this is bbc news, i'm simon mccoy. the headlines: a loss of taste or smell are added to the nhs list of symptoms of covid—19. anyone with the symptoms should self—isolate for 7 days. it has taken a little bit too long, i would say. you know, we're way behind from other countries in recognising the symptoms. a ‘route map‘ for easing scotland's lockdown — nicola sturgeon says she'll publish plans for lifting restrictions, expansion of testing. anyone over the age of five who has any of the three symptoms of covid—i9, including, of course, that loss of taste or smell, will now be able to book a test. commuters getting back to to work in england face to work in england face new measures on trains — and security guards trained in crowd

control on duty at major stations back in fashion — italy moves to the next stage of returning to normality — reopening more shops, restaurants and hairdressers. could the start of the pandemic have been handled better? a un chief says the world is paying a "heavy price" for muddled virus strategies. on into the orchard and the orchard beds, which again we only started a few years ago. these beds... and this—tle have to do... the flower show goes virtual, as chelsea is forced to close its doors to gardeners for the first time since the second world war good afternoon. losing your sense of taste or smell is among a new list of coronavirus symptoms that people have been told to look out for. until now, authorities have warned people to isolate only if they have a fever or cough,

but now doctors say the possible signs of the disease are much broader. researchers have been recording the symptoms of more than a million people in the united kingdom who think they've had the virus, and the change in the advice raises the prospect that many people may have contracted covid—i9 without realising it. here's our health correspondent, sophie hutchinson. identifying who is infected with the coronavirus and who is not is crucial in preventing it from spreading and allowing people back to work. the uk has kept the list of covid—i9 symptoms to a minimum, but today people are asked to look out for another. the uk's four chief medical officers now say a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste is a symptom along with a high temperature and/or a new continuous cough. experts say they alerted public health england two months ago, after speaking to patients.

i had contact from key workers, for example, those in contact with the vulnerable delivering food who were told they had to go to work because it was not a recognised symptom. i think we may have missed some opportunity to control the spread and fortunately now those patients will be able to get self—isolated and tested. while the uk now lists three symptoms for covid—i9, the world health organization lists 13 and some are questioning why it has taken the uk so long to recognise the other symptom. for months we have known it is a potential symptom of coronavirus, it is an unusual symptom for respiratory infections but it has been reported around the world early on in this outbreak so i don't know why it took so long to be added to the list in the uk. 1.5 million people have now logged onto a symptom tracker app created by scientists at king's college london. they believe the uk is grossly underestimating the number of people infected by the virus and not recognising all the symptoms has been damaging.

i have had doctors telling me that they were told by occupational health not to stay off work and go back on the front line, even though they had lost their sense of smell and they had muscle pains. so i think, you know, in an inquiry, we're going to find that this will have had a major effect on prolonging the epidemic. so the advice is now for anyone with a cough, fever or loss of smell and taste to stay at home and self—isolate for seven days, in order to prevent another wave of infections in this pandemic. sophie hutchinson, bbc news. our health correspondent michelle roberts explained the reason why it took the uk authorities so long to add a loss of taste or smell to the list of virus symptoms. it isa it is a case of better late than never. ent uk, which represents doctors who deal with the ear, nose

and throat, said they won't weeks ago that this could be a good sign that people have symptoms of coronavirus. the differences that —— the difficulty is that they are quite vague. you can get lots of taste and smell with other things, the common cold can give you that as well. it was balancing and trying to find the right time to bring it out. that is what the government has been saying that now they have got enough evidence around to be confident that it is worth telling people that if they have the symptoms that they need to isolate, stay—at—home. if you have a new continuous cast, a fever or a loss of smell or taste, stay—at—home. death —— a new —— a new continuous cough. in another development with england's response to the virus the government has said it is confident that it's promise of 18,000 contact tracers will be

achieved by the end of the week — but downing street would not give a firm date for the roll—out of the app which will support the test, track and trace scheme. let's cross now to our political correspondent iain watson who has more on this. they were saying we could expect the act in the —— the app in the coming weeks, but they would not say when. the health secretary said on the 28th of april, we hope to have the contact tracers, which we have discussed and we are confident we will have those in place before or at the same time as the app goes live. in answer to a question at a press c0 nfe re nce , live. in answer to a question at a press conference, matt hancock said, you're right on the app, we are expecting it to be ready by the of may. again, on the 12th of may, he said we are rolling out on mid—may. the isle of wight project where it has been trialled has gone well and we have learned a lot about how it operates and we are going to bring it in. but the downing street spokesman for the briefing the journalist said that the only commitment that number ten had made was to get these 18,000 contact tracers in place by the middle of may. and again, that the app would be ready in the coming weeks. and it was important to get feedback from

the isle of wight and how the app was going. so he was asked specifically, was the app being delayed and again he simply said that the commitment was to get in contact tracers in place. by the middle of may. asked if those were all yet fully trained, he said that they are all receiving training. at this stage, we are not quite sure if the government is ready to put in place that system effectively to get the virus under control and to trace those who have it and to get those who have been contact to self—isolate. he was also asked whether an alternative app store apps were being looked at. some were suggesting that the google model should be adopted rather than this bespoke nhs model. they said they we re bespoke nhs model. they said they were keeping all options under review, but it does appear that that was a commitment from the health secretary that the app would be ready to be wrote about rand but no. the 18th of may is a little bit past the middle of may. —— roundabout 110w. the middle of may. —— roundabout now. that commitment has not been firmed up and we do not have a firm

date as to when the app will be extended from the isle of wight to the rest of england. and here we are, in the middle of may, just beyond that and only know the symptoms may include a loss of smell 01’ symptoms may include a loss of smell or taste. a lot of doctors and social media is alive with this saying they were running about this ages ago. what has the government said about this silly? —— warning about this ages ago. what is the government are saying about this today? it is crucial this adding to the symptoms because this is effectively advised to when you would self—isolate and there had been some estimates that, therefore, the number of infections was being underestimated because some people assumed that, perhaps if they did not have a fever or cough, but had fatigue or loss of smell or taste that they did not have the coronavirus. this is an issue that is going to be raised, but what the government is saying is that they are scientific experts have looked

at this and they think now is the right time to add these symptoms, but they think it would only pick up 296 but they think it would only pick up 2% more cases than have already been identified. the issue of quarantining does seem a little muddled, doesn't it? again, what downing street would say is that it was never modelled for them. perhaps it had been over reported that somehow france might have some kind of exemption from any quarantine measures that were introduced. they said that was never the case and there had been discussions with president macron because of the channel and the importance of transport links. they were talking about specific exemptions for fleet, transport, and discussing —— freight. but now widespread exemption. there will be widespread exemption. there will be widespread

exemption for the common travel area, people going to and from the republic of ireland, but they are insisting again that quarantine measures are, when fm introduced, they will be reviewed every three weeks, as with the lockdown and we will get more detail on the precise nature of the scheme when introduced. thank you. the first minister of scotland, nicola sturgeon, has said a route map will be published on thursday setting out the next steps for the country. she also announced that from today the number of people who can be tested is being widened. ican i can confirm today that we will publish on thursday a route map of herface approach publish on thursday a route map of her face approach to easing up their measures. this will take into account the updated r number and the number of cases and the national records of scotland report due on wednesday on the number of deaths from covid. it will give detailed indication of the order in which we

will carefully and gradually seek lift restrictions. like other countries, we will not be able to put a firm date on all of the phases because timings must be driven by data and evidence. it will also be important that we assess the impact of measures in one face before moving on to another. we will continue and come again, i want to stress less, to take a cautious approach that ensures the viruses are suppressed while seeking to restore as much normality as possible. when it is safe to do so. however, there is safe to do so. however, there is safe to do so. however, there is the's route map will confirm that. as possible. when it is safe to do so. however, there is the's route map will confirm that. selling that we see progress in patient any virus. within a few days of the 28th of may, we will aim to allow, for example, more outdoor activity such as been able to set in the park, meet up outdoors with someone the park, meet up outdoors with someone from another household as long as you say social distance, some outdoor sporting activities like golf and fishing, the opening of garden centres and recycling

facilities and the resumption of some outdoor work. this first phase will coincide with her ability to start on a phased basis, a substantial test, trace and isolate operation. to help us keep the virus under control as we start to ease up these restrictions. that part is absolutely crucial. nicola sturgeon. ten weeks after imposing the world's first nationwide lockdown — italy is moving to the next stage of returning to normality — reopening more shops, restaurants and hairdressers, and restarting church services. almost 32,000 people have died in italy, but the daily number of deaths and new cases is now at the lowest level since restrictions were imposed. from milan, mark lowen reports. milan is dressing up for its reopening. its chic shops have been closed for ten weeks in the world's first national lockdown. with the final touches, comes strict hygiene controls. a screen at the till, a reminder of the new rules.

customers here will be by appointment to limit numbers. the sparkle has been dulled by the virus but they are raring to go. it has been hard actually, very hard, because nothing was sure. it has been hard actually, very hard, because nothing was sure. so we kept on listening to the news and we didn't know what to expect, when we would open again and we really hoped and were looking forward to coming back in our store. was there ever a moment where you thought are we ever going to be ever able to come back to work? no, never. italy's capital of fashion, industry and finance was at the centre of the outbreak. the first cases in february nearby, it was overwhelmed. with sites closed, tourists cancelling and business suffering, there was talk of it... we were in the city as the corona storm hit. ten weeks on, we are here again and milan is still struggling to comprehend what has happened during that time. more than 15,000 people killed in this region, almost half of all of the italian deaths, and economic

pain is intense. one in three businesses here don't plan to reopen today. so, milan is coming back to life but the wounds run deep. now we're getting better, we feel better. we can take a walk, take walks out home. he was born two months ago so this is one of his first walks. we're very happy. this too is helping italy's recovery, a hotel used to quarantine less serious cases as they wait to test negative. with the outbreak more under control, it is now also admitting people through contact tracing, those in touch with victims, further halting the spread. after 20 days here, jacqueline is ready to be discharged.

a step closer to this country healing. mark lowen, bbc news, milan. the headlines on bbc news... a loss of taste or smell are added to the nhs list of symptoms of covid—19. anyone with the symptoms should self—isolate for 7 days. a " route map" for easing scotland's lockdown — nicola sturgeon says she'll publish plans for lifting restrictions, and announces an expansion of testing commuters getting back to to work face new measures on trains — and security guards trained in crowd control on duty at major stations

children from wealthier families are spending more time each day studying during the lockdown, compared with the poorest. new research from the institute for fiscal studies found youngsters from more disadvantaged families have fewer educational resources at home, and their parents aren't able to give them as much support. it comes amid a continuing row over how soon to reopen schools, as elaine dunkley reports. dealing with coronavirus has been a steep learning curve. it's highlighted deep inequalities between children from the richest and poorest families. the government says it's scientifically safe to reopen schools, and classroom closures will have a devastating impact on children from disadvantaged backgrounds. for children who come from difficult families, it may be a real respite for them to be able to get into school. and of course, as they get into school, they're learning those social skills, they're learning the reading and the writing and the core skills, that's why we're starting with the earliest years.

so it's really not the case that it is risk—free for children to remain at home, particularly from those deprived communities. poverty and a lack of technology within the home has left some children struggling to access education. a report published by the institute for fiscal studies found that by the end of this month, children in better off families will have received a week and a half more home learning than children in the poorest households. it's already the case that there are gaps in educational attainment between the richest and the poorest. what we find in our study is that home learning looks set to exacerbate those inequalities. in particular, children from the richest families are spending more time on home learning, they have more access to the resources from their school like online classes, they're also more likely to have access to paid tutors and to a quiet study space within their own home. but the report also shows little enthusiasm amongst parents for a return to the classroom. just 39% of primary school parents

and 45% of secondary school parents said they would send their children back if they had a choice. with my children, my youngest, bronwen, she has asthma. she is on two inhalers. charlotte, she has full—on learning difficulties, and she has had pneumonia when she was five years old. i don't want her getting a second bout of pneumonia. so, we are living in a time where adults at work have to adapt to social distancing, have to adapt to the new norm. so if adults can do it, children can do it easily. and my daughter is 11 years old, she is a very smart young lady, her classmates are very smart young people, and i'm sure they'll be able to understand social distancing. it's a dilemma for teachers and parents, whether it's safe for children to return back to classes. but keeping schools closed to tackle the coronavirus pandemic is almost certain to increase educational inequalities. elaine dunkley, bbc news.

there have been calls for a review into the international response to the pandemic, amid divisions about the way it's been handled. envoys from nearly 200 countries are meeting online for the world health organisation's annual assembly. our correspondent imogen foulkes has been following the talks from bern in switzerland and said there was an emphasis on unity between countries while the world responds to the pandemic. it is dominated, of course, by the coronavirus pandemic. a world health assembly that's normally two weeks long squashed into two days, where the government leaders will meet virtually by video conference. what the who called for ahead of this meeting was global unity and global solidarity. we know there have been a lot of criticisms, particularly from the united states, about whether the who was too close to china, had not released information quickly enough. it looks, actually, at the moment as if the who has got what it wanted. we have had every world leader so far pledging support for the who.

some, like china and france, pledging a lot more money. that'll make up for that us shortfall after washington cut funding. and also, everyone, including the un secretary general and the director general of the world health organization, saying, yes, there must be an enquiry, an independent evaluation as to how this pandemic was handled by everyone, including the who, including all the member states. but what antonio guterres, the secretary—general, said was, not right now. now we're in the middle of a pandemic, we need to be unified. if we don't defeat this pandemic together, we'll actually fail in defeating it at all. (pres)as many countries around the world start to emerge as many countries around the world start to emerge from coronavirus lockdowns — the cost to the global economy

is also becoming apparent. we've seen big hits to gdp — or the amount a country produces — in places like germany and the uk. and now statistics from japan show it has slipped into recession — with gdp shrinking by 3.4 percent in the first quater of the year. our correspondent in tokyo, rupert wingfield—hayes, explained howjapan has been in a difficult place for some time. the government and many economists have been predicting much worse, a full year on yearfor the have been predicting much worse, a full year on year for the first three months of this year of around 596 three months of this year of around 5% or more. it actually came out around 3.4% down in gdp. so that is slightly better, i know it is still bad, but it is slightly better than was feared. the reason for that is that japanese consumers seem to still be spending. exports have fallen in lot, obviously because the whole of the world's economy has grown to a halt. certainly, domestic consumption here in japan grown to a halt. certainly, domestic consumption here injapan has held up consumption here injapan has held upa consumption here injapan has held up a little better than was expected. but everybody is warning that the government and all the animals hear are warning that this is just the animals hear are warning that this isjust the beginning. the animals hear are warning that this is just the beginning. the second quarter as we are “—

is just the beginning. the second quarter as we are —— and all the a nalysts quarter as we are —— and all the analysts here are warning. that the second quarter will be worse. many retail and entertainment parts of the economy pretty much completely shut down, so there is a prediction that for the second quarter of this year, japan could see a fall in gdp of 20% and if that were the case, that would be the worst recorded in peacetime history, modern peacetime history in japan. today should have been the first day of the chelsea flower show — but the pandemic means it's been cancelled, for the first time since the second world war. instead the show has gone online, with many designers transforming their own gardens for the virtual show. the queen was among those sending her support to the organisers, as daniela relph reports. the faces are familiar, but

everything else was different. the smells, the feline to the bustle is not there. there is a different mood to the online version. have you had to the online version. have you had to think about how the garden looks virtually? yes, i did have to think about the kind of shots. i'm not a director, i am about the kind of shots. i'm not a director, iam not about the kind of shots. i'm not a director, i am not a film person, so trying to think about the right kind of shots to capture the right kind of shots to capture the right kind of plans to show and how to transform this centre chelsea are still plenty, it took a bit of thinking to get that right. we receded the arch at last the orchard la st receded the arch at last the orchard last autumn. we have been taken into private back gardens. a virtual chelsea is also focusing on the positivity that gardening can bring. more and more people are finding that gardening of any kind is really helpful. it reduces anxiety, help depression and it is to do with nurturing something. this isjust absolutely wonderful. for those denied at their chelsea fix this

year, there was a positive response to the virtual version. with virtual chelsea, i think we always look for inspiration, different ideas, that we can bring into our own garden and in ourown we can bring into our own garden and in our own situation. there is such a light on there for us that, you know, every day will bring something different. her perspective of lockdown. all chelsea regulars have become armchair viewers this time. the queen has attended almost every year of her reign. statement of support to royal horticultural society today, she said... the horticultural industry is one that has been hit hard by the coroner virus pandemic. even the

garden centres have just reopened, they have already lost an estimated _by they have already lost an estimated —— by the coronavirus pandemic. they have already lost an estimated -- by the coronavirus pandemic. the chelsea flower show is a social highlight for many. hopefully this will fill the gap before the return of the flower show in 2021. we can talk now to the director general of the royal horticultural society, sue biggs. the first time since the second world war, this has been a nightmare for you. it makes you realise the magnitude of what has happened. it was a terrible decision to take to cancel an event that is important to the horticultural world worldwide. i have to say that out of problems, exciting changes and i hope that

eve ryo ne exciting changes and i hope that everyone loves the virtual chelsea flower show because we have worked ha rd flower show because we have worked hard for two months to bring it to everyone. you say two months, but a lot of people spend years preparing foran lot of people spend years preparing for an individual show. well, i am very lucky that i have an amazing tea m very lucky that i have an amazing team at the rhs and we are all very lucky that we have really incredible exhibitors and when we first announce that we were going to do the virtual show, we were inundated with offers to help. that has been great. it has led to so many of those films are shown they're online. and also some coming during the rest of this week, whether it is through florist, through florist, through florist, through florist, through the designers, showing us... it isa through the designers, showing us... it is a great to have a sneak behind everyone's gardens. and also to look at the nurseries. we should be proud of our british nursery men. they do an incrediblejob. of our british nursery men. they do an incredible job. and of our british nursery men. they do an incrediblejob. and some of the films getting great advice on how to garden. and somejust inspiring us with with these beautiful plants. and you say whatever level we are. it is really important for mental health. a lot of surveys are perhaps

thatis health. a lot of surveys are perhaps that is an added sadness that you cannot get to chelsea this year. that is an added sadness that you cannot get to chelsea this yeahm is. it is very sad this morning when i thought i would be up around five ema getting ready for good old chelsea. —— 5am. i am a great believer in every cloud has a silver lining. the upside of this is that eve ryo ne lining. the upside of this is that everyone who wants to can join this flower show. and we havejust completed a survey that shows that seven out of ten people feel that being in an outdoor space lifts them out and help their mental health. so i really hope we all benefit from what has been a terrible situation for everyone in lockdown, but more and more people have got gardening and more people have got gardening andi and more people have got gardening and i hope more and more people joining a club, join the rhs, support our british nurseries and we can get back and welcome everyone to a real show next year. we were just looking at monte and his garden and others have opened your door, as you say. i am wondering if any have opened their doors and new thought,

my gosh, did not think you'd have that sort of plant there. i'm not a trained horticulturist, just go whether love a plant or not. monte's film is absolutely beautiful. that morning walk through part of the garden university in gardner world and a sneaky peek of his has —— part of the garden that you never see in gardeners world. that is only there for the members and that is something we want to give them special for something we want to give them specialfor being part something we want to give them special for being part of our membership. i hope we can bring some i°y membership. i hope we can bring some joy into people's life at a time when it is not ever so joyful. it is a different theme each day i think. ican go a different theme each day i think. i can go get about? what would you say to people, perhaps you have never been to chelsea and this is the moment that they can find out a bit more? 0h, the moment that they can find out a bit more? oh, it is really simple. just going to rhs.org.uk and you will find virtual chelsea plastered all over there, you will not be able to miss it. there are lots of films

to miss it. there are lots of films to watch, article to read and you can see are fantastic botanical art and photography over the years. photographs of the queen. we were so moved this morning when we discovered that the queen had written that letter to us because, to have a patron as amazing as she is was really special. so that is so much, articles famous people have written and all your horticultural book shelf will come to life. they they are all there during studies, giving us tips, helping us all be better gardeners. —— doing stories. there is a lot on there about growing your own food. that is busted up. i think our web hits went up busted up. i think our web hits went up 500% in the last couple of weeks as people wanted to learn how to grow their own food. we will leave it there. i wish you well with it andi it there. i wish you well with it and i thank you for your time this afternoon. a great pleasure, thank you. it isa it is a bit dry and therefore gardeners. now it's time for a look at the weather with stav

thicker outbreaks of rain tonight and tomorrow. it turns anyone free time in the south thanks high pressure. we close the week with low pressure, bringing cooler, windier and wetter weather for some of us. this is the weather fronts i was talking about bringing further pulses of rain for northern ireland, much of scotland, particularly in the south and north in england as we move through the evening overnight. for this had clear spells, but we will be drawing in milderair. clear spells, but we will be drawing in milder air. temperatures no lower than 11 or 12 celsius. tuesday sta rts than 11 or 12 celsius. tuesday starts mad, rather cloudy, sunshine will be appearing across the south. the rain begins to peter out in the north of the uk —— tuesday starts mild. some sunshine and has, 2425 celsius. the peak of the heat will be on wednesday, especially in the south. chance of sums on the sham is developing —— 24 or 25 celsius. cool or windy on friday.

hello this is bbc news with simon mccoy. the headlines... a loss of taste or smell are added to the nhs list of symptoms of covid—19. anyone with the symptoms should self—isolate for seven days. a ‘route map' for easing scotland's lockdown — nicola sturgeon says she'll publish plans for lifting restrictions and announces an expansion of testing. commuters getting back to work face new measures on trains — and security guards trained in crowd control on duty at major stations. italy moves to the next stage of returning to normality — reopening more shops, restaurants and hairdressers. sport now. and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's holly. good afternoon. celtic have been crowned scottish premiership champions for the ninth year in a row, after the top—flight clubs agreed that the season could not be concluded. that also means that hearts have been relegated.

our scotland sports news correspondent chris mclaughlin has more. after weeks and weeks of negotiation, infighting, backbiting, finally the season 2019, 2020 of the scottish premiership is over. it doesn't come as any real surprise. this was the direction of travel for some time but celtic, who were 13 points clear with eight games remaining are now crowned champions. it's their ninth title in a row. now, the club, as you can imagine, are urging theirfans not to come to celtic park in the east end of glasgow. covid—19 clearly will get in the way of any title party. they are planning on putting some social media material out to give fans access to some kind of virtual title party. but as well as celtic of course being crowned champions, hearts are relegated to the scottish championship. it's big for them in terms of the financial imprecations.

—— implications. the owner has already hinted towards legal action. we shall see what happens with regards to that. but certainly today the scottish premiership is over and celtic, as we expected, crowned champions. celtic urging fans to stay away and celebrate in their homes. a few have turned up outside the stadium this afternoon. armed with flags, scarves and shirts. on the club's website, it says, "we all must stay safe and stay home. please do not come to celtic park." meanwhile, premier league training will resume this week after clubs agreed to a number of medical protocols during the latest meeting of project restart. they are the first stage in the proposed return of the league in mid june — with some matches potentialy being shown on free—to—air television, as the secretary for culture and sport told us.

we would look to give that green light if we can because i think it would be a good thing to do if we can. i'm also looking as we do it, for example, at increasing the number of matches that could be free to air, so that people could, wouldn't be tempted to leave their homes to watch it, which is clearly an important consideration. there is a rule at the moment that at 3pm you can't show matches on tv because people were watching it in the football stadiums. clearly that's not going to be the case any more, so some of those slots may be available forfree to air. so we are looking to see whether we could do that as part of the wider broadcasting package. the former kent and england batsman rob key has revealed that he suffered a mini stroke at the weekend. he's recovering at canterbury hospital. key is 41 and now works as a tv pundit. he seems in good spirits, posting a picture of himself in his hospital bed, thanking his doctor and saying "long weekend, turns out i've had a mini stroke. now got to eat food with no flavour and take pills, #triffic,".

key's greatest display in an england shirt was an innings of 221 against the west indies injuly 2004. best wishes to rob. professional golf has returned for the first time in over two months, in the form of a charity match in the united states. rory mcilroy and dustinjohnson beat rickie fowler and matthew wolff in florida, raising over £4 million. players had to observe social distancing rules, and carry their own bags. they were tied after 18 holes so it went down to a ‘closest to the pin‘ contest — and world number one mcilroy took it. that‘s all the sport for now — more reaction to the news that and that celtic have been crowned scottish premiership champions for the ninth season. on the bbc sport website. and i‘ll have more

in the next hour/. rail passengers are facing new measures to ensure social distancing on trains and stations, as more people consider returning to the office — following the easing of lockdown measures in england. security guards with crowd management training are patrolling some stations, and travellers have been warned they could be stopped from boarding trains if they are too busy. our transport correspondent, tom burridge has more. please check before you travel. more services this morning, but not many passengers. nobody here, i don‘t know, it‘s packed every day, every time. now, you can see, nobody. since the covid—19 started, it used to be very busy, this train station. but now, you can see, there is less than about 20 people travelling. it does stress you out. i mean, i don't sit worrying about it, there's not much you can do except try and be careful. but, i mean, if you think about it too much, you know, it is worrying. small stations like this one

near nottingham, deserted. but measures are in place to manage larger numbers at major stations and on trains. welcome aboard the 8.30 service to norwich. new messages. please follow social distancing advice and spread out throughout the train. ..and more staff directing you around. london underground, please keep to your left. they will also limit passenger numbers. if theyjudge there‘s already enough people on board a particular train, then they might block the gates off here and other people will have to wait for the next service. if you travel on public transport, the message is, please cover your face. you can see that it‘s not mandatory, but obviously, we‘d all like to know that we are not likely to infect anybody else if we get close to them. so we‘re all very keen in the rail industry for people to wear face coverings when they‘re out and about on the network.

on intercity services, it‘s reserved seats only to control numbers. rail companies predict their services will get busier over the next few weeks. so they‘re looking at other measures, and they are relying on many of us not to travel. tom burridge, bbc news, at euston station. to just tojust bring to just bring you the latest figures we are receiving from public health wales. a further four people have died after testing positive for coronavirus and that takes the total number of deaths in wales to 1207. according to public health wales another 101 people tested positive for covid—19 and that brings a number of confirmed cases of covid—19 to number of confirmed cases of covid-19 to 12,000 404. so that public health wales and northern ireland the number of people who died after testing positive for

covid—19 has risen to 482. so that means a further six deaths have been reported by the department of health in northern ireland over the past 24 hours. in northern ireland they are taking steps to ease lockdown with garden centres and recycling facilities allowed to reopen and further measures expected later this afternoon. the republic of ireland is also relaxing restrictions, and will now permit up to four people who don‘t live together to meet outdoors. our correspondent, chris page begins his report in belfast. it is a new way of shopping, where hand hygiene and social distancing are paramount. this is a place where gardeners have put down roots for decades. but they haven‘t been able to visit for eight weeks, until this morning. it‘s a great relief, it‘s lovely just to see the customers coming back, see a smile on their face that they are able to come in and shop in the garden centre. i must say, it‘s not silly numbers, nice and relaxed, people are out to get what they need and it‘s working very well.

this is the start of a very gradual and gentle easing of restrictions. but for people who have come here today, they say it does feel like a semblance of normality. a little bit, although how normal we're ever going to be until we get a vaccine is questionable. it's nice to get out and into the fresh air again, and just take a walk around. everybody seems to be socially distanced, so long may it continue. fabulous, i love walking round garden centres and looking at the plants. i would be a regular customer here, probably once a week. have you missed it? oh, i have. while garden centres have had a steady trickle of customers, this is what has happened in some recycled facilities, drivers waiting their turn to dispose of car boot loads of waste. across the border in the republic of ireland, the government is starting its 5—step plan to recover from the lockdown. around one in five construction workers are coming back, small groups of people from different households can meet

outside, and some sports like golf can be played again with precautions. it will be three balls only, not four, and preferably all from the same household playing in the three ball, but doesn‘t have to be as long as people adhere to social distancing. more restrictions remain in place in northern ireland, but ministers in the devolved government in stormont are meeting to discuss further changes. possibilities including allowing churches to open for private prayer and permitting up to six people who live apart to get together outdoors. an announcement is expected this afternoon. chris page, bbc news. the chief executive of budget airline ryanair, michael o‘leary, has described the proposed quarantine of incoming passengers to the uk as "idiotic" and accused the british government of mismanaging its response to the coronavirus outbreak. the government says it‘s still in talks with france about whether its citizens would be exempt from the restrictions, expected to come in and the end of the month. mr o‘leary has been speaking to bbc radio 4‘s today programme.

it‘s laughable that this government can come up with any plans for a quarantine that would be strict and fully enforced, when already they‘re exempting the irish, the french national health service workers... they‘re not going to exempt the french, are they? well, they are. that‘s currently the policy. like, it‘s idiotic and it‘s un—implementable. you don‘t have enough police in the uk to implement a two—week lockdown. what‘s really worrying is a two—week lockdown has no medical or scientific basis to it in any event. if you really want to do something that‘s effective, wear masks. what worries us is the uk government are there talking about an ineffectual and unmanageable 14 day lockdown, instead of talking about allowing people to travel on the underground and on trains and on planes, but wearing masks. that was michael o‘leary. it‘s a new week of home schooling for millions of children and parents across the uk today. but, for some families in england, the end is in sight.

the government wants certain primary school pupils back in the classroom in a fortnight, despite concerns over safety and social distancing. graham satchell has been speaking to two families with very different views on whether they‘ll be packing the kids off to school from june the first. two families in england both facing an agonising choice. do they send their children back to school? we all love our kids and we want the absolute best for them but we have to weigh up the risk against what‘s happening to their education. emma‘s son joe is 11, he‘s in year six, last year of primary school. most of the information we get says that covid is not as severe a threat to children as it is to adults. but at the same time, i‘m diabetic, so there is an added risk ifjoe goes back to school. but that said, i don‘t think this situation is very healthy for children in general, particularly if, like joe, they‘re an only child. joe‘s world has

shrunk beyond belief. to me, at times, he‘s very isolated and i think it‘s quite lonely. so what is 10%? 460. 460, brilliant. emma has done her best to home—school her son. she was a teacher for 12 years, understands the safety concerns of teaching unions. but says for her son, it‘s the right time to return. if they leave it till september, it‘s a completely new school. we‘ve had no transition yet. so although i do feel very torn, and i do think my opinions maybe different ifjoe was younger, i have said that i will be sending joe back. elsie lives on a farm near lancaster with her four brothers. she‘s in reception. her mum horrified by the prospect of sending her back to school. when they actually announced it, i cried, i cried and i don‘t care if they fine me,

i don‘t care if the lancashire county council knock on my door for attendance, she is not going back to school. my main priority is that little girl‘s health. elsie‘s twin brothers arthur and alfie have down syndrome. they‘re more vulnerable to the virus. so the family have been shielding them under a strict lockdown. if i sent my daughter out into the outside world, to school, obviously there‘s a chance that she could come in contact with the virus. and then bring that virus inside our house. do i want to take that risk as a mother? no, i don‘t. who is it? elsie‘s dad, a farmer, has been working through the lockdown. to protect his family, he‘s been living in a caravan. they laugh he sees his children once a day through the window. give him a kiss. across the uk, families have made extraordinary sacrifices to stay safe. in england, many are now wrestling with whether it‘s safe enough to send their children back to school.

graham satchell, bbc news. the headlines on bbc news. a loss of taste or smell are added to the nhs list of symptoms of covid 19 — anyone with the symptoms should self—isolate for 7 days. a ‘route map‘ for easing scotland‘s lockdown — nicola sturgeon says she‘ll publish plans for lifting restrictions and announces an expansion of testing. commuters getting back to to work face new measures on trains — and security guards trained in crowd control on duty at major stations. an update on the market numbers for you — here‘s how london‘s and frankfurt ended the day. no analysis available quite yet. as a teenager who had just broken into the treble—winning manchester united side,

luke chadwick was living many young footballers‘ dream. but while things were going well on the field, it was a different story off it, as luke became a figure of fun because of the way he looked. and the insults went beyond the stands, and onto prime—time tv. as part of mental health awareness week, he‘s been speaking to sally nugent about his experience. it was a golden era and a glorious time for manchester united. beckham, scholes, giggs and a young lad called luke chadwick. but his time in the spotlight was not always easy. he was vilified not for the way he played but for the way he looked. it was quite childish, things around spots on my face, teeth sticking out and that sort of thing. although, i think it‘s more the repetition of being said over and over again more than one specific thing which probably, in the end, it sort of lowers your self—esteem a lot and feels like that‘s all that i‘m known for or spoken about,

it wasn‘t just fans at the game, the humiliation went further in online forums, doctored pictures and national television. there‘s a tv show called, "they think it‘s all over", it was on years ago and it was really popular and i sort of became a picture of fun on that, on most episodes. still, it‘s not the first time a man united photograph has been wrecked, this photo of luke chadwick was ruined when luke chadwick turned up. laughter and applause. gary lineker apologise. i'm appalled really for him and myself. and when i hear really for him and myself. and when ihear him really for him and myself. and when i hear him speak in, i‘m full of admiration for the president luke chadwick and full of sympathy for

the young luke chadwick and personally i feel a great deal of responsibility and shame, which i do accept and have to hold my hand too. despite what luke chadwick went through, he holds no grudges. i do like to think i‘m quite a nice guy and someone that‘s easy to talk to but obviously a footballer as well, imight not but obviously a footballer as well, i might not have been a brilliant footballer but i was a footballer and obviously must have had some good qualities of a footballer to have a career in the game, so obviously i‘d rather be remembered as someone who was quite good at football than just for the way that i may have looked at a certain time in my life. eight inspirational young people from across the uk are being recognised with rotary young citizen awards this week. throughout the week we‘ll be talking to all the winners — all of whom are under 25 and have been singled out for their

outstanding contribution to their communities. today we‘re starting with 16—year—old hannah chowdhry. she has been helping feed the homeless and vulnerable in east london during the coronavirus pandemic. and bethan harvey who has been working in a care home in witham — she was severely bullied at school because of a rare genetic condition. first, hannah, tell me what you have been doing to help the homeless and those in need during this pandemic. hello. i‘ve been feeding over 65 homeless people every day now. we distribute food. i‘ve also taken a food safety course so i cook for them as well. and we have donations from tesco and waitrose, who i would like to thank. and i would like to especially thank harry from tesco. we‘ve also had clothes donations from other people from the community that homeless people can pick clothes from now. why is this so important to you, hannah? this is important to you, hannah? this is important to you, hannah? this is important to me because i like to

give back to the community and i think especially in this coronavirus pandemic it‘s vital for us to help people less fortunate than us. and included in that group are those sleeping rough and you‘ve formed quite a bond with some of them. yes, some of them are roth sleepers. we‘ve actually helped over 17 rough sleepers into temporary accommodation now. —— rough sleepers. i‘ve made a great friendship with one of them and her story is amazing and it is just nice to know her. i'm sure. i will come back to you in a moment but i want to go to death in. you are working long hours as a supporter in cavan. we are all talking about care homes at the moment. how have you found it? it's not been as difficult as i expected it to be. it's pretty much a normal typical day except obviously we can't take people we support out into the community. the most challenging thing for me has been wearing the mask because honestly the mumbled speech and lip

reading a lot and that's something i can't do with masks. yes, i need to explain that you would with a genetic condition and you have hearing problems. so how do you get round that because presumably a lot of people in care homes they want everybody to wear masks. yes, obviously i still have to wear the mask for the people i support's safety. but i rely a lot of the time of my colleagues, they are aware of it so they stand a lot closer to me. and the people we support are very aware of it. they repeat things and get my attention before speaking to me first. a lot of people looking at you will admire what you are doing and if they knew about your background, i mean you were bullied, you are very badly bullied at one point and things got very grim for you. they did, yes. it started off with verbal bullying, being called names and been told i was stupid, dumb, ugly and things like that. and asi

dumb, ugly and things like that. and as i got on to secondary school it led on to getting death threats, cyber bullying and spiralled out of control really. how did you pull yourself out of the depths that i know you went to? it was when i went to college, been around new people that didn't know me, didn't know my background and were asking questions about my hearing and i explained. and then i went on to write my blog just to be able to put information out there to try and help at least one other person. which has now gone to over 400 subscribers and followers, which led me to do my youtube channel and also volunteering in essex. and learning sign language to try and communicate with other people. wow. i mean, that‘s amazing. you had an opportunity in effect to hit a reset button, to say that‘s how i want my

life to be now. yeah, in effect it was exactly like that. it was exactly like hitting the reset button and starting over again. bethan, really good to talk to. i will come back to the moment but i wa nt to will come back to the moment but i want to talk to hannah because you have also done a lot of work in terms of drugs misuse. you are aware i think of others who were abusing and you wanted to do something to try and help. yes, i did. i created a campaign where we would create awareness for drug misuse of illegal highs. and i‘ve created an online portal where we can map different crimes and that information would go directly to the police, so they can investigate different crimes in that area. well, you sit on a youth reference panel for the mayor of london‘s office for crime so you are getting actively involved with this. yes, ido, getting actively involved with this. yes, i do, and it‘s really rewarding to know that i‘m creating awareness and people are listening and made

more aware of the problems that could impact them from taking these highs. bethan, if i can could impact them from taking these highs. bethan, ifi can come back to you because you‘re working on the front line, if you like, of care homes. what do people say to you about coronavirus and how presumably they are feeling quite lonely because nobody can visit them. what can you offer? yes, the people we support obviously can't see their families and their friend so we are putting on a lot more activities to keep them entertained. so we've had partiesjust to keep them entertained. so we've had parties just to keep them entertained and keep them occupied as well as obviously regular face times and things with their families so they feel they are still supported by their families and have some contact with them. and you are now receiving a rotary young citizen award. what does that mean to you? it means a lot. i never expected to even be sitting here today, let alone be nominated for an award. but i'd love to thank those who

nominated me. it means an enormous amount to bill to give back to the charities that i do a lot of work for. and raise more awareness for them as well as my blog. 0h, stop there, you‘re putting us all to shame with a the stuff you‘re doing! hannah, very quickly. what does it mean to you, how will you be celebrating this? i would like to thank rotary for acknowledging my work and that they community work is being shared with everyone. i‘d like to say thank you and i‘m really proud of myself for doing this work. as you should be. hannah, bethan, really good to talk to you both. many, many congratulations and i‘m sure we will be hearing of you again. oh, in these times isn‘t it good just every now and again to touch the reset button. now, we will

have plenty more on the outbreak, the coronavirus outbreak in a moment but first of all lets you bring —— let‘s bring you a weather update. hello there. it‘s set to turn warmer and sunnier for many of us as we move through the middle part of the week. we could be looking at some of the warmest weather of the year so far stopped but of course, the month of may so far has also been exceptionally dry stop for many areas, there is a list of areas behind me which have seen just a few percent of their monthly average so far. so gardeners and farmers crying out for the rainfall. we could be in look for some of us towards the end of the week is low pressure moves in. and indeed today and tomorrow they‘ll be a little bit of rain across northern areas. it turns very warm for many of us around the middle part of the week and then low pressure is likely to bring some wetter and windier weather to many of us at the end of the week added to the weekend. now, high pressure has been dominating the scene across the south of the country today. further north we have these weather

fronts bringing thick clouds and patchy rain for northern ireland. central, southern scotland, northern england and in towards the far north—west of wales. some drier interludes tonight across the north of scotland and across the south of the country. quite a bit of cloud around and we all starting to see a warmer air mass moving across the country. so a very mild night to come with the lows of 11 or 12 degrees for many of us. so we start tuesday on a mild note, rather cloudy, misty, murky conditions. still some splashes of rain across central, southern scotland, northern england, some wetter weather pushing on into the northern isles there. but where we have more cloud generally then the high teens celsius across the north of the uk. further south where the sun peeks through into the afternoon it‘ll be warmer, 24, 20 five degrees. our area of high pressure builds in for wednesday. that‘ll push those weather fronts northwards and bring us back warm air from the south. so it could be quite a wet day i think wednesday for the northern isles. but elsewhere much drier, certainly for northern ireland and scotland. variable clouds, some sunshine, most of that sunshine across the south, where we might see those temperatures peaked at around 27, maybe 28 degrees. so it does look like wednesday will be the peak of the warmth for many of us.

on thursday, we get another warm day, particularly across the south and the south—east but we could start to see the risk of some showers and thunderstorms pushing in across the southern parts of the country. all thanks to this weather front, which will move in and destabilise the atmosphere. but from thursday onwards, this area of low pressure pushes in off the atlantic to bring lots of isobars. it will be turning windier but more cloud around and outbreaks of rain. but again, it does look like most of the rain will be across more northern and western areas, drier weather across the south.

this is bbc news, i‘m simon mccoy. the headlines: a loss of taste or smell are added to the nhs list of symptoms of covid—19. anyone with the symptoms should self—isolate for 7 days. it self—isolate for 7 days. has taken a little bit too lor it has taken a little bit too long, i would say. you know, we are way behind other countries in recognising these other symptoms. a "route map" for easing scotland‘s lockdown — nicola sturgeon says she‘ll publish plans for lifting restrictions, and announces an expansion of testing. anyone over the age of five who has any of the three symptoms of covid—19, including, of course, that loss of taste or smell, will now be able to book a test. commuters getting back to to work in england face new measures on trains — and security guards trained in crowd control on duty at major stations. back in fashion — italy moves to the next stage

of returning to normality — reopening more shops, restaurants and hairdressers. could the start of the pandemic have been handled better? a un chief says the world is paying a "heavy price" for muddled virus strategies. on into the orchard and at the orchard beds,... and this—tle have to do... the flower show goes virtual, as chelsea is forced to close its doors to gardeners for the first time since the second world war. good afternoon. losing your sense of taste or smell is among a new list of coronavirus symptoms people in the uk have been told to look out for. until now, authorities have warned people to isolate only if they have a fever or cough,

but now doctors say the possible signs of the disease are much broader. now, if you or someone you live with has any of these symptoms — a new, continuous cough, a high temperature, or loss of smell or taste — the advice is stay at home to stop the risk of spreading the virus. nicola sturgeon says a route map will be published on thursday, setting out steps for easing scotland‘s lockdown, scotland‘s first minister has also announced an expansion of testing availability in the country. ten weeks after imposing the world‘s first nationwide lockdown — italy is moving to the next stage of returning to normality — reopening more shops, restaurants and hairdressers, as well as restarting church services. and there have been calls for a review into the international response to the pandemic, amid divisions about the way it‘s been handled. envoys from nearly 200 countries are meeting online for the world health organisation‘s annual assembly. more now on the government‘s addition of a loss of taste or smell to its official list of coronavirus symptoms. this report from our health

correspondent, sophie hutchinson. identifying who is infected with the coronavirus and who is not is crucial in preventing it from spreading and allowing people back to work. the uk has kept the list of covid—19 symptoms to a minimum, but today people are asked to look out for another. the uk‘s four chief medical officers now say a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste is a symptom along with a high temperature and/or a new continuous cough. experts say they alerted public health england to a connection between loss of smell and covid—19 two months ago, after speaking to patients. i had contact from key workers, for example, those in contact with the vulnerable delivering food who were told they had to go to work because it was not a recognised symptom. so i think we may have missed some opportunity to control the spread and fortunately now those patients will be able to get self—isolated and tested.

—— and hopefully get tested. while the uk now lists three symptoms for covid-19, the world health organization lists 13 and some are questioning why it has taken the uk so long to recognise the other symptom. for months we have known it is a potential symptom of coronavirus, it is an unusual symptom for respiratory infections but it has been reported around the world early on in this outbreak so i don't know why it took so long to be added to the list in the uk. 1.5 million people have now logged onto a symptom tracker app created by scientists at king‘s college london. they believe the uk is grossly underestimating the number of people infected by the virus and not recognising all the symptoms has been damaging. i have had doctors telling me that they were told by occupational health not to stay off work and go back on the front line, even though they had lost their sense of smell and they had muscle pains. so i think, you know, in an inquiry, we‘re going to find that this

will have had a major effect on prolonging the epidemic. so the advice is now for anyone with a cough, fever or loss of smell and taste to stay at home and self—isolate for seven days, in order to prevent another wave of infections in this pandemic. sophie hutchinson, bbc news. with more on that updated list of symptoms from the uk government, our health correspondent michelle roberts, is here. a lot of people messaging and saying they were warning of this ages ago, i had best taken so long? it has been tricky. the government had had a scientific adviser is looking at it. it is a new virus and we have not until it hit our shores in january, february time. they are starting to learn more about it and it is true that other experts have

been warning ministers for weeks that they thought these other symptoms, the loss of smell, loss of taste, could be signs of coronavirus. experts at king‘s couege coronavirus. experts at king‘s college london had been asking volu nteers college london had been asking volunteers to sign up, use an app, report their own symptoms and some of those were tested for coronavirus and they found this link between the loss of smell and taste. knowing when to actually trigger this into public health messaging is the question because people will have to act on it. people have to stay at home. these symptoms can be found with the common cold, so it is not necessarily clear always went to jump necessarily clear always went to jump in and say, right, you really need to act on this. but now we‘re being told that everybody in the uk, if you have got a cough, a fever or if you have got a cough, a fever or if you have got a cough, a fever or if you lose smell or taste and that is unusual for you, then stay at home. the difficulty with his as there are going to be a lot of people watching the snow who had

that, without either being tested or self isolating attachment watching the show. there will be lots of people out there who will think i‘m deaf and had the symptoms. the difficulty at the moment is we do not have a test that we can easily get out to people. —— who will think i have definitely had the symptoms. we are not quite there with the test for checking people had coronavirus. one hand you are being advised common sense, if you do not need to work at home or if you can get into the office, it is now time to start thinking about that. yet, they may not be feeling comfortable with that. there is still a bit of mixed messaging out there, is there not? obviously, the new messaging is to be alert. that is what the government is saying in england. they have got this alert system,

five down to one. at the moment we are at level four. five down to one. at the moment we are at levelfour. but five down to one. at the moment we are at level four. but does this not suggest that there is no confusion over what the symptoms are? a lot of people are going to say, if they‘re only saying no sense of smell or taste, i have had something else, maybe that is linked to? it is that sort of problem that people are really wrestling with.|j sort of problem that people are really wrestling with. i think everybody seems to be becoming an expert in this. which shows how good it is that the public health messaging is getting out there. people really are taking notice and thinking responsibly and thinking, what can i do personally to try and protect, not only my health, but other people‘s? so today, the advice is if you have got a new persistent cough, if you have got a fever, if you have got a loss of smell or taste, stay at home. excellent. thank you very much. well, let‘s talk more on this now with professor of virology at the university of nottingham, jonathan ball. that question are put to michelle, why has it taken so long to come out with this particular advice? that is

a very good question. i think it illustrates pa rt of a very good question. i think it illustrates part of the problem when you‘re trying to use symptoms to diagnose respiratory infections because it becomes incredibly difficult. lots of viruses that infect the respiratory tract, your nose, your throat, your lungs, can it cause at the same sorts of symptoms and therefore, using it to do what we call a differential diagnosis to say that you‘re infected with virus a, rather than virus b, becomes incredibly difficult. of course, the advantage they had at the moment is the fact that we expect most of the season of viruses, the common cold, the flu like viruses, to have visited us over the winter and should be dropping in frequency and therefore, any kind of symptom that fits the bill, the court, the fever, the loss of taste or smell, you can be a bit more confident that it is coronavirus —— the cost. as we then go into autumn and winter, it will

be increasingly difficult again. go into autumn and winter, it will be increasingly difficult againm the meantime, if you have that loss of taste now, i have known that this has lasted longer than a week anecdotally. should this mean they should stay at home along with any request are they not going to be infectious in that period? the evidence suggested that people that have got mild symptoms, individuals who do not have to go into hospital to have their breeding supported, that the virus usually resolves within seven days. —— have their breathing supported. if you are living with any household, there‘s a chance that you can pass that i was on, a very good chance, and that is why the advice is for 40 days if you are another member of the household where somebody else has suspected coronavirus —— is for 14 days if you‘re another member of the hazard. we are going to continue to have these problems, and i infected, not infected, was i infected, and this isa infected, was i infected, and this is a potential problem. ent doctors

have said very long time that other symptoms should be looked at. are there others are still? u nfortu nately, there others are still? unfortunately, there are. if you look, for example, the united states, who have not been particularly great in their response to coronavirus, they also list things like aches or muscle aches, fever, chills, sojust general symptoms that you would associate with lots of different viruses. i think there is an acceptance that if thatis think there is an acceptance that if that is very often presents with these are very general symptoms. and so they are a bit more open in terms of their likely diagnosis. i think it is something that the uk will probably have to look at, but i think the truth is that we are matching the symptoms to the capability of testing. we are getting used to having thermometers thrust that has as we go into buildings, you might as well but smelling salts there because that

would be just as useful, wouldn‘t it? the test to look at the presence of the virus, everything else is educated guesswork. because we are in the spring and summer time, we expect all sorts of symptoms, generally, would be highly indicative of having the coronavirus infection. but, you know, until we nail the ability to test out in the community, we are going to struggle and, at the moment, the testing is still restricted to key workers and people living with key workers.|j don‘t know if you heard at the ryanair boss this morning, but he was saying that he had seen evidence that 95% of the virus is taken away if you wear a mask. can we try and sort this mask assured? would you wear one? it is very difficult. we know that the evidence is that if you have symptoms and you have a viral infection and you will amass, it doesn‘t reduce any chances that you infect others. —— if you wear a

mask. the problem comes if people are wearing the mask to prevent themselves becoming infected and thatis themselves becoming infected and that is where there is less evidence just because of the way that we handle those masks when we are out and about and we wear them for too long, constantly touch them, touch our eyes and her nose and mouth. it is still very much a controversial area. what i wear when? at the moment i do not wear one, but if the evidence became more compelling, certainly i would if i had symptoms, certainly i would if i had symptoms, certainly i would not be going out and about. you're getting on a train, one person has a mass, one does not, which would you sit next to? i never really thought of that choice. i don‘t think i would particularly ta ke choice. i don‘t think i would particularly take much notice. if i was being very scientific, i would probably sit with the one who was not wearing a mass because i would think that other one might have symptoms, but i do not think it would influence my decision making at the moment —— not wearing a mask. ido

at the moment —— not wearing a mask. i do appreciate it influences people and they will feel safer people wear masks. we will have to look at the evidence around that. common sense is that if you wear a mask, it should drop virus particles, droplets from a cough or sneeze, but the evidence is just not there at the evidence is just not there at the moment. to wear a mask, to protect you from infection. i'm sorry to spin it on you, ijust came to my mind. that is all right. thank you for your time. the first minister of scotland, nicola sturgeon, has said a route map will be published on thursday setting out the next steps for the country. she also announced that from today the number of people who can be tested is being widened. i can confirm today that we will publish, on thursday, a route map setting out our phased approach to easing lockdown measures. this will take account of the up—to—date estimate of the transmission rate — or r number — and the number of cases. it will also take account of the latest national records of scotland report due on wednesday

on the number of deaths from covid. the route map we publish on thrusday will give a more detailed indication of the order in which we will carefully and gradually seek to lift current restrictions. like other countries, we will not yet be able to put firm dates on all of the phases because timings must be driven by data and evidence. it will also be important that we assess the impact of measures in one phase before moving on to another. we will continue, and again i want to stress this, to take a cautious approach that ensures the virus is suppressed, while seeking to restore as much normality as possible when it is safe to do so. however, thursday‘s route map will confirm that, assuming that we see progress in suppressing the virus, the first phase will start from the next formal review date of 28th of may. within a few days of that, we will aim to allow, for example, more outdoor activity such as being able to sit in the park,

meet up outdoors with someone from another household as long as you stay socially distanced, some limited outdoor sporting activities like golf and fishing, the opening of garden centres and recycling facilities and the resumption of some outdoor work. this first phase will coincide with our ability to start on a phased basis, a substantial test, trace and isolate operation. to help us keep the virus under control as we start to ease up these restrictions. that part is absolutely crucial. the headlines on bbc news... a loss of taste or smell are added to the nhs list of symptoms of covid 19. anyone with the symptoms should self—isolate for 7 days. a "route map" for easing scotland‘s lockdown — nicola sturgeon says she‘ll publish plans for lifting restrictions, and announces an expansion of testing. commuters getting back to to work face new measures on trains — and security guards trained in crowd control on duty at major stations.

let‘s get more done that last headline. rail passengers are facing new measures to ensure social distancing on trains and stations as more people consider returning to the office following the easing of lockdown measures in england. security guards with crowd management training are patrolling some stations, and travellers have been warned they could be stopped from boarding trains if they are too busy. our transport correspondent, tom burridge has more. please check before you travel. more services this morning, but not many passengers. nobody here, i don‘t know, it‘s packed every day, every time. now, you can see, nobody. since the covid—19 started, it used to be very busy, the train station. but now, you can see, there is less than about 20 people travelling. it does stress you out. i mean, i don't sit worrying about it, there's not much you can do except try and be careful. but, i mean, if you think about it too much, you know, it is worrying.

small stations like this one near nottingham, deserted. but measures are in place to manage larger numbers at major stations and on trains. welcome aboard the 8.30 service to norwich... new messages... please follow social distancing advice and spread out throughout the train. ..and more staff directing you around. london underground, please keep to your left. they will also limit passenger numbers. if theyjudge there‘s already enough people on board a particular train, then they might block the gates off here and other people will have to wait for the next service. if you travel on public transport, the message is, please cover your face. you can see that it‘s not mandatory, but obviously, we‘d all like to know that we are not likely to infect anybody else if we get close to them. so we‘re all very keen in the rail industry for people to wear face coverings when they‘re out

and about on the network. on intercity services, it‘s reserved seats only to control numbers. rail companies predict their services will get busier over the next few weeks. so they‘re looking at other measures, and they are relying on many of us not to travel. tom burridge, bbc news, at euston station. the chancellor says more than two million claims for grants worth £6 billion have been made under the government‘s support scheme for self employed workers. rishi sunak was answering questions from mps in the house of commons on the government‘s plans to help the economy during lockdown. thank you, mr speaker. the self—employment support scheme opened last week ahead of a schedule and provides a support worth up to £7,500 to individuals. i‘m pleased to tell the house that until the end

of yesterday there were almost 2 million claims with grants of 16 has been claimed for. they will have the money in their accounts —— £6 billion. and i will keep this under review. there have been calls for a review into the international the annual meeting of all 194 member states of the world health organization is taking place — virtually. its leader, dr tedros has promised transparency and accountability in an independent review of how the coronavirus pandemic has been handled. he called for the global community to open up to international scrutiny. to be successful we must all commit to mutual ownership and accountability. one way to do that, proposed by the africa group last year, is through a system of universal review. in which countries agreed to a regular and transparent review of each nation‘s preparedness. our correspondent

imogen foulkes has been following the talks from bern in switzerland and said there was an emphasis on unity between countries while the world responds to the pandemic. it is dominated, of course, by the coronavirus pandemic. a world health assembly that‘s normally two weeks long squashed into two days, where the government leaders will meet virtually by video conference. what the who called for ahead of this meeting was global unity and global solidarity. we know there have been a lot of criticisms, particularly from the united states, about whether the who was too close to china, had not released information quickly enough. it looks, actually, at the moment as if the who has got what it wanted. we have had every world leader so far pledging support for the who. some, like china and france, pledging a lot more money. that‘ll make up for that us shortfall after washington cut funding. and also, everyone, including the un secretary general and the director general of the world health organization, saying, yes, there must be

an enquiry, an independent evaluation as to how this pandemic was handled by everyone, including the who, including all the member states. but what antonio guterres, the secretary—general, said was, not right now. now we‘re in the middle of a pandemic, we need to be unified. if we don‘t defeat this pandemic together, we‘ll actually fail in defeating it at all. ten weeks after imposing the world‘s first nationwide lockdown — italy is moving to the next stage of returning to normality — reopening more shops, restaurants and hairdressers, and restarting church services. almost 32,000 people have died in italy, but the daily number of deaths and new cases is now at the lowest level since restrictions were imposed. from milan, mark lowen reports. milan is dressing up for its reopening. its chic shops have been closed for ten weeks in the world‘s first national lockdown.

with the final touches, comes strict hygiene controls. a screen at the till, a reminder of the new rules. customers here will be by appointment to limit numbers. the sparkle has been dulled by the virus but they are raring to go. it has been hard actually, very hard, because nothing was sure. so we kept on listening to the news and we didn‘t know what to expect, when we would open again and we really hoped and were looking forward to coming back in our store. was there ever a moment where you thought are we ever going to be able to come back to work? no, never. italy‘s capital of fashion, industry and finance was at the centre of the outbreak. the first cases in february nearby, it was overwhelmed. with sites closed, tourists cancelling and business suffering, there was talk of it... we were in the city as the corona storm hit. ten weeks on, we are

here again and milan is still struggling to comprehend what has happened during that time. more than 15,000 people killed in this region, almost half of all of the italian deaths, and economic pain is intense. one in three businesses here don‘t plan to reopen today. so, milan is coming back to life but the wounds run deep. now we‘re getting better, we feel better. we can take a walk, take walks out home. he was born two months ago so this is one of his first walks. we're very happy. this too is helping italy‘s recovery, a hotel used to quarantine less serious cases as they wait to test negative. with the outbreak more under control, it is now also admitting people through contact tracing, those in touch with victims, further halting the spread. after 20 days here, jacqueline is ready to be discharged.

a step closer to this country healing. mark lowen, bbc news, milan. the famous gondolas pushed by boatmen in blue and white t—shirts are making their reappearance on the grand canal of venice, equipped with masks and surgical gloves. these gondolas are theoretically allowed to resume their activities, but in the absence of tourists in the city,

there are very few customers. social distancing is also required, with seats spaced out and marked with tape on the bottom of the boat. video has been released, allegedly showing the nephew of british businessman, sir frederick barclay, handling a bugging device at london‘s ritz hotel. the footage is at the centre of a bitter legal row between the families of the billionaire barclay twins. sir frederick and his daughter amanda are suing three of sir david barclay‘s sons for invasion of privacy. they claim the surveillance gave the men commercial advantage — and they sold the ritz for half its market value. today should have been the first day of the chelsea flower show, but the pandemic means it‘s been cancelled, for the first time since the second world war. instead the show has gone online, with many designers transforming their own gardens for the virtual show. the queen was among those sending her support to the organisers,

as daniela relph reports. hello, i‘m alan titchmarsh. the faces are familiar, but everything else is different. for me, one of the most rewarding things to grow is something i can eat. this is the virtual chelsea flower show. the smells, the feel and the bustle aren‘t there. there is a different mood to the online version. hi, tom, have you had to think about how the garden looks virtually? yeah, i did have to think about the kind of shots. i‘m not a director, i‘m not a film person, so trying to think about the right shots to capture, the right plants to show, how to tell a story of this kind of dull space and transforming it into a chelsea—style planting — you know, it took a bit of thinking about to get that right. and we re—seeded the orchard last autumn with wild flower mix. instead of show gardens and displays, we‘ve been taken into some private back gardens. virtual chelsea is also focusing on the positivity gardening can bring. more and more people are finding

that gardening of any kind is really helpful. it reduces anxiety, it helps depression and it is to do with nurturing something. this is just absolutely wonderful. for those denied their chelsea fix this year, there was a positive response to the virtual version. with virtual chelsea, i think we always look for inspiration, different ideas that we can bring into our own garden and in our own situation. there's such a lot on there for us that, you know, every day will bring something different to our perspective of lockdown. newsreel: now the queen arrives. all chelsea regulars have become armchair viewers this time. the queen has attended almost every year of her reign. in a statement of support to royal horticultural society today, she said...

the horticultural industry is one that has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. even though garden centres have just reopened, they have already lost an estimated £500 million—worth of stock that just hasn‘t survived. it‘s not exactly the same, but chelsea is the gardening and social highlight for so many. this, hopefully, fills the gap until the planned return of the chelsea flower show in 2021. daniela relph, bbc news. now it‘s time for a look at the weather with stav. we have got some other rain across the north of the uk bringing thicker cloud with outbreaks of rain, certainly for tonight and into tomorrow. the middle part of the returns very

tomorrow. the middle part of the returns very warm tomorrow. the middle part of the returns very warm free time, particularly in the south thanks to high pressure and we close the week with low pressure, bringing some cooler, windier and wetter weather for some of us. these are the weather fronts i was talking about across the north of the uk bringing for the pulses of rain for northern ireland, much of scotland, particularly south and northern england as we move through this evening and overnight. further south, variable cloud and some clear spells. we will be drawing any milder m, temperatures no lower than 11 or 12 celsius for many of us. szczes ny starts 11 or 12 celsius for many of us. szczesny starts mild, rather cloudy, sand will be appearing across the south. rain began to peter out in the north of the uk. some rain pushing into the northern isles, when we come into the cloud, high teens and sunshine in the south, 24 or 25 celsius. the peak of the heat will be on wednesday, especially in the south, chance of some developing the south, chance of some developing the south, chance of some developing the south on thursday. cool in the south on thursday. cool and windy on friday. let‘s go to the house of commons matt hancock is making a statement. thank you very much, mr speaker, and

with permission i‘d like to make a statement on coronavirus. this is the most serious public health emergency in 100 years. but through the combined efforts of the whole nation, we have got through the peak. and let‘s not forget what together has been achieved. we flatten the curve and now the number of people in hospital with coronavirus is half what it was at the peak. we have protected the nhs and the number of patients in critical care is down by two thirds. mercifully, the number of deaths across all settings is falling. this mental health awareness week it is an important reminder that we need to look after ourselves as well as each other and if you need support with your mental health the nhs is there for you. this is particularly important for front line staff and we have supported all nhs trusts to develop 24—hour mental health help nines. mr speaker, our party throughout this crisis is to slow

the spread and protect the nhs. thanks to the resolve of the british people, the plan is working. and we are now in the second phase of this fight. and i want to update the house on the next steps that we are taking as part of that plan. first, we are protecting the nation‘s care homes with a further £600 million available directly to care homes in england. we have prioritised testing for care homes throughout and we have made sure that every care home has named nhs clinical lead. and we are requiring local authorities to conduct daily reviews of the situation on the ground, so that every ca re situation on the ground, so that every care home gets the support it needs each and every day. all of this amounts to an unprecedented level of scrutiny and support for the social care system and a level of integration of the nhs that is long overdue. second, mr speaker, the four chief medical officers have

updated the... throughout this pandemic we have said if you develop a new continuous coffee or a fever that then you should immediately south isolate. from today, we are including if you have lost your sense of smell or experiencing a change in your normal sense of smell or taste, that can be a symptom of coronavirus, even where the other symptoms are not present. so from today, if you develop a continuous cough orfever you today, if you develop a continuous cough or fever you should immediately self—isolate for at least seven days in line with the guidelines. members of your household should self—isolate for 14 days. by updating the case definition in line with the latest science, we can more easily recognise the presence of the virus and more effectively fight it. third, mr speaker, we are expanding eligibility for testing further than ever before. over the past six

weeks, this country has taken a small specialised diagnostics industry and scaled it at breathtaking pace into a global champion. yesterday, mr speaker, we conducted 100,678 tests. every day we are creating more capacity and that means more people can be tested and the virus has fewer hide it —— fewer places to hide. today, i can announce to the house that everyone aged five and over with symptoms is now eligible for a test. that applies right across the uk in all four nations from now. anyone with a new continuous cough, a high temperature or the loss or change of taste or smell can book a test by visiting nhs dot uk. coronavirus. if you are eligible for a test and you don‘t have internet access you can

call oh 303 of in scotland and northern ireland. we will continue to prioritise tests for social care staff and residents. and as things mmp staff and residents. and as things ramp up towards our new goal of total capacity of 200,000 tests a day, ever more people will have the confidence and certainty that comes with an accurate test result. fourth, mr speaker, iwant with an accurate test result. fourth, mr speaker, i want to update the house on building our army of contact races. today, i can confirm that we have recruited over 21,000 contact tracers in england. this includes 7500 health care professionals, who will provide our call handlers with expert clinical advice. they will help manually trace the contacts of anyone who has had a positive test and advise them on whether they need to isolate. they have rigorous training with detailed procedures designed by our

experts at public health england. mr speaker, they have stepped up to serve their country in its hour of need and i want to thank them in advance for the life—saving work that they are about to do. the work of these 21,000 people will be supported by the nhs covid—19 app, which we are piloting on the isle of wight at the moment and will then roll out across the rest of the country. ta ken together, roll out across the rest of the country. taken together, this means that we now have the elements we need to roll out our national test and trace service. the testing capacity, the tracing capability and the technology. the link that system is incredibly important but so too are the basics. we need everyone, everyone, to self—isolate if they have or if someone in the household has symptoms. we need everyone to keep washing their hands and following the social distancing rules. we need everyone to stay alert because this is a national

effort and everyone has a part to play. the goal is to protect life and allow us carefully and cautiously to get back to doing more of the things that make life worth living. that is our goal and we are making progress towards it and i commend this statement the house. making progress towards it and i commend this statement the houselj call the shadow secretary of health who has four minutes. just on the issue of symptoms he will know that many health care specialists were making these warnings eight weeks ago. can you explain why there has been a time lag in updating the case definition? and nobody said about social care today but he will be aware that over 12,500 people have sadly died in care homes because of covid—19. now last week he said he would put a protective ring around ca re would put a protective ring around care homes from february but yesterday a care home provider in the sunday times wrote, i quote, elderly people weren‘t a priority and,i elderly people weren‘t a priority and, iquote, elderly people weren‘t a priority and, i quote, the government were asleep at the wheel. isn‘t the reality that there was no early

lockdown of care homes when needed, there was no testing of people transferred from hospital to care homes until mid april, ceding this virus. ppe was requisitioned from ca re virus. ppe was requisitioned from care home staff and given to the nhs because of wider sausages. there wasn‘t the guidance suggesting infection was unlikely —— map wider guidance. we don‘t have full testing of all staff 12 weeks later. no wonder some have said that this is too little too late. i know he said testing will be expanded. can he bring forward the date by which all ca re bring forward the date by which all care home residents and staff will be tested? it says in the document byjune the 6th. why can‘t we have backdate sooner? and has this crisis not shown that our care sector is staffed by exceptional, dedicated people and that migrant care workers are not low skilled but immensely able. does he agree that the home office should acknowledge that and praise such potential workers, are

not penalised them ? praise such potential workers, are not penalised them? on the wider roll—out of testing, i welcome that. he didn‘t mention the antibody test. can you update the house on that front? it is also reported today that 20% of hospital patients got cut one while in for another illness. two weeks ago he suggested me in the house that he planned to roll out all screening of health ca re roll out all screening of health care workers, whether symptomatic or not. can he update us on that front? on tracing, i have long argued that the safe way to transition out of the safe way to transition out of the lockdown is by having a test, trace an isolation strategy in place. but it depends on quick turnaround of test results. can he tell us, what is the current medium time for test results to be received by someone when carried out by the deloitte and other private sector testing facilities? and how soon do directors of public health and gps receive those results? he knows that i believe he should be making better use of local health services but nonetheless he is pressing ahead with the national call centre delivered by circo. can he tell is

by what date pulled that tracing service by operational? will it be operational by the 1st ofjune? and he didn‘t talk about isolation as one of his key elements of testing, of the test, trace strategy. many poorer people will not be able to self—isolate. will he look at providing facilities for such people, whether it is empty hotel rooms so they can quarantine, and with those in insecure work be guaranteed sick pay if they are asked to isolate for seven or 14 days? on the r number, will he guarantee that every easing of restrictions, such as asking children to return to school, is accompanied by a government statement on the expected impact on the r numberand statement on the expected impact on the r number and the underlying prevalence of infection? and if set to rise is to be greater than one in a region or local area, how will the government respond? and as he says, this is mental health awareness week ona mac. this is mental health awareness week on a mac. we are very wary of a growing burden of mental health issues, especially in children as a

result of this lockdown. what and of course nhs staff who are not only threatened by exposure to this virus but also through the trauma, emotional distress and burn—out associated with working on the front line need support as well. because they need ppe, they need fair pay, they need ppe, they need fair pay, they need ppe, they need fair pay, they need mental health support, those health workers who are caring for us needlestick air for them and we should thank them again in —— we should care for them. we should thank them again in —— we should care for themlj we should thank them again in —— we should care for them. i will keep it concise, mr speaker. on the questions that he asked about care homes, he is right to ask detailed questions about care homes because making sure that we have the protection, that ring of protection around care homes is important. of course, the majority of care homes have not had an outbreak at all and

we should thank those running care homes for the incredible hard work and the infection control that they have put in place. meaning that in a total of 62% of all care homes that has not been an outbreak and where there has, there has been rigorous infection control and a huge amount of work gone into that. we have, as he said, got testing for all. that of course started with testing for those who tested, who had the first symptoms in a care home. but now is for all staff and residents, whether symptomatic or not. there was no large—scale removal of people from hospital into care homes towards the start of this crisis, as has been implied by some. in fact, the number of people moving from hospital into ca re of people moving from hospital into care homes has fallen throughout this crisis. and that has been, those movements have been done with care. but the thing i agree with him on is that this crisis has shown

that there are many lessons for reform in the care, social care sector, not least the much closer integrated working with the nhs that we have seen in these crisis days. he asked about the roll—out of contact tracing. we now have the people in place, the app is successfully being piloted and we are ready and preparing for rolling out that system. he asked for the median time of test to get back. the median time of test to get back. the median time of test to get back. the median time is, as far as i understand it, under 48 hours. median time is, as far as i understand it, under48 hours. he made a rather uncharacteristic dig at private sector businesses who are helping us to deliver this. none of this testing capability, not a single test would be possible without the private sector. and his attempt to divide people between private and public sector is entirely wrong. i think he should remember that that bit of the labour party let the shadow cabinet a couple of months ago and i thought good sense of return. he asked about

local public health services, that is incredibly important that local public health services are involved and we brought in the chief executive of leeds city council, a brilliant public servant to lead the work on engagement with local public health services, which he rightly, i totally agree with him, is an incredibly important part of getting this right. of course we are under review and we keep watching it and we keep surveying to find out what it is. and we have said that if it rises above one, if we see an outbreak in an area, then we will be perfectly prepared to take action in that area. and indeed, if it goes dangerously high nationally, we would be prepared, as we were before, to take necessary action. finally, mr speaker, he rightly talked about the importance of mental health services across the board. the support is there in the nhs for all nhs staff. it is in fact there across the board and one of there across the board and one of the interesting things in this

crisis is that paediatric mental health services have discovered that many services provided over computers are in fact better received, especially by children then face—to—face and in some cases that service therefore is better provided over a distance, over the screen, rather than face—to—face but he is absolutely right to highlight the importance of mental health services in this crisis and beyond. we now go across to the chair of the select committee, who i understand is audio only. jeremy hunt. thank you, mr speaker. iwouldjust like to ask the health secretary three pieces of data please, all of which are essential for this strategy. first of all, what level of new daily infections do we need to be down to before contact tracing will happen for all new infections? secondly, how many daily tests will attest and trace system need? and thirdly, if we‘re going to introduce

weekly testing for all nhs and care home front line staff, when will our testing capacity be sufficient to deliver that on top of test entrees? thank you, mr speaker. with 21,000 contact tracers now employed, we think that that capacity is for the current level of new cases that has been demonstrated by the ons survey although i‘m perfectly prepared to hire more to make sure we have spare capacity within contact tracing. on the number of tests needed daily to service the test entrees, of course it depends exactly how many again and it depends on the relationship between the symptoms and the number of positive cases and there are many more people with the symptoms than

there are positive coronavirus cases but the number is falling because we are moving away, how well away from the flu season and at this time of year the number of positive cases, positive symptoms of coughs and of fever tends to fall because other non—coronavirus communicant fever tends to fall because other non—coronavirus communica nt diseases like flu are falling. so actually the reason specific question for an is because a change over time. weekly tests we are looking to put together a plan to make sure we have, we cut in transmission, including the regular testing of the right staff appropriately in the nhs andi right staff appropriately in the nhs and i will write to him with more details and deliver as and when that policy is fully unanswerable. the technical problem with doctor philippa whitford who we will come back to seek to —— we will come back

to shortly. the regional dental health offer more than extractions but i want to keep my teeth. when will dentists be able to treat their patients? well, my right honourable friend rightly points out that we have urgent dental herbs so anybody who does need urgent dentistry can get a dentist appointment through their gp. i‘ve had many people ask in an emergency how can i get to see a dentist and the dentistry is they available. it is a very important message for all of our constituents. however, we are also working on the restart of dentistry more broadly. i understand the challenges, especially for those who want to see their own dentist and, frankly, for dentist practices. with nhs contracts dentist practices. with nhs co ntra cts we dentist practices. with nhs contracts we have continued to keep

the funds flowing but of course many dentists rely on their private income as well, which which we support the mixed market industry. what we need to do is get dentists safely u p what we need to do is get dentists safely up and running when we can but it has to be safe. i'm pleased to say we have reconnected with doctor philippa whitford. thank you very much, mr speaker. i welcome the eligibility for testing has been widened to all symptomatic cases is the first step towards a test, trace and isolation approach. does the secretary of state not agree that the system should have been in place before lockdown was eased? without it, how can he know that the crowded public transport systems we saw last week aren‘t already leading to a rise in infections? the secretary of state prides himself on having ramped up testing but we know that many of thousands of those are just

in the post. so can he clarify if these tests are counted again when they are actually carried out? the royal college of gps has highlighted the difficulty in getting test results back from the deloitte regional test centres. as its actual contact tracing and isolation that stops the spread of the virus, how will he speed up results and ensure that they have fed back to gps and public health teams, who are critical to detecting and controlling local outbreaks? the uk still has over six times the number of new cases per day than when the lockdown was brought in. does he not think that is still too high to be sending people back to work and school? well, thank you very much, mr speaker. we have been working very closely with the scottish government, the snp scottish government, the snp scottish

government on testing, so i‘m slightly surprised at some of the questions from the s&p‘s spokeswoman. of course the tests are not double counted. —— the snp‘s spokesman. capacity is now starting to rise to the latest figures of around 5000. and i work very closely with my snp opposite number on making sure that everybody has the very best capacity. now of course, the contact tracing system was also stopped in scotland. the reason for thatis stopped in scotland. the reason for that is the number of cases right across the uk became very high. we needed social distancing to bring that number down. now that number is coming down right across the uk it means that contact tracing is once again effective. that‘s the reason that we‘re bringing it in now and i‘m really pleased that we have hired, in england, 21,000 contact tracers to make sure that we can

this going. and all therefore we are on track for the current proposed during the first changes. but of course that date is dependent on making sure that everything is right and it‘s safe to make the changes then. we go to st albans. thank you, mr speaker. the minister has just confirmed that there will be thousands of contact tracers who are not medically trained but who will be handling highly sensitive patient information and giving initial advice given to them. so will he bring forward primary legislation to govern the collection and any potential misuse of data whether that‘s fire an app, qualified health professionals or others so that members of the public can be confident that all strands of this data are safe. i have looked at this proposal and it‘s clear that primary

legislation is not needed because of the data protection act will do the job. can i thank the secretary of state for his unstinting dedication to protecting the health of our nation during this crisis. but would he firstly update the house on when the roll—out for antibody testing will be revealed, so we can start to get back to normality. and secondly, in last friday‘s statement he spoke about the reform of health and social care. so when will the government bring forward a lasting ca re government bring forward a lasting care funding solution to stop people in constituencies like romford from being forced to sell the family homes to fund long—term care?|j think the whole country celebrated when there was the announcement last week that antibody testing that fits the bill and does thejob had been approved by our portland down laps. and we are now in the closing stages

of negotiations to make sure that those tests are widely available and i will let him knowjust as soon as ican i will let him knowjust as soon as i can when that roll—out is but i don‘t want to prejudice the commercial negotiations, which i‘m sure he will understand. on the second point, istrongly sure he will understand. on the second point, i strongly agree with my honourable friend that this crisis has demonstrated just how important social care reform is. just how important social care is and how we must maintain the benefits and improvements in delivery of working practice because of the crisis and happen through the heat of the crisis. we must maintain and strengthen that close working relationship, the financial changes that we put through have proved very effective at bringing the two systems closer together but there is much, much more to do. we go over to stockport. thank you, mr speaker. a recent survey by unison northwest

found that eight of ten care workers would not receive full pay if they we re would not receive full pay if they were ill, self isolating or shielding because of covid—19. receiving at most £95 per week statutory sick pay with workers putting their lives on the line to look after us. will the government provide increased funding and direction to ensure that all care workers receive full pay when they are absent due to covid—19? in addition, given the current failure is... secretary of state. thank you very much. it‘s an incredibly important question and one of the purposes of the £600 million extra that we are putting into the social ca re system that we are putting into the social care system that will go direct to the front line. it is, local authorities are not allowed to use it for other purposes. one of the purposes of that is to ensure that when social care staff need to be away from work for infection control purposes than they are not penalised for doing so. ijoin my friend at

the honourable member for for doing so. ijoin my friend at the honourable memberfor romford and my right honourable friend for welcoming approval of an antibody test to be used in the uk. i understand he can‘t elaborate on the timetable for its introduction but could he tell us whether he is preparing for individuals to be able to input the results of an antibody test into the nhs covid app to help demonstrate their immunity and help improve our understanding of the prevalence of this wretched virus? yes, we have not through the covid app but we do have a process for people inputting whether they think they have had the virus and as and when we manage to land an agreement on antibody testing then i think that the proposition that he makes and the idea that he puts forward is and the idea that he puts forward is a very good one. after all, at the moment, the science is not clear as

to the level of immunity and the risk that you posed to transmitting to others if you have antibodies, as many of us who have had the virus hope that we have. has that science becomes clearer, so you will also be able to clear on the guidance to people who have a degree of immunity as to what they can do. thank you, mr speaker. two weeks ago 1.8 million people in this country who are currently shielding were told that they would have to shield for an extra two weeks until the 30th of june. can the secretary of state confirm what protection there will be for them and their families so they do not face the threat of redundancy or sanction from not going to work or not going to school in order to follow that medical advice? yes, we have put in place extensive protections for people who are shielded and those protections

of course will continue to apply up until the 30th ofjune. the shielding is not something that we do lightly because we understand the very significant impact it has on those concerned and their families but it is necessary in a pandemic like this. lincolnshire is fortunate to have good supplies of ppe, relatively low infection rate and capacity in our hospitals at this time. will the secretary of state join me in thanking our nhs staff across lincolnshire who have been intensely dedicated to treating covid—19 patients but who are also increasingly aware of the needs of non—day one patients as well? increasingly aware of the needs of non-day one patients as well? yes, i will. i think that the nhs restart is incredibly important in lincolnshire and across the country. lincolnshire and across the country. lincolnshire i know well and it is really important that we restart other services that have had to be paused for understandable reasons.

lincolnshire not only is home to so many dedicated health and social ca re many dedicated health and social care workers, i pay credit to those. my care workers, i pay credit to those. my own grandmother was a nurse at the pilgrim hospital in boston. and underfriend... lincolnshire the pilgrim hospital in boston. and under friend... lincolnshire has many things to offer in the sphere of health and we have got to make sure and we have got to make sure it is not just about sure and we have got to make sure it is notjust about covid but about health services across the board. mr speaker, the office for national statistics has reported that covid—19 mortality rates in the most deprived areas of england are twice that of the least deprived. once again, this virus has reminded us of the extreme health and social inequalities in our society. the virus can affect anyone from any background those from the poorest

backgrounds have the highest risk of illness and death. here in the north—east we have some of the highest levels of deprivation in the country as well as the highest rates of infection. can this active state tell me what the government intend to do to reduce health inequalities both during the covid—19lockdown and as part of our recovery from the impact of the virus? yes, mr speaker. the honourable lady is absolutely right and this is an incredibly important subject both as she says during the crisis and thereafter. we have got a study on thereafter. we have got a study on the way that public health england is conducting into the impact of all sorts of different conditions on the likelihood that covid—19 will hit you hard. it‘s true that there is a link to levels of deprivation in the same way that one of the strongest factors other than age is obesity and that needs to be investigated. and we have seen bigger impact on

people from minority ethnic backgrounds. all these things need to be studied and levelling up and closing that health inequality gap is an incredibly important part of the government‘s agenda for recovering from this terrible disease. as my right honourable friend has said, due to the hard work of the entire health and social care system, we can now look beyond this crisis. as we do that, can ask him to say more today and over the coming days about how we intend to balance and address the need for a substantial —— the backlog that has been pushed aside by covid—19 does on the other hand, we have to make sure that nhs staff who have been through an extremely stressful period at the time to recover. that is one of the many balances that we will have to strike in the months andindeed will have to strike in the months and indeed years to come as we

recover from covid—19. i and indeed years to come as we recoverfrom covid—19. i would and indeed years to come as we recover from covid—19. i would say there are immediately three things that we are doing on that. the first is more staff, we brought in mustafi specially retired south and we want keep them. they have been absolutely brilliant and a huge help to the nhs during the crisis. —— we brought in more staff. i mention the mental health support, but also wider support to staff across health and social care. and the third thing is making sure that we rebuild the nhs and gaining from the improvements we have been made in the eye of the storm. there have been improvements to ways of working, there have been huge strides forward in the use of technology and we have found areas where that has made a very big positive impact. so welcome of course, there are parts of this crisis we want to roll back, there are other parts that we want to pick up are other parts that we want to pick up and take forward. mr speaker, my

constituent of rebecca‘s mother tragically died from coronavirus while working as a nurse any rotherham home. a care home did not have access to the ppe she needed to keep safe. rebecca wants to know how the ppe available to health and care professionals who have died in service will be recorded and considered. will accepting the 60,000 death in seven pavement —— death payment, make... as i have said, we are in care homes we put in place infection control procedures as much as was possible at the start of this crisis. and there was not a great increase in a number of people going back to care homes, but my heart goes out to the family of the honourable lady‘s constituent. her died working in social care. joining, iam

died working in social care. joining, i am afraid to say, many others who have given service during this crisis and died as a result of it. i'm this crisis and died as a result of it. i‘m very happy to look specifically into her constituent plasma case. we do look into the death of any health or social care worker and make sure we get to the bottom of all the lessons that can be learned and i‘m very happy, personally, to do that in the case of the constituent that the honourable lady is rightly raising. ca re honourable lady is rightly raising. care homes in asheville such as when have an ascending rating, but with empty beds comes a dramatic loss of income which has a significant impact on the business. could my right honourable friend please advise me what safeguards are in place to ensure our care homes are supported to keep their doors open and continue to provide this exceptional level of care question

like. i want to congratulate wrenhall because getting an outstanding rating is not easy and i wa nt to outstanding rating is not easy and i want to congratulate every member of staff and the honourable memberfor being such a champion for them and for bringing to my attention their outstanding rating. when it was received. the funding is a critical pa rt received. the funding is a critical part of this. we are putting 600 million extra on friday and, as i said, that will all go directly to ca re said, that will all go directly to care homes. that is not to go into local authority budgets for their unread consideration for care homes, but just to get to the unread consideration for care homes, butjust to get to the counts. that will help with infection control but we also have to make sure that finding a sustainable for the future. yesterday, the british government announced in its daily briefing that it hopes to have 30 million vaccines ready by september. on the same day, the prime minister wrote in the mail on sunday stating that there may never be a vaccine.

considering the way that wales has been undermined by the british commit over the distribution of ppe in testing, what confidence can the people of wales have that we will have ourfair share of people of wales have that we will have our fair share of vaccines if one is developed ? have our fair share of vaccines if one is developed? thank you, mr speaker. it is not, quite fair to say that wales has not been served on ppr and testing where hype worked very closely with the welsh labour government. although the number of tests declared per day in wales is low, is only just tests declared per day in wales is low, is onlyjust over 1000, there is access to the uk wide testing capabilities like the home testing. and the drive—through centres. on the substantive point that he makes about the vaccine, i‘m absolutely delighted that we have been able to come to an agreement with astrazeneca that will ensure that if the signs behind the oxford vaccine

works and if it does, it is likely to be one of the first available in the world —— that if the science behind the oxford vaccine, we have an agreement to make sure 100 million doses are available for the uk, the first 30 million of which will be right at the start for the most vulnerable. that is a uk wide policy and we will try to these islands. we should pay tribute to the work and ingenuity of a scientist in oxford and the industrial might of astrazeneca, who together should they manage to pull of the science, will then be able to deliver this vaccine into our population as we needed. vaccine signs is an uncertain business, mr speaker, that is why we cannot ever be 100% sure that there will be a safe and vaccine —— vaccine signs. but we are putting everything we can to make sure they have the best possible chance of every citizen of the united kingdom. thank you, mr speaker. can my right honourable

friend confirm that thanks to the action is governed has taken, and a brilliant response of the british people, we have prevented the nhs from being overwhelmed. at any point during this current crisis. this has meant that ordinary people have been able to receive a fantastic standard of care when they have needed it. yes. this is absolutely right. the people of blackpool, two months ago, we re people of blackpool, two months ago, were told that it would be difficult to get through this without the nhs being overwhelmed across the country. and we have, through the ha rd country. and we have, through the hard work of people who have done their bit and stayed at home and stayed alert, and through the nhs expansion, we have managed to ensure that everything a person with coronavirus could get access to nhs treatment and i think that the whole country should be proud of that. thank you, mr speaker. as a co—chair

of the appg for adult social care, have been speaking with social care providers across the country every single week since the start of this crisis. not a single one would recognise the secretary of state because my description last week of a protective ring having been thrown around them. they had no access to ppa, no access to testing, and in some cases were told the ambulances would not take their residence to hospital. now this sector is clear, they need regular access to testing ona they need regular access to testing on a weekly basis for all staff and residents with props access to results and they can act to maintain infection control. —— with prompt access. infection control. —— with prompt a ccess. ca n infection control. —— with prompt access. can he say when that will be in place questioning absolutely dead through a protective ring around social care and not least with —— we absolutely did throw a protective ring around social care. the honourable eddie does not testing has been carried out in care homes threat. dashing honourable lady.

there is more wish can and should do. we have been working very hard with the adult social care sector andi with the adult social care sector and i was meeting with leaders 10 downing street with the prime minister. we have been working very ha rd to minister. we have been working very hard to hide together a response in what is a very diverse sector. tied together. when my right honourable friend join me in praising the work of local initiatives of makers by the nhs in beaconsfield who have volunteered their time and money to help contribute and deliver ppe to the nhs and care homes. following the nhs and care homes. following the announcement of these new guidelines surrounding ppe production, can my right honourable friend ensure local groups like knickers for the nhs are not excluded in delivering of ppe —— like makers for the nhs. yes, i

would be very happy to meet with my honourable friend. possibly by a zoom or honourable friend. possibly by a zoom or another video service unavailable to discuss what makers for the nhs and other voluntary organisations and groups of volu nteers organisations and groups of volunteers have come to deliver when it comes to ppe are fantastic. i will pay tribute to the daily mail‘s ppe campaign, they have raised an enormous amount of money to bring in ppe from china, but those who are making it here in britain, i salute andi making it here in britain, i salute and i thank. mr speaker, does the secretary of state rememberjust about a month ago i upset him by telling him that his government‘s policy during this crisis was a shambles? i thought it was getting a grip on this crisis until last sunday‘s disastrous performance by his prime minister. now we have relaxed the adviser to the country

ata time relaxed the adviser to the country at a time when yorkshire and the north—east is doubling its our rate. what is he going to do about that question i can to get a grip? can he not stand up to the prime minister? —— the r eight doubling, can he not get a —— the r eight doubling, can he not geta grip? —— the r eight doubling, can he not get a grip? it has not doubled in yorkshire or any country. as i said at the start of my speech, the good news is that things are progressing, the number of people in hospital significantly down, the number of people critical care is a time of two thirds. i think we should be thanking our support staff and workers and working together to get the best possible outcome. whilst acknowledging that no health secretary has faced the skill challenges that my right honourable friend has will he join with me challenges that my right honourable friend has will hejoin with me in thanking all the stuff at southend hospital and those who provide associated health care for their heroic efforts during this time of national crisis, and will he reassure them all that we do have plans to deliver their setbacks in?

—— to deliver this vaccine? we have plans such as that if the science comes off, and we all hope that as much as we possible can that it will. and then we will have the plans in place to ensure that the vaccine can safely be delivered and to those who will benefit from it. we have the agreement with astrazeneca to the production of 100 million doses, 30 million right at the start of that programme. i want tojoin my the start of that programme. i want to join my right the start of that programme. i want tojoin my right honourable the start of that programme. i want to join my right honourable friend in thanking the staff of southend hospital who have done so much in such difficult times to make sure that all the community can get access to this the support they need if they got coronavirus and who i know now are working on the restoration of other services so that people with any health need can get the support they need. thank you, mr speaker. when it comes to a

test, trace and isolate, the scottish government is expanding the resilience of the public health system. the uk government is expanding outsourcing. while the private sector is part of an overall solution, surely the secretary should be doing more to limit the profits of the likes of certain companies. on the contrary, one of the things we have learnt in this crisis is that as a nation things are best delivered when people work together, public and private sector andi together, public and private sector and i think this crisis has ended, for good, the idea that the public sector alone should deliver certain services. actually, teamwork is the best option. thank you, mr speaker. we are rightly tackling the global pandemic covid—19, however there is a danger that the totally preve nta ble a danger that the totally preventable diseases of measles, mumps and rubella, will re—emerge if vaccinations are missed. can my right honourable friend reassure me

and appearance in broxtowe that it is safe and vital that a scheduled vaccinations continue? it is very important that it scheduled vaccination programme continues whenever possible. we have protected it as much as possible. we have got to remember that with the vaccine, the hope of a vaccine for coronavirus, so to be have got to redouble efforts to vaccinate children for mmr and also this autumn for flu. everybody will need to be getting a flu jab if they possibly can and we will have more to say on that soon. it is a really, really important that people vaccinate and it is very important that anybody who hears the messages from anti—baxters stands up to them and says that —— anti—vaxxers. says they are wrong and harmful. there are reports that covid—19 test results are coming and some 96 hours

after testing. in the time, health workers and their family at risk of catching the barristers up can be health secretary confirm if there are enough a specifically in acute settings to perform all covid—19 test within 24 hours? —— catching the virus. performing a test within 24 hours would be a great success and we are trying to shorten the amount of time that it takes, as much as possible. the average time is much, much shorter than 96 hours. i will write her with an exact figure in acute settings of the precise. it is much, much shorter than that which he mentions and all test results under 24 hours will be great. sometimes it isjust test results under 24 hours will be great. sometimes it is just a test results under 24 hours will be great. sometimes it isjust a matter of minutes or hours depending on how busy the test centuries. —— the test centres are. can i rescue my right honourable friend whether it is possible to give any specific

support to care homes facing financial difficulties due to unusually high vacancy rates? the a nswer unusually high vacancy rates? the answer that i try to give at the end of and may be too long in answer was that yes, this is something i am working on those up it is not something i am able to announce today, but i do recognise their concerns. and the challenges that the social care sector faces. the number of daily new cases of coronavirus remains above 3000. the daily death rate is higher than other countries, including italy and spain. we were slow to go into lockdown, we now seem to be in a rush to come out with restrictions relaxed before the test, track and trace relaxed before the test, track and tra ce syste m relaxed before the test, track and trace system is fully in place, which may well be putting those numbers back up on the rise. can he therefore understand why the public are anxious about the relaxation and plans to reopen schools, given the lack of systems in place now to

minimise the risk of adding to the already devastating death toll? we have set out the five tests that need to be met before relaxation and we will only do that cautiously and carefully. i would only sign up to it if it were safe. she raises schools, mr speaker. it is very clear that the number of children who are badly affected by this disease is very, very, very small. it isa disease is very, very, very small. it is a tiny proportion of the overall total. there disease reserves its power and its risk for most for the elderly. and so the proposals that were made for schools are safe, they are sensible, there clearly needs to be collaborative work to make sure they can happen because there are also risks to children, especially some of the most vulnerable children, for not going to school. thank you, mr

speaker. i would like to thank my right honourable friend for his incredible hard work and determination to get us through this crisis and helping to save many lives in my constituency. will he join me in thanking some of the amazing groups and organisations in my constituency of sturbridge, like staff at russells hall hospital, milly stevens hospice, our care homes, community pharmacies and volu nteers homes, community pharmacies and volunteers and all those unsung heroes that continue to work day in and day out saving lives and supporting the most vulnerable? yes, i would be very happy, honoured to join my honourable friend in thanking the staff at russells hall hospital, and that mary stevens hospice and the care homes, community pharmacies and the volu nteers community pharmacies and the volunteers of sturbridge have come together. there have been many terrible things about this disease,

but there have also been some heart—warming things and the dedication of staff and volunteers alike to come to the aid of others has been one of the things that i think the whole nation has been proud to see. thank you. the secretary of state will know the concerns across northern england by the government‘s approach to easing locked in. specifically, those raised by the greater manchester mare in the combined authority. —— easing lockdown. that a second wave of coronavirus owing to differential r values across of coronavirus owing to differential r values across our of coronavirus owing to differential r values across our region. what measures are keep it in place to ensure that as locked in place to ensure that as locked in place to ensure that as loughton is lifted across england, those areas behind london in the car do not see all the ha rd london in the car do not see all the hard work undone? —— ensure that as lockdown is lifted across england that areas behind the curve do not the work and on? i am looking at the

whole country. you have to take into account the r rate and levels of new cases and all other data from right across the land to decide what is the appropriate step to recommend and to take and we do this cautiously, we do it carefully, and we make sure that everybody is taken into consideration and the safety of the whole population is right at the front of our minds. wolverhampton has united throughout this coronavirus crisis and we have been testing for the virus at a rapid pace. reagents and chemicals and swa bs, pace. reagents and chemicals and swabs, we have been using has reduced any last week. this impacts the testing in care homes. could my right honourable friend address at this as a matter of urgency so we can continue testing at any pace we need to? yes. this weekend i was looking at the question of making sure there are enough testing capacities, specifically in

wolverhampton and we are acting to make sure that everybody, right across wolverhampton, like the whole country, but can benefit from the hugely expensing testing capacity that there is. in south wales and industrial towns, former miners with severe bleeding issues are extremely vulnerable to covid—19. these miners deserve recompense after this work, but can only get this after death if industrial disease are mentioned on their death certificate. can industrial diseases as well as covid—19 be recognised as causes of death, so that their families can get the support they need?” death, so that their families can get the support they need? i am from mining stock myself, from nottinghamshire, rather than from south wales and so i entirely

understand the impact that they mining has on breathing and respiratory disease. i have course understand the impact of respiratory disease in turn on the likelihood of having a bad response to coronavirus soi having a bad response to coronavirus so i will be very happy to take up the point that he makes to contact those, i think, the point that he makes to contact those, ithink, in the point that he makes to contact those, i think, in the business department are responsible for specifically redress for minors and to write to him. —— redress for miners. i currently have a care home where 16 residents died in april. this represents around half of those in the home. six of the remaining residents are distinct symptoms, but are being told that they will have to wait until mid june for further tests following errors made a few weeks ago. can he investigate this matter and what needs to be done to resolve this important issue quest back. of course i can. we will try

to ta ke back. of course i can. we will try to take that up immediately and we had the testing capacity to appeal to resolve problems like that. one of my constituents has written to me asa of my constituents has written to me as a worried grandmother and mother ofa as a worried grandmother and mother of a teacher. when scientists are divided over coronavirus risk are children, and how they might spread the virus, isn‘t this grandmother right to ask me why is parliament virtually empty due to social distancing measures, but her grandchild, who is least able to socially distance, is expected to return to school? we have taken a cautious and a balanced and a safety first approach to restarting schools. that is why we have taken the approach that we have ofjust three years being proposed in the first instance to ensure that there can be more social distancing at schools. as a federal thief small

children, i understand that is more challenging and immense adult —— as a father of three small children. we make sure that the proposal is a safe, signed up by medical advisers, as safe, and of course because that is hardly any impact on children of this disease, a very, very small number of children are badly affected, that means that parents can be confident that if they send their child to school, then that has a safe environment for them. during mental health awareness week, with the secretary of state agree with me that local volunteer led mental health groups meeting regularly on zoom, here in wellington south such as off—load a rugby league and montauk are providing an absolutely vital service from men during these unprecedented times —— man talk. and they should receive the government‘s full backing i pay tribute to both

and all those who are working to support mental health of others during this difficult crisis. yes, of course. thank you very much indeed, mr speaker. many teachers and school staff are anxious about a return to class, especially those who have medical conditions. or those who are living with someone who is shielding. i understand that it will not be a requirement, but can the secretary of state adjust clarify whether, if for the assurance, staff at times want to wear face coverings and advisers, they are perfectly free to do so? they are not advised to do so. what started within a school is a matter for their head. —— what staff do within a school is a matter for their head. can i please ask the secretary of state whether the nhs is taking full advantage of the military logistics expertise currently available and is there

greater value to be had? the military have been unbelievably helpful in this crisis. right across the extraordinary things that my teams in the whole nhs have had to do, in terms of logistics, in terms... we will leave the commons now and the health secretary matt hancock was answering questions there after announcing that anyone in the uk over the age of five who is showing covid—19 symptoms is now eligible for a coronavirus test. and also, we have heard today that losing your sense of taste or smell is now among those symptoms that people have been told to look out for. until today, people people have been told to look out for. untiltoday, people have people have been told to look out for. until today, people have only been told to isolate if they had a fever or a cough, but now losing your sense of taste or smell is included in the symptoms. that should lead you to isolate for seven

days. much more coming up, including the downing street breathing at 5pm. that will be with the foreign secretary dominic raab —— downing street briefing. now it‘s time for a look at the weather with stav danaos. being cooler and windier and wetter weather is for some of us. these are different across the uk, baying for the pulses of rain for another and, scotland, particularly in the south and northern england. for this outcome available cloud, some clear spells, but we will be drawing in a milder air. temperatures no lower than 11 or 12 degrees for many of us. just a start smile, rather cloudy, sunshine will be appearing across the south. rain began to peter out in the north of the uk, there will be some rain pushing into there will be some rain pushing into the northern isles. where we hold

onto the cloud, high teens and sunshine in the south. 24 or 25 celsius. the peak of the heat will be on wednesday, especially in the south, chance of some thunderstorms developing in the south on thursday. it is cool and windy on friday.

hello, this is bbc news. the headlines... building up to today‘s coronavirus briefing from downing street. our latest headlines... the health secretary matt hancock announces that everybody over the age of five showing coronavirus symptoms is now eligible for a test in the uk. everyday we are creating more capacity and that means more people can be and the virus has fewer places to hide. a loss of taste or smell are added to the nhs list of symptoms of covid—19. that means that you should self—isolate for seven days if you have them.