this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. a 2% slump in the uk economy because of the coronavirus crisis. it is suffering the sharpest downturn since the financial crisis of 2008. in some sense, they're not a surprise, in common with pretty much every other economy around the world, we're facing severe impact from the coronavirus, you're seeing that in the numbers. up to 8,000 jobs could go at the world's largest tour operator, tui. the anglo—german travel company is cutting costs by 30%. it's back to work for some people in england, but not in the rest of the uk. workers are told to avoid public transport, but if that's not possible to use face coverings

and keep their distance from others. the housing market in england comes out of lockdown. buyers and renters can visit estate agents and view properties. france eases lockdown restrictions, despite its death toll from the virus rising above that of spain. good morning and welcome to audiences in the uk and around the world. we're covering all the latest coronavirus developments here in britain and globally. first, seven weeks after the prime minister announced the lockdown, some restrictions are being eased in england. from today, if you work in construction, food production, manufacturing, anyjob you can't do from home, you're being encouraged to go back to work.

do let me know if you're going back to work today so we can get a picture across england. on twitter it's @vicderbyshire, or email victoria@bbc.co.uk. you can also from today meet a friend or someone from another household outside for a walk or physically distanced sport, but it must be one—on—one. from today, garden centres can reopen. they're already open in wales. estate agents can also reopen in england and viewings in properties can go ahead. lockdown restrictions are being eased elsewhere in the world, too, of course. in the us, the governor of california has lifted some restrictions — offices and some restaurants can now open. the eu will meet later to discuss plans on ending border restrictions and resuming free movement within the schengen area. parts of france have cautiously begun to lift the lockdown, but the country now has the world's

fourth—highest number of fatalities. while brazil recorded its highest daily rise in the number of deaths. but president jair bolsonaro says businesses must remain open to prevent a major economic crisis. this is all having a big impact on the economies. we've had new official figures out today that show the uk economy shrank by 2% from january to march. that's the largest contraction since the 2008 financial crisis and only takes into account the beginning of the lockdown. the uk chancellor, rishi sunak, has been giving his reaction to those figures to our economics editor, faisal islam. in some sense, they're not a surprise, in common with pretty much every other economy around the world, we're facing severe impact from the coronavirus, you're seeing that in the numbers, and that's why we've taken the unprecedented action that we have to support people's jobs, incomes, livelihoods, at this time, and support businesses, so we can get through this period of severe disruption and emerge stronger on the other side. i know it's a technical definition but it now looks pretty certain, given what's happened in this

quarter, that this is the start of a recession? as you know, recession is defined technically as two quarters of decline in gdp. we've seen one here, with only a few days of impact from the virus, so, it is now, yes, very likely that the uk economy will face a significant recession this year, and we are in the middle of that as we speak. let's speak to our business correspondent, ben thompson. and first of all — the economic figures, not a huge surprise the economy is suffering? we are in recession in the uk? yeah, we should be quite clear that all the latest economic growth figures we have our backward—looking, it is like looking in that rearview mirror, it tells us what has already happened. today we've had the official figures happened. today we've had the officialfigures for happened. today we've had the official figures for the first quarter of the year, january, february and march. they suggest that the economy shrunk by 2%. if you look at march on its own, it is

just the last week of march when the lockdown began, but growth in march shrinking by 5.8%, and to put that into context for you, during the financial crisis, the uk economy shrank by 6.9%, but it took 13 months to do that. what we are seeing here is a contraction of 5.8%, so, almost the same, butjust taken place in march, and essentially in just one week of march. and so, the truth will come in the next set of figures, those for the second quarter of the year. and you're right, we're right in the midst of that now. we won't get the official figures midst of that now. we won't get the officialfigures for midst of that now. we won't get the official figures for that for some time yet, and to technically define a recession, there needs to be two consecutive quarters of negative growth, so, two periods where the economy has contracted. it's pretty inevitable given what we saw at the start of the year, even before the lockdown began, that for that second

quarter, we will be in recession. but we will have to wait officially to get those figures. and in terms of those who are able to go back today, to work in england, what sort ofjobs are we looking at? yes, we've heard quite a lot over the last few days about how the economy in england might be able to restart. remember, in scotland, wales and northern ireland, the advice is still to stay at home. but businesses in england will now be looking at, where is it safe to get people back? crucially, the focus is on those who cannot do theirjob from home. that will involve people like retail staff in some cases for essential stores, also factories and warehouses, construction sites and agriculture. and yesterday, there was a pretty comprehensive list published giving advice to businesses about how they can make

those workplaces safe, all sorts of advice, depending on the type of work place. that might involve erecting screens between customers and staff, it might involve separating out staff on a production line ina separating out staff on a production line in a factory more widely, having a separate entrance and exit so that staff changing shifts don't meet, staggering start times to make sure that there is more distance. but quite clearly the issue is also how we get to and from work, lots of concerns about public transport not be in get back up to full capacity, so those trains and buses that are running will be busier, and especially if there has got to be more separation, that could make it much more difficult to stay apart. so the advice there is to wear a face marks if you're on public transport. but there are some businesses that will be trying to get to normal, the estate agent industry, property, from today, if you're an estate agent, if you want to view a house, if you're a

surveyor going into a property or if you are a removal company, you can officially begin work from today. but that raises a number of questions, not least, who would want someone questions, not least, who would want someone looking around their house, viewing a potential property, if we are concerned about who is coming in and out, given the current situation? and also i think it's fairto situation? and also i think it's fair to say there may be some differences in people's financial position before and after this crisis. if you're selling, you might be asking for a bit more, if you're a buyer, you might want a reduction on the price you agreed to pay. given that many of us are now working from home, some may now be looking for a spare room for a study or somewhere to do some work, and also looking at the speed of the local broadband system. with videoconferencing becoming more normal, people will be placing much more priority on something like that. so the property market before and after this crisis may be very different indeed. this message from

someone on different indeed. this message from someone on twitter... as a for self—employed cleaner, i could go back to work but i can't without childcare. and how can i feasibly go into other families' homes when childcare. and how can i feasibly go into otherfamilies' homes when i can't even visit my mum? get in touch with us by e—mail or you can message me on twitter. the uk government has encouraged people to return to work if they can, but to only use public transport as a last resort. borisjohnson has asked people to walk, cycle or drive to work where possible with many bus and train companies running a reduced service. these pictures show gridlock on the m1, heading into central london, with many of the capital's main roads filling up during the morning rush hour. the transport secretary, grant shapps said it was important to not overcrowd buses and tubes. it is essential, it doesn't matter what happens on the underground or on the wider rail network in terms of full number of trains and buses running, even when we get to that point, they're being cranked up again,

only one in ten people would have space to remain properly socially distanced. so, we're asking people to look again at their travel plans and make sure they're distanced, and i'm pushing the mayor as well to make sure that more services are run, and as quickly as possible. we've been speaking to a number of people about their morning commute into london this morning. yeah, well, i was off work for two months, so basically that was due to the situation with coronavirus. i am a bit concerned, but as the government announced that the key workers are allowed to go back to work, so i feel pretty much confident to going back. when i have had to use it it definitely is still quite busy and i think a lot of people... some people are really conscious about keeping their distance, two metres, and other people just aren't really. so i am just conscious of using it as little as possible. yeah, yeah, there are more workers going out today.

from yesterday i discovered that there is a lot of work that has commenced, actually. 0ur correspondent charlotte rose has sent this update from canning town station in east london. canning town tube station in east london is usually a busy transport hub with a tube station, docklands light railway and bus station behind me. but, of course, we are not in normal times at the moment. this morning there has been a steady stream of people coming to the station. most buses have been fairly quiet, a couple have been at capacity. at the tube station just over my right shoulder people appear to have been able to stay two metres apart from one another and there have been frequent tannoy announcements reminding people about social distancing rules. the government in the lead—up to today has urged people, if possible, not to use public transport to get to work, but instead to walk, cycle or use their own vehicles. ministers say if you do have to travel, you should think about taking extra precautions.

try to stay two metres away from each other, use a face mask or covering. try and use a contactless payment card if you can, and make sure you wash your hands at the start and end of your journey. of course, for some people they will be coming to work for the first time in seven weeks and it remains to be seen whether this new system works and if people feel safe using it. the european commission will meet later to discuss plans on ending border restrictions and resuming free movement within the schengen area. the rapid spread of the virus in march led european nations to suspend border crossings with their nieghbours. with their neighbours. earlier, austria said its border with germany will reopen from june 15th, and france has already laid out its intention to reopen borders next month. earlier, our europe reporter, gavin lee, told me how europe is easing lockdowns and in particular, the effect this will have on travel and tourism. there's two things worth bearing in mind. so, you've got tourism corridors being spoken of, you've also got travel bubbles.

so, first of all, tourism corridors. there's been talk amongst certainly the danes to say, what if you could fly from copenhagen to, say, athens, two countries, greece and denmark, where they've had relatively low levels of covid—19 infections and deaths, could you set up separate travel corridors? travel bubbles, so, for example friday, where you've got the baltic countries, estonia, latvia, lithuania, all opening their borders to each other, so therefore, let's say some holidays might be more local to them. austria, germany, france, switzerland, looking to open their internal borders. but this is the thing. so, the european commission today putting out a roadmap to travel again, saying that it is part of the cornerstone of the european union, the free movement of people, and these schengen countries in europe, 26 of them, have got border restrictions in place. but the commission won't suggest corridors or bubbles, they won't do anything other than say, we need to have a slow lifting of the lockdown, and they will set, we expect, some kind of guideline as well

for travellers to know what countries to go to, based on what measures are in each country that they're taking, preventative to covid—19, and also hotels as well. so, we might see some kind of visual guideline for travellers well, guideline for travel as well, and it's notjust about the right to breed fresh air and move and see to breathe fresh air and move and see families in another country, it's also down to the hard cash. 400 billion euros lost in the tourism sector. think about countries like greece, 20% of its economy's gdp is from tourism, spain, 16% as well. it's about getting the economy back up and running again in these countries. the government has set out plans to restart england's housing market with around 450,000 buyers and renters' plans currently on hold. estate agents can now open and offer viewings as long as they conform with social distancing guidelines. i've been speaking to stuart monument, director and estate agent at the norfolk based pymm & co

about what this mean for his business. we put the announcement on social media last night about half past seven and within an hour, someone had already booked a valuation with us, so people are raring to go. we've just got to make sure we use some common sense and some guidance. we had a webinar this morning with david cox from property mart which is our legislative body. so, yes, we've had interest already and it is very promising, but we've just got to be safe. that's a really good point, of course, because your staff are going to be able to show people around rental properties and properties that are up for sale, strangers, people from other households, so how are you going to keep people safe? i think there will be clarification on that today, but it looks like we can only show one person around at a time without other people in the property. 0bviously two metre distancing. ppe will be a strong part of this. fortunately we had already got in some stock over

the last week or so. so there is going to be guidance to prospective tenants and purchasers before even the viewing takes place so they understand what we are expecting from the viewing in ways of safety. we're not going to force anybody, or encourage people to let us into their homes who are uncomfortable already. we need to make sure that all parties are in agreement and they are happy with the risks associated with viewings in the first place. i've just had this message from andy thompson... you can't visit your elderly parents, but if their house is for sale, you can go round for a house viewing from today? yes, i can understand why there is a lot of confusion and concern. i'm pleased i am not the guy who writes the rules, that's for sure. some staff have even voiced that, it's very peculiar that this is the case. we're not going to make or ask anybody to do anything that they're not comfortable with, but i can understand there is pent—up frustration across the uk because it is one rule

for one, one rule for the other, but i suppose they are trying to get the economy moving and trying to get back to some state of normal. 0n on twitter, this person says... why do so few people not appreciate the need to get people back to work, but to balance it with the health risks? the behavioural sciences says you are the behavioural sciences says you a re less the behavioural sciences says you are less likely to hug your decorator. no one benefits from a collapsed economy. this one says... i wanted to share that like many others, i haven't stopped working and commuting, using public transport, during the lockdown. most of the time it has felt safe is very few people were travelling, but from the beginning of this week, there are more people on public transport and it is very difficult to keep your distance. not everyone is wearing a mask or covering. some people don't care about keeping a distance at all. how are we going to manage when more people go back to work? the headlines on bbc news...

the chancellor says it is no surprise that the uk economy has shrunk at its fastest pace since the financial crisis of 2008, on account of coronavirus. it's back to work for some people in england, but not in the rest of the uk. up to 8,000 jobs could go at the world's largest tour operator, tui. the anglo—german travel company is cutting costs by 30%. france is now officially the fourth worst—affected country in the world when it comes to coronavirus deaths. a place that had previously been held by spain. the united states tops the list, followed by the uk and italy. france has confirmed just under 27,000 fatalities from covid—19. remember 27,000 fatalities from covid—19. all those caveats . comparing remember all those caveats about comparing between countries. but despite the high death toll, the country is slowly easing restrictions on its lockdown. rich preston has this report.

after eight weeks in lockdown, france is slowly getting back to business. the liberte at the heart of french life is returning. in paris, the city's open air markets are back but with measures in place to try to keep people apart. translation: after two months doing nothing, not out of choice, i am super happy to be working but i hope it will continue, i'm a bit anxious. translation: i am very happy to be back with my stallholders, my cheesemakers, my favourite shopkeepers, after two months, here we are. we missed it a lot but with this nice weather we are happy. as long as people respect the distances. and on the city's famous champs—elysees, around half of the stores are now open, meaning shoppers can once again browse the aisles, whatever the reason. translation: my wife is pregnant, none of her clothes fit her anymore so we felt she at least needed to buy a pair of trousers

or a shirt or a sweater. translation: it has been a while since i've had a little walk and for me it is not only about buying, it is also a pleasure, and it is good to see that everything is back to normal. translation: i think what customers are also looking for is to treat themselves, to take care of themselves. we noticed a lot of purchases of care products but also make up, with the desire to getting back to their habits that they may have lost these last two months. the city's famous moulin rouge nightclub is gearing up for a summer reopening after several weeks of forced closure, and air france, the nationalflag carrier, is making its preparations, hopeful for a swift return to something resembling business as normal, though the wearing of masks is now mandatory, both in the terminal and on the plane. but in the air, on the streets and on the waterways of france, social distancing guidelines are still in place, with police patrolling and breaking up large crowds.

and amongst the positive pictures and the final feeling of liberty once more, there will be a darker thought at the back of many minds, with now the fourth highest death toll in the world, many will be asking why a country which routinely ranks as having one of the best health systems in the world suffered so badly. the governor of california has announced an easing of lockdown restrictions in america's most populous state. gavin newsom said offices and some restaurants could now open, provided they follow certain precautions. it follows a warning from one of the country's top infectious disease experts that reopening the economy too quickly could lead to needless death and suffering. our north america correspondent peter bowes reports from los angeles. beaches, shops and restaurants. it's beginning to feel like california again. there are still restrictions.

the beaches are open in los angeles cou nty the beaches are open in los angeles county but only for exercise. surfing and swimming are allowed but no sitting, picnics or volleyball. social distancing will be enforced and masks must be worn. i'm excited, you know, the two kids, we're getting in the house but we are making it work. i want to feel the ocean, this is my backyard, this is all of our backyards. the governor of california says the state is moving into the second phase of reopening, relaxing restrictions for its 40 million residence. today, we're announcing additional modifications statewide for our stay at home order, that include offices, if you cannot work remotely, we will allow for office modification and office openings on a statewide basis. he also said restaurants in parts of the state will open for sitdown dining and customers can pick up items from outside some stores at shopping malls. but the

governor insisted it is not a return to normal life just yet.|j governor insisted it is not a return to normal lifejust yet. i am not naive and no one should be. and i think one of the biggest mistakes we can make in this pandemic is, we start to move into a reopening phase,is start to move into a reopening phase, is somehow over promise what it means. it means relief for many, but nervous days ahead for officials, who are well aware the virus hasn't gone away. it has killed about 500 people every week in california for the past month. around the country, most states have begun to ease restrictions, but the us government's leading pandemic expert has warned the states not to move to quickly. my concern is that as states or cities or regions, their attempt, understandable, to get back to some form of normality, disregard to a greater or lesser degree the checkpoints that we put in our guidelines about when it is safe to proceeds in pulling back on mitigation. because i feel if that

occurs, there is a real risk that you will trigger an outbreak that you will trigger an outbreak that you might not be able to control. sobering warning for a nation struggling with its priorities. as lockdowns have led to empty streets in many big cities, life there has got riskier for those who rely on them for business. sex workers across the world say they're struggling to survive the pandemic. not only are their livelihoods under threat but many are being excluded from receiving emergency aid. and far from the numbers of women working on the streets dropping, support organisations say hardship is forcing some women to turn to it for the first time. rachel stonehouse reports. the reasons that women come out and sell sex haven't gone away. my work is my source of money. sex workers are struggling to pay their rent, struggling to buy food. where other people get help, sex workers do not. in an industry based on human

contact, coronavirus has hit hard. without much of a safety net and huge inequality, sex workers across the world are struggling. they feel ashamed... claire is a sex worker in the uk. the arrival of lockdown has wiped out her income. so, at the moment, i can't obviously see people, meet people, and that impacts a lot on my wage and, yes, of course i'm a little struggling in this moment to get by. claire normally works one week a month in italy. the government doesn't recognise sex workers at all, at all. so you are illegal, you can't have any kind of help and it's really difficult. across the globe the streets are deserted at night,

but in the uk, women are still coming out to work. it's a pretty grim evening, it has been chucking it down with rain and bristol generally is really quiet. having said that, we have just done a drive around for about 20 minutes and come across women we know are street sex working. for those in poverty or with addictions, selling sex might be the only option. the reasons women come out and sell sex on bristol's streets have not gone away because of the coronavirus pandemic. we would say that it is probably more dangerous, partly because there are fewer punters around. it is also because it is more likely that people will take more risks and, yes, it's an incredibly difficult time. amsterdam's red—light district is normally packed, but has been closed for eight weeks now. the government refuses to give corona aid to sex workers who are working in the legal sex

industry in the netherlands. this means that sex workers are struggling to pay their rent, struggling to buy food. where other people get help and other taxpayers get help, sex workers do not. in india, the situation is even more desperate. many sex workers remain in crowded red—light districts where social distancing is almost impossible. the uk, italian and dutch governments have said they have set aside emergency funding for people struggling, but sex workers around the world are calling for them to do more. rachel stonehouse, bbc news. with me is niki adams, a spokesperson

for the english collective of prostitutes. and i'm joined by sabrina sanchez, a trans sex worker from spain and director of the international committee on the rights of sex workers in europe. asa as a sex worker yourself, how have you been affected by the work down? the effect for me and my colleagues has been complete devastation. i haven't worked since the 13th of march, two days before the lockdown, and of course, we don't have any help from the government, still, 35 days after the lockdown. recently the government announced some measures but they are still not here, there is not even a plan yet, so here, there is not even a plan yet, so it is only the announcement. so, it has been a very terrible effect for all my colleagues, some

collea g u es for all my colleagues, some colleagues have been evicted from their places, some, as you know, in spain, you usually live in the brothel where you work, but of course, the brothels have been shutdown. some colleagues have negotiated with the brothel owners so negotiated with the brothel owners so they could stay, but these brothels are far away from the cities, and when they run out of food, they tried to look for help. so, the situation is desperate here, as everywhere else. let's ask nicky adams, what can you tell our audience about the impact of lockdown on sex workers in the uk? well, it has been completely devastating, most sex workers internationally are mothers, which means that hundreds of thousands of families have been depending on the income from sex work, and the levels of prostitution had already gone up

in recent years because of the austerity cuts that had targeted women and mothers in particular, and now people have literally had their income stop immediately, people don't have savings, they don't have any kind of backup, and under those circumstances, some women have had to go back to work. people don't wa nt to go back to work. people don't want to break the lockdown, they don't want to risk their own and their family's health, but it is a question of trying to choose between risking your health and facing hungerand risking your health and facing hunger and homelessness, and that is a very terrible choice that nobody should be put in. and we have been demanding from the government emergency, easy to access cash payments, which they have done before, when there was a series of murders here in ipswich back in 2006, and the absolute imperative was for women to be able to leave the streets, the government provided immediate cash payments. so, why not now? if they don't do that, really,

it is their responsibility that people are being forced back to work in these very risky situations. and of course also, we want an end to arrests because while women are working on the streets and some women are working from premises still, we're still seeing the police going around arresting women, threatening women with prosecution and even deportation for migrant sex workers, and that is completely u na cce pta ble workers, and that is completely unacceptable and it has to stop immediately. sabrina sanchez, you say sex workers are not considered a priority by government and it is short—sighted. why? | government and it is short—sighted. why? i can't hear you, i don't know what has happened. we will sort out your sound and i will go back to nicky adams. have you found that there are some men and women who have turned to sex work for the first time? yes, we have heard about

people going into sex work for the first time. it is not only sex workers who have been left without income and who are not entitled to those kind of payments and protections. for sex work it is a criminalised occupation, so we are particularly excluded from any of those wage payments, benefits and protections. but there are other workers, like zero hour workers, and many others, with precarious work who have also been excluded and have not been able to access it. yes, we have heard of women going into prostitution or going back into prostitution or going back into prostitution because they are left without an income. you will have heard critics say many times sex workers do not pay tax on their earnings, why should they qualify for government aid? that is an important point. first of all, some do register as self—employed. often you do not want to register as self—employed as a sex worker, you

choose a similar occupation, which causes all kinds of problems in terms of misrepresentation if you wa nt to terms of misrepresentation if you want to claim the benefits of self—employed people. loads and loads of sex workers pay taxes and thatis loads of sex workers pay taxes and that is an outrage. it is an outrage that is an outrage. it is an outrage that government is ready to take eric money in tax but still leave us ina eric money in tax but still leave us in a criminalised job, which means if we work together with another women in premises we risk charges of brothel keeping and if we work on the street we risk being convicted of loitering and soliciting and those offences go on to your record for life and you are trapped in prostitution. as a point of interest, it is interesting you have mentioned those two areas of criminalisation, when selling sex for money is legal in england, wales and scotland. i think we can go back to sabrina. i think we have sorted out the sound problems. why do you think sex workers are treated differently from other vulnerable

groups? well, basically we have this government, is progressive, socialist government in spain that one of their main permissions is the abolition of our work, when our trade union came to life. pedro sanchez, the prime minister tweeted about the fact is feminist government was not going to allow the self organisation of sex workers. that is a political view about our work, about our lives that this government of spain does not listen to us. they have not heard us in all this time, during these 50 days of lockdown. they have not sent an e—mailto

days of lockdown. they have not sent an e—mail to our trade union, not a sign ofa an e—mail to our trade union, not a sign of a virtual meeting or something to know our needs. nothing, no contact at all with us. and even the contact with the abolitionist organisations that usually provide services for sex workers that are the ones that are going to distribute this feature help when it is really they do not even know how to apply for this. 58 days of doing nothing. this announcement of this help, this feature help from the spanish government, they are just sending smoke really because they do not have a plan. it is the pressure from the feminist movement. we are saying what are you doing for us? what is this feminist government doing for

sex workers four the department of health and social care say the government has provided the charity sector with £750 million worth of funding to ensure the most vulnerable groups in society, including sex workers, are still able to access the vital services they need. is that getting through? the money for the charity sector is useful, but that does not address sex workers' needs. we need money in our hands in order that we do not have to go to work. hundreds and hundreds of people have been writing to theirmp, hundreds of people have been writing to their mp, asking their mp to put forward our demands for emergency payments and for worker status, and also for implementation of the parliamentary committee that did decriminalise sex workers on the street and in premises, which could be done immediately and would lift a massive burden from our shoulders. some mps have got back. i think trying to be helpful with

suggestions, one went into great details about universal credit and others have spoken about the self—employed status, but none of it meets women's' needs if you are working in a job that is criminalised. sure. how can you expect anybody to come forward and register as self—employed if by doing that you put yourself in fear of arrest, prosecution, doing that you put yourself in fear ofarrest, prosecution, or even worse deportation if you are a migrant sex worker. one mp told us in great detail about how you can apply for universal credit. everybody knows it is not enough to live on and there is a five—week wait before the money comes through. it is good the charity sector is getting money but women need money in their hands if they are not going to be forced out to work. thank you both very much for talking to us. nicky adams from the english collective of prostitutes and sabrina sanchez, director of the international committee on the rights of sex workers in europe.

the world health organization says the americas are currently at the centre of the coronavirus pandemic. the who has criticised leaders it says failed to listen to its initial warnings. tanya dendrinos has this report. brazil is a latin america's largest country with a population of more than 209 million people, and it has struggled to cope with coronavirus with more than 177,000 cases. more than 12,000 people have died. figures at the who say could have been avoided if certain leaders had not ignored his warnings. brazil's president dismissed the virus early on asjust a president dismissed the virus early on as just a little cold, but jair bolsonaro is not just on as just a little cold, but jair bolsonaro is notjust at odds with the world health organization, but with his own state governors as well. criticising the varying lockdown is implemented across the country, which he says are unnecessarily damaging the economy, he even fired his own health

minister after he recommended social distancing. and there are fears that brazil will not reach its peak for several more weeks. in south america health systems in a large, urban centres, like lima and rio de janeiro, are quickly becoming overwhelmed. we are also witnessing a similar impact of covid—19 on big cities across the amazon basin. elsewhere in the region, a deadly virus is killing thousands of people, not coronavirus, dengue fever. it is endemic across much of latin america, but they have seen a surge in cases. in colombia resources a re surge in cases. in colombia resources are usually dedicated to fighting dengue fever have been diverted to tackling the coronavirus. translation: covert is the star right now, so all of the attention is on coronavirus, but

there are still problems with dengue fever and there are problems with hospital capacity. in paraguay, dengue fever infections have exploded with nearly 43,000 cases and more than 60 deaths in the first 18 weeks of this year. here in bolivia officials say they think they will hit a record high this year. translation: it is possible we will surpass the historical record of 2009. it was the year of the worst epidemic bolivia experienced for dengue disease. while efforts continue to tackle the coronavirus global pandemic, countries across latin america are focusing on not winning one fight, only to lose another. how badly has the pandemic hurt the economy? the chancellor, rishi sunak, has this morning said it's very likely the uk economy will face a significant recession this year after output figures showed

the economy shrank by 2% in the first three months of the year. let's talk to the deputy national statistician for economic statistics at the ons, jonathan athow. good morning. good morning. first of all, the size of this contraction, 296 in all, the size of this contraction, 2% in the first three months of this year, put that into some context for us. year, put that into some context for us. at first flash 2% year, put that into some context for us. at first flash 296 does not sound like a large fall, but in the entire series of data we have got stretching all the way back to 1955, we have only had four quarters where we have only had four quarters where we have only had four quarters where we have seen biggerfalls we have only had four quarters where we have seen bigger falls than this. ina we have seen bigger falls than this. in a sentence, this is a pretty large fall. we need to bear in mind that restrictions to manage the pandemic only came into effect part the way through march. so even though the restrictions came in them, we have already seen a 2% hit

to the uk economy. can you break down the months for us? can you tell us down the months for us? can you tell us specifically for march what happened? yes, there was a very large effect in march. the march figure on its own is nearly 6% fall. that is the biggest fall we have seen that is the biggest fall we have seenin that is the biggest fall we have seen in our monthly figures. our monthly figures do not go far back, but a 6% fall is a very sizeable reduction in the economic output. we know it takes two consecutive quarters of negative growth to officially be in recession in the uk, but knowing what we know from the first three months can we say today that the uk economy is in recession? we will not have the final data on that for some while yet, but the prospect of quarter two are not looking good for the next three months. we know from our own

surveys of businesses that many businesses are putting large numbers of staff on to the furlough scheme. maybe 25% of workers will not be working, so there will be no output from them. we are looking at absolutely massive impacts in terms of our economy. the bank of england put together a scenario suggesting in the second quarter we might see a 2596 in the second quarter we might see a 25% fall in economic output. that is com pletely 25% fall in economic output. that is completely unprecedented. that is nine or ten times the biggest quarterly fall we have ever seen. so the prospect here is not good. and the prospect here is not good. and the speed with which this has hit the speed with which this has hit the economy and the depth of the impact is really unprecedented. what kind ofjobs, impact is really unprecedented. what kind of jobs, occupations, impact is really unprecedented. what kind ofjobs, occupations, sectors, have we seen economic activity slumped in? we have seen it across the board. if you work in the services industry, manufacturing,

construction, all of these sectors are down. there are a few bright spots in the economy. we saw the pharmaceutical industry seeing its output growing, it was one of the few subsectors to see some growth. there was also growth in march in paper products and that was due to the very high demand for toilet rolls. there are a few relatively small sectors in terms of the overall economy where there was growth. otherwise, we are seeing widespread disruption. if you look at hotels and restaurants, in march they were down 30%. if you look at they were down 30%. if you look at the output of cars and vehicles, that was down 30%. you are seeing some really big falls, broadly across the economy, a few bright spots, but not very many. thank you very much, jonathan.

the us secretary of state mike pompeo has arrived in tel aviv, in israel in what is his first foreign trip since the outbreak of covid—19. he was wearing a face mask as he landed ahead for meetings with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu, and later his coalition partner benny gantz. in the last hour mr pompeo and mr netanyahu made some remarks at a joint news conference. they did of course begin with covid—19, but both men couldn't resist having a few words at the expense of israel's regional rival, iran. we'll certainly talk about the challenges the globe faces with covid. israeli technology, medical expertise, all of the things that you and i and our teams can work on together, i know we'll deliver good outcomes and decrease risk for people all across the world from this global pandemic. you're a great partner, you share information, unlike some other countries that try and obfuscate and hide that information, and we'll talk about that country, too.

the most important thing is actually generating the information, and then sharing it. that's right. democracies do both of those incredibly well. yes. we spoke a short while ago to tom bateman. well, the american position, as it was outlined injanuary in president trump's a vision for peace, or the so—called deal of the century, whatever you want to call it, was that israel would have the right to annex up to about a third of the occupied west bank, that being the israeli settlements and parts of thejordan valley, but that that should happen in the context of the overall vision, as they see it. now, that would involve giving four years for negotiations with the palestinians in order for them to have their own state in the west bank. now, what i think has happened over time is that we've seen the israelis really now enshrined this annexation into the new government agreement. there's a new government that starts tomorrow. mr netanyahu wants to get that

going from the beginning ofjuly. the americans have been putting more and more emphasis in public statements recently on the negotiations element of it, the engagement with the palestinians. now, the state department has been asked ahead of this visit whether there is a change of emphasis, whether they are going to ask the israelis to perhaps hold off until they get that negotiation element. they're saying nothing has changed over this, but certainly, it would seem that mr pompeo's pretty keen to find out exactly what the israeli thinking is. that is what he said in an interview with an israeli newspaper in the run—up to this visit. because, to come all of this way for a visit forjust six hours, given all of the hassle it involves, they have had to put a health bubble around him, so that only people screened for coronavirus can go within two metres of the secretary of state. so obviously they deem this a pretty important meeting. one of the top priorities during the coronavirus outbreak has been getting supplies to where they're needed. on the isle of wight, they're using a new drone service to deliver to their only nhs hospital.

the unmanned aircraft has been brought into service four years early so things like personal protective equipment, ppe, can be sent to the island quickly. duncan kennedy has been to see it in action. mid—air, mid solent, midway to the isle of wight to land vital hospital equipment. this is britain's first drone medical supply service. delivering protective clothing in the covid—19 crisis to the island's only nhs hospital. called a windracers ultra, it's a massive autonomous aircraft that is remote—controlled and with the cargo hold the size of an estate car boot. it's capable of carrying a very significant payload of 100 kilos for 1,000km, and it's capable of flying at nearly 100mph, so it's relatively fast and, most importantly, it's cheap.

the drone was originally designed to deliver food to remote areas of africa, but southampton university and a consortium of companies called solent transport have combined to adapt it, remove supplies and ppe to the isle of wight to adapt it, to move supplies and ppe to the isle of wight at the request of the government. it needs a runway no longer than a football pitch to take off and land. and it's quick, taking only 10 minutes to fly over the solent. it's fully safety—tested, capable of flying in all weathers and on one engine or none. if both fail, it can glide to land or float on water. when it touches down on the island, its supplies are taken the short journey to st mary's hospital. in britain, this is the first of its type. we are the first people to have done flights beyond visual line

of sight and deliver medical facilities between hospitals. what we're trying to do is provide a really, really useful, timely service that can provide really fast transfer of urgent, time sensitive goods. the drone wasn't supposed to be fully operational for another four years. it's been given special permission by the civil aviation authority to get airborne. this is an incredible period for the isle of wight. not only is it the test bed for the government's new covid—19 smartphone app, but it's also the destination for this highly sophisticated drone. two types of cutting—edge technology, set to work in this coronavirus crisis. the islands hovercraft and ferry services are still running but on a reduced service while continuing to be used by the nhs to transport supplies and patients. but is the drone any match of a helicopter, which can also travel

quickly to the island? the helicopters are very expensive we need to use a helicopterfor saving life, but the drone can back that up. the drone is a workhorse. the covid—19 story has driven invention, change and creativity. this drone combines all three to make mainland an island, in a new air bridge of high—tech innovation. duncan kennedy, bbc news. a couple of months ago, any parent of a sick or injured child wouldn't have thought twice about taking them to hospital, if it was necessary. now, fear of coronavirus is causing them to stay away, with addenbrooke's hospital in cambridge seeing less than a third of their usual number of young patients. our science correspondent richard westcott reports. there are plenty of staff on shift and all the safety measures are in place but at this hospital, like many others, staff say fear of the virus is stopping parents bringing their children in.

it's a lot quieter. we've got empty beds for the first time in paediatrics. we've not had empty beds for a long time. i mean, you're a nurse but you're also a parent. can you understand why people would be worried, reluctant? totally, totally understand it and we've discussed it with our colleagues and said, "what would we do if our children were sick?" and we've all gone, "oh, no," but we all know the right answer is to seek medical hope when medical help is needed and we would bring our children in. keep your eyes still, keep your head still right now, look at my fingers wiggling, that's brilliant, fantastic. they would normally see 80—90 children a day at this time of year. they‘ re currently seeing around 20—30. i didn't want it! including abigail, whose mum was nervous about bringing her in. watching the news, very scared about the number of people dying and all that but then we had to come in. and you're glad you did it? i am very pleased i did,

i brought my daughter in and she is getting much better. if you had seen her nine weeks ago, you would understand she is much better now. because i know she is in good hands and in a better place. initially we were expecting a tsunami of coronavirus cases and what we've seen is a different problem. we've seen children presenting later and sicker, some to our intensive care unit because we think parents are worried about presenting to hospital in the middle of the pandemic. there's another problem too. covid—19 doesn't tend to make children very sick but sepsis, appendicitis and pneumonia do, and the symptoms can look the same as the virus. if a child is seriously ill with a cough or a fever or other non—specific symptoms such as abdominal pain, it probably isn't coronavirus and the key is that we want those children to come to hospital as soon as possible. that's what caught natasha out. her sonjack has a rare

genetic condition so they are used to hospitals. he's recovered now, but a few weeks ago, he became very ill with what even the doctors initially thought was coronavirus. we went the whole week, you know, thinking, "tthis is covid—19, "we will ride out another day, we will ride out another day," and that kind of suppressed any of my usual gut instincts. but hospital tests showed he didn't have the virus, he had severe pneumonia. i know the covid is in the news, it's what everyone is focusing on but if you feel something isn't right, then act on it because i ignored it, i thought i was doing the right thing, it wasn't the right thing. addenbrooke's, like all hospitals, is zoned off — covid patients and the staff treating them are kept well away from these wards. parents like peter, who was in with sonjj, said they felt well protected. he needs his treatment, he'll get it and he gets

brilliant treatment here. how has the experience been, actually being in hospital, have you felt safe? yeah, we've been in three different hospitals and every time, safe as houses. so its business as usual on these wards. their advice is, if your child is obviously very ill and you're not sure what to do, seek medical help. richard wescott, bbc news, addenbrooke's hospital in cambridge. thank you for your messages. this is one from simon who says, my good old fashion, british common sense says that if i can have a cleaner in my house, then i can have my mum around. colette says, she is really excited about the prospect of being able to see a frame for the first time in open space on saturday. my friend and i have put our walk in ourdiaryfor friend and i have put our walk in our diary for saturday morning, i am excited. ms green says, i would love

a cuddle, it is hard not seeing people for six weeks, especially my partner. i may stick to what's app because it is safer. ijust keep telling myself, especially because of my mental health problems, that i have my health and other people have it far worse than i do. thank you for watching, you have been watching bbc news. let's bring you the weather before that. hello. it was a fairly chilly start to the day, we had a touch of frost in one or two places, and we are still in quite a cold air mass. although for most of us there will be spells of sunshine on offer today, also a few showers around. where you do catch some of the showers in the north east of scotland and north—east england as well, they could be of a wintry nature. but the high pressure keeping things mostly dry out there at the moment. we have got a warm front moving in across the north of scotland, bringing a little bit more cloud and showers there. elsewhere, sunny spells likely through much of the day. the areas most likely to catch some of those showers

are across the north—east of england, it is wintry over the north york moors, for instance, northern and eastern scotland. there is that cloud increasing from the north—west across the far north—west of scotland and you will see a little more cloud and a few showers in the western isles, for instance. elsewhere, sunny spells. temperatures only around about 11—14 for most of us, but along the east coast of scotland and eastern england many of us in single figures. we have got quite a brisk wind as well, particularly in parts of east anglia, the south east and through the english channel. we could see cuts of about 40 mph. into this evening and overnight the winds gradually ease and most of the cloud melts away, so we are expecting widely quite a cold night with a touch of frost around too. temperatures getting down close to or even a little bit below freezing, particularly in parts of northern england and southern scotland as well. a chilly start to your thursday, but a bright, sunny one for most of us. england and wales tend to keep the sunshine throughout the day. a chance of the odd shower across the thames estuary, and a bit more cloud building through the day. scotland and northern ireland will gradually cloud over as that warm front moves in from the north—west.

one or two showers around here. most places dry, temperatures tomorrow a little bit warmer than today, around 11—16. heading on into friday, we have got high pressure starting to build in from the south—west. that keeps things largely dry and settled. less windy, particularly along the east coast and through the english channel than it has been recently, so it will feel a bit warmer as we lose that wind—chill. temperatures are a bit warmer, round about 13—17, but there will be cloud bubbling up during the afternoon. into the weekend and here is the area of high pressure pushing in from the south—west, keeping most of the weather fronts at bay, but you will see low pressure bringing some frontal systems across parts of scotland and northern ireland. a few showers for scotland and northern ireland, england and wales are largely dry, and things will be a bit warmer than they have been recently.

this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk

and around the world. a 2% slump in the uk economy because of the coronavirus crisis. it's suffering the sharpest downturn since the financial crisis of 2008. it is not a surprise, in common with pretty much every other economy around the world, we're facing severe impact from the coronavirus, you're seeing that in the numbers. it's back to work for some people in england, but in other parts of the uk the ‘stay at home' message remains in place. up to 8,000 jobs could go at the world's largest tour operator tui. the anglo—german travel company is cutting costs by 30%. the eu discusses moves to open up borders and gradually

revive its halted tourism sector. california relaxes its coronavirus restrictions, amid warnings of needless deaths and sufferings if the united states reopens too quickly. good morning. welcome to audiences in the uk and around the world. we're covering all the latest coronavirus developments here in britain and globally. first, seven weeks after the uk prime minister announced the lockdown, some restrictions are being eased in england. from today, if you work in construction, food production, manufacturing — anyjob you can't do from home — you're being encouraged to go back to work. you can also from today meet a friend or someone from another household outside for a walk

or physically distanced sport — but it must be one—on—one. from today garden centres can reopen. they're already open in wales. estate agents can also reopen in england and viewings in properties can go ahead. lockdown restrictions are being eased elsewhere in the world too. of course, in the us, the governor of california says offices and some restaurants can now open. the eu will meet later to discuss plans on ending border restrictions and resuming free movement within the schengen area. parts of france have cautiously begun to lift the lockdown, but the country now has the world's fourth—highest number of fatalities. meanwhile, brazil has recorded its highest daily rise in the number of deaths. but the president says businesses must remain open to prevent a major economic crisis. the economic impact is being felt across the world. we've had new official figures today that show the uk economy shrank by 2% from january to march. that's the largest contraction since the 2008 financial crisis

and it only takes into account the beginning of the lockdown. the uk chancellor, rishi sunak, has been giving his reaction to those figures to our economics editor, faisal islam. in some sense, they're not a surprise, in common with pretty much every other economy around the world, we're facing severe impact from the coronavirus, you're seeing that in the numbers, and that's why we've taken the unprecedented action that we have to support people's jobs, incomes, livelihoods, at this time, and support businesses, so we can get through this period of severe disruption and emerge stronger on the other side. i know it's a technical definition but it now looks pretty certain, given what's happened in this quarter, that this is the start of a recession? as you know, a recession is defined technically as two quarters of decline in gdp. we've seen one here, with only a few days of impact from the virus, so, it is now, yes, very likely that the uk economy will face a significant recession this year, and we are in the middle

of that as we speak. that is the chancellor. let's speak now to our business correspondent ben thompson. i guess it was completely inevitable, nonetheless, not nice to hear and know that that is what we are going through. good morning. absolutely right. official confirmation for the first quarter of the year and as you heard that from the chancellor, the first three months of this year, january, february and march and worth remembering that the lockdown was only introduced in the 21st of march so only introduced in the 21st of march so only a week's worth of impact. we will see that bigger impact in the second quarter so the figures for april, may and june that we will not yet get for a little while. pretty inevitable that the uk will enter recession, technically defined as two quarters of negative growth. if you look at much on its own rather than across the whole quarter, the

economy shrank by 5.8%. if we think back to the financial crisis of 2008, the economy then shrank by 6.9%, sojust one percentage point more but it did that over the course of 13 months stop what we are seeing here is that the economy shrank by 5.8% injusta here is that the economy shrank by 5.8% injust a week here is that the economy shrank by 5.8% in just a week of march. this in some respects much more severe, faster and the scale of the decline happened much more severely. not surprising given that fact many of us surprising given that fact many of us couldn't get to work, businesses we re us couldn't get to work, businesses were closed, shops and offices not operating as normal. that is why we are seeing today that emphasis on the businesses that can get back to normal to do so. that is all sorts of different organisations but particularly those acts i'd like construction. you heard about garden centres, agriculture, but also businesses that can, like warehouses and factories, make changes to how

they operate to let people get back to work a little more safely. lots of work clearly still to do, lots of advice from the government over the past 48 hours on how business might do that. it is going to take quite a while before we see the real impact of this lot down and we will feel it in the second quarter of the year, april, may and june because, that we we re april, may and june because, that we were getting a little while. in terms of business is going back, how ready are they? what sort of proportion of businesses are going to be going back this week? proportion of businesses are going to be going back this week7m proportion of businesses are going to be going back this week? it is really difficult to get a real sense of who is going back, when and in what capacity because there are so many factors that will determine whether they are able to work and how efficiently and whether there is demand, for example. when you touched on the, estate agents, it is quite a good example because it is a real mix of supply and demand. yes, there is a lot of pent—up demand because there has been a lot of transactions that have been withheld

stop the last figures i looked at, 373 thousand transactions with £82 billion which have been held up in all of this. from today, you will see that estate agents can begin working, surveyors may be able to go out and do surveys, removals firms may be able to start working again and viewing of properties may be able to happen, but of course that creates its own questions, will you wa nt creates its own questions, will you want people traipsing around your house looking at your property if you are concerned about visiting other relatives, for example? whether you want people in your home. i think it is fair to say the financial situation for many buyers and sellers will have changed significantly. maybe sellers want to raise a bit more money, maybe buyers are asking for a bit less in terms of how much they are willing to pay and frankly, many people might be looking for a spare room and good broadband to make sure they can work from home as we have seen so many people do over the past few months. let's bring in their one business thatis let's bring in their one business that is getting back to normal. this

isa that is getting back to normal. this is a bakery business. good morning to you, ellen. you have managed to get some of your work is back today, what changes have you had to make and how many are you able to have working in the business because i know you are not yet at full capacity. yes, our factory has a total of 38 people and 18 are coming back this week. what sort of changes have you had to introduce to make sure the workers in the factory are able to work safely? i would imagine the food preparation business, you your safety standards are pretty high anyway. correct. you have to follow a lot of rules of where people stand or how cleaning is done and even where the products, the way they come in and go out of the factory, so we were already kind of prepared in that sense because we

we re prepared in that sense because we were protecting the food, now we are protecting the food and ourselves. some changes that were done in the factory were keeping people two metres apart and masks were added. we already used to use gloves and hair nets and overcoats so that was already done. cleaning is being done more often. there was somebody cleaning the factory now full—time, we use to clean between batches and now it is basically all the time. some areas are not being used as well. and i know in some parts of the business, it is practically impossible to maintain those social distancing rules because you have production lines, of course, they need people to be attending to them, and you have got a novel solution to allow some of your workers to break those two metre rules. correct. in the pecking line, there is an area

that we need more than one person to operate the machines. —— in the packing line. they will be husband and wife because they are the same household. that suggestion came from the staff so i think it was pretty creative. good luck with it, ella, there is a lot of work to do before you are able to get to full to capacity. you have been able to make the most of online sales as well. it is good to talk to you. joanna, that really is the issue for many workers right now. they want to get back to work, employers trying to make sure workplaces are safe to do so. maybe thatis workplaces are safe to do so. maybe that is having separate entrances and exits so that ships don't meet, staggering start times, but one of the big problem is we are likely to see is public transport, to get

people safely to and from work could bea people safely to and from work could be a problem. we know that trains, buses, trams, all that sort of thing, not yet up to full capacity. even when those services are running at full capacity, they are not going to be able to be as full as they we re to be able to be as full as they were before. one of the real concerns for workers and staff is how they get to and from work, even if their workplace is able to make changes to make it safe to get back into the work and resemble some sort of normality. still clearly a lot of work to do. thank you very much ben. i like the husband and wife teams working together. i wonder how practical that would be elsewhere. let's get up—to—date with the transport issues. the government has encouraged people to return to work if they can, but to only use public transport as a last resort. borisjohnson has asked people to walk, cycle or drive to work where possible with many bus and train companies running a reduced service. these pictures show gridlock on the m1, heading into central london, and this bus in east london

with a large number of people getting off with transport for london saying passengers numbers were up on last week. the transport secretary, grant shapps said it was important to not overcrowd buses and tubes. it is essential, it doesn't matter what happens on the underground or on the wider rail network in terms of full number of trains and buses running, even when we get to that point, they're being cranked up again, only one in ten people will have space to remain properly socially distanced. so, we're asking people to look again at their travel plans and make sure they're distanced, and i'm pushing the mayor as well to make sure that more services are run, and as quickly as possible. our correspondent charlotte rose said despite the government advice to go to work, passengers numbers are still lower than normal.

canning town tube station in east london is usually a busy transport hub with the tube station, docklands light railway and the bus station behind me. but, of course, we are not in normal times at the moment. this morning there has been a steady stream of people coming to the station. most buses have been fairly quiet, a couple have been at capacity. at the tube station just over my right shoulder people appear to have been able to stay two metres apart from one another and there have been frequent tannoy announcements reminding people about social distancing rules. the government in the lead—up to today has urged people, if possible, not to use public transport to get to work, but instead to walk, cycle or use their own vehicles. ministers say if you do have to travel, you should think about taking extra precautions. try to stay two metres away from each other, use a face mask or covering. try and use a contactless payment card if you can, and make sure you wash your hands at the start and end of your journey. of course, for some people they will be coming to work for the first time in seven weeks and it remains to be seen whether this new system works and if people feel safe using it.

the travel firm tui has warned that it will have to cut 8,000 jobs as it aims to reduce costs by 30% due to the coronavirus pandemic. the company says its turnover would be significantly lower this year, and cost savings will only partly compensate for the slump. tui was forced to cancel the majority of its travel programme in march. the european commission is meeting today to discuss plans for ending border restrictions and resuming free movement within the schengen area, that's the zone where 26 european countries normally have no internal borders so you can travel freely. the rapid spread of the virus in march led european nations to close border crossings with their neighbours. earlier, austria said its border with germany will reopen from june 15th and france has already laid out its intention to reopen borders next month. earlier, our europe reporter, gavin lee, told me how europe is easing lockdowns and in particular — the effect this will have on travel and tourism. there's two things worth bearing in mind. so, you've got tourism corridors being spoken of,

you've also got travel bubbles. so, first of all, tourism corridors. there's been talk amongst certainly the danes to say, what if you could fly from copenhagen to, say, athens, two countries, greece and denmark, where they've had relatively low levels of covid—19 infections and deaths, could you set up separate travel corridors? travel bubbles, so, for example friday, where you've got the baltic countries, estonia, latvia, lithuania, all opening their borders to each other, so therefore, let's say summer holidays might be more local to them. austria, germany, france, switzerland, june 15th, looking to open their internal borders. but this is the thing. so, the european commission today putting out a roadmap to travel again, saying that it is part of the cornerstone of the european union, the free movement of people, and these schengen countries in europe, 26 of them, have got border restrictions in place. but the commission won't suggest corridors or bubbles, they won't do anything other than say, we need to have a slow

lifting of the lockdown, and they will set, we expect, some kind of guideline as well for travellers to know what countries to go to, based on what measures are in each country that they're taking, preventative to covid—19, and also hotels as well. so, we might see some kind of visual guideline for travellers well, not just about the right to breathe fresh air and move and see families in another country, it is also down to the hard cash. 400 billion euros lost in the tourism sector. think about countries like greece, 20% of its economy's gdp is from tourism, spain, 16% as well. it's about getting the economy back up and running again in these countries. the governor of california has announced an easing of lockdown restrictions in america's most populous state. gavin newsom said offices and some restaurants could now open, provided they follow certain precautions. it follows a warning from one of the country's top infectious disease experts that reopening the economy too quickly could lead to needless death and suffering.

beaches, shops and restaurants. it's beginning to feel like california again. there are still restrictions. the beaches are open in los angeles county but only for exercise. surfing and swimming are allowed but no sitting, picnics or volleyball. social distancing will be enforced and masks must be worn. i'm excited, you know, the two kids, we're getting frustrated in the house but we are making it work. i want to feel the ocean, this is my backyard, this is all of our backyards. the governor of california says the state is moving into the second phase of reopening, relaxing restrictions for its 40 million residence. today, we're announcing additional modifications statewide for our stay at home order, that include offices, if you cannot work remotely, we will allow for office modification and office openings

on a statewide basis. he also said restaurants in parts of the state will open for sitdown dining and customers can pick up items from outside some stores at shopping malls. but the governor insisted it is not a return to normal life just yet. i am not naive and no one should be. and i think one of the biggest mistakes we can make in this pandemic as we start to move into a reopening phase is somehow over promise what it means. it means relief for many, but nervous days ahead for officials, who are well aware the virus hasn't gone away. it has killed about 500 people every week in california for the past month. around the country, most states have begun to ease restrictions, but the us government's leading pandemic expert has warned the states not to move to quickly. my concern is that as states or cities or regions, their attempt, understandable, to get back to some form

of normality, disregard to a greater or lesser degree the checkpoints that we put in our guidelines about when it is safe to proceeds in pulling back on mitigation. because i feel if that occurs, there is a real risk that you will trigger an outbreak that you might not be able to control. a sobering warning for a nation struggling with its priorities. peter bowes, bbc news. more now on employees in england being encouraged to return to work today, and hundreds of small businesses around the country are reopening today after the changes announced by the government earlier this week. with me is dan marshall, manager of scarborough footgolf, a family run leisure business in north yorkshire who are re—opening today. welcome. and i'm alsojoined by anne sammon, an employment partner at law firm pinsent masons. welcome, both of you. dan, first of all, how will things be from today?

are you fully reopened? yes, we reopen today at 10am. we are expecting it to be slow but steady. we do not want big groups coming at once so we are we do not want big groups coming at once so we are staggering it out. we are not expecting huge crowds as we would be at this time in other yea rs. would be at this time in other years. how many people have showed up years. how many people have showed up so far? it is still early. it is very early. we have only had one group turned up so far but more are booking info later in the week. do you feel like you have to police these groups? obviously, it is supposed to be groups who are living together, what if you feel there is a group of people who are not living in the same house? we can only do our best. we are telling people no more than four people to a group and we have mentioned it can only be families or one other person with another person meeting. we are trying our best. if they turn up in the same cars, we have got to allow them because they have already been

within the two metres so we assume that they are family. with the number of people able to use the course obviously so reduced, how is it going to be financially viable for you? being a small business, we don't employ many people and it is a family business as well so anything we get, we take, really. i got the business, it is just hit and hope we get, we take, really. i got the business, it isjust hit and hope in a way so with the amount of people turning up. although it will be a hit financially, we can sort of cope with this. thank you. stay with us because i'm going to bring in an, an employment lawyer. there are lots of issues around people going back to work and feeling safe. what would you say to somebody who might be feeling unsure about whether their workplace is safe? i think employers have a duty to ensure that they provide a safe working environment for their employees. what we have

seen for their employees. what we have seenis for their employees. what we have seen isa for their employees. what we have seen is a lot of business are striving to take steps above and beyond what the government guidance sets out to give their employees a real sense of security, and that is really important at the moment, understanding the fears and anxieties that your employees have is key to encouraging them and facilitating and coming back to work. if people don't feel safe, can they refuse to go back? that would depend on their circumstances. we have got different people who are affected differently by this pandemic. those who are shielding are ina pandemic. those who are shielding are in a very different situation and are able to push back a lot more than other individuals might be able to. back to you, dan. i know you said you don't employ many people but is everybody happy to be back and feeling safe? yes. over the past... well, since lockdown began, we have been in contact with our organisation and they are helping and employing rules that make us

employees safe and also the customers that do turn up. in terms of what employers need to be doing to reassure their workers, there are so to reassure their workers, there are so many elements to it from getting home to the workplace when people are told not to use public transport and also issues around ppe, not to mention social distancing once they get there, what are the responsibilities of an employer here? employers have to provide a safe working environment. what we have been recommending to our clients is that they carry out risk assessments so they can establish what the risks are in their working environment because each premises is very different. it is about identifying which risks you specifically have as a business. does it extend to issues of actually getting people into the workplace as well safely? that is something that employers need to consider. whilst we have seen lots of employers taking steps to, for example, increase cycling capacity by installing cycling racks, employers

need to be mindful that those of us who have to travel by public transport have additional hurdles and challenges to get into the office. what should an employee do if they really don't feel like their workplace is once they get there?” think the first thing to do is to talk to your employer, talk to your line manager, and express the concerns that you have. most businesses are going to be open to listening to those concerns and where there generally is an issue to addressing the problem and putting it right. when you say most businesses will be open to addressing those concerns, what if they are not, what do somebody do then? in those circumstances, it is about escalation and appropriate escalation. we have got the health and safety executive which is policing all of these issues and they have a helpline which individuals can contact. this has been a very, very difficult time for anybody who is trying to get a business through it, are you

confident your business will be able to survive? we think we will be able to. we have been one of the first able to open so we can get that trade turning up but hopefully by the summer, things will be looking slightly more normal and we can't let more people in the course. the focus this year is very much going to be domestic rather than international tourism, what sort of breakdown of visitors would you normally get? we usually get local and tourists, so to say. we are situated by all the caravan park so we rely on them bringing customers in. at the moment, they are closed so we are in. at the moment, they are closed so we are not getting that custom but hopefully when they are allowed to open, we will see an increase in customers and our course.” to open, we will see an increase in customers and our course. i hope it goes really well. dan marshall from foot golf. and thank you to employment lawyer.

we are keeping up—to—date with all of the latest developments on covid—19 here in the uk and around the world. you are watching bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with sarah keith lucas. hello. it was a fairly chilly start to the day, we had a touch of frost in one or two places, and we are still in quite a cold air mass. although for most of us there will be spells of sunshine on offer today, also a few showers around. where you do catch some of the showers in the north east of scotland and north—east england as well, they could be of a wintry nature. but the high pressure keeping things mostly dry out there at the moment. we have got a warm front moving in across the north of scotland, bringing a little bit more cloud and showers there. elsewhere, sunny spells likely through much of the day. the areas most likely to catch some of those showers are across the north—east of england, it is wintry over the north york moors, for instance, northern and eastern scotland. there is that cloud increasing from the north—west across the far north—west of scotland and you will see a little more

cloud and a few showers in the western isles, for instance. elsewhere, sunny spells. temperatures only around about 11—14 for most of us, but along the east coast of scotland and eastern england many of us in single figures. we have got quite a brisk wind as well, particularly in parts of east anglia, the south east and through the english channel. we could see gusts of about 40 mph. into this evening and overnight the winds gradually ease and most of the cloud melts away, so we are expecting widely quite a cold night with a touch of frost around to. temperatures getting down close to or even a little bit below freezing, particularly in parts of northern england and southern scotland as well. a chilly start to your thursday, but a bright, sunny one for most of us. england and wales tend to keep the sunshine throughout the day. a chance of the odd shower across the thames estuary, and a bit more cloud building through the day. scotland and northern ireland will gradually cloud over us as that warm front moves in from the north—west. one or two showers around here. most places dry, temperatures tomorrow a little bit warmer than today, around 11—16. heading on into friday, we have got high pressure starting

to build in from the south—west. that keeps things largely dry and settled. less windy, particularly along the east coast and through the english channel than it has been recently, so it will feel a bit warmer as we lose that wind—chill. temperatures are a bit warmer, round about 13—17, but there will be cloud bubbling up during the afternoon. into the weekend and here is the area of high pressure pushing in from the south—west, keeping most of the weather fronts at bay, but you will see low pressure bringing some frontal systems across parts of scotland and northern ireland. a few showers for scotland and northern ireland, england and wales are largely dry, and things will be a bit warmer than they have been recently.

hello, this is bbc news. the headlines... a 2% slump in the uk economy because of the coronavirus crisis.

it's suffering the sharpest downturn since the financial crisis of 2008. it is not a surprise, in common with pretty much every other economy around the world, we're facing severe impact from the coronavirus, you're seeing that in the numbers. it's back to work for some people in england, but in other parts of the uk the ‘stay at home' message remains in place. up to 8,000 jobs could go at the world's largest tour operator, tui. the anglo—german travel company is cutting costs by 30%. the eu discusses moves to open up borders and gradually revive its halted tourism sector. california relaxes its coronavirus restrictions amid warnings of needless deaths and sufferings if the united states reopens too quickly. households in england are now able to drive to other destinations in england —

such as parks and beaches. well, let's get the picture from exmouth beach in devon and our correspondent sarah ransome. it doesn't look that busy, what is happening? it is in the fits and sta rts happening? it is in the fits and starts here this morning. we are here and it is one of the prettiest, picturesque and oldest beach resorts in devon. you can see here part of some of the two mile worth of golden sands that make up some of the attraction for people to come here, attraction for people to come here, a gateway to the world heritage jurassic coast. we came here a month ago to see if people were observing restrictions, we had to beat almost to ourselves then. —— the beach. today we saw quite a lot of other people who made their way year,

mostly locals who had their walk, and they are grateful they can have more than one now. but we did have one or two others come from exeter, a ten or 15 minute drive away, nobody at that has come from further afield. the people from exeter talked about being let loose and being allowed to come and breathe the sea air. you might be able to see behind may be number of cars here that are part up. when we were here that are part up. when we were here a month ago, there was none. it does seem as though some more people are coming out, there are families on the beach, people trying to make sand castles, and loads of dog walkers are now out, although some of the restrictions that are already in place for the summer season are

now being slightly relaxed in some places, but here they have all gone to the far end of the beach. i have also been talking to tourism leaders who are quite concerned about what this easing of restrictions might mean for some people, they may decide to come here and will be perfectly within their rights, travelling to places like this. the tourism leaders are very concerned that people will come expecting pubs and clubs and camping areas being open. the message for them is not to come for that reason as these facilities are not open. they say, don't come yet, we will welcome you with open arms when all restrictions are lifted. people will come and they will stay and they might bring they will stay and they might bring the virus with them and health services here might not be able to cope if that were the case. if you look at some of the graphs that we

had in the last few weeks, terrible death figures of those who have died in other parts of the country, here in the south—west we have had a graph which is relatively low, which is lucky. the concern is amongst many people here, mps and people in authority, is that if people do come down the number of deaths may spike. they are asking people to stay away until they are sure that the restrictions have been fully lifted. in around half an hour, the borisjohnson will face the labour leader, sir keir starmer, in prime minister questions. let's get the latest from westminster withjo coburn. over to you. as you say, it is going to start in 25 minutes and that is on the day that started in lockdown restrictions have been eased. there are things you can do today that you could not do yesterday, according to

the guidance. one firm will that remains is the two major social distancing rule, which is very much evident here in the houses of parliament. it comes amid widespread criticism of the government's direct messaging, according to labour and other critics, that there has been some confusion about what people think they can or cannot do. the government has talked about using and exercising common sense, boris johnson described it as good old british common sense, but there are questions as to whether it is really safe to return to work. let's speak now to the conservative mp andrew griffith and labour's shadow business minister, lucy powell. the economy. there are concerns about the economy, this follows figures that show that the economy

has shrunk at its fastest rate since 2008. is this too early for waves of people to return to work if they cannot be guaranteed to be can do it safely? we are all the right to be concerned about the economy, that is why the chancellor was right to put in place all of those unprecedented measures, including the furlough scheme extension, but it is also right to start having a balanced approach to the opening businesses. i was out visiting garden centres in my constituency this morning and thatis my constituency this morning and that is an important economic sector, it is perfectly made for social distancing, the businesses that i spoke to had put a lot of thought and care into how they can implement covid—19 safe working environments. that is a perfectly sensible measure to start getting the economy going again, in the

context of the difficult economic news that is not a surprise. is it right to open the economy in the way that andrew has just said to?” think what we need is very clear guidance about how and when businesses can resume and what recourse is in place for where that isn't being done in a way that adheres to the guidance of social distancing. could you give us some exa m ples of distancing. could you give us some examples of where it is not ok? labour has been quite forceful in saying that people should not return to work unless it is safe. what does that look like? to work unless it is safe. what does that look like ? employers to work unless it is safe. what does that look like? employers and employees will hopefully work together to solve issues that will be very specific to individual workplaces, but even this morning we had ministers out who could not really answer some questions around

house viewings and estate agents, as an example. that is why confusion does not really help i this virus really does thrive on ambiguity, and i think that the issue about getting the economy back on its feet, which is obviously going to be essential, is obviously going to be essential, is that that works hand in glove with the public health needs, so we have public health needs where businesses need to be close, they should be, but also to get the economy moving in the right way will require public confidence. that is white messaging around the public health is so important because the two go hand in hand, i does not an either or two go hand in hand, i does not an eitherorare two go hand in hand, i does not an either or are separate entities, so we have really got to have that clarity moving forwards and doing it in that methodical way. andrew, do you agree that there has not been com plete you agree that there has not been complete clarity in terms of the message? otherwise there would not have been so many questions and queries from the public. there is

almost a philosophical difference in approach. one person said mixed m essa g es approach. one person said mixed messages and that is another person's balanced approach, allowing a lot of common sense to fill in the gaps. light is composed of a myriad of different situations, and we have seen of different situations, and we have seen lots of many different schemes coming forward to sort out issues, but shows how many sectors that are to deal with. the opposition wants some telephone directory sized set of prescriptive rules... notjust the opposition, there are many businesses that want it as well. if people need to use public transport to get to work at the not guaranteed to get to work at the not guaranteed to travel safely, what should be do? should the government have a lot more about the sequencing of how people could return to work safely? there is always a sequencing piece. if you are on a car ferry at eve ryo ne if you are on a car ferry at everyone gets to the destination,

eve ryo ne everyone gets to the destination, everyone wants to rev the engine and move at the same time. you need to somebody at the centre of that to make sure that everybody makes the best decisions and we must accept that it best decisions and we must accept thatitis best decisions and we must accept that it is a new process, it is not perfect. the businesses i spoke to yesterday were very happy after the guidance came on a covid—19 safe work environment. they work with health and safety concerns and the health and safety concerns and the health of their employees all the time. public transport authorities need to do their bit as well. in the media, wejust need to do their bit as well. in the media, we just need to accept that some of these processes willjust ta ke some of these processes willjust take a day or two to bed down. i am confident that and we are starting to see people grinding through the gears of a measured reopening, with lots of gates and the signs leading through it, but of course there will be ambiguity and we just have to accept a degree of ambiguity, fill it with our common sense as much as we can, and where we cannot we must

go back to government and as for that clarification. we will see that today over the course of parliament. we wa nt today over the course of parliament. we want to get parliament back, and iam sure we want to get parliament back, and i am sure lucy will agree, as quick as we can so we can do i am sure lucy will agree, as quick as we can so we can do itsjob, but in the meantime i have got to three calls today with different ministers in different departments who are really trying to get under the skin of some of these issues. lucy, what did you make of what the chancellor said that it is likely to be in recession is what would your priority be? obviously, we are now going to face probably be deepest and fastest going into recessions may be for 300 years, and that is obviously a real concern. but i think the key issue no, and some of this was alluded to in the leaked documents —— now, shared in the telegraph this morning, is whether we end up having a t—shaped

recession, so a recession that goes too quickly, but we come out of it quickly, or whether we have a recession which is more l—shaped, so we go into a recession but we stay there for a long time. what is more likely at the moment is? can demand be stimulated enough? it is a mixture of things. can we incubate as many businesses that were previously viable as possible? the furlough scheme and the extension of thatis furlough scheme and the extension of that is a welcome move in that direction, but those are not the only fixed cost that businesses face, especially those that are due to calls for a lot longer, like hospitality. can we incubate as many businesses and as manyjobs as possible? and can we very quickly increase that demand at points where they need increasing? we are going to have to see a much more active role of government in the state in

doing that, so like car manufacturing could be bringing forward a scrappage scheme so we can get more clean cars on the road and dirty cars. in aerospace and aviation, could we bring forward the government are a de—spending to get clean tech and zero emission engines faster? that is the kind of state intervention approach that i hope the conservatives will realise is the conservatives will realise is the right approach, because spending some of that money now, which might seem some of that money now, which might seem like a lot of money, would save a great deal more money in the medium term if we can get that quick v shaped recession and not be l—shaped one that is feared. v shaped recession and not be l-shaped one that is feared. andrew, do you agree with her on that and with the furlough scheme? how much should be contributed after the end ofjuly? we saw an unprecedented level of prevention, so busy should be happy with the level of state

intervention shown. we all see a significant deficit as a result, so there is no doubt at all that the government have done what we all see a significant deficit as a result, there is no doubt at all that the government have done what they did and they have stood beside everybody and they have stood beside everybody and spent a significant amount of all taxpayer revenues to keep the economy from being incapacitated completely. i would say, lucy, join us completely. i would say, lucy, join us in getting back the productive power of the economy because there is nothing as powerful as consumers walking through doors and, as a shadow business minister, i think it ill behoves lucy as reinventing herself as the public health and safety minister. what we actually must do is get that balanced approach that respects employees, make sure it is safe, but we must get the real calmly back because if we don't it will be an l shaped recession because we will not have the demand and it will not have capacity. it is very important that we keep doing what the government is

doing, but we must also announce the resumption of the housing market. big parts of the economy will start to harness that to get us out of this. thank you both very much. one of the biggest views of the government is to avoid a second wave, or a second peak, government is to avoid a second wave, ora second peak, of infections and hence they will be held to account by keir starmer today at prime minister questions when it comes to the phased lifting of restrictions over the coming months. the government has set out plans to restart england's housing market, which has been in deep freeze since the coronavirus lockdown. estate agents can now open, viewings can be carried out and removalfirms and conveyancers can restart operations. joining me now is estate agent and co—director of buckley brown, jon brown, who is in mansfield. thank you forjoining us. is it a business back to normal as of today?

yeah, i mean, it is great news for the housing market. i must admit that it came quite unexpectedly late last night, because before them we did not have much news on the matter, but really good that we can resume business. i think it is going to bea resume business. i think it is going to be a bit ofa resume business. i think it is going to be a bit of a slow progress to start with because, for the last nearly couple of months, there has been a backlog in the market. we as agents have had to work virtually from home but obviously we have not be doing any appointments, so what i think we will find is a big backlog of people wanting to view properties, and note that the restrictions had been lifted we can now accommodate those few kauai —— clients getting in touch with us. how many properties did you have that were really in the process of the last stages of the process of being sold to? what has happened in

those situations? if fair amount. we had well over 100 transactions going through and clearly a lot of our clients were actively exchanging contracts, so actually we had to put that on hold and that was pretty devastating news, so what we would like know is clearly get those moved on. do you think those transactions will go ahead? yes, i do, we were in touch with our customers over the piece and the feedback from our clients is very positive. we tried to provide as much information as and when we heard any, so when you look at the amount of sales that

have come through, 1.4% of transactions have fallen through, which we must be encouraged by as it is so low. we are hopeful that we are still moving forward. it is going to be difficult at this early stage of what the confidence is, but obviously people have been put into potentially life changing situations where their employment this feature is uncertain and be are vulnerable. what is your sense, so far, as to how much people will be thinking about moving right now?” how much people will be thinking about moving right now? i think we need to be realistic about that fa ct. need to be realistic about that fact. people are clearly in a vulnerable position and our many clients out there who are not only furlough scheme. —— not on furlough scheme. a lot of people will u nfortu nately scheme. a lot of people will unfortunately be out of work and will influence their decisions. when you look at the amount of people out

there, as a whole, and when we look at the kind of response we usually gets, it is really positive. the phones have been nonstop, which is good, and we are hoping that will continue. time will tell and it is quite early to say but i think people will always need to move for various reasons, whether it is to relocate votes school catchments, andi relocate votes school catchments, and i think was we have been in this modern period people have looked at the homes and think it is too small for them. i think this has been quite influential on people's choices on the sort of properties they need to be in. how safe is it going to be, having people looking around houses? iam going to be, having people looking around houses? i am sure you have heard that some people have been saying that maybe they could put their houses on the market and have their houses on the market and have the mother around so she could see eve ryo ne the mother around so she could see everyone in the house? the point of

thatis,if everyone in the house? the point of that is, if it does not seem to have friends and family into your home, how is it safe to have strangers looking around ? how is it safe to have strangers looking around? it is a good question and clearly it is a concern lots of people have at the minute. as an agent over the last couple of months now, we have taken a lot of steps to make sure that all the measures are in place to look after people. unfortunately, we have —— fortu nately we people. unfortunately, we have —— fortunately we have done a lot of the prep work. we are looking at ppe and situations for our team when we go back to working in the office. wa nt to go back to working in the office. want to make sure that people are happy and treated the correct way. certainly, moving forward, anytime someone certainly, moving forward, anytime someone shows certainly, moving forward, anytime someone shows an certainly, moving forward, anytime someone shows an interest in viewing a property there will be have to be strict guidelines to ensure the safety of everybody involved. we are obviously watching the guidance very

closely and we know they have just been put out this morning. thank you very much. people are now allowed to take part in a range of sports in england, including golf, tennis, fishing and basketball. they will have to follow social distancing, not share equipment or use club houses. sally nugent is at a club near manchester has reopened today. so today marks the return of some amateur sport in england. tennis clubs will be open, people will be allowed to go fishing and golf clubs, like this one near manchester, are reopening today too, but under very, very strict rules. i'm joined here by one of the executive committee members chris melton, good morning to you. you have worked really hard to make this safe or as safe as possible. what do people need to know if they are coming to play golf? two things. one, the social side. you park a sensible distance in the car park, you get here ten minutes before, no sooner, you don't all meet your mates in the bar as you would

normally do and the nuclear off ten ——you clear off 10 minutes after the round has finished. that is the social side. on the course, only two people, you keep your distance, you don't rake the bunkers and if your ball goes in the hole, when you get it out, you do not touch anything else. we've got special holes designed to enable just that. hopefully, in two or three weeks, we will be able to move on. how much have you missed playing golf? ask my family, don't ask me. i have missed it enormously. it is the game but it is more the society, your friends, daylight, sunlight, just meeting the people you enjoy playing with. chris, lovely to talk to you, thanks very much indeed. important to state that these rules apply only to england at the moment. golf courses in wales can reopen from next monday. as far as scotland and northern ireland are concerned, the situation in those two countries has not changed.

golf courses there are still closed. let's speak to my colleague, jo coburn. she is in the house of parliament awaiting prime minister questions. yes, it is going to be the second time that borisjohnson has faced the labour leader across the dispatch box, but in other semi—virtual parliament, with some mps in the chamber. they are abiding by the two metre rule, as we are here outside the chamber. many of the questions will be done virtually. this is a backdrop of both economic and also messaging around some of the restrictions that have been lifted in england. there are things you can do today in england that you could not do yesterday, there has been charges against the gulf government for not just the opposition but also from... perhaps the guidance has not been as clear as it should be. let us speak

to the corresponded, jessica parker. on the rich nature of parliament, what changes should we expect?m robbie has had mixed reviews, and i've spoken to conservatives who should —— who think that this has not worked, they think that contributions via video link mean that they are not really able to eye ball that they are not really able to eyeball ministers and really hold them to account. also, the nature of parliament is that votes help but there are also conversations happening in the background and the ca rd happening in the background and the card as apparent, that is not happening nearly as much because ministers are contributing virtually as well, so there is certainly some discontent at how it is working. there are pressures from the conservative backbenchers to move back to a way of physical working. jacob rees—mogg announced that they

are not planning to renew this virtual way of working potentially beyond the 20th of may. it would be from the 2nd ofjune that they would return to a physical way of working after a recess. the details are still being worked out, but my you would not have a new contributions from mps remotely. they don't have to return but it would be allowed to return and you would not have more than 50 mps in the chamber at any one time so the goods have a two metre distance, there would be able to system in place. at 80 metre distance in the lobbies as well. it would use a system of —— two metres. one mp can't be there for a boat —— vote, they have a member of the opposition party also absent themselves from the voter to reflect themselves from the voter to reflect the voice of the house of commons. a lot of mps staff not working in

buildings of their —— don'tjust work there, their staff do, they would not be encouraged to come back and would continue to work from home. whilst there are definitely conservative mps that think the virtual voting and virtual parliamentary system has not been a success , parliamentary system has not been a success, there are mps that actually think it would be madness to try and move back to a physical way of working more than is happening at the moment. people in the snp you parliament is very reluctant to ever modernise and has supported this move to electronic voting, but as far as move to electronic voting, but as farasi move to electronic voting, but as far as i understand that there are moves to try and abandon it altogether. people have just got used to be semi—virtual parliament and no it seems like changes are happening. now it's time for a look at the weather. hello. it was a fairly chilly start to the day, we had a touch of frost in one or two places, and we are still in quite a cold air mass. although for most of us there will be spells of sunshine on offer today,

also a few showers around. where you do catch some of the showers in the north east of scotland and north—east england as well, they could be of a wintry nature. but the high pressure keeping things mostly dry out there at the moment. we have got a warm front moving in across the north of scotland, bringing a little bit more cloud and showers there. elsewhere, sunny spells likely through much of the day. the areas most likely to catch some of those showers are across the north—east of england, it is wintry over the north york moors, for instance, northern and eastern scotland. there is that cloud increasing from the north—west across the far north—west of scotland and you will see a little more cloud and a few showers in the western isles, for instance. elsewhere, sunny spells. temperatures only around about 11—14 for most of us, but along the east coast of scotland and eastern england many of us in single figures. we have got quite a brisk wind as well, particularly in parts of east anglia, the south east and through the english channel. we could see cuts of about 40 mph. ——gusts. into this evening and overnight the winds gradually ease and most of the cloud melts away, so we are expecting widely quite a cold night with a touch of frost around to. temperatures getting down close to or even

a little bit below freezing, particularly in parts of northern england and southern scotland as well. a chilly start to your thursday, but a bright, sunny one for most of us. england and wales tend to keep the sunshine throughout the day. a chance of the odd shower across the thames estuary, and a bit more cloud building through the day. scotland and northern ireland will gradually cloud over us ——as that warm front moves in from the north—west. one or two showers around here. most places dry, temperatures tomorrow a little bit warmer than today, around 11—16. heading on into friday, we have got high pressure starting to build in from the south—west. that keeps things largely dry and settled. less windy, particularly along the east coast and through the english channel than it has been recently, so it will feel a bit warmer as we lose that wind—chill. temperatures are a bit warmer, round about 13—17, but there will be cloud bubbling up during the afternoon. into the weekend and here is the area of high pressure pushing in from the south—west, keeping most of the weather fronts at bay, but you will see low pressure bringing some frontal systems across parts of scotland and northern ireland. a few showers for scotland and northern ireland, england and wales are largely dry, and things will be a bit warmer

than they have been recently.

this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. coronavirus leads to the uk economy slumping by 2%. it's suffering the sharpest downturn since the financial crisis of 2008. it is not a surprise. in common with pretty much every other economy around the world, we're facing severe impact from the coronavirus, you're seeing that in the numbers. it's back to work for some people in england, but in other parts of the uk the ‘stay at home' message remains in place. up to 8,000 jobs could go at the world's largest tour operator tui. the anglo—german travel company is cutting costs by 30%. the eu discusses moves to open up borders and gradually revive its halted tourism sector.

california relaxes its coronavirus restrictions amid warnings of needless deaths and sufferings if the united states reopens too quickly. straight to prime minister's questions. yesterday was international nurses day and i know that the whole house would want to thank the nurses and also the care staff and key workers for their tireless work in responding to the covid—19 pandemic. mr speaker, sadly, 144 nhs workers and 131 social care workers deaths have been reported as involving covid—19. our thoughts are with their families and friends. yesterday, mr speaker, this has led to the tragic death of billy. the fact that she was abused for doing herjob is utterly appalling. my thoughts and i'm sure the thoughts of the whole house, are

with her family. mr speaker, the thoughts of the whole house, are with herfamily. mr speaker, this morning, i had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others in addition to my duties in this house, i will have further meetings today. we will now go across to ruth edwards. thank you, mr speaker. reinvestment is generated the highest returns in the recovery from the 2008 financial crisis. as we restart our economy, will my right honourable friend commit to prioritising investment in low carbon infrastructure such as the electric vehicle charge point network and renewable energy productions which will also help the uk meet its net zero target by 2050? yes, mr speaker and to encourage the take—up of yes, mr speaker and to encourage the ta ke—up of electric yes, mr speaker and to encourage the take—up of electric vehicles, we are putting in a further £1 billion across the country to prevent range anxiety for those who use electric

vehicles. i now call the leader of the opposition, keir starmer. thank you, mr speaker. can ijoin the prime minister in thanking our nurses and all those on the front line and send my condolences to all of the families of those that have died of coronavirus, including the lady at the prime minister referenced, ticket officer who died in awful circumstances. in his speech on sunday, the prime minister said that we need to rapidly reverse the awful epidemic in our care homes. but earlier this year and until the 12th of march, the government's own official advice was, iam government's own official advice was, i am quoting from it, it remains very unlikely that people receiving care in a care home will become infected. yesterday's ons figures showed that at least 40% of all deaths from covid—19 were in ca re all deaths from covid—19 were in care homes. does the prime minister

except that the government was too slow to protect people in care homes? no, mr speaker, it wasn't true that the advice said that and actually we brought the lockdown in ca re actually we brought the lockdown in care homes ahead of the general lockdown. what we have seen is a concerted action plan to tackle what is unquestionably an appalling epidemic in care homes and a huge exercise in testing is going on. a further £600 million i can announce today for infection control in care homes. yes, it is absolutely true that the number of casualties has been too high but i can tell the house, as i told the right honourable gentleman last week and indeed this week, the number of outbreaks is down and a number of fatalities in care homes is now well

down. there is much more to do but we are making progress. keir starmer. mr speaker, i am surprised the prime minister queries the advice of his own government up to the 12th of march. i do, of course, welcome any fall in the record numbers, and he is right to reference that, but the prime minister must still recognise the numbers are still very high. the daily telegraph this week carried the following quote from cardiologist, "we just charged the following quote from cardiologist, "wejust charged known are suspected and unknown cases into ca re are suspected and unknown cases into care homes which were unprepared with no formal warning that patients we re with no formal warning that patients were infected, no testing available and no ppe to prevent transmission. we actively seeded this into the very population that is most vulnerable." as the premise accept that the cardiologist is right about this? mr speaker, i have the utmost respect for all of our medical

fashion, they are doing extraordinary jobs fashion, they are doing extraordinaryjobs in difficult circumstances, but i can tell the house that actually the number of discharges from hospitals into care homes went down in march and april and we had a system of testing people going into care homes and that testing is now being ramped up across all the 15,000 care homes in this country. mr speaker, i want to probe the figures prime minister has given us a little further. the ons records the average number of deaths in care homes each month. for the last five years, the average for april has beenjust last five years, the average for april has been just over 8000. last five years, the average for april has beenjust over 8000. this year, the number of deaths in care homes for april was a staggering 26,000. that is three times the average, 18,000 additional deaths this april. using the government's

figures, only eight thousands are recorded at covert deaths, that leaves 10,000 additional and unexplained care home deaths this april. i know the government must have looked into this, so can the prime minister give us the government's views in these unexplained deaths. well, mr speaker, coronavirus is an appalling disease which afflicts some groups are far more than others. i think the whole country understands, and in particular the elderly. he is right to draw attention, as i said, to the tragedy that has been taking place in care homes. the office of national statistics is responsible for producing the data that they have, the government has also produced data which not only shows that there has been, as i say, a terrible epidemic in care homes, but since the care homes action plan began, we are seeing an appreciable

and substantial reduction, notjust in the number of outbreaks but also in the number of outbreaks but also in the number of deaths. i want to stress to the house and also to the country that solving the problem in ca re country that solving the problem in care homes is going to be absolutely critical, getting the are down, not just in care homes but across the country is going to be absolutely critical to our ability to move forward as a nation with a stepped programme that i announced on sunday. we must fix it and we will. the prime minister says that solving the problem in care homes is crucial, but that can only happen if the numbers are understood and therefore i was disappointed that therefore i was disappointed that the prime minister doesn't have an a nswer to the prime minister doesn't have an answer to the pretty obvious question as to what are those 10,000 unexplained deaths. mr speaker, yesterday, the overall figures given by the government at a press conference for those that have died from covid—19 was 32,692, each one a tragedy. for many weeks, the

government has compared the uk number against other countries. last week, showed the minister his own slide showing that the uk now has the highest death total in europe and second highest in the world. a version of this light has been shown at the number ten tech press conference since the 30th of march, thatis conference since the 30th of march, that is seven weeks. yesterday, the government stopped publishing and this site has gone. why? mr speaker, as he knows very well, the uk has been going through an unprecedented once in a century epidemic. he seeks to make comparisons with other countries which i am advised are premature because the correct and final way of making these comparisons will be

when we have all the excess death total is of all the relevant countries. we do not have your data yet. mr speaker, iam not going countries. we do not have your data yet. mr speaker, i am not going to try to pretend to the house that the figures, when they are finally confirmed, are anything other than stark and deeply, deeply horrifying. this has been an appalling epidemic. what i can tell the house is that we are getting those numbers down, the number of deaths are coming down, the number of hospital admissions are coming down thanks to the hard work of the british people in reducing the r, and reducing the number of fatalities, we are in the position to make small, modest steps to intercom out some of the very restrictive measures that we have had. i think people do understand what we are trying to do as a country and as for the international comparisons which he seeks to draw now, i think he will have to contain his impatience. i'm baffled. it is

not me seeking to draw the comparisons, these are government slides that have been used for seven weeks to assure the public. the problem with the prime minister's a nswer problem with the prime minister's answer is that it is pretty of feeding it is pretty obvious that they have been dropped when we are now in first place. professional speaker halter said this at the weekend, we should use other countries to try to learn why our numbers are so high. dropping the comparisons means dropping the learning and that is a real risk. i want to ask the prime minister now about the changes coming into effect today. a real concern for many people is child ca re stop concern for many people is child care stop i want to quote a mother ofa care stop i want to quote a mother of a young child. i apologise that it isa of a young child. i apologise that it is a little lengthy but it affects the queries that all members of this house will have been getting. she says this, "as boris

said in his speech, people are encouraged to go back to work, meaning my partner as he works in construction. my partner has explained to his bosses cannot happen because we have got no childcare. he also rang the nursery but they are not open. i work as well but my boss is having none of it. i hope i can get some advice. me and my partner have been so stressed all day. what advice would the prime minister give her? thank you very much. on his earlier point about not learning from other countries, nothing could be furtherfrom learning from other countries, nothing could be further from the truth. we are watching intently what is happening in other countries and it is very notable that in some of the countries where relaxations have been introduced, there were signs of the r going up again and that is a very clear warning to us not to proceed too fast or too recklessly. i hope that the country does understand that. on the specific point that he rightly raises about

people's anxieties about going back to work when they don't have adequate childcare, i think i was very clear both with him and with the house early in the week that insofar as people may not be able to go back to it because they do not have the child care that they need, then their employers must be understanding and it is clearly, as isaid, in understanding and it is clearly, as i said, in impediment, understanding and it is clearly, as isaid, in impediment, it understanding and it is clearly, as i said, in impediment, it is a barrier to your ability to go back to work if you do not have childcare. i would to work if you do not have childcare. iwould be to work if you do not have childcare. i would be very happy to look at the specific case that he raises if there is anything more that we can do to shed light on the matter. i am gratefulto that we can do to shed light on the matter. i am grateful to the prime minister for matter. i am grateful to the prime ministerfor indicating he matter. i am grateful to the prime minister for indicating he would look into that particular case. it is one of very many. the prime minister is asking the country to support decisions that will affect millions of lives. these are not easy decisions, i recognise that, they are very difficult, balanced decisions at the prime minister and the government has to make. after the government has to make. after the confusion of the last few days,

gaining public confidence in them is crucial. crucial. the prime minister says his decisions were, and i quote, driven by the science, the data and public health. to give the public confidence, in the decisions, can the prime minister publishing scientific advice that the the decisions were based on? all sage advice is published in due course. let me be absolutely clear sage has been a part in every stage of preparing this strategy. i want to remind the house that what we are doing is entirely conditional and provisional. the uk has made a huge amount of progress, the people of this country have worked incredibly ha rd to this country have worked incredibly hard to get the r down. we cannot now go down to square one. we cannot

risk a second outbreak and we will do everything to avoid that. i think that when they look at what we are advocating is the way forward, the stepped process that we have set out, i think people can see exactly what we are trying to do as a country and they can see that everybody is still required to obey the social distancing laws, the social distancing rules. the common—sense of the british people got us through that first phase of this disease, i am absolutely confident they get us through the next as well. we are going across to ludlow. my right honourable friend the prime minister is aware of... air pollution. will he reaffirm his commitment to tackling global emissions to help protect our people and our planet in the future? yes,

and our planet in the future? yes, andi and our planet in the future? yes, and i think my right honourable friend for what he does to champion the environment and the cause of reducing co2 emissions, alas we have had to prosper in the postponed the summit. our determination to get the net zero by 2050 remains undiminished. we go to the leader of the snp ian blackford. thank you. can i begin by thanking all our nurses for their efforts on keeping us safe and looking after us. keeping us safe and looking after us. mr speaker, last week, the prime minister in response to my questioning noted the ability of the governments of all four nations to come together and to deliver a very clear message for our people. events on sunday could not have been more disastrous from this government. the

prime minister has made confusion costly. devolved administrations shut out, widespread confusion amongst the public, a total disregard from this government for worker safety. many said they have seen worker safety. many said they have seen images of london buses being packed this morning. mr speaker, will the prime minister accept that the clear message in scotland is stay home to protect the nhs to save lives. mr speaker, indeed, the message throughout the country is, of course, that you should stay at home if you can, unless the specific circumstances that we have outlined apply. i don't accept the characterisation of the cooperation that we have had across all four nations at the leader of the snp makes. in my experience, it has been intense, it has been going on for days and days and weeks and weeks

andi days and days and weeks and weeks and i think if you look at the totality of the measures that we are taking as a country, there is much more that unites us than divides us and we will go forward together. mr speaker, the reality is that the prime minister has failed to deliver a clear message and he didn't address the point about london buses being packed this morning. the prime minister is threatening progress made against the spread of this virus by the general public who are following the advice to stay at home. the prime minister has put safety at risk by calling on those who can't work at home to go to theirjobs who can't work at home to go to their jobs without any who can't work at home to go to theirjobs without any guidance on health and safety. only last monday the health secretary at the trial. on friday, they leapfrogged the success of that by easing restrictions. before any lockdown easing and to avoid undermining the progress made so easing and to avoid undermining the progress made so far, the prime minister must make sure that there

are sufficient levels of testing available on the ability to test, trace, isolate is fully in operation. why is the prime minister throwing weeks of progress against this virus into jeopardy, undermining the work of our outstanding nhs? well, mr speaker, he raises a point about london buses which is quite right and i don't wa nt to which is quite right and i don't want to see crowding on public transport in our capital or anyone else —— anywhere else and we are working actively with tfl to ensure that what we do is we have more capacity, we discourage people from going to work during the peak and that the operators, in particular tfl, lay on particularly more tube trains when there are necessary throughout the day. huge amount of work is being done. we also want to see proper marshalling at stations

to prevent crowding of trains. on his point about test, track and trace, that will be a huge operation for this entire country and i think he should pay tribute to the work of all those, those hundreds of thousands of people, who are now responsible massively for escalating our test track and trace operation. we now test more than any other country in europe virtually. the rate of increase has been very sharp indeed. we will go up to 200,000 by the end of the month but he is absolutely right, this should be entirely... the success of this programme is absolutely vital if we are to be able to move on to the third step, to the second and third steps of our road map. mr speaker, of the 5000 rough sleepers, 90% of the homeless population in the uk

are now in temporary accommodation asa are now in temporary accommodation as a result of action taken by the government at the start of this crisis. other prime minister commit to providing all funds necessary and all action needed to ensure that this positive dealing with the homelessness crisis can be made permanent and each of these individuals can be given a long—term home? i think my right honourable friend. as he knows, it is this government's ambition to end rough sleeping by 2024. it is great to see the progress which has been made evenin the progress which has been made even in this difficult time. as he says, 90% of rough sleepers are now in accommodation. we will be investing a considerable sum to make sure we build the housing and address the social issues that tackle that problem for good. can i think the government for listening to representations from the liberal democrats and others to protectjobs

by extending the thurlow scheme yesterday. while the government now do the same for the self—employed? people like tina, childminders —— cleaners, childminders. they are only able to apply for help for the first few months. many of these families now have no help in the future. surely self—employed people must have their support extended too. i admire the right honourable gentleman. a brilliant attempt for taking the credit from the right honourable friend the chancellor for the extension of the job retention scheme which i do believe has been one of the most extraordinary features of this country's response to the crisis. we are looking after... he is right to draw attention to the position of the self—employed. we are making sure

that they do get payments over three months of up to £7,500 as well. thank you, mr speaker. may i congratulate the prime minister on being straight with the british people and spelling out a clear and cautious road map to lift the lockdown measures in england? u nfortu nately, lockdown measures in england? unfortunately, for my constituents in bridgend, the welsh government has not set out any such plan or vision. does he agree with me that the people of wales deserve a government that is honest and clear with them about the road ahead?” thank my right honourable friend very much and i would agree with him but whatever the defects of the labour government in wales my experience is that we have been working very well together across all four nations, we will continue to do so. my honest view is all those who talk about confusion or

mixed messages are grossly overstating the position stop the common sense of the british people are shining through. they see where we wa nt are shining through. they see where we want to go and where we need to go. at the end of march, i asked you to help the thousands of our people stranded abroad, notably in south asia and especially in the punjab. grudgingly, and much lower than other countries, the foreign office organise right back but there are many still stranded. it now seems to be there washing their hands of people who may have lived and worked here for years, husbands, wives pa rents here for years, husbands, wives parents or grandparents are british citizens. some have described this as another windrush waiting to happen. so, prime minister, where you sort this out? i think the right honourable gentleman. 1.3 million

nationals have now been returned. i know he would like the raf to be more involved but we have put in £75 million to a charter arrangement and a whole range of airlines have signed up and we are doing everything we can to bring people back as fast as we can. thank you, mr speaker. last week, the arrogant, incompetent and vindictive electoral commission suffered its final humiliation. forfour long commission suffered its final humiliation. for four long years, commission suffered its final humiliation. forfour long years, it has investigated and hounded four people from four different leaf organisations making their lives and theirfamily‘s organisations making their lives and their family's lives hell. organisations making their lives and theirfamily‘s lives hell. last week, the police said they were totally innocent and had done nothing wrong. prime minister, for the sake of democracy, will you ensure that that's politically correct, totally biased and morally

bankrupt quango is abolished?” correct, totally biased and morally bankrupt quango is abolished? i hear what my honourable friend says about the electoral commission. what i can say is those who were investigated, i hope that all those who spent so much time and energy and effort drawing attention to their supposed guilt will now spend as much time and energy and ink and airtime drawing attention to the genuine innocence, mr speaker. thank you, mr speaker. some of glasgow vulnerable we re speaker. some of glasgow vulnerable were moved into city hotels where social distancing is harder to enforce. the home office is not currently doing enough to protect and look after those who seek refuge in our city. where the prime minister urgently trigger a full home office review into the support provided to asylum seekers and ensure they work with key partners

and the council ensuring that they are not and the council ensuring that they a re not left and the council ensuring that they are not left destitute when the lockdown ends. he draws attention to an important issue. we will make sure nobody is ill treated, certainly not asylum seekers. i will be happy to write to him. thank you, mr speaker. next week should have seen mr speaker. next week should have seen the beginning of the literary festival but as we are currently closed to visitors, hay has shown true welsh innovation by moving its festival online this year. will the prime ministerjoin me in thanking those tourist businesses who have acted in the national interest to protect public health and remind our visitors that once the welsh government wishes its exit plan, we will be able to welcome you back again very soon? i am sorry that the wonderful festival at hay on wye has had to be postponed this year. i thank my honourable friend for what

she is doing to promote it and i congratulate them on their typical welsh ingenuity in making it online, turning it into hay on wi—fi, if i may say so. laughter thank you, mr speaker. both covid and brexit are suppressing trade, damaging jobs in the economy. we hope that as this end, the economy will bounce back but there is no guarantee this will happen quickly. the prime minister could mitigate some of this damage by extending the brexit period. can he explain why he's been so negligent? one of the most remarkable things about this crisis has been the way the whole country has come together to deal with it and there has been a spirit of unity and sharing that we don't

think we have seen for a very long time. a lot of people in this country don't want to see the brexit argument reopened, they want to see it settled and done and that is what this government intends to do. thank you, mr speaker. the hospitality and tourism businesses of my constituency are vital for the health of its local economy, a good example is the steam railway. with the prime ministerjoin me in congratulating them on their current restructuring and fundraising campaign designed to see them through the coronavirus crisis and after the crisis is over, would he please hop on board one of their stea m please hop on board one of their steam trains when he is next in the area? mr speaker, i have a picture at home of myself and william hague aboard the steam railway. i am proud to say. i congratulate them on what they are doing to raise funds. i

have no doubt they have a glorious future ahead with his support. thank you, mr speaker. i have a number of cases where employers are refusing to furlough staff, either because they don't understand or are willing to follow the guidance. 17—year—old has found himself without a job and no furlough and has found himself not eligible for support. will the prime minister consider furlough appeals process to assist employees, ex—employees and employers to ensure people are treated fairly according to their guidance to save unnecessary redundancies or hardship? i would be very happy if you could send us details and we would be very happy to take up the case as he

describes. bad signal what steps is the prime minister taking to ensure that the nhs... on the front line and is it possible to make appropriate... staff and nhs. i thank my honourable friend and i think i understood very clearly what she was saying. it is obvious from the date that coronavirus is falling disproportionately on certain groups, not just the disproportionately on certain groups, notjust the elderly. we need to examine exactly what is happening, protect all the most vulnerable groups, and we will take steps to ensure that nhs staff and

others are properly protected and advised. caroline lucas. thank you. last week, climate experts reported that green economic recovery packages deliver higher file returns than conventional stimulus spending. they warned that how we emerge from this crisis must not be any way that deepens the climate emergency. does the by minister agree and will be committed to action that will help us committed to action that will help us build back better and start by committing that any airline trying for a pay—out must meet robust goals? the best and short at that a nswer goals? the best and short at that answer i can differ is that we can totally understand that aviation has been, the planet will have greatly reduced its co2 emissions, but she is absolutely right that we need to entrench those gains. i don't what

is going back to an era of the same type of emissions that we had in the past. aviation, like every other sector, must keep its carbon law and they are working on technological solutions to make sure we can do that. what the prime ministerjoined me in paying full tribute to all the staff as my local hospital, particularly those caring for patients with covid—19? will be recognised that not as many people have been attending hospitals as usual and how will you assist hospitals to make sure that my constituents can access health care as usual? i think it is one of the most important features on the way this country responded to the epidemic, that we did protect the nhs and we maintained capacity in the nhs throughout. nobody wide without the ev —— regulator, there

was space without the ev —— regulator, there was space in i see you throughout the crisis, but there are too many people that are not going to the hospital to seek the treatment that they need and deserve. i would encourage people that need medical treatment are to go and get that treatment are to go and get that treatment and that will help us reduce deaths this year and throughout the crisis. we now come to the urgent questions for the secretary of state for education. i caught the secretary of state to answer the urgent questions, as are the order paper, and he should speak for no more than three minutes. secretary of state. mr speaker, i am grateful for you to grant this urgent question, members will understand their restrictions on the number of statements. i am grateful to the honourable memberfor the opportunity to answer questions

today. it is over seven weeks since we asked schools to close to all but vulnerable children and those critical workers. this has been a huge ask for teachers and parents, the greatest impact of all has fallen on children themselves. i am immensely grateful for the response to all those working in education, childcare and children's social care, but we all know that the best place for children to be educated and to learn is in school. it has a lwa ys and to learn is in school. it has always been my intention to get more of them back there as soon as the scientific adviser allows. as the prime minister confirmed, we can now past the peak of the virus and he has set out a road map for the next phases of our recovery. if progress continues to be made, we expect that at the 1st of june continues to be made, we expect that

at the 1st ofjune at the earliest we will be able to make a phased return to school, college and a childcare for children in key transition rules, alongside our priority groups. primary schools will be asked to work about reception year six children in smaller class sizes. nurseries and other earlier providers, including childminders, will be able to begin welcoming back children of all ages. secondary schools and colleges will be asked to provide face—to—face support or use ten and 12, who are due to take the exams in the next year. on monday, my department published initial guidance for settings on how to begin to prepare and work with the sector leaders to develop this further in coming weeks. this guidance sets out protectors measures to minimise the risk of infections, including restricting class sizes and limiting mixes between groups. all children

and staff will have access to testing if they develop symptoms to coronavirus. this will enable a track and trace approach to any confirmed cases. we continue to follow the best advice i believe that this phased return is the most sensible course of action to take. i know that schools will do everything in their power to start welcoming our children back to continue their education. speak for no more than two minutes. we need to get our children back to school at the earliest opportunity and every day that schools remain shut, the disadvantage the gap widens and vulnerable children risk falling through the gaps. but we should only open schools when we know it is safe. given we still do not know

about transmission between children, can be secretary of state and reassure us can be secretary of state and reassure us that these decisions are based solely on public health? to what extent has getting parents back to work been the main driver? what of teacher safety? the chief medical officer said that they are —— there still needs to be a debate on this. does the secretary of state not think it is irresponsible to proper spines and suggest timetables without. .. will be spines and suggest timetables without... will be published today? why weren't all major teaching unions consulted on the specifics of this decision to make sure it is workable? it is said that the risk assessment should be done beforehand, and i welcome this. what is be made public and when will we get further guidance on travel? if a school leader decides it is not safe to reopen, or the secretary of state respect that? he also says that reasonable endeavours must be made

to deliver the curriculum, but will you know not set out his expectation on how varied this has been between schools and is thus far? will he guarantee that every child in all of the year groups that need access to devices the internet will get it? and when will we know about future exams? finally, it is obvious to eve ryo ne exams? finally, it is obvious to everyone that children in reception and year one cannot socially distance. he says that the safety of children and staff is our utmost priority, she can be secretary of state hours what does he think is safe ? state hours what does he think is safe? i thank the honourable lady for her questions about why recognises the importance and the need to make sure that children are getting their education back in

schools at the earliest possible moment. when you have the medical and scientific advice saying that it is the right time to bring schools backin is the right time to bring schools back ina is the right time to bring schools back in a phased and controlled manner, it seems only the right thing to do and only the responsible thing to do and only the responsible thing to do and only the responsible thing to do. there are many other reasons that she highlighted that back this up. in terms of pulling our guidance together, we have actually worked very closely with all of the teaching unions, we had teachers unions, we worked very closely with the sector, every week having the opportunity to meet with them and i have made sure that the time that my officials —— my officials have made time to sit down with them and talk about their issues and concerns, and this is what has informed and developed the guidance that we have shared with schools. in terms of the hierarchy of controls that we have developed, in terms of making sure that the

risk of transmission of coronavirus is absolutely minimise within schools, we understand that the advice that we needed to seek was not within the department for education but was within public health england and also working with the scientific and medical advisors at every step of the way, informing what the government does. that is why, when we created the hierarchy of controls, about creating safe bubbles for children and teachers and support staff to work in, this was informed by them. why are we bringing schools backthe reason we are bringing schools back is that we know that benefit from being educated by their brilliant teachers in front of them. we recognise that children from the most disadvantaged backgrounds are the ones that are going to suffer the most if we do not bring schools back when we are able to do so. i am more than happy to share all the advice that we have received from sage, they regularly

publish their advice and when they are ready to do so they will be shown that again. we have also made sure that we asked of be scientific advisers to give briefings for the sector to make sure that they understand that the decisions that we are making to bring back children are based on the best interest for children, including making sure that they do not miss out on something thatis they do not miss out on something that is so precious, which is their education. thank you. i strongly welcome the approach that the secretary of state is taking in getting children back to school in a phased way. can i ask him, given that we know that close to 90% of vulnerable children are not in education and that figure from the sutton trust and suggested that at least 50% of pupils have not communicated with that teachers in the first week of april, when my right honourable friend, whilst

understanding schools would officially be open in the summer, support instead of the opening of summer schools over the holidays to be staffed by volunteers, graduates, an army of retired teachers, to provide catch up tuition to these children that have been left behind? he is absolutely right at what we need to be doing, in terms of everything that we can do to help children that were not necessarily have the benefit of returning to school before the summer holidays. how can we support them to give them that extra boost? to make sure that they are learning all the things that they want to do? he is right to highlight the very —— the many volu nteers highlight the very —— the many volunteers that want to reach out and help our children, in order to be able to have the knowledge to succeed in the future. we are very closely looking at such schemes, working with schools and working with the sector, to how we can make

that available to them. i value his advice and insight and thoughts on this. we are very —— very much looking on how we can mobilise that. i know call rebecca long—bailey. thank you. we all desperately wants schools to reopen for the sake of children's education and well—being, but you must appreciate that the guidance provided so far does not yet provide the clear assurances over safety that are required. student families anxious, worried grandparents and teaching staff in fear sums grandparents and teaching staff in fearsums up grandparents and teaching staff in fear sums up the theme of the last 48 hours. i hope you can address the following issues, will he consider changing the focus of the plan so that instead of asking schools to scramble to implement an unrealistic plan by a specific date, we ask schools do plan to meet certain conditions that, one that, would

signal it is able to open? a subtle distinction. for the advised that due to the availability of staff and space, splitting classes while providing remote learning as well is incredibly difficult? will he work with schools to develop a realistic plan for social distancing? reopening the schools on the —— the infection rate and backed by reopening schools, will be acknowledged at? the current guidance sadly gives the impression that those pupils and staff should just expect being exposed. will he explain his position on ppe and finally, most schools break up for summerand if finally, most schools break up for summer and if the ambition is to get peoples back for a month, that means that the whole school would need to be back for less than two weeks after the priority years. how does the secretary expect schools to

implement a social distancing for the whole school when many heads to say this is just impossible? but, the whole school when many heads to say this isjust impossible? but, if you don't, what is the point for schools planning strict health and safety measures for two weeks only to abandon them? secretary repeatedly states that schools will only open when they are safe as he refers to the scientific advice, which requires a return in a controlled manner. i don't see much ofa controlled manner. i don't see much of a controlled manner at the moment, so please can you work with the sector to get this right? of course. she points out the importance of working with the sector, and that is what we will do every step of the way, and that is what we have been doing. we recognise the importance of supporting them, to make sure that as children return to school in a controlled and phased manner that we offer them the maximum amount of support and recognise that every school is individual and unique. how we support them and how we give them

elements of flexibility in order to make sure that the transition is smooth is unique. we need to make sure that those vulnerable children have education settings and expand this in the limited way we are proposing, this will require some evidence of flexibility that we will need within the sector and we will work with them to do that. i have a lwa ys work with them to do that. i have always been clear that we would give the sector as much notice as possible. we have said that, if we are allowed, which it seems likely we will be, we would like to see schools opening from the 1st of june, giving schools as much a forward notice as possible in order forward notice as possible in order for them to get ready. we think this isa for them to get ready. we think this is a responsible and sensible approach, in terms of the phased return. i slightly feel that the honourable lady, if we are asking

her to pin her down, would be asking about the date, as what would be the year rather than what would be the actual start date. we do want to work with her and the whole sector to make sure that this is a phased, sensible and controlled return to schools, because for people who suffer the most from schools not being open, those children who are so being open, those children who are so desperate to attend, it is them. that is the secretary answering questions in the commons alike kids returning to school. concerns being voiced here about whether science is behind it and is the impetus getting appearances —— parents back to work? also, on the scientific advice, he says the medical and scientific advice is saying it is the right time to do this. he also indicated that they are looking at the summer

schools over the holidays, run by volunteers, for catch up tuition. we have got some very sad news about a three—day—old baby who has died in swa nsea three—day—old baby who has died in swansea after his mother tested positive for covid—19. his parents —— he was born in the princess of wales hospital in bridgend at the 2nd of may. he had a low heart rate and the car in a court heard he had his condition worsened and he was transferred to the hospital in swa nsea. transferred to the hospital in swansea. the hearing heard that the mother was found to be covid—19 positive soon after delivery. no postmortem examination has been carried out on the 3d old and —— three—day—old baby, maternal

covid—19 was the issue, it was not ascertained whether the baby himself had covid—19. we pass our condolences —— condolences to the family in these times. the first minister of scotland, nicola sturgeon has been taking questions from msps. let's hear some of them from a short while ago. there has been an increase of a cases from yesterday, a total of 534 patients in hospital with confirmed or suspected cases are back that is a decrease of 84 from yesterday. a total of 70 people last night were in intensive care with confirmed or suspected covid—19, a decrease of 11 from yesterday. in the last 24 hours had been 61 deaths registered of patients who were confirmed having

covid—19, bringing the total number of deaths to scotland to 973. the national records of scotland have published their more detailed weekly report. unlike daily figures, it includes those with confirmed or —— laboratory diagnosis of covid—19, and also cases where the virus was entered on the death certificate as at least a contributory factor to the death but no formal test was carried out. the latest publication cove rs carried out. the latest publication covers the period up to the 10th of may. at that point, according to our daily figures, 1862 deaths had been registered for people who had tested positive for the virus. today postbag report shows that by sunday the total number of registered deaths linked to the virus was 3213. 415 of those deaths was registered in its seven aids up to sunday. i can report that this is a decrease of 110 from the week before i do

decrease of 244 from two weeks previously. deaths in care homes made up 57% of deaths are linked to the virus last week, that is a slightly more proportion from the previous week i'd also the total number of covid—19 deaths in care homes fell to 238 from 314 the week before. finally, the total number of deaths recorded last week for all deaths recorded last week for all deaths was higher than the five year average but more than a week before. this fell from 600 to 400. i readily acknowledge that no trend and statistics can ever convert the many people who have lost a loved one to this virus —— comfort, and i extend condolences to them. but this show the size of hopes that the number of covid—19 related deaths have fallen for a second week in a row. the

number of deaths in the care homes have also reduced again and the access number of deaths is half what it was if you weeks ago. there are still too many cases and the reproduction rate of the virus is no higher than we would like and we continue to learn more about those most vulnerable to the disease. the nrs reported today gives further analysis to deaths in terms of deprivation, other health conditions, and health protection scotla nd conditions, and health protection scotland has also published its second report we can go all cases by characteristics such as age, sex and deprivation. the trends are seeing no is positive. as transmission rates continue to fall we will gradually be able to ease demonstrations but we will continue to airon the demonstrations but we will continue to air on the side of caution. the message in scotland remains the same, stay—at—home except for essential purposes. that is essential purposes. that is essential work, shopping for food essential purposes. that is essential work, shopping forfood or exercise or medicine. outside of the host state more than two metres away

from people and do not meet with people from households other than your own. we are face coverings if your own. we are face coverings if you are initial public transport and wash your hands regularly. if you or anyone else in your household has symptoms covid—19, stay—at—home. today pass my figures show that this is making a difference and we are protecting our nhs and slowing the virus and saving lives. we are also bringing forward the times that these restrictions can start to ease, so these restrictions can start to ease, so my these restrictions can start to ease, so my thanks go once again to people across the country you are doing just that. that was nicola sturgeon. people are now allowed to take part in a range of sports in england —— including golf, tennis, fishing and basketball. they will have to follow social distancing, not share equipment or use club houses. sally nugent is at a club near manchester has reopened today. today marks the return of some amateur sports in england. tennis clu bs amateur sports in england. tennis clubs will be open and people will be allowed to go fishing and golf

clu bs be allowed to go fishing and golf clubs like this one near manchester are reopening today as well, but under strict rules. i am joined here by one of the executive committee members. you want really hard to make this a safe as possible. people need to know when they are coming to play golf? you park a sensible distance away in the car park, you get here ten minutes before, no sooner, get here ten minutes before, no sooner, you get here ten minutes before, no sooner, you don't all meet in the bar as normal and then you clear off ten minutes after you finish. on the course, only to people. you keep your distance and you don't rake the bunkers and if your ball goes in the whole, when you get it out, do not touch anything else. we have got special holes designed to enable just like that. hopefully in several weeks we will move on. how much have you missed playing golf? i have missed it enormously. it is the game

but it is more to society and your friends. it is the daylight, the sunlight. meeting the people that you enjoy playing with. thank you very much. important to say that these rules only apply to england at these rules only apply to england at the moment. golf courses in wales can be open from next monday but as far as scotland and northern ireland is concerned the situation in those two countries have not changed. golf courses there are still closed. now it's time for a look at the weather. hello. it was a fairly chilly start to the day, we had a touch of frost in one or two places, and we are still in quite a cold air mass. although for most of us there will be spells of sunshine on offer today, also a few showers around. where you do catch some of the showers in the north east of scotland and north—east england as well, they could be of a wintry nature. but the high pressure keeping things mostly dry out there at the moment. we have got a warm front moving in across the north of scotland, bringing a little bit more cloud and showers there. elsewhere, sunny spells likely through much of the day.

the areas most likely to catch some of those showers are across the north—east of england, it is wintry over the north york moors, for instance, northern and eastern scotland. there is that cloud increasing from the north—west across the far north—west of scotland and you will see a little more cloud and a few showers in the western isles, for instance. elsewhere, sunny spells. temperatures only around about 11—14 for most of us, but along the east coast of scotland and eastern england many of us in single figures. we have got quite a brisk wind as well, particularly in parts of east anglia, the south east and through the english channel. we could see gusts of about 40 mph. into this evening and overnight the winds gradually ease and most of the cloud melts away, so we are expecting widely quite a cold night with a touch of frost around too. temperatures getting down close to or even a little bit below freezing, particularly in parts of northern england and southern scotland as well. a chilly start to your thursday, but a bright, sunny one for most of us. england and wales tend to keep the sunshine throughout the day. a chance of the odd shower across the thames estuary, and a bit more cloud building through the day. scotland and northern ireland

will gradually cloud over us ——as that warm front moves in from the north—west. one or two showers around here. most places dry, temperatures tomorrow a little bit warmer than today, around 11—16. heading on into friday, we have got high pressure starting to build in from the south—west. that keeps things largely dry and settled. less windy, particularly along the east coast and through the english channel than it has been recently, so it will feel a bit warmer as we lose that wind—chill. temperatures are a bit warmer, round about 13—17, but there will be cloud bubbling up during the afternoon. into the weekend and here is the area of high pressure pushing in from the south—west, keeping most of the weather fronts at bay, but you will see low pressure bringing some frontal systems across parts of scotland and northern ireland. a few showers for scotland and northern ireland, england and wales are largely dry, and things will be a bit warmer than they have been recently.

the chancellor says it's very likely the country is in a significant recession, as a result of the coronavirus lockdown. it comes as the economy contracted at its fastest rate since the 2008 financial crisis, in the first three months of the year. it is now, yes, very likely that the uk economy will face a significant recession this year. and we are in the middle of that as we speak. so can we incubate as many businesses and save as manyjobs in that recession as possible. at prime minister's questions, boris johnson promises another £600 million for covid—19 infection control in care homes — but is challenged on thousands of excess deaths amongst residents. can the prime minister give us the government's views on these unexplained deaths? he is right to draw attention,

as i've said, to the