and then we have more certainty. and then thirdly, on when was the peak? i think that is the question that cannot be precisely answered, as you have heard. because there has been a series of pea ks, have heard. because there has been a series of peaks, pigs in deaths, pigs in hospital admissions and peaks that have occurred in different regions of the country. —— peaks. as you saw from the slides presented at the start, most of the measures we are looking at started to reduce from around the middle of april. so i think broadly we saw that plateauing of a variety of measures around the middle of april. thank you very much, thank you, steve. chris, you wanted to come back? i asked what the r value was. so you did, that was the fourth. sir patrick vallance has said they

believe the r value is around 0.7 and we are measuring that directly through the work of the office for national statistics. that is being measured by randomly testing people in the community. once that data has been presented, once the data is available, i think it will be better to give a more precise figure, but as patrick also explained, it is impossible to get an absolute single, precise number because around the country in different settings, it will be slightly different. with better data, that range will narrow. thank you very much. we will turn now to sienna rogers from labour list. one month ago the government announced a scheme to release a low risk prisoners and it was expected up to 4000 would be released. but after mistakes were made, the scheme was paused. so mr gove, can you tell us

how many risk assessed prisoners in total and how many pregnant prisoners have been released. and professor, rates of self— harm in english and welsh prisons were up by 1496 english and welsh prisons were up by 14% last year so with visits cancelled at the moment, are you concerned about the well— being of people in prison cells 23 hours a day? thank you, sienna, thank you. with respect to the early release of prisoners, the lord chancellor and his team developed a package of which the early release of prisoners was one part, to restrict the spread of the virus in the prison estate. it was to reduce the number of cases from the prison estate which would be in our nhs. so our principal aim, as always, was to protect the nhs. there were a number of changes the lord chancellor made to the prison system to increase capacity, including cavorting within particular prisons and the restriction on the transfer of

prisoners. but the ability in specific circumstances to release on prisoners early. a set of tests were applied, it needed to be the index offence was of a particular kind so they didn't pose a problem to the public. and it needed to be close to a time they would be released anyway. the prisoners at the front of the queue of pregnant women who found themselves in prison. i know there were at least 33 people who had been released, i think the number is higher than that now. but after this press conference, i will talk to the ministry ofjustice and make sure you have the accurate figures. but as i say, i think it was around 33 he had been released this time last week. i think those we re this time last week. i think those were the confirmed figures. on prison health in general, i absolutely believe we should always be doing as much as we possibly can to support prison health. at about this time last year i spent a

morning in a prison in the north of england looking a prison health services and i was impressed of the dedication of the staff within the prison and also staff and general practitioners coming in from outside to provide support. and clearly at a time of crisis and emergency such as the coronavirus, it is important we place an additional focus on ensuring prison health is responding. at the same time, it is important to ensure we maintain safety a nd important to ensure we maintain safety and reduce the chance of outbreaks and the spread of covert. but that is a very important balance and it mirrors the balance in one sense in the community that was the subject of one of the previous questions, how you balance between the sort of measures might need to put in place to stop the spread of the virus versus ensuring the potential downsides of that are

adequately managed as well. i do think it is incredibly important that we do that. was there any particular point you wanted to follow u p particular point you wanted to follow up on? i wanted to ask what you're doing to prepare for the spike in prison population when restrictions are lifted and core activities get going again. you are right that at the moment from our ports to the prison, that has been low end and that has helped us manage the situation in prison and during the course of the week we will be looking in the implementation group that i chair at both how we can make sure that there are more cases appropriately heard, and also how we can ensure that the prison estate can mass an inch. one pa rt prison estate can mass an inch. one part of that is making sure we have access to additional facilities, and there is a place for training in young offenders in medway made available to the prison estate, but the prison estate are working with us and others to make sure there are

sufficient spaces as and when, as you rightly point out, more criminal cases are heard. i will turn to the next question. good afternoon. i would like to, i understand that what nhs england and public health england have got an enquiry into the disproportionate impact on the dash of the covid—19 on bame members of the community, unlike like to ask about this, and whenever questions are asked about the impact of impact of covid—19 on bme communities is we get biological reasons, because of the high

proportion of diabetes, high conditions and so on. —— heart conditions. don't you think more structural issues like racism and discrimination that takes place in the community as well as the national health service? the community as well as the national health service ?|j the community as well as the national health service? i think those are very powerful questions and the work that is going on to look at what appears to be a significant additional number of deaths the population is being contracted —— disproportionate numbers of deaths amongst the bame community is being looked at by public health england and we are being supported by sir trevor phillips and others in looking at those figures and it is the case, of course that you need to look at these things, as you fully appreciate, in the round. it might be the case that amongst some minority populations there is, as you indicate with a reference to diabetes a greater prevalence to

covid—i9 and that might be a factor, but it might be a factor that inequality can contribute to public health outcomes and it might be that we need to take a step back and look more broadly at some of the inequalities that exist within our society, but i certainly wouldn't wa nt to society, but i certainly wouldn't want to prejudge the question and i know that steve knows far more about these questions than i do. it's an incredibly important question, or set of questions, and the investigation is being undertaken by public health england and we are at nhs england don't have the core experience or the experts in the particular work areas that need to look at this, that is an area where public health england has the expertise and we will, of course, support public health england but the chief medical officer has asked public health england to look at that and i haven't got a full list of the names of people who will be involved in that but i'm sure that that will be made available. as you

have said, it is possible that some of the underlying conditions that are associated, or are higher prevalence in ethnic groups might be important because they are also a risk factor that means it is more likely, if you get the virus or suffer complications, but as you rightly say, that might not be the only reason and it's really important that public health england and colleagues who are working on this go in with an open mind and look at all the possible causes. biological causes might well be one pa rt biological causes might well be one part but it's important it's looked at in the round and i absolutely agree with you. thank you, steve. did you want to follow up? yes, you mentioned trevor phillips and those two issues there. he recently said that the death rate from the pakistani and bangladeshi communities was not significantly higher than the general population.

however, all the reports i have read shows that the pakistani and bangladeshi communities are actually very much higher rate of deaths in the general population and the reason he gave, which was very surprising, is because they are doing ritual ablutions. what kind of a person that you are employing makes that kind of conclusion? well, i'm not aware of those comments. but ido i'm not aware of those comments. but i do know that trevor phillips who is chair of the equality and human rights commission is someone driven by the data and public health england would do nothing else other than england would do nothing else other tha n follow england would do nothing else other than follow the data in terms of coming to appropriate conclusions, and of course, we need to look at as we discussed earlier, and steve mentioned, potentially some biological factors, mentioned, potentially some biologicalfactors, but also mentioned, potentially some biological factors, but also as your question implied also some socio—

economical, structuralfactors question implied also some socio— economical, structural factors that might lead to inequality and that inequality might be as a result of discrimination but we need to look at all of these things proportionately and i think anyone prepared to give their time who is a distinguished public servant like trevor phillips to help us in this endeavour is someone we should support. so thank you very much. that's the end of this press conference and i look forward to one of my colleaguesjoining conference and i look forward to one of my colleagues joining you at the podium tomorrow. thank you. so, michael gove bringing to an end the latest downing street coronavirus briefing. let's remind you of some of the main points from that press conference which has just finished. mr gove told us that yesterday more than 315 people had died with coronavirus and car hospitals, care homes and in the wider community. this means that a total of 28,446

people have died after testing positive for coronavirus in the uk and that is as of 5pm yesterday. on theissue and that is as of 5pm yesterday. on the issue of testing, mr gove said that 76,496 coronavirus tests had been carried out in the uk on saturday. in announcing efforts to help with the future lifting of the lockdown, he said that the government will be trialling a new test, track and trace procedures on the isle of wight next week ahead of offering more widely later this month. our health correspondent richard galpin is here. quite a lot of information, as there a lwa ys quite a lot of information, as there always is. let's take a slightly closer look at the statistics we heard, in terms of the figures we heard. the broad picture spelt out is that in all the major areas, infections, deaths, etc, the numbers are broadly coming down, albeit slowly. but there are still some

very high numbers. for example, if you look at the number of people who tested positive, its 186,000 people, soa tested positive, its 186,000 people, so a very large number of people. and obviously there are concerns about that leading to further deaths when you have this number of cases. and as you say, we now have more than 28,500 roughly people who have died, and that number is edging closer and closer to italy. i know, obviously, we can't compare these things because it is problematic but it could look like britain will move forward to be have the highest number of deaths in europe. we don't know that obviously, yet, but it's looking like a possibility. on the positive side, for example, the number of people in hospitals is going down and down. it's now down to 14,200 and at the peak it was something like 18,000, so those

numbers are coming down significantly. and obviously that is very important indeed. it's worth pointing out that more people are being tested so if more people are being tested so if more people are being tested so if more people are showing positive in testing, some might say that is as a result of more people being tested. and that is a very good thing, that testing is now significantly underweight in very significant numbers —— under way. it's down from 100,000 at the end of last week but now it's down to 76,000 but that was explained during the press conference as potentially being because of it being at the weekend when things do lag. what else stood out for you in the briefing? good question. there was a good question about how you can convince people it will be safe to come out of lockdown as and when that does actually happen. michael gove gave a long a nswer to happen. michael gove gave a long answer to it, focusing on the need to be safe during this, which is the

number one priority, but he also said he would be consulting with employers and trade unions and said it must be a phased approach so you can monitor the impact and the changes, and if necessary, reimpose some lockdown measures in a localised way, and that presumably would imply may be different regions, different cities, different towns, not sure what the level he is going to, but he's talking about differentials between different parts of the country potentially, if infection starts rising in particular areas because of the lifting of the lockdown. and that is the first time, i think, we have heard a cabinet minister talking about measures being used in the localised way. he used the word twice, didn't he? absolutely and i think you are right. this is significant. we are seeing more of the government's thinking about the way to move forward. very large parts of the country can move on,

but if necessary other parts, where there are problems, they can be dealt with in this localised way so it doesn't affect everybody in the country, because we've now been in lockdown for quite a long time and it's obviously having potentially serious impact on peoples lives in many ways. we are, as you say, about to enter i think the seventh week of lockdown and this is an important week coming up. yes, because we are now waiting for this grand plan from the prime minister borisjohnson. this grand plan from the prime minister boris johnson. they this grand plan from the prime minister borisjohnson. they are coming to this deadline on may the 7th, which is when they have to review the lockdown measures once again. they have to do it every three weeks or so. we are waiting for this really crunch announcement from the prime minister about how things could gradually be lifted, or how they could be eased. he is talking about, certainly michael

gove are saying, this will be about how we get the economy going again, well, getting the economy moving. how we get children back to school, how to get workers into work, because obviously transport is an issue. so how to get transport up and running so people can get to work and then how that can be done safely. and also, when people are in work, they can be in work in a safe environment. so many questions, so many issues to be dealt with. thank you richard, r health reporter, richard galpin. many of the world's nearly two billion muslims are fasting for the holy month of ramadan. in his briefing, michael gove paid tribute to muslims celebrating ramadan during lockdown. he said... "for those experiencing the first ramadan without a loved one, this will be a particularly painful time. "ramadan is a time of worship and reflection but also togetherness and community and many are spending it apart to avoid the spread of coronavirus."

the bbc‘s sodaba haidare shares her experience of ramadan and talks to others about what it's like fasting in lockdown. ramadan is a time when muslims are put to the test, waking up in the night to eat and drink before sunrise, followed by no food or water for up to 16 hours. but this year because of coronavirus it is even more challenging. i have this strange feeling because every ramadan my kitchen is packed and my family members are still running around still putting the final preparations together. you try to cook as many things as possible, so it isjust so different that this ramadan i am on my own. it almost doesn't feel like ramadan at all. because of lockdown, many muslims like me are alone, particularly during iftar, when we break our fast with family and friends. normally, my niece and her family come round, but this year we are meeting virtually. and there she is. oh, hey! my 20—year—old niece is a key worker and since her dad, my brother,

has underlying health problems, she has to keep her distance in the same house. hi, mum! i am having to come home, run to the toilet and wash my hands as soon as i can and get rid of all of the clothes i'm wearing from outside, just so i can go downstairs and stand quite far from my dad and say, "hey, dad, i am back from my work. how are you?" i have a friend. could i invite him to our zoom chat? as—salamu alaykum, everyone! ramadan kareem! my name is fahran khan and i am a gay muslim. for many years, ramadan was a lonely time for fahran because his family didn't accept his sexuality. now he has found an lgbt friendly muslim community in london that he enjoys ramadan with, but not this year. meeting virtually can only help so far. it's like an itch you can scratch, but it is not the full relief, you know? around the world, hundreds of muslims are also breaking their fast virtually and it is changing muslim leaders' attitude to social media.

i have a quiz for you! they are now encouraging people to use it to stay connected with their religion and that looks set to continue, even after the lockdown. let's just remind you of some of the main points from today's downing street briefing. it was led by cabinet minister michael gove, along with professor stephen powis, the national medical directorfor england. mr gove told us that yesterday 315 more people had died with coronavirus in hospitals, care homes and the wider community. this means a total of 28,446 people had died after testing positive for coronavirus in the uk as of 5pm yesterday. on testing, mr gove said that 76,496 coronavirus tests have been carried out in the uk on saturday. that is below the 100,000 a day

target set for the end of april. mr gove said they would be trialling new test, track and trace procedures on the isle of wight next week ahead of offering it more widely later this month. let's listen to what michael gove had to say. we have all had to adapt and we must carry on doing so. the prime minster‘s comprehensive plan will explain how we can get our economy moving, how we can get our children back to school, how we can travel to work more safely and how we can make life in the workplace safer. but, before we can ease the existing restrictions, we must ensure the government's five tests are met. but the number of cases are falling, death rates are declining and the nhs has what it needs and measures are in place to stop a second peak overwhelming the nhs. i am

particularly conscious that those in the front line of our public services will need clear guidance on safe working. they will need the right personal protective equipment and appropriate access to testing if we are to make all the progress we wa nt we are to make all the progress we want in the weeks ahead. we are consulting with employers and unions, professionals and public health experts to establish how we can ensure we have the safest possible working environments and the prime minister will be saying more later this week. on personal protective equipment for key workers, we are increasing the spread of distribution and supply. from february the made the second we had delivered over 1.08 billion items of ppe across the health and social care system within england. and tens of millions more have been distributed by colleagues in the devolved administrations. this overall figure includes 149 million maths, 173 million 8p, 2 million gowns and 614 million gloves. in the

2nd of may alone, we delivered an additional 20 million items of ppe within england. but there is much more to do and the work led by lord dayton to increase production of ppe is vital to our efforts. and on testing, thanks to the hard work of so many across the nhs, public health england, are farmer sector and universities we have tested key workers and families, allowing those who don't have the virus to go back to work and protecting those who do. we have now extended the criteria for testing beyond key workers to anyone over 65 displaying symptoms, and anyone who has to travel to get to work. and this week, we will be piloting new test, track and trace procedures on the isle of wight with a view to having them in place more widely later this month. all of these steps is to help people get back to work and help support the delivery of our public services. i

wa nt to delivery of our public services. i want to thank those who have done so much to maintain the provision of critical public services during this crisis. teachers have worked hard to provide educational support to millions. the government has committed £100 million to boost remote learning for those who need it most. the newly launched oak national academy is supplementing the work going on by schools and teachers by providing 180 video lessons each week. and we are particularly keen to help vulnerable and disadvantaged children carry on their education during the pandemic. schools continue to receive additionalfunding in schools continue to receive additional funding in the form of the pupil premium for those peoples who most deserve it, worth around 2.4 billion annually. we have ordered laptops to help disadvantaged young people who will be sitting key exams next year. we are providing laptops and tablets for those children with social workers and care leavers, to help them stay in touch with the services they need, keeping them safe and

supporting home learning. if disadvantaged secondary school leavers and care leavers don't have internet access we will provide free writers to get them connected while schools are closed. over the easter holidays were able to ensure 60% of schools will open every day, with places for both vulnerable children and those of critical workers. and the free school meal voucher scheme ensure that children who needed it could continue to access food despite school closures. so far, 15,500 schools have placed orders for vouchers, of which over £35 million has been redeemed. the latest available data shows around 49,000 of the children in attendance on april the 24th were classed by schools as vulnerable, more than double the figure from a week earlier. and while this is going in the right direction, we estimate that still represents only around one in ten of all children and young people classified as vulnerable. we wa nt to people classified as vulnerable. we want to see this figure go up further and we are working with

local authorities, schools and colleges to provide improved support to vulnerable young people. all this additional support takes time, puts pressure on existing staff and costs money. that is why we have pledged an extra £1.6 billion to councils across england to support their essential front line services, including adult social care. this ta kes including adult social care. this takes the funding given to councils to over £3.2 billion to help communities through this crisis. we have deployed military support to assist the public sector. the covid support service mobilised by the mod is 20,000 strong. over 3600 personnel are deployed in 86 separate projects, in which military aid is being given to civil authorities. on a national level, the department of health and social ca re the department of health and social care and also the nhs with planning and logistics in england, scotland and logistics in england, scotland and wales. on the ground, they are helping to build and stop the

temporary nightingale hospital and operate both regional testing centres for coronavirus, of which there are 49 around the country, and also the mobile testing units we are rolling out. today, there are 77. across the country, 156 military planners are embedded at grassroots level with our existing local resilience forums. partnerships of emergency services, local authorities, the nhs and the environment agency and others. they are helping to coordinate and protect our vital services and supplies with the additional support of senior whitehall officials. in addition, we have to thank the local government for the energetic work, because since the end of march, 90% of rough sleepers known to councils, have been made an offer of accommodation, reassuring them about their safety. the government more widely is working hard to support those who have not been identified as shielded, but are still vulnerable. in the coming days, we will be delivering our 1,000,000th

parcel of essential food to those at high risk across the country. up to 2000 telephone calls a day are being made to the shielded and councils are helping to support them in other ways, including organising regular calls from volunteers to those who are isolated. in our communities, the support put in place by local organisations has been inspirational as people step up to help friends and neighbours and the government has helped to mobilise another important lifeline to the nhs and volu nteers important lifeline to the nhs and volunteers and responders programme. over 600,000 people have had their id verified and are helping with the daily errands which make a difference, collecting shopping, making contact as a human voice on the end of a telephone and transporting patients and supplies for the nhs. we are all working with supermarkets to ensure a greater number of online delivery slots are made available to those most in need. you've been watching a bbc news special programme.

the weekend news is coming up shortly. goodbye.

the government says it's looking at ways to lift the lockdown ahead of an announcement next sunday. but there's a warning that restrictions could be re—imposed in a "specific and localised way" if coronavirus cases were to increase again the worst thing to do would be to prematurely relax the current measures to see a second spike which might risk overwhelming the nhs and which would compel us to introduce lockdown measures all over again. proposals include limiting passengers on buses and trains and staggering times when people start work. also tonight — the phone app which will track and trace people with covid—19 will be piloted on the isle of wight this week. guidance for businesses about how to operate safely once lockdown is eased — they have just today to respond.

and leaping in lockdown — three of the world's top male pole vaulters compete — from their own back gardens. good evening. the government says it's considering a series of measures which could help control the spread of coronavirus as the lockdown is relaxed. it's ahead of an announcement due to be made next sunday which will set out the next steps about how the country gets back to work and school. 315 more people have died from coronavirus in the latest 24—hour period — the figures reflect those who have died in hospital, in a care home or in the community after testing positive for the disease. it brings the total number of deaths in the uk to 28,446.

our political correspondent chris mason has more. from trains as they used to look to trains how they often look now. it leaves a huge question. how do you very carefully open things up so more people can travel but not too many? i am working with the train companies and the unions and all of the above and there are a series of different things we can do, including for example, staggering work time is working with businesses and organisations to do that. classroom is empty, almost empty. lockdown happened pretty much in one go. tentatively loosing it is likely to make life more complicated —— loosening. a wales' first minister said today it would take three weeks to get schools back open from the moment the decision to do so was

taken, and even then it will be phased. if we bring particular age groups back in first, that will allow us to spread them out through the school as a whole, enabling us to observe social distancing, and therefore giving confidence to pa rents therefore giving confidence to parents and teachers that we are resuming education in a way that puts the public health needs of those children at the very front of our decision—making. those children at the very front of our decision-making. mr drakeford said it will be a decision for his government as to when this happens. scotland's first minister nicola sturgeon said the same today too. but take a look at this. this was leeds this afternoon. getting the country going again could involve more thanjust country going again could involve more than just changing the rules. it is likely to require persuasion too. we have got very used to the mantra plastered across the lectern is you are stood behind. can we expect a more subtle message to come in the next phase to mirror what could be a more subtle and more

nuanced set of rules? what we need to do, i think, isjust to make sure that on the ground the advice we give is sufficiently reassuring. i think it's about making sure that people feel the point is we are giving about how a workplace can be safe are sensible, reliable and supported by employers and trade unions. i think myself that's the most important thing. getting back from this to normality is going to bea from this to normality is going to be a long and difficult slug. the government is promising to set out the next steps next sunday. chris mason, bbc news. there are fears that easing the lockdown too far and too quickly could risk a second wave of the virus. our science editor, david shukman examines what scientists will be looking for as any restrictions are lifted one, two, three. across the uk the numbers needing hospital treatment are generally falling, that is a key indicator that the spread of the disease is slowing down, that the restrictions have made a difference. but the virus has not gone away. the

latest estimate of the infection rate, the so—called r number is 0.7. what matters is it is below the threshold of one, where one person infected only passes the virus to one another. reopening schools might add something like 0.2, so we could still stay below the critical line. but lifting the lockdown entirely could add two to the r number, which would see the outbreak accelerate once more. so scientists are warning that there isn't much opportunity to relax any of the measures. singapore has rushed to install 4000 new hospital beds because infections, which were thought to be under control, suddenly started to rise. all countries must remain on alert for the possibility of additional transmission, even if they have been successful in suppressing transmission in the first round. whenever measures do come to be relaxed, testing will be crucial on a bigger scale than now to track the virus and spot any new outbreaks.

with that comes the job of tracing all the contacts of anyone infected. 18,000 people are being recruited to do this, but the system is not yet up do this, but the system is not yet up and running. and vital to all this is isolating people who are infected, or think they may be. this whole process is going to be needed for months to come. however, the next steps unfold they will take us into what could be a more complicated phase of the crisis. that's because the lockdown currently affects pretty well everybody the same way. but once you start relaxing measures, some people will be at home while others could be out and about, which could be confusing and probably harder for the government to explain. different people will be doing different things differently. and i think that can undermine both solidarity but also trust and possibly adherence, and could engender a degree of resentment. and all the time there is the challenge of keeping people

safe. in spain, masks will have to be worn on public transport from tomorrow. many countries believe this can reduce the rate of infection. the uk government is still considering the option as a way of leaving the lockdown. david shukman, bbc news. the government's announced that an app for mobile phones aimed at tracing the spread of coronavirus will be tried out on the isle of wight this week before being rolled out more widely across the uk later this month. between 50—60% of the population would have to use the software for it to be effective. duncan kennedy reports from the isle of wight. surrounded by water and isolated enough for an experiment to take place, the isle of wight trial is set to begin. the island is home to 140,000 people, which is a big enough sample for a credible test to take place. the app uses a phone's bluetooth connection to work. once you've installed the app,

every time you come into contact with someone else who has the app, your phones both record that fact. then, if you tell the app you have symptoms of coronavirus, that will alert the phones of those other people. they will then need to self—isolate. so, what do those on the isle of wight think? the more people that get involved, the better. the only problem is that probably a lot of people don't have a smartphone. that could be a problem, ifear. i think it's a good idea and if it's going to work, it's a good place to try it. i feel like the island is essentially being used as a testing ground. i don't like the thought of us being used as guinea pigs. the app should help automate the whole process of finding out who has the virus. but getting it to enough people won't be easy. for the app to work properly, it needs something like 50% or 60% of the population to take part in it. here on the isle of wight, that's about 70,000 or 80,000 people.

anything less than that and the experiment won't be valid and the virus won't be traceable. the government says if the app works on the island, it will get a national roll—out. we will be asking the whole country, where possible, to download this mobile phone app, which will help automatically to remove the need for people, individuals, to be involved. the government will now recruit 18,000 people to help with the tracking of individuals, once the app is in place. we're now moving into the next phase of this national effort to control covid—19. duncan kennedy, bbc news, on the isle of wight. our health correspondent dominic hughesjoins us from salford — what struck you most about the statement this afternoon? ministers are clearly, slowly but surely, moving towards unveiling the next step in this whole process. how do we get out of lockdown without

risking a second spike in infections and deaths? they want to meet a number of conditions to do that. they want nhs capacity to be there, they want issues around ppe and testing to be there. they also want to see a consistent fall in the number of deaths. but also a consistent fall in the number of people being treated in hospital and new infections. so we have a graph that shows what happened over the last small period. this is interesting because it shows that the number of people being treated in uk hospitals has fallen by over 2000 in the last week alone to around 14,200. now that is a significant decline of 13% in just a week. and most notably in london where numbers have halved since the peak in mid april. that peak has clearly passed. those numbers are now in decline and it is evidence, we hear from the government scientists, that the transmission

rate, this r number we have heard about previously in the bulletin is now on the decline, and that is one step towards lifting the lockdown. dominic, many thanks. dominic hughes there. business groups, trade unions and several leading firms across the uk have received draft guidance from ministers today about safer working practices once lockdown measures are eased. the government's given them until ten o'clock tonight to respond to the proposals. our business correspondent katy austinjoins me now. katy, this sounds significant? it is. it's really important for businesses to know what the world of work should be like whenever the economy does start to reopen. and as the government has been developing guidelines on that, trade unions, business groups and some leading firms have fared in to those discussions and today they were given the draft guidelines to have a look at and respond to. businesses wa nt to look at and respond to. businesses want to know practical things, for example, how can you best introduce social distancing to an office, a pub ora social distancing to an office, a pub or a factory can both so that

they can plan and also reassure their staff and perhaps customers that the way they reopen is the safe way to do things. after these guidelines, and some response from business groups, we expect the government to start outlining how it will look towards reopening the economy perhaps over the next week or so. and one other thought about moving towards the future, so far the emergency support scheme such as the emergency support scheme such as the furloughing scheme have gone some way to limit the economic damage we have seen so far. there is a further call today from the british chambers of commerce for such support to be extended if necessary , eve n such support to be extended if necessary, even if that means sustaining very high levels of public spending. katie, many thanks. thank you. it's emerged that more than 2,000 coronavirus patients in intensive care in england, wales and northern ireland had to be treated for kidney failure as well as respiratory problems. those affected received specialist renal support treatment — and that led to a shortage in essential equipment. angus crawford reports. meet maurice marshall before covid —

singer and student. and now, survivor. i was terrified, petrified. well, as i got into the ambulance, looked at the house, i thought, say goodbye to the house. you're not coming back. i was struggling to breathe. he spent 22 days on a ventilator. the virus attacked his lungs and then moved on through the body. so, my kidneys failed several times, so what people do fail to realise is that, with covid, it's notjust about covid pneumonia, you know, you get the heavy duty flu, or you have trouble breathing, it does go for other internal organs. the latest figures show more than 20% of those in intensive care suffer kidney failure. many need specialist treatment. some with this kind of machine, delivering what's called renal replacement therapy. the virus can be seen within the very fine structures of the kidneys, and it also affects the stickiness of the blood. the blood becomes very sludgy.

because the kidneys are full of little blood vessels, it sludges up in the kidneys, and therefore, the kidneys start to fail. leading to a worldwide surge in demand for machines, tubes, filters and fluids. this german factory has increased production, but there is a warning of severe disruption to supply in the uk. british doctors are having to use new techniques to conserve equipment. some patients are now sharing machines. the volume of kidney failure has reached the point that neither myself nor my colleagues have ever seen such a great surge in the incidence of acute kidney injury, and that is certainly putting stress on the system. but a word of reassurance, too — these machines are only used in intensive care, not for the 30,000 also not for the 30,000 or so people who need regular dialysis in the community.

that service shouldn't be affected. this thing, it's vicious, it's non—discerning, it will go for anyone. we really have to focus and not get lax about it, because that's when things will get worse again. angus crawford, bbc news. health charities are warning that some vulnerable patients still aren't getting the support they need during the pandemic, after being left off the list of shielded patients. nearly 2.2 million people around the uk should now have been told to self—isolate for 12 weeks — and they then qualify for help with food and medication. but some are still waiting to be contacted. hywel griffith has more. help to walk, help to breathe. every step of rob's day is dictated by motoneuron disease. his wife marilyn has done everything possible to protect him during the pandemic at their home in swansea. but it's taken over five weeks for his name to be added to the list of shielded patients who can receive support. rob's condition may have stolen his voice but it