senior ministers prepare to finalise details of the roadmap out of lockdown in england. relief for this family

at the first announced change — care home residents in england will be allowed one regular visitor from 8th march. it's wonderful that one of us will be able to go in and hold her hand, and that will make a whole difference to us as a whole family. we'll be asking what else we might expect from boris johnson's much anticipated speech. also tonight... prince charles visits his father, the duke of edinburgh, in hospital — where he's been treated since tuesday. in myanmar, at least two people are killed by security forces — in the deadliest protests yet against the military coup and resignation from russian opposition leader alexei navalny — as he loses his appeal against two and a half years in prison.

good evening. senior ministers are expected to meet tomorrow to finalise details of the full plan for easing lockdown in england, which will be announced by the prime minister on monday. in the first confirmed relaxation of the rules, care home residents in england will be allowed to choose one person to visit them regularly from march 8th. they will be able to meet indoors and be allowed to hold hands — but visitors must wear personal protective equipment, and be tested before entering the home. our health correspondent anna collinson has more. a moment of relief during a dark year for 83—year—old barbara abrams. this is the closest her family have been allowed to get to her while visiting her care home in stockport because of covid restrictions. that lack of physical contact has been really difficult for us. my poor mum. her health, both physically and mentally, has really deteriorated, particularly in the last... since christmas.

i think it was, like, the straw that broke the camel's back. but now, a sign of hope. from the 8th of march, care home residents in england will be allowed to pick one person to visit them regularly indoors. with the government preparing to reveal its road map for easing lockdown on monday, this announcement has been called the first step to getting back to where we want to be. there are some rules. it has to be the same visitor every time, holding hands is allowed, but there can be no kissing or hugging. the visitor must be tested before entering the home, and they must wear ppe while inside. it's welcome news for many families, but too late for those who've lost loved ones during the pandemic. we have tried everything we possibly can, and what you have to remember is people in our services have very complex health care needs. and so, therefore, our primary duty has always been, through all the guidance we get, to keep them safe and to keep our staff safe. from early march, residents in scottish care homes will be

allowed two visitors. in northern ireland and wales, the advice varies between individual homes. scientists say a slow and steady approach is needed. there are some families who haven't seen their loved ones _ in care homes since march. so i really welcome i that announcement. i would say we still. have to be cautious. |let's not forget that the nhs hasi treated over 100,000 severely ill patients in the last month, and we still have almost i 20,000 people in hospital. jill has two siblings and says it's unlikely she'll be the chosen visitor because she lives the furthest away, but she doesn't mind. it's wonderful that one of us will be able to go in and hold her hand, and that will make a whole difference to us as a whole family. anna collinson, bbc news. let's speak to our political correspondent helen catt. so we'll get more details about easing lockdown on monday. are there any further signs of what's to come? borisjohnson has said he wants this

route out of lockdown to be cautious but irreversible, and we also know he said his top priority is getting all children back into school and the date set for that was the 8th of march, and there is increasing confidence this week in government that that date will be met. where does the road map go beyond that? downing street sources says a priority is finding ways of allowing families to start seeing each other once again, to allow more social contact, and we understand in the first instance that is likely to be outdoors because that is where the virus is less likely to spread, one of the options is allowing two households to meet outdoors and reports and when that might be suggest that could be around easter time, either before or around which is at the start of april this year. in terms of the broad direction, they are looking at things like outdoor recreation, and then things like nonessential retail and then things like hospitality, but number ten say the final details are still being nailed down this weekend. senior ministers will meet tomorrow

morning and borisjohnson will set out the plan publicly later that day. helen catt, many thanks. let's have a look at the latest government figures now, and there were 10,406 new infections recorded in the latest 24—hour period. an average of 11,224 new cases were recorded per day in the last week. 18,462 people are in hospital with coronavirus across the uk. in the last 24 hours, 445 deaths have been recorded, that's people who died within 28 days of a positive covid test. on average, 494 deaths were announced every day in the past week. the total number of people who've died is 120,365. more than 370,000 people had their first dose of one of the approved covid—19 vaccines in the latest 24 hour period. taking the total who've now had their firstjab, to over 17.2 million people.

the prince of wales has been to the hospital in london where his father — the duke of edinburgh — is currently being treated after feeling unwell. prince charles arrived this afternoon. his father was admitted to the king edward vii hospital on tuesday evening, as a precautionary measure. our royal correspondent, daniela relph, is outside the hospital for us now. what is the latest? as we have just seen, the as we havejust seen, the prince as we have just seen, the prince of wales came to see his father this afternoon and he was driven from his highgrove estate to central london, a journey of around 90 miles. he spentjust over half an hour inside the hospital, before leaving again and heading back to gloucestershire. this is a private hospital and the covid guidelines at the moment say that family visits should not happen exceptin that family visits should not happen except in exceptional circumstances. at this stage we don't have any update on the health of the duke of edinburgh, he is spending his free at night in hospital here, and today

buckingham palace have repeated their most recent statement, saying that he is being kept in hospital out of an abundance of caution and he remains in good spirits. daniela, thanks forjoining _ he remains in good spirits. daniela, thanks forjoining us. _ emergency medical workers in myanmar say at least two people have been killed and several others injured during protests at the arrest of the democratically—elected leader, aung san suu kyi, in a military coup. witnesses say police in myanmar�*s second city, mandalay, used live ammunition to disperse the crowd during a shipyard strike. our south east asia correspondent jonathan head reports. the military has promised patience with those protesting against its coup, but there was little sign of it here in mandalay. the police had gone in to disperse striking ship workers and moved quickly from using tear gas and rubber bullets to live rounds. gunfire

the shooting was caught on camera by this terrified bystander. "please don't shoot, don't let it happen," she says. two people were killed. several more sustained gunshot injuries. is this an escalation by the military junta? that isn't clear. in yangon, protesters were mostly left alone by the security forces today as they pressed their demands for the elected government of aung san suu kyi to be released and reinstated. they've been holding memorials, too, for the 20—year—old who was the first protester to die, adding fuel to a wave of public fury against the military which is still sweeping across myanmar. the coup leaders, though, seem prepared to wait them out, while going in at night to arrest increasing numbers of those organising and funding the movement.

"we young people have our dreams," said this 27—year—old. "but everything is gone now. everything we hoped for is being destroyed." they're trying to cripple the military�*s authority with these protests, to show that they cannot govern. but how much longer can they keep this up? jonathan head, bbc news. the russian opposition leader alexei navalny was back in court today to appeal against the prison sentence he'd received earlier this month. the appeal was rejected and mr navalny will go to prison for two and a half years. the jailing of russia's most prominent opposition activist has been condemned outside russia, and could lead to a new round of western sanctions against moscow. our moscow correspondent steve rosenberg reports. back in court. the kremlin�*s most vocal critic, russia's most famous prisoner. alexei navalny tried to be upbeat.

but his appeal was rejected. the result? 2.5 years in prison for fraud and parole violations — charges widely seen as politically motivated. this was mr navalny a month ago, flying home after recovering in germany from being poisoned in siberia. he was arrested on arrival. that sparked nationwide protests, but the russian authorities were in no mood to listen. and there's been a cold response here to international criticism. this week, the kremlin rejected a ruling by the european court of human rights that mr navalny should be freed. as for talk of more western sanctions, the kremlin has been exploiting that to its own benefit. in vladimir putin's russia, this is how it works. western criticism over

the jailing of mr navalny, western pressure, western sanctions, the kremlin takes that and holds it up to the russian people and says, "look, we told you so, the west has got it in for russia." in other words, the authorities try to use this to bolster their claim that this is a country under siege. and that is precisely the message in the russian state media. basically, west is not interested in navalny. west is just willing to see russia destroyed. and that's the major idea that we have in russia. blaming the west is an attempt to distract attention from problems here? we are not... yes, of course, we have our problems. but they cannot be even compared with the problems that you have. the kremlin will be hoping that this problem of a rival and a challenger has been dealt with once and for all. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. a 21—year—old swimming teacher has become the youngest woman to row solo

across the atlantic ocean. jasmine harrison, from thirsk in north yorkshire, set off from the canary islands in december. embarking on a 3,000—mile journey to antigua that took a total of 70 days, three hours and 48 minutes. with all the sport now, here's ollie foster at the bbc sport centre. good evening. we're into the final weekend at the australian open. naomi osaka has won a fourth grand slam singles title. the japanese player beat the americanjennifer brady in straight sets to be crowned champion for a second time in melbourne. adam wild reports. at a time where little in tennis has felt certain, the threat of naomi osaka, who is perhaps one of the few constants. but for a tournament that has taken place against the odds it felt fitting that here also was a finalist that few expected. jennifer brady spent her first two weeks in australia in isolation, forced to practice in a hotel room, yet here she was holding her nerve

in a first grand slam final. but from lockdown she was before long a set down. a momentary misjudgment and against an opponent like osaka that rarely goes unpunished. osaka took the first set and from there she accelerated like only a player of her quality can, ruthless, relentless, offering brady little chance, serving out the match and the tournament. ifeel like playing right now is a super privilege. thank you for the opportunity. at 23, this is already osaka's fourth grand slam title. an uncertain year, an uncertain tournament, but you can be sure osaka will win more. adam wild, bbc news. today's premier league goals are coming up on match of the day after the news, but if you want the results then stay right there... everton have won at anfield for the first time since 1999. they beat liverpool 2—0

in the merseyside derby. that's four league defeats in a row for the champions. there were draws at southampton and burnley, and fulham beat sheffield united. there were wins for aberdeen, hibernian and stjohnstone in the scottish premiership. st mirren drew with livingstone. rangers and celtic both play tomorrow. there was a bizarre end to exeter chiefs match against northampton saints in the rugby union premiership. sam simmonds had this conversion to win it for the champions, but he took too long to kick the ball after starting his run—up and saints players managed to get there first. they won 13—12. also in the premiership, there were wins for harlequins and leicester, and in the pro14 victories for scarlets, ospreys, connacht and munster. the two time rugby world cup winner and one of the game's greatest players, dan carter, has retired at the age of 38. the new zealand fly—half was capped 112 times and helped the all blacks become world champions in 2011 and 2015. he scored a record 1,598 test points during his international career. great britain's men have qualified

for next year's european basketball championship. they beat germany in the final seconds in podgorica. the score was tied at 81—81 but luke nelson was the hero, he scored the winning basket with the final play. that result, coupled with france's victory over montenegro in the same group, means gb qualify. sir ben ainslie is really up against it as he bids to reach next month's america's cup. the four—time olympic gold medallist is skippering ineos team uk in the final qualifying event, the prada cup and though they won their first race today, they still trail the italians luna rossa 5—1 in auckland. the first to seven will take on the holders team new zealand. you can watch the next two prada cup races live on the bbc sport website from 3am tomorrow morning. that's it from us, butjust before we go, the health secretary, matt hancock, will be on the andrew marr show tomorrow morning at 9am, here on bbc one. that's all from me.

goodnight.

hello. this is bbc news. i'm lukwesa burak. as we've been hearing, downing street sources say it's the government's absolute priority to allow people more social contact with each other, as ministers prepare to meet tomorrow to decide how england will come out of lockdown. borisjohnson will reveal a road map for easing coronavirus restrictions on monday. number 10 has already confirmed that care home residents in england can have indoor visits again from the 8th of march. earlier, i spoke to michele carey, whose grandmother is in a nursing home in walsall. she's quite well, in that she...

i don't know if you know, but she was tested positive for coronavirus three weeks ago in the care home. she's remained in the care home. her symptoms haven't been too severe. she hasn't been due any hospitalisation. considering that, she's quite well, really. ok, so what do you make of this announcement that one person soon will be able to visit and hold hands? well, i was very pleased to hear that announcement today. i'm pleased the government have made it a priority. i am looking forward to seeing her. i'm not sure who our designated person will be in the family. i would welcome it if it was me, so, yes, i was delighted to hear that. on the other hand, i am still slightly cautious. i do worry about a number of visitors coming in and out of the home and risking the well—being and health of the residents there, particularly if you think

that my nan managed to get coronavirus when the home was in lockdown and had no visitors. obviously, they're very vulnerable people there. but it hasn't come soon enough for us, though, really, because i think my grandmother's at the stage where she needs that contact with her family. and in fact, we managed a zoom call with her on monday. it's the only zoom call we've had during this. and i asked her to hold on. she's become very thin. she hasn't got much of an appetite, she doesn't eat much. i asked her to try to eat and said to hold on, it wouldn't be too long now before she could have somebody come and visit her, and she was quite excited about that. and this was before we heard today's announcement, she said, "oh, i will make an effort if i know that you're coming to see me," and i think that's ringing in my ears at the moment. so the isolation from family, you would say, has definitely had an impact? definitely, yes.

my nan went into care home at the end of august, start of september, and the deterioration has been obvious. she's been very well cared for there, but she's moved from being with herfamily into a care home with no contact at all except through a closed window. at one time, there was a screen set up, but we're wearing masks and you can't communicate too well through that, or through a close window where we're sitting outdoors. and we've managed a few phone calls with her. michele, sorry to interrupt you, but earlier you mentioned something about things that could have been done differently, that you are concerned in terms of people entering the care home. you're happy about it, the fact that you can, but obviously more people will be coming into the care home who may not necessarily be vaccinated. do you think, then, that this could have been done differently?

we don't really know how it's going to be done at the moment. we know that you have to wear ppe and you have to have a test. i suppose, really, we're waiting to see the details of this, and my concern is, are the care homes going to be able to manage this? is it going to be a burden to them and their extra workload as well and take them away from caring for the residents? like lots of people, i'm feeling cautious about it. at the same time, i'm quite excited about seeing her and being able to hold a conversation with her face—to—face in the same room. could i ask you — the care home that nan is in, have all the staff been vaccinated, the care staff? i don't know if all of them have. "i don't know" is my answer. i know some of them have because i've spoken to them and they've talked about their own experience of having the vaccination. i haven't asked them if all of them have had it. i don't know. would you like them too? because, obviously, they're caring for very vulnerable people.

i really would like them all to have the vaccination. i mean, if you consider my nan was tested positive three weeks ago and there's been no visitors, obviously that has had to come from somewhere. so, yes, i would like everybody to have the vaccination who's working with my grandmother and the other residents there. what's the atmosphere been like in the care homes, michele? do you know? your mum had covid—19. there are elderly people who are discharged from hospital. your nan would have been put into isolation. anyone discharged from a hospital would have been put into isolation. what sort of impact does that have on the elderly? it has a huge impact. my nan�*s been isolation about three times now, because she was moved into the care home in septemberfrom a hospital, so she had to have two weeks' isolation. then she had a fall and went back into hospital, so another two weeks' isolation back in the care home, and then recently because she's tested positive, she's had another two weeks' isolation.

and it's had a huge impact. she's able to tell you herself that she feels... she doesn't feel well because she's not able to talk to people, there's nobody to speak to. i mean, obviously, she has people popping in and out — cleaners, nurses, carers — and she has a quick conversation, but they're busy and there is nobody to talk to. it's had a huge impact on her. she's not eating a lot. you can see she's become a lot thinner. her memory of things is becoming a little bit sketchy because she hasn't got the people who know her to talk about the things... she's starting to forget people's names now, i'm noticing, which has never happened before. that was michele carey, whose grandmother is currently within a care home. doctors say ambulance handover delays in england during the surge in covid—19 cases over christmas led to secondary victims in the community. the royal college of emergency medicine says people died of unrelated conditions while waiting hours for help.

the bbc�*s dr faye kirkland, who is also a working gp, has this report. the first call to 999 was at 10... it's there. 10:25. rose says it was her worst nightmare. then another call to 999. while working a night shift as a nurse this christmas, her teenage children called to say their father was suddenly unwell. it is literally five minutes to the hospital. of course, now, he could not move, that was the challenging thing. the family called 999 four times before an ambulance arrived, three hours after the first call. i can't really expect that an ambulance can take such a long time having been sounded by children. forget about the person who was sick, the fact that the children were in the house alone with their dad, who was unwell. robert, seen here celebrating four days earlier on boxing day, died of a stroke before the ambulance arrived. such call—outs should

take around 18 minutes. that week, the time it took for ambulances to hand over patients rose sharply with the spread of the kent variant, meaning for some patients, there was no ambulance free to respond to their calls. he was frightened, and he was getting sicker and sicker by the minute. angela templeman waited for more than six hours for her partner's ambulance. by the time it arrived, an existing surgical wound had started to break down. you don't know what to do in that situation. you've done everything you can. you've phoned, called, the gp has said you have to go to hospital and you are too sick to go in a car with me. so we had to sit and wait, and it was just so frightening. nobody would listen. graham was taken to intensive care with sepsis and is now recovering at home. bbc news has learned ambulance waiting times outside hospitals in some parts of england rose dramatically over the festive period. freedom of information requests show

waiting times in london rose by 63% for the two weeks over the christmas period and by 48% in the west midlands. it's clear that covid - is creating a whole bunch not only of covid victims, but a whole bunch - of secondary victims. the body which represents emergency care doctors said treating patients in the back of ambulances during the pandemic could've been avoided. i think it was preventable. if you run a system - on fumes basically, you're going to have problems. ithe idea patients call for help, i have been taken in an ambulance and a paramedic hasjudged this | is a person who is seriously illi who needs to go to hospital, and they get to hospital- and the whole system | designed to help them is unable to help them — - i think that's absolutely ghastly. the nhs in england said services work together to free up capacity despite a significant increase in the number of patients with coronavirus. faye kirkland, bbc news. time for a look at the weather with stav. hello there. this weekend, it's all about the very mild weather

for the time of year. last weekend, we were talking about snow, ice and very cold weather. but the mild air has also brought quite a lot of rainfall to western parts of the country. we've seen some flooding across parts of wales, into south west england, parts of north west england, northern ireland, western scotland. it's been raining a lot recently, so those flood warnings have been increasing in number. this is the rainfall radar from the last 24 hours. you can see initially very heavy south west england into wales, and then recently it's been very wet indeed across parts of southern and western scotland. that rain should tend to clear away northwards. it turns very windy, with a chance of gales across the north west of the country through tonight, up to 70 mph in exposure. further south is where the front will bring thicker cloud. some patchy rain to the very far south east. in between, clearer skies. another very mild night to come for the time of year, ranging between five and maybe 10—11 in east anglia and the south east. now, into part two of the weekend, we've got this weak weather front still straddling parts of the country, affecting central and south—eastern areas.

low pressure anchored to the north west of the uk, so it will be quite breezy with some showers to start here. but plenty of sunshine around, and this weather front will bring some patchy, generally light rain to central, south—eastern areas. and it'll very slowly work its way westward through the day, perhaps pepping up again for parts of wales and the south west, so not quite as heavy as what we've had through today. the sunshine will emerge again across the south east. that'll nudge temperatures up to a very mild 15 degrees, but elsewhere, as you can see, those temperatures very mild for the time of year. into monday, our weather front�*s still with us, bringing outbreaks of rain through central and eastern parts of england. stays quite breezy with a few showers across the north west of scotland, but in between, a good deal of bright and dry weather. temperatures maybe a degree or so down across much of the uk. perhaps in the single figures for most, but still very mild in this south—east corner. as we move out of monday into tuesday, we see a new area of low pressure push towards the west of the country. that's going to bring another weather front and some strong winds again to the north and the west of the uk. to the south—east of that weather

front, we'll be drawing up some extremely mild air from the near continent. and with higher pressure beginning to build, by the end of the week, it's going to turn drier and brighter as well. so it could be very mild indeed across the south east around the middle parts of the week. some rain in the north and the west, and then turning drier for all by the end of the week. hello. this is bbc news. i'm lu kwesa i'm lukwesa burak. we'll be taking a look at tomorrow morning's papers in a moment with simon minty and penny smith. first the headlines. care home residents in england will be allowed to have one person visit them regularly from the 8th of march, as easing of lockdown measures start to be revealed. number ten says reuniting families and allowing people to have more social contact will be an "absolute priority" in easing lockdown after schools reopen.

prince charles has visited the king edward vii hospital