this is bbc news. the headlines... keeping people injobs — the chancellor says the furlough scheme will be extended for four months until october — but employers will be asked to share the cost from july. we believe in the dignity of work. and we are doing everything we can to protect people currently unable to work. schools in england are working out how they can reopen with staggered start times and only 15 pupils in a class. the health secretary says people should not expect to go on an international holiday this year. for the first time, figures show a decline in the overall number of deaths from the virus in the uk, but also show there have been 50,000 more deaths than would normally be expected. and all day we're focusing on why covid—19 is disproportionately affecting minority groups. this hour we'll be looking at

caribbean and african communities. we've clapped them in the streets — now we're being asked to shine a light from our windows — as we mark international nurses day. good afternoon. the chancellor rishi sunak has said the government's job retention scheme will be extended until the end of october. he told mps that more than 7.5 million people in the uk are currently being supported by the scheme. the chancellor said changes will be made to the package from the end ofjuly when employers will be asked to share the cost of workers going back part time. it comes as more guidance has been issued on re—opening schools, going back to work safely and using public transport in england. official figures released this morning show that the number

of deaths in the uk mentioning covid—19 has dropped substantially for the first time since the epidemic began. but the figures also show there were approximately 50,000 more deaths registered in the weeks since the middle of march to may 1st than would be expected at this time of year. more on that later but first this report from our political correspondent, jessica parker. the prime minister, back in march, the chancellor by his side... today i'm joined by the chancellor of the exchequer, rishi sunak. ..to make an unprecedented move. for the first time in our history, the government is going to step in and help to pay people's wages. already extended until june, the scheme came as parts of the economy shut down. supporting millions of people, there have been calls for it to continue. the furlough scheme is brilliant, more that the chancellor can allow us more that the chancellor can allow us to extend that scheme through to

next year, the less redundancies there will be. and in the commons, in the last hour... i can announce today that the job retention scheme will be extended for four months until the end of october. by that point, we will have provided eight months of support to british people and businesses. until the end ofjuly, there will be no changes whatsoever. then, from august to october, the scheme will continue for all sectors and regions of the uk, but with greater flexibility to support the transition back to work. first of all, we must acknowledge that people did not want to be furloughed, it occurred through no choice of their own, through following government advice about the closure of sectors, therefore it's critically important that they are not penalised for that choice. i welcome the flexibility mentioned, we have asked for this repeatedly and of course, it applies in many other countries. it has been a long time coming, but i welcome the fact it's occurring now. but where people can get back

to work, the government is now encouraging them to do so — from home, if possible, in the office or on site, if not — with new guidelines for england on how to make it safe. i think people understand that it is important that people can get back to work, because there is a massive, massive economic cost to what we are having to do for health reasons. after accusations that borisjohnson‘s road map out of lockdown lacked vital detail, there's been a flurry of documents on schools, exercise, work, but an emphasis too on common sense, as people are asked to absorb a more complicated message. and fresh guidance today on public transport, which people are being asked to avoid but if they cannot, advised to wear a face covering, keep two metres apart and avoid rush hour. parts of the economy haven't just slowed, they've stopped altogether.

making sure the blocks are there to build it back up again will be a lengthy and expensive task. jessica parker, bbc news. 0ur political correspondent, jonathan blake is in westminster. 0ur colleague in the business unit has just tweeted that this government is pretty much paying the salary of two out of five workers in this country from now on. yes, and i think you are right with that figure, if you factor in all the public sector workers whose wages are paid out of taxpayers‘s money and it is an extraordinary situation. but the chancellor was clearly aiming today to give some certainty, some clarity to businesses who were wondering what was going to happen after the end of june, when the furlough orjob retention scheme was due to come to an end. as you've heard, he has announced that it is being extended until the end of october. it will run as it is with the government paying 80% of workers‘s wages until

the end ofjuly. and then it would change ina the end ofjuly. and then it would change in a couple of significant ways. companies will be able to be pa rt ways. companies will be able to be part of the furlough scheme, so have access to government funds to pay their workers and allow their employees to come back part—time. and we hearing that could be as little as one or two a month. and the other significant change is that employers will be asked then after the end ofjuly to contribute towards their workers‘s wages. now, we expect the government to still pay the lion's share if you like, more than half of the cost of that 80% of any employees wage. but we don't know yet how it will be calculated how much employers need to pay. so whilst there is some certainty from what the chancellor has had to say today, allowing employers to plan for the months ahead, the devil will be in the detail. we are going to hear we are told by the end of may exactly how

the extension to the scheme will work. well, what the government is saying his despite the huge cost the taxpayer the alternative of not doing anything is far worse. yes, and labourand doing anything is far worse. yes, and labour and others have been saying that a head of the announcement today. the chancellor himself said that while the scheme was not sustainable in its current form, in the long term he did promise that there would be no cliff edge. so suddenly cutting off access to those funds, which would almost certainly result in mass redundancies and lots of people losing theirjobs. so that is why he has continued i think in this vein. but it does appear on the face of it to bea but it does appear on the face of it to be a more generous than had been predicted or inspected in some quarters. and certainly the initial reaction from businesses seems to be positive. jonathan, thank you very much. sir ed davey is acting leader of the liberal democrats. millions of people around the country are going to be breathing a sigh of relief, aren't they? yes, liberal democrats have campaigning

for the extension of the furlough scheme. we have been campaigning for part—time options and the chancellor has listened to them and so i am welcoming this. clearly some of the details they wasn't announced today but this is a step forward. and we have argued that we need this extension to prevent mass economies because the economy is very weak. we are going to ask the chancellors do are going to ask the chancellors do a few more things but let's be honest, this is a good step. i'm sure he would welcome that stance from any opposition party. when you say you want a few more details, what sort of things would you want? we need precise details about how, when furlough employees go back, what would be the support then? liberal democrats have argued for a tapering approach having spoken to many business organisations. the liberal democrats have also been arguing for the self—employed scheme to be extended. and more than that, for the self—employed who are not

covered by the scheme to get some help. what sort of help, i mean, there are many, many millions of people who fall between the cracks if you like and aren't covered by any government scheme. what can be done for them? i think we may have lost to ed davey. the picture there has frozen. i'm sorry, we will try and come back to him later on. the garment has been laying out the steps and that there are five main steps and that there are five main steps in the guidelines. first, work from home if you can. employers should continue to take all reasonable steps to help people work from home. for those who cannot work from home. for those who cannot work from home. for those who cannot work from home and whose workplace has not been told to close, our message is clear, you should go to work. staff should speak to their employer about when their workplace will open. second, maintain social

distancing in the workplace where ever possible. employers should redesign workspaces to maintain to metres distances between people. staggering start times, creating one way walk—throughs, opening more entrances or exits and changing layouts in break rooms. third, where people cannot be two metres apart, manage the transmission risks. employers should ensure that every step is taken to reduce the risk when people cannot maintain to me to distancing. this can include putting up distancing. this can include putting up barriers or screens in shared spaces, creating fixed teams are partnering to minimise the number of people in contact with one another. 0r keeping the activity time involved as short as possible. fourth, reinforcing cleaning processes in line with the guidance. employers should frequently clean work areas and equipment between uses work areas and equipment between uses to reduce transmission, providing hand sanitiser and washing stations, paying attention to high

contact objects like workstations, keyboards and handles. fifth, carry out the covid—i9 risk assessment in consultation with workers or trade unions. mr speaker, in line with the current health and safety law, all employers must carry out the covid—i9 risk assessment. this should identify risks that covid—i9 create and use the guidance published to take measures to mitigate these risks. employers should share the results of their risk assessment with their workforce. a downloadable notice is included in the documents, which employers should display in their workplaces to show their employees, customers and other visitors that they have followed their gardens. there should also consider publishing the results on their website. and we expect all employers with over 50 workers to do so. that was alec sharma speaking in the house of commons. we have

re—established contact with ed davey. sorry about the broken transmission. we were just talking about those millions of people who are falling between the cracks of government support and what more could be done for them. well, there are two or three groups. first, those people who change jobs between february and march and who weren't on their new employer's payroll by mid—march. they have held the limit had no help at all. the so—called new starters. i wrote to the chancellor about help for these self—styled blue new starters. 0ne the liberal democrats to extend that. we also worried about the hundreds of thousands of self—employed people who are not covered, they are not getting anything even in the chancellor's existing scheme. so we will keep campaigning, we have had the success on the first scheme for employees. but it doesn't go far enough for the self—employed and for those new starters. it is worth emphasising

that these are unprecedented times, that these are unprecedented times, that any chancellor faced with what he is having to deal with, i mean, what school would you give him out of ten? well, for the furlough scheme itself are give him a top ten. it was a good scheme, we welcomed it and liberal democrats campaignfor welcomed it and liberal democrats campaign for the extension and we got it. so we would be churlish not to give good marks for that. but the self—employed i think it is a much lower mark. and for those people who have been excluded, whether on the furlough scheme or the self—employed scheme, it is really worrying. and i could sort of understand but he wouldn't want to do everyone at once but while the lockdown has continued and if he goes through to the autumn, as he is suggesting, then the people who were excluded in the first round are going to be in absolutely dire straits. it is absolutely dire straits. it is absolutely essential the chancellor revisits the gaps that were in the original scheme because now there is time to sort them out. and he really

needs to because i can tell from my own constituents and people across the country there are hundreds of thousands of self—employed people and new starters in newjobs who feel completely excluded and com pletely let feel completely excluded and completely let down and that's not good enough. can we just talking more general terms about the government handling of this crisis? after the prime minster‘s television address on sunday the call was for more clarity. you think we are now that? well, slowly. i have to say, i thought the prime minister's statement on sunday night was very unclear. and i think the move from the message of stay at home to stay alert as confuse people in business and the employees and the general public. and i was worried that he didn't have the support of the chief medical officer or the chief scientific adviser. there are reports in the guardian newspaper as well, sourced reports, that they didn't givea well, sourced reports, that they didn't give a sign off to this change in the public health message.

at the daily press conference last night, they refused to say that they had. and i asked the prime minister directly how this change in the message got the support of the scientists, the experts. he claimed it had but the evidence suggests that he didn't. so i'm very worried that he didn't. so i'm very worried that we've had this change in england, not repeated in scotland, wales or northern ireland, and that this change was not done with the scientists and medical experts consent. we are going to have to leave it there but sir ed davey give very much for persevering with that dodgy video link. figures released today show there have been 50,000 more deaths in the uk since the middle of march, than would have been expected at this time. however, the figures also show the number of coronavirus deaths are falling — including in care homes. earlier, our head of statistics robert cuffe gave me more details about the figures. the figure we hear every day in the

government is the number of people who have tested positive for the coronavirus and then died. that means honestly those people who never get tested, people in care homes maybe you didn't. so if you go back and look at death certificates that mention covid—i9. by may the ist you get about 36,000 deaths, so that figure increases. but the 50,000 is what happens when you look at all of the deaths we have seen and compare it to the normal deaths we would see at this time of year. people are pretty happy to attribute that to the virus for all the other things that put a strain on society. it is similarto things that put a strain on society. it is similar to the total extra winter deaths we saw two years ago. it is still comparison give some context. some positive news if you like in terms of the trend because figures are on the way down. yeah, the total number of deaths that we are seeing each week, they reached a plateau of about 25,000 deaths and we can see that here by the red

line. far, far above what we would expect at this time of year. it came down a little bit last week and it has fallen from about 25 down to about 20,000 now. and care homes i think is the first sign of good news because we've expected this downturn in hospitals but if we look at her home specifically we will look at that the numbers there have also fallen. and that is for the first time. the total number of deaths in ca re time. the total number of deaths in care homes has come down on the total number of deaths that mention covid—i9, that's the red part of the block, that has also come down in the last week but still running far above average. so it is past the peak but not back at the bottom. and at liz30pm this afternoon we are going to be answering your questions on today's developments. you can get involved using the hashtag your questions answered. 0r e—mail.

first minister arlene foster told the assembly that the progression will depend on when certain at perth public health agreements... we made that announcement on thursday last week. we also agreed that the time is right to set out our thinking and explain how we will approach decision—making, what we will take into account and how we see restrictions easing. as of today, we remain subject to restrictions which no one wants to last a day longer thanis no one wants to last a day longer than is absolutely necessary. these are measures we would not contemplate in normal times. we know that they are having a significant effect on people's ability to live their lives the way day and we want. so we wanted to set out for the assembly today our thoughts on how we may move forward when the time is right. just as there is no rule book for putting the restrictions in place there is no set pathway for

lifting the restrictions either. countries and jurisdictions are taking some tentative steps to lift restrictions, some have published criteria and principles and some have outlined a timetable. each are different. and there are good reasons for that. our decisions must be based on what is happening here, taking account of our particular circumstances within the four nations approach. differences in new nuances within the jurisdiction will emerge. discussions were continuing to that end we welcome the announcement by the prime minister on the announcement of a new bio—security centre to monitor the levels of infection and identify specific actions in regions where spikes occur. the devolved administrations will participate in and contribute to its work. we will also continue to engage of course with our counterparts in the irish republic. we will remain focused on the health and well—being of our people, on our society and our

economy as a whole. we will be driven by science, we will be driven by the need to emerge from the current arrangement in the safest way possible, step—by—step. this will require a series ofjudgments and decisions as we move through. last week, we considered very carefully the effect restrictions are having on our people. we know you want clarity on things that matter very much to you, such as visiting relatives, going to work, taking your children to school. we decided collectively that the time is not right for making major steps. we will continue to consider whether some modest steps can be taken and, if they can, we will do that ahead of the next review. arlene foster with what's happening in northern ireland. well, in edinburgh first minister nicola sturgeon gave an update for scotland. she said workers were not being encouraged to go back to work and asked scottish employers to follow scottish

government advice and not ask employees to return prematurely. right now because our progress against this virus is fragile, we must not prematurely lift these restrictions and risk the virus running out of control or, you know, before too long it won'tjust be questions about should we should we not have gone into lockdown more quickly, it will be why did you lift lockdown earlier? so i make no apology for being cautious about this and i would say to employers all shapes and sizes the limit sizes in all sectors that you should be following, in scotland, scottish government advice. we are not yet encouraging any businesses that are not open right now or any workers who are not working right now to be backin who are not working right now to be back in operation. of course that will change in the weeks ahead and we wa nt will change in the weeks ahead and we want to get back to as closed to normal operation for businesses as quickly as possible but that has to be done safely and it has to be done in the right order. as i said earlier on, we can give workers that we are asking to go back into work

places confidence that they are as safe as they can be. and i think every worker across the country has every worker across the country has every right to expect that. nicola sturgeon. the prime minister has been urged to launch an independent public inquiry into the reasons why many ethnic minorities are at higher risk from coronavirus. black men and women are nearly twice as likely to die as white people if they contract covidi9 and the risk factor is also high for other groups including those with a pakistani or indian background. we're looking at the issue in detail across the day —— let's get more detail from our reporter poonam taneja. an unexpected pattern has emerged from the numbers provided by nhs england. black and ethnic minority communities make up 14% of the population, but i7% of coronavirus deaths in hospitals in england. that is more than 3,000 people up until the 5th of may, and that's not all. more starkly, a third of all critically ill coronavirus patients from england,

wales and northern ireland are also from these communities. it's unexpected, according to professor kamlesh khunti. i think we were quite concerned and surprised as well because we hadn't heard this from china orfrom spanish data or the italian data. this was the first time we'd seen this in the uk that people were alerting us to this population, bame population were more severely affected at a younger age. so what's going on? one explanation is geography. more people from black, asian, or minority ethnic communities live in areas where the epidemic has hit hardest. other research has shown that black and asian people are more likely to be key workers in industries like retail, transport and health care, where many front line workers from these communities have died. but research from the office of national statistics shows that even taking age,

geography, health and wealth into account, those communities are still affected more than white communities in england and wales. of those infected, people of indian heritage are around 30% to 40% more likely to die from the disease than white people. it's slightly worse for people from bangladeshi and pakistani backgrounds — at around 60% to 80%. but black people are 90% more likely to die from covid—i9. here's professor khunti again. now we don't know whether the risk factor control is poorer. so the data that came out last week showed that people who didn't have diabetes well controlled, they had higher mortality rates. now no one's looked at the risk factor for hypertension, cardiovascular disease or diabetes in these populations. these figures don't tell the whole story,

but they do provide a snapshot. under the government has launched its own review to find out what's going on. not enough for some, but due to report back by the end of the month. faye bruce is the chair of the caribbean african health network, which is based in greater manchester — it's a nonprofit 0rganisation looking at health and wellbeing provision within the caribbean and african community. she's also a qualified nurse who has had experience in both the nhs and private sector. i ask first of all on a more general issue, these figures on the face of it are absolutely staggering. yeah, they are staggering, you're absolutely right. however, as i said ina lot absolutely right. however, as i said in a lot of my talks is that when we look at maternal mortality for example we know that black women are five times more likely to die as a result of their pregnancies or shortly after. and their babies are 122% shortly after. and their babies are i22% more likely to die in the first month of being formed. so we have ——

in the first month of been born. if you're black you're more likely to have had a stroke. diabetes and lots of other underlying issues. so it is staggering, it is dark but it is not surprising. these are things that have existed pre—covid—i9 and we are addressing as a community within greater manchester. not surprising to you perhaps but surprising to many others. and isn't that a good thing that at last you will say people are actually talking about this properly. i thank god that they are talking about it. we have been trying to shine a spotlight on the health inequalities in the black community for such a long time and i think that covid—i9 has actually really helped us to do that. so now, you know, it lays bare for the whole of the uk to see and globally to see that we are actually suffering really crave health and inequality in the black community and it is very worrying and it is about how we address that moving forward. a lot

of people will ask why given that when we are talking about health inequalities, people go, you know better than i do, people go to hospital if they're having a baby. what is the moment where inequality comes in? what we have is a situation where there is a lack of trust. so we have the structural barriers to start with but there is a lack of trust. so what you will find is late presentation. it's very common within the african and caribbean communities. so if people have a lack of trust and there is a health problem and they are worried about accessing their gp or going into hospital, then in terms of treating that condition it is going to be far more difficult the longer it goes on. so what we don't know around covid—i9 for example, yes, everybody has got access to gps and hospitals but there is a lack of trust there is an issue. but if people are going in with covid—i9 symptoms that have been severe because they have a lack of trust about how they're going to be treated then this is something that we need to looking into. what about

the other issue which is also raised which is the disproportionate number of people from ethnic minority groups, black men and women, who are working on the front line who are exposed to the virus in a way that white people are not because of the types of job white people are not because of the types ofjob that they have. white people are not because of the types of job that they have. yeah. so i'm part of a types of job that they have. yeah. so i'm part ofa number of types of job that they have. yeah. so i'm part of a number of different forums where we have black nurses forums where we have black nurses forums etc and yet they are working on the front line, there are reasons why people will continue to keep working and sometimes they put themselves at risk because they need to for lots of economic reasons. it's not just about looking to for lots of economic reasons. it's notjust about looking after family is here, is looking after families back in whatever country they have come from. and not being able to actually ask for ppe. some people are afraid to ask for ppe is seen as being demanding. so we do have a lot on one of the surveys we've got going on at the moment is asking our community what is it that

is impacting you, what is it you are afraid of? a lot of it is about people they know working on the front line that don't have the right protection to safeguard them against this virus. he talks about the risks of pregnant women. if we're talking about the coronavirus and as i say you are a nurse on the front line, you are a nurse on the front line, you are a nurse on the front line, you are not saying to me that somebody who is black or from an ethnic minority going to hospital with covid—i9 symptoms is going to be treated any differently than a white person with some symptoms, are you? no. what i'm saying is there a fear factor, you? no. what i'm saying is there a fearfactor, a you? no. what i'm saying is there a fear factor, a trust issue, something that is almost like this has been going on for such a long time where people feel that they're going to be treated differently and it's about how we work with the system to reassure cut but forgive me, don't you work with the system by not treating them differently and surely you as a nurse, you don't treat people differently on the colour of their skin as they come

into your unit. no, absolutely not. but i think what is important is that when you are out there in the community, take aside the fact that i'm a nurse, if you got people in the community that have had experience or had information or exposure to experiences where they feel that there is some level of discrimination or unfair treatment, then it's about how we address that. and i think in terms of working with the system, it is simply things like when we're talking about cultural competency, cultural awareness, we to know that, you know, we need to factor in some of those cultural issues. for example, we talk about diets and people will say if you are black you're more likely to be obese and have the wrong diet. but what is the system doing to ensure that the doubts that we have a healthy diet? how do we make sure that the system caters for everybody in a fair way? so we're not saying that you're going to be treated if you walk into a hospital differently, we need to have the reassurances in our community that we will be treated the same as everybody else when we

access services. that is where we are in greater manchester working very, very closely with the greater manchester health and social care partners, the manchester foundation trust and the northern care allowa nce to trust and the northern care allowance to ensure that we reset that dial and we work with people with the system to ensure that the message that come out to our community are really positive and it engages them to actually utilise the system. so we do need to get rid of that late presentation. it is something that happens and it could bea something that happens and it could be a factor in how people are responding to covid—i9. it might be that they are late in presenting for treatment. so all of these things we need to be looking into. they, afraid we are out of time but i hope we talk again soon. thank you very much for your time. now it's time for a look at the weather with susan powell. hello, thanks to high pressure, the

weather is looking relatively quiet in the coming days. a lot of dry weather. very chilly start to the week with a biting northerly wind. that is set to ease in the coming days and will gradually get warmer. particularly noticeable by the time we get to the weekend. for this evening and overnight, a weather front goes south, from southern scotla nd front goes south, from southern scotland into northern england, some showers and snow at the top of the pennines, widespread frost behind that weather front. to the south, more a cloud but milder. cloudy here starting off on wednesday, a few showers and brightening as the day goes on. showers coming in on the northerly wind from the north sea to the north—east of england. could be possible for northern scotland, still chilly, highs of seven for aberdeen and just eight or nine for newcastle. southwest probably were up newcastle. southwest probably were up to 14. as the week goes on we should see those temperatures gradually creeping up. 17 in cardiff and london on friday. we are getting

used to thinking all of our front line workers on thursday night. but this evening at 8.30, to mark international nurses day and the 200th birthday of florence nightingale, the lady with the lamp, we're invited to do something different — to show our appreciation by shining a light from a window. 0ur scotland correspondent lorna gordon has been following the journey of one new nurse who cut short her training to join the fight against covid—i9. heading off to start a busy i2 and a half hour night shift. bye! becky mason is a third year student nurse at the royal alexandra hospital in paisley. she's one of more than 2000 nursing and midwifery students in scotland who joined the workforce early when the call for extra help was made. ppe now just another part of the uniform. the patients can only really see my eyes, so i think it's important the way i speak to people. sometimes we can talk too fast, so it's about learning to slow yourself down and still have that empathy and touch with patients even though they're only seeing your eyes when you have all that equipment on.

so i'm just walking onto the ward. all the patients that becky is helping to care for have tested positive for covid—i9. i think i wasn't mentally prepared for what i was seeing. patients with covid appear really well, they look really healthy but actually they are really clinically unwell. it can be quite a challenge because these patients don't have any visitors so it can be quite emotional. some of the shifts have been quite challenging. tonight, i'm looking after a room of six females who are all elderly and all tested positive for covid—i9, and they are at various different stages in regard to what symptoms they have and how their covid is being managed, along with any other conditions that they have. a month into thejob, and the routines are becoming familiar. as are the highs and lows of her new career. there have been some patients who have left the ward and we clapped them out and it really is a celebration, but there have been patients who have passed away and patients who have passed away without their relatives.

so i am on shift four. four shifts in a row. a week of four. i am feeling tired but managing well. halfway through the shift so not long to go. a constant that's kept them going, the weekly clap for carers. i am just on the ward on my shift. it is the eight o'clock clap for key workers. after her long shift, it's time to head home. the worry of bringing the disease back to herfamily always on her mind. they are proud of the role she is playing. yeah, you do worry but this has been a long time coming. she's been studying for five years to get here, so... just really proud of her. her children, emily and jack, agree. i'm proud. lorna gordon, bbc news, paisley. mike adams is the director for england at the royal college of nursing.

hgppy happy international nurses day, and i know that nurses are getting used to the clubbing on thursday night, but why is today's all—important? —— clapping. today is an annual day in the calendar. international nurses day. it happens to fall this year on the anniversary of florence nightingale. the thursday clapping has been an additional support, but now more than ever, we have seen the value of nursing across the world, and certainly in our own country, countries across the uk. so it is the moment in time to reflect again on the commitment and professionalism that nursing professionalism that nursing profession has shown through this pandemic, and also to reflect on our collea g u es pandemic, and also to reflect on our colleagues who have lost their lives through this time as well. to mark this, you have put out a video, and

let's just have a look at this. these are the hands that touches first. feel your head. find the pulse. and make your bed. these are the hands that tap your back. test the skin. hold your arm. wheel the bin. change the bulb. fix the drip. pour the jug. replace your hip. these are the hands that fill the bath. mop the floor. flick the switch. soothe the sore. burn the swabs. give usajab. throw out sharps. design the lab. and these are the hands that stop the leaks. empty the pan. wipe the pipes. carry the can.

clamp the veins. make the cast. log the dose. and touch us last. as a proud rcn ambassador, thank you to all nursing staff. happy international nurses day. impossible not to be moved when you see pictures like that, but do you sense the public‘s attitude to nursing has changed with this crisis? well, we know that nursing is regularly appalled as the most trusted profession, so that trust in a nursing has always been there, but there is no doubt visibility of the varied roles that nurses carry out ona varied roles that nurses carry out on a day—to—day basis have certainly got a higher profile through this.

the commitment, the expertise of nursing staff is certainly more visible than ever before, so i think we are seeing a moment of real pride in nursing. a real understanding of the dedication but also the level of skill and professionalism that the nursing profession has. one thinks of life before the pandemic, and there was a life before this, and we we re there was a life before this, and we were talking about the shortage of nurses, the pressures on nurses back then. do you think this will be a sea change in terms of how the government, how nurses are treated professionally? i really hope so, because as you say, we knew we were thousands of nurses at short what was needed going into this, so the fa ct was needed going into this, so the fact that the nhs and the wider independent sector and private sectors where nurses work on a day—to—day basis have coped with

this pandemic, it is despite the fa ct we this pandemic, it is despite the fact we were 40,000 short, and the personal endeavour and we just heard it from the pc showed about becky the student nurse. have put their courses on hold, been redeployed to areas they have never worked before, senior nurses are trying to keep their staff safe in the situations they never thought they would have to cope with. so real lessons need to cope with. so real lessons need to be learnt about how we need a sustainable, well supported, well funded, well paid workforce, so that we do not have to make so many huge changes if we are faced with this kind of situation again. very quickly, there is still a lot of anger over issues like ppe, but as there is a moment where the words thank you are fine but you want to see some action? we always say that. nurses are always welcomed, being thanked and respected for their role, but the real thanks from

government is making sure they are safe in practice, making sure they are valued by society. it is really good to talk to you, and again congratulations on celebrations for today. thank you. let us take you to the house of commons, where grant shapps is giving details of transport in this period of lockdown and the easing of it. as they translate these documents into action. the first documents into action. the first document is aimed at passengers. i will summarise some of the main points are contained in this advice. firstly, as i mentioned, we continue to ask people to only go to work if they cannot do theirjobs from home. that is because even as transport begins to revert to a full service, the two metre distancing role will only leave effective capacity for a one in ten passengers overall. 0ne

in ten. therefore it is crucial that we protect our net by minimising pressures , we protect our net by minimising pressures, that are placed upon it, and make sure it is ready to serve those who need it. as a result, we are actively asking those who need to make journeys to their place of work or other essential trips to walk or to cycle wherever possible. in order to help us do more of this, last week i announced an unprecedented £2 billion investment to put walking and cycling right at the heart of our transport policy. the first stage is worth 250 million, it will include a series of swift emergency measures, including pep-up swift emergency measures, including pop—up bike lanes, wider pavements and cycling and bass only corridors. this money should help protect our public transport network in the weeks ahead, and it is my hope that they will eventually allow us to harness the vast health, social and environmental benefits that active

forms of travel can provide. if people cannot walk but have access toa car, people cannot walk but have access to a car, and i appreciate that i will be the only transport secretary to have said this for very many yea rs, to have said this for very many years, people have access to a car, we urge them to use the cart before they consider public transport. avoiding where possible any busy times of day. i do however recognise that for some people, using transport is a necessity. in this case, passengers should follow the guidance we have set out today in order to keep themselves safe. this recommends that travellers must maintaina recommends that travellers must maintain a social distancing by staying two metres apart wherever possible to prevent the virus. we also advise that as a precautionary measure, particularly where that is not possible, people wear wearing face coverings when using public transport. this could help protect other travellers from coronavirus, where somebody has perhaps unwittingly or unknowingly developed the illness but are not showing any

symptoms. and we urge passengers to avoid the rush hour, re—plan their visits to use contactless payments where possible, wash their hands before and after theirjourneys. in addition, the guidance also reminds us that at this most challenging times, it is more vital than ever that we think about the needs of others. our transport operators, their staff, they are doing an incredible job their staff, they are doing an incrediblejob to keep their staff, they are doing an incredible job to keep everyone safe. please follow their advice. for stations, bus interchanges, safe. please follow their advice. forstations, bus interchanges, be patient and considerate to fellow passengers and staff. in particular, we should remember the needs of disabled passengers and those with hearing and sight impairments and other travellers as well. as i mentioned, we are also publishing a second document guidance for transport operators today. these organisations really are at the forefront of the national recovery efforts. they know the insides and out of the needs of their customers,

the needs of their workers and they understand like no one else in their industry was make specific needs. that is why i have no doubt that operators are best placed to implement the safety processes that work best for their businesses, their employees and their customers. the guidance we are publishing today advises operators across all forms, public and private transport, on the measures they can take to improve safety. these steps include ensuring stations, services and equipment are regularly cleaned, making sure passenger flows are regularly cleaned, making sure passenger flows a re clearly communicated to try and avoid crowding, to try to keep everyone on network, passengers and staff, two metres apart wherever possible. the guidance will develop over time in line with our increasing understanding of how coronavirus is a spread and indeed how it is contained. in addition, it is likely that there will be no i's eyes fits all approach to the simple meditation. —— no one size fits all.

preparation for that process, yesterday i wrote to local authorities to set out how we can work together to repair transport networks at a local level, to restart a nd networks at a local level, to restart and ensure public safety. the documents i publish today will be helping to ready our transport system as we control the virus and restart the economy. we will encounter obstacles along the way as we embark on the next stage of our nationalfight back we embark on the next stage of our national fight back against this virus, and there is no doubt that we need to continue to work together to ove rco m e need to continue to work together to overcome these challenges, and on that note, mr deputy speaker, i would like to express my gratitude to our partners in the devolved administrations, the local authorities, the mayors, trade unions, transport operators for their work over the last few weeks. we look forward to continued collaboration in future, because cooperation is key to put the country on the road to recovery. if eve ryo ne country on the road to recovery. if everyone plays their part, if we

continue to stay alert, we can control the virus and save lives, and if we all follow this guidance, when we are making essential journeys, i believe that together we can harness the power of transport to build and renew this revitalised nation, and i commend this statement to the house. thank you, mr deputy speaker. can i thank the secretary of state for advanced sight of this statement, and i also think it that way he has maintained communication and the willingness to work together for a national interest. i know everyone in this house and at home willjoin me in sending our thanks to all transport workers across the country. as with all of our front line workers, they are the very best of us. so, it is so important that we give a voice to those workers as well. even today, the official advice has found wanting and will lead to confusion. the scenes we saw yesterday on public transport where unsurprising when the government

orders were to return to work with 12 hours notice but without the guidance being in place on how people can be kept safe. can i ask the secretary of state why he is an announcement was not made before the prime ministers statement on sunday? secondly, the government has produced guidance for bus passengers and operators, but it leaves too much to chance and fails to protect front line workers. it is a lottery on standards and protection and there is too much code, should, not always possible, rather than clear and direct guidance. for bus drivers are existence, it says that pp should not be used but should be reserved for health care staff. evidence shows that those who operate private taxis, operate goods vehicles, they have some of the highest rates of covid—19 in the country. can i ask the secretary of state for the evidence base to support this position that the

provision of pp should not be provided for front line staff on transport? can i ask the secretary of state what discussions have taken place to ensure cooperation across our devolved nations? to offer clear and consistent standards for transport such as buses and rail but of course transport such as buses and rail but of course crosses transport such as buses and rail but of course crosses from nation to nation. mr deputy speaker, when the secretary of state said last week he announced a 12 billion fund for cycling, that sounded familiar. ken he admitted that this was not a new money and was announced pre—lockdown, and can you confirm if it has been paid to local councils? he touched on the aviation sector in the guidance that has been produced. a numberofairlines the guidance that has been produced. a number of airlines have already announced a significant number of redundancies, taking tens of thousands ofjobs, redundancies, taking tens of thousands of jobs, effecting redundancies, taking tens of thousands ofjobs, effecting them directly, and throughout the supply chain. even as we transition to a green economy, protecting jobs now so that people can be re—scaled for the future is critical. it will be far easier to transition from a

point of strength rather than weakness. but the government have failed to offer a sectoral deal for aviation. a real chance to set conditions on staff wages, payments to uk based suppliers, shift to green technology and demand that those who seek our help pay fairly into the tax system. so why has the government failed to act? aviation is not alone. we have seen it with ferry operators and the announcement of over 1100 jobs at risk with p and 0. mr deputy speaker, the prime minister's 14 day quarantine proposal is a total mess. it says that everyone is quarantined unless you come from anywhere in the world via france, one of the worst affected countries in europe after the uk. will the government to produce this scientific advice that justifies why france should be exempt from this policy? why has the government decided that now is the time to implement this? two months after other countries have introduced it, and we have seen over

18 million passengers entering the uk since january. where the government publicise their scientific advice that led to the change now instead of earlier? finally, we urgently need a competitive plan for transport. the public rightly demand that the chaos surrounding the eggs at lands end, and also —— surrounding the lockdown ends. clearly beagle will continue to work together in the national interest back to the secretary of state needs to take a message back to the cabinet table. no more confusion, reckless briefings or delay. this is a national crisis that needs a government fits to respond to it, and we hope for the country that that comes sooner rather than later. thank you. can i start by welcoming the honourable gentleman to his new post, and i

congratulate him. he is absolutely right to raise a number of the issues, and in particular the extraordinary that work is being done by our transport workers. i thought it might be worth updating the house on the latest information i have about the number who have sadly died with covid—i9, though not necessarily through their jobs, sadly died with covid—i9, though not necessarily through theirjobs, we do not know. on tfl, their latest numberi do not know. on tfl, their latest number i have is a 42, and on network rail, including train operating companies, the latest numberi operating companies, the latest number i have is ten. 0ur operating companies, the latest number i have is ten. our thoughts are with all of their friends and families at this difficult time. the honourable gentleman is absolutely right to mention about the concerns of overcrowding. i contacted them av of overcrowding. i contacted them as office about this, because it is in the tfl specifically, i worked closely with the mayor of london to try and make sure that the number of services are ramped up quickly, although as i mentioned in my opening comments, you could have 100% of services but that will not prevent the overcrowding because of

social distancing now requires much more space. i am working very proactively with the mayor in order to bring in as much marshalling as possible by tfl in this case but also elsewhere with network rail working with the british transport police that deployed several hundred people even yesterday. most of all, i appeal to the public to listen to the message which is please avoid public transport unless you absolutely need to take it as a key worker, and look for alternative means of travel, active or even through your car. if you have one available. the honourable gentleman mentions the advice is not specific enough, andi mentions the advice is not specific enough, and i hope he has had a chance to read the advice, because other commentators have said it is surprisingly detailed. do try to provide the balance. his wider point i think seems to be it is not specific enough for example if you ta ke specific enough for example if you take bus operators. the fact is that

buses look and feel differently at different parts of the country, depending on the make, the model, the systems that are run by local bus operators, so it is not possible to provide the level of company by company, operator by operator, because tfl look very different to a metro tram, for example. what we have done is provide a very good overall advice, our officials are working very closely with the operators and the unions, and actually much of the advice is very similar regardless. we all know about social distancing, we all know about social distancing, we all know about washing hands and the basics of that. he asked also by the evidence. i would of that. he asked also by the evidence. iwould be of that. he asked also by the evidence. i would be very happy to organise for him a briefing on the evidence base that led to that. public health england and sage have been very clear for example that there is not a case to use medical level ppe in transportation. it depends of course on what summary is doing. if someone is in a cab driving a train, it is fairly

solitary, there is no requirement for that. if something is more with public contact, things very. i will extend that offer to provide briefings for the honourable gentleman. i think tomorrow or thursday possibly, we actually have a briefing which i have invited unions, operators and otherforms of transport too. he also queries the £2 billion of cycling, and i was clear when announcing this. he will recall that we announced £5 billion for bikes and buses. some of this 1.7 billion is part of that funding, which when i provided the announcement, we brought that forward to get on with it, particularly given the emergency situation and need to widen pavements and provide their affairs for cycling. he mentioned the airlines, and may ijust say i very much welcome the shift. it was a very different tone from his

predecessor who never once encouraged me to support aviation. i agree with him on the jobs, encouraged me to support aviation. i agree with him on thejobs, but he is wrong to say there is no support there. almost uniquely, the aviation sector has enjoyed something that is not widely advertised, but i will let him into this. not only very generous support provided by my right honourable friend the chancellor of the exchequer extended further an hour or so ago from mistress matchbox, but in addition to government support, aviation is able to enter into a process of discussion if the existing types of support are not sufficient, and without breaching commercial conventionality, i can tell him a number of those discussions between the department of aviation organisations, be that airlines, they are in those discussions. similarly, and all, i don't know if the honourable gentleman spotted it, but we have in fact supported a

whole range of freight, maritime freight which to include in many cases, in some cases p&0, not between great britain and northern ireland alone, but also with 26 other ports in europe. 0n quarantining14 days, this is actually a home office lead policy, but i understand his concerns about it. the reason i am able to tell him quite straightforwardly about going into this crisis, the advice was not to instigate quara ntining into this crisis, the advice was not to instigate quarantining mainly because we had millions of brits to bring home, but also in accordance with the scientists, and i had this conversation with the chief medical 0fficer before the lockdown began, he explained that at best it would delay things three or four or five days, but actually it was not prevent us from experiencing, sadly, the epidemic, so again he is very

welcome to see that advice. however, i should say that coming out of this, as we control it in this country and now have the facilities to track and trace, and the number of tests that can be carried out. of course, with those facilities in place, we do very much need to stop it from continuing. let us pull out of that they are, the transport secretary underlining the plea from the government not to use public transport to keep the safety of the public and of staff, and while he was talking, news that a railway ticket officer has died with coronavirus after being spat at by a man who claimed he had covid—i9. he was 47 and died in hospital. the unions and the police are looking for the man who spat at her and a colleague who also developed the disease. we will have more on that story and more on the furlough scheme and its extensions that let us catch up with the weather was happier susan powell. thanks to high

pressure, the relatively —— it is looking relatively dry, a very chilly start to the week with a biting northerly winds, and that is set to ease in the coming days and will gradually get warmer as well, particularly noticeable by the time we get to the weekend. this evening and overnight, whether flat we get to the weekend. this evening and overnight, whetherflat sides south from southern scotland into northern england, perhaps some snow for the pennines, and widespread frost as well. a milder night tonight. cloudy here, starting us off on wednesday with a few showers, brightening as the day pans out. showers coming in on the northerly wind off the north sea to the north—east of england and through the day, possible for northern scotla nd the day, possible for northern scotland to be chilly with highs of just seven for aberdeen, just eight or nine for newcastle. south—west we re or nine for newcastle. south—west were missed with 14. as the week goes on, we should see those creeping up, and i7

goes on, we should see those creeping up, and 17 in cardiff and london on friday. this is bbc news, i'm simon mccoy. the headlines... keeping people injobs — the chancellor says the furlough scheme will be extended for four months until october — but employers will be asked to share the cost from july. we believe in the dignity of work. and we are doing everything we can to protect people currently unable to work. schools in england are working out how they can reopen with staggered start times and only 15 pupils in a class. the health secretary says people should not expect to go on an international holiday this year. for the first time figures show a decline in the overall number of deaths from the virus in the uk, but also show there have been 50 thousand more deaths than would normally be expected. the department of health comes

under fire from the manager of one of northern ireland's largest care homes — saying the sector was forgotten about at the start of the pandemic. we bring you the exclusive report. many ethnic minorities are at higher risk of coronavirus — we visit wembley, one of the worst—hit communities, to ask why? we've clapped them in the streets — now we're being asked to shine a light from our windows — as we mark international nurses day. good afternoon. the chancellor rishi sunak has said the government's job retention scheme will be extended until the end of october. he told mps that more than 7.5 million people in the uk are currently being supported by the scheme. the chancellor said changes will be made to the package from the end ofjuly when employers will be asked to share the cost of workers going back part time.

it comes as more guidance has been issued on re—opening schools, going back to work safely and using public transport in england. official figures released this morning show that the number of deaths in the uk mentioning covid—i9 has dropped substantially for the first time since the epidemic began. but the figures also show there were approximately 50,000 more deaths registered in the weeks since the middle of march to may ist than would be expected at this time of year. more on that later but first this report from our political correspondent, jessica parker. the prime minister, back in march, the chancellor by his side... today i'm joined by the chancellor of the exchequer, rishi sunak. ..to make an unprecedented move. for the first time in our history, the government is going to step in and help to pay people's wages. already extended until june, the scheme came as parts of the economy shut down. supporting millions of people, there have been calls for it to continue. the furlough scheme is brilliant,

it's a great thing the chancellor's done and the more that he can allow us to extend that scheme through to next year, the less redundancies there will be. and in the commons, this afternoon... i can announce today that the job retention scheme will be extended for four months until the end of october. by that point, we will have provided eight months of support to british people and businesses. until the end ofjuly, there will be no changes whatsoever. then, from august to october, the scheme will continue for all sectors and regions of the uk, but with greater flexibility to support the transition back to work. first of all, we must acknowledge that people did not want to be furloughed, it occurred through no choice of their own, through following government advice about the closure of sectors, therefore it's critically important that they are not penalised for that choice.

i welcome the flexibility mentioned, we have asked for this repeatedly and of course, it applies in many other countries. it has been a long time coming, but i welcome the fact it's occurring now. but where people can get back to work, the government is now encouraging them to do so — from home, if possible, in the office or on site, if not — with new guidelines for england on how to make it safe. i think people understand that it is important that people can get back to work, because there is a massive, massive economic cost to what we are having to do for health reasons. after accusations that borisjohnson's road map out of lockdown lacked vital detail, there's been a flurry of documents on schools, exercise, work, but an emphasis too on common sense, as people are asked to absorb a more complicated message. and fresh guidance today on public transport, which people are being asked to avoid but if they can't,

advised to wear a face covering, keep two metres apart and avoid rush hour. parts of the economy haven't just slowed, they've stopped altogether. making sure the blocks are there to build it back up again will be a lengthy and expensive task. jessica parker, bbc news. we're just getting latest figures for deaths in nhs hospitals. they have announced 350 new deaths of people who have tested positive for covid—i9. it brings the total number of deaths in hospitals in england... between 76 taken place back in april, we have explained back about these figures, there is often a delay in getting them because of the causes of death been put on death certificates often don't mention the

virus at the time and postmortem examinations often have to be carried out. also the presence of covid—i9 is confirmed. that is the latest figure, 350 new deaths of people testing positive for covid—i9. 0ur political correspondent, jonathan blake is in westminster. a four—month extension to the furlough scheme is going to be dominating the news tomorrow morning for sure. and it is a huge commitment. it is and it's a very expensive one. there is no exact figure for how much this scheme is costing the government to date. but somewhere in the region of £10 billion per month would seem to be a rough estimate. and if you add that up rough estimate. and if you add that up over the course of eight months, which this scheme is expected to run for then it gives you an idea of the huge cost to the government for paying the wages of so many millions of people. and we know now that there is something in the region of 7 millionjobs which have been

furloughed and just over i 7 millionjobs which have been furloughed and just overi million companies taking advantage of the scheme. and what the chancellor has announced today is that the job retention scheme, which allows companies to claim money from the government to pay their employees 80% of their wages up to two and a half thousand pounds per month, will continue as it is for another month. that takes it to the end ofjuly. and then it will continue beyond that until the end of october with two significant changes. employers will be asked to contribute towards the cost of their employees wages. we yet know the exact split but the cove na nt is we yet know the exact split but the covenant is expected to pay more than half. and employees will be able to return to work on a part—time basis, that could be as little as one or two days a month. but there are two significant changes to the scheme, which will see the cost burden still being borne by the government in the most pa rt borne by the government in the most part but employers having to contribute as well. so just as the overall response to the coronavirus is changing from a government's

point of view and becoming a bit more nuanced and perhaps a bit more difficult for people to understand and follow, the economic response as well is having to adapt over time. he said the government is bearing the cost of all this it's the taxpayer, it's us. this must mean at some point hike in taxes doesn't it? well, this money has to come from somewhere as you suggest. it is being borrowed in some part in the chancellor has said and accepted that that money will obviously have to be paid back. and to do that the government will have to raise money almost certainly in some cases through tax rises or alterations to the taxes we pay. as for how and when those changes might come in, we are not even been told when the next budget is likely to be, let alone some of the measures that the chancellor might put in that to recoup some of the huge cost to the treasury that the scheme is costing. but that will have to be done. and

those sums will i'm sure it being donein those sums will i'm sure it being done in their early stages inside the treasury at this time. and of course depending when this crisis is eventually over, as we all hope it will be at some stage soon. jonathan, thank you. figures released today show there have been 50,000 more deaths in the uk since the middle of march, than would have been expected at this time. however, the figures also show the number of coronavirus deaths are falling — including in care homes. earlier, our head of statistics robert cuffe gave me more details about the figures. the figure we hear everyday from the government is the number of people who have tested positive for coronavirus and then died and that's about 28,000. i think we can show that the viewers. now, that means there is obviously people who never get tested, people in care homes maybe who didn't. so if you go back and look at death certificates that mention covid, by may ist you get about 36,000 deaths. so that figure increases. but 50,000 is what happens when you look at all of the deaths

we have seen and compare that to the normal deaths we'd see at this time of year. people are pretty happy to attribute that to the virus but it captures indirect deaths, deaths caused by people not getting or seeking care, the strain the virus puts on society. that 50,000 number is pretty striking but it's similar to the kind of total extra winter deaths we saw two years ago. now, it's only at this stage of the epidemic so far but it still, that comparisons still gives some context. some positive news if you like in terms of the trend because figures are on the way down. yeah, the total number of deaths that we are seeing each week, they've reached a plateau of about 25,000 deaths and we can see thatjust here by the red line. far, far above what we would expect at this time of year. it came down a little bit last week and it has fallen from about 25 down to 20,000 now, so a significant improvement there. and in care homes i think is the first sign of good news because we've been expecting this improvement in hospitals, we've seen some indicators there.

but if we turn to look at care homes specifically, we will see that the numbers there have also fallen and that's for the first time. the total number of deaths in care homes has come down and the total number of deaths that mention covid, that's the red part of the block, has also come down in the last week. but still running far above average, so its past the peak but not back at the bottom. a five—stage plan for easing the covid—i9 lockdown in northern ireland has been published by the stormont executive. unlike plans announced in england and the republic of ireland, northern ireland's blueprint does not include a timetable for moving from one step to the next. first minister, arlene foster, told the assembly that progression will depend on when certain public health criteria is met. the executive agreed that now is not the time to lift restrictions and we made that announcement on thursday of last week. we also agreed that the time is right to set out our thinking and explain how we will approach decision—making, what we will take into account and how we see restrictions easing. as of today, we remain subject to restrictions which no one wants to last a day longer than is absolutely

necessary. these are measures we would not contemplate in normal times. we know that they're having a significant effect on people's ability to their lives the way they and we want. so we wanted to set out for the assembly today our thoughts on how we make move forward when the time is right. just as there was no rule book for putting the restrictions in place, there is no set pathway for lifting the restrictions either. countries and jurisdictions are taking some tentative steps to lift restrictions, some have published criteria and principles and some have outlined a timetable. each are different. and there are good reasons for that. our decisions must be based on what is happening here, taking account of our particular circumstances within the four nations approach. differences and nuances between the jurisdictions nations approach. differences and nuances between thejurisdictions in the united kingdom will emerge. the formation eliminations discussions will continue on to that end we welcome the announcement by the prime minister on the establishment

ofa prime minister on the establishment of a newjoint bio—security centre to monitor the levels of infection and identify specific actions in regions where spikes occur. the devolved administrations will participate in and contribute to its work. we will also continue to engage of course with our cou nterpa rts engage of course with our counterparts in the irish republic. we will remain focused on the health and well—being of our people on our society and our economy as a whole. we will be driven by science, we will be driven by the need to emerge from the current arrangements in the safest way possible, step—by—step. this will require a series of judgments and decisions as we move through. last week, we considered very carefully the effect restrictions are having on our people. we know you want clarity on things that matter very much to you, such as visiting relatives, going to work, taking your children to school. we decided collectively that the time is not right for making major steps. we will continue to

consider whether some modest steps can be taken and, if they can, we will do that a head of the next review. arlene foster. the manager of one of northern ireland's largest care home providers says the sector was forgotten at the start of the pandemic. speaking to the bbc, eddy kerr who works for hutchinson's care homes says while people in authority were listening no one was responding. in response to his statement the dept of health in northern ireland says its covid—i9 planning for care homes began at the same time as planning for hospitals. bbc news ni health correspondent marie—louise connolly has this exclusive report. i love you. inside care homes and life continues as best they can. peggy is 95 and recovering from covid—i9. she is one of the fortu nate covid—i9. she is one of the fortunate ones. in this home, six residents have died from the virus while 19 others have tested positive. it's challenging for everyone. it's hard for my children, you know, i'm afraid to get very

close to them. but as time has gone on i'm trying to think i don't want this to affect me being a mother, been nursed. like elsewhere, in northern ireland the covid—i9 battle is now being fought in care homes. for those working on the front line, trying to access ppe and additional staff back in march was a struggle. it was extremely frustrating and we we re it was extremely frustrating and we were trying to make ourselves heard through a number of different mediums. i think people were listening but i don't think people we re listening but i don't think people were responding initially. in a statement the department of health says... it also points out that covid—i9 planning for the sector started at the same time is that for hospitals and that it would be unfairand hospitals and that it would be unfair and inaccurate to suggest otherwise. finally, it says representatives of the sector have been involved in departmental planning from an early stage and

that interim guidance was issued on march 13. care homes which are mostly privately owned are now being supported by the local authorities. that includes providing additional equipment and staff are online when it's required. but it is taking its emotional toll. if you can picture one of the residents who passed away andi one of the residents who passed away and i know you're with them, describe what that was like.|j and i know you're with them, describe what that was like. i knew one of my ladies that i had worked with years ago, i was very close to her and with years ago, i was very close to herandi with years ago, i was very close to her and i knew that she was passing away. i played music, put her perfume on, fixed her her. i actually sent down for hair tongs and nail polish just to do actually sent down for hair tongs and nail polishjust to do her hair and nail polishjust to do her hair a wee bit and put nail polish on and i'd asked one of the girls would she prep herself up and come in and assist me. but there is a tremendous sense of regret that more should have been done and a lot sooner. yeah, i feel that we were left on our own. as if we were forgot. you

know, we were forgot as well as the wee residents. so far there have been 232 confirmed covid—i9 deaths in places just like this been 232 confirmed covid—i9 deaths in placesjust like this in northern ireland. and that accounts for 45% of all coronavirus linked to deaths. a figure that is set to rise. mary louise connelly, bbc news. meanwhile in edinburgh, first minister nicola sturgeon gave the latest daily briefing for scotland stressing that lockdown restrictions remain in place in scotland. she said workers were not being encouraged to go back to work and asked scottish employers to follow scottish government advice and not urge workers to return prematurely. right now, for the reasons i have set out because of progress against this virus is fragile, we must be cautious, we must not prematurely lift these restrictions and risk the virus running out of control or, you know, before too long it won'tjust be questions about should we should not have gone into lockdown more

quickly, it will be why did you lift lockdown early? so i make no apologies for being cautious about this and i would say to employers of all shapes and sizes in all sectors that you should be following in scotla nd that you should be following in scotland scottish government advice. we are not yet encouraging any businesses that are not open right now or any workers who are not working right now to be back in operation. of course that will change in the weeks ahead and we wa nt to change in the weeks ahead and we want to get back to as close to normal operation for businesses as quickly as possible but that has to be done safely and it has to be done in the right order. so as i said earlier on, we can give workers that we are asking to go back into work places confidence that they are as safe as they can be. and i think every worker in the country has every worker in the country has every right to expect that. nicola sturgeon. primary schools in england have been advised to limit class sizes to fifteen — when some pupils do return. it's hoped that could happen next month. headteachers have also been told

to stagger breaks and make more use of outside space. but the national education union says the reopening plans are ‘reckless'. ministers in scotland, wales and northern ireland have seperate plans. sean dilley reports. some primary school children in england could be back to school within three weeks. but with the nation's health still under threat from the coronavirus pandemic, plans are being drawn up for a very different learning experience. 0nly children in reception, year one and year six may start to return from the ist ofjune at the earliest. class sizes will be limited to 15 pupils and break times will be staggered. teachers will ensure frequent hand washing, but face masks are not being recommended. the government says their protective measures reflects scientific advice that children who catch the disease suffer much milder symptoms than adults. they are at risk, they are a vector for this and they are pretty efficient spreaders as well, but the good thing is that they are not going to get severely unwell if they get it. i think it's a very sensible approach.

it's a staged approach. you start with individuals who are at very low risk if they do catch the disease. they are going to benefit enormously from the socialisation and the opportunity to get back into the swing of school. 0ne teachers‘ union has branded the government's plans as reckless. it is introducing far too many children into school too quickly, before we have other safeguards in place to stop there being the spread of coronavirus in schools, and the potential harm that this will do to some children, but also to all the people working in schools. as with all measures to ease restrictions, the government says it will closely monitor to see if the reproduction rate, otherwise known as r, increases. they will be looking to countries like denmark, where primary schools reopened on the 15th of april with similar safety precautions. we have divided the schoolyard into zones where the children play with their play groups. and we have created play

groups of five children. we also wash our hands, we teach outside as much as possible. and we have lunch breaks in different hours so we use two and a half hours a day to have lunch breaks with the children. but it works out perfectly. in the uk, some parents have been sharing their concerns on the bbc‘s education facebook page. the government has ruled out fining parents who choose not to send their children to school before the summer holidays. they say safety is their top priority. sean dilley, bbc news. and at 4.30pm this afternoon we'll be answering your questions on today's developments. get in touch with the hashtag #bbcyourquestions on twitter —— or you can email yourquestions@bbc. co. uk. ryanair has announced plans to resume 40 per cent of its normal flight schedules from the start ofjuly. the budget airline says it

hopes to operate almost 1,000 flights a day, if travel restrictions are lifted. passengers and crew would have to wear face masks. virgin atlantic is to operate flights from heathrow, manchester, glasgow and belfast after the closure of its gatwick base. the airline expects to "steadily increase" flights in the second half of this year, before a "further, gradual recovery" in 2021. flights will be on sale from saturday to 24 destinations for next summer, using only twin—engine aircraft. the health secretary matt hancock has said most british people are unlikely to be able to take foreign holidays this summer because of the virus. he was speaking to itv‘s this morning. social distancing of some kind is going to continue and i think, you know, the conclusion from that is that it's unlikely that big, lavish, international holidays are going to be possible for this summer. i just think that's a reality of life. early research has shown that coronavirus is disproportionately

impacting black men and women — compared with white people. the risk factor is also high for other ethnic minority groups — including those with a pakistani or indian background. the government has ordered a review into this — and that will report by the end of the month. the bbc asian network's shabnam mahmood has been looking at the issue in one of the worst—affected areas in london. wembley, home to english football. it's also home to one of britain's most diverse communities, many now united in grief after losing loved ones to the coronavirus. the underlying issues were just diabetes and stuff, which is common nowadays, but it wasn't enough to take his life. in the shadows of wembley stadium is where mahindra shah from india spent most of his life, surrounded by family and friends. but he died alone in hospital, something his daughter and her family are still coming to terms with. driving across wembley, it's not difficult to find other families also suffering the pain of loss. this disease has hit people

from all religions in the area. sadia lost her mum and her aunt within days of each other to the virus. herfamily is of a pakistani muslim heritage, which often means hundreds of people gather for a funeral to pay their respects. a month on, i went on friday to the graveyard and it's hard for me to accept not seeing my mum around, or because i haven't grieved, i haven't hugged my brothers or sisters, i haven't hugged my dad, so... i don't feel like i've let it out. she believes government messages on lockdown and keeping safe just didn't reach communities like hers. there isn't a family that will not tell you that they've not lost someone. just a few streets away, sharon fraser has lost seven people close to her to coronavirus. i've lost my uncle dante,

my oldest daughter has lost her grandfather, we've had one family in the area that lost mum, dad and a sister. experts say the virus doesn't discriminate, but here there's a story of disparity in places where black, asian and minority ethnic communities live. shabnam mahmood, bbc news. let's speak to dr samara afzal, she is a gp in birmingham. she's also a friend and distant relative of areema nasreen, a nurse in walsall who sadly died from the virus last month. the question after any report like this is always why? why do you think this is always why? why do you think this is always why? why do you think this is happening? i think there's a lot of factors, we heard from the 0ffice lot of factors, we heard from the office of national statistics yesterday that those most likely to die are essential workers like taxi drivers, bus drivers, chefs, those who work in retail and these are

mostly people from the bame community. especially given the living arrangements. you find that a lot of particular south asian community live in extended families rather than nuclear families, so i've lost patients who have not been out of the house for the last three orfour out of the house for the last three or four years out of the house for the last three orfour years of their out of the house for the last three or four years of their bed bound but they died of covid—i9 because of the other two generations who have gone out, been at work and then infected the elderly relatives. and then of course on top of that there is the predisposition to metabolic syndrome, which is kind of a collection of high blood pressure, high cholesterol and sugar levels which the bame community are genetically predisposed to. u nfortu nately a lot genetically predisposed to. unfortunately a lot of it is poorly controlled in these communities. so when they do contract covid—i9 then they do get the complications because of these extra risk factors which are poorly controlled they are more likely unfortunately to die

from covid—i9. more likely unfortunately to die from covid-19. we are talking about covid—i9 but in many ways this is exacerbating a problem that is already there. yes. it is already there and we know that the south asian and the black communities are more likely to have these diseases that then lead to heart disease, stroke and due to various things, diet, social attitudes, maybe health inequalities in some places, they are not controlled at all. i mean, my south asian community for example, compared to my caucasian patients, the diabetic control can be horrendous. i don't see that very often with my caucasian patients. we are talking about front line staff and asi are talking about front line staff and as i mentioned you are a distant relative of one woman who died. i'm just wondering if we perhaps take stock and appreciate the risks that have been taken on the front line by many people from black and ethnic minority backgrounds who are on the front line because those are the

jobs that many of them have. yeah, absolutely. i think every them has to be appreciated to take the risks, particular doctors, nurses, everyone on the front line who are actually having to make the sacrifices and not only going to work on a high—risk environment but they then of course take children to schools with the added risk that their children will be with other children from other essential worker backgrounds, they are increased risk as well. so we have to commend them. in particular the beginning when we went is aware in terms of ppe so a lot of people contracted it then u nfortu nately lot of people contracted it then unfortunately and now there is a better understanding, much more ppe available. most places that i know now have adequate ppe. thank you so much for your time this afternoon. you are watching bbc news, let's get the weather.

hello. thanks to high pressure our weather is looking relatively quiet in the coming days, a lot of dry weather. the chilly start to the week that wind is set to ease in the coming days and it will gradually get warmer too. critically noticeable by the weekend. this evening and overnight a weather front slides south from scotland into southern england. showers here and perhaps some snow for the tops of the pennines. a widespread frost behind that. in the south more cloud and the milder night. claudia on wednesday with a few showers brightening as the day pans out. showers coming in off the north sea to the north—east of england throughout the day. chilly in scotla nd throughout the day. chilly in scotland with highs of seven for aberdeen, just eight or nine for newcastle. as the week goes on though we should see those temperatures gradually creeping up, 17 for cardiff and london on friday.

hello this is bbc news. the headlines... keeping people injobs — the chancellor says the furlough scheme will be extended for four months until october, but employers will be asked to share the cost from july. we believe in the dignity of work. and we are doing everything we can to protect people currently unable to work. schools in england are working out

how they can reopen with staggered start times and only 15 pupils in a class. the health secretary says people should not expect to go on an international holiday this year. nhs england announces 350 new deaths from the coronvirus, bringing the total number of hospital deaths in england to 23,709. the department of health in northern ireland comes underfire from the manager of one of its largest care homes — saying the sector was forgotten about at the start of the pandemic. we bring you the exclusive report. and all day we're focusing on why covid—19 is disproportionately affecting minority groups. this hour we'll be looking at caribbean and african communities. we've clapped them in the streets — now we're being asked to shine a light from our windows as we mark international nurses day. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc

sport centre, here's 0llie. good afternoon..... the four time formula one world champion sebastian vettel will leave ferrari at the end of the season when his contract expires. vettel has failed to add a fifth world title since joining the team in 2015, and was out—performed by team—mate charles leclerc last year. the german says, "the team and i realise that there is no longer a common desire to stay together," but what now for vettel, here's our formula one reporterjenny gow. he isa he is a family man with a wife and children, so when he decided to retire and hang up his helmet and not see him again? or will he look somewhere else to continue racing. i suspect he will. i think we already know there are offers on the table from other teams. could you maybe be going to mclaren? to renault? could he give himself a new lease of life with another team ? really he give himself a new lease of life with another team? really build that around him and succeed again, that will be the question he has to

answer, and we will find out eventually. the tottenham and england defender danny rose says the premier league should not restart until the number of new coronavirus cases has dropped significantly. rose, who is on loan at newcastle at the moment, says it's too soon to think about playing while "people's lives are at risk." his england team—mate raheem sterling has also called for patience. at the moment we go back, we need to make sure it is a moment when it is not just for footballing reasons, make sure it is a moment when it is notjust forfootballing reasons, it isa notjust forfootballing reasons, it is a safe and notjust for us footballers but for the whole medical staff, the referees, and i do not know how that will work, but i feel like when that side of the people's safety and the player's safety is secured and their well—being is being looked after, thatis well—being is being looked after, that is the right time to go back in. until then, i am that is the right time to go back in. untilthen, iam not that is the right time to go back in. until then, iam not exactly scared, but i am reserved in thinking what the worst outcome could be.

wolves are the first premier league club to install a drive—through testing station at their training ground wolves players returned to take part in individual training sessions last week, as clubs continue their preparations ahead of a possible restart. the former england lionesses manager mark sampson has spoken to the bbc for the first time since an fa charge against of using using racist language was dropped. he was charged in november whilst caretaker boss at league two stevenage and it was found not proven in january. he reached an out of court settlement with the fa for unfair dismissal after losing his england job three years ago because of his conduct in a previous role. prior to that he had been cleared of wrongdoing following allegations of discimination against some england players including eni aluko although he apologised for his remarks that were found to be "ill—judged". i wanted to make sure that there was a public apology, and i hope they have seen that. i have seen the

press since, and both have acknowledged that apology, and i am hoping we can move forward and this can be left behind. 0bviously hoping we can move forward and this can be left behind. obviously there are some big scars and tough lessons learned, but i think ultimately the comments were made nearly five years ago now, and i hope that everyone can move forward in a way, and i regret these things happened, but eve ryo ne regret these things happened, but everyone can move forward now and have her successful career. the anniversary games scheduled to take place at the london stadium on the first weekend ofjuly, have been cancelled the meeting also doubled as a diamond league event and the chief executive of uk atheltics joanna coates says the news will have a significant financial impact on the organsiation. the cancellation does avoid a potential clash with the primary tenants west ham wanting to use the stadium should the premier league resume. that's all the sport for now.

thank you very much. the chancellor, rishi sunak, has announced the government's job retention scheme will be extended in full until the end of october. he told mps more than 7.5 million people are currently having up to 80% of their salaries paid by the taxpayer and there will be no changes until afterjuly when companies will be asked to start sharing the cost of the scheme. pauljohnson is the director of the insitute for fiscal studies. you are used to eye watering numbers, but how are your eyes right now? well, they are watering yet again. the originaljob retention scheme, the 0b are costed it at more than £40 billion when it was lasting three or three and half months, and that has been extended to the end of july, and the deed tales of this scheme is being extended to october, so this cost is going to run into

60,70, so this cost is going to run into 60, 70, 80, or perhaps more billion. perhaps that is more than we spend on the whole education system, many times more than we spend in the police, many times more than we spend on social care. it is half of what we spend in a year, and these are very what we spend in a year, and these are very big numbers indeed. i'm not saying this is the wrong thing to do,. the alternative, people losing their jobs, do,. the alternative, people losing theirjobs, they can be economically worse. exactly, and if we did not have this scheme in the first place, many of the people, perhaps not all of the people, but a very large fraction of them, they would have lost theirjobs by now. many of the restrictions last and the longer the lockdown goes on, many businesses cannot open it all. what is going to look at like afterjuly we still do not know. the chancellor says he

does not want employers to share some of the cast, but what he has indicated is that he does not want employees to share any more of the cost. what is this going to do to our taxes in coming years?” cost. what is this going to do to our taxes in coming years? i think the key question needs to be it is not what it is costing now but what is going to happen to the economy over the next two or three or four yea rs, over the next two or three or four years, so if next year, the bank of england seems to be suggesting, if the economy is back where it would have been had the coronavirus never happened, then oddly enough nothing very much need would have happened to the taxes if we are content to the same level of public services as we always wear. at some point in the distant future, our future generation will have more debt to pay off. 0ddly generation will have more debt to pay off. oddly enough, just adding 3 billion to the debt does not add a huge amount of difference, but what will really matter and what is more likely is that the economy next year will still be smaller than it would

have been, and that will mean that tax revenues are coming in less well and will probably want to spend more on health and care, so in that world and if that lasts for a while, we will have to have higher taxes to deal with what could be a significantly higher deficit into the medium term rather than to pay back what we are doing this year. an awful lot of employees, theirjobs are safe. there are lots of self—employed people, people who have just started jobs, they are falling through the cracks and are not covered by a rescue package like this. there is a significant package for the self employed as well, and rather like the scheme for employees, it was fairly hastily put together, so there is a lot of rough justice. as you say, if you are recently employed, you may not be covered. if you are recently self—employed, you may not be covered. if you are self—employed and declaring income above the £50,000 in the last couple of years, you will not be covered. a lot of

business owner managers who are incorporated will not be fully covered, and i think this does not reflect the nastiness on part of the chancellor, this reflects the difficulty of designing a scheme which is cleverly enough designed or carefully enough designed to impact eve ryo ne carefully enough designed to impact everyone correctly given the incredible complexity of everyone's different lives. all of that said, in broad terms, the chancellor has aired on the side of generosity. to be offering 80% to nearly all employees, to be offering what he is offering to the self—employed, which will make many of them better off and to move this through tojuly and something through to october, it is quite appropriately airing on the side of generosity for most, even if they are a minority are falling through the cracks. good to talk to you. thank you for your time.

just a word on the number of tests that have been carried out, there have been 2,000,746 tests with 85,293 tests on the 11th of may. now, 1 million people have been tested, of which 226,463 have tested positive. a quarter of this is coming from the government, as of five o'clock yesterday. of those tested positive for coronavirus over all settings, 32,692 have sadly died. that is the latest figures on testing for covid—19. we will bring you more on that and analyse those in more detail later on. builders, factory workers and garden centre staff are among those

preparing to go back to work tomorrow in england, but only if workplaces are "covid secure". that's how the uk prime minister describes companies which have put safety measures in place. our business correspondent sarah corker has been to see some of the preparations that are underway. temperature checks at the front gate, to people—passing points on the factory floor. we would ask staff and visitors to observe the two metres social distancing role. for weeks now, this caravan manufacturer in hull has been drawing up plans for how to restart production here. we've invested in all the extra kits, so the wash stations. we've invested in lifting equipment to make sure people don't have to work close together unless they really need to. so it's slower but it's safer. we do have plans in place so we can start a phased reopening but we can't start 100% from wednesday, it's just not possible and it wouldn't be safe to bring everybody back at the same time.

the prime minister has advised those who cannot work from home to return to building sites and factories this week if it's safe to do so, but to avoid public transport. manchester's skyline is dominated by cranes coming back to life. other projects, though, never stopped. social distancing on a construction site can be difficult, especially when the nature of the job involves working closely together but some measures in place include hand gel stations, one way walking systems, enhanced cleaning of communal equipment and staggered start and finish times. the government has set out its covid—19 secure guidelines for workforces in england to follow. employers need to carry out a coronavirus risk assessment and keep staff to meet apart where possible.

—— two metres apart. factories and warehouses are advised to split staff into shift groups and provide drop—off zones for parts and equipment. offices and call centres should introduce one—way systems and meetings should be held remotely as possible. shops are told to limit customer numbers and remove services that require close contact. garden centres in wales were allowed to reopen on monday. those in england are expected to follow suit tomorrow. we've been working every day, plants have to be watered, we've been spacing plants, pruning plants, cooling them down, just trying to stop them growing so when we are allowed to open, which we thought would be in the middle of may, we were ready. other high street shops could be open from june. for pubs and restaurants, it will be july at the earliest. all our workplaces are changing and for the first time, people in england are advised

to wear face coverings in enclosed spaces. the government says no—one will be obliged to work in an unsafe environment and the pressure is on employers to adapt their workspaces, and quickly, for this new socially distant world. sarah corker, bbc news, in manchester. dr anshumen bhagat, is a nhs gp and chief medical officer at gpdq.co.uk, a private home—visit gp service. thank you for your time. do you think companies, anyone running a small business perhaps, understands what is required to get people back to work? afternoon. i am in quite a unique position. i think one of the challenges as an nhs gp, and like you said, i am also running an organisation which works with multiple employers of all sizes up and down the uk, and the most, the

biggest part of the feedback we're getting from ceos, human resources teams is try and understand the concept of risk assessment. we have talked a lot about and welcome to guidance from the government around the 5—step plan of whether you can stay at home if you can, but then let's do a risk assessment. 0ne stay at home if you can, but then let's do a risk assessment. one of the biggest things we have had pretty much a lot of demand for is how do we understand what risk assessment means? what we have spent assessment means? what we have spent a lot of time and energy at gdp cute doing is try and create our own risk assessment tool, and that is they are to arm them with above and be a beyond knowledge for the industry. for example, pp on—site, social distancing, looking at how we can keep people as far away as possible whilst they are at work. what we do

not know is who are we asking. we do not know is who are we asking. we do not know is who are we asking. we do not know about the employee workforce we are potentially asking —— that are potentially asking to come back to work. that is the biggest challenge. we get a lot of detailed information from ceos with their employment lawyers on the phone saying yes, fine, we can bring them back to work, but who do we know who falls into a higher risk or who falls into a lower risk. what we wa nt to who falls into a lower risk. what we want to try and understand is there needs to be a clinical addition to this risk assessment. but what you are basically saying is you cannot guarantee people's behaviour. we are never going to be able to guarantee that, and i think this is why it is really important that employers of all sectors start to look at how they can control human behaviour. naturally, we all forget to put the mask on, sometimes we forget we cannot shake hands and all of these

different things, so that is a very workplace adaptive solution. but what we are trying to say is dull —— what we are trying to say is dull —— what we are not trying to say is people can start sitting next to each other and shaking hands, but what is an employer —— but as an employer with a risk assessment tool, you can search understand who we are bringing back. you can begin to understand what low risk and high risk looks like. it is good to talk to you. you put that nhs sticker on the back of that well because you knew you were going on telly. my children put that on the back of the wall, and it has been there so far for a while. it is a giant battle we all have, absolutely. well, i wish you well with it, and thank you very much for your time. lots of advice and guidelines have been published in the past 24 hours on how things may change as the lockdown is gradually eased in england. and many of you have been contacting the bbc with your questions. here are some of our correspondents with answers to just a few of them.

this question from mollie varey asks, how can we expect 15 pupils, a teacher and a teaching assistant to operate safely in a classroom when everywhere else you have to be two metres apart? well, this is a question that head teachers are going to have to grapple with, because from the 1st ofjune, schools will reopen for reception, year one and year six. now, this is going to be a big problem for young children to socially distance themselves. children are lively and tactile, they love to play and explore and learn with their friends. and primary schools tend to be a sensory, interactive environment. so keeping children apart is going to be difficult, and at times not possible. teachers will have to make hygiene a priority. hand washing, stocking up on sanitiser and having a pretty strict cleaning regime. and let's not forget also the business of teaching children who have missed valuable time in the classroom. one of the big issues will be space in the classroom, the canteen and in corridors.

some schools will have to minimise the number of children sitting at desks to maybe one or two, and some are exploring putting markers on the floor as a guide for children. the government says safety is a priority, with smaller class sizes and things like staggered drop—off and pick—up times to reduce the numbers of parents at school gates. but this is a big puzzle which will require critical thinking from the government and schools to ensure the safety of pupils and teachers. we've had this question from dave, who asks... well, the simple answer to that question, dave, is that the government doesn't actually want you to take public transport. it says all those people who can work from home should continue to do so. if you must travel, it says, it would prefer to see people cycling or walking or travelling by car. and if you can't avoid using public transport, it says you should try to maintain social distancing wherever possible. if you can't, it says, you should try to minimise

the amount of time you spend in close contact with other people, and it also recommends you wear some kind of face covering while you travel. a question from yvonne. where are the public supposed to get facemasks from, and do we have to source them ourselves or will they be supplied? well, yvonne, the government's been very careful to talk not about facemasks, but about face coverings. and that's so we don't create a shortage for those people who really need them, which are the health and social care workers who are actually treating people with covid—19. if we talk about face coverings, well, you can buy things like this from diy shops or even something like this, which i got from the pharmacyjust over my shoulder. and this is the sort of thing people have been making at home, this is a simple bit of cloth with some elastic around it. the science behind this is that wearing a face covering provides protection to other people from yourself. if you are yet to show

symptoms, and the key thing is they advice has changed. in england, scotland and northern ireland we are now advised to wear some form of face covering when we cannot maintain social distance. so that might be on public transport or in some shops. jane asks how is it safe for me to meet any one person in a park where i have no control over how other members of the public may behave, but not safe for me to meet my son in my garden where i can ensure that the government is a secure? well, this is a difficult one. what the government is trying to do is increase the amount of time people are spending exercising and the amount of time people are spending outdoors so you can come to the park more than once a day. you can even sit on the grass. you can even meet one person from outside your house hold one—on—one and even play tennis with them. what the government are trying to stop people from doing is going to each other‘s homes where they might touch on services like gates, doors, door handles, garden

furniture, so they would rather you met someone from your family in a public space, one—on—one, and to avoid things like park benches, of course. a bit further down the line, they may allow to households to mix together in a kind of bubble, as is happening in new zealand, but we have not got to that stage yet. and at 430 this afternoon, we'll be answering your question on today's developments. get in touch using the hashtag on twitter. a change of gear now. eurovision should have been taking place this saturday night in rotterdam, but was cancelled. however fans will still be able to enjoy all 41 acts performing their songs for tv viewers — but without the judging and the live studio audience.

one of those fans is our moscow correspondent steve rosenberg who can play all the winning eurovision songs from memory on the piano, and today he's taking viewers requests live on the bbc news facebook page. i put iputa i put a request to him later on. let's see how he's getting on. that is a 1964 eurovision winner. i believe we are being joined by the bbc news channel in the uk, and i know that simon mccoy is presenting, and no, this is not my spare room, as you said earlier. we are coming live from the dutch embassy in moscow, and i think simon has requested a 1969 winner, and that was the year that four countries tied for first place. this is the

united kingdom's song, and it goes something like this. that is the winner for the uk. my favourite winner from 1969 was actually the french when. it went something like this.

that is not as good. that is my taste in music, and the director is going to say that make the director just said she was not going to go clubbing with me if that is my taste, which is a double result. well, you can hear more about the cancellation of this year's eurovision song contest over on bbc iplayer. radio 1 newsbeat followed james newman on hisjourney to be the uk's eurovision representative ahead of the coronavirus outbreak. it is well worth watching because every one of the news channel presenters appears on it at various points. that is from the bbc iplayer. that is it from me. steve

rosenberg in his spare room, and now we will hear the weather. here is susan powell. hello. thanks to a big area of high pressure there is a lot of dry weather to come across the uk for the rest of this week and on into the weekend. it was though particularly chilly and windy to start the new week. the next few days will see the wind ease. it will get warmer gradually. we were sitting to the east of this high pressure on monday. we have a blasting northerly wind, and as it wobbles through, it will bring us much warmer atlantic air. come the weekend our temperatures will get quite a surge. here we are for the rest of today. the weather front working its way down out of southern scotland into northern england. patchy rain and perhaps even some snow for the tops of the pennines. wintry showers in scotland. the aircoming in the air coming in is that cold. a frost in scotland and northern england overnight. further south, cloud

and a few showers. it isa it is a milder night across southern england and south wales. a few showers at the south—east first thing. they will tend to clear. the northerly wind will bring more showers into the north—east of england through the day. very cold along the north sea coast. the best of the sunshine perhaps towards the south—west and probably top temperatures here as well, 13 or 14 degrees. we are still in the blue on thursday. it becomes a little fainter. but friday the yellow, the warmer air mass moves across the uk. by by saturday, it is yellow for all areas. temps start to bolster. thursday, average figures. quite a bit of cloud around, but in the sunshine, 15 or maybe 16 degrees in the south—west, could feel pleasa ntly in the south—west, could feel pleasantly warm. we should lose the north sea wind. a big difference for newcastle and hull. best of the sunshine on friday. cloud filling in as the day goes by. temperatures not doing so badly.

around average. perhaps a little bit above towards the south, where it is a 16 or 17. it is come the weekend we start to pull in a much warmer air and temperatures get a significant lift, up to 21 in london on monday. _by —— by sunday. a lot of dry weather, and we could see a weather front bothering the far north of scotland with some rain.

this is bbc news, i'm ben brown. the headlines... the chancellor says the government's furlough scheme will be extended for four months until october, but, from july, employers will be asked to share the cost. we believe in the dignity of work. and we are doing everything we can to protect people currently unable to work. schools in england are working out how they can reopen with staggered start times and only 15 pupils in a class. the health secretary says people should not expect to go on a holiday abroad this year. the uk death toll rises by 627 from the previous day — taking the total to 32,692. the authorities in northern ireland are criticised by the manager of one

care home, who says the sector was forgotten at the start of the pandemic. we've clapped them in the streets — now we're being asked to shine a light from our windows — as we mark international nurses day. it comes as the head of nhs england says theres been a huge increase in the number of people interested in a career in nursing. this is an opportunity not only to thank our current nurses but also to invite bright and brilliant and committed people across the country to consider nursing as a career. hello, good afternoon. the chancellor rishi sunak has announced the government's job retention scheme will be extended

until the end of october. he told mps it's currently supporting more than 7.5 million workers in the uk. the chancellor said changes will be made to the package from the end ofjuly, when employers will be asked to share the cost. meanwhile, more guidance has been issued on re—opening schools, going back to work safely and using public transport in england. official figures released today show that the number of deaths in the uk mentioning covid—19 has dropped substantially for the first time since the epidemic began. but the figures also show there were approximately 50,000 more deaths registered in the weeks since the middle of march to may 1st than would normally be expected at this time of year. and the latest figures from the department of health show there were a further 627 deaths in all settings of people who tested positive for coronavirus. more on that later but first this report from our political correspondent, jessica parker. the prime minister, back in march,

the chancellor by his side... today i'm joined by the chancellor of the exchequer, rishi sunak. ..to make an unprecedented move. for the first time in our history, the government is going to step in and help to pay people's wages. already extended until june, the scheme came as parts of the economy shut down. supporting millions of people, there have been calls for it to continue. the furlough scheme is brilliant, it's a great thing the chancellor's done and the more that he can allow us to extend that scheme through to next year, the less redundancies there will be. and in the commons, this afternoon... i can announce today that the job retention scheme will be extended for four months until the end of october. by that point, we will have provided eight months of support to british people and businesses. until the end ofjuly, there will be no changes whatsoever. then, from august to october,

the scheme will continue for all sectors and regions of the uk, but with greater flexibility to support the transition back to work. first of all, we must acknowledge that people did not want to be furloughed, it occurred through no choice of their own, through following government advice about the closure of sectors, therefore it's critically important that they are not penalised for that choice. i welcome the flexibility mentioned, we have asked for this repeatedly and of course, it applies in many other countries. it has been a long time coming, but i welcome the fact it's occurring now. but where people can get back to work, the government is now encouraging them to do so — from home, if possible, in the office or on site, if not — with new guidelines for england on how to make it safe. i think people understand that it is important that people can get back to work, because there is a massive, massive economic cost

to what we are having to do for health reasons. after accusations that borisjohnson's road map out of lockdown lacked vital detail, there's been a flurry of documents on schools, exercise, work, but an emphasis too on common sense, as people are asked to absorb a more complicated message. and fresh guidance today on public transport, which people are being asked to avoid but if they can't, advised to wear a face covering, keep two metres apart and avoid rush hour. parts of the economy haven't just slowed, they've stopped altogether. making sure the blocks are there to build it back up again will be a lengthy and expensive task. jessica parker, bbc news. let's speak to vicky young our chief

political correspondent at westminster. 0bviously political correspondent at westminster. obviously this week there are some who are being encouraged to go back to work if they can, if there workplaces opened and it's safe and we've had a whole raft of advice on regulations and guidelines about that. but of course there is focused too on those who have not been able to go to work on the help that the government has been given then with this fellow scheme, which we learnt today will be extended through to the end of 0ctober, although there will be some changes once it gets to august they wa nt to changes once it gets to august they want to try and encourage people back part time as well. now, it is a huge undertaking and a very expensive undertaking and the man in charge of that is course has been the chancellor rishi sunak. he has been talking about first of all the effect of 23 and the effect on the british economy. you were always made a point of wanting to be honest with the public. can you do that now? should you be preparing people for a recession? you know very well

unemployment comes at a lag time. many, many people are going to lose theirjobs. many many, many people are going to lose their jobs. many people many, many people are going to lose theirjobs. many people who might now be being supported by fellow. are we looking at a recession?” think we already know that many people have lost theirjobs and it brea ks people have lost theirjobs and it breaks my heart. we have seen what is happening with universal credit claims. already this is not something that we are going to wait to see, it is already happening, there are already businesses that are short and there are people who've lost their jobs are short and there are people who've lost theirjobs and as i've said that is heartbreaking to me and it is why i'm working night and day to limit the amount ofjob losses. everyjob we can save whether it is through the furlough scheme because we gave a cash grant to a business that can bend pay that person for a bit longer is a job that we have helped to preserve the future. it's afamily helped to preserve the future. it's a family that's got more security. is it going to be difficult? of course it's going to be difficult. now of course the aim of this vast intervention by the government is obviously to keep people receiving money so that they can survive during this time while i can't go to

work but also to make sure that businesses survive so that when this is over, when this lockdown is slightly lifted, people do havejobs to go back to. so that fellow scheme as we're hearing there is been extended. this is what the chancellor had to say about that. this is an expensive scheme and i've said that point before but i also believe it is absolutely the right thing to do. and what's very clear to me is that the cost of not doing this for society, for our economy and our country would be far higher. and i am simply not going to give up on all these people. the 7 million people that we talked about. i want to provide as much support as i can to provide as much support as i can to ensure that they have those jobs to ensure that they have those jobs to go back to. but how much do you now expect the scheme to work? to come to? what will be the cost now you expect now? it would depend on the exact take—up. people are signing up now. and the part—time flexible period at the end where there is an employer contribution as people get back to work will reduce the cost. but this is he can't go on

forever and that is why i have set out a very clear timeline now. now, the treasury have been slightly relu cta nt to the treasury have been slightly reluctant to put an exact figure on how much this scheme is costing but the monthly cost they think is less than around £13 billion a month. now there are going to be changes, nothing changes until the end of july. after that some people will be able to go back part—time and then have some of that salary topped up by the government. but employers are going to have to make that contribution as well and we will get more details on that at the end of this month. thank you very much. 0ur chief political correspondent there. let's get some reaction then to this scheme and we can talk to mike cherie. they represent small and medium sized businesses in the uk. we very much welcome the extension of the scheme until october because thatis of the scheme until october because that is going to help small businesses get back up and running

over a long period of time because clearly we're going to see an immediate bounce back from this covid—19 crisis that we are all in. it is going to take time for people to have confidence to get back to whatever maybe the new normal and it is certainly not going to be apparent that it's going to be back to business as usual, shall we say. in certain sectors, though sectors may not even reopen this year. we still understand that from some in the hospitality sector and indeed many small businesses have already had two unfortunately close. fsb though has long been calling for flexibility to be brought into the scheme and we very much welcome what the chancellor has announced today on that. hundreds of our members have been saying and many other small businesses that they don't have enough work to bring somebody back full time but they do need people in on a part—time basis and

so we will be working very closely with the government to enable that to happen though small businesses later on in august through to the back end of the year. and from the end ofjuly employers are going to be expected to make a contribution. can your members, a lot of them, actually afford to make any contribution if they haven't been having any revenue coming in for months now. they have got fixed overheads and so on? the clear a nswer to overheads and so on? the clear answer to that is obviously if you still have no revenue coming in you are not going to be to make that contribution. so there are other schemes available to support businesses and we shall be working very closely again with the government to highlight where any gaps are so that those businesses maybe able to continue getting other support or indeed they may even be some new support initiatives coming through. there will be scope for deferring business rates for this year, maybe extended more widely,

who knows? but those are issues that we will continue to be talking to the chancellor and the government about so that as many businesses as possible can get through this period stop we can protect as many livelihoods as we possibly can and i think what the chancellor and the government have announced today are very welcome steps indeed, so that we have a better understanding of the journey and the timeline as we go through all this with the problem is that we face. but you do think it's is that we face. but you do think its reasonable that the government is saying that employers make a contribution from july? well, clearly the government and businesses cannot afford this going on indefinitely. we wait to see what the detail of that contribution will be. you highlighted that certain sectors won't be reopening during that period and it's those sectors that period and it's those sectors that clearly will need that additional support, whatever that

maybe. 0ther additional support, whatever that maybe. other sectors then of course if they've got back, reopened, they've got the footfall and the orders coming in then of course they should expect to be able to relieve themselves of the 80% or whatever percentage the government may work with us on to define. all right, thank you very much for talking to us. mike cherry that the chief executive of the federation small businesses. in the last half an hour or so the department of health said that a further 627 people have died with coronavirus in united kingdom. our health correspondent nick triggle is here. just talk us through the statistics that we just been given. welcome another 627 deaths have been announced. that brings the total to 32,700 since the epidemic started. now the figures announced today are

bigger than they have been for the last two days but we often see this over a the numbers they drop to below 300 deaths a day been reported for saturday and sunday. we know now the number of deaths in hospitals have been falling but today we have been given extra information about deaths in care homes from the office for national statistics and its cou nterpa rts for national statistics and its counterparts in scotland and northern ireland. now, this looks at where coronavirus is mentioned on the death certificates and the signs are that perhaps the numbers of deaths in care homes have now peaked. in the most recent week that they've got records for, that's to early may, there was 2800 deaths in ca re early may, there was 2800 deaths in care homes, that's down from 3200 the week before. we know the government and the care sector have struggled with outbreaks here, so this is at least some positive signs. it can be confusing though, different sets of statistics about the number of deaths. just talk us

through that. so the government's daily figures that come out rely on positive diagnosis of an infection. now, they capture the deaths in hospital but they have struggled to ca ptu re hospital but they have struggled to capture the deaths in care homes because in the early days there was very little testing in place, so it's been very hard to get a true picture of the number of deaths in ca re picture of the number of deaths in care homes and the deaths. so that's why the office for national statistics and its counterparts in the rest of the uk focus on death certificates because it's up to doctors to use theirjudgment whether they think the virus has played a role. and that's why perhaps of the care home sector the ons perhaps of the care home sector the 0ns data is perhaps a better picture of what's happening. and as i say, the picture is at least positive in terms of the number of deaths appear to be coming down. and i know it's very difficult to make international comparisons but that latest figure that we just had in on the number of deaths in the uk, how is that comparing with other countries?

well, we have talked a lot about international comparisons and why they are different sized populations, different density of populations. now, we know the uk broadly has had a similar amount of deaths per head as italy, as france and infact deaths per head as italy, as france and in fact spain is slightly ahead on deaths per head of population. we know these countries in western europe have been badly affected. but we do know that there are other countries around the world, germany and south korea for example, that seem to have done a lot better. and they have got a lot better testing in place, tracing of close contacts of people who have been infected to try contain these local outbreaks. so there are certainly lessons that can be learned from other countries. there, one of those licences about the app, the test and track and contact app. which is being trialled in the isle of wight. what is the latest with that because those trials have been going on for a few days, haven't they? we are still

waiting to hear just days, haven't they? we are still waiting to hearjust exactly how they are going on but they will be very important as we move towards this new stage where the lockdown is being eased. the government had indicated that they'd be ready to launch their track and trace strategy nationwide in mid—may. so i think we will hear very soon about what's been happening in the isle of wight. that of course has relied on the app as well as an army of contact races manually go and find an phone round to identify the close contacts an phone round to identify the close co nta cts of an phone round to identify the close contacts of people who have tested positive. that is going to be a crucial element as we move forward and lockdown can do limit restrictions ease. ok, thank you, nick. the headlines on bbc news... the chancellor says the goodman's furlough scheme will be extended for four months until october. but from july employers will be asked to share the costs. schools in england are working out how they can reopen with staggered start times and only

15 pupils in a class. the health secretary says people should not expect to go on holiday abroad this summer. the manager of one of northern ireland's largest care home providers says the sector was forgotten at the start of the pandemic. was forgotten at the speaking to the bbc, eddy kerr who works for hutchinson's care homes says while people in authority were listening no one was responding. in response to his statement the dept of health in northern ireland says its covid—19 planning for care homes began at the same time as planning for hospitals. bbc news ni health correspondent marie—louise connolly has this exclusive report. i love you. inside care homes and life continues as best they can. peggy's 95 and recovering from covid—19. she's one of the fortunate ones. in this home, six residents have died from the virus while 19 others have tested positive.

it's challenging for everyone. it's hard for my children, you know, i'm afraid to get very close to them. but as time has went on i'm trying to think i don't want this to defeat me being a mother, being a nurse. what do you think of my dessert? is that lovely as well? like elsewhere, in northern ireland the covid—19 battle is now being fought in care homes. for those working on the front line, trying to access ppe and additional staff back in march was a struggle. it was extremely frustrating and we were trying to make ourselves heard through a number of different mediums. i think people were listening but i don't think people were responding, initially. in a statement, the department of health says it wishes to thank those working in care homes. it also points out that covid—19 planning for the sector began at the same time as planning for hospitals and that it would be unfair and inaccurate to suggest otherwise. finally, it says representatives

of the sector have been involved in departmental planning from an early stage and that interim guidance was issued on march 13. care homes which are mostly privately owned are now being supported by the local authorities. that includes providing additional equipment and staff are on loan when required. but it's the emotional impact that's taking its toll. if you can picture one of the residents who passed away and i know you were with them, describe for me what that was like. i knew one of my ladies that i had worked with years ago, i was very close to her and i knew that she was passing away. i played music, put her perfume on, fixed her hair. i actually sent down for curling tongs and nail polish just to do her hair a wee bit and put nail polish on and i'd asked one of the girls would she prep herself up and come in and assist me. but there is a tremendous sense of regret that more should have been

done and a lot sooner. yeah, i feel that we were left on our own, as if we were forgot. you know, we were forgot as well as the wee residents. so far there have been 232 confirmed covid—19 deaths in placesjust like this in northern ireland. and that accounts for 45% of all coronavirus—linked deaths. a figure that is set to rise. marie—louise connelly, bbc news. the health secretary matt hancock has said most british people are unlikely to be able to take foreign holidays this summer because of the virus. he was speaking to itv‘s this morning. social distancing of some kind is going to continue and i think, you know, the conclusion from that is that it know, the conclusion from that is thatitis know, the conclusion from that is that it is unlikely that big lavish international holidays are going to be possible for this summer. ijust

think that a reality of life. matt hancock the health secretary. meanwhile, virgin atlantic is to operate flights from heathrow, manchester, glasgow and belfast after the closure of its gatwick base and ryanair has announced plans to resume 40 per cent of its normal flight schedules from the start ofjuly. the budget airline says it hopes to operate almost 1,000 flights a day, if travel restrictions are lifted. passengers and crew would have to wear face masks. we've clapped them in the streets — now we're being asked to shine a light from our windows — as we mark international nurses day. as well as marking 200 years since the birth of florence nightingale, 2020 has been declared the international year of the nurse and midwife. the head of nhs england, sir simon stevens, says it's seen a big increase in the number of people interested in a career in nursing. the biggest global health emergency in the century has put a huge

spotlight on the crucial role of nurses, not just in spotlight on the crucial role of nurses, notjust in the nhs but also in social care. we have seen three generations of nurses pitching in to help, not only our current fantastic staff but also retired nurses coming back and student nurses beginning their careers early. it has also created enormous personal and professional pressure. so in hospitals like this they are providing support not only in ensuring the right number of nurses with the right equipment but also the psychological support to help people deal with the pressures that they have been facing. the nursing profession has also shown enormous agility and leadership in quickly changing services to respond to the different patient needs and as we return to a wider range of normal services on the nhs, that nursing leadership is going to continue to be crucial. we note looking out over the years ahead that the nhs is going to need many more nurses. so

this is an opportunity not only to thank our current nurses but also to invite bright and brilliant and committed people across the country to consider nursing as a career. to mark international nurses day members of the royal family have joined together to pay tribute to the world's nurses. speaking with health care professionals working in australia, india, the bahamas, cyprus, tanzi australia, india, the bahamas, cyprus, ta nzi and australia, india, the bahamas, cyprus, tanzi and the united kingdom. 0neness receive this very royal phone call. good afternoon, your majesty. 0n on this international nurses day, my family andi on this international nurses day, my family and i want tojoin in the chorus of thank youse to nursing and

midwifery staff all over the country andindeed midwifery staff all over the country and indeed the world. extraordinary times call for sure new people. thank you from the bottom of my heart. thank you for everything you are doing. a huge thank you from the soul. thank you for what you are doing. tribute is therefore members of the royal family. tribute is therefore members of the royalfamily. come tribute is therefore members of the royal family. come and appear tribute is therefore members of the royalfamily. come and appear on bbc news at 5pm we will be bringing you the government's latest daily news news briefing. professor stephen parris of nhs england and sarah albion from the health and safety executive. so do stay tuned for that. we are going to take a look at the weather forecast for now though susan powell has that for us. hello. thanks to a big area of high pressure there is a lot of dry weather to come across the uk this

week and into the weekend. it was no particular chili and indeed to start the new week. in the next few days the new week. in the next few days the wind will ease and it will get gradually warmer. because this area of high pressure reorientate itself. a blast studied war —— blasting not to northerly wind... come the weekend our temperatures will get quite a search. here we have the rest of today with a weather front working its way down out of southern scotla nd working its way down out of southern scotland into northern england. snow over the tops of the pennines, wintry showers for parts of scotland, the air coming in is cold and we are talking about a frost for scotland, parts of northern england and northern ireland overnight. further south more cloud around, perhaps a few showers but mild night across southern england and south wales. a few showers in the south—east first thing, they will tend to clear but the northerly wind will bring more showers into the north—east of england through the

day. recalled along the north sea coast. chance of your shower as well. the best of the sunshine towards the south—west and probably our top temperatures here are 13 or 14 degrees. we are still in the blue on thursday, it begins a little fainter on friday the yellow, though warmerair fainter on friday the yellow, though warmer air mass starts to move across the uk and by saturday it's yellow for all areas. temperatures do start to bolster. thursday, average figures shall we say at best. quite a bit of cloud around but in the sunshine 15, maybe 16 degrees in the south—west, it could feel pleasantly warm and we should lose that north sea wind so a big difference for the likes of newcastle and hull. cloud again coming in as the day goes by, temperatures not doing so badly though around average values, and perhaps a little above. 16 or 17. come the weekend we will start to pull in that much warmer air and

temperatures get a significant lift, up temperatures get a significant lift, up to 21 in london by sunday. a lot of dry weather, we could see weather front parlour in the far north of scotland.

this is bbc news with me, ben brown. the headlines... the chancellor admits it breaks his heart to see people losing theirjobs as the government's furlough scheme is extended for four months until october — but employers will be asked to share the cost. there are already people who have lost theirjobs, and that's heartbreaking to me. that's why i'm woking night and day to limit the amount ofjob losses. the uk death toll rises by 627 from the previous day, taking the total to 32,692. the authorities in northern ireland are criticised by the manager of one