this is bbc news. the headlines. boris johnson chairs his first cabinet meeting since returning to work. later he'll update the country on the steps to defeat coronavirus. but downing street stresses that there will be no relaxing of social distancing measures. testing is crucial to easing the restrictions, but ministers remain under pressure over their target of 100,000 daily tests by today. nhs leaders call for a new approach. what we need to know is, what are we going to do in terms of the testing regime over the next six, eight, ten, 12 weeks as we come out of lockdown and as we ensure that we protect patients and staff in hospital, community, mental health and ambulance trusts. the head of thejudiciary in england and wales says coronavirus

could prompt the biggest changes to jury trials since world war ii. british airways says it cannot say for certain whether its operations at gatwick airport, which are currently suspended due to the pandemic, will reopen. a 72 year old man, who set off injanuary on a bid to become the oldest person to row across the atlantic, has finally made it to antigua but he's come back to a very different world. and an raf fly—past for captain tom moore's 100th birthday. a special thank you for raising £30 million for the nhs. i'm absolutely delighted with all the people like you who have come to wish me a many...happy birthday. it really is absolutely awesome, the amount of people who have been so kind.

the prime minister has chaired his first session of cabinet since returning to work, as the government considers how its lockdown measures might be relaxed. a spokesman for number 10 said the meeting included an update from the chief medical officer and chief scientific adviser on the country's progress in battling the virus. later this afternoon, borisjohnson is expected to explain at a daily briefing how he'll decide what restrictions could be eased without the infection rate accelerating. testing will be a crucial part of the strategy — but a senior minister has conceded that the government is unlikely to meet the target of carrying out 100,000 daily tests in england by today. the most recent figures

show about half that number being carried out, as our health correspondent, anna collinson reports. it's deadline day for testing. 100,000 daily virus tests by the end of april is what the government have promised. thousands of kits have been ordered online, while the army have been brought in to help with some drive—in sites. all of these measures will play a key role in exiting lockdown. as you start to ease, you want to know exactly where transmissions are likely to be happening, and of course it's likely to be happening when people are infected. how do you know people are infected? you test them. a senior minister has admitted the government may miss their 100,000 daily target, but hospital chiefs say that's a red herring and testing needs to be part of a wider strategy including contact tracing and regular checks of front line workers. what we need to know is what are we going to do in terms of the testing regime over the next six, eight, ten, 12 weeks, as we come out of lockdown and as we ensure that we protect

patients and staff in hospitals, community mental health and ambulance trusts. prime minister boris johnson will now attempt to answer some of those questions. today's daily briefing will be his first since returning to work, and one focus will be the so—called r number, which reflects how infectious a virus is. at the height of the outbreak, the r number was around three. this means anyone affected could pass it on to three people. since then, restrictions have brought that number down to around 0.7. crucially, that's below one. however, there are fears that if you ease restrictions too much, the number could jump back up again. the need for caution is clearly something that we are bearing very much in mind here in the uk. the key for us, i think, is to avoid an awful second spike in this virus. wouldn't it be terrible, after all the huge efforts the british people have made, to find that we were laid low by a second spike just at the wrong moment for our economy and indeed for the wellbeing and the health of our nation?

one way to save lives and ease the lockdown would be a cure, and an area of hope is the repurposing of current drugs. trials involving drugs used for hiv and malaria are currently being tested to see if they can stop the coronavirus replicating in the body. results aren't expected untiljune. then there's remdesivir, a drug originally developed to treat ebola. us officials say there's clear—cut evidence that it can help people recover from covid—19. but there's a warning that, even if it's successful, it can only go so far. the medicines being tested are unlikely to give much more than, say, a 20% improvement in the number of deaths from people in hospitals. now, of course, 20% is a big advance, but we mustn't think that this is a total palliative, that it deals with the problem. even once the government's testing hurdle is passed, levels will need to be ramped up further, particularly

in hospitals and care homes. without a vaccine, some form of social distancing will be with us for the foreseeable future. anna collinson, bbc news. 0ur political correspondent chris mason is at westminster. as we build up to the daily briefing, but that will be hosted by the prime minister, so are we going to get some explanations about the sort of evidence that the government is going to be using? yes, i think we will, will begin to get a sense of how the government is going to approach this next stage whilst also doing some expectation management that yes, the lockdown might have been turned on in one go, it's certainly not going to be turned off in one go. we got a sense this morning from nicola sturgeon, the scotla nd morning from nicola sturgeon, the scotland first minister, talking about how next week when the deadline expires around the current lockdown in the 7th of may, that there would not any change in any meaningful way, as she put it. this

lunchtime, downing street are briefing westminsterjournalists making it very clear, we don't want to relax social distancing measures 01’ to relax social distancing measures or do anything to be —— enabled the virus to explode in any kind of exponential way, we do not want exponential way, we do not want exponential growth in the disease again. we will hear from the exponential growth in the disease again. we will hearfrom the prime minister, sir chris retty patrick clarence, the chief medical adviser and scientific adviser —— sir chris retty a nd and scientific adviser —— sir chris retty and patrick vallance. perhaps an element of a road map but without detail, and the takeaway will be that this will take a long time. we will hear from that this will take a long time. we will hearfrom sir chris that this will take a long time. we will hear from sir chris whitty. something that used to dominate our lives, brexit, we have almost forgotten! what has been happening? a bit of nostalgia here, talking about brexit again, it's all i ever used to talk about in 2019, 18, 17,

16! a source close to the uk negotiating team, giving a sense of where we are. negotiations are still ongoing, even if they aren't generating much attention at the moment and remember, the government is committed that we are going to leave the transition period at the end of this calendar year, so where legally out of the european union, in all practical senses we are still in it. some saying that the transition period should be extended because there is not bandwidth on either side to focus on this. the uk government saying, no, we will have a good negotiating round but there are differences between the two sides about the extent to which the rules are separated once the uk is away from the european union, wanting to manage its own fishing rights and make sure it doesn't get bound into other european union rules and regulations. they say it's going pretty well during this negotiating remotely over this zoom calls, but they miss being able to

go for a quick coffee or a beer during the informal stuff, where often the sticky bits of the negotiations are results. they say they will work on that i may be trying do these slightly awkward social drinks on zoom thing that quite a lot of us have been trying to adjust to! that all the young people are doing! we are all missing the coffee in there, notjust them! thanks very much, chris. we will talk more about... in all seriousness. we will talk a bit more about testing in a moment or two. don't forget you can watch the downing street news conference with boris johnson today at 5pm. tune in for a bbc news special on the news channel and bbc one for full coverage. the coverage kicks off at 4:30pm, and then generally that everything isa and then generally that everything is a bad 5pm, generally that's how

it works. before we move on to talk on about testing, some interesting figures from the police, in terms of the lockdown and to what extent we have or have not been observing it. we have had some figures from the national police chiefs council which are fora national police chiefs council which are for a whole month, and it's telling us how many fines have been levied. march 27 april 27, we are hearing that... quite a lot, 8887 fines have been levied for breaches of the coronavirus lockdown guidelines. in fact, of the coronavirus lockdown guidelines. infact, i of the coronavirus lockdown guidelines. in fact, i should say, thatis guidelines. in fact, i should say, that is just figures for england, apologies. march the 27th to eight for the 27th, the best part of 8900 —— april the 27th, the better part ofa —— april the 27th, the better part of a thousand 900 fines have been issued, breaking up people in

parties, but we have probably all seen people gathering in the park in large numbers and the police have the party to break those up and if people don't comply, they have the power to levy fines so that is the number that have been issued in that one—month period in england. let's talk about the science. scientists have to act quickly when faced with a new epidemic and determine how it spreads, and as we're reporting, they do this by estimating the basic reproduction number called the r zero or r nought, which shows how infectious the virus is. but what does this actually mean? this graph shows the effect that a higher ‘r number‘ would have on the number of cases. even a small increase above one would lead to what is called exponential growth, a faster and faster increase in the number of people infected. implementing stricter social distancing measures like lockdown have had a dramatic effect on decreasing the r number in the uk, but it's unclear at what stage the government

might think about lifting the lockdown. we mightfind we might find out more at 5pm. let's speak now tojonathan ball, a professor of molecular virology at the university of nottingham. a very good afternoon tea. good afternoon. -- good afternoon to you. where does the letter or number need to be from your standpoint as a scientist as a researcher? where does the r number needs to be? the key is not where the r number value is the moment, how many people are being infected from someone already infected, it's the number of infections there are up and down the country, that is how we will come out of lockdown. we have talked about the need of testing, pursuing the virus as it spreads in communities, and you need to be identifying individuals who are affected. and then isolate those

people. but also identify those individuals who they have been in close contact with, and keep an eye on those. that's the way that you keep that mystical, magical r0 to a cce pta ble keep that mystical, magical r0 to acceptable levels, and preferably below one. what will happen then is the virus outbreak will fizzle out. so, in theory, we could get to that point, can we? it can fizzle out, but is your point that the as —— you need a lot of testing to get there? it can, and if you continue the current measures as they are, the estimates suggest already that the r0 is below one. even if you carry on with the status quo, continued with social distancing that we have in place, and ensure that we don't get significant importation of new cases, there is no reason why the outbreak could not out naturally within the uk without doing —— fizzle out naturally without going out and doing testing. but we do

need to start to lift the social distancing measures, and return to normality and that's why we need testing. if you don't know whether viruses, it is out there, u nfortu nately viruses, it is out there, unfortunately as we saw six or seven weeks ago, it can rapidly increase. and before the current measures were introduced, the only place that we really did any testing was on hospital admissions. by which time you have got lots of spread within the community. and so all of this, again, reminds usjust how important testing is. certainly in terms of, if we're ever going to get businesses up and running again, if we're going to get the country running ina we're going to get the country running in a way we would describe as normal. you really can't do that without testing. no, and that's why there is so much emphasis. it's almost daily that the press has been asking that question, where we are with testing capacity. if we look at the countries who have dealt with the countries who have dealt with

the virus particularly well, like south korea and germany, they have had incredible capacity to go out and test people. if we look at other places like australia and new zealand, for example, particularly new zealand, they introduced a social distancing measures very early on and they have also been testing quite actively. and they are looking at eradication of the virus. so it's possible. in truth, it's not possible long term because the virus has spread to many parts around the world, so we can expect it to re—emerge at some point in the future and that's why we need to have a significant amount of testing. yes, and the number could be different in, for example, different parts of the country. we could have a greater concentration in urban areas but you could go to a rural part of the uk and the situation can be very different. absolutely, if you think about how the virus is spread, it needs two people to come into contact with

each other or close contact with each other or close contact with each other, one person who is infected and the other person who is not. and if you allow those interactions to take place more frequently, we will see more virus transmission events. in a place like london where you have large concentrations of people, also large numbers of commuters packing onto the tubes and buses, you are obviously going to allow the virus to spread a lot more than if you are a crofter in the outer hebrides. indeed. professorjonathan a crofter in the outer hebrides. indeed. professor jonathan ball, very good to talk to you, thank you for talking to us again. nottingham university. the headlines on bbc news. borisjohnson chairs his first cabinet meeting since returning to work; later he'll update the country, on the steps coronavirus but downing street stresses that there will be no relaxing of social distancing measures

testing is crucial to easing the restrictions , but ministers remain under pressure, over their target of 100,000 daily tests by today. nhs leaders call for a new approach: the head of thejudiciary in england and wales says coronavirus could prompt the biggest changes to jury trials since world war ii. as we've heard the government is struggling to meet its testing target, but many say even that level would be nowhere near enough. the world health organization has warned that widespread testing is essential to contain the pandemic. 0ur health correspondent, nick triggle, has this assessment of the government's strategy. "test, test, test", the world health organization recommended should be the key strategy for tackling coronavirus. the uk, though, has struggled to do this. but, today, it's hoping to achieve 100,000 tests. that's a significant

improvement on where we were at the start of the pandemic. in february, when the first cases started to emerge, we were able to test 1,000 people a day. this was carried out at eight small labs. all were run by public health england with support from health officials from the rest of the uk. over time, hospital labs were brought on board, with growing numbers of patients being admitted for treatment for coronavirus. because of this, testing was only widely available to hospital patients — even nhs staff were struggling at times to get them. by early april, over 10,000 tests a day were being carried out, and a target of achieving 100,000 was set. to help achieve that, a network of drive—through testing centres have been opened. there will be 48 by the end of the week. people can also book online for home testing kits to be sent out. meanwhile, the military is running over 70 mobile testing units. three mega labs have been created in milton keynes,

glasgow and cheshire, to process the tests. support is also being provided by the private sector. so, has the 100,000—a—day target been met? we won't know for a few days, as tests need to be processed. the latest figures showjust over 50,000 tests being carried out, although there is capacity for many more. eligibility for testing has also been expanded this week. now, anyone who needs to leave home to work should be able to get tested, all over 65s, hospital patients and care home staff and residents, even if they don't have symptoms. it is one step away from whole population testing. that will be crucial to help us gradually move out of lockdown, as part of the test, trace and track strategy to contain local outbreaks. when that happens, the uk will finally have achieved what the world health organization recommended. 0ur health correspondent nick triggle.

more on this now with dr andrew preston, from the university of bath who is a researcher in infectious diseases. hello, good afternoon to you. good afternoon. as we hello, good afternoon to you. good afternoon. as we are hello, good afternoon to you. good afternoon. as we are inevitably reflecting on a lot today, as it is the deadline day for matt hancock's deadline for testing, we cannot overstate how important testing is, can we? absolutely not. the previous report highlighted that adequately. increasingly, as we look to ease the lockdown, the testing and tracing and isolation is going to be absolutely key to containing any upsurge in cases, when we do start intractable. until that is increased —— starts to interact more. until thatis —— starts to interact more. until that is increased, we will have more from the government strategy later,

from the government strategy later, from your perspective as a researcher, can anything be done in terms of lockdown without an increase in testing? i think it would be dangerous to do so. it's clear from the number of new cases that are still being reported on a daily basis that there is virus an infection in the community, the population as a whole. if we start to reduce the lockdown, it will increase interactions and we will increase interactions and we will increase transmission. without some intervention, and at the moment we are restricted to identifying cases, tracing contact and isolating people who are infected, without that we will end up at the pandemic phase quite quickly. as in, later in the year? could even be before that. i think we still don't know how, don't have a really clear idea how much population is infected as a whole because the only focus on testing

has been on those who are at the highest risk of exposure, health ca re highest risk of exposure, health care workers and social care workers. but when everybody else sta rts workers. but when everybody else starts to venture back out, those become at increased risk. again, so, i think the estimate is the r0 number is below one at the moment, but it wouldn't take a lot for it to get back up. we just don't know how quickly that will rise and to what number it might rise over what timescale. and could we reach a curious situation where some people do get the test, if they show they have had it, they are through it, that presumably is good news for them as individuals because that means they can go back to work, they will not worry about infecting anyone else? but then other people who for whatever reason might not be able to get a test and they cannot get back to work? is that too simplistic, or could we be looking at that situation unless you have a huge number? the testing we are

focus on at the moment is testing for the actual virus, the swab test, which can only test current infection. so that is focusing on stopping transmission. if we want to sta rts stopping transmission. if we want to starts to test whether people have had the virus, and if so, are they immune and therefore 0k to resume going back to work or other duties, thatis going back to work or other duties, that is the antibody test. that was pa rt that is the antibody test. that was part of the announcement made yesterday, the programme at imperial is working towards getting antibody testing rolled out. but as far as i'm aware, we still don't have a use at home antibody test which is reliable. of course, apologies. i'm already getting ahead of myself, wishing we were at that point where we are able to do that. remind us how far off that scenario is. we know people, anecdotally, we all know people, anecdotally, we all know people, anecdotally, we all know people who are pretty sure they have had it, they have felt rough or

a week and had the symptoms but they don't actually know. that's right. there is two parts of the antibody testing, one is getting this population level information which gives us an idea of how many people have been exposed to the virus and thatis have been exposed to the virus and that is useful for understanding the way in which it has spread through the population to make different forecasts for future scenarios. 0n an individual level, you would make that assumption that if you have the —— have had the virus, you have the antibodies and you have at least some protection about getting the disease again. that means that people may be able to go back to work. we have an antibody test that works pretty well in the lab but we are short of one that can be used by the individual in their home, so these point of care finger prick tests. the government have been testing a number of them, none of them have been found to have worked significantly. certainly not with the level of accuracy we would need for them to be used in that way.

there's tests are being modified, so i think there is still hope that we will get a use at home test in the future, but exactly when, that is simply not known. doctor andrew preston, i'm sure we will discuss this again. very good to hear from you, thank you very much from the university of bath. british airways has said it may not restart its services at gatwick airport once travel restrictions are eased in a memo seen by the bbc. in a letter sent to airport staff, the airline said up to a quarter of its pilots could lose theirjobs because of the pandemic. a separate letter sent to pilots said the few services still running from london heathrow could be suspended due to a collapse in customer demand. let's get more on this with tom burridge, our transport correspondent. imean, part i mean, part of me wants to say to you, gosh, that is breathtaking, but given what we have been talking about the last six weeks, british

airways not immune from the trouble that are affecting so many airlines. i think it's more very grim news. i think even in the bizarre world that we currently live in, jane, this is pretty extraordinary. gatwick‘s operation for ba at the moment is suspended because of the pandemic and travel restrictions, flight restrictions. it equates to about a fifth of the size of its heathrow operation. but to suggest that the operation. but to suggest that the operation at gatwick could not open once travel restrictions are lifted, once travel restrictions are lifted, once the pandemic is over, is pretty radical. it ties in, of course, with the announcement from british airways that it is planning to lay off around 12,000 staff. but gatwick is predominantly leisure travel, holidays. so if british airways is saying that that whole operation might not reopen at all, then it's effectively saying that it's going

to consolidate all of that leisure travel into its heathrow operation because heathrow is a real business hub, business travel hub. and it really is, i think, a signal of what is going across the industry, more broadly. airlines are haemorrhaging money, huge amounts of money. it was suggested to me recently that in recent weeks british airways has been carrying about 1% of its usual pre—pandemic passenger numbers. so the situation is really dire across the situation is really dire across the board. 0ther the situation is really dire across the board. other airlines have made redundancies, other international airlines but british airways in terms of uk airlines is moving first on this. these are pretty radical measures and their being met with a real betrayal. not just measures and their being met with a real betrayal. notjust from the unions, but from pilots and cabin crew at —— with a real vitriol. not just on the unions but pilots and cabin crew, people think, as one person said today, that the airline is stabbing them in the back. thank you, for that, those measures being

discussed by british airways. lockdown may be having a major effect on shops and workplaces but it's also affecting the courts. jury trials across the uk were halted in march due to the virus, and now the head ofjudiciary in england and wales has told the bbc coronavirus could prompt the biggest changes to these kinds of trials since world war ii. let's cross to our legal correspondent clive coleman, who has more on this. he will explain better than me the importance of jury trials he will explain better than me the importance ofjury trials and how long this has been a part of the judicial system in this country so what is being said? the reason why they are so important is because that's where the really serious crimes are tried. so murder, —— sexual offences, terrorism. there have been no jury sexual offences, terrorism. there have been nojury trials sexual offences, terrorism. there

have been no jury trials taking sexual offences, terrorism. there have been nojury trials taking part at the moment. you would normally have 20 people in a relatively confined courtroom, but if you have a gang trial with five defendants, it could be a lot more than that. and it's almost impossible, it is impossible to have effective social distancing within one single contained court. so the senior judiciary are looking at any conceivable way of starting the process up again. and the lord chief justice, the head of thejudiciary in england and wales, has said that in the short—term, what they are looking to do as perhaps start some trials, but using two court rooms, a large courtroom and then and overflow, linked by video so participants can be in the overflow court but they would have to have a bigger room for thejury. court but they would have to have a bigger room for the jury. mostjury retiring rooms are very cramped. they would have to be a court centre that can accommodate all of that. if

this goes on for much longer, if this goes on for much longer, if this goes on for much longer, if this goes on for a period of months, the lord chief justice this goes on for a period of months, the lord chiefjustice has said that there needs to be some really radical thinking and he said that he would support a reduction in the number ofjurors would support a reduction in the number of jurors sitting. in england, wales and northern ireland, 12jurors six, 15 in england, wales and northern ireland, 12 jurors six, 15 in scotland. during the second world war that was reduced to seven save in murder and treason cases. you are looking at something like that and in addition he says that they are considering requisitioning or renting bigger buildings, possibly university lecture halls or military buildings, because there are security issues around crown court trials. so bigger buildings, fewer participants and biggerjury rooms, buildings, fewer participants and bigger jury rooms, and buildings, fewer participants and biggerjury rooms, and is a very, very tight regime in terms of

cleansing. for instance, exhibits and ajury cleansing. for instance, exhibits and a jury trial get passed around from hand to hand. so this would represent about the biggest change tojury represent about the biggest change to jury trials we have seen in peacetime. as i said, there is a real urge and sense that this system needs to get up and running again. before any of this started, there was already a 37,000 case backlog in the crown courts in england and wales. and the lord chiefjustice says that you have to be radical to avoid what he described as an unimaginable backlog building up. thank you, clive. a few figures that have come through from english hospitals only. around this time in the afternoon we do sadly get a few details about the number of people who have died in the past 24—hour period. the latest figures that have just come through, a further 391

people who had tested positive for covid—19 have died. it takes the total to 20,137. this is hospitals only and england only, it is always tricky for a couple of hours because we have to collate an awful lot of figures and it doesn't include care homes, nursing homes, deaths in the communities and again, it is england only. as ever, we will have a health correspondence going through the figures as they emerge from various parts of the uk and collating them, but that is the latest that has just been sent through to us. just in terms of the breakdown, perhaps worth mentioning that within that figure of 391, 15 of those people had no known underlying health conditions, the vast majority of those people did have an underlying health condition. at this stage, it is believed that 15 out of 391 there is believed that 15 out of 391 there is not or certainly didn't have a known health condition. more on all

of that to come, we will talk to our health correspondence later. we will just pause to catch up with the weather prospects. some heavy showers with thunder and hail mixed in today and also gusty winds. the rest of the day k is pretty showery and heavy showers pushing off to the east as the low pressure centre sta rts east as the low pressure centre starts to put its way to the north sea. through this evening and tonight, stay showery, heavy showers through central and northern areas, if clear spells around, we will gradually see those wins easing down across the south coast and through the channel but nowhere will be particularly cold because of the breeze and also the cloud and showers. into friday, the area of low pressure will be over the north sea so it will be affecting northern and eastern parts of the country with showers, some of these will be heavy with hail and thunder but

further south, pressure building here so increasing sunshine and it will feel a degree also warmer. into the weekend, quite a lot of dry weather around, some sunny spells but variable cloud and feeling hello this is bbc news. the headlines. borisjohnson chairs his first cabinet meeting since returning to work; later he'll update the country, on the steps to defeat coronavirus — but downing street stresses that there will be no relaxing of social distancing measures testing is crucial to easing the restrictions , but ministers remain under pressure, over their target of 100,000 daily tests by today. nhs leaders call for a new approach. what we need to know is what are we going to do in terms of the testing regime over the next six, eight, ten, 12 weeks, as we come out

of lockdown and as we ensure that we protect patients and staff in hospitals, community, mental health and ambulance trusts. the head of thejudiciary in england and wales says coronavirus could prompt the biggest changes to jury trials since world war two. british airways says it cannot say for certain whether its operations at gatwick airport, which are currently suspended due to the pandemic, will reopen. a 72 —year—old man, who set off injanuary on a bid to become the oldest person to row across the atlantic, has finally made it to antigua — but he's come back to a very different world. and, an raf fly—past for captain tom moore's 100th birthday — a special thank you, for raising £30 million for the nhs.

sport now, and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre. good afternoon. let's start with the confirmation in the last half hour — as expected — that ‘the hundred' has been postponed until 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic. the 100—ball competition, involving eight city based teams in separate men's and women's tournaments was due to start injuly. a meeting of the england and wales cricket board on wednesday concluded it was not possible for the new tournament to be staged this year. coming out of this we will be ready to resume, it doesn't in any way die loot our ambitions behind our strategy, inspiring generations. getting more young people and diverse communities involved in cricket and none of that is impacted

through this. it is reallyjust, cannot be our focus right now, as the country goes through this painful experience. well let's get more on this from our sports news correspondentjoe wilson, who joins us now. joe — expected decision, but tinged with disappointment for the organisers, for what they hoped this new format could be. we have to keep everything in terms of sporting context at the moment but just cast your of sporting context at the moment butjust cast your mind back to where english cricket thought it was at the start of the year, the men had won the world cup, recent global success for the women's team, finances looked good and on the back of that momentum, they were going to launch this new tournament designed to bring in money, yes, but also new audiences. it was supposed to be ground—breaking, it was controversial, almost deliberately. what has been confirmed today is what we felt all along that to try and launch that in a half—hearted way with empty stadiums just wasn't going to really do the whole concept

of justice. postponing going to really do the whole concept ofjustice. postponing it was inevitable. lots of implications, financially, the hole that has been left, implications for the women's game in particular because this tournament was going to be the main focus of all the domestic cricket in england and wales, ecd saying that they have no plans to die loot ——... what they believe is that this tournament will be a commercial power growing forward and a cheap way of trying to bring in and engage new audiences but that will have to wait until next summer. in terms of this summer, are we likely to see any cricket played at all? 0r well, july is theoretical resumption of the cricket, it is more likely that it will be pushed towards august or september. so many issues to resolve and one of them as the ball itself, how do you keep it nice and shiny like this if you don't use saliva,

thatis like this if you don't use saliva, that is one part of the game that we see day in day out. cannot continue in the current climate? that is just one side issue, but if cricket is going to be played on any grounds, what we are hearing about, how do we make them bio secure? how do you allow the necessary amount of security for players, staff, media etc, it is a similar issue that is being discussed in football. watch tom harrison told me today is that they are beginning to try and look at the details of which grounds could be used in that way, but no decision on that is imminent. the liverpool mayorjoe anderson has voiced his concern over a resumption to the premier league, saying it should be a "non—starter" and that he fears a "farcical" situation with fans congregating outside anfield. the premier league's "project restart" envisages the season resuming behind closed doors — and only "approved venues" will be used, raising the possibility of matches being played at neutral grounds.

despite this, anderson still has concerns. i understand that revenue is a big issue for premier league clubs and lower clu bs issue for premier league clubs and lower clubs who need to survive. i think that comes secondary to peoples health. i don't think people in this country would be very forgiving if at the end of the day, the premier league starts playing football, even if it is behind closed doors, and people in the community are still dying, people are still dying of covid—19. i think people will take a dim view of that. the football world, is reflecting on the life and career of another former england and leeds united, great, trevor cherry, who's died suddenly, and un—expectedly at the age of 72. he played for his country 27 times, and was captain for one match, but it was at leeds, where, the defender really built his reputation, winning the league title in 1974, alongside norman hunter, who also

passed away earlier this month. playing full—back, centre half, midfield. he did everyjob well. as isaid midfield. he did everyjob well. as i said before, midfield. he did everyjob well. as isaid before, he midfield. he did everyjob well. as i said before, he said to me one day, do something to win any game, to win anything, you need eight removal men and three piano players. and he was dead right. trevor was one of those eight men. you can depend on him every week. that's all the sport for now. back injanuary, graham walters set off on an attempt to become the oldest person to row across the atlantic. he's 72. yesterday he made it ashore

the caribbean island of antigua, breaking two world records. but he's back to a changed world. as you can see here, one of his first priorities once back on dry land was to enjoy a proper meal of burger and chips. and graham joins me now from antigua. congratulations. thank you. what has been your priority, lots of sleep, a good shower, what we most looking forward to? it is hard to say. very difficult to imagine really, i kept thinking to myself, what would i like the most, to eat or to drink. i haven't had an alcoholic drink for over three months. so a beer was

quite relaxing, to drink a beer. that was good. well, many congratulations. i hope you won't mind me explaining to everyone that you are now officially the oldest person to row any ocean solo and you are the oldest person to row an ocean more than once. so, explain, how many times you have done this? well, sometimes i forget but it is five times now, yes. probably my wife would say, five times too many. bearing in mind that you set off on the 25th of january, when you came into antigua, what was the sight that greeted you? i think really, i was amazed when i came in, the reception and the people who came out to see me. it was incredible. quite often, when i arrive after rowing, sometimes i quietly sneak in

but this was incredible, yes. we are looking at some pictures there from previous roles that you have done but i think some of the people that that greeted you were wearing face masks, won't they? yes, obviously, my wife explained to me about the facemasks, we have to wear them when we are talking to people and walking about. so how much did you know about. so how much did you know about coronavirus and what was going on in so many countries? how long we re on in so many countries? how long were you ignorant for about the changed world ? were you ignorant for about the changed world? well, it slowly... i was talking to my wife on the satnav and she said, slowly, as it got worse, it was like, to start with i thought it was just a small situation and then it grew and grew to what it is today, so really talking about it with my wife, i realised, probably not how bad it was put to a certain extent. and

does that mean now that you are stuck in antigua? can you come back home? no, i am here because there are no flights at the moment so i shall be here for a while. and obviously, i will have to sort things out so i will have to play it by ear. at least you are stuck somewhere warm and beautiful but, i don't know, would you rather be able to come back and see your family and celebrate with them? obviously, that will be nice but, ijust have to accept what you have to accept and thatis accept what you have to accept and that is ok. graham, you are so measured about this. this is fantastic, this remarkable achievement and clearly, you take it all in your stride, you talk to is as if you are quite nonplussed, you must be extraordinarily fit? well, i was extraordinarily fit before i started but in all honesty i couldn't say i am extraordinary fit

now. it takes it out of you. well, the legs are still very wobbly, i have not walked about for over three months. oh, so you have that really strange wobbly feeling that anybody knows when they get of a boat. i must just knows when they get of a boat. i mustjust add that knows when they get of a boat. i must just add that you knows when they get of a boat. i mustjust add that you are raising money for help for heroes, aren't you? that's right. that is one of the things i am really keen on, raising that morning. i met the guys on the boat, that was exceptional. well, graham, an absolute pleasure to talk to you, well done, many congratulations, just fantastic, really lovely to hear about your adventures and perhaps we will be able to speak face—to—face once you eventually get back to this country. thank you. thank you. graham playing down a very remarkable achievement. the timeout is just after quarter to

three. the oil giant shell has cut its dividend for the first time since world war two following the collapse in global oil demand due to the coronavirus pandemic. and lloyds bank has also reported that its profits collapsed in the first quarter of the year because of coronavirus. let's talk now to our personal finance correspondent, simon gompertz. again, to massive companies and again, reminding us of the sheer economic impact of the coronavirus. it isa economic impact of the coronavirus. it is a real sign of the effect that coronavirus is having on our biggest concerns. with shell, it was such an important company within the stock market, a sort of mainstay and the reason is that it pays a very high

dividend and that is what shareholders get is a regular payment on their shares... investors perhaps in retirement you are trying to keep an income coming in. they have cut their dividend by two thirds. shell on its own probably accou nts thirds. shell on its own probably accounts for 15% of all the dividends paid by our biggest companies, so it is a really important player, a big sign of the effects of that coronavirus is having on our big companies and on our investment world. lloyds is a slightly different story. it is had to set aside nearly £1.5 billion which wiped out three months of profit, just to cover the possibility that small businesses and people with credit cards are not going to be able to pay back the credit that they are taking out once all the government measures to try and dampen down the impact of the

virus on business have been lifted. and if lloyds are doing it, presumably every single bank is in the same boat or slightly differently affected, but we heard earlier, another bank and set aside £2.5 billion because they have a huge business in the far east to think about which as been affected. tomorrow, we will hear from think about which as been affected. tomorrow, we will hearfrom rbs think about which as been affected. tomorrow, we will hear from rbs and natwest, our other biggest player apart from lloyds in retail banking to see what they had to say. but lloyds‘s shares are down 8% today, thatis lloyds‘s shares are down 8% today, that is a huge move. shell's shares are down nearly 12% and just those two companies have brought down the whole stock market today by several percentage points and that gives it a measure of the impact and the worries that people have because, with shell, it is kept shares up and over the years, it has been so reliable and people are thinking, is

this the beginning of a time when we can't rely on those dividends coming in from can't rely on those dividends coming infrom our can't rely on those dividends coming in from our best loved companies, i suppose. yes, we must leave it there but thank you very much. the veteran bollywood actor rishi kapoor has died in mumbai. he was 67 and had been diagnosed with cancer. rishi kapoor was known for his romantic roles, and was part of india's kapoor acting dynasty. the prime minister narendra modi called him ‘a powerhouse of talent‘ who was multi—faceted, endearing and lively. doctors and nurses are under extraordinary strain as they treat patients with covid—19. some say they're unable to put the thoughts of the virus out of their mind when they go home. lorna gordon has been to a hospital in ayrshire, to find out how staff are dealing with the stress. welcome to our staff wellbeing suite. in a quiet corner of a busy hospital, a place of respite away from the heat, the noise, the stress. again, this is our kind

of quiet corner, where people can come and rest. a little over a month ago, this was an outpatient clinic, but as the numbers becoming sick increased, so too did the realisation that it wasn'tjust the patients who needed help. this emergency medicine consultant saw anxiety among colleagues mounting. we said we will have to do something to support our staff because we, you know, this is a fairly new experience for all of us that we're all anxious about. we don't know the answers to it all, and we nearly need to support each other going through this. crosshouse has more than doubled its intensive care capacity. covid and the new procedures for those being treated has led to new pressures on those treating the sick. this respiratory consultant is one of a network of clinicians in here providing peer—to—peer support. many of them facing the same challenges as those colleagues they are helping. unfortunately, we see people and patients who are very unwell, some of them are dying, and normally we would spend quite

some time to sit down with the person and the family and the nearest loved ones. in the current situation, that is not possible, so it feels like a huge disconnect at a very human basic level. and i, as a clinician, struggle with that. medics, he says, were not emotionally or mentally prepared for what has happened. i can't leave it behind completely. you have flashbacks. at the end of the day, you dream about it at night. you wake up in the morning and start thinking about it. you can't escape it entirely. it's so intense, and so present all the time. so this has become an area where staff can go to to get a break from that intensity, to get support. open to everyone working at the hospital, it is a place for rest and reflection, and, if needed, help. in icu we're very busyjust now, so coming along here we're just getting five, ten minutes, quiet time. nice to get out the unit and...cos it's quite intense. also on offer is what is called

here "psychological first aid". a light touch now, but if needed, the chance to explore in more depth with mental health professionals the extraordinary challenges staff on the front line are facing. as we move through this pandemic, will some people potentially feel more mentally scarred by some of their experiences? that's possible, but what we're hoping is the wellbeing suite will give people the opportunity to try and diffuse some of that in the earlier stages, that may go on and prevent further psychological problems in the future. a hospital notjust treating the sick, but caring for those who care for us in these unprecedented times. lorna gordon, bbc news, at crosshouse hospital in east ayrshire. an raf flypast took place over bedfordshire this morning, to mark the 100th birthday of captain tom moore. the tribute marks his remarkable achievement of raising more than £30 million for nhs charities, by walking laps of his garden. the world war two veteran has been

promoted to honorary colonel to mark his centenary and the prime minister recorded a special message, describing him as ‘a point of light in all our lives'. david sillito reports. # happy birthday to you # happy birthday captain tom—daddy—grandpa. .. # happy birthday to you! # i never, ever anticipated ever in my life anything like this. it really is amazing. and i would say to everyone, thank you very much to everyone, wherever you are. captain tom moore. it began as a little challenge in his back garden. 100 laps to try to raise £1000 for nhs charities. and, today, he was being honoured with an raf birthday fly—past, as the total reached £30 million. this is the culmination of an extraordinary few weeks.

a celebration of how one man's cheerful determination has inspired people and... raised a huge amount of money. # happy birthday to you... and amongst those celebrating today's birthday, the staff of a nearby care home. captain tom has become a local hero. one of the birthday boys, bless him, he actually saw the flight, and he said he felt like he was back there in the army, because he was in the army in his days, bless him. he was a little bit emotional, to be honest. it'sjust so poignant, you know? the whole day, for our residents. there's a lot of things to be worried about at the moment, a lot of negativity. but this is nice, something to be happy about. and these birthday celebrations go far and wide. jersey... tamworth... and downing street. captain tom, i know i speak for the whole country when i say we wish you a very happy 100th birthday.

your heroic efforts have lifted the spirits of the entire nation. but perhaps the most startling sight is in the village school. this is where they are displaying the birthday cards, all 140,000 of them. very emotional. it's amazing. i'm really proud, because i've known my grandad for all my life. i've lived with him all my life. and he's always been there for us. he's made us think you can be whatever you can be. and there was more. captain tom is now an honorary colonel. there was also today a letter from the queen, and the congratulations and birthday greetings from around the world continue to arrive. it was quite a day for captain tom. i'm absolutely delighted with all the people like you who've come to wish me a very happy birthday. it really is absolutely awesome, the amount of people who have been so kind, to make those remarks.

thank you all very much. david sillito, bbc news, marston moretaine. hgppy happy 100th birthday. now it's time for a look at the weather with stav. for the first time this month, we have had april showers. some of those showers heavy, gusty winds as well and wendy across the south coast. the rest of the day, we will hold onto showers with low pressure. there are strong winds gradually easing across the south, the low pressure system slowly pushing towards the north sea, so that will be taking some of the heavy showers eastwards. as we head through tonight, clear spells, patchy eastwards. as we head through tonight, clearspells, patchy cloud and further showers, most of these through central and northern areas

but because of the breeze, cloud and showers around, it shouldn't be too cold anywhere, with lows of 47 degrees. low pressure still weighs into friday, positioned a little bit different, towards the north sea so the northern half of the uk which will see the focus of the heavy showers through the day. further south, we can see a lot of dry weather around with the odd shower into the afternoon looking like it will be largely dry with lighter winds. scotland, northern england and northern ireland see heavy showers potentially with hail. temperatures around low to mid teens, could be a degree also higher in the south as we see more sunshine and also lighter winds. into the weekend, the area of low pressure pushing over to scandinavia, we are in between pressure systems so the pressure will be rising a little bit soa pressure will be rising a little bit so a lot of dry weather for part one of the weekend. we will tend to see cloud build up through the day though and the back edge about low pressure system could bring further

showers. but with lighter winds and drier, brighterweather, showers. but with lighter winds and drier, brighter weather, temperature is creeping up a bit higher, 17 degrees could be the top temperature on sunday, a bit of uncertainty into the north, it looks like it could bring a few showers to southern and western areas. a few showers to the north—east of scotland but dry in central areas. temperatures around mid teens. into next week, high pressure starts to build back again and again to settle things down. this could bring some rain for the far south—west but i think the general consensus for high pressure to bring some dry and sunny weather to bring some dry and sunny weather to our shores on monday and tuesday, feeling quite warm, but under clear skies by night, it will be chilly.

this is bbc news, i'mjane hill. the headlines at 3pm. boris johnson will update the country later about the government's coronavirus strategy but warns he won't "gamble the sacrifices away" by relaxing social distancing measures. testing is crucial to easing the restrictions but ministers remain under pressure over their target of 100,000 daily tests by today. nhs leaders call for a new approach. what we need to know is, what are we going to do in terms of the testing regime over the next six, eight, ten, 12 weeks as we come out of lockdown and as we ensure that we protect patients and staff in hospital, community, mental health and ambulance trusts. the head of thejudiciary in england and wales says coronavirus could prompt the biggest changes to jury trials since the second world war.

british airways says it can't be sure that its operations at gatwick airport, currently suspended because of the pandemic, will resume. and an raf fly—past for captain tom moore's100th birthday. a special thank you, for raising £30 million for the nhs. i'm absolutely delighted with all the people like you who have come to wish me a many...happy birthday. it really is absolutely awesome, the amount of people who have been so kind. good afternoon.

the prime minister has chaired his first session of cabinet since returning to work, as the government considers how its lockdown measures might be relaxed. a spokesman for number ten said the meeting included an update from the chief medical officer and chief scientific adviser on the country's progress in battling the virus. later this afternoon, borisjohnson is expected to explain at a daily briefing how he'll decide what restrictions could be eased without the infection rate accelerating. testing will be a crucial part of the strategy but a senior minister has conceded that the government is unlikely to meet the target of carrying out 100,000 daily tests in england by today. the most recent figures show about half that number being carried out, as our health correspondent, anna collinson reports. it's deadline day for testing. 100,000 daily virus tests by the end of april is what the government have promised. thousands of kits have been ordered online, while the army have been brought

in to help with some drive—in sites. all of these measures will play a key role in exiting lockdown. as you start to ease, you want to know exactly where transmissions are likely to be happening, and of course it's likely to be happening when people are infected. how do you know people are infected? you test them. a senior minister has admitted the government may miss their 100,000 daily target, but hospital chiefs say that's a red herring and testing needs to be part of a wider strategy including contact tracing and regular checks of front line workers. what we need to know is what are we going to do in terms of the testing regime over the next six, eight, ten, 12 weeks, as we come out of lockdown and as we ensure that we protect patients and staff in hospitals, community mental health and ambulance trusts. prime minister boris johnson will now attempt to answer some of those questions. today's daily briefing will be his first since returning to work, and one focus will be the so—called r number, which reflects how infectious a virus is.

at the height of the outbreak, the r number was around three. this means anyone affected could pass it on to three people. since then, restrictions have brought that number down to around 0.7. crucially, that's below one. however, there are fears that if you ease restrictions too much, the number could jump back up again. the need for caution is clearly something that we are bearing very much in mind here in the uk. the key for us, i think, is to avoid an awful second spike in this virus. wouldn't it be terrible, after all the huge efforts the british people have made, to find that we were laid low by a second spike just at the wrong moment for our economy and indeed for the wellbeing and the health of our nation? one way to save lives and ease the lockdown would be a cure, and an area of hope is the repurposing of current drugs. trials involving drugs used for hiv and malaria are currently being tested to see if they can stop the coronavirus replicating in the body. results aren't expected untiljune.

then there's remdesivir, a drug originally developed to treat ebola. us officials say there's clear—cut evidence that it can help people recover from covid—19. but there's a warning that, even if its successful, it can only go so far. the medicines being tested are unlikely to give much more than, say, a 20% improvement in the number of deaths from people in hospitals. now, of course, 20% is a big advance, but we mustn't think that this is a total palliative, that it deals with the problem. even once the government's testing hurdle is passed, levels will need to be ramped up further, particularly in hospitals and care homes. without a vaccine, some form of social distancing will be with us for the foreseeable future. anna collinson, bbc news. 0ur chief political correspondent, vicki young is at westminster.

a couple of hours away from the daily briefing, and how much of a strategy outline are we going to get, do you think? i think we will get, do you think? i think we will get some detail about how the government is going to make its decisions now. boris johnson government is going to make its decisions now. borisjohnson on monday, when he returned to work, talked about wanting to be as transparent as possible with the public about this. he wants to take people with him through this difficulty so i think what there will be is an explanation of the scientific data and background they are looking out which will help to make the decisions about what happens next. i think we'll hear an awful lot about the r number, the rate of transmission of the virus, because we hear that they want to suppress that as much as it can, below one, because if it is above one, it will progress rapidly and snowball through the community but below that, it will eventually peter out. they're looking at that crucial

bit of evidence and data that the scientific advisory committee is advising the government on. they will be talking about how they will make the decisions that i don't think we'll get any detail about when measures will be relaxed or even what kind of measures will be relaxed. so those who are calling for more detail, businesses particularly clamouring to know what the future holds, i don't think we're going to get that this week. and of course the review of the lockdown measures comes on the 7th of may, and even then, caution is the word that we are hearing privately and publicly from ministers. and is there a sense of pressure about the fact that it is the last day of april, which is the day matt hancock said he wanted to see 100,000 tests every day, and we area see 100,000 tests every day, and we are a long way off that according to the latest figures? yeah, it's interesting because of course we might know until —— we will not know until tomorrow the figures today but there has been this problem between

there has been this problem between the capacity which has been growing and growing rapidly in the last few weeks, compares to the number of tests that have been done. we can see anecdotally those pictures that we have seen, drive—through centres with no cars going through them today you can see that there are queues and some of them. by expanding eligibility in the test, those numbers are massively increasing. behind—the—scenes, they are not despondent yet about meeting that target. we had again from a cabinet minister today saying that evenif cabinet minister today saying that even if they don't quite meet that, the fact that it is absolutely ramped up, the numbers available, is going to be crucial. it's not the end of it. the end of the month todayis end of it. the end of the month today is not the end of testing having to increase. that is going to be their way out of this. they have to have the system working. there have been logistical problems about

getting the test back and ironing out those problems, if they can do that it bodes well for the future, and the second phase of fighting this virus, ministers have talked about moving through the peak of this and then looking to the next phase and we will hear some of that language today. we will find out later, thank you very much. ministers are focused on containing the so—called r rate, the rate of people being infected. earlier our medical correspondent, fergus walsh explained how the r—rate reacts to social distancing. the number of people on average that each infected person goes on to infect, if it is over one, then we have an increasing infection. it will increase exponentially. if you can get it down to below one, then eventually an outbreak will die out. at the start, about a month ago, it was up to somewhere between three

and four which was a hugely increasing epidemic. it is now probably down to below one. we have a graph which will illustrate this. 0n the 12th of march, self isolation was brought in for those with symptoms, it was an r rate of nearly four. when the lockdown happened on the 24th of march, all the social distancing measures, the virus was not able to transmit between people as effectively because we were all giving our distance. it fell off a cliff in terms of the r number and it is now may not .7. i should say, in care homes where there are big outbreaks, the r number will be different. it's not uniform across the country, it can vary town to town and street to street. a quick thought about the potential of drugs, there are some thoughts of possibility is there? there have been some promising, but i will be cautious on this, results from the

us about this ebola treatment remdesivir which seems to have reduced the average length of time that people have in —— symptoms from 15 to 11 days. very early data and it is not a licensed drug, and if it does get licensed by the drug firm gilead by the fda, there is a question on how much it would cost. most of the other drugs in trials are existing drugs that are quite cheap. it will be a real question on access if this has some benefit but it is not a magic bullet. as we have been reflecting, we have been building up to the daily government briefing, generally around five p m. we know that today that will be led by the prime minister. his first day back, first full and visible day back, first full and visible day back after he was treated for

coronavirus himself. let's discuss what we might hear and what the liberal democrats might wa nt to what the liberal democrats might want to hear. i'm joined now by acting leader of the liberal democrats, sir ed davey. what you want to hear from boris johnson in the few hours? it will be good to see borisjohnson back and i hope he's going to tell us that there is a strategy both to get the testing, tracing and isolating in place that we are going to need to keep people safe and get out of the lockdown. and i hope he will engage with not just lockdown. and i hope he will engage with notjust the opposition parties but a wider debate to make sure how we can get to the end of this virus. that's some way off, caution is the right of the day, we told? that's some way off, caution is the right of the day, we told ?|j that's some way off, caution is the right of the day, we told? i think caution should be the word of the day, no one is asking for anything u nsafe. day, no one is asking for anything unsafe. what we are asking for in the opposition is clarity about the

criteria and the path. the uncertainty is worrying people and businesses, and i think we need to bea businesses, and i think we need to be a little bit clearer. we are trying to be constructive. the liberal democrats have supported the chief medical officer, the government's approach to asking people to stay at home, and were disappointed along with the government that they have not met their test target today. that's why we wa nt their test target today. that's why we want them to think about the strategy more coherently. particularly in care homes. we have been very alarmed at the delay in offering support for care homes. the liberal democrats have been arguing for many weeks now that the care homes needed more ppe, care home workers needed to have tests, and it's rather belatedly beginning to happen. i hope we can hear a better strategy for care homes today. what you make the argument we have had again today that care homes were

thought about all —— long after hospitals and other places were thought about. the argument was put today that we have got to remember that health and social is all one thing, really, and should be treated as one. the liberal democrats have argued that health and social should be integrated and we have been arguing that for about 15 years. if that's the way the debate goes, no one will be happier than the lib dems. i do think that when we have a public inquiry in this, and i have been calling for that, we need to look at how the care sector has been handled because it looks like it has been neglected through this crisis. and going forward, one thing i hope eve ryo ne and going forward, one thing i hope everyone will agree with is that the ca re everyone will agree with is that the care sector everyone will agree with is that the ca re sector needs everyone will agree with is that the care sector needs far more attention. liberal democrats want to see care, whether it is care for elderly, care for people who are

disabled or who have mental health problems, be much more prominent in public debate. people in the care sector should be more prominently looked after. i keep thinking about these care workers who are so poorly paid and appearto these care workers who are so poorly paid and appear to have had a rough deal in this crisis. in terms of lockdown, were not going to get a date. should we even expect run as a society? can any politician do that? no, i don't think we are ready for a date yet, unfortunately. would all like one. but we have to listen to the chief medical adviser and the liberal democrats agree strongly on that. this is not a party political issue, this is where the country needs to come together to make sure we can defeat this appalling disease and whether it is keir starmer, the labour party, ourselves or others, we have been willing the government to succeed and we really want to do

that. our questioning, whether it is releasing the lockdown or care homes, is done in a constructive way. we have got constituents who are working and their loved ones are on the line. we just want the strategy to succeed. i hope people out there recognise that you have seen the political classes try to come together and be constructive, as well as challenging the government, where we think they are making mistakes. one finalthought about testing. i have spoken to so many scientists and researchers today who have all, essentially, i am paraphrasing some very eminent scientists, but without much more testing than we have now, the economy suffers because you cannot ease lockdown without an awful lot of testing. i am paraphrasing that thatis of testing. i am paraphrasing that that is where they are coming from. so for your party, is that the key issue this afternoon? do you want to

hear more about cat testing? —— about testing? very much so. the prime minister said his target was quarter of a million tests every day and we are miles away from that. i think we do want to see that level of testing. it's got to be backed by the evidence and planned properly and then the testing and isolation that comes with it has to be in place as well. but there is no doubt that countries like germany and south korea appear to have handled this so much more effectively because they have used testing far more quickly and used it in much bigger numbers and use it with a coherent strategy for testing and isolating. i hope we can catch up with other countries who appear to

be doing better than we are. thank you very much, ed davey. don't forget you can watch the downing street news conference with boris johnson today at 5pm. tune in for a bbc news special on the news channel and bbc one for full coverage. the headlines on bbc news... boris johnson will update the country later about the government's coronavirus strategy but warns he won't "gamble the sacrifices away" by relaxing social distancing measures testing is crucial to easing the restrictions but ministers remain under pressure, over their target of 100,000 daily tests by today. nhs leaders call for a new approach. the head of thejudiciary in england and wales says coronavirus could prompt the biggest changes to jury trials since world war two.

british airways has said it may not restart its services at gatwick airport once travel restrictions are eased in a memo seen by the bbc. in a letter sent to airport staff the airline said up to a quarter of its pilots could lose theirjobs because of the pandemic. a separate letter sent to pilots said the few services still running from london heathrow could be suspended due to a collapse in customer demand. sally gethin is an aviation industry commentator. good afternoon. good afternoon. given what we all know about the state of the country, the world, the airline industry, are you at all surprised about these comments from british airways? no, i mean, the airline industry has suffered the worst hit ever. far worse than any

of the previous crises or 9/11. there's a huge amount going on behind the scenes, airlines are trying to get financial relief all over the world. british airways, obviously, the long haul airline as well as having short to medium haul, it is going to be in the firing line because long haul international travel is the sector which will take the longest time to return. and gatwick is relevant, am i right in saying, because that is a lot of its holiday destinations, package holidays, that sort of thing, and thatis holidays, that sort of thing, and that is a sector that certainly is in the doldrums at the moment, and we don't know, it's the uncertainty, meaning an airline cannot plan. there are two aspects to this. you're right, first of all, it is more leisure travel. that's the discretionary spend, if you like. that's what people rely on to go and fly. but the other aspect is that ba

has got to look at consolidating its operations. so gatwick only accounts for about a fifth of ba's traffic in the uk, compared to heathrow. so heathrow is where its habits, where all the transit traffic goes through. it's got to concentrate on that. and don't forget, in general now, airlines have faced a huge collapse. it's about 90% collapse in traffic around the world. so these airlines are barely getting by. it's just a trickle of traffic that is actually taking place right now is. so we'll we have a situation where airlines big and small, sadly, lay offa airlines big and small, sadly, lay off a lot of people, consolidate as you say, they run a much smaller operation in the next few years and however many operation in the next few years and however ma ny yea rs operation in the next few years and however many years it takes things to return to some sort of normality, they will have to start recruiting and expanding again? is it that basic? the industry is expecting a

small return or restart in the second half of this year. really not expecting things to come back to pre—covid—19 levels for a few years. so it will completely stick scaled down and we will lose a lot of airlines as well. so companies go bust and job losses, no alternative? yes, the uk is unfortunately predicted to lose 660,000 jobs in aviation as predicted by the international air transport association which represents airlines worldwide. it already taking hits of 150 million fewer passengers and £20 billion, that's the uk alone, not even the whole of europe. this that is staggering. thank you very much, sally.

a reflection of the huge economic impact of the pandemic. but it's also affecting the courts. jury trials across the uk were halted in march due to the virus, and now the head ofjudiciary in england and wales has told the bbc coronavirus could prompt the biggest changes to these kinds of trials since world war two. our legal correspondent clive coleman told me more: that's where the really serious crimes are tried. so murder, rape, terrorism. there have been nojury trials taking part at the moment. the big problem is that they require so many people. you would normally have 20 people in a relatively confined courtroom, but if you have a gang trial with five defendants, it could be a lot more than that. and it's almost impossible, it is impossible to have effective social distancing within one single contained court. so the seniorjudiciary are looking at any conceivable way of starting

the process up again. and the lord chiefjustice, the head of thejudiciary in england and wales, has said that in the short—term, what they are looking to do is perhaps start some trials, but using two court rooms, a large courtroom and then and overflow, courtroom and then an overflow, linked by video so participants can be in the overflow court but they would have to have a bigger room for the jury. most jury retiring rooms are very cramped. they would have to be a court centre that can accommodate all of that. if this goes on for much longer, if this goes on for a period of months, the lord chiefjustice has said that there needs to be some really radical thinking and he said that he would support a reduction in the number ofjurors sitting. in england, wales and northern ireland, 12 jurors sit, 15 in scotland. during the second world war that was reduced to seven save in murder and treason cases.

he's looking at something like that and in addition he says that they are considering requisitioning or renting bigger buildings, possibly university lecture halls or military buildings, because there are security issues around crown court trials. so bigger buildings, fewer participants and biggerjury rooms, and is a very, very tight regime in terms of cleansing. for instance, exhibits in a jury trial get passed around from hand to hand. so this would represent about the biggest change to jury trials we have seen in peacetime. as i said, there is a real urge and sense that this system needs to get up and running again. before any of this started, there was already a 37,000 case

backlog in the crown courts in england and wales. and the lord chiefjustice says that you have to be radical to avoid what he described as an unimaginable backlog building up. clive coleman there. we will bring you the daily government briefing at 5pm and boris johnson you the daily government briefing at 5pm and borisjohnson the prime minister is a leading that today. his first run since returning to front line politics, if i can put it that way, after being treated for coronavirus himself. let's talk about this with philip dunne, the former health minister from the conservative party. good afternoon. what are you hoping to hear from borisjohnson in the next few hours? i think it's terrific that he's back and he will be doing his first press conference since he was ill, so that's very encouraging. good to see

him back on monday. and obviously with the news of his new healthy baby boy, that's also very, —— positive for the country. i think what he will be focusing on is similarto what he will be focusing on is similar to what he said on monday, now is not the time to be speculating about coming out of the restrictions. we need to maintain bearing down as the british public have been doing so well until we have been doing so well until we have passed the five tests and the government can be confident that we will not be heading into a second peak. do you think it is important that the public are given quite a clear and coherent list of priorities, so that those people who are still, as you say, having a pretty rotten ti me are still, as you say, having a pretty rotten time locked in their houses, lots cannot to work when they can, that they thoroughly understand why this is happening and what the clear strategy is? the prime minister said very significantly, i thought,

prime minister said very significantly, ithought, on prime minister said very significantly, i thought, on monday. the prior minister said very significantly, i thought, the prior minister said very significantly, ithought, on the prior minister said very significantly, i thought, on monday, that we need to be very collaborative with the leaders of the formations and uk authorities and the public on the rationale and the way and manner that restrictions will be lifted. i'm not expecting him to go into a great deal of detail on that. i think the public do want to understand why we are continuing to be kept at home, i think we do understand it but i think we do understand it but i think the prime minister needs to have clear and consistent messages coming out of government as to what their rationale is. and i think we will start to see, i know a lot of work is going on on how we can emerge from some phase relaxation of restrictions. it's also noteworthy that we have seen the relaxation of restrictions happening, and then it

looks like the disease is taking off again so we need to be cautious about this. and the economic impact of course, as we know, is absolutely enormous. the government has done a lot in terms of the fellow scheme in —— even though some people have fallen through the net, in the furlough scheme, but for how long cani furlough scheme, but for how long can i continue? is the government in a place where it is saying, whatever the economic costs, we have to keep going and keep going with the furlough scheme until the scientists tell us otherwise essentially?” think the consequences for the economy of going through a second peak and a second lockdown, if we relax the first one, would be even worse because it would take even longer before we can get out of these restrictions. it's a very difficult and balanced judgment to be struck here. clearly the news, we are now having it daily from the auto and aviation sectors, ofjob

losses. this is very troubling particularly for individuals involved and the economy as a whole. i was pleased that the chancellor brought out the bounce back loans for small businesses on monday, something that i have been pressing for. many people have not been able to ta ke for. many people have not been able to take advantage of some of the schemes. and this loan scheme, 100% government backed up to £50,000, interest pa id by government backed up to £50,000, interest paid by the government in the first year, will help a lot of small businesses. we must leave it there for now. much more coming up, let'sjust pause and catch up with the weather now. sunny spells and april showers today, some have been heavy with thunder, hale mixed in, and gusty winds. for the last of the day, low pressure pushing towards the north sea. this evening and tonight, some

of the heavy showers will be through to —— central and northern areas. we will see the wind is easing down across the south coast and through the channel. there will be particularly cold because of the breeze, and the cloud and showers. it's a friday, the area of low pressure will be over the northern and eastern parts of the country, so they will be showery with hail and thunder. south, pressure building so increasing sunshine, it will feel a little warmer in the south. dry weather at the weekend, sunny spells and variable cloud, feeling a touch warmer. hello this is bbc news. the headlines. boris johnson will update the country later about the government's coronavirus strategy, but warns he won't "gamble the sacrifices away" by relaxing social distancing

measures. testing is crucial to easing the restrictions , but ministers remain under pressure, over their target of 100,000 daily tests by today. nhs leaders call for a new approach. what we need to know is what are we going to do in terms of the testing regime over the next six, eight, ten, 12 weeks, as we come out of lockdown and as we ensure that we protect patients and staff in hospitals, community, mental health and ambulance trusts. the head of thejudiciary in england and wales says coronavirus could prompt the biggest changes tojury trials since the second world war. british airways says it can't be sure that its operations at gatwick airport, currently suspended because of the pandemic, will resume. and, an raf fly—past for captain tom moore's100th birthday — a special thank you, for raising £30 million for the nhs.

now it's time for your questions answered. we've decided to answer your questions on the topics of infection and testing this afternoon. with me is dr simon williams who's a senior lecturer and researcher in public health at swansea university. and i'm alsojoined by dr elisabetta groppelli, a virologist and lecturer in global health at st george's university london. thank you for your time. and, let's start, a question from london, asking somebody who has covered from

covid—19 and has antibodies still be a carrier of the virus and therefore able to transmit it to other people? what we know about this infection is that when we recover from it, what we know about this infection is that when we recoverfrom it, it means that we have gotten rid of the virus, it might take us some time to actually get rid of the virus and get the negative tests that are required to say you test negative, and this is quite different because we know that there are some viruses that do have the ability of staying silent in our bodies actually coming back and one of these for example is chickenpox. we know that this can stay in one of our nerves and then come back as shingles once we are older or we know of hiv, that can stay in the body and people can transmit it even when they don't have symptoms for a long time. however, this is a very different virus, coronaviruses do not have the

genetic and molecular tools to do this and so this is one of the at least, the silver lining about the coronaviruses. ok, thank you. iwill stick with you as well because there isa stick with you as well because there is a quick question from carol atkinson who says, given the ability of fresh air to delete viruses, why isn't the government requiring hospitals, shops and so on to keep their windows and doors open? is that indeed the case, is that something that would work or help? it would help, in the wording in some of the phd guidelines, it is recommended, especially in home and household is often aerate rooms and not get them stuffy. that definitely helps. however, it is not really the answer. it works in the context of all the other measures, they need to be taken into consideration, both in clinical settings and in households

and therefore the social distancing and therefore the social distancing and hand washing are actually still the most important aspects when it comes to blocking transmission of the virus. hand washing, yes we talked about it so much six weeks ago and it may be slightly gets forgotten about in all of this, it is worth reminding of that. simon, cani is worth reminding of that. simon, can i come to you, what one question asks when we'll be it we be able to visit family members who are in different households, essentially, when tommy starts talking to people ain? when tommy starts talking to people again? sure and unfortunately, the short answer is that we don't yet know. currently government advice suggests that we should be not visiting family members who don't live in our homes and this is the really the advice that holds for the foreseeable future. some have argued foreseeable future. some have argued for what has been referred to as a social bubble strategy and this is currently in place for example in new zealand amongst other countries, this is where of course people would be allowed to kind of combine that

households, one or two others and have a maximum of ten contacts. but again, like many things this is not without its challenges of course, it may be difficult to monitor and e nforce may be difficult to monitor and enforce in the first instance and then the obvious problem of matching then the obvious problem of matching the class who you might wish to include in your bubble, that person might not necessarily choose you so to speak. either way though, it is crucial that we have more information soon which at least provides an indicative timeline, as this is really starting to affect peoples emotional well— being and this is really starting to affect peoples emotional well—being and we are seeing quarantine fatigue, so some details soon should be available hopefully. that is so interesting, isn't it, and it is tricky because very often when people ask these sorts of questions they are thinking about perhaps one or two elderly relatives who are in another house, they are on their own, you can think of all the ways in which you can protect them but you would think, this is ridiculous, it has been weeks and weeks, ijust wa nt to it has been weeks and weeks, ijust want to go and see that person but i don't want to pose a risk to them

either, so i suppose understandably, those questions are coming from. certainly, that is a challenge in its and that obviously those who are at high risk, whether they are vulnerable because of their age or health status, are those who you shouldn't really necessarily want to be in contact within the first instance unless they are, for example, in need of some kind of support or basic provision so there isa support or basic provision so there is a challenge there. elisabetta, a question from david griffith in glasgow which i confess, i hadn't thought about this at all, he wonders whether the authorities are interviewing people who test positive to work out where new infections are perhaps taking place, is there any work like that going on? this is actually what we call contact tracing, which has been summarising the tests, the track and

trace, trace and isolate, which is actually one of the fundamentals of outbreak control that we have. however, it works really well at the beginning ofan however, it works really well at the beginning of an outbreak or at the end of one, when the numbers are low, because it is actually very resource intensive because it means that once a person is positive, actually it, the person gets interviewed and we ask, who have you beenin interviewed and we ask, who have you been in contact with and then we ask those people, what kind of contact there was and this is all the tracing and then we start understanding the contacts, what kind of risk they have of actually developing covert themselves. so this is something that the uk government has started already planning because the health secretary announcing 80,000 workers being trained to do this in the near future means exactly this. but the uk government and research all over the world are looking at better ways of doing this, that actually do not require that much effort from

individuals, which is, for example developing a phone app which would determine who we come into contact with without us having to answer the question. so, at the moment we still need to wait a little bit, but it is certainly fantastic that the uk government is training contacts traces to do that. interesting, we have talked a little bit about the app on bbc news here as well. we have had quite a few questions about what other countries do and how and why they do it differently. simon, let's ask you this question from roger in lincolnshire. does anybody know why jimmy‘s death roger in lincolnshire. does anybody know whyjimmy‘s death rate is so much lower, what can we learn from germany? one possible explanation is that germany did have relatively high and widespread testing compared to many countries and of course other countries may have focused on older patients with severe cases of the virus and symptoms, germany was

conducting many more tests including milder cases in younger people. the more tests you have performed, the more tests you have performed, the more likely you are to have a total case numberand more likely you are to have a total case number and cases that lead to deaths, obviously you are testing more people overall and so the death rate then is lower because of that. they are able to do this though because germany already had this network of high quality testing labs and this is obviously something that the uk government is considering in its fifth pillar of testing strategies, to invest in expanding the diagnostic industry and i think the diagnostic industry and i think the other reason as well is that germany took relatively swift action, they were quick off the mark and closing schools and nonessential shops, banning public gatherings and things like that, so there are two things like that, so there are two things that we can learn from that example. ok, that is interesting. lewis from watford has a question about hong kong and what it has been doing, why doesn't the uk follow

hong kong's example and get everyone to wear a mask? hong kong's example and get everyone to weara mask? he hong kong's example and get everyone to wear a mask? he says, deaths in hong kong are 6000 times less than the uk, you can tell me whether that is an accurate figure, but the basic point is about masks and this is a question that comes back time and again, simon first. ithink it is something to note as well in relation to the last question, it is difficult to do direct comparisons and health authorities, members of public health england have said it is hard to compare country to country but having said that, the issue of masks is contentious in the scientific and medical communities. the consensus seems to be that there isa the consensus seems to be that there is a lack of overall evidence to suggest that wearing masks, unless you are in a medical setting or you are symptomatic, is beneficial for the public. so for example, hong kong performed a fairly rigorous programme of testing, everyone with symptoms and they had, we mentioned obviously contact tracing, they had

very effective contact tracing so all these kind of things add up to overall death rates and it might even be the case that facemasks, because research is starting to show that in hong kong, there is high levels of adherence to other things like social distancing, so it might not be the masks themselves, it mightjust be not be the masks themselves, it might just be the not be the masks themselves, it mightjust be the fact not be the masks themselves, it might just be the fact that not be the masks themselves, it mightjust be the fact that people in that country were very strict with social distancing and that is perhaps why they have a low death rate. yes, so it is fair to say that it was relatively low, it is lower, is that accurate? yes. ok. elisabetta, your thought on masks because it comes back time and again and obviously, i have interviewed numerous scientists and researchers who are always asked about masks as well what are your thoughts?” who are always asked about masks as well what are your thoughts? i echo what simon has said and you know i think what we know about masks and what we interpret is mainly thought because masks, we see them as

protecting ourselves and also the evidence is that masks don't really protectors but the thing that this virus is taught us is that only in the past few weeks, is that the virus can be transmitted before actually we know we have it, before, when we still don't have symptoms. and i think the country, including italy, which is my country of origin, they decided to make everybody wear masks, is because they are playing a very, very cautious, regardless of the scientific evidence, which is that we don't know, if you are healthy, it means that either you are healthy or you just haven't developed symptoms yet so let's play it safe, put the masks on. however, as a scientist i know that is quite difficult to keep the masks on so we really need to help members of the public, if they want to wear a mask to do it properly and safely because we can actually contaminate ourselves if we don't wear it properly, so it is a bit of a

complex topic. yes, and it is also a question of what it does to social behaviour, i don't know if this is a thought for you simon but i have heard american specialists say that it can give you a false sense of security and then if you are standing right next to someone in a supermarket, you think you can stand next to someone in the supermarket because you are wearing one and the whole point is that, just because you are wearing one, you are still meant to be two metres apart. that isa meant to be two metres apart. that is a good point. there are concerns it could provide a full sense of security so it would maybe encourage people to be less strict with observing the two metre rule and leaving the house for more than it is essential or for longer than is essential and we say relaxing things like hand washing, so essentially, it is in the uk at least, a personal choice. a thought from mark in dorset, this is perhaps one for you elisabetta, is anybody trying to identify how people in lockdown have become infected? identify how people in lockdown have become infected ? even identify how people in lockdown have become infected? even if they have observed social distancing, what we

know on that front? i think this is pa rt know on that front? i think this is part of the contact tracing that we have talked about, identifying where people got infected, but normally i think new infections don'tjust come out of the blue so we need to actually look at the level of compliance if someone has been self isolating for three weeks, how can i have symptoms now they ask, but the reality is that they have come into contact with someone or some surfaces that actually could have supported transmission of the virus, and at the moment, as i say, there is not a detailed case—by—case identification and tracing on where transmission is from but that is coming. so interesting to hear from both of you, thank you very much for your time.

the government in germany says it won't consider any further relaxation of its lockdown until at least 10th may. last week, some small shops were allowed to open — but the authorities say they need time to study how that has affected the spread of the virus. 0ur correspondent, jenny hill, gave us the latest in berlin. it is two weeks since this country said it had the outbreak under control and it has been gradually easing some restrictions ever since. today we heard from one of the government's leading advisers who said he is happy with the situation at the moment. every day this week, the number of new daily infections has been rising but if you look at the numbers, they are significantly lower than they were last week and indeed, in the weeks before that.

having said that, the authorities here are keeping a very close eye, they say it is far too soon to be able to assess the impact of the current relaxations and that is why angela merkel has made it clear that she doesn't want to make any major changes until at least the 10th of may. we will probably hear a bit about what those changes might be, we will probably hear about some minor adjustments to current restrictions. also, later this afternoon, she meets with the leaders of germany's 16 states, they are meeting as i speak. but it will bea are meeting as i speak. but it will be a very cautious approach. she and they are under huge pressure of course, not just from they are under huge pressure of course, notjust from the hospitality sector which wants bars, restau ra nts a nd hotels hospitality sector which wants bars, restaurants and hotels to open as soon as possible, the economy is in serious trouble sliding into the worst recession since world war ii. but mrs merkel has made it clear that she wants to take this slow, carefully and, if the polls are to be believed, the majority of the german public are behind her.

the veteran bollywood actor rishi kapoor has died in mumbai. he was 67 and had been diagnosed with cancer. rishi kapoor was known for his romantic roles, and was part of india's kapoor acting dynasty. the prime minister narendra modi called him ‘a powerhouse of talent‘ who was multi—faceted, endearing and lively. many people across the uk have started newjobs in hospitals, supermarkets or working on our transport systems to help keep the country running during the coronavirus pandemic. well army veteran joel snarr has done just that, starting a cleaning and portering team at the dragon‘s heart temporary hospital in cardiff. hello, good to talk to you. you are working in the temporary hospital,

the dragon‘s heart near cardiff? that‘s right. the dragon‘s heart near cardiff? that's right. and you have volunteered for what reason, why did you want to do this? ijust volunteered for what reason, why did you want to do this? i just wanted to help out originally, i was on the nhs volunteers list, it was a bit of a slow start because of how many people volunteered and i saw a position through a company who are providing certain services to support the nhs at the principality stadium which is now the dragon heart hospital, so ijust applied for a basicjob and things went from there. and, well, you volunteered and very swiftly, you are now running a team of 100 people, aren‘t you? i guess, running a team of 100 people, aren‘t you? iguess, is running a team of 100 people, aren‘t you? i guess, is that your army logistical background that they thought, this chap, he will be good at this? yeah, they said they were looking for supervisors and so i

said, well i have some other skills and a half decent cv so i gave it to them and i came in the next day, interviewed, did a couple of days work for them and they said, actually, would you like to be operations managerfor actually, would you like to be operations manager for porters and clea ners operations manager for porters and cleaners and i said, yes that sounds great, let‘s do it. cleaners and i said, yes that sounds great, let's do it. well, you say you have a half decent cv and you are underselling yourself because you have a pride of britain award and it is a remarkable reasons, but for anybody who doesn‘t know you, explain why you have a pride of britain award. 0r explain why you have a pride of britain award. or i was driving home a year ago britain award. or i was driving home a yearago and britain award. or i was driving home a year ago and a light aircraft was attempting to make an emergency landing and unfortunately it clipped the power lines that were adjacent to an the power lines that were adjacent toana the power lines that were adjacent to an a road. unfortunately, it took a sharp dive into the central reservation and flipped upside down, caught on fire. thankfully, myself and another gentleman were able to

react quick enough and pull the three passengers out before it burned to a crisp. it is a heart stopping story and a remarkable thing that you did. you will get a commendation medal but i‘m assuming that your ceremony to get your medal has been delayed because of all of this as well? yes, me and daniel are going to go and see the police chief co nsta ble a going to go and see the police chief constable a couple of weeks ago and for obvious reasons, it is a bit too close proximity to be with social distancing. so theyjust said, we will keep you posted and when all this returns to normal, we will catch up with you. well, quite right too, just fantastic. you have served in afghanistan, northern ireland, all your years in the army and now you are at the dragon heart hospital. normally, iwould be tempted to ask somebody who is volunteering whether they were nervous at all or anxious about the job they were taking on, i am sort

of, iam job they were taking on, i am sort of, i am assuming that you didn‘t have a lot of nerves about that because you have seen far worse things perhaps. no, no nerves at all but it doesn‘t mean i don‘t take the threat of contracting covid—19 seriously because i do, everybody does here. but you can‘t live in fear and nerves. well, thank you for what you are doing and to everybody there at the dragon heart in cardiff, thank you so much. all the very best to you and perhaps we will talk again when you receive your medal. thank you very much. thank you, take care. weather with stav da naos in a moment — but first, an raf fly—past took place over bedfordshire this morning — to mark the 100th birthday of captain tom moore. the tribute marks his remarkable achievement of raising more than £30 million for nhs charities, by walking laps of his garden. the world war two veteran has been

promoted to honorary colonel to mark his centenary — and the prime minister recorded a special message, describing him as ‘a point of light in all our lives‘. david sillito reports. # happy birthday to you # happy birthday captain tom—daddy—grandpa. .. # happy birthday to you! # i never, ever anticipated ever in my life anything like this. it really is amazing. and i would say to everyone, thank you very much to everyone, wherever you are. captain tom moore. it began as a little challenge in his back garden. 100 laps to try to raise £1000 for nhs charities. and, today, he was being honoured with an raf birthday fly—past, as the total reached £30 million. this is the culmination of an extraordinary few weeks. a celebration of how one man‘s

cheerful determination has inspired people and... raised a huge amount of money. # happy birthday to you... and amongst those celebrating today‘s birthday, the staff of a nearby care home. captain tom has become a local hero. one of the birthday boys, bless him, he actually saw the flight, and he said he felt like he was back there in the army, because he was in the army in his days, bless him. he was a little bit emotional, to be honest. it'sjust so poignant, you know? the whole day, for our residents. there‘s a lot of things to be worried about at the moment, a lot of negativity. but this is nice, something to be happy about. and these birthday celebrations go far and wide. jersey... tamworth... and downing street. captain tom, i know i speak for the whole country when i say we wish you a very happy 100th birthday. your heroic efforts have lifted

the spirits of the entire nation. but perhaps the most startling sight is in the village school. this is where they are displaying the birthday cards, all 140,000 of them. very emotional. it‘s amazing. i‘m really proud, because i‘ve known my grandad for all my life. i‘ve lived with him all my life. and he‘s always been there for us. he‘s made us think you can be whatever you can be. and there was more. captain tom is now an honorary colonel. there was also today a letter from the queen, and the congratulations and birthday greetings from around the world continue to arrive. it was quite a day for captain tom. i‘m absolutely delighted with all the people like you who‘ve come to wish me a very happy birthday. it really is absolutely awesome, the amount of people who have been so kind, to make those remarks.

thank you all very much. david sillito, bbc news, marston moretaine. hello there, for the first time this month, april is living up to its name of april showers and sunny spells. today has been very showery, some of them heavy with hail and thunder, gusty winds too and also windy across the south coast and through the rest of the day, it looks like we will hold on to the showers, with low pressure right above the uk. stronger winds gradually easing down across the south, the low pressure system slowly pushing towards the norske the north sea so that will be taking some of the heavy showers eastwards. as we head through tonight, again, clear spells, patchy cloud and further showers, mostly through central and northern areas but because of the breeze, cloud and showers around, it shouldn‘t be too cold anywhere with loads of four to 7 degrees. low pressure with us into friday

as well, positioned a little bit different, more towards the north sea so the northern half of the uk which will see the focus of the heavy showers through the day. further south, we could actually see quite a lot of dry weather around bar the odd shower into the afternoon, looks like it will be largely dry with lighter winds here. further north, northern england, scotland and northern ireland see some heavy showers, again these could have some hail and thunder. temperatures again around low to mid teens, could be a degree or so higher in the south as we should see some more sunshine and lighter winds. into the weekend, an area of low pressure slowly pushing over towards scandinavia, we are in between pressure systems so the pressure will be rising a little bit, a lot of dry weather i think the part a lot of the weekend, we will tend to see cloud build up through the day though and the back edge of that low pressure system will bring further showers for the north and east of scotland. but, with lighter winds and dry and brighter weather, we could see temperatures creeping up higher, 17 degrees may

saturday. sunday, a bit of uncertainty towards the northern extent of this but could bring a few showers to southern and western areas. again, if you showers to the north and east of scotland but many central areas it will be dry, temperatures again around the mid teens. into next week, it looks like high pressure starts to build back in again to settle things down. this feature could bring some rain for the far south—west but i think the general consensus high pressure to bring some drier and sunnier weather to our shores. monday and tuesday. feeling quite warm by then, but under the clear skies the knights will still be chilly.

this is bbc news. i‘m clive myrie. our top stories: boris johnson will update the country in the next hour on the government‘s coronavirus strategy. but he‘ll warn he won‘t "gamble away" the sacrifices people have made in the current lockdown by relaxing social distancing measures. testing is crucial to easing the restrictions. will the government reach its target of 100,000 daily tests by the end of today? nhs leaders are calling for a new approach. what we need to know is, what are we going to do in terms of the testing regime over the next six, eight, ten, 12 weeks as we come out of lockdown and as we ensure that we protect patients and staff in hospital, community, mental health and ambulance trusts? the head of thejudiciary in england and wales says the coronavirus pandemic could prompt the biggest changes to jury trials

since world war ii. british airways warns it can‘t be sure its operations at gatwick airport, which are currently suspended, will resume. and an raf fly—past for captain tom moore‘s 100th birthday. a special thank you for raising £30 million for the nhs. i‘m absolutely delighted with all the people like you who have come to wish me a many...happy birthday. it really is absolutely awesome, the amount of people who have been so kind.

good afternoon. in the next hour, borisjohnson will lead the coronavirus briefing from downing street, his first since recovering after contracting covid—19. as well as providing the latest details of the government‘s strategy to deal with the pandemic, he‘ll warn that he won‘t gamble away the gains made by the sacrifices of the last few weeks, by relaxing social distancing measures too soon. this morning, he chaired his first session of cabinet since returning to work, as the government considers how the lockdown measures might be relaxed without accelerating the infection rate. testing will be a crucial part of any strategy, but a senior minister has conceded the government is unlikely to meet its target of 100,000 tests a day in england by the end of today. here‘s our health correspondent, anna collinson. it‘s deadline day for testing. 100,000 daily virus tests by the end of april is what the government have promised. thousands of kits have been ordered online, while the army have been brought in to help with some drive—in sites. all of these measures will play a key role in exiting lockdown.

as you start to ease, you want to know exactly where transmissions are likely to be happening, and of course it‘s likely to be happening when people are infected. how do you know people are infected? you test them. a senior minister has admitted the government may miss their 100,000 daily target, but hospital chiefs say that‘s a red herring and testing needs to be part of a wider strategy including contact tracing and regular checks of front line workers. what we need to know is, what are we going to do in terms of the testing regime over the next six, eight, ten, 12 weeks, as we come out of lockdown and as we ensure that we protect patients and staff in hospitals, community mental health and ambulance trusts? prime minister boris johnson will now attempt to answer some of those questions. today‘s daily briefing will be his first since returning to work, and one focus will be the so—called r number, which reflects how infectious a virus is. at the height of the outbreak, the r number was around three. this means anyone affected could pass it on to three people.

since then, restrictions have brought that number down to around 0.7. crucially, that‘s below one. however, there are fears that if you ease restrictions too much, the number could jump back up again. the need for caution is clearly something that we are bearing very much in mind here in the uk. the key for us, i think, is to avoid an awful second spike in this virus. wouldn‘t it be terrible, after all the huge efforts the british people have made, to find that we were laid low by a second spike just at the wrong moment for our economy and indeed for the wellbeing and the health of our nation? one way to save lives and ease the lockdown would be a cure, and an area of hope is the repurposing of current drugs. trials involving drugs used for hiv and malaria are currently being tested to see if they can stop the coronavirus replicating in the body. results aren‘t expected untiljune. then there‘s remdesivir, a drug originally developed to treat ebola.

us officials say there‘s clear—cut evidence that it can help people recover from covid—19. but there‘s a warning that, even if it‘s successful, it can only go so far. the medicines being tested are unlikely to give much more than, say, a 20% improvement in the number of deaths from people in hospitals. now, of course, 20% is a big advance, but we mustn‘t think that this is a total palliative, that it deals with the problem. even once the government‘s testing hurdle is passed, levels will need to be ramped up further, particularly in hospitals and care homes. without a vaccine, some form of social distancing will be with us for the foreseeable future. anna collinson, bbc news. bit of breaking news for you. this is from our health minister hugh

pym, who is saying the ruler of dubai has purchased 60 tonnes of ppe to donate to the nhs and several plane loads of this ppe has arrived at heathrow from suppliers in china. a spokesman for the prime minister of the uae says the donation was because of the deep and long—lasting connections with the uk that his country has and he is determined to do his bit to keep the health worker safe. that news from hugh pym that a plane load of ppe, personal protective equipment, donated by the ruler of dubai is lended from china in the uk this afternoon. —— has landed from china. one of the primary concerns for ministers in the pandemic is trying to contain the so—called reproduction, or r rate, of infection, as our medical

correspondent fergus walsh explains. the number of people, on average, that each infected person goes on to infect. now, if it‘s over one, then you have increasing infection. it will increase exponentially. if you can get it down to below one, then eventually, an outbreak will die out. now, at the start, about a month ago, it was probably up to somewhere between three and four, which was a hugely increasing epidemic. it now is probably down to below one. now, we‘ve got a graph that can help illustrate this. you can see on 12 march, self—isolation was brought in for those with symptoms. it was an r rate of somewhere between nearly four there. and then when the lockdown happened, 24 march, all the social distancing measures, the virus wasn‘t able to transmit between people as effectively because we were all keeping our distance. and you can see it fell off a cliff there in terms of the r number. it‘s now down maybe about 0.7. i should say, though, in care homes where there are big outbreaks, the r number will be different.

it‘s not a uniform thing across the country. it can vary from town to town, from street to street. medical correspondent fergus walsh there. 0ur chief political correspondent vicki young is at westminster. that briefing is in about 50 or so minutes, a new reinvigorated boris johnson we hope will be at the podium, but we suspect the message will be the same when it comes to easing this lockdown. yeah, the first time the prime minister has led one of these press conferences forjust over led one of these press conferences for just over five weeks. led one of these press conferences forjust over five weeks. he will be back with chris whitty and patrick vallance, but the message will be one of caution. i think we‘ll be hearing more about the spread of it because that is crucial, that data that are collecting every day, that they are assessing, that is crucial to informing the decisions that ministers are going to have to make

and the prime minister said on monday he wanted to be as transparent as possible with people about how he‘s going to make these very difficult decisions that lie ahead. part of that will be explaining to people what it is that they are looking at, and of course there‘s more and more data coming into them every day. the next review of the elect on measures comes formally on the 7th of may but certainly what we are hearing publicly and privately is that it is premature to talk about exactly when or how they‘re going to lift or ease any of these measures at the moment, and it was hot i think about her we are, really, in the phases of the fight against this epidemic —— and abel talk about, i think. all of this feeds into what they decide to do next. the fear, of course, is there could be a spike, particularly once we get through the summer months and the warm weather into potentially flu season at the end of

the year. but we have seen the devolved governments in scotland and wales, toa to a degree in northern ireland as well, a degree of easing in the lockdown. is there any indication we make it today from the prime minister as to where we may see a softening of the rules?” minister as to where we may see a softening of the rules? i think it is more likely we get that next week. we have had a few hints, and it really is very few. we have had the education secretary for england talk abut a phase to reopening for schools but not saying when that would happen. we have had others talking about how the transmission of the illness does not seem to be as bad outside, therefore could you speak to businesses who operate outdoors? and maybe they could start to reopen. but we are really not at the point yet of having any kind of detail, and that doesn‘t seem to be being discussed in detail, certainly the cabinet at the moment. they‘ve a lwa ys the cabinet at the moment. they‘ve always been very concerned about

mixing the message, diluting that stay—at—home message, but there are others, including conservative and peace, who have talked publicly about this. they do want clarity. they want to be able to prepare. that‘s the same for schools. all of this is going to take quite a lot of preparation. the time will come for that. it will be interesting today to see how far the premise or is prepared to go, but caution is definitely the word that we are hearing. indeed. thanks for that. nikki young -- vicki —— vicki young. and we‘ll bring you that downing street news conference with borisjohnson at 5pm. full coverage in a bbc news special on the news channel and on bbc one. as we‘ve heard, the government is struggling to meet its testing target, but many say even that level would be nowhere near enough. the world health organization has warned that widespread testing is essential to contain the pandemic.

0ur health correspondent nick triggle has this assessment of the government‘s strategy. "test, test, test", the world health organization recommended should be the key strategy for tackling coronavirus. the uk, though, has struggled to do this. but, today, it‘s hoping to achieve 100,000 tests. that‘s a significant improvement on where we were at the start of the pandemic. in february, when the first cases started to emerge, we were able to test 1,000 people a day. this was carried out at eight small labs. all were run by public health england with support from health officials from the rest of the uk. over time, hospital labs were brought on board, with growing numbers of patients being admitted for treatment for coronavirus. because of this, testing was only widely available to hospital patients — even nhs staff were struggling at times to get them. by early april, over 10,000 tests a day were being carried out, and a target of achieving 100,000 was set.

to help achieve that, a network of drive—through testing centres have been opened. there will be 48 by the end of the week. people can also book online for home testing kits to be sent out. meanwhile, the military is running over 70 mobile testing units. three mega labs have been created in milton keynes, glasgow and cheshire to process the tests. support is also being provided by the private sector. so, has the 100,000—a—day target been met? we won‘t know for a few days, as tests need to be processed. the latest figures showjust over 50,000 tests being carried out, although there is capacity for many more. eligibility for testing has also been expanded this week. now, anyone who needs to leave home to work should be able to get tested, alongside all over—65s, hospital patients and care home staff and residents, even if they don‘t have symptoms. it is one step away from whole population testing. that will be crucial to help us gradually move out of lockdown,

as part of the test, trace and track strategy to contain local outbreaks. when that happens, the uk will finally have achieved world health organisation recommendations. 0ur health correspondent nick triggle. the headlines on bbc news: boris johnson will update the country on the government‘s coronavirus strategy, but warns he won‘t "gamble away" the sacrifices made by the public, in relaxing social distancing measures. testing is crucial to easing the restrictions, but ministers remain under pressure, over their target of 100,000 daily tests by the end of the day. nhs leaders are calling for a new approach: the head of thejudiciary in england and wales says the coronavirus pandemic could prompt the biggest change to jury trials since world war ii. the oil giant shell has cut its dividend for the first

time since world war ii following the collapse in global oil demand due to the coronavirus pandemic. and lloyds bank has also reported that its profits collapsed in the first quarter of the year because of coronavirus. let‘s talk now to our personal finance correspondent, simon gompertz. good to see you. i suppose these figures, they are not much of a shock, really, given the global economy has gone off a cliff because of this pandemic. it's easy to expand why shell has been affected. the oil price has had an unprecedented drop. a short while ago, owners of oil were paying other people, storage companies, to take it away. that gives you a measure of the crisis in the oil market which has been caused by coronavirus, demand has disappeared. so you can see why shell is been affected. however, the shock has occurred in the stock market today can‘t be

overestimated. shell was a key player. it paid a dividend, the payment that people get who hold the shares, and —4 times a year, that accounted for 15% of all the dividend paid by our top 100 companies —— and they get is four times a year. it was huge, and it was relied upon, particular by pension funds responsible for managing the money of millions of pensioners with private pensions. their pensions depended upon it and it was seen as the most reliable feature of the investment world. and yet today, we have heard shell say, we are going to cut that payment by two thirds. notjust a small reduction, a huge reduction. we are seeing the knock on effect then of shell not being able to put out a dividend. lloyds as well reporting

it‘s profits collapse for the first quarter of the year because of coronavirus. we have had the gdp figures for the first quarter for a number of economies around the world. it‘s disastrous. the suggestion is the next quarter is going to be worse. i think that's a concern. shall‘s shares have dropped by around 12%. it‘s a very significant fall that is brought the stock market down with it by several percentage points. lloyds is down as well. that is because of the coronavirus. they have had to set aside £1.5 million to cover what they think will be businesses and individuals with credit cards not being able to pay back what they have borrowed and they are worried that might increase depending on the state of the economy over the next year or so, state of the economy over the next yearorso, andi state of the economy over the next year or so, and i think lloyds has been relatively optimistic about what it thinks happen and banks have been allowed to be fairly flexible by the bank of england on what they

set aside to cover what they call add loans. this could get a lot worse. we have seen quite a significant rebound in the stock market over the last couple of weeks, as people‘s worst fears about the effect of the coronavirus perhaps haven‘t been fulfilled, people have become more slightly less pessimistic, but this perhaps isa less pessimistic, but this perhaps is a wake—up call that this is a long—haul, we can see that companies are going to be very badly affected but we cannot see how badly or for how long. ok, simon, thank you. simon gompertz there. the head of the pharmaceutical giant astrazeneca has told the bbc that he‘s hopeful of developing a coronavirus vaccine for limited use by the end of this year. pascal soriot says they should know by june whether the new vaccine is successful. the company is partnered with the team developing the vaccine at oxford university. he told business editor simonjack

why they chose to get involved. the oxford group is actually one of the best vaccine groups in the world, so clearly, they are very credible. they started very early. they were looking at a vaccine back in january. they also they were looking at a vaccine back injanuary. they also had the technology in the past two developed the sars vaccine, the they were very good. they were a logical partner for us to develop a vaccine. they are probably one of the three leading vaccine in terms of how advanced they are. so our goal would be to help them, continue the development, get any factories and distributed. and give us a sense of the timeline. how long what you know if it is going to work at home between then and realistically before you could start rolling it

out at any scale? actually ijune, july, will already have an idea of the direction of travel, we will still have more patience and it will ta ke still have more patience and it will take more months to be defended about it and submits a request to the authorities. june, july is step one, and the next milestone would be q four. we are going to work very ha rd to have q four. we are going to work very hard to have something to offer the authorities by q4. pascal soriot there of astrazeneca. lockdown may be having a major effect on shops and workplaces — but it‘s also affecting the courts. jury trials across the uk were halted in march due to the virus, and now the head ofjudiciary in england and wales

has told the bbc coronavirus could prompt the biggest changes to these kinds of trials since world war two. let‘s cross to our legal correspondent clive coleman, who has more on this. what is that indicating in terms of change? he was addressing a serious problem, clive, because to hold a jury problem, clive, because to hold a jury trial, you need 20 people minimum ina jury trial, you need 20 people minimum in a pretty small courtroom, and that includes a jury, a jury box, tiring to a pretty smalljury room. and you just cannot hold these trials in the age of social distancing. thejudiciary trials in the age of social distancing. the judiciary are clearly ready to get the show back on the road becausejury clearly ready to get the show back on the road because jury trials are where the most serious trials are tried. the short—term and the longer term, in the short—term, he is envisioning is trials could start up using two courtrooms for each trial. a large courtroom with an overflow courtroom linked by a video link so you can divide up the participants

but you would also have to have a larger room forjurors to deliberate in. but he said that if this goes on for a matter of months, more radical thinking will have to take place. and what he said is that he is in favour of reducing the number of jurors. injury trials, we have 12 jurors, 15 in scotland. during the second world war, the number was reduced to seven and the lord chief justice said that he would favour such a move if social distancing goes on for a matter of months. he also said that they are looking at the possibility of having jury trials in larger venues, perhaps diversity lecture theatres, possibly military buildings because there are security issues related to jury trials. this would represent the most radical change to the conduct ofjury most radical change to the conduct of jury trials most radical change to the conduct ofjury trials since the second world war, but such is the desire to get the wheels ofjustice turning

again, that is the kind of thinking thatis again, that is the kind of thinking that is going on at the moment. and indeed, there are other ideas, other options. sir geoffrey robertson qc, the barrister, favour something where the defendant has the right to elect, to have a judge on the trial. that is one idea. justice is running a series of virtual trials where you have the barrister, thejudge, the jury, the defendants all in com pletely jury, the defendants all in completely different locations. that‘s a mock trial at the moment but the justice secretary robert buckland has said, because there has been academic evaluation of that work that has been pretty positive, it merits serious consideration. people are bending every sin you to try and find a way to get the wheels of justice turning try and find a way to get the wheels ofjustice turning again. clive, thank you for that. clive coleman.

an raf fly—past took place over bedfordshire this morning to mark the 100th birthday of captain tom moore. the tribute marks his remarkable achievement of raising more than £30 million for nhs charities by walking laps of his garden. the world war ii veteran has been promoted to honourary colonel to mark his centenary — and the prime minister recorded a special message, describing him as "a point of light in all our lives". david sillito reports. # happy birthday to you # happy birthday captain tom—daddy—grandpa # happy birthday to you! # i never, ever anticipated ever in my life anything like this. it really is amazing. and i would say to everyone, thank you very much to everyone, wherever you are. captain tom moore. it began as a little challenge in his back garden. 100 laps to try to raise £1,000 for nhs charities. and, today, he was being honoured with an raf birthday fly—past,

as the total reached £30 million. this is the culmination of an extraordinary few weeks. also a celebration of how one man‘s cheerful determination has inspired people and... ..raised a huge amount of money. # happy birthday to you happy birthday to you... # and amongst those celebrating today‘s birthday, the staff of a nearby care home. captain tom has become a local hero. one of the birthday boys, bless him, he actually saw the flight, and he said he felt like he was back there in the army, because he was in the army in his days, bless him. he was a little bit emotional, to be honest. it'sjust so poignant, you know? the whole day, for our residents. there‘s a lot of things to be worried about at the moment, a lot of negativity. but this is nice, something to be happy about. and these birthday celebrations go far and wide. jersey... tamworth... and downing street.

captain tom, i know i speak for the whole country when i say we wish you a very happy 100th birthday. your heroic efforts have lifted the spirits of the entire nation. but perhaps the most startling sight is in the village school. this is where they are displaying the birthday cards, all 140,000 of them. very emotional. it‘s amazing. i‘m really proud, because i‘ve known my grandad for all my life. i‘ve lived with him all my life. and he‘s always been there for us. he‘s made us think you can be whatever you can be. and there was more. captain tom is now an honorary colonel. there was also today a letter from the queen, and the congratulations and birthday greetings from around the world continue to arrive. it was quite a day for captain tom. i‘m absolutely delighted with all the people like you who‘ve come to wish me a very happy birthday.

it really is absolutely awesome, the amount of people who have been so kind, to make those remarks. thank you all very much. david sillito, bbc news, marston moretaine. and he had a lovely day for the fly—past. now it‘s time for a look at the weather with stav. hello there. sunny spells and april showers through today. some of them have been heavy with some thunder, some hail mixed in and some gusty winds. and for the rest of the day, it stays pretty showery, some of the heavy showers tending to push off towards the east as the low pressure centre starts to push its way towards the north sea. this evening and night it stays showery. so the heavy showers will be through central and northern areas. a few clear spells around. we will gradually see those winds

easing down across the south coast and through the channel, but nowhere will be particularly cold because of the breeze generally and also the cloud and showers. into friday, then, our area of low pressure will be over the north sea, so it will be affected northern and eastern parts of the country with showers. some of these heavy with thunder and hail. but further south, we start to see pressure building here, increasing sunshine. so it might feel a degree or so warmer in the south. still low to mid—teens in the north. into the weekend, there will be quite a lot of dry weather around, some sunny spells, variable cloud, feeling a touch warmer too.

this is bbc news. the headlines at 4:30pm: boris johnson will update the country shortly on the government‘s coronavirus strategy. but he‘ll warn he won‘t "gamble the sacrifices away" of the current lockdown, by relaxing social distancing measures. testing is crucial to easing the restrictions, but will the government reach it‘s target of of 100,000 daily tests, by the end of today? nhs leaders are calling for a new approach. what we need to know is what are we going to do in terms of the testing regime over the next six, eight, ten, 12 weeks, as we come out of lockdown, and as we ensure that we protect patients and staff in hospitals, community, mental health and ambulance trusts? british airways warns it can‘t be sure its operations at gatwick airport, which are currently