Tonight at ten, easing the lockdown ministers signal proposals ahead of an announcement next sunday. But theres a warning restrictions could return in a specific and localised way if coronavirus cases go up again. The worst thing to do would be to prematurely relax the current measures to see a second spike which might risk overwhelming the nhs and which would compel us to introduce lockdown measures all over again. Proposals include limiting passengers on buses and trains, and staggering times when people start work. And businesses are given draft guidance on how they can reopen safely once lockdown is relaxed. The phone app to track and trace people with covid 19 will be piloted this week on the isle of wight, and rolled out
nationally later this month. Is there a Coronavirus Crisis in iraq . 100 have died, but few believe the official figures. The race to find a treatment a trialfor a promising new drug to treat coronavirus is under way in southampton. And leaping in lockdown three of the worlds top male pole vaulters compete from their own back gardens. Good evening. The government has signalled a series of measures which its considering to relax the lockdown, while minimising the risk of coronavirus spreading. An announcement is due a week today which will set out the next steps to getting the country back
to school and work. 315 more people have died from coronavirus in the latest 24 hour period thats a figure which could still go up because of a lag in reporting. The total number reflects those who have died in hospital, in a care home or in the community after testing positive for the disease. It brings the total number of deaths in the uk to 28,446. Our Political Correspondent chris mason has more. A portrait of the uk in lockdown. For well over a month, streets have been quiet, most shops have been closed. A pause button pressed on normal life. But if imposing these restrictions felt like a massive moment, easing them could prove much, much more fraught. At this afternoons Government News briefing, one of the Prime Ministers most senior colleagues told me local lockdowns might have told me local lockdowns might have to be reimposed. A phased approach
is one which allows us to monitor the impact that those changes are having on Public Health and if necessary , having on Public Health and if necessary, in a specific and localised way, that means we can pause or even reintroduce theres restrictions that might be required in order to deal with localised outbreaks. Trains wont look like this again for some time but if we are asked to return to work, they wont be able to look like this either. I am working with the train companies, unions and all of the above and there are a series of Different Things we can do including, for example, staggering work times, working with businesses to do that. There is a similar challenge in schools. Empty or near empty classrooms in lockdown, and now tentative plans being sketched for then reopening. Wales first minister said today it would take three weeks to get schools back open from the moment the decision to do so was from the moment the decision to do
so was taken. If we bring particular age groups back in first, that will allow us to spread them out through the school as a whole, enabling us to observe social distancing and therefore giving confidence to pa rents therefore giving confidence to parents and teachers. Mrjake wood said it will be a decision for his government as to when this happens mark drakeford. Scotlands first minister Nicola Sturgeon said the same today too. But this was leeds this afternoon. Getting the country going again could involve more than just changing the rules. It is likely to require persuasion too. We have got very used to the mantra plastered across the lecterns you are stuck behind. Can we expect a more subtle message to come in the next phase to mirror what could be a more subtle and nuanced set of rules 7 more subtle and nuanced set of rules . We need to make sure the underground advice that we give is sufficiently reassuring. I think its about making sure people feel
the point is we are giving about how a workplace can be safe and sensible and supported by employers and trade unions. Getting back from this to normality is going to be a long and difficult slog. The government is promising to set out the next steps next sunday. Chris mason, bbc news. Easing the lockdown will require striking a balance between a gradual resumption of normal life, and keeping the virus at bay. Our science editor David Shukman examines now what scientists will be looking for as the restrictions are relaxed. Across the uk, the numbers needing hospital treatment are generally falling. Thats a key indicator that the spread of the disease is slowing down, that the restrictions have made a difference. But the virus has not gone away. The latest estimate of the infection rate, the so called r number, is 0. 7. What matters is that its below the threshold of one, where one person infected only
passes the virus on to one other. Reopening schools might add Something Like 0. 2, so we could still stay below the critical line. But lifting the lockdown entirely could add two to the r number, which would see the outbreak accelerate once more. So scientists are warning that there isnt much opportunity to relax any of the measures. Singapore has rushed to install 4,000 new hospital beds because infections, which were thought to be under control, suddenly started to rise. What were seeing in countries like singapore, where they have almost seen a second wave, essentially what it is is actually outbreaks that are happening in expat dormitories. So the virus has found a place where it can take hold and can resurge again. So all countries must remain on alert for the possibility of additional transmission. Whenever measures do come to be relaxed, testing will be crucial on a bigger scale than now to track the virus and spot any new outbreaks. With that comes the job of tracing all the contacts of anyone infected. 18,000 people are being recruited to do this, but the system is not yet up and running. And vital to all this is isolating people who are infected, or think they may be. This whole process is going to be needed for months to come. However the next steps unfold, they will take us into what could be a more complicated phase of the crisis. Thats because the lockdown currently affects pretty well everybody the same way. But once you start relaxing measures, some people will be at home while others are out and about, which could be confusing and probably harder for the government to explain. Different people will be doing Different Things differently, and i think that can undermine both solidarity, but also trust and possibly adherence, and could engender a degree of resentment. And all the time, theres the challenge of keeping people safe. In spain, masks will have to be worn on Public Transport from tomorrow. Many countries believe this can reduce the rate of infection. The uk government is still considering the option as a way of leaving the lockdown. David shukman, bbc news. An app for mobile phones aimed at tracing the spread of coronavirus is to be tried out on the isle of wight this week before being rolled out more widely across the uk later this month. Between 50 60 of the population will have to use the software for it to be effective. Duncan kennedy reports from the isle of wight. Surrounded by water and isolated enough for a credible experiment to take place, the isle of wight trial is set to begin. The island is home to 140,000 residents. Nearly 30 people have died with the coronavirus. The new app uses a phones bluetooth connection to work. Once youve installed the app, every time you come into contact with someone else who has it, your phones record that fact. Then if you tell the app you have symptoms of coronavirus, that will alert the phones of those other people. They will then need to self isolate. So what do those on the isle of wight think . The more people that get involved, the better. The only problem is that probably a lot of people dont have a smartphone. That could be a problem, ifear. I think its a good idea and if its going to work, its a good place to try it. I feel that the island is essentially being used as a testing ground, and i dont like the thought of us being used as guinea pigs. The app should help automate the whole process of finding out who has the virus, but getting it to enough people wont be easy. For the app to work properly, it needs Something Like 50 60 of the population to take part in it. Here in the isle of wight, that is about 70,000 or 80,000 people. Anything less than that, and the experiment wont be valid and the virus wont be traceable. The government says if the app works on the island, it will get a National Roll out. We will be asking the whole country where possible to download this mobile phone app, which will help automatically to remove the need for individuals to be involved. The government will also recruit 18,000 people to help with the tracking of individuals once the app is in place. Like social distancing, this is another enormous National Endeavour to try to rein in covid 19 with technology and science. Duncan kennedy, bbc news, on the isle of wight. Our Health Correspondent dominic hughesjoins me now from salford. Tomorrow we enter our seventh week of lockdown. How do you read the signals from ministers today . Well, i think ministers are slowly but surely moving towards providing some answers at least about that big
question, how do we get out of lockdown without risking a second spike in both deaths and new infections . In order to get there, they want some conditions to be met. They want sufficient capacity in the nhs. They want issues around ppe, personal protective equipment, and testing to be in hand. We learned today that the government missed its own self imposed target of 100,000 tests to be carried out each day. Yesterday, fewer than 80,000 tests we re yesterday, fewer than 80,000 tests were carried out. Ministers blame that on the weekend effect. They also want a consistent fall in deaths and a consistent falling new infections. We have a graph that will shed some light on that last point. It shows how the number of people being treated in hospital in the uk has fallen by 2000 in the past week to around 14,200. That is a significant decline of 13 . And most noticeable, in london, the
epicentre of this latest break out, it has halved since the middle of last month. Why does this matter . Well, it shows that the r number that we had about earlier in the bulletin, the rate of transmission from person to person, is declining. That is important because that is a vital condition that has to be met if we are to get out of lockdown any time soon. Our Health Correspondent dominic hughes. The deadlines just passed for businesses to respond to the governments draft proposals for workplaces to reopen safely once the lockdown is eased. Our Business Correspondent katy austinjoins me now. Do we know whats in these proposals . Well, businesses want to know what the were the work should be once the economy does start to reopen, both so economy does start to reopen, both so that they can plan and so they can reassure their employees and maybe customers that they are doing things the right way, the safeway. While the government has been drawing up its guidance, it has had
input from business groups, trade unions and leading firms and today they received the Draft Guidelines to have a look at. And yes, the deadline for then responding to those has just passed. Deadline for then responding to those hasjust passed. 0ver deadline for then responding to those hasjust passed. Over the coming week, we expect the government or the department of business will start to outline its approach to reopening certain types of workplaces. We are talking about practical proposals. For example, staggering employee arrival times or things like extra hygiene measures 01 screens where things like extra hygiene measures or screens where appropriate. Even if the economy does get going fairly soon 01 if the economy does get going fairly soon or if a date is set, no one expects a swift return to normal. Katy, many thanks. With so few drugs available to help our bodies fight coronavirus, scientists around the world are racing to find new treatments. A promising experimental medicine developed by researchers here in the uk recently started Clinical Trials. 0ur correspondent, justin rowlatt, was invited to University Hospital southampton, where the first volunteers have been receiving the new drug. The trial is taking place in the hospitals coronavirus wards. It has been given Urgent Research status by the government. Before i see how it works. There we go. I have to put on the protective equipment weve brought. The only way to test these drugs is to give them to people who have the illness, so thats why we need to go onto the ward. Here we go. 0k. So how has your breathing been . Very, very shallow. So its like your lungs are sort of blocked . Yes, it was. 67 year old kay flitney was diagnosed with covid 19 last week and admitted to hospital. She is one of 75 patients in uk hospitals whove volunteered to help test the new drug. So this is the machine i showed you the other day. Yeah. Nurse sandy aitken shows her how
to operate the nebuliser, which will help get the drug deep into kays lungs. Do you want to try that for me . It uses a protein called interferon beta, which is part of our bodys first line of defence against viruses. Professor Tom Wilkinson is heading up the trial. Interferon beta is a naturally occurring protein that many of the cells in our body produce on a daily basis so, when the lungs experience a viral attack, the cells in the lining of the lung produce this protein naturally, and it helps the immune system coordinate a response to that virus. Hundreds of new drugs are being tested for covid 19 around the world. The southampton based Biotech Company that developed this one has already shown it can stimulate an immune response in patients with other lung diseases. So what would you hope would be the results of your drug trial . Well, if we get good results from this trial,
we will scale up the Clinical Trial effort and, hopefully, have enough patients in to show that we can reduce mortality and we can get people out of hospital sooner. He says it wont be some kind of miracle cure for patients like kay, but thinks it could save lives by helping our bodies fight the virus. Of course, he will only know if it does when he gets the results of the trial injune. Justin rowlatt, bbc news, southampton. And you can see more on this story on panorama tomorrow night on bbc one at 7. 30pm. Health charities are warning that some vulnerable patients still arent getting the support they need to help them through the pandemic, after being left off the list of shielded patients. Nearly 2. 2 Million People around the uk should now have been told to self isolate for 12 weeks they then qualify for help with food and medication. But some are still waiting to be contacted. Hywel griffith has more. Help to walk, help to breathe. Every step of robs day is dictated by motor neurone disease. His wife marilyn has done Everything Possible to protect him during the pandemic at their home in swansea. But its taken over five weeks for his name to be added to the list of shielded patients who can receive support. Robs condition may have stolen his voice, but it hasnt dimmed his anger. Computer speech tool this left me frightened and worried. I feel let down by the system. We would have had much more peace of mind, really, and felt safer and cared for, i think, if wed had this inclusion on the very vulnerable list earlier on. Delivery for you. Being on the list of extremely vulnerable patients should mean help getting medication and priority for food deliveries. Around 2. 2 Million People should qualify because of their medical condition, but its clear some
are still missing out. Its quite apt, this. This is home sweet home. Sylvia has pulmonary fibrosis, an incurable lung condition. Shes been isolating at her home in northampton, but hasnt received a letter. Despite calls to doctors and the council, she feels forgotten. I dont know what else or who else to talk to. I cant understand why i havent got the letter that they specified everyone would get. It would make a big difference to me and my husband. Weve spoken to patients and Health Charities across the uk all raised similar concerns. There has been a huge effort to try and protect the most clinically vulnerable patients, but the process has been inconsistent and confusing. Even now after six weeks of lockdown, some are still falling through the cracks. In all four nations, governments say its now up to gps to decide if a patient
qualifies or not. Its easier for some conditions to know that somebody falls into the shielding category. But for many other conditions, its much more nuanced and much more difficult to make the right judgment. So some people with mild to moderate asthma would need to be taking social distancing measures, whereas somebody with severe asthma would need to be shielded. Those with the letters have been told to shield for at least 12 weeks. But rob and many others may well need the support of the outside world for much, much longer. Hywel griffith, bbc news, swansea. Italy has registered 174 new coronavirus deaths thats the lowest daily number since its lockdown started two months ago. The country is now relaxing some of its confinement rules. From monday, italians will be able to exercise, provided they continue to practise social distancing. Iran has had the highest number of coronavirus
cases in the middle east, but its neighbour iraq is now also trying to come to grips with the outbreak. Shame and stigma mean people are wary to admit theyre sick, or get tested. In a country of 38 Million People, over 2,000 have tested positive, with nearly 100 deaths. There is little confidence in the government and few believe the official figures. 0ur middle east correspondent Quentin Sommerville reports. Siren wails. Iraq thought it had nothing to learn from death, and then came coronavirus. In this ambulance is the body of hassoun rassan. The 72 year old died of covid 19. Theyve been turned away at checkpoint after checkpoint. Fear of infection has made him untouchable. Funeral rites are sacred here, and covid 19 is upending centuries
of tradition and ritual. There is no last goodbye for hassoun rassan. His family are denied the right to wash the old mans body and wrap him in a simple cloth. For the most devout, this is a fate worse than death. Instead, his funeral is left to strangers in the desert night. They recite prayers. The stigma of illness, quarantine, runs deep here. Baghdad is in partial lockdown. Its ramadan. The city is quiet, but hardly at peace. Few want to admit having the disease, or even get a test. At baghdads Ibn Al Khatib hospital, this doctor hasnt
been home to his family since the end of february. Few of his patients came willingly. This 72 year old is now recovering from the disease, but shes still fragile. The doctors workload is heavy, but iraqs official covid count is low, fewer than 100 deaths in a country of 38 Million People. But few trust those figures. Hassoun rassan is finally laid to rest, buried in a pit five metres deep. Farfrom generations of his ancestors, and without his descendants at his graveside. For years, iraq has been ravaged by death, but with coronavirus, nothing is sacred. Few families want an end like this. Quentin sommerville, bbc news. Unusually, this years Early May Bank holiday is being held next friday to mark the 75th anniversary of the end of the war in europe. May 8th 1945 was dubbed ve day for victory in europe, and it saw millions of people pour onto the streets to celebrate. Robert hall has been looking back on that momentous day. News archive luneburg heath, germany, may the 4th, 1945. In a tattered tent near hamburg, first steps in a complicated surrender. General admiral von
friedeburg will sign first. Seven clauses and no mere scrap of paper. Rumours of a european ceasefire had been widespread as allied and Russian Troops linked up along the western front. Weve both come a long way together. What does that mean, eh . What does that mean . How do i know . Over the next three days, news of the surrender spread across the channel. Crowds were on the streets long before the official announcement, swelled by a decision to call a national holiday. In whitehall, Prime MinisterWinston Churchill waited for his cue from the bbc. Generaljodl, the representative of the german high command, and grand admiral donitz, the designated head of the german state, signed the act of unconditional surrender
of all german land, sea and airforces in europe, but let us not forget for a moment the toil and effort that lie ahead. Darker times that were still very real, away from the cheering crowds in london. The channel islands, occupied by the germans for five years, were still waiting for their liberation, and armies would be fighting and dying in the far east for another three months. But that was for tomorrow. This was a parting of the clouds and the memories of those wild hours help us to connect to ve day as the generations who were there slip away from us. And what we found with the First World War centenary, which of course was six years of work, is that actually young people responded to that element of family history. What the museum has to do, really, is to say sort of what those people did, how they did it and how they responded to it, and we can do
that through our archives. Archive which captures nationwide celebrations stretching into the night. Even the queen managed to slip away with her sister margaret to join the party. News archive throughout the land the bells of victory rang out. Robert hall, bbc news. Three of the worlds top male pole vaulters leapt at the chance to compete against each other today from their own back gardens. The event described as the ultimate garden clash was streamed live by the governing body, world athletics. The men competed via video link from france, and two american states. 0ur Sports Correspondent joe wilson watched the action. These days are testing sporting imagination to the limit. In three back gardens of the world, that limit was specifically five metres. Up. Its the pole vault, the king of athletic sports. Former olympic champion Renaud Lavillenie was at home in france. Two time World ChampionSam Kendricks competed from oxford, mississippi. And what a backdrop for kendricks. While the gloriously named Mondo Duplantis was in louisiana although he competes for sweden. Mondo is absolutely on fire and hes the world record holder. Five metres is nothing to these men. They train at home to be the best. The challenge was to do the most clearances in half an hour. Well, the clock stopped with lavillenie and dupla ntis level on 36. Confusion the young duplantis actually began extra time before a tie was sort of agreed. I get the same feeling, like if i was going for the World Championship, you know, heartbroken, everything was just under pressure, so it was very exciting. The pole vaulters have set the bar for garden athletics. N ext eve nt . Well, best warn the neighbours before risking javelin. Joe wilson, bbc news. Theres more throughout the evening on the bbc news channel. Now on bbc one, its time for the news where you are. Its been a cloudy day for much of england and wales. Where there has been some sunshine, northern england, Northern Ireland and scotland, there have been some showers around, in fact some heavy and thundery showers in places. This is a solar powered birdbath not up to much today of course with the heavy rain that went through the newcastle area and still keeping a few of the showers overnight and into tomorrow down the eastern side of the uk. Elsewhere, its High Pressure that will give a fine monday. The showers that weve had in eastern scotland, north east england will lose a bit of their intensity overnight but some will continue to push down through lincolnshire, towards east anglia. Whereas elsewhere weve got clear spells, lowest temperatures will be in northern scotland, cold spots here are a few degrees below freezing. Cold enough for a touch of frost in the cold spots of Northern Ireland too, under clear skies. But here there will be lots of sunshine on the way tomorrow. Across scotland, too,
once we lose any early showers towards the south east. Eastern areas of england keeping a scattering of showers, western england and for wales there will be a lot of monday sunshine around. The breeze does start to pick up, particularly down towards the south and south west of the uk. Its an onshore breeze along these north sea coasts thats Holding Temperatures down but further west in some sunshine, if you are in that it will feel quite pleasant. 0vernight, monday into tuesday we are seeing an area of heavy rain that will push through the channel islands, isles of scilly towards cornwall and into devon as well. This mayjust advance a little bit further north and east as we go on through tuesday. Perhaps more of southern england into south wales with a brisk and cool wind as well, though slowly easing as tuesday goes on. Whereas elsewhere there is a lot of fine weather around. These are average speeds the winds will be gustier down towards the south west, particularly overnight and into tuesday. And as for the temperatures, it will feel quite cool, where you have some of this rain and cloud and still a long some of these north sea coasts, but pleasant in the sunshine, as you can see, in western scotland. For the remainder of the week, High Pressure holds on although low pressure to the west mayjust introduce a few showers sometimes, but there is a lot of fine weather around and temperatures will start to creep up a bit as well. By the end of the week, an increasing chance of getting a few showers. I willjust show you a few locations in our forecast here. So an increasing chance for showers particularly toward scotland and Northern Ireland later in the week and one thing perhaps you really notice in this, just look at how much colder it gets as we go through next weekend. Hello. This is bbc news with James Reynolds well be taking a look at tomorrow mornings papers in a moment. First, the headlines. The uk government is considering a series of measures to control the spread
of coronavirus post lockdown