that report by our medical correspondent fergus walsh with cameraman adam walker.ar widespread testing for coronavirus is going to be crucial as countries try to navigate their way out of the crisis. but there is confusion about what that means and how it might be achieved. as jim reed reports. most scientists agree testing for this virus is critical, part of the way we can save lives and break out of the lockdown. we have a simple message for all countries, test, test, test. there are two main types of test for coronavirus, at the moment we are using something called a pcr test, normally taken with a swab, these look for genetic material related to the virus. you're asking the question, does that person have the virus in their system at the time of the test? it detects the rna genome of the virus itself. pcr testing can tell if someone currently has the virus, crucial for both patients and health care workers. but it needs to be analysed in a laboratory, that it takes time and is expensive. it needs skilled staff and chemicals called reagents which are in short su

studio: fergus walsh joins us studio: fergus walshjoins us now. immense pressure on staff in that hospitals and other hospitals too. on the day we have had latest official figures, hospitals too. on the day we have had latest officialfigures, what hospitals too. on the day we have had latest official figures, what do they tell us? 786 deaths from coronavirus, the highest daily death toll. each one of those represents a family grieving, so it's an awful toll. but those grim figures could actually have been much worse if the trend kept rising. it could have been far worse. 0n cases, we had 3634 been far worse. 0n cases, we had 363a confirmed coronavirus cases today. that's actually down and there are tentative signs that may be part of a trend. we will not know for a week or so but it's not accelerating upward. listening to quite a lot of the content and the official briefing in downing street earlier today, there was one very interesting admission, really, from one of those taking part about the comparison between the uk and germany. chief medical

fergus walsh, bbc news.ra: for more on the searchfo d oibyapy, we are j n, former health commissioner for baltimore and an emergency physician. do you share dr. fauci's optimism about this drug, remdesiv i do. cautious om. it is important to talk about what the trial shows. rye educes the tveese ise stay in the hospital, but it has imnot had a statistically significant impact on mortality, on the rate ofo rtanto know that this is not a cure so there is a lot more we still ave to find out when the severe, for example, who benefits? is it only patients who are extremely ill, who have some other type of underlying condition? and is it only useful when they are severely ill or taken at a particular time in their illness? the cautious optimism is the idea that there is something that could work for covid-19 when previously, we didn'.know what cou so this is good to build on the research that is already being dohe. laura: but f.d.a. is expected to authorize the emergency use of remdesivir. is that encouraging? >>

fergus walsh there. stay with us on bbc news, still to come...ffected by coronavirus. we'll look at how one community in georgia has been trying to stay safe. this is bbc news, the latest headlines... the us economy slumps, and the worst is yet to come. spending nosedived in the last quarter as the coronavirus lockdown began. the number of coronavirus deaths in the uk passes 26,000. for the first time, the figure includes deaths in care homes and the community as well as hospitals. let's get some on the state of the us economy. 0ur correspondent gary 0'donoghue is in washington. i asked him what we might expect from future quarters. but the next quarter and maybe the third could be even worse. when you look at the time period, which these numbers covered, really, things were only starting to shut down in march. so the expectation would be that once you see the second quarter, it's going to be an awful lot worse. the president and his economic advisers are hopeful, they say, that the third quarter will be great and the fourth quarter will be marve

that report by fergus walsh.coronavirus in the us — as the country is braced for the most difficult week of the outbreak so far. there are more than 347,000 confirmed cases, with around a third of them in new york state. the authorities in the city of new york might start temporarily burying victims in a park because the city's morgues are almost full. 0ur north america editor jon sopel has the latest. this is life inside an intensive care unit in brooklyn, new york. our partner network in the us, cbs, were allowed in, and everything about it seems frantic and on the edge. right here is a patient who didn't have much underlying health conditions but has developed severe respiratory failure, as well as kidney damage, from the virus. though the administration says there is no shortage of personal protective equipment, the reality is otherwise. i would like a mask like yours, i would like all of us to have masks like yours. a white suit like you have. what do i have on? what is that? it looks like a garbage bag. it

fergus walsh, bbc news.te their lockdown measures and see, in some cases, a slowing of the spread of infection — there are warnings that africa will be the next area to be severely affected by covid—19. and fears that with weaker health systems and much higher rates of poverty, the continent will face great difficulty in dealing with an outbreak. bill hayton has this report. coronavirus is spreading in africa. 0n the north of the continent, algeria is the worst affected country so far, with more than 350 deaths. its neighbour morocco has put troops on standby to deal with an expected surgeon troops on standby to deal with an expected surgeon cases. troops on standby to deal with an expected surgeon cases. and it is building two temporary hospitals. egypt has the most confirmed cases of cover 19, nearly 3000. —— covid—19. lagos in nigeria is africa's most densely populated city. a lockdown has been in force here for several weeks, as well as in several other nigerian cities. as a result the country's only had

fergus walsh there.sentatives has approved another huge stimulus package to alleviate the economic damage caused by the coronavirus. 0ur north america correspondent david willis has more on this. a $500 billion stimulus package, lewis, and it brings the total stimulus spending here in the us to nearly $3 trillion. president trump has said that he expects to sign it swiftly into law. what this does is it provides forgivable loans to companies who do not shed workers from their payroll, and keep them on until the crisis abates — and that is very significant, given the figures today, the latest unemployment figures, which show an additional 4 million americans are now out of work, and that brings the jobless total here to 26.5 million in the last five weeks. now, that erodes all the gains of the last few years and, in actual fact, plunges unemployment here back to levels not seen since the great depression of the 1930s, lewis. those economic reasons, they were part of the reasons, surely, that certain state

fergus walsh, bbc news. monetary fund is warning that the impact of the pandemic on people's earnings around the globe could be even worse than feared. here in the uk, the government is extending its rescue scheme for workers who have been furloughed, and so are not able to work. here's our economics editor faisal islam. this extraordinary crisis has notjust hit the world's biggest cities, but almost every single country in the world, because even if the virus hasn't infected everywhere, the economic contagion certainly has, with huge long—term consequences. before the crisis, most of the world was expected to have a prosperous year, with only ten, such as libya and venezuela, forecast to be worse off. now the imf predicts that most of the world, 155 nations, will have reduced income this year, many of them sharply so, but even that might not be a worst—case scenario. this may be actually a more optimistic picture than reality produces. epidemiologists are now helping us make macroeconomic projections. never

fergus walsh, bbc news. 0ur health editor hugh pym joins us now.nt targets, yet it is setting a much bigger one for the end of the month. how can they be so sure they can deliver that? sophie, people are trying to work that out tonight. there was a target of 10,000 tests per day set several weeks ago and it's onlyjust been hit, and a target of 25,000 hairs per day which was pushed back to the end of april, and now there's a target of 100,000 that the end of this month. matt hancock has made this month. matt hancock has made this appeal to academic and business laboratories and research centres to get involved in what he calls a national effort so he hopes that they will come forward with a lot more tests. he is including in this total of 100,000 of the antibody test that we had about their in fergus's piece but it does not seem really very clear whether they are going to be ready by the end of this month. so a lot of uncertainties, there. and of course, the end of this month is all very well but the peak of this epidemic is expected within a week o

fergus walsh, bbc news.at a care home in west dunbartonshire from suspected coronavirus. a further 16 residents at hill view in clydebank are displaying symptoms of covid—i9 and one has tested positive. operators advinia said the deaths all occurred in the home, which has 127 residents, since the start of april. let's get more now with our health editor hugh pym. another high daily death toll today and also an admission from the health secretary matt hancock that the number of people who are dying in care homes is higher than we thought? that is right. he was giving evidence to the select committee, matt hancock, and he said when asked whether the figures suggested that only 2% of covid deaths were in care homes, that was suggested by the last figures, he said those figures were two weeks out of date, they are produced for england and wales and when they were more up—to—date and he wanted to bring them more up—to—date, it would be higher than that 2%. the scottish figures already suggest a quarter of coronav

fergus walsh, medical correspondent, thank you.impact the pandemic is having on business and the economy. the retailer next has warned that sales could drop by 40%. and barclays bank has reported a substantial drop in profits, and said that the cost of people defaulting on loans could be more than £2 billion. 0ur economics editor, faisal islam, has this assessment. it isa it is a corporate results season like no other. grim forecasts for the economy coming to life in the accou nts the economy coming to life in the a ccou nts of the economy coming to life in the accounts of our biggest companies such as retailer next where store sales plunged 52% over the last three months and the company acknowledged it would be some time before shopping returns to normal. and barclays, one of the uk's largest banks, announcing a 38% fall in profits and warning the pandemic could cost them over £2 billion in bad loans. its boss questioning whether after the coronavirus putting thousands of people in office block headquarters would be a thing of the

fergus walsh there.t rise in the number of people who have died in the past 2a hours in the uk, but we are being prepared for much bigger daily death toll is, even by the end of the week. that's right, the end of the week. that's right, the prime minister said it was a sad day, public health official said concerning. experts look at the trajectory, how quickly the death rate is growing, and one or two have pointed out it is slightly slower than early in the epidemic. even so, they expect the number of deaths to double twice in a week. that would mean the total number of deaths in the uk might hit 1000 per day by the weekend. the world health organization said tonight that almost1 million people have now contracted the coronavirus, how do we compare to other countries around the world? yes, the global picture is very interesting, and a chart shown at downing street's breathing we can look at now, based on the number of deaths once it had reached 50 in each country, where the line goes after that, the red

fergus walsh, bbc news. the evidence about whether the public should wear face masks in crowded places to help stop the spread of the virus. the mayor of london has called for masks to be worn in public for additional protection, and a growing number of european countries are recommending using them. here's our science editor, david shukman. popular in asia before the pandemic, masks are now appearing in more and more countries around the world. the government here is weighing up the options, and the mayor of london believes we should cover our faces anywhere crowded. think about when you're using public transport, if you really have to, or you're in a shop and you can't keep two metres apart. wearing a non—medical facial covering makes it less likely you may inadvertently give somebody else covid—i9. one reason is that coughs and sneezes can travel much further than previously thought. another is that people can spread the virus before they have any symptoms. but the government has a serious worry — that th

fergus, once again, many thanks, fergus walsh, our medical correspondent. under sustained pressure over the provision of ppe — that's personal protective equipment — to front line health and care workers. the health secretary for england, matt hancock, denied reports that the uk had refused for political reasons to take part in a european union scheme to secure supplies of essential equipment. 0ur political editor, laura kuenssberg, has the story. so as you can see, our machines sit idle, and our staff are furloughed. empty workshops that don't have to be. tomorrow, jim griffin's car—parts firm will start up again to make gearfor medics. he will repurpose his kit to make protective equipment. but although he says he's filled in form after form, this nottinghamshire factory will be making medical equipment for orders from ireland. i don't understand why it is so difficult for people to be getting in touch with companies like ours to make the products here in the uk. mps are now back at work in a very different parliament. and the squeeze on equipment for hea

fergus walsh, bbc news.s reviewing the evidence around the wearing of face masks to help stop the spread of the virus. the practice was made compulsory in new york on wednesday, with similar schemes also being operated in austria, the czech republic and slovakia. here's our science editor, david shukman. popular in asia before the pandemic, masks are now appearing in more and more countries around the world. the government here is weighing up the options, and the mayor of london believes we should cover our faces anywhere crowded. think about when you're using public transport, if you really, really have to, or you're in a shop and you can't keep two metres apart. wearing a non—medical facial covering makes it less likely you may inadvertently give somebody else covid—19. one reason is that coughs and sneezes can travel much further than previously thought. another is that people can spread the virus before they have any symptoms. but the government has a serious worry — that the best masks, which are vital

fergus walsh, bbc news.e a big improvement in the way government loans are approved for struggling firms. just over 6,000 loans have so far been approved under the business interruption loans scheme, but more than 28,000 have applied. many businesses have told the bbc they've been rejected or told they're not eligible. labour says the scheme simply isn't working and must change urgently. our economics correspondent andy verity reports. the government's promise before the shutdown was that 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

our medical correspondent fergus walsh reports.in months what would normally take many years — develop a coronavirus vaccine. one of the leading groups, at oxford university, says manufacturers in europe, china and india are set to produce their vaccine so it's ready to roll out in september if by then it's shown to be effective. it's pretty clear the world is going to need hundreds of millions of doses, ideally by the end of this year, to end this pandemic, to let us out of lockdown and ensure we can do that safely. a vaccine is the exit strategy for this pandemic. the government has announced a coronavirus vaccine task force to help scale up manufacturing and support teams like this one at imperial college london. at the number ten briefing, the scale of the challenge and its importance was all too clear. producing a vaccine is a colossal undertaking, a complex process which will take many months. there are no guarantees, but the government is backing our scientists, betting big to maximise the chance of success. when we do have

fergus walsh, bbc news.ct the pandemic is having on business and the economy. the retailer next has warned that sales could drop by 40%. others have warned that the lockdown could lead to the permanent closure of thousands of high street shops, with independent, family—run firms being the worst affected. 0n the other hand, dixons carphone says its online sales have soared by 166% in the past few weeks. 0ur consumer affairs correspondent, sarah corker, reports from county durham. should ijust close now, should ijust stop now, hand the keys back to the landlord and say thanks very much? martin wiseman put his life savings into a new cafe in bishop auckland, a high street were 25% of shops were empty before the pandemic. the week before he was due to open, britain went into lockdown. how long do you think you can last without it being open? possibly another month before it dries up, before the money side of it dries up. i stay awake at night thinking i'm going to go bust before i get a chance to open. retailers

that report was by fergus walsh and cameraman adam walker.w in intensive care in hospital in london. let's go over the timeline of events. on march 26th, it was announced that the prime minister had tested positive for coronavirus. on sunday, he was admitted to st thomas' hospital in london after his symptoms had persisted for ten days. and a few hours ago it was announced that he'd been moved to intensive care afer his symptoms worsened. our news reporter rich preston is here with me. you have been monitoring reactions. this reaction coming in from around the world, president trump is coronavirus press co nfe re nce president trump is coronavirus press conference earlier onset of the american people are praying for borisjohnson, he isa praying for borisjohnson, he is a good friend personally to him and to america, and reiterated he is a man who "doesn't quit and doesn't give up". on twitter, rishi sunak, the british chancellor of the exchequer: . and very briefly, the task facing dominic raab, who now has to deputise when necessary? it is hu

fergus walsh, bbc news.res, some more positive news. one of the world's natural wonders, the victoria falls, has roared back to life. the falls are well above the seasonal the falls are well above the seasonal average the falls are well above the seasonal average following heavy rain. the zambezi river. hello. temperatures topped out at 15 degrees celsius in hampshire on thursday. they'll take a step backwards, those temperatures, on friday, but then into the weekend they're on the up. a frost for some of us, as friday starts, especially across the north and east of the uk. plenty of cloud to follow, but sunnier skies arrive at the weekend. and yes, those temperatures are heading up, but with a strengthening wind. high pressure pretty much in control of things, so still a lot of dry weather around for the next couple of days. low pressure gathering in the atlantic, though, as the weekend goes on will strengthen a southerly flow coming into the uk, and that's why those temperatures are going to be heading up.

fergus walsh, for now thank you very much.cs of it all with our chief political correspondent, vicki young, is in westminster. it will be interesting to see what emerges in the tea—time briefing. yes, and borisjohnson has talked about the difficult decisions ahead and talk too about wanting to be transparent with people, but don't think that means he will give details of how or when lockdown measures might be eased. it is much more about starting to inform people how they will make these decisions and what evidence the decisions will be based on. a lot of the focus today will be on the way the virus is still transmitting around the community. they want to be very sure about that before they make decisions. we have had hints in public, ministers talking about a possible phased reopening of schools, about businesses that can operate outside, how they might start to reopen. 0ne cabinet minister saying today it is far too premature to think about all of that, so do not expect all of the a nswe i’s that, so do not expect all of the

fergus walsh, bbc news.ment in the way government loans are approved for struggling firms. just over 6,000 loans have so far been approved under the business interruption loans scheme, but more than 28,000 have applied. many businesses have told the bbc they've been rejected or told they're not eligible. labour says the scheme simply isn't working and must change urgently. police say they have given out more than 3,200 fines to people for breaching lockdown restrictions in the space ofjust over two weeks. figures from the national police chiefs‘ council also show that reports of anti—social behaviour in england and wales have increased by almost 60% during the coronavirus outbreak, but overall levels of crime have fallen significantly. our home affairs correspondent tom symonds is here. what is your reading of those figures? police are quite pleased with the way in which we are sticking to lockdown rules. 3200 fines is 0.01% of the population. yes, there have been a big increase in calls about anti—social be

fergus walsh, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: getting the message across.nd social distancing — amid anger over the government's handling of the crisis. the accident that happened here was of the sort that can, at worst, produce a meltdown. in this case, the precautions worked, but they didn't work quite well enough to prevent some old fears about the safety features of these stations from resurfacing. the republic of ireland has become the first country in the world to ban smoking in the workplace. from today, anyone lighting up in offices, businesses, pubs and restaurants will face a heavy fine. the president was on his way out of the washington hilton hotel, where he had been addressing a trade union conference. the small crowd outside included his assailant. it has become a symbol of paris. 100 years ago, many parisians wished it had never been built. the eiffel tower's birthday is being marked by a re—enactment of the first ascent by gustave eiffel. this is bbc news, the latest headlines: the number of people around the world who have been diagnosed wi

fergus walsh, bbc news.by the end of april is the new goal. first of all, what are these tests and is it really realistic? it does seem an extraordinary new target. the target was 25,000 by the end of april, and that seemed quite a long way out of reach, given that we are still only on about 10,000 tests a day. it does include the antibody tests we have heard about their in fergus cross piece, as well as the test for the the swab tests, previous targets didn't include the antibody tests. rash fergus's piece. i think matt hancock thinks now having got a grip on it with his officials and put the appeal to industry and academic laboratories, that a lot more research capability and testing can be brought on stream, including the francis crick institute which can move pretty quickly to doing 2000 a day compared with commercial also taking the strain that may well be something that can get us nearer that target. but he's put his colours up the mast. we will see whether we get anywhere near it. the antibody tests,

here's our medical correspondent, fergus walsh. this could change everything.st coronavirus. a way out for all of us. ok, so a needle scratch. the first volunteer to receive it was elisa granato, a microbiologist. she's 32 today. i'm a scientist, so of course i want to try and support science, the scientific process whenever i can, and since i don't study viruses i felt a bit useless these days, so i felt like this was an easy way for me to support the cause, yeah, and that's why i'm here, and i'm excited. half those on the trial will get the coronavirus vaccine, half a different jab. the volunteers don't know which one they have received. i am just basically going to sit here and incubate this thing, and hopefully provide some good follow up data, and we'll see, and hopefully it works. what would normally take years has been done in three months, by scientists at oxford university. around 80 groups world wide are developing coronavirus vaccines. a few others, in the us and china, have also started human trials. there's no guarantee any of them will succeed. pe

fergus walsh, bbc news.st emerged, has allowed people to leave the area for the first time since a lockdown went into effect injanuary. those with a "green" code on a smartphone health app now have permission to leave, as restrictions within the city have been gradually easing. our correspondent john sudworth reports. after 76 days of lockdown, the trains were lined up and ready to go, the barriers taken down from the highways and wuhan re—opened its links to the outside world. it is a long way from this. the outbreak which began in the city had by late january spiraled out of control. so strict were the quarantine rules that only a select few were allowed to move around the city, including delivery drivers, providing a vital lifeline. translation: the roads were empty, it made me feel sad. as people couldn't leave their homes, people would ask us for help with things like delivering medicine to their elderly parents. president xi's walkabout in wuhan last month was the first sure sign that the infection rat

fergus walsh, bbc news.istics show that 38 out of the 539 deaths with coronavirus registered in england and wales in the week ending march the 27th occurred in the community outside hospitals. our head of statistics, robert cuffe, is here with the details — what do today's figures tell us about the true size of the epidemic? as you just mentioned, they kind of suggest that the hospital death figures are capturing most of the deaths happening in the country at the moment, but there is another analysis which suggests that because of reporting lags, the daily figures we look at everyday are missing some of what is going on. let's look at the 539 deaths that you mentioned. more than 90% of them are occurring in hospital, as you can see, with maybe 4% in care homes and 3% of people probably at home, so the vast, vast majority are in hospitals and those figures are pretty reliable. these figures are pretty small compared to the totals we are looking at, the 5000 deaths released yesterday, this is data from march 2

our medical correspondent fergus walsh has this special report.walsh has this special report. could change everyti vaccine this could change everything. a vaccine against coronavirus, a way out for all of us. 0k, needle scratch. the first volunteer to receive it was a microbiologist. she is 32 today. i am a scientist so of course i want to try and support the scientific process whenever i can. asi scientific process whenever i can. as i don't study viruses i felt a bit useless these days so i felt this was a very easy way for me to support the cause. i am excited. half of those on the try will get the vaccine and half in a different injection. the volunteers don't know which one they have received. injection. the volunteers don't know which one they have receivedlj injection. the volunteers don't know which one they have received. i am going to sit here and incubate this thing and hopefully give some good follow u p thing and hopefully give some good follow up data and see how it works. what would normally take years has been done in three months

pressure through the sheer scale of people requiring specialist treatment. 0ur medical correspondent fergus walsheraman adam walker got exclusive access to one intensive care ward at university college hospital in central london to give us this rare insight into what health professionals are having to face on a daily basis. it is completely unimaginable and we are not at the peak yet. this is the front line in a war. apart from two patients, every patient we are looking after has covid. we can't cope, we just can't. every day, some battles are won... this is one of the doctors here. ..and some are lost. all the patients here are critically ill. we are planning for many more patients, so all our theatres to be full of covid patients and possibly beyond. it is, you know, we — none of us have ever seen anything like this. this used to be a recovery area for patients after surgery. now it's an intensive care unit for covid—19 patients. a huge part of the hospital has been transformed in order to deal with coronavirus. i've been in intensive care nursing for about 23 years now and i've never seen anyt

pressure through the sheer scale of people requiring specialist treatment. 0ur medical correspondent fergus walshaman adam walker got exclusive access to one intensive care ward at the university college hospital in central london to give us this rare insight into what health professionals a re insight into what health professionals are having to face on a daily basis. it is completely unimaginable. this is the front light in the war. every patient looking after has got covid. we cannot cope with the big spike. we just can't. every day, some battles are one... and some are lost. all the patients here are critically ill. we are planning for many more patients, so all of our theatres to be filled with patients and possibly beyond. none of us have ever seen anything like this. this used to be anything like this. this used to be a recovery area for patients after surgery. a recovery area for patients after surgery. now it's in intensive care unit for covid—19 patients. huge pa rt unit for covid—19 patients. huge part of the hospital has been transformed in order to deal with coronavirus. i've been in

companies and research institutes are working on this antibody test, as our medical correspondent fergus walsh looks like. this one is for hiv, and can be bought online. it is this kind of highly accurate fingerprick blood test which is needed for coronavirus. an antibody test would tell you if you've previously been infected with coronavirus, and have built up some immunity which might protect you in future. the british company behind the hiv test says it hopes to have a similar one for coronavirus ready within weeks. i think it would make an incredible difference. the question everyone's asking themselves is, have i had it? you know, i had a cold injanuary and i didn't feel well. so for us, antibody detection is the key, really, to accelerating how we handle this. the government agrees. it has already bought 3.5 million antibody tests, but these are still being evaluated to check they're accurate. we're currently working with nine companies who've offered these tests, and evaluating their effectiveness. these antibody tests, blood tests, offer the hope that people who think

fergus walsh without reports.ning about the long—term economic effects of the coronavirus, describing it as the biggest threat to the european union has ever faced. her comments come as the uk's foremost independent think tank, the institute for fiscal studies, said that in britain, low earners and younger employees are likely to be the hardest hit. we've been talking to the director of the institute for fiscal studies pauljohnson, who explained the economic impacts of the virus will endure long after the pandemic has passed. you would hope, wouldn't you come if you have a crisis where the disease where the disease goes away and everything returns to normal. but everything won't return to normal from an economic point of view. when you have large numbers of people becoming unemployed — as is clearly happening at the moment — when you have large numbers of businesses closing down — which i fear is also happening — it can often take a long time to get back to where we were before, as new businesses have to form, peo

fergus walsh, bbc news.of the headlines: the number of people around the world who have been diagnosed with coronavirus has passed one million — over 50,000 of them have died. new york city and los angeles have advised people to wear a face covering when they're outdoors. but one of president trump's chief scientific advisers has said she didn't want people to get a false sense of protection through it's use. of protection through its use. mexico seems to be faring better than its northern neighbour, the united states, when it comes to coronavirus cases. so far, only about 1,400 infections have been reported there, compared to more than 230,000 in the us. but those numbers are on the rise, and there's been growing anger over the mexican government's handling of the crisis. the bbc‘s will grant has this report. a uniquely mexican way to tell people to wash their hands. amid accusations the message wasn't getting through, state police in quintana roo performed a mariachi song to remind the public to practise s

that report by our correspondence fergus walsh in central london.shown resistance to government measures like social distancing. the community often trusts its religious leaders more than the politicians. so, as tom bateman reports, the government has a difficultjob ahead. they are known as the god—fearing. impact neighbourhoods, lives follow scripture, faith protects as much as science. but danger is visiting israel's most devout. the new virus in an interconnected world hitting the poor and crammed households. but also, hitting police against the pious. the ultraorthodox community make up around 12% of israel's population. but they are counting for a far greater proportion of coronavirus cases. we spoke to some of the major hospitals in israel who told us that of the virus patients they are treating, between 30 and 50% come from the ultra religious communities. this woman prepares herself to help. at an army of volunteer paramedics whose founder, her father, army of volunteer paramedics whose founder, herfather, has been seriously ill with coronav

fergus walsh, bbc news.ho is moved into an intensive care unit but doesn‘t need ventilation at this point. this is part of the pathway we are seeing, many people who contract this disease don‘t appear to show many symptoms, some will get what is described as flu—like symptoms but i should make clear this disease is not a version of flu, this is as close to flu as a stroke is to an ingrowing toenail, totally different disease. the primary problem that takes people to hospital is low oxygen levels, on a war, they would normally be watched to see if those levels fall, the next step up will be to ask them to lie prone on their tummy which can help with oxygenation for some reason. to add supplemental oxygen and is the oxygen requirements go up, move people to much higher dependency care areas and the reason for that is while many patients will slowly improve with nothing but a little oxygen, some become acutely u nwell little oxygen, some become acutely unwell very, very quickly and they need to be in a situatio

fergus walsh, bbc news. laura: our world has been turned upside down by this virus. kids, the loss of routine is especially hd. enter the iconic tv show, "ses 5e street." fo years big bird and the gang have been teaching preschoolers not just their abc's, but also how to deal with difficult situations like bullying and divorce. so of course they've taken to on social distancing with a global special calledpl "elmo's date." >> elmo, i think i figured out my phone finally. how do i look now? reporter: grover and elmo are having a remote play date like millions of kids in america who can't meet up in person but are trying to stay in touch. the muppets are having technical trouble, just like the rest of us. >> is my head really that big? ♪ reporter: celebrities, including anne hathaway joined elmo and pals for virtu sing-song. as "sesame street" evolves to the need of kids in this eraro virus. >> what's your favorite word? >> supercalifragilists.expialidoci reporter: i got to hang out with the crew earlier, but now we can't do it in person. so no cuddling. but cookies ar

fergus walsh, bbc news.lying health conditions. not so. many of those who've died had been perfectly healthy before the virus. our health correspondent sophie hutchinson has been talking to the family of a 25—year—old victim who had no previous health conditions. rabbi neil kraft, one of a growing number of people in the uk who've lost their life to covid—19, described by those who loved him as really warm with a wicked sense of humour. his was a traditionaljewish burial, given a helping hand using the latest technology. quite extraordinarily, there are over 600 people joining us together now, and that's 600 computers and laptops and phones, which may mean there's more than 1000 people with us. a fellow rabbi was the only mourner at the ceremony. social distancing rules meant friends and even his closest family were not able to be at the graveside or even at his bedside in hospital as he lay dying. his wife of 28 years is still taking it all in. honestly, one of the many surreal moments was the realisation t

our medical correspondent fergus walsh has this special report. this could change everything.l of us. ok, so a needle scratch. the first volunteer to receive it was elisa granato, a microbiologist. she's 32 today. i'm a scientist, so of course i want to try and support science, the scientific process whenever i can, and since i don't study viruses i felt a bit useless these days, so i felt like this was an easy way for me to support the cause, yeah, and that's why i'm here, and i'm excited. half those on the trial will get the coronavirus vaccine, half a different jab. the volunteers don't know which one they have received. i am just basically going to sit here and incubate this thing, and hopefully provide some good follow up data, and we'll see, and hopefully it works. what would normally take years has been done in three months, by scientists at oxford university. around 80 groups world wide are developing coronavirus vaccines. a few others, in the us and china, have also started human trials. there's no guarantee any of them will succeed. personally, i am very optimistic i

fergus walsh, bbc news, oxford. laura:ro fingersed for that trial.ime is down in america at this point in the crisis. gun saleare up. the bia -- the fbi did 3.7 million back on purchases. a record was set for the most checks everdu ccted in a single d. >> first time gun buyers lining up outside the store in san francisco. it is a scene replicatedcross the country as americans stock up on what some consider essential items. >>fe we want t safer. the mentality of some people. they get crazy and desperate. you never know what is going to happen. >> but as ci remain in lockdown, there has been a sharr decline orted crime. from chicago to los angeles and in newk, the epicenter of the virus, serious crime has seen a double-digi drop. york's police force is also sick. an example of white americans who never owned a gun now feel they need one. >> you have a lot of police officers and first responders right now that are ill and are not in cities to be able to help people protect theelves. so you look at the violent crime going up. you lookt first responders n

our medical correspondent fergus walsh has been speaking to him. on his way to see his family, tim hall spent eleven days in hospital. are you pleased to be going home? very pleased, yes. when he had been brought in by ambulance, he could barely breathe. he gave this message on the importance of social distancing. anything you think is worth going outside for it's not, not when you could potentially see your kids for that last time or even a week or so without them is hard enough. so, that pint of milk, whatever it is, it is not worth it. now timis back home, being pampered by his family. do you want a pillow? yes. brilliant being back with the kids, seeing the kids smile and make a fuss of me. it was brilliant. how was the whole experience? thankful really. it was very scary and yes just going to be forever grateful for the staff at the hospital. and yeah, just we got through it. moments like this are wonderful for patients and their family, but a tonic for all of us when positive news seems in short supply. time for a look at the weather here's c

laura: that was fergus walsh reportg. of the biggest challenges of this outbreak, whether there in london or here in new york city, is getting medical equipment to where it's needed most. joining me now so talk about this is democratic senator chris murphy from connecticut. thanks for being with us. you have said that people will die inbr this ok because of the president's inaction on medical supplies. 10,000 people have no died in america. what do you want to see the president do differently? >> the predent needs to take control of both the manufactrre and dution of emergency medical equipment. i appreciate you having me on today because this is a crisis in the united states and around the world. part of that cris is driveny the fact that we don't have enough personal protentive equi for our hospitals and that puts them at jeopardy but it also means thate can't tes as robustly as we should. because in order to test, you need to have mks, face shields and other personal protective equipment. the president needs to take co