tonight at ten — nhs bosses express alarm at the number of people staying away from hospital during the coronavirus pandemic. in england a&e visits have fallen by more than half since the outbreak started, to the lowest level since records began. many other patients needing urgent operations and life saving treatments have been severely affected, like shaun, who has terminal cancer. covid—19 totally messes things up for most of us, you know. it's wreaked havoc with our treatments, with our surgeries, with our futures, with our hope. a test that can tell whether you've had the virus in the past has been approved in england. front—line workers will be the first to get it. teachers‘ unions will meet the government's chief scientific advisers tomorrow to seek reassurance about plans to partially reopen some of england's schools.

born to surrogate mothers in ukraine — the 35 babies left stranded in kyiv — their biological parents from around the world can't fly in to collect them. empty theatres — how social distancing has left actors and directors struggling for survival. and applauding the nation's carers and key workers — for the eighth week in a row. and coming up in the sport on bbc news, england's cricketers are cleared for limited training next week, in the first steps for action returning after the coronavirus shut down. good evening. major concerns have been raised over tens of thousands of seriously ill people in england who may not be seeking help because of fears that they might catch the coronavirus in hospital — or be a burden on the nhs.

the number of visits to a&e departments has fallen by more than half since the outbreak began. doctors worry that serious conditions, like heart attacks and strokes, are being overlooked. there are concerns too that other treatments have had to be delayed while the nhs focuses on tackling the coronavirus. another a28 deaths have been reported in the past 2a hours — bringing the total number linked to the coronavirus across the uk to 33,614. here's our health editor, hugh pym. plenty of staff and not many patients. it's got a little busier here in a&e in recent days, but not much. like many other hospitals, they saw an astonishing drop in the number of patients coming through the doors last month. april here was busy from a covid—19 perspective, dealing with sick patients. it was all very calm, controlled and safe, but we were busy from that perspective, but we saw a real drop—off in demand of other types

of patients that we usually see. normally, assessment cubicles in a&e would be pretty busy, but right now all these ones along here are empty. they are for non—covid patients. it's a sign of how different things are right now. the worry is that people who might need urgent care are staying away because they are scared of catching the virus. the message from all hospitals — we are open for business and patients who need treatment should come in. if you are concerned about having a stroke, a heart attack, perhaps cancer, do come forward, and at the same time, the nhs will be redesigning the way in which services are offered to keep them safe. the latest figures for england show that a&e visits fell by nearly 57% in the year to april. the monthly total was below 917,000, the lowest since records began. there are no comparable figures yet from other parts of the uk. the number coming in for routine operations fell by nearly a third

in the year to march. it was about the same in scotland. all non—emergency surgery was postponed because the nhs needed to clear beds for coronavirus patients, but that has left others, like helen, frustrated. she was told she needed a hysterectomy urgently in february. it didn't happen and she hasn't heard any more. if something is deemed urgent, it's deemed urgent for a reason. i think there are an awful lot of people who have various conditions that are being put at great risk of further damage due to these precautions being taken. jane has been waiting since february for a gall bladder operation, and, again, hasn't been told when it could happen. i understand that in this current situation that, you know, i'm not a priority. i understand that fully. it does concern me. i'd like to get it over and done with, really, you know, so that i feel it won't build up

again and there won't be any further problems. nhs leaders have now told hospitals to restart non—urgent operations and procedures, but all patients who are asked to come in will be instructed to self—isolate for 14 days beforehand along with members of their household. a reminder of the continuing concern about the possible spread of the virus. hugh pym, bbc news. a new blood test, which can detect whether someone has been infected with coronavirus, has been given the go—ahead for use in england. the antibody test has been developed by the swiss drug company roche. front—line workers will be the first to use it. scientists have called the move a very positive development. but it's not clear yet whether antibodies actually protect against a new infection. here's our medical correspondent, fergus walsh. it's what millions of britons want to know. have they already had coronavirus? now it's possible to find out for sure, with a blood test.

it has to go through lab analysis. this can be done by hand, like here at imperial college london, or in an automated process, like a new highly accurate antibody test, approved for use in the uk. if you get infected with coronavirus, your immune system starts to produce antibodies. these become part of your immune system's memory. so, if you get exposed to the virus again, they should attack it. but how much protection they'll give and how long that immunity will last is unclear. for some coronaviruses, we know that that protection can fade, and we know from experiments many years ago, for example, that it's possible to re—infect individuals with the exact same coronavirus, maybe a year later, even though they developed antibodies to start with. so we have to be careful to assume that any antibody will last a long time. roche says it can provide hundreds of thousands of its antibody tests to the uk each week. pharmacies and health

clinics could be involved in collecting blood samples. i anticipate that it will be rapidly rolled out in the days and weeks to come, as soon as it is practical to do so. i also anticipate that the focus will be on the national health service and on carers in the first instance. there are several other types of antibody test which only require a finger prick of blood — some of which are being trialled by nhs staff. despite buying 3.5 million of them, the government concluded none was accurate enough. this is another way of testing for antibodies. you prick your thumb... ..and then apply a blood spot to this piece of card, which is then sent off to a laboratory for very sophisticated analysis. that dry spot blood test is being developed at imperial college london. it's planning to send out 100,000

home testing antibody kits once they're proven to be accurate and easy—to—use. the swab goes to the back of your throat, both side by your tonsils. remember, it's a swab test like this which will show if you're currently infected with coronavirus. thanks very much. so, this remains crucial in preventing the spread of the virus. a clearer picture is beginning to emerge of the scale of the coronavirus outbreak in england. 0fficial estimates suggest that during a two—week period at the start of this month, nearly 150,000 people — or one in every 400 — had covid—19. fergusjoins me now. crucially these were not people in hospital or care homes? yes, this came from a survey hospital or care homes? yes, this came from a survey of 11,000 volu nteers came from a survey of 11,000 volunteers around england who performed swab tests at home, and

from that the office for national statistics has worked out that around one in 400 people in england at the moment have a current coronavirus infection. that means outside of hospitals or care homes your chances of bumping into somebody on the tube, the train, the bus, in yourdaily somebody on the tube, the train, the bus, in your daily life, with coronavirus, is quite low, but still 150,000 people, social coronavirus, is quite low, but still 150 , 000 people, social distancing remains crucial because we don't know who those one in 400 people are and that's why testing and tracing people who have a current infection are vital, if we are to bear down on the virus. we got more information today about those who are being worst affected by this virus and it seems that if you have diabetes you are particularly vulnerable? yes, one infour are particularly vulnerable? yes, one in four deaths so far in english hospitals of people who have diabetes. now, in most people with

diabetes. now, in most people with diabetes over 65, when most of the deaths are with coronavirus, it's about one in eight people have diabetes, but one in four deaths, so double the background proportion. now, we don't know why that is, but we know that diabetes can lead to a weakened immune response. 0ne we know that diabetes can lead to a weakened immune response. one of the things, sophie, 19 out of 20 deaths so things, sophie, 19 out of 20 deaths so far, all those people have had some kind of underlying health condition, like heart disease, or lung disease. fergus, thank you. there's growing anger over how coronavirus has taken hold in care homes across the uk. the government suggests that one in four of the overall deaths in england have been in care homes. the national care association says they feel "completely abandoned", while others are questioning how quickly the extra £600 million of funding for the care sector will get to those who need it. 0ur social affairs correspondent alison holt reports. this care home in kent was one of the first in the country to lock down, with staff moving in to try

to protect their elderly residents with dementia. they are desperate for more support but feel the government's infection control plans are very late. generally, we start at 7:30am but i've started an hour early to make sure all the ladies are up so we can clean their rooms. obviously, we haven't had a cleaner so it's been a bit stressful... 18—year—old liberty, who has a bunk bed in a room shared with other staff, spends two weeks at a time here. we are trying to keep the routines as normal as possible, because, with dementia, the second you change the routine, it gets quite confusing for the ladies. last night, we had some sad news. one of our residents passed away. it wasn't coronavirus—related, and it was a big shocker. liberty and others have put their lives on hold to keep the virus at bay. the government wants to reduce staff moving between homes, but in a low—paid profession it's not clear what that means in financial terms. the home's owner says the extra

costs and the pressures he's facing are pushing his and other care companies to the brink. it's been lonely, it's been really lonely. it's been... i've cried some nights, not knowing what to do, how i'm going to get through another week, having to motivate people to stay in the homes has been really soul destroying. you sound like you've got the weight of the world on your shoulders. it hasn't been easy. carers are... ..we've struggled, we've struggled at times. and many care homes argue they haven't had enough support. this home in kettering is closing after serious concerns about standards of care. 14 residents have died in six weeks. the owners believe their problems were rooted in the discharge of hospital patients into their home. on march the 19th, when they had no signs of the virus, the home began taking in 15 patients. they weren't tested for covid—19. about a week later the company says residents and a large number

of staff, including the senior team, became ill with coronavirus, leaving the home struggling to cope. the government says testing has been increased and it's already providing homes with a lot of support. there's been a big national effort to assist them and i know the health secretary will be saying more about that soon, but i don't want to sort of underestimate the extraordinary work that's gone into care homes to make sure that most of them have indeed remained covid free. in scotla nd indeed remained covid free. in scotland the first minister has introduced extra checks before hospital patients are transfers to homes. nhs tests are given to all patients due to enter or re—enter their care home from hospital and if they have previously tested positive for the virus they must have two negative tests before entering the ca re negative tests before entering the care home from hospital. and care

staff know they still have a long fight ahead of them to keep their residents safe. alison holt, bbc news. transport for london has said it's secured a £1.6 billion emergency bailout from the government to keep services running. tfl has seen passenger numbers plummet by more than 90% since the start of the pandemic. the mayor of london, sadiq khan, had warned that without the funding, bus and tube services might have to be cut. the bbc has learnt that teachers' unions will meet the government's chief scientific advisors tomorrow to seek reassurance about plans to partially re—open some of england's schools. some have expressed concern about whether it would be safe to ask staff and pupils to return. 0ur education editor branwen jeffreys joins me now. how important is this meeting going to be? i think it's highly significant. it has been an extremely tetchy week between teachers, head teachers and the

government with teaching feeling aggrieved they have been accused of scaremongering. i understand they will get the chance to put many of their concerns and questions to the chief medical officer, the chief scientific officer and some of the other government's other senior advisors. they have a large number of questions they want to seek reassurance on, from things like why are face masks on public transport, but not in schools. the risks are not so much to children, who seem to suffer mildly from the virus, but the risks around transmission will more children take the virus into circulation and back to families and to teachers and other staff? such as clea ners to teachers and other staff? such as cleaners or the people who would need to be back to make a school function. of course i want it is

crucial that they get buy in from the teaching profession, in order for more children to attend school at the start ofjune. teachers have to feel they trust the precautions in order to turn up for work and pa rents in order to turn up for work and parents will need to have confidences and to be able to listen to head teachers and know they feel reassured. 0f to head teachers and know they feel reassured. of course england is the only part of the uk that is proposing to open its schools to more pupils from the first ofjune. thank you. doctors say up to 100 children in the uk have now been treated in hospital for an extremely rare and new inflammatory disease which is linked to the coronavirus. last month, the nhs warned medical staff to look out for the condition, after a number of children became seriously ill — including a 14—year—old boy who died. sophie hutchinson reports. this was alexander parsons, a happy eight—month—old and the apple of his

parents' eyes, but in early april he became ill with a fever and a rash. over the next three weeks, that turned into unusual and catastrophic heart problems and he died before the end of the month. the past couple of weeks just seemed to merge into one. his parents are still in shock. there's just nothing that... takes any of it away, or makes... anything better. his parents are concerned that he could have been one of the first in the uk to contract this new disease that's now affecting children across the world. our first case came in on 4th april and we started noticing we were getting an awful lot of children with what we call toxic shock—like syndrome and that's a form of infection. so probably by about 12th april, we were recognising that there was something new that seemed to be related to covid coming on. at the end of the april, doctors in the

uk were told to look out for the new disease. symptoms include a high temperature, a rash and an upset stomach and in severe cases, damage to the heart requiring intensive care. it is thought to be the result of a massive overreaction by the body's immune system, weeks after the children have been infected with the virus. occasionally if the immune system becomes overactive it causes release of all sorts of chemicals into the blood stream, which cause inflammation and so the immune system starts doing harm, rather than solely protecting you. he's leading a european—wide research project to understand the new disease. but it is important to remember that despite the number of children becoming critically unwell with this emerging illness, for the vast majority of children covid—19 is a mild, even an unnoticeable infection. 13—year—old luca is one of those now recovering from the new illness after spending almost two weeks at great 0rmond street hospital and four days

in intensive care. he used to have a high temperature, over 40 degrees. very floppy. no energy. he used to sweat a lot. and very... very scary. i spoke to him from his hospital bed. the main thing that i've missed is being home with my mum and my little sister. luca was discharged today. doctors here say they're beginning to understand how to treat this illness and that they're better prepared in the event of a second wave of infections. the government says it is "opening the door" for the return of professional football in england in june. the culture secretary 0liver dowden, who chaired a meeting of the sport's officials today, said plans had progressed, and included widening access for fans to view live coverage. in the united states, new figures suggest that one in four

americans has lost theirjob in the past two months. since the coronavirus outbreak in mid—march, more than 36 million have applied for unemployment benefits. there were three million new claims made in the past week. a government scheme to provide grants for the self—employed has received 440,000 applications — worth £1.3 billion — in its first day. the scheme allows self—employed workers adversely affected by the pandemic to claim 80% of their average monthly trading profits up to a maximum of £7,500. government borrowing during this crisis has been pushed to levels not seen since world war two. the independent forecaster, the office for budget responsibility, calculates thatjob and business support schemes will see the public sector deficit balloon by hundreds of billions of pounds this year. 0ur economics editor faisal islam is here. it isa it is a pretty bleak picture? yes,

more frankly incredible numbers about the economic consequences of this pandemic. the office of budget responsibility is the independent forecaster of budgets and at the budget two months ago, they predicted borrowing annually for the government of 55 billion. after two updates taking into account coronavirus, this is what has happened to the forecalves. up to —— forecast. up to 300 billion. half of thatis forecast. up to 300 billion. half of that is a reduction in the tax take you get in a recession and the rest is the spending on rescue programmes, whether paying wages or the self—employed scheme. these are huge sums. the government is able to borrow the money from an office in the city. but this what is that huge number looks like in historical context. it is 15.2% of the size of

the national income and we have not seen that in peacetime. it is more than the year around ve day, 1945 to 46 so we have not seen that since world war two. some will argue, well, world war two's debts when it was big, it took decades to pay them back and that is what could well be with these. thank you. in ukraine at least 35 newborn babies have been left stranded after coronavirus restrictions prevented them being claimed by their parents. the babies, who were born to surrogates, are being looked after by a team of nannies and nurses in a hotel room in kyiv. ukraine closed its borders in response to the coronavirus pandemic, making it nearly impossible for their biological parents to come from around the world to claim them. jonah fisher sent this report. in a hotel on the outskirts of ukraine's capital, we found the lost children. so, if you just go and

have a look in here. these are the 35 babies born here in ukraine, their parents all around the world. they're being looked after, you can see the nurses looking after them. but desperately sad. they're on their own, because ukraine closed its borders in response to the coronavirus. it stopped the babies, born to surrogates, being claimed by their biological parents. we've got chinese babies, italian babies, spanish babies, british babies. surrogacy is a big and legal business here in ukraine. it cost about £40,000 for each of these babies to be carried by a ukrainian woman. but the surrogates have now gone and the babies must stay in this hotel room, cared

for by nannies like 0lga. "we feel so sorry for them," she says, "we know that no one can replace their parents." some have overcome the virus restrictions to reach their babies. this is the emotional moment when a couple from sweden were handed their twins ella and louis by the surrogate mother. they only made to it ukraine after an anonymous donor stepped in and paid for a private jet. to sit here and have them in ourarms andjust like, we made it... yeah. i don't know, it's incredible. it's incredible. their next challenge is to get home. the hotel newborns are less fortunate. they must keep waiting for life and love to really begin. jonah fisher, bbc news, in kiev.

we heard earlier how the coronavirus outbreak has had an impact on the treatment of other seriously ill people. cancer care is one such area — with some screening, treatments and trials postponed or delayed. 0ur correspondentjeremy cooke has been talking to two cancer patients — kit and sean — who are living with a cancer diagnosis and now have to deal with the threat of the coronavirus. i was lying in a hospital bed. the doctor came in. they said, we don't know what to tell you, we never have to tell people your age this sort of news, but it's bad. sean and kit. it spread into most of the bones in between my knees and my neck. both in their 30s. done 65 chemos, ten radiotherapies, three big ops. both with terminal cancer in the time of the covid virus. are you scared of it?

yes, absolutely terrified. with good reason. kit has had secondary breast cancer for over two years. and now there is a new threat, covid—19. i want to live long enough to die of cancer, i don't really want to be carried out by corona. i am back into hospital tomorrow. for sean, it is liver and bowel cancer. over the weekend, i haven't been feeling too good, some liver pains and stuff, which is quite concerning. his fear has been that, if he got covid, he may have been written off if the nhs had become overwhelmed. definitely feels like a lot of us are being left behind. covid—19 totally messes things up for most of us. it's wreaked havoc with our treatments, with our surgeries, with our futures, with our hope. hope. sean's best hope has been a clinical drug trial, but now it's on hold because of the virus. i am now doing a third line of chemotherapy,

which we hope, just hope, will see us through this period until trials open back up. honestly, it is soul destroying because you sort of see, like, your life ticking away. for kit, time is everything and, in these months, covid is robbing her of the most precious things. the simple things. standing outside in the sunlight and just enjoying the sun hitting my face. going to norfolk for at least a day. my beloved afc rushden & diamonds, i'm a footballjunkie. still so much to live for, but now the virus. that's what covid—19 feels like to me, it is this axe over my head that is cutting away threads. it's that fear that, at some point, it's going to stop cutting away at the edges and that axe is going to fall onto my head that is quite terrifying. 11 o'clock at night, not having the best of days... late—night news from sean. i got a thc pain patch.

the outside world is obsessed with covid but, for him, it is still about cancer, and it is hard. the pain patch that i put on last night didn't work. it's probably been my worst day since... since after the radiotherapy, so... it's worse than 2017. it's especially hard, as he's just become a father for the first time. a baby boy, max. the main thing i want to do with him is to get to take him to a football game. i completed my fifth cycle on my oral chemo drug, capecitabine. yay. and kit is also looking forward, with the love and support of her husband, phil. he's the love of my life and thank you, that i love making memories with him. for sean, a new life means new inspiration. amid lockdown and cancer and covid, he looks to the future.

i'm not planning on going anywhere anytime soon, so... yeah. he's my inspiration now. and you are going to be there for him, mate. yeah. i've got to be, man, i will be. jeremy cooke, bbc news. sean — who has terminal cancer — ending that report from jeremy cooke. the bbc has announced that the filming of eastenders and top gear is set to resume by the end ofjune. but social distancing will apply and cast members will have to do their own hair and makeup. production on the shows was halted because of coronavirus. theatres meanwhile will have to wait a lot longer before they can reopen and they're under mounting financial pressure. regional and local theatres were already having a tough time before coronavirus. many are now relying on emergency support. 0ur arts editor, will gompertz reports music.

many a crown jewel of british theatre has been found and polished in the regions. from the global hits produced by the royal shakespeare company in stratford—upon—avon, to contemporary classics presented at liverpool's everyman and playhouse theatres, making money for the local economy and inspiring generations of actors to tread the boards. kim cattrall found global fame as new yorker samantha in sex and the city, but she discovered acting as a young girl in liverpool. the local theatres meant everything to me because i was so inspired by them. i look back on the dreams that i had, but they all started regionally. the theatres in each of these towns, in liverpool, they belong to the people of that city. not at the moment they don't. covid—19 has forced theatres to close, leaving many of those in the regions in a perilous situation. a southampton theatre group, a centrepiece of the city's