anti—government protestors and the military in lebanon. these pictures show a stand—off in the northern city of tripoli. the country is facing its most challenging period

since its civil war, with a rapidly deteriorating economy exacerbated by the coronavirus outbreak. switzerland is also announcing a loosening of its lockdown. shops, restaurants, bars and museums will be allowed to to reopen on may 11. but there'll be a limit of four people around restaurant tables with a distance of two metres between tables, and a ban on large gatherings remains in place. the spanish prime minister, pedro sanchez, has said he will take personal responsibility for any mistakes the government has made in its handling of the pandemic. spain is one of the worst affected countries in europe, with more than 2a,000 deaths. a four—stage process of lifting the lockdown imposed in march has now begun. a senior white house health adviser has expressed optimism that an existing antiviral drug could help fight the coronavirus. dr anthony fauci said data from a clinical trial of remdesivir showed it could reduce the recovery time in sufferers and that the drug showed great promise. if you look at the time

to recovery being shorter in the remdesivir arm, it was 11 days compared to 15 days so that is something that, although at 31% improvement does not seem like a knockout 100%, it is a very important proof of concept because what it has proven is that a drug can block this virus. well, earlier i spoke to associate professor of epidemiology at harvard university, bill hanage, who says the drug's success should give us cautious optimism. i think that it is definitely encouraging. i would sound a couple of notes of caution. dr anthony fauci, just a fact you can do something that does have a serious impact that is statistically significant upon the course of disease is very important. this should be

compared with a study that has just come out in the lancet, from china, which also showed similar results but they had difficulty nailing it down into the statistical level because they had problems at that stage because the number of cases were declining so quickly they had trouble recruiting enough patients. cautious optimism. are we talking about something that might save the lives of people who might die from coronavirus or that would help with the recovery, make the recovery faster? we need more work on that. the headline figures, a drop of mortality from the control arm ii.6% to 8.7% for those who received remdesivir. that is a reduction. we still more work to know if that will translate into a significant impact. it also needs to look at what patients it works best on.

we know from lots of studies of infectious diseases that some treatments can depend on the time during the course of the disease at which they are given. as we learn more, we can see where they can be given earlier or later. with reference to your previous segment the discovery think that may be able to save lives is something that gives us real hope and also on by being slow in taking up social distancing. before it really getting into our communities. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: an isolation challenge — how a group of british teenagers are getting creative to document their lockdown lives. nothing, it seemed, was too big to withstand the force of the tornado.

the extent of the devastation will lead to renewed calls for government help to build better housing. internationally, there have already been protests. sweden says it received no warning of the accident. indeed, the russians at first denied anything had gone wrong. only when radioactivity levels began to increase outside russia were they forced to admit the accident. for the mujahideen, the mood here is of great celebration. this is the end of a 12—year war for them, they've taken the capital, which they've been fighting for for so long. it was 7:00 in the morning, the day when power began to pass on the minority to the majority, when africa, after 300 years, reclaimed its last white colony.

this is bbc news. the latest headlines: the us economy has slumped and the worst is yet to come. spending nosedived in the last quarter, as the coronavirus lockdown began. the number of deaths in the uk has passed 26,000, the official figures now include deaths in ca re figures now include deaths in care homes and the larger community as well. borisjohnson and his partner carrie symonds have received congratulations and good wishes from around the world following the birth of their baby boy. officials in downing street say the prime minister won't be taking paternity leave at the moment — as our political editor laura kuenssberg reports. champagne arrives at number 10 after the birth of a baby boy for whom this will be home. there were whispers in westminster about the prime minister's whereabouts. then news confirmed just before 10:00am. no glimpse yet of carrie

symonds or her first child, but a picture of borisjohnson, already known to have fathered five, on his return from their side. so, again, the foreign secretary played understudy in parliament. good morning. the labour leader on his way to not—quite prime minister's questions again. 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. i think we all recognise the anxiety that the prime minister and carrie must have gone through in these past few weeks, unimaginable anxiety. and so i really hope this brings them incredible relief and joy. such happy news amid such uncertainty. 2020 is certainly a year they will never forget. with the most grave reasons to remember, a year more dangerous and dramatic than the most outlandish political fiction. thank you, thanks all. trying to run the government's response to a serious health and economic emergency... i must continue my self—isolation. .. ..then the prime minister confined to intensive care,

his own health touch—and—go. back at work now, with plenty of well wishes for his family news, but facing as a government the most agonising and important decisions of its time in charge. the government itself, the public, schools, businesses, trade unions, need to plan ahead. and they're saying that loudly and clearly. the prime minister said on monday that he wanted maximum transparency. well, will the first secretary give us some now and tell us when the government will publish an exit strategy? but with the government's scientific committee, sage, closely monitoring the situation, ministers are reluctant to give more clues. it would be very difficult for us to responsibly set out those proposals before we've had that subsequent advice from sage, both on the rate of infection, the death rate. we can't be pulled into making proposals in advance without sage opining. but after gathering his ministers tomorrow, it's likely the prime minister will inch towards what might be next. not with an encyclopaedic exit strategy, but with a gauge perhaps of how we might start

to tiptoe our way out of this moment. those in charge have been scrambling to keep up with the pace of the virus, yet the journey out of this crisis will be anything but quick. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. let's bring you more on that top story, the slump in the american economy. joining me now is gregory daco, chief us economist at oxford economics. these figures don't reflect the full crisis, it is likely that the bulk of it will be felt in the bulk of it will be felt in the current water, april through june? the current water, april through june? that's correct. what's amazing about the first quarter of gdp releases the amended hit from the global coronavirus recession was already quite severely visible in the first quarter data, even though the shock really took pa rt though the shock really took part in the later part of march, so the very end of the

first quarter. the second quarter is likely to show an even larger drop in economic activity. aux ford economics expects a big i2% contraction over the first half of the year that would be three times as large as the global financial crisis ten years ago. and we we re crisis ten years ago. and we were seeing of course, the longest employment boom in american history, but i think looking at the figures in mid 26 million americans have signed up for unemployment benefits. all of those jobs wiped out before the moment. is it possible to give a picture of what this means, this kind of what this means, this kind of contraction, to individual lives and businesses? yeah, i mean, we are seeing some horrendous numbers on the labour market front. the toll this coronavirus recession is taking is massive. as you said, over the last five weeks we have seen 26.5 million people file for unemployment benefits and we are likely to see a few more million two file —— if you

we re more million two file —— if you were millions file tomorrow. we are seeing millions ofjob losses, hours cutback in terms of worker is the possibility to work and —— workers‘ ability to work and —— workers‘ ability to work and —— workers‘ ability to work and the income data numbers are likely to be quite severe as well. so a big hits of the us economy that will affect a lot of families throughout the country and will prevent them from spending once the lockdowns are ended. and it‘s quite possible that not all of those jobs and businesses will come back. so, any businesses will come back. so, a ny recovery businesses will come back. so, any recovery will be slow and uneven? yes, the recovery from this global coronavirus recession is not likely to be a v—shaped recovery, we are likely to see something more of a u—shape which will take a lot of quarters before we recuperate the income loss over the first half of the year. if you look at what federal german

—— federal chairman powell said, a lot of those small businesses are disappearing, those heads to the economy pertained to people not being able to re—enter the labour market once the economy starts to loosen up again and they pertained to the fact this is a global shock and there may be some relative differences across how countries recuperate from this global coronavirus recession. gregory daco at 0xford economics, thank you. thank you. being in lockdown can be a challenge for so many of us. but for teenagers, whose world can revolve around social gatherings and going out, it‘s particularly difficult. so a group of young people from a london theatre group have got creative to make a visual time capsule, documenting their lives in lockdown. and they‘re not the only ones — as brenda emmanus reports. hey, guys! meet the bite squad,

six popular uk entertainers who moved in together before the lockdown. there now performing short form video content on tiktok. they have a combined following of over a0 million people, but a north london is gi’oup people, but a north london is group have found their own way to keep teenagers connected during the lockdown, the river jewel time capsule. —— through a virtual time capsule. this 17—year—old is a member of company three theatre. every week since the lockdown, they have been recording the lockdown through the eyes of teenagers. it's given us this opportunity to really vocalise how we feel at this time, and i think with technology, it‘s really easy to document our daily lives doing the lockdown andi daily lives doing the lockdown and i think it‘s really cool.

it is really important that it is fine and that the kids really enjoyed doing it, but the really important thing is like, it's really hard being in lockdown and it's often really ha rd lockdown and it's often really hard being a teenager. and until you combine those things together, it feels really important that we are listening to the teenagers in our lives and we are trying to understand what this is like for them as well as everyone else affected by the pandemic. but they aren‘t keeping all of this fund to themselves, company three have created a list of resources for anyone who wants to create their own virtual time capsule is. 250 people have signed up to take part.

0h, have signed up to take part. oh, my god, it‘s so bad! from belfast to inverness, australia, kenya and the usa, in ages have been recording the time they have been forced to stay at home. when you look backin stay at home. when you look back in five years‘ time, what you think your feelings will be? i don't wanted to be something thatjust took be? i don't wanted to be something that just took away a few months of my life, because i think that's useless. i think it has to be that was a challenge and we overcame. sol think that's what it needs to be. i'm in lockdown with my three young brothers. company three young brothers. company three are encouraging any young teenagers who would like to ta ke teenagers who would like to take part to do so. who knows how long we will be entertaining ourselves? brenda emmanus, bbc london. and finally, something that may appeal to a lot of people, belgians are being appealed to to it more tries to stop hundreds of thousands of

potatoes from expiring. the demand for potatoes has dropped for a significant proportion. that‘s it for now. hello. it wasn‘t so much a case of april showers on wednesday, this was the scene for a time across birmingham, but give it a wee bit of time and eventually that rain cleared away and out came the sun. the reason for it all? well, we had not one but two weather fronts to contend with. and thursday again is a real mishmash of weather, low pressure very much the dominant feature, the isobars squeezing together on its southern flank. so, it isn‘t going to be a particularly cold start to the day given all the breeze and the cloud as well, but for some it may be a wet one. we‘re just pushing wednesday‘s rain if you you like, away from the north of england up into central and southern parts of scotland. right from the word go, there are showers to be had across wales and the south—west of england. these will rush their way ever further towards the east as we get on through

the afternoon. we may even hear the odd rumble of thunder and those winds too, quite noticeable through the channel areas, a0—a5 miles an hour or so in the highest of the gusts. for northern ireland, the best and the brightest perhaps later in the day, out towards the west. stuck underneath the cloud, the eastern side of scotland, nine only, a high in the day of about 13 or ia. those showers keep going for those eastern areas during the course of the evening, gradually filtering away as the low pressure tries to move its centre of gravity out into the north sea. but it‘s still the dominant influence across the northern half of the british isles. and come the afternoon again, i think we‘ll see some pretty heavy downpours towards the eastern side of the pennines. perhaps the driest of the weather further towards the south and west where we could well see a high in the day of 15 or 16. that low pressure is still the dominant feature as i take you out friday and move you into the first part of the weekend. but you just get the sense that it is drifting a little bit further towards the east and out allows it to start picking up the north and north—westerly wind. so the northern areas fully exposed to that wind, we will probably see the bulk

of the showers there. elsewhere, saturday is shaping up to be a pretty reasonable day. quite a lot of sunshine around and the temperatures responding as a consequence. a high in the day of about 16 or 17. but it doesn‘t last. now, there is some uncertainty about sunday, it could well be the rain i‘m showing you here working its way into the south actually moves a little bit further north. we will keep you posted on that one. take care, bye—bye.

this is bbc news.

the headlines: the pandemic has driven the us economy into its most severe contraction for more than a decade. it shrank nearly 5% in the first quarter, the first three months of 2020, but the lockdown only came in towards the end of that quarter, so the head of the us central bank has warned there‘ll be much more economic pain in the figures for the following three months. the death toll from coronavirus in the uk has now passed 26,000. for the first time, the official figures count all deaths linked to the virus — including care homes and the wider commnity. the pandemic claimed nearly four thousand more lives than were being recorded previously. the white house health advisor, dr anthony fauci, has expressed optimism about an experimental anti—viral drug. he said trial data shows remdesivir had a clear—cut and positive effect in reducing recovery time.