This is bbc news, with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. More warnings from hospitals in england over shortages of Personal Protective Equipment. Some say supplies of gowns are critically low. It comes after a delivery of protective equipment from turkey was delayed. Ministers call on all companies to do their bit, to help bolster supplies. I would urge any companies that feel they have not had a response from government and have got that capacity, do continue to come forward. Were working with Companies Across the board. Scientists are looking into whether blood from covid 19 survivors could be used in a new treatment for those infected. From this morning, businesses in the uk can apply for grants to cover 80 of the wages of staff who have been temporarily laid off. And germany is relaxing some of its lockdown measures from today, with the outbreak there, now said to be under control. After a weekend of warnings that some supplies of Personal Protective Equipment for Health Service workers in the uk are on the verge of running out, a number of hospitals across england say their stocks of gowns are now critically low. It comes as the uk government is criticised over delays to a delivery of ppe, including 400,000 gowns from turkey, that had been due to arrive yesterday. In other developments scientists in the uk and the us are looking into whether the blood of coronavirus survivors can be used to treat people who are ill
in hospital with covid 19. In business, from today uk companies can apply to the government for grants to cover 80 of the wages of staff who have been temporarily laid off because of the lockdown. Meanwhile, germany is relaxing some of its lockdown measures from today. The authorities announced last week that the outbreak there was under control. Our first report this morning comes from john mcmanus. Its the issue that wont go away. Can the government guarantee the safety of both nhs and care workers by providing them with enough supplies of Personal Protective Equipment, ppe . Despite initial assurances that there was enough ppe to go round, ministers have since admitted that in england that hasnt always been the case and there were fears that essential supplies would run out over the weekend. This consignment of ppe arrived at Glasgow Prestwick airport from china on saturday. But a flight on sunday containing supplies from turkey, destined for the nhs in england,
never made it to the uk. Its supposed to contain 400,000 badly needed hospital gowns. The British Medical Association has described the delay as a matter of life and death. And the organisation representing nhs trusts says promises about individual consignments arent always fulfilled. Bitter experience over the last few weeks has demonstrated that because of the erratic nature of the supply, you cant really count on gowns being ready to be distributed to the front line until theyve actually arrived in this country, youve opened up the boxes and checked that actually they are the gowns they say were and the numbers that are meant to be there. The bbc has heard concerns that some companies have had their offers to manufacture ppe ignored. The government says it does need their help. Every single offer of help is being taken very seriously. Triage dealt with, so, essentially, when it comes in,
we are working to resolve with them if we can make use of those supplies. And, of course, i would urge any companies that feel that they have not had a response from government and have got that capacity, that they do continue to come forward. Were working with Companies Across the board. Across the uk, more than 16,000 people have now died in hospital from coronavirus. Thats up by 596 on the previous 2a hours and is the smallest rise in nearly two weeks, but it doesnt include deaths in the care homes. 0ne industry body has estimated they run into thousands. Meanwhile, evidence that the hard work and skill of nhs staff is paying off. The first patient to be successfully treated at the new nightingale facility in london was able to transfer to another hospital, as his condition had improved. Applause. Applause for him but for the government, the questions about its response to the pandemic continue. John mcmanus, bbc news. 0ur assistant Political Editor norman smithjoins me now. Hello, good morning. We are told that Boris Johnson hello, good morning. We are told that borisjohnson is very cautious about easing lockdown restrictions, why . Because i think his fear is that if he reads too early, you risk the virus returning and then you have to have a second lockdown. You know, it is the debate which is now at the centre of this whole crisis, how do we get out of this . Mr johnsons view appears to be we have to do this slowly, incrementally and almost on a trial and error basis because his concern is if they go too fast when they have this review in three weeks time, the virus re emerges and that threatens not just more unnecessary deaths but also, actually, that it would have a profound effect on the economy if firms were allowed to relax and then told no, you have to close back up again. The fear is that attritional
effect on business would be much more profound and many more businesses would risk going bust. They would also be the problem if the virus were still circulating in society, people wouldnt be able to go to work because they were ill, people wouldnt go to the shops because they were still in lockdown mode. So its also an economic argument that he is notjust cautious for Health Reasons but also for economic reasons. Interestingly, we we re for economic reasons. Interestingly, we were hearing. You spoke to tony blair in the last hour. I thought the most striking thing, obviously he didnt want to criticise the government, but i think it was interesting, he painted not an apocalyptic but a stark scene of what the society and economy might be like once we emerge from this, if the lockdown does go on too long. If you look at the government report from last week about economic consequences of from last week about economic consequences of this, indeed, if you look around the world, because all countries are dealing with this, the
effect of taking this amount of Economic Activity out of the economy. Every week that passes, youre losing billions and billions of pounds. Of course, the government, rightly again, has provided support from businesses, youve just been talking about that, and support for people as they go through this difficult period, but just imagine when you come out of the lockdown, you emerge from the tunnel and you look around you at the economic landscape, its going to be very different. It is going to hit some sectors very severely retail, hospitality, construction, manufacturing. So you take all of that demand out of the economy, yes, government can step in and help, but at some point youve got to get Economic Activity moving again because otherwise you are left with a bill that is going to take you a very long time to pay. The government is so cautious at the moment because the fear is if they have to ask the public to accept a second lockdown, they might be less
willing to do so. I think ministers have been surprised by so far how people have been prepared to go along with a lockdown. But if you eased off and then said sorry, we have to start all over again, it might bea have to start all over again, it might be a very, very different approach. So the sort of language we are hearing now from government is not easing the lockdown but modifications to the lockdown when this review is carried out in three weeks time. So you sense the bath are some widespread easing is becoming less and less likely. I know ministers are talking more and more about Boris Johnsons know ministers are talking more and more about borisjohnsons initial assessment that it would take three months to turn this around. Three months, of course, would push us towards june. I think months, of course, would push us towardsjune. I think easing the lockdown is still quite a long way off. Let me ask you about Personal Protective Equipment. The government is clearly working very, very hard to try to get supplies and distribution sorted. But that is not a consolation if you are one of
those Front Line Health Care staff who dont have the right equipment oi who dont have the right equipment or adequate equipment. Absolutely not. The problem i think is this we we re not. The problem i think is this we were told initially that the difficulty with supplying hospitals was one of distribution. In other words, there are so many Different Health settings, around 50,000 Different Health settings, it was very ha rd Different Health settings, it was very hard just to get the kit out to all these different nhs facilities. Now, however, we seem to be in a second phase where the problem is not just distribution, second phase where the problem is notjust distribution, its supply. We cant get hold of the stuff. Part of that is because there is a global race to get this kit. Part of it is just the sheer pace at which the nhs is getting through this clothing. We are told 150,000 items a day. So it is just eating its way through this kit. The end result is there is now desperate, desperate scramble to get hold of it but it leaves some hospitals in an invidious situation where it seems to me they almost
only know a few days ahead whether they are going to have to have adequate kit. We are hearing from the nhs providers today, the organisation representing trust management, saying that some hospitals now having to clean some of the protective clothing and have calculated they could clean it three times before it was no longer usable. But it does suggest that we are now having to take some not quite short cuts, but we are having to bend the rules a bit to be able to bend the rules a bit to be able to manage to eke out the protective clothing. Thank you very much, norman. Norman smith at westminster. Germany is today beginning to relax some of its restrictions to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, allowing small shops and some schools to reopen. The German Authorities announced last week that the infection rate had slowed and the outbreak was under control. However, as deaths are still continuing to rise, they have increased testing and recommended the wearing of face masks in shops
and on Public Transport. 0ur correspondent, jenny hill, told us a bit more about which places are allowed to open. Shops which have a square metreage of less than 800 square metres can reopen. But in addition to that, actually, some schoolchildren, largely older pupils, those with exams to take, are also starting to go back to school. Its a very cautious beginning to the relaxation of restrictions here. I say cautious because at the same time as the authorities are relaxing those measures, theyre also strongly recommending that people wear face masks when they go shopping or use Public Transport and, at the same time, they also say theyve increased Testing Capacity here. That capacity now Something Like 730,000 tests a week. Other social distancing restrictions will remain in place. Theres been a lot of criticism
from the hospitality sector because bars and restaurants will remain shut for the foreseeable future and, at the moment, youre not allowed to go outjust to meet up with other people. That restriction will also remain in place, possibly, the authorities have said, for months. New zealands Prime Minister has said the countrys lockdown will start to ease from next week. At a press conference, Jacinda Ardern said some schools and businesses will be allowed to open, but social distancing measures will still apply, with people told to stay home where possible. Because we believe that decisive action, going hard and going early, gave us the very best chance of stamping out the virus. And it has. We have done what very few countries have been able to do we have stopped a wave of devastation. The uk governments scheme to help pay peoples wages and support businesses amid the covid 19 pandemic has gone live. Last month, the chancellor,
rishi sunak, announced that the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme will give people 80 of their usual earnings up to £2,500 a month, meaning that they can be furloughed or retained rather than laid off from their place of work as businesses try to cope with the fallout from covid 19. Scientists around the world are working hard to find an effective treatment for covid 19, but its a long process that could take many months or even years. Here in the uk, a team is preparing to carrying out some human trials, with a technique which uses the blood from survivors to treat those who are ill. 0ur science correspondent Rebecca Morelle explains. Its a race to save lives and in the hunt for new treatments, blood may hold the key. Nhs blood and transplants have started approaching people who recovered from covid 19. Their blood contains antibodies, which are produced by the immune system and destroy the virus. The hope is to start a Clinical Trial to see if these antibodies can help patients who are currently ill. Scientists have welcomed the move but say the uk has been too slow. In terms of the uk, i think there are many aspects of this pandemic well look back on and say, i wonder why we didnt move a little bit faster . My hope would be that, within two weeks, we would see the first patients in the uk treated with convalescent plasma, having jumped over the various hurdles that need to be jumped, in order to clear the path to do this. The technology for this treatment is straightforward. Someone whos had coronavirus needs to have fully recovered. Their blood is then collected and the red and white blood cells are removed. Whats left behind is called plasma, and this contains the antibodies theyve built up while fighting the virus. This is then given to someone who has covid 19. The hope is that the donors antibodies could help the patient
to attack the virus. 0ne persons plasma can be given to up to three other people. Plasma therapy wont be a magic bullet, and scientists still need to assess how effective it is. But, with no current treatments for covid 19, this could help until a vaccine is found. Rebecca morelle, bbc news. Some breaking news now. Spains death toll from coronavirus has risen to 20,1153. The number of confirmed cases in the country is now at 200,210, up from 195,944 on sunday. An aggressive Antibody Testing campaign is to begin in new york next week, to see how many people have had the virus. The state accounts for nearly half of the 40,000 deaths from coronavirus across the United States, but Officials Say the outbreak is now on the descent. Its not yet clear whether people
who have antibodies for the coronavirus are immune from catching it again. In the uk, officials have said the tests are not reliable enough for mass use. The number of virus related deaths in the United States has risen by almost 2000 on sunday, bringing the total over the 40,000 mark. President trump gave an update on how the us is tackling the coronavirus pandemic. America continues to make steady progress in our war against the virus. As of today, weve tested 4. 18 million americans, thats a record anywhere in the world. The United States has now conducted more total tests than all of the following nations combined france, the united kingdom, south korea, japan, singapore, india, austria, australia, sweden and canada. In other parts of the us, hundreds of people gathered for anti lockdown demonstrations. In colorado, protestors blocked the streets with cars, while healthcare workers in scrubs and face masks stood in the road in counterprotest. How to protect medics on the front line has become one of the most pressing issues of the coronavirus crisis. And technology is playing an important role. A system of video appointments originally used in scotland to help People Living in remote areas is now helping protect britains Health Service staff from the virus. Lorna gordon reports. Are you having any difficulty breathing at the moment . Has that been a dry cough . Aberdeens covid 19 Community Assessment hub, doctors making decisions about who needs urgent care. So, i need to get you to the accident and emergency for some further tests. Patients who are referred here, after calling 111 with suspected symptoms, can be sent straight to hospital or asked to come into the hubs red zone, where they are examined in person. Every contact is a risk, and its a risk that works both ways. We know that people can have minimal symptoms to pass it on, and we really try to have them in the building for as short a time as possible. So, what i want you to do now is i want you to press the tip of your finger. The ability to assess patients over video link is working well in this new clinical environment. You might see that somebodys in bed, they have got the sheet pulled up over them, theyre clearly shivering or theyre breathing very fast or looking a bit sweaty. So there are lots of good visual cues, which are actually, along with a good history, one of the main ways we decide who needs admission or not. In less than a month, the number of weekly video consultations across scotland has risen from just a few hundred to many thousands. As well as covid Community Assessment centres, its also being used by gps and for General Hospital consultations. The technology being used in scotland is called near me. It enables patients to have a secure video appointment from their home, or from wherever is convenient. You are invited into a virtual waiting room and then connected to your gp. Its also helping older doctors or those with medical conditions keep working. Well, its safer. You know, its safer for patients and its safer for clinicians. I have spoken to quite a few colleagues who are retired and coming back in, and they re really happy to contribute. But if they can do a lot of work remotely, then theyre much more comfortable with that. And some practices are actually saying to their older doctors, you know, we would really want you to carry on working, but we want you to be safe. And technology is helping to do that. Video appointments will never replace face to face consultations entirely, but what might have seemed daunting to some is, with this accelerated roll out, becoming an important tool in our Health Service in this fight against coronavirus. Lorna gordon, bbc news. At least 16 people, including a policewoman, have been shot dead in canada. The suspect dressed as a Police Officer during a 12 hour rampage. Its thought to be one of the deadliest Mass Shootings in the countrys history. Matt graveling has more. Dressed as a Police Officer, he posed as a protector even driving around in a marked car. But instead, 51 year old Gabriel Wortman took a gun and started killing innocent people. Siren. His 12 hour rampage began on saturday night, leaving bodies at a number of different locations across nova scotia. Police first became aware of the shootings after reports of firearms being used. Tragically, one of those sent to help became a victim of the attack. Its with tremendous sadness that i share with you that we have lost constable heidi stevenson, a 23 year veteran of the force, who was killed this morning while responding to an active shooter incident. Heidi answered the call of duty and lost her life while protecting those she served. Police were first called to a residence in the rural town of portapique. They located several casualties, but not the suspect, Gabriel Wortman. An overnight search for wortman led
police to a number of areas, including some where structures were on fire. They asked people to stay indoors, posted the gunmans believed location online and said he may be wearing a Royal Canadian mounted police uniform, despite not being employed by the service. The canadian Prime Minister began his regular briefing on coronavirus to focus on the shooting. Before we get started, i want to touch briefly on the unfolding events in portapique, nova scotia. I know weve all been watching this on the news. My hearts go out to everyone affected in what is a terrible situation. I want to thank the police for their hard work and people for cooperating with authorities. Police said the suspect was driving what appeared to be a police car before changing to another vehicle. On twitter, they notified people of the cars registration. And then, just before midday on sunday, police informed people that following a car chase, Gabriel Wortman was dead. They added, as his victims were killed across nova scotia,
authorities were still trying to establish the final death toll. Matt graveling, bbc news. Lets return to germany now, where lockdown restrictions have been lifted. With me is michaela kuefner, who is the chief Political Editor at dw, germanys International Tv channel. Tell our audience what is happening in germany today. Here in germany, gradually, some shops are being allowed to open, up to the size i would say a good mid size of 800 square metres and also schools are gradually reopening in some states. Some have never been fully closed. Here in berlin, this means key exams can now be taken by pupils, even some 2005 are opening can now be taken by pupils, even some zoos are opening but none of this is really across the board at the same time. Each federal state
has their own regulations and their own speed at how they want to proceed. This is a clear sign that both regional and Central Government wa nt to both regional and Central Government want to get germans into the mindset of establishing a new normal, all being very cautious that they dont wa nt to being very cautious that they dont want to proceed too fast. So there are regional variations, and is that deliberate . Absolutely. This depends not just according to deliberate . Absolutely. This depends notjust according to the make up but also we have had different hotspots, in terms of the spread of the virus. We just heard from the bavarian state premier that he is implementing a duty to wear a face mask in public. His dashing ahead there once again. Of course, bavaria being the state neighbouring austria, where a lot of these infections actually came across, also many german travellers bringing back the coronavirus after their
skiing holidays in february. So, once again, bavaria being the toughest there. We have also seen toughest there. We have also seen tough restrictions in the north with states trying to steer clear of any notable size of infection. But there is an awareness here that as soon as you open up those infection rates, which had been slowing down certainly in germany, will accelerate once again. How has germany got to a position that they are able to ease, start easing some of the lockdown restrictions now . What exactly has germany done . From day one, you saw both angle or merkel and many leading politicians appear in public with the scientists who are in the lead here in germany. It certainly seems to help that both the german chancellor but also her chief of staff are scientists. Her chief of staff are scientists. Her chief of staff is a former emergency room doctor. From day one, we had
politicians echoing the scientists are not the other way around. So we never had the promise here, in public, that then had to be met by politicians that this crisis was something the government was actually in control of. Quite the contrary. We are now seeing a new phase of rhetoric here, preparing people that things will not go back to normal, despite some easing in describing this as a fragile initial success. That is what angular merkel said with those numbers slowing down. But there is a big concern here among politicians that they might have to take back some of that opening up and that that is something the german public would no longer back, as it does right now with outward 90 feeling that this isa with outward 90 feeling that this is a proportional way of dealing with this crisis. For now, germany has started at a higher level of intensive care beds to go into this
crisis. It had a head start, a couple of weeks, two weeks before it saw what happened in italy and then measures here were taken, both restrictions but also beefing up that infrastructure, that crucial infrastructure. Having said that, there is also debate here where all those masks, and billions are needed, where they will all come from. That is an unsolved question here in germany. Finally, where are you now with testing . 0ften here in germany. Finally, where are you now with testing . Often in this country we look to germany and we look at the differences and the numbers of tests that germany has been able to carry out far exceeds what the uk has been able to do. We we re what the uk has been able to do. We were told by our politicians you have a better Diagnostics Industry at the start of this blood in the uk did. What is the reason you have been able to test so many german citizens . First of all, it seemed to help a team of scientists here in berlin developed the test to start with and put the recipe to come up with and put the recipe to come up with this test and you are both not
scientists, we couldnt do it. But those are regional laboratories in germany were able to do it. The lead via religious steering germany developed the test and he said they started testing very early on. They scaled up the testing very early on here in germany. At the same time, there is a lot of regional capability, both in public laboratories but also private laboratories but also private laboratories here. But testing is only the key to containing this virus if you are then able to trace that spread of the virus at the same time, and that is something where here in germany we see a lot of debate about potentially implementing an app to ease the tracking of the spread of the virus. For now, testing allowed germany to get a better understanding of how far down the line of infection it was at what time and that certainly helped in taking highly regional measures. For now, it also seems that the federal structure helped
very regional decisions being made here in germany. Thejury is very regional decisions being made here in germany. The jury is still out whether in hindsight that will also be seen as a disadvantage in some cases. Thank you very much. Chief Political Editor at dw germanys International Tv channel. Also, as norway has begun lifting its lockdown measures im joined by Espen Rostrup nakstad, who is the assistant director of norways directorate of health. Good morning to you. Thank you for joining us. I think your Prime Minister has said norway has got control of the virus. How did you manage to keep your case so low . Well, we had a bit of luck because our first cases were mainly skiers who came home from italy and austria in late february and early march. We we re in late february and early march. We were able to test most of them and isolate them as they developed symptoms of covid 19. But we also had hundreds of confirmed cases who could not be traced back to italy or
austria, so that is why we started closing sports arenas and imposed social distancing in early march. 0n march the 12th, we closed schools, universities, kindergartens and asked people to work from home to further reduce the spread of the coronavirus. What is happening this week, in terms of potential easing of the restrictions . Kindergartens are reopening today. Schools are starting to reopen next week. And we do this as we see that we have a less tha n do this as we see that we have a less than 100 new daily cases confirmed in the entire country. No confirmed in the entire country. No confirmed cases among children any more. We think it is time we can start doing this but we still need to monitor, of course, very closely. I think you have an app where you are tracing cases and potentially doing more testing . Yes. We launched
our new appa doing more testing . Yes. We launched our new app a few days ago and so far, i think im a 30 of the population has downloaded it. We are able to see how that works. That is combined with increased testing, we are aiming at100,000 combined with increased testing, we are aiming at 100,000 tests per week and we go beyond that number which gives us the tools necessary, hopefully, to test and trace and isolate and quarantine people to the extent necessary. Thank you very much for talking to us. Assistant director of norways directorate of health, thank you. Hello, this is bbc news. The headlines. More warnings from hospitals in england over shortages of Personal Protective Equipment. Some say supplies of gowns are critically low. It comes after a delivery of protective equipment from turkey was delayed. Ministers call on all companies to do their bit to help bolster supplies. I would urge any companies that feel they have not had a response from government or have got that capacity, do continue to come forward. Were working with Companies Across the board. Scientists are looking into whether blood from covid 19 survivors could be used in a new treatment for those infected. From this morning, businesses in the uk can apply for grants to cover 80 of the wages of staff who have been temporarily laid off. And germany is relaxing some of its lockdown measures from today with the outbreak there, now said to be under control. Across europe, supermarkets have had to make contingency plans to meet extra demand for food during the coronavirus confinement. A large part of europes fresh fruit and vegetables is produced in spain, but there are questions over how some Spanish Companies are treating their migrant workforce. 0ur europe correspondent gavin lee reports from almeria. This is what the spanish call the sea of plastic. The highest concentration of greenhouses in the world. There are so many of them, you can see them from space. Fruit and vegetables from here are sent to europes major supermarkets, almost all of the workers are migrants. They are supposed to be paid spains legal minimum wage, 7. 28 euro an hour, but in many cases weve looked at, that is not happening. Youssef, not his real name, has been in spain over ten years. Translation if you are prepared to work like a slave then there is a lot of work, but if you ask for your rights, you are out. Youssef decided to secretly film his bosses as he confronted
after refusing to sign, this happened. After the incident, youssef reported his boss. When challenged by the bbc, the owner said he lost his temper but didnt respond to claims of underpayment. At a separate farm run by a different company, we were told about a strike. Translation we are on strike because the boss wants to sack seven of us and the others can still work but for five euros an hour, but he should pay what the law says. Its clear the strike is causing tension between the workers and a neighbouring farmer who starts shouting at those striking. Within seconds, he threatens our cameraman with a hammer, trying to stop us filming. He then quickly drives off. Translation some workers dont need
to protest to get their salary because their bosses respect the law. So, these bosses are not above the law. The farms boss is david godoy, he says claims of exploitation are false. Translation we have always paid what the law says. We have documents and Bank Transfers to prove at. Translation no, hes got no proof. He never paid this, never. Mahfoud has worked for the godoys for 16 years. Translation falsifying the payslips, thats his evidence. Fake. He shows us a record of the hours hes worked. Translation i work an average of 200 hours a month and i dont even get 1000 euros. We have heard similar claims from many other godoy workers. We have also been sent evidence supporting their allegations. Godoy continues to deny any wrongdoing and claims its a widespread attempt to discredit the company. The hope for those speaking out is that farms will be better policed
and more thoroughly scrutinised so that workers arent exploited for profit. In major south african cities, Homeless People are being rounded up and taken off the streets to be placed in makeshift shelters. Three weeks into the countrys now five week long lockdown, many are concerned about how these Vulnerable People are coping, especially those dealing with addiction. The bbcs Pumza Fihlani went to one of the makeshift camps in cape town to find out. South africa is scrambling to minimise the impact of the coronavirus on its health system, economy and its people. And those people include the most vulnerable, the homeless. Have you been in contact with someone who has coronavirus . No. Across the country, Homeless People have been moved into temporary shelters like this one, rounded up from street corners, parks and underneath
the countrys highways. While many now dont have to worry about where their next meal will come from, they are exposed to other risks. This is usually one of the busiest parts ofjohannesburg. Come evening, these pavements become beds for those without homes. While the governments efforts have been commended at getting people off the streets, experts warn for those battling addiction, stopping opioids and alcohol abruptly can be life threatening. So, what is the solution . Some centres are now providing methadone, a replacement drug to help the body cope with withdrawals. 0pioid withdrawal is really extremely uncomfortable. You need to manage the withdrawal and the cravings in order to stabilise the lockdown of Homeless People. How are you feeling with the methadone . People like this individual who has lived on the streets for ten years and has been on heroin for nine of those years. I didnt think there would be People Living here, they are going to run away, all of us. Homelessness is a long established issue in south africa. Because of the coronavirus, the government has moved fast. But what happens after the lockdown . Is it back to the streets for people . Let us pull our resources together and make sure that it remains high on the agenda. To reduce the numbers of people who are out on the streets. Concerns have been raised about a lack of social distancing and erratic food supply at some centres. The minister accepts the criticism but says covid 19 is a learning curve for everyone. When i look at what has been done from the beginning until now, and the fact we are saying to the provinces, please do not herd
them like cattle into some place because we need to give them their dignity, they deserve it. The weeks ahead are uncertain for all south africans. But amongst the homeless, there is some relief that, for the time being, they, too, have not been forgotten. Pumza fihlani, bbc news. A cruise ship with around 1,000 people on board has been quarantined until Health Authorities can work out how to get the crew safely back home. The ruby princess has crew on board from all over the world. Some 600 people on board the ship tested positive for coronavirus and at least 20 have since died. But it controversially docked at Sydney Harbour last month, allowing passengers to disembark despite several still being tested for covid 19. We can speak now to one of those still on board. Paul holmes is a pianist on the ship. Hes been quarantined and unable to leave his cabin for more
than a month now. It is 32 long days. How are you doing . Actually really well. Fortunately, the world has become as opposed centred on communicating via social media, something we are getting used to doing. People i have known all my life are now reaching out to me, sending me well wishes. It has become quite bearable. That is incredibly pragmatic and, view to describe it like that. Early on, as the days ticked by, what were you thinking about the situation you found yourself in . It was very odd. We did not know what was going to happen. We were sent away from sydney by the New South Wales authority with no real
clue what we were meant to do next. The obvious thing was to send the tea m the obvious thing was to send the team on board to test us as the who keeps saying to test. And we had to wait right until about the 8th of april and told the authorities negotiated with aspen, the company that dealt with diamond princess in japan, they then coordinated a team to come on board and for us to dock ata to come on board and for us to dock at a coal loading terminal. And since that date, testing has slowly but surely been carried out, thanks to the efforts of the Australian Labour leader who has pressured the government on a daily basis with her tea m government on a daily basis with her team to get testing done. In the last 48 hours, everybody has at long last 48 hours, everybody has at long last been tested for covid 19. Did your test come back positive . My
test ca m e did your test come back positive . My test came back negative. However, my test came back negative. However, my test was done on the 12th of april. I was also, a blood sample was taken from me. I received the good news yesterday that i have now started to develop antibodies. This means when ido develop antibodies. This means when i do get back to the uk i can donate blood for the convalescent plasma which you have been reporting on. It is all positive now. When will you get back . When will you be allowed off . We are still not sure. At the moment, we have the irish, the english, the american, canadian and british embassies would appear to have negotiated for us to be able to leave the ship. However, i still feel we will be placed into quarantine of some kind. Cruise ships are still considered to be the
deadly enemy of the seas and i believe the australians will do Something Like that before they ultimately allow us on to repatriate in transit flights. Ido in transit flights. I do not understand why many passengers were allowed to get off at sydney whereas people like yourself and the crew had to stay on board. At that time, we genuinely believed, New South WalesHealth Authorities led us to believe we were not in any danger, we were a healthy ship. The ship had been taken out of commission as had all cruise ships by our parent company. We were literally awaiting instructions as to our next move, we believed we would be sailing back across the pacific which is where we would be repositioning for our summer schedule which is the coast of alaska. Then, people started to fall ill and it became very obvious we we re ill and it became very obvious we were then a ship in distress. It took several weeks for the
australian authorities under pressure to do what is now perceived to be the right thing, bring us back to be the right thing, bring us back to shore so unhealthy people can be treated. Do you have any instruments in your cabin to entertain yourself with . U nfortu nately cabin to entertain yourself with . Unfortunately not. On my laptop, we can now download music files, karaoke files, different things. This is what i have been doing. I have a six year old daughter who lives in nice and we have been exchanging files, putting things on youtube, having fun. A lot of musicians on board have been exchanging videos, combining videos, making music together, we have been keeping ourselves amused in that way. An extraordinarily positive attitude. What would be in your repertoire if you were entertaining passengers on board . Iam the passengers on board . I am the piano man. Every night i worked on board i will sing billy
joel worked on board i will sing billy joel, a staple of our repertoire. And a lot of other of his songs, eltonjohn, rock and a lot of other of his songs, elton john, rock and and a lot of other of his songs, eltonjohn, rock and roll from jerry lee lewis, to contemporary staff, stevie wonder, and people like bruno marrs, george ezra, a mixture of all sorts, basically, party music. It sounds brilliant. We will have a Massive Party when we get on the other side of this, thank you very much. Very upbeat, a singer and musician still stuck on the ruby princess in Sydney Harbour tunnel, he has been in that cabin for 32 days and is not stir crazy yet. The headlines on bbc news. More warnings from hospitals in england over shortages of Personal Protective Equipment some say supplies of gowns are critically low. It comes after a delivery of protective equipment from turkey was delayed. Ministers in the uk have called on all companies to do their bit, to help bolster supplies. Scientists are looking into whether blood from covid 19 survivors could be used in a new treatment for those infected, President Donald Trump said ongoing negotiations with democrats for the next phase of coronavirus Financial Relief are getting close to a deal. The president also pledged to boost the manufacture of medical swabs. Governors from several states had been calling for federal government help to secure more supplies. The number of virus related deaths in the United States rose by almost 2,000 on sunday. 0ur north america editorjon sopel asked the president about protests in some states, against lockdown measures. Please, go ahead. Mr president , if there are groups of people planning to protest tomorrow against the government shutdown, what would be your advice . Against the shutdown . They want the
shutdown lifted. If people feel that way, you are allowed to protest. I watched the proteas, they were all six feet apart protest. But some have gone too far, some governors have gone too far, some governors have gone too far, some of the things that have happened are maybe not so appropriate and in the end it wont matter because we are starting to open up our state and i think they will open up very well. We will be watching it very closely, we are working with them on testing, on whatever they need, i dont think they need ventilators any more. I believe that i meant the government used was they had done a phenomenal job cut that the term the governor used. These people have done a phenomenaljob. As far as protesters, i see protesters for all sorts of things. I am with
everybody. More than a million bangladeshi garment workers have been sent home without pay or have lost theirjobs, after western clothing brands cancelled or suspended over £1 billion worth of orders due to the pandemic. Thats according to data from the bangladeshi and garment manufacturers exporters association. Lets speak now to aruna kashyap, senior counsel in the Womens Rights Division of human rights watch. Thank you for talking to us. How challenging is this situation for garment workers . This is a tremendous crisis for garment workers in bangladesh, and a lot of countries dependent on garment export for their economies. It isa garment export for their economies. It is a crisis that will plunge workers into absolute poverty even without being able to pay for food or rent. A big part of the reason
why this is happening is because as you mentioned, branded retailers are exercising unfair commercial terms and cancelling contracts that have already been manufactured by these workers all that are in production. 0k. Workers all that are in production. Ok. So, explain more about unfair commercial terms. So, brands and retailers have placed contracts already with factories in a lot of these countries, and normally workers would produce the goods, they would be shipped and the brands had to make payment. What they are doing in this situation, and we are touched we have tough financial conditions, but they are not paying attention to what this will impact on workers. Workers are in the process of manufacturing, they have cancelled orders so they will not honour their commitments to
these factories, risking factory closures and workers will be out of jobs and without pay. You say without pay. I have a statement from primark, they say every store in every country they operate is now closed, we are losing sales of £650 million a month. In these times we have no option but to ta ke these times we have no option but to take the unprecedented action of cancelling orders. Primark is concerned about the impact of workers, accordingly, we will find payment of the wages that relate to those products, taking into account adjustments for Government Support packages in each country to cover orders from countries which include bangladesh. 0ne bangladesh. One of the challenges of what will be paid and the extent to which they will pay for orders which have already been produced and in manufacture. If any part of the order is paid, factories are still
run the risk of bankruptcy. Workers will still lose theirjobs. These are not governments that have capacity to announce the bailout packages western governments can. Brands have to honour their financial commitments for the orders that have been produced and in production. Second, International Financial institutions and other governments and donors how to create relief funds to make sure workers receive the kinds of assistance they need to tide over and get through this crisis if factories are going to close and workers go without payment. The third thing that needs to happen is all of the brands, all of the governments, should come together to make sure the countries they are sourcing from have long term social Protection Systems that are effective. Coming out of the crisis, we cannot go back to doing business as before which is brands and retailers profiting from
labour in poor countries without social protection mechanisms. What we need for the long term is very Strong Social protection including Unemployment Insurance for workers. Finally, if we look ahead when lockdown measures are lifted, brands wa nt to lockdown measures are lifted, brands want to start ordering again, how can workers maintain social distancing within busy factories . Brands have to work with their factories to make sure these factories to make sure these factories abide by guidance issued by the who. They had to have temperature screening, hygiene practices, additional mobile sanitation facilities, the production line is potentially have to be reworked in consultation with Factory Production engineers so workers continue to maintain hygienic Safety Practices and social
distancing as lockdowns get lifted. I think brands and retailers should ensure they are supporting manufacturers to follow these practices by revising their production deadlines. Thank you for talking to us. For many pupils and students in britain, today should have been the start of a new school term. Instead, millions of parents are once again getting to grips with homeschooling. So, what can we do to make sure children get the right education . John maguire has been finding out. It is back to school but not as we know it. Hi, im nat. Im dan. Our children are. Fred and noah. And how has home schooling been going for you . It is tough. It is a learning curve for us. Every day is a school day notjust
for the children but for you as well . Absolutely. Yeah, some things are taught differently so we are learning. Mr and mrs reynolds or dad and mum, really, have beenjuggling running a business, a household and a home school. How have you found it . Harder than youd thought or what . It is really hard. It is notjust the teaching. It is the juggling of work and life with that. And obviously, the boys, they think we are off school and we can do what we want, lay around and watch telly all day but they are not meant to be off school so we have to teach them. Many children of key workers have remained at school over the easter holidays so today may not prove that different. For the staff at these hub schools, keeping children of varying ages engaged and simulated is a challenge. We started off with a summer camp and focusing on the childrens well being and their social emotional and Mental Health. Lots of fun activities, lots of arts and craft. As we move forward, the staff are planning their weeks, linking into the childrens interests and more curriculum based work. But the children need that structure, and too much free play, too much loose work the children dont benefit from that they need that close structure. Only once schools reopen will staff have a chance to assess the impact of their pupils progress. It is feared children from disadvantaged progress will be affected most so, a clear plan to catch up. We know that nothing can compensate for those relationships between teachers and their pupils so, again, planning for when schools reopen and how that catch up is going to be achieved. For those able to take advantage, technology and resources can help like never before. Today, the bbc is enhancing its online educational content and, when the school
bells do ring once again, whenever that may be, it will mean we are notjust getting back to school but also back to normality. John maguire, bbc news. Doctors have warned that people with hay fever should not confuse their reaction to pollen with the symptoms of coronavirus. While many symptoms such as a runny nose are different, hay fever can also prompt a cough that can alarm both sufferers and those around them. That has prompted many of those suffering with the allergy to contact Family Doctors for advice. Thailand is seeing a Record Number of baby leatherback sea turtles hatching, as popular tourist beaches in the south of the country are empty due to the coronavirus pandemic. And here they are. These tiny leatherbacks once grown are the Worlds Largest sea turtle. But they are a vulnerable species and their habitat is often
disturbed by humans. There are also reports from florida that the species has been thriving there, too. Youre watching bbc news. Now its time for a look at the weather with carole kirkwood. Hello again. For many of us for the next couple of days we are going to be looking at blue skies but there is also a keen easterly wind and that is taking the edge off temperatures particularly along the east coast. And that wont actually ease until we get to mid week. We also have a weather front which is coming out of france producing all this cloud, across the Channel Islands, south west england, also some splashes of rain. As we go through the afternoon that will continue to move away. So, lots of us seeing blue skies. Gusty winds as well, gusting 35, maybe 40 miles an hour. 45 with exposure. Thats a cold wind coming in from the north sea. Along the north sea coastline especially, it will feel cold
with temperatures between ten and 14 degrees. Move further west, we have 16 in glasgow, 19 in cardiff. Through this evening and overnight, we still do have clear skies, still that brisk wind, and a weather front looks like it will come back bringing more cloud and rain into the Channel Islands and south west england. It will be cold enough in sheltered glens in the north east of scotland and north east england for a touch of frost. Tomorrow, there will be a lot of sunshine. Some cloud to start with, in wales, the pennines, southern scotland. That wont last long. It will burn away quite quickly in the sunshine. We still have this keen wind. At the same time we will lose the cloud and rain from the Channel Islands and south west of england and it will brighten up. Top temperatures, 18 or 19 degrees. As we move into wednesday, the High Pressure dominates our weather and begins to weaken, the isobars slacken, so its not going to be quite as windy. It wont feel as cold. During the course of wednesday, we have a lot of sunshine. It will be a cold start under clear skies, maybe even some patchy mist and fog but that wont last very long. With the lighter winds, it will feel better. A bit more cloud in wales, northern ireland, possibly western scotland. The odd spot from that, but not much more. A top temperature of 22. On thursday, a lot of dry weather, but again, cloud towards the west with a few splashes of rain. Thursday could be the warmest day of the week for some, we could see 24, maybe 25 in the south. This is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. More warnings from hospitals in england over shortages of Personal Protective Equipment. Some say supplies of gowns are critically low. It comes after a delivery of protective equipment from turkey was delayed. Ministers call on all companies to do their bit to help bolster supplies. I would urge any companies that feel that they have not had a response from government or have got that capacity do continue to come forward. We are working with Companies Across the board. From this morning, businesses in the uk can apply for grants to cover 80 per cent of the wages of staff who have been
temporarily laid off. Sir Richard Branson warns that Virgin Atlantic will collapse unless it receives Government Support he says the industry faces severe uncertainty. Germany is relaxing some of its lockdown measures from today, with the outbreak there now said to be under control. After a weekend of warnings that some supplies of Personal Protective Equipment for Health Service workers in the uk are on the verge of running out, a number of hospitals across england say their stocks of gowns are now critically low. It comes as the uk government is criticised over delays to a delivery of ppe, including 400,000 gowns from turkey that had been due to arrive yesterday. In other developments, scientists in the uk and the us are looking into whether the blood of coronavirus survivors can be used to treat people who are ill in hospital with covid 19. In business, from today uk companies can apply to the government for grants to cover 80 of the wages of staff who have been temporarily laid off because of the lockdown. Meanwhile, germany is relaxing some of its lockdown measures from today. The authorities announced last week that the outbreak there was under control. Our first report this morning comes from john mcmanus. Its the issue that wont go away. Can the government guarantee the safety of both nhs and care workers by providing them with enough supplies of Personal Protective Equipment, ppe . Despite initial assurances that there was enough ppe to go round, ministers have since admitted that in england that hasnt always been the case, and there were fears that essential supplies would run
out over the weekend. This consignment of ppe arrived at Glasgow Prestwick airport from china on saturday. But a flight on sunday containing supplies from turkey, destined for the nhs in england, never made it to the uk. Its supposed to contain 400,000 badly needed hospital gowns. The British Medical Association has described the delay as a matter of life and death. And the organisation representing nhs trusts says promises about individual consignments arent always fulfilled. Bitter experience over the last few weeks has demonstrated that because of the erratic nature of the supply, you cant really count on gowns being ready to be distributed to the front line until theyve actually arrived in this country, youve opened up the boxes and checked that actually they are the gowns they say were and the numbers that are meant to be there. The bbc has heard concerns that some companies have had their offers to manufacture ppe ignored. The government says it does need their help. Every single offer of help is being taken very seriously. Triage dealt with, so, essentially, when it comes in, we are working to resolve with them if we can make use of those supplies. And, of course, i would urge any companies that feel that they have not had a response from government and have that capacity, that they do continue to come forward. Were working with Companies Across the board. Across the uk, more than 16,000 people have now died in hospital from coronavirus. Thats up by 596 on the previous 24 hours and is the smallest rise in nearly two weeks, but it doesnt include deaths in the care homes. 0ne industry body has estimated they run into thousands. Meanwhile, evidence that the hard work and skill of nhs staff is paying off. The first patient to be successfully treated at the new nightingale facility in london was able to transfer to another hospital, as his condition had improved. Applause. Applause for him but for the government, the questions about its response to the pandemic continue. John mcmanus, bbc news. 0ur assistant Political Editor, norman smith, is in westminster. Real concerns around the supplies of ppe . What is the reaction . There are real concerns because this latest bundle of 400,000 gowns, we still do not know whether it will be possible for the raf to pick it up today at a time when some hospitals really seem to be hours or days away from running out of kit. We have had stories of some hospitals washing it to try and reuse it, confining it to staff in intensive care units. We have had fresh advice issued to hospitals about possibly reusing some kit. All sorts of measures to
try and deal with this. Initially, we we re try and deal with this. Initially, we were told that the problem of ppe was distribution. In other words, we had enough kit but we could not get it to enough nhs settings. We have reached a stage for actually, we do not have the guaranteed supplies of kit either. That is much, much more serious in terms of it leaves hospitals much more concerned about when they will get their next delivery of ppe. It is an absolutely crucial issue which will sit alongside the emerging issue of how unearthed we get out of this . It was interesting this morning hearing from tony blair who has produced his own paper and is thinking about how we can manage the lockdown. He suggests that we must look at having a person in charge of testing, vaccines, and so on. He was sketching out quite a bleak scenario. 0nce sketching out quite a bleak scenario. Once we emerge from this
and what the economy might look like. If you look at the government report from last week about economic consequences of this, indeed, if you look around the world, because all countries are dealing with this, the effect of taking this amount of Economic Activity out of the economy. Every week that passes, youre losing billions and billions of pounds. Of course, the government, rightly again, has provided support from businesses, youve just been talking about that, and support for people as they go through this difficult period, but just imagine when you come out of the lockdown, you emerge from the tunnel and you look around you at the economic landscape, its going to be very different. It is going to hit some sectors very severely retail, hospitality, construction, manufacturing. So you take all of that demand out of the economy, yes, government can step in and help, but at some point youve got to get Economic Activity moving again because otherwise you are left with a bill that is going to take you a very long time to pay. The other development this morning have been the clear indications from number ten that Boris Johnsons have been the clear indications from number ten that borisjohnsons view is that we have to be extremely cautious about lifting the lockdown. His priority, we are told, is to avoid the second peak of the virus if we were to ease the restrictions too quickly. Listening to some of the language that people in downing street are now using about lockdown, they are not talking about easing they are not talking about easing the lockdown, they are talking about modification. Weeks, if you like, rather than wholesale lifting the lockdown. We heard this morning that they were very much sticking to that three month deadline set by the Prime Minister. You remember at the outset of the whole crisis, Boris Johnson said that he thought it would take three months to turn around. That view echoed this morning, which, of course, would
push us more towardsjune in terms of any real easing in the restrictions. Thank you very much, norman. Some small shops have reopened in germany, amid tentative steps towards relaxing coronavirus restrictions. Its now recommended that people wear face masks when shopping or on Public Transport, reversing earlier advice. Germany has recorded around 140,000 coronavirus infections, and just over 4,400 deaths, one of the lowest mortality rates in the world. 0ur correspondent, jenny hill, told us a bit more about which places are allowed to open. Shops which have a square metreage of less than 800 square metres can reopen. But in addition to that, actually, some schoolchildren, largely older pupils, those with exams to take, are also starting to go back to school. Its a very cautious beginning to the relaxation of restrictions here. I say cautious because at the same
time as the authorities are relaxing those measures, theyre also strongly recommending that people wear face masks when they go shopping or use Public Transport and, at the same time, they also say theyve increased Testing Capacity here. That capacity now Something Like 730,000 tests a week. Other social distancing restrictions will remain in place. Theres been a lot of criticism from the hospitality sector because bars and restaurants will remain shut for the foreseeable future and, at the moment, youre not allowed to go outjust to meet up with other people. That restriction will also remain in place, possibly, the authorities have said, for months. The Spanish Government says the number of coronavirus deaths there, in a 24 period, has dropped below 400 for the first time. A total of 399 people died of covid 19, down from 410 a day earlier. Spain has suffered the third highest number of virus deaths in the world after the United States and italy. Nearly 21 thousand people have died. New zealands Prime Minister has said the countrys lockdown will start to ease from next week. At a press conference, Jacinda Ardern said some schools and businesses will be allowed to open, but social distancing measures will still apply, with people told to stay home where possible. Because we believed that decisive action, going hard and going early, gave us the very best chance of stamping out the virus. And it has. We have done what very few countries have been able to do. We have stopped a wave of devastation. There is relatively low confidence a delayed delivery of 400,000 protective gowns will arrive on monday, a senior nhs figure has said. The consignment had been expected to arrive from turkey on sunday. Meanwhile around half of nursing
staff say they are under pressure to work without that Personal Protective Equipment, including those caring for covid 19 patients in the most high risk environments. Thats according to the Royal College of nursing, which surveyed 14,000 nursing staff over the easter weekend. Lets talk to susan masters, director of nursing policy and practice at the Royal College of nursing, which represents nearly half a million nurses and health care assistants, and herself a registered nurse. What are the concerns that you are hearing from nurses about the supply of equipment . As you rightly said, the survey looked at what the situation was across our members over the last weekend, and half of our members are saying that they have felt under pressure to work with high risk covid 19 patients without the level of ppe that is stipulated. Half of them were also saying that they have been asked to
treat using kit that was supposed to be for a single use only. We are hearing many, many distraught calls from nurses and nursing staff saying they feel worried about going to work. What do you say to them . Because if they are worried, do they have a right, and could they actually say, we are not coming . We have been asked this a lot. This is a position that absolutely no nurse would ever want to get to. The fact is that the government and ministers as dumb and senior officials and senior officials. Should not have put nurses in this position. About the pp that was
ordered, sometimes only 10 of what was expected arriving, and i know the element of the supply chain, but the element of the supply chain, but the plane that is coming from turkey still hasnt taken off. Do you have sympathy for those who are in charge of getting it to the front line . This is the role of emergency preparedness. It is the role of the government to prepare for such events. Actually, this should have been taken into account. We have been taken into account. We have beenin been taken into account. We have been in this endemic for several weeks. We should be in the position now where we are offering what is required to staff. You are speaking for nurses, but what are they doing when they do not have the ppe that they feel they need . When they do not have the ppe that they feel they need . |j when they do not have the ppe that they feel they need . I cannot generalise across the whole of the country, but we are hearing all sorts of reports. We are hearing that one in ten of the people that responded are relying on home made ppe, home made masks, for example. There are various different ways to respond to this issue. He spoke about the because you are getting. We cannot underestimate, can we, what it must be like for all of those who are going into work to save lives who are fearing for their own lives . Absolutely. We hear a lot about nurses being heroes. We talked about nurses being heroes. We talked a lot about angels. But these are ordinary people doing extraordinary things. These are highly educated professionals going to do a job of work, and they should absolutely have the kits that they need to keep them safe. Imagine how frightening it must be in how concerning it must be if youre having to choose between your profession, your registration, the role that you do, choosing between that and the feeling that you are making your family unsafe. It is a very, very difficult position for anyone to be
in. They should not be in that position. We hear that message loud and clear. We heard this morning that it and clear. We heard this morning thatitis and clear. We heard this morning that it is going to be the case that, perhaps already, some decisions on the sort of carrot that is being given out to those in hospital care that has been given out. Reductions because of lack of equipment. Do you believe that this is impacting on the lives of patients and also medical staff, lives that could be saved with more ppe . I do not know if it is impacting on the lives of patients. Ido impacting on the lives of patients. I do not have any evidence to support or disprove that. But it is impacting on the Emotional Health and well being of our nursing and nursing teams and all of the health ca re nursing teams and all of the Health Care Staff putting themselves at risk in order to care for their patients. Susan masters, thank you very much indeed forjoining us. Thank you. The headlines on bbc news. More warnings from hospitals in england over shortages of Personal Protective Equipment some say supplies of gowns are critically low. It comes after a delivery of protective equipment sir Richard Branson warns that Virgin Atlantic will collapse unless it receives Government Support he says the industry faces severe uncertainty and germany is relaxing some of its lockdown measures from today with the outbreak there, now said to be under control. The uk governments scheme to help pay peoples wages and support businesses amid the covid 19 pandemic has gone live. Last month the chancellor rishi sunak announced that the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme will give people 80 of their usual earnings up to £2,500 a month, meaning that they can be furloughed or retained rather than laid off from their place of work as businesses try to cope with the fallout from covid 19. Lets talk to angela brampton, who is an employment lawyer. Thank you very much forjoining us. The scheme goes live today. It is estimated around 8 million workers are being furloughed. That is going to bea are being furloughed. That is going to be a deluge of people trying to get in touch with people who are tying to distribute the funds. Either any limits to which companies can apply . 0bviously, either any limits to which companies can apply . Obviously, there will be some companies who have greater Financial Resources to weather this than others . You qualify if you are auk than others . You qualify if you are a uk employer and furlough occurs as reason of coronavirus. In terms of which employees you can furlough, there are a couple of qualifications. The employee must agree that they have been furloughed and they must be notified, and it needs to be written in writing. It
has to be a minimum period of three weeks, and you cannot have a shorter furlough period than that. You can only claim for furloughed employees they are on the paye payroll. The original date was the 28th of february. That has been extended. And also, a submission must also have taken place. The other key requirement is, the individual employee must not carry out any work for the employer during the period. There have been reports of thats not actually being the case, and some people have been asked to work. What would happen . That would be an abuse of the system. It is interesting because the question arises, how would hmrc monitor that . I understand that hmrc have said that they will set up a whistle blowing line. Employees and anybody else can whistle blower on businesses who have been abusing
that system of paying on the furlough system while their employees have been carrying out productive work. It ranges up to two and a half thousand pounds a month. What would happen if workers earn more than that . The only alternative is if your employee or employer agrees to top up your wages. If you area high agrees to top up your wages. If you are a high earner, unless your employer agrees to top up your wage, thatis employer agrees to top up your wage, that is the maximum you can claim, i aid. There are concerns that the furlough scheme has been extended but that it is potentially april you to mass redundancy. What are Worker Rights right now . We are in unprecedented times. This is thejob retention scheme and, at the moment, it is doing itsjob in that retention scheme and, at the moment, it is doing its job in that there are millions and millions of employees who would otherwise have
been laid off without pay. It is doing itsjob to been laid off without pay. It is doing its job to that extent. What we do not know is whether or not it for the enough to save businesses. Many businesses will be hoping that when this is over, they will get back to business as usual. They need their staff there to be able to come in andjump straight their staff there to be able to come in and jump straight into it. There will be other businesses, however, regardless of any other help available to them, simply will not be able to weather this storm. Some businesses will either not be able to return employees from furlough at all or will be looking to make redundancies or reducing the workforce after that time. That remains to be seen. In terms of Employment Rights, employees will have the same Employment Rights as usual. If you have over two years of service, you may be entitled to an unfair dismissal claim if you feel you have then let go for an unfair reason. Angela brampton, employment lawyer, thank you very much. Scientists around the world are working hard to find an effective treatment for covid 19, but its a long process that could take many months or even years. Here in the uk, a team is preparing to carrying out some human trials, with a technique which uses the blood from survivors to treat those who are ill. 0ur science correspondent Rebecca Morelle explains. Its a race to save lives and, in the hunt for new treatments, blood may hold the key. The nhs is reaching out to people who have recovered from covid 19. Their blood contains antibodies, which are produced by the immune system and destroy the virus. Recovered from covid 19. In terms of the uk, i think there are many aspects of this pandemic we will look back on and say, i wonder why we didnt move a little bit faster . My hope would be that, within two weeks, we would see the first patients in the uk treated with convalescent plasma, having jumped over the various hurdles that need to be jumped in order to clear the path to do this. The technology for this treatment is straightforward. Someone whos had coronavirus needs to have fully recovered. Their blood is then collected and the red and white blood cells are removed. Whats left behind is called plasma, and this contains the antibodies theyve built up while fighting the virus. This is then given to someone who has covid 19. The hope is that the donors antibodies could help the patient to attack the virus. 0ne persons plasma can be given to up to three other people. Plasma therapy wont be a magic bullet, and scientists still need to assess how effective it is. But, with no current treatments for covid 19, this could help until a vaccine is found. Rebecca morelle, bbc news. An aggressive Antibody Testing campaign is to begin in new york next week to see how many people have had the virus. The state accounts for nearly half of the 40,000 deaths from coronavirus across the United States, but Officials Say the outbreak is now on the descent. Its not yet clear whether people who have antibodies for the coronavirus are immune from catching it again. In the uk officials have said the tests are not reliable enough for mass use. The number of virus related deaths in the United States has risen by almost two thousand on sunday, bringing the total over the 40,000 mark. President trump gave an update on how the us is tackling the coronavirus pandemic. America continues to make steady progress in our war against the virus. As of today, weve tested 4. 18 million americans, thats a record anywhere in the world. The United States has now conducted more total tests than all of the following nations combined
france, the united kingdom, south korea, japan, singapore, india, austria, australia, sweden and canada. In other parts of the us, hundreds of people gathered for anti lockdown demonstrations. In colorado, protestors blocked the streets with cars, while healthcare workers in scrubs and face masks stood in the road in counterprotest. At least 16 people, including a policewoman, have been shot dead in canada. The suspect dressed as a Police Officer during a 12 hour rampage. Its thought to be one of the deadliest Mass Shootings in the countrys history. Matt graveling has more. Dressed as a Police Officer, he posed as a protector even driving around in a marked car. But instead, 51 year old Gabriel Wortman took a gun and started killing innocent people. Siren. His 12 hour rampage began
on saturday night, leaving bodies at a number of different locations across nova scotia. Police first became aware of the shootings after reports of firearms being used. Tragically, one of those sent to help became a victim of the attack. Its with tremendous sadness that i share with you that we have lost constable heidi stevenson, a 23 year veteran of the force, who was killed this morning while responding to an active shooter incident. Heidi answered the call of duty and lost her life while protecting those she served. Police were first called to a residence in the rural town of portapique. They located several casualties, but not the suspect, Gabriel Wortman. An overnight search for wortman led police to a number of areas, including some where structures were on fire. They asked people to stay indoors, posted the gunmans believed location online and said he may be wearing a Royal Canadian mounted police uniform, despite not being employed by the service. The canadian Prime Minister began his regular briefing
on coronavirus to focus on the shooting. Before we get started, i want to touch briefly on the unfolding events in portapique, nova scotia. I know weve all been watching this on the news. My hearts go out to everyone affected in what is a terrible situation. I want to thank the police for their hard work and people for cooperating with authorities. Police said the suspect was driving what appeared to be a police car before changing to another vehicle. On twitter, they notified people of the cars registration. And then, just before midday on sunday, police informed people that following a car chase, Gabriel Wortman was dead. They added, as his victims were killed across nova scotia, authorities were still trying to establish the final death toll. Matt graveling, bbc news. How to protect medics on the frontline has become one of the most pressing issues of the coronavirus crisis. And technology is playing an important role. A system of video appointments originally used in scotland to help People Living in remote areas is now helping protect britains Health Service staff from the virus. Lorna gordon reports. Are you having any difficulty breathing at the moment . Has that been a dry cough . Aberdeens covid 19 Community Assessment hub, doctors and nurses making decisions about who needs urgent care. So, i need to get you to the accident and emergency for some further tests. Patients who are referred here after calling 111 with suspected symptoms can be sent straight to hospital or asked to come into the hubs red zone, where they are examined in person. Every contact is a risk, and its a risk that works both ways. We know that people can have minimal symptoms to pass it on, and we really try to have them in the building for as short a time as possible. So, what i want you to do now is i want you to press the tip of your finger. The ability to assess patients over video link is working well in this
new clinical environment. You might see that somebodys in bed, they have got the sheet pulled up over them, theyre clearly shivering or theyre breathing very fast or looking a bit sweaty. So there are lots of good visual cues, which are actually, along with a good history, are the main ways we decide who needs admission or not. In less than a month, the number of weekly video consultations across scotland has risen from just a few hundred to many thousands. As well as covid Community Assessment centres, its also being used by gps and for General Hospital consultations. The technology being used in scotland is called near me. It enables patients to have a secure video appointment from their home, or from wherever is convenient. You are invited into a virtual waiting room and then connected to your gp. Its also helping older doctors or those with medical conditions keep working. Well, its safer. You know, its safer for patients and its safer for clinicians. I have spoken to quite a few colleagues who are retired and coming back in, and theyre really happy to contribute. But if they can do a lot of work remotely, then theyre much more
comfortable with that. And some practices are actually saying to their older doctors, you know, we would really want you to carry on working, but we want you to be safe. And technology is helping to do that. Video appointments will never replace face to face consultations entirely, but what might have seemed daunting to some is, with this accelerated roll out, becoming an important tool in our Health Service in this fight against coronavirus. Lorna gordon, bbc news. The duke and duchess of sussex have told four of britains most popular newspapers that theyre ending all cooperation with them. The couple have sent a letter to the sun, the mail, the mirror and the express saying they will no longer engage with them because of what they feel has been unfair and inaccurate treatment. Heres our media correspondent, david sillito. It is no secret the duke and duchess, harry and meghan, have had a difficult relationship with large parts of the press. They have already withdrawn from the royal rotor system, in which newspapers and broadcasters are granted access to media events. And having now stepped back from royal duties, this letter lays out the new rules of engagement. They will no longer deal in any way with the mail, the sun, the mirror and the express newspapers. This is, they say, not a blanket policy as they will continue to work with a wide variety of media but it means there will be, in their words, zero engagement with papers it accuses of distorted, false and invasive coverage. The statement comes before a schedule hearing in the duchess of sussexs ongoing privacy case against associated newspapers, the publishers of the daily mail and mail 0nline. David sillito, bbc news. Let mejust bring let me just bring you a word from the duke of edinburgh. He has issued a brief statement to everybody who is helping to tackle the pandemic across the uk and keep essential services running. He says, as we
approach world immunisation, i wa nted approach world immunisation, i wanted to recognise the vital and urgent work being done by so many to talk of the pandemic, to tackle the pandemic, all world institutions united in working to protect us against covid 19. 0n united in working to protect us against covid 19. On behalf of those who remain safe and at home, i also wa nted who remain safe and at home, i also wanted to thank all key workers who are ensuring the infrastructure of our life continues. The staff and volu nteers our life continues. The staff and volunteers working in Food Production and distribution, those keeping the postal and delivery said it is going and those ensuring the rubbish continues to be collected. That is a statement from the duke of edinburgh. Hello, this is bbc news. The headlines more warnings from hospitals in england over shortages of Personal Protective Equipment. Some say supplies of gowns are critically low. It comes after a delivery of protective equipment from turkey was delayed. Ministers call on all companies to do their bit, to help bolster supplies. I would urge any companies that feel that they have not had a response from government or have got that capacity do continue to come forward. We are working with Companies Across the board. From this morning, businesses in the uk can apply for grants to cover 80 of the wages of staff who have been temporarily laid off. Sir Richard Branson warns that Virgin Atlantic will collapse unless it receives support from the British Government he says the industry faces severe uncertainty. And germany is relaxing some of its lockdown measures from today, with the outbreak there now said to be under control. Sir Richard Branson has warned that
Virgin Atlantic will collapse unless it receives support from the British Government. In an open letter to employees, he said there was severe uncertainty facing the industry because it is not known how long planes will be grounded for. Virgin australia has gone into administration, another business victim of the coronavirus pandemic. Sir richard writes, over the five decades i have been in business, this is the most challenging time we have ever faced. He says, from a business perspective, the damage to many is unprecedented and the length of the disruption remains worryingly unknown. Ive seen lots of comments about my net worth, but that is calculated on the value of virgin businesses around the world before this crisis, not sitting as cash in a bank account ready to withdraw. The challenge right now is that there is no money coming in and lots going out. 0ur transport correspondent, tom burridge, joins us from north west london. Tom, obviously a very strong warning
from the sir Richard Branson about the future of Virgin Atlantic and obviously he is not alone in concern about the future of a business. Yes, on the one hand this is an attempt to draw attention to the plight of Virgin Atlantic. I think the future of the airline is hanging by a thread and the Aviation Industry across the world is taking a massive, massive hit in this crisis. 0n the other hand, i think this is an attempt by sir Richard Branson and the virgin group more generally to counter some of the negative publicity that sir richard has faced in the media in recent weeks. He is obviously an incredibly wealthy individual, that any letter he really tries to explain that a lot of his money is tied up in a multitude of businesses, which obviously there actually all of them are losing huge amounts of money in this crisis. He has faced a lot of criticism, of course, because he personally isnt a taxpayer here in the uk and in this letter i think there is an interesting paragraph
where he says that he did not, he claims he did not leave the uk for tax reasons. He left the uk for his love of his island, his private island that he bought many years ago, knacker in the caribbean. So it is an attempt i think to counter macca. It is an attempt to counter some of the negative publicity and he is going cap in hand to the government. He has been to the treasury in discussions for a number of weeks now. The treasury is not saying like other governments around the world, namely the us government, to the airline industry, he is a load of money and we will bail you out wholesale. What it is saying is come to us on an individual, case by case basis. We know that Virgin Atlantic has also been joined by the scottish carrier, and loganair. It is a rigorous process, they have got to basically do a lot of homework and present a huge amount of transparency about their
accou nts amount of transparency about their accounts and their Business Model going forward. And it is not possible, this idea that the government might bail an airline like Virgin Atlantic out, but actually taking a stake in the airline in return has not been ruled out by the government at the moment. That is exactly where i was going to go with my next question because this does go back to the argument we have heard a lot at the time in the credit crunch, which is around businesses that end up being too big to fail because of the impact they have on all of our lives and many peoples livelihoods, but they are businesses that take the risk, effectively, and make big profits, but then when it comes to the risk and they suffer if they want a bailout it makes it very difficult. Yes, the bottom line for the government is that any bailout has to be in our interest, the taxpayers interest. And of course as you say, the Bank Bailouts post the financial crisis are very high
in ministers mind, so when it comes to bailouts sir Richard Branson is a very wealthy individual and delta air lines, a us airline who is the one at the shareholders of Virgin Atlantic. So the government, if it is going to pump loads of money into this airline it wants to know it will get something in return and it is also wary that in recent years that Virgin Atlantic has been losing money. Those are the two real dilemmas for the government in this, but at the same time if you look at the positives of weight might want to bail this airline out, it is competition. British airways is the big airline here of course. It controls about 50 of the slots at heathrow. It is the giant of transatlantic travel, but its competitor, it much smaller competitor, it much smaller competitor in that market is, and has been for many years, Virgin Atlantic. And in this letter, sir Richard Branson is really highlighting that point and saying,
look, everyone will be worse off, the travellers, anyone who wants to go on long haulflights the travellers, anyone who wants to go on long haul flights from the the travellers, anyone who wants to go on long haulflights from the uk and many of those roots of virgin atla ntic com petes and many of those roots of Virgin Atlantic competes with British Airways will be worse off and britains economy will be worse off in the longer term if this airline is left to fail. And just one footnote. It is interesting because overnight we have had news that virgin australia, the australian Sister Company of Virgin Atlantic in australia, has gone into administration. The Australian Government has decided not to be like that airline and quantic is going to have a monopoly over there. So whatever the British Government decides, it has to make its decision probably in the next couple of weeks. For many pupils and students here in britain, today should have been the start of a new school term. Instead, millions of parents are once again getting to grips with homeschooling. So what can we do to make sure children get the right education . John maguire has been finding out. It is back to school but not as we know it. Hi, im nat. Im dan. Our children are. Fred and noah. And how has home schooling been going for you . It is tough. It is a learning curve for us. Every day is a school day notjust for the childre nbut for you as well . Absolutely. Yeah, some things are taught differently so we are learning. Mr and mrs reynalds or dad and mum, really, have beenjuggling running a business, a household and a home school. How have you found it . Harder than youd thought or what . It is really hard. It is notjust the teaching. It is the juggling of work and life with that. And obviously the boys they think we are off school and we can do what we want, lay around and watch telly all day but they are not to be off school so we have to teach them. Many children of key workers have remained at school over the easter holidays, so today may not prove that different. For the staff at these hub schools, keeping children of varying ages engaged and stimulated is a challenge. We started off with a summer camp and focusing on the childrens well being and their social emotional and Mental Health. Lots of fun activities, lots of arts and craft as we move forward, the staff are planning their weeks, linking into the childrens interests and more curriculum based work. But the children need that structure and too much free play, too much loose work the children dont benefit from that they need that close structure. Only once schools reopen will staff have a chance to assess the impact of their pupils progress. It is feared children from disadvantaged backgrounds will be affected most so a clear plan to catch up. We know that nothing can compensate for those relationships between teachers
and their pupils so, again, planning for when schools reopen and how that catch up is going to be achieved. For those able to take advantage, technology and resources can help like never before. Today, the bbc is enhancing its online educational content and, when the school bells do ring once again, whenever that may be, it will mean we are notjust getting back to school but also back to normality. John maguire, bbc news. A new Childrens Book that aims to help kids come to terms with covid 19 has been produced after a Major International collaboration. Those involved in the project include the World Health Organization and the united nations. The book is meant to be read by children alongside a parent or carer. It includes information on hygiene and safety routines. And the information is reinforced with colourful drawings. Lets find out more about the book now. Im joined by helen patuck, a script writer and illustrator involved in the project. And dr fahmy hanna from the world health organisation, who specialises in Mental Health support. First of all, to you, helen. What is the book about exactly, it sounds like practical advice . Practical, but also social and imaginative. So the story hopes to encourage children to find agency themselves, so to look within themselves to find the resources they need to overcome the resources they need to overcome the anxieties of this crisis. So it is about taking care of themselves, taking care of each other and being heroes to everyone. Ok, so what is a good practical tips than to pass on ina good practical tips than to pass on in a nutshell . For parents to be aware of on that front, about kids having agency . Because we are all in a situation that is beyond our control, but kids obviously have the least control in this. Yes, absolutely. I think the most
important thing for children to remember at this time is they do have imagination, as we all do, but the most practical tip would be to just be aware of their household, be aware of their family and their friends and not to get overwhelmed by the anxieties and to look for the resources that are being made available, not only by us, but by multiple organisations and their teachers and their parents and to find refuge in stories. So dr fahmy hanna, how important is this to the well being of kids . Because all of that makes absolute sense, but in the end if you are a child in an environment where perhaps your pa rents environment where perhaps your parents arent necessarily very sure about how best to guide you through it, it must be a very difficult time . I think it is extremely important, extremely relevant. Let me share with you that this book was jointly launched by a number of organisations online only ten days ago and in ten days we have received
requests for translation of this product in 100 plus languages. Wherever this book goes, it needs to be launched in many Company Countries around childs Mental Health. From children audio play in germany through to distribution in a newspaper in greece into storytelling in kenya, so what is really in this book has created exceptional demand in a very short period of ten days. This is for two reasons. First, what is unique about this book is that it all started by asking the children and parents. We asked 1700 children in 104 countries for words and expressions related to their life for words and expressions related to theirlife in for words and expressions related to their life in the way it has changed
with covid 19. Their life in the way it has changed with covid19. Sorry to interrupt, but you did mention their refugee camps. What i was thinking prior to you mentioning the refugee camps there was this does sound great, but in the end is a book along the lines of something that, obviously it requires people to be aware of the issues to access. Is it going to go to kids that dont necessarily need it . In other words, the kids that are it . In other words, the kids that a re really it . In other words, the kids that are really struggling, the kids that are really struggling, the kids that are from vulnerable, deprived backgrounds, whose parents may be arent, you know, in a very strong position at the moment. Is it going to get through to them . position at the moment. Is it going to get through to them . I think the relevance is clear through the responses we got from children and their parents and teachers who live in these settings. They responded and told us it was relevant and the requests we get from the settings. The book is one of the methods of delivering service and also delivering service and also delivering messages, among many others. Alan, i know you wanted to die then there, so go ahead. Yes, i wa nted die then there, so go ahead. Yes, i wanted to because i was working in north east syria last year in internment displacement camps and my friends who work in these camps, who work in local communities, and those communities themselves they had a translated arabic version before we even started translating arabic. This is how quickly the results have been disseminated, so whether or not it is relevant to Vulnerable Children is, i think, it is relevant to Vulnerable Children is, ithink, more it is relevant to Vulnerable Children is, i think, more than anything it is really relevant to them. It wasnt the relevance i was wondering about, it was the accessibility, but i think you have both answered that point clearly. Great. Thank you both very much indeed it does sound like a great project. Thank you. The headlines on bbc news more warnings from hospitals in england over shortages of Personal Protective Equipment. Some say supplies of gowns are critically low. Sir Richard Branson warns that
Virgin Atlantic will collapse unless it receives support from the British Government he says the industry faces severe uncertainty. Germany is relaxing some of its lockdown measures from today, with the outbreak there now said to be under control. After a weekend of warnings that some supplies of Personal Protective Equipment for Health Service workers in the uk are on the verge of running out, a number of hospitals across england say their stocks of gowns are now critically low. It comes as the uk government is criticised over delays to a delivery of ppe, including 400,000 gowns from turkey, that had been due to arrive yesterday. Today the ministry of defence said they are continuing to work to ensure the shipment is delivered as soon as possible and that the raf is on standby to take off as soon as the shipment is ready. Kate hills is the founder of make it british, which promotes brands that manufacture in the uk, and is working with the government on a prototype that can be made
here we can speak to her now via webcam from surrey. Thank you very much forjoining us. How much of this stuff is being made here and what is the capacity . We are starting to make these sorts of products here. There is capacity here, but we dont have a huge big factories that they have in places like china, for instance. It is a question of bringing together lots of smaller manufacturers, who between them have the capacity to make a lot of ppe products that we need. At the beginning of this product crisis, the message went out to Electronics Manufacturers to start thinking about making ventilators. Did the same message go out to textile producers . Yes, about four weeks ago now, four orfive weeks ago, we sent out the message toa weeks ago, we sent out the message to a lot of other organisations to all of the manufacturers within our networks to ask them to help with this. So many of them stepped
forward and they are now starting to get together to make this ppe. And obviously we are hearing a lot about shortages. How quickly can this be turned around and what sort of quantities are you talking . Well, because it is now going to be made locally it can be turned around much quicker and of course, you havent got a shipping and the delays you have got that you see with countries like turkey or china bringing the product in. So yes it can be made much more quickly. We can make a good proportion of the product, but it will require investment from the government to make all of the products we need. And they need to move products we need. And they need to m ove very products we need. And they need to move very quickly on that. It is a reaction to an unfolding situation. Is it something that could have been put into, you know, the planning around it could have been done sooner . It wasnt for want of trying, put it that way. Yes,. Just explain that, sorry. Manufacturers have been standing by for weeks to do this. There have been some delays. They have been testing, prototypes just back because all of these products were being made and imported, there wasnt the specifications and the prototypes here, so the whole supply chain has had to be put back together again here to make this product and you know, we are getting there now, but there has been some delays. So when you say manufacturers were standing by, where you trying to get through to the government and not getting through . Well, we have spoken to quite a few people in the government and the government also had a Management Consultancy company who are helping with this. There has been a lot of different people involved in it. It would have been good right at the beginning to have one clear point of contact for all this and i think that is why the manufacturers were frustrated because they were putting up their hands to help and they werent hearing back as quickly as they could have done. So where we are
now, are things going to be running as smoothly as you would like . hope so. We will have further clarity on that today. Certainly, things are moving along a much quicker now. Even in the last few days, we are seeing the cabinet 0ffice responding much more quickly, yeah, definitely. Thank you very much, good to talk to you kate hills. Thank you. In major south african cities, Homeless People are being rounded up and taken off the streets to be placed in makeshift shelters. Three weeks into the countrys now five week long lockdown, many are concerned about how these Vulnerable People are coping, especially those dealing with addiction. The bbcs Pumza Fihlani went to one of the makeshift camps in cape town to find out. South africa is scrambling to minimise the impact of the coronavirus on its health system, economy and its people. And those people include the most vulnerable, the homeless. Have you been in contact with someone who has coronavirus . No. Across the country, Homeless People have been moved into homeless shelters like this one, rounded up from street corners, parks and underneath the countrys highways. While many now dont have to worry about where their next meal will come from, they are exposed to other risks. This is usually one of the busiest parts ofjohannesburg. Come evening, these pavements become beds for those without homes. While the governments efforts have been commended at getting people off the streets, experts warn for those battling addiction, stopping opioids and alcohol abruptly can be life threatening. So what is the solution . Some centres are now providing methadone, a replacement drug to help the body cope with withdrawals. 0pioid withdrawal is really you need to manage the withdrawal and the cravings in order how are you feeling with the methadone . People like this individual who has lived on the streets for ten years and has been on heroin for nine of those years. I didnt think there would be People Living here, they are going to run away, all of us. Homelessness is a long established issue in south africa. Because of the coronavirus, the government has moved fast. But what happens after the lockdown . Is it back to the streets for people . Let us pull our resources together and make sure that it remains high on their agenda. We need to reduce the numbers of people who are out on the streets. Concerns have been raised about a lack of social distancing and erratic food supply at some centres. The ministers accepts the criticism but says covid 19 is a learning curve for everyone. When i look at what has been done from the beginning until now, and the fact we are saying to the provinces, please do not herd them like cattle into someplace because we need to give them their dignity, they deserve it. The weeks ahead are uncertain for all south africans. But amongst the homeless, there is some relief that, for the time being, they, too, have not been forgotten. Thailand is seeing an unusually high number of baby leatherback sea turtles hatching, because popular tourist beaches in the south of the country are empty due to the coronavirus pandemic. And here they are. These tiny leatherbacks once grown are the Worlds Largest sea turtle. But they are a vulnerable species and their habitat is often disturbed by humans. There are also reports from florida that the species has
been thriving there too. Just before i go, time to tell you i will be speaking to actor idris elba and his wife, who are campaigning on behalf of the un to raise funds for tackling the coronavirus pandemic. That is coming upjust tackling the coronavirus pandemic. That is coming up just at the top of the hour, but now lets take a look at the weather. Hello again. For many of us for the next couple of days we are going to be looking at blue skies but there is also a keen easterly wind and that is taking the edge off temperatures particularly along the east coast. And that wont actually ease until we get to mid week. We also have a weather front, which is coming out of france producing all this cloud, across the Channel Islands, south west england, also some splashes of rain. As we go through the afternoon that will continue to move away. So, lots of us seeing blue skies. Gusty winds as well, gusting 35, maybe 40 miles an hour. 45 with exposure. Thats a cold wind coming in from the north sea. Along the north sea coastline especially, it will feel cold with temperatures between ten and 14 degrees. Move further west, we have 16
in glasgow, 19 in cardiff. Through this evening and overnight, we still do have clear skies, still that brisk wind, and our weatherfront looks like it will come back, bringing more cloud and rain into the Channel Islands and south west england. It will be cold enough in sheltered glens in the north east of scotland and north east england for a touch of frost. Tomorrow, there will be a lot of sunshine. Some cloud to start with, in wales, the pennines, southern scotland. That wont last long. It will burn away quite quickly in the sunshine. We still have this keen wind. At the same time we will lose the cloud and rain from the Channel Islands and south west of england and it will brighten up. Top temperatures, 18 or 19 degrees. As we move into wednesday, the High Pressure dominates our weather and begins to weaken, the isobars slacken, so its not going to be quite as windy. It wont feel as cold. During the course of wednesday, we have a lot of sunshine. It will be a cold start under clear skies, maybe even some patchy mist and fog, but that wont last very long. With the lighter winds, it will feel better. A bit more cloud in wales, northern ireland, possibly western scotland. The odd spot from that, but not much more. A top temperature of 22. On thursday, a lot of dry weather, but again, cloud towards the west with a few splashes of rain. Thursday could be the warmest day of the week for some, we could see 24, maybe 25 in the south. This is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. More warnings from hospitals in england over shortages of Personal Protective Equipment some say supplies of gowns are critically low. It comes after a delivery of protective equipment from turkey was delayed. Ministers in the uk have called on all companies to do their bit, to help bolster supplies. I would urge any companies that feel that they have not had a response from government or have got that capacity do continue to come forward. We are working with Companies Across the board. Germany is relaxing some of its lockdown measures from today, with the outbreak there, now said to be under control. Sir Richard Branson warns that
Virgin Atlantic will collapse unless it receives Government Support he says the industry faces severe uncertainty. From today, businesses in the uk can apply for grants to cover 80 of the wages of staff who have been temporarily laid off. After a weekend of warnings that some supplies of Personal Protective Equipment for Health Service workers in the uk are on the verge of running out, a number of hospitals across england say their stocks of gowns are now critically low. It comes as the uk government is criticised over delays to a delivery of ppe, including 400,000 gowns
from turkey that had been due to arrive yesterday. In other developments the uk Prime Minister borisjohnson has told cabinet colleagues that hes concerned about lifting the lockdown too soon and says stopping a second peak of coronavirus cases in the uk is his top priority. Scientists in the uk and the us are looking into whether the blood of coronavirus survivors can be used to treat people who are ill in hospital with covid 19. Support for uk businesses from today as companies here can apply to the government for grants to cover 80 of the wages of staff who have been temporarily laid off because of the lockdown. But a warning from british businessman sir Richard Branson who says that Virgin Atlantic will collapse unless it receives uk Government Support. He says there is severe uncertainty facing the industry because it is not known how long planes will be grounded for. Meanwhile, germany is relaxing some of its lockdown measures from today. The authorities announced last week that the outbreak there was under control. 0urfirst report comes from john mcmanus. Its the issue that wont go away. Can the government guarantee the safety of both nhs and care workers by providing them with enough supplies of Personal Protective Equipment, ppe . Despite initial assurances that there was enough ppe to go round, ministers have since admitted that in england that hasnt always been the case and there were fears that essential supplies would run out over the weekend. This consignment of ppe arrived at Glasgow Prestwick airport from china on saturday. But a flight on sunday containing supplies from turkey, destined for the nhs in england, never made it to the uk. Its supposed to contain 400,000 badly needed hospital gowns. The British Medical Association has described the delay as a matter of life and death. And the organisation representing nhs trusts says promises about individual consignments arent always fulfilled. Bitter experience over the last few
weeks has demonstrated that because of the erratic nature of the supply, you cant really count on gowns being ready to be distributed to the front line until theyve actually arrived in this country, youve opened up the boxes and checked that actually they are the gowns they say they were and the numbers that are meant to be there. The bbc has heard concerns that some companies have had their offers to manufacture ppe ignored. The government says it does need their help. Every single offer of help is being taken very seriously. Triage dealt with, so, essentially, when it comes in, we are working to resolve with them if we can make use of those supplies. And, of course, i would urge any companies that feel that they have not had a response from government and have that capacity, that they do continue to come forward. Were working with Companies Across the board. Across the uk, more than 16,000 people have now died in hospital from coronavirus. Thats up by 596 on the previous 24 hours and is the smallest rise in nearly two weeks, but it doesnt include deaths in the care homes. 0ne industry body has estimated they run into thousands. Meanwhile, evidence that the hard work and skill of nhs staff is paying off. The first patient to be successfully treated at the new nightingale facility in london was able to transfer to another hospital, as his condition had improved. Applause. Applause for him but for the government, the questions about its response to the pandemic continue. John mcmanus, bbc news. The former uk Prime Minister tony blair is calling on the government to bring in a combination of people from the outside with different skill sets to support senior politicians and the Civil Service during the coronavirus crisis. Speaking to victoria derbyshire, he said the government would need to find ways to get the economy going. If you look at the government report from last week about economic
consequences of this, indeed, if you look around the world, because all countries are dealing with this, the effect of taking this amount of Economic Activity out of the economy. Every week that passes, youre losing billions and billions of pounds. Of course, the government, rightly again, has provided support for businesses, youve just been talking about that, and support for people as they go through this difficult period, butjust imagine when you come out of the lockdown, you emerge from the tunnel and you look around you at the economic landscape, its going to be very different. It is going to hit some sectors very severely retail, hospitality, construction, manufacturing. So you take all of that demand out of the economy, yes, government can step in and help, but at some point youve got to get Economic Activity moving again because otherwise you are left with a bill that is going to take you a very long time to pay. Some small shops have re opened in germany, amid tentative steps
towards relaxing coronavirus restrictions. Its now recommended that people wear face masks when shopping or on Public Transport, reversing earlier advice. Germany has recorded around 140,000 coronavirus infections, and just over 4,400 deaths, one of the lowest mortality rates in the world. 0ur correspondent, jenny hill, told us a bit more about which places are allowed to open. Shops which have a square metreage of less than 800 square metres can reopen. But in addition to that, actually, some schoolchildren, largely older pupils, those with exams to take, are also starting to go back to school. Its a very cautious beginning to the relaxation of restrictions here. I say cautious because at the same time as the authorities are relaxing those measures, theyre also strongly recommending that people wear face masks when they go shopping or use public
transport and, at the same time, they also say theyve increased Testing Capacity here. That capacity now Something Like 730,000 tests a week. Other social distancing restrictions will remain in place. Theres been a lot of criticism from the hospitality sector because bars and restaurants will remain shut for the foreseeable future and, at the moment, youre not allowed to go outjust to meet up with other people. That restriction will also remain in place, possibly, the authorities have said, for months. The Spanish Government says the number of coronavirus deaths there in a 24 period has dropped below 400 for the first time. A total of 399 people died of covid 19, down from 410 a day earlier. Spain has suffered the third highest number of virus deaths in the world after the United States and italy. Nearly 21,000 people have died. The uk governments scheme to help
pay peoples wages and support businesses amid the covid 19 pandemic has gone live. Last month, the chancellor rishi sunak announced that the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme will give people 80 of their usual earnings up to £2,500 a month, meaning that they can be furloughed or retained rather than laid off from their place of work as businesses try to cope with the fallout from covid 19. Sir Richard Branson has warned that Virgin Atlantic will collapse unless it receives support from the British Government. In an open letter to employees, he said there was severe uncertainty facing the industry because it is not known how long planes will be grounded for. Virgin australia has gone into administration another business victim of the coronavirus pandemic. Sir richard writes, over the five decades i have been in business,
this is the most challenging time we have ever faced. He says from a business perspective, the damage to many is unprecedented and the length of the disruption remains worryingly unknown. Ive seen lots of comments about my net worth but that is calculated on the value of virgin businesses around the world before this crisis, not sitting as cash in a bank account ready to withdraw. The challenge right now is that there is no money coming in and lots going out. Earlier, i spoke to our transport correspondent tom burridge who says the future of the airline is hanging by a thread. I think this is an attempt by sir Richard Branson and the virgin group more generally to counter some of the negative publicity that sir richard has faced in the media in recent weeks. He is obviously an incredibly wealthy individual, but in the letter he really tries to explain that a lot of his money is tied up ina multitude of businesses, which obviously virtually all of them are losing huge amounts of money in this crisis. He has faced a lot of criticism, of course, because he personally isnt a taxpayer here in the uk and in this letter, i think there is an interesting paragraph
where he says that he did not, he claims he did not, leave the uk for tax reasons. He left the uk for his love of his island, his private island that he bought many years ago in the caribbean. So it is an attempt, i think, to sort of counter some of the negative publicity because ultimately Virgin Atlantic is going cap in hand to the government. It has been in discussions with the treasury for a number of weeks now. The treasury is effectively doing this. Its not saying, like other governments around the world, namely the us government, to the airline industry, here is a load of money and we will bail you out wholesale. What it is saying is come to us on an individual, case by case basis. We know that Virgin Atlantic has also beenjoined by the scottish carrier, loganair. Those two airlines have gone to the treasury and submitted an application. It is a rigorous process, they have got to basically do a lot of homework and present a huge amount of transparency about their accounts and their business and
the Business Model going forward. And it is not possible, this idea that the government might bail an airline like Virgin Atlantic out, but actually taking a stake in the airline in return, that is not being ruled out by the government at the moment. While much of the coronavirus death toll has come from western nations, concern is growing about the rise of cases elsewhere. It is feared workers in developing nations could face extreme poverty and hunger when lockdown measures are imposed, stripping them of theirjobs and income. The actor idris elba and his wife sabrina who have both recovered from the virus have joined forces with the uns International Fund for agricultural development. They are helping to raise 200 Million Dollars to support workers who produce the majority of the globes food, but could face ruin when they are hit by quarantines. I am joined now idris and his wife sabrina at their home in london. Welcome and thank you very much for joining us. Tell us more about this initiative. How would it work . We are working with the uns International Fund for agricultural development. This appeal to raise the 200 million is really going to focus on the workers in rural areas like africa, asia. They are also covering latin america and the middle east you are going to suffer from the economic fallout of this pandemic. There is a lot of focus on the Health Crisis now. People are dying and having to deal with severe issues at home, but we do need to start thinking about a holistic approach to the situation. Past the Health Crisis, there is going to be a lot of people who will be suffering from the economic fallout. With a bowler, more people actually died from the economic aftermath than the actual disease itself
ebola. It is about peoples livelihoods and financial position rather than spending money on tackling the Health Crisis. In terms of persuading governments to support this fund when facing crisis at home, what is the message to them . They are already digging deep at home . I think that is a good point andi home . I think that is a good point and i think it is about future planning. Had we know this was coming maybe six months ago, we could maybe plan for the nhs struggle, plan for the economic fallout in our own country. Perhaps we would not be in such dire straits at the moment. That is what we are suggesting in terms of the rural places, farmers that are already poor and do not have the economic strength that we do, they are going to get hard hit. Not to mention that we are very fortunate we have the nhs, but some of these countries do
not have an nhs. 0utside nhs, but some of these countries do not have an nhs. Outside of the economic fallout that is going to happen, there will be a lot of deaths as well and no support. What we can do is help to prevent that and that is what this fund is for. We know governments are struggling with their own countries at this point, but i think it is about forward planning. If we have learned anything about this, what we have learned from covid 19 is that no man is an island. We are all part of the world. It is about forward thinking and that is going to save lives and livelihoods. Who would you expect to be donating . Is that governments, or companies, perhaps, that rely on supplies from the workers you are talking about . It is governments. There are governments that already supported and agriculture. It is people that understand the wealth of agriculture in terms of if we
understand that 50 of all the world calories are made by farmers in areas that are going to suffer the most. 0ur areas that are going to suffer the most. Our shopping centres, areas that are going to suffer the most. 0urshopping centres, ourfood banks, they are all going to suffer in the future if we do not help the agriculture business before they suffer. That is what we are asking. Were not asking individuals who, at the moment, are also strapped. We are asking the government to think of the of the agriculture industry and help it survive. It is about food. It is about the basic necessity for human beings and that will run out if farmers cannot farm. This has changed all of our perspectives on what is important in how we get supplies and the value of the supplies that we get. I know that you have spoken about how getting covid 19 has impacted you
and your outlook. In what way . getting covid 19 has impacted you and your outlook. In what way . I am very humbled and thankful to be alive and we both sit here looking at the death toll rising around the world knowing that we. We are thankful and that gives me more hope about the future. There were things that i was worried about before this time in our lives and everyones lives that i less worried about now. What im thinking about is what we do in the future. How do we avoid this pandemic of this type happening to everyone and had do we best prepare for it . Which is why we are thinking very deeply about those who do not have an nhs to full back on and are certainly going to suffer for much longer after the rest of us have gotte n for much longer after the rest of us have gotten back to our lives. Both
of our lice have changed and we are very much more appreciative of the connection we have lives. very much more appreciative of the connection we have lives. I would like to add we have received so much support and love throughout this whole thing. We really want to shift the focus back on to the people who will be struggling the most. It made me sad to hear that half a billion people could for into poverty because of the economic fallout of this. I care so much about women and children who, of course, are going to be the hardest hit as they usually are. If the governments do not think about these funds then a lot of the symptoms that are going to come from this economic fallout are actually going to be symptoms that are going to cost us more in the long run. It makes more sense and makes more economic sense, it will be cheaper to allocate that money now than to wait until the
issues happen. When people in Rural Communities are hit with hunger issues, they tend to leave. People say, you do not get on a boat unless you have too. We need to think ahead to tackle the crisis before it hits. It is quite overwhelming when you think about the scale of this, the number of people who have been directly affected in health terms and the effects that you are outlining their about the future ramifications . Even in our country, we have to think about forward planning. We have to really think about forward planning. We do not know what the cycle of coronavirus is going to be. We do not know if we are actually going to be able to contain it in the next six months, a year. But what we do know is there will be a future. What we do today will be a future. What we do today will inform as for tomorrow. Even though it is very hard to think about countries outside of your own at the moment, we do have to try and
spread the good will to those who have nothing. We are very fortunate here, but there are people who have nothing at this point. We hope if this is taught as anything, it is that we work together. Multi lateral organisations are so important at this time. Organisations that help us asa this time. Organisations that help us as a global community. These are issues that we need to come together on. If coronavirus still exists in countries other than our own, we are still at risk. People need to understand that. Thank you very much for joining understand that. Thank you very much forjoining us. Here in the uk, ministers were keen to dismiss reports over the weekend that schools could be set to reopen in a matter of weeks. On the day pupils across the country should have been going back to the classroom for the first day of the summer term, how far away are we from the school gates reopening . Bryony baynes is headteacher of Kempsey Primary School in worcestershire. Obviously, a lot of children are working online and there is provision for children of key workers. Those reports over the weekend suggesting that some primary schools could be opening their doors on the 11th of may. What did you think when you read that . on the 11th of may. What did you think when you read that . If i am honest, my heart sank and i felt a combination of anxiety and stress. I think this is nothing to do with not wanting the children in school. We do, so much. It is about how we would manage it safely for the children, theirfamilies would manage it safely for the children, their families and for the staff. And it is all very well talking about social distancing, but how do you communicate that to a class of five year olds . There are so many Unanswered Questions at the moment, i think. We are told repeatedly that there is little evidence that closing schools does much to limit the spread of covid 19. What do you think when you hear that . I am not a scientist. I
dont know the facts and figures of that, but what i do know is that it is not just about the children that, but what i do know is that it is notjust about the children being carriers and being ill themselves. It is about their family, the playground and the parents congregating at school gates. It is all those sorts of issues as well. Also, for me, a huge part of my concern is the staff. I am already asking my staff to come into school regularly and put themselves at risk by looking after key worker children. If i have to ask them to look after more children i am asking them to put themselves and their families and greater risk, and that concerns me. It is affecting all children, but everyones parts are particularly going out to children in vulnerable environments for whom school is something more than about
learning. It is an environment where they can get food, it is an environment where they can perhaps even be away from home that does not feel safe. How do you feel when you contemplate what is happening with children having to stay at home . Absolutely, i think that is one of the biggest worries for all of us in schools at the moment. I think schools at the moment. I think schools across the country, notjust mine, arguing a tremendous tripjob are doing a tremendousjob. We reach out to children who need the routine of school who need the hot lunches, who need the structure. We also try regularly to call those families that we are concerned about and patch base. It is difficult. When i start to think about those children who are at home who we cannot reach out to, it does worry
mea cannot reach out to, it does worry me a great deal. I think that is probably one of our big concerns as well. Bryony baynes, thank you very much forjoining us. An aggressive Antibody Testing campaign is to begin in new york next week to see how many people have had the virus. The state accounts for nearly half of the 40,000 deaths from coronavirus across the United States, but Officials Say the outbreak is now on the descent. Its not yet clear whether people who have antibodies for the coronavirus are immune from catching it again. In the uk officials have said the tests are not reliable enough for mass use. The number of virus related deaths in the United States rose by almost 2000 on sunday, bringing the total over the 40,000 mark. President trump gave an update on how the us is tackling the coronavirus pandemic. America continues to make steady progress in our war against the virus. As of today, weve tested 4. 18 million americans, thats a record anywhere
in the world. The United States has now conducted more total tests than all of the following nations combined france, the united kingdom, south korea, japan, singapore, india, austria, australia, sweden and canada. New zealands Prime Minister has said the countrys lockdown will start to ease from next week. At a press conference, Jacinda Ardern said some schools and businesses will be allowed to open, but social distancing measures will still apply, with people told to stay home where possible. Because we believed that decisive action, going hard and going early, gave us the very best chance of stamping out the virus. And it has. We have done what very few countries have been able to do. We have stopped a wave of devastation. It is time to say goodbye to those of you watching from outside of the uk on bbc world. See you soon. The duke and duchess of sussex have told four of britains most popular newspapers that theyre ending all cooperation with them. The couple have sent a letter to the sun, the mail, the mirror and the express saying they will no longer engage with them because of what they feel has been unfair and inaccurate treatment. Heres our media correspondent, david sillito. It is no secret the duke and duchess, harry and meghan, have had a difficult relationship with large parts of the press. They have already withdrawn from the royal rotor system, in which newspapers and broadcasters are granted access to media events. And having now stepped back from royal duties, this letter lays out the new rules of engagement. They will no longer deal in any way with the mail, the sun, the mirror and the express newspapers. This is, they says, not a blanket policy as they will continue to work
with a wide variety of media, but it means there will be in their words, zero engagement with papers it accuses of distorted, false and invasive coverage. The statement comes before a schedule hearing in the duchess of sussexs ongoing privacy case against associated newspapers, the publishers of the daily mail and mail online. David sillito, bbc news. The duke of edinburgh has made a rare public statement, praising those tackling the coronavirus pandemic across the uk and keeping essential services running. Philip, who is 98 and retired from public duties in 2017, said he wanted to recognise the vital and Urgent Medical and scientific work taking place. In his message, the duke also gave thanks to key workers including those involved in Food Production and distribution, refuse collection and postal and delivery services. Now its time for a look at the weather. Hello again. There is going to be a lot of dry weather around. Today, we have got thicker cloud producing some spots of rain. That will move away. We have got a lot of blue skies. Temperature wise, ranging and feeling cold with a brisk easterly wind. They further west that you are, the higher the temperatures will be. Overnight tonight, more wind. Cold enough for a touch of frost in sheltered blends in north east scotland and also sheltered parts of north east england. Many cloud that forms overnight, in wales, the pennines and scotland will quickly melt away tomorrow, leaving a dry day with a lot of blue skies. In the brisk wind, still cool down this coast. The higher temperatures still
further west you travel. Hello, this is bbc news with joanna gosling. The headlines more warnings from hospitals in england over shortages of Personal Protective Equipment. Some say supplies of gowns are critically low. It comes after a delivery of protective equipment from turkey was delayed. Ministers in the uk have called on all companies to do their bit, to help bolster supplies. I would urge any companies that feel that they have not had a response from government or have got that capacity do continue to come forward. We are working with Companies Across the board. And from today, businesses in the uk can apply for grants to cover 80 of the wages of staff who have been temporarily laid off. Sir Richard Branson warns that Virgin Atlantic will collapse unless it receives Government Support he says the industry faces severe uncertainty. Germany is relaxing some of its lockdown measures from today,
with the outbreak there now said to be under control. We are expecting in just a few moments to hearfrom scotlands first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, who will bejoined by her first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, who will be joined by her scientific advisers. In that, that she isjust arriving. We are going to stay with us arriving. We are going to stay with us and listen to todays update from Nicola Sturgeon and her advisers. Good afternoon everybody, once again thank you forjoining us for this daily briefing. I want to start as i a lwa ys daily briefing. I want to start as i always do with an update on the Key Statistics are the spread of covid 19 in scotland. As of 9p and nine and this morning, i can report there have been 8450 positive cases confirmed, which is an
increase of 250 3 cents yesterday. A total of 1809 patients are currently in hospital with either confirmed or suspected covid 19, which is an increase of 12 cents yesterday and a total of 169 people last night were in intensive care, with confirmed or suspected covid 19. That is a decrease of five on yesterdays figures. However, in the last 24 hours and afraid that 12 gas of patients have been registered who have been confirmed through a test of having covid 19, that takes the total number of deaths in scotland under that measurement to 915. Once again, iwant under that measurement to 915. Once again, i want to express some caution about that they go. Although people can now register deaths over the weekend, we would expect that the weekend, we would expect that the number of deaths due on saturdays and sundays to be relatively low, so we should take
that into account when considering the thicker i have just given you. And of course it continues to be absolutely essential that we never, ever lose sight of the human reality behind the statistics. Each death represents a loved individual whose loss is a source of grief to the family and friends, so yet again i wa nt to family and friends, so yet again i want to extend our deepest condolences to everyone who has lost a loved one. I also want to express our thanks, as a loved one. I also want to express ourthanks, asi a loved one. I also want to express our thanks, as i always do, to all of our health and care workers are right across the country. You are doing an extraordinary work in the most difficult of circumstances and our gratitude continues to be with you at each and every day. I have got two issues i want to briefly update on today. The first is the help we are making available to people who are right now struggling to access food, either because you cant leave the house or have no family or immediate support or because you might be facing
financial difficulties. And the main message i want to convey today is an important one, but a simple one. Help is available. So please ask for support if you need it. In a few moments, i will read out a National Helpline number for those of you who might need to access that. The Scottish Government has more than doubled our investment in grants through the scottish welfare fund, from £35 million to £80 million, so that councils can provide grants to people on low incomes who need immediate help. These grants provide people with funds directly, so that they can but id food and other things they need. But also providing specific programmes and i want to go through some of the arrangements in place for different people. If you are one of the approximately 150,000 people who are in what we call a shielded group, the most vulnerable group, who are being told to isolate completely, then our text message shielding service or your local authority helpline, or our national
helpline, can help you to order free weekly deliveries of basics food and essential supplies. Information is also available on the nhs website. So far, more than 41,000 packages of food have been delivered and people who have signed up in the last week, though they may not have had their first delivery yet, it they may do so shortly. A National Helpline and i will get it in a couple of moments, is also there for those who may not be any shielded group, but are potentially at risk at some other way, for example people over the age of 70, people with disabilities, pregnant women, people who get the annual flu jab and people who need support from Health Services. They helpline when you phone it directs you to your local authority and therefore it is also a good way of finding out what assistance is available in your own area and what support might might best meet your circumstances. That might bea best meet your circumstances. That might be a Community Care grant or
it might be food being directly supplied and delivered to you. So the number of that helpline, which i had given at a previous breathing, but want to emphasise again today, is that one. That helpline is available between 9am and 5pm every weekday. It is a free line and since it has been launched it has already been used by thousands of people. Of course, due to the volume of calls it might be difficult to get through, but please hang on. That numberagain is through, but please hang on. That number again is 08001114000. 140,000 children across the country are now being provided with free school meals, either through direct cash payments, supermarket vouchers or food being supplied to them. And finally, we are working with community and third sector organisations. This morning, for
example, we had announced £350,000 of extra funding to provide 3500 food deliveries in 17 different local areas. Each authority will provide food to people in need and will do so for 17 days. A further 18 schemes will supply a fourth hundred thousand pounds. These schemes will work with Mental Health teams and Family Support groups. All of this is to say that we are working closely with key partner organisations, such as local authorities, their share, the tassle trust and the independent food network to make sure that what we are offering two people in this time of need is as coordinated as possible. Now, i realise there is a lot of detail here i have given, but the key point to ask you to remember is this straightforward one. If you cant access food, the whatever reason, that might be because you are shielding, you might be self isolating what you might find yourself right now unable to afford
food for yourfamily, yourself right now unable to afford food for your family, please contact your local authority directly or phone the National Helpline. I will give that number again. 08001114000. Nobody should have to worry about access to food, so if you need help please ask for that help and we will make sure that you get it. The second issue i want to briefly update on relates to education. Of course, for most children and young people, this week, today impact, would marc the start of the summer term. I said would marc the start of the summer term. Isaid before would marc the start of the summer term. I said before that the decision we took to close schools to suppress the spread of this diverse and to keep them closed is one of the higher the spread of this virus. It is one of the hardest i have had to make as a minister because i know how disruptive it is to the lives of our young people. I wa nt to to the lives of our young people. I want to thank our young people for putting up with this disruption so well. I want to say a special thank you to carers and parents across the country. I know many of you are
iuggbng country. I know many of you are juggling looking after your children with work and other caring responsibilities and of course, with the worries and anxieties all of us have about this pandemic. I know how difficult that is, so thank you for doing the right thing and keeping your children at home and looking after them there. The Scottish Government today has provided some guidance to support continuity and learning while schools remained closed. This guidance builds on the work that has already been done by teachers and many others, and it focuses on three main areas. It cove rs focuses on three main areas. It covers support for young people as they learn at home, including particular support for those who need it most, for example, those with Additional Support needs. It also covers support for parents and ca re rs also covers support for parents and carers as you help children, and also support for teachers and school leaders. We are very aware that this Current Situation is likely to have the biggest impact on the most disadvantaged children and young people in our society, so we had already provided local authorities with the flexibility they need to redirect the resources we give them
in the attainment gap to help mitigate the impact of School Closures on the most disadvantaged families. I think it is worth stressing at this stage that nobody is expecting children, parents and ca re rs is expecting children, parents and carers to recreate classrooms while schools are closed. We dont think thatis schools are closed. We dont think that is either possible or desirable. But we do want to protect childrens welfare, by enabling them to continue to learn, and this guidance sets out that the ways in which we are doing that. If you are a parent or carer watching this, i hope you will find that helpful. Now, iam hope you will find that helpful. Now, i am about to and over firstly to the medical officer and then to be chief nursing officer, but before ido be chief nursing officer, but before i do that let me now say again how tough i know all this is, but again let me stress that everything we are doing right now, everything i am asking you to do and everything you are doing, is essential. Towards the end of this week, i will set out some of the factors that will guide our thinking for the future. I want to be clear, however, that the
initial version of this work will not set out what measures will be lifted and when. We are simply not yet ina lifted and when. We are simply not yet in a position to take those decisions in a properly informed way andi decisions in a properly informed way and i will not rush to do anything that could risk a resurgence of this virus because to do that would risk overwhelming the national Health Service and it would put many more lives at risk. But what we will start to do is set out, firstly our objective, which is continuing to suppress the virus, while considering how we can even gradually restore a semblance of normality to everyday life stop we will set out the fact is that we need to consider as we do that and the framework in which we will seek to ta ke the framework in which we will seek to take these decisions. But it will also be clear with the work we set out later in the week that living with this virus, as we will need to learn to do, is likely to mean some restrictions on everyday life in the form of social distancing for a while to come. But as we consider
the best way forward and be very difficult decisions that that will entail, we will be as open as we can be about the balance that we are seeking to strike and how we can best do that. This is something that affects all of us, so it is important that all of us are included in and aware of that Decision Making process. But for now, let me end by once again emphasising the Key Public Health rules that are in place now. Please stay at home unless you are going out for essential purposes such as exercising once a day or buying food and medicines. If you do go out, do not meet up with people from other households and stay two metres apart from other people, and wash your hands thoroughly and regularly for foot. These restrictions, as i have said, and very tough and they will remain tough as the weeks go by. But they are essential and most importantly of all they are making a difference. By doing the right thing, by staying at home, all of us are helping to do a bit, to slow the
spread of the virus, to protect the nhs and save lives. So thank you once again to everyone for doing that. I am now going to hand over to doctor greg smith, the interim chief medical officer, who will say a few words, and then to the chief nursing officer and then two questions. No thank you. I have spoken before about the need to make sure that people know that the nhs is open and ready to help. Figures show that attendances at a e i dan 54 compared to the average for this season over the last three years. But it is not not this element that i want to concentrate on today. There is strong evidence of the reduction of people coming forward to seek help has led to lower levels of referrals for suspected cancer. This is not just of referrals for suspected cancer. This is notjust here in scotland, but in other parts of the uk as well. Gps are telling in they are seen much fewer people coming forward with these types of symptoms and signs and the volume of referrals that have been received backs this up. In fact, there has
been a 72 reduction in agents suspected cancer cells compared to the weekly average. I dont believe for a second that either these diseases or these concerns have simply disappeared, so that leaves me worried that there are people out there who are not seeking help from agp there who are not seeking help from a gp when they might need it. The message is very simple. Anyone who is persisting in new signs or symptoms that are worrying them should seek help and advice. Maybe you have found a new lump, have new or unusual bleeding or have got a persistent change in your bowel pattern. The message is dont ignore it. Seek advice in the same way you would have done before covid 19. Yourgp in would have done before covid 19. Your gp in particular is able to guide you on what may be required to ensure your concerns are addressed. It is important to see that most outcomes are resolved fairly easily and quickly and it wont turn out to be cancer, that we dont want to delay those who do need attention. We will continue to ensure that
urgent suspected cancer referrals are met with the guidelines. Some Cancer Treatment may be altered due to the risks that covid 19 poses, but it remains important that patients bring their sentence to the gp so that they can be managed appropriately. It was urgent before covid 19 and it remains urgent now, so my message is clear. Please dont delay unnecessarily. Your nhs remains here for you. Please seek help and attention when you need it. I will hand over now to our chief nursing officer. Emphasising what gregor has said, our nhs is there, notjust for covid 19 gregor has said, our nhs is there, not just for covid 19 patients, gregor has said, our nhs is there, notjust for covid 19 patients, but for all of the other care and attention that the people of scotland need. We have had an amazing response, and we had talked about it before, from those who volunteered to help our nhs and we
are beginning to have these people put in posts to take up, whether it has been strengthening the nhs within intensive care units to care for our coded patients, paramedics coming back, physiotherapists, all giving attention to make sure i Health Service is sustainable and continues to be strong. And these returners are doing an amazing job. They will continue we will continue to deploy our returners as we continue to work with our nhs as we continue to work with our nhs as we move forward, whether it is in response to coded or are other services that we are still looking for to covid 19 or other responses. We have also had an amazing response to our hospital volunteers helping families to stay in touch, supporting them to do face time, speaking to their loved ones, running errands for them, so that people can stay in hospital, whether
it is with covid 19 or with other conditions. So that they can be supported as best as possible. So our Health Service is open for business and i want to say a piece about the Public Health element of it. This week is World Health Organization week for immunisation andl Organization Week for immunisation and i want to pay strong attention to the fact that immunisation is a real really important thing. What we wa nt real really important thing. What we want to do is encourage parents of Young Children to continue to access these immunisation services. You can speak to your family nurse, your health visitor, the practice nurse, to gain advice about when the right time for vaccination takes place and often you will have a phone call from your vaccination team, checking that there are no symptoms, that it is safe for your child to be vaccinated. Sometimes being invited into the surgery and then other times the team would come to the house. And it is incredibly
important. We have seen real strides in improving health and reducing illness across our young people, and that investment in Young Mothers and our children is hugely important. So we are vaccinating our pregnant women against hooping cough, and then tiding overour women against hooping cough, and then tiding over our children without babies with resistance to it until they are able to have vaccination has seen a real reduction in the cases of whooping cough. The same with meningitis and another virus that has been the real cause of distress with gastroenteritis with children. Our vaccination programmes are safe, they give us a Real Foundation for a healthy childhood and we were encouraged parents to continue to use that, speak to their Health Care Practitioner and support their children to be vaccinated and
immunised. Thank you, will go to questions. A particularly long list of questions today, so i will make my usual plea for brevity. We will try to practice what we preach as well. The stuff from the bbc. We see that the nhs louisa Jordan Hospital is now operation. There is a danger though that it may not be required. Could you let be a danger that money could has been spent in another way . We dont yet know about testing and what level of surveillance is going on in communities as regards testing. Or what lads are running at full capacity, so should you as a scottish and be making spending more money to make sure more testing is done . Festival, we are building up testing, including surveillance testing, including surveillance testing, and we will have more information, not just testing, and we will have more information, notjust on the quantity that is being done, but also what is that is telling us about the spread of the virus, in fairly short order. The challenges
we face about building up testing is about capacity, the supplies, the equipment you need, not about a lack of money or an unwillingness to invest that money, so i think it is important to be clear about that. On the question about louisa jordan, we said from the outset that we dont have to use it, for obvious reasons. I say that again, i fervently hope we never have to treat any patients in the louisa jordan because if we do that we will say things we would rather we werent facing about the spread of the virus. And who knows . In the fullness of time, they may well be people, journalists and others, who look back and say, why did you do that if you didnt need it . But to be candid, i would rather be in the position of looking back and seeing me investing money in something we might have needed, but didnt need because of other things we did, than be in a position of finding we needed a facility like that and finding we had not invested the money in it, so we are taking these decisions to make sure that we had the capacity in our health
service that we might need, looking at all of these scenarios and options, but all of our strategy has been trying to contain this virus so that that capacity in our Health Service isnt overwhelmed under the run. Soi service isnt overwhelmed under the run. So i am perfectly comfortable, more than comfortable, i think it would have been wrong not to take the decisions we have taken around the decisions we have taken around the nhs louisa jordan, albeit that i still hope we never have to use it. James matthews from sky. Thanks very much. First minister, if you had begun testing earlier and made it more widespread, would we be closer to the end of the lockdown and what fewer people have died . to the end of the lockdown and what fewer people have died . I dont think it is possible to answer questions like that at this stage. We have, at all stages, done what we consider to be the right and the best way of containing and then delaying and suppressing the spread of this diverse. Informed by
science, informed by the spread of this virus. Informed by best judgment and medicine. As we get through this pandemic and are coming out of the other side of this pandemic, everybody will be wanting to look back and learn lessons. That is important for accountability and full planning for the future, but i think it is premature and not possible right now to look at different approaches and say, ex worked and why it didnt work. We are not always comparing like with like, we are not through this pandemic yet and we see in some places that locked down earlier and have started to lift lockdown measures that cases are researching. Again, we are seeing adaptation and revising of some of the numbers of deaths in places like wuhan and there is still an element about this though is that we dont understand, so myjob is that minister is to get the best advice i can get, apply the bestjudgment to the best advice i can get, apply the best judgment to that and the best advice i can get, apply the bestjudgment to that and continue ona bestjudgment to that and continue on a path that is very clearly about suppressing this virus, making sure
we dont overwhelm our national Health Service and save lives. And over the next three weeks, trying to see if we can do all of that in a way that allows us also to restore some normality to everyday life. None of this is easy, but these are the challenges we have to seek to address. Peter smith from itv news. Yes, thank you very much, theres minister. I noticed that denmark has announced that companies that pay out dividends and buy back their own shares or are registered in tax havens will not be eligible for any bailout. Im wondering if that is something you would consider pushing for here . I think, two things. Firstly, i think companies that dont operate in a fair way should not be necessarily easily able to access public funds. So in principle, obviously i dont know
all of the detail of what has been donein all of the detail of what has been done in denmark, but in principle, yes. I do think those kinds of principles have to apply here. We wa nt principles have to apply here. We want support to be available for businesses, but we want that, obviously as we would with any form of public support, to go to those most in need. So we have said if businesses feel they dont need to access some of the grants we are making available and the wider support that is coming for the uk government, then dont apply for it because we want, as much as is possible, it to go to businesses that most need it. And we always wa nt that most need it. And we always want businesses to operate their work practices and play fair in terms of paying their taxes and contributing to society. If anything, this experience right now shows the importance of that, the importance of that collegiate nature of society, where we all did the right things and support each other when we need it. Whilst governance from stb. Thank you. The funeral of a former firefighter has taken place
today following his death from covid 19. Like all funerals at the moment, there will just covid 19. Like all funerals at the moment, there willjust be a handful of mourners there. When will plants be considered to relax restrictions on the numbers that can attend . mean, this is one of the aspects of the restriction that i think are toughest for people who are suffering bereavement and i dont think it is possible to underestimate just how difficult thatis underestimate just how difficult that is and how much that adds to the grief that people are having. So i dont in any way want to be insensitive in the way that i answer this question because i extremely sensitive to this. It is one of these ends we have to consider as pa rt these ends we have to consider as part of our overall strategy and therefore it is premature right now for me to stand here and give a date and when these particular restrictions may be relaxed or the extent to which we may relax them. We must make sure that all of these decisions are being guided by the best evidence we have got, about how
we can continue to suppress this virus, while trying to get as much humanity as possible. These will be the difficult decisions we are contemplating in the next few weeks and trying to come to the final positions on, so i cant give any more definite answer on that right now, except to say that for all those who have, notjust lost a loved one to covid 19 right now, but for anybody who is going through the grieving process, absolutely understand how much more difficult it is by not being able to. That is gottens first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, with her latest briefing to the media. Any moment, simon mccoy will be here with the news that 1pm. At the though it is time to look at the weather. Hello again. High pressure remains in charge this week. Earlier in the day, one other weather watchers went for a lovely
walk and pretty much nationwide it has been lovely. Towards the isles of scilly we do have some clout that has bringing some rain at the moment, and that could come close enough to bring the odd isolated shower, but for the vast majority day and age i night as well, with clear, starry skies. It will stay quite breezy, temperatures around 47d, quite breezy, temperatures around 4 7d, and in scotland possibly some frost in sheltered glands. On tuesday, a carbon copy. A repeat performance nationwide, again a day of lots of sunshine, brisk easterly winds, gusting around 30 miles an hour, perhaps more in places. Those easterly winds are flowing across school cool sea temperatures, 7 9d, and that is why these eastern areas of scotla nd and that is why these eastern areas of scotland and england are a little bit cool, with temperatures of 1315d. Bit cool, with temperatures of 13 15d. Come inland, that is where we see the higher temperatures further west, looking at highs
reaching the high teens to high 20s across wales, west england and scotla nd across wales, west england and scotland as well. Isobar get a more widely spaced, and that means the winds will be more lighter. Again, for most on wednesday a dry day, with sunshine from dawn till dusk, barely a cloud in the sky. Without those winds, temperatures will climb up those winds, temperatures will climb up higher, even towards our eastern coastal areas. 16 degrees in hull, pulling more to the 20s and often ireland and wales. Thursday is likely to be the warmest day of this week. Again, plenty of sunshine, although there could be an odd mist orfog although there could be an odd mist or fog patch in although there could be an odd mist orfog patch in the although there could be an odd mist or fog patch in the countryside. Just to start the day, not lasting long at all. Temperatures will peak at 24 degrees, so it will be pleasa ntly warm at 24 degrees, so it will be pleasantly warm in the sunshine. Just turning a bit cloudy and a bit cooler as we head into the weekend and the threat and a few isolated
showers as well. That is the weather. More warnings over Personal Protective Equipment with some hospitals in england saying supplies of gowns are critically low. The government says its working hard to supply ppe and insists the delivery of 400,000 protective gowns will arrive from turkey today. We are now trying to deliver this to 58,000 different institutions. I expect this flight to be coming later today and we are procuring from around the world to get the resources the nhs needs and other institutions need. Senior nhs figures say the delivery from turkey would be welcome, but with the unprecedented demand, its simply not enough. 400,000 gowns obviously would be welcome, if and when they arrive. But the nhs, when its actually kind of at full tilt, is probably getting through 150,000 gowns a day. Well be assessing the supply issues created by the unprecedented demands of the coronavirus crisis