this is bbc news with the latest headlines. new figures show the dramatic effect on the economy of the coronavirus crisis — it's terrible news for the high street, as retail sales show their biggest ever monthly fall. and government borrowing in april was more than £62 billion — the largest monthly amount on record. quarantine plans for entering the uk will be announced later,

with possible fines of £1,000 if people fail to self—isolate for m days. scientific advice on opening schools is published later, as 68 councils in england say they cannot guarantee their primary schools will return on the 1st ofjune. we want people to ensure that he guidelines are able to be followed, and that they return to school when it's safe, than the 1st ofjune, and councils and local authorities and schools have got to assess that safety issue from the health point of view, for the best interests of the pupils. president trump is seen without a facemask in a michigan factory — though he claims he did wear one, but took it off before speaking to reporters. and coming up at 9.30, it's your questions answered — today we're looking at what's going to happen when universities reopen in the autumn.

hello, good morning and welcome to bbc news. i'm annita mcveigh. new figuresjust out, show the devastating effect of the coronavirus on the economy. retail sales fell sharply, posting the biggest fall on record in april, as much of the sector was shut by the government's lockdown. official figures from the office for national statistics, showed retail sales dropped by 18.1% in april, with clothing sales down by 50%. uk borrowing has soared to cope with the impact of the virus. the government borrowed £62.1 billion in april, the highest monthly figure on record. in other developments, the government is expected to announce that anyone arriving in the uk from abroad could be

fined £1,000, if they fail to self—isolate for m days. the new rules are not expected to come into force until next month. and a bbc survey suggests most english councils cannot guarantee primaries will reopen on 1 june, the date targeted by the uk government. out of 99 authorities who responded to the survey, 68 said they could not be sure schools would reopen to reception, yeari and year 6 pupils. let's begin with more detail on that economic news. i'm joined by our business correspondent, ben thompson. let's talk about the retail figures. we had the march figures a few weeks ago but that period it didn't cover the entirety of the lockdown, whereas april does. we can really see it in these numbers, can't we? yeah, the evidence is pretty clear. we have had anecdotal evidence from

retailers telling us how they've fared. these figures give us a snapshot of april. the first full month of the lockdown. perhaps no surprise sales fell so sharply. sales overall down byjust over 18%, 18.1% lower. they fell 5% in march. this is in addition to that. clothing sales, unsurprisingly, one of the worst affected, because we are all staying at home and therefore are not spending as much on clothing. stores not able to open. 50% fall in stores. we last saw that level of clothing sales backin saw that level of clothing sales back in the depths of the recession. some glimmer of hope in all of this. the proportion of sales done online. all the money that we should —— spend last month, 30% was done online. quite clearly a big increase in the amount of food we are buying. more of us using supermarket deliveries, for example. really

testa m e nt to deliveries, for example. really testament to how our shopping habits may have changed. more retailers trying to get their online presence up trying to get their online presence up and running more strongly to make sure they have an opportunity to cash in if their stores are closed. 0ne cash in if their stores are closed. one person who knows about that is my next guest. anneke short is the co—founder of the camden watch company. official figures telling us officialfigures telling us it official figures telling us it is tougher retailers out there. i imagine you feel it more than most? absolutely. it has been very difficult for us. so far we have three stores in london that have all had to close because of lockdown. we closed them before lockdown because we couldn't keep them open. nobody was coming into the shops. we didn't wa nt was coming into the shops. we didn't want to put our staff in a position of still having to travel when there would be nobody to serve any shops. talk to me about how you have adapted? i know you have been able to use your website. i understand you have been packing these goods yourself and posting them out to

customers. but it is about trying to be more flexible? absolutely. we have returned to our roots. we started as an online company. then open the store. we have returned to that now the sense that we don't have stores any more. it isjust online. we are doing everything ourselves. it is a return to our roots. it is about being flexible and adapting every day. we are trying to adapt as best we can. what have you learned from all of those that you may take with you, if and when you are able to reopen and reopen safely? so many firms are saying it has been quite an eye—opener. yes, tough, difficult to adapt to but you have learned a lot about yourself and your business in the process? absolutely. i think one of the positives that have come out of the positives that have come out of it is that we have realised how robust our online is. we do have a very strong foundation online. that has been working really well. i also think that something that we have realised is actuallyjust how much

customers love our stores. so many people have said they can't wait to visit again. that kind of experience of shopping is incredibly difficult to replicate online. i have been hearing from the upper foetus from dragons' den, the owner of robert tyas among others, and he said this morning retail will never be the same again. he says it will not go back to how it was before. does it worry you are excited you? back to how it was before. does it worry you are excited you ?|i back to how it was before. does it worry you are excited you? i think it excites me. that was i was going to be the case. we were always moving towards a world that has more online. it has accelerated more than before coronavirus. i think because we have shops that have worked in this... we have a clientele who, even though they would be shopping online, they still come to our stores and still enjoy it. that will still exist afterwards. there's a lot of exciting opportunity. really good to talk to you. good luck. i

know you have been pretty flexible and adaptable. nice to hear your thoughts. and it is so interesting because we are starting to get these retail sales figures. it tells us a lot about how we are behaving in recent weeks. alcohol sales up again. maybe because we are not going out to a pub, not going to restaurants, alcohol sales, off—licence sales, pretty good. clothing classed as leisurewear. comfy clothing. those figures really tell the story of this time, don't they, ben? interesting listening to that because this is a stress test for small businesses right through to the big ones. a stress test for governments and how they are handling this whole situation. there is news also, which will be of interest to a lot of people, and mortgage payment holidays. tell us more? this was one of the initiatives launched by the treasury, the idea of them was to give anyone who might be facing tough financial times right now,

maybe not working as many hours, may be struggling to pay back some of their debts, the idea of a payment window so you get some time off for a payment holiday, that was supposed to run out at the end ofjune. the government wants to extend that for three months. if you can't pay it back, speak to your bank or building society, have a conversation and they should offer you time, more time, to pay that back. one thing worth noting is, have that conversation, don'tjust stop paying because that could affect your credit rating. it won't affect your credit rating. it won't affect your credit score. it is also worth remembering that when you do start paying again, ask for your mortgage to be extended if it otherwise your payments will jump up. to be extended if it otherwise your payments willjump up. we are going to westminster in just a second on the politics of borrowing. a word from your perspective on the borrowing figures? yeah, lots of numbers out this morning and again no huge surprise that you pay for all of these government schemes, whether that is the furlough scheme, business grants, loans, it is

costing the taxpayer a lot of money. we found out the deficit figures this morning, the uk government deficit. essentially that is the difference between what it earns in revenue, things like tax revenue, and what it spends on public services but also on government schemes. that has hit £62 billion in april. a staggering amount of money. the largest figure on record. and just to put that into a bit of context, the deficit in the first month of the financial year, april, is larger than it was forecast to be for the entire year. just one month into the new financial year we have already spent the money that was allocated for the entire year. a real issue there and one of course that we know we'll have to be paid back. amongst all those figures that is the sort of statistic that sticks in the mind. thank you very much. ben thompson. the government is expected to announce that anyone arriving in the uk from abroad could be fined £1,000 if they fail to self—isolate for 1h days. under the plans, health officials would be able to carry out

spot checks to check whether people were complying. let's get more on this now with our political correspondent, jonathan blake, who's at westminster for us. good morning. first of all, a word from you on those borrowing figures? at the deficit in april greater than the forecast for the deficit for the whole year. what is that going to do to inform the government policy on trying to get people back to work? well, there is an urgency to get people back to work as soon as is safely possible. but it's a trade—off. if you lift the restrictions on allow people to go back to work as we were before coronavirus arrived, then that risks, at the moment, with the virus still very much present in the community, a second wave of cases that could overwhelm the nhs all over again, which would need a second lockdown to manage. that is something that the government is at pains to avoid. whilst, as you have

been outlining, and hearing from ben, the true cost of the coronavirus crisis and the cost of the measures that the government has put in place to deal with it, and those are eyewatering numbers that will have to be recouped in the future through greater borrowing and, no doubt, tax rises at some point as well, it is necessary that the government clearly believes to sheu the government clearly believes to shell out this money to get the country through this crisis. but the delicate balance that the government is trying to achieve between managing the virus and allowing parts of the economy to open up in parts of the economy to open up in parts of the economy to open up in parts of england and other parts of the uk, which are taking their own decisions and setting their own timetable, will be decided on the basis of many factors. the financial applications, they are one of those. let's go back to the subject of the quarantine period of let's go back to the subject of the quarantine period 01:14 days for people coming into the uk from elsewhere. how is that going to be

policed and will there be any exemptions to that? we are going to get the details of this scheme in full from the home secretary, priti patel, later on. we already know some details. it is expected to come into force next month. no exact date yet as the plans have to be put forward , yet as the plans have to be put forward, put before parliament, which is currently in recess. but anyone arriving in the uk from overseas, aside from the smallest of exemptions, which i will go through ina exemptions, which i will go through in a moment, will have their details taken and then be told to self—isolate for 1h days. and with those details, the government and health officials will be able to carry out a text to see if people are complying with that request to quarantine, and if they are not, they could face a fine of up to £1000. it will apply to people arriving in the uk from other countries, but also british people arriving back in the uk from abroad. as the northern ireland secretary,

brandon lewis, explained this morning, that is something people should think about before making any summer should think about before making any summer holiday plans. if you are going to go abroad, you may need to quarantine when you come back. as i say, this quarantine, when it comes in, we will be reviewing it every three weeks. i can't say to yet just how long it will last. it will be down to the scientific at at every stage as we assess it, keeping that r rate down. this may be for some time, it may not be. i will be very straight. we will be assessing that as we go forward to make sure we are making those decisions based on the best possible impact that we can and keeping the r rate down and protecting people across the united kingdom. this is interpreted by some as a drastic measure and something the airline industry and the travel industry as a whole could have a devastating impact. but the government believes it is an

important tool to keep the infection rate in the uk down. those exemptions i mentioned four people arriving in the uk to take upjobs in the health service, fruit pickers and other essential workers, as well as freight drivers coming in from other countries. it does not apply to the common travel area, which includes the republic of ireland and the channel islands. beyond that, anyone coming into the uk will be told to quarantine for 1h days. jonathan blake, thank you very much. the headlines on bbc news... bad news for the high street, as new figures show lockdown measured contributed to retail sales recording their biggest everfall in april. and government borrowing in april has risen by more than £62 billion — the largest monthly amount on record. spot checks and fines of up to £1,000 — how 314 day quarantine will work for visitors to the uk.

a bbc survey suggests most english councils cannot guarantee primaries will reopen on the 1st ofjune, the date targeted by the uk government. of 99 authorities to respond to the survey, 68 said they could not be sure schools would reopen to reception, year one and year six pupils. the government will today publish the scientific evidence behind its decision for a phased return to schools in england. the scottish government says schools will reopen in august, blending part—time school study with home learning, while some pupils in northern ireland will also return in late august. the welsh government has yet to set out its timetable. jane mccubbin has this report. walk with us into wootton primary school along the one—way system and see the quandary facing parents whose children may or may not be going back to school in ten days' time, like harrison's mum. if i was to send him back, there is no way he would stay

away from his friends, he's missed them way too much, and as much as teachers want to social distance, social distance, social distance, it's not going to happen with 5—year—olds, they don't understand. and ruby's mum. some days i'm thinking, "oh, my goodness, am i doing the right thing, should they be going back?" and then other days, i'm like, "do you know what? "they have to go back at some point, whether it's now or in september." this is tricky. this school is preparing to allow reception, year one and year six back in on june 1st. head mr nairn says it's the right thing. because the remote learning is as good as it can be, but it doesn't begin to compare to having a high—quality teacher stood in front of you. but it hasn't been easy thing. probably one of the most difficult things i've wrestled with — it's that balance between listening to the science and listening to the fact that, you know, we need to keep our children safe, and we still don't know enough about the transmission rates among young children. this is the latest

scientific advice. it conclusively says that the severity of the disease is lower in children than in adults, but when it comes to the susceptibility to the virus and the ability to pass it on, the evidence is, well, it's sketchy. just part of the reason this school in sefton isn't planning on doing anything different on june 1st. instead, they're bagging two weeks more preparation time and aiming forjune 15. basically our local authority have stepped in and said they agree june first is too soon. in a letter, mr daniels told parents they would do all they could to make it safe as possible but warned school was not the safest place for kids to be. you wrote to parents to say the safest place for them is still not here but at home? there's different guidance, and different reports coming out daily. i can't tell parents either way. that's a parental decision for them to take because they've all got different circumstances in their home lives. and what's the feedback you're

getting from parents? the feedback we've had, out of a potential roughly 240 children, we sent a survey out and we had less than 20 parents who said they would be willing to send their children in. amongst those who said no, alexis and mum linda. it's a little bit further away so i can make more of an informed decision about sending her back, but it's so close to the end of term, what's the point, really? joseph and his parents also said no. no, not yet. it's still too early for them to be going back to school, i think, personally. they've been given the option to send evie, deacon and joseph, jr back into school and nursery in the coming weeks, but they are just not convinced. when they're sitting next to each other in the house of commons, then we'll put our kids back in nursery. until then, don't bother asking us. you need to be testing as many as you can. if you know that you've got it, you're less likely to go out. what you are saying is, if the test and tracking was way ahead of where we are at right now,

that's the thing that would give you confidence? it is, yeah. that absolutely is the aim of government, but for lleyton, who two weeks ago told us he couldn't wait to go back... i don't want to go back now. you don't want to go back now? it doesn't, like, feel go safe to go back, yeah. what will you need to see and hear to make you have that confidence? more positive news. positivity about a june 1st back—to—school date for year 6 at st elizabeth's in in short supply. more scientific guidance is expected later today. we'd like nothing more now than to have a school full of children but for now, show us the science and we can work towards it. some very lively children in that report. geoff barton is general secretary of the association of school and college leaders. thank you very much for your time this morning. first of all i would like to get your reaction to that a bbc survey that we have been telling our viewers about. 68 of the english

councils questions said they couldn't guarantee wider reopening of the schools to reception, year one and year six pupils on the 1st ofjune. is that broadly in line with the sort of things you have been hearing, the sorts of conversations you have been having with schools? it is. ithink conversations you have been having with schools? it is. i think there have been so many bits of swirling speculation about this. i think it is important, while the government had ina is important, while the government had in a basin from the 1st ofjune two up and in england, it had already built in a cheque that it was going to say on the 20th of may it would make that final decision. what we are also seeing is that if you are in liverpool, if you are in hartlepool, where the infection rates appear to be greater than say london, then public health bodies there are going to make decisions locally. what we are hearing from other local authorities as they are making a judgment on behalf of their communities. that would be really reassuring to people in those communities that context is being taken into communities that context is being ta ken into account. communities that context is being taken into account. because ultimately what might be right in

the south of england may not be right in other parts of england. we spoke this time last week, ahead of you having a meeting with other school leaders and scientific advisers, did you come out of that virtual meeting feeling any more reassured personally?” virtual meeting feeling any more reassured personally? i did. iwent into it essentially as somebody who isn't a scientist at all. i'm an educationalist, posing three questions. are we asking the right questions. are we asking the right questions of the scientists? i think we are. did we get answers? i think we are. did we get answers? i think we did. did ifeel reassured? i did. some people didn't feel the same. i was reassured on two fronts. what they were saying that the children in the schools. we know that children are much lower risk. and if he thinks that we had worried about, social distancing and how you do that with reception children and your fives, what they clarified is social distancing within a school mean something rather different. it means keeping small groups of

children together in a kind of bubble so they are not mixing with other people. you would start with the youngest children, would be dropped off by their parents, picked up dropped off by their parents, picked up by dropped off by their parents, picked up by their parents. they can stay with one children —— teacher for the day. older children are at greater risk. i was reassured by that. i will significantly reassured by the sentence which was, returning to school for a member of staff, a teacher or somebody else, is no more risky than returning to some other similar profession. and so on both fronts, looking at implications for the child and the adult, i was genuinely reassured and we cautiously supported the government's ambition. that is really interesting what you are saying. let's develop those thoughts. one of the mums in that report was saying if this test and trace report was saying if this test and tra ce syste m report was saying if this test and trace system was up and running and proving to be working effectively, she would be more comfortable about her children gone back to school. but it is only really due to get

going from the 1st ofjune, the day the government is talking about more people to returning to school. can you understand that perhaps a lot of people actually want the proof that that system is working before they would want to take that step of sending their children back? totally. there are a number of things that parents and indeed teachers and other people working in schools would want. that's why today's publication of the scientific at vice is important. it will not say whether schools should or shouldn't be opening on the 1st ofjune. what it will be demonstrating is the management of risks going on in schools, what we will need to do, the people leaving schools —— where leading schools, and teachers, to make sure hygiene levels are good and all the other things we know are the key ingredients. the word you used there from the 1st of june ingredients. the word you used there from the 1st ofjune is very important. people are fixated on the idea that it is somehow business as usual, or it is supposed to be business as usual on the 1st of

june. we definitely know the ambition to bring secondary pupils into school really must not happen from the 1st of june into school really must not happen from the 1st ofjune because we have not had the guidance from the government. the last thing we want are government. the last thing we want a re lots of government. the last thing we want are lots of teenagers suddenly going into newsagents and getting on buses and so on, going to school. this has to be really, really cautious. and from the 1st ofjune, as your survey shows, so more young people will start to go into schools but nowhere is it going to be business as usual. very briefly, would you want teachers to be able to get tests effectively on demand if needs be, to reassure teachers that they are not perhaps picking up the virus from children who we know ten to be not affected by it but can spread it? yeah, the more we can get an absolute sense of reassurance from those working in schools and beyond, the better. test will be one key factor. jeff burton, thank you very much for your time. factor. jeff burton, thank you very much foryourtime. general secretary of the association of school and college leaders.

scientists have found that patients who suffer the most severe form of the coronavirus, also have extremely low levels of t—cells — a type of white blood cell which helps the immune system fight off the virus. a clinical trial for a drug that is known to boost t—cell production is underway, which could offer treatment for those who become critically ill. our sceince correspondent, victoria gill, reports. for an unlucky minority of patients, covid—19 is a cruel disease, and it's one with no specific treatment. but an examination of blood samples taken from 60 hospital patients has now revealed a vital clue — the samples show that those with the most severe form of the disease also had extremely low numbers of a particular virus—fighting immune cell called a t cell. it is a ver specific type of t cell, the one that we need to remove these virus—infected cells that appears to be getting into so much trouble. so that tells us a lot about how we try to fight the virus but it also offers ways in which we can put

together sort of a fingerprint test to look as early as possible for the status of these cells. by measuring the number of these immune cells, that fingerprint test could give an early signal that someone is on course to develop a more severe disease and crucially it's also provided the possibility of a new treatment. a uk team of scientists and intensive care doctors is now embarking on a covid—19 clinical trial of an existing therapy called il7, that's already proven to boost the production of the t cells that covid—19 appears to deplete. so, as a critical care physician, i look after patients who are extremely unwell, and other than supportive care we do not have any direct active treatment against the disease and we have learned from other trials that this treatment definitely increaseses the number of lymphocytes and the function of these cells, therefore we are hopeful that actually in the context of the covid—19 disease, this might be beneficial.

there is still a great deal that scientists and doctors have to learn about how this virus undermines our immune systems, but this clue and this new treatment could turn one of its tactics against it and provide some much—needed hope for those it hits the hardest. victoria gill, bbc news. the duke and duchess of cambridge have thanked care workers for their efforts during the pandemic. theyjoined residents and staff at a care home in cardiff via a video call, and even tried their hands at being bingo callers. catherine is going to pick out the first ball. so the first number is five and eight, 58. one little duck, number two. eight and seven, 87. six and two, tickety— boo.

tikka de boo! i wonder if they practised the lingo beforehand. time for the weather and matt taylor. good morning. good morning. last night the rain swept across the country. it has eased away now. the next few days the talking point could be the strength of the winter. in the northern half of the country wind gust possible. all feeling cooler than the heat of late. still warm enough for the sunshine, lots of that this afternoon across england and wales. sun shining between the showers in scotland and northern ireland. if you are in the hebrides, the rain becomes persistent later. rough seas and winds gusting at 50 to 60 mph. that could cause travel issues in northern ireland especially. cooler than the temperatures would suggest because of the winds. but not bad for this stage in may. this evening and overnight further showers in western areas, persistent rain in

the west of scotland. rainfall totals will be totting up in the next few days. the risk of some minor flooding. next few days. the risk of some minorflooding. further next few days. the risk of some minor flooding. further south and east you go through the weekend after a few showers on saturday, increasing sunshine, and warmer by bank holiday monday. hello, this is bbc news with annita mcveigh. the headlines:

new figures show the dramatic effect on the economy of the coronavirus crisis — it's terrible news for the high street as retail sales show their biggest ever monthly fall. and government borrowing in april was more than £62 billion — the largest monthly amount on record. quarantine plans for entering the uk will be announced later with possible fines of £1,000 if people fail to self—isolate for 1h days. scientific advice on opening schools is published later, as 68 councils in england say they cannot guarantee their primary schools will return onjune1st. president trump is seen without a facemask in a michigan factory — though he claims he did wear one, but took it off before speaking to reporters.

lots of you have been getting in touch with questions about the impact of coronavirus on higher education. with cambridge university announcing that all lectures will be held online until summer 2021, what will new and returning students face when term begins at universites across the uk? here to help answer your questions is sir steve smith, vice—chancellor of the university of exeter and member of a ministerial task force looking at university funding during the coronavirus crisis. we're alsojoined by courteney sheppard who is customer experience manager at ucas. good morning to both of you and thanks forjoining on bbc news to a nswer thanks forjoining on bbc news to answer our questions. we begin straightaway with a question from rachel, and i will start with you, sir steve, if classes are to be virtual as the government going to subsidise this by letting universities reduce fees? the answer is no, the government is not going

to do that. the minister has said that as long as we can guarantee the standard, the quality of the education experience, that it is roughly the same, not identical but roughly the same, not identical but roughly the same as in traditional delivery then fees should not be reduced. what you will find, rachel, is that every university in the country is currently working out how to deliver high quality lectures, and they are the real problem online, because you can't put so many people in a lecture theatre, but the rest of activity, laboratories, library work, seminars, tutorials, they will be donein seminars, tutorials, they will be done in person in most universities, soi done in person in most universities, so i don't think we should worry about that and i'm certainly —— they are certainly not going to suggest we reduce the fees because what matter is the quality of education and the outcomes you achieve. just a supplementary on that, who is going to adjudicate, if you like, whether universities are actually delivering that value for money when students perhaps can't have the experience they expected under the festive ——

and the face—to—face teaching the expected? there are three roots you could use. one, you could talk to your own university. i get regular contact from students about things that are good and things that are not good so there are processes internally. secondly, there is the office for the independent adjudicator, i kind of complaints procedure if you have exhausted the domestics procedures. thirdly, there is the office for students, regulator, who is insisting we provide education of the same quality, and they ultimately will oversee to make sure we are doing the best we can do so that students don't lose out by some of the delivery being online. 0k, well, let's look at the decision—making end of this, and cross over to courteney sheppard from you cat. a question from james about his daughter. he says, my daughter is now on the fence about going to university in the next academic year. what advice do you have. i wonder how many people getting in touch with you are likewise on the

fence? yes, we have had lots of facebook lives recently speaking to thousands and thousands of students in taking their questions and lots of stu d e nts in taking their questions and lots of students are in that same position, where they are considering their options and wondering what they should do, and advice that we have really are that the reasons for going to university when students initially chose their choices still mostly be the same when we get out of the situation that covid is introduced. so the advice we would give to students is to get all of the information that they can, so find out what the plans are for the summer, speak to some students on the ucas website, so current students, find out what it is like at university, and then when they are ready and have all of the information available to make that decision, it's better to have a firm choice that they can have in their pocket when they get the exam results, then they can really make a decision from there, once the picture is clearer. 0k,

decision from there, once the picture is clearer. ok, that's really interesting, because lots of people wrangling with this decision—making process at the moment, courteney steve, what are your thoughts on that if someone is on the fence about whether to go ahead and go to university in the next academic year, not just from ahead and go to university in the next academic year, notjust from a learning perspective but also an experience perspective. we have question from stuart —— courtney. steve, . i question from stuart —— courtney. steve,. i question. what will i get from the university explains when all i can do it will tell my drinks from home? i might as well defer until next year. yes, there is genuinely a problem for applicants trying to make that decision and we are all in the same boat, we don't quite know what the author will bring. two for comments. one, i think every university is planning to start again in the autumn. in exeter we are planning to start on time in september but of course as you would expect we have contingency plans if we can't do that. but the key thing to think about, university is notjust a lecture, it is also

the social life, also the learning you do with your colleagues, the overall experience, and of course in the sciences it is lab work, and we re the sciences it is lab work, and were going to make sure those things can take place at exeter. so i would say, think about it, talk to people, see how things develop, but you can re st see how things develop, but you can rest assured that every university in the country is going to try and make certain that students who come in the autumn are protected, supported and actually have a very good experience. it sounds like where you are there is going to be lots going on with safe social distancing as far as you can? absolutely. there are obviously limits to what we can do but we have already planned how to have one—way systems through buildings, to have sanitiser, to have social spaces segregated in different ways, to have lectures demarcated, but the key thing is you can be sure that whichever university you are looking at everybody is trying to make sure students don't suffer because we understand completely that this is a stressful time and that this generation have had a difficult time

because of this crisis. 0k. which brings me, courteney, to this anonymous question but a question many people are asking no doubt. how cani many people are asking no doubt. how can i choose the best university for me when i can't actually go and visit it? and which to different universities are proposing to offer in the autumn, it sounds like it is very and quite a lot, so that may be a factor in people because my final decision i guess? very much so. what hasn't changed its research is very important, getting all of the information you can. lots of universities are looking at putting on virtual events, virtual exhibitions, virtual tours of the campus, opportunities to speak to pa rents, campus, opportunities to speak to parents, students. we ran our very first pilot event this week actually within emphasis on engineering. it was really helpful where students could speak to some lectures, some academics, about what they should do and think about for their decision—making. so i would encourage students to use all of the available channels, speak to

stu d e nts if available channels, speak to students if possible, like i said, through unibuddy, but other options, check on facebook, the facebook websites, lots of opportunities to get a feel for the university even if they can't go there and feel what the like physically. lots of options available, things will change, but do your research, it is really important to do that up front then make your decisions with all the information available. yes, and we heard unibuddy on bbc news a week or so ago talking about these virtual open days. courteney, charlie asks when is the deadline to pick my place, have these deadlines been extended, and if so until when? place, have these deadlines been extended, and if so untilwhen? good question. yes, those deadlines have been extended. you need to make a decision on yourfarm been extended. you need to make a decision on your farm or insurance choice by the 18th ofjune. applications are still available now of course the people still deciding to deciding to go to uni can do so

and we have had several set —— several thousand applications still coming through the system at the moment but the 18th ofjune it's when you need to make those decisions, but do so with all of the fa cts decisions, but do so with all of the facts in mind before you commit to that. 0k, just finally, sir steve smith, briefly, if you would come a question from sarah, there are at least ten books i require from the library for my any and each costs roughly £50 to buy. what money is available to cover these costs? a really good question. so i am a yes, good question, and a common one. we have a hardship fund we use for stu d e nts have a hardship fund we use for students and lots of them every year apply to it so we can help with that but, secondly, increasingly libraries are using e—books so books remain there electronically and in exeter we have several thousand of the key books available online so anyone can download them at any point so there are ways of dealing with that and i would encourage that person to get in touch and make sure they have made that request. fantastic advice from both of you. thank you so much, sir steve smith, vice chancellor at the university of exeter, and courteney sheppard,

customer experience manager at ucas. thank you very much, as ever, for your questions. president trump has threatened to withhold federal funding from the us state of michigan in a row over postal votes for the upcoming presidential election. he says it would be vulnerable to voter fraud. earlier, during a visit to a ford plant, the president denied refusing to wear a mask — a safety requirement within the factory — despite not appearing to on camera. our north america correspondent david willis reports. scion i i had one on before. i wore one on this back area but i didn't wa nt to one on this back area but i didn't want to give the press the pleasure of seeing it. white monkey is resista nt of of seeing it. white monkey is resistant of wearing a face mask in public forfear resistant of wearing a face mask in public for fear it sends the wrong message. president trump, the only unmasked man in a mask factory —— he is resistant to wearing a face mask.

not necessary here. everybody has been tested and i have been tested. in facti been tested and i have been tested. in fact i was tested this morning. masks are mandatory in the state of michigan and his hosts at the repurposed ford motor plant in detroit were all sticking rigidly by the rules. later, the president revealed he did actually have one of his own, complete with a presidential seal. this is my mask right here. i liked it very much. honestly, i think i look better in the mask. i really did, i looked better in the mask, but i'm making a speech so i won't have it now. michigan is a swing state which donald trump won narrowly in 2016, and needs to win again if he is to be re—elected in november. it has also seen more than 5000 deaths from the coronavirus. strange it measures imposed by the democratic governor have prompted protests in some parts of the state, and president trump has lent his support to those seeking to reopen the economy here.

now he is clashing with local officials over attempts to help people afraid of contracting the coronavirus vote by mail later in the year, threatening to withhold federalfunding if the year, threatening to withhold federal funding if they don't change course. mail—in votes are generally thought to benefit democrat leaning voters. if somebody has to mail it in because they are sick or, by the way, because they live in the white house and they have to vote in florida and they won't be in florida, there is a reason for it then that's ok, there's a reason, but we don't want to take any chances with fraud in our elections. with six months still to go to the presidential election, the rules surrounding voting at the time of the coronavirus are still in question. bbc news, los angeles. the coronavirus lockdown is giving the uk an "unexpected opportunity" to dramatically change the reduce

hiv transmissions, that's according to sexual health experts who are encouraging anyone who might have been exposed to hiv since their last check—up to get tested before the lockdown is lifted. people are more likely to pass on hiv in the earlier stages of contracting the virus and it can take up to a month from potential exposure for current tests to return a definitive result. let's get more on this from dr michael brady, medical director at the terrence higgins trust, national advisor for lgbt health and a consultant in sexual health and hiv at king's college hospital london. good morning to you, dr brady. thank you very much forjoining us on bbc news. as we talked about there, a unique set of circumstances created by the coronavirus lockdown. why does this give this unprecedented opportunity in the fight against hiv? well, the covid-19 lockdown has given us as you said a really unique opportunity for a number of reasons,

the main one being people had been staying at home so they've not been going out and having sex with people outside of their household which means there will have been far, far fewer if any hiv transmissions over the last couple of months. as you highlighted, we know people are the most infectious in the first few weeks after catching hiv so they will not be as many very infectious people around, but probably more importantly certainly in terms of our messaging on hiv testing is that after eight weeks of lockdown everybody will be outside of the window period for an hiv test. the winter period is the time it takes from catching the period to it showing up on the test. if people who may be at risk of hiv have a test now the test will tell them their status today and they won't have to repeat the test again in a few weeks' time. 0k, all about the timing. what is testing like at the moment? presumably, lots of face—to—face appointments at hiv clinics, those simply are not happening? yes, absolutely. sexual

health and hiv services like all services across the nhs have had to massively reduce and pretty much stopped all but essential care. they are still open for those people who really need them. face—to—face services are dramatically reduced, so we are not recommending people go into a clinic to get a test but that they order a test online. online or postal hiv testing, it has been a real innovation over the last few years and is widely available across the country. very easy to do. people just go online, order a kit, the country. very easy to do. people just go online, ordera kit, it the country. very easy to do. people just go online, order a kit, it gets posted to them at home, it's a simple finger prick blood test, then they either post it back to the lab and get the results in a few days or there are hiv self tests you can do yourself and read the results yourself, a bit like doing a pregnancy test. it's important to stress also, though, that hiv sexual health centres are not completely closed to somebody where to get a positive result on a test they did themselves we would definitely be able to see them straightaway and confirm that test and give them

treatment if they need it. let's just hammer home and repeat that message about the timing here. u nless message about the timing here. unless people actually use this window of opportunity, then that opportunity is lost to reduce transmissions? yes, absolutely. we wa nt transmissions? yes, absolutely. we want everybody to have a test now so everybody knows their hiv status now. if you know your status, you can access treatment if you are positive which will keep you well and give you a zero risk of transmitting the virus to others and if you know you are negative now you can access strategies to stay negative such as using condoms or... 0k, it will negative such as using condoms or... ok, it will be really interesting to see after the locked and what effect this has had. perhaps we can talk to you at a future date about that, dr michael brady, medical director from the terrence higgins trust. thank you very much. music venues across the uk have reported significant financial losses, but now the boss of the royal albert hall has told bbc breakfast he hopes they will be open for business by the autumn. more than 1000 events were hosted

at the venue last year but in the last two months there have been none, which has prompted artists to introduce drive—in gigs and virtual reality performances. coronavirus has ground the music industry to a halt with venues, festivals and musicians facing a precarious future. major events, gigs and festivals have been cancelled, forcing many artists and venues trying to adapt to survive. some are streaming concerts or offering virtual music lessons. others don't know if continuing music after covid—19 is even an option. here's our entertainment correspondent colin paterson. orchestral music plays the royal albert hall, packed on the first night of the proms 2019. # sanctus... # less than one year later, katherinejenkins would perform on the same stage for ve day, with no audience allowed. one of the world's busiest concert venues, it's desperate to reopen, having lost £8.5 million in revenue in the two months

since its coronavirus closure. but there are hopes shows could return in the autumn. and they've been looking to south korea for inspiration. the theatre in seoul which is putting on phantom of the opera at the moment. and it's a 2,000 seat theatre and it's selling to about 80% capacity. and the reason they're able to do that as people sitting pretty much in regular seats as you would normally do, you have a lot of checks and balances on the way into the theatre. so all the audience members where masks, all the stewards wear masks, there are security does, heat testing on the way in, sanitising as you come into the venue, and it's really, really scrupulous. # oh, i remember someone saying, "smile". # who would have thought we'd still be smilin' now...# country superstar keith urban has a new album, the speed of now, out in september so is determined to work out a way to going to. last week he played a drive—in gig outside nashville. # sneaking out the window, running back roads

# your hand in mine # we were going nowhere, we were so alive...# i felt like i was in that cartoon cars, you know the pixar one? playing to all the headlights and everything. thank you so much, and god bless the drive—ins! for a guy like me who is used to playing all the time, even a few months of not playing live is very strange. so when the idea of the drive—in came about, it was like, "yeah, let's do that." how practical would be to do a full drive—in tour? in theory it should be easy to do, the thing that complicates as you just can't get that many cars in there and then the idea of travelling it around is difficult because no matter how minimal your crew is, and our crew is incredibly lean, minimal crew, you still have to figure how to get everyone around. so i don't know if we are going to be able to pull that off. i would be up for doing more local ones. foo fighters headlined last year's reading and leeds festivals. both have cancelled in 2020, but the man behind them, melvin ben, is adamant that outdoor gigs will return next spring

and he's already started booking acts. in the absence of a vaccine we need to create an environment where people can still feel relatively confident that they can go into a space and feel, you know, comfortable about bumping into somebody. i think festivals will look remarkably similar. i'm definitely not planning a socially distanced reading or latitude festival, for instance. but at manchester's band in the wall, they don't see her shows can return as long as there are social distancing rules. you're talking about reducing a 340—ca pacity venue to about 60 people. if you were to keep the two—metre distance between them all — and that's probably being quite generous.

# give your all to me. # give my all to you...# that's the kind of reason why some major acts have been turning to virtual reality gigs, where fans at home wear headsets. john legend performed one in la last weekend. it's really a show—and—tell technology — once people see it then they get it. you can obviously watch it on your phone, through the app, but if you actually have a vr device then it feels like you're in the room. and injohn's case, you know, it feels like you are in the room withjohn legend who's performing to you on the piano one—on—one. and that's a really special moment. # oh, love me now... # virtual reality, indeed. the actual reality — it may be many more months before mosh pits. colin paterson, bbc news.

joining us now from belfast is charlotte dryden, ceo of the oh yeah music hub in belfast. good to have you in. i was thinking of driving performance, people honking their hongs and swishing their windshield wipers in appreciation of the music, but i wonder what your takers on the challenge this pandemic is posing to the music industry and obviously to live performances? we run a dedicated music hub in the city of belfast and be kind of have a venue contained inside that and something like small music businesses so we have seen it impact on the live site and also how the enterprises are working because a lot of them are self—employed, small music businesses, and they have all been impacted. in terms of the live, like everyone else they had to shut their doors in the middle of march and we have had to adapt how we work and come up with new ideas and innovate

ever since. nothing will ever substitute swaying to the band and tapping your feet but we have come up tapping your feet but we have come up with some interesting ways to keep engaging audiences and supporting music. tell us more about those. what have you been doing?” saw your piece they are talking about live streaming. nothing will substitute live music and i think there needs to be a way we come out of this, because when this is over the arts and music and live events will be the last back to normality, whatever normality will be, but in the meantime the oh yeah supports and nurtures new music so we bring down streaming events, getting in touch with some of the artists that have done quite well for themselves in northern ireland, so for example la st in northern ireland, so for example last night in partnership we streamed the final straw album by

snow patrol, headlined by gary lightbody, and our venue is only a 300 venue, so we could get to a wider audience. we are finding ways to pay artists to stream gigs. we partnered the local media company and we streamed across instagram. again, the artists got paid for their performances. you know, sometimes those live outfits are not brilliant quality. you're working really ha rd to brilliant quality. you're working really hard to overcome the challenges, and evatt. .. really hard to overcome the challenges, and evatt... —— the challenges, and evatt... —— the challenges, evidently. and you teach music as well. have those lessons gone online? yes, we pitch everything in terms of mentoring, face—to—face and swishing, but we have had to adapt some of working.

our outreach programme, we are now delivering event management, which sounds weird, online, putting young people through that programme, getting a qualification at the end, then they will coordinate i suppose a virtual gig, like what you're talking about earlier as well. we are trying to keep that momentum because we will come out it and we will be a lot slower than everywhere else, anyone else in any other industry, but in the meantime we are using this time to adapt and to build on our digital audiences, engage with more people. it's going to be more difficult with more disadvantaged communities, where you have problems with wi—fi, lack of technology and we are trying to find ways around that. charlotte, i am sorry to interrupt, we are out of time, but thank you so much for talking to us. keep doing what you are doing. time for the weather with matt taylor. hello there. the heat was the main weather talking point

over the last few days. the strength of the wind could be for a fair few of the wind could be for a fair few of you as you go through the next few days. unusually strong winds across the country for the stage in may. some rain in northern areas and it will bea rain in northern areas and it will be a touch cooler than it has been but still warm where the sun is out and plenty of that across england and plenty of that across england and wales this afternoon. a few showers in the north and west. more showers in the north and west. more showers across scotland and northern ireland, and they will turn into persistent rain in the highlands, the hebrides, once more. the wind will be strengthening across the country, widespread gales from north wales northwards. 50, 60 mph gusts. temperatures down in recent days, but even with that wind, 15, 17 degrees, where we should be this time of year, 23 in the south—east corner. plenty of shows coming and going in the west. rain persisting in the west of scotland. rain totals totting up and the highlands could see some minorflooding before totting up and the highlands could see some minor flooding before the weekend is out. temperatures well clear of a frost because of winds

coming from the west and the southern flank of this low pressure which is bringing the unseasonable weather which will slowly ease away through this coming weekend. but still very windy for many on saturday, 50—60 mph gusts again, persistent rain in the north of scotla nd persistent rain in the north of scotland and rain in charge for the rest of the country. some in central and eastern england should stay dry for the rest of the day that the showers could be heavy infantry and temperature of s dropping a little more than what we have seen through today. there is confirmation of another windy day, with winds may be gusting to the east of scotland, north—east england, around 60 miles an hourduring the north—east england, around 60 miles an hour during the afternoon. those winds will slowly start to ease through saturday night into sunday. still blustery on sunday and still is rain at times across scotland, northern england, northern ireland, most persistent in the western isles but even that will turn light and patchy later. further south, it stays dry, sunny spells and temperatures starting to climb. then going through sunday night into monday, high pressure starts to build back in. it will be a bank

holiday of course across the uk. some cloud, some patchy rain into the western northern isles in the west of scotland later as the breeze picks up but then lighter winds, much more sunshine around and temperatures on the rise yet again. that is how it is looking. see you again soon.

this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. new figures show the dramatic effect on the economy of the coronavirus crisis uk government borrowing in april was more than £62 billion — the largest monthly amount on record. and it's terrible news for the high street, as retail sales show their biggest ever monthly fall quarantine plans for entering the uk will be announced later with possible fines if people fail to self—isolate for 1h days. pro—democracy supporters take to the streets of hong kong — they say a new chinese security law could mean the end of

the region's autonomy. president trump is seen without a facemask in a michigan factory, though he claims he did wear one,