freya cole, bbc news. let's return to the state of health of the prime minister borisjohnson.he is being treated. paying tribute today for the care he has received, jenny? yes, that's right. he says he owes his life to the medical staff. the prime minister has been here for a week. it was last sunday when he was first admitted as a precaution and we were told he would be working at his bed on his ministerial box. but on monday things took a turn for the worst. he was admitted into intensive care. we would —— we were told he would be near a ventilator. we didn‘t need that intervention the end. he spent three nights in intensive care receiving standard oxygen treatment. on thursday he was well enough to be moved back onto the ward and we are told he is making very good progress. he has been able to make some short walks, he has been watching films and playing games, and we are told that his fiancee, carrie symonds, has beenin his fiancee, carrie symonds, has been in touch by letter, has been sending him pictures of their baby. she herself has been experiencing coronavirus type s

freya cole, bbc news.come the first country in the world to record more than 2,000 deaths associated with coronavirus in a single day. there have now been more than 20,000 deaths there and more than 500,000 confirmed infections. 0ur north america correspondent nick bryant reports from new york. easter weekend in new york city — a date in the calendar that donald trump spoke of only a few weeks ago as the moment to reopen the american economy. but the restrictions will remain in place at least until the end of the month, and there were signs today that coronavirus spring could become the coronavirus summer. new york announced its schools will remain shut at least until september. siren wails. good friday ended up being the most deadly day since the virus reached these shores — more than 2,000 people lost their lives — and america has now surpassed italy as the country with the most coronavirus deaths. 783 people, 777, 799. these are just incredible numbers depicting incredible loss and pain. for america, th

freya cole, bbc news. how close are we to finding a coronavirus vaccine?rgent questions being asked on a daily basis. scientists around the world are racing to find around the world are racing to find a cure fora around the world are racing to find a cure for a covid—19. bbc breakfast has been speaking exclusively to microsoft founder bill gates, who has pledged to fund factories searching vaccines. in 2015 you gave one of those ted talks. if people listen to it now, it was a —— extraordinarily close to what is happening now. you are talking about the real risk of a pandemic across the world. did you feel like you are listened to then? no. the investments that could have been done so that diagnostics would have been essentially immediately available, drugs in less than half the time the vaccine, in less than half the time, most of those investments were not made. now we are scrambling and it's taking us much longer to get these pieces together, even though scientists are going,... unlike the defence budget that prepares us for awards, where we simulate the

freya cole reports.sage during india's battle against covid—19. the country of 1.3 billion people were urged to light candles or torches at 9pm for nine minutes — a show of national unity. so to stand in solidarity, we have lit diyahs, did some meditation also, and hope india survives this and we come out in two weeks. but government critics say it was nothing but a picture opportunity for the prime minister, who is under increasing pressure to do more, especially for the country's poon the former finance minister made this direct appeal to the leader, saying: "we will listen to you and light diyas on aprilfive, but in return, please listen to us and the wise counsel of epidemiologists and economists." india is in the grip of a strict 21—day lockdown. almost allshops, including large factories, have closed, leaving workers on a daily wage with no source of income stop the prime minister has announced a $22 billion package to assist the poor, but many fear the financial aid won't go far enough or come qui

freya cole reports. high but farmers in the united states have been left with no option but to throw out fresh milk due to mass interruptions in the supply chain. it is just one example of the huge economic fallout caused by this pandemic. this is a crisis like no other. never in the history of the imf have we witnessed the world economy coming to a standstill. we are now in a recession that it is way worse than the global financial crisis. sorry, we're closed. this business in the heart of london is one of many which has been forced to lock the doors until further notice. covent garden is almost unrecognisable. no shops are open and no—one is there spending money. that's because roughly 4 billion people around the world are now under some kind of stay—at—home order. according to the international monetary fund, more than 90 countries have applied for financial assistance. the organisation has the capacity to lend $1 trillion, which it hopes will be funnelled back into healthcare systems to put an end to

freya cole with that report there.n the sunniest april on record and for much of the month it's been exceptionally dry. but things changed a bit on tuesday for many of us. you can see the way in which rain pushed its way northwards, certainly across england and wales, there were some showers for scotland and for northern ireland. now, that first area of rain is clearing away, you can see the frontal system sliding out into the near continent but there is another area of low pressure out to the west. more frontal systems coming our way, which means there is more rain in the forecast through the day ahead. this is our main rain band, it will be pushing its way north—eastwards, so initially moving across the south—west of england, into wales, the midlands, into the london area by about lunchtime, and then that rain will eventually get into northern england, northern ireland and southern scotland by the end of the day. northern scotland will hold onto something brighter, but with one or two showers. some brighter skies ret

freya cole reports. quiet, and streets around the world are deserted. global demand for oil during the coronavirus pandemic has plummeted. it's flooded the market with excess oil, which has only been exacerbated by a price war between russia and saudi arabia. but after a week of intensive video talks between the world's top oil producers and their allies, a deal has been brokered to cut global crude production. it is the largest cut by 0pec in supply ever. it signals of this kind of 0pec—plus cooperation, particularly saudi arabia and russia. their oil price war is over and their cooperation will continue. it was unique because the g20 was a part of it and cooperated in trying to figure out how to bring it together, so you had notjust 0pec, but the largest economies in the world. from the beginning of next month, the global oil cartel, 0pec—plus, will cut to 9.7 million barrels a day. that's about 10% of the current global output of oil. the big producers hope this will stabilise the industry and stop pr

freya cole reports. covid—19. the country of1.3 against covid—19. the country of 1.3 billion people were large to light candles or tortures at 9pm for nine minutes, a show of national unity. to stand in solidarity, we did some meditation also, and hope india survives this and hope india survives this and comes out in one piece. but government critics say it was nothing but a picture opportunity for the prime minister, who is under increasing pressure to do more, especially for the country's bore. the former finance minister made this direct appeal to the leader, being we will listen to you and light diyas on aprilfive, will listen to you and light diyas on april five, but interim please listen to us and the wise of epidemiologists and economists. india is in the grip ofa economists. india is in the grip of a strict 21 day lockdown, almost all shops including large factories have closed, leaving workers on a daily wage with no source of income stop the prime minister has announced a $22 billion package to

freya cole reports. 0n the lawns of central park a field hospital awaits the ill. in the central peak that the white house has predicted in the next six or seven days. sirens fill the streets of queens, one of new york's worst—hit neighbourhoods. paramedics are in a constant rush to transfer sick patients from home to hospitals, which are struggling to cope. new york governor andrew cuomo has warned the worst is yet to come. we're not yet at the apex. part of me would like to be at the apex, and just — let's do it. but there's part of me that says it's good that we're not at the apex, because we're not yet ready for the apex, either. we're not yet ready for the high point. we're still working on the capacity of the system. the more time we have to improve the capacity of the system, the better. and the capacity of the healthcare system — beds, staff, equipment. 1,000 ventilators from china are due to arrive in new york this weekend. it will help significantly with statewide shortages. president trump has also ordered 1,000 troops to the city. among them will be mil

freya cole, bbc news.al against his conviction on charges of child sexual abuse. the appeal was upheld at australia‘s high court, all sevenjudges ruling unanimously. his conviction has been quashed and he cannot be retried. the jury, which found cardinal george pell guilty back in 2018, failed to eliminate reasonable doubt which is what cardinal george pell‘s defence team went to australia‘s highest court with. they said that the jury had depended so heavily on the testimony of one victim, and while they found the testimony compelling, they described it was uncorroborated. they said that they failed to acknowledge other evidence and essentially did not eliminate a reasonable doubt. they couldn‘t decide without reasonable doubt that he was guilty and that‘s really what the seven judges, the full bench of the seven judges, had concurred and upheld. you say, james, that you followed this from the beginning. it‘s been quite dramatic, a monumental decision in a very dramatic and most closely watched case in aus

freya cole, bbc news. this is bbc news.aths from the coronavirus in the uk exceeds 900 for the second day running, as doctors warn that many medics are unable to access the personal protective equipment they need to keep themselves safe. the united states has overtaken italy with the highest number of deaths from the pandemic in the world. nearly 20,000 americans have been killed so far. here in the uk, more than 1,000 people have been fined for failing to stick to the rules on social distancing across england and wales. meanwhile, the uk home secretary announced more funding for support groups which help the victims of domestic abuse. tom symonds reports. day after day, the same demand of the british people. some experts are surprised at how rigorously we've stuck to the new rules of life in lockdown. but technically, that's not allowed. and even this sort of exercise is likely to prompt questions. the police have been told to engage, explain, encourage, and if necessary , e nfo rce . 108a people have been fined in 37 forc

freya cole, bbc news. now, the boston marathon was meant to happen this week.n the roof, of course. stephen england completed the 26.2 miles by running circles on the top of his manhattan apartment building. 1098 laps to be precise, over 5.5 hours. it was all for a good cause. a diabetic himself, stephen raised money for a diabetes centre at columbia university. and for more on the pandemic head to our website. there's plenty of reaction and updates from around the world — plus our live page will keep you up to date with all the latest developments — that's all at bbc.com/news — or download the bbc new app. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter — i'm @bbcmikeembley. hello there. wednesday was a completely dry day across the uk and in the sunshine we had temperatures into the low 20s in southern england. 23 degrees in dorset. but thursday is likely to be the warmest day of the week. mind you, we get off to a bit of a chilly start, 11—5 degrees, typically. maybe, again, a touch of frost in the scottish glens. and a bit more of this mist

freya cole, bbc news.ary workers mentioned there will be sent to the various hotspots around the country. for more on these, i've been speaking to our north america correspondent peter bowes. the president, at his news conference, highlighted a number of these hotspots. it was a very sombre message from him as well, talking about a very deadly period ahead with a lot of deaths. mentioning, of course, new york city, which is still the epicentre in the united states. and we heard earlier the governor likening the spread of covid—19 to a wildfire. detroit in michigan is another hotspot, as is new orleans in louisiana. that's a very densely populated city. and that's a similarity between all of these hotspots and, of course, new orleans very popular with visitors, a high throughput of people, which i think in part accounts for the high number of cases there. we've heard the president about sending troops to some of these hotspots, again, particularly new york city. and he also talked, on a slightly different t

freya cole, bbc news.ader the health secretary has been talking. it is the issue of the small number of people who are not following public advice about social distancing. at hancock used some quite strong language this morning saying he find it unbelievable that a small menorah team are not following the rules. we see this issue with public parks as well, some people have been seen sunbathing, whether that is in the spirit of the guidance. he was asked of sunbathing is illegal. sunbathing is against the rules that compensate out for important public health reasons. i wish i did not have to say this but i do because the whole country wants to come through this crisis. the whole country wants to come through this of course as quickly as possible and the fastest way to come through the crisis and to save lives and to protect the nhs and reduce the pressure on the nhs, the fastest way is to follow the guidance and stay at home unless you have one of the full reasons we have set out. matt hancock and self rece

freya cole reports.jor highways are quiet and streets around the world are deserted. global demand for oil during the coronavirus pandemic has plummeted. it's flooded the market with excess oil which has only been exacerbated by a price war between russia and saudi arabia. but after a week of intensive video talks between the world's top oil producers and their allies, a deal has been brokered to cut global crude production. i think this is a deed of historic proportions. it has never been attempted before. but again, unprecedented times call for unprecedented measures. from the beginning of next month, the global oil cartel, 0pec plus, will cut to 9.7 million barrels a day. that's about 10% of the current global output of oil. the big producers hope this will stabilise the industry and stop prices from plummeting even further. basically, stem the bleeding. they wanted to keep the oil price where it is and prevent it from going further down and oil prices should come down and gasoline prices should come

freya cole reports.ark, a field hospital are widescale, fully equipped and paid for by a christian organisation, it will provide some relief ahead of the virus peak, which the white house has predicted in the next six or seven days. sirens wail. queens is one of the city's worst hit neighbourhoods. paramedics are ina hit neighbourhoods. paramedics are in a constant rush to transfer syncopations from home to hospitals which are struggling to cope. new york governor andrew cuomo has warned the worst is yet to come. we're not yet at the apex. part of me would like to be at the apex, and just...let‘s do it. but there's part of me that says it's good that we're not at the apex, because we're not yet ready for the apex, either. we're not yet ready for the high point. we're still working on the capacity of the system. the more time we have to improve the capacity of the system, the better. and the capacity of the health care system — beds, staff, equipment. 1,000 ventilators from china are due to arrive in new

freya cole, bbc news.the coronavirus lockdown — with just their living rooms as a backdrop — and sometimes a few technical glitches along the way. in the latest — actors meryl streep, neil patrick harris and other stars of broadway have come together for an online charity concert to mark the 90th birthday of legendary composer stephen sondheim. reged ahmad reports. # dinosaurs surviving the crunch # let's hear it for the ladies who lunch...# meryl streep, christine baranski, and audra mcdonald. pouring themselves a drink and singing a raucous rendition of the ladies who lunch from one of stephen sondheim's famous broadway musicals. happy birthday, steve! happy anniversary, steve! # i want to know how to get through...# just a few days after a few of the broadway stars and actors take part in this virtual charity concert, the idea to raise money and belatedly marked stephen sondheim's 90th birthday by singing some of his back catalogue. how was i to know what your father had also hidden... neil patrick harr

freya cole, bbc news.businesses are getting back to work, adjusting to a new normal. one such business is pembrook and co salon, in fairview, 0klahoma. and i'm joined now by salon owner, amy pembrook. thank you very much for doing this. thank you. i think you and your husband are both stylists so the business is your whole livelihood. and you have lost four weeks of business? for solid weeks we just sat here waiting for the call. regular customers have askedif call. regular customers have asked if they could come to your house during lockdown to get a haircut? we did and we told that it was not possible because we could lose our license. how are you going to deal safely with customers now? we were able to reopen on friday of last week. monday was the beginning of this week and we are requesting everybody to wear masks and if you have a temperature not to come. bring your keys, a form of payment and not bring tanker logs, do not bring a friend, your mum, your dad, your kids. wait in your dad, your kids. wai

freya cole has the story.by for the very first time, three weeks after birth. young dimitri was romania's first baby to test positive for covid—i9. he is healthy now, and so is his mum after she too fell ill. in hospital, maternity nurses kept a close and caring watch. they even made daily video calls to help create a bond. translation: i felt a huge pain during isolation, but i was very happy to see him by phone. i could recognise his crying from far away. translation: it was a huge responsibility for us all, and for me, this is the happiest time. a surreal moment to finally be able to leave hospital and go home together. freya cole, bbc news. good to see some smiles. being in lockdown can be a challenge for so many of us. but for teenagers, whose world can revolve around social gatherings and going out, it's particularly difficult. so a group of young people from a london theatre group have got creative to make a visual time capsule documenting their lives in lockdown. brenda emmanus reports. hey, guys! welc

freya cole, bbc news.failing to stick to the rules on social distancing across england and wales. meantime, uk home announced more funding for support groups which help the victims of domestic abuse. —— home secretary. day after day, the same demand of the british people. some experts are surprised at how rigorously we've stuck to the new rules of life in lockdown. but technically, that's not allowed. and even this sort of exercise is likely to prompt questions. the police have been told to engage, explain, encourage, and if necessary , e nfo rce . 108a people have been fined in 37 forces so far. but it does seem to be working. there are some grey areas. but for the most part, you know, i think definitely there's been a decrease in people that are out and about. the first police officer to attend the daily briefing said this was a new world for the public but also the police. they have new responsibilities, they are tackling new risks. the streets are empty, businesses are closed as we all adapt to a new w

freya cole, bbc news. got to get your cheery stuff or you can these days.n and updates there, from the united states and around the world. or you can download the bbc news app. there is much more on all the news anytime on the website, national or international, you can reach me and most of the team on twitter. thank you for watching. hello there. wednesday was a completely dry day across the uk and in the sunshine we had temperatures into the low 20s in southern england. 23 degrees in dorset. but thursday is likely to be the warmest day of the week. mind you, we get off to a bit of a chilly start, 4—5 degrees, typically. maybe, again, a touch of frost in the scottish glens. and a bit more of this mist and low cloud affecting southern scotland, northern england, perhaps into the midlands as well. but it won't last long. it's going to be a dry and sunny day. the sunshine a little bit hazy at times for the northern half of the uk. but the winds on thursday will be even lighter. it'll feel warmer and temperatures may be a bit higher as well. it could reach 25

and freya cole, abc news. —— bbc news. therejust briefly. a recap smiling, there was a smile in there just briefly. a recap of there just briefly. a recap of the headlines, the us economy shrinking at the fastest rate in more than a decade but that is just the first quarter, the next quarter likely to be much more difficult. much more on the news any time for you on the news any time for you on the website and on twitter. thank you for watching. hello. it wasn't so much the case of april showers on wednesday, this was the scene for a time across birmingham, but give it a wee bit of time and eventually that rain cleared away and out came the sun. the reason for it all? well, we have not one but two weather fronts to contend with and thursday again was a real mishmash of weather, though pressure very much the dominant figure, the ice about squeezing together on the southern flank. so it will be a particularly cold starts the day given breeze and cloud, but for some it may be a wet one. we're just pushing wednesday's rain if

our reporter freya cole takes a look at their creation.wheels, a violinist and her friend are spreading musical cheer. and it's working. i mean, i heard before i saw it. i thought it was out neighbours blasting music. i thought it was our neighbours blasting music. i'm like, you play instruments now? what is this? and then i saw and i'm like, oh, breathtaking. this is definitely what i need. sarah grant has a pedicab operator and anna roznowska is a street violinist. together the duo created the mobile music box when theirjobs were impacted by the stay—at—home orders. i love playing music and i really believe in music. and at a time like this, yeah, we definitely need music, more than anything else. they're happily accepting small tips, but they say their main aim is to bring the community together. it's amazing and uplifting, and, you know, live music is what we miss most right now. it's, you know, it brings everyone out and makes everyone, you know, feel like it's a beautiful day again. freya cole, bbc news. a bit of cheer from the big e

freya beamish is the chief asia economist at pantheon macroeconomics.ate your time this morning. up next, is france failing its poorest students? online learning is exposing the gaps in the country's school system. we will speak to the education minister next. this is bloomberg. ♪ ♪ to "bloombergback markets: european open." the french president, emmanuel macron, announced this week that schools will gradually start reopening from around the middle of next month. the coronavirus has presented challenges for educating poor children. despite efforts by many teachers to contact classes, the system has lost track of about 8% of people since a lockdown started. france trying to not lose track of poor students in its system. the france education minister, jean-michel blanquer, joins us now on the phone. thank you very much for joining us. how many children do you fear of falling through the gaps? it is still -- is it still 8% of the population that you can't reach? what's the statistic? jean-michel: is no longer 8%. we think it is lower than 5% but 5% is stil

freya cole, bbc news. well—being and, as ever, it's an open question whether social media is helping or making it all worse. when so many people of a certain age all start posting pictures of themselves at 20, what's going on here? is it alljust a bit of fun, or is nostalgia one of the brain's mechanisms for getting us through a crisis? i've been asking professor steven taylor, from the school of psychiatry at the university of british columbia, for his opinion. there are three reasons why can be helpful. 0ne, it is mental time travel back to happier times and it cheers people up. secondly, sharing photos through social media is kind of a way of coming together and having a bit of a laugh in those times when you had bad hairstyles — or when you had hair — or bad clothes but the other thing that nostalgia can do is it addresses mortality salience — this is when people feel threatened with death. they're sorts of non—conscious mechanisms to deal with our fear of death and one of those is looking back at a fo

freya cole reports. a mass grave grows larger by the hour.l's highest mortality rate of covid—19 in the city of manaus, in the amazon basin. the local health system is overwhelmed, refrigerated containers are parked outside hospitals because local morgues can no longer keep up. for people who have lost loved ones, it is a painful time. translation: no person has given me a satisfactory answer to get my grandmother out of there, so we can bury her. we wa nt to there, so we can bury her. we want to give her a dignified burial. according to data from the world health organization, the world health organization, the amazon state is more then 2000 cases of the novel coronavirus. a majority of the victims are in the capital, manaus, the gateway to the amazon forest and indigenous tribes. the president has repeatedly dismissed the seriousness of the virus and is encouraging relaxing social distancing rules. health leaders agree the country will not survive a long—term lockdown but say each region will need its own strategies. translation: we are see

freya cole reports.s around the world are deserted. global demand for oil during the coronavirus pandemic has plummeted. it's flooded the market with excess oil, which has only been exacerbated by a price war between russia and saudi arabia. but after a week of intensive video talks between the world's top oil producers and their allies, a deal has been brokered to cut global crude production. it's the largest cut by 0pec in supply ever. it signals this kind of 0pec—plus cooperation, particularly saudi arabia and russia. their oil price war is over and their cooperation will continue. it was unique because the g20 was a part of it and cooperated in trying to figure out how to bring it together, so you had notjust 0pec, but the largest economies in the world. from the beginning of next month, the global oil cartel, 0pec—plus, will cut 9.7 million barrels a day. that's about 10% of the current global output of oil. the big producers hope this will stabilise the industry and stop prices from plummeting even

freya cole, bbc news.ayed. what is an eager runner supposed to do? lapse on the roof, of course. stephen ingham completed 26.2 miles by running circles on the top of his manhattan apartment building, 1098 lapse, to be precise, over 525 hours. also a good cause. he raised money for a diabetes centre at columbia university. good guy. that is it for now. thank you very much for watching. hello there. wednesday was a com pletely hello there. wednesday was a completely dry day across the uk and in the sunshine we had temperatures into the low 20s in southern england. 23 degrees in dorset. but thursday is likely to be the warmest day of the week. mind you, we got off toa the week. mind you, we got off to a bit ofa the week. mind you, we got off to a bit of a chilly start, 4-5d. to a bit of a chilly start, 4—511. maybe a touch of frost in the scottish clans. more of the mist mccoole affecting them in scotland, northern england, perhaps into the midlands as well. it won't last long. it will be a dry and sunny day.

freya cole reports.ed, major highways are quiet, and streets around the world are deserted. global demand for oil during the coronavirus pandemic has plummeted. it's flooded the market with excess oil, which has only been exacerbated by a price war between russia and saudi arabia. but after a week of intensive video talks between the world's top oil producers and their allies, a deal has been brokered to cut global crude production. it is the largest cut by opec in supply ever. it signals of this kind of 0pec—ppus cooperation, particularly saudi arabia and russia. there oil price war is over and their cooperation will continue. it was unique because the g20 was a part of it and cooperated in trying to figure out how to bring it together, so you had notjust 0pec but the largest economies in the world. from the beginning of next month, the global oil cartel, 0pec—plus, will cut to 9.7 million barrels a day. that's about 10% of the current global output of oil. the big producers hope this will stabilise the

freya cole, bbc news.tarring roles in slumdog millionaire and jurassic world, has died at the age of 53. the actor had revealed two years ago that he'd been diagnosed with a very rare form of cancer. 0ur correspondent in mumbai, yogita limaye, looks back at his life and career. let's see, then. where to begin? irrfan khan in life of pi, one of the several english—language movies he starred in. amongst his biggest hits overseas was slumdog millionaire, directed by danny boyle. it's a sad day, to think of his passing, but it's also a day when you can remember everything that he gave us, all the lovely roles that he played. and an actor who effortlessly bridged two cultures. abroad, he was india's best—known international actor. here in his home country, he was the unlikely leading man, who broke the stereotype of what it takes to be the protagonist in hindi—language movies. he's a big star in india... on a bbc programme seven years ago, he was asked if he sees himself as bollywood, or hollywood. i just see m

freya cole, bbc news.o weeks, a further sign that the country is starting to get the disease under control. but the reality on the ground is still very bleak for many italians, particularly amongst poorer communities. from rome, jean mackenzie reports. at this moment i have no way to have money, no. on these balconies there's desperation — people who've not been able to work now for weeks. tito started bringing food to those who can no longer afford to buy it. like stephano, who sells houses for a living, and now can't feed his two young children. living without money for more than one month. we change our life from one day to another one. everything changed, everything. it's not your life. casual work is common here, so for many the money has simply stopped. rosa? like for maria rosa. yesterday, her money ran out. these sacrifices have helped fight the epidemic here. the situation is finally improving, but the price has been high. this virus has taken thousands and thousands of lives, but it's also taken

freya cole, bbc news. third. the entire population of more than a billion people has been living under severe restrictions for the past three weeks. the world bank has slashed its predictions of indian economic growth this year, from 5% down to 1.5%. 0ur correspondent, yogita limaye, is in mumbai, and says the scale of the outbreak is still unclear in india. india overall has more than 10,000 cases and nearly 360 people have died of the infection so far. but i've been speaking to front line doctors over the past one week from different parts of the country. the worrying thing they have been telling me is that they believe these numbers are being underreported. the true scale of the outbreak in india is not yet known, partly because people who are brought dead two hospitals, who the suspicion is they might have died of something, you know, which looks a like —like coronavirus, those people are not tested, theirfamilies like —like coronavirus, those people are not tested, their families are not tested. the o

freya cole, bbc news. developments: china has reported 32 new confirmed virus cases, all of which were imported, but crucially no new deaths in the past day. according to the data, it's the first time china's national health commission has reported no new deaths since it started publishing its figures in january. there are growing concerns over the situation in indonesia. the country has registered around 2,500 infections and 209 deaths with a confirmed covid—19 link. but with very low levels of testing, indonesia's doctor's association warns the situation could be far worse than the official statistics suggest. more than 100 campaign groups and development agencies have called for the immediate cancellation of developing countries' debt payments in response to the global health. they say resources must be directed towards the needs of populations, not diverted to lenders. singapore is introducing its toughest measures yet to combat the spread of the virus. most workplaces will be closed from today. school

freya cole, bbc news. spain is easing restrictions saying they have slowed the spread.rules broken. funerals and weddings of ten people can go ahead. the new rules will last for two weeks at which point a new decision will be taken. —— new zealand. i have no intention of coming down here and lived and now —— might lift the rules without giving a timeline of the way that will be implemented. you will have seen today that often we have given a period of notice, whether it has been 48 hours or others. that has a lwa ys hours or others. that has always been so people can plan and prepare and so that we can do it in and prepare and so that we can do itina and prepare and so that we can do it in a really confident and controlled manner and i think by and large, that has been an accepted approach. joining me now is our correspondent shaimaa khalil who's in sydney for us. good to see you. a very cautious approach the prime minister was at pains to say that. that is right, sally. while there —— a while there has been an ease of the level four lockdown restrictions so people are

freya cole, bbc news.handling has been a focus of international attention in the world is watching now as authorities begin to gradually ease more restrictions which will rely on further testing and contact tracing to ensure the outbreak is kept under control. slowly, cautiously, germany is feeling its way back to life. schools reopening for exams stopping some shops back in business. at the same time, more testing and a focus on contact tracing. every time someone contact tracing. every time someone tests positive, public health officials must track down anyone they could have infected. translation: of course it is not always possible to find everyone. we depend on the support of the infected person. they have to try to remember who they have had try to remember who they have ha d co nta ct try to remember who they have had contact with. its way the army is helping to test a more high—tech solution. had hoped a phone app could help identify chains of infection there are concerns about privacy and the tech

freya cole reports. intensive care nurses in france pushed through the long and exhausting shifts.nse of hope. for a second day, the number of new admissions has dropped and the daily death toll appears to be slowing. translation: a very high plateau for this epidemic appears to have been reached, by the epidemic remains very active. there are still many cases coming into the hospital. in spain, huge makeshift field hospitals are full, 16,500 people have so far died, making it europehighest death toll. day by day, the number of fatalities is also dropping. plans are in motion to start reopening some factories and construction sites. but authorities have warned that for a majority of people, the lockdown remains. translation: from monday, we spaniards are still in a state of —— state of confinement. the result of this is that lives have been saved and that we are getting closer to defeating the virus for good. but it is important i insist to continue to enforce the measures. in scandinavia, sweden's relaxed approach to the pandemic has been controversial. now, even the prime ministe

freya cole reports. 0utside outside the hotel, migrant women and children line up for essential suppliesoken out in the living quarters and for the next two weeks they will not be allowed to leave. as stocks running low, panic breaks out. three aid workers from the un's international organisation for migration, walk away, unable to control the rush for the remaining supplies. the hotel is used as temporary accommodation for asylum seekers. many are single pa rents, seekers. many are single parents, fleeing conflict and famine in sub—saharan africa. 0ut famine in sub—saharan africa. out of the a71 people who live there, 150 have tested positive for coronavirus, including a staff member and aid worker. the majority are asymptomatic but as a precaution the military has set up a clinic in case the situation worsens. greek authorities have already implemented a citywide lockdown for two weeks including a 12 hour curfew from 8pm every night. translation: we are monitoring or contact of employees in the hotel and prioritising selection of moving groups, in case they need hospital treatment. so

experts predict that these figures will get worse. 17—year—old freya lives in supported accommodationle of days after the government announced the lockdown, my local authority moved me from one supported lodging to another with two hours' notice. which is obviously, like, a really strange situation to be in. so i'd been working the weekend before that with the public, so i could have had the virus and not known, and then i'm moving into a house with total strangers who i've met, like, once. a leading charity is calling on councils to do more. we know that councils are under real pressure at the moment. we would like to see all councils making a real effort to reach out to ca re leavers. we would like to see emergency funding from government to help them with that important work, and also to make emergency cash available for those care leavers who are struggling and really need it. according to the local government association, as tough as things are, these care leavers, like so many others across the nation, are remaining resilient. it feels like everything bad that could go wrong is