a sharp rise in the number of people admitted to hospital with covid — as cities in northern england call on the government to give them more powers to slow soaring infection rates. manchester, liverpool, newcastle and leeds say the current restrictions are not working, they're confusing and some are counterproductive. we are facing the worst of both worlds here. the infection rate is going up, the economy of our city is tanking. almost 3,000 people with covid are now in hospital in england. boris johnson tells the conservative party's first virtual conference that the country will have a bright future after the pandemic. even in the darkest moments, we can see the bright future ahead.

back in the white house — donald trump is crititicised for again playing down the seriousness of the virus, falsely claiming it's less deadly than flu. the church of england spent decades failing to protect children who'd been sexually abused by clergy says a damning report. and hundreds of freelance musicians take to the streets calling for more help from the government. and coming up on bbc news. what now for geraint thomas? the giro d'italia favourite has been dealt a huge blow as he's forced to withdraw from the race with a broken hip. good evening, and welcome to the bbc news at six.

the number of people being admitted to hospital in england with coronavirus has jumped by a quarter in just one day — the largest daily figure since the beginning ofjune. it comes as council leaders and mayors in leeds, liverpool, newcastle and manchester — where cases are soaring — have written to the health secretary saying the current restrictions are not working, they're confusing the public, and some — like the 10pm rule — are counter—productive. now they're demanding more local powers for local police and councils to try to stop the soaring infection rates. over the last few weeks, cases in the north of england have continued to rise, despite local lockdown restrictions being imposed on millions. cases in the south of england are relatively low by comparison. danjohnson is in salford, in greater manchester, for us tonight. we have seen this surge in case numbers across some are far bigger cities and the question being asked is how closely this is linked to the

influx of students in the past few weeks. that mass migration of people gci’oss weeks. that mass migration of people across the country. it is important to say there are places with high student numbers that do not have problems and places with problems that do not have high student numbers but i spent the day on the pa rt numbers but i spent the day on the part of manchester that has the highest case numbers anywhere in the country. in the student streets are far afield the mood is darkening. there is growing concern as case numbers rise and more confusion as the layers of rules are built on. ian has left ear for his whole life. whether we are in lockdown or not, wearing masks or not, it needs not to be half baked. not 61 and have a dozen of the others. today, council leaders in four of the worst affected cities, leeds, newcastle, liverpool and here in manchester, called for action. in a letter to matt hancock they wrote, the existing restrictions are not working. they are confusing to the public and some, like the 10pm rule,

are counter—productive. they made it clear they do not support further economic knockdowns, but instead offered up a five—point plan including more localised decision—making and more financial support for the individuals and businesses most affected. we are facing the worst of both worlds, the infection rate is going up worlds, the infection rate is going up and the economy of our cities is tanking. so we decided to come together and really stress to the government that we have the expertise so please can they start to work with local to work with us to set up local solutions to the problem is that we are all facing. i think seven or eight people got tested positive on oui’ eight people got tested positive on our floor. the university of manchester has seen more than 1000 cases, adam and his flatmates had been isolating for ten days. what do they expect us to do? where are all fun and without a pretty poor six months, what does he expect?‘ fun and without a pretty poor six months, what does he expect? a lot of us did not have a choice so we are in this accommodation we will

all get it in the end. the council is delivering letters to residents saying the return of university stu d e nts saying the return of university students has had an expected impact on the letter or number and there are on the letter or number and there a re leaflets on the letter or number and there are leaflets reminding people that should not be parting but some voices here feel it is just too simple to blame the students when there are other things going on.|j feel they have been duped and we have been duped, we all shared the launderette, supermarkets, public transport. inevitably it will hit communities like ours and we do have a higher number of vulnerable people both socially deprived and people from the black and ethnic minority community and older people as well. you see people living here at ten o'clock and by bills and go to a house party. ben has built his business year based on student trade. we are down 6096 of revenue and the government either needs to

shut as completely and give support or let as trade. otherwise we will not survive. universities here have announced then are now moving most courses online to try to suppress the virus. 0ther courses online to try to suppress the virus. other major cities will be watching closely pressed for and case numbers to rise. in a statement the department for health and social says it is working hand—in—hand with local authorities and regional leaders and that test and trace is working on an unprecedented scale. it says there is support for people on low incomes who are forced to isolate but certainly there is a real challenge here and getting a grip on it will not be easy. so what could be behind the rise in infections? our medical editor fergus walsh has been looking at the numbers. there is a north south divide with covid, cases and hospital admissions have been riding sharply in cities

in the north of england where much of the population face extra restrictions were they are at substantially restrictions were they are at su bsta ntially lower restrictions were they are at substantially lower in the south. if we look at three hotspots for covid in the north of england, manchester had 529 cases per 100,000 population. liverpool, 487, newcastle, 435. now contrast that with three cities in the south. bristol had 46 cases per 100,000 population. norwich, 32, and london, 60. what about who is getting covid? in the north—west of england, as in other areas, the highest rates are among people in their 20s. you can see how sharply it has risen in recent weeks. in more vulnerable age groups, people in their 60s, it has risen there too, as it has among people in their 70s and among the 80 plus. now, by contrast, in the south of england we have not seen that

sharp increase among older age groups, except in london. and all that is reflected in daily hospital admissions. 0n the 3rd of october, there were 130 covid patients admitted to hospitals in the north—west. 117 in the north—east and yorkshire. but only ten in the south—west, 19 in the east of england, and 38 in london. every day 1.5 million people use this covid symptoms app from king's couege this covid symptoms app from king's college london, it has shown there are consistently five times as many cases in the north of england compared to the south. and there are several possible explanations for this. you have the deprivation of the population and we do definitely see twice the rates of infection in deprived areas according to our maps. then i think you have got people not working as much at home

in the north compared to the south. daily covid deaths were ten times higher at the peak in april but the concern is that unless coronavirus cases are brought under control in the north, hospital admissions and eventually death will just the north, hospital admissions and eventually death willjust keep rising. fergus walsh, bbc news. the latest government coronavirus data shows there were 14,542 new coronavirus infections recorded in the latest 24—hour period. that means the average number of new cases reported per day in the last week, is 11,99. hospital admissions jumped significantly on sunday — now on average 470 people are being admitted every day over the past week. this number doesn't include scotland. 76 deaths were reported — that's people who died within 28 days of a positive covid—19 test. that means on average in the past week — 53 deaths were announced every day, which takes the total

number of deaths so far across the uk to 42,445. 0ur health correspondent sophie hutchinson is here. let's talk about the hospital admissions. it is a big rise injust one day — and the figures were have are for england alone. hospital admissions are one of the most reliable and best data we have in terms of measuring how the pandemic is developing and changing. the figures today are very concerning and until now we've seen a doubling in hospital admissions, roughly every two weeks. but these figures today see a sharp jump, doubling injust figures today see a sharp jump, doubling in just a week and also up bya doubling in just a week and also up by a quarter injust doubling in just a week and also up by a quarter in just one day. the figures from last sunday, 478 people admitted to hospital in england, compare that to the sunday before, 241 people and when you dig down into that rise and look at where it is happening, more than two thirds

of that is in the north—west, the north—east and yorkshire. those areas where we've seen a surge in infections. it is worth noting that wales has also seen a jump in terms of hospital admissions. so far that jump of hospital admissions. so far that jump in england and wales has not been translated into deaths but we do know there is often a lack of a couple of weeks between hospital admissions and deaths and that is why these figures are so concerning. new restrictions to try to stem the spead of coronavirus will be introduced in scotland tomorrow but will fall short of a full lockdown, first minister nicola sturgeon has announced. she was speaking as 800 new cases of covid—19 were confirmed acoss the country, with the number of people in hospital with the virus rising by 44 overnight to 262. 0ur scotland editor sarah smith joins us from glasgow. what are we expecting tomorrow? tomorrow we will get the details of

restrictions to be brought in later in the week and we do not know exactly what they will be but bars and pubs across scotland are based bad news. —— braced for bad news. the schools will not be closed and they will not be a total lockdown. and the government are hoping to use the half term halloween holidays to try to create what is known as a circuit breaker, two weeks of significantly tighter regulations to try to stem the rise in infection rates. so it could be that restau ra nts, rates. so it could be that restaurants, bars and pubs will be told to close or severely which extent and how they can operate in order to try to clamp down on the rise in infections. this is according to nicola sturgeon the most difficult decision in the crisis so far, trying to balance public health needs against the wider homes that we know that stricter rules can produce. sarah smith, thank you. the prime minister has set out his vision for britain after the coronavirus pandemic. in the closing speech of the virtual conservative party conference the prime minister said it's not

enough to go back to normal. he said he wanted every household in the uk to be powered by electricity generated by wind power, and also pledged to reform the housing market. 0ur political editor laura kuenssberg reports. fa ncy fancy a prime minister's speech with a coffee brea k‘s fancy a prime minister's speech with a coffee break‘s borisjohnson for yea rs a coffee break‘s borisjohnson for years the irreverent darling of the sweaty party conference circuit, this year online only a prime minister grappling with what it means to govern in a crisis.|j minister grappling with what it means to govern in a crisis. i don't know about you but i have had more than enough of this disease and we will succeed just as this country has seen off every alien invader for the past thousand years. we human beings were simply not content ourselves with a repairjob, we see these moments as the time to learn and to improve on the world that

went before. he compared the disease toa went before. he compared the disease to a state of war, himself a leader ata to a state of war, himself a leader at a moment in history. in the depths of the second world war when just about everything had gone wrong, the government sketched out a vision of the post—war, new jerusalem that they wanted to build. and that is what we are doing now. promises on education, skills, homes, wind power on offer but with almost zero detail. uk government has decided to become world leader in low—cost, power generation, as saudi arabia is to oil the uk is to wind. he confronted whispers about his own ability now. i've read a lot of nonsense recently about how my own bout of covid has somehow robbed me of my mojo and of course this is self evident dribble. even in the darkest moments we can see the bright future ahead. and we can see how to build it and we are going to

build it together. but did it impress tories around the country watching along? i would like some recognition that there are problems. we are having a bad time appear. i'm just hoping and hoping that we all come out of this well. i was very impressed, actually, it was very upbeat and i thought it was a nice change, very positive and optimistic. we enjoyed the speech, but i would say it was not a standout moment for me. he always spoke highly of the union. we saw a bit of the old boris, there a degree of frustration among some members that were just not doing what we would normally do as the conservative party in power. but the prime minister quite rightly is setting the tone on the agenda. as any other time this whole week would have been a victory parade for tory hq. have been a victory parade for tory hq, a have been a victory parade for tory

h0, a moment for borisjohnson to lap up the applause after the election. but it is anything but that and although he dangles better days ahead, there was very little mention of the real risks to jobs and health that the country faces right now. a study of applause from a small stage for a politician craving the bit platform. he cannot be remotely sure when the world will look when the elections come round next time. the time is... just after quarter past six. our top story this evening. a sharp rise in the number of people admitted to hospital with covid — as cities in northern england call on the government to give them more powers to slow soaring infection rates. and cambridge university triples its intake of black british students in five years though still lags behind some uk universities. coming up on sportsday on bbc news: and other upset at the french open as qualifier nadia podoroska reaches the semifinals by beating third seed elina svitolina,

to make history at roland garros. president trump is back in the white house after three nights in hospital, and says he is looking forward to debating with his democratic rival joe biden next week. he has again tried to play down the seriousness of the virus. today he falsely claimed that flu was more lethal in most places than covid. 0ur north america editor, jon sopel, is at the white house for us now. sophie, is at the white house for us now. thank you, and a of sophie, thank you, and as a result of that claim about flu being more serious, both facebook and twitter have placed restrictions on the post on the president. we've also heard in the last few minutes that america's top military commander, the chairman of the joint chiefs, is quarantining, along with several of his most senior officers after one tested positive. from donald trump's doctor today, we have had a bullet in the last few minutes saying he is

stable, reporting no symptoms and that all is looking good. from donald trump himself, another tweet, this time in block capitals — two words, feeling great. dramatic music plays. when donald trump left the white house last friday, he appeared dejected, fearful. but wow, his return last night couldn't have been more different. the former reality tv star knows how to make an entrance — and so had the white house turn into a made—for—television spectacular, all deliberately timed so it could be taken live by the network news bulletins who were on air at the time. and, after striding off of marine 0ne, he walked up to the truman balcony. and the first thing he did there — he very deliberately removed his mask, even though still infectious. covid — what's there to be frightened of? don't let it dominate you. don't be afraid of it. you're going to beat it. we have the best medical equipment, we have the best medicines — all developed recently. and you're going to beat it.

i didn't feel so good. and two days ago — i could've left two days ago — two days ago, i felt great, like better than i have in a long time. i said just recently, better than 20 years ago. although 210,000 americans have died and over 7 million have been infected, this was donald trump presenting himself as the warrior president who had seen off the hidden enemy. i stood out front, i led. nobody that's a leader would not do what i did. and i know there's a risk, there is a danger, but that's ok. and now i'm better — and maybe i'm immune, i don't know. there were numerous takes as the president, all the time without a mask, interacted with staff. his democratic rival, meanwhile, was campaigning in florida. he said he was glad to see the president back, but added this. anybody who contracts the virus by essentially saying "masks don't matter, social distancing doesn't matter" i think is responsible

for what happens to them. mr trump's doctors have warned he's not out of the woods and, as he reached the top of the steps to the white house residence, he was clearly gasping for breath. it may be there's a gap between the image he wants to project and a more fragile reality. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. the church of england failed to take child abuse seriously for decades, focusing on protecting its own reputation over protecting children and creating a culture where abusers were able to hide. that's the damning conclusion from the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse. its report says almost 400 clergy and other church leaders were convicted of sexual offences against children between the 1940s and 2018. here's our home editor, mark easton. bell tolls. the church of england, for almost five centuries the established body of faith within the english state, is today accused of handling

allegations of child abuse in a way that conflicts with its moral purpose. instead of protecting victims, it focused attention on supporting alleged perpetrators, men like the dean of manchester, robert waddington, the bishop of gloucester, peter ball, the bishop of chester, victor whitsey, and the trainee priest timothy storey, all known to have sexually abused children. the church, today the's enquiry report finds, created a culture where such abusers could hide. clergy are still allowed to officiate, even after they've been convicted of child sexual abuse, but it sends a really strong moral message if you say, if you have been convicted of child sexual abuse, you are no longer allowed to officiate as a member of the clergy in the church of england or indeed any other church. i think many people would be amazed that they are. i think that's right. the report has found 390 church of england figures have been convicted of abusing children since 1940, and evidence that abuse remains a current and significant issue. in the year 2018 alone, the enquiry discovered there

were more than 2500 safeguarding concerns, and 449 child sexual abuse allegations reported. at church house today, senior clergy said they would support an enquiry recommendation that allegations of abuse should be dealt with by professional safeguarding officers rather than bishops. the church of england filed catastrophically in its duty to care for children and vulnerable people, and in its support for victims and survivors. that has to change, that is changing. we are utterly committed to that change. the church of england insists it will do what's necessary to make amends for its sins, but for the survivors of this pervasive and extensive institutional failure, there are still questions of trust. this man was abused by an anglican vicar in the 1970s but says he has onlyjust come to terms with what happened. now a campaigner for survivors, he says the church of england has covered up and avoided its crimes too often.

how deep a wound is there to be healed here? i think massive. many survivors have walked away limping, you know, bitter, angry. many have, i think, crawled under rocks to nurse their anger, because they've been treated often so badly. i've learnt to be ashamed again of the church. the archbishop of canterbury, justin welby, who appeared before the enquiry last year, has written an open letter apologising for the shameful way the church has acted. for abuse survivors, the test will be whether that contrition turns into action. mark easton, bbc news. the number of black students from the uk now studying at cambridge university has tripled in the past five years. this year 137 out of the 3,500 first year students are black and british. in 2015 there were just 38. ashley john—ba ptiste has followed three students during their first year at the university, and reports here on their experiences.

fabiana, success and sharon, three black british undergraduates who this time last year were starting out at cambridge university. success is from manchester. and for his nigerian parents, cambridge is a big deal. not long into the first term, we caught up at a cambridge barbershop. from where i come from, this like very, very traditional, very nigerian culture, into is like upper class, like white community. sharon is from tottenham and her family of eritrean origin have come to visit. cambridge, we would have seen as something so unattainable, but it was a goal for you. if you enter certain, like, classes, you might be young person of colour there. you might be the only black person, you might be the only one with your hair there. all my friends have said, like, they've changed hairstyles and people don't recognise who they are. a few weeks into her first term, fabiana from coventry says she experienced racial discrimination from a white student at a social event.

the incident involved the use of a racial slur. this boyjust said like a really ignorant comment. hejust said, i'm too drunk to say the n word. what went through your head? it was mainlyjust like shock, like, ididn't... i couldn't say anything. everyone wasjust like, oh, my god, i can't believe you just said that. no one really spoke up apart from me and my black friend. you're definitely like, i'm black at cambridge! fabiana didn't report the incident, but confronted the student privately, who she says later apologised. the university says it regrets that the incident occurred and urges students to come forward if they experience or witness such behaviour. cambridge says it stands firmly against racism. it's not too long after her own encounter that fabiana hears of another incident involving a staff memberfrom one of the university's colleges verbally abusing a black student. i was on the train. one of my feet was on the seat.

a man from trinity college looked at me in disgust and just said, bleep. verbally assaulted me on the train. i think to myself, would i have been spoken like that if i was a white man? it really grates me that i'm getting emotional about it. yeah. beause you feel like you have to be strong. my mum keeps saying to me, just keep fighting. she keeps saying, do you want to drop out? do you want to leave? i'm fighting for every other black person who i know needs to occupy these spaces. the university says that nia told her college she had reported the incidents to the british transport police. they understand that no action was taken. whilst measures have been put in place to improve diversity, the university recognises there's still a problem. do you think this is a place that is institutionally racist? race has not been acknowledged as relevant, particularly to the whole intellectual experience

of being at cambridge. so in that sense, i would say it is racist because it doesn't acknowledge race in people's lives. despite challenges, the university's african caribbean society, also known as the acs, has been a lifeline for the students. when else in cambridge's history would you get a room full of black and minority ethnic students? we are alljust here existing and thriving. it's just such a beautiful symbol of how far we've come, and i'm so excited to be able to say that. over the summer black lives matter protests broke out across the uk following the death of george floyd in the us. i'm sure every black person in cambridge has a story to share about some sort of covert racism. byjuly, the academic year has ended. and for sharon, there is some good news. i got my exam results. somehow i managed to bag a first in both history and in spanish!

as the students prepare for a second year at cambridge and another year of navigating the coronavirus, their resilience is clear. ashley jean—ba ptiste, bbc news. the renowned british mathematician professor sir roger penrose has been named as one of three recipients of this year's nobel prize for physics. he received the prize for his groundbreaking work into black holes — regions of space where gravity is so strong that not even light can escape from them. sir roger shared the award with an american astronomer and a german astrophysicist. hundreds of musicians have gathered in london and birmingham today to protest at a lack of government support for professional musicians who are freelance. they held a two minute silence saying they've been abandoned during the pandemic and urgently need help. will gompertz reports. classical music plays. as makeshift orchestras go,

this one would take some beating. 400 of the country's leading professional musicians tuning up in parliament square. they've come to make their case to the politicians gathered in the building behind them. it's difficult to overestimate the impact that the pandemic has had on britain's live performance sector. musicians specifically have been hit really, really hard, having loads of gigs before and almost none afterwards. something like 30% of musicians are talking about leaving the profession altogether. 70% are earning a fraction of what they were earning this time last year. the players performed a brief passage of mars from gustav holst‘s the planets. the musicians' union said that around 85% of their 32,000 members are freelance, many of whom have been unable to claim adequate income support. there needs to be more concerted effort, whether that be through philanthropy or government funding or a combination of the two,

that actually targets money towards the freelance community, because it's enormous, we rely on it, and they are being left out. when times are good and when it all comes back, actually, a huge amount of money is generated by music and entertainment. we are the destination, really. when you go to see a show in the west end, perhaps you don't think about the people in the pit, but that's the freelancers. the musicians fell silent, both in london and in a corresponding event in birmingham, to make their point. the department for digital, culture, media and sport said it was working flat—out across the government to help the arts through covid. will gompertz, bbc news. time for a look at the weather, here's louise lear. i'm sure the prospect of a dry day tomorrow comes as music to your ears, as today again it has been another day of sunshine and showers, fewer of them across north yorkshire, some glimpses of sunshine, but further west there was always a lot of cloud around today, shop showers and rough winds

bringing some rough seas as