jon donnison reports.of the fight against covid—19 has been about keeping people safe and out of hospital. but today the nhs is telling people not to be afraid of seeking treatment for non— coronavirus conditions. it comes as figures from public health england suggests that people going to a knee in england is down about 50% compared to last year, 1 million fewer visits. we are here for non— coronavirus patients too. so if you are worried about chest pain, you might be having a heart attack 01’ might be having a heart attack or stroke, or you feel a lump 01’ or stroke, or you feel a lump orare or stroke, or you feel a lump or are worried about cancer or area or are worried about cancer or are a parent worried about your child, please come forward and use the health service in the way you normally would. it is going to be better to sort those problems out now rather than leave them for later. meanwhile the new government website on which the workers and their families can website on which the workers and th

jon donnison, bbc news.e now. hello to you. tell us more about how the testing for a key workers, front line workers, is going to work? and how helpful you think this is ultimately going to be in reducing the spread of coronavirus and eventually helping to ease the lockdown that we are in? well, in the short—term it does seem to be about meeting the health secretary's target of having 100,000 tests, not just an increasing capacity of 100,000, it's been a source of some embarrassment that although the capacity has increased, they've not been able to deliver on the promise of testing. so that was, i would imagine, part of the reason for expanding into a wide range of key workers. the idea of having key workers. the idea of having key workers tested in was to make sure there were enough doctors, nurses and other medical and social care staff, able to get back to workjust as it thawed, just at the point we thought of the nhs would be overloaded. but i just thought of the nhs would be overloaded. but ijust wonder

we'll have more on that later, but first this report from jon donnison. applause. thursday night ritual, as britons once again came together to clap for their carers. from bin collectors to the royal family. for a fifth week a show of support for the nhs and other key workers. it's just a little tiny thing that i can do to, you know, make some noise just to say thank you. every week. every week? yeah. not missed one? not yet. and we won't. and some of our carers have made the ultimate sacrifice. in st helen's earlier, a funeral earlier for sadeq elhowsh, a 58—year—old orthopaedic surgeon. a husband and a father of four who lost his life to covid—i9 as he worked to save others. it's family to me. it's a big loss for me and a big loss for the trust. a big loss for his family. it will be very difficult for me as well, because in every corner of the hospital we have a memory. and the number of people grieving continues to grow. latest figures show coronavirus related deaths in uk hospitals went up by 616 in 2a hours. but that's the lowest weekday increase in three week

jon donnison, bbc news.s are expected to sign off on a huge rescue package for countries ha rdest—hit by the coronavirus crisis, when they hold a video conference later today. the 500 billion euros package was agreed after bitter debate between richer northern countries and weaker economies in the south, that have suffered most from the pandemic. while european leaders are set to discuss and approve this package, the german chancellor angela merkel told parliament that germany should be prepared to pay more into the european union's budget. translation: our consultations today won't yet be about nailing down details or deciding on the extent. but one thing is already clear. in the spirit of solidarity, we should be prepared over a limited period of time to make very different — meaning much higher — contributions to the eu budget because we want all member states in the european union to recover economically. our correspondent in berlinjenny hill was listening to the german chancellor's speech and says merke

jon donnison reports.been about trying to keep people safe and out of hospital. but today the nhs is encouraging people not to be afraid it comes as figures from public health england show the number of people going to a&e over the past month is down around 50% compared with the last period last year. that's i million fewer visits. we are here for non—coronavirus patients too. so if you're worried about chest pain, maybe you might be having a heart attack or stroke, or you feel a lump or you are worried about cancer, or you're a parent concerned about your child, please come forward and use the health service in the way that you normally would. it's going to be better to sort those problems out now rather than leave them for later. meanwhile, the new government website on which key workers and theirfamilies can book coronavirus tests reopens this morning, after it was inundated with requests yesterday. almost 50,000 people in england tried to book a testjust hours after the website was launched. 16,000 peo

jon donnison, bbc news.ter by our political correspondent, leila nathoo. leila, is this a way for the government to try to meet its target of 100,000 tests per day? good morning. we have a target hanging over matt hancock, 100,000 test per day by the end of this month. now we're seeing a new way people to sign up to ask for a test. yes. if you break down that 100,000 target, you need the capacity to do 100,000 tests a day and you need enough people to test. at the moment capacity stands at about 50,000, thatis capacity stands at about 50,000, that is about halfway there with a week ago. the government say they are confident they will meet that, they will be opening you drive—through testing centres, they have mobile units going out to care homes to test staff and patients there they can operate from these drive—through centres. the problem so far is there hasn't been enough demand for testing. 0nly so far is there hasn't been enough demand for testing. only half the capacity is being used at the moment. so n

jon donnison, bbc news.om westminster by our political correspondent, chris mason. throughout this process politicians have been very quick to say we a lwa ys have been very quick to say we always follow the science, the medical advice. and today there is a representation in connection with mouth which is an issue a lot of people are talking about. —— with masks. just expand what this process is? this is the stage committee committee scientific advisory committee scientific advisory committee that is exactly that of the government, it assembles evidence and present that evidence to ministers. sometimes it can make a recommendation but ultimately the decision is one for elected politicians. that committee will gather, it will look at the evidence on face masks, we have seen some compulsion, haven't we, introduced overseas in terms of the wearing of face masks when we go out and about on public transport, things like that. so the committee will gather. it will pass advice to ministers. they may be meeting toda

jon donnison, bbc news.tions, including when and how premier league football might return. many people are looking forward to the easing of restrictions. lots of speculation from football to offices. yeah, i think we have got used to the idea that the lockdown is going to take a while to fully remove itself from our lives, if you like. but one thing that might be a glimmer of hope for getting back to something that looks like normal is the idea that premier league could be back in a few weeks, games being played behind closed doors. there would be pretty strict rules like testing for players and making sure that members of staff and things could socially distance from each other, but that is something the government has been briefed on, something officials are looking at, and it is possible football could be back pretty soon. and also, of course, other things to be thinking about is the government coming under scrutiny, and obviously we are trying to hold them to account throughout our coverage, but looking

jon donnison reports.ore than 18,000 people in britain who have lost their lives to covid—19. behind each one, friends and families left behind. the so—called curve may behind. the so—called curve may be beginning to flatten now but doctors are wanting many more will die before it's over. key to ending the crisis will be the race to discover a vaccine. the government says a team at 0xford the government says a team at oxford university is due to begin human trials on one possible vaccine today, although the go—ahead is not expected to be confirmed until later this morning. and doctors are warning any vaccine or treatments are unlikely to be ready to be rolled out until at least next year, meaning life will not return to normal anytime soon. this disease is not going to be eradicated, it will not disappear, so we have to a cce pt will not disappear, so we have to accept that we are working with a disease that we are going to be with globally, this isa going to be with globally, this is a global problem, for

jon donnison, bbc news. 0ur assistant political editor norman smith joins me. good morning.s. some countries are making them compulsory, as we have been explaining. why then, according to the indications you are getting, is the indications you are getting, is the government here not going to say that people should wear face masks if they are out in public, if we get to that stage where the lockdown is relaxed somewhat? i think the very honest answer is the scientists here are not convinced actually there is much need for facemasks and that there is no evidence they are of any use to people who are healthy. but there is a second huge reason, and thatis there is a second huge reason, and that is the fear that if the government starts telling people they have to wear face masks, or saying there is an obligation to wear face masks, we saying there is an obligation to wearface masks, we will all run saying there is an obligation to wear face masks, we will all run out to buy facemasks and they won't be enough for the nhs. that has been throughout this whole crisis the bottom line