charlotte rose, bbc news. has boris johnson has been borisjohnson has been described by a senior government source is the energy that drives the machine in the fight against the virus in the uk. earlier, ispoke the fight against the virus in the uk. earlier, i spoke to our political correspondence who told us how the government is managing in the absence of the prime minister. 0n the messaging, i mean, you heard definitively that this was not the time to let up and i think dominic raab yesterday when we heard from him tried to convey a bit of humanity, talking about how he would usually spend his easter weekend with his young sons, a recognition that this has been tough and it is tough now that we are coming up to week three of these restrictions, especially, as you say, this bank holiday weekend, but the messages it is too early to think about and doing these restrictions, we do not wa nt to doing these restrictions, we do not want to undo the work we have done so want to undo the work we have done so far in

charlotte rose, bbc news.oins me let‘s talk to dr chris smith, virologist whojoins me now let‘s talk to dr chris smith, virologist who joins me now to talk about the importance of social distancing this easter weekend. very good to have you with us. the message absolutely that the government and scientists are trying to hammer home once again is that people must keep doing what the majority of them have been doing and keeping their distance from others. why is that social distancing measure just as important now as it was when it was first introduced? measure just as important now as it was when it was first introduced7m is easy to lose confidence and to lose faith. we are now at the lowest point where the weather is beautiful. we have been doing this for two or three weeks and everyone is beginning to get despondent because death rates appear to be inexorably climbing. 0ne because death rates appear to be inexorably climbing. one has to keep faith in theirs. the cycle between a person becoming infected with t

charlotte rose, bbc news. let's talk to our assistant political editor, norman smith.cussion today is about the lockdown possibly being extended from monday, which is when the three week period expires. are we expecting clarity on that?” think we will get a pretty clear steer. it is now a question of not whether the lockdown will be extended, it is purely a question about whether everything we have heard from ministers over the past few days. no one is seriously suggesting that we might be able to ease the lockdown given as we know the death toll is still rising very markedly, and although it is a lagging indicator, it has to be of considerable concern. rishi sunak, the chancellor yesterday, the one minister you might think would perhaps wonder if we could ease it because of the potential impact on the economy, he as well was clear at the economy, he as well was clear at the briefing that the health emergency has to come before any economic emergency. i have —— as we have seen, others are moving in the same direction. the first minister of wales absolutely categorical,

charlotte rose, bbc news. we can talk now to our assistant political editor, norman smith. going into this meeting today about people actually sticking to the lockdown this easter weekend, and crucially, andi this easter weekend, and crucially, and i think this is the question eve ryo ne and i think this is the question everyone wants an answer to right now, are we going to get a decision out of the meeting today about when those lockdown measures might start to shift? we're not going to get a decision today, but i think what we will see is the language from ministers beginning to change. frankly, it will be much less circumspect about the lockdown being extended, which frankly seems pretty inevitable, and i think today, they will want to start the process of softening up public opinion to, as it were, prepare them for the likelihood that it is going to be rolled over when it is decided sometime next week, probably thursday. and really, that has been the experience of pretty much every other european country which has had lockdown is in place. they have after two or three w

charlotte rose, bbc news.edical director of nhs england, stephen powis, said the public were responding to government advice, with the majority observing social distancing. i think the british public is responding. i think we can see that in evidence such as reduced to travel, reduced footfall around our cities. as he had just said, it is really critical this weekend at we keep obeying those instructions. as isaid keep obeying those instructions. as i said last weekend, the son might be coming out but that is not an excuse be coming out but that is not an excuse for us to be going out. we are beginning to see the benefits of social distancing and staying at home. we do believe the virus is spreading less and that is translating into fewer hospital admissions. that will only continue to happen if we don't get complacent and continued to follow those instructions. to save lives, and this is about saving lives, make sure the nhs does not have excess pressure on it, it is coping really wonderfully at the moment bu

let's get the latest in the uk from our reporter, charlotte rose. cheering and applause.anging and whistles blowing. across the country, it's become a national thursday night ritual to thank those front—line carers for putting themselves at risk in the fight against coronavirus. and one person in particular was showing her gratitude. the pm's fiancee reacting to the news that borisjohnson is out of intensive care at st thomas‘ hospital in london. brilliant news. yeah, i mean, it's really good news. it's also a reminder that people can recover, more generally. that's good news. it's good to have some positive news generally, but it's really good to know that the prime minister is on the road to full recovery. i was always confident that he would, and it's really good to know that he's now out of icu. well, i'm really pleased for the prime minister and his family. it is a relief for them, and i really hope this is the beginning of a speedy recovery, and i think everywhere across the country, people will be wishing him well. so, this is good news. but whilst there's good new

first, let's get the latest from our reporter, charlotte rose.oss the country, it has become a national thursday night ritual to think that frontline carers putting themselves at risk to fight against coronavirus, and one person in particular was showing her gratitude, the pm's fiance reacting to the news that borisjohnson is out of intensive care and st thomas‘s hospital in london. it is brilliant news and also a reminder that people can recover, it is good to have some positive news generally but it is really good to hear that the prime minister is on the road to full recovery. i always knew that he would. iam i am pleased for the prime minister and his family. it is a relief for the family and i really have this is a beginning of a speedy recovery, people across the country are wishing him well so that is good news. but while it is good news for the pm, yesterday's riggers were a sobering reminder that not all were so lucky, with 881 deaths in the past four hours, taking the total to nearly eight thousand. that's why ministers and police chief

charlotte rose, bbc news. to our political correspondent leila nathoo, who's at westminster for us. lots of focus now on this special meeting of ministers, the cobra meeting. that's right. this is a huge decision point for the government, whether or not to relax the restrictions at this point. borisjohnson himself the restrictions at this point. boris johnson himself had the restrictions at this point. borisjohnson himself had said look, we will review the restrictions and look at them if the evidence shows we are able to do so and that 3— week marker of looking at the restrictions is written into the law, remember, that gave the government all these powers to bring in the restrictions we are all facing. so there is going to be this decision point. cobra, the government's emergency committee is meeting today with the devolved nations involved as well. that will be chaired by the first secretary of state, dominic are a, —— dominic raab. it's not likely to be a formal process. all the indications are with boris

charlotte rose, thank you, at that drive and testing centre in north london. survive is to be expanded. the chancellor — rishi sunak — says more small firms will be eligible, and those with a turnover of up to £500 million will also qualify. so far, more than 130,000 enquiries have been received, but only about 1,000 have been approved. 0ur economics correspondent andy verity reports. the government has been listening to criticism that its government backed business interruption loans weren't getting through to many firms because the rules had said banks had to check first to see if they could get a normal loan. now it has lifted that rule and made it easier to lend the government backed loans faster. we are also acutely aware that there is an urgent need for an additional product for businesses with a turnover of over £45 million, so we are working at pace with banks, with the treasury, to try and offer a better solution for those businesses up to a turnover of £500 million. the promise three weeks ago was an unprecedented £330 billion only £145 million has b

charlotte rose is outside st thomas' hospital for us this morning.is the latest on the prime minister? that is right. borisjohnson wakes up that is right. borisjohnson wakes up this morning having spent a third night in hospital here. his second in intensive care. downing street gave an update last night saying he remained ina gave an update last night saying he remained in a stable condition but that he would stay in the intensive ca re that he would stay in the intensive care unit for close monitoring. they said he remains in good spirits. we know that he has had an oxygen mask to help with his breathing but they stress he has not been put on a ventilator and that that was not going to be required. yesterday, the man who was standing in as his deputy, dominic raab said he was sure the prime minister would recover quickly because he knows he isa recover quickly because he knows he is a fighter. dominic raab also wa nted is a fighter. dominic raab also wanted to reassure the public that important government decisions could be made in the absence of t

charlotte rose reports.country, it has become a national thursday night ritual to think that frontline carers putting themselves at risk to fight against coronavirus, and one person in particular was showing her gratitude, the pm's fiance reacting to the news that boris johnson fiance reacting to the news that borisjohnson is out of intensive care and st thomas's hospital in london. it is brilliant news and also a reminder that people can recover, it is good to have some positive news generally but it is really good to hear that the prime minister is on the road to full recovery. i always knew that he would. the road to full recovery. i always knew that he wouldm isa always knew that he wouldm is a relief for the family and i really have this is a beginning of a speedy recovery, people across the country are wishing him well so that is good news. but while it is good news for the pm, yesterday's riggers were a sobering reminder that not all were so lucky, with 881 — in the past four hours, taking the total t

we'll have more on all those stories shortly. 0urfirst report is from charlotte rose.h just one day left to reach the government target of 100,000 coronavirus government target of 100,000 coro navi rus tests government target of 100,000 coronavirus tests a day in england, it is clear there is still some way to go. the health secretary has repeatedly said the government will hit the milestone by the end of april. yesterday, the number of people tested in the previous 2a hours was 113,453. in order to more than double the number of daily tests, the government is increasing the capacity for testing and expanding the criteria for who can be tested. it will now include people over 65 with symptoms and any workers who cannot work from home and anyone in a household that has symptoms in any nhs worker and resident all staff in her hands regardless of whether they have symptoms or not. it will be done by a combination of existing drive—through centres, mobile testing units run by the army and mobile testing kits. tens of thousands of care home staff had been too dry then centr

charlotte rose reports. yesterday, the number of people tested in the previous 24 hours was 43,453. in order to more than double the number of daily tests, the government is increasing the capacity for testing and expanding the criteria for who can be tested. it will now include people over 65 with symptoms and any workers who cannot work from home and anyone in a household that has symptoms — any nhs worker and resident or staff in care homes regardless of whether they have symptoms or not. it will be done by a combination of existing drive—through centres, mobile testing units run by the army and home testing kits. tens of thousands of care home staff have been to drive—in centres. we call this a satellite model where a bunch of swabs are delivered, administered by the staff and sent back in a bunch. there has been criticism as to why testing in care homes was not available sooner. i don't ldon't really accept that. we i don't really accept that. we have been giving them attention. we have been giving them

charlotte rose reporting.ent has said some supplies of protective equipment are still "very tight" for front line health staff tackling the coronavirus crisis but the government is working "really hard" to ease shortages. helen whateley is the care minister, she explained why the delivery of ppe from turkey was delayed by several days. i'm really, really worried about deaths in care homes the reality of importing ppe at the moment is you are in a situation where there is a global shortage and factories around the world are making ppe as fast as they can. but what we've seen, whether it's with this delivery or previous deliveries, is sometimes they get delayed. sometimes they don't turn up. one reason why we face a shortage of sub—deliveries is they haven't arrived. the important thing therefore is we are working to secure an excess of supply, to make sure that we have more than we need, or at least what we need, because it is so important, to come back to health and care workers, that they have the equipment t

the health secretary, matt hancock, described it as a huge undertaking. 0ur correspondent charlotte roses get a sense from her how it is going. charlotte? here at the north london drive—through test centre, one of several across the country, nhs workers are coming to be tested for coronavirus. we should say that only those workers who can prove they work for the nhs and have a pre—made appointments are allowed to come here, and we had seen some people being turned away this morning. the test centre opened at 10am andi morning. the test centre opened at 10am and i was quite a of cars earlier, but now it is extremely quiet. the cars driving to the entrance to my left and then come to these white tents over my right shoulder, and those tents are whether tests are taking place. the test consists of a swab touchdown the back of the throat and down the nose. “— the back of the throat and down the nose. —— put it down the back of the throat. they are sent to a lab for testing, the results may take three days to come through but clearly for the nhs workers who have been here this morning, it wil

jonathan blake, bbc news. 0ur correspondent charlotte rose is outside st thomas‘ hospital.xpecting an update on his condition a little later? victoria, boris johnson will have woken up this morning after spending a third night in saint thomas is behind me, is second in icu. downing street said last night he was being kept in the intensive ca re he was being kept in the intensive care unit for close monitoring but said his condition was stable and he was in good spirits. the man who has been deputising for him, the foreign secretary dominic raab, arrived in downing street a few minutes ago and said the pm was doing fine. also, the health minister, edward elgar, has been telling the bbc this morning that he is in good spirits. we know from the news conference yesterday that dominic raab said of the prime minister is a fighter and he is sure he will recover soon. he also wanted to reassure the public that decision—making was continuing despite the absence of the pm and that work was going on behind closed doors. we are expecting a statement later on from downing street to give