this is bbc news with the latest headlines. almost two million people in the north—east of england face new local lockdown restrictions from midnight tonight in a bid to halt a rise in coronavirus cases. measures are likely to include tougher limits on households mixing and earlier closing times for pubs and restaurants. a local lockdown across the welsh county of rhondda cynon taf comes into effect this evening after a spike in coronavirus cases there.

as demand for tests continues to surge, the government promise to set out which groups will be given priority over testing. and if you've got any questions about testing or lockdowns, we'll be speaking to two experts in half an hour's time. you can use the hashtag #bbcyourquestions or email yourquestions@bbc.co.uk and you can get in touch with me on twitter at annita—mcveigh. the other headlines. a sharp rise in sales at the co—op, as shoppers choose to stay closer to home. and a state of emergency has been declared in the states of florida, alabama and mississippi, after tropical storm sally causes devastating floods.

nearly two million people in the north—east of england are facing new local lockdown restrictions from midnight tonight, to try to halt a rise in coronavirus cases. full details of the measures are still to be announced. they are likely to include earlier closing times for pubs, there may be tougher limits on households mixing, and this is expected to include sunderland, county durham, newcastle, northumberland, north and south tyneside, and gateshead. similar restrictions are already in force in parts of the north—west, including bolton — which has the highest rate of covid—19 infections in england. from 6pm this evening, a local lockdown will come into force across the welsh county of rhondda cynon taf meaning residents won't be allowed to leave the area without good reason for at least a fortnight. the health secretary, matt hancock, is expected to make a statement in the house of commons later this monring. greg mckenzie

reports. the north—east is set to become the latest area in england to come under local restrictions as coronavirus cases rise. the announcement is expected to come from the health secretary, matt hancock, later this morning. areas including newcastle, south tyneside, sunderland, northumberland and county durham have all seen a rise in new cases. meanwhile, in the county of rhondda cynon taf in wales, further restrictions will be put in place this evening, affecting around 240,000 people. residents there won't be able to leave the county without a reasonable excuse, such as travel for work or school. earlier this week, newcastle's city council leader wrote to the government, asking permission to impose new restrictions across the north—east region to prevent a full

lockdown. we're extremely concerned about the rise in covid cases in the last week, and even over the weekend, they are going up exponentially. we've got to get on top of this now in our region. because if we don't stop it spreading even further and more quickly, we'll end up in a catastrophic full lockdown. the new measures are expected to include restrictions on households mixing and pubs being ordered to close earlier, in addition to public transport being reserved for essential travel only. both areas willjoin a long list of places currently under tighter measures, and the government says it's constantly assessing infection rates across the country and will take measures if necessary. greg mckenzie, bbc news. 0ur political correspondent jonathan blake is

at westminster. no official announcement yet on these additional local lock downs, but what are you hearing about the detail. we expect an announcement from the health secretary, matt hancock, in the coming hours so all will become clear but i think it is very apparent that big parts of north—east england will be facing much tougher restrictions on social interaction than they are at the moment and that is because simply the rise in the number of cases there and the number of positive tests for coronavirus per 100,000 of population, which is the key factor that the government considers when imposing restrictions at a local level is rising unacceptably high, so level is rising unacceptably high, so the sorts of things we might see coming into force will be further restrictions on socialising beyond the rule of six, which of course is in place across england as a whole at the moment,

possibly even pubs and other businesses, restaurants, ta keaways and other businesses, restaurants, takeaways closing early than usual to limit the number of people going out and about in the evening, and possibly even restrictions on people travelling and mixing outside as well. but the detail will become clear in the coming hours, and that is really a reflection of the concern that the government has at a national level about the number of coronavirus cases that there are in the direction in which the graph, if you like, is travelling and that is why we have heard the prime minister talking about the need to take action there. on testing, which is of course the biggest challenge that the government is facing at the moment, we are also going to hear very soon about the order of priority that people will be able to get a coronavirus test because the prime minister has admitted the system is under huge strain and lots of people are travelling huge

distances to get a test if indeed they can get one in the first place and there is a backlog and bottleneck at testing labs which are dealing with an increase in demand. and this morning the health minister, edward argar, admitted some people with coronavirus symptoms will have to wait to get a test while those in front of them in the queue, if you like, health workers, those working in the nhs and care homes and teachers, are prioritised as part of a system to make sure that those who most need a test ca n make sure that those who most need a test can get them quickly. demand is very high. it continues to surge, as the prime minister said. we are confident we will continue to expand notjust the number of tests and capacity available, but lab capacity, going to your original point, in the weeks and months ahead to meet that demand, from both those that are prioritised and also members of the public, mr and mrs smith, who may develop symptoms, and want to get tested because they need to get back to work or get back or to normal life. the prime minister

has been interviewed for today's sun newspaper in which he talks about his plan to save christmas, which includes people obeying the rule of six which is in place in england but also says in the interview he has never been in favour of what he calls a sneak culture when it comes to reporting people breaking the rules. is this a mixed and confusing message? i think what the prime minister is trying to do is send what he hopes is a clear message at least, that people need to follow the rules in place now to avoid stricter restrictions coming into place in the nearfuture, and he's looking ahead to christmas when families will want to gather in larger numbers than usual, saying the only way to make sure the country can enjoy christmas is to be tough now, so if we can grip it and stop the search and arrest the spike and stop the second hunt —— comp of the dromedary, as he puts it, that is what we need to do, and ask if he was considering cu rfews is what we need to do, and ask if he was considering curfews and earlier

closing for pubs and restaurants, he said that sort of thing we will be looking at. so he might be miss king —— mixing his metaphor slightly, but the prime minister is trying to get across the fact that there is concern about the rising number of cases and people need to follow the rules to prevent stricter restrictions coming in the future, albeit he said, a national lockdown would be nothing short of disastrous for the economy on the government is doing everything possible in its power to avoid that. jonathan, thank you very much. 0ur reporter alison freeman's in gateshead. it's one of the areas where we anticipate an official announcement on further local restrictions, and people there think that these restrictions are needed? do they accept that? there is a real variety of landscapes, if you like, from the very rural to the heavily populated

in this large area that comes underneath this and certain people are wondering why they are going to be part of it, but it all comes against a backdrop of a sharp rise in cases in the number of places, such as sunderland and south tyneside which, along with newcastle and gateshead, have actually been on the government watch list this past couple of weeks because of that sharp rise in cases, and they have been working alongside three other councils, northumberland, county durham and north tyneside to lobby the government to ask for greater powers to bring in these extra restrictions. it's still not entirely clear what these restrictions are going to be. it's likely that it's going to focus on the hospitality trade, so they are going to probably tell pubs, bars and going to probably tell pubs, bars a nd restau ra nts going to probably tell pubs, bars and restaurants that they need to close at 10pm in the evening and that's because of the cases that have been linked to the hospitality trade, and it is also expected again that people will be told not to

socialise with people outside of their household or outside of their social bubble. these restrictions are expected to be announced probably around lunchtime today and will be brought in at around midnight tonight, so they are acting quite quickly here, and that is because council leaders are saying that this isn't a full lockdown at the moment and they want people to listen and adhere to the new rules because it is a last—ditch attempt to prevent a much further restriction coming in later. alison, thank you. as we've heard, new restrictions will be in place from six o'clock this evening in the county of rhondda cynon taf. 0ur wales correspondent tomos morgan is there, in pontypridd. hello to you as well. the official announcement is already made on this, yesterday, but what restrictions are people expected to obey from

6pm this evening? what it means is that people can only be indoors with people that they live with. they cannot be meeting up with people that are in their extended bubble or households in wales indoors as you can only go to the pub or restaurant with people you live with and you can't meet up with anyone else indoors or outdoors. the extra edition that has been put into the local authority lockdown here is that pubs and restau ra nts lockdown here is that pubs and restaurants will have to close at 11pm and that is because the health minister has said the number of cases here have been linked to pubs and cases here have been linked to pubs a nd restau ra nts cases here have been linked to pubs and restaurants in pontypridd, so they are trying to limit that with a cu rfew they are trying to limit that with a curfew on the time they have to close. the other two reasons for the rise in cases in this area was down toa number of

rise in cases in this area was down to a number of cases being attributed to a local rugby club in the south of the local authority and also to a group of people who actually went on a bus trip to doncaster races last week. they didn't actually go into the races but they did stop in a number of pubs in the area and on the way and it is thought they might have picked up it is thought they might have picked up the virus there and brought it back with them. unlike neighbouring caerphilly, where young people are tending to spread the virus there, it seems as though it is people in their 40s and 50s that the health minister is suggesting that the virus has been spreading through here as well. people will not be able to leave the local authority for the local lockdown unless they are essential workers or work in education or have an exceptional reason to do so. and they will be in force for at least another two weeks until the welsh government make another review of the lockdown measures here, and of course, until the rate of infection decreases. thank you very

much. sorry about some of the issues with the sound andi some of the issues with the sound and i hope you are able to hear everything. joining me now to talk about the possibility of a lockdown in the northeast of england is eugene milne, the newcastle director of public health(0s) thank you very much forjoining us on bbc news at this busy time. tell us on bbc news at this busy time. tell us about the circumstances which have led to we believe this official announcement coming from the government in the next couple of hours about further restrictions in the north—east. do you think those restrictions which we anticipate are needed? i think they are needed. what we've seen over the last week 01’ what we've seen over the last week or two weeks is a sharp rise in cases, initially in only one or two districts but really spreading across our bit of the region around tyneside, wearside and county durham and northumberland and what we want to do is act collectively to try and address that now, because

i feel that they feel collectively that if we try to stop this at this stage, we try to stop this at this stage, we have the opportunity to try and limit how high it rises and also limit how high it rises and also limit the period during which we would have to have those measures in place. i note as well in the area where there had been a fall in the age of people being diagnosed that you are now seeing more cases where older people are being diagnosed, and that must be a concern. it is a worry and we've certainly seen that in newcastle in the last week or two. what happened after lockdown was initially lifted as we began to see a fall in the average age of diagnosis. part of that is because if you think about the early part of the pandemic, the people being tested tended to be people who were sick and going into hospital and we re sick and going into hospital and were tested in hospital labs. subsequently we have seen test coming through which are testing people in the community who have a less severe disease and you would expect some of that to happen but

what we have done in the interim is we have the protection in place around people in care homes and those who are more vulnerable to the disease, and as we see that change in the age, it spreads and younger people and then moves again into older people. the fear is that we get back towards the risk to the really vulnerable individuals in our society who are the ones who will then become really sick and may die of the disease. so last week we had taken the decision collectively to limit visits to care homes on a temporary basis because we are trying to put that protective barrier around care homes. we have the opportunity at this stage to act ina way the opportunity at this stage to act in a way that we didn't have in the early pa rt in a way that we didn't have in the early part of the first wave of the pandemic, to act quickly and try to stop the spread of the virus before we get to that stage, which is why we get to that stage, which is why we wa nt we get to that stage, which is why we want to move now and we want to move collectively to make that work properly for the whole area. let's talk about it working properly. we are hearing reports there would be a

lockdown on pubs and restaurants at 10pm, but doesn't thatjust become the new 11, and why not a blanket lockdown for this initial period? you say there is an opportunity to stop this getting further out of hand, so why not a blanket lockdown for that sector? first of all, calling it a lockdown overstates what we're trying to do. what we're trying to do is recognise that there area trying to do is recognise that there are a lot of businesses, including businesses in the hospitality sector who worked really hard to implement the guidance and make sure that social distancing and appropriate behaviours were observed in their premises while they are operating. but what we have also seen is that when people are coming out of those places and they have had a few drinks and are in public places, when they are queueing for takeaway is late in the evening, that all of the rules go out the window. what we are trying to do is establish a compromise where we have the opportunity to try and keep

well behaving businesses open and recognise the fact that we need to keep the economy going, but at the same time put in measures that will protect the public. that is why we have asked for measures that don't com pletely have asked for measures that don't completely lockdown those sectors but give us additional powers to try and deal with the mixing which is causing the spread of the virus and also recognises that a significant pa rt also recognises that a significant part of the spread of the virus is happening in households and between people mixing away from those venues, people mixing away from those venues, so people mixing away from those venues, so the package we have asked for the secretary of state to look at and we will hear the details later from at and we will hear the details laterfrom him, is one which at and we will hear the details later from him, is one which tries to strike that balance so we can walk the line between keeping the virus under control but at the same time keeping people's freedoms and the ability of our society to operate properly at the best possible level. very briefly, if you would, you say you have asked the secretary of state for a package of measures and you talk about well—behaved businesses, so where does the rising cases come from? if

everybody had followed the rules to the absolute letter, would we still be seeing this rise? is it down to people's behaviour, confusing messaging or issues with testing? there is no one thing. we began see the rise and we saw specific outbreaks happening in specific areas and some of them you will have heard about but we also have begun to see a rising tide of cases which shows a degree of spread of the virus in the community, and bear in mind that even with the levels before there were constraints on the levels of testing available, we were still only seeing part of the overall picture. there are still people out there who have the virus and don't know it, people who have symptoms who don't get tested, so we are symptoms who don't get tested, so we a re really symptoms who don't get tested, so we are really trying to track that with only a partial view of what is going on, so some of the time we can see where the spread is happening and at other times we know it is happening through broader mixing and we are trying to get the message over to

the public that the basic measures we have been asking them to follow throughout, the measures of hygiene, distancing and face coverings are still the things that will protect us. eugene, we must leave it there but thank you for your time. the prime minister has blamed a ‘colossal spike' in demand for the ongoing problems with coronavirus tests. long queues were reported at testing centres yesterday and slots remained unavailable in many of england's covid—19 hotspots. 0ur correspondentjohn maguire is in sandwell in the west midlands, where restrictions are in place. what is the situation like there today, john? what is the situation like there today, john? restrictions here have beenin today, john? restrictions here have been in place in birmingham, solihull and sandwell since monday, basically that two households could not mix and two bubbles could not mix either inside or outside. the test centres, there is one just behind me in smethwick, it's been

open since around eight o'clock and signs outside saying that it is not a walk in centre and people must make appointments either by phone or on the internet and that has been one of the big issues over the last couple of days with people struggling to manage to secure an appointment. when they do, by all accou nts appointment. when they do, by all accounts the process is straightforward and people are then told that they will get their results in around a day or so, but there have been queues of —— at many of these test centres and there are 389 across the uk and the government says they want to take up to 500, but there have been issues in recent days with people really, really struggling and really anxious to try and secure their appointments. 2020 has been the year of the queue, first for toilet rolls, then for pubs, now tests. this was southend—on—sea yesterday. birmingham had seen long lines on tuesday, but by yesterday the system seemed to be working, albeit after a frustrating wait to secure appointments.

i've been trying to get one since monday night, trying to get a test booked. i was on the system every day and it kept on coming up, no sites available. booking was quite difficult, it was quite frustrating yesterday. you get so far and suddenly at the very end you're told you haven't got a place, there's no appointments available. but today, 10:45, bang on. it was very difficult on the...computer. it was very good when i come. very helpful. the issues are widespread. in norwich, steph drove for over two hours to find a test. i am in a position, i do drive, but what is happening to all these people that don't drive? that, you know, when you are being told you have covid symptoms, you can't use public transport, you can't use a taxi, you know? and there is more people that don't drive than do drive, so i think it's pretty unfair, to be fair. madiha from dewsbury couldn't book online and turned up at her local centre early in the

morning. i have just arrived at the test centre just behind me. and it is 7:25 in the morning. and there is already a queue. i have been given one of these registration cards, so i am gonna obviously go home and register my test. and i know for sure that there are people who stood in the same queue as me that will not get a test done today. you know, i definitely was not the most vulnerable person in that queue. and in chelmsford, lynn claimed her daughter had symptoms, so that she could be tested and allowed back to school. there's people who really need them, and i felt awful because i know that she's got no symptoms of covid, and i have taken the test, which could be used for a key worker. and i'm putting more strain on the nhs. as the system has failed

to keep up with demand, the public messaging has changed. from, get tested if you can, to now, if you must. doctor tony cooke is from one of the companies processing the samples. the demand is what is actually causing the problem, because demand is completely outstripping capacity. this has been building up a little bit over the past few weeks. but it is an unprecedented demand. i mean, we're seeing sort of five, ten times the amount that we had just two weeks ago. that means a system in constant change and one struggling to cope with notjust the virus, but how we learn to live with it. john maguire, bbc news, sandwell. worth mentioning that there are home tests as well. capacity at the moment is around 240,000 per day for the individual test we are talking

about and that the latest daily tally we have is around 220,000 tests being processed, so you can see there is quite a gap. a spike in demand, as we have heard, and also a logjam within the testing labs and just not enough staff. many academics, or students, they will be going back to college, so the type of people that were doing the work in the labs may not be available any longer despite the fact the government says it wants to expand that aspect. of course, testing is so important because it is some sense of a return to normality. until a vaccine comes along, one thatis until a vaccine comes along, one that is effective and can be spread across a wide range of the population and works on all sorts of different types of people and different types of people and different ages, it really is the only way to get people back to school, to get people back to jobs, to try to take some steps back to some sense of normality and get things back on track. john, thank you very much.

people from up and down the country have been getting in touch with the bbc about the issues caused by an inability to quickly get a coronavirus test, and the impact it's having at home and work. laura gapski runs the bright sparks nursery in mansfield. laura, thanks forjoining us and tell us about the impact that the problems with testing are having on your nursery? good morning. thanks for chatting to me today. i think it's really important that we raise awareness of the issues that the sector are facing, especially ahead of the government's decision to prioritise testing. so, my experience is that i have had two members of staff tried to obtain a covid—19 test, both of which have been particularly problematic, so we haven't had the same experience of

those in solly hole and indeed we have had problems accessing testing —— solihull. the process has been lengthy to obtain test results and test results have been inconclusive, so staff members have had to be absent from work for periods of up to ten days. what is the knock on effect for your staff at work and of course for the children? well, my staff and my setting has remained open through lockdown and, are you still there? we can still hear you, laura. the staff have been loyal throughout lockdown and have often put to their own health at risk in order to come in and look after the children of key worker parents, and i feel that now they need the testing themselves to establish

whether or not they have coughs associated with the common seasonal cold and they need results that quickly so they can return to work, but the supporters and their and the staff are expected to have days off work and as settings we are expended to fund the time they have off. to statutory sick pay for ten days is going to be hugely problematic for staff who have been working short hours recently and we also have the issues of continuity of the key people of the children we care for, so to be absent from work for ten daysis so to be absent from work for ten days is unheard of in my team. they are very loyal, and i think after the dedication and loyalty that they have shown during lockdown that they deserve a system for testing that is efficient and swift. we often talk about the impact of all of this on all the children, but what is the

impact on very young children, the babies, for example? we all know how important attachment is when babies join settings are now maternity leave is longer, babies trust their key people to work really hard in the early years to establish connections with key staff who are going to be the go to person that that baby trust implicitly in the absence of their primary carers. when they cannot be present at work, it puts demands on the rest of the tea m it puts demands on the rest of the team and our staff we are trying to operate in bubbles and trying to keep the units within the nursery separate, and that becomes ever more challenging when staff are absent arising from missing test results or test results that have been lost or inconclusive or take days, if not weeks, due process. laura, really interesting to hear about

the issues for the nursery sector, and thanks for the nursery sector, and thanks for coping with the phone ringing in the middle of the interview as well. let mejust let me just tell you that at 1130 at this morning we expect a statement from the health secretary, matt hancock, with regard to further local lockdown is, and it is widely reported that large chunks of the north—east of england will be affected by these additional restrictions and we will bring you that live on the bbc news channel and he may be mentioning testing as well. we don't know, but he will be certainly talking about these local restrictions coming into play, so thatis restrictions coming into play, so that is at half past 11 this morning. now it's time for a look at the weather with chris fawkes. most of us are going to have a fine and sunny day. the early morning cloud we started with across wales and western england melting out of the way. for many, we will have

skies like these to take us through the rest of the day today. plenty of sunshine. northern ireland will see a little bit more cloud, for that far north of scotland we have the cloud, capable of bringing an odd passing light shower. even here, most will stay dry. in the sunshine, a fresh feeling day. temperatures into the low 20s and we will have a fairly brisk easterly wind developing through the day across southern counties of england and the southern counties of england and the south of wales as well. 0vernight tonight, under clear skies, it south of wales as well. 0vernight tonight, under clearskies, it turns chilly, particularly across the north—east of the uk with low single figure temperatures in the countryside. at the same time, a week where the front approaches the far north of scotland, thickening the cloud and threatening an odd spot of rain. that will still be with us into friday. plenty of sunshine, but slightly stronger wind for southern wales and southern england as well. hello this

is bbc news. almost two million people in the north—east of england face new local lockdown restrictions from midnight tonight — in a bid to halt a rise in coronavirus cases. measures are likely to include tougher limits on households mixing and earlier closing times for pubs and restaurant a local lockdown across the welsh county of rhondda cynon taf comes into effect this evening ? after a spike in coronavirus cases there. as demand for tests continues to surge — the government promises to set out which groups will be given priority over testing. there's been a sharp rise in sales at the co—op — as shoppers choose to stay closer to home during the coronavirus outbreak. a state of emergency has been declared in the states of florida, alabama and mississippi, after tropical storm sally causes devestating floods. now on bbc news, it's time

for your questions answered. we've been asking you to send in your questions about coronavirus testing and local lockdowns — joining me now to answer some of them is professor calum semple, who's an independent member of the sage group that advises the government but is speaking in a personal capacity — and peter drobac who's a global health physician. welcome to you. thank you very much for taking part today in answering our viewer questions. i want to talk generally a little bit, first of all, about the further restrictions which we are expecting in the north—east of england, and some that are coming into force in wales later this evening. because in the last 30 minutes we have been receiving lots of m essa g es minutes we have been receiving lots of messages regarding these. and there seems to be a lot of confusion. but we don't have the official details of the new measures yet, so we will try to deal with this as best we can. would

you both agree that this is the start of more local restrictions, more local lockdown is to come? is that the way we are heading? callum, you are in liverpool, where i think there has been a lot of concern and a lot of call for further restrictions on the city? yes, and i think it is justified. in my opinion, we are seeing the start of the second wave, and we are already seeing increased hospital admissions in the north—west and the north—east. hospital admissions in the north-west and the north-east. and the mayor in liverpool is one of those that has been calling for the government to take that next step of introducing further restrictions. that says a lot, doesn't it, about the concern, the worry of local authorities about the picture that is emerging? yes, previously we heard from andy burnham, and there has to be recognition that local public health teams, working with the civic leaders, are likely to be

better sited on the problems than those that are more distant to the outbreaks. it is centralisation versus outbreaks. it is centralisation versus local models, again. peter, would you agree that we are now unavoidably going to see more of these tighter restrictions, local lockdown is, whatever you choose to call them, as a way of averting the sort of pique that we saw earlier? unfortunately, i think that is right. we are seeing cases rise to a concerning degree across the country. the idea is to tackle things in some of the hotspots and prevent that kind of exponential growth that we saw back in march. unfortunately, we can expect to see more measures like this imposing weeks to come. let's get interviewer questions, i hope for those of you who have been questions about restrictions, that gives some hint of what is to come. we will be dealing with questions later on bbc news. charlie asks, with a heavy

dose of irony, how does a curfew reduce the spread of covid—19? does the virus only spread during the night? well, it's not really ironic, the reality is that these viruses spread because of human behaviour. and it is true that at night people do tend to go out clubbing and mixing in restaurants and pubs. and so it is a rather crude tool, but when social distancing has failed and people are ignoring the recommendations about face mask wearing and not meeting up in large crowds, sadly, the curfew becomes a rather blunt tool that is left. but doesn't ten just become the new 11, asi doesn't ten just become the new 11, as i put to the director of public health for newcastle? don't people just shift their socialising to earlier in the evening? that is possible. there is also the risk that it can drive the activity underground, into activities

that are organised by organisations that are organised by organisations that a re interested are organised by organisations that are interested in criminal activity. we have seen that happen in previous outbreaks in britain and abroad. so this has to be managed very carefully. and it's really about taking the community with us, rather than working against the community. peter, a question from paul, why are we talking about an increase in cases rather than about the number of hospitalisations and deaths? i guess paul is comparing the situation now to the conversations we we re situation now to the conversations we were having earlier in the pandemic? there is a very clear pattern we have seen throughout this pandemic, that hospitalisation and deaths are lagging indicators. it takes several weeks before and of people who get infected become sick enough to require hospitalisation or, unfortunately, to pass away. that might lag even further because a lot of our surge has been in young people and younger, healthier people are less likely to be hospitalised.

but as the infection then spreads to the population, affecting more that are medically vulnerable, we have already seen some local hotspot areas optics in the number of hospitalisations. i would expect, based on the trends in many countries that experienced a second wave, that by the end of september, if current trends continue, we will see a sustained rise in hospitalisations and deaths. france is one of those countries where we are seeing many, many more people needing to go into intensive care units as a result of the rise in cases. the next question for you, callum, why are tests compulsory every week at some workplaces, and at some places every other week? even without work is having symptoms? this is about balancing resources and also trying to assess the risk of these different work environments. so, if you are working ona environments. so, if you are working on a care home, where you have particularly vulnerable staff, then it is critically important to monitor the staff on

a weekly basis. if you are working in different environments, then you would not need that testing. but this comes back to the main problem, test capacity. that is something that we are still to get right. 0k. your thoughts on that, peter? yeah, i agree. based on the research we have so far, in an ideal world, testing about twice a week in workplaces would be about the right frequency to really allow people to go back much more safely. obviously in the correct context, that is not possible. hopefully that is something we can work towards overtime is testing capacity continues to increase. peter, a question from sophie, why can't they tell people, i presume so he means the government, to assume they have it with the symptoms, like they did at the beginning of the pandemic? i get that some key workers need a negative test to return to vital roles, but not all need to take a test. isolate as instructed and soon

you have it. sophie is obviously referring to the pressure on the testing system at the moment? the challenge is that if everybody who might have covid—19 was to isolate for 40 days with household members, anybody with a cold, flu or other illnesses would not be able to go to school or work, that would become quite disruptive, keeping teachers out of school and things like that. there are two things we can do to control this, through severe restrictions on movement and interactions, lockdown is, orwe restrictions on movement and interactions, lockdown is, or we can try to diagnose everybody with covid—19 as quickly as possible and then make sure they are isolated before they can affect others. and thatis before they can affect others. and that is why testing is absolutely critical to controlling this pandemic without resorting back to lockdown is. i am going to add a supplementary question, because i hope it will be useful. calum, as tests are prioritised, and because of the difficulties with the testing system initially, more and more

people are going to be looking for nuanced information about what symptoms could be covid and what symptoms could be covid and what symptoms could be covid and what symptoms could just be a regular common cold or other innocuous winter virus. if you could sum up the difference in symptoms, what would you say? sorry to drop that one on you out of the blue. i am fully expecting you are able to a nswer fully expecting you are able to answer that one. if only i could. this is where it becomes really difficult. because in the early stages, it is very difficult to tell covid apart from influenza or baby bronchitis type symptoms. the rhinovirus is,, the flu viruses and the coronaviruss, at early stage, are very the coronaviruss, at early stage, are very similar. you say early stage, how many days or hours are we talking about? the first couple of days, it can be difficult to tell the two apart. with coronavirus, you are more likely to

have this high fever, continuous cough. but it is not a perfect solution. quite a few adults and younger people will also get changes in smell and taste, some will get abdominal pain and nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea. that is why we are in a different position now. in april and may this year, there was really nothing else in circulation apart from covid. now we are going into winter, as we just heard, we are going to have all of the other 17 winter respiratory viruses going around. that is where testing becomes so important.“ viruses going around. that is where testing becomes so important. is it the case that if you have a runny nose and sniffles, congestion, that it is not a symptom of covid? nose and sniffles, congestion, that it is not a symptom of covid7m nose and sniffles, congestion, that it is not a symptom of covid? it is unlikely to be covid. but we can never say never. in the very earliest stage, you're likely to have a sore throat, particularly if you are a young adult or teenager, you are a young adult or teenager, you can have a sore throat, itchy eyes, conjunctivitis and a runny

nose. the two days later, the harsher cough, feeling really wiped out and the changes in taste and smell. that becomes easier to diagnose as covid. its really useful to hear all of that. peter, a question from nigel. the government claims to do the most coronavirus tests in europe, is this true? this morning, it will saying it was doing more tests per 100,000 of population than any other major country in europe. that was the exact quote, i believe. it's difficult to compare countries, because they report the numberof countries, because they report the number of tests differently. some include antibody tests, others don't, etc. it is true the uk is doing a lot of testing, even relative to other countries. the reality is that we know it is not enough, because people who need tests cannot get them. the united states is probably doing the most coronavirus tests per capita anywhere in the world, but nobody would wish that situation on us.

yes, efforts have really been made to increase testing capacity, but obviously we do need to go further. 0k. obviously we do need to go further. ok. this one for you as well, peter, from linda. why can't tempora testing and processing sites be put on football and racecourse sites and be manned by medics from the armed forces who are not on active duty? we are crying out, it seems, all around the uk, for more tests, and more capability to test. is that feasible? is a great question. the real challenge with the bottleneck in testing right now seems to be at the laboratory stage. so the testing sites will take a swab and send these samples to a laboratory to process the test itself. in many testing sites, actually, they have the capacity to swab more people, but unfortunately there is no way to send it to because there is such a backlog of testing. just introducing more testing sites will not solve the problem. we have got to figure it out at the laboratory level. there are newer tests coming out now

that don't require a central laboratory, that can give more rapid results. unfortunately, they haven't hit the market yet but it will be a huge breakthrough when we get them. as you say, it is actually those technicians that can assess the tests, that is where the issue is. we need more of those. calum, a question from carolina, my son had a temperature four days ago and i'd been on the phone every hour, and online, trying to get a test with no luck. it's getting to a point where iam not luck. it's getting to a point where i am not sure what to do. i am a business owner, self—employed, and so is my husband. 0ur household income is reliant on is working. 0ur son is better, but he is not allowed to go to school until he has been tested and we quite frankly cannot ta ke tested and we quite frankly cannot take next speak of as well. we need this test. caroline asks, what should she do? there will be lots of people in her position wondering the same thing. they have got a child who is perhaps not terribly unwell, but unwell for a few days, perhaps with a high temperature, they want

their child to get back to school and maybe they need to get back to work. they are stuck in limbo? sadly, yes. this is why it is so difficult for members of society that are so critical to keeping the economy going. that is why we need more testing. i'm sorry to say, and it is really tough news, they do have to pay heed to the two weeks of isolation, until they get the negative test result. if they have caught it from their son, they then have the incubation period through which they are infectious ahead of them. so it is really, really tough. i would ask them to hit the phones and push for these tests. there is still a good chance that he doesn't have covid. it may be one of the other viruses. if they can get a negative test result, they can get back to work. that is the challenge across the country. absolutely, carolina, there is no magic answer for her, is that,

and her husband and son? but they absolutely need that test and it illustrates the frustration of so many people, that question illustrates that to a tee. i think we have time for one more question. this is from marie, peter. who is asking, how many covid—19 mugger tests are done privately? how accurate are they, how much do they cost and where are they available? accurate are they, how much do they cost and where are they available ?|j don't cost and where are they available?” don't know if we have numbers on how many tests are being done privately, but they are available. particularly in cities. many of them are using certified tests. what i would recommend for those contemplating a private test, they are quite expensive, about £100 to £200, go to a well—established private clinic, as opposed to something that has just popped up. there is something called a ce market, a certification for the type of test being used. if you're going to invest in a private test, make sure they can provide a

certificate with a ce mark with your test results. if you don't have that market, the test will not be valid to allow you to go back to work or whatever it is you want to get back to you, i presume is what you're saying? that's right. it means it is a certified validated type of test. it means you can trust the results, and also that can be used when needed for travel and return to work, things like that. as ever, really interesting to hear from both of you. thank you for giving all that detail to our viewers. professor callu m that detail to our viewers. professor callum sample and peter, thank you very much, and thank you to our viewers for sending in your questions. it's one of the largest co—operatives in the world — selling food, funerals and financial services — and this morning the co—0p group has released its half year results. among the headlines — a rise in funerals and a rise in food sales. with the details, let's cross to our business presenter, ben thompson.

yes, good morning to you. we are starting to get an assessment of what the covid crisis has meant for all sorts of business. some good news, some bad news, some very mixed, depending on what sector you work in. there have been winners and losers. this morning, it is the turn of the co—op to update us on how it has fared. it says food sales rose nearly 9%, as more people decided to eat at home, less eating out during lockdown, and then also in the weeks and months that followed. also, as you said, a rise in funeral care costs, and the number of funerals. so let's speak to the boss of the co—op. he is a steve murrells. let's talk about food sales first, you talk about food sales first, you talk about food sales first, you talk about people shopping closer to home and not eating out as much. that has been good news for your food business? yes, we are very pleased with the hardened results.

very grateful for the thousands of co—op colleagues on the front line that have helped feed the nation and are also caring for it. we have seen real growth coming through, seven years of growth, 1.7 million new customers enjoyed a co—op shopping experience. that has been good to see. they have stayed with us. we have actually been able to post some good results. it all through this crisis, we are trying to do the right thing, putting communities and people first. we are going £50 million to local causes and we ordered our colleagues with a £30 million thank you. i think that will be really important, how we are judged during this pandemic. a really good start to the year. you point out it is a good time in terms of the number of people through your doors, but that has not come without cost. you're putting a cost

of £87 million, included and that is a lot of extra costs in terms of the precautions you have had to take? for the first six months, our covid costs have been £54 million. we are projecting £97 million for the full year. and whilst grateful for the government support, that has totalled 33 million. so there has beena totalled 33 million. so there has been a net cost to the group of £21 million. we have been able to weather that storm. i think what is most important is what we do with those profits. we are currently in conversations with our union to move our front line colleague pay next year, so it aligns with the real living wage. that will be a real boost for the thousands of people that work in the co—op, with difficult times ahead. yeah, and i wa nt to difficult times ahead. yeah, and i want to touch on that funeral part of the business, not a nice subject to talk about, particularly at a time like this, but an important

one nonetheless. the number of funerals going up by 22%, and those restrictions on how many people can attend, what a funeral can look like, it meant you had 20,000 simpler services. just explain how that has worked for you. first, to say a huge call out for the thousands of funeral colleagues that have provided an unbelievable service for families at a difficult time. as you say, the volume increase was significant during this period of time. and we have had to adapt. we would normally expect 40 plus people to attend a funeral. we have had to work with an average of ten, and more recently 30. we have been innovative during that time. we have been streaming funerals for family members that couldn't attend. we have been finding ways to bring the court charged to the front door of families. —— cortez.

people are looking for a simpler funeral, and we have been able to hold prices down, which has helped families during a really difficult period. interestingly, we are seeing that it period. interestingly, we are seeing thatitis period. interestingly, we are seeing that it is slightly quieter now because a lot of those deaths, sadly, have been brought forward. but we have done a greatjob looking after those families at a great time of need. yes, steve, good to talk to you this morning. gratefulfor your time as well. steve murrells, the chief executive of the co—op group. you get a sense of what it means for businesses, depending on how they work and what areas of the economy they operate in. very different fortu nes they operate in. very different fortunes for some businesses. also worth saying that we have heard from john lewis, which also includes waitrose. they have reported a £55 million loss for both parts of the

business. that's the department store in the supermarket business. they are not going to pay a bonus to their staff, their partners in the business, for the first time since 1953. the main reason for that big loss is the write—down in the value of some of its big stores. it really does reflect the change in the way that we are shopping. the government has set up a national helpline for schools to report positive coronavirus cases and get advice on how to handle outbreaks. schools have been told that instead of contacting local public health teams, they will be put through to a team of advisors" who will tell head teachers what action is needed based on the latest public health advice. us presidential candidate joe biden has said he will not allow peace in northern ireland to become a "casualty of brexit" if he is elected in november. in a tweet, the democratic nominee said any future trade deal between the us and uk would be reliant on the government respecting the good friday agreement. foreign secretary dominic raab has been trying to reassure politicians over the latest brexit developments during a trip to washington.

a state of emergency has been declared in the states of florida, alabama and mississippi, after tropical storm sally caused historic levels of flooding across parts of the us. hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses have been left without power along america's gulf coast. mark lobel reports. striking slowly, but mercilessly, in alabama, some riding out the storm by clinging on. as day came, signs and trees uprooted and power cut for residents. got on the first floor, we started hearing the windows pop and part of the roof started coming off any signage was ripping. we rode it out. my kids were so scared and i told them it would be ok but we will try to survive these. we will try to go through this. we will try to be safe.

this is the view from the third floor of my hotel room. look at the street! roads now rivers in florida's westernmost city. my goodness! this isjust — i have never seen anything like this! the third—worst storm surge ever to hit here, wind speeds reaching 158km/h and up to 18 inches of rainfall. the governors have all been spoken to and it's a combination of real spirit and they have a tremendous esprit de corps, they have a tremendous sense of working on hurricanes. they have gotten very good at it and we certainly have had plenty! to make things worse, there are more tropical storms stacking up, threatening other parts of the gulf coast. we have had eight hurricanes. we have had four hurricanes make landfall. we've had eight total storms make landfall in the united states, and september is our peak month and we're only halfway through the month.

the rainfall, the flooding, the storm surge potential is greater when you have a slow—moving system. when you think about sally last night, i was doing the weather last night at our tv station, and it was moving about 2mph. most of us get on the treadmill and we are probably walking three or four mph. and, look — as the storms back to the coast, see also the grey band of smoke from the california wildfires drifting east across america, a worrying picture that captures the consequences of extreme weather conditions. in addition to the growing force of these deadly storms, officials are now running out of letters to name new hurricanes, they are coming so thick and fast. mark lobel, bbc news. 50 metres up and two apart. diners in belgium with a head for heights can once again enjoy dinner in the sky

with a new socially distanced feel. hoisted by crane above the skies of the capital brussels, diners are strapped into seats at private tables for four, while well known chefs cook from a central platform. the venture has moved to 60 different countries since it was launched in 2006. if you drop your knife, i'm not quite sure what happens. but definitely a different way to dine. now it's time for a look at the weather with chris fawkes most of us are going to have a fine and sunny day. the early morning cloud started off with across parts of wales and west and england melting out of the way. for many, we will have skies like these to take us through the rest of the day today. plenty of sunshine. northern ireland will see a little bit more clout. certainly for the far north of scotla nd clout. certainly for the far north of scotland we have some thick cloud, capable of bringing the odd passing light shower. even here, most will stay dry. in the sunshine, a fresh feeling day. temperatures

into the low 20s, a fairly brisk easterly wind development through the day across southern counties of england and the south of wales as well. overnight tonight, into the clear skies, turns chilly, particularly across the north—east of the uk with low single figure temperatures in the countryside. at the same time, a week where different approaches the far north of scotland, thickening the cloud and threatening an odd spot of rain. that will still be with us into friday. otherwise, a similar day of weather coming tomorrow. plenty of slightly stronger winds for southern wales and southern england as well.

this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. almost two million people in the north—east of england face new local lockdown restrictions from midnight tonight in a bid to halt a rise in coronavirus cases. measures are likely to include tougher limits on households mixing and earlier closing times for pubs and restaurants. a local lockdown across the welsh county of rhondda cynon taf comes into effect this evening after

a spike in coronavirus cases there. if you're likely to be affected by further restrictions — let us know your thoughts. 0n twitter it's @annita—mcveigh, or hashtag bbc your questions. the other headlines... as demand for tests continues to surge across the uk, the government promises to set out which groups will be given priority over testing. and a state of emergency has been declared in the states of florida, alabama and mississippi, after tropical storm sally causes devastating floods. donald trump claims an effective coronavirus vaccine could be good to go within weeks, contradicting one of his own top health officials.