well, let's get more on that. 0ur correspondent stephen mcdonell is in beijing for us.es of silence although horns were sounding across the country. a chance for china to remember those who have passed away from covid—i9. absolutely. flags are at half—mast across the country. todayis half—mast across the country. today is a special festival to remember those who have gone before us but 2020's tomb sweeping day has taken on a particular significance, declared a day of national mourning. at ten o'clock local time people stopped what they we re time people stopped what they were doing. cars pulled up, drivers sounded their horns in their cars and sirens and other alarms were turned on across the country as people paused to remember those who died from the coronavirus. whether it be the coronavirus. whether it be the country's top leaders or ordinary people in the street, the whole countryjust seemed to stop and we saw that. people bowing their heads to remember the dead. there has been more than 3300 people who have died in china from this highly infectious disease but we

of the travel restrictions in wuhan, where the epidemic began, are lifted. 0ur correspondent stephen mcdonellt is going on, then. look at wuhan, the city where then. look at wuhan, the city where the global coronavirus emergency started. they have been cut off from the outside world, now, for more than ten weeks. imagine what the feeling is like to be able to start to leave the city or for people to return there, to their hometown. many return there, to their hometown. ma ny a nalysts return there, to their hometown. many analysts are debating the extent to which we can trust china's official figures, but extent to which we can trust china's officialfigures, but observers would say, don't worry about the numbers, look at what the chinese government does. there is a feeling that the elite of the chinese communist party would not have re—established transport links with ryan, unless they were reasonably sure that they were bringing this emergency on control —— with wuhan. it doesn't mean the crisis not over. restau ra nts it doesn't mean the crisis not over. restaurants are capping numbers. you

we'll have more on that and developments around the world in a moment but first stephen mcdonell hasags are at half—mast across the country. today is a special festival to remember those who have gone before us but 2020's tomb—sweeping day has taken on a particular significance, declared a day of national mourning. at 10am local time people stopped what they were doing. cars pulled up, drivers sounded their horns in their cars and sirens and other alarms were turned on across the country as people paused to remember those who died from the coronavirus. whether it be the country's top leaders or ordinary people in the street, the whole country just seemed to stop and we saw that. people bowing their heads to remember the dead. there has been more than 3,300 people who have died in china from this highly infectious disease but we think the number could even be higher than that because many people may have actually died from coronavirus but been recorded as having other illnesses such as pneumonia. either way it has been a day to remember those who died here and abroad and, bearing in m

but officials say there has been n0 cover—up. 0ur correspondent in beijing, stephen mcdonell has moreincrease in the figures. now, what officials are saying is that what they have been able to do is use the time they now have because the crisis is now under control to have another look at the numbers. and they are counting people who, for example, have not come into hospital. maybe you have died at home or may be people who have died with symptoms they are pretty sure our coronavirus symptoms, but have not officially done the test. there's been a lot of criticism and questioning regarding china's figures and people suggesting they have been underreported, i'm not sure if it's a common response to that but either way it's a big jump in one day to just whack, up by 50% there. when you consider the numbers in other countries it seems remarkably small. many other countries around the world are struggling to count coronavirus casualties. the economist magazine has been tracking covid—19 numbers — and the different ways in which governments are counting fatalities and concluded that they ar

our correspondent stephen mcdonell writes that some have suggested this was designed to distract becausele data on the performance of the chinese economy. maybe — but both have been covered. and as stephen notes, this could simply have been a coincidence. as ever with china, lewis, we only make educated guesses on some parts of this story — something that is evidently frustrating leaders in the west. thank you for that. sir richard branson says his airline virgin atlantic needs government support to survive. the boss of the virgin group says he's not asking for a hand—out, but a commercial loan, believed to be more than 600 million dollars. and he's pledged his luxury island resort as collateral. sir richard is the 286th richest person in the world with an estimated $5.8 billion dollarfortune. in an open letter to staff he writes... critics point out he's paid no uk income tax since moving to the tax—free british virgin islands 14 years ago. it follows decisions by denmark and poland which won't to give financial aid from their coronavirus bailout packages to companies registered in offs

stephen mcdonell reports from beijing. a beijing team has decided to test these materials properly.erprise were expense testing for air pollution. they are blowing air into a tube and testing roughly what size coronavirus particles can pass through materials. they have found that coffee filters, kitchen towels and nylon a re coffee filters, kitchen towels and nylon are great at blocking, but you cannot breathe through them. what we have found as being the best material is paper towel, canvas denim, jeans, and bed sheets were really good. they turned out really well. in many countries around the world, makeshift mass production is in full swing. monks in thailand are using their own materials. in the us, the surgeon general posted a how—to video giving some ideas. some of what is being used is actually too porous. i see you have some scarves here. how did they go? moulded really badly. they couldn't filter out the tiny particles. so how do you get an idea of what could be more effective? you can hold up materials to the light and compare the amount of light coming through the amount

stephen mcdonell reports from beijing.ake your own masks based loosely on the design of one of these cloth antipollution masks. what are you going to use? t—shirts, they are all different thicknesses, aren't they? how about a tea towel or handkerchief? even... a paper towel? a beijing team has received so many questions along these lines they have decided to test these materials properly. smart air is a social enterprise with experience testing masks for pollution. here they are blowing air down a tube and measuring what percentage of roughly coronavirus—sized particles can pass through various materials. they have found that coffee filters, kitchen towels and nylon are great at blocking but you can't breathe through them. what we have found has been the best material are things like paper towels, some fairly like canvas denims, some jeans and bed sheets were really good for testing two different thread counts of bed sheets and they turned out very well. in many countries around the world, makeshift mass production is in f

our corrrespondent stephen mcdonell sent this report. zero coronavirus deaths in 2a hours.china. many have questioned the veracity of the official figures many have questioned the veracity of the officialfigures in many have questioned the veracity of the official figures in a country where the outbreak started. even if the rate of deaths and infections has been underreported, the trend seems to match real—life experience. and that trend would appear to offer hope to other nations. in wuhan, china is worst hit city, there are more people on the streets every day. after months of lockdown, residents are coming out to bite the city ‘s traditional noodles. things are looking up. when china stopped for three minutes over the weekend to honour those who have died from the coronavirus, people were also thankful that the disease hasn't been even more deadly here. especially when compared to europe and north america. but maybe it has been worse than we know. officially, more than 3300 people have died from the virus but we don't know how many more there might be. some analysts say

next here's our china correspondent stephen mcdonell with his view of these tensions.s going back and forth. it's been like this for months. conspiracy theories being peddled by both countries, and often it's sort of in the form of a question, a rhetorical question that seems to be designed to throw mud at the other side. now we've had this latest broadside from donald trump and the response from the chinese government. the foreign ministry's spokesperson did not mention mr trump by name, but said certain us politicians were lying about the coronavirus situation in order to cover up their poor performance. and i think we're going to see more and more of this as other countries are being pulled into the debate over the source of the coronavirus, the extent to which china has covered it up, and the question of whether more could have been done to prevent its spread, and also the extent to which china should potentially have to pay for the damage from this disease spreading around the world. now australia is also being drawn into this. china has accused the australian gov

our correspondent stephen mcdonell writes that some have suggested this was designed to distract becauseon the performance of the chinese economy. maybe, but both have been covered. and as stephen notes, this could simply have been a coincidence. as ever with china, lewis, we only make educated guesses on some parts of this story, something that is evidently frustrating leaders in the west. thanks for that, we will be back with you in ten minutes or so. the coronavirus pandemic came late to latin america following asia, europe and north america. but now the region is feeling the full effect on its already stretched health care systems and economy. our correspondents have sent these updates, starting with camilla mota in brazil. brazil, the biggest country in latin america, has been hugely affected by the coronavirus pandemic. the health care system here is so close to collapse that they have been converting football stadiums into temporary hospitals. inside this one in sao paulo, there are more than 200 beds for patients with covid—19. as for lockdowns, cities and local authorities have

international visitors are currently banned from entering the country. 0ur correspondent in beijing, stephen mcdonellnd and some analysts would say don't look so much at the numbers, but look at the government decisions. i'm standing above the second ring road in beijing, we might apply the second ring road index, where you can see cars are still coming through here and it looks like they are flowing reasonably well, but the thing is, because they are flowing, it is not the slow—moving traffic, the almost gridlock you would normally expect here, so you can kind of see how we are heading back towards normal here in beijing, but not all the way, if you know what i mean. and again, that would indicate that the authorities are pretty confident that they have this under control. however, the chinese prime minister said today that companies should be going back to work cautiously, but in people's free time they should be exercising this kind of social distancing, and according to the chinese president, don't go to the movies, watch a film at home in the lounge with your family. he said to restaurants that

always maintained an open, transparent and responsible attitude. 0ur correspondent in beijing, stephen mcdonellrease in the figures. now, what officials are saying is that what they have been able to do is use the time they now have because the crisis is now under control to have another look at the numbers. and they are counting people who, for example, have not come into hospital. maybe you have died at home or may be people who have died with symptoms they are pretty sure our coronavirus symptoms, but have not officially done the test. there's been a lot of criticism and questioning regarding china's figures and people suggesting they have been underreported, i'm not sure if it's a common response to that but either way it's a big jump in one day to just whack, up by 50% there. when you consider the numbers in other countries it seems remarkably small. countries around the world are struggling to count coronavirus casualties. experts believe the different ways in which governments are counting fatalities is distorting death rates — suggesting the true number is actually far higher than offic

let's talk to our correspondent stephen mcdonell in beijing. what are they saying now and find out?n only take out their pens and added up themselves, it's so close to 50%. there were 2579 deaths in wuhan city. just added another 1290. 3869. some analysts are suggesting this all seems a bit neat. these figures have possibly been put together in response to the criticism of china, that it's underreported it's deaths and its infections during the coronavirus crisis. that's not what officials are saying, officials in wuhan city are saying, officials in wuhan city are saying, officials in wuhan city are saying there's been no cover—up, it's just that they've had more time to have another look at the numbers. and they've added people in who really should have been counted, thatis really should have been counted, that is maybe they didn't go to hospital, they died at home. had the sort of symptoms of the coronavirus, or even if some people died in hospital, perhaps they had symptoms of coronavirus but in the early stages, there weren't enough testing kits and some people want tested offic

our corrrespondent stephen mcdonell sent this report. zero coronavirus deaths in 2a hours.fficial figures in the country where the outbreak started. but even if the rate of deaths and infections has been underreported, the trend seems to match real—life experience. and that trend would appear to offer hope to other nations. in wuhan, china's worst hit city, there are more people on the streets every day. after months of lockdown, residents are coming out to buy the city's traditional noodles. things are looking up. when china stopped for three minutes over the weekend to honour those who have died from the coronavirus, people were also thankful that the disease hasn't been even more deadly here, especially when compared to europe and north america. but maybe it has been worse than we know. officially, more than 3,300 people have died from the virus but we don't know how many more there might be because some analysts say that it's possible people have actually died from the virus but been instead recorded as having died from other causes. the return to normality has been gra

outbreak — is gradually starting to ease restrictions in certain areas. 0ur china correspondent, stephen mcdonellautious, step—by—step return to some sort of normality in china. so what we have today are the final year high school students in beijing, guangdong and shanghai returning, they are actually amongst the last two go back from that age group. so the reason they are keen to get the students back to school is in the coming months, they have this big exam, this is their university entrance exam, very important part of people's lives here in china. so if they are going to get anyone back to school quickly they are prioritising those students. in hubei province where the coronavirus outbreak all kicked off, there are, we still have more than a week, i think now more days until those students go back. but nevertheless, each one of these steps nevertheless, each one of these ste ps ta kes nevertheless, each one of these steps takes us some weight back towards normal life but, just to give an indication of how on normal it is, you still cannot go into another person apartment block to have dinne

our correspondent stephen mcdonell is in the chinese capital. out there in this city it is still there and that is why there are fears of a second wave, that is why we are still wearing our masks, ijust taken mine off to speak to you. there are some worrying trends in these new figures from china in terms of the potential for it taking off again, you mentioned 46 cases today. 36 from chinese coming in overseas, 12 from domestic infections, yesterday, another 46, 36 from people returning from overseas, ten from people arriving, from these so—called domestic infections. so, it is true, they can say that a lot of this can be attributed to people arriving from overseas but somehow or other, despite people doing quarantine, it is still getting out there. all it ta kes is still getting out there. all it takes is a couple of cases more for there to be another wave and the worst hit place along those lines in the north east province, where hundreds of chinese citizens have been returning from russia, there are now about 400 active coronavirus infections

our china correspondent stephen mcdonell is in beijing. road, or above it, you can see traffic is moving, but we might apply what we could call it the second ring road index in beijing. it may look like this is normal, but actually it is not. the traffic is flowing, though there are more cars now than there were, i suppose a week or two ago. it kind of gives you an idea of how we are moving back towards normality. but president xijinping has urged companies to resume work cautiously. you still have to control numbers, maintain social distancing and then in people's free time, china's president has said don't go to the movies, you should watch a film at home. in restaurants, they are saying owners should control the numbers strictly. any time there are people, they are not sitting too close to one another. you get an idea of how things are returning back to normal here but cautiously because they are concerned about people coming from overseas, bringing the infection back and sparking a new spike in cases. you can understand that. thank you.

stephen mcdonell reporting for us in beijing this morning.his plans for lifting coronavirus restrictions across america. at a white house news conference, he said governors would be allowed to tailor their approach to meet their states' individual needs. but critics say the us president is being over—optimistic about how soon the crisis will pass. 0ur correspondent david willis is in los angeles. good morning, david. good to see you. how are these guidelines going to pan out in reality? well, the president had hoped for a dramatic end to social distancing guidelines. even talk at stage about reopening the economy with a big bang. as he put it. but he is having to settle for something a little less than that, something of bit more gradual, a bit more cautious, and this is an approach that will vary from state to state. the president said that 29 states were more almost ready to reopen their economies and in some cases as early as tomorrow but he is leaving the decision on that up to the individual state governors and that means that any return

let's get the latest from our china correspondent stephen mcdonell. good morning to you, stephen.. a marker. yes, flags are at half mast right across china. this is a traditional festival to remember those who have gone before us. but term sweeping day in 2020 has taken on extra significance. it's been declared a national day of mourning. at ten o'clock local time people stopped whatever they were doing, and that included cars in the street stop moving, drivers sounded their horns, alarms and other sirens were set off right across the country. everyone from the top leadership of the communist party down to ordinary people in the streets bowed their heads in remembrance for those who have died from the coronavirus. in this country where the coronavirus crisis started, officially, there are more than 3300 people who are said to have died, but many analysts think the true figure could be much higher than that, because some who have actually died from this highly infectious disease have been recorded as dying for other health reasons. either way, thousands dead is thousands dead and p