good morning, welcome to bbc news. i'm victoria derbyshire. here are the headlines: there's a huge rise in the number of people claiming unemployment benefits in the uk — an increase of almost 70% in april. the uk's approach to coronavirus testing has been "inadequate" throughout the pandemic, according to a committee of mps. president trump says he's taking an anti—malaria drug to ward off coronavirus — despite health officials warning it may be unsafe. what do you have to lose? 0k, what do you have to lose? i have been taking it for about a week and a half. every day? at some point... every day, i take the pill every day. the differences in lockdown regulations between the uk's four nations continues to widen. from today, groups of six people can

meet up when outdoors in northern ireland. and detectives investigating the shooting of 19—year—old student in blackburn continue to question three men on suspicion of murder. good morning. there's been an increase in the number of people claiming unemployment benefit across the country as the effects of the coronavirus lockdown start to impact the economy. figures released by the office for national statistics show the number of people claiming state aid has risen by more than 70% — from 856,500 to 2.1 million, and the total number of weekly hours worked showed its largest annual decrease for ten years, a drop of 25% in the final week of march, after lockdown

was introduced. in westminster a group of mps have written to borisjohnson saying the government's testing capability for coronavirus has been "inadequate" throughout the pandemic, and led to a scaling back of contact tracing. in the us, president trump has said he is taking the anti—malaria drug hydroxychloroquine to ward off coronavirus, despite health officials saying it is dangerous. let's get more now on those breaking unemployment figures from our business correspondent ben thompson. talk us through the figures then, ben. yes, good morning, victoria. these figures really tell us to make different stories because the headline rate of unemployment came down slightly even though the number of people out of work rose marginally. that's because these are a lagging indicator, one looking

back for the first three months of the year. also remember that lockdown in the uk only came into force for the last week of these officialfigures. to get force for the last week of these official figures. to get an indication of what could happen in thejobs indication of what could happen in the jobs market we could look elsewhere and three measures really get us a taste of what is coming down the road as far as jobs and the economy is concerned. you touched on a couple there but the claimant count is one of those pressing when it comes to the number of people out of work. that includes people on universal credit and jobseeker‘s allowa nce universal credit and jobseeker‘s allowance and that rising, as you said, by 70%, up 856,000 to more than 2 million people now on that. reminder, that is for the first two weeks of april so gives a a recent snapshot of the job market. also the number of hours worked, how much we are being employed when we are at work, that fell by its fastest rate in ten years, so that also suggests there is at work were not working as much as they have in the past. 0ne worrying statistic is also the

number ofjob worrying statistic is also the number of job vacancies. that worrying statistic is also the number ofjob vacancies. that built its lowest level in ten years, again suggesting those who might be out of work could find it more difficult in future to get anotherjob. those three indicators suggesting what could be coming down the line. remember the unemployment rate at the is 3.1% but many suggesting that could reach as high as 10% before bouncing back, but the question is how long that bounce back takes on whether it brings back all the jobs with it that could be lost by the end of the year. thank you, ben. if you have lost yourjob in the last few months, if you were furloughed then made redundant, let us know your experience this morning. send an e—mail. 0ur message on twitter. the cross—party science and technology committee has said testing capacity was not increased "early or boldly enough" when the outbreak began. it said a lack of capacity had driven the decision in mid—march to scale back contact tracing, and largely restrict tests to hospital patients.

0ur assistant political editor norman smith is in westminsterfor us. tell us more about what the science committee have said, about the government's testing strategy. bell, the committee have identified a lack of candour —— well, the committee. they have identified a lack of candour about testing is absolutely central to some of the difficulties we are now facing, in particular they have honed in on the decision in the early part of this epidemic to end so—called community testing and concentrate all our resources on the nhs in the sort of siege nhs mentality. now the consequence of that was huge. for ca re consequence of that was huge. for care homes it meant there was frankly negligible testing carried out there, with as we now no catastrophic consequences. it meant the scientist didn't have the data to model what was actually going on in the community and it has pushed back the option of test, track and trace, so it has had profound

ramifications. what the committee tried to do is ascertain who took that decision, in other words who's to blame? they point the finger at public health england, who they accused bluntly of secrecy and adopting a restrictive approach to testing, trying to keep all testing within their labs rather than allowing universities, health institutes, the crick institute and others to boost testing and thereby to provide many, many more tests early on. public health england say "not us, it was the department of health," in other words manhattan —— matt hancock was to blame for that decision. we are now in the realms of the blame game as to who was responsible for the absolutely pivotal decisions. was that the officials of public health england or was it man officials of public health england orwas it man —— officials of public health england or was it man —— matt hancock and the government for failing to tell public health england what they should be doing, but an absolutely key decision from which we are still reeling from the consequences. the contact tracing app was supposed to

be out right now, rolled out around england around now. it is not around. where is it? very good question because it should be all systems go. we know the contact tracing app is being trialled on the isle of wight and seemingly enough people are signed up to make it a viable app for tracing the virus. we know, too, matt hancock has recruited enough clinicians and officials to be able to track people. he has recruited something like 21,000, and he told us yesterday we don't need to get the numberof yesterday we don't need to get the number of new infections down below what it already is, around 5000 or so what it already is, around 5000 or so per day, so it looks like all systems go, only it is not. in fact we have no idea when it will be all systems go because when ministers we re systems go because when ministers were asked yesterday, 0k, systems go because when ministers were asked yesterday, ok, when will it begin? it was meant to be get in the middle of this month, when will it begin? the language now is it could be weeks away, and that matters because schools are relying oi'i matters because schools are relying on the system to be up and running if they are to get back for the ist

ofjune, and if they are to get back for the ist of june, and this if they are to get back for the ist ofjune, and this morning the work and pensions secretary therese coffey was asked what that meant for schools returning, and this is what she said... i'm not aware that that's been set as necessary for the phased reopening of primary schools and we should remember primary schools have actually been open throughout this time, for a very small number of pupils. and this is about seeing us take—back reception year 1 and this is about seeing us take—back reception yeari and 6, so people at the beginning and end of their primary education, and the guidance has been written very carefully to help head teachers to open their schools safely, and i think it is better to get the app as good as we can make it rather than rush out and app then have to change it, so it is important that that trial, that pilot on the isle of wight, is allowed to run to its full length that is needed rather than perhaps the target deadline which the health secretary had set. perhaps the target deadline which the health secretary had set!

couple of interesting things follow from that. firstly, therese coffey saying it is actually not a condition to have the app up and running for schools to reopen. it is for the teaching union, so if it is not the teaching unions are not going to come on board which is going to come on board which is going to come on board which is going to make it much, much harder for the government to open the schools. the other interesting thing, i thought, schools. the other interesting thing, ithought, was schools. the other interesting thing, i thought, was that she seems to be suggesting the problems with the app — in other words it is not a problem with having enough officials or people on the isle of wight to sign up to make the pilot meaningful, she seemed to be suggesting it is glitches with the app. in my world that rings alarm bells because if you look at numerous government it schemes, the track record frankly is a pretty dismal one. if there are technical glitches with the app, that could be very, very problematic. we know there have already been questions about why the nhs is pressing ahead with its own apps

rather than picking up the off—the—shelf google apple ones that other countries are using and i think we have to be a little nervous by the fact that ministers are just saying it could be some weeks away, because weeks as we know could stretch into months and we need this app stretch into months and we need this app to work if we are to get contact tracing working and we need contact tracing working and we need contact tracing to work if we are to have a route out of the lockdown, so this really matters. thank you very much, norman. i'm joined now by the chairman of the commons science and technology committee — greg clark. good morning. can you hear me 0k?|j can hear you, yes. perfect. your report is pretty damning, of your own government, because the government has always told us it has been guided by the science, and what you clearly say today as it was actually capacity that drove the strategy on testing in mid—march rather than strategy driving

capacity? know, what the report does is to say that during a pandemic you have to be prepared to learn lessons on the way —— no, what the report does. i think our technicals will beat us on this occasion. what we might do is call you back and re—establish it, because i think we arejust re—establish it, because i think we are just hearing every other word and it is frustrating for everybody, isn't it? we will try to sort out the technicals and talk to greg clark ina the technicals and talk to greg clark in a moment or two. in the meantime, let's talk about northern ireland. from today, groups of up to six people from different households are allowed to meet outdoors in northern ireland. it's the latest example of the widening gap between the lockdown rules of the four uk nations. a cross—party group of mps has written to the prime minister to stress the importance of england, scotland, wales and northern ireland working closely together during the pandemic. andy moore has this report. from today in northern ireland, up to six people from different

households can meet outdoors. in england, only two people can meet up. in wales and scotland the message is still to stay at home. it's a sign that the easing of lockdown is happening at a different pace in different parts of the uk. the northern ireland executive says sports like tennis and golf can also now resume. we are told that outdoor activities are able to be accommodated because the virus doesn't spread as easily outdoors as indoors. and so we have been told that we will revisit this issue again, and we will, it will be kept under constant review. the people of scotland will have to wait a little while longer, until the end of the month, for restrictions to be eased. the first minister said she would be announcing more information about a phased reopening on thursday. this will take account of the up—to—date estimates of the transmission rate or our numberand

—— 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 uk government has now announced the loss of smell or taste will be added to the official list of symptoms for covid—i9. some scientists say that's much too late. the government said it would only make a very small difference to the number of people diagnosed. the important thing was to work out if this would add any sensitivity to the diagnostic cluster we were using and the answer is it makes a small, very small difference and we have therefore decided to do it. there's been a significant expansion to the testing programme. across the uk anyone over the age of five who has symptoms can now get a test done. the results should be available within 48 hours, but in many cases it's currently taking longer than that. it was announced yesterday that another 160 people had died with coronavirus in all settings in the uk. that's the lowest figure for several

weeks, but there's often a lag in reporting on a monday. the total death toll now stands at 3a,796. for those of us still dreaming of a summer holiday abroad there is some hope. from next month it's planned there will be a 14—day quarantine scheme for people returning home from overseas. but the government said there could be exemptions for countries with a low coronavirus infection rate. andy moore, bbc news. a study has warned that the uk's youngest workers could see their incomes permanently affected because of the impact of the coronavirus lockdown. the research has been carried out by the resolution foundation — a think—tank which focuses on low—to—middle incomes. young people, aged

between 18 and 2a, it says, are in the "eye of the storm" — but workers aged between 60 and 64 could also see their livelihoods harmed. i would really like to hear for you if you fall into those age groups, 18 and 2a, or between 60 and 64, if you fall into those age groups, 18 and 24, or between 60 and 64, and let us know how it has affected your income. back now to the chairman of the commons science and technology committee — greg clark. glad we have sorted the technology problems. i think you are saying that your conclusion, a lack of testing capacity driving strategy rather than the other way around, that it wasn't a criticism of your government? listen, for all of us there will be mistakes made, you are operating in a fog of uncertainty and they have been made at every level, officials, ministers, scientists. what is essential, how science proceeds, is to take

evidence and adjust theories and practices on the basis of that, and on what we know on testing, and it is important for the future, it is that we didn't get ahead of it early enough, so when it comes for example to rolling out vaccination, what we need to do is to learn the lesson, look at how it's been done successfully in countries like south korea, for example, mass roll—outs, and have the capacity in place to make use of lots of different organisations rather than have a concentrated response from public sector organisations. that's one of the lessons that i think we need to draw and apply. yeah. where do you hold responsibility for that decision about the lack of testing capacity? well, it's hard to tell at the

moment. 0ne well, it's hard to tell at the moment. one of the things we say in our report is we want to see the assessment, the appraisal, that public health england made of, for example, the south korean model, which we know has been very effective. that evidence has not been provided to us, and we want it to be provided, but we've taken evidence from witnesses from this country and around the world and i think it is now a matter of consensus that if we had more testing capacity from the outset, not only would that have been very useful and important in being able to test people for example in care homes, but also it would have shed more light on the spread of the pandemic, because if you don't test people you don't have the data from the community as to how far the virus has spread, what kinds of people have it, especially those whose symptoms and sometimes

they don't have symptoms at all, but his condition doesn't require them to go into hospital. if you limit testing, as we did at one point, just two people in hospitals, then you've lost a whole set of information that be crucial to decision—making —— just two people in hospitals. so we must learn from that and apply as we go forward. —— just to people. do you think that lack of capacity drove the decision that led to nhs trusts discharging elderly patients back to care homes to create bed space for a surge in coronavirus patients with horrific consequences in ca re coronavirus patients with horrific consequences in care homes across the country? we don't have any evidence of that. we were looking particularly at the testing decision as to whether to operate testing capacity as was decided in the early stages through a limited number of labs, and what

seems to be the case is that that should be much broader. 0k, seems to be the case is that that should be much broader. ok, so why do you think... that is the recommendation we made. why do you think the department of health didn't say, look, private lattice, can you come on board? because we need to ramp up testing right now.|j think that is what should have happened and we need to learn the lessons from that —— private labs, can you come on board because we need to ramp up testing capacity right now? we have taken evidence from countries like singapore and others like hong kong and indeed germany as to how it should be done, and we offer this as a lesson that can be learned, because there will be comparable decisions that will be made in future. 0bviously at some point there will be a review, we will look at the whole handling of the pandemic in this country and every other country, but the crucial thing is there will be decisions to be taken in the weeks and months ahead, for example the deployment of

antibody tests, the deployment we hope of a vaccine, and to be able to learn the lesson so fire is crucial, and infact learn the lesson so fire is crucial, and in fact we should do that and thatis and in fact we should do that and that is the reason we have written to the prime minister today. thank you very much for talking to us, thank you. greg clark, conservative mp and chairman of the science and technology select committee. the number of people claiming unemployment benefit in the uk went up by 70% last month, in the first sign of the coronavirus pandemic affecting people's jobs. figures from the office for statistics show more than two million people are now receiving the benefit, up from 850,000 in march. uk unemployment has risen by 50,000 but the figures only cover the first week of the lockdown.

let's discuss this further with anna stevenson who's a welfare benefits expert from the charity turn2us. paul stewart moved from london to bradford to start a newjob in april, but because of the lockdown he wasn't taken on, and therefore wasn't furloughed. aled collier started with a tile company in february, and was laid off last week. i have moved across from london to bradford for this particular role, and with the coronavirus everything is obviously on shutdown now and i had to apply for universal credit, u nfortu nately how had to apply for universal credit, unfortunately how was that, applying for universal credit? it was quite easy, to be fair. the online portal the government has is pretty

easy—to—use, and couldn't go for a face—to—face interview obviously because of the lockdown at the moment, but that's when my problems began, shall we say. have you had any universal credit? a payment yet? not a penny. nothing since i applied which was april the ist. not a penny. nothing since i applied which was april the 1st. 0k. how are you surviving? i'm not. at the moment, as of friday last week i was actually made homeless because i couldn't pay my rent, despite me pleading with universal credit via myjournal and over the pleading with universal credit via my journal and over the phone, pleading with universal credit via myjournal and over the phone, and i'm still not receiving any help whatsoever so i'm actually sleeping in an underpass at the moment. 0h, my goodness. i mean, to make things occur to me there. firstly, with universal credit you are supposed to be able to get an advance, effectively, and emergency payment on the first day, rather than having to wait several weeks for the first payment, and secondly the government

brought forward emergency legislation that was supposed to mean that no one in renting either in social or private accommodation would be forced out of their home during this crisis. they made eviction is illegal. they did indeed. that is for the as for the advance payment i can get an advance from the universal credit website which is 90p. that is what it says on myjournal when which is 90p. that is what it says on my journal when i which is 90p. that is what it says on myjournal when i log into universal credit, i can only apply for 90p worth of advance payment. as for 90p worth of advance payment. as for the eviction, yes, you're quite correct, it was made illegal, but unfortunately it doesn't seem to work that way. landlords, you know, if you can't pay your rent, they will get you out no matter what happens, and on friday i had some very burly gentleman turn up at my front door and gave me the ultimatum to pay or to get out, and unfortunately had to get out. me being a single man with no children... you are not a priority.

lam nota children... you are not a priority. i am not a priority for rehoming or anything like that, sol i am not a priority for rehoming or anything like that, so i find myself in the situation now, unfortunately. well... i don't know if our viewers can help, but i know they are a compassionate lot, i've learned that over the last few years. you are in bradford. the council, you can't get any help from the council. i'm going to look up various other organisations in bradford that may be able to help you, and also we will bring in anna from turn to us, charity, she is a welfare benefits expert from the charity. you just heard paulmy awful story, awful experience of the last few weeks. what is your immediate thought about how he can help —— paul's full story. this is regrettably common and it shows how quickly any of us can go from being house, having a job, to homeless on the street. what should he do? well, illegal eviction is a criminal offence. he

does need to report it to the council. suspicion is when he reported to the council is home as he just reported to the council is home as hejust got reported to the council is home as he just got bounced out by reception, and councils can be very difficult about gatekeeping their homelessness services, and he needs to insist on making a formal homelessness application and insist on getting support about illegal eviction so he can get back into his property and get all his stuff. with the problem with universal credit, it sounds like someone has probably gone wrong in the application process so i would really suggest you get in touch with citizens advice specialist help claims service and they will be able to help figure out what has gone wrong and why universal credit seems to only be offering 90 p. paul, can you do that? can you go back to the council and say i have been illegally evicted. i have tried that but, asi illegally evicted. i have tried that but, as i say, and can ijust make a little point, victoria, on the universal credit website there seems to be something going horrifically wrong with it because they have

actually removed the tab for complaints so you can't physically make a complaint to universal credit now to tell them something is wrong. as for going back to the council, i do it ona as for going back to the council, i do it on a daily basis. i did all day yesterday, and i was back on the phone to universal credit, but again, myself, after tomorrowl obviously can't pay so there is no way... i'm going to bring in aled, but i've had a really quick google. i'm sure you've done this and probably not doing anything you haven't done yourself, but there is an organisation and bradford called simon 0n an organisation and bradford called simon on the street, centrepoint, andi simon on the street, centrepoint, and i have the out of hours contact for the emergency duty team at the council which i can give you if it is any help, but i'm sure that stuff you have thought about already. so i ami you have thought about already. so i am i have, yeah. aled, how are you?

i'm good. how are you? i'm good. more to the point, how are you? like many new starters, very left behind. lam many new starters, very left behind. i am currently with a campaign to get the furlough scheme started for new starters. i miss the cut—off point by seven days. seven days, and now i can't afford to live. i have a pregnant wife to a november, i have a seven—year—old, and we live in a two bed cottage. we don't even have room to raise another child here. because i've now lost myjob due to this government scheme not being fairto us, we this government scheme not being fair to us, we have to put everything on hold. we are supposed to be having a celebratory time of wanting a baby, bringing in a new life and extending her family, and the other day my wife turned to me and said, have we made a mistake? stuff like that isjust ridiculous, andl stuff like that isjust ridiculous, and i didn't even realise people we re and i didn't even realise people were being made homeless, again, which i thought was illegal, but it

seems that the system is definitely flawed and people are getting left behind. it'sjust flawed and people are getting left behind. it's just not flawed and people are getting left behind. it'sjust not good enough. aled, you were furloughed, so i understand you are getting 80% of your wages paid by the government, then you are suddenly let go last week, is that right? yes, that's correct. i was phoned last wednesday and told i didn't qualify for the furlough and therefore the company couldn't afford to keep me on. i didn't see it as a personal thing. at the end of the day, they have to do what they have to do to stay afloat themselves. the problem is when i did some more digging into it it wasjust seven days, so i've spoken to people that have missed the cut—off point by 24 hours. 24 hours, and their whole life hasjust hours. 24 hours, and their whole life has just been hours. 24 hours, and their whole life hasjust been taken hours. 24 hours, and their whole life has just been taken away from them. it'sjust life has just been taken away from them. it's just ridiculous. life has just been taken away from them. it'sjust ridiculous. anna, what advice would you give to aled it is terribly difficult. the government has set up this huge

furlough scheme which is supporting enormous numbers of people, and we do have to acknowledge that, but if people went on the company's payroll by the 19th of march then companies can't get any support with their wages, and i'm guessing that is where aled is falling. there is support through the welfare system. it probably isn't going to come anywhere close to what you are getting on your wages but if you go to the turn to us website and check out our benefits calculator you can find out what you can expect through the benefit system. beyond that it is asking for support from your mortgage company or asking if your landlord will allow you to delay rent payments, or this extra support available for handling debts, handling utility bills. there is a lot of support out there but because it is all quite patchy you do have to spend a really significant amount of time sitting on the phone, u nfortu nately. of time sitting on the phone, unfortunately. yeah. that out of hours of number for bradford council, the emergency duty team,

paul 01274 235 999. 0bviously council, the emergency duty team, paul 01274 235 999. obviously we contact the department for work and pensions last night when we said we we re pensions last night when we said we were going to interview you both. they said they were unable to give a response because they were unable to contact the necessary members of staff in time to try and assess what they could do to get help to those who need it. they say it is especially important they are able to do this when someone's life has been so affected. if we get a further response from the government, of course we will bring it to you, but i can tell you now it will not help aled and paul right now. thank you very much for talking to us, paul and aled and anna from turn to us. president trump has written to the world health organisation — saying he will reconsider us membership and permanently end funding if it does not commit to "substa ntive improvements within the next thirty days." he said the who had shown an alarming lack of independence from china in its response to the coronavirus pandemic.

imogen foulkesjoins me from bern in switzerland. tell us more? people at the world health organization in geneva are waking up this morning to that letter. i think it has caused a certain amount of shock and dismay. as the who director—general keep saying, we are in the middle of a pandemic and our focus saying, we are in the middle of a pandemic and ourfocus needs saying, we are in the middle of a pandemic and our focus needs to saying, we are in the middle of a pandemic and ourfocus needs to be saving lives, controlling the virus, supporting countries to get to a point where they can get people back to work and return to some kind of normality. that would obviously be a big help to the people you were just talking to just now. there are millions and millions of people facing difficulties all over the world because of this virus. i think the move by donald trump to say to

what i say all the going to cut your funding —— 0br going to cut your funding —— 0br going to cut your funding is really worrying notjust for the world health organization but the un as a whole, because it depends on member states working together, multilateralism is the technical words we use, taking decisions together. the other countries taking part in the world health assembly have tried, while approving an independent investigation into the handling of the pandemic, of trying to show their willingness, to show solidarity and unity in the face of this pandemic. it is dismaying and touches to the who but i think too many other member states as well, this letter —— it is dismaying, not just the who. breaking news from the ons, it is covid related deaths taking place in england and wales up to the week ending may the 8th. we

can tell you that were just over 39,000 covid-19 can tell you that were just over 39,000 covid—19 related deaths taking place up to may the 8th in england and wales. i think we can talk to nick's right from the ons, we normally speak to him at this time every tuesday. —— i think we can talk to nick stripe. please fill in the audience. this is deaths registered in the week ending the 8th of may, if you passed your mind back, that this ve day, that was a bank holiday that friday so there is a caveat in that there were no registrations on that day. so effectively we are about 20% lower than we would have been if that was a full working day. bearing that caveat in mind there were 12,657 deaths registered across england and wales, just over 5000 lower than the week before, still 3000 above the

five year average. but remember that caveat. we would probably have been above about 15,000 if it wasn't for the ve day bank holiday. 31% of those deaths were by woods related, around 4000. but that total figure that i had just read out, covid related deaths up to maybe eight, 30 you contrast that with the daily figure we are getting at the downing street briefings, there is a disparity, a huge disparity. every week we do a comparison and look at what was announced at the daily briefings on that particular day, or actually the day after to bring accepted that day, we compare that against what we are now seeing in terms of the currencies up for that day, consistently we are about a third higher than that daily figure because of the differences in the data collection. our data is the

death registration, every figure, the daily figure is looking for things that i've had a positive test result in hospitals or the community, only where there is a positive test result. so because of the wider scope it takes longer but we can see they are consistently tracking about a third higher than the daily figure. can we talk about the daily figure. can we talk about the excess deaths figure, the metric we are told by scientists and some politicians is the measure we should use that can give us a more accurate picture of how we are doing? across england and wales are to the 8th of may we are looking at an excess deaths figure of just may we are looking at an excess deaths figure ofjust under 50,000, if we look at the uk as a whole, which we did last week, that is just under 55,000 excess deaths across the uk. so the gap between covid related and access is about 25% of excess deaths are not explained by

covid on the death certificate, and thatis covid on the death certificate, and that is a key area of research to get underneath and to understand that, we are hoping to bring something out in a couple of weeks which looks at those deaths. we brought out a report last friday which are —— which started to shed the first bit of light, that looked at deaths which had occurred since april, specifically focused on covid related deaths, between could see all the others as well, there were deaths from dementia and alzheimer's disease which had gone up very, very significantly during april, as had deaths from something known as ill—defined conditions, often when the certifying job to put things like frailty or old—age on the death certificate, usually in the very old weather might not be a specific mobility but the patient has been unwell, you often get ill—defined conditions and they were up significantly in april. i have persistently said there are two possible reasons for this gap between covid related and actual

total access, one is the care pathways, normal care pathways might be being disrupted, people not presenting at hospital, for example, and the second is that there may be some cases where covid is present but it is not obvious to the certifying doctor that that is the case and it may be the case that this big jump case and it may be the case that this bigjump in case and it may be the case that this big jump in the number of dementia and alzheimer's deaths could explain part of that reason there. it could well be that in the very old, the patient is not able to describe their symptoms very well, there may be many other comorbidities but perhaps the doctor has not felt able in the absence of a positive test to put covid on the test certificate —— death certificates, so that big jump might be giving us any insight into what is causing the gap between covid deaths in total excess deaths. can i ask you for the figures of deaths involving covid—19 and care homes?

you can either give us england and wales or the whole uk. in england and wales, intensive registrations up and wales, intensive registrations up to the 8th of may, there were a further 1666 in the last eight weeks, taking us up to about 10,000 deaths registered involving covid in ca re deaths registered involving covid in care homes deaths registered involving covid in ca re homes across deaths registered involving covid in care homes across england and wales. we then have the latest weak‘s data from the care quality commission and ca re from the care quality commission and care institute wales, which adds around another 1400 last week, the week ending may the 15th, so we are ra nt week ending may the 15th, so we are rant about 11,400 deaths in care home settings involving covid, but last week we brought out another report, a deep dive into the care home sector, which showed that up to make the first ever further 3500 covid related deaths of care home residents in hospitals, so when you add those together we are probably around about 15,000 covid related deaths of care home residents in

total, most of them in care home settings but a significant chunk of happened in hospitals. thank you, very much, nick stripe from the ons. 15,000 up to made the first —— up to the 1st of may, covid related deaths, mostly elderly people in ca re deaths, mostly elderly people in care homes but some people in hospitals. joining me to discuss the situation in care homes is karolina gerlich, who was until recently a carer herself and is now executive director of the care workers charity. they have been helping care workers unable to afford to feed themselves during this crisis. we're also joined by helen wildbore, who is director of the relatives & residents association, which supports older people in care and their families. i wonder how you react to these latest figures, karolina, from deaths of residents from care homes? vegetable, i am still a care worker, i still do care business on a friday

morning. —— festival, iand still a ca re morning. —— festival, iand still a care worker. intensive care home deaths, it is heartbreaking how many people have passed away because of covid in care homes and my initial response is that actions were taken too slowly. the government's responsive and testing, pp and recognising social care as being at the front line of the covid—19 fight was too slow and it definitely did not support the sector in the way it needed to be supported. let me ask helen for her reaction, your reaction to the fact that the numbers of deaths involving covid—19 in care homes surpasses 10,000?|j mean, i would echo that it is heartbreaking and it is a tragic number, andl heartbreaking and it is a tragic number, and i think looking at the number, and i think looking at the numberof number, and i think looking at the number of excess deaths, it is

perhaps the only way we will see a more accurate and reliable picture of the true impact of coronavirus in ca re of the true impact of coronavirus in care settings. we had seen problems with reporting on death certificates, as was just alluded to, in terms of a lack of testing meaning that the true cause of a person's death, if they did have covid, may not have been recorded on the death certificate. if we look at the death certificate. if we look at the figures around excess deaths we are seeing up to 20,000 older people using care services who have lost their lives during the covid pandemic, who may have passed away from covid directly or from other causes. we see lots of people in ca re causes. we see lots of people in care settings not being able to get access to the medical care they would ordinarily receive at this time as gps and other health

professionals are staying away. karolina, i want to ask you of these thousands of deaths from residents of care homes, were any of them avoidable in your view?|j of care homes, were any of them avoidable in your view? i am sure lots of them were avoidable. care workers and providers have been doing their best given the lack of support to really save people and they have made personal sacrifices which unfortunately because of the lack of certain things in place the death rate is so high. definitely avoidable if actions were taken much quicker and if social care was supported the way it has been. one of the most alarming issues at the beginning of the crisis, elderly patients in hospitals being discharged into care homes in order to free up beds for the expected surge in covid patients. on the 19th of march nhs guidance said unless

required to be in hospital, nhs patients must not remain in an nhs bed, and in april the 2nd the rules on discharging two care homes were clarified, saying negative coronavirus clarified, saying negative coro navi rus tests clarified, saying negative coronavirus tests are not required prior to transfer all admissions into the care home. when you look back on that now, what do you think of that advice? i think it was definitely really bad advice. care providers most of all have responsibility to people already in their care, responsibility to people already in theircare, and responsibility to people already in their care, and they should never put people in a situation where they are. elite to admitting people from hospitals where no testing was in place if people were covid—19 positive or not. i think that is a big proportion of where the reasons are for the number of deaths in social care. helen, your helpline is open to those seeking advice about care. what kind of calls are you receiving at the moment? yes, full

quality—of—life of older people requiring care, the helpline has been hearing from family members daily with concerns and anxiety around how their relatives are coping in care, how they are coping with the regular support that family members and friends normally provides and the impact that will be having on physical health and mental health as well. their relatives are worried about whether they will be able to see their loved ones in care before they pass away and there is a lot of concern about how care homes will be coping as staff levels drop, as staff members had to go off sick orto as staff members had to go off sick or to self—isolate, how care homes will be maintained, standards of care, to make sure people are still treated in a safe way and with

dignity and have good quality care during this crisis. karolina, when he heard matt hancock last week talk about the protective ring he had said he had put immense care homes, what did you think? that definitely was not in place, you can speak to any provider around the country, how they have had to work around the clock, and provider associations, having to fight for ppe, full social ca re having to fight for ppe, full social care to be privatised on pp and testing and how it has taken weeks and weeks for it to be recognised —— full social care to be prioritised on ppe testing. i had seen no evidence of any ring fence being put around any facilities and social care. you may have heard, and i certainly see on social media, people saying most care homes are private so they have the money to sort themselves out. the reason why most ca re sort themselves out. the reason why most care homes are private is because social care policy has been pretty bad over the last decade that

the government really has dropped the government really has dropped the ball around that. the sector was full to go private. second double, even when operators are private, it is not mean they are making a huge profit. lots of care providers do thejob profit. lots of care providers do the job because they care and operate onjust the job because they care and operate on just about break even and lots operate on a loss. it is not the private businesses' responsibility to respond to a worldwide pandemic and making sure that everybody is provided with the ca re that everybody is provided with the care support they need. thank you both very much for talking to us. a department of health and social care spokesperson said we have followed a science led action plan designed to save lives. we announced a new £600 million infection—control fund for ca re million infection—control fund for care homes on top of the 3.2 billion p care homes on top of the 3.2 billion p made available in march and april. thank you both for talking to us. president trump has revealed

he is taking a drug commonly used for treating malaria — hydroxychloroquine — as a precaution against covid—19 after an aide tested positive. the us food and drug administration have classed the drug as not "safe or preventative" for the disease, and warned taking it could kill people. our north america correspondent peter bowes has more. of good things have come out about the hydroxy. a lot of good things have come out. and you'd be surprised how many people are taking it, especially the front line workers, before you catch it. the front line workers — many, many are taking it. i happen to be taking it. a jaw—dropping statement from president trump. there's no medical evidence that hydroxychloroquine prevents the disease or helps patients recover from covid—19. in fact, it could have fatal side—effects.

but mr trump says even though he's healthy he's trying it anyway. i think it's good. i've heard a lot of good stories. and if it's not good i'll tell you right — i'm not going to get hurt by it. it's been around for 40 years, for malaria, for lupus, for other things. i take it. last month the us food and drug administration said hydroxychloroquine had not been shown to be safe and effective for treating or preventing covid—19. it issued a warning that some people could suffer serious heart problems as a result of taking it in combination with other drugs. mr trump said he'd heard anecdotal evidence that it had helped some coronavirus patients. what do you have to lose? ok, what do you have to lose? i have been taking it for about a week and a half. every day? at some point every day. the president has been roundly condemned for his use of the drug. it's a medication that has a serious side effects, including cardiac arrhythmias, abnormal heart rhythms that could be fatal. and so i really worry about other people listening to what president trump is saying and potentially taking this medication that has no proven benefit but could actually have a lot of harm. mr trump's surprise announcement stunned even his most ardent supporters.

immediately following his remarks, a presenter on the fox news network, which is generally supportive of the president, issued a stern warning to his viewers. if you are in a risky population here and you are taking this as a preventative treatment to ward off the virus or, in a worst—case scenario, you are dealing with the virus, and you are in this vulnerable population, it will kill you. i cannot stress enough. this will kill you. and in a separate development, mr trump has given the world health organization an ultimatum, threatening permanently to stop funding the who if it fails to commit to major substantive improvements within the next 30 days. peter bowes, bbc news, los angele thank you to the many of you who got in touch about paul, who told us about moving from london to bradford to get a job, thejudge did not

materialise, he is out of work, he was evicted last week. stephen said i watched your interview with paul, i have an anti—property in shipley i could make available, please pass my number on. robert says you had a chap just number on. robert says you had a chapjust made number on. robert says you had a chap just made homeless and number on. robert says you had a chapjust made homeless and in desperate need of support in bradford, i would like to get 50p to him, he could be any of us, can i get the 50p to him before his phone dies? —— can i get £50 to him? other people have offered to pay his phone bill. there are many more, we will put you all in touch but really the council need to step up to help all, because it looks like he is slipping deer sleeping under an underpass tonight unless we can get into your place in shipley. we will talk to hugh bonneville now, he is launching an online learning tool about

shakespeare for primary school age children. good morning. tell us about this online learning tool about this online learning tool about shakespeare? this is a charity i had been involved in several yea rs, i had been involved in several years, the primary shakespeare company, in normal times it goes into schools, this started in london and his groan, and it gets kids involved in place of shakespeare —— this started in london and it has grown. the language of shakespeare soon become second nature, not the scary foreign language some others thought it was when we were younger, and it also fertilises across the curriculum. if they are staging hamlet they can get into displacements, analysing displacements, analysing displacement one ophelia checks herself in the river, or in macbeth they can get onto surface area when they can get onto surface area when they are looking at how much redecorating the macbeths might have to do when redecorating the

banqueting hall for the arrival of the king. this term they are achieving the tempest, but not in schools, everything is online. they have adapted ends of —— they have adapted incredibly quickly and because of the support of a charity they have done this all for free. it is interested —— it is introducing young people to the pleasures of shakespeare and touching other aspects of the curriculum. there is aspects of the curriculum. there is a six—week course and each week pa rents a six—week course and each week parents and home educators can log in and see what the challenges to do with the play, be it making a film about a shipwreck or learning sea sha nty about a shipwreck or learning sea shanty is to improve your music or recreating scenes from the plate using celibate puppets for your artwork, it is full of ideas, so log on and tune in —— or recreating scenes from the play using silhouette puppets. the website is entirely free, you can find six weeks of ideas to get your children

engaged. can i ask you about the a rts engaged. can i ask you about the arts in britain, which is obviously ina dire arts in britain, which is obviously in a dire situation, well told, the old vic in london, shakespeare's globe theatre has wanted faces insolvency without further help. it calling for the government to step in. how important is it for theatres to somehow survive the crisis? there is no doubt in my mind or anybody‘s mind that theatres will close. everybody needs help from the government, everyone is deserving of support and need to get back to a new normal, whatever that will be. but the congregational arts, if you like, andi but the congregational arts, if you like, and i include concerts both classical and pop, they will be facing of challenges in the next couple of years, trying to work out how they can get into business. theatres like the old vic and others will be on a knife edge of how they survive. can you possibly have a

theatre or concert experience with social distancing? not in the same way. recording artists, who these days make most of their revenue from tearing and live events, they will be severely hit. —— from touring and live events. it is music performances, festivals, everything involving a large group gathering. the great thing about human imagination and our need for entertainment is that things evolve, we will survive, we will emerge hopefully stronger and more creative. there are so many creative ways people are using their imaginations at the moment, from working online only. the primary shakespeare company being another, they have completely remodelled how they have completely remodelled how they work. i am sure creative industries will come out with a way forward. i am just industries will come out with a way forward. i amjust thinking industries will come out with a way forward. i am just thinking about socially distant theatre or gigs. angela dweba has urged the

government to look at how south korea are doing. —— lloyd—webber is urging. not all theatres in south korea have closed, for those that are open audience numbers had to buy masks, there are automatic doors so you do not touch door handles, deep cleaning, hand sanitiser and the staff are wearing ppe. it is doable but it will be very different. staff are wearing ppe. it is doable but it will be very differentlj staff are wearing ppe. it is doable but it will be very different. i saw a photograph the other day of somewhere in the netherlands where they had some sort of perspex screens in cinemas. people are trying to find a way forward. it will be different and i think so long as we are careful and sensible and respectful then there is a future, but it will... there will be m ista kes future, but it will... there will be mistakes made along the way and we will have to be incredibly cautious, it is essential beget creative

industries back on their feet. thank you very much for talking to us. he bonneville. the prince of wales has made an appeal for workers to help farmers harvest their fruit and vegetables. there are concerns that travel restrictions because of the pandemic will lead to a shortage of seasonal pickers arriving from eastern europe. in a video message, prince charles says bringing in crops will be unglamorous and hard graft — but is of utmost importance to stop food going to waste. we will bring you the latest news headlines from the uk and around the world, we will switch to bbc two in a moment. but the weather is getting warmer, carol? over the next couple of days it will turn our net today is warmer than yesterday and tomorrow will be warmer than today. we are looking at lots of dry weather, a bit of sunshine, some rain in the forecast but lots of it will ease, some of it across the north of scotland where we have a

weather front will linger and we will hang on the cloud. for the rest of the uk, the crowd continues to break through the rest of the afternoon and there will be more sunshine. the drizzly bits and pieces we have left across northern england, north wales and maybe northern ireland will ease next couple of hours. in the sunshine, temperatures responding accordingly, heights of about 25 or 26 in the london area, in the east, temperatures are getting up to 20, possibly 22, in northern ireland we are looking at about 19 in belfast. through the evening and overnight some low cloud, understand fog will form, particularly through the irish sea, english channel and north sea, with hill fog affecting western parts of the uk. with this all pulling out it will not be a cold night. we will lose that low cloud, next and felt fairly quickly tomorrow, leaving us with lots of sunshine across the board, dragging up sunshine across the board, dragging up our france and spain. tomorrow we

are looking at some clear skies once again. tomorrow could be the warmest day of the year so far if we hit 27 or 28 day of the year so far if we hit 27 or28 in the day of the year so far if we hit 27 or 28 in the london area, 22 in glasgow, 19 in aberdeen, 17 in belfast. we have a weather front coming in from the west, it will be pushing steadily eastwards overnight wednesday into thursday as a weak feature. the other thing that will happen on thursday its late morning into the early part of the afternoon we will start to see thunderstorms developed anywhere in the south—east quarter. we will not all catch one and if you don't, it will still be warm. on the other side of the weather front we get back into dry conditions, temperatures down a touch, 28 glasgow feeling pretty nice. a deep area of low pressure comes our way on friday, introducing windy conditions and rain across the uk, fairly weak in the south—east. gusts of between about 50 and 60 mph

off north—west scotland.

this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. there's a huge rise in the number of people claiming unemployment benefits in the uk — an increase of almost 70% in april. the uk's approach to coronavirus testing has been "inadequate" throughout the pandemic, according to a committee of mps. president trump says he's taking an anti—malaria drug to ward off coronavirus — despite health officials warning it is unsafe. what do you have to lose? 0k, what do you have to lose? i have been taking it for about a week and a half. every day? at some point... every day, i take the pill every day.