Deaths in england and wales have risen sharply new figures show theyve hit a 20 year high they also reveal more than 1,000 covid related deaths recorded at care homes in the week before easter this is bbc news with the latest last week, we were looking at 217 headlines for viewers in the uk deaths that had been registered up to the 3rd of april the true extent of coronavirus deaths in england and wales in care home settings. Now, we are seeing over 1000. Is revealed in latest officialfigures. Well be assessing the latest they are a1 higher than figures from the office for National Statistics the governments daily death toll in the week up to 10th april. Also this lunchtime. As the number of victims grow relentlessly Health Workers, too, find themselves mourning the loss of colleagues and friends compared to the five year average of the same week in the year, it is the tragic story of barbara 8000 deaths above that average, of one of many disabled Covid Patients to be transferred to hospital where she had to face death without family or friends which 6200, so, about 8 of those deaths involved covid. 80 . Supplies of facemasks for front line nhs workers will be put at risk,
if the public is advised to wear them, warn hospital bosses. Ministers consider the evidence. We do not have a Clear Scientific steer that it would be right to broaden this to the general population. We would obviously bear in mind the representations from nhs providers about the need to prioritise supply. President trump says hell temporarily suspend immigration into the United States due to the coronavirus. The price of us oil creeps back above zero after going negative for the first time it meant producers were paying buyers to take it off their hands. A well loved and hugely respected a e consultant. Tributes to doctor Manjeet Singh riyat who has died after contracting covid 19. Dentists warn that a critical shortage of ppe in england is forcing patients with urgent problems to take matters into their own hands. And coming up well be hearing from granny rosie
who took her keyboard out onto the street to say thank you to nhs workers during thursdays clap for carers. The number of people who died from coronavirus in england and wales up to april 10th was a1 higher than the daily figures from the government indicated. Thats according to data just released by the office for National Statistics which includes deaths in the community. In other developments, hospital bosses in the uk are warning that nhs supplies of face masks could be put at risk if the public is advised to start wearing them. The governments scientific advisers will meet later to discuss whether the public should be urged to wear masks. In italy, the number of people currently confirmed
to have the coronavirus has fallen for the first time. Officials announced a drop of 20, compared with the day before, with fewer people in intensive care beds. President trump has tweeted hell sign an executive order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States because of what he called the attack from the invisible enemy a term he has used to describe the coronavirus. Also in the us, oil prices have rebounded above zero, after they turned negative. For the first time in history, producers were paying buyers to take oil off their hands. Lets return to those figures from the office for National Statistics which says theres been a big increase in the number of coronaviris deaths in care homes in england and wales. Nick stripe is the head of Health Analysis at the office for National Statistics. Speaking earlier he put these figures into context. It is the highest number of weekly deaths registered in any week since the first week of january deaths registered in any week since the first week ofjanuary 2,000. As you said, a third of those deaths, about 6200, had covid mentioned on the death certificate, up from 20 the death certificate, up from 20 the week before, about one in five the week before, about one in five the week before, now one in three. Interestingly, that is a higher proportion of that excess level of debt that we saw the week before. Last week when we were speaking, it was three in five of those deaths above average involved covid, the last week we have just reported, about four in five of those excess deaths involved covid. Robert cuffe is the bbcs head of statistics and he joins me now. This is the highest figure in 20 yea rs. You need to put it in context by knowing what we would expect at this time of year. Normally it would be 10,000 deaths. 80 is a hugejump, bigger than we saw in 2015, the same pattern repeated in scotland, Northern Ireland not quite the same but at a good deal. It is not all the debts that have covid mentioned on the death certificate. It is about 60 of them, sorry, 80 of them do mention 80 not all the deaths. Some is not registered. Some are the broader effects, maybe people coming to look for care or other elements it is putting on to society as a whole. What about around the uk . In
scotla nd what about around the uk . In scotland and Northern Ireland, we are seeing similar patterns, very large increases in weekly figures. And a similar pattern for deaths in ca re and a similar pattern for deaths in care homes. In scotland, about 25 of the covid registered deaths in ca re of the covid registered deaths in care homes. In Northern Ireland, a quarter. But we have to be careful. Death certificates will not capture the full story in care homes. If you get sick there and i moved to a hospital, the death is recorded there. Not all the deaths mentioned are ones explicitly mentioning coronavirus. 0ne number which stands out is the number of deaths in care homes from all causes has doubled over the last two weeks. A big increase, larger than in hospitals 01 increase, larger than in hospitals
or other settings. Most likely attributable to coronavirus. These are the registrations from the week up to good friday. But what is clear is when we have this accurate 0ns data, we can see deaths from covid and non covid related deaths are much higher than the government daily figures. The ability to look back in time enables you to allow for these reporting lags. And look at patterns more clearly. We are seeing as he looked back, when deaths were reported, it is looking more likely that we hit the peak around the 8th of april. The figures are drifting down. The peak we saw announced that
week was 980. It is back to 400. The number will be revised upwards when we look back. It is unlikely it will go we look back. It is unlikely it will 9 up we look back. It is unlikely it will go up to that region very soon. The overall picture is we might be past the peak but it is a hell of a peak, the peak but it is a hell of a peak, the numbers were really bad in that week. It does not mean it will fall away in a few days, it will take time before numbers go down. As the scientists tell us each day at Daily Briefing. Mps are set to approve plans for virtual sittings in the house of commons. Lets speak to our assistant Political Editor norman smith. Hes in westminster for us. These numbers are very sobering and will undoubtedly come up at the daily government briefing later. They are sobering all the more so because they are behind the curve,
these are old figures telling us what was happening a couple of weeks ago, not where we are now. I have spoken to the 0ns, they will not be able to give us more up to date figures that people have been demanding about what has been going on, in particular, in care homes. What we have gleaned is something terrible is going on in care homes, when you look at the numbers which the ons when you look at the numbers which the 0ns is, they say the previous set, 5 of coronavirus deaths were in care homes, now up to 13 . The numbers are increasing dramatically. They say they have doubled, more than 1000 in the past week. Even thatis than 1000 in the past week. Even that is way off what we are hearing from some of the care home providers. We had the care home form at the weekend said they thought there had been 4000 deaths. We do not know what is going on in care
homes because many who become sick with coronavirus, they get pushed over to hospitals and are recorded in hospitalfigures. Care homes do not have testing equipment for residents, so they can never 100 know whether people are dying from coronavirus. Anecdotally, everything we hear from those who work in care homes, those who run care homes, those with family in care homes, that something bad is happening and we do not yet have a true picture of what is really going on. About 50 mps due to come back to the commons, the rest joining about 50 mps due to come back to the commons, the restjoining on zoom. The government will come under scrutiny from notjust the government will come under scrutiny from not just the opposition but their own backbenchers potentially. There is a huge appetite among mps to get back into holding the government to account. Here we are
in National Crisis and the only accountability is the daily news conference. So, there is a huge appetite and imperative really to have that ability for mps to challenge the executive. What we will get is rudimentary. Parliament is not returning as we know it, it is not returning as we know it, it isa is not returning as we know it, it is a hybrid Parliament Coming back, there will be some mps in the chamber. They are being discouraged from returning. Most questioning will be done by Video Conferencing through zoom with mps at home. They will write income in advance, to ask a question the next day. There will bea a question the next day. There will be a random ballot. And then, the next day, they will ask a question and theirface next day, they will ask a question and their face will come up on video screens around the chamber. Far from ideal. At least it is the beginnings
of holding the government much more to account. It will be limited just to account. It will be limited just to statements, urgent questions. No voting or contentious debates, it will be kept basic, a maximum of two hours, three days a week, starting off limited. Clearly, at this moment, mps have many questions. Thank you very much. This breaking news to do with nazanin ghazali la peste. Her temporary release from an iranian gel has been extended to a month according to her mp. She has been freed because of covid 19. Her mp tweeted this this morning, happy to hear from mp tweeted this this morning, happy to hearfrom richard, an extension to hearfrom richard, an extension toa to hearfrom richard, an extension to a month along with other
prisoners in iran. Sentenced to five yea rs prisoners in iran. Sentenced to five years injail prisoners in iran. Sentenced to five years in jail accused of prisoners in iran. Sentenced to five years injail accused of spying, plotting to overthrow the iranian government, a charge she denies. Zaghari ratcliffe. Thank you for your messages on face masks. Bookworm says they will not reopen until it is compulsory to wear a face mask. Michael in chesterfield says, my wife and i use masks out shopping. Luckily we had some left over from shopping. Luckily we had some left overfrom diy. To prevent supplies from being diverted from the nhs in england and this viewer says, do you
think we could have a short tutorial on making our own face masks. Michael says he had a routine appointment at hospital. The receptionist gave me a face mask and said the doctor may ask me to wear it. I was told i didnt have to do in the end. Neither the doctor zero nurses had masks on. In the uk the scientific advisers are reviewing the evidence but wherever you are around the world, do let me know. The advice from the World Health Organization is the only two groups of people who should wear protective face masks are those who are sick, and those shown symptoms, or caring for those who are ill. It says the use of masks can create a false sense of security and lead to people ignoring other protective measures such as hand
hygiene and physical distancing. Masks can be a source of infection when used incorrectly as well. Some countries still see them as safer and more considerate. In france, the authorities will provide masks to people when lockdown measures are eased next month. Germanys state of bavaria will make facemasks compulsory from next week when they begin to lift restrictions and americans are being urged to wear cloth Face Coverings in public spaces where social distancing is impossible. With more on the latest measures the uk government will be discussing, including whether to advise the public to wear facemasks, heres andy moore. Manjeet singh riyat was the uks first sikh a e consultant. He died at the hospital in derby where he worked. He was described as hugely respected as well as much loved. Today, expert government advisers will discuss whether the general public should wear face masks. Many countries in europe have adopted the policy. The mayor of london says they should
be worn on public transport. But nhs providers, the organisation that represents trusts in england, warns that masks might be in short supply for Frontline Health professionals if the general public are scrambling to find them. Yesterdays figure for hospital deaths with coronavirus in the uk stood at 449, bringing the total to 16,509. Hospital admissions with covid are roughly stable across the country as a whole but falling in the capital. Here in london, this is now the seventh day in a row that those numbers have fallen. So that means the balance between people going into hospital because theyve fallen ill, and people who are going home because they are well again now, is in the opposite direction so that there are fewer people each day in hospital with covid. But there will be more official figures out this morning showing the number of deaths in care homes. Last weeks figures showed 210 deaths. Many people in the care sector say the true toll numbers in the thousands. Parts of the nhs continue to experience problems getting a hold of personal protection equipment. Over the weekend, ministers said a flight was due to arrive from turkey shortly with 400,000 much needed gowns. An raf aircraft has flown to istanbul to pick up the shipment but there is no word on when it will return. Andy moore, bbc news. President trump has said he is suspending all immigration into the United States. He made the announcement in a tweet, saying he was acting to protect the jobs of american citizens amid the pandemic. The us has already agreed to extend border restrictions on non essential travel with its neighbours in canada and mexico, and travel is currently limited from both europe and china. Our north america correspondent peter bowes reports. As america itches to get back to normal, a surprise announcement from the president
in a late night tweet. In light of the attack from the invisible enemy, as well as the need to protect thejobs of our Great American citizens, i will be signing an executive order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States the invisible enemy is the term mr trump has used to describe coronavirus. More than 22 million americans have applied for Unemployment Benefits in the last month, and there are fears the economic fallout from covid 19 could last for years. There are already bans on travel to the us from europe and china. President trump highlighted support he had received from the governor of new york. I want to draw your attention to governor cuomos remarks during his press conference today. He said, the president is right, the states testing is up to the states to do, which will implement the tests and logistically co ordinate the tests. We have about 300 labs in new york. And they do, theyre great labs, actually. And its myjob to co ordinate those 300 labs. I think the president s right when he says that the states should lead. Mr trump says hell discuss the pandemic with andrew cuomo at the white house. It comes as the country is slowly beginning to lift restrictions on movement imposed to protect people from covid 19. Some beaches in florida are already open to the public. In georgia, laterthis florida are already open to the public. In georgia, later this week, gyms, hair salons and bowling alleys will be back in business. From next week, restaurants. Elsewhere, americans are running out of patience. In phoenix, demonstrators gathered to protest the continuing order to stay at home. Peter bowes, bbc news, los angeles. This, from spain, their latest death toll from coronavirus. They had 21,282 people who have died with coronavirus on tuesday, that is up from 20,852 yesterday, according to the Health Ministry. The number of people who have died in spain from coronavirus rises up to 21,282 people. The price of American Crude Oil fell below zero yesterday, meaning suppliers would pay people to take it away. The price of west texas intermediate plunged as low as minus 37 a barrel because of the drop in demand caused by coronavirus. There arent enough places to store the oil being produced, so buyers were being paid to take the supplies off producers hands. Uk investment manager
justin Urquhart Stewart says the price drop provides a strong indicator of the state of the worlds economy. Weve never seen anything like this, weve lived through periods of oil prices being over 100 a barrel but here we are, negative. Its really quite astonishing but we should take it seriously, even though this is just one contract because we know actually, the price will be bouncing back to about 35 a barrel, round about that, but its an indication of actually whats happening in the world. And you have to go back to 2007, oil was a very useful indicator as to the weakness there which came out of course in 2008. We should look the same with this oil price move like this, it does give us a bad outlook, im afraid, for the Global Economy, not so much for recovery but i suspect some form of resuscitation, but regardless, theres a rather sick, oily canary in the coal mine, im afraid. Italy may be turning the tide on coronavirus. Italy has had a first glimpse of hope that it may finally be turning the tide on the coronavirus outbreak as the number of people infected has fallen for the first time. While france follows italy, spain and the United States in becoming the fourth country to see its covid 19 death toll exceeding 20,000. Matt graveling reports. Its had more deaths due to covid 19 than anywhere else in europe. But for the First Time Since the outbreak began, italy has seen a decline in the number of people infected with the virus. Translation the pressure on hospital structures continues to drop. Intensive care patients are down to 2,537. Thats a decrease of 62 people since yesterday. Its the lowest number recorded in intensive care in a month now. Authorities here say the small, but symbolic drop is a positive development. Italys lockdown continues until 3 may, but some businesses have reopened. Its an optimism being felt
in other european countries. Germany has reopened small shops, Car Dealerships and Bicycle Stores in a tentative easing of the coronavirus lockdown imposed nearly a month ago. Translation we must not lose sight of the fact that despite everything, we are at the very beginning of the pandemic. We are at the beginning and not out of the woods yet. But while positives can now be seen, there are also stark reminders of the work still to be done with france becoming the latest country to record more than 20,000 deaths related to coronavirus. Translation tonight, our country has reached a symbolic and particularly painful milestone with more than 20,000 deaths. Despite the efforts of the french population to meticulously respect the confinement, social distancing and barrier gestures, the epidemic is proving to be very deadly. The news came as residents shot fireworks at police on monday night in paris, having accused officers of using heavy handed tactics to enforce frances strict coronavirus lockdown. In spain, the rate of new infections is falling, but regardless of the numbers, behind every death toll are stories of the lives lost. These hospital staff in madrid paying tribute to their colleague, a 64 year old doctor who died of the virus this weekend. One effort to curb the spread of covid 19 here has been to keep children indoors, something thats been enforced since march 14, but something the Prime Minister says will be eased on monday. Matt graveling, bbc news. Germany has started to ease some of its restrictions on movement but its famous oktoberfest will not go ahead this year. The Worlds Largest beer festival had been due to start in mid september, but has been cancelled due to the coronavirus. The event attracts around six million visitors to munich every year. Our correspondentjenny hill in berlin has more. We heard from the bavarian regional Prime Minister announcing the cancellation and he said this is an unbelievable shame. The authorities in bavaria describe oktoberfest as the biggest and most Beautiful Party in the world. If you have been, you may disagree with the last part of that description, but in all seriousness, this is huge. Not just for bavaria but for germany. A lot of tourists come to this event. Six Million People were expected in munich for a few weeks that the festival runs for this autumn. It brings in well over1 billion euros to the local economy. To have to cancel it is a massive deal not just for the region but for germany, too. I suppose it is an indication whilst we are seeing some elements of daily life coming back to normal, it is going to be a very long time before, really,
german life, european life, life across the globe, can go on as before. Singapore says it has preliminarily confirmed more than 1,000 new coronavirus cases, taking the city states total infections to over 9,000. Singapore has the highest number of reported cases in south east asia. The Health Ministry said most of the cases were Migrant Workers living in dormitories. Whilst all countries have been working to suppress the virus, some have also been using the crisis to suppress human rights. In turkmenistan, where the government insists there are no cases, even the word coronavirus is not used by the countrys media. Lets find out more from allan hogarth, head of policy Government Affairs at amnesty international. Why dont the media use coronavirus in turkmenistan . I suspect it is largely to do with controlling actually what is being
put out there. And what the government probably sees as undermining the authority. This is not unique to turkmenistan, we have seen it in china, you probably remember the case of the brave doctor treating coronavirus patients who try to. He first tried to alert the world to this virus. Exactly. Alert the world to this virus. Exa ctly. H e alert the world to this virus. Exactly. He was reprimanded by police for doing so. He u nfortu nately, police for doing so. He unfortunately, he passed away from the disease. Is itfairto the disease. Is it fair to say countries that do not have a great human rights record are the ones that are broadly speaking trying to project an Image Everything is fine . I think that is correct, to a certain degree. We are seeing countries such as venezuela arresting journalists, russia arresting journalists, russia arresting medics raising concerns
about ppe, tanzania also closing down newspapers and removing licences from journalists. There is definitely, these governments and governments such as hungary, the philippines, are all quite keen to use the virus as an opportunity it would appear to restrict further thanis would appear to restrict further than is necessary because, let us be realistic, there are some genuine restrictions that would impact on human rights that do need to be implemented to protect the health of the public by the health of the public. Many countries are using this as an opportunity to infringe on human rights and introduce more draconian measures. The question is, when hopefully we have a vaccine and things go back to relatively normal, which countries, which leaders will continue using
those emergency powers, rather than rowing back from them. That is right, we have seen in hungary, the promise to introduce, basically, rule by decree which got passed through parliament. Sentences for five years for questioning some of the issues listed in that legislation. There is no sunset clause, no opportunity to review that and say, the crisis is over, now we need to review it, do we need this legislation any longer . Can we get rid of these emergency powers. It is not unusual. The uk, when it announced its coronavirus bill, you perhaps remember there was concern raised that there was no review for two years. Eventually they succumbed to pressure and introduced a six month sunset clause when legislation would be reviewed. Hello, this is bbc news with victoria derbyshire. The headlines. Deaths in england and wales have risen sharply above what would normally be expected at this time of year hitting a 20 year high according to new figures from the office for National Statistics. Compared to the five year average of the same week in the year, its 8000 deaths above that average, of which 6200, about 80 of those deaths, involved covid 19. Supplies of facemasks for frontline nhs workers will be put at risk, if the uk public is advised to wear them, warn hospital bosses. Ministers consider the evidence. President trump says hell temporarily suspend immigration into the United States due to the coronavirus. The price of us oil creeps back above zero after going negative for the first time
it meant producers were paying buyers to take it off their hands. Dentists warn that a critical shortage of ppe in england is forcing patients with urgent problems to take matters into their own hands. More now on our top story. The uks office for National Statistics says theres been a big increase in the number of coronavirus related deaths in care homes in england and wales. In the week registered up to april 10, more than a thousand deaths were in care homes up from 217 the week before. To get the picture across the country lets speak to nadra ahmed, chairman of the National Care association. And ina and in a moment well speak to a guest who has experience of working to control infectious outbreaks. How
do you react to the fact there were over 1000 deaths in care homes in the week up to good friday . Sadly, its not totally unexpected. We a lwa ys its not totally unexpected. We always had hoped the figures will be less. But i think there is more and more evidence that there may be more. And it is disappointing, its disappointing for the families, disappointing for the families, disappointing for the carers who have done their utmost to contain this within very difficult circumstances. But certainly, if wed had testing in place, if wed been part of the Contingency Planning at the very beginning we may have been able to mitigate some of the figures we are looking at today. But i think, you know, we have been challenged, weve been challenged by lack of ppe, challenged by lack of ppe, challenged by lack of ppe, challenged by lack of guidance and inclusivity. And access to the
testing. And so, i think providers have been left to deal with it in the best way that they can. And we have to remember, theres a lot of ca re have to remember, theres a lot of Care Services who are still doing 0k, Care Services who are still doing ok, we have homes who have not reported any covid19. So the sector is really being resilient, dry to do its best to support the people that we are there to look after and these are the people who were identified in the very beginning as being most at risk stop what you have just said is damning, you have essentially just told us that some of these deaths in care homes were preve nta ble. Deaths in care homes were preventable. Had you had testing, had there been a strategy in place for the care sector. Well, i think we have to think like that because of course, we are being told that there are more than the average. We hope they would have been avoidable if wed had everything in place. And
i think thats the challenge that we face and we continue to face that challenge. Of being able to get the proper ppe and now weve got testing in place, that will make a huge amount of difference. So you know, im just trying to support the fact that we need things in place quite quickly. And providers made those decisions about closing their services, to external visits, very early on, they were being very proactive about how they could prevent it. These figures, of course, over 1000 people, prevent it. These figures, of course, over1000 people, dying in ca re course, over1000 people, dying in care homes, up to good friday. These figures are two weeks out of date. So in reality, its going to beat many more than that who died in care homes, isnt it . These are assumptions we have to make because of course we havent had the testing in place so without having that, we dont know if people have died of
covid 19 or something else. And i think, you know, the data is really important because its actually, hopefully, going to put pressure on government to start to look at the social care sector differently. As they have done with everybody else. And make sure they are putting more resources through to enable providers to continue to care for the people that we are caring for and our staff. I think, you know, these are, its a pandemic. Its something that was unexpected, to a degree, that the public is aware of. But we acted very quickly and i think thats why we have managed to contain it to where we are at this moment in time, with people being well looked after in Care Services, in many, many cases because you have to remember, there are 400,000 people in Care Services and you also have to remember, we have over
500,000 being looked after in the community. These are large numbers that we are looking after. Thank you very much. Eric fewster has experience of working to control infection of cholera and ebola in Treatment Centres in haiti and sierre leone and has been working on how care homes here in the uk could work to try and prevent the spread of covid 19. Good morning to you. Why dont you tell us a little bit about your expertise and how it might relate to ca re expertise and how it might relate to care homes in the uk . Good morning. Ive been working in Emergency Response settings on and off for the last 25 years. Mainly in africa and also parts of asia. Part of that took me to haiti, to help percent set up Treatment Centres over there, in 2011, more recently i was out in sierra leone in 2014, to help manage an Ebola Virus Treatment Centre there, Infection Control procedures that were in place and we were
trying to improve on those. So yes, thats my outbreak experience and we are trying to sort of think about what wed know about transmission of viruses, based on that experience and also what we know stops transmission of, the sars outbreak as well, and we are trying to think about how that could be put into the ca re about how that could be put into the care home context, which is a much more complicated environment. What are your thoughts on that, how could you put some of what you have learned into the care home context and what difference might it make . 0k, and what difference might it make . Ok, the past week, myself and a few other co contributors with other experience in Older People Care and ebola virus response, we came up with a strategy for care homes, based around disowning concept. Just in the same way you have an Ebola Virus Treatment Centre, you have two zone it by the whole environment, you have to zone, save which is the
low risk, mid risk and high risk areas and you have very stringent hygiene procedures between each zone. So thats what we suggest has to happen in care homes although its probably more difficult to do. But the issue weve got with care homes is theres a lot of asymptomatic, non symptomatic transmission going on and we know that. Studies, and more and more research coming out saying when they tested, for example, there is a study in the us in the long term ca re study in the us in the Long Term Care facility, they tested most of the residents more than 90 , they found around a third of them, testing, proper lab testing, they found around a third had covid19. Half of those that had it were not symptomatic. So what it means is that youve got, if you provide care toa that youve got, if you provide care to a person who is a resident, who doesnt have symptoms, and you think
its fine because they dont have symptoms, you have done symptom based screening and then you provide care based on thinking they are ok, that may absolutely not be the case and this is probably why the case and this is probably why the biggest reason we have a sharp increase in care home deaths. And in other countries, its been the same thing so you are talking about 30 plus mortality thats where we are going. If it hasnt happened already, if its not too late, thats where we are probably headed based on the evidence. Out to stop it . You need to think about your whole building, your whole care home from the front door to the back door, upstairs, downstairs and you need to map it out and sewn it, just like you would in a treatment centre. And how we get that, how we get to that place in the uk now, where we need to ramp up training and get that done as of now, not in and get that done as of now, not in a few weeks, its going to be too late, if its not too late already. Zone it. Thats the challenge in
the uk, treat this anime Emergency Response, right here, right now and getting this in place. Thank you very much, thank you very much for coming on the programme. No problem. The first of ten charter flights are due to start leaving pakistan today bringing back more than 2,000 british nationals that have been stranded there since the covid 19 outbreak. More than 7,000 people have already returned but for those that are still there progress has been slow and demoralising with many having flights cancelled several times and in some cases thousands of pounds lost. Last month, the Foreign Office said it would make £75 million available to fly british nationals stranded in countries, including pakistan, back home to the uk. Moin naeem is 23 and from manchester he was visiting pakistan with his family for his sisters wedding when the country went into lockdown. Also joining us this morning is mother of two rahat inam from bolton. She travelled out to pakistan three weeks ago for her mother in laws funeral her and herfamily have had three flights cancelled so far. What have the last three weeks been like for you . If i were to describe it in one word, disastrous, pretty much a nightmare every day with the way everything has been handled. The wedding cancelled, the money weve lost, just the way the British Embassy have treated us, second class citizens. Its been disastrous, they have thrown us away to the pia, the National Carrier of pakistan, weve been put into their hands, to be extorted and buy new tickets, its only now that they have decided to arrange these flights but even then, i think its too late and its not really going too late and its not really going to redeem themselves. Why do you say youve been treated like second class citizens . youve been treated like secondclass citizens . I feel like a lot of other countries had repatriation flights a lot earlier, we we re repatriation flights a lot earlier, we were ignored for i would say at least three weeks, a massive
campaign created by one girl, it was only then we came to the ayes of mps, the British Embassy, office was created, it took them three weeks we initially told them we needed charter flights and after the ban came into place, its taken them that long to create these flights and even then, these flights dont have the capacity to bring everyone back. 0k. Have the capacity to bring everyone back. Ok. Good morning, how are you, you went out two weeks ago, you are still there, what has it been like for you . Its been hell, we are away from our country, obviously england, we havent had any kind of help from the british government. Even though they pledged, dominic raab pledged £75 million being spent on bringing back british citizens, back to england. Travellers coming back to england. Travellers coming back to england as soon as possible. Its been really hard, especially for
myself, because i have multiple sclerosis and i dont have the medication here. And obviously, i have a monthly infusion so ive now missed it, by the time i get back its going to be three months. Because ive missed it for so long ive been going into relapse, and i could go into relapse anytime. Its really, really hard, lockdown, we cannot go out, obviously the weather, its getting into the 40s now. The fans are on, where i live, near karachi, the electricity goes. Weve got generators and whatnot. But its not good enough. Theyve put on charter flights through pia, they were charging us, they called us they were charging us, they called us six times and said it was about £1200 per ticket, we cannot afford that and we came on turkish airlines. Turkish airlines have cancelled our tickets three times. And we have rebooked to get back to
england on the 21st of may. Thats like, literally a whole month left yet so another month without my treatment and whatnot. Its really, really hard. Ive got my children, aged 18 and 14 with me. Ive actually said this morning, if we cannot get back, we will get about, we will go back. But itsjust, if they were to cancel one more time, i think i am going to go mental. We havent had the help from the fco, the british government, even though, they havent helped us in any way because they said they were going to bring back more and more people. And vulnerable, i have ms, i have run out of medication. You go to the chemist and because we are in lockdown, the Postal Service is stopping, the chemists have not had deliveries of any medication so i cannot get hold of my medication, what i need here and even if i can
its not the correct dosage. Understood. Its really, really tough. Thank you both very much. I wish you all the best. Ive got to read the statement from the Foreign Office. They tell us more than seven and have a dozen british nationals who do not usually live in pakistan have already returned to the uk by commercial means as the fco has worked with the government of pakistan to keep routes running and airports operating. And the british high commissioner to pakistan said i know how stressful and difficult the suspension of International Flights has been living travellers unable to get home, theres been a huge effort from teams across the Pakistan Network to help people return to the uk, whichi network to help people return to the uk, which i know is not going to be any consolation to my guests. The elderly are some of the most vulnerable to the risks associated with coronavirus, but in times of such uncertainty they often have the best advice and words of encouragement. So we have been speaking to those over the age of 90 from around the world to get their tips
and guidance on how to get through, and stay positive, during lockdown. Its a weird world at the moment, isnt it . My name isjoan adnitt, also known as granny. My name is anna. Thats my husband matteo. Hello. They call me moe moe or grandma moe moe. Im 102. My name is granny bridie. This is a difficult time and you have to keep your spirits up. I spend my day, when i got nothing to do, crocheting. 0r knitting. I keep myself occupied, writing to my friends, phoning. I confess to being a shocker. I love my armchair, netflix and i read my paper. Cover to cover. Reading and having baths. Find something to occupy yourself. Eight, nine, ten, ready or not, here i come. Oh, my god she tricked me. There you are i sang a little song. She sings. Keep up your exercises, like me. People are important, people are the most important thing in my life. Weve been married for 71 and a half years. Weve been very happy. We argue, like every couple. But we make up. My children and my grandchildren, im separated from them. And that is very sad. You can speak to them on the phone, skype. My great grandchildren, they are wonderful. I thank you very much to the nurses and the doctors. They are risking their lives, you know. They are doing that for us, arent they, we are very lucky. Keep safe. Follow what the government says. Stay in your own home. In fact, its largely common sense. I love you very much. Stay home, stay safe. Keep your chin up. Bye i absolutely love that, hopefully we will be able to tweet that out, its just makes you smile, doesnt it . That was put together by emma ailsa. Well, we can speak now to someone who is touching 90. 89 year old rosie turner or granny rosie who took her keyboard out on to the street last thursday to play vera lynns well meet again to say thank you to nhs workers. Shes speaking to us from west sussex where she lives with her daughter in law kate mosse. Hello, rosie and kate thank you so much for talking to us. Let me ask
you, granny rosie, you played at street parties i think, on your road before. What made you take out your piano last week . I wanted to do something, wed been outside clapping and shouting, i wanted to do more. For the nhs. And kate and i cooked it up between us, we did and i gather youve been playing the piano all your life but youve never actually had a lesson . No, well tell victoria how you learned. Well, i just went every week, to a spinster aunt who had a piano. And i used to sit, waiting to be asked if i would like to play when we waited for our tea. And eventually i was and i began to realise i could pick out songs and so did they realise. And
eventually, my mum bought a piano and itjust eventually, my mum bought a piano and it just started eventually, my mum bought a piano and itjust started there, i must have been about seven or eight. Possibly. And i just have been about seven or eight. Possibly. And ijust did more and more and more and more until ive been playing, years, havent i . Yes, as long as ive known you. Entertaining groups and singing groups and around care homes and Residential Homes and hospitals. Hospitals werent very rewarding, people used to go under the bed clothes i can see that you are poised to play us something in a moment but let me ask you kate, how has lockdown been in your house . Well, i obviously, has lockdown been in your house . Well, iobviously, i has lockdown been in your house . Well, i obviously, i sit on my own writing all the time, granny rosie sits playing the piano and my husband and the family are here. So we are very lucky because we are in a weird way, less affected than lots of other people because we work from home anyway. But obviously we are
just in awe of all the people going out to look after all of us, all the time so we stayed very isolated but weve had a good time, havent we, rosie . We have, three generations getting along really very well. One or two getting along really very well. One ortwo gin and getting along really very well. One or two gin and tonics. Yes, every day has the time for gin and tonic been brought forward a little earlier than normal as it may have donein earlier than normal as it may have done in our household . The sun is a lwa ys done in our household . The sun is always over the yard arm somewhere, isnt it . We are showing pictures of you now, granny rosie, to the audience around the world, showing the picture of you playing outside, which is absolutely wonderful and i wonder if you want to tell us what the nhs means to you. Im extraordinarily grateful to it, i wont go into my various, what shall i say, surgical interventions . But i am very grateful to the nhs. And we
are very lucky in west sussex. With the nhs members that we have, on whom we rely all the time. They are friends really, arent they . whom we rely all the time. They are friends really, arent they . I mean, i keep falling over and i go week after week after week to have my injuries looked at and i know you are full of admiration for captain tom, what is it about him that inspired you . Hes doing something that must be really stressful and difficult for him, whereas what i do isnt stressful and difficult at all andi isnt stressful and difficult at all and i do congratulate him on his stamina he is wonderful. He is wonderful. I am going to ask you, granny rosie, if you would play as a Little Something . What would you like . I think well meet again. Yes,
the queen said we shall meet again. So here we go. Well meet again, dont know where, dont know when. But i know well meet again, sam sonny some sunny day thank you so much, granny rosie. Honestly, that was really moving. I
dont know, we are broadcasting on bbc world, we have viewers from around the world, i can imagine people joining around the world, i can imagine peoplejoining in around the world, i can imagine people joining in and around the world, i can imagine peoplejoining in and singing those words, which are so poignant. Thank you so much. Granny rosie and kate, thank you, we really appreciate your time. And stay well. You are welcome, thank you, and youtube. Goodbye. Goodbye. Her majesty the queen turns 94 today, but the usual gun salutes in londons hyde park have been cancelled for the first time in her 68 year reign. Clarence house released these pictures of the queen over the years on its twitter feed this morning. Trooping the colour, which marks the queens official birthday injune has already been cancelled, with no alternative plan expected to be put in its place. For the last week weve been telling you about captain tom who has raised more than £27 million
for Nhs Charities by walking 100 lengths of his garden. His story has touched the hearts of so many people and now hes inspired another 99 year old to take on a challenge. Here is winnie page shes walking 10 lengths of her driveway every day until her 100th birthday in a weeks time. Shes hoping to raise £5,000 for the North West Ambulance service. Time for a look at the weather. Here is carol. If you have an allergy to tree pollen, england, wales, Northern Ireland, parts of scotland have high levels today. Another dry
and sunny day, brisk easterly wind, taking the edge of the temperatures, especially along this east coast. Another thing, with a front, moving away from the Channel Islands in south west england, taking cloud and re m na nts of south west england, taking cloud and remnants of the rain with it as we go through this afternoon. Lots of dry weather, a lot of sunshine, still this gusty wind, dusting inland to about 30 miles an hour, exposure gusting to around 40 miles an hour, behind this weatherfront, and the Channel Islands, it will brighten up, and you will see some sunshine. The highest temperatures the further west you travel, cardiff, 20, possibly 21 degrees. This evening, there will be areas of cloud floating around. Cold enough for frost across north east scotland. Where the cloud remains broken, we could see frost across north east england. For many of us, it will be a frost free night. We start on that note tomorrow, any cloud burnt away by the sun. Then, a fair bit of sunshine
although at times there will be cloud across Northern Ireland and western scotland which could be thick enough for an isolated shower. Most of us will have a dry day. Temperatures tomorrow, 22 in the west. Cooler once again along the north sea coast line. Into thursday, these isobars start to open up. The windfalls much lighter. As a result, it will feel warmer. Especially where it felt so chilly along the north sea coast. We have cloud across north west of scotland which will slip southwards. You wont see cloud for very long in one place. For the rest of the uk, a lot of sunshine. A fair bit of blue sky around. Temperatures up to possibly 24, even 25 in the south east making it the warmest day of the week. On friday, we start off with fog in central and eastern scotland, North Eastern england as well. That will lift. Once again, a dry day, and still quite warm. This is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world deaths reach a 20 year high for the week up to good friday in england and wales according to latest official figures that include coronavirus deaths in the community. 80,500 registered that week, let over 2000 more than a week before like theres 8000 higher than what we would expect to see at this time of year based on the five years. 18,500. Supplies of face masks for frontline nhs workers will be put at risk if the uk public is advised to wear them warn hospital bosses ministers consider the evidence. President trump says hell temporarily suspend immigration into the United States due
to the coronavirus. The price of us oil creeps back above zero after going negative for the first time it meant producers were paying buyers to take it off their hands. Dentists warn that a critical shortage of ppe, in england, is forcing patients with urgent problems to take matters into their own hands. Deaths in england and wales have risen sharply and have hit a 20 year high. Been a big increase in the number of deaths in care homes linked data from the office for National Statistics showed there were 18,500 fatalities in the week up to 10 april
around 10,000 deaths a week would be expected. More than 6,200 were linked to coronavirus, a sixth of which were outside of hospital. In other developments, hospital bosses in the uk are warning that nhs supplies of face masks could be put at risk if the public is advised to start wearing them. The governments scientific advisers will meet later to discuss whether the public should be urged to wear masks. In italy, the number of people currently confirmed to have the coronavirus has fallen for the first time. Officials announced a drop of 20, compared with the day before, with fewer people in intensive care beds. President trump has tweeted hell sign an executive order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States because of what he called the attack from the invisible enemy a term he has used to describe the coronavirus. Also in the us, oil prices have rebounded above zero, after they turned negative. For the first time in history producers were paying buyers to take oil off their hands. Those figures from the office
for National Statistics show theres been a big increase in the number of coronavirus deaths in care homes and in the community in england and wales. Nick stripe is the head of Health Analysis at the office for National Statistics. Speaking earlier he put these figures into context. Its the highest number of weekly deaths registered in any week since the first week of january 2000. A third of those deaths, about 6,000 6,200, had covid mentioned on the death certificate. Thats up from 20 the week before. So its about one in five from the week before its now one in three. Interestingly, that is a higher proportion of that excess level of deaths than we saw the week before. So last week when we were speaking, it was about three in five of those deaths above average involved covid. The last weekjust reported is about four in five of those excess deaths involved covid. Robert cuffe is the bbcs head of statistics, and hejoins me now. Robert, another week, more really shocking statistics. Just go through them. It is one of the most staggering line chart i have ever seen as a statistician. Looking at the data, you can see throughout the year that we have been moving along and on the same average number of deaths. It is just and the last two weeks, it has suddenly absolutely left off. We would expect to see about 10,000 deaths in a week at this time of year, but in fact, its up this time of year, but in fact, its up above 18,500. It is the same in scotla nd up above 18,500. It is the same in scotland are not far off in Northern Ireland. You can see that clearly with the blue line. , the dotted line is what we would expect to see throughout the year. The solid blue line is what is happening, you can see that real spike. The red line is
the deaths with covid on the death certificate. The extra number of deaths we have seen and the last week, most of that is directly down to cove eight, its been written on the death certificate, but not all of it is. There are about 2000 deaths not been captured fully by less registration process. It is that really stands out from the data. There is so much that i do ta ke data. There is so much that i do take part with these statistics, but u na nswered take part with these statistics, but unanswered question about what are these devs coming as a result of that aunt currently contributed attributed to covid. We wont have the data to answer these questions for a while,. You can hypothesise a couple of reasons, it could be deaths where covid 19 was the last biological cause of death but that
wasnt captured for some reason. It could be the other effects of coronavirus, maybe people not coming to seek care if they have other types of illness. The father are effects of the lockdown. You might think the two they are, perhaps the latter one is the one at you would expect a number of coronavirus there is to be decreasing over time, but they are not. More and more of these there to be decreasing over time, but they are not. More and more of these deaths are being contributed, michael attributed to coronavirus on the death certificate, which means that some of these deaths just arent being captured. Trying to reconcile these figures above the figures we are getting daily from the government which covered covid19 deaths the government which covered covid 19 deaths but only those who have tested positive in hospital. What is the disconnect between the figure is . Is it possible to get an overall picture of what the most accurate up to date picture on covid19 accurate up to date picture on covid 19 devs might be . Accurate up to date picture on covid19 devs might be . Legally deaths we queued about every week, they are not an accurate death toll of the country. They cant be, they arentaiming to of the country. They cant be, they arent aiming to be. These figures go back two weeks, they enable you to understand the picture at that better. Another advantage you can take, you have of looking at figures like these is that you, that the peaks like these is that you, that the pea ks and troughs like these is that you, that the peaks and troughs more clearly, you can cut the spread of when the deaths are happening. If we look back at this data from two weeks ago, about the 10th of april, it looks like from some other data that looks like from some other data that looks like from some other data that looks like there may be the peak of deaths happening in hospitals. So the figures from the nhs every day, if you go back and look at the same way that the ons have done both these figures, you do see a new
deaths do evolved from the 8th of april. You see a peak from around the eighth, they are coming down. They won the warning here is, because of the reporting lags and at last three or four days, they will not ca ptu re last three or four days, they will not capture all of the deaths that have happened. We see more and more Statistical Analysis coming through andi Statistical Analysis coming through and i suggest that even when you account for those reporting lags, they wont bring us back to the figures we saw around a fortnight ago. That is building the picture. We know the peak of infections has passed, the peacock of infections has passed, the people possibly delete comical hospitalisations. But what the ons figures tell us, if you look at the true death Toll Associated with coronavirus is a pretty bad peak. When you draw a graph on the deaths in a care homes, thatis graph on the deaths in a care homes, that is still on quite a series
u pwa rd that is still on quite a series upward trajectory, isnt it . Could there be a different peak in care homes compared to hospitals . The figures shown are arkley hospitalised deaths in england, they could be different picture is in scotland, wales, Northern Ireland. In care homes, we could be seeing a different picture. If you look back at the week before coronavirus really started to show itself in the death registration certificates, since then, there is in care homes of all colleges have doubled. They have gone up in hospitals and at home, but not as much. That doesnt tell the full picture, because somebody gets very sick and a care home, they get moved to a hospital, well, that there will be reported in hospital. It is very difficult to fully get your hands around all the detail about the number of deaths we are seeing in care homes due to coronavirus. That is why i think the office of national sussex stakes and
in the Care Quality Commission of working together to build a more rapid way of telling that story. Office of National Statistics. Mps are set to approve plans for virtual sittings in the house of commons. Lets speak to our assistant Political Editor, norman smith. Hes in westminster for us. Norman, explain what they are going to be doing. They wont have parliament as we know it, but we will have some form of scrutiny and accountability of the government. Mps overwhelmingly feel their disbelief is to be some sort of scrutiny at this moment of National Crisis. The only real accountability the Government Faces is via the media and the daily downing street news media and the daily downing street n ews co nfe re nces. Media and the daily downing street news conferences. She will get a sort of hybrid parliament where there will be a few mps in the chamber, they are being discouraged, they dont want mps in the chamber, but there will be a smattering, no mourning 50 at one time. Most will
have to make the contribution through a video link, as no doubt many of us have been doing with friends and family during these times. That will be set at a maximum of 120, so only 120 mps will be able to ta ke of 120, so only 120 mps will be able to take part through Video Conferencing. They will be able to ask questions by e mailing in the day before, there will be a ballot of mps to decide who will be chosen, they will be given a time slot. Then they will be given a time slot. Then they will be asking the questions through a video link, they will be a big screen at the commons chamber. They will be a minister at the dispatch box to answer, speak out in the chair, but they will ask questions through a video link. It is rudimentary, basic, step down. We we re is rudimentary, basic, step down. We were only have urgent questions, pmqs will still go ahead tomorrow with dominic raab likely to be in the chamber. But parliament is only going to meet for two hours, there we re going to meet for two hours, there were only be two hours of Virtual Parliament every day, and only for three days a week. It is a
beginning, it is a small first step but it comes because i think that is an overwhelming recognition from mps that they have to be in a position that they have to be in a position that they have to be in a position that they can ask questions about tough questions that need to be asked about the handling of coronavirus. In terms of where we are with coronavirus, the statistics seem to be indicating that we may have gone past the peak a little while ago. Those latest figures from the ons this morning indicating that possibly the peak in hospitals was a couple of weeks ago. The picture in ca re couple of weeks ago. The picture in care homes is that the numbers continue to escalate. What is the governments position on where the figures are, well that sets us in terms of the next steps . The bottom line is, they sort of hand it over to the scientist and say they will leave it till the scientist to work out the modelling and when the peak has passed. It is notjust a question of passing the peak, the sa ntas question of passing the peak, the santas are talking about a plateau
where deaths gradually ease. That is still a way to go, it seems to me from the figures today that the sharp end of it is care homes. Accepting that these figures are out of date anyway because they are almost a fortnight behind the curve, if you go back to weeks, the number of deaths in care homes accorded by the ons was about 20 d. As you go back one it was more than 100. Today, it was more than 1000. So it has gone from 20 to 100 to 2000. That is a huge exponential increase, it fits with what many care home providers are telling us, but once the virus gets into care homes, it spread like spitfire. Very obviously, lots of old clamp together, many suffering from dementia. So once the virus gets in, you have staff going in and out of
ca re you have staff going in and out of care homes, nurses, cooks, cleaners going in, that is a good chance it gets in. Once it gets in, it spread exponentially. The difficulty is that we do not have an accurate figure of what is going on in care homes because at these figures are still behind the care of. Even when the ons and cqc provide more up to date figures, i think we will get those next week, they are still likely to be four or five days behind the actual daily death toll which we are getting from hospital. You mention questions from mps when Parliament Resumes about the governments handling, a lot of the focus had been on ppe and whether there are adequate supplies. Theres even a story today that some supplies have actually been exported to europe. It seems to be a confusing picture, what is the latest . We know that the labour shadow cabinet member is compiling a list, she has basically ask for Companies Involved in producing protective gowns, gloves and mask,
who try to offer their services but basically have been ignored. There isa basically have been ignored. There is a fear that there are companies in the uk who can and would be prepared to provide kit, who for one reason or another, have not been called upon. This at a time when we know we are desperately tried to get kit from all around the world. We got 140,000 gallons from myanmar yesterday, we still time to get the 400,000 gallons from turkey. It would obviously be a lot easier and simpler to manufacture our own gowns so they are on the doorstep and able to distribute. Gowns. We know that some British Companies for whatever reason had been ignored. President trump has said he is suspending all immigration into the United States. He made the announcement in a tweet, saying he was acting to protect the jobs of american citizens amid the pandemic. The us has already agreed to extend border restrictions on non essential
travel with its neighbours in canada and mexico, and travel is currently limited from both europe and china. Our north america correspondent, peter bowes, reports. As america itches to get back to normal, a surprise announcement from the president in a late night tweet. In light of the attack from the invisible enemy, as well as the need to protect the jobs of our Great American citizens, i will be signing an executive order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States the invisible enemy is the term mr trump has used to describe coronavirus. More than 22 million americans have applied for Unemployment Benefits in the last month, and there are fears the economic fallout from covid 19 could last for years. There are already bans on travel to the us from europe and china. President trump highlighted support he had received
from the governor of new york. I want to draw your attention to governor cuomos remarks during his press conference today. He said, the president is right, the states testing is up to the states to do, which will implement the tests and logistically co ordinate the tests. We have about 300 labs in new york. And they do, theyre great labs, actually. And its myjob to co ordinate those 300 labs. I think the president s right when he says that the states should lead. Mr trump says hell discuss the pandemic with andrew cuomo at the white house. It comes as the country is slowly beginning to lift restrictions on movement imposed to protect people from covid 19. Some beaches in florida are already open to the public. In georgia, later this week gyms, hair salons and bowling alleys will be back in business. From next week, restaurants. Elsewhere, americans
are running out of patience. In phoenix, demonstrators gathered to protest the continuing order to stay at home. Peter bowes, bbc news, los angeles. The price of American Crude Oil fell below zero yesterday, meaning suppliers would pay people to take it away. The price of west texas intermediate plunged as low as minus 37 a barrel plunged as low as minus 37 a barrel because of the drop in demand caused by coronavirus. There arent enough places to store the oil being produced, so buyers were being paid to take the supplies off producers hands. Uk investment manager, justin Urquhart Stewart, says the price drop provides a strong indicator of the state of the worlds economy. We have never seen anything like this. We have lived through periods of oil prices being over 100 a barrel, and here we are negative. So it really is quite astonishing. But we should take it seriously, even now, of course,
even though, of course, this isjust one contract because we know, actually, the price of oil will be bouncing back to about 35 a barrel, round about that. But its an indication of actually what is happening in the world. You only have to go back to 2007 oil was a very useful indicator as to the weakness that was there, which came out in 2008. So we should look the same with this oil price move like this. It does give us a bad outlook, im afraid, for the Global Economy not so much for the recovery, but i suspect some form of resuscitation. Regardless, this is a rather sick canary, rather an oil canary, in the coal mine, im afraid. Uk hospital bosses are warning that the supplies of face masks to the National Health service could be put at risk if the government starts advising the public to wear them. The british governments scientific advisers are meeting to discuss whether the public should be urged to wear masks in a bid to combat coronavirus. The advice from the world health
organization is that the only two groups of people who should wear protective face masks are those who are sick and showing symptoms or caring for those who are ill. It says that the use of masks can create a false sense of security and lead to people ignoring other protective measures, such as hand hygiene and physical distancing. Masks can be a source of infection when used incorrectly. Yet some countries still see them as safer and more considerate. In france, the authorities will provide masks to people when lockdown measures are eased next month. Germanys state of bavaria will make face masks compulsory from next week when they begin to lift restrictions and americans are being urged to wear cloth Face Coverings in public spaces where social distancing is impossible. With more on the latest measures the uk government will be discussing, heres andy moore. Manjeet singh riyat was the uks first sikh a e consultant. He died at the hospital in derby where he worked. He was described as hugely respected as well as much loved. Today, expert government advisers
will discuss whether the general public should wear face masks. Many countries in europe have adopted the policy. The mayor of london says they should be worn on public transport. But nhs providers, the organisation that represents trusts in england, warns that masks might be in short supply for Frontline Health professionals if the general public are scrambling to find them. Yesterdays figure for hospital deaths with coronavirus in the uk stood at 449, bringing the total to 16,509. Hospital admissions with covid are roughly stable across the country as a whole but falling in the capital. Here in london, this is now the seventh day in a row that those numbers have fallen. So that means the balance between people going into hospital because theyve fallen ill, and people who are going home because they are well again now, is in the opposite direction so that there are fewer people each day in hospital with covid. First of all we are putting our gowns on. Parts of the nhs continue to experience problems getting a hold of personal protection equipment. Over the weekend, ministers said a flight was due to arrive from turkey shortly with 400,000 much needed gowns. An raf aircraft has flown to istanbul to pick up the shipment, but there is no word on when it will return. Andy moore, bbc news. Lets get more now on the office for National Statistics figures that were published earlier this morning regarding the number of deaths related to covid 19 across england and wales. They show a big increase in the number of coronavirus deaths in care homes doubling in a four week period. Sam monaghan is the chief executive of one of the largest charity care providers in the uk mha. They run care homes and also provide care for those living independently in the community. At these latest figures show another huge leap in the number of deaths in ca re huge leap in the number of deaths in care homes, but obviously, it is not the full picture because the figures are to weeks out of date. What is your reaction to them . are to weeks out of date. What is your reaction to them . I think they are starting to head in the right direction. I think our experience is that we are running around 60,70, some places 80 , on a normal death rate we would its pay to see at this time of year. Across the sector, i think the main bodies are putting out that they think the likely death rate is more likely ultimately to be in the region to 4000 7000 in care homes. For to 7500. It is mind blowing to try and get
our heads around the statistics. Those working in care homes are obviously working with incredibly difficult circumstances. There has been a lot of focus on the situation in care homes ppe, pleasures that people are looking under is your view that things are improving . The pressures that people are working on that. With ppe, we are not having to draw from the governments stockpile, but also with commercial companies, raging to pay a higher price for the products. In terms of testing, we need our staff and residents to get tested weekly so that we can continue to monitor and ensure that we can isolate effectively those people who have got the virus, and to make sure that we havent got staff who are working and that context, who are actually carrying the virus even though they might not be sent to
their attic. If you look at graphs for whitley statistics are headed, it looks at this stage, potentially, that deaths in hospital speak a couple of weeks ago, where as the deaths in care homes arejust couple of weeks ago, where as the deaths in care homes are just going up deaths in care homes are just going up exponentially. How much needs to be done quickly to start to really turned that situation around, how difficult is it to control the spread of covid 19 in care homes . There is a couple of points i would make. The first being that until fairly recently, the only statistic i dont deaths in care homes have been around those who died in hospitals who come from a care home. We are not icily been given guidance yet about how exactly the government would want us to capture statistics on people dying in care homes. We are having to therefore make judgments around those we suspect,
all because gps have a because we need to count those people as such, even though gps are no longer coming into ca re even though gps are no longer coming into care homes. We need some real clarity from government as to how exactly they want us to count those who are dying. The other factor in addressing this, is the adequate levels of ppe and weekly testing. I cant overstate that need. That is the only way we will be able to really isolate people who have got the infection, and also remove staff who are carrying the infection even if they are not symptomatically stopped the gum has a the above roll out testing for those in the end care homes, when the government said that, last week, i think the number of care home workers that had been tested was 500. Do you have any up to date figures for the picture on testing in care homes . What has been very problematic to date is at
the Testing Centre set up, many are a significant distance from where our kit homes are people are being asked to travel two hours to get to asked to travel two hours to get to a testing site. Many people dont have their own vehicle but the stipulation is that you drag yourself on a member of your household drives you till it has been a real difficulty in. When hoping it will move towards postal kits where people can get them and can put this onto a far more businesslike level in terms of getting that testing done on a regular basis. How far off do you think that is . I assume you are having these conversations with the government, have you been given any reassurance on that . We know there is momentum around this. We are not sure at the moment how soon this will actually come into reality. Singapore says it has preliminarily confirmed more than 1,000 new coronavirus cases,
taking the city states total infections to over 9,000. Singapore has the highest number of reported cases in southeast asia. The Health Ministry said most of the cases were Migrant Workers living in dormitories. Singapore is now extending its partial lockdown by another four weeks to the 1st ofjune. Italy has had a first glimpse of hope that it may finally be turning the tide on the coronavirus outbreak as the number of people infected has fallen for the first time. But france has followed italy, spain and the United States in becoming the fourth country to see its covid 19 death to see its covid 19 death toll exceed 20,000. Matt graveling reports. Its had more deaths due to covid 19 than anywhere else in europe. But for the First Time Since the outbreak began, italy has seen a decline in the number of people infected with the virus. Translation the pressure
on hospital structures continues to drop. Intensive care patients are down to 2,537. Thats a decrease of 62 people since yesterday. Its the lowest number recorded in intensive care in a month now. Authorities here say the small, but symbolic, drop is a positive development. Italys lockdown continues until 3 may, but some businesses have reopened. Its an optimism being felt in other european countries. Germany has reopened small shops, Car Dealerships and Bicycle Stores in a tentative easing of the coronavirus lockdown imposed nearly a month ago. Translation we must not lose sight of the fact that despite everything, we are at the very beginning of the pandemic. We are at the beginning and not out of the woods yet. But while positives can now be seen, there are also stark reminders of the work still to be done with france becoming the latest country to record more than 20,000
deaths related to coronavirus. Translation tonight, our country has reached a symbolic and particularly painful milestone with more than 20,000 deaths. Despite the efforts of the french population to meticulously respect the confinement, social distancing and barrier gestures, the epidemic is proving to be very deadly. The news came as residents shot fireworks at police on monday night in paris, having accused officers of using heavy handed tactics to enforce frances strict coronavirus lockdown. In spain, the rate of new infections is falling, but regardless of the numbers, behind every death toll are stories of the lives lost. These hospital staff in madrid paying tribute to their colleague, a 64 year old doctor who died of the virus this weekend. One effort to curb the spread of covid 19 here has been to keep
children indoors, something thats been enforced since march 14, but something the Prime Minister says will be eased on monday. Matt graveling, bbc news. Hello this is bbc news with joanna gosling. The headlines deaths reach a 20 year high for the week up to good friday in england and wales, according to latest official figures that include coronavirus deaths in the community. 18,500 registered in that week, thats over 2000 more than the week before and that is 8000 higher than what we would expect to see at this time of year, based on the previous five years. Supplies of facemasks for frontline nhs workers will be put at risk, if the uk public is advised to wear them, warn hospital bosses. President trump says hell
temporarily suspend immigration into the United States due to the coronavirus. The price of us oil creeps back above zero after going negative for the first time it meant producers were paying buyers to take it off their hands. Dentists warn that a critical shortage of ppe in england is forcing patients with urgent problems to take matters into their own hands. The governments Scientific Advisory committee will meet today to discuss whether the public should be advised to wear face masks. Nhs trusts are concerned that such a change could jeopadise the supply of masks to Frontline Health care workers. Lets talk now to Helen Davison carlisles green city councillor and former Public Health doctor who is one of those backing a campaign for the broader public to wear facemasks too. Thank you very much forjoining us. There has been a lot of debate about it, because the world health
organization says that there are limited situations in which people wear them. Understandably people say that if those who are treating people with covid 19 wear them, why shouldnt the worst of us . Explain why . This basically two reasons for wearing a mask. One is which Health Workers and front line workers need to wear a mask to protect themselves from being infected and for that you need ppe grade clinical masks that will actually protect the infection is getting on. What we are advocating are advocating is Something Different which is actually about the public Wearing Masks to prevent them from spreading infection to others, so if they have gotan infection to others, so if they have got an asymptomatic infection or if they have the infection and are not symptomatic that are actually infectious, by putting a simple Face Covering over your nose and mouth, made out of cloth, that can prevent
the virus particles from getting from you to someone else. the virus particles from getting from you to someone else. I have got mine that i am wearing. Only when i go out doors. This is not official advice, this is people are doing what they feel comfortable with at the moment in the absence of official advice. This is the sort of thing you are talking about. If it will stop particles going from you to others, surely it makes sense it. Particles coming from others to me . There will be an extension of that. And so it is about. But i think the most important thing from a Public Health measure is actually that we are preventing the spread to other people. At the moment we have got to key messages coming from government saying we should social distance, which is helping but it is not 100 effective. We should do
very good hand hygiene and respiratory hygiene which again are happening but they are not 100 effective in what we are saying is we need to add another measure in which is mask, which will not be 100 effective but when you put them all together, those three in combinations, it has been shown in countries where they do that that it significantly reduces the spread of covid 19 through the population. Tell us more about that research then. Is that the cloth masks that i have got that others have got, or is that people wearing surgical masks . That is the cloth mask. The great example is the cheque republic where they had a campaign, 10 Million People wearing cloth and home made face masks in the space of three days. I can demonstrate for you if you would like how to actually make. I have seen a video on this a couple of times. It is very
simple, so do show us. In blue peter style, i take one handkerchief. It can bea style, i take one handkerchief. It can be a handkerchief, scarf or something similar. Just cotton and cotton is fine. I am going to angle the camera a little bit so you can see better hopefully. I am going to fold it into the middle. The first half goals into the middle, difficult to see because it is white. I will then bring the other one into the middle so i have got the two bits into the middle. I am then going to fold again into the middle. And then into the middle. And then into the middle. So now both have come into the middle. Ideally i would have an iron and the middle. Ideally i would have an iron and i could crease. I will ta ke iron and i could crease. I will take an elastic band, i am going to put one on one side. And then i am going to put the other on the other side and i will pick that up and
show you what i have done. I have got bobbles on both sides. I then bring one flap into the middle, so i have now got the bubble sort of comes like this. I then bring the other flap into the comes like this. I then bring the otherflap into the middle comes like this. I then bring the other flap into the middle and comes like this. I then bring the otherflap into the middle and i am going to tuck that into the existing flap. And then here, we have a face mask which i willjust now put on and then we angle the camera. Youll have to excuse on this. We can imagine, we cannot see your face at the moment. There we are. That is the moment. There we are. That is the face mask i have just created. There is a good video on our website with the number. It shows a general making that very same mask. You can go and see properly online to see how you can make that. But is
that simple and across the country as well there are lots of people know sewing cloth face masks. There are know sewing cloth face masks. There a re lots of know sewing cloth face masks. There are lots of designs out there but are lots of designs out there but a re key are lots of designs out there but are key messages very simple, i wear are key messages very simple, i wear a mask. My mask protects you, your mask protects me and we are very much saying all you need for that is a cloth mask. So the premise of that then is, it needs a Critical Mass of people to wear masks for these cloth ones to be effective . That is absolutely right. In studies of flu, when 50 of the population wore a mask, the transmission dropped by 50 . If we get 80 of the population Wearing Masks, it dropped alongside the other measures. There is a chanceit the other measures. There is a chance it could drop also to zero so it is about as all doing it. If i just go out in my mask, all i do is protect the people around me but
they are not protecting me if they are not wearing a mask. It is about all of us going out there and wearing a mask. Those cotton ones do not impact on the supplies for Health Workers. It has been good to talk to you helen. Thank you for that demonstration as well. The British Dental Association is warning that dentists in england are facing critical shortages of ppe. Half of dentists surveyed over the weekend at new urgent care hubs said they dont have enough kit. The chief dental officer for england has said that every hub has the relevant ppe, and work is under way to ensure that supplies are maintained. And just to warn you, danjohnsons report does contain heres a dentist at work, but not working. Weve got all the equipment to treat people. He hasnt seen a patient for ages. All im allowed to do is give prescriptions out. I saw a patient last. About three weeks ago. The problem is protective equipment, and dentists are especially vulnerable. Face to face without the appropriate ppe is not advised and not possible
due to the dental drill, creates an aerosol spray, which can spread the virus particles. But i didnt realise quite how hard it would be to take out a molar tooth. So, some patients are resorting to diy afterfailing to get treatment. They basically said unless its actually stopping me from breathing, that they couldnt do anything, theres no point coming in unless i literally, you know, couldnt stop couldnt breathe properly. This wasnt the case, but the pain nevertheless was absolutely excruciating, so i thought id take it into my own hands, really. It was. It was quite tricky. I thought maybe ten, 15 minutes, but 1. 5 hours it took me. Some dentists have moved to working different roles. Others just want to help their own patients. Frustrated, i think, is the only word. Frustrated that i cant do what i know i should be able to do. Englands chief dental officer says a network of more than 200 urgent care centres is up and running to treat emergency cases. She says the right protective
equipment is in place and that theres more on the way. Dan johnson, bbc news. Unemployment figures from the uks office for National Statistics appear to show a relatively small increase in the numbers of those out of work. But the figures only go up to february this year, a month before the lockdown actually started. Many suspect the current uk Unemployment Rate to be much higher whilst some figures suggest that across europe, 59 million jobs are at risk. Joining me now is tera allas, director of research and economics at the Consultancy Firm mckinsey. Thank you forjoining us. Though statistic of 59 million is extraordinary. What is your view of what the true picture is likely to be . 59 millionjobs at what the true picture is likely to be . 59 million jobs at risk across europe is essentiallyjobs that are very difficult to do in lot then circumstances or to prevent the virus from spreading. The total
number of unemployed is possibly not going to be quite as high but of course the dramatic measures that we have to take to stop the virus from spreading, such as shutting down entire industries, is unprecedented and many businesses in those sectors will be suffering and will not be able to pay their workers for a very long period of time. In this country, the government has stepped in to pay the wage bills of companies to stop the job is just going. What are other countries doing . Many other countries have similar measures. In germany you have short working, there is a measure to subsidise wages if workers and employers are willing to go to workers and employers are willing to gotoa workers and employers are willing to go to a shorter week and therefore employers pay a little bit less, government pays into that part and
the worker continues to get an income which is obviously much prefera ble income which is obviously much preferable to being laid off. What do you think will happen once we come through and in terms of calling anything normal any more, it is hard to know what things will look like and how quickly we will get back to anything like that, but in terms of economy is picking up, there was one prediction in this country that suggested there would be a quick pick up back to economic liberty. Do you think that would be necessarily so . We have done a large number of different scenarios. The most important thing to notice as it is incredibly uncertain and a lot depends on the speed we can come out of it whilst maintaining spreading safety and avoiding the virus spreading. Gdp might be around 8 lower than it would have been had we not had the coronavirus outbreak. And that is of course a very, very large drop from last year. But there are scenarios that look better and look worse. It does not look at life going back to normal, consumers will be concerned about their safety and certain products and Services Like cruise lines and getting on flights. It is difficult to see how employees will all go back to normal, considering the large number of home working that will have been taking place in some sectors and professions. In terms of what is happening now with production and supply lines and how much vital employment there is still, what is the situation . There were real fears initially of shortages of things and there were shortages, sometimes stoked by people buying more than they would normally buy, but now
things have settled. What is the analysis of the current levels of production . Our analysis suggests that if we are thinking about the economy and what is going to slow things down and cause those job losses we are discussing, supply chains are unlikely to be that big in the central products that we continue to make, there are disruptions but they are manageable. The bigger impact is from people not being able to show up to work because they are worried or it would not be safe for them. And or they cannot work from home, there are manyjobs where working from home, we we re manyjobs where working from home, we were talking to dentists earlier, they cannot work from home because they cannot work from home because they need specialist equipment. Essentially their disruption is more from employment than it is from supply, from employment than it is from supply, from a business perspective, the biggest threat as demand has just dropped. Especially if you are ina just dropped. Especially if you are in a lockdown city or your sales
might have dropped 100 . If you are ina might have dropped 100 . If you are in a non lockdown setting, you might be looking at people wanting to spend money on discretionary items so having to struggle with keeping your business open. Tera allas, thank you very much forjoining us. Coronavirus has impacted Small Businesses in the uk and across the world. Many are seeing business slow down or even dry up entirely and some are trying to adapt to the new normal to keep some money coming in. Johnny mccamphill owns a marquee hire firm in north antrim in Northern Ireland. Thank you very much forjoining us. What is the situation for you and your company . Probably like most Small Businesses since the start of this in march, the hospitality, the event sector was first in line to get the cancellations. So we have seen bookings drop off the cliff from march onwards. And in terms of
the viability for your business, what have you had to do immediately . How big is your business, have you furloughed staff, what is the situation . We are small to medium sized business. We have been able to furlough staff as well. We have seen some instant interest and of lately some construction sites who are looking to get men back onto site again to keep things moving with expanding canteen facilities and work like that. So thatis facilities and work like that. So that is basically diversifying what you do, from going to use marquees for weddings to practical situations right now . Very much so, basically whatever we can do to help other businesses and assist, though structures a re businesses and assist, though structures are sitting there, they are ready and destined for public events, weddings, so if they have a
use we will try and get them out where we can. So does that then give you hope that your business will survive albeit it might be a bit of a different business from the one you were expecting . It is really hard. We will cling on by your fingernails as a small business, it has been growing from the ground up. We know what hard times has been, we started on the back of the 2008 recession. So we have grown the business and it was in growth mode up business and it was in growth mode up until last year and continues with investment of last year of over 300,000 with continued investment this year to keep our kits clean, up to date and modern, to be the best in the business for weddings and public events. How that business, how do we see that. We have to work with what comes in. All
our wedding so have to work with what comes in. All ourwedding so far have to work with what comes in. All our wedding so far this year have been cancelled. Some are still clinging on in the hope forjuly or august for being Something Different. We dont know. We can only wait and see what happens. We really wish you all the best. Thank you very much forjoining us. Officials in south korea and china have quashed rumours that the north Korean Leader is gravely ill. Their statements follow widely circulated claims in the us media that kim jong un was in Critical Condition following heart surgery. From seoul, laura bicker reports. Officials here in south korea and chinese intelligence officials have all said that the speculation that kim jong un and is gravely ill is not true. And in fact the president ial palace here in seoul has said that there are no indications in north korea that kimjong un may be ill. Having said that, no one has yet denied that kimjong un may be have had heart surgery. So how did all this come about . Well, it began when kim jong un did not turn up to one of north koreas special days, april the 15th. It is like christmas in north korea. It is a day to honour his former grandfather, the former leader of north korea, and he wasnt there. He was absent. So speculation began to mount as to where he could be. That has led to a report which has come out in one of the websites here, it is daily nk, it is a website run by former north korean defectors. Now what they said within this website is that one anonymous source has told them that kim jong un has had heart surgery and is recovering. That then spiralled into reports from the United States that the north Korean Leader may be gravely ill. Now there is no indication and no official confirmation that kimjong un is gravely ill or that he has had heart surgery. But it kind of certainly has led to a lot of rumours and a lot
of speculation about what might be happening in north korea. It is intensely difficult to discuss whats happening. Especially now, because the borders to north korea have been shut since late january because of the covid 19 pandemic. That means its very difficult to get information in and information back out. I think the only thing we can do now as journalists is watch for any reaction from north korea and see if we get any confirmation. This was meant to be the week when Vladimir Putin won a public vote, changing the russian constitution, and so allowing him to stay on as president. But the spread of coronavirus forced him, reluctantly,
to postpone that ballot. So what impact is this crisis having on the stability that putin has of view of putin and his politics . Evan gershkovich is a reporter at the moscow times and joins me now. Vladimir putin was shocked by this pandemic. He executed this plan in mid january to have a whole raft of changes to the constitution, including a measure that would allow him to run again in 2024 and 2030 which would mean he could stay on as president until 2036 in the unlikelihood that he would when those terms. The move came as such a shocking january, that the opposition was absolutely shocked and was not ready for it. It seemed like everything was paved, you know, for this to happen. It was a really big yearfor vladimir for this to happen. It was a really big year for Vladimir Putin for this to happen. It was a really big yearfor Vladimir Putin because this year was said to be the 75th anniversary of the world war ii victory day and the coronavirus has scuppered those plans as well. Vladimir putin has taken to his
house outside of moscow and he has hunkered down there and has been quiet behind the scenes of the Coronavirus Response here in russia. So it has been a big shift for him. Now it isjust so it has been a big shift for him. Now it is just unclear as to anybody. Ok. I was now it is just unclear as to anybody. Ok. Iwas hoping now it is just unclear as to anybody. Ok. I was hoping you may be clearing up what it means in terms of what his future tenure . His future tenure, currently the constitutional changes are delayed. He has said the vote will take place ata he has said the vote will take place at a later date. They have not announced when. The idea is that the pandemic gets pushed back on some kind of way, this will take place, a date has not been floated for that. Most likely we will see it take place at some point this year. Most likely not in me. Probably we have heard some reports it will be in latejune. Heard some reports it will be in late june. And overall this heard some reports it will be in latejune. And overall this will most likely happen, support for Vladimir Putin remains high. The main issue is now real wages have been falling for the russians and the economy has been suffering and they will not be so excited to come out for these changes which they might have been. Tell us more about the impact of covid 19 on the health ca re system the impact of covid 19 on the Health Care System and the economy. Covid 19 hits russia later than most other countries. On march second march white russia reported its first case and then Vladimir Putin believed it was not going to hurt russia. He said it was under control and by mid march it was clear it was not going to be under control and now russia has the tenth most cases worldwide, deaths are still quite low but hospitals are teetering as we have seen everywhere else. And
authorities in moscow have asked russians to open up new hospital beds. It is hurting the economy like everywhere except that russia does not have the stimulus packages we have seen everywhere else. Unemployment is to be around three to8 unemployment is to be around three to 8 million which is significant to russia. The imf countered that the stimulus package is barely a quarter of the global average even though the economy will be hit twice as hard. So that is going to be quite difficult for him to recover from two go forward. Thank you very much indeed forjoining us. Thanks for having me on. You are watching bbc news. We are keeping you up to date. At the top
of the error we will have all of the latest developments for you. You are watching bbc news. Now its time for a look at the weather with carol kirkwood. Hello again. If you have an allergy to tree pollen its worth noting most of england, wales, Northern Ireland, western scotland have high levels today. Going to be another dry and sunny day, we still have a brisk easterly wind, taking the edge off the temperatures, especially along this east coast. Another weather front moving from the Channel Islands and south west england, taking cloud and remnants of this rain with it as we go through the afternoon. A lot of dry weather, lots of sunshine. Still this gusty wind, gusting inland to about 30 miles an hour with exposure gusting to around 40 miles an hour, behind this with a front in the south west, and the Channel Islands, it will brighten up and you will see some sunshine. The highest temperatures the further west you travel,
cardiff for example seeing 20, possibly 21 degrees today. Through this evening and overnight there will be areas of cloud floating around, cold enough for a touch of frost across north east scotland, the cloud remains and broken we see frost for example across north east england. But for many of us its going to be a frost free at night. Wed start on that note tomorrow, any cloud we have burning away about the sunshine and we are looking at a fair bit of sunshine, although at times, there will be more cloud across Northern Ireland, western scotland. That could be thick enough for an isolated shower but most of us will have a dry day. Temperatures tomorrow 21, 22 in the west. Cooler once again along that north sea coastline. Wednesday into thursday, watch how these isobars start to open up, the wind falling much lighter so as a result, going to feel that bit warmer, especially where its chilly along the north sea coast. We have this area of cloud across the north west of scotland
which through the day will slip south as a narrow band so you will one to see cloud for very long in one place in scotland but for the rest of the uk looking at sunshine, temperatures getting up to 23, possibly 24, even 25 in the south east. Starting with fog in central and eastern scotland, that will lift, for most of us again, dry day, still quite warm. This is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. Deaths reach a 20 year high for the week up to good friday in england and wales according to latest official figures that include coronavirus deaths in the community. 18,500 registered in that week, more than 2000 more than the year before an 8000 higher than what we would expect to see at this time of year based on the previous five years. Supplies of face masks for frontline nhs workers will be put at risk if the uk public is advised to wear them warn hospital bosses. President trump says hell temporarily suspend immigration into the United States due to the coronavirus. The price of us oil creeps back above zero after going negative
for the first time it meant producers were paying buyers to take it off their hands. Dentists warn that a critical shortage of ppe in england is forcing patients with urgent problems to take matters into their own hands. And, radioheads ed obrien on trying to release a solo album when under lockdown. Hello. Deaths in england and wales have risen sharply and have hit a 20 year high with new figures suggesting theres been a big increase in the number of deaths in care homes linked to coronavirus. Data from the office for National Statistics showed there were 18,500 fatalities
in the week up to 10 april around 10,000 deaths a week would be expected. More than 6,200 were linked to coronavirus, a sixth of which were outside of hospital. In other developments, hospital bosses in the uk are warning that nhs supplies of face masks could be put at risk if the public is advised to start wearing them. The governments scientific advisers will meet later to discuss whether the public should be urged to wear masks. In italy, the number of people currently confirmed to have the coronavirus has fallen for the first time. Officials announced a drop of 20, compared with the day before, with fewer people in intensive care beds. President trump has tweeted hell sign an executive order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States because of what he called the attack from the invisible enemy a term he has used to describe the coronavirus. Also in the us, the price of us oil
remains close to zero after plunging to its lowest ever level because of a collapse in demand caused by the pandemic. On monday, prices turned negative with producers paying buyers to take oil off their hands. Those figures from the office for National Statistics show theres been a big increase in the number of coronavirus deaths in care homes and in the community in england and wales. Nick stripe is the head of Health Analysis at the office for National Statistics. Speaking earlier he put these figures into context. Its the highest number of weekly deaths registered in any week since the first week of january 2000. A third of those deaths about 6,0006,200 had covid mentioned on the death certificate. Thats up from 20 the week before. So its about one in five the week before its now one in three. Interestingly, that is a higher proportion of that excess level of deaths than we saw
the week before. So last week when we were speaking, it was about three in five of those deaths above average involved covid. The last weekjust reported is about four in five of those excess deaths involved covid. Robert cuffe is the bbcs head of statistics, and hejoins me now. We had at these figures announced a week ago, they have gone on quite dramatically since then discovers a round up of what these figures are telling us . Up until maybe last week, it looked like the uk, or england and wales, was having a pretty good year, a number of deaths each week with trafficking a little bit below the average. We see the solid blue line shows the deaths and hours every week this year, the dotted blue line shows what you would expect on the basis of the last five years. On the far right hand side of the child is a really sudden jump of the last two
weeks. It is matching red that line down the bottom, the number of their certificates on which kevin 19 was mentioned. We have each of us really high figure, that is at the highest number ina high figure, that is at the highest number in a long time, high outline a very bad flu season back in 2016. Up a very bad flu season back in 2016. Upa a very bad flu season back in 2016. Up a little bit on last week. It is possible that some of the registry offices were closed on good friday so the actualfigure offices were closed on good friday so the actual figure could be a little bit higher than that. We have been tracking the number of covid 19 deaths in hospital, every day we get the latest number in that regard. These also captured deaths in the community and in care homes. What is it telling us about what is going on in care homes . Of the deaths registered as kevin 19, about 10 of them in england and wales have come from a care home, the figure is a bit higher in scotland and northern
ireland. The increase we have seen the last week, not all of it as their certificates that mention cowbird so some of the extra deaths are due to other things, maybe people are not seeking or not getting the care they need. On may the coronavirus is not getting diagnosed and featured on a death certificate. So link to covid19 but not directly because of that individual had covid 19 . Not directly because of that individual had covid19 . Yes, it is not just the individual had covid19 . Yes, it is notjust the people that catch it, it is having a broad effect on all of uk society. The final point about deaths in care homes is that if somebody get sick in a care home and transferred to hospital, they wouldnt necessarily be counted in the care home deaths. We do know that since coronavirus started, the of deaths in care homes have doubled. It is possible that the
number of deaths in hospital actually beat a couple of weeks ago, what were seeing with care homes is that they going up exponentially, tracking the lines, what might the next figures look like . It is hard to say, we are getting a slew of figures coming out every day. The figures coming out every day. The figures we are describing, there up until about easter. We have been seen at the epidemic grew and grew since then, we have seen a number of hospital admissions flatting out in maybe go out, go down in some part of the uk. There is some analysis as well that if you look at the number of deaths were seen, seeing, perhaps we hit a peak in that week before easter as well. It is certainly true for deaths in hospital in england, we have seen that go down. Because of reporting lags, is how to be short because the figures we are seeing today or yesterday are not all of the deaths that happened today and yesterday, they could be
from some days ago. The figures could still get up. The analysis wishing suggest it is unlikely they will return to the peak we before easter. The overall summary is that we may be passed a peak in hospitals in england, maybe not care homes and elsewhere, but when you look at the ons figures, that peak is a pretty bad one, is a pretty high number of the f to see in a week. Lets speak to our assistant Political Editor, norman smith. Hes in westminster for us. Norman, it is as grim every day to get these statistics. Obviously, the government is giving daily news briefings and questions have been asked about it everything is being handled the best that it can. Where is the focus today . Who sent on all fronts the government is facing some pretty tough questions, notjust over the lack of protective clothing, we have seen that bubbling
along, real concern amongst many of the Health Service and elsewhere about skills shortages of supplies. See it in tough questions over testing. Although the capacity has been increased, it is still a way of the target of 100,000 by the end of the target of 100,000 by the end of the mine. I think today we will see a focus on care homes, because those numbers and at the ons report, albeit they are owed numbers, the relate only to april the 10th, are nonetheless terrifying figures. Just a week ago, there were 217 deaths in ca re a week ago, there were 217 deaths in care homes, today, there is more than 1000. There is a sort of exponential increase in the number of care home deaths. Even that probably does not reflect the true picture because we are unable to get a daily figure for the number of people dying from coronavirus in ca re people dying from coronavirus in care homes. I dont think that any
prospect of getting that figure either. Talking to the oas, they do not seem to think its possible to provide those figures. I think next week, we will get figures provided with the Care Quality Commission, which will be around four or five days behind the curve. Clearly, something pretty terrible is going on in many care homes once coronavirus starts to spread. That is not hugely surprising. You have a whole lot of old and vulnerable people, with dementia, in the same place. It is a breeding ground for the spread of the violence. Keeping the spread of the violence. Keeping the violence out of care homes are so difficult because you obviously have staff going in every day. Keeping the virus. Chances are that someone will bring the wide in so it is just so someone will bring the wide in so it isjust so hard. Based on the evidence, it seems that the death toll in care homes seems to be increasing very dramatically. Ppe
and non medical face mask for the population are being discussed a lot, that is something that is being considered today. Are we likely to get ina considered today. Are we likely to get in a change in guidance on enhancing about the use of face mask in public . The indications are that the scientists yet are not convinced that there is a fear that if people start wearing facemask, then they will think that they wont have to bother with social distancing and washing their hands, in other ones, they get a bit complacent about other precautions. The evidence on facemask and how useful they are still somewhat doubtful. The mask themselves can become infected, they do not necessarily protect you but they stop you spreading the virus to other people. It is slightly unclear, albeit, we have seen figures from people in the who and holy men of mundane saying that they have a role to play, we have seen
other countries go down that road. The mayor of london. The scientists here are not convinced that we need to do that. Earlier, i spoke to the boss of a company that ru ns spoke to the boss of a company that runs a lot of care homes, we were talking about testing. The government has prompted a light testing for people in care homes, residents and those working, that you did but it does not seem to be happening. And if you raise was at the centres for testing, people have to drive themselves to those centres, they are not always able to do that. What are the government plan to turn around this testing situation so that those who need testing can easily have it done . honestly dont know the answer to that. We still seem so far adrift on the overall target in terms of care homes, matt hancock did promise last week to make Testing Available to all those in care homes, both residents, staff and their families who need it. We know anecdotally
that simply is not happening. It is not just a that simply is not happening. It is notjust a case of that simply is not happening. It is not just a case of the that simply is not happening. It is notjust a case of the dry that simply is not happening. It is not just a case of the dry few centres being too far away for care home workers to get to, particularly if you dont have a car, but his four residents have to be carried out in homes. You can expect sick, elderly people to go into hospital where they are more likely to get the infection to be tested. If youre going to carry on tests in residence, it has really done at home. At the moment, that is not available. One of the big care organisations is doing a survey on its members on testing to get some sort of statistical facts on what is actually happening with testing. Certainly, anecdotally, the evidence is that although it is being offered, its not being taken up either because the dry three centres are too far away order testing is being offered in homes. President trump has said he is suspending all immigration into the United States. He made the announcement in a tweet, saying he was acting to protect the jobs of american citizens amid the pandemic. The us has already agreed to extend border restrictions on nonessential travel with its neighbours in canada and mexico, and travel is currently limited from both europe and china. Our north america correspondent, peter bowes, reports. As america itches to get back to normal, a surprise announcement from the president in a late night tweet. In light of the attack from the invisible enemy, as well as the need to protect the jobs of our Great American citizens, i will be signing an executive order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States the invisible enemy is the term mr trump has used to describe coronavirus. More than 22 million americans have applied for Unemployment Benefits in the last month, and there are fears the economic fallout from covid 19 could last for years. There are already bans on travel
to the us from europe and china. At the white house, President Trump said he was working with state governors to ramp up said he was working with state governors to ramp up coronavirus testing, a key part of the plan to reopen the country. He highlighted support he had received from the governor of new york. I want to draw your attention to governor cuomos remarks during his press conference today. He said, the president is right, the states testing is up to the states to do, which will implement the tests and logistically co ordinate the tests. We have about 300 labs in new york. And they do, theyre great labs, actually. And its myjob to co ordinate those 300 labs. I think the president s right when he says that the states should lead. Mr trump says hell discuss the pandemic with andrew cuomo at the white house. It comes as the country is slowly beginning to lift restrictions on movement imposed to protect people from covid 19. Some beaches in florida
are already open to the public. In georgia, later this week gyms, hair salons and bowling alleys will be back in business. From next week, restaurants. Elsewhere, americans are running out of patience. In phoenix, demonstrators gathered to protest the continuing order to stay at home. Peter bowes, bbc news, los angeles. The price of American Crude Oil fell below zero yesterday, meaning suppliers would pay people to take it away. The price of west texas intermediate plunged as low as 37 dollars a barrel because of the drop in demand caused by coronavirus. There arent enough places to store the oil being produced, so buyers were being paid to take the supplies off producers hands. Uk investment manager, justin Urquhart Stewart, says the price drop provides a strong indicator of the state of the worlds economy. We have never seen anything like this. We have lived through periods of oil
prices being over 100 a barrel, and here we are negative. So it really is quite astonishing. But we should take it seriously, even though, of course, this isjust one contract because we know, actually, the price of oil will be bouncing back to about 35 a barrel, round about that. But its an indication of actually what is happening in the world. You only have to go back to 2007 oil was a very useful indicator as to the weakness that was there, which came out in 2008. So we should look the same with this oil price move like this. It does give us a bad outlook, im afraid, for the Global Economy not so much for the recovery, but i suspect some form of resuscitation. Regardless, this is a rather sick canary, rather an oily canary, in the coal mine, im afraid. The headlines on bbc news deaths reach a 20 year high for the week up to good friday in england and wales, according to latest official figures that include coronavirus deaths in the community. Supplies of face masks for frontline nhs workers will be put at risk if the uk public is advised to wear them warn hospital bosses. President trump says hell temporarily suspend immigration into the United States due to the coronavirus. More now on the lastest figures from the office for National Statistics which suggest theres been a big increase in the number of deaths in care homes linked to coronavirus. Its latest data shows 1043 people have died in care homes in england and wales up to april 10. That compares with 217 in the period up to april 3. Figures from the government show the total number of deaths lets speak to mp liz kendall, shadow care minister. Thank shadow care minister. You forjoining us. We are starting thank you forjoining us. We are starting to see a clearer picture of what is going on in care homes throughout these ons figures, obviously, anecdotally, we have been hearing this from those working in
them what is your reaction to these latest figures . I think they show the terrible toll at less of why this is happening on elderly and disabled people. Yet i feel that they are only scratching the surface. In a social care, there are already 11, 12 days out of date. We do need to see these figures are published on a daily basis so we know how big the problem is and how fast it is spreading so that we can put in place the measures we need to try and bring this awful death toll down. What would you say the measures need to be, because at the seams to be concerned around the fa ct seams to be concerned around the fact it is testing an adequate supplies of ppe, there are issues with both of those. Those are the absolute priorities. In terms of
ppe, we have heard a lot today, and rightly so, from front line nhs staff. Doctor how badly shot they are of ppe. I am afraid the situation is just as are of ppe. I am afraid the situation isjust as bad if not worse in our care homes and for ca re rs worse in our care homes and for carers who provide support in peoples own homes. People not getting enough, not getting it quickly enough. So there has to be an absolute redoubling of efforts to mobilise all the different manufacturers in this country who have offered to help. My colleague is trying to bring that information together so that we get more companies in this country involved in making ppe. I think we have also got to do much, much more on testing. Keir starmer and myself yesterday spoke to people involved in at the care sector right across the country. We heard how carers are being sent from peterborough to
sta nsted, being sent from peterborough to stansted, from being sent from peterborough to sta nsted, from norfolk being sent from peterborough to stansted, from norfolk to sheffield, to go and get their test. That is just impossible for many carers, many of whom dont have their own ca rs. Many of whom dont have their own cars. Men shall see that change, we need more Testing Centres open, winning carers to be able to get the test and at local hospitals as nhs staff are, i went to look at mobile testing. If we dont have mobile testing, we wont be able to do with this infection. Families are not allowed to go into care homes any more, so the only way an infection is going to come and is via care workers who are desperately dont wa nt to workers who are desperately dont want to affect the people they are caring for, or elderly people that discharge from hospital. Thankfully, they will now be tested. But if you test positive for coronavirus when being discharged from hospital, it is simply not possible for you to go back into that kettle may be effectively isolated so we need some new services there to keep elderly people with coronavirus separate
from others in care homes. Now hes best known as a guitarist in one of the worlds most revered rock bands, radiohead. But ed obrien is now taking center stage, releasing his first solo album earth. Heres he is performing at the bbc 6 Music Festival in london last month. However with a pandemic cancelling tours, gigs and festivals ed and other high profile musicians are faced with big challenges to perform and promote their material. Ed obrienjoins me now from wales. Welcome, thanks for joining welcome, thanks forjoining us. It was like another lifetime, doesnt it . I cant believe it was only last
month you are able to perform like that. I think for all of us, it feels like another lifetime. that. I think for all of us, it feels like another lifetime. I know that you have high suspected coup 19 stop how ill will you, what was it like . I got an initial phase where it was like two weeks of a heavy flu. I thought it was for you at first because the symptoms were not matching up to the governments symptoms. It was when i lost my sense of taste and smell, i googled it, the New York Times online were saying that this was a symptom. My experience of it is, i always knew i was going to be ok, i am fit and healthy. I never had a sense it was terminal for healthy. I never had a sense it was terminalfor me. But itjust lingers. Every time i think i am better. It has been in there for about four or five weeks. That is obviously not great for you but you look and sound pretty well,
obviously, promoting your new music. In terms of the impact on the whole of the industry, everything is shut down and there are lots of musicians strea m down and there are lots of musicians stream stuff from home. I know promoting your new stuff, you will have to be thoughtful and how you do that yourself. What impact do you think it has had on the Music Industry . Its huge, its huge. I am one of the lucky ones because i have a back catalogue that people listen to. But if you are an up and coming artist, most young artist income comes from live. Also, small labels, what its doing to them. The very heart of. Its a really tough. I obviously do not know the full extent of it, but it is hitting the Music Industry hugely. Why did you decide to break away from radiohead
now . It was you and your classmates for more than 30 years, phenomenally successful, now you have gone your own way. I am not going my own way. As additional to radiohead, the music as a funny thing, it gets you at certain times. I started this whole process about seven years ago, andi whole process about seven years ago, and i suddenly found a way to write music, ifelt inspired. It became totally compelling. It is very much in tandem with what i do with radiohead. Do you think what we are going through now will change what youre writing about . Because everything feels different now, we see things on the tv, we read things, against a very different backdrop. Some of itjars. Things, against a very different backdrop. Some of it jars. The impact of what we are all going through it will have an enormous effect on us. As mrjin is an artist, is right at the heart of what you do. As musicians and
artists. I think its probably a very creative and hotel time for musicians. For me personally, i was that the whole process of writing in a couple of days. Goodbye if are watching is on bbc world. Now its time for a look at the weather with carol kirkwood. Hello again. If you have an allergy to tree pollen its worth noting most of england, wales, Northern Ireland, western scotland have high levels today. Going to be another dry and sunny day, we still have a brisk easterly wind, taking the edge off the temperatures, especially along this east coast. Another weather front moving from the Channel Islands and south west england, taking cloud and remnants of this ring with it as we go through the afternoon. A lot of dry weather, lots of sunshine. Still this gusty wind, gusting inland to about 30 miles
an hour with exposure gusting to around 40 miles an hour, behind this with a front in the south west, and the Channel Islands, it will brighten up and you will see some sunshine. The highest temperatures the further west you travel, cardiff for example seeing 20, possibly 21 degrees today. Through this evening and overnight there will be areas of cloud floating around, cold enough for a touch of frost across north east scotland, the cloud remains and broken we see frost for example across north east england. But for many of us its going to be a frost free at night. Wed start on that note tomorrow, any cloud we have burning away by the sunshine and we are looking at a fair bit of sunshine, although at times, there will be more cloud across Northern Ireland, western scotland. That could be thick enough for an isolated shower but most of us will have a dry day. Temperatures tomorrow 21, 22 in the west. Cooler once again along that north sea coastline. Wednesday into thursday, watch how these isobars start to open up, the wind falling much lighter
so as a result, going to feel that bit warmer, especially where its chilly along the north sea coast. We have this area of cloud across the north west of scotland which through the day will slip south as a narrow band so you will one to see cloud for very long in one place in scotland but for the rest of the uk looking at sunshine, temperatures getting up to 23, possibly 24, even 25 in the south east. Friday starting with fog in central and eastern scotland, that will lift, for most of us again, dry day, still quite warm. Hello, this is bbc news with joanna gosling. The headlines deaths reach a 20 year high for the week up to good friday in england and wales, according to latest official figures that include coronavirus deaths in the community. 18,500 registered in that week, thats over 2000 more than the week before and that is 8000 higher than what we would expect to see at this time of year, based on the previous five years. Supplies of facemasks for frontline nhs workers will be put at risk, if the uk public is advised to wear them, warn hospital bosses. You President Trump says hell temporarily suspend immigration into the United States due to the coronavirus. The price of us oil creeps back above zero after going negative for the first time it meant producers were paying buyers to take it off their hands. Dentists warn that a critical shortage of ppe in england is forcing patients with urgent problems to take matters
into their own hands. This time every day we get the briefing from the Scottish Government. Lets cross to edinburgh where the Scottish Government are about to give their Daily Briefing on coronavirus in scotland. Good afternoon everyone. Thank you for joining good afternoon everyone. Thank you forjoining us in this daily up date. I will start with an update list some of the Key Statistics of covid 19 in nine scotland. I can report as of nine oclock this morning there have been 8672 cases which is an increase of 2000 and 22 cents yesterday. There is an increase of 57 from yesterday. And a
total of 166 people last night where an intensive care bed covid 19, that isa an intensive care bed covid 19, that is a decrease of three since the figure i reported here yesterday. While i would still urge caution in interpreting these figures, i do remain cautiously optimistic that firstly while the numbers being admitted to hospital are still fluctuating on a daily basis, they do appear to be broadly stable and secondly, the numbers being admitted to intensive care are at this stage reducing. We shouldnt forget how important that is, it is not too long ago that we were seriously worried about the potential for a Hospital Capacity to be overwhelmed by now. The fact that it is not is down to the planning that has been done with a National Health service of course but more than that, it is down to the High Compliance with the lockdown restrictions. So my thanks for all of you for ensuring that the
nhs has been able to cope, although the work that they do is very difficult and very challenging. It is of course in the nature of the virus that there will be a lag between numbers being admitted to hospital and intensive care reducing in the number sadly dying from this virus reducing. But what i hope we will see the latter number also start to reduce in the next couple of weeks. However in the last 24 hours, 70 deaths have been registered with patients with with patients registered with covid 19, that has taken it to 985 deaths in scotland. Registration over the weekend, and this is a point you have heard me made often, registration over the weekends happens to be lower than through the week. It will in part be a reflection of that. I will remind you that these daily figures are of
people who have died after testing positive for this virus. Tomorrow National Records of scotland will publish its weekly report which will show the number of people who have died with either presumed or suspected covid 19 as well as those who have had a positive test confirmed. Again, as i always do because it is really important a lwa ys because it is really important always to do this, i want to stress that each of these deaths represents much more than a statistic. They each represent an individual who was my family each represent an individual who was myfamily and each represent an individual who was my family and friends and his loss isa my family and friends and his loss is a source of intense grief and so againi is a source of intense grief and so again i want to extend my sincere and deepest condolences to everyone who has lost a loved one. I want to thank all of our health care workers, the entire country continues to be grateful to you for the outstanding work that you are doing. There are notjust health and ca re doing. There are notjust health and care workers who will be understanding the importance of the work they are doing, there are workers across a range of areas who
are going to work every day to keep the country working and to keep the country going and to keep food on the table and the lights on, each and one of them i want to say thank you as well. There are three issues i want to speak about briefly. The first is the chief economist, Gary Gillespie published the state of the latest economy report today. He will say more about that in a few minutes. This report confirms the fa ct minutes. This report confirms the fact that dealing with this Public Health emergency has in itself created an economic emergency. It s min that scotlands economic output could fall by a third in this current period and analysis which is in line with last weeks projections for the uk as a whole from the office for budget responsibility. The Labour Market statistics on employment and unemployment which have also been published today dont fully reflect that impact yet since they relate to the period up until
they relate to the period up until the end of february, so i period before these restrictions took effect. It is likely that there has been a significant increase in unemployment since then. For example since the 15th of march we know there have been 130,000 new claimants for universal claim like universal credit in scotland. In the comparable period last year, that number was 15 thousand 500. The Scottish Governments immediate focus working with the uk government has been trying to mitigate the impact of this economic and on protecting the economys productive capacity for the future. Our overall package of support for businesses in scotla nd package of support for businesses in scotland now totals more than 2. 3 billion pounds, including business relief for many sectors and grants for Small Businesses. The economy secretary will set out later today in parliament how £100 million of funding that we announced last week will be used to support people for
example people who have become recently self employed who might not currently be eligible for other forms of support. Fundamentally and this is a point i have made previously we recognise that in order to protect Public Health, the government is making extraordinary demands on businesses and workers. We are asking you to do unprecedented things. So we reckon their responsibility and onus is on government to equally do extraordinary things and provide extraordinary things and provide extraordinary levels of support for businesses and workers and we will continue to do everything we can to meet that challenge. It is also worth adding that the health of the economy is one of the things we must consider as we think about how we emerge from this period of lockdown. The plan is we will publish this week will set out some of the fact is we will have to weigh up as we work towards a point where we can allow some businesses to reopen albeit with appropriate social
distancing measures in place. But the economic harm being caused by this virus is not in itself a reason to come out of lockdown early. Indeed, dealing with this Public Health emergency and continuing to suppress the virus is an absolute prerequisite for a sustainable economic recovery. If we were to move out of lockdown to early and then have to impose the same level of restrictions again due to a further rapid rise in cases, that would in itself cause further and possibly longer lasting economic damage. So these are decisions that we have to strike the right balance on for the good of the country overall and that is what we will seek to do. The work that i mentioned that we will publish towards the end of the week will set out more detail the principles that will guide us as we seek to restore as much normality as we can to everyday life without risking a resurgence of this virus that we know can and is doing so much harm. That point is actually related to
the second issue i want to briefly speak on, we have today amended regulations introduced three weeks away to restrict public gatherings. It will formalise our established guidance, all businesses must take all reasonable measures to enforce the rule that workers are at least two metres apart from each other. Police as a result of these regulations will now enforce that power with in workplaces although with as the regulations already in place, we envisage that this will be done primarily through dialogue and encouragement. We do not expect police to be routinely patrolling office blocks. Livestock markets and money advice Services LikeForeign Exchange services can continue to operate and holiday accommodation businesses can manage online and Telephone Services for bookings, not for this period but related to future dates. Let me be clear it is
not possible to say when such establishments will be able to reopen. I am very grateful, as i am to every individual across the country who is complying with these restrictions, i am grateful to businesses who have acted responsibly by closing their businesses and putting in for social distancing. I will reiterate these regulations are essential for Public Health. The final issue i want to cover is related to Mental Health. When i spoke to you last tuesday, the Scottish Government would launch a new Mental Health campaign. That campaign, clearyour a new Mental Health campaign. That campaign, clear your head campaign, sta rts campaign, clear your head campaign, starts today. It highlights practical steps that all of us can ta ke to practical steps that all of us can take to look after our Mental Health better. Sticking to a routine, staying active within the current guidelines, keeping in touch with people and taking a break. If you use social media from time to time, not during the daily update we get. It bites people to places where you
can get help and advice, nhs and helplines including nhs 24 breathing space, samaritans and the Scottish Association for Mental Health. The campaign recognises that the current lot is really tough for everyone. Everyone will be experiencing it differently but it is tough for eve ryo ne differently but it is tough for everyone without exception. And it is ok not to be feeling ok at times right now. So we all need to look out for each other, to show kindness, compassion and solidarity, even as we see physically separate. We must do what we can to look after our own Mental Health and the campaign provides good advice on that. But if you need help, please reach out for it, support is available and the campaign that we will launch today will show you where and how you can access that support. I am about to hand over to the chief medical officer and then the chief medical officer and then the chief economist who will say more about the state of the economy report. Before i do that, let me
emphasise once again our key Public Health messages because it is important if we are to see that continue downward trend and people in intensive care leading to that downward trend and the number of people dying. We must all comply with these restrictions. Stay at home unless you are going out for essential purposes such as food, medicine or exercising. If you do go out, stay two metres away from people and do not meet up with people and do not meet up with people from other households. Wash your hands regularly and thoroughly and by doing all of that you are helping us to make sure that we suppress the spiders and bring forward that time when we can restore some normality. This virus. These restrictions are tough and they will get tougher not easier. I know everybody is feeling that increasingly but they are essential and some if not all of the statistics that i have given you today that show they are making a difference. We are as i have talked
about already, protecting the National Health service and we are saving lives, so thank you once again to all of you for your cooperation and compliance. I will hand over now to doctor Gregory Smith who will say a few words and then i will hand over to the chief economist. All of us are experiencing huge personal changes as we adapt to a new way of living. No more than ever it is important that we all take the steps possible to look after ourselves. Eating well, staying active are important for physical health and mental well being. Eating for physical health and mental well being. Eating a for physical health and mental well being. Eating a healthy balanced diet which includes a variety of different birds will help ensure you get all the essential nutrients and energy you need throughout the day. We are adjusting to ways we buy our access food and that can take more planning with the use of lists to limit the time we spendin use of lists to limit the time we spend in supermarkets. Food is an important part of our daily lives and something many others enjoy, it is an time for people to connect
with each other and that may involve new ways of eating together, virtually if you have technology that allows that. Loneliness is a harmful thing to experience and i ask you to reach out to people who you know are alone. Whether it be a phone call, text on a video message, we need connections with others in our everyday lives more than ever. Also, investing time and ourselves to remain physically active is important. It helps manage stress and is essential for healthy mind and is essential for healthy mind and body. Lots of exercise be taken at home but you can go outside to exercise once a day as well. Please rememberto exercise once a day as well. Please remember to stay local and to observe the two metres social distancing rules when you do this. The intranet is flooded with helpful guides and exercise in your homes and hints and tips to stay active, this can be done as a family to make it enjoyable. Staying physically active is important as you get older. Low impact exercise that focus on balance can help you stay
healthy and maintain your independence. If you are self isolating because you are your household her symptoms are you are defined as being extremely vulnerable and shielding, you should not leave home. But that does not mean you should stop moving if you are able to. It is important to keep moving if you feel well enough. If you feel unwell, you should avoid activity and use your energy to concentrate on getting better. This isa concentrate on getting better. This is a stressful time for people. Sometimes when we feel this way, you might use tobacco or alcohol more than you used to do. We know both these habits can be harmful. Evidence suggests that smoking may contribute to the severity of covid 19 disease and we know people who smoke are likely to experience other respiratory problems. If you can cut down or even stop smoking, but if you continue remember to wash your hands before and after so there is less opportunity for the virus to
spread. Similarly, alcohol can reduce the immune systems ability to fight off disease and have an impact on your heart and lungs. Cutting back on what you drink can limit the complications of coronavirus. We know life is not easy at the moment and everyone is doing their best. The nhs wants to support you where we can. There is lots of information to be found on these topics and on the website and covid 19 pages will be launched soon to provide more information about steps you can take to help you through this period in your home. Thank you, i will hand over to Gary Gillespie. Thank you, first minister and good afternoon. I will highlight some of the key points from the analysis which we published earlier today which shows the impact of covid 19 on the economy in scotland. As the first minister has previously noted, covid 19 has created an economic crisis. Given both the
scale and speed of the action required in order to support the Public Health effort, which has been our main priority. This has meant the temporary closure of many businesses, a shift to remote and safe working for other businesses and the need to ensure strict social distancing for businesses which are operating and providing essential services. We estimate intradays report that around 22 of Economic Activity in scotland has been strictly closed which has impacted over 900,000 jobs and over one third of the business space, including the self employed. Including the wider knock on effects, we estimate a drop in economic output in scotland of around one third over the period in which the current social distancing has been in place. As the first minister has mentioned, this is broadly in line with the estimates for the uk which were published by
the old br last week which suggested a contraction in around 35 . This is. This was also confirmed by the oecd and theirearlier is. This was also confirmed by the oecd and their earlier analysis for the uk again suggesting numbers of around 25 . We are also starting to see the impact on the Labour Market with estimates from the office of National Statistics showing that around one fifth of workers who are in employment are currently furloughed and we are starting to see a significant rise in those applying for universal credit is the first minister has already noted. Again, as the first minister has noted, the data published today dont relate to this period. They cover the period up to the end of march and show numbers for scotland that still reflect the pre pandemic period where Unemployment Rates were below 4 . Unfortunately we will see unemployment rising in scotland and
we will see that reflected in subsequent data. Covid 19 is also impacting the Global Economy which is forecast to contract this year for the First Time Since the financial crisis in 2009. We have seen major disruption to international markets, trade, supply chains, in Word Investment and travel. This has been reflected in global stock markets, equities and commodities. Particularly oil which is an important sector for the economy in scotland. The speed and scale of impact is significant but it is important to recognise that this is different from a normal economic downturn and needs to be viewed in that context. The Economic Policy response, again, as the first minister has noted, is about protecting capacity in the economy. The scale of the response has been
significant with direct employment support alongside loan guarantees, tax deferrals and grants. This is also greater and more comprehensive than those provided for the financial crisis of 2008 nine. The recovery for the economy needs to mirror our success in managing the pandemic, otherwise we risk undermining the collective efforts to date. The shape of the economic recovery is therefore linked to the Ongoing Health response and the extent to which Economic Activity can extent to which Economic Activity ca n re start extent to which Economic Activity can restart and operate in line with the way health requirements. Our analysis published today also illustrates very various scenarios for the recovery of the economy in scotland reflecting the immediate uncertainty around the pathway to lifting restrictions, but also the broader global risks from a wider downturn and the scope for a stimulus both in the uk and Global Economy. Finally, the path and time
for recovery depend on a range of factors. Not all sectors will come back immediately as external demand, consumer taste and Business Models have changed so we need to plan a recovery alongside our Health Efforts to support the safe and sustainable return of the economy. Thank you. Thank you very much. We will move on to questions from journalists, i will go to Glenn Campbell from the bbc. First minister, is any amount of economic damage a price worth paying in the effort to save lives and given the emphasis on saving lives, can you update as on the prevalence of covid 19 in our care homes and explain why we have been unable to prevent mass, mass deaths in some ca re prevent mass, mass deaths in some care homes. On the first point about the economy, i have tried to cover
this briefly in my opening remarks, i thing it is wrong and potentially dangerous to see this, although i can see the temptation, as a trade off between trade and health and saving lives. The only firm solid basis for a sustainable economic recovery is a population thatis economic recovery is a population that is not facing this rent of a rampaging virus. The threat. While we understand the deep damage and gary has covered it, of the lockdown measures on our economy, which is why it is important to take the action we have taken, it is equally true to say that if we come out of lockdown early and if that results in a resurgence of the virus, and a necessity then to reimpose lockdown measures, perhaps even stricter lockdown measures, the damage that will do to the economy is potentially even greater and potentially even more last longer
lasting. We have to seen these is two parts of the same challenge. The only way we can get out of the health and economic crisis is to see both of these things as interlinked challenges, not as being in competition with each other. On the question of care homes, we will publish tomorrow, we have been publishing figures on the cumulative number of care homes that have had outbreaks of covid 19 from tomorrow we will be publishing information that tells us. On an active basis how many care homes have currently got outbreaks of covid 19. In terms of your question about it we also see tomorrow in the National Records of scotla nd see tomorrow in the National Records of scotland figures as we did last week, the breakdown in terms of those who have sadly died from the virus, the location of debts. The percentage of those that have been in care homes. This is a virus we know, there are lots about this bag is that we do not know about still. We know older people are susceptible to becoming seriously ill and dying. We know this virus spreads faster in institutional settings which is why we have been and continue to work so ha rd to prevent we have been and continue to work so hard to prevent the virus getting into ca re hard to prevent the virus getting into care homes but also to make sure the right procedures and policies and actions are in place to limits its spread when it there are cases in care homes. We have taken a number of actions today, we are asking Public Health directors delete that in Health Protection teams and ken inspector making sure that care providers are properly supported to do that. And that will continue even as we see, as i hope we will see, evidence that Community Transmission of the spiders is reducing, that focus on institutions, care homes and hospitals where we know. Their virus. These will continue to be a real focus of our attention. Do you wa nt to
real focus of our attention. Do you want to see gregor, about the work in care homes. It is one of the saddest aspects of this pandemic has been the impact it has had on the most vulnerable in our society and right across the world we have seen that residents of care homes have been particularly badly affected by this. I read through a number of reports over the course of the weekend which looked at Different Countries experience and let me tell you, it was very, very sobering to see just the scale of the impact. We are taking a number of measures and then trying to enhance those no as well as we learn more about the virus and the ways it has been spread. We have a number of clinicians who are actively working in this area, even as we speak, to make sure that everything that we can possibly do to offer more protection to these residents is being done. Thank you. Jim matthews from sky news. Thank you very much. Given what you have just said and what we have heard from doctor Gregory Smith, given that the situation in care homes was foreseen, the dangers were foreseen, how would you rate your governments performance on the prevention of death in care homes given the figures we have coming out of care homes . That was the latest briefing from the first minister in scotland, nicola sturgeon, updating on the latest figures amongst other things, an increase in the number of people to have died in scotland after testing positive for covid 19 of 70, ra testing positive for covid 19 of 70, r a total of 985. The latest news coming up on them see simon mccoy. Now we have the weather. What a glorious day it was in
jersey. That cloud, is this cloud hid on the satellite picture. Brought a few showers in in western cornwall and isles of scilly. They have been moving out of the way since. Clear skies for most of britain. As well as the sunshine, we have had gusts of wind at 30 mph in the east coast of england bringing the east coast of england bringing the waves into the coastline there in bridlington. Overnight in it will stay clear but for most of us anyway with patchy cloud forming over the top of the pennines and southern uplands. Temperatures similar to yesterday, down to around 3 in some of the deep valleys in scotland. High pressure remains in charge of our weather for wednesday, so another fine day coming up. Our weather for wednesday, so anotherfine day coming up. The isobars are spreading out more and so even though the wind is blowing from an easterly direction, they will not be as strong. Any cloud for the start of the day will melt away
and it will be another day of unbroken sunshine, high cloud making sunshine hazy in Northern Ireland. Temperatures higher, temperatures in low 20s in and wales. 18 degrees in Northern Ireland, may be 19th in western scotland. Thursday, a few mist and fog patches to start the day. Fog will clear away and plenty of sunshine will be around. It will be the warmest day of the week with temperatures reaching a high of 24, maybe 25. Another fine day coming up for most of us on friday, with lengthy spells of sunshine but we might see the weather turning cooler in the far north of scotland. Temperatures in shetland around nine degrees in lerwick, 12 degrees in stornoway. For most of as it will be another one day with temperatures in the height is still low 20s. Their weekend weather, for most of us it will stay dry but it will turn
cloudier, temperatures coming down bya cloudier, temperatures coming down by a few degrees and a chance of seeing a few showers especially on 02 59 05,915 4294966103 13 29,430 sunday. That is your weather