But the practicalities have yet to be worked out. Also today. A new device, an alternative to a ventilator designed by clinicians, engineers and formula one, is now being delivered to the nhs. Many small firms are warning theyre not getting access to the emergency loan scheme announced by ministers and the application process is painfully slow. Unless there are immediate changes by the government to get this funding into the Event Industry right now, we are going to see businesses failing, not next month, but next week. Hope to see you soon, darling. See you soon. See you soon. And how the lockdown has forced many people to change their ideas about relationships and dating. And coming up in the sport later in the hour on bbc news. The Tour De France has been pushed back to the end of august. Well hear from the 2018 champion geraint thomas. Good evening. The main focus of concern as the coronavirus pandemic claims more victims remains the situation in care homes and in the community at large. Ministers in england have announced plans for a new testing regime for both residents and staff and for anyone being discharged from hospital to a care home. But theres no detail on the timescale and theres still pressure in the nhs for more testing of staff and patients. The latest official figures are that across the uk there were 761 deaths reported in the last 24 hour period most of those in hospitals. It means that, so far, the official number of deaths in the uk linked to coronavirus is 12,868, but that number doesnt include deaths in care homes or in the community in england and northern ireland. But nhs managers have struck a more optimistic note. They say its increasingly likely the nhs will be able to cope with the peak in cases expected soon because of good planning and lower than expected demand on intensive care. Our Health Editor hugh pym has the latest. It was his lifetime ambition, and graham achieved it last november, co piloting a plane, a gift from his family. At 77 he was still very active. He recently went to hospital with cancer. The family assumed graham would come back home, but he never returned, having contracted covid 19. His grandsons wife emma, who herself has coronavirus, spoke of their sadness and frustration. No one was there to hold his hand and it is not the way you want to go. Only ten people can go to the funeral and we have a big family, so we cant go. He cant get the sendoff he deserves. Finding a way out of the Coronavirus Crisis depends largely on the big increase in testing. Ministers have called on academic and business laboratories tojoina academic and business laboratories tojoin a National Effort academic and business laboratories to join a National Effort to boost capacity. Some Big Companies have said they will help out, but one Business Manager with laboratories told us how he felt his offer had not been taken up. I am frustrated, a little unhappy. It would be very easy to sit and enjoy the sunshine and wait until things open up again. I feel i have a duty to the country, and my team, to keep them busy and do something worthwhile. The number of tests carried out each day has not gone up a lot, although there has been a bank holiday weekend. It stands just under 16,000, a has been a bank holiday weekend. It standsjust under 16,000, a long way short of the 100,000 target set by the government by the end of this month, two weeks away. Nhs workers have been told they have access to testing if they work it, including at drive through centres like this, allowing them to return to work quickly if they test negative. That has been extended to social day care staff, including testing for all residents of care homes and patients leaving hospitals for a care facility. I asked at the downing street briefing how it was possible to extend testing in this way. How are you actually going to cover this large number of social care staff and nhs staff and hospital patients . How will it be achieved . Now we have Testing Available right across the nhs and social care for all those who need it. I am pleased we have been able to expand capacity so that can happen stop as we build capacity further over this month and then beyond to that 100,000 a day target by the end of the month, we will expand further those who are eligible for tests. He also said relatives would now be allowed to visit loved ones seriously ill in ca re visit loved ones seriously ill in care homes with covid 19. The peak of pressure on the nhs was expected about now, with a surge in covid 19 patients. Health leaders say there are Still Critical care beds to spare and most hospitals appear to be coping, but the peak last sometime. We think we can say with increasing confidence that the nhs should be able to cope with this initial peak and we will avoid seeing the scenes we saw in italy of individual hospitals being overwhelmed. But there are a whole load of new challenges the nhs faces, if we have this demand spread over a long period of time, how will we support our staff for whom the pressure is really extremely intense . There was uplifting news when connie, aged 106, left hospital in birmingham. She said she felt very lucky to have shaken off the virus. As weve been reporting, all residents and workers with symptoms will now be tested, along with anyone returning to a home from hospital. Although care home providers welcome these plans, many say their calls for greater support in terms of staffing, training and specialist kit continue to be ignored, and this comes as one care home in staffordshire reported that 2a of its residents have died since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Our social Affairs Correspondent alison holt has been to hear first hand how one care home is coping. Today at the st ives care home in chingford in essex they said goodbye to six of their elderly residents. Five of the deaths were linked to covid 19, the signs of its presence in the home marked out by the mast and ground staff. A brilliant night of music. Each life lost a member of this family. A Simple Service to provide a few moments of reflection ata provide a few moments of reflection at a deeply distressing time for staff, residents and families listening online. The home cares for 35 people, many with dementia. The virus arrived after a resident returned from hospital with it. Had the testing announced today been available, it might have helped. The manager says despite all their precautions, it spread quickly. For the last three weeks we have been dealing with end of life patients, relatives, people seeing their relatives, people seeing their relatives at end of life, having to dress them up in ppe before they can say goodbye. It has been so awful. It is awful, it is just surreal, it really is. It is an experience that residential Nursing Homes up and down the uk are now facing. In video diaries and staff here told us of the toll it is taking on them. Recently over the past few weeks it has been very hard watching your residents get ill and die. Not being able to give your residents a hug or able to give your residents a hug or a kiss when they really needed. We have lost a number of dear people to us, the have become our family. Have lost a number of dear people to us, the have become our familym is probably the hardest thing i have ever had to do, to come to work and look after people in this ppe, but unfortunately this is the situation at the moment and this is what we have to do. Care homes welcomed the governments strategy is some recognition for what they are dealing with, but for many it has been too slow in coming and they wa nt been too slow in coming and they want rapid action. Like many care homes, they say so far they have felt left on their own to deal with this crisis, struggling to get enough protective equipment, and even though not all their staff can be tested at drive through centres. There are still 18 staff who have not had testing and cannot have testing because they cannot drive. Our residents have not been tested and we need that as soon as possible because it would help massively in how we manage and quarantine different parts of the home. The staff here say they need to know that the promises made will lead to actual support. This protective suit iam wearing actual support. This protective suit i am wearing cannot shield humanity. Today i held their hand so they wont be alone. Alison holt, bbc news. Alison holt, bbc news. A quarter of scottish deaths linked to coronavirus have occurred in care homes according to the latest official figures. The National Records of scotland said 962 deaths had now been registered where the virus was mentioned on the death certificate. The majority of the deaths occurred in hospital, but 25 were in care homes. Our scotland correspondent lorna gordon reports. He was really unwell, but he took my hand and my dad had a way of letting me know, even through the dementia, how much he loved me. He held my hand to his face and started kissing it. Lindas father bill loved his grandchildren and love to dance. He passed away in his or her skin care home after showing symptoms of coronavirus, his daughter wearing protective clothing by his side. She says she is grateful for the care the staff there gave him throughout. He loved to look out the window by his bed, so he could see out into the garden. Wejust his bed, so he could see out into the garden. We just sat with him his bed, so he could see out into the garden. Wejust sat with him in his final week, looking through old photographs, making sure that he was happy and well taken care of. I cannot thank them enough. Doing extra shifts, all working as part of a team. The staff in the home bill was inhabiting working hard to protect those they care for. Problems with ppe are being ironed out, but there are concerns about testing. Testing still is a problem for us. As it stands right now, we are not getting any residents tested, so we are nursing on the suspicion that someone may or may not have covid 19. We are using ppe that we might not need to use. Scotlands first minister today said testing in scottish care homes will 110w testing in scottish care homes will now move from establishing if an outbreak has occurred, to testing all residents showing symptoms. We already tested the first residents in any care homes that become symptomatic of coronavirus in order to establish the presence of the virus in that home and ensure all appropriate measures are taken to protect all residents. However, we are moving now to test all symptomatic patients in care homes. These latest figures confirm what has long been suspected, while most of all coronavirus debts here in scotla nd of all coronavirus debts here in scotland occurred in hospital, a quarter have been in care homes. Around 40 of scottish care homes have, or have had, the virus at some stage. 91 year old and duncan caught covert in her edinburgh care home and died last night. Her daughter and died last night. Her daughter and grandson have fond memories of her, but tell of how frightening it was for her towards the end. Very, very strong, a wicked sense of humour. Very sensitive and very supportive, particularly of anton. She would say, will we be altogether ain . She would say, will we be altogether again . And we would reassure her that we would. Lorna gordon, bbc news. Lorna gordon, bbc news. Our Health Editor, hugh pym, joins me now. Lots of developments today, including the latest official figures. What can you tell us about the signals they give us, the kind of trend they suggest . At the downing street briefing they pointed to hospital numbers of patients with covid 19 as a suggestion that social distancing was actually working and working quite well. Lets look at the chart they showed. This is for patients in hospital beds with coronavirus. In london the numbers have dropped a lot. In the midlands they are flat. The east of england has picked up a bit, but scotland and wales are flat as well. But, chris whitty, the chief medical adviser for the government, said the number of deaths would continue rising, it may be quite sharply in the next few days because of delays with registration over the bank holiday. In the last hour we have had sad and tragic news of the death ofa had sad and tragic news of the death of a 28 year old nurse who was pregnant. She died with coronavirus. The trust where she worked, luton and dunstable, said the baby was safely delivered by cesarean section and is doing well. Hugh pym, our Health Editor. A partnership between clinicians, University Researchers and industry, which we reported on a few weeks ago, has now resulted in the production of 10,000 thousand breathing aids for seriously ill coronavirus patients. This afternoon, mercedes formula one completed manufacture of the Continuous Positive Airway pressure or cpap devices which were designed in partnership with engineers at University College london. Initial trials suggest they may be able to prevent more patients from needing ventilators, as our medical correspondent fergus walsh reports. As our medical correspondent this is the stark reality of intensive care in this time of coronavirus. Royal Surrey County hospital in guildford has many critically ill patients on ventilators. Ijust remember it being really, really difficult to breathe, and it would hurt to breathe. It was horrible. It literally scared me. I thought that was it when they were taking me away. Tim hall is over the worst the 37 year old spent four days on an alternative breathing device known as cpap, which pushes oxygen under pressure into the lungs. It meant he didnt need to go on a ventilator, which requires sedation. There you go, nice deep breaths for me. Good lad. Just being able to know whats going on and who is around you, and that, again, i think makes a big difference, so being awake was a massive thing. The cpap devices have been manufactured by mercedes formula one in northamptonshire quite a contrast to their usualjob of designing engines for motor racing. Theyve just finished an order of 10,000 of them for the nhs. It was done in partnership with engineers at University College london, who modified and improved an existing design. The manufacturing process has been made freely available. As a consortium, were really dedicated to supporting the global efforts around covid, and in response to that we released all the designs and Manufacturing Processes for the device at zero cost. Since then, weve approved over 1300 downloads of these designs, and thats across 25 countries. The more of these devices that are made available, the less pressure therell be on ventilators a limited resource which are needed for the most severely ill patients. All the medical staff on intensive care at royal surrey must wear full protective clothing because of the danger of infection. They know all too well the threat posed by coronavirus. So you can see clearly the difference between the normal ct scan here and this ct scan with common pneumonia. In the sickest patients, coronavirus causes severe pneumonia. What it tells us is that the lung tissue is damaged, and the damage is associated with leakage of fluid and the cells into the lung, so it stops the little blooms of the lung, the alveoli, working properly. And you can see this is really quite significant, all this is abnormal tissue here. National data shows that, of more than 1600 coronavirus patients in intensive care who finished treatment, around half have died. But an even higher number remain in critical care, their outcomes still uncertain. Doctors trialling the cpap device hope it will mean more patients will survive like tim, who has this message on social distancing. Anything you think that is worth going outside for, its not, not when you could, as i say, potentially see your kids for that last time or, you know, even a week or so without them is hard enough, so that a pint of milk, whatever it is, its not worth it. The cpap machine was approved by medical regulators in just days thats in stark contrast to several new models of ventilator, including one by dyson, none of which have received the go ahead for use in the nhs. Fergus walsh, bbc news. Business leaders have told ministers there needs to be a big improvement in the way government loans are approved for struggling firms. Just over 6,000 loans have so far been approved under the Business Interruption loans scheme, but more than 28,000 have applied. Many businesses have told the bbc theyve been rejected or told theyre not eligible. Labour says the scheme simply isnt working and must change urgently. Our economics correspondent andy verity reports. The governments promise before the shutdown was that any firm which needed access to cash would get a government backed loan or credit on attractive terms, but this mornings figures suggest the loans have been improved for barely one tenth of 1 of uk businesses. One of many frustrated Company Supplies electricity generators for events and has seen it in complement. It has repurposed itself to supply back up electricity to the nhs, temporary hospitals receiving coronavirus patients, but it hasnt got a loan and it is running low on cash. Unless there are immediate changes by the government to get this funding into the Event Industry right now, we are going to see businesses failing not next month, but next week. In these unprecedented times, it needs to be relaxed slightly so people can get the money in the bank. If the money gets in the bank, jobs are kept, businesses stay open. If it doesnt, businesses stay open. If it doesnt, businesses will close, jobs will be lost. What the companies who have had to put their business is under wraps have been telling the bbc is that one reason the money is being held up is that banks have to check the loans and do all the paperwork as if this was a normal commercial loan. But many of these businesses wouldnt be borrowing in the first place if it were normal commercial circumstances, and they are not borrowing for a normal commercial reason. They are borrowing only because of the emergency. We are very pleased that the banks have doubled the number of loans they have process, we now have £1 billion go out the door, there is more to be done, and it is absolutely critical that the pace continues to pick up, we expect the numbers to double every 48 hours, and the government are looking very carefully at other models to make sure that we get to the businesses that we want to help. Are those models include switzerland, whether government has guaranteed 100 of small loans so banks can lend much further. With firms about to pay wages next week, many need cash in days, not weeks, to stay afloat. Fruit and vegetable pickers are being flown to the uk from parts of eastern eruope to help fill a shortage during the outbreak. The first of up to six charter flights will land at Stansted Airport tomorrow, carrying 150 passengers from romania. Our consumer Affairs Correspondent sarah corker joins us. Sara, what kind of shortage are we talking about, and how many of these flights are we likely to see . Well, there is an estimated shortage of 70,000 seasonalfarm there is an estimated shortage of 70,000 seasonal farm workers. Global travel restrictions have cut off the supply of labour from eastern europe, and so now we are seeing Food Producers chartering their own planes to fly in the workers they need. As you say, at noon tomorrow the first flight from romania will land at london stansted, carrying 150 people. Before they board, they will have their temperatures checked, they will also fill out a health questionnaire, then they will be taken by bus to farms in east anglia to pick lettuces. This is the first of six flights over the coming months, farmers have told me they have tried to recruit enough british workers but not enough have come forward. Germany has announced the first easing of measures imposed to contain the spread of covid 19. Chancellor Angela Merkel said that some schools would re open from may 4th. It comes as the eu has been discussing how to co ordinate strategy for loosening restrictions. Our europe editor, katya adler, is in brussels. When we talk about coordination, katya, how does it look there . Well, you know, it is a big challenge to balance the risks, the social, economic and Public Health risks, for the eu, and you will remember its response at the beginning of the crisis was really messy, so what it is now sent to member countries is, before you start lifting your lockdowns, can you please coordinate . And dont even think about it and is the number of infections has been going down for a sustained amount of time, and as your Public Health system is able to deal with a spike of new infections, and unless you have the Testing Capacity in place to trace new infections and protect the general public who would then be out and about. But of course the eu knows that with 27 Different Health systems and 27 different economic priorities, each country will decide for itself when to start lifting the measures, like you say germany opening schools at the beginning of may, and shops as of monday, denmark open to primary schools today, but what the hope here is to prevent a new wave of infections across europe. This is not about getting back to normal, it is about the targeted easing of restrictions, and reintroducing them again if necessary , reintroducing them again if necessary, if there is a new wave of infections. Katya, thanks again, katya adler in brussels. As the outbreak continues to affect all parts of the uk, weve been hearing from front line health workers, about the challenges they face. Our Health Correspondent Catherine Burns is keeping in touch with a range of staff and has asked them to keep video diaries. Today, we catch up with dr Sarah Edwards, she works in accident and emergency at leicester royal infirmary. This was her shift yesterday. Shes been a doctor for nine years now, most of that time in emergency medicine, but Sarah Edwards says she never imagined working in a Global Pandemic. Its at times been very scary, because the amount of patients weve been seeing and the increasing number of patients weve been seeing, and some of them are of the same sort of age as i am, in my 30s, who are coming in very, very poorly. Im finding myself getting ever more anxious going into work, because ijust dont know what the day ahead is going to involve. Shes due at the hospital in a few hours but first has to safely wash her scrubs. Bagging up my uniform from work when i get changed into a pillow case, and then put that into the washing machine, this is so that myself or my partner, who may touch the bag, dont get contaminated. Its a beautiful sunny day, as you can probably see around. And im off to work now. Im walking down what is the main corridor through the hospital, and itsjust like a desert. Theres not much going on, theres no people, theres very few visitors. And itjust shows how much the hospital has changed or had to change to look after our patients. So. Its a bit like a ghost town at the moment. The a e is split into two separate zones red for suspected coronavirus cases and blue for everything else, ranging from broken bones to heart attacks. This is quieter than usual sarah thinks some patients are scared to come to hospital. But now shes moving to resus with some of the very sickest people. So now im in full ppe its very warm, its very sweaty, and its going to be a long several hours here in resus. Its probably been one of the most challenging shifts that ive had in recent weeks. The number of patients that weve seen tonight has just been almost mind blowing. And on top of that having to break awful news to lots of families about how sick their loved ones are is just utterly heartbreaking. Sarah says she loves herjob and sees it as an absolute privilege but she knows shes got a challenging time ahead of her before this is over. Catherine burns, bbc news. Well, while people stay indoors, the restrictions are putting some of the closest relationships to the test. Its forced many couples to make difficult decisions about whether to see each other and led others to speed up plans to move in together. And as our correspondent emma vardy has been finding out, dating apps say theyve seen an increase in the use of their platforms, with couples exploring creative ways to connect despite social distancing. I said, ok, do you want to do a virtual date . Forjames, 30, in manchester, and millions of app users, the Global Pandemic is definitely changing the dating game. So when he met a girl online during lockdown, james asked her out on a video date. They each ordered a deliveroo, some drinks and. Proper like had a proper shower, aftershave on as well to make it a bit more real. There was actually one stage during the date where i kind of was chatting to her, and i was like, this actually feels a bit like im actually with you. And she was like, oh my god, i feel the same. So with video dating from our living rooms becoming a thing, apparently the trick is to have something to do. What weve noticed is that people using bumble, and particularly our video call feature, to recreate social norms, so do try things like virtual happy hour, and do try things like cooking a recipe together. Welcome to week three, and were having a lovely walk. Social distancing psychologists say the stress of a crisis actually brings people together. Its not unusual for us to develop tighter bonds in strange situations. Could it be some of us are becoming even closer while were forced apart . Hello from holland hi from banbury in oxfordshire hello, im emma, im a funeral director in South East London and this is my husband, ian. Some couples have little choice but to spend this pandemic separately. Were doing online exercise classes together. Ive taught ian how to cook a curry. As a key worker, emmas staying in london, unable to see her husband, who is at home an hours drive away. It was a tough decision to make, but one we knew we had to do. It would be putting each other at risk to be commuting in and out, were kind of not allowed to. Were all going to have good days, were all going to have bad days. It is the right thing to do. A lot of us are going to discover whether absence does make the heart fonder. I think. I love him even more. Elles even had her cats passport ready to join her partner in holland, but all plans are on hold. Its difficult sometimes, i think one of the most difficult things is that we dont know when its going to end. And theres no end of advice on hand on how to all this. Im sam owen, and im a relationships coach and author