questions there on the test and trace app launching next week. particular emphasis at the beginning of this debate looking at the lag in test results being given to people who have received their tests, falling below what the government was hoping for. but we will have more analysis on all of that coming up more analysis on all of that coming up at the top of the hour. this is bbc news. iam i am clive myrie. the headlines: the head of nhs test and trace admits there aren't enough coronavirus tests available. it's clear from today that demand is significantly outstripping the capacity that we have, and so we are all going to need to work on this together. nearly 2 million people across most of the north east of england are set for tougher coronavirus restrictions from midnight, after a rise in cases. we do not take these decisions lightly.

we agree with the local councils that we must follow the data and act, and the data says that we must act now. a similar story in south wales, where almost half a million people in rhondda cynon taff will have stricter lockdown rules from 6pm this evening. and bailing out of real madrid — gareth bale is due to fly to england on friday, when he's expected to complete his return to tottenham hotspur. good afternoon. the head of nhs test and trace, baroness dido harding, has admitted to mps that there are not enough coronavirus tests available in england to meet the current spike in demand that has led to long queues outside testing

centres and many people self—isolating whilst unable to book a test. speaking in the last hour, dido harding told a committee of mps that current levels of demand were outstripping capacity multiple times over. she revealed they'd seen a "doubling" in the number of children under 17 being tested for coronavirus since schools returned. and she repeated the pledge that the service would deliver 500,000 tests a day by the end of october. let's listen to some of what she had to say. i really understand the frustration and worry that people have who are trying to come forward for tests. is there a problem with the assessment of demand? are we going to be able to have accurate predictions, or assessments of what demand will be in the future? could i just answer the previous question? so, we built our testing capacity plans based on sage modelling. we published our business plan at the end ofjuly, and we are absolutely on track to deliver that. so we're doing everything in our power to bring that forward. and i would say that today,

we have more tests per 100,000 population than any other major country in europe. we have in total tested more people per million population than any other country that has been hit badly by covid, other than israel. we do understand that. and you have made a very important point. so, the capacity that you have created has been the capacity that sage told you was needed at this stage? yes, we built our capacity plans based on sage modelling for what we should be preparing for for the autumn. that assessment was sage's rather than nhs test and trace? yes, indeed. ok, so, the capacity is going to be increased to 500,000 a day, we understand from the prime minister? yes, that's correct. by the end of october, we will be able to offer 500,000 tests a day. will that be enough? well, i am certain that we will need more as we go beyond the end of october, and we announced this morning

two further laboratories that will be opening, one in newcastle and one in berkshire. and those laboratories won't be on stream by the end of october, so we are already laying the foundations for expanding capacity beyond the 500,000 at the end of october. you must have made an assessment as to whether the 500,000, insofar as you can project it... have you set that's because that's what you expect demand to be by the end of october? we've set it as... those are our plans. but, as i said, it's clear from today that demand is significantly outstripping the capacity that we have, and so we are all going to need to work on this together. we do need to make sure that we protect the testing capacity we have for the people who most need it, which means that people who have symptoms are the people who should be coming forward to be tested. baroness harding's appearance before the committee comes as nhs figures show that people in england are waiting longer for their coronavirus test results as demand rises. only a third of tests carried out at community sites were processed

within 2a hours in the week up to the 9th of september. this turnaround rate is the lowest since june. baroness harding admitted the government was failing to reach its target. we have seen test results take slightly longer than usual over the last week or so. in the results that were published this morning, you can see that. so, 6a.7% of people who are tested face—to—face received their result the next day between the 3rd and the 9th of september. that is below our target of 85 to 90%. we have very consciously in the last couple of weeks, when we've seen the very significant increase in demand, made use of every single day of the seven days of lab capacity, to try and maximise the total number of people that have been tested. and what that has meant is that, for some people, the testing turnaround times have gone out a bit. as we bring on more capacity over the next week or two, i would expect some of that additional capacity to go not to more people being tested

but, actually, to seeing those turnaround times reduced. it's a balancing act that we monitor and every lab across the country several times a day, to make sure that we are maximising the number of people tested and trying to keep to those turnaround times. well, professor carl heneghan from the university of 0xford's centre for evidence told mps on the science and technology committee that the language and messaging around the coronavirus is making the public so fearful that it's causing "chaos" in the education system. here's what he told mps this afternoon. if you want to suppress and eliminate the virus, you test in schools, you have one case, and you send everybody home. if you accept we have an endemic seasonal pathogen and we want to promote education, we want to keep society functioning, you have to have a strategy that minimises those risks. and what's happening at the moment is the language and the rhetoric is making people so fearful and terrorised that they're going beyond the guidance because they're so fearful

of what is coming next. so there needs to be a dialling back of the rhetoric. there needs to be a thoughtful discussion now about what exactly is the government's strategy, because i don't understand it right now. and if you clear that up, then everything can flow from that, and i do say that actually maximisation of education across universities and schools is imperative. and keeping our children in schools is important. but at the moment, it is utter chaos because of the 50% increase in other respiratory pathogens that mimic covid in children is creating chaos. professor carl heneghan speaking to that committee a little bit earlier today. some breaking news for you. in terms of travel corridors in those countries that, if you go to, when you come back to the united kingdom, whether or not you've got

to be in corinth for two weeks, and it's clear now that slovenia and guadalupe have been added to the countries that if you visit, you will have to spend two weeks in quarantine. that's the transport secretary, grant shapps, making that clear. this is from saturday at liam, the usual timeframe. slovenia and guadalupe, countries you will have to quarantine, self isolate, and there are two countries you don't have to do any more, as you can see there, singapore and thailand, they are back on the travel corridor list. good news if you're in

singapore and thailand and watching bbc news, bad news if you're in slovenia or guadalupe and watching bbc news. the latest official figures show that as of 9am on thursday, there have been a further 3,395 lab—confirmed cases of coronavirus in the uk. 0verall, 381,614 cases have been confirmed. a further 21 people have died within 28 days of testing positive for covid—19. this brings the uk total to 41,705. let's talk to our health correspondent lauren moss. you were watching the science and technology committee grill dido harding. a lot of emphasis, certainly at the beginning, on what seems to be a time lag between getting a test and getting the result, and the government is simply

not meeting this target. this is one ofa not meeting this target. this is one of a few issues with the test and trace system, because obviously if you got concerns over having coronavirus to go and get a test and then you don't know when you've got these results, you're in a limbo land. there is this focused to get these results delivered quickly, and these results delivered quickly, and the prime ministers that a few weeks ago the turnaround targets are very important, but we got dated today that shows just... compared to two thirds last week. hospital testings, including nhs staff as well, 89% of those are turned around within 2a hours. it's the committee detecting times which are lagging a little bit here. the measure that is often quoted by government ministers, where the results are back the next day, 55% of people received the results within the next day compared to 89% last week. —— 65%. when you thing about the number of tests they

are doing, there has been an increase in demand, baroness harding saying there is a huge demand for testing, so this could be anticipated. these figures are up to the 9th of september, they are not paying up the 9th of september, they are not paying up to date for today, but we heard last week a lot of people travelling for tests, not being up bigot tests, waiting for tests, so these figures could continue for a couple of weeks or so. it's a couple of weeks —— not being able to get tests. greg hart made the point that backin tests. greg hart made the point that back in may, they made it clear that you needed to get the results back and to isolate contacts within 2a hours and any delay beyond 48 to 72 hours and any delay beyond 48 to 72 hours would mean that the r number is going to go up. we have seen that happen across the uk now. was there any discussion in the committee as to the suggestion that perhaps the r number has gone up in some places because of these delays? that was

not touched on directly, no. we will get the latest information on the r number tomorrow, usually that is on fridays. the data was up to last monday, which suggested the r numb number could be up to... it is thought to be between one and two, which suggests it is growing, and like you say it is a truly important those contacts are reached. if we look at the people contacted, 83% of infected people reached and then they provided their contacts and then at 74% of those contacts were reached, so it is not 100%. those numbers are relatively stable over the last few weeks. there's still a quarter of those contacts that are not being reached and not being told to self—isolate, so there is still a gap here. the baroness made it clear that the level of the testing

capacity in the system at the moment was the result of the advice that they were given by sage, so anyone watching this, she is suggesting sage have got it wrong. it is sage that did not tell us that there would be a big demand for tests now. that was quite interesting. dido harding was quite emphatic that all of their modelling on testing and where they need to be incapacity was based on the advice received by sage, so from sage, so i think that is quite leading and we are looking at why some of these decisions have been made. is there enough capacity? no, currently not, as we have seen. if you break down the figures even further, there is a huge demand in test being ordered for children between five and nine, and the number of tests for under 20s have doubled, but schools are going back.

universities are returning. a question asked in the committee was, why was this not anticipated? there was no clear answer to that. yeah, i think this is going to be something thatis think this is going to be something that is good to be analysed again and again and again, but what dido harding did state was that they have added capacity in the last two days. they have gone from 140,000 tests daily from may time. they can do 242,000 and day. the plan is to double that in the next six weeks or so. double that in the next six weeks or so. will they reach that target? perhaps we should not be focusing quite much on target but on what is being done. briefly, a bit of discussion on the test and trace app coming up next week. long—delayed. this app was initially trialed, or a version of it, on the isle of wight backin version of it, on the isle of wight back in may, they did not go ahead for further roll—out, following problems in june time, for further roll—out, following problems injune time, so was trialed again on the isle of wight and then the london borough of

newham as well. it will work, that is the hope. if you go to a pub or a restau ra nt, is the hope. if you go to a pub or a restaurant, you have to often leave your details anyway, but you scan your details anyway, but you scan yourqr your details anyway, but you scan your qr code your details anyway, but you scan yourqr code and your details anyway, but you scan your qr code and upload your data onto this database. if someone is tested positive in that vicinity, you will be alerted, and likewise it will monitor with you been in close proximity for more than 15 minutes with another person was tested positive and will send you an alert and send you advice on what to do if you do need to self—isolate. like you do need to self—isolate. like you say, that is going to be rolled out nationwide for next thursday. sure. lauren, thank you. lauren moss. the labour leader circular stormer has been in scotland and has added his support to the government decision to increase resurgence in the northeast of it then but he accused the government of being caught off guard in regard to the late demand in testing. 0ur political correspondent

helen catt is at westminster. we heard there were nese dido harding there say this is all sage's fault. she certainly was very keen to stress that the government had not done nothing, if you like, that they had increased testing, and this isa they had increased testing, and this is a line that the government has been very keen to highlight, that they have increased testing over the last six months. they are nothing they test more than the rest of europe and that is something to have been very keen to make clear. however, downing street today saying there are challenges. you heard dido harding say that demand is significantly outstripping capacity for stuffed the labour leader, sir keir starmer, has been very vocally supportive of the measures to bring local restrictions, but when comes to testing, that is a whole different ball game. he has been critical of the government's approach. ido i do welcome the government bringing further restrictions. we have done that over the last seven months. notwithstanding the flaws and

mistakes within the government is making when it comes to substantial decisions, lockdown or local restrictions, we support the government because i think it is very important to government and the opposition are not in different places, because messaging is actually key here and i would say, as leader of the opposition, please follow the government rules, whatever they are, in your area. that is something the government has been putting across. there was also in that hearing earlier from baroness harding, she did say the government is on track to double capacity, as boris johnson government is on track to double capacity, as borisjohnson pledged yesterday, for testing 2/2—million tests a day by the end of october but she did also want to stress this idea that you should only be going for a test if you have symptoms —— half half a million tests. there we re half half a million tests. there were people perhaps presenting without symptoms and she wanted to stress that too. 0k, thank you for that. helen catt there.

tough new coronavirus restrictions affecting nearly 2 million people in most of the north east of england come into effect at midnight tonight, after what local council leaders describe as an "exponential rise" in cases. ministers insist that the new measures were not introduced lightly and understood how they would affect people in newcastle, gateshead, north tyneside, south tyneside and sunderland, together with northumberland and county durham. there will be a ban on residents socialising with other people outside their own households, the closure of pubs, leisure and entertainment venues at 10pm, and bars will be able to offer a table service only. fiona trott reports from newcastle. a north east night out during the pandemic. like many towns and cities across england, enforcing social distancing has been hard. now it seems there are consequences. unless we act now, act swiftly and decisively, we're going to see ourselves in the kind of really

challenging position that we were in march and april, with exponentially rising cases and hospitals packed to capacity with very ill people. none of us want to see that. these are the local authority areas who asked for tougher measures. newcastle, gateshead, north tyneside, south tyneside, sunderland, northumberland and county durham. it will affect almost 2 million people. and these are the measures being introduced at midnight tonight. residents will not be able to socialise with anybody outside of their own household or support bubble. bars will be restricted to table service only and all leisure and entertainment venues have to close after 10pm at night. i know, the whole house knows, that these decisions have a real impact on families, on businesses and on local communities. and i can tell everyone affected that we do not take

these decisions lightly. this bar in newcastle is at its busiest after ten o'clock at night. in a city where the night—time economy is said to be worth around £340 million per year, a ten o'clock curfew will hit them hard. i think you're definitely going to see closures, which will mean redundancies. pubs and restaurants, bars, cannot survive closing at ten o'clock. newcastle as a whole and the whole of the north—east predominantly take a lot of their turnover after 10pm. here in newcastle, most people say they are willing to follow the new rules. if it saves getting worse, you know, it's just one of them things, you've got to put up with it. i think we should all keep our distance, and hopefully get out of lockdown quicker. i think it's... close down the pubs, clubs, that's where it spread. i feel like the blame's being put more on young people, when it's people i see in their 405 and 505 not wearing face masks with their nose hanging out, and they're also going to the pubs as well. a region bracing themselves

for tougher measures and a region which can't afford a full lockdown. councils here say these temporary measures have to work. fiona trott, bbc news, newcastle. professor chris day is the vice—chancellor and president at newcastle university — hejoins me now. and benthe tanghe, one of newcastle university's student's union sabbatical officers. hello to you both. thank you very much indeed for being with us. if i can much indeed for being with us. if i ca n start much indeed for being with us. if i can start with you first, is there a real fear, can start with you first, is there a realfear, given the rice in the butter are number locally and in these new restrictions —— given the rise in the r number, and in these new restrictions, this could get worse? with these new measures, we hope it is not quick to raise more. we will have to see how it goes but i don't think necessarily, no. are you confident students are going to follow the rules? they will have to

come in the end. we all have to be responsible, so i am —— they will have to, in the end. confidence there. are you confident that perhaps we are seeing now, this rise in cases can be arrested as soon as possible? yes, i hope so. it is important that this rise has come before a majority of the students at out before a majority of the students at our university have come back, sol think if it had happened two or three weeks later, it would been blamed on the students, sol three weeks later, it would been blamed on the students, so i think this is very good this action has been taken at this point so we can get on top of it before the students get on top of it before the students get back, educate them and the student union to make sure they do not contribute to a continuing rights. 40,000 students due to arrive at your university, you've got tens of thousands, jerome, sunderland universities nearby as well. are you confident the health messaging is getting across to enough people in the area?|j messaging is getting across to enough people in the area? i think,

for us, we see that is perhaps one of our greatest roles, working with out of our greatest roles, working with our student union, with ark city council, with the police. have whole raft of committee patients, using social media, posters everywhere. students will not be unable to see the messaging. we are very strict and indicating very regularly with out and indicating very regularly with our students and we are doing that in bucket loads at the moment. our students and we are doing that in bucket loads at the momentm bucket loads? how is the union trying to sort of get across these health messages as well, and potentially simple item if there is confusion coming from the government? —— potentially simplify them? the messages have been signified over the summer... as

chris chester mentioned, there has been so much to communicate, so hopefully they keep up with the communication —— as chris chester mentioned. are you having freshers week this year was yellow it is not going to be called freshers week. -- it is not going to be called freshers week. with the guidelines coming at today, we have to see how we can adapt to it, but i am certain we can adapt to it, but i am certain we have quite a lot to deliver so i am hoping we can engage with that. freshers week over four weeks? not as we are used to! we would not have survived the full four weeks if we did it... i was going to say, i would not have survived two days!

professor day, i just wonder would not have survived two days! professor day, ijust wonder if would not have survived two days! professor day, i just wonder if you are getting the kind of support nationally from the authorities, in order to deal with this. we have seen the rise in cases and certainly the rice in the requests for tests following schools reopening. are you confident that you're going to be able to get what you need if there isa able to get what you need if there is a spike in requests for tests once the colleges get back?|j is a spike in requests for tests once the colleges get back? i think it is an excellent question, and we are no different to other parts of the country that are concerned about the country that are concerned about the testing capacity. see the announcement today of a new lab opening in the north east which will provide capacity of analysis, up to 80,000 tests a day within a few weeks' time, that's obviously a huge advantage. i think the concern, as you rightly point out, is availability of have any swab test done, not so much analysing it, and we do have a facility on site at the