To local communities. What would you like to do today . Hmm. And the difficulties faced by the countrys nine million unpaid carers now with even less support during lockdown. Coming up on bbc news. Players are scared, according to sergio aguero. The Manchester City striker speaks out, as key talks take place about restarting the football season. Good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. Ministers are optimistic that theyve hit their target for the number of coronavirus tests being carried out. The government had pledged that 100,000 tests would be done every day by the end of april. The latest figures will be released this afternoon. The communities secretary Robert Jenrick has described the policy as a stepping stone to a much larger programme of testing, which will be needed to contain the virus. Lauren moss reports. The target was 100,000 tests a day by the end of april. Its just under a month since the Health Secretary announced that deadline. We will find out later whether the ambition is achieved. Are you confident he will meet your testing target . More than 81,000 tests were carried out in the uk on wednesday, after more people became eligible, including those over the age of 65 who have symptoms and care home residents and staff who dont. Setting a challenging target was the right thing to do. Because it galvanised government and got the job done. But there is a lot more to be done, and we need to increase that figure, whether it is 100,000 or thereabouts, much higher in the days and weeks to come. Its notjust testing, though. Tracing those who have got the virus tracking the spread is key. Thousands of people have been hired to dojust spread is key. Thousands of people have been hired to do just that by the middle of the month. Plans have been set out in scotland to increase the testing capability up to more than 8000 a day. The further projected increases in nhs capacity that i mentioned, i expect that to be at least 10,500 by next week, and 12,000 by the middle of the month. After announcing yesterday that we are past the peak, the Prime Minister will give plans for a way out of some of the lockdown on monday, exactly six weeks since we went into it. But any strategy will have to be carefully balanced against risking increasing the rate of virus transmission. That will be quite a challenge. Because when the restrictions were brought in, it was the same restrictions for everyone. I think its going to be a challenge when there are going to be different restrictions lifted for different sections of the population, because the collective solidarity has been such an important part of adhering to and making any strategy successful. Latest figures collected by google revealed that retail football is three quarters lower than at this time last year, but visits to parks are just 10 below normal. 0ver visits to parks are just 10 below normal. Over the next six weeks, the nhs will be starting more non covid related care, finding different ways of working on treating patients. We dont want to go back to crowded a e departments. The president of the Royal College of emergency medicine rightly points out that would be a disastrous step backwards, because you could then go to a e and catch coronavirus. So we need to find a way for services to resume and keep patients safe. Masks may have a part to play in what will be the new normal, even ifjust to make some feel safer. More than 1 normal, even ifjust to make some feel safer. More than1 Million People around the world have now recovered. The road we will take next will become clear in a few days. But, regardless of targets, testing is likely to be here to stay. 0ur chief political correspondent, vicki young, is in westminster. Politically, hitting that target, or getting very near it, is important . It is, when matt hancock stood up and said about 100,000 tests a day, it didntjust and said about 100,000 tests a day, it didnt just sound and said about 100,000 tests a day, it didntjust sound ambitious, frankly, it sounded far fetched. They had been under so much pressure because they had been talking about ramping up testing and itjust wasnt being met with the results. Really, it was the verbal equivalent of bashing heads together, trying to get a of bashing heads together, trying to geta grip of bashing heads together, trying to get a grip on the system, show that he could get things to work and make sure that the logistics, all of those problems, were ironed out. Whether they meet that number specifically or not, downing street today are saying it was a very effective, that target, in driving up effective, that target, in driving up capacity. It doesnt mean there still wont be questions. Lots of people saying the country should have been better prepared for this pandemic and this testing should have been possible from the outset. I think today matt hancock will certainly acknowledge a lot more needs to be done, this is a stepping stone to much broader testing to get out of the lockdown. I think he will ta ke out of the lockdown. I think he will take some comfort from proving his critics wrong. For now, thank you, vicki young. Lets speak to our health editor, hugh pym. That the politics of it, but in terms of the science it has to be about more than simply testing . Thats right, as vicki said, its a stepping stone. An important one, to get from 2000 tests per day in early february, two near 100,000 now. But this has to be one part of a wider strategy, building up testing more. As lockdown restrictions are eased, there has to be an army of contact tracing, that is the expression that is being used. The government says it needs to recruit 18,000 officials. 0nce it needs to recruit 18,000 officials. Once you identify cases in the future months, you need officials to trace their recent contacts and tell them to self isolate, and there will be an nhs app associated with that, so you might have been in contact with somebody who then tests positive, and an alert comes through to you. All of that has to happen between 110w all of that has to happen between now and a vaccine arriving. Because thatis now and a vaccine arriving. Because that is the way that the future spread of the virus will be kept in check. So it is a move in the right direction, but still quite a lot of work still to be done on all of this. For now, thank you. Hugh pym. President trump has stepped up pressure on china about the origin of the pandemic, saying hes seen evidence linking the virus to a laboratory in the city of wuhan, where the outbreak began. Us Intelligence Services have already said that covid 19 is not man made. David willis sent this report. The pa pathogen lab at wuhans institute of virology. Did the deadly coronavirus emanate from here . China strenuously denies such suggestions. The president of the United States believes otherwise. Mr trump says he seen evidence linking the virus to the lab, although he wouldnt be drawn on what that evidence consisted of. He told reporters either china couldnt stop the virus from spreading, or it didnt try to. This is something that could have been contained at the original location, and i think it could have been contained relatively easily. China is a very sophisticated country and they could have contained it. They were either unable to or they chose not to and the world is suffering greatly. Whilst laying to rest one of the more extreme conspiracy theories surrounding the virus, that it was man made and unleashed as a biological weapon, the Us Intelligence community didnt contradict the president s theory, saying this country has already seen more cases of the coronavirus than anywhere else in the world, overa million, and more than 60,000 deaths. The virus has also devastated what was once a booming economy, leading to long lines in cities such as houston, as people queue for free food. 30 million americans, a fifth of the nations workforce, have filed for unemployment benefit since the crisis began. Some states are gradually starting to reopen. And by urging them to do so as quickly as possible, the president is looking to rebuild the economy before novembers president ial election. Some say he is a setting china up as a foil some say he is a setting china up as afoil in some say he is a setting china up as a foil in case that doesnt happen. Although hes avoided direct criticism of chinas president xi, with whom hes maintained cordial relations, President Trump has talked of making china pay for the harm the virus has caused to the American Economy and, by extension, to his chances of re election. Relations between the worlds two largest economies could get very frosty indeed. David willis, bbc news. Rya nair says its going to cut up to 3,000 jobs because of the pandemic. The airline has warned passengers whose flights have been cancelled that it might take six months to refund them. Theo leggett reports. Just a few weeks ago, the Airline Industry was booming. The future looked bright. Now, days after British Airways owner said 12,000 jobs were on the line, ryanair has warned that it may make 3,000 people redundant. We announced this morning we are going to have to cut 15 of staff. That is, we think, the minimum we need, just to survive the next 12 months. If a vaccine is found, then clearly the recovery will be stronger. If a vaccine isnt found, we may have to announce more cuts, and deeper cuts into the future. Unions insist that all this is premature, and that there is no need to make such deep cuts so soon. Ryanair is not in financial difficulty, it is one of the wealthiest airlines in europe. It should be be able to ride out the storm, and it should be be able to take a more measured view. Yet this is clearly an unprecedented situation, and you can see that from where i am standing. The skies be mind me are formally full of planes, that is one of the major routes into heathrow airport, the Busiest Airport in the country. Yet at moment, nothing. No planes, no contrails, and it has been like that for several weeks. Globally, 80 of flights have been grounded. 17,000 aircraft are sitting unused on the tarmac, and the cost to airlines is expected to reach £250 billion this year. Once the outbreak is over, things certainly wont be getting back to normal quickly. It has been suggested passengers might be required to wear protective gear, or practise social distancing on aircraft. But not everyones convinced. If you can imagine going on your last summer holiday, if you were flying somewhere, can you imagine social distancing in that kind of circumstances . We are not designed for that. And that is why we need to have a way of making sure that only people who are very low risk are allowed into the airport and can travel through the journey. Yet airlines remain determined to get back in the skies, as soon as possible. Today, hungarian carrier wizz air did just that, starting to fly a small number of services in and out of luton. Theo leggett, bbc news. A judge at the high court has sided with the publisher of the mail on sunday, in a preliminary hearing on the duchess of sussexs privacy claim over the publication of a letter to her father. 0ur royal correspondent, nick witchell, is here. What has happened . What does this mean . The first important thing to say is that this is not the full hearing of that privacy claim, this isa hearing of that privacy claim, this is a preliminary, procedural hearing in which the mail on sunday sought to strike out, to remove some aspects of meghans claim against them. Namely that they acted dishonestly and maliciously, that they deliberately stirred up conflict between meghan and her father, or that they had an obvious agenda of publishing offensive stories about her. So they are all about the state of mind, if you like, of the mail on sunday. And the judge has found for the mail on sunday. So, those allegations have got to be removed from the duchess of sussexs claim. But it is important to say that the main claim continues. And solicitors for the duchess of sussex have said todays ruling makes clear that the core elements of this case do not change and will continue to move forward. The strong case, as they put it, against associated newspapers, will continue to focus on the nature of a private, intimate and handwritten letter from a daughter to private, intimate and handwritten letterfrom a daughter to herfather that was published by the mail on sunday. If you like, first blood to the mail on sunday. It may well raise questions about the efficacy of the legal representatives of the duchess. But it is just round one, and the main contest is still to come, and we dont know when that is going to be heard. For now, thank you. Our top story this lunchtime. The government has expressed cautious optimism that it has met its target of carrying out 100,000 coronavirus tests a day by the end of april. Coming up. The uks largest provider of food banks says demand has soared since the lockdown. And coming up on bbc news, the Rugby Football League has been given an emergency loan by the government. £16 million will secure the immediate future of the sport. South africa is starting to ease its lockdown. When the pandemic emerged, drastic restrictions were imposed quickly, and Community Workers screened millions of people for the virus. It slowed infections, but now people are anxiously watching to see whether it returns. Andrew harding reports. It seemed inevitable in a land of furious inequality and habitual misrule, the virus was always going to cause chaos here in south africa. How could it possibly be otherwise . In the overcrowded townships around johannesburg, news of covid 19s arrival the first confirmed case was march the 5th prompted dread. Those fears were are understandable. Neighbourhoods sharing taps and toilets, people already weakened by malnutrition and illness. But south africa had an advantage it had time, weeks to watch the virus spread around the rest of the world, and to watch other countries mistakes. The government here has a ha rd earned reputation for dithering, for being all talk. But last month it took a firm decision, to act early and aggressively. And so, just ten days after that first case, south africa declared a state of disaster. Schools and restaurants would be closed, foreign travel tightly restricted. At this stage in south africa, the virus was spreading slowly. But soon, south africa did start to see an exponential rise, just like britain. Although here, the government was already reacting much quicker, imposing a lockdown just eight days after recording the 100th infection. And south africas lockdown was far stricter, too. Go inside enforced by soldiers. But soon, more tests confirmed the slowdown was genuine. Community, community the department of health is here the reason, clearly, was that south africas early interventions were now paying off, and the next stage was equally impressive. Because it spent years dealing with hiv and tb, this country already has an army of some 30,000 Community Health workers. Theyve now screened more than 3 Million People for the new virus. Tomorrow, south africa will start to ease its lockdown, and so a 5 stage strategy has now been published, explaining how, in theory, the nation can be nudged towards normality, perhaps by years end. So yes, south africa has played a blinder so far, particularly the president , but lower down the ranks, the key institutions that are going to have to keep waging this battle against the virus for months to come, have been weakened by years of corruption and cronyism. In other words, south africa is not out of the woods yet. So, plenty of uncertainty ahead here. Just look at this massive queue forfood hand outs near pretoria. And, as the lockdown softens, the near certainty that the infection rate will start to climb. Andrew harding, bbc news, south africa. India has more than 35,000 confirmed cases of covid 19, and more than a thousand people are reported to have died. The country has been in lockdown for nearly six weeks. Doctors say that has slowed the spread of infection, but millions of people who depend on daily wages have been left desperate. Yogita limay sent this report. Small triumphs are celebrated. This man has recovered from covid in the Southern State of kerala. Thanks for everything the region had indias first Coronavirus Infections in march. But it curbed the spread and its strategy is giving hope to the rest of the country. 0ur idea was to trace as many people as possible in the shortest possible time, and in the intial 11 5 days, we were able to trace 1,254 persons. Once we identified all of them, the next strategy was to ensure home quarantine in the strictest possible sense. But each grave is a reminder that, for many parts of india, the threat is farfrom being contained. And it doesnt even allow goodbyes. A four month old baby girl, laid to rest from the arms of strangers. Dozens are losing their lives every day. And while the real scale is hard to assess, doctors say covid would have spread a lot more quickly if india had not imposed a lockdown relatively early. Checkpoints like these have been set up in cities around the country. Z and you could even get arrested for violating the lockdown,
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