tonight at 10, the scientific advice behind the government's controversial plan to begin reopening primary schools in england is released. it says the balance of evidence suggests children are less vulnerable to coronavirus infection, and less likely to spread it than adults. some parents remain unconvinced. it's safer for my own child and other children if i keep him off. i think they should concentrate on the older children, maybe, who can social distance. we'll look at the scientific advice, and the debate over the risk to children, teachers and the wider community. also tonight.... new quarantine rules for travellers to the uk. visitors face fines, for not self—isolating. the economic cost of coronavirus, government borrowing

was £62 billion in april — the highest monthly figure, on record. miracle in pakistan — survivors pulled from the wreckage of a plane crash. 76 are confirmed dead. and back in training — the head of the premier league tells the bbc he's hopeful the season can resume, despite the coronavirus. and coming up on bbc news: feeling the aches and pains — england all—rounder chris woa kes tells us about returning to training after lockdown. good evening. the government's scientific advisers have released their advice which underpins controversial plans for primary schools in england to re—open for some pupils on june the 1st.

it suggests, on the balance of evidence, that children are less vulnerable to infection. the group also said that teachers don't appear to be at a greater risk than other professions, and an effective track and trace system needs to be in place before schools in england can fully reopen. the advice comes as the number of deaths reported in the last 2a hours has gone up by 351. that takes the overall total in the uk, to 36,393. our education editor branwenjeffreys has the latest on the government's plans for some schools, to reopen. helping families on this estate in leeds — food, not lessons needed now. for parents like daniel, with three kids to feed. there you go, enjoy. thank you. he won't send his six—year—old back in june. i understand where they're coming from but i can't take that risk. i don't want it spreading further than it has to be spread. so it's safer for my own child and other children if i keep him off. as families loaded up,

some with older children worried about lessons missed. year tens, i think, need to go back, but primary school, i think they're too young to be able to not get them to interact. if parents here were looking for greater certainty, today's inconclusive advice won't provide it. evidence weakest on how much children pass the virus on. we're looking at the other areas where the r rate is still rising. at this primary school, few parents feel confident to return. in year six, we had nine out of 46 parents willing to send their children back to school. in year one, we had one out of 60. in reception, we had nobody. and teachers unions said tonight there's still too much doubt. nobody wants to get back to school more than i and thousands of other headteachers do, but we've got to make sure it's safe for the staff and the children before we do so.

the science around this new virus is still emerging, and teachers and parents know that. while in england children are due to start coming back injune, scotland and northern ireland, based on the same science, have said they'll be waiting until august. i miss being in the classroom with the children. this reception class would be stripped back before any return. the scientific models rely on good hygiene. i think it's good they are looking into the science but i think that only goes so far. it's still quite a new virus, and really how much do we really know about it? i don't think there's been a long enough time period and i think speaking to teachers and people who work in schools is probably equally important. with all of these questions, it's clear decisions will end up being local. ultimately it will be for the schools to decide

whether they're ready for this and whether parents have confidence that they will send the children back. for every child in class now, millions more missing out on learning, on the safety of school — another risk to be weighed before any return. branwenjeffreys, bbc news, leeds. so, if and when schools do reopen, what are the risks to children, teachers, families and the wider community? our science editor david shukman has this analysis. the vast majority of children generally don't suffer from the virus, that's the good news, but their role in spreading it is one of the most difficult issues to understand. first, what's the risk to children themselves of becoming infected? well, it's not totally clear and that's highlighted in the latest document from the scientists advising the government. some research says children get the virus as easily as adults.

other studies say that's less likely, and that's the conclusion of a major analysis just published. we found that children and young people were around half as likely as adults to catch this virus from somebody infective. that's very important because you can't pass it on if you don't catch it. this tells us that, overall, as a group, children play a lesser role in transmission. so what's the risk to staff at schools of being infected by children? the latest records for teaching staff dying of the virus in england and wales show that, for every 100,000 people, 6.7 male teaching staff lost their lives and 3.3 female. both figures are lower than the average. for everyone of working age, it was 9.9 males dying and 5.2 females. but it's one thing to have official figures and quite another to deal with the reality of school life when the gates eventually reopen. the government's scientific advisers

say the dangers to staff should be no greater than for anybody else providing there's social distancing and good hand hygiene, but they admit the evidence is inconclusive about how much children can pass the virus on. so what's the risk to families and the community from spreading the virus? if they return to their classrooms and get infected, they could pass it back home to elderly or vulnerable people. the advisory panel warns of consequences beyond the school gates. at today's government briefing, the chief scientific adviser said the concern was raising the infection rate — what's called the r number. the broader risk in terms of opening schools is that, as soon as you start to reintroduce any contact, you put pressure on the r and numbers, and that's true for anything we are going to do in terms of changes to contact. some primary schools have got

going again in france. temperatures are checked and children kept apart. these are very cautious moves because, as the uk's advisers are saying, everyone needs to be convinced this is safe. david shukman, bbc news. 0ur health editor, hugh pym, is here. we hugh pym, is here. are told schools, in order to gs back, we are told schools, in order to get back, they need a good track and trace back, they need a good track and tra ce syste m back, they need a good track and trace system in place. and we've been getting more details on that? yes, clive, the government said in england the new testing, tracing and tracking system will be up and running in earlyjune. a bit of it has become clear today. if somebody test positive, officials will get in touch with their recent contact by phone, and, depending on the risks involved, we'll tell them they have to self—isolate for 1h days. people may feel that is firmer guidance than before. a matt hancock, the health secretary, writing in the evening standard, said everyone has a part to play on this if lockdown restrictions are to be further

eased, people have to go along with this self isolation if they are told to by officials. all this, on a day when there was further discussion about the controversial decision to suspend testing and tracing back in march. 0fficials suspend testing and tracing back in march. officials had been criticised for that happening. today, two leading figures at public health england were giving evidence to a commons select committee, and they said it had become impossible to carry on with contact tracing at the time because there were so many cases, they were expecting 1 million cases. they fed their advice into the sage advisory committee, which came up with the recommendation to stop testing and tracing, focus more on testing in hospitals. but, ultimately, it was the government that made the final decision. sure. many thanks. hugh pym. it's emerged this evening that the prime minister's chief adviser, dominic cummings, travelled out of london during the lockdown whilst ill with coronavirus symptoms. 0ur political correspondent, leila nathoo, is in westminster. so did he break the lockdown?

well, it was back on the 30th of march that we found out that dominic cummings had come down with coronavirus symptoms. downing street said at the time that he was self isolating at home. tonight, the guardian and the mirror newspapers are reporting that subsequently he travelled to his parents home in durham, and that police made contact with the family to remind them of the rules around a central trouble. the guidance at the time, that was made lawjust a few days before, said there were only a limited numbers of reasons why people should be leaving their homes. and if you have coronavirus symptoms yourself, the guidance was, and is, that you should not be leaving your home at all for at least seven days. now, a source close to dominic cummings has confirmed he did travel from london to durham when he had coronavirus. it says he was not spoken to by police. the source says he and his wife stayed in a separate building, and the reason they travelled there was because they were both ill and needed help with childcare. remember, there have been other seniorfigures who have been

remember, there have been other senior figures who have been accused of breaking lockdown rules. scotland's former chief medical 0fficer, catherine calderwood, who had to resign, professor niall ferguson, a leading scientist advising the government also had to step down from his role. 0pposition parties are tonight questioning dominic cummings‘s position. it is certainly very awkward for number 10, who say they aren't going to comment. thank you. anyone arriving in the uk from abroad could face a £1,000 fine if they fail to self—isolate for 1h days. the government will introduce the proposal from the 8th ofjune, to help prevent a second wave of coronavirus infections. with more, here's our transport correspondent, tom burridge. soon, almost anyone arriving into the uk will have to self—isolate for two weeks. most people on this flight from amsterdam into manchester thought it was a good idea. we've just come off a klm flight. it was absolutely jam—packed full of people. and, erm, who knows

who's got coronavirus? after some confusion, the government now says only people arriving from the republic of ireland will be exempt. medical workers will too, and people like lorry drivers who transport goods. fruit pickers will not be able to travel away from the place they work. anyone who flouts the new rules could face a £1,000 fine. the home secretary said it was the right time for this measure. as the transmission rate across the uk falls and the number of travellers arriving in the uk begins to increase, imported cases could begin to pose a larger and increased threat. is it fair to assume now that most summer holidays abroad will not happen this year? this is absolutely not about booking holidays. we have to be clear that we want to avoid a second wave, and that is vital. but the travel sector, already battered in the pandemic, will be hit even harder.

airlines believe mandatory masks, gloves and temperature checks will be enough to get more flights moving safely again. it's like a lot of boris johnson's strategies — it's make it up as you go along... the boss of ryanair says the quarantine is... bonkers, and unimplementable. the real issue here is the people arriving into the uk, for example, heathrow and gatwick, then get on the london underground or gatwick express to get into london to wherever they're supposed to isolate, so the whole purpose of isolation is defeated. and this travel agent in surrey currently has no summer bookings. i think it will be a final nail in the coffin for my and many other businesses, if this continues. i can't realistically see customers necessarily wanting to self—isolate for two weeks after they come back. bilateral deals with countries

with low infection rates, known as air bridges, are possible in the future but, when it takes effect onjune the 8th, the quarantine will be a blanket measure. it will be reviewed every three weeks. tom burridge, bbc news. government borrowing has surged to its highest level on record, underlining the scale of the economic damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic. the deficit — the difference between government spending and tax receipts — soared to more than £62 billion in april, underscoring the level of financial support offered by the treasury to help businesses and employees through the crisis. 0ur economics editor, faisal islam, has more. in normal times, businesses such as fitzbakes in northamptonshire make sales to big sandwich stores and cafes, generating vat. they pay corporation tax, business rates, and wages to staff mean income tax and national insurance. now far less of that is happening

in the pandemic, just online orders. instead of adding to the treasury coffers, many staff wages have been paid by the taxpayer. times this by a few million and you get massive and historic levels of public borrowing. here at the treasury, the money coming in is slumping, the spending going out is surging. it always happens during a recession but never quite like this. last month, the difference between the two, borrowing or the deficit, was at £62 billion for april, a record — and more in one month than had been planned at the budget for the entire year. but that doesn't include everything. the entire cash requirement of government was £88 billion in april — again, a record. and you can see why by looking at how taxes coming in have fallen off a cliff. vat receipts were down on last april, partly due to a policy of delaying payments.

income tax and national insurance was down, corporation tax revenues and stamp duty also down billions. in the same month, huge rises in spending — £14 billion spent paying the wages of millions of workers under the jobs retention scheme. £7 billion extra in public spending, mainly health, things like buying protective equipment. £1 billion extra on benefits and universal credit. add all of that together, and annual public borrowing is heading above £300 billion. that's15% of the value of the entire economy, not seen in peacetime since the end of the second world war. so debts are mounting like never before but the cost of funding them pre—2010 we had debt levels of around 40% of gdp, and it will be around 40% of gdp, and it will be around 100% by the time this crisis

is done, but it's notjust the level of the debt that matters, it's what it costs us. so debts are mounting like never before but the cost of funding them also tumbling like never before. at one point this week, the debt management office, which borrows these record amounts, borrowing billions at negative rates, being paid to borrow rather than paying to borrow. it will not last forever but for now the government has space to delay taking the toughest tax and spend decisions. faisal islam, bbc news. the hole in the government finances wasn't helped by a big drop in retail sales. they plummeted by a record amount in april, as many high street stores closed because of the coronavirus. the office for national statistics says the amount of goods sold fell by 18%. clothing sales were the biggest hit, down more than 50%. but, with most shops shut, there's been a boost in online spending, which rose nearly 31% compared with march. here's emma simpson. the shoppers vanished and so did the sales. today's figures reveal the scale of the damage,

touching every high street and all the businesses in them. the owner of this chain says our shopping habits have now changed. retail will never, ever be the same again. every year, we've seen a higher uptake in online sales in comparison to retail sales. what this lockdown has done, it has probably accelerated, in my personal view, the whole transition by at least five years. there will be less footfall on the high street, which will mean we will have to decrease our fixed costs. if they don't change, what will you see is empty stores. it is very simple. if your costs are more than the money you're bringing in, you can't survive. there is already a battle for survival. this debenhams store in swindon will not be reopening, along with many others. laura ashley is also in administration. warehouse, oasis and cath kidston stores are disappearing altogether.

coronavirus has been the final straw for weaker retailers already struggling with our changing shopping habits. the pandemic is turbo—charging this trend and, as shops begin to reopen, businesses will have to adapt. lee is doing that with his gift shop, boosting online deliveries. from the age of eight, he wanted to run a shop, but he knows he might have to go online—only if he can't make the sums add up. if you can't beat them, join them. we don't want to go solely online. this is why we will exhaust every single avenue to get out to our customers and see how they want it to be, how do they want their something different to provide for them? customers are still shopping. down the road, this bike shop has never been busier. it's not all gloom, but this crisis will have an impact on retail long beyond the easing of the lockdown. emma simpson, bbc news, swindon.

the company which owns the coach firm shearings has gone into administration. the specialist leisure group, which is based in wigan and employs more than 2,500, also runs the brands uk brea kaways, caledonian travel and country living hotels. 0ur north of england correspondent, judith moritz, is outside their headquarters. judith, had this been on the cards? it had, and you may not have heard of the specialist leisure group, but chances are you do know it's friends, from national holidays to wallace arnold, and shearings, europe's largest coach tour operator, a company whose roots go back to 1903, a company which is loved predominantly by older customers who prepared to travel off—peak to fill hotel beds at that time of year, so it's a blow to the travel industry. 64,000 bookings now

to be cancelled, the majority of them packing holidays for which customers will have financial protection and be eligible for refunds, but a blow across the industry for the employees, 2500 people in wigan, the majority furloughed by the government during the epidemic, and that means they will be made redundant, other than a small number being kept on to wrap up small number being kept on to wrap up the business, and the travel trade organisation apta has said it isa trade organisation apta has said it is a stark illustration of how tough things are for the holiday industry at this time. thank you, judith. 76 people have been confirmed dead, after a plane crashed into a residential area in the pakistani city of karachi, minutes before it was due to land. the airbus a320 was en route from lahore, in the north of the country, when it came down in sight of the runway. at least two passengers survived. 0ur pakistan correspondent, secunder kermani, has the latest. these are the moments just before the plane crashed to the ground.

at the site, panic and chaos. this residential area is just a short distance away from the airport. rescue workers combed through the debris, looking for surviving passengers and injured locals. this man, head of a major bank, was pulled out from the wreckage alive, but otherfamilies have been left distraught. translation: we pulled out a small child and his mother. they are both alive. then we found two dead bodies on top of the building. there might be a few more bodies up there, with the rest under the plane, but we just don't know yet. the muslim festival of eid is this weekend, and many of those travelling would have been hoping to celebrate with loved ones. karachi's health workers were already stretched, dealing with coronavirus. the city has been the epicentre of the country's outbreak. now a state of emergency has been

declared in all major hospitals. an investigation into the crash is under way. a recording points to technical problems. mayday, mayday! there will be questions for airline authorities. there have been other crashes in the past, too. but first, for dozens of families, instead of eid festivities there will be funerals. secunder kermani, bbc news. there's been widespread international criticism of the chinese government's plans to introduce tough new national security legislation for hong kong. the us secretary of state, mike pompeo, called the proposals a "death knell" for the city's freedoms and other critics say beijing would have unlimited scope for arrests and detentions, under laws designed to ban "treason, secession, sedition and subversion." robin brant reports.

hong kong has seen a lot of protest in the last year. today, more. this time it was some of the city's lawmakers. they fear that wide—ranging new security laws, imposed by their ultimate rulers in beijing, will be fatal to their freedoms. those rulers — led by this man, president xijinping — watched as millions in hong kong rebelled last year. now, months later, despite another disaster on their hands, they've moved decisively. translation: we will fully and faithfully implement the policy of one country and two systems, in which the people of hong kong, govern hong kong with a a high degree of autonomy. we will establish sound legal systems and enforcement mechanisms for safeguarding national security. protesters in the future could face charges of subversion, sedition, terrorism, even aiding foreign interference. and hong kong's elected lawmakers

will be bypassed if, as expected, this is simply imposed. china has no shortage of great cities. but what sets hong kong apart from the rest isn't just its different money, its different police and its different court system, it's the autonomy it has, the right to pretty much rule itself, day to day. some people in hong kong say if you lose that, they will lose their hong kong. bejing, though, sees a different sort of ending. china's leaders think hong kong's autonomy caused this. thousands were arrested last year, during months of demonstrations. protesters paralysed parts of the city. they believe their special status is being eroded by an authoritarian regime. hong kong is calmer now. but further protests are very likely. protests that beijing openly regards as a threat to china's integrity. robin brant, bbc news, shanghai.

brazil has become the sixth country in the world to report more than 20,000 deaths from the coronavirus, amid warnings the outbreak hasn't reached its peak. in the worst—hit state, sao paulo, which has suffered more than 5,000 deaths, one cemetery is holding 60 burials a day. president jair bolsonaro has repeatedly dismissed the risk of the virus. the boss of the premier league, richard masters, says it's done everything possible to persuade players it's safe to resume training, but ultimately it's their prerogative if they don't wish to do so. he also told the bbc, in his first interview since the season was interrupted, that full curtailment meaning no relegation or promotion, was still a possibility. the resumption of germany's bundesliga did however give him hope the premier league could resume. he's been speaking to our sports editor, dan roan. it may be hard to believe, but this was the last time the premier league was in action. two and a half months after leicester city's

win over aston villa, players have had to wait until this week to start an initial phase of non—contact training, and today, in his first interview since the start of this crisis, the man in charge told me about his hopes for a resumption of the season next month. i sense there is some momentum and positivity behind it. we've gone back to training but it's only a first step. it's step by step. all of the clubs' work in the communities, the 100,000 jobs the premier league supports, all of those are potentially at risk, as with other industry sectors, and i believe ultimately we have a responsibility to try to get back to business to protectjobs and to move forward. but, with unresolved rows among clubs over the safety of players, the use of neutral stadia and whether relegation should be scrapped, plenty of hurdles remain. you have to have contingency plans. curtailment is still a possibility, so what would happen in that environment is something we are yet to discuss with our clubs. contact training could start next week but, with six cases of the virus among premier league clubs revealed, some players have refused to train

over their concerns. today the premier league held a meeting with the footballers union to discuss the increased risk to black, asian and minority ethnic players. the league has been accused by some of putting wealth above the health of players and their families. is that fair? no, it's not. we wouldn't have taken the first step to go back to training if we weren't convinced that we'd created a very safe environment for our players to go back to, and each of our clubs voted unanimously for it last week. if you were a footballer, would you play? i think i would. i've listened to the arguments. i've been in the meetings, talked to the medical advisers and i would be comfortable to do so. last weekend, the bundesliga became the world's first major league to resume. as in germany, football here will have to get used to playing without fans, but for how long? nobody knows the answer to that. i just think we have to plan accordingly. we have to take it step by step. at the moment, there is still optimism we will see fans back in grounds next season.

the premier league will not be back to being itself, at its best, until we get fans back through the turnstiles. with an unprecedented financial crisis facing cash—strapped clubs in the football league, could the top flight do more to bail out the rest of the football family? our clubs are suffering significant financial losses. our support for the rest of the game is unprecedented across european football, and we are very committed to that. like all sporting competitions, the premier league is waiting to re—emerge from its enforced shutdown. when and whether the action will resume remains unclear. dan roan, bbc news. as we approach the long bank holiday weekend, many are wondering what they're allowed to do in the various lockdowns. in scotland, the restrictions continue until next thursday. in wales, garden centres have reopened, while in northern ireland groups of up to six people who don't share a household are allowed to meet outdoors. in england, there remains concern that the recent easing of restrictions could see a big influx of visitors to tourist destinations,

as danny savage reports. for many parts of the uk, it's still essential travel only. but in england, you can drive as far as you want for some exercise. however, the message from lots of seaside resorts, including the authorities here in scarborough, is not to. if you don't have to come to the coast this weekend, exercise locally, stay home and save your visit for when we're at our best and we can welcome you properly. special measures are also being taken here this weekend to help with social distancing. this main road along the seafront in scarborough will be completely closed to all traffic, to give people a chance of keeping two metres apart. 41% of adults say they currently feel unsafe leaving home because of coronavirus. we can't social distance at all, because the visitors arejust coming in droves. ruth lets out a holiday home in this north yorkshire resort and is losing money, but she feels strongly that the policy in england is wrong. we're quite naturally isolated in scarborough