iain watson, thank you so much.s had one of the strictest lockdowns in europe, is now allowing children to leave their homes, if they're with an adult, for the first time in six weeks. and the government is hoping to extend the relaxation further, so that everyone can exercise outside. from madrid, here's damian grammaticas. released... after 42 days cooped up inside. all six members of this family, finally today able to get out of their apartment block. spain's lockdown rule banned children from going outside. so while the boys played cluedo, the six—year—old had the balcony as her playroom. today, spain relaxed those rules. 8 million children, freed from their confinement. "i was bored inside", she says. "i don't like it. i want to be outside". now they can, for an hour a day. and this is what the boys have missed most, a kickabout. for them, it was the hardest thing. playing football, they love it. they miss it really much. they couldn't do this in your apartment. no, no! they are not allowed to do it. i couldn't

and what that might mean for people's safety. 0ur our thanks to 0urthanks to iain our thanks to iain watsonly briefing. stay with us on 0ustide source. —— 0utside source. still to come: the us space agency nasa releases the most detailed an raf flypast has been held over bedfordshire — to mark the 100th birthday of captain tom moore. the tribute marks his remarkable achievement of raising more than £30 million for nhs charities, by walking laps of his garden. the world war ii veteran has been promoted to honorary colonel to mark his centenary. here are some images capturing his 100th birthday. # walk on, walk on # with hope in your heart... it really is absolutely awesome, the amount of people who have been so kind. # you'll never walk alone... when the queen's 100, who's going to send her a card? you! laughter # you'll never walk alone. # you'll never walk alone. welcome. you're watching 0utside source live from the bbc. 0ur welcome. you're watching 0utside source live from the bbc. our top story... the number of americans who've lost their job climbs to more than 30 million — after anothe

he and watson, thank you so much. —— iain watson.nt pharmacies are to be allowed to carry out tests for the coronavirus. andrew cuomo has also told his daily briefing on the pandemic that the number of people being taken to hospital in the state has fallen to same level as 21 days ago. 0ur north america correspondent peter bowes joined me a little earlier and told me why authorising independent pharmacies to carry out tests was significant. this is a very significant ramping up of testing in new york state. the governor says he wants to get up to something like 40,000 tests every day. now, currently, those larger pharmacies have been carrying out tests in new york and elsewhere around the united states, but this executive order, which he says he plans to sign, will allow those smaller pharmacies, high street chemists to carry out these tests, clearly making it easier for people to have a test. the test will be taking place at the chemists store, and then the sample will be sent away to a laboratory to be analysed. the governor also a

our political corrrespondent iain watson is at westminster. first time in more than a month the prime minister is out of isolation, hospital and recovery. that is right, a couple of weeks after he left hospital, we knew he would be coming back tonight because he starts work in downing street tomorrow and just over an hour ago we saw a range of vehicles heading towards downing street. the first, incidentally, was delivering his luggage to downing street ahead of the prime minister himself. obviously he has got his priorities right. it is quite a lot of political baggage for him to do with inside downing street, he will be getting briefings tomorrow morning and he is then going to deal with the covid—i9 meeting as it is called, which is basically a war cabinet, the senior cabinet members, alongside some of those senior medical and scientific advisors and at that meeting of course, he will be wanting to know what progress has been happening in his absence, a whole range of issues, including getting 100,000 has by the end of this month. but beyond

boris iain watson, is in downing street.now i residence borisjohnson is now back in residence in no 10 after recovering from the virus, is he expected back at work tomorrow? very much so, clive. at nine o'clock tomorrow morning he will be chairing a meeting of senior cabinet ministers and advisers, and he will have a very full intro which he will have to look at, too. he will also have to look at, too. he will also have to make some very big decisions about the way he is going to go, and the whole question of the lockdown. under what i say it is business as usual, many of his own mps are worried about the effect the lockdown is having on businesses. downing street insiders are also suggesting that they feel a kind of restlessness amongst the wider public about some of the restrictions. that said, i believe the prime minister, when he finally gives us a route map towards easing the lockdown, will be very gently easing his foot off the brake because he fears fuelling a second wave of infections, so, the kind of thing ministers

iain watson, bbc news, westminster.political editor norman smith at westminster. the issue of ppe is not going away, how serious is this for government? the concern is that far from easing, the problems over protective clothing seem to be intensifying. what had now been a problem of distribution, we had the kit but the issue was getting out to the myriad of different nhs settings and care homes and gp surgeries, seems to have become an issue of supply. in other words, we cannot get hold of the kit now. that's why we have to go to countries like turkey and china to try and get additional supplies. every other country in the world is doing exactly the same, we are ina world is doing exactly the same, we are in a global scramble to get hold of this clothing. but it does mean many hospitals now are almost having to operate on an ad hoc day by day basis, not really sure if they are guaranteed supplies. so we're seeing staff almost having to eke out what they have got with some hospitals effectively rationing the best kit for

iain watson, thank you very much. let's get some of the day's other news.s in iran have warned there could be new waves of coronavirus infections as the country starts to reopen some businesses. the official death tally now stands at more than 6,500 although there are indications that the real figure may be much higher. the french government has set out a package to help air france and the car maker, renault. under the plans the national carrier would receive 7.5—billion—dollars in loans, to save 350—thousand jobs. renault could recieve more than five—billion dollars. the indian government has allowed neighbourhood stores to reopen more than a month after they were shut due to the crisis. the interior ministry said only fifty per cent of staff should work and and only if they adhered to safety precautions. the governor of new york state, andrew cuomo, says independent pharmacies will be authorised to carry out tests for coronavirus, as part of efforts to increase testing in the state, which is by far the worst hit by coronavirus in the us. it comes amid new

lauren moss, bbc news. 0ur political correspondent iain watson is in westminster. w's the government reacting with more than 20,000 people now reported to have died from coronavirus? we know there are 20,000 grieving families, who have lost loved ones to coronavirus, and priti patel said today marked a sad and tragic moment in the life of the country. but this figure of 20,000 is also a grim benchmark of how well or otherwise we are tackling the virus because various government advisers said we we re various government advisers said we were doing well in the pandemic if were doing well in the pandemic if we could keep the numbers beneath 20000 and that has now been exceeded, so the other message from the government, unsurprisingly, was emphasised at the press conference this afternoon, and that is it is essential to keep the social distancing measures in place and it is essential that people continue to wallow them because we are not yet out of the woods. —— follow them. some conservative mps privately are getting restless and they see other european countries begin

iain watson in downing street, thank you.they're with an adult for the first time in six weeks. the spanish government is hoping to extend the relaxation further next week so everyone can exercise outside. from madrid, damian grammaticas reports. released. after 42 days cooped up inside. all six members of this family, finally today able to get out at their apartment block. spain's lockdown rule banned children from going outside. so while the boys played cluedo, the six—year—old had the balcony at her playroom. today, spain relaxed those rules. 8 million children, freed from their confinement. i was bored inside, she says. i don't like it. i wa nt to inside, she says. i don't like it. i want to be outside. now they can, foran houra want to be outside. now they can, for an hour a day. and this is what the boys have missed most, a kickabout. for them, it was the ha rd est kickabout. for them, it was the hardest thing. playing football, they love it. they miss it really much. they couldn't do this in your apartment. no! they ar

our political corrrespondent iain watson is at westminster.ime minister ‘s return change the shape of wouldn's response to the virus? it will change it to this extent, he will be chairing some meetings that he could not do during this convalescence and time in hospital to crucial meetings that discuss where britain may next go in terms of the lockdown and how they may ease restrictions in future. at nine tomorrow morning he is to meet senior cabinet ministers and the chief medical officer, the chief scientific advisor. this is what is sometimes referred to as the war cabinet what is sometimes referred to as the warcabinet in the what is sometimes referred to as the war cabinet in the covid—i9 meetings is that the official name. they will undoubtedly talk about some of the issues that have had to be grappled with in recent weeks. there is pressure from conservative mps to ease the lockdown to the chairman of the 1922 backbench committee of mps was telling bbc radio this evening that he felt some restrictions were illogical and needed to be ease

iain watson, bbc news, westminster. the virus have died and that brings the number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals in england to 14,829. the patients were aged between 40 and 101 years old. 15 of the 429 patients aged between 49 and 92, had no known underlying health conditions. the number of deaths of patients with coronavirus has also been published by region and the reason i mention that is the figure for london is 81. the figure for the north west of england has risen above london, at 112. we will bring you more on that and of course we expect the uk figure a little later this afternoon and we will bring it to you as we get it. but those are the figures for england only. correspondent helen catt is in westminster the issue of ppe is leading the bulletin once again. yes, the government are under pressure and have been throughout the pandemic. they say they have distributed over 1 billion pieces of ppe but again as we have consistently heard, there are those on the front line saying that they are not getting

thank you very much, iain watson at westminster.now in various guises. earlier today, an raf aircraft has landed in the uk with a delayed delivery of personal protective equipment from turkey. the flight arrived at raf brize norton in the early hours. its arrival coincides with the government remaining under pressure for failing to supply enough ppe. as iain wasjust as iain was just talking about and as came up so much as iain was just talking about and as came up so much at prime minister's questions. still so much is needed, we headed in the guest i was just talking to from the national care homes, that represents national care homes, that represents national care homes, a massive problem, as we have reflected since the beginning of this pandemic. just a moment we will talk to someone who is actually making ppe but let's first just give you is actually making ppe but let's firstjust give you a sense of how much is required. some really interesting stats. an nhs trust in lincolnshire, made up of three major hospitals, and that trus

i'm joined by our political correspondent iain watson. the peak has passed but the future is to very. it is indeed. they were saying at the production of the virus that the r rate was beneath one, the crucial figure so that it doesn't rise exponentially. it is about 0.6 — 0.9 but if you start to ease the lockdown there is a fear that the virus will begin to spread again and the prime minister in his usual way in his rather colourful language gave an analogy saying it was like moving through a big alpine tunnel with sunlight and green pastors at the end of it but did not want to slap into a second mountain. although we are to see a plan to get out of the lockdown next week, there is no timescale about when those measures might be introduced. his view is that if anything pushes up the reinfection rate, and perhaps you would then have to impose a second walked in and that might be economically more damaging. i'd expect them to move cautiously. there has been a big debate about whether people should be wearing face masks in this country as they do and many other parts of the world and th

discharged from hospital, where he'd been treated for coronavirus. 0ur political correspondent, iain watsonng street are emphasising the prime minister has been following medical advice throughout this crisis, since he was first diagnosed, about a month ago. and what is interesting is that, although he is supposed to be recuperating at his country retreat of chequers, in truth he has been spending most of the past week preparing for his return to work in downing street. not just those calls with president trump and with the queen, but also daily videoconferencing with his team and, significantly, a three—hour summit with some of the senior members of the cabinet — including his defacto deputy, dominic raab, and, crucially, the chancellor as well. but when he sets foot in downing street, he will face a whole series of challenges because there are mutterings from some of his own mps about the lockdown and the effect it is having on the economy. the former chancellor, phillip hammond, suggested that perhaps, indeed, the economy could become the greatest victim of this virus. he is also going t

iain watson is in westminster.ath and care homes and in the community and unsurprisingly, the community and unsurprisingly, the number of deaths has gone up. that is right. the government very keen to shut this is ace not a surgeon a keen to shut this is ace not a surgeon a break because what happened before as we got daily numbers. desh keen to say this is not a surge in numbers. we counted those for hospitals but not on a daily basis of those who died and ca re daily basis of those who died and care homes or in the community. the figures were really separately in use and sometime leg. we would see oi’ use and sometime leg. we would see or expect to see an increase in the numbers in total and indeed we did. almost 4000 more in fact because the numbers and incorporate those who died in care homes and the total figures now in 26,091 people who have died of coronavirus in the united kingdom. that takes on board yesterday's numbers of death in hospitals but in the committee they go back to march the 2nd. we would expe

johnson returns to downing street after two weeks of convalescence. 0ur political correspondent iain watsonat westminster. he's going to be chairing some of the meetings, which he couldn't do during this convalescence, his time in hospital, crucial meetings that discuss where britain may be going next in terms of the lockdown and how it may in future ease restrictions. so straightaway, around 9:00 tomorrow morning he is going to meeting senior cabinet ministers and the chief medical officer, the chief scientific advisor. this is what's sometimes called the war cabinet, others call it the covid—i9 meetings, the official name. they will be undoubtedly talking about some of the issues that dominic raab, his defacto deputy, has had to grapple with in recent weeks. there's a lot of pressure from conservative mps, for example, to ease the lockdown. the chairman of the 1922 backbench committee of mps was telling bbc radio this evening that he felt some restrictions were illogical and needed to be eased. so the prime minister has to take on that pressure, but i think given his authority, he can per

let's speak to our political correspondent iain watson in westminster.e uk in terms of figures but the prime minister saying that potentially the uk is past the peak. 5, the prime minister during his first press conference since he was in hospital, in intensive care for three days, flanked again by scientific and medical advisers, he wanted to give good news. he did say we are past the peak of infection in the uk. he said we have been three long alpine tunnel, seeing light at the end of that tunnel, but he didn't want to crash into the mountain. although he was giving some good news, he is downplaying the prospect of an early exit from the lockdown. maybe we'll see some modifications next week when he comes forward with this comprehensive plan. probably not a distinct timescale, but he may say how the economy will get moving again, how schools will reopen and what manner. workplaces, how they could have social distancing full stu b could have social distancing full stub that is all for next week. today, some good news about the peak of the virus, but als

into intensive care following his admission to hospital in london. 0ur political correspondent iain watsonster for us. so, is boris johnson fully recovered 7 well, downing street are emphasising that the prime minister has been following medical advice throughout the crisis since he was first diagnosed about a month ago. what is interesting, although he is supposed to be recuperating at his country retreat, in truth he has been spending most of the last week preparing for his return to work in downing street, not just preparing for his return to work in downing street, notjust because with president trump and the queen but also daily video conferences with his team and a three hour summit with some of the senior members of the cabinet including his de facto deputy dominic raab and the chancellor, as well, but when he sets foot in downing street he will face a series of challenges because there are mutterings from some of his own mps about the lockdown and the effect on the economy, and the former chancellor philip hammond suggested indeed the economy could become the greatest victim of thi

has returned to downing street — after two weeks of convalescence. 0ur political correspondent iain watsonme of the meetings, which he couldn't do during this convalescence his time in hospital, to crucial meetings that discuss where britain may next go in terms of the lockdown and how they may ease restrictions in future. cabinet ministers and the chief medical officer, —— at around 9:00am tomorrow morning he is to meet senior cabinet ministers and the chief medical officer, the chief scientific advisor. this is what is sometimes referred to as the war cabinet and the covid—i9 meetings is the official name. they will undoubtedly talk about some of the issues that have had to be grappled with in recent weeks. there is pressure from conservative mps to ease the lockdown. the chairman of the 1922 backbench committee of mps was telling bbc radio this evening that he felt some restrictions were illogical and needed to be eased. the prime minister has to take on the pressure, but i think given his authority, he can perhaps make a more convincing case that there is not a dilamma, not a dichotomy

our political corrrespondent iain watson gave us the latest from westminster. coming back tonight because he starts work in downing street tomorrow. and just over an hour ago, we saw a range of vehicles heading towards downing street. the first, incidentally, was delivering his luggage to downing street ahead of the prime minister himself. obviously he has got his priorities right. it is quite a lot of political baggage for him to deal with inside downing street. he will be getting briefings early on tomorrow morning. he is then going to deal with the covid—i9 meeting as it is called, the c—19 meeting, which is basically a war cabinet, the senior cabinet members alongside some of those senior medical and scientific advisers. and at that meeting, of course, he will be wanting to know what progress has been happening in his absence on a whole range of issues, including getting 100,000 tests by the end of this month. but beyond that, i think the major decisions he is going to have to deal with are... there is some pressure both from the opposition and inside his p

let's go to to our political correspondent, iain watson, who joins us from westminster.ot have seen the government response? it is a very detailed response. the sunday times made serious allegations that effectively the government had ignored dire warnings on the spread of the virus and missed five weeks at the beginning of the year in preparing their response. the government lost no time in preparing the response to the allegations saying it contained a number of falsehoods. for example, one of the claims they wanted to knock on the head quite quickly was the idea that the prime minister was missing in action in the five meetings of the emergency committee, cobra in january but it is far more relevant for the secretary of health to chair the meeting and discussed the crisis in the january seven with the prime minister and had begun to put in place to tell operations. they also argued it is ridiculous the spread of the virus came to britain because the minister was in charge rather than the prime minister. we were sending some protective equipment to china but that was a

the government is keen to stress it's not a surge in cases, but a new way of counting, as iain watsondaily numbers. for those who died of the virus in hospital but not those on a daily basis who care homes or the community. — who died and care homes or in the community. the figures were really separately in use and sometime leg. we would see or expect to see an increase in the numbers in total and indeed we did. almost 4000 more in fact because the numbers now incorporate those who died in care homes and the total figures now in 26,091 people who have died of coronavirus in the united kingdom. that takes on board yesterday's numbers of death in hospitals but also the community that go back to march the 2nd. we would not expect to see such a big increase in the figures tomorrow but there has been criticism of the government simply concentrating on hospital deaths and perhaps that trajectory in britain was very similar to italy and france but they have pressure on them to make sure they at the same time announce that's outside of hospitals. and that according to the labour opposition su

let's speak to our political correspondent iain watson. and parliament reopening technically this afternoon. that's right, parliament will be open but not quite as we know it. mps will be discussing turning it into a virtual parliament, or what the speaker of the house of commons has called a hybrid parliament, hybrid and the sense that you will have some people in the house of commons chamber and others will be asking questions via video link on video screens, they have installed four of them, on one side and four on the other. so it will look very different tomorrow if mps agree this afternoon, as we expect they will, to move to this because they can then say that they are taking social distance and seriously. before the extended break, although they were supposed to be practising social distancing on the green benches, we saw, for example, the prime minister and health secretary pretty close together at a session of prime minister's questions, and they both came down with the virus. i am not sure we can prove cause and effect, but at th

joining us now from westminster is our political correspondent iain watson.entific advisers are meeting today — what can we expect from those discussions? wearing face masks will be discussed by the scientific advisory group. there are competing claims as to the usefulness of masks being worn by the general public. it is certainly the general public. it is certainly the case that the world health organization takes the view there is no evidence to support widespread use, but some countries have been insisting or recommending their use, especially for those who may be asymptomatic and the risk of spreading infection rather than necessarily a protection for the wider public. but the concerns though if there is more demand for face masks, will that than to some extent increased risk? taking supplies away from those who really needed, including frontline service workers. —— need it. needed, including frontline service workers. -- need it. we know parliament resumes today, but how, in these days of social distancing? parliament, but not as we know it. it is rather