we for talking to us. thanks, naga! we are back with you tomorrow from six o'clock. have a lovely day.

this is bbc news with the latest headlines... the government says it's confident it's target of 100,000 daily coronavirus tests by the end of april has been met. setting a challenging target was the right thing to do because it galvanised government and got thejob done but there's a lot more to be done. the prime minister promises to set out a plan next week for gradually easing the lockdown, rya nair announces it plans to cut 3000 jobs, as part of restructuring because of the virus. president trump says he's seen evidence coronavirus orginated in a chinese laboratory and south africa starts easing its coronavirus restrictions after five weeks of lockdown

good morning to you all. welcome to bbc news. the government has said it is confident that they have hit their own target for the number of daily coronavirus tests to be carried out by yesterday's deadline — as the prime minister told the nation that the uk was now "past the peak" of the outbreak. the target of 100,000 daily coronavirus tests — to be met by the end of april — had been set by the health secretary, matt hancock. over 81,000 tests were carried out on wednesday — according to figures from the department of health and social care. in other developments this morning

budget airline ryanair announced they are cutting up to 3,000 jobs across pilots and cabin crew as they deal with the fall out from coronavirus. meanwhile in the us last night — president trump appeared to undercut his own intelligence agencies by suggesting he has seen evidence coronavirus originated in a chinese laboratory. but the us national intelligence director's office say covid—19 "was not manmade or genetically modified" and china reject the theory. we'll have more on the global response to the pandemic shortly — but first this report from our news correspondent — danjohnson. for a nation cut off, closed down, hurting... applause. ..this is notjust about gratitude. it has become a regular act of communion, in the name of the carer, the medic, and the vital key worker, kind, helping hands that have kept the country on its feet and saved lives. cheering and applause.

and here's a reminder that, in the crossfire of coronavirus, heroes can be patients too. you saved my life. west midlands police chief superintendent, phil dolby, spent more than two weeks on a ventilator. see ya, bye! now, the next generation training for the front line are being named after the miracle workers of our nhs. also bouncing back, the prime minister, with his own reasons to be thankful and a message of hope... i can confirm today that, for the first time, we are past the peak of this disease. we are past the peak and we are on the downward slope. that may be but hundreds are still dying every day. 674 in the last 2a hours. across the uk, the virus has

taken someone special from 26,771 families. more than 15,000 people are in hospital, trying to shake it off. so it is still too early to lift the lockdown. the infection rate and the number of people each of us passes the virus to must stay below one. more detail on that next week, but here is a hint of what our future may hold... face coverings will be useful both for epidemiological reasons but also for giving confidence to people that they can go back to work. testing numbers have dogged the government's response. and we'll find out later today whether the 100,000 target was met. wednesday's latest figures were still 18,000 short. at the beginning of the week, we only had 5000 home tests available, this is now 20,000 available and it is the reason why we are quite likely to get very close to or meet the 100,000 target.

0ur worries and our strife are shared in this new expression of community. thursday, eight o'clock, is about togetherness, through torrid times. humanity‘s challenge means more pain, more suffering and more fear but as nature inflicts its worst, it can reflect our very best, and there are signs of better days ahead. dan johnson, bbc news. 0ur political correspondent leila nathoo joins us from westminster. good morning to you. we have figures for the testing done on wednesday, we don't yet, i understand, have the figures for yesterday, the end of april but the government sounding increasingly confident that if they haven't quite met that target, they haven't quite met that target, they have got really quite close to it? yes, bit of a turnaround to the story at the beginning of the week when we were clearly some way off and you know, the number yesterday going up to 80,000, there had always

been talk of there being big jumps in the finalfew been talk of there being big jumps in the final few days. but i think there is reasonable confidence now that the 100,000 target by the end of the month could be reached. cast your mind back to the beginning of the month. when this was said. the situation was about getting enough tests to patients, to nhs staff who needed and who had symptoms, so they could get back to work safely if they tested negative, there was a big effort involving private testing labs, getting nhs labs scaled up and then, widening out the criteria for people who were eligible for testing now, all key workers, people needing to go into work and all over 65 s, to go into work and all over 65 s, to get up to the 80,000 odd tests, that's the figure we currently have. but the message is they are reasonably confident that 100,000 target is going to be met, here is for the community secondary robert jenrick had to say earlier. for the community secondary robert jenrick had to say earlier. it looks like we will either meet the target or come close, so like we will either meet the target 01' come close, so we like we will either meet the target

or come close, so we will have very significantly increased the amount of testing in this country, i think from 2000 tests a day at the end of february, to 10,000 tests a day at the end of march. either 100,000 at the end of march. either 100,000 at the end of april or quite close to it. and that's an important stepping stone, i don't want to overstate this, because it'sjust a stepping stone to more. stepping stone to more and yes, very quickly the government going to have to focus on its strategy for further testing, contact tracing, as it tries to get the uk out of this lockdown. but robertjenrick this morning was following up on borisjohnson yesterday, talking about the public using masks, saying the evidence is modest on how useful those masks are but they might give the public confidence. does that suggest to you that the government is concerned that the government is concerned that when it says people can start to go back to certain activities, actually, a lot of individuals will be quite nervous, quite reticent about doing that? i think that's absolutely going to be forefront of

ministers minds, remember they are waiting at the moment, still for the data on the transmission of the virus, this so—called r number, how many people does one person with coronavirus go on to infect? that has to be kept below one at the moment, they estimate its between 0.6 and 0.9 at the moment, that's the data they are relying on at the moment to understand when it is appropriate and how to release some of the locked out measures and what other measures should be put in place but yes, there is certainly going to be a kind of psychological barrierfor going to be a kind of psychological barrier for people to get over. remember before the lockdown there we re remember before the lockdown there were many business organisations taking matters into their own hands, advising people to work from home before restrictions came in, events being cancelled, before the government cancelled events and i think you will see that now before we start talking about the next phase, even if ministers decide the data indicates it's safe for people to relax some of the restrictions, they've got to go our way in

persuading people it's safe to do so. persuading people it's safe to do so. i think we are going to hear lots of talk about face coverings in the coming weeks, certainly this idea perhaps the evidence about transmission, how they can affect the transmission of the virus, is modest, as robertjenrick said. but the idea is borisjohnson said, it might give people more confidence, allow people to be more comfortable, for example, going on public transport, that's certainly in scotland, there is not mandatory advice to wear face masks in areas for social distancing cannot be practised, for example public transport so i think that's one of the things we could be hearing about when the government announces more detail of the second phase that we are expected to get next thursday. thank you very much. in the last few moments the health secretary matt hancock has just gone into number moments the health secretary matt hancock hasjust gone into number 10 downing street, he was asked about testing. secretary of state, will you meet a testing target?

good morning. how are you all? are you confident you will meet testing target? we will see. we will see. so, slightly quizzical look and we will see from matt hancock, we hope to get those figures very soon. to find out if indeed that target has been met but you will know that many organisations, nhs providers among them, and we will be talking to them in the next few minutes, arguing that that 100,000 testing figure is in fact that that 100,000 testing figure is infacta that that 100,000 testing figure is in fact a red herring and is distracting from the need for the development of a longer—term strategy on testing, we will find out about that in the next few minutes. but first. us president donald trump says he's seen evidence that suggests coronavirus originated in a chinese laboratory. his claim — made in a press briefing overnight —

contradicts a statement by his country's own intelligence agencies, which said that covid—19 was not man—made. david willis reports. the p1; pathogen lab at wuhan‘s institute of virology. did the deadly coronavirus emanate from here? china strenuously denies such suggestions. the president of the united states believes otherwise. mr trump says he seen evidence linking the virus to the lab, although he wouldn't be drawn on what that evidence consisted of. he told reporters either china couldn't stop the virus from spreading, or it didn't try to. this is something that could have been contained at the original location, and i think it could have been contained relatively easily. china is a very sophisticated country and they could have contained it. they were either unable to or they chose not to and the world is suffering greatly. whilst laying to rest one of the more extreme conspiracy

theories surrounding the virus, that it was man—made and unleashed as a biological weapon, the us intelligence community didn't contradict the president's theory, saying: this country has already seen more cases of the coronavirus than anywhere else in the world, overa million, and more than 60,000 deaths. the virus has also devastated what was once a booming economy, leading to long lines in cities such as houston, as people queue for free food. although he's avoided direct criticism of china's president xi, with whom he's maintained cordial relations, president trump has talked of making china pay for the harm the virus has caused to the american economy and,

by extension, to his chances of re—election. relations between the world's two largest economies could get very frosty indeed. david willis, bbc news. let's find out what reaction there has been in china, if any. 0ur correspondent steve mcdonell is in beijing good morning to you, well it's not morning there, but it is here. have there been any reactions to those comments from donald trump? it's a public holiday here for the may day long again, the normal foreign ministry press briefing that we have isn't on today, we've asked the foreign ministry for a comment, even a written comment and if we get that we will bring it to you. nothing at the moment from the chinese government but funnily enough, even in the communist party controlled press, they haven't even referred to donald trump as remarks so it could

be that we are going to see this one sort of go under the radar, it'll be interesting to see if we come through five days without them even speaking about it. enough, some chinese nationalists, kind of excited about the fact that american central intelligence agency and other intelligence agencies have said this wasn't a man—made virus, it hasn't been altered by human beings, implying it wouldn't have been likely a weapon produced by china. funnily enough, that also kind of to to is their favourite conspiracy theory which is that the americans actually created the coronavirus as a bio weapon, you cannot have it both ways! but i guess itjust shows that cannot have it both ways! but i guess it just shows that the cannot have it both ways! but i guess itjust shows that the war of words between washington and beijing is going to continue on this one. for some time to come, i guess. yes, as you say, lots of conspiracy theories floating around. you mention it as a public holiday in china. are we now seeing a more rapid opening up

of the country? that, we absolutely are. this weekend, long weekend, china plasma transport ministry is expecting 117 million trips. now, that sounds like a lot, it's only actually a third of the number of trips you would normally have bought the mayday break, showing that people are still worried about potentially catching the coronavirus but after more than three months of virus living here, ifi three months of virus living here, if i could put it to you that way, the change is coming so quickly now, you know, it does feel strange. for example, anybody travelling within china intubation, as long as you're not coming from a hotspot like ube, you don't have to do the quarantine any more. those who are doing quarantine, they've been able to leave straight away. you don't have to wear a mask in the outdoors, you still have to do that in cafe is and the like. the forbidden city is open for the first time today but there isa cap for the first time today but there is a cap on visitors, you still have to keep your distance. you

can see though that the movement is heading very much in that direction and it does feel it's quite rapid now. of course, but everybody is worried about in the back of their mind, is the possibility that we could see another wave of the coronavirus and it would squash all of this freedom that we are starting to enjoy it right now. 0k, stephen, thank you very much for that. the headlines on bbc news... the government says it's confident that its target of 100,000 daily coronavirus test by the end of april has been met. the prime minister promises to set out a plant next week for gradually easing the lockdown. and rya nair announces week for gradually easing the lockdown. and ryanair announces its plans to cut 3000 jobs as part of restructuring because of the virus. the transport secretary, grant shapps, has said the government is "quite likely" to have either reached — or come close to meeting — the target of 100,000

daily coronavirus tests. 0fficialfigures are expected this afternoon. ministers had said they wanted to achieve the aim by yesterday. let's talk to saffron cordery — deputy chief executive of nhs providers — it represents trusts providing care across england. thank you very much forjoining us. i know, as i've already mentioned this morning, nhs providers has already been saying in the last few days, this figure is a bit of a distraction from thejob days, this figure is a bit of a distraction from the job of developing a more effective targeting and testing strategy, i should say. but the government is arguing getting to that figure of 100,000 was a call to arms, if you like, getting the engines of government fired up, getting the testing system fired up. do they have a point in that? obviously, the 100,000 target, if it is made today, clearly shows it has galvanised activity around testing. but i think the important point is that we don't

need testing for testing ‘s site, we need testing for testing ‘s site, we need testing for testing ‘s site, we need testing with a purpose and i think that's the point of what we've been saying over the past couple of days, which is we need to see a really fully formed strategy around testing, particularly at this critical point because we had boris johnson set yesterday we are coming out of the first wave, or we've come through the first peak of coronavirus. we are at a critical point now, how can we actually ease lockdown and come out of lockdown and testing has to play a critical pa rt and testing has to play a critical part in that so what we want to see isa part in that so what we want to see is a strategy that is really firmly based in the evidence and will take us based in the evidence and will take us out of lockdown. so, what will that look like, the sort of testing strategy that you are referring to? what sort of numbers are we talking about? and i guess a lot of people will want to know how effective will that be as part of an overall strategy if you know,

someone is tested one week but potentially has picked up the virus by the following week? that's exactly what the strategy is to take into account. i think it's very hard to say in terms of numbers which is why we said 100,000, yes, lets everyone focus on that and it's a galvanising element but it's not the point. what we need to know is there are a number of questions that should be answered, when will every patient, health and ca re when will every patient, health and care a staff member actually get a test with the right turnaround time, in the right time frame? how can we really speed up the testing process? because we absolutely need to know, people who are symptomatic, have symptoms of coronavirus, we need to know whether they have it or not. how are we going to make sure every key worker, beyond health and care staff, actually has access to the testing when they need because that's fundamental to getting the economy going, getting people back

to work. how can we make sure that we are able to really support the expansion of testing with all of the kit that we need so how can we make testing sustainable, fundamentally? how are we going to put in place quite complex arrangements for track and trace? we had that at the beginning of the outbreak, then that was abandoned. how effective we testing on its own be, just interrupt you on that point? if there isn't also alongside it, contact tracing? i don't think testing alone will help us keep patients safe and keep health and ca re patients safe and keep health and care staff safe so it will show us who has the virus and he doesn't and thatis who has the virus and he doesn't and that is important in a health and ca re context but that is important in a health and care context but without track and trace alongside it, we cannot really work out how we're going to get out of lockdown because track and trace helps us ring fence areas and understand where the next outbreak is coming from. and what we need to do is make sure

we got local government, public health engaged in that because it's about spreading out across local communities as well. so i think that's absolutely critical. so you want to see a lot of detailed response from the government in a very short time, if it is boris johnson government in a very short time, if it is borisjohnson said yesterday, he is going to next week set out what he called a menu of options for getting out of the lockdown? absolutely, we need to see this detail. and what we need to see, i think you made a point earlier, which is really, really important which is really, really important which as you might not have coronavirus one week but you could then develop it or contracted the following week. so we need to have in place a sustainable programme of testing. 0n in place a sustainable programme of testing. on an ongoing, regular basis health and care staff so we know whether or not you have coronavirus. it's one thing to have a negative test one month but you'd need to know if you've got at the next month or the next fortnight and that's absolutely critical, so do we have supplies in place for that? do

we have the infrastructure and regime? that needs a lot of focus and investment and i think that's where we need to look because think about it, we had the largest hospital trusts, around 17,000 staff employed. that's a big undertaking to think about how we test those staff on a regular basis. there's a of thinking to do here and it's absolutely critical that the government thinks really carefully and really quickly about the next steps of the strategy because that's fundamental to both keeping people safe and getting us out of lockdown. all really interesting points, saffron, and keep very much for that. aviation is a big talking point today. ryanair has said it may shed up to 3,000 jobs as it restru ctu res to cope with the coronavirus pandemic. it said the posts under threat were mainly pilot and cabin crew jobs, and that remaining staff would all take a 20% pay cut. boss michael 0'leary, whose pay was cut by 50% for april and may,

has now agreed to extend this 50% pay cut for the remainder of the financial year to march 2021. he spoke to breakfast earlier. the situation we face now is we've carried almost no passengers for the last three months. we carried less than 140,000 passengers in april, may and june against originally, the budget of 42 million passengers. for the full year we will carry less than 100 million passengers, the budget was originally 155 million, we will carry only about a third less passengers than we planned for this year and while we expect to be back flying some services injuly and august, we think the buildup will be slow, passengers will be wearing face masks, temperature checks at airports, there will be those kind of controls. we are cutting, we announced this morning we are cutting 15% of our staff, we think that's the minimum we need just to survive the next 12 months. if a vaccine is found clearly the recovery will be stronger, if a vaccine

isn't found we may have to announce more cuts and deeper cuts into the future. we feel we have no choice this morning but to announce 3000 job cuts, that's about 15% of our workforce. we will be closing some bases in the uk and spain and other places across europe. because by the time we get out of this, we will be into the winter schedule anyway. and it's going to be very difficult. meanwhile, london's heathrow airport, normally the busiest in europe, has said it expects passenger numbers to have fallen 97% in april as demand slumped amid the coronavirus pandemic. with me is aviation consultant doug maclean and also i'm joined by freelance traveljournalist — alison rice lovely to see you both and lots to talk about. the

industry in some difficulty, how are airlines going to get flying again and help many will be able to get through this pandemic? that's the $64 million question. i suppose nobody really knows this at the moment. the airlines, as you've just heard michael 0'leary saying, three months to digest what's happening and they are moving into action to cut costs. they've been haemorrhaging cash for months now. as have lots of aviation businesses. it's notjust airlines commits every business associated with airlines. so there is a long road to go. and it does very much depend on what the long—term outcome is, do we have a way of coping with this or do we have to live with the virus? i think what we are seeing just now is just the beginning, there will be many more

cuts on airlines, routes, and bases. which brings me, alison, to what the boss of heathrow was saying in an interview with the bbc this morning. as people speculate about how airline travel might actually look for passengers. he said that social distancing on public transport including aeroplanes, just isn't practical. and that there needs to be in dull coat him, at reciprocal consistency right across the globe, a common international standard so that people can travel with confidence. this is in terms of health screening at airports and so forth. do you see that as a way forward ? forth. do you see that as a way forward? i think it's the only way forward? i think it's the only way forward because if you social distance on planes as michael 0'leary is very quick to point out, you cannot make a profit if you don't fill the planes. and the world travel and tourism council recently came out with a report asking for common international standards and pointing out that most

countries will want health checks before you get on the plane, health checks when you get off the plane which will probably make your check—in time about four hours. i mean, optimists are talking about revenge travel. mainly young people having been locked down for how long, wanting to travel, i think that's very optimistic but certainly, if they try and get a broad, they will find that the holiday industry is nothing like the halcyon pre—pandemic days that we so much to for granted. do you think for travellers, it is going to end up being more expensive, whatever happens? obviously michael 0'leary said if there were empty seats on planes to allow social distancing then the passengers who are there will still have to pay for all of those seats? will it be more expensive? yes, definitely. i think some of the less popular routes will be axed. i mean, overall, globally, there is talk of

overall, globally, there is talk of over 75 millionjobs overall, globally, there is talk of over 75 million jobs going overall, globally, there is talk of over 75 millionjobs going in tourism because it's notjust, as we heard earlier, it's notjust the airlines, it's the airports, the accommodation providers, the attractions. how are they going to manage self distancing? how are they going to manage self cleaning? portugal is going to bring in a stand for accommodation providers, are clean and safe stand, guaranteeing that they have deep cleansed the place. the balearics, majorca, menorca, a visa, the places we all like to go on holiday, they are talking about a gradual return to terrorism, only a quarter of the numbers late august, and they say they will probably ban the british from growing this year. —— gradual return to tourism. let's go back to doug if we can. lufthansa pilots yesterday saying they were prepared to ta ke yesterday saying they were prepared to take a pay cut of up to 45% for two years to safeguard the future of the group. the ceo saying it's losing 1 million euros

an hour. here, we have british airways, ryanair, virgin, richard branson, that's still not sorted out whether he will get some help from the taxpayer, effectively here. what do you think is going to happen to all of these big named carriers?” you think is going to happen to all of these big named carriers? i think when you see british airways and luftha nsa a nd when you see british airways and lufthansa and rya nair, when you see british airways and lufthansa and ryanair, you have the full spectrum of aviation in europe and probably across the world, the models that airlines operate across the world and lufthansa are talking about voluntary administration. this is not a small problem that's going to away very soon. and behind that, the aviation, the aeroplane manufacturers, they are already cutting production by anything up to a quarter at the moment. and as michael 0'leary says, depending on what happens, there may well be further cuts next year. will state

help ultimately be needed for some of these airlines, do you think that is ultimately what might happen? i'm sure it like any industry, the industry will be absolutely looking for the state to help but it will be like any industry. so the choices are going to have to be made, do we invest in health? do we invest in transport? in people having small businesses around the world? this is a huge, huge problem and one of the big issues that the uk has, as has just been said, we have a very poor record in this pandemic and the way that we've acted, we are about to cut ourselves off from europe, 27 other countries in europe, which will have a standard and we must have a standard when we start to fly again. we must have an agreement that says, if you want to fly from this airline, this country to this country, then these are the standards that you apply for your passengers because otherwise, the countries will simply refuse to have us. which is something that alison

was talking about a second ago and alison, ultimately, i'm sure both of you would agree, this future relationship between travellers and those they would choose to travel with has to be about confidence and it's going to take a while, isn't it, for travellers potentially, u nless it, for travellers potentially, unless you are one of those revenge travel as you are talking about who's going to get out there and no matter what, that they've got to be confident that the airlines they fly with, however they choose to get around, that they will be able to transport them safely from point a to point b and that might take time, mightn't it? i think it will take a lot of time. i don't think we'll get back to the travel industry that we recognise for two or three years, at that. it should be good news for holidays in this country, but places like cornwall and wales have spent the last few weeks telling us not to go there, so they too are going to have to worry about deep cleaning

accommodation, how they self distance attractions, so the whole of the travel industry, not just our holidays abroad, our holidays in this country are going to be, i think, quite deeply affected. ok, thank you both for your thoughts on this today. time for the weather with sarah keith—lucas. another changeable day today, sunglasses and umbrellas, sunny spells and heavy showers on the cards today, some of those showers will bring the odd rumble of thunder, hail and squally winds mixed in across parts of the north midlands, northern england, central and southern scotland. here we expect the bulk of the heavy, thundery showers. further south, showers fading away, more sunshine for the south of england, some dry weather for scotland for a time, temperatures in the mid teens today. into this evening and tonight, showers and slowly start to ease,

some continue for eastern england and scotland, the odd rumble of thunder overnight, most of us frost free, temperatures of the cool side, 5-6d. free, temperatures of the cool side, 5—6d. through the day, showers across northern and eastern scotland at the north—east of england, but for the rest of the uk spells of sunshine, similar day on sunday, temperatures creeping up through the weekend. goodbye for now. hello, good morning, this is bbc news with me, annita mcveigh. the headlines for you: the government says it's confident its target of 100,000 daily coronavirus tests by the end of april has been met. setting a challenging target was the right thing to do, because it galvanised government and got thejob done, but there's a lot more to be done. the prime minister promises to set out a plan next week for gradually easing the

lockdown, rya nair announces it plans to cut 3000 jobs as part of restructuring because of the virus. president trump says he's seen evidence coronavirus orginated in a chinese laboratory. and south africa starts easing its coronavirus restrictions after five weeks of lockdown. now on bbc news, it's time for your questions answered, where today we'll be focusing on how much testing can be done, what medicines can be developed, and in what timeframe, to reduce the impact of the virus and allow us to return to some kind of normality. to answer your questions on the topic, we're joined by gary mclean, professor of molecular immunology at the london metropolitan university. he joins me from west acton. and i'm alsojoined

by drjennifer rohn, who's a cell biologist at ucl, she's in gravesend in kent. are very good morning to both of you, lots of very interesting questions coming in from viewers on this. jennifer, let's begin with you, this is from jane stanton, who asks, what arrangements do we have in hand to be able to manufacture a covid vaccine in sufficient quantities for use within the uk if and when it is available? good question. thanks for your question, good morning. ithink everybody agrees this is going to be a logistical nightmare. it is a very, very big job to upscale a vaccine to immunise a country, let alone the world. so what we are seeing is a lot of different vaccine candidates are in the race right now, we don't know which one is going to win, and that is u nfortu nate, going to win, and that is unfortunate, because every different vaccine type is a different type of production, so you can't prepare a

factory if you don't know what method is going to win. having said that, the world health organization is really rallying and trying to get countries to work together, even billionaires like bill gates are throwing money at the problem, so i hope that this global effort will result in a relatively quick upscale for this vaccine if it comes. polite asa for this vaccine if it comes. polite as a supplementary to that, very quickly, if a countries manufacturing a vaccine candidate which turns out to be successful, for example, let's talk about the one being developed at oxford, does that mean that the uk gets hold of that mean that the uk gets hold of that vaccine first before any other countries? this has happened in the past for pandemic flu, the vaccines we re past for pandemic flu, the vaccines were being hoarded by the countries that produced it, so it depends who gets it first hand how generous they are feeling. gary, a question from steve, he is asking,

covid—19 has been described as being akin to the flu, so is it right that no flu can be found best an annual vaccination jab will be the norm given the virus can mutate? good morning, everyone, it isa can mutate? good morning, everyone, it is a great question, and i think in terms of virology, influenza and its new coronavirus, they are quite different, and flu tends to change quite a lot, it can obtain different segments of its genome frequently, it is really different to this one. so that it is an advantage for coronavirus, less mutations, the chances of a vaccine having to be changed each year, or in a seasonal manner, is lower, so i think we have got a more stable virus. the difficulty with antivirals and a cure is that there are not many examples of good antivirals that work for viruses. they are tricky targets. we have

some examples for hiv and also for herpes viruses, but these have ta ken hiv and also for herpes viruses, but these have taken a long time to develop, and we're starting to purpose other medications that might work against coronavirus, so i don't see that we are going to need a seasonal vaccine at this stage similarto seasonal vaccine at this stage similar to influenza. ok, that is very interesting, a lot of people are curious about that particular point, so interesting answer. jean chambers asks, and i will put this to you, jennifer, i was vaccinated against pneumonia, will this give me any degree of protection against this new coronavirus? so good news and bad news. the bad news is that, obviously, the pneumonia jab you received was against an entirely different organism, so it will not be effective at all against coronavirus at self. having said that, if you have covid—19, a severe infection, your lungs are weakened, and in this situation bug sometimes ta ke and in this situation bug sometimes take advantage of weaknesses, this is go take advantage of weaknesses, this isgoa

take advantage of weaknesses, this is go a secondary infection. if you have had a pneumonia jab, you do not at least have to worry about a secondary infection from that organism. you could say the same thing about the flu jab. alan asks, gary, tying back to the question you a nswered gary, tying back to the question you answered about annual vaccination, he is asking, when will there be an antibody test to verify that you have the virus and that your immune system has some antibodies to fight the virus in the future? yes, we are hearing a lot about this at the moment. the antibody test will be a really nice want to have to prove, have you had it? have you seen this virus? have you been exposed? there isa virus? have you been exposed? there is a lot of research going into it, we have some good tests currently, but they are still in development. i think they are being rolled out extensively in the uk population in the next months, and they are going to be comparing different types of tests, there was that are lab based

which those that are more simple to do, rapid tests, kind of like a pregnancy test that can be done very simply. the question still remains, though, how accurate they are, how reliable, how sensitive they are, and at first glance it looks like they are developing these to be quite effective and quite good, so i am expecting this in the next few months. if you were to discover, just a little one from me, if you we re just a little one from me, if you were to discover that you had had the virus and you didn't know you had the virus as you did not find out until you had an antibody test, that obviously means your body handled it really well, fought it off really well, does that mean that you would be pretty safe in the future, or can we say that at this point? yes, we are still learning exactly about the immune response to this particular virus, and in a normal situation, yes, having been exposed to a virus and developing antibodies is a good marker of being immune or protected in

the future. but like any new virus, we still can't say for sure at this point that those antibodies are going to be protective or not. so no certainties at this point. this question from ray bradbury, plenty of questions about face masks following comments by borisjohnson yesterday, so he is asking, is the british public are going to be issued with facemasks? all right, well i don't know the answer to that, i don't know what the court will decide, versus mandating mass cues, and! will decide, versus mandating mass cues, and i would imagine that the proper masks will be rationed for the national health service. they will perhaps ask the public to wear scarves or cloth masks, which will help you if you are on crowded public transport and somebody is neededin public transport and somebody is needed in yourface, better than nothing, but i wouldn't imagine we would all be issued with proper ppe. soa would all be issued with proper ppe. so a face covering of some kind, if not a proper mask in the sense that

we would think of one. if someone sneezes in your face, we would think of one. if someone sneezes in yourface, cloth we would think of one. if someone sneezes in your face, cloth will provide a barrier, it is not perfect, but you would feel better if you had that on your face. catherine ask about testing, why isn't everyone being tested, is it a lack of lab resources? yes, i think it is, in the initial phases of this pandemic, i think the government wanted to focus on testing the people most at need, so those in hospital with symptoms. it was a bit ofa hospital with symptoms. it was a bit of a resource issue. now they have ramped up the testing, we are hearing about 100,000 tests per day, and other less vulnerable people, and other less vulnerable people, and then there was that might be at risk, and eventually that is going to roll out to the general population. there is an extensive testing programme under way and most are being offered at these tests,

and hopefully this will extend to the entire population, like we have seenin the entire population, like we have seen in other countries, such as germany, south korea, where they test extensively, contact trays, and thatis test extensively, contact trays, and that is one way of controlling it. yes, a combination of testing and tracing that seems to be most effective. an interesting question from danielle who asks, what about the vulnerable after the lockdown finishes, they are expected to stay inside until there is a vaccine?m isa inside until there is a vaccine?m is a really difficult question, i don't know the answer to this. clearly these people will still be at risk, so they do need to be careful. they may be issued with special ppe, but it is a difficult question. gary, any thoughts on that? yeah, i would agree with jennifer, a difficult one to answer, lam not jennifer, a difficult one to answer, i am not sure i can add too much to that point. it is one that i guess

we do not know a lot about yet, and we do not know a lot about yet, and we are waiting to find out what the suggestions will be on that. a question from ian, when chris whitty was asked about a vaccine, he said that even though there were 40 development programmes under way, andi development programmes under way, and i think we have been told by the who they are more than 40, the chances of anyone working was low. this would suggest there is a high chance that there will never be a vaccine against covid—19, so what is the strategy then? i think the chances, yes, no, ofa the strategy then? i think the chances, yes, no, of a successful vaccine, but there is still hope. if no vaccine were available, we have to look for another form of protection, and we heard about the herd immunity process early on, enough people getting infected and developing protective immunity that will protect the entire population. there is also the development of antivirals, a lot of research going into this. the distance in

measures, we may have to live with them for quite some time, and that is probably the best proven way of controlling a virus such as this. we hope that the outbreak will weaken and disappear with rising summer temperatures, people will be more aware. there is still hope for a vaccine, but it is low, i agree. these are some of the reality is, u nfortu nately, these are some of the reality is, unfortunately, that we are having to confront as we hope for a vaccine to come good. on the point of a vaccine, jackie asks, jennifer, if they managed to create a vaccine, will we be forced to have it? well, vaccination is not compulsory in the united kingdom, it hasn't been, although they are discussing it. i think you have free choice, but having said that, i would say that we will never get back to normal life and is a significant part of the population has immunity, and the only way would be for most

people to get that vaccine, people who don't get that vaccine, people who don't get theirjabs get that vaccine, people who don't get their jabs will get that vaccine, people who don't get theirjabs will be in endangering those who are not able to. if it is safe, i hope that there will be wide uptake. can't wait to try to put people's minds at rest, are people are concerned that are quickly developed a quickly developed vaccine would be safe, i suppose, that is the simple word, is one that has been developed over a lot of years, what would you say to anyone concerned about that?” lot of years, what would you say to anyone concerned about that? i would say that it is a valid concern, this isa say that it is a valid concern, this is a rushjob. having said that, they will not vaccinate healthy person unless it is clinically proven, and that is what it takes 18 months to two years to get to the end of the line. safety will not be compromised. are very important point to make. gary, another question on mask from ian, who says the nhs is throwing away tens of thousands of used

facemask at the moment. could these not be sanitised and then given to the public for face coverings, or i guess reused by the nhs? after they have been used ina the nhs? after they have been used in a coronavirus ward, is the feeling, gary, that it is just not good practice to reuse? agreed, i think the short answer is no, you can't reuse, these are designed for single use, they are used by people on the front that are exposed to potentially high levels of virus repeatedly, it would be too risky to sanitise them. people can use other ways of wearing face masks, they can buy their own cheap ones or use cloth ones, and that will offer some protection. some really interesting questions from our viewers today, thank you so much for sending those in, and thank you both for your expertise. no doubt we will be answering any questions for quite a long time to come,

professor gary mclean from london metropolitan and drjennifer rohn from ucl, thank you again. we may find out more today about whether the football season can restart. the government are hosting a video call with the fa and premier league, along with medical experts from rugby union, cricket and racing to discuss the aspects of a return to sporting action. it's the biggest dilemna facing the premier league in its history, as austin halewood reports. it has been seven weeks since a premier league ground looked like this. now organisers are keen to get the season back up and running behind closed doors on the 8th ofjune, but are the players on board? the manchester city striker sergio aguero told argentinian media that the majority of players are scared to return because they have children and families. and he is not the only one who is worried.

it would be hindering ourselves with certain things, like face masks and things, it's going to be off—putting. it's not going to be natural. it's quite farcical. i understand why people are desperate to get football on, i am one of those people, i'm desperate, but i think it's got to be done in a sensible way. there is also concern about the availability of testing and whether a return will place u nnecessa ry extra pressure on public services. with liverpool on the brink of a first title in 30 years, even the city's own mayor is not keen on a restart. i would guess that a lot people would turn up outside anfield to celebrate, and i can understand the police's concerns around that, even if it was at a neutral venue. it would be really difficult for the police to keep people apart and maintain social distancing, so i think it is a nonstarter. the club, though, have distanced themselves from that point of view,

and the government thinks a restart would give the country a much—needed boost, while the league's organisers know the huge financial implications of not restarting. they'd have to pay three £750 million back to rights holders. with other competitions around europe already cancelled, the government and the premier league know whatever move they make next, they will have to get it right. most people in the uk would not want to go out, even if the government officially ends the lockdown in a month's time, according to a new survey. 60% of those asked said they would be uncomfortable about going to bars and restaurants or using public transport. and more than 40% would still be reluctant to go shopping or send their children to school, according to the poll by ipsos mori. south africa is easing aspects of its lockdown today. some businesses can now reopen, while families will be allowed to leave home to exercise. but there'll be more troops on the streets and an overnight curfew.

speaking to me from johannesburg, nomsa maseko described the control strategy that south africa has been using. the south african lockdown is one of the strictest the world has ever seen. people are not even allowed to jog, and there was a ban on the sale of cigarettes and alcohol, and also the fact that so many people were forced to stay home. but now there is a little bit of an easing. just driving into work this morning there were so many people jogging, walking their dogs. there was a sprinkle of optimism in the air. you know, just walking into the office today. there is going to be a heavy military presence and police presence all over the country. just driving in, there were two checkpoints i had to go through myself, where the police officers were asking to see that i am allowed to be on the streets and that i have a permit to be out on the roads.

this is the eighth week since south africa reported its first covid—19 case. to date, there are 5000 south africans that have tested positive for coronavirus and just over 100 deaths. and the government says that the lockdown has definitely helped. even though they have eased it now to level four of the lockdown, it still means that there are going to be very strict measures that people need to adhere to. but, generally, the lockdown has been respected by many south africans, even though the tobacco industry now has threatened to take the government to court for refusing to lift the ban on the sale of cigarettes. of challenges. one officer from devon and cornwall police has been keeping a video diary for us. take a look. police siren. sit down! oh, my god! you're not going that way, mate. we're going to disperse

you out of the city. stop banging your head! i'm carlo towl. i'm a police sergeant with devon and cornwall police. so here we are, week five of lockdown britain. i'm in exeter. i just wanted to talk about the police's experience of what's been happening the last few weeks. i've just arrived at exeter custody. i've come up here cos a male's been arrested for spitting in a paramedic‘s face. the gentleman's in the cell here with four officers in ppe, after he'd kicked off. he's been restrained for a period of time. he's assaulted a couple of officers, causing injury to them. he's attempted to spit at officers as well as paramedics at the scene. we've had an absolute flood of reports from the public, who are saying there are street—attached people, people who are

street drinkers, drug takers. we have struggled a little bit, because in the law it allows for someone to be homeless and to be out, because obviously they've got nowhere to get back to. but there are, as i've said, lots of people who are housed, who are currently going out every day, congregating in groups, drinking, taking drugs, causing anti—social behaviour, who are really causing a sort of problem. so we've had a report of a group of six people drinking and congregating in an area just down here. so where are you guys off to, then? are you going to tase me? i don't want to taser you. are you guys housed somewhere? yes. yes? 0k. so you need to be back there, don't you? i need to be at probation. all you guys are doing being out and about is causing more issues for people. it's a problem that increasing the longer the lockdown goes on,

because they feel more emboldened to go out and act in a way which intimidates a lot of people, frankly. i wasn't resisting arrest, she had hold of me! how can i be resisting arrest when she had hold of me?! we're taking proactive action as best we can without trying to stigmatise those people or become overzealous, as i know the police have been accused of being recently. so yeah, it's a difficult one, really, because the law is quite grey, unfortunately. this shift started with someone spitting in the face of a paramedic. and now it's ended with another emergency service worker being spat out again.

now, ijust don't understand people, i really don't. yeah, it's been a trying shift. hi, guys. how have you coped with the lockdown so far? it's nice here, to be fair. most people have been absolutely fine. like yourselves. the whole point of it, and ouronly realaim, is to keep people safe. it sounds cliched but it's true. now it's time for a look at the weather with sarah keith—lucas. hello. it's another day of sunshine and showers out there today, the recipe for lots of rainbows. some of the showers through the day are going to be

heavy and thundery. some hail and gusty winds mixed in with some of the downpours as well. but we won't all see them, a bit of dry weather with some sunshine around, too. but low pressure is still driving the weather at the moment. it's gradually going to be easing away towards the east over the next 24 hours or so. so the showers will slowly start to fade away as we head on into the weekend. but for the here and now, the most frequent heavy showers today will be across parts of the midlands, northern england, central and southern scotland as well. it's here that we're likely to see some of those thunderstorms, hail and squally winds. showers fewer and further between elsewhere, and temperatures for most of us in the mid—teens, a little bit warmer than it was yesterday. now, through into this evening and overnight, the showers will start to ease and fade, but some heavy ones will continue overnight across parts of eastern england and northern and eastern scotland as well. clear skies and lighter winds further south. so although it will be a largely frost—free start to saturday, it'll be quite chilly first thing with temperatures around five to eight degrees. now, the weekend is going to be shaping up to be gradually turning drier and more

settled with some spells of sunshine on offer, less windy than recent days. still one or two showers on the cards for the weekend, but we won't all see them. the areas most likely to see the showers on saturday are across northern and eastern scotland and the far north east of england as well. elsewhere, a lot of dry weather with some blue sky and spells of sunshine. but the cloud will increase from the southwest, perhaps the old spot of light rain down towards the channel, for instance. but most of us in the sunshine and lighter winds, it'll feel quite pleasant out there with temperatures around 14 to 18 degrees through the day on saturday and sunday set to be a pretty similar day. once again, a lot of dry weather with light winds and some sunshine cloud amounts increasing, i think, through the course of the day on sunday and a few showers typically for eastern scotland, northeast england, perhaps one or two for the far southwest as well. but temperatures between about ten to 18 degrees or so on sunday. and then things continue to turn a little bit warmer and drier as we look towards the new week as well. so high pressure starts to build its way in across the united kingdom through the course of sunday night and into monday as

well. so a largely dry outlook into next week and things will be turning brighter and warmer than they have been in recent days. bye for now.

this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the british government says it's confident it's target of 100,000 daily coronavirus tests by the end of april has been met. setting a challenging target was the right thing to do because it galvanised government and got thejob done but there's a lot more to be done. rya nair announces it plans to cut 3,000 jobs, as part of restructuring because of the virus. president trump says he's seen evidence coronavirus originated in a chinese laboratory — but gives no details. south africa starts easing its coronavirus restrictions after five weeks of lockdown.