Dentists unable to work because of a shortage of protective gear, patients are taking matters into their own hands. A picture of gratitude how a leading portait artist is showing his appreciation for our Health Workers. And coming up on bbc news. European footballs governing body uefa stages further talks as its admits completing the current season will be impossible for some leagues. Good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six. The scale of the suffering caused by the coronavirus epidemic here in the uk became clearer today. The office of National Statistics revealed that the number of deaths has risen to its highest level in 20 years nearly double what would be expected at this time of year. In the seven days to april the 10th, there were 18,500 deaths in england and wales. More than 6,000 thats a third of them were linked to coronavirus. In that same week the number of deaths in care homes quadrupled, rising to more than a thousand and there are fears that the number may be higher still. And this afternoon we got the latest daily numbers 823 people have died in hospital across the uk. Well look at exactly what that means in a moment but first this report from our social Affairs Correspondent alison holt. Each face so much more than a statistic, a life lived and a family morning, the extraordinary high toll of deaths in the official numbers today can only really give a glimpse of how much the coronavirus is taken from us. Amongst those it is claimed is 89 year old john davies. From us. Amongst those it is claimed is 89yearold john davies. My mum could ask about something that happened when she was a child and she would be able to give you the date and time and everything that happened. She had an incredible memory and was a great historian. Her niece says joan memory and was a great historian. Her niece saysjoan was frail but still doing well at a care home in wales. Her ambition was to reach the age of 100 but within a couple of days of developing coronavirus symptoms she had died. Days of developing coronavirus symptoms she had diedli days of developing coronavirus symptoms she had died. I do wonder if people really understand how much we are going to lose in terms of the older communities, so much experience and family loss will happen. Because we are not really looking out for them properly and certainly not for the carers either and that is really scary. Many care homes like this one in sheffield have been hit hard by the virus. The deaths of some residents have left staff at full stretch physically and emotionally. A week after last speaking to us their boss says they are coping but they felt on their own. Sadly we are at the forgotten sector, we do not have the infrastructure or support of the nhs so infrastructure or support of the nhs soi infrastructure or support of the nhs so i would say we really have needed that in the past four weeks and i think we have to look at lessons that need to be learned from this. 0fficial that need to be learned from this. Official statistics are now only starting to give a sense of the scale of what has happened in care homes in england and wales. The last figures up until the start of april recorded the death of 217 people is linked to covid 19 but figures today show that one week later the able number had quadrupled to more than 1000 deaths. That means 10 of all deaths connected to the virus are happening in care homes. The figures in scotland and Northern Ireland are higher. Doctor Peter Calverley once one Large Care Home Group where they had 250 deaths and he thinks that the official numbers are still underestimated but the difficulties are being recognised. underestimated but the difficulties are being recognised. I think finally it is shining a light to reveal what we all knew what was happening on the ground and ijust think it is good to be out in the open and now part of the National Debate that we are understanding deaths not only in hospitals but also care homes. The government promised more protective equipment and is ramping up testing for care staff and residents but the numbers today are a stark reminder of the cost to so many of the coronavirus. Now earlier i gave you the latest daily figures for the number of people who died in hospital with the coronavirus 823 to be exact. Lets unpick that with our medical correspondent fergus walsh who is with me. 823, that will surprise a lot of people as it is a sharp increase from yesterday. It is tragic and alarming, it is a big increase and many of those deaths will apartment over the weekend and even in the days before but have just been reported now. For the first time tonight we have an accurate picture of the trend in hospital deaths in england and that gives a more encouraging picture. Looking at the figures we are able to see there is a steady rise in deaths in english hospitals which seems to have peaked probably on the 8th of april, that isa probably on the 8th of april, that is a key date and they were flattening and then falling ever since then. A word of caution because in the past five days weve seen that really big drop off and some of the deaths have not yet been reported so for the past five days that data is likely to change but the trend will still be downwards. Also if we look at the peak around the 8th of april most of those people would have been on average infected about three weeks before give or take infected about three weeks before give ortakea infected about three weeks before give or take a week. That was when we we re give or take a week. That was when we were being encouraged not to go to restaurants, to work from home but it was just before the lockdown so but it was just before the lockdown so you but it was just before the lockdown so you can see but it was just before the lockdown so you can see that it was beginning to have an effect and then of course the lockdown had a really significant effect. That is the situation for the deaths, is there any other evidence that we just could be passed to speak . Hopefully in terms of the number of people in hospital in Great Britain we were at 1. I hospital in Great Britain we were at u think over 20000 and the latest figures we have now is 17,000 and if we bring on a graph of different regions in britain you can see london had the biggest outbreak and thatis london had the biggest outbreak and that is definitely now falling. 0thers that is definitely now falling. Others are flattening, it has not yet falling substantially so we are not out of the woods yet but it is an encouraging sign but all depends on social distancing continuing. Fergus, thank you. At todays briefing by the government and its advisers, the Health Secretary, matt hancock, said trials of a vaccine for this coronavirus would begin on volunteers this thursday. Despite the best efforts of the oxford scientists involved the process is still likely to take mony months. Whats causing immediate concern is the continuing shortage of protective equipment for health and care workers. As our Political EditorLaura Kuenssberg reports there is growing pressure on the government. But as you can see, our staff are furloughed. Empty workshops that dont have to be. Tomorrow, jim griffins car parts firm will start again to make gearfor medics. He will repurpose his kit to make protective equipment. But although he says he has filled in form after form, this nottinghamshire factory will be making medical equipment for orders from ireland. I dont understand why it is so difficult for people to be getting in touch with Companies Like ours to make the products here in the uk. Mps are now back at work in a very different parliament. And the squeeze on equipment for Health Workers is top of many of their demands. The green benches have been carefully spaced out. 0rder, order. From tomorrow, they will able to ask questions of ministers online. Members may urge forth only to be muted or snatched away altogether by an itinerant internet connection. Ministers defend themselves to mps and others by saying that theyre focusing on larger providers after a vast 8000 firms offered to help with kit, but the opposition believes government has had time enough. Manufacturers here are saying we have stepped up and offered and did not really hear back from the government, and yet at the same time we have got planes trying to bring stuff back from abroad. Something is clearly going wrong. Do you think this is a bit of a reflection what is going on in a wider sense in terms of management of this crisis . The other decisions about testing and equipment appear to have been very challenging for the government, and i think they have been slow into it. And they are still not fully accepting the gap between what they say is happening and what the front line is telling us is happening. The Health Secretary has always said the government was well prepared to cope with the terrible reality of this crisis. Since the start of the crisis, weve now delivered over a billion items of ppe. We are constantly working to improve that delivery system, buying ppe from around the world and working to make more here at home. This was declared a pandemic well over a month ago. Why is the government still having to scramble now to get our Health Workers the equipment they need and allowing uk firms weve been hearing from today who could supply british hospitals and care homes to sell their products abroad . The most important thing we concentrate on is one what are the offers that can get us the most ppe to be able to get it into the country, to be able to manufacture it here and to be able to then get it out to the front line and we are doing everything we possibly can to make that happen. But tomorrow, ministers will no doubt again be asked in this very different looking parliament if doing everything they can is the same as achieving what needs to be done. Ministers had already taken some heat a few weeks ago of a not taking pa rt heat a few weeks ago of a not taking part ina heat a few weeks ago of a not taking part in a scheme where eu countries we re part in a scheme where eu countries were getting together to bulk buy equipment to help deal with the minister said there had been some confusion and theyve not had the my e mails and we did not necessarily need to be part of it anyway. Then this afternoon there were senior Civil Servant at the Foreign Office said actually it had been a political decision that had been taken by the government not to take part. An hour later that was denied by the secretary of state for health but there an area of getting the equipment to places where it needs to be on the front line during this crisis. And the government is continually having to answer the challenge both in terms of actually making it happen and also track record theyve had in actually making sure the rhetoric they put out about doing everything that they possibly can really match is the reality on hospital wards and care homes around the country. As for that senior official of the foreign 0ffice apparently shortly we are expecting a clarification of what he said this afternoon. For weeks now the Health Experts have been emphasising the importance of increasing the capacity to test people for the coronavirus. The governments target is an ambitious hundred thousand a day by the end of the month. So far the government says it has the capacity to carry out a0 thousand tests a day. But heres the challenge the latest figures show that less than half that number of tests were actually carried out. Why is that . Heres our Health Editor hugh pym. Des is a prison officer on his way into a drive through coronavirus testing centre. As a key worker he can in agreement with his employer get a test to confirm if he is fit to start work or return from self isolation. That is really good. A simple throat and nasal swab and the job is done, he must wait a couple of days for results to come back. |j was coughing at work and my colleague did not want to work with me which is fair enough. So i thought hang on, i was sent home and sent down here which is fair enough. There is a network of testing centres for key workers like this around england. A similar drive through testing site near Aberdeen Airport as well. The number of tests carried out each day on patients and key workers in the uk has risen to around the 20,000 level since data was first available earlier in the month. Still well short of a government target of 100,000 tests per day by the end of april, less than two weeks away. That target set by the Health Secretary matt hancock is for the number of tests carried out, Testing Capacity is another matter. Then it is these apus can be set up which are not fully used. Facilities can be set up which are not fully used. Confident we have the capacity to respond with the testing required. You confident of getting to the 100,000 tests per day by the end of april . You would need to talk to the secular state about his target but we do have the lab capacity to deliver the Testing Service that the country needs. The swa bs a re service that the country needs. The swabs are brought here to one of three so called mega labs, this one in Milton Keynes has been created at an existing research centre. Management here got a call in late march saying they would be part of a National Virus testing effort, equipment was meant by laboratories over the country and brought here by the army, the navy and even in taxis. Testing started a few days later and soon will move up to 20 47 operation. At the moment the manual process will support many thousands of samples per day and as the automation develops that will rapidly escalate into tens of thousands of samples per day. Those tens of thousands will be part of the move towards the government target with volunteers like beth, a research student, helping out. Target with volunteers like beth, a research student, helping outm target with volunteers like beth, a research student, helping out. It is when rewarding to be able to contribute, i have a lot of friends in the front line and Health Care Professionals and to be able to help them out in a way is good. Home testing has started this week, allowing key workers to get their own swab samples and send them for analysis. It is another part of the drive to escalate Testing Capacity which will be crucial if there is a second spike in cases late in the year. Whether it is enough to hit the government targets this month is another matter. As the weeks go by more and more families are experiencing the grief of losing a loved one to covid 19. Among them as we know are the families and colleagues of Health Workers. The uks first sikh a e consultant who died in derby after contracting the virus. Rajini Vaidya Nathan reports. Described as a beautiful, bighearted soul, Manjeet Singh riyat was also a trailblazer. The first to seek a e co nsulta nt trailblazer. The first to seek a e consultant in the uk, his impact was profound. I will remember him as my loving cousin who i grew up with and i will miss him terribly. How much did he love working for the nhs . M was his life and we found it difficult to get together because of his work schedule and his schedule with his training and schedule with the Royal College of surgeons, so for him, after his family, the nhs was everything. And he meant everything to his nhs colleagues. An absolutely fabulous man, inspirational. Inspirational on the shop floor and love the clinical challenge and had a massive intellect and encyclopedic knowledge and was an inspiration for many Junior Doctors many doctors who dedicated their career to the nhs have died coronavirus. Like this surgeon have died coronavirus. Like this surgeon from india who died in the welsh hospital where he worked for 25 years. Ruben munoz, one of the thousands of Filipino Health care workers, described as a highly respected and talented nursing assistant. And miss ballesteros, a 64 year old nurse who loved herjob. As the death toll rises, a distressing pattern has emerged. Black and minority ethnic workers represent 44 of doctors in nhs england. And just over a fifth of nurses, midwives and health visitors. But bbc Analysis Shows that they account for a disproportionately high 58 out of the 84 recorded deaths in the uk health workforce, but we still dont know why. Manjeet singh riyats cousin, who is also a doctor, paid tribute to the dedication of minorities to the nhs in the country. We all came here with great aspirations and many of us have taken the opportunities that have been provided for us in the uk. We all know we are at risk, but we are professionals. As flags flew at half mast at his hospital today, Manjeet Singh riyat will be remembered as precisely that, and to professional. An utter professional. Donald trump has announced that he will impose a temporary ban on all immigration into the united states. The president said the move, which is likely to face legal challenges, was needed to protect americanjobs during the pandemic. New york has been hit hard by covid 19 and the citys immigrant communities have been disproportionately affected. Nick bryant reports from the borough of queens. In a city of ambition, in a city of abundance, a scene that looks like a throwback to the days of the great depression. These people were queueing for food hand outs, the length of the line a measure of the desperation. Every person has a story of need. Almost all are economic victims of covid 19. Only a few weeks ago, restaurant workers, cleaners, labourers, now thrown out of work. Alfredo moreno was laid off last month. We have a little bit of money saved, so were trying to survive with that. While. When do you think the money will run out . We dont know yet. We have talked with our landlord to see what were going to do this month, but i dont know how were going to survive. Even in this time of crisis, Mary Bautista spoke of her civic and national pride. We are a nation who support each other, and you have seen the tremendous. The abundance of support from allthe americans, and im glad to be a new yorker, and god bless america. And these are the meagre food packages they spent hours queueing for. A sandwich, some apple sauce. In this, the land of plenty. From queens, you can see the residential skyscrapers of Billionaires Row in manhattan. But these neighbourhoods are part of another america, one that has been ground zero in new yorks outbreak, one that is home to the hardest hit public hospital. Here, a mother and daughter had to wave up at the windows to their husband and father, his birthday spent in covid isolation. On its doorstep is a neighbourhood called corona, heavily populated by immigrants who do not have the luxury of teleworking from home. People pursuing American Dreams that are being crushed by this global contagion. The Coronavirus Crisis has really held up a mirror to income inequality in america, and especially new york. Many of the richest people simply fled the city early on and headed to their coastal and country retreats. That was not an option for the poor. Many people here live in multi generational households in overcrowded housing, and the lower your income, the harder it is to be socially distant. With latino and black residents dying at twice the rate of white new yorkers, the local councillor, francisco moya, says the coronavirus has revealed a tale of two cities. A lot of the Latino Community and the Poor Community are living ten to a one bedroom apartment. When you think of new york city, you are accustomed of thinking of these luxury condos and high rises throughout the city, but you have to come out to the outer boroughs and see how the working class and the poor have to live. In this crisis of need, new yorks iconic yellow cabs have been drafted in to deliver aid. Taxi drivers have become caregivers, handing out meals to people who cant leave their homes. New york believes its past the peak of its coronavirus outbreak. But its still in the depths of this economic disaster. Nick bryant, bbc news, queens. Supplies of face masks for key Health Workers could be put at risk if the government starts advising the public to wear them. Thats the warning from hospital bosses. Nhs providers which represents hospitals in england said there needed to be clear evidence of the benefits before the guidance is changed. The World Health Organisation says there is no evidence to support their use by the general population, but many countries easing their lockdowns have insisted people wear them when leaving their homes. Heres our science editor, david shukman. A familiar sight on the medical front line masks protecting the faces of doctors and nurses. By contrast, masks worn by the public are generally helping to protect the people around them. There are two key reasons why it may be helpful for people to wear some kind of face covering. One is that if you become infected, five days may pass before you start coughing or having a fever. And in that time, especially in the two days before symptoms start to show, you can be highly infectious, passing the virus around without even realizing. The other reason is that some people become infected and never show symptoms. Maybe for ten days or even longer, no one really knows. And they also could be passing on the virus without even being aware of it. People started making homemade masks and giving them to others for free. Theres now a campaign to make your own mask. This one started in the czech republic. Its one answer to the pandemic. Masks arent a magic bullet, but what they can do is to slow the spread. And we can see that from countries such as taiwan, which havent had a lockdown, theyve managed to slow the spread of the virus through multiple measures. One of those is masks. And if all of us, or the majority of us wear masks, im convinced we can slow the spread of covid for the benefit of all of us, and protecting the nhs. But this has led to a serious worry among Health Professionals that if everyone rushes to buy masks, hospitals will face even more of a struggle to find them. We need to make sure that Health Care Workers can protect patients and can protect the public. Thats what an individual has to think about when theyre thinking of buying those higher grade masks. So while were being urged not to try to buy professional face masks, there is growing evidence that homemade ones like an old t shirt can be very effective. One study found thatjust two layers of cotton are enough to stop 90 of any virus you might be breathing out. A grim reminder of how easily the infection can spread. So when the lockdown is eventually relaxed, some kind of mask may be the answer. David shukman, bbc news. Dentists in england are the latest group of Health Workers to say a shortage of protective equipment is hampering their work. The British Dental Association says a third of the special centres set up to deal with urgent cases are currently inactive. The Association Says some patients are being forced to take matters into their own hands. Danjohnsons report does contain some graphic images. This is supposed to be one of the centres offering urgent dental care. Charlotte has been at work but she has not seen a patient for nearly a month. Its been very difficult for the last few weeks and we frustrated weve not been able to get up off the ground and get running and we have individuals whove been working very ha rd across have individuals whove been working very hard across the network to get the centre moving, but without the correct levels of ppe, we have not been able to do that. Normal dental equipment does not guard against the virus, and working close up, face to face, dentists are especially vulnerable. We need appropriate levels of ppe, so the special facemasks and the long sleeved gown is, its been an issue getting those through to us, but we are here and we want to be treating our patients. It would be quite hard to take out a molar. So some patients are resorting to diy after failing to some patients are resorting to diy afterfailing to get some patients are resorting to diy after failing to get treatment. They basically said unless it stopping me from breathing, they couldnt do anything and there was no point coming in unless i literally couldnt breathe properly. The pain never lessened, and it was excruciating, so i thought i would ta ke excruciating, so i thought i would take it into my own hands, really. It was quite tricky. I thought maybe ten or15 minutes, it was quite tricky. I thought maybe ten or 15 minutes, but it took an hour and ten or 15 minutes, but it took an hourand a ten or 15 minutes, but it took an hour and a half. We are living and working in unprecedented times. This was englands chief dental officer sarah hurley rallying the troops in an online update earlier this month. There has been criticism and a sense that the situation is better in other uk nations, claim that more than 200 dental centres are open has been challenged. Weve been providing remote advice for our patients for a number of weeks now, so we are patients for a number of weeks now, so we are therefore our patients if we are needed but we have not been able to give the face to face delivery of care. It must be frustrating. Its frustrating for us and its obvious lee frustrating for oui and its obvious lee frustrating for our patients, but Patient Safety is of the utmost importance, and for oui of the utmost importance, and for our dental teams. We are told protective equipment is in place and more is promised, but patients in pain are still troubling to get struggling to get treatment. Dan johnson, bbc news. Captain tom moore today opened the new Nightingale Hospital in harrogate via video link. The virtual ceremony was held to open a 500 bed facility, the first of seven field hospitals built outside a city. Captain tom as everyone has come to know him has captured the heart of the nation when he set himself the challenge of walking 100 laps of his garden before his 100th birthday. He has now raised over £27 million for Nhs Charities together. People across the uk have been showing their gratitude to the nhs staff working to save lives. Amongst them is the leading portrait artist tom croft, who has decided to celebrate the dedication of doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers by painting portraits of them. His call on social media has lead to other prominent artists giving away free portraits to key workers around the world. 0ur arts editor Will Gompertz has the story. The artist tom croft has painted a lot of portraits over the years. Hes done footballers, politicians, bishops and rock stars. But the pandemic left him short of subjects. Until, that is, he had an idea. When the lockdown first started, i was really struggling, as i know a lot of artists were, to find almost the point in their work. And so i thought about a portrait being a celebration of people achieving extraordinary things, maybe in their professional lives. And who is more deserving at the moment than the heroes on the frontline of the nhs . And so he posted an instagram message. The first doctor, nurse, key worker to contact me in this post, i will paint their portrait in oils forfree. Harriet durkin, an a e nurse at the manchester royal infirmary, did just that. And tom got to work painting harriet wearing her ppe. What does it mean to you now to have it . Ill have that picture forever and be able to look back, you know, and remember what a difficult time it had been, but people that i work with, people i call my friends, everybody coming together, i can look at that and think, gosh, you know. Its very emotional. Critical care nurse carolina pinto also got in touch with tom, who has been inundated with portrait requests from hundreds of doctors and nurses. He matched her with bp portrait Award Finalist mary jane ansel, who conducted a virtual sitting. So im really excited to paint you and i think this is such a lovely idea. I never had my portrait done before, but its also good to have like this kind of experience where people are supporting us in a different way