This is bbc news, imjane hill. The headlines. A growing political row as the government comes under increasing pressure to do more coronavirus testing. We want to see more people tested, very rapidly. We do now have enough tests to be testing those people in Critical Conditions in hospitals. We need that national plan, but for the test which tests whether you have got it now and the new test which will be coming on stream soon, which tests whether youve had it. 16,000 staff may be needed when the newly converted Nightingale Hospital in east london reaches capacity. President trump warns the us to expect a rough two weeks and to stick to social distancing saying its a matter of life and death. Italy mourns the thousands of victims of its coronavirus outbreak as some question whether doctors have been given the necessary equipment. The prince of wales, who has himself recovered from coronavirus, sends a message of support particularly to older people. None of us can say when this will end, but end it will. Until it does, let us try and live with hope, and with faith in ourselves and each other, look forward to better times to come. Hospitals in england have been urged to use any spare Laboratory Capacity to test more self isolating nhs staff for the coronavirus amid growing pressure to increase testing. It comes as a 13 year old boy became the youngest person in the uk to die after contracting the virus. His family say they dont believe he had any Underlying Health issues. The government is facing increasing criticism of the lack of Testing Available for frontline staff who could return to work if they are found to be clear of the virus. Nhs Officials Say 16,000 staff could be needed at the new Nightingale Hospital in east london. And President Trump has warned americans to prepare for a very, very painful two weeks ahead. More from the us later in the programme. 0urfirst report is by Richard Galpin on the uks response. A recent estimate by the Royal College of physicians suggested a quarter of all nhs doctors had eitherfallen ill
or had to self isolate because of concerns about a Family Member showing symptoms. And it was the same for many nurses. Testing them for coronavirus would enable many to return to work if found to be in the clear. But the governments been slow to focus on testing in general, and in particular for Health Workers. So what we are calling for is a National Testing strategy, a strategy to ramp up the Community Testing and Contact Tracing, like we are seeing in other countries, that is how other countries have been able to beat this virus or get this virus under control and suppressed. So now nhs england is calling on hospitals to use 15 of their testing capability on staff. The governments going further, saying hospitals should use any spare Laboratory Capacity they have, to test as many nhs staff for the virus as possible. We want to see more people tested, very rapidly. We do now have enough tests to be testing those people in Critical Conditions in hospitals, so much so that we can now move forward and test nhs workers and that is extremely important, because anyone going to work in those situations and doing frankly heroic tasks for us, should be given the equipment they need. But, at the same time, the government and nhs are claiming shortages of vital material are hampering capacity to ramp up testing. A top nhs executive has said laboratories could be providing round 100,000 tests a day. But, because of a shortage of swabs and chemicals, this is being limited to round 13,000 a day. However, the Chemical IndustriesAssociation Says it can help. Such is the concern about the slow pace at which testing is being increased that today a volunteer network of laboratories has been launched across the country, offering to provide hundreds
of labs which could switch to coronavirus testing. These, its claimed, could deliver tens of thousands of tests a week. In this fight, each one of these labs and the people in it are like the fighters and Fighter Pilots of the battle of britain. A awful lot of work we do is just to give the gps confidence theyre not infected and we have had a few that we tested, that had gone immediately into isolation and we were able to either confirm they were infected, or that they were not. Meanwhile today, more problems for the government. At this hospital in southend, medical staff are warning management they may limit services in the Emergency Department if they do not have the correct protective equipment. They claim the equipment is locked away. The hospital says its committed to keeping staff safe. Around the country, Health Workers are worried. Were seeing what its doing to people and it is frightening. I think when youre on shift
you get on with it. You are looking after patients and theyre the priority, you are being sensible about your ppe. But when youre off shift, that is when you start to worry about what might happen. Amongst those who have died so far in this outbreak, another tragic development. A 13 year old boy has died from the virus, here in Kings College hospital in london. Ismail Mohamed Abdulwahab is thought to be the youngest reported victim of the disease in this country. His family say he had no apparent Underlying Health conditions. Richard galpin, bbc news. 0ur Health Editor hugh pym explained more about the confusion over the numbers of nhs staff being tested. Testing is so important in the medium term, as restrictions are lifted, to see how far the virus might still be spreading in communities. Never mind that, the short term is to get more nhs front line staff back to work. They may be self isolating
because a member of their family is ill, they might have symptoms. If they can be tested, theyll know if theyve got the virus or not. And, as richard was saying, there are clear shortages now because people are not able to get into work. Under the government said for weeks that theyre going to ramp up testing, to 10,000, then 25,000, we learned yesterday the 25,000 a day target was now going to be late april. Its still not out 10,000. Its up to 8000. You hear of the numbers, that the capacity of labs in the nhs hospital sector and Public Health laboratories is 12,500. Yet they are only doing 8,000. So you hear that number being talked about. So, theres a disconnect between these numbers and whats actually happening. And the fact that the voluntary sector, as we heard there, are coming in and saying weve got lab capacity available. Robertjenrick, the minister, saying in that interview, look, if the private sector or anyone can
help us, come and talk to us, suggests fairly shambolic situation in whitehall. I think the message has now got through, the government has told hospitals just get out and test as many of your staff as you can, as well as the patients that they need to do. But i think the front line workers wont quite believe its happening until they actually see it happening in practice. New numbers coming through from Public Health wales, saying there have been 274 new confirmed cases in wales. It takes the official total toa wales. It takes the official total to a little over 1800. 1837. But they are making the point that the true number is likely to be higher. But that is the confirmed number. That is just in from Public Health wales. Lets stay with the issue of testing generally. Because that is certainly the dominant political issue here today. Lets get more on all of that from our political
correspondence, jessica parker. The whole issue of testing is something that the government is really under pressure on now . Absolutely. And i think that there is frustration probably both in and outside of government as they talk about ramping up those testing numbers. They seem to be creeping up very slowly. 0bviously they seem to be creeping up very slowly. Obviously the government is aiming for25,000 slowly. Obviously the government is aiming for 25,000 tests a day by mid to late april. Some confusion around that date, actually. Health officials said more like late april, the 25th. But earlier today, robert jenrick, the communities secretary, going back to the mid april target. As he was just talking about, the issue of who is being tested. The tests now are primarily aimed at people who are patients in hospital, but there is concern that nhs staff who are maybe showing symptoms, or members of their family or household might be showing symptoms, they are not able to go into work and help with the effort to tackle
coronavirus. The government is under a lot of pressure to try to ensure that front line staff are getting tested. 0ver that front line staff are getting tested. Over the weekend, we were told that around 900 are being tested. We heard from downing street that the number is up to just over 2000. But that is a pretty small proportion of nhs staff across england. That is an nhs england figure, im told. So i think the pressure will continue. Downing street are saying they have instructed nhs trusts across the country to use any Spare Capacity that they have to test front line staff. So, is the government adamant that it staff. So, is the government adamant thatitis staff. So, is the government adamant that it is about capacity, not availability of tests . I think the audience trying to follow this today will think, well, i dont quite understand what is happening or not happening here . Absolutely. The government say they are trying to increase capacity. But that is a challenge. They have acknowledged thatis challenge. They have acknowledged that is a challenge because, they say, of issues around sourcing chemicals that are in high demand. As audiences may have already heard today, there is some dispute as to
what extent the chemicals are in high demand. People point to countries like germany, for example, managing to do many more tests than the uk, something government ministers have been talking about is that perhaps german manufacturing was ina that perhaps german manufacturing was in a better place to begin with in terms of being able to produce a mass number of the kind of things that i needed to put the tests together. But it is both of those issues. The government trying to increase capacity, but struggling to because, they say, its quite hard to get all the materials together in order to get these tests manufactured and distributed across the country. I do want to talk to you about ventilators as well. But we arejust you about ventilators as well. But we are just hearing some more figures through from the department of health, and id appreciate you may not have seen easier. Worth telling the audience that we have just had fresh figures through from the department of health, updated figures. As of 5pm yesterday evening, a total of 2352 people have died in hospital after testing
positive for coronavirus. That is the latest figure from the department of health. And the issue of ventilators, as i say, as well, jessica, because, much like testing, it has been such a key area under pressure. Tens of thousands are needed, as i understand it, and yet the latest information we have had, talking about one specific group, providing about 30 . Yes, so, the situation of ventilators, as you say, if you look at this more broadly, whether testing or ventilators, the government really trying to re gear what is going on in the private sector to try to produce these things that is needed. 0n ventilators, there are currently 8000 available. They are trying to bring another 80,000 on stream. Governments are saying they are working with the private sector to get more ventilators out across the nhs, across the uk, to help
patients. What we heard yesterday from michael gove was that, as of this weekend, new ventilators will be rolling off the production line to be distributed across the nhs the following week. What we have heard from downing street this afternoon is that this number, in terms of the initial batch, will be, as you mentioned, around 30. Obviously that is not a particularly huge number. Every ventilator is obviously very valuable to any nhs trust that it goes to, but, again, its an indication of the pressure that the government is under to try to come up government is under to try to come up with lots of tests, lots of ventilators, to try to meet this crisis, and how it does prove to be a challenging effort at times. Jessica parker, thank you very much indeed. We are going to stay with testing. Joining me now is professor Matthew Freeman head of Oxford Universitys dunn school. Good afternoon. Thank you so much
for your time. What is your take on testing in this country, testing in particular of Health Workers and why the figure is apparently still so low . Im not an expert on the testing of Health Workers. Really, my position is that ijust want to make sure that the Decision Makers out there realise that there is an army of scientists, at oxford and universities and Research Institutes across the country, who have the general expertise to do what is called the pcr testing that is required to detect the virus. So, there is not really a shortage of infrastructure, machines or expertise. But where the challenges are, andi expertise. But where the challenges are, and i think they are huge challenges, i am are, and i think they are huge challenges, iam not are, and i think they are huge challenges, i am not here to add to a layer of criticism, im just trying to get clarity on this. The challenges are about the logistics of getting the testing done, the quality control, issues around bio safety, if you are dealing with
samples have a live virus in them, training people, it, all of those issues mean it is very difficult to work out how you might be able to mobilise this sort of of volunteers throughout universities. You talk about mobilising. So, youre saying that it about mobilising. So, youre saying thatitis about mobilising. So, youre saying that it is possible to do more testing . Is it more aboutjoined up thinking, coordination . What is your concern . What is your assessment as to why it is not happening to the degree that we would all like . think you are right, the challenges are those ones about coordinating, sorting out logistics. All of those are complex issues. They are not, primarily, about the number of people that are competent to do such tests, nor the instruments on which you need to do the testing. The machines that you need for these tests are just workhorses that are in labs all over the country. Many, many people, from graduate students upwards in seniority, can run the
kind of testing that is needed for coronavirus. So, the challenges are logistical ones. And it may well be that Public Health england, the government is looking at this carefully, and it may well be that they have looked at this and decided it is not efficient to try to turn this into a distributed testing facility around the country. If thats the case, sober yet. Maybe thats the case, sober yet. Maybe thats right, maybe it makes a lot more sense to keep it centralised. But i think it is a mistake to believe that there is no capacity to ta ke believe that there is no capacity to take on this kind of testing, if it could be built into the system. Right. So, your sense of what should happen in the next week to try and improve the situation from where we are today, what are the key things that could be done right now . Well, iam that could be done right now . Well, i am trying to make the point that i think its really complicated. There are no easy answers. Yes, yes. I
have a lot of confidence there are very smart people working on this very smart people working on this very hard. Im not here to criticise. I want to make sure that they are fully aware that there is an army of volunteers out there, eager and willing to help, if we can be helpful. Equally, we dont want to get in the way. It may be that the analogy that was being used earlier of battle of britain, dunkirk spirit, the little boats, maybe that is not the right way of thinking about that. Maybe it is more efficient to keep everything central. People need to know that if needed there is a army of willing volu nteers needed there is a army of willing volunteers out there with the broad level of expertise and equipment to help. I think, level of expertise and equipment to help. Ithink, exactly level of expertise and equipment to help. I think, exactly as you said, it isa help. I think, exactly as you said, it is a question about whether one can coordinate this in turn this. That its a sort of systems problem, rather than a technology or expertise problem. Absolutely. You explained that extremely clearly, and we absolutely take your point. Very good to talk to you. Thank you so much for your time. Professor Matthew Freeman from oxford
university. The headlines on bbc news. A total of 2,352 people have now died in hospital in the uk after testing positive for coronavirus. Thats the biggest rise in the number of deaths so far. A growing political row as the government comes under increasing pressure to do more coronavirus testing. Nightingale hospital in east london reaches capacity. 16,000 staff may be needed when the newly converted Nightingale Hospital in east london reaches capacity. Just to have data on the figures we have been bringing you, we mention some of that any headlines. The latest figures that have come from the department of health in the last 15 minutes or so. A rise, sadly, and
inevitably, on the day before. Just to remind you, 2352 patients have died in hospital. That is a uk wide figure. So, that is uk wide. More than 2300, after testing positive for coronavirus. Those figures, to remind you, are accurate as of 5pm yesterday evening. There is a slight lag, but that is how they calculate the figures. That is from the department of health, in terms of the rise, just to put it into some context, the figure that we gave you on the headline, it is up by 563 on the day before. So, that is the context, the day before. So, that is the co ntext, u p the day before. So, that is the context, up by 563. To try to give you figures on testing as well, the department of health is saying that. Its getting close to
153,000, very nearly. 153,000 people have been tested. Again, that figure is up until nine oclock this morning. So, that is fairly up to date. But as of nine oclock this morning, very nearly 153,000 people have been tested. And its approaching 29,500 who have tested positive. Those are the latest details, the figures released always around this time by the department of health. Lets turn our attention to that new hospital that is being converted in east london. 16,000 members of staff may be needed to run the new Nightingale Hospital in east london when its at full capacity. It is the converted excel centre, usually conference centre, and it should be ready to receive its first patients by the end of the week. Angus crawford reports. Welcome back to excel arena down in the royal docks in east london, crowds still pouring into this 10,000 seater. From a time of national celebration. To one of national crisis. The excel has a new role and name. Now, nhs nightingale. An army of civilian contractors, and the military too, transforming this vast space. Cubicles marching towards the camera. This is my last week in the army well, it was, until i got the phone call. So ive built hospitals, planned hospitals around the world, been a commander in med in afghanistan, ive got hospitals in oman, iraq and the balkans, so this is what ive prepared for. Its what i do. In excels two huge exhibition halls, plans for 80 wards, a pharmacy and mortuary. 500 beds to start with, scaling up to 4,000 if needed, at full capacity, with a team of 16,000 people. It will only admit patients already on ventilators, and should be operational by the end of this week. But there are still questions about whether they will get enough ventilators and staff, and how they will cope with the hundreds, possibly thousands of patients who will come through the doors. Some of them will not survive, despite the treatment they receive here. Senior doctors aware of how stressful the job may become. Those staff would be quite used to the realities of dealing with this disease, and these types of patients, including the sad fact that not everybody will survive, its for those staff that might have stepped up to help. They are genuine heroes, that they found it in themselves to actually come and help this facility, and we need to look after them to make sure they can cope with the realities of working in an intensive care unit. Nightingale is almost ready. Its empty beds a sign of the scale
of the job which may lie ahead. Angus crawford, bbc news. Lets talk to our Health Correspondent nick triggle. He is here to go through some of the daily statistics we receive. Context is so important, talk us through what we have learned from the department of health . It is. We know there has been 4324 new cases of coronavirus diagnosed, which brings the total to 29,563 new deaths. We have been told to expect rising number of cases and rising numbers of deaths. This should be expected. Yesterday, officials were talking about green shoots and the possibility that cases were plateauing. Then well be talking about the number of positive new cases. The last five days have seen the new cases announced hovering
around 2500, up to 3000. Thisjob the new cases announced hovering around 2500, up to 3000. This job to 4300 is a bit more than we had been hoping for. Certainly a rise in the last few days. Its important to look over a few days. In the coming days, what will be crucial is whether this figure goes up, or does it stay the same . Because, at the moment, what they are hoping for is to see a slowing down on the rising numbers of cases each day, so it plateaus. And then we can start hoping for the cases to come down. Todays figure is a jumper. It will bea todays figure is a jumper. It will be a concern, but we will have to see what happens in the next few days. A thought about testing as well . Well, the government has been heavily criticised today, as it has been for a few days, about testing. The figures today show that actually around 10,000 tests were done in the preceding 24 hours. That was the target of the government was trying to achieve at the start of the week. It is beginning to see an increase
in numbers. Yesterday are the day before it was around 8000 mark. But there are still a long way to go to get to the 25,000 tests per day that the government wants to achieve by the government wants to achieve by the middle or end of this month. And this is crucial, because not many nhs staff are being tested. It is mainly hospital patients that have been tested. And that means nhs staff are having to isolate at home because they have symptoms, or maybe their household members have symptoms. That is keeping them off work and hampering the ability of hospitals to treat patients. For now, thank you very much. Nicola sturgeon has said she expects it will be possible to carry out 3,500 coronavirus tests per day in scotland by the end of the month. The first minister said everything must be done to protect health and social care workers, and provided an update on the death toll. We are in no way complacent about this, and we will continue to give all possible support to those that
are working so hard on the front line. And its worth stressing again, because it is so important, that what i have just said assumes that what i have just said assumes that people across the country will continue to do the right thing. Every single one of us who follows the Public Health advice is helping to reduce the number of people who will need hospital care in the weeks ahead and is, therefore, helping to reduce the risk of the nhs being overwhelmed. These measures to increase capacity are, of course, pa rt increase capacity are, of course, part of a wider effort to ensure the nhs has sufficient beds overall to cope with potential covid 19 patients. So, i can report that as of last night, including those in intensive care, there were 1153 patients with confirmed or suspected covid 19 in hospitals across the country. So, clearly, expanding General Hospital capacity is also important. Again, i can report to parliament that we are on track with
this. Nicola sturgeon, clearly speaking at holyrood, not a press briefing, i apologise. There is a debate about new Emergency Powers to deal with the pandemic. Lets get more from our scotland correspondent, lorna. There have been controversial plans as part of this. Explain what has been under discussion . Perhaps the most controversial area was to do with the proposal to introduce solemn trials in front of a judge without a jury. A lot of scrutiny by politicians and, indeed, lawyers, voicing their concerns as well. Today, at the very start of that debate, government ministers in scotla nd debate, government ministers in scotland announced that they are binning that proposal for now. They are going to go away, try to rework it and bring it back again when parliament next sets, which is going
to be in, we think, three weeks time. A thought as well about the continuing impact of this on society more broadly as well, because we have heard news this lunchtime that the edinburgh festivals are being cancelled again, a reminder of the impact on the economy, business, tourism, it is such a wide ranging issue . It is, formerly of people come to scotlands capital every year to watch the performances. I think it is Something Like 25,000 performers, artists, writers, from about 70 Different Countries take pa rt about 70 Different Countries take part in them. It really is a highlight of the cultural calendar, globally. But we hear that for the first time in more than 70 years, edinburghs festivals have been cancelled. I think it was inevitable that festivals like this, which take such a long lead in time, so much preparation that they have to take an early decision about what to do with them. But they are off. Some suggestions people are trying to
work out ways to do things virtually. But it really is a significant announcement in the cultural calendar. For now, thank you. Lorna gordon, our scotland correspondence. Much more coming up after 2. 30. We are taking many of your questions on Health Topics a little later. Well, i was going to say a little later, probably in the next few minutes. If you have any questions, send them in. Lets take a breath and take a look at the weather prospects. Hello, there. We have a lot of cloud spilling across the uk at the moment. The rain in scotland, as it heads into Northern Ireland and then moves down into england and wales, becoming very light and patchy, but keeping the cloud here. Behind that, we will see showers arriving in Northern Ireland, northern and western scotland overnight. Some clearer skies for eastern scotland and north east england. But because the wind is picking up, its not going to get too cold. No frost this time across southern england because of all that cloud. And therell be a fair bit of cloud round on thursday. Therell be some showers coming in on the freshening breeze. Showers in scotland turning wintry, particularly over the hills, although perhaps easing down a bit during the afternoon. However, the wind will be stronger for all of us, particularly across northern scotland. The Northern Isles there could get gusts of over 65 mph. Its certainly going to make it feel cold, as the best temperatures are only going to be 5 or 6 degrees across northern scotland. Quite a bit better than that, i think, for eastern parts of england. Chilly start on friday. Some showers around, but it does get milder over the weekend. Hello this is bbc news. The headlines. A total of 2,352 people have now died in hospital in the uk after testing positive for coronavirus thats a rise of 563. Its the biggest daily rise in the number of deaths so far. A growing political row, as the government comes under increasing pressure to do more coronavirus testing. We want to see more people tested, very rapidly. We do now have enough tests to be testing those people in Critical Conditions in hospitals. We need that national plan, but for the test which tests whether you have got it now and the new test which will be coming on stream soon, which tests whether youve had it. Its emerged 16,000 staff may be needed when the newly converted Nightingale Hospital in east london reaches capacity. In the us, President Trump warns the us to expect a rough two weeks as he put it, and to stick to social distancing, saying its a matter of life and death. Italy mourns the thousands of victims of its coronavirus outbreak, as some question whether doctors have been given
the necessary equipment. The prince of wales, who has himself recovered from coronavirus, sends a message of support, particularly to older people. None of us can say when this will end, but end it will. Until it does, let us try and live with hope, and with faith in ourselves and each other, look forward to better times to come. Lets ta ke lets take a look at what is happening in the world of sport. More details now. Good afternoon. Premier League Players are being told theyre living in a moral vacuum and should be the first to sacrifice their salaries during the coronavirus pandemic. Those are the words ofjulian knight chair of the department for culture, media and sport committee. Its after tottenham,
newcastle and norwich opted to use the governments Job Retention scheme, putting their non playing staff on leave with a 20 wage cut while players continue to earn their full salaries. Premier league and efl clubs are meeting today to discuss a potential wage deferal agreement for players. I think it sticks in the throat, because at the moment they are paying hundreds of thousands of pounds a week to their premier league stars, while at the same time asking the taxpayer to pay their nonpaying staff, who may only be on hundreds of pounds a week. I think it shows the crazed economics of football, and i think that long term there needs to be a new way of doing business. Ive been getting the thoughts of the former tottenham manager harry redknapp. When you talk about tottenham, newcastle, you are talking about two of the best supported teams in the country, nearly 70,000 people here for every home game. I am a bit
disappointed, really, that they have used this scheme to keep workers on this. These people are so important to every football club. I think the clu b to every football club. I think the club should not be taking the governments money to be paying them. Well, in a joint statement the premier league and English Football League say there are no quick answers on how and when football will return. No matches are scheduled until next month at the earliest due to the pandemic. All 55 uefa members are taking part in a Conference Call to discuss how to finish domestic seasons across europe. Bbc sport understands that the completion of the Champions League and Europa League is likely to be pushed back to july august time, with a statement from uefa due soon. For the First Time SinceWorld War Two wimbledon could be cancelled today as a series of emergency meetings between organisers continue. The championships are due to take place from the end ofjune for a fortnight and while postponement was discussed
its likely the whole Grass Court Season will be called off, with an announcement due later this afternoon. The calendar is already starting to become a little more congested towards the end of the year, because eve ryo ne towards the end of the year, because everyone who has had tournaments cancelled is fighting for spaces to try to complete, i suppose, the season as best as they can. I think one of the big challenges for wimbledon is it is played on grass, which is not an artificial surface, and also the further that you go on in the yearor and also the further that you go on in the year or down on the calendar, you have less light, and of course wimbledon has just the two covered courts. So i think there is big challenges for it, in terms of postponing it. And before we go how would you celebrate your birthday today as lockdown continues across the uk . Not easy when lockdown is continuing. Scotlands former Commonwealth Games javelin throwerjamie campbell
the answer is running a marathon in his six meter long garden hes doing it to raise money for the nhs. It will take him a while but he is determined to get there. That is all your support for now, back to you, jane. You have to stop showing it, it is making me dizzy just you have to stop showing it, it is making me dizzyjust watching the poor man, it isjust making me dizzyjust watching the poor man, it is just not making me dizzyjust watching the poor man, it isjust not big enough, is it . We will hear more in the world of sport in the next hour. A very good afternoon to you, you are watching bbc news. Lets return to various issues concerning the coronavirus pandemic. In the next few minutes we will take your questions about a particular health issue around that but before that lets talk about carers. Last night the government published new guidance for local authorities about carers, under the coronavirus act. The guidance warns councils that they may have to reduce personal care for some vulnerable adults, in order to ensure others get the help they need to do basic things. We can talk more on this now with the chief executive of carers uk, helen walker who joins me from east london. A very good afternoon to you. Good afternoon. Of course, there are formal paid carers and an army of unpaid carers as we know out there, lets talk about paid carers first of all, in relation to this new guidance that has been issued by the government. How helpful is that for the sector . Well, it is both helpful and unhelpful, because i think unpaid carers are particularly anxious that paid care will not be available to them and that assessments will be taken away from them and that suddenly they will find that they are having to do even more that they are already doing. So i think there is huge anxiety. We com pletely
i think there is huge anxiety. We completely understand why the government has done this, in order to try and help reduce the burden on the social care system and on unpaid carers, but i think there is huge anxiety about its potential, and also, i think, anxiety about its potential, and also, ithink, a realfear that if they can take the very hard fought rights away from them now, when will they come back and how long will ca re rs they come back and how long will carers have to pick up that slack . Absolutely, at what point is this all over. I suppose that is their concern. And what are some of the key issues, i mean, im making an assumption that your charitys phone line is an undated, inundated, what are the concerned people are expressing to you . You are absolutely right, i think we have had an 80 increase in calls to our advice line, a 600 increase in hit rates to our coronavirus pages. I think what carers are saying to us
is their greatest fear is if they themselves get the coronavirus, who will look after the person that they ca re will look after the person that they care for . So essentially if one person goes down, the system will then have to look after two people. So carers are vital in this fight against the coronavirus, so we need to protect unpaid carers in order to help them look after the most vulnerable, and lets face it, they will be looking after the most vulnerable. So the 1. 4 million will be in that category who are shielding will be looked after by unpaid carers as well as paid carers. There are huge numbers of other people who they will be looking after, and they themselves are looking after, and they themselves a re often looking after, and they themselves are often in the vulnerable category. A lot of carers will be over the age of 70 themselves, and so really anxious about what will happen to them if they catch the virus, never mind what will happen to the person they care for. So the anxiety is really huge for a group of people, potentially around we estimate 8. 8 Million People, who
already were taking on a huge burden from the state, effectively. So we under we estimate the value of unpaid carers, around £132 billion a year, propping up what was before this crisis a social care system that was teetering on the brink, so already they were doing an awful lot. We are now asking them to do even more, and i think there is a limit to their capacity. More than 8 million, that is an astonishing figure. 0n million, that is an astonishing figure. On a human level, what do you advise them to do . Of course they are worried about contingency plans, what do you and your team advised them to do and what would you like to see, in terms of help from the government . Well, we of course advise them to follow government regulations, so to wash their hands, to clean surfaces, particularly if they are living with the person that they care for or indeed not living with them, bringing in the infection potentially from outside. So it is
being extra cautious and following government guidelines. I think it is very important that some of the supermarkets recognise unpaid carers will be shopping for the most vulnerable, so to include them in their vulnerable categories. I think what the government needs to do, and we have been campaigning for this really ha rd, we we have been campaigning for this really hard, we have been at the centre of government and the nhs, making sure that carers are front and centre of those contingency plans, and making sure they are considered in all the information thatis considered in all the information that is going out. I think we would like to see carers recognised a little bit more publicly, and also carers allowance, it is the lowest inafit carers allowance, it is the lowest in a fit of its type, £6615 a week, soi in a fit of its type, £6615 a week, so i think the chancellor needs to look at how he can increase that, and support carers at this very, very challenging time. Helen walker, thank you very much, the chief executive of carers uk. Lets turn to your questions now
and thousands of them have been coming into the bbc, lets answer some of them. With me is our Health Reporter michelle roberts. And im joined by dr amir khan in leeds whos a general practicioner in leeds. You may well have seen them on our screens before. Thanks very much to both of you. Lets get through as many questions as we can. Michelle, lets start with one for you, our first question is from roma, saying shouldnt front line staff ron, saying shouldnt front line staff be tested so they can keep working and doing the amazing job they are doing . Certainly it is taking time to get testing out to people and the priority at the moment is both patients who are sick in hospital and the staff caring for them,
because if we can test all of them, then the care can be delivered better and help save lives. There is also another type of test that has been mentioned before, which is about testing more people in the community to see how many have had the infection in the past, not necessarily infected with it now, and that would help us get a handle on the figures, how far this disease has spread. Dr khan, amir khan, a question from bedfordshire that says last saturday, there you are, excellent, even better, last saturday i notice i had lost my sense of smell. There is no information from the nhs about this, does it mean i should be isolating . The person adds i do sufferfrom copd. The person adds i do sufferfrom copo. Right, the person adds i do sufferfrom copd. Right, i think the person adds i do sufferfrom copd. Right, ithink that is the person adds i do sufferfrom copd. Right, i think that is a really interesting question, there is increasing evidence that people who have had coronavirus are reporting a loss of sense of smell and taste, about one in four people are reporting that, and even though it hasnt come through on the
government guidelines, a lot of ear nose and throat consultants and their governing bodies are saying we should think about the coronavirus with patients who have lost their sense of smell. And we know from other types of virus similar to the coronavirus that they do colonise on the back of the nasal passages, in the back of the nasal passages, in the top of the noses, and they can destroy the cells that are responsible for smell, and the nerve responsible for smell, and the nerve responsible for smell and cause this loss of smell and taste and it can go on for weeks after the infection itself has cleared, so that it is important to remember. But in answer to the question, yes, you should self isolate for seven to the question, yes, you should self isolate for seven days to the question, yes, you should self isolate for seven days and your household contacts should self isolate for 14 days. Household contacts should selfisolate for 14 days. Your advice is to isolate, thank you very much. Michelle, a question about hand washing, is it still important, asksjohn in hand washing, is it still important, asks john in hull . Hand washing, is it still important, asksjohn in hull . I dont remember hand washing being mentioned once at
yesterdays number ten press conference and i think it was the same the day before. I think he is trying to say the five oclock press conference we have all become familiar with, only ten days ago, a week ago, every day we were warned and we were told about hand washing for 20 seconds and singing happy birthday and all the rest of it, and john is saying is they are less emphasis on this right now . Certainly the message is still there that all of us should be doing it, and we should be doing it often. We know it is one of the most effective ways of stopping this virus, if everybody just cleans their ways of stopping this virus, if everybodyjust cleans their hands, wash it with soap and water, really simple, that can cut the risk of infection. Still vitally important. Interesting question from mandy hancock, amir, saying i had pneumonia when i was a child, can i get it again via covid 19 . Pneumonia when i was a child, can i get it again via covid19 . The short answer is yes. All pneumonia means isa answer is yes. All pneumonia means is a severe chest infection, not relating to the bug causing it, and
we know coronavirus if it gets down as faras we know coronavirus if it gets down as far as the lungs can cause all sorts of problems, both with your immune system and its own multiplying behaviour and increase the risk of a pneumonia. There are lots of different types of pneumonia. If you have had it before, it does not mean you are immune or wont get it from the coronavirus. Interesting. Michelle, a question from mike slater. Can anyone explain why so few covid 19 patients have recovered . Anyone explain why so few covid 19 patients have recovered . That is mikes turn of phrase, so few. I certainly dont know what the exact figures are but there are lots of people who do recover perfectly well and perhaps lots of people already know people who have so we dont wa nt to know people who have so we dont want to be alarmist, you can put that into context, i hope. want to be alarmist, you can put that into context, i hope. Ithink he is referring to the official data, where you see how many people have been tested, how many have recovered. Now that is relying on how many people actually get the test. We know not everybody has been tested and that lots of us are
catching it, and recovering. Importantly, catching it, and recovering. Importa ntly, most people catching it, and recovering. Importantly, most people who catch it will recover, but it doesnt mean most of us will be tested. That is where data can be fantastic but it is also confusing because we all know people anecdotally within our community who are pretty sure they have had it, they have had the cough, the high temperature, stayed in bed, taken lots of paracetamol and there are lots of cases like that, i suppose, and there are lots of cases like that, isuppose, where and there are lots of cases like that, i suppose, where we are all chattering about it and people think they have had it but as you say, if you havent had the test, you dont know for sure. And that is where the Antibody Test that hopefully we will have in the weeks or months to come and be able to roll out on a bigger scale will help tell us that. Absolutely, that will be really interesting when we reach that point. Kate in maidstone in kent says i want to know whether smokers are more susceptible. We are learning more and more things about this virus all the time, what is
clear is that smoking in itself, whether you have an underlying condition or not, does put you at increased risk of the compilations of the virus, so the answer is yes, and if you are thinking about stopping smoking, now is a really good time to do so. A question about carers, striking actually, because we have just been discussing carers on the programme. Sandra has e mailed us to say i am extremely disabled, iam e mailed us to say i am extremely disabled, i am vulnerable, i e mailed us to say i am extremely disabled, iam vulnerable, i have ca re rs disabled, iam vulnerable, i have carers coming in to do essential care, but sandra says none of my ca re rs care, but sandra says none of my carers have been issued with a mask, even though they are essentially working with older or more vulnerable people. When will carers get masks . We know there has been an issue about getting protective equipment out to those who need it. It is being prioritised, at the moment front line staff within hospitals have been pushed to the front of the queue because they are dealing with the sickest patients who might be spreading the infection. There is a hotline that
the nhs has that staff can contact to alert them to the fact that they havent got the ppe, the personal protective equipment, masks, gloves, overalls, aprons, that kind of thing, that they can say we need some. Stocks are going out, but in areas we are hearing issues. One final thought, and amir, this is something that will resonate with so many people watching, a question from julie, who says my family and i have been staring at home. Staying at home. If we are all well after 14 days, can i drive tomorrow mothers calls, 22 miles away, and pick her up so she can come and live with us so she isnt lonely . 0n pick her up so she can come and live with us so she isnt lonely . On an emotional level, it is a huge dilemma. What are your thoughts from your perspective as a gp . If this family have been isolating for 14 days and have not been anywhere at all, so it is really hard to have done that, then strictly speaking they are probably coronavirus free, and if her mother has done the same,
then they are. However, you have to be really careful, because if you introduce an elderly person into a larger family, there is introduce an elderly person into a largerfamily, there is a higher risk of them getting the virus and suffering for complications, so you have to weigh that in the balance and just decide whether it is really imperative your mum comes to stay with you. In most cases, elderly relatives are better off on their own in theirown relatives are better off on their own in their own homes, it reduces the risk of spread of infection. When you say not been anywhere, you mean literally not even going to the supermarket to buy vegetables. Absolutely, not left the house, not interacted with any other people outside of the house, not left the grounds of your house. Yes, a tall order. Thank you both of you for giving yourtime, dramir order. Thank you both of you for giving your time, dr amir khan and michelle roberts, thank you very much. Do keep your questions coming of
course, 61124, because do keep your questions coming of course, 61 124, because we try every day to answer your questions on bbc news. Right now we will return to the continuing controversy about the lack of testing. We have focused on it so far today, a lack of testing for front line staff. Of course we know an awful lot of nhs workers, other health care workers, could return to work if they could have a test and be shown to be clear of the virus so what exactly is going on . Lets speak to the former liberal democrat mp phillip lee, phillip lee, whos also a gp. Hejoins me via webcam. Good afternoon to you. High. In fact, i believe you are in self isolation but thanks very much, i believe you are doing 0k. What are your thoughts about where we are with testing right now . I have never really understood the governments approach on this because if you want to get
rid of a virus, you have to find it, isolated, treat the patient if necessary and then eradicate it. That is the basic sort of approach would take with any viral infection. So for us to be arriving at the party a bit late, so for us to be arriving at the partya bit late, in so for us to be arriving at the party a bit late, in terms of widespread testing, if you compare us widespread testing, if you compare us with say south korea and germany, i have not really followed the logic of that. I think the government should have reacted earlier in january, both with the Ventilator Capacity and testing capacity. It new the illness then would have a Significant Impact fortunately upon a minority but a Significant Impact in terms of their lung function, so we should have got the ventilators and we should have been testing and Contact Tracing earlier. And what would be your understanding as to
why that didnt happen, then . Well, imeani why that didnt happen, then . Well, i mean i tweeted something a couple of days ago about having participated as a minister in the last pandemic exercised the government ran towards the end of 2016, and that exercise revealed a lack of ventilating capacity. Now that was an exercise involving a virus for which we had a treatment and we had a vaccine, and yet the impact of the epidemic had on the country in that exercise was really quite profound, which begs the question the report, which is not in the public domain, but would have been accessible to any cabinet 0ffice minister, you canjust take it off the shelf, indicated we would have had difficulties if we confronted a similar epidemic, and here we are confronting one where the virus has not got a proper treatment yet and we dont have a vaccine, and yet the decision in january, despite all of the evidence coming out of china, was knocked to
order ventilators, seemingly, and seemingly not to order additional testing capacity. I think, seemingly not to order additional testing capacity. Ithink, i seemingly not to order additional testing capacity. I think, i dont quite understand the logic of that. You would have to ask the government why they chose to delay for so long, and then eventually realise, perhaps and then eventually realise, perhaps a bit too late in the day, of the need to act, and then belatedly shut down the country to try to control this. As a country, we had anticipated this, we had anticipated this as a risk, a tier one security risk, it is in the public domain, it does beggar belief that we didnt act quicker, because we knew, we had done an exercise, we knew that we had these challenges. It was always going to be a challenging epidemic, pandemic, there was no question this was was going to be extremely difficult. I just was was going to be extremely difficult. Ijust think was was going to be extremely difficult. I just think we have was was going to be extremely difficult. Ijust think we have made ita difficult. Ijust think we have made it a lot harder for ourselves. Dr phillip lee, thank you forjoining us. Lets talk about the Economic Impact of all of this. Nearly a million uk businesses are just weeks from going bust, according to new research. Its found that nearly a fifth of small and Medium Sized Companies are unlikely to get the money they need to survive another month despite promises of unprecedented government support. Many firms say banks have refused them emergency loans. We can now speak to one Small Business that is struggling james morris is the owner of trafalgar marquees. Thank you for your time, explain to our viewers thank you for your time, explain to our viewers your thank you for your time, explain to our viewers your situation, if you could . Afternoon, i think you hit the nail on the head. It is evidently clear that smes are struggling to survive. 0ur evidently clear that smes are struggling to survive. Our business in the event sector, our visibility has disappeared, our short term and medium cash flow has really been obliterated. We have reached out to our bank as was suggested by the
chancellor, and some great words of rhetoric there, but realistically nothing really seems to be happening. We are reassured by our own mp. But it is a real stat, 80 of smes will fail in the coming weeks if they dont get the cash they need in the coming weeks. What reason have you been given by whoever you have approached for not being eligible, because people are watching will think oh my goodness, the government has announced lots and lots of measures, why is there nothing to help you . Chatting to our bank, they have given us very little reason actually to say we are not eligible, other than we are not viable. But then i think any retail, hospitality or events businesses is not viable in this environment as we continue with the pandemic, and it is very much at odds to the words we have had from other potential lenders or even from the treasury themselves. And how many staff are at risk here, what does it mean for
other people . It has some realworld impact. We have six full time staff, we should soon be scaling up to a complement of 25 to 30 during this summer season. However if we dont have the visibility we need those jobs are clearly at risk, sadly. am pausing because i am trying to think what i could possibly do or feel in your situation and you have spent the best part of ten years building up this business from scratch and other peoples livelihoods depend on you as well. Absolutely, and the very sad real fa ct absolutely, and the very sad real fact is we are just one of tens of thousands of smes in this position. We area thousands of smes in this position. We are a growing business, or at least we were prior to the pandemic, and we have plans to continue to grow and employ more people and that is absolutely our intention, even through this pandemic and post pandemic, but the sad fact is. am wondering quickly what could the chancellor to do for you right now . Is there something that could be done to alter the situation for you . It isa done to alter the situation for you . It is a good question. I probably dont have the tools or expertise in terms of the delivery mechanisms, but those delivery mechanisms for the banks as they are classed are clearly what is slowing this down. From speaking to our mp, we are told not to shut the doors, to keep on to as many staff as we can, but if we dont get the support through the bank and a help in the short term, thenit bank and a help in the short term, then it is just physically not possible. James morris, goodness, we wish you all the very best in very difficult circumstances, like so many other businesses. Thank you very much for your time. James morris, the owner of trafalgar marquees in sussex will stop we will have a look at the weather now with darren bett. A lot of cloud spilling across the uk, the rain as it heads into Northern Ireland and down into england and wales becoming very light and patchy. Behind that, showers arriving, northern and western scotland overnight, some clearer skies, but because the wind is picking up it will not get too cold, and no frost this time across southern england because of all that cloud. There will be a fair bit of cloud around on thursday, some showers coming in on thursday, some showers coming in on that freshening breeze, the showers in scotland turning wintry particularly over the hills, though perhaps easing down a bit over the afternoon. However the wins will be strongerfor all afternoon. However the wins will be stronger for all of afternoon. However the wins will be strongerfor all of us, afternoon. However the wins will be stronger for all of us, particularly windy across northern scotland. The Northern Isles could get gusts of over 65 mph. It will certainly make it feel cold. The best temperatures only five or 6 degrees across northern scotland, quite a bit better for that four eastern parts of england. A chilly start on friday, some showers around but it gets milder over the weekend. This is bbc news, imjane hill. The headlines. A total of 2,352 people have now died in hospital in the uk after testing positive for coronavirus thats a rise of 563. Its the biggest daily rise in the number of deaths so far. A growing political row as the government comes under increasing pressure to do more coronavirus testing. We want to see more people tested, very rapidly. We do now have enough tests to be testing those people in Critical Conditions in hospitals. We need that national plan, but for the test which tests whether you have got it now and the new test which will be coming on stream soon, which tests whether youve had it. 16,000 staff may be needed when the newly converted
Nightingale Hospital in east london reaches capacity. President trump warns the us to expect a rough two weeks and to stick to social distancing saying its a matter of life and death. Italy mourns the thousands of victims of its coronavirus outbreak, as some question whether doctors have been given the necessary equipment. The prince of wales, who has himself recovered from coronavirus, sends a message of support particularly to older people. None of us can say when this will end, but end it will. Until it does, let us try and live with hope, and with faith in ourselves and each other, look forward to better times to come. The uk has recorded the largest daily increase in deaths due to the coronavirus. Of those hospitalised with the virus, 563 more people have died. The death toll in the uk now stands at 2,352. Almost 30,000 people have tested positive for the coronavirus, ajump of over4,000. It comes as the Government Faces criticism of the lack of Testing Available for frontline staff who could return to work if they are found to be clear of the virus. Nhs Officials Say 16,000 staff could be needed at the new Nightingale Hospital in east london. And 800,000 businesses say they are weeks away from closure due
to the Financial Impact of the virus. Well have reports around the world on the Global Response to coronavirus but our first report is by Richard Galpin on the uks response. A recent estimate by the Royal College of physicians suggested a quarter of all nhs doctors had eitherfallen ill or had to self isolate because of concerns about a Family Member showing symptoms. And it was the same for many nurses. Testing them for coronavirus would enable many to return to work if found to be in the clear. But the governments been slow to focus on testing in general, and in particular for Health Workers. So what we are calling for is a National Testing strategy, a strategy to ramp up the Community Testing and Contact Tracing, like we are seeing in other countries, that is how other countries have been able to beat this virus or get this virus under control and suppressed. So now nhs england is calling on hospitals to use 15 of their testing capability on staff. The governments going further, saying hospitals should use any spare Laboratory Capacity they have, to test as many nhs staff for the virus as possible. We want to see more people tested, very rapidly. We do now have enough tests to be testing those people in Critical Conditions in hospitals, so much so that we can now move forward and test nhs workers and that is extremely important, because anyone going to work in those situations and doing frankly heroic tasks for us, should be given the equipment they need. But, at the same time, the government and nhs are claiming shortages of vital material are hampering capacity to ramp up testing. A top nhs executive has said laboratories could be providing around 100,000 tests a day. But, because of a shortage of swabs and chemicals,
this is being limited to around 13,000 a day. However, the Chemical IndustriesAssociation Says it can help. Such is the concern about the slow pace at which testing is being increased that today a volunteer network of laboratories has been launched across the country, offering to provide hundreds of labs which could switch to coronavirus testing. These, its claimed, could deliver tens of thousands of tests a week. In this fight, each one of these labs and the people in it are like the fighters and Fighter Pilots of the battle of britain. A awful lot of work we do is just to give the gps confidence theyre not infected and we have had a few that we tested, that had gone immediately into isolation and we were able to either confirm they were infected, or that they were not. Meanwhile today, more problems for the government. At this hospital in southend, medical staff are warning management they may limit services in the Emergency Department
if they do not have the correct protective equipment. They claim the equipment is locked away. The hospital says its committed to keeping staff safe. Around the country, Health Workers are worried. Were seeing what its doing to people and it is frightening. I think when youre on shift you get on with it. You are looking after patients and theyre the priority, you are being sensible about your ppe. But when youre off shift, that is when you start to worry about what might happen. Amongst those who have died so far in this outbreak, another tragic development. A 13 year old boy has died from the virus, here in Kings College hospital in london. Ismail Mohamed Abdulwahab is thought to be the youngest reported victim of the disease in this country. His family say he had no apparent Underlying Health conditions. Richard galpin, bbc news. In the past hour the uk death toll from the virus has risen by 563, taking the total number of deaths in hospitals to 2,352. 0ur Health Correspondent nick triggle gave some background to that. We know there has been 4324 new cases of coronavirus diagnosed, which brings the total to 29,000. 563 new deaths. We have been told to expect rising numbers of cases and rising numbers of deaths. This should be expected. Yesterday, officials were talking about green shoots and the possibility that cases were plateauing. They were talking about the number of positive new cases. The last five days have seen the new cases announced hovering around 2500, up to 3000. This job to 4300 is a bit more than we had been hoping for. Certainly a rise in the last few days. Its important to look over a few days. In the coming days, what will be crucial is whether this figure goes up, or does it stay the same . Because, at the moment, what they are hoping for is to see a slowing down on the rising numbers of cases each day, so it plateaus. And then we can start hoping for the cases to come down. Todays figure is a jump. It will be a concern, but we will have to see what happens in the next few days. Lets speak to our Political Correspondent nick eardley. Those, sadly, the latest figures. We have also been talking about testing. There has been confusion and the government is under pressure . That pressure has been building for some time. There are questions being asked about the capacity the uk has, is it enough, and whether we are using enough of
that capacity at the moment. Just to put some figures on that, at the moment, the uk can, according to the government, carry out around 12,750 tests every day. Its not doing that at the moment. The latest figures for the last 24 hour show that fewer than 10,000 tests were done. So, there was criticism that the capacity is too low, that the uk didnt ramp it up quickly enough, and criticism that the full capacity isnt being used. The direction from downing street now to the nhs in england is that if there are spare tests, Spare Capacity, that should be absolutely targeted at front line nhs workers, those people who are doing so much to try and treat patients with coronavirus. Again, though, the figures appear to be quite low. So far, there have been 2000 tests done on nhs front line
staff. Thats stretching back into last week. That doesnt make up the shortfall in capacity. I think there is frustration in opposition parties, but also frustration in downing street that full capacity isnt being used. 0ver downing street that full capacity isnt being used. Over time, the other thing the government says is that it wants to get the capacity up to 25,000. That was originally hoped for in mid april or may. It may now be later in the month, potentially to the end of the month, before we see the 25,000 figure. As you say, many people are looking at countries like germany, carrying out far more tests, and going, why isnt the uk ina tests, and going, why isnt the uk in a position where it can do Something Like that . Yes. We are going to talk in a moment to a Hospital Doctor about ppe, personal protective equipment. There are still issues there. In discussions about ventilators. Again, the Health Service saying it needs tens of thousands of ventilators . Again, with all of this, these are things that, in normal times, the
government thinks it has enough ppe and ventilators. 0bviously government thinks it has enough ppe and ventilators. Obviously we are in absolutely extraordinary times. The amount of equipment that needs to be ramped up extremely quickly, on ppe, we have heard big numbers from the government, millions of masks being distributed around the country. They are confident they are getting on top of that issue. Again, there are anecdotes coming in from around the uk of some people running low on some of the equipment that they need to treat patients. 0n ventilators, the government has said it is going to get thousands of new ventilators which are produced in the uk by a consortia of engineers that have diverted their effort into doing this. There is a realfeeling of delight, really, in government that we have managed to get the project off the ground so quickly. 0ver
time, there will be those thousands of ventilators. The first of them will be delivered to the nhs next week. But thats not the thousand. We think it will be 30 deliver next week. Again, there is still that pressure for things to be ramped up to make sure the nhs has all the equipment and all the tests that it needs. Nick eardley, for now, thank you very much. We have been reflecting in terms of those who lost their life already to this in the uk. 0f those who lost their life already to this in the uk. Of course, a lot of focus, inevitably, on the fact that a 13 year old boy has died in hospital in london after contracting coronavirus. We havejust had hospital in london after contracting coronavirus. We have just had a very brief statement from the little boys family. This is ismail Mohamed Abdulwahab, the family of the 13 year old essentially paying tribute to him this afternoon, describing him as a loving son, with
a heart warming smile. The family, urging people to stay at home as much as they possibly can. That is a direct quote. Please stay at home to protect the nhs and to save lives. You will know that the family has also been saying that they dont believe that their son had any Underlying Health conditions. He was 13 years old. We were talking there are about testing, about ventilators. Lets talk about personal protective equipment. As weve heard, the government continues to face tough questions about a lack of protective equipment getting to frontline nhs staff. We have heard from so many staff in the last couple of weeks, particularly on social media, saying that they cant get hold of enough equipment. Ministers say the equipment. Ministers say the equipment is available, but they admit that the distribution is complicated. Im joined by dr claudia paoloni, president of hospital consultants and specialists association
and a consultant anaesthetist. Thanks for your time. When you hear that from the government, that the equipment is there but it is the distribution that is the problem, does that ring true with you . think there clearly are problems with distribution of the equipment, andi with distribution of the equipment, and i am very concerned, and way as and i am very concerned, and way as an organisation, are concerned that thatis an organisation, are concerned that that is the case now before we have even hit the peak. We are ahead of the peak and we are struggling to provide ppe, which is essential to the workforce. So, that is a major concern and it is being confirmed by members on a daily basis. Im interested , members on a daily basis. Im interested, what are your members saying to you . Is it a question that we have some equipment, but something that should be used once is being used multiple times, are there some areas where there is nothing . Explain the variation is for us. The variations we are getting through our cases where they are reusing equipment, or it is being rationed so you cant actually use it in certain circumstances. The
position that we take is that, right now, we have moved on. We have moved on in the progress of the pandemic. And everybody should be getting ppe at all times, with all cases of Patient Contact and within a hospital setting. Its really, really important. The guidance needs to change for that. At the moment, there is still a slightly woolly area in the guidance where certain patients may be deemed not to be affected by covid 19. However, that is not the case now. We have moved on. We are doing social distancing, we are assuming in a community that everybody is a suspected carrier, and that should also be the case in the hospital trusts in the Hospital Community environment. Everybody should be wearing ppe at all times. Thats an awful lot of equipment that needs to be coming out. If we are having problems now, i would like to know what their position is going into the future. Have you had nurses, doctors, saying to you, you
know what, i cant take much more of this . Im too scared to work without the proper equipment if this carries on, im not going to turn up for my shift . Are we going to reach that point . I think the nhs workers are the nhs workers. They will always do what is absolutely right for their patients. However, we have done a snapshot of our membership. 80 of those respondents are frightened. They dont feel prepared with the equipment they have been given. That isa equipment they have been given. That is a significant amount and it is unacceptable. That should not be the situation for our nhs workforce. They are going to carry on working, they always do. At a potential risk to themselves . Are potential risks to themselves . Are potential risks to themselves, which could be avoided with the appropriate ppe, the appropriate equipment. And that has to be for all staff, at all times, in all circumstances. Within the hospital settings, and within
the hospital settings, and within the community settings. Thank you very much for now. Perhaps we can speak again in the coming days, and see whether that situation has improved. Thank you very much for joining us. A reminder of the headlines. A total of 2,352 people have now died in hospital in the uk after testing positive for coronavirus thats a rise of 563. Its the biggest daily rise in the number of deaths so far. A growing political row as the government comes under increasing pressure to do more coronavirus testing. 16,000 staff may be needed when the newly converted Nightingale Hospital in east london reaches capacity. Lets talk more about that story and
headlines. 16,000 menbers of staff may be needed to run the new Nightingale Hospital in east london when its at full capacity. The converted excel centre should be ready to receive its first patients by the end of the week. Angus crawford reports. Welcome back to excel arena down in the royal docks in east london, crowds still pouring into this 10,000 seater. From a time of national celebration. To one of national crisis. The excel has a new role and name. Now, nhs nightingale. An army of civilian contractors, and the military too, transforming this vast space. Cubicles marching towards the camera. This is my last week in the army well, it was, until i got the phone call. So ive built hospitals, planned hospitals around the world, been a commander in med in afghanistan, ive got hospitals in oman, iraq and the balkans, so this is what ive prepared for. Its what i do. In excels two huge exhibition halls, plans for 80 wards, a pharmacy and mortuary. 500 beds to start with, scaling up to 4,000 if needed, at full capacity, with a team of 16,000 people. It will only admit patients already on ventilators, and should be operational by the end of this week. But there are still questions about whether they will get enough ventilators and staff, and how they will cope with the hundreds, possibly thousands of patients who will come through the doors. Some of them will not survive, despite the treatment they receive here. Senior doctors aware of how stressful the job may become. Those staff would be quite used to the realities of dealing with this disease, and these types of patients, including the sad fact that not everybody will survive. Its for those staff that might have stepped up to help. They are genuine heroes,
that they found it in themselves to actually come and help this facility, and we need to look after them to make sure they can cope with the realities of working in an intensive care unit. Nightingale is almost ready. Its empty beds a sign of the scale of the job which may lie ahead. Angus crawford, bbc news. Nicola sturgeon has said she expects it will be possible to carry out 3,500 coronavirus tests per day in scotland by the end of the month. The first minister said everything must be done to protect health and social care workers, and provided an update on the death toll. We are in no way complacent about this, and we will continue to give all possible support to those that are working so hard on the front line. And its worth stressing again, because it is so important, that what i have just said assumes that people across the country will continue to do the right thing. Every single one of us who follows the Public Health advice is helping to reduce the number of people who will need hospital care in the weeks ahead and is, therefore, helping to reduce the risk of the nhs being overwhelmed. These measures to increase capacity are, of course, part of a wider effort to ensure the nhs has sufficient beds overall to cope with potential covid 19 patients. So, i can report that as of last night, including those in intensive care, there were 1153 patients with confirmed or suspected covid 19 in hospitals across the country. So, clearly, expanding General Hospital capacity is also important. Again, i can report to parliament that we are on track with this. The welsh governments Education Minister says some schools will stay open over the Easter Holiday for Vulnerable Children and the children of key workers. Kirsty williams said Free School Meals will also continue for disadvantaged children. We were the first to provide certainty on this years gcse and a level grades, and we were the first to suspend school inspections. And we are the only uk nation to guarantee Free School Meals over the easter period, providing £7 million worth of new funding. A further announcement will be made about a National Scheme for the rest of the school year in the near future. President trump has said people in the us are in the midst of a Great National trial, unlike anything theyve faced before. He said a very difficult two weeks lie ahead. The death toll has now passed 4000. From the white house came
the direst warning yet the worst is yet to come. I want every american to be prepared for the hard days that lie ahead. We are going to go through a very tough two weeks. And then, hopefully, as the experts are predicting, as i think a lot of us are predicting, having studied it so hard, we are going to start seeing some real light at the end of the tunnel. But this is going to be a very painful. Very, very painful two weeks. Apocalyptic projections from white house advisers point to between 100,000 and 240,000 americans dying from the coronavirus more if social distancing guidelines arent followed. As sobering a number as that is, we should be prepared for it. Is it going to be that much . I hope not and i think the more we push on the mitigation, the less likelihood it would be that number. But, as being realistic, we need to prepare ourselves that that is a possibility that that is what we will see. With more than 3800 deaths here, the number of americans killed by the coronavirus has now exceeded that of china. Of even greater symbolic significance here, the death toll has also exceeded that of september the 11th. And, in new york, the epicentre of the virus, Charity Workers have now set up an emergency Field Hospital in central park. The citys mayor predicts they will soon need triple the number of hospital beds than are currently available here. And not even those at sea are safe from the virus. The captain of a us Aircraft Carrier has called for urgent help to halt an outbreak among his 4000 strong crew. We are not at war. Sailors do not need to die, he wrote in a letter to the pentagon. Having gone from predicting this country would reopen by easter, President Trump is facing the grim reality that the coronavirus is here to stay. With the us possibly on course to become the next italy in this crisis, it looks like posing the greatest
challenge yet to his presidency. David willis, bbc news. This summers edinburgh festivals including the fringe and the Royal Military tattoo have been cancelled for the first time in more than 70 years. 0rganisers said it was a profoundly difficult decision, but that it was impractical and undesirable to stage the events in anything like their normal form in august. Steve bennett is the edtior of the comedy website chortle. Steve, i mean, its not a surprise. But it is heartbreaking, isnt it . It is. In some ways, its a frivolous story compared to so many things going on. But for the comedy and art world, it is a major story. And we all need a laugh . Absolutely. Its what everybody is geared up to, everybody is writing theirjokes. There will surely be jokes about the lockdown. Its a big boost to edinburgh, the festival is worth £200 million to the local economy. Its the biggest live event outside the olympic is in the world. It is going to be heartbreaking for a lot of people. Economically, its absolutely enormous. Its a massive impact on tourism and the economy. In terms of creatively as well, what does it mean . Comedy writers and comedy performers you have been talking to, i guess they knew this was coming . But what impact does it have on their year . Well, it is the engine of the whole year for everybody. It is our christmas. Before and after edinburgh is how the year is divided for us. Thousands of shows, thousands of people pulling together and putting on shows, and gearing up for it financially. And it is all now not
happening. We are all suddenly doing quite a lot of chatting to friends online. Im trying not to mention brand names, which is why im struggling with this question. You know where i am going with this. We are all trying to chat to friends virtually. Is there any scope for that with comedy . Lots of comedians are putting stuff out online. Some of the big clubs are running virtual gigs ona of the big clubs are running virtual gigs on a friday or saturday night, from houses, or running old footage of gigs they have had in their clu bs. Of gigs they have had in their clubs. But its good, but its not the same. Its not the shared experience of being in a lovely, dark, low ceilinged, slightly boozy place, as an audience. Its not the same. Its not the same, just not the same. Im trying to find a glimmer of light. I wonder whether, in the long run, some cracking material will come out of it . I keep thinking, well, there is a great
place to be written, great novels to be written about our experiences and what it has done to the community, the experience of living in lockdown. Im hoping that some comedians can have fun with this when the hard stuff is over. I know the feel is a long way away right now. But in time to come . Yes, some comedy king lears. It also reminds you of how much we take so much for granted, including the edinburgh festivals. Its a reminder of what an amazing artistic endeavour it is. So hopefully it will be a renewed celebration of that. Come back bigger and stronger, we hope. All the best to you. Thank you very much. The prince of wales, who is out of self isolation after testing postitve for coronavirus, has recorded a video message in support of the charity age uk. None of us can say when this will end. But end it will. Asa as a nation, we are faced by a challenging situation, which threatens the livelihoods, businesses and welfare of millions of our fellow citizens. None of us can say when this will end. But end it will. Until it does, let us try and live with hope and with faith in ourselves and each other looking forward to better times to come. The prince of wales with his message, released at lunchtime. Now its time for a look at the weather with darren. Hello, there. We have a lot of cloud spilling across the uk at the moment. The rain in scotland, as it heads into Northern Ireland and then moves down into england and wales, becoming very light and patchy, but keeping the cloud here. Behind that, we will see showers arriving in Northern Ireland, northern and western scotland overnight. Some clearer skies for eastern scotland and north east england. But because the wind is picking up, its not going to get too cold. No frost this time across southern england because of all that cloud. And therell be a fair bit of cloud around on thursday. Therell be some showers coming in on the freshening breeze. Showers in scotland turning wintry, particularly over the hills, although perhaps easing down a bit during the afternoon. However, the wind will be stronger for all of us, particularly windy across northern scotland. The Northern Isles there could get gusts of over 65 mph. Its certainly going to make it feel cold, as the best temperatures are only going to be 5 or 6 degrees across northern scotland. Quite a bit better than that, i think, for eastern parts of england. Chilly start on friday. Some showers around, but it does get milder over the weekend. Hello this is bbc news. The headlines. A total of 2,352 people have now died in hospital in the uk after testing positive for coronavirus thats a rise of 563. Its the biggest daily rise in the number of deaths so far. A growing political row as the government comes under increasing pressure to do more coronavirus testing. We want to see more people tested, very rapidly. We do now have enough tests to be testing those people in Critical Conditions in hospitals. We need that national plan, but for the test which tests whether you have got it now and the new test which will be coming on stream soon, which tests whether youve had it. 16,000 staff may be needed when the newly converted Nightingale Hospital in east london reaches capacity. President trump warns the us to expect a rough two weeks and to stick to social distancing, saying its a matter of life and death. Italy mourns the thousands of victims of its coronavirus outbreak, as some question whether doctors have been given the necessary equipment. The prince of wales, who has himself recovered from coronavirus, sends a message of support, particularly to older people. None of us can say when this will end, but end it will. Until it does, let us try and live with hope, and with faith in ourselves and each other, look forward to better times to come. A care home in liverpool, where nearly three quarters of residents are showing syptoms of coronavirus, has received offers of help from agency staff, ex doctors and the council, following an appeal for support yesterday. Two residents at oak springs home in wavertree have died, and another has tested positive for covid 19. Three more are currently in hospital and most of the staff are self isolating. Speaking to the bbcs dave guest, manager andrea lyon says theyve had a huge response. It has been amazing, absolutely amazing. We are in a much better position today. Weve got all the staffing block booked now for the next three weeks, which is fantastic. We have had ppe delivered, city council has delivered, city council has delivered us lots of ppe. We were struggling for the masks, we were going through masks a phenomenal
amount. We are using about 300 and 400 masks a day, so as you can appreciate, it is a lot. Weve hit our peak early. So it has been extremely difficult for myself, my staff and residents. The families. The good that has come out of everything, everyone trying to help has been amazing. And there is hope out there just for other care homes. As coronavirus spreads, so too does misleading information is also being spread. From fake Health Advice to speculation about government actions. Heres bbc presenter and journalist Zeinab Badawi sharing tips on how to ensure the facts youre getting are reliable. In the midst of the corona pandemic, passing on information can feel like one way we can support our families and friends. Here at the bbc, we are working very hard to make sure that everything we broadcast and publish is accurate and up to date. But there is a whole load of information out there that isnt. And misinformation can spread fast. If a message is sent to a Whatsapp Group of 20, then each of them shares it with 20 other people, and this happens five times, it can reach more than 3 Million People very quickly. Untruths can take many forms. One of the most common we are seeing is copied and pasted messages being passed around on whatsapp or in facebook groups, containing bad advice or fake cures. And because these are shared by a friend or trusted source, its not obvious who wrote these
messages in the first place. Often they are attributed to a vague source like a friends friend who is a doctor, soldier or works with the government. For example, a voice note has been spreading on whatsapp. In it, a woman is translating advice from a colleague who has a friend working on a hospital in the Spanish Island of gran canaria. Some of the tips are helpful, such as washing surfaces thoroughly, but the voice may memo includes misleading advice as well. The speaker suggests sunlight neutralises the virus, and that coronavirus can be killed by taking a sip of warm water every 20 minutes. There is no scientific basis for either of these claims. If you are not sure
the whole post is true, and if the source isnt easily identifiable or the story hasnt been reported elsewhere, then it really is worth being sceptical about it. Pictures taken out of context can also be really misleading. A video from italy was posted on twitter, showing military vehicles on the streets. There were rumours they were responding to coronavirus riots. In fact, they were returning from routine exercises that had nothing to do with the outbreak. Some of us may share information with our friends as a joke, or to lighten their mood, but even if they dont take it seriously, others might. For example, a claim that lions were released in russia to patrol the streets was taken seriously by some. It was not true. We all want to share news that we think will help others, but before you do, follow these steps. Has the story been reported anywhere else . Is it from a reliable source . Has the photo or image been taken out of context . If you are not sure, then maybe its fake. And you can stop that information from doing harm by not sharing it any further. If you want to check medical advice, go on the World Health Organization website, and if you feel that a story isnt real, you can always look to a reliable source, like the bbc. Lets try to sort fact from fiction when it comes to coronavirus. Alastair reid, digital editor at first draft news joins me. What have you been finding some of the key areas ripe with this information . We have been tracking
this for a while now and we find that a lot of the falsehoods and rumours going around one of the same path as the virus really, it is about where it came from, how it is spreading, travelling around the world between communities, and the kind of symptoms and treatments that might be recommended to help people with covid19, and might be recommended to help people with covid 19, and also how governments and the public are responding during this unprecedented lockdown. And you are gathering all this data, you are just looking at a host of different social websites and messaging apps, is that how you work out what people are chatting about . Some fantastic work is being done by Fact Checkers all around the world, lots of Different Countries, looking at some of their work, tracking the conversations online that people are having on all these different topics around the coronavirus and then working to see and separate from fiction. And the crucial question of course, what is your advice to someone . They see a message from a friend or someone
posts an article and they are not sure whether it is authentic, because that can be dangerous. With Something Like coronavirus, it could be very dangerous, misinformation. They have been lots of recommended treatments, as pointed out in your report, where people are being recommended to do certain things. In iranfor example, recommended to do certain things. In iran for example, lots of people drank home made alcohol, and people die there. But i think the main thing to remember is emotion. If you have a strong emotional reaction to something you see online, it is something you see online, it is something to be wary of. This information is designed to trigger a strong emotional response, that is what makes us share it, whether it is love, or feel anger or what makes us share it, whether it is love, orfeel anger or humour, if you recognise that response, that is a sign you might want to check something out properly before you share it. And particularly if it scares you , because share it. And particularly if it scares you, because you really, really dont want to be scaring someone else with something that is
simply not true. 100 . That someone else with something that is simply not true. 10096. That is one of the real factors at play here, it is as we have said an unprecedented time and people are worried for themselves, their health, their families, and often they are doing this with positive intent. They want to give their friends and family good advice, useful information at a time of realfear good advice, useful information at a time of real fear and good advice, useful information at a time of realfear and uncertainty, but that can backfire if what they are sharing is not accurate. Alistair reid from first draft news, thank you. That is it for me today. Clive myrie will be with you for the rest of the afternoon as we wait for the governments daily News Conference. I will leave you with a look at the sport. For the First Time SinceWorld War Two wimbledon could be cancelled today as a series of emergency meetings between organisers continue. The championships are due to take place from the end ofjune for a fortnight and while postponement was discussed its likely the whole grass court
season will be called off, with an announcement due shortly. The calendar is already starting to become a little more congested towards the end of the year, because everyone who has had tournaments cancelled is fighting for spaces to try to complete, i suppose, the season as best as they can. I think one of the big challenges for wimbledon is it is played on grass, which is not an artificial surface, and also the further that you go on in the year or down on the calendar, you have less light, and of course wimbledon has just the two covered courts. So i think there is big challenges for it, in terms of postponing it. Premier League Players are being told theyre living in a moral vacuum and should be the first to sacrifice their salaries during the coronavirus pandemic. Those are the words ofjulian knight whos chair of the department for culture, media and sport committee. Its after tottenham, newcastle and norwich opted to use the governmentsJob Retention scheme, putting their non playing
staff on leave with a 20 wage cut while players continue to earn their full salaries. Premier league and efl clubs are meeting today to discuss a potential wage deferal agreement for players. A day after england wicketkeeperjos buttler put his world cup winning shirt up for auction its already had a bid of over £65,000 which would go towards the coronavirus response. Buttler broke the stumps to run out Martin Guptill and seal englands dramatic super over win over new zealand in the summer. Hes put the shirt he wore on ebay to raise money for two specialist heart and lung centres we cant really do much to help at the moment, the doctors, nurses, nhs and all the hospitals need everyones support as much as possible, so it seemed quite an easy idea to set up to really help those in need and those in the real emergency at the moment. Of course, an incredibly special shirt to me, now with it being able to go ahead and raise more money for this
emergency appeal, it will add even more meaning to the World Cup Final and to that shirt. Thats all the sport for now. Good afternoon, this is bbc news. A little later on, well bring you todays downing street News Conference with the latest on the battle against coronavirus, but first the latest headlines. A total of 2,352 people have now died in hospital in the uk after testing positive for coronavirus thats a rise of 563. Its the biggest daily rise in the number of deaths so far. A growing political row as the government comes under increasing pressure to do more coronavirus testing. We wa nt we want to see more people tested very rapidly. We do now have enough tests to be testing those people in Critical Condition in hospital is. We need the test that will tell if you have got it now, and the new test which will come on stream soon
to say whether you have had