the head of the nhs in england once that the staff are back in the eye of the storm as coronavirus cases continue to rise. simon stevens said for most staff it had been the toughest year in living memory. at a time of year when we would normally be celebrating, a lot of people are feeling tired, anxious and frustrated. members of the armed forces are going to help carry out coronavirus testing in schools come january. legendary french fashion designer pierre cardin has died at the age of 98. . and have a new type of

prosthetic limb is helping children like phoebe. the head of the nhs in england has warned that workers are "back in the eye of the storm" as coronavirus cases continue to rise. simon stevens praised the efforts of staff at the end of what he said was — for most — the toughest year in living memory. hospitals in england are currently treating more covid patients than at the peak of the first wave in april. here's our health correspondent catherine burns. every christmas, the nhs chief executive puts out a message thanking staff. today, and acknowledgement it has been the toughest year most of us can remember and it's not over yet. we

are back in the eye of the storm. with this second wave of coronavirus, sweeping europe and indeed this country. the number of covid patients in england peaked in the first wave in april at nearly 19,000. over the summer, the first wave in april at nearly 19,000. overthe summer, things the first wave in april at nearly 19,000. over the summer, things got much better but since september, it's been climbing. now at more than 20,000, it's higher than that first peak. welsh hospitals are treating their highest level of covid patients now. in northern ireland, there is a warning the next few days could be critical and in scotland, doctors say there is a danger services will be overwhelmed. in the first wave, the nhs cancelled most of their work so it could focus on covid. this time around, it's been trying to keep other things going but now, more staff are being redeployed and routine operations being put back. we are desperate, oui’ being put back. we are desperate, our members are desperate to keep that disruption as low as possible. but unfortunately, some of our

elective and plan services will be disrupted, both in hospitals and in other settings as well. some hospitals are asking staff to cancel their annual leave, mid and south essex nhs foundation trust says it hasn't made this request lightly. staff in london and the south—east say they are under intense pressure. we are doing all we can and will continue to do all we can to keep eve ryo ne continue to do all we can to keep everyone safe and make sure everyone is cared for but i do think if we continue with the current rate of admissions we are very close to becoming overwhelmed. winter is a lwa ys becoming overwhelmed. winter is always the hardest time of the year for the nhs and that's never been truer than now about vaccines mean their sober head. -- there is hope ahead. by late spring, with vaccine supplies coming on stream we will have been able to offer all vulnerable people across this country, this vaccination. catherine burns, bbc news. 1,500 military personnel are to assist with the roll out of mass coronavirus testing in schools

in england next month. they will hold webinars and give telephone guidance to staff, with children mostly carrying out tests themselves. but teaching unions say schools haven't been given enough time to make plans and some head teachers are calling for the government to delay the start of term. damian grammaticas reports. in less than a week, empty classrooms should start filling again. millions of children heading back to school but will it be safe? government ‘s plan is in secondary schools there should be mass testing of pupils and staff, much of it done by stu d e nts of pupils and staff, much of it done by students themselves. under supervision. it's a huge logistical challenge. it's not going to be easy. it will be difficult, we are ina easy. it will be difficult, we are in a national emergency but it will make a huge difference to teachers and children and hopefully, meaning that schools will remain open. the opposition wants the government scientific advice to be published but those giving it believe getting children in class as a priority. we

do need to do what we can to make sure our children are in school, we know for some children virtual learning is a real challenge and thatis learning is a real challenge and that is what worries me, that we will increase the divide between those that will thrive with virtual learning and those that will not. to assist the idea is one and half thousand military personnel who have already been running testing to help out. not in schools but remotely, giving guidance online and over the phone. we are education errors, we can support the government, commits good people have members of the army but for three and a half thousand secondary schools, 1500 troops doing webinars probably is not the government response we were looking for. the return to school is staggered across the uk. in northern ireland, children start face—to—face teaching next week. in wales, most should be back by the 11th of january. in scotland, it won't be before the 18th. many head teachers feel they simply don't have time to

prepare. things have just come through to schools very late and i think it's led to a lot of stress and panic over the christmas holidays to try and get people recruited. the community has been excellent, we've had press coverage, we've talked to our community and we've talked to our community and we've had some volunteers but we still have nowhere near enough. schools have stepped up right away from march, delivering online learning, turning things at the turn ofa learning, turning things at the turn of a coin. we are very used to being adaptable, we really want this to work but we don't know where we are going to get the volunteers from. and without space for testing in schools with a trained personnel to oversee it, but many head teachers really wa nt oversee it, but many head teachers really want art mobile units to help make mass screening work. damian grammaticas, bbc news. catherine joins me now. you get the sense we are at a key point. we really are, it feels like the government has big decisions to make in the next few days. we had

the situations schools, pupils, teachers, parents, looking forsome real clarity over the coming days. another thing to look out for is the situation on the tiered system. right now in england, we have i think 2a million people living in tier 4, the highest level of restrictions. to give you some context, that's more than 40% of the population. the question now for ministers is that enough? they will review it tomorrow but today, a senior epidemiologist who sits on the sage committee, professor andrew heywa rd, the sage committee, professor andrew heyward, he has said ministers need to act now to avoid a catastrophe in january and february. that's a big decision that is going to be made in the next few days and there is another thing to think about. we talk about pressure is on the nhs, winter pressures, this is something they weren't dealing with last time around but they are now and it is a very real pressure. respiratory illnesses, slips, trips, falls all happening more and there's another

thing, a positive, adding extra pressure, we are getting better at treating covid. that means we are getting some evidence that when patients are in hospital being treated, they are staying on for longer so hospitals in the north of england say on average they are looking at an extra seven days for a patient and then some data from intensive care units say when patients are on respiratory support, basic support, things like having oxygen through a facemask, they were on that forfour oxygen through a facemask, they were on that for four days, now it's oxygen through a facemask, they were on that for four days, now its five days so this is a good thing, we are getting better at treating the patients but at the same time it all adds to the picture of extra pressure on the nhs. at a time when it could really do without it. catherine, thank you. let's take a look at some of today's other news. australia says it could deport british backpackers who flout covid rules, after hundreds were seen partying at a sydney beach on christmas day. videos of the gathering showed crowds of young people at bronte beach, in breach of regulations. local health officials called it "absolutely appalling".

sir keir starmer is facing a rebellion over his decision to back borisjohnson's eu trade deal. the labour leader will order his mps to vote for the deal tomorrow. sir keir says the deal is not what the government promised, but better than no deal. us president—electjoe biden says his team is not getting the co—operation it needs from the trump administration, as he prepares to move into the white house. speaking after a briefing with national security and foreign policy aides, mr biden criticised the defense department for not sharing key information. south africa has announced its tightening covid restricitions, as president cyril ramaphosa warned that a new more infectious strain of the virus is sweeping the country. they include a curfew, compulsory mask—wearing in public spaces, and a ban on all indoor and outdoor events. legendary french fashion designer pierre cardin has died at the age of 98. he transformed the fashion industry in the 1960s and ‘70s by successfully licensing his brand name

and introducing futuristic styles. his family says he died in a hospital near paris. our correspondent daniela relph looks back at his life. newsreel: another leader of the fashion world in paris, pierre cardin, takes the town by storm and reveals to breathlessly excited womanhood what they simply must be wearing by easter. pierre cardin, the fashion world supreme innovator. for decades, his designs ripped up convention and shocked the establishment. his thirst for the new and surprising was never satisfied. born in 1922, he left school at 1a to train in making cloth. a fortune teller told him he'd be famous. he asked if she knew anyone who worked in fashion. she did. he moved to paris, clutching an address. he designed costumes forjean cocteau's film beauty

and the beast in 1916 and was soon unnerving the fashion industry itself. his 1950's bubble dress took liberties with the female silhouette. he moved young men out of boxyjackets, creating a new look for the 1960s. the beatles, in their collarless cardin suits, said he was one step ahead of tomorrow. he irritated his fellow high—fashion designers, launching ready—to—wear collections for the middle classes. and indulged in futuristic fantasies, inspired by the space age. some of it, impractical to wear. this was his proposed uniform for nurses. he was a savvy businessman, showing this 1970s collection in china, where fashion was set by chairman mao. but he spotted potential. i expect in the future, not for tomorrow but i'm sure in ten years, china will become the most important country in the world. cardin established licensing agreements, putting his name on everything, from glasses

to fancy carpets. it changed the way the industry worked. he bought a castle once owned by the marquis de sade, putting on shows there into his tenth decade. still experimenting, still innovating. pierre cardin, capturing the future before it exists. fashion designer pierre cardin, who's died at the age of 98. even the most up—to—date prosthetic limbs can often be too heavy — or hard for young children to use with ease. but now a group of engineering students have created a flexible device called ‘the mitt‘. it slides on like a glove — and has magnetic attachments for extra movement. it's led to a campaign to give a ‘mitt‘ to every child, under the age of nine who needs one, in the uk. our correspondent duncan kennedy reports. is it a christmas present? yes. inside the wrapping... you going to open it up? ..inside the box, inside the bag...

a prosthetic hand! whoo—hoo! ..seven—year—old phoebe is discovering something... awesome. ..that will change her life. it's a new type of prosthetic limb called a mitt. and, for phoebe, who was born without a lower arm, its opening up a new world. from skipping... ..to painting... ..to blowing bubbles, everything now seems possible. you can hold a pen and that bit, you can actually hold a microphone, even though we don't have a microphone. itjust gives her so much more independence and so much more ability to be a lively seven—year—old and run around and do all the things that she wants to do. for people who have lost their hand, they're looking for tools to do stuff. it was designed by nate macabuag and other students at imperial college london.

they wanted to rethink existing rigid prosthetics and create something light and flexible. pads of paper, books, phones, you can open it with the gripper. all attached by magnets, this is where technology meets clothing. we could potentially service millions of people around the world that haven't had anything before, and the impact that represents is mind—blowing. that's all we want to do. it's so unique, nate is now working with the douglas bader foundation to provide one mitt for every child in britain under nine. # somewhere over the rainbow...# children like these, now using the device. but the douglas bader foundation says it needs the public‘s help to fund the project. smash that on. so it's asked alex lewis to help. first gear. alex, who lost all four of his limbs through sepsis, says mitts, which cost around

£1,000, will transform the way children think about their disability. very comfy, like a slipper. it's all about trying to encourage inclusivity and we have had feedback from kids that have gone into school wearing their mitt and other kids are saying, "oh, my goodness, that's the coolest thing we've seen, we want one. " now, i've never heard an adult, ever, look at my prosthetic hook and say, "that's cool, i want one." little star. . .! children like phoebe may need a rigid prosthetic later, but, for now, this is all about softness, affordability and freedom. duncan kennedy, bbc news in hampshire. that's all from the bbc news at one, so it's goodbye from me. on bbc one, we nowjoin the bbc‘s news teams where you are. to hear that we

good afternoon. it's 1:15pm and here's your latest sports news. in the latest round of premier league testing there were 18 positive coronavirus cases, the highest weekly number this season. manchester city are retesting their players and staff today to see if the covid outbreak at the club is under control. last night's match at everton was postponed just four hours before kick—off after "a number of positive cases". their next game against chelsea on sunday is also in doubt as is their league cup semi against manchester united three days later. gabrieljesus and kyle walker had already tested positive on christmas day and city have now shut their training ground. the football league has been badly affected by a number of outbreaks. league one doncaster have postponed their next three games, rochdale their next two and their club doctor has questioned whether the season should be paused.

having that period where people could go and see their family probably wasn't the wisest thing, not just for football but probably wasn't the wisest thing, notjust for football but in general. deep down, they may have serious concerns, they have young kids and family members or elderly relatives, and it sometimes begs the question of should the season still be going on? we've got these tear for places where people cannot travel but footballers are able to go in and out of —— tier 4. it's probably not the wisest thing at the moment. there are five more premier league matches this evening. with teams around them all dropping points, manchester united could move up to second in the table if they beat wolves. edinson cavani could be involved from the start for only the second time in a league game since joining the club. definitely a starter, you don't classify a player of that quality as anything else. we've got plenty of starters,

more than 11 starters, and that's the thing when you're at man united. you should believe in yourself, trust yourself. i trust them, i trust my players. we've got good competition for places and he will probably start more games than he will not start. sheffield wednesday are looking for a new manager after sacking tony pulis. they looked to have turned a corner with four points from two matches over christmas but afterjust ten games in charge, he leaves them second bottom of the championship. they've already been hit with a six—point deduction for breaching spending rules. coach neil thompson takes temporary charge for tonight's game against middlesbrough. welsh forward jake ball will leave scarlets at the end of the season to be his family in australia. that will also rule him out playing for wales because he only has 49 caps and needs 60 if he isn't playing for one of the welsh regions to be able to carry on playing for his country. it's a big blow for wales, he has been a mainstay in the second row since making hsi debut six years ago. india thrashed australia by eight

wickets in melbourne with a day to spare to level their test series at 1—1 with two to play. after bowling the hosts out for 200, they easily chased down the 70 runs required. it's a remarkable turnaround after they were heavily beaten in the first test having been bowled out for their lowest test score of 36. the third test is in sydney on the sixth january. i think this will go down in the annals of indian cricket, world cricket, as one of the greatest comebacks in the history of the game. you know, to be rolled overfor 36 and then three days later to get up and be ready to punch, this was outstanding. i think the boys deserve all the credit for the character they showed, real character. and in the last hour, south africa have completed victory in their first test against sri lanka in centurion. they cruised to a win by an innings and 45 runs. the second and final test starts in johannesburg on january third.

that's all the sport for now. you can find more on all those stories on the bbc sport website. that's bbc.co.uk/sport. confirmation shortly that burnley, which was up for sale, has found a buyer. i'll have more on that on the next hour. you're watching bbc news with simon mccoy. more now that 1,500 service personnel are to assist with the roll out of mass coronavirus testing in schools in england next month. they will hold webinars and give telephone guidance to staff with children mostly carrying out tests themselves. the government has this afternoon said they are still planning for the staggered openingof schools and worknig to ensure testing is in place. anita ellis is the head teacher at royal wootton bassett academy in wiltshire. she told me the military assistance doesn't really help things. to hear that we have 1500 members of the armed forces effectively

giving us online support is not really, as jeff said earlier this morning, not really what we were looking for. what schools actually need are bodies on the ground to help to deliver this testing. schools have stepped up right the way from march, delivering online learning, turning things at the turn of a coin. we are very used to being adaptable. we really want this to work but we don't know where we're going to get the volunteers from. we don't know where we're going to be able to get that vetting done in time so really what we need is the online, on the ground support. do you need the start of term to be postponed? that would be very helpful. i am going to return on the 11th ofjanuary to a significant amount of very speedy planning. we all know that speedy planning can sometimes go wrong. we'll have year elevens and year thirteens in on that day so ensuring that we are all following the covid rose again and making sure they are safe. the biggest concern for me,

as it has been through term two, two, are my staff — making sure they are safe is my absolute priority. when you heard that the mod were suggesting the possibility of students swabbing themselves, what was your reaction? my reaction to that is this, it's an honest response, i will have a year 11 student who is going to be very nervous about this process. don't forget we deliver hpv vaccinations every year to year groups so we are very used to delivering vaccination programmes in schools, we're very used to organising that with the school health service. we'll have an 11—year—old student who is going to be very nervous about the process, potentially could get it wrong, and the real concern for us in schools is that they get it wrong and it produces a negative response. if they are a carrier of covid, if they are asymptomatic, they're then back in the year group and potentially spreading that around not only the students but the students' families and my staff. that's the biggest concern, the accuracy of these tests, the ability of young people in particular to do these tests under very, very

difficult circumstances. most people, it seems, do want children back at school, whether it is teachers, parents, indeed yourself. what is the biggest problem at the moment? the biggest problem is ensuring the safety of all. i think also its the confidence in the systems. as i say, school leaders, school teachers are very used to being able to adapt very, very quickly. my staff are very, very adaptable at, on monday morning, turning whatever they need to turn out via remote learning or sitting in front of students and teaching physically. they are very adapt at doing that but what we can't deal with at the moment is the on uncertainty, the are hoc —— ad hoc way which we are being held on to advice for the future and future plans.

the biggest concern is about keeping everybody safe. dr mike tildesley is a professor of infectious disease modelling at the university of warwick, and a member of the government's sage advisory group on disease modelling. earlier he told me he's concerned about the return of schools due to the rising cases of the virus, but there is longterm educational harm caused by that. we have seen cases rising in a concerning way, especially in the south east and east of england. what's concerning about that is we haven't seen the effects of lockdown in november that we saw at the start of the year when we went into lockdown previously so that has indicated that even with severe controls, we don't appear to have brought the r number below one so we are seeing a rise in infections in teenagers in particular. the issue we need to think about with this is a long—term strategy. if we are going to be thinking about doing something regarding school closures then that concerns me because we know there is long—term educational

harm with that. hopefully we can roll out mass testing that will enable schools to open safely but there may be some delay. it's a huge undertaking to be able to roll that out across the country so it may be with schoolchildren or secondary school children at least, may need to be held back for a week or two to get that in place. you're speaking in personal capacity but there were suggestions yesterday that some in sage were saying if you want to bring the r number below one there will have to be a total lockdown. yes, this is what really concerns me because if we purely look at covid we've seen the new variant appears to be more transmissible which is a real concern. tier 4 areas don't appear to be getting the r number below one but my concern is if we are closing secondary schools for the foreseeable future until we get the vaccine rolled out to a large enough level, we know that has

long—term educational harm that affects children's well—being so we need an alternate strategy in the long term. maybe in the short term, we need to do that, but hopefully coupled with mass testing, we can send children back safely and ensure that any damage to their educational needs is limited. i'm guessing you would welcome the government saying that 1,500 military personnel are going to help with the logistics of getting that mass testing done, but getting it done physically is a different story altogether. absolutely. this is the problem. mass testing in theory sounds fantastic and it's a really useful weapon in our arsenal when we don't have vaccinations rolled out at a large enough level, which we do not yet. the problem is exactly what you said, it's a logistical challenge to be able to roll this out across the country. we are talking about potentially providing mass testing for millions of children at least once a week, possibly more often, so it's a huge undertaking, but we do need to do what we can

to make sure our children are in school. we know for some children, virtual learning is a real challenge and that's what worries me, that we will increase the divide between those that will thrive with virtual learning and those that were not so long—term school closures to me is not an option. a lot of people are wondering about this new variant which is originating in the uk apparently, or is it because the uk has a more effective testing system initially to spot these things? this is one of the difficulties we have. we do have extremely good capabilities to detect new variants as they emerge so there are indications that suggest that this variant has emerged in the uk initially, but we are able to detect these things rapidly. it's important to remember with the new variant we have seen several new variants emerge every month throughout the pandemic. itjust so happens that most of those don't tend to be much different in terms of how transmissible they are.

this one was particularly concerning because it appeared to be much more transmissible which is why we were worried. there is no indication that it creates more severe symptoms so hopefully it may not lead to increased hospitalisations. there is no indication that the vaccines won't work, but we need to monitor it because the issue with it being more transmissible is even if the same proportion of people end up having to be hospitalised, they do so at a faster rate so that's the real concern. we're still in december. we had the optimism of the initial pfizer vaccine. we're waiting on a possible second vaccine in the uk. are you optimistic that we are going to be heading in the right direction soon? let's have a slight silver lining. i am really hopeful we will get some good news about the approval of the oxford vaccine this week or early next week. once we have that we need to get as many people vaccinated as rapidly as possible and getting the vaccine

out to those vulnerable people. if we can start to vaccinate the majority of the over 70s in the next month or so, we can start to see the worst effects of this virus going down. first of all, we're looking at the number of deaths going down and the number of hospitalisations going down which will relieve the pressure on the nhs. if we can start to do that, hopefully the worst effects of this virus will start to diminish as we get towards the spring. now it's time for a look at the weather with sarah keith lucas. good morning. the weather has certainly taken a bit of a wintry turn through the final week of 2020. we had further sleet and snow showers overnight and through the day, we've got more of the same. some ice and snow around, that'll be with us on and off for the next few days, so some disruption is possible. snow showers through today, an area of sleet and snow moving out of northern england, it will fall as rain, sleet and snow in south wales, south—west england. more snow showers moving in across

the northern half of scotland. rain and sleet showers around the east coast of england. most of the showers ease away through tonight, mainly confined to coastal areas and the north—west of scotland. temperatures falling down to freezing or a little bit below, so another cold night with a sharp frost and iciness to start wednesday morning. wednesday is a little drier for most compared to today, but later in the day we have more rain, some sleet and snow pushing into the south—west of england, perhaps south wales and further snow showers across the north of scotland. goodbye for now.