they've been in close contact with someone who has tested positive for coronavirus. a technical issue in transferring positive results from laboratories led to almost 16,000 missing cases. all those who tested positive were informed. but their close contacts were not — and most still haven't been traced. the health secretary matt hancock told parliament the incident should never have happened and he said it had not yet been resolved. the shadow health secretaryjonathan ashworth said the missing results were "putting lives at risk". here's our health editor hugh pym. testing and tracing continues today, but there are yet more questions about whether the whole system in england is working properly, with thousands of cases not recorded, so contacts of those testing positive were not followed up. the health secretary had to come to the commons to explain what went wrong. this incident should never have happened, but the team have acted swiftly to minimise its impact and now it is critical that we work together to put this right and to make sure

that it never happens again. labour highlighted the failure to follow up contacts. thousands of people, blissfully unaware they have been exposed to covid, potentially spreading this deadly virus at a time when hospital admissions are increasing and we are in the second wave. this isn'tjust a shambles, it's so much worse than that. here is what we were told at the time about the number of daily reported cases up until friday. reaching around 7,000 by the end of the week. but now the extra cases have been added in, here's what it looks like now, above 11,000. all the new data relates to england, with striking increases in some regions. in the north west of england for example, there were more than 8,000 extra cases reported — an increase of 93%. in the yorkshire and humber region it was more than 4,000 extra cases — an increase of 113% on what we were originally told. civic leaders affected by restrictions in the north west

say policy must be reconsidered. somebody should be checking this. this is a national government implementing the system and making decisions that are predicated on that evidence and the evidence, now we find, has been faulty. so how does the system work? tests of hospital staff and patients are analysed at nhs and public health laboratories. these seem to be working well. testing for the public and most care homes at drive through centres or with kits is partly done by private companies. they send the swabs to the big lighthouse labs to analyse tests. these were set up by the government and are run by private companies and universities. they then pass on results to public health england, to be fed into the test and trace system for contacts to be followed up. this is where the it problems have occurred. phe says the issue has now been resolved, but wider challenges for people using the testing network remain.

a surge in demand caused delays last month and these are still happening. jarrod was tested on friday and still hasn't had a result. he and his flatmates, who are key workers, are having to isolate and stay off work. things should be in place by now, really. it makes it difficult for people trying to do the right thing, so i can certainly understand the frustration, anxiety and stress it produces in other people who may not be as lucky to have people delivering food and support them through a challenging time. the challenge for the government remains — bolstering confidence in a testing system, which in recent weeks has fallen short of where it should be. hugh pym, bbc news. professor david spiegelhalter is a statistician at the university of cambridge. hejoins me now. we've been told all along that speed is of the essence in terms of notifying people. how much of a setback as this, and had lives potentially been put at risk?

is obviously deeply embarrassing, based on using sl, which is bad enough. using old versions of xl as well. 0bviously, there's been tens of thousands of people have not been contacted who should have, and i don't think we can say what the health impact was. in terms of what we know about the way that cases are increasing, there was a rather suspicious plateau during last week which has now been filled up, and 110w which has now been filled up, and now we can see the steady increase in the number of cases across the country. a steady increase over the whole of the country, added up together, roughly doubling every ten days or so. but with enormous variation around the country, it is quite extraordinary that in manchester now, they've hit levels of one in 200 people in manchester testing positive over the last week,

50 times two —— 30 times the rate of cornwall or somewhere like that. but seven months into this, does it raise fundamental questions about the approach to the test track and trace and the fact it is is so centralised rather than localised, because we been having this debate for months? i don't want to talk about the whole operational issue, that's not my area of expertise at all. my concern is really in the public reporting of the numbers and the use of those numbers, and i'll have my route about the media here, because there is this a session of the daily numbers. —— this obsession. now we see this massive spike over the weekend where these tests were ta ken spike over the weekend where these tests were taken up, and i hope it might lead to less attention on what this daily count is, which always catching up on a backlog and instead

focusing on the actual pattern of the day of the tests, which gives you a smooth curve and an idea of what's going on. but the media don't pick it up, and i think actually, there's a lot to blame to be laid there. what when you look at the presentation of statistics of data, and projections for example, we have the chief medical officer chris whitty and vallance saying a few weeks ago saying it they had a production, not a production but a graph with infections doubling every two days. it was a scenario, never a prediction. but why did they put it up prediction. but why did they put it up then? it's clearly there to wind... this was something theoretical that could happen. i

think we can conclude that they aren't going up at that rate and that graph won't concur. but that wasn't a prediction of what would happen, that kind of graph has not been observed. the only hope civilizations, —— hospitalizations, they are increasing but only doubling in less than two weeks. same with deaths. although these are going up, this is serious, this is nothing like the situation we were in in march. thank you very much indeed for talking to us. sir richard leese is the leader of manchester city council. what is your reaction to this? because it seems though a lot of the cases that haven't been followed up are in your part of the country. well, i think there are two

reactions. the starting point has to be what does the impact? frankly, we have far more nuanced understanding of what's happening on the ground then you would get from the national data. however accurate it is. what we are seeing is an awful lot of people testing positive that are asymptomatic, not a vast increase in hospital cases. certainly not people in intensive care. we haven't seen cases and care homes, and 55% of our new cases are in the 17 to 21 age bracket. having said that, test and trace has always been a fundamental element of how we are able to understand fully what's happening with covid—19 and able to contain it. we've been arguing for months that it ought to be far more localised than it is at the moment, with directors of public health

having far more control over who is being tested and the results of those tests. i think everything that's happened over the last few days just reinforces that view that this ought to be a far more balanced partnership between national and local, because frankly, we are the people with the knowledge of what is actually happening on the ground. have you made recommended —— representations of that effect? we've made representations consistently over the past couple months. manchester, along with the leaders of the other big cities in the north, all of which have similar circumstances to us in particular, very high student numbers. writing, if not tonight and tomorrow to the secretary of state to make further representations. it's notjust greater local control over test and trace, we also have greater local

control over the measures being taken to contain as well. greater manchester has been subject to various restrictions for almost two months now, and those restrictions have frankly not worked. we've seen they have not worked. we think we ought to be able to try more local methods that we think would have more impact than the blanket measures. so the blanket measures aren't working, where would you if you are in charge be targeting? what it centred largely on the suit student population? not solely. we know geography is where we have particular issues. if there are places that are not following the guidance, whether at the shop or a baror guidance, whether at the shop or a bar or cafe, but we would like to do is be able to reward places following the guidance, that have

good social distancing, good hygiene, but penalise the places that aren't following the rules. at the moment, everyone is being penalised, whether they follow the rules are not. we think it should be indirectly of those places aren't following the rule. thanks very much for joining following the rule. thanks very much forjoining us on bbc news. the welsh government is considering imposing restrictions from her own of the uk. i'm told it's a strong possibility. the less government is discussing at the moment. working out what will mean for public health 01’ out what will mean for public health or what the legal situation will be. there's been a mismatch of local lockdown around the uk. here in wales, a local lockdown is also a lock—out. people aren't allowed to leave their area unless they have a valid reason, even if they don't

have coronavirus. the less government has called on boris johnson to put the same measures and england. he refuses, saying people need to use their common sense. it's pushed forward to the effect of quarantine measures, and the was government can decide that someone from barcelona can't come here because the corona rates are two hi. they would adapt the same policy for somebody from burnley. we don't know whether or not they will push ahead with this. one thing to consider is three quarters of wales is already lockdown, so people can't come to those areas from over the border. it would only potential apply to a court of oil. the scottish government is considering if more restrictions need to be put in place to control rising cases of coronavirus. at her daily briefing, nicola sturgeon said a decision would be made in the next few days. 697 new cases have been reported in scotland since yesterday. the restrictions we announced a couple weeks ago, particularly the

request everyone not to visit other people because my house is right now is to get the pirate under control —— to go to other people's house. —— a virus under control. the number we are seeing, we have been ot open about this. it is possible we will have to do more. there may well be a need for some further restrictions in the near future. need for some further restrictions in the nearfuture. i can say need for some further restrictions in the near future. i can say that the government will be considering the government will be considering the latest clinical evidence and advice later on today, and the cabinet will be considering the situation when it meets tomorrow morning. if we do decide more restrictions are necessary, and no decision has been taken yet, i want to give an assurance that we will endeavour to give you, the public, and of course the scottish parliament as much notice as possible. as well as a clear explanation of all reasons and rationale. i promise you that we do not impose restrictions lightly. if

we decide that extra restrictions are necessary, it will be because we deemed it necessary and vital to get the virus back under control and avoid unnecessary loss of life. away from coronavirus to another virus. the nobel prize in physiology or medicine has beenjointly awarded to british scientist michael houghton and the americans harveyj alter and charles m rice for the discovery of hepatitis c virus. the nobel committee praised the trio for helping explain a major source of blood—borne hepatitis that could not be explained by the hepatitis a and b viruses. their work makes possible blood tests and new medicines that have saved millions of lives, the committee said. and we can speak now to the virologist michael houghton, one of those awarded the 2020 prize in medicine. many congratulations. you've been working on this i think for many

yea rs. working on this i think for many years. it didn't come as a surprise today, or were you thinking why has it taken so long? in between those two scenarios mainly. it's very nice of course to be awarded that, but i've been aware that it's been a possibility for many years. so it's very nice when it finally happened. congratulations, but it's interesting because you are quite slow to comment this. some people thought you haven't been told at the right time. when did you get the call? when did you know? well, yes, i actually got the call from a colleague of mine at the university of alberta in canada, where i now work, and he told me. isaid how do you know? he said it's online. it turns out the nobel committee had trouble getting a hold of me. i think they called my university number, and i'm sheltering in place in my home in the us. that is

extraordinary. you are told by a friend. i was reading you turned down an award seven years ago to get an award, because two collaborators of years weren't involved in the citation. how important has your tea m citation. how important has your team been to win the nobel prize? is this something you really firmly believe it is equally shared between all three of you? yes, it's a great question. i think my nobel in the 70s, he defined hepatitis as a big problem. what myself and colleagues did in the 80s was actually discover the virus, the cause of non—a and on behalf of site ‘s. i've worked with two very important colleagues. i consider we identify the virus and discover the virus. but then going

further, doctor rice is a brilliant virologist and he taught us a lot about how this virus replicates in ways we can attack it in order to produce therapies. ex expands 30 yea rs. produce therapies. ex expands 30 years. a produce therapies. ex expands 30 yea rs. a lot produce therapies. ex expands 30 years. a lot of people have been involved. when awards like the nobel is only for three, that's what you end up with. the committee said that you were responsible for saving millions of lives, which must be quite something. to be held capable of doing. when do you think hepatitis c will be eradicated? very good question. it's like covid. we need a vaccine to be able to do that, and the vaccine has been a difficult challenge for hepatitis c. the field has been working on it for 30 years, but i think now we do have

genuine optimism that is possible. and i think like the covid vaccine, i think and i think like the covid vaccine, ithinki and i think like the covid vaccine, i think i have a good chance of working, for hepatitis c we are trying to utilise antibodies and i think may be that combination will be the combination that works. let's hope so. congratulations again. cineworld is to temporarily close all its cinemas in the uk and the us from thursday. the move, which also affects the company's picturehouse brand, puts around 115,000 workers at risk, including more than five and half thousand in the uk. the announcement comes after the release of the new james bond film was delayed once again. our business correspondent emma simpson reports... wolverhampton's main cinema — 1a screens here, but soon to be mothballed like the rest of the cineworld chain. the company suspending its operation

on thursday, putting nearly 6000 jobs at risk. i speak for a lot of staff who think we deserve more notice. a lot of us don't know what to do, and three days notice before we close really doesn't feel fair to any of us. it was hoped he would come to the rescue, the biggest movie of the year to lure audiences back. but and i will be shown until april, cineworld says it's business as a viable. —— is not viable. cineworld says it's business as a viable. -- is not viable. we are likely closing shop now. we have no food. we cannot hold a business in this way. we would never close the cinema if we had any other option, and the only alternative to protect the company and our team, because oui’ the company and our team, because our team will be suffering a lot from disclosure. it's a bit of a

chicken and egg situation for this industry right now. cinema owners need big movies for income, but the hollywood studios who make these blockbusters also need to make sure big enough audiences will turn up. it doesn't seem so where go in a pandemic. it's just it doesn't seem so where go in a pandemic. it'sjust like, have your popcorn 's. it's been a long time. we now mostly watch netflix. experts say cineworld was vulnerable before the pandemic. expansion drove a very big rise in debt, and it's been burning cash for month. odeon says a quarter of its minimums will be on be monday to thursday —— shut monday through thursday. it's not clear

when they'll reopen. emma simpson, bbc news. demand for new cars fell to a 21 year low last month. there were 328,000 registrations, according to the society of motor manufacturers and traders, down 4.4% on september last year. let's get more on this with our reporter nina nanji. bad news, not entirely unpredictable? this was yet another blow for the car industry. it's already had a pretty tough time through the lockdown earlier this year. it was forced to close factories for up to her long period of time. now the hope is that we would see some sort of bounce back in today's figures. the idea was the pent—up demand from all these buyers who weren't able to go out there in the lockdown, they might sort of rush out now that things have opened up rush out now that things have opened up and go to buy those cars. but there hasn't —— it hasn't played out that way. this was the worst septemberfor new that way. this was the worst september for new car sales in the ukfor

september for new car sales in the uk for the more than two decades. it's normally a bumper month for new car sales, enough because one of only two times in the year when you see the release of new cart like since plates and that generally would drive insurgent demand —— licence plate. better news when it comes to technology? that's true, but if you take a broader picture for the overall industry, it is clearly a sign of consumer, —— weak consumer demand. it suggests that you got by cars, at this sort of time, it feels like consumers aren't really prepared to go into that. the chief executive of the tray body said it's been a really torrid year for the whole industry and he says it will remain challenging going forward. that's not just it will remain challenging going forward. that's notjust because of the pandemic and the fears of rising

unemployment, but also because of brexit and the concerns over new ta riffs brexit and the concerns over new tariffs weighing over the whole industry. as you say, there is some glimmer of hope, and that's that sales of electric vehicles are actually very strong in september. remember that car manufacturers have been putting lots of money, huge amounts to try and develop these new technologies, and they will be hoping to recoup some of that investment at a time when sales of petrol and diesel cars remains subdued. back to our main news this hour. president trump has announced that after being diagnosed and treated for coronavirus last friday, he's to leave hospital within the next few hours.

in the past half hour, the president's doctor, sean conley, has been speaking to reporters outside the walter reed medical centre near washington where the president has been treated. 0ver over the past 2a hours, the president has continued to improve. he's met or exceeded all standard hospital discharge criteria and will receive another dose of remdesivir today, and then we plan to get them home. it's been more than 72 hours since his last fever. 0xygen levels, including saturations and his work of breathing, are all normal. though he may not entirely be out of the woods yet, the team and i agree that all our evaluations and most important lay, his clinical status support the president's safe return home where he will be surrounded by world class medical care 20 a7. so

long as everything continue on track, to get him home later today -- 2a/7. track, to get him home later today -- 24/7. you said that he still on steroids, medicines usually given to covid patient on ventilators or low oxygen. did you over treat him? as east on the medication, how's it say for him to return to the house quiz? we send patients home with medications all the time. yesterday afternoon, he he met all of his requirements safely. he's returning to medical unit that staff 20 a7 with top—notch staff, and the unit here will continue to support us in the nature. what infection control

measures are you taking and how is it safe to him to drive around in a cloth mass yesterday? how is any of this safe? the president has been surrounded by medical and security staff for days. with full ppe. yesterday, the us secret service agents were in that same level of ppe for a very short period of time. we worked with our infectious disease experts to make some recommendations for how the key —— how to keep everything safe at the white house for the president and those around him. we are looking at where he will be carrying out his duties. i'lljust say where he will be carrying out his duties. i'll just say that it's where he will be carrying out his duties. i'lljust say that it's in line with everything we've been doing upstairs for the last several days. can you tell us please when he

had his last negative test? wasn't thursday, wednesday? do you remember when? i don't want to go backwards. asi when? i don't want to go backwards. as i understand, it is being done —— the contact tracing. i'm not involved with that. was this something he pushed forward? we tried to get patients out of the hospital as quickly as it is safe and reasonable. every day, a patient stays in the hospital unnecessarily isa stays in the hospital unnecessarily is a risk to themselves, and right now there's nothing being done u psta i rs now there's nothing being done upstairs here that we can't safely conduct down at home. seven to ten days with the window you be concerned about, i don't think we are there yet. do you have concerns about potential worsening and reversal? what are your plans for addressing that? you are absolutely right, and that's why we are being

cautiously optimistic is an en garde —— and en garde. we are looking to this weekend if we can get through to monday with him remaining the same or improving, better yet, then we will all take that final deep sigh of relief. i said, 2a/7 world —class sigh of relief. i said, 2a/7 world—class medical care. we won't miss anything that we would have caught up here. sean connolly, the white house for it's time for some weather with louise lear. despite losing have become operative vincent rain, it's... today we had some threatening looking skies. we are still under the influence of low pressure circulating around, a series of weather front enhancing

the showers across the west of the country. for tuesday, still the risk of 20 of showers around —— plenty of showers. eastern areas of shabbat lend will see the best of the sunshine. —— the eastern areas of scotland. temperatures between 12 and 16 degrees. below eases the way, albeit briefly, and wednesday will be acquired day. some sunshine coming through, and a high of 15 celsius. we changed gear once again on thursday as we see another area of low pressure bringing the risk of wet weather across england and wales. breezy with a few showers to the north.

donald trump was my doctor said he feels better than he did 20 years ago. it's a risky message to send to the public about a disease that killed some 210,000 people. you'll see him shortly. he returns to a white house hard—hit by the virus. his press secretary the latest effort is test positive. we talked to michael cohen on how to handle a patient who is also the president. also in the programme....