this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. i'm james reynolds. the british government announces a plan to end its lockdown — but there's disagreement from scotland, wales and northern ireland. we are taking the first careful steps to modify our measures. but the opposition says it doesn't answer crucial questions — and trade unions call it a recipe for confusion. south korea faces a second spike in infections — just a few days after beginning to ease its own lockdown. coronavirus infections in thailand remain surprisingly low — but restrictions are likely to remain in place for the time being.

hello and welcome to audiences in the uk and around the world. we're covering all the latest coronavirus developments here in britain and globally. the british prime minister has outlined measures to start a very gradual easing of the lockdown in england, while warning of the danger of a second surge of the pandemic. in a televised address on sunday evening, borisjohnson said it was the right time to update the government's message in england, from ‘stay at home' to ‘stay alert‘. but the new message lacks clarity according to the opposition and the ‘stay at home‘ message is not being replaced in scotland, wales or northern ireland. here‘s our political editor laura kuennsberg. it is now almost two months... 48 days since so many of us tuned in. to hear the prime minister introduce measures not seen in a time of peace. after seven weeks of lockdown, around the country people watching again.

from the living rooms and homes where the prime minister told us to stay. thanks to you, we have protected our nhs and saved many thousands of lives. and so i know, you know, that it would be madness now to throw away that achievement by allowing a second spike. we must stay alert, we must continue to control the virus and save lives. although lockdown help to control the disease it has crippled the economy, so in england if you can‘t work at home, ministers want you to go back to help struggling businesses get going again. we can see it all around us in the shuttered shops and abandoned businesses and darkened pubs and restaurants. there are millions of people who are both fearful of this terrible disease, and at the same time, also fearful of what this long period of enforced inactivity will do to their livelihoods and their mental and physical well—being.

to their futures, and the futures of their children. so i want to provide, tonight, for you, the shape of a plan to address both fears. that means slowly in england, limits on exercise will be relaxed, you can sit in the park and play some sports and a government official confirmed you could meet one person from another household, as long as you stick to the two metre distance. and if you can‘t work at home you will be actively encouraged to go to work. from june, the ambition is to reopen primary schools for reception, year one and year six, but no full return for secondaries before the summer. they could also be a phased reopening of shops. then injuly, the hope is for a limited return of the hospitality industry and opening other public spaces. but this is all dependent on how the disease progresses, and if it flares restrictions might return. no, this is not the time simply

to end the lockdown this week. instead, we are taking the first careful steps to modify our measures. if there are outbreaks, if there are problems, we will not hesitate to put on the brakes. we have been through the initial peak. but it‘s coming down the mountain that is often more dangerous. we have a route and we have a plan and everyone in government has the all—consuming pressure and challenge to save lives, restore livelihoods and gradually restore the freedoms that we need. labour called for an exit strategy several weeks ago but the leader watching carefully was disappointed with what he heard. what the country wanted tonight was clarity and consensus, and i‘m afraid we‘ve got neither. this statement raises as many questions as it answers and we see the prospect of england, scotland and wales pulling in different directions.

there is a big gap for the government to make up. the uk‘s new message, stay alert, is designed to cover all sorts of different sectors and advice as the situation evolves. to help save lives, stay home. but scotland, wales and northern ireland are sticking to the message stay at home. the disease is thought to be spreading faster there. nicola sturgeon obviously unimpressed. i asked the uk government not to deploy their stay alert advertising campaign in scotland because the message in scotland at this stage is not a stay at home if you can, the message is, except for the essential reasons you know about, stay at home, full stop. if i say to you now my message is stay alert, and you say does that mean i stay at home or not? i can‘t give you a straight answer. we have been following this family in wolverhampton coping with lockdown. tonight‘s message gave them some comfort but questions too. just before lockdown we were due to launch

a clothing business and with manufacturing now on the cards that certainly gives us something to think about. disappointingly for me there was no mention of family and when we can see people from outside of the household. i lost my dad recently and i‘m missing my mum and the children are missing their nanny. this emergency first required a rapid response from the downing street desk. this unfolding phase brings pressing questions of detail, and dilemmas not just about his decisions but also all of ours. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. with me is our reporter rich preston. lets ta ke lets take it back a bit. the uk is one country with four nations and each has its own recommendations. lockdown procedures are devolved matters so procedures are devolved matters so scotland wales, northern ireland and england deal with them separately and that is pa rt them separately and that is part of what is causing confusion because borisjohnson is the british prime minister

and he has had a nationwide broadcast today but the message only applied to england and as we heard nicola sturgeon saying in that piece there, an element of frustration that the stay—at—home is different from the stay alert message that borisjohnson is pivoting two in england. within the uk there are internal borders so there could be a household in northern england on the border being told to stay alert and a house on the other side of the border being told to stay home. the science is the same on either side of the border. precisely. a police officer talking on social media is talking on social media is talking about how they find it frustrating with the mixed m essa 9 es frustrating with the mixed messages from the government and getting a message in england that you can drive as far as you like and exercise disunity across the border into wales wales or scotland you are breaking the law. i could drive from london to brighton and enjoy a day on the beach but i could not drive to edinburgh or cardiff. let‘s talk about the r

rate which we are learning about, the rate of transmission. the government wa nts transmission. the government wants that to remain below one. every move the government makes is now dependent on that move —— number. is now dependent on that move -- number. and as soon as that sta rts -- number. and as soon as that starts heading above one boris johnson said they will put the bra kes johnson said they will put the brakes on again and bring people back indoors. and outline for us, schools may start to return in two stages. june and july. firstly reception and then secondary schools later on. again, there has not been a crystal clear message. the message from the prime minister today has raised questions including over the phrase stay alert. people are not sure what that means. did he define what stay alert means? not explicitly. he said that it was staying alert to the virus, staying alert to being safe. but on monday we expect more guidelines to emerge from the government as

to precisely what this easing of restrictions in england means. let's look abroad. two countries with a good track record in following the virus, germany and south korea have now recorded new spikes. this isa now recorded new spikes. this is a serious concern for the british government. germany began to ease restrictions on wednesday, south korea several days ago as well and they have now seen their infections start to climb again. this is a ca nary to climb again. this is a canary down the mine moment and something the british government will watch carefully because of the british rate climbs again, especially in england with the easing of restrictions, then that will force the government to put the lockdown back in place. germany and south korea have done contact tracing, britain has outlined some steps. where are we in the uk with that? there is an app that has been developed and being at the moment. it is not yet fully rolled out and only functioning on satan handsets in certain modes so it is not —— only

functioning on certain handsets in certain modes so it is not at place it needs to be in orderfor the uk at place it needs to be in order for the uk to at place it needs to be in orderfor the uk to do effective contact tracing to let‘s get some of the days of the news now. new coronavirus infections are on the rise again in germany just days after the country eased some lockdown measures. officialfigures suggest the number of people that a sick person could infect, the r value, has risen above 1, meaning the number of cases is growing. china has announced the first new case of coronavirus in wuhan, the city where the virus was first detected, in over a month. it also reported 14 new infections nationwide — the biggest rise in ten days. south korea‘s president has warned of a second wave of the pandemic after 3a new cases of coronavirus were reported, the highest daily totalfor a month. a cluster of the infections has been linked to several nightclubs in the capital seoul and authorities have now closed all clubs and bars in the capital.

for more information on the spike, i spoke to dr francesco checchi, a professor of epidemiology and international health at the london school of hygiene & tropical medicine. well, it‘s probably on balance to be expected. when you get into very low numbers of cases, events such as the case in south korea, which is believed to be linked to a nightclub, an incident at a nightclub and a lot of people being exposed, those single events can actually result in pretty large outbreaks. the challenge then is, does one actually have the infrastructure, the testing capacity, the plans in place, to rapidly clamp down on those renewed outbreaks? and it seems to me that south korea so far has been able to do so. tell us about the importance of chance in the spread of the disease.

well, it becomes very important when you‘re dealing, again, with low numbers. there are many circumstances that can line up sometimes, due to sheer bad luck, people meeting together with someone who goes into a crowded environment, not realising that he or she is already infectious, but not yet symptomatic. things like that can happen, which can result in what we call super spreading events, where basically a large number of infections results — unusually so, if you like. and they do matter a lot if you‘re in the business of trying to firefight all of these little tiny outbreaks, which is essentially the cornerstone of the exit strategy that i think most european governments are heading for. does the spike in south korea, the identification of the spike, show that south korea‘s overall strategy is actually working? yes, you‘re right. the very fact that they have identified it so swiftly, that they know where it came from, i think gives me a lot

of reassurance that they will be able to get on top of it. you may recall that, when they started implementing their very aggressive testing and contact tracing strategy, they were in a much worse position, with a fully fledged outbreak in seoul, and i think they have been able to get on top of that. and what is your assessment of the situation in germany, which has seen a rise in its infection rate? well, i think what‘s important is that, you know, this number will fluctuate a little bit, and it‘s important that it stays below one for an extended period of time. so i don‘t think there is much reason for alarm. but again, it probably illustrates what will be the new normal, notjust in germany, but here, the situation where we‘re constantly on the brink, constantly trying to suppress the virus while awaiting

the availability of a vaccine. does every country calculate its r rate in the same way, or are they different? roughly speaking, the methods are very similar. and what is particularly impressive in countries such as germany, we do it here as well, is that they‘re able to monitor that figure in real time, which makes it so, so — so much easier, if you like, to immediately respond, and basically put on that handbrake that they have evoked, as far as that plan. and what is your analysis of the spread of the disease indoors versus outdoors? well, it very much depends on the... it‘s hard to generalise, quite frankly. i think what is clearly very worrisome for a city such as london, for example, where i live, is the specific indoor spaces such as transportation, public transportation, that people are in effect constrained to use if they are in fact to return to work.

and that is going to be, ithink, a particularly difficult environment to secure. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: a record number of turtle hatchlings reach the ocean this year — experts says it‘s because the coronavirus lockdown has kept the beach deserted. the pope was shot, the pope will live. that is the essence of the appalling news from rome this afternoon, that as an italian television commentator put it, terrorism had come to the vatican. the man they called the butcher of lyon, clouse barbie, went on trial today in the french town where he was the gestapo chief in the second world war. winnie mandela never look like a woman just sentenced to six years in jail. the judge told mrs mandela there was no indication

she felt even the slightest remorse. the chinese government has called for an all—out effort to help the victims of a powerful earthquake, the worst to hit the country for 30 years. the computer deep blue has tonight triumphed over the world chess champion, garry kasparov. it is the first time a machine has defeated the reigning world champion in the classical chess match. america‘s first ‘s legal same—sex marriages have been taking place in massachusetts. god bless america! this is bbc news. the latest headlines: as part of a relaxation of coronavirus restrictions in britain, some people are being encouraged to return to work on monday. but schools and shops will remain closed untiljune. but the opposition is concerned that workers in manufacturing and construction are being asked to go back before official safety guidance is published.

it is exactly 100 days since the first coronavirus case was confirmed in the uk. the impact and reach of the disease has been unprecedented in modern times. our special correspondent allan little traces some of the events that led to the statement delivered on sunday evening in downing street. this report contains some flashing images. 31 january was the day britain left the european union. but, earlier that day, it emerged that a chinese student and a relative had tested positive in york. people they had been in contact with were traced and told to self—isolate. this was the strategy known as containment, an attempt to stop the virus moving through the population. and, fora time, it seemed to work. but, by early march, the virus was spreading widely. the first death from coronavirus in the uk, as the number of cases doubles injust 48 hours... the news from italy was alarming. hospitals were being

overwhelmed. ten, 50, 60, 70, until200 patients in our emergency department... the country went into lockdown. most of europe followed suit. but britain waited. wash your hands to the national anthem. you've got to do two verses. two verses? yeah. # happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you... mass gatherings, racing at cheltenham carried on. the virus is deadly. yeah, lads. achoo! a few days after that first death, the strategy changed. containment was ended. the government moved to the delay phase, to try to slow rather than stop the spread of the virus,

to help the nhs cope with the numbers. government advisers talked about herd immunity. this would require most of us to get the virus and recover. reduce the peak, broaden the peak, not to suppress it completely. also because most people, the vast majority of people, get a mild illness, to build up some degree of herd immunity, as well, so that more people are immune to this disease. countries that stuck with strict test—and—trace policies would have far lower death rates than the uk. but britain stopped trying to test every suspected case. only people in hospital would be tested now. there comes a point in a pandemic where that is not an appropriate intervention, and that is the point, really, where we moved — we moved into delay. the government has always denied that herd immunity was its policy. in mid—march, a report from imperial college london warned that hundreds of thousands could die, and hospitals would be swamped. so on 16 march, borisjohnson advised us not to go to pubs and restaurants, and a week later, put the country into lockdown. from this evening, i must give the british people a very simple instruction. you must stay at home.

this slowed the rate of infection, and crucially, prevented hospitals from being overrun. testing was increased in april. the government now aims for a capacity of 200,000 tests a day by the end of may. this is part of the next phase, a return to testing, tracking and tracing, to isolate anyone who has been in contact with an infected person. this plan needs an army of contact tracers across the country. we will all be asked to download an app that will record everyone we‘re in contact with. it is a huge undertaking. but it will be needed until there is a vaccine. alan little, bbc news. health officials in the state of new york are investigating 85 cases of children with an inflammatory disease linked to the coronavirus. the governor told a news conference that three children had died.

this is every mother‘s knight, this is every parent‘s nightmare. no—one knew about it, no—one was watching for it, you know, same story of this virus from day one. we have notified the cdc. we are watching it for the cdc. the cdc will communicate. nobody knows that it wasn‘t here and just not diagnosed, because it doesn‘t look like a covid case. in thailand, the rate of infections and deaths from the coronavirus has been surprisingly low, allowing the government to begin easing restrcitions from sunday. but authorities are nervous about the possibility of a second wave of infections. jonathan head reports from bangkok. an inner—city temple in bangkok‘s low income port district. the residents have been summoned for sample testing. few countries have got their covid—i9 cases down as low as thailand has, but the authorities are nervous.

they want to keep it that way. thailand doesn‘t have the testing capacity of countries like south korea, so the government is focusing on any areas it views as high—risk, like this one, to prevent or discover early any further outbreaks of the virus. a six—week lockdown has been eased, but only partially. street stalls have been able to stay open, but restaurants like this one can only restart their businesses with strict social distancing measures. panuwat reckons he can only

keep going another three or four months like this. but one restaurant has come up with an ingenious solution to dining in these socially distanced times. it is these plastic screens, which allows customers to dine at the same table while still observing the strict health requirements laid down by the thai authorities. farfrom putting people off, the novelty of sharing a meal through a plastic screen seems to be a winning formula for this young and fashionable crowd. one winner, among so many businesses which are struggling to adapt to the strange new post—covid world, as we emerge from lockdown.

the pandemic is having all kinds of unexpected side effects as a result of millions of people being forced to stay inside. many places are reporting cleaner air or water as pollution has been greatly reduced, and on the coast of south—east india, the absence of people has had a dramatic impact, as the bbc‘s tim allman explains. burrowing out of the sand, new life emerges. this year, like every year, thousands upon thousands of olive ridley turtles begin theirjourney to the sea. but this time, their numbers may be even greater than normal, due to the lockdown, these beaches have been mostly empty, so more turtles have ventured onto the land, more eggs have been laid, and more of those eggs have now hatched. translation: they come

in hundreds of thousands here. translation: when do the hatchlings come out? when it is warm. how many turtles are born here at this time? every total lays 30—a0 eggs or more. here at this time? every total lays 30-40 eggs or more. and those eggs soon add up. by certain estimates, there could be around 60 million of them. it is believed some of the more endangered species may be making a bit of a comeback. the natural world thriving, while the pandemic keeps mankind behind closed doors. for these little creatures, theirjourney is only beginning. whether next year will see similar numbers remains a mystery. and, if you‘re wondering why they‘re known as olive ridley turtles, it‘s apparently to do with the olive—green shade of their shells.

idid not i did not know that. let me know what you are up to. you can reach me on twitter. i‘m @jamesbbcnews. very chilly out there at the moment. the cold weather which arrived on sunday is here to stay for the next few days. it‘s certainly not going to be warming up in a hurry. here‘s the cold front on the satellite picture, which swept across the uk. and behind it, cold airsurging in from the northern climes, all the way from the arctic, and spreading into other parts of europe through early monday as well. and as i say, that is going to stick around for a few days. now, overall, monday is going to be a bright, sunny day. but at times it will cloud over, and we are expecting some showers, particularly across scotland, maybe one or two on the north sea coast. and actually, through early monday, a few showers peppered around across yorkshire and the very far north of the uk, but

predominantly it‘s clear. that‘s led to a frost across scotland, northern england, an air frost, and certainly a ground frost in southern parts of the uk, at least in a few areas. so monday gets off to a chilly but sunny start. the winds will be very brisk. you can see them blowing off the north sea there, on the yorkshire coast, east anglia and into the south—east. temperatures struggling, we should be closer to 17 in the south. we may not even make 12 degrees, and single figures on the north sea coast. now, here‘s tuesday‘s weather map. high—pressure‘s with us. that does mean mostly dry weather, though not completely, because on the edge of this high pressure, there is this little mini cold front which is going to sweep in even colder weather temporarily into scotland. notice the blobs of blue there in scotland, and even some white there, indicating some wintry showers. so scotland on tuesday a very chilly day, with perhaps some sleet and snow moving across the highlands. only five degrees in stornoway. to the south of that,

it won‘t be quite so cold. temperatures should make double figures, around 10—11. and the mildest conditions in the south—west of the uk, perhaps even 13 or 14 degrees. and then, on wednesday, again a couple of showers potentially affecting the north sea coast, but otherwise it‘s just broken clouds. some good sunny spells coming through, and temperatures are still struggling, typically around say 10—12 degrees. just that slightly milder spot there in the south—west of the uk, perhaps 14 or 15. and the temperatures will gradually recover through the course of the week, perhaps making 16 or 17 by the time we get to friday, and maybe even 20 over the weekend. bye— bye.

this is bbc news, the headlines:

the uk government has set out a "conditional plan" to gradually ease the anti—virus lockdown in england. those who cannot work from home will now be actively encouraged to return to their workplaces, but should avoid public transport. from wednesday, people will be able to do unlimited exercise outdoors. the measures won‘t apply in scotland, wales or northern ireland. leaders in those parts of the uk say people should continue to remain in their homes — except for essential reasons. the leader of the opposition labour party said the government‘s announcement ‘raises as many questions as it answers‘. south korea‘s president has warned of a prolonged war against coronavirus after the authorities reported a spike in new cases. on sunday the authorities confirmed 3a infections linked to nightclubs in the capital, seoul. the country had begun to ease some its social distancing rules on wednesday.