andy verity, bbc news.ell us more. i have followed over years misconduct by banks. i listen to small business customers who felt they have not been treated well by banks but i have looked at this really ha rd banks but i have looked at this really hard and i can tell you i do not think the banks are at fault here. i do not think this is their fault and they are getting blamed by people coming into the branches and by the government to some extent, and they are unhappy at the pressure thatis and they are unhappy at the pressure that is putting some of their staff under and the encouragement that is being given to some people to be verbally abusive and we are hearing about spitting. the reason the scheme for loading was not working, the emergency loans, was because the government will still do banks they had to check whether they would be eligible for a normal commercial loa n eligible for a normal commercial loan first and also because the government will store the bank that they have to ask for maximum secu

andy verity. thank you.rime minister for looking after him in intensive care, has said borisjohnson wasjust another patient the team was trying to do their best for. jenny mcgee, who's from invercargill in new zealand, has been speaking about the huge number of messages she's received since being namechecked by mrjohnson, including some from her own prime minister, jacinda ardern. jenny mcgee has been talking to tv new zealand: there was a lot of media interest about him being in hospital. to be honest, that probably was the toughest thing of the lot. as a unit, he was just another patient we were trying to do our best for, so it was business as usual. see you weren't even a little bit nervous? no, i honestly don't think i was. when i got in the car after work each night, and i could hear things about borisjohnson on the news, that was very surreal because i thought, wow, i've just been looking after him. but i really wasn't fazed by looking after borisjohnson. and what about in terms of icu, do you think th

andy verity, bbc news. our top story this lunchtime...ohnson is in a stable condition and is responding to treatment for coronavirus. the prime minister remains in intensive care. still to come — we hearfrom the remains in intensive care. still to come — we hear from the coronavirus patient given a guard of honour by nhs staff as he left hospital. coming up on bbc news — ben stokes is named the leading cricketer in the world in the 2020 wisden almanac, becoming the first english player in 15 years to receive the honour. an unprecedented truce has broken out in the townships of cape town, whlie south africa tries to control the spread of coronavirus. gang leaders have halted their turf wars and turned their delivery networks usually used for drugs trafficking to get food to poor households instead. 0ur africa correspondent andrew harding reports. these are some of the most dangerous streets in south africa, and the world. poor communities, fought over relentlessly by rival drug gangs. but, today, a virus and a nationwide lockdown may have

andy verity, bbc news.s from the nearest town brings challenges. volunteers in powys are trying to ensure that vulnerable people aren't cut off, as our wales correspondent hywel griffith reports. social distancing isn't that hard in one of the least populated places in britain. but for the communities dotted around the hills of powys, the pandemic is still changing lives. gemma is one of the local young farmers trying to care for the older generation. they have spent the last week driving food and medication around the county to people who are already remote and now in self—isolation. right into the sticks, really deep into the countryside, really isolated — that don't see anyone, any day of the week. and they rely on going to the shops to see people and to do things and they don't have that now, so even just to see one of us, that probably gives a boost to all those people that are isolated. many of those that need help live farfrom theirfamilies. marilyn and john moved here two years ago, knowing there we

andy verity, bbc news.ibuting millions of pounds in donations. the national emergencies trust, set up after the grenfell tower fire, has so far raised £20 million to go towards projects including food banks. and it's hoping to raise millions more. here's our home editor, mark easton. social distancing means we cannot place a comforting arm around a troubled shoulder. but people still want to help others during the crisis. whenever and wherever adversity strikes, the people of the united kingdom have a unique ability to pull together. the public‘s desire to help in the wake of tragedy needs to be managed and channel the best possible way. this has led to the creation of the national emergencies trust. with royal blessing, the national emergencies trust has launched its first appeal, raising £20 million injust two weeks. support survivors at the time of a domestic disaster. money being passed on to community projects, helping those struggling to cope in the lockdown. that packet of pasta that you donated is g

andy verity, bbc news.ansferred by high—speed train from paris to less overwhelmed parts of the country. the army helped to relocate the patients, who have been moved to brittany. france is struggling to free up space in life—support units and the situation has become critical in the capital, where the number of beds in intensive care units is now almost at the same level as the number of patients. the number of coronavirus cases in the united states has now passed 200,000. more than 11,500 people have died, almost half of them in new york state. president trump has told americans they are in the midst of a great national trial, unlike any the us has faced before. our north america editor, jon sopel, reports. at this time of year, central park in new york would normally be getting ready for concerts and festivals. instead, a massive field hospital is being built there to help alleviate an overburdened health system. in this state alone, there have been 2000 deaths. america is shifting onto a war footing, an

andy verity, bbc news.of course a human cost to friends and families left behind. the grieving process is made worse because of restrictions on hospital visits and only limited numbers being allowed to attend funerals. reporters from the bbc inside out north east programme have been talking to families of coronavirus victims who've shared their experience at this troubling time. kevin was small in stature but certainly larger than life. you couldn't really walk up the street in cockermouth, with kevin, without having to stop every five, ten yards to speak to somebody. lorraine and i were able to go through to the hospital, but only lorraine was allowed to go in to see kevin, which she did, over the weekend. on monday, they phoned up to say he'd deteriorated a bit further and that he was running a high temperature, and they recommended we didn't go to see him. then sadly he passed later that night, about 10pm. this may be, for you, the most heartbreaking and difficult time to have your loved one suffering fr

andy verity, bbc news.orarily suspending immigration into the united states. gary o'donoghue is in washington. he also has one state saying it plans to reopen soon. notjust one, actually, but georgia on friday is planning to open, or allow a lot of businesses to open, with some restrictions. but for example, on friday you will be able to go to the bowling alley, should you wish to. on friday you will be able to get a haircut if you wish to come out if you really want to you will be able to get a tattoo on friday. and come monday restaurants and theatres will also open. other sorts of openings starting to take place in places like texas as well as tennessee. gary, thank you very much. gary o'donoghue in washington. let's return to that story on dentists in england who say a shortage of protective equipment is hampering their efforts to treat patients at newer urgent care hubs, set up to deal with emergencies while practices are closed. the british dental association says patients with urgent problems are bei

thank you, andy verity. the time is quarter past one. a leading health specialist says the uk may see the highest coronavirus death toll in europe by the time the pandemic is over. we have to face the reality of that. we were too slow with a number of things. but we can make sure that in the second wave we are not too slow. coming up on bbc news, darts at home. world champion peter wright will be one of the favourites for a new event starting tonight in which the top pros play each other from their own homes, with knockout matches streamed on tv. the duke and duchess of cambridge have been speaking about the importance of protecting people's mental health during the coronavirus lockdown. in an exclusive interview with the bbc, prince william said he was concerned when his father was diagnosed with the virus, and added that his family are doing everything they can to protect his grandparents, the queen and the duke of edinburgh. the royal couple spoke to tina daheley. tina, hi. i can't see you. hello. we can see and hear you. i've got you

andy verity, bbc news.t coronavirus as cases in the country continue to rise. as the infection rate shows signs of slowing in italy, some are questioning whether more could have been done to help medical staff. as the coronavirus pandemic began to unfold in china, that country's government was quick to deploy its wide array of surveillance technology to track and control people's movements. this has now been copied by a growing number of countries. so how can surveillance state tools help in a pandemic and what are the potential pitfalls for privacy and freedom? 0ur cyber—security reporter joe tidy explains. this robot is disinfecting a subway train so humans don't have to. it's just one of the high—tech tools that china is using to fight the coronavirus, along with drones and facial recognition cameras. but what about the tech we can't see? china's sophisticated and controversial data surveillance system is used to track citizens on— and off—line. and it's proving extremely effective during the pandemic. t

andy verity, bbc news.ers have halted their turf wars and turn the deliver to networks usually used for drug trafficking is to poor households instead. our africa correspondent andrew harding reports. these are some of the most dangerous streets in south africa, and the world. poor communities, fought over relentlessly by rival drug gangs. but, today, a virus and a nationwide lockdown may have achieved what the police — even the army — have failed to do here. this is the american gang's turf. most of these men have been injail — some are killers. but today, instead of selling drugs and robbing people, they're bagging up food supplies for hungry families. i got a phone call from two different gang leaders, both saying, "andy, i've never asked you for anything, but we're starving." and ijust thought, "hey, if these guys are starving, they're at the top of the food chain, then the rest of the community is going to be in serious, serious strife." to help, the gangs are drawing on their own particular skill set.

andy verity has the details.in business and still pay staff. companies like those who are working on this construction site near battersea power station in south london will keep staff on even if they're not working, putting them on furlough, meaning leave of absence, and the government has promised to reimburse 80% of their wages. the furlough scheme has been brilliant because what it's enabled us to do is keep the capacity within our business, and capability, so that when we come through this, we can then redeploy our people immediately so we can go back to work. 0livia webb has been furloughed in her job with a recruitment agency, but few employers are hiring right now, and she's not sure if there will be a role for her when the shutdown lifts. while i am grateful to have not been made redundant, it does feel like i'm just waiting for the inevitable, because when these three—months grants are up, what's going to happen then? are businesses able to pay salaries again? are they going to bounce back? probably not

as our economics correspondent andy verity reports, it's a huge understaking, not without teething troubles london is one of hundreds of thousands of businesses whose income plummeted to zero overnight when the country went into lockdown last month. with no customers to serve, its boss put 34 staff on furlough, meaning he is still paying them 80% of their wages which the government has promised to refund with the ground. —— with a grant. this morning he was relieved to find he could claim that grant and he has. mid—march, we spoke to the staff saying to them we thought they would probably be made redundant following week. we would need to be closing. it was brilliant to hear the chancellor say we had the option to furlough staff so it was an absolute no—brainer to take the opportunity to do that. in the first half hour after the coronavirus job retention scheme website opened at 6.30 this morning, employers already claimed on behalf of 67,000 staff. some 8 million staff are expected to be furloughed in total, nearly a third of the private sector workforce. the cost is a huge £42 billion for

it would send unemployment to 10%, before the economy bounced back. 0ur economics correspondent, andy veritystark predictions but heavily caveat it? yes, we should emphasise this is not forecast, it is not the 0ffice this is not forecast, it is not the office for budget responsibility saying what they think will happen. they are scenarios, shimming for example three month shut down. but that does seem a fair assumption, and on that assumption these numbers really are quite alarming. even compared to the global financial crisis. for example, the amount the government will have to borrow to make up the difference between what it is getting in in tax and what it is shedding out will go up five times. that is fivefold. from an estimated 55 billion they were expecting before the shutdown, now they anticipating borrowing over £273 billion and ordered to pay for all of these government spending programmes. that is 14% of the size of the economy, a bigger deficit than we have had since world war ii. much bigger than the financial crisis. the chancellor of the exchequer, rishi sunak, has been defendi

our economics correspondent andy verity reports. any firm which needed access to cash would get a government backed loan or credit on attractive terms, but this morning's figures suggest the loans have been improved for barely one tenth of 1% of uk businesses. one of many frustrated company supplies electricity generators for events and has seen it in complement. it has repurposed itself to supply back—up electricity to the nhs, temporary hospitals receiving coronavirus patients, but it hasn't got a loan and it is running low on cash. unless there are immediate changes by the government to get this funding into the event industry right now, we are going to see businesses failing not next month, but next week. in these unprecedented times, it needs to be relaxed slightly so people can get the money in the bank. if the money gets in the bank, jobs are kept, businesses stay open. if it doesn't, businesses stay open. if it doesn't, businesses will close, jobs will be lost. what the companies who have had to put their business is under w

andy verity, bbc news.mpering their efforts to treat patients at new "urgent care hubs" — set up to deal with emergencies while practices are closed. the british dental association says patients with urgent problems are being forced to "take matters into their own hands". dan johnson's report contains some graphic images. this dentist is at work but not working. we've got all the equipment to treat people. he hasn't seen a patient for ages. all i'm allowed to do is give prescriptions out. i saw a patient last...about three weeks ago. the problem is protective equipment. the usual kit isn't good enough to protect against the virus and working close up, face to face, dentists are especially vulnerable. face—to—face without the appropriate ppe is not advisable. use of the dental drill can spread an aerosol spray of particles. i didn't know how hard it would be to take out a molar. so some patients are resorting to diy after failing to get treatment. they basically said unless it is stopping you from breathing

our economics correspondent andy verity has been looking at the figures, from the office for national at how much the government is going to borrow startling. by the end of april it will have borrowed £45 billion, that is more then we spent in a whole year on the police and safety or on primary schools. then if you look at me tojuly, they are going to going to have to borrow another £180 billion. overfour months to have to borrow another £180 billion. over four months that is £225 billion, which is about an eighth of the size of a whole entire economy. it is far faster borrowing than the labour government did in the financial crisis. the resolution foundation has concluded that if the shutdown goes on more than it is currently projected to, if it lasts six months, the government would have to borrow 500 billion, half £1 trillion. the sort of debt you don‘t pay off for decades. the problem is the government... so many people are having to stay at home and unable to work, the government is getting less tax. that is right, we have effectively an economic shutdown. what is extraordinary i

our economics correspondent andy verity reports.those working on this construction site in south london will keep staff on even if they are not working, putting them on furlough, meaning leave with absence. the government wasn't promised to reimburse 80% of their wages. it has been brilliant because it has enabled us to keep the capacity within our business and capability so that when we come through this, we can then get the people immediately to get back to work. the latest figures released today by the british chambers of commerce find 37% of small and medium—sized companies are furloughing a great percentage of their staff and a fifth will follow the entire workforce. if that pattern is repeated across the economy, at least a third of all private—sector workers will be paid through the scheme. in a cost to government of 30 billion dollars to 40 —— £30 billion to £40 billion. businesses need money fast.“ they don't receive some of the funding by the end of this month, many of them are going to have to take drastic steps. iam afra

andy verity, our economics correspondent.ow the uk's lockdown measures are working, restrictions in some european countries are starting to ease. a limited number of shops and businesses have been allowed to reopen in italy and austria, and some people are beginning to go back to work in spain. denmark plans to open some of its schools tomorrow after a month—long shutdown. martin mckee is professor of european health at the london school of hygiene and tropical medicine. hejoins me now. thanks so much forjoining us on bbc news. i guess the british government will be watching very closely to see what's going on in other european countries? well, i hope they will be. one of the problems we have had so be. one of the problems we have had so far is that there has been a disconnect between us and the rest of europe, which is a pity, but it is imperative we do learn the lessons as other countries adopt different policies. i said there has been a disconnect, the accepted view is that the uk has lagged behind other european countries

andy verity, bbc news.school, but not as we know it. hi, i‘m nat. i'm dan. both: our children are. fred. and noah. and how has home—schooling been going for you? it is tough. it is a learning curve for us. mr and mrs reynalds or dad and mum, really, have beenjuggling running a business, a household and a home school. it is really hard. yeah. it is notjust the teaching that‘s hard. it is the juggling of work and life with that. and obviously, the boys they think, "we are off school, so we're off school, we can just do what we want, lay around, watch telly all day", but they're not supposed to be off school, they do need to be learning so we have to teach them. many children of key workers have remained at school over the easter holidays, so today may not prove that different. for the staff at these hub schools, keeping children of varying ages engaged and stimulated is a challenge. the staff are planning their weeks, linking into the children‘s interests and more curriculum—based work. but the children need

andy verity now reports.e who are working on this construction site near battersea power station in south london will keep staff on even if they're not working, putting them on furlough, meaning leave of absence, and the government's promised to reimburse 80% of their wages. the furlough scheme has been brilliant because what it's enabled us to do is keep the capacity within our business and capability, so that when we come through this, we can then redeploy our people immediately so we can go back to work. the latest figures released today by the british chambers of commerce find 37% of small— and medium—sized companies are furloughing at least three—quarters of their staff, and a fifth will furlough their entire workforce. if that pattern's repeated across the economy, the resolution foundation estimates at least a third of all private sector workers will be paid through the scheme at a cost to government of £30 billion to £a0 billion. businesses leaders say firms need money fast. if they don't receive some

andy verity, bbc news. we've just got the figures in from spain, which give us the latest numbers ofaordinary figures. we've also got this news in from ethiopian. the prime minister there has just declared a state of emergency in the country to help curb the spread of coronavirus. this is his office tweeting this. it says... considering the gravity of covid—19, the government of ethiopian has enacted a state of emergency. paramedics across the uk are putting their lives at risk by working without the right protective equipment, according to the gmb union. millions of items of kit have been sent to nhs front line staff, but union members say there isn't enough and ambulance workers are at breaking point. 0ur health correspondent lauren moss reports. the apron that we're asked to wear is nothing more than a disposable flimsy apron. personal protective equipment is the barrier against the coronavirus. and then we've got to put on the sleeve protection that is provided, again, only goes so far up. paul turner is a union rep who has returned to paramedic duties in the north—west. last wee

highest level in peacetime history because of the coronavirus lockdown. 0ur economics correspondent andy verityfor national statistics. what you have got here as spending marketing because fmh is to support the economy, pay peoples wages, supporting individuals incomes, and on the other hand, the government's reve nu es on the other hand, the government's revenues are panicking because they shut down means there's not much coming in by way of vat or national insurance, i'm looking at how much the government is going to borrow over the next four months, the figures are ready start —— startling. by the end of april we would have borrowed £45 billionjust to give you an idea, that is more than me spending a whole year on the police and safety or primary schools. then if you look at may throughjuly, schools. then if you look at may through july, another three months, they'll to borrow another £180 billion. 0ver months, that is £225 billion. 0ver months, that is £225 billion which is about an eighth of the size of our whole entire economy. it is far faster borrowing than the labour government did in

andy verity is our economics correspondent.r rishi sunak who has lent his name to their press release. but it is still showing, although £1 billion, only 6020 loan is approved, after more than three weeks of this scheme, which was announced as being hundreds of billions of pounds of support for businesses. what is clear is that support isn't getting through anywhere near quick enough to help those businesses who are rapidly running out of cash. we know from research that up to a million firms are in a position where they are going to run out of cash within are going to run out of cash within a month. if we go at this rate, where so far after a huge effort over the easter weekend by the banks they have still only approved loans for0.1% of they have still only approved loans for 0.1% of the businesses in this country... more than 5 million businesses in this country, and if you have 6000 loans approved that is only 0.1% so it has to go much faster. people are saying the way the swiss and the germans have done it is better because

andy verity, bbc news. let's speak now to mel stride mp, chair of the treasury select committee.nment's enormous largesse, a lot of people feeling they'll are falling through the net. well, these are extraordinary times, and what you are seeing is the government reacting at considerable pace to get a huge programme of fiscal stimulus and employment support out into the economy. inevitably, this is moving at such pace that a couple of things are happening. 0ne pace that a couple of things are happening. one is that there are emerging and serious hard edges to the policy decisions being taken and secondly, as you havejust the policy decisions being taken and secondly, as you have just reported, there is an issue of getting this help out as quickly and efficiently and effectively as possible. but i think the announcement that the chancellor has just made around the soft business loans that are being on offer is significant. because one of the reasons for delays in the banks getting this money out has been that businesses have had to effectively demonstrate that they can't get a loan

andy verity, bbc news.doctor who went back to who went back to help. there has been another death in nhs staff. yes, the retired doctor had come out of retirement to help in the corona outbreak. his name was dr alfa sa'adu, and he had been volunteering at the queen victoria memorial hospital in hertfordshire. his son said he had been fighting the virus for two weeks, but he could not fight any more. the nhs he said was amazing and did everything they could. meanwhile we have also heard a health care assistant in london, 57, died at home while self—isolating with coronavirus symptoms. his daughter has been critical of the lack of protective equipment for staff. she says these front line people are putting themselves before everybody else, putting themselves at risk, she says, and this afternoon, a group of unions including unison and the royal college of nursing have put together a joint statement very critical of the government and the lack of protective equipment for staff. they say workers are being expos

andy verity, bbc news.th workers across the country during this pandemic. but the roles were reversed when one patient left hospital — health workers applauded hylton murray—phillipson when he was discharged, after nearly two weeks being treated for covid—19. phil mackie explains why. the heroes of the pandemic, cheering one of their successes. it's five days since hylton murray—philipson came home, and he's loving every minute of it. i'm feeling really great, i'm appreciating every little thing as if it's the first time that it's ever happened to me in my life. so, the twittering of birds, the daffodils you may see behind me, the blue sky. when i was in hospital, i was fantasising about toast and marmalade. all those little things which you take for granted normally, i'm never going to take for granted ever again. at his lowest ebb, he was on a ventilator being fed through a tube, then little by little, he started to get better. to actually sit up in a chair for three hours and not be flat on my back, basi

perhaps you won't be surprised to hear, probably not — as andy verity reports.rop and in the worldwide economic shutdown to fight off coronavirus, that's exactly what has happened. as ships stay in ports, aeroplanes on the ground and cars in driveways, demand for oil has dropped roughly 30%, to about 70 million barrels a day, while all producers barrels a day, while oil producers like saudi arabia and russia have got production, it's only by about 10 million a day. with far more oil being produced and used, storage is running out. i've been doing this for 25 years and i've never seen it, there we are. it's unprecedented. absolutely unprecedented times and the speed of the drop is the other thing. what suppliers will slowly now have to do, you know, in north america, north sea producers in the uk, they will have to either stop production or totally slow it up. traders of us oil were caught out yesterday, they had agreed contracts to buy oil for delivery next month but couldn't physically take delivery because there was nowhere to store it. they had to sell, no ma

it would send unemployment to 10% before the economy bounced back. 0ur economics correspondent, andy veritye office for budget responsibility saying this is what we think will happen. they are scenarios assuming, for example, that there's a three month shutdown, but there does seem a fair assumption. and on that assumption, these numbers really are quite alarming even compared to the global financial crisis. so, for example, the amount the government will have to borrow to make up the difference between what it's getting in in tax and what it's shelling out will go up five times fivefold. so from an estimated 55 billion that they were expecting before the shutdown, now they are anticipating borrowing of £273 billion in order to pay for all these government spending programs. that's14% of the size of the economy. that's a bigger deficit than we've had since world war two, so much bigger than the financial crisis and the chancellor of the exchequer has been defending the measures that he said were necessary to take the take on the public health emergency. look, it's clear this will have a ver

andy verity, bbc news., according to officials. more than 1.4 million claims to universal credit have been made over the past four weeks, with approximately 10% of them coming from the self—employed, many for the first time.