Transcripts For BBCNEWS Outside Source 20200428

To live with the virus. And in germany, as lockdown restrictions are eased, infection rates rise. Well have the latest. And the us now has more than a million coronavirus cases. Thats one third of the global infections. And the milestone comes as states continue to loosen their lockdowns. Welcome to this edition of outside source. A rising number of deaths linked to coronavirus in care homes across the uk has pushed the overall numbers dying with the virus to a record high, according to the latest figures. Nearly 25,000 deaths from all causes were recorded in the uk in the week of the Easter Bank Holiday more than twice the expected number for this time of year. During that same week, figures show almost 2,400 deaths linked to covid 19 were registered in uk care homes. That was in mid april were now two weeks on, and as the number of deaths in hospitals has continued to fall, its now thought that one in every three deaths from coronavirus in england and wales are happening in care homes. Representatives of the care sector are saying it is now the true front line in the battle against the virus. Alison holt reports. At st cecilias nursing home in scarborough, like many homes across the country, they believe the fight theyve been waging against coronavirus for weeks is only now being reflected in officialfigures. This is the area that we will have for anyone thats been barrier nursed. They lock down early, have areas set aside for nursing coronavirus patients, and people stick to their rooms. But still, across the three homes in the group, theyve had 11 deaths four confirmed as covid 19. I was called and did see her for the last on the day that she died, they asked me. One of the residents who died was reg kemps wife, liz. They were married for more than 50 years, and she loved spending time with her grandchildren. He says staff did all they could for her. Ijust hope that the ministers do recognise the wonderful work thats gone on and goes on up and down the country in Nursing Homes just like where liz was. Theyre doing a job equal to anyone in the National Health service. The uk Health Secretary said deaths in care homes would now be included in the governments daily figures which have until now only reported hospital deaths. At the News Conference earlier, matt hancock was repeatedly pressed on whether care homes had been overlooked. I wonder if you will take this opportunity to apologise to those families of loved ones who died in care homes because the government didnt properly protect them. Thats. The thing is, nick, i think thats. I think thats unreasonable as a question, actually. And i know you care an awful lot about this, but from the start, we know we knew that there was a very significant challenge with care homes, not least because of the frailty of the residents. And the enormous work thats gone on within government, Public Health england, and local authorities, and the cqc to monitor this from the start it has been more difficult to get data flowing, and im very glad we are able to do that now on a daily basis instead of a weekly basis, as before. And making sure that care homes have the support they need has been absolutely at front of mind right from the start. Also at todays press conference the government announced that more people could apply for a coronavirus test including those living in care homes, people over 65 and their families, and anyone having to leave their home to go to work in england. So from construction workers to emergency plumbers, from Research Scientists to those in manufacturing. The expansion of access to testing will protect the most vulnerable. Well, thats the testing, but lets return to those mortality figures. The new numbers today mean the uk could be on course to have the highest death toll in europe. Let me show you this chart. Along the bottom is the number of days thats passed. Towards the right hand side theres a line showing deaths in uk hospitals, and thats on a similar path to other countries like france and italy. But look at the other line for uk deaths, towards the middle labelled uk all settings. That is significantly steeper. Deaths in care homes get reported more slowly so you can see that information is coming in quite delayed. But with that, the uk certainly looks like its doing significantly worse. James tozer is a data journalist at the economist magazine. Good evening to you, thanks very much forjoining us. We know about the delay and the lag in the polling. Ill ask you in a moment about the clear way of reporting this in your opinion. But are you surprised at learning of these figures today . Im not surprised. I think its good that the British Government is finally including care home figures in its official data, because as weve known for a while, a lot of deaths in britain and other countries are coming and care homes, perhaps 30 a0 . And thats clear from the weekly figures that the government and the office of National Statistics have released, theyve announced they re National Statistics have released, theyve announced theyre taking it into the daily figures, which are obviously the ones that most people Pay Attention to. You say that is good, where you frustrated that that had not been done before hand . And do you think there was a reason for not collating the figures together . Not frustrated as such, but it is clearly when you look at france, theyve been reporting these figures daily for a time, and it comes down to testing. France has expanded testing quite rapidly to care homes, and britain is behind on that curve. My and britain is behind on that curve. My understanding is that the figures will only include people who test positive for the virus, so they still might miss people who did not test positive before dying. So it is a good step in terms of data transparency, but it really depends on whether they are able to scale up the testing in these institutions. And given the differences in a number of countries, particularly when we look in europe and how they are reporting their deaths from coronavirus, can we then therefore say headlines such as the uks on course to have the highest death toll in europe . The best way to determine that its a look at the total number of people who have died, because that allows you to pick out the people who might have died of the virus but werent identified as such. Those figures obviously have a delay which takes about two weeks for them to come out. What we do know is that for the latest set of those figures, running up latest set of those figures, running up to 17 april, england and wales had had about 27,000 more deaths than usual for the same time of year. And that is roughly equal we dont know the equivalent figure for italy, because they havent released it nationally, but what we do know in spain and italy is that those figures are starting to decline in mid april, whereas they were still rising in britain at that time. So it is quite possible that within a week or two, we see britain overtaking other countries in terms of total deaths, something from all causes. Theres also the number of people who have been analysing whether or not we are on a downward arc, if you like, bring this pandemic to some form of balance. Would you agree that we are in that stage now . I think the only way you can look at that is from the governments daily figures. Those do suggest we are reaching a sort of long plateau or gentle decline, but adding the figures from care homes will give us a clearer picture moving forward. James, thanks for being with us there. Lets just take a look now at the picture in a number of european countries. The french Prime Minister, edouard philippe, has set out a plan for easing the coronavirus lockdown, warning that france is going to have to learn to live with the disease. This is mr philippe addressing parliament where he said that lifting restrictions was to be feared as much as it was desired. He warned that if the virus makes a comeback, easing the lockdown may be delayed beyond 11 may, the target date. All food shops and most markets will be reopening, but not bars, restaurants, cinemas or theatres. Heres more from Hugh Schofield in paris. 11 may, two weeks from now, will be the turning point, this fulcrum in the french reaction to the coronavirus, after which things should start moving towards a kind of new normality. That will be the date at which the confinement which will then have lasted two months comes to an end. But it will be gradual and progressive. And the key points that he wanted to make were one, we need to learn to live with the virus, it wont go away two, any change will be progressive and introduced with a series of checks to make sure that targets have been met, and if theyve not been met, then we will go back and three, that there is room for a certain amount of regional adaptability. In other words, department x in the south of the country with very few cases does not necessarily have to the same rules as the north or east of the country with a very urban environment and a lot of cases. So these are the Guiding Principles which will allow us to move from 11 may into this new world, in which, for example, primary schools initially will be open, shops will be open, businesses will be open, but all within the constraints of a very, very different way of operating, governed by social distancing and the wearing of masks and tests, of course, which will be coming in big time in a couple of weeks. In germany, as restrictions on daily life are being eased, the so called reproduction rate of the virus has actually risen to around a value of one. What that means statistically, is that every person who is infected, passes the virus on to one other person. Virologists have emphasised the importance of keeping the reproduction rate below one, so that Health Care Systems can cope with the volume of patients. Translation we all, of course, want normality, a new normality. But let us continue to ensure, especially in the context of a relaxation of measures, that we can continue to defend this common success. We all need to take care that we dont end up with more cases with more infections. Heres more on that from jenny hill in berlin. That reproduction rate is based on data that has been gathered at least three days ago, so it doesnt necessarily give you an up to date picture of exactly what the scenario is right now. In the germany German Authorities look at the so called r value, they also look at hospital capacity, and at the moment they say they are beds to spare, they are not concerned about that. The third important factor is the daily rate of new infections. And that matters of course, because broadly speaking, that number has been falling, but secondly, when you combine that with the reproduction rate, that gives you a bit more of an indication. So even if the r value is one so for every person who has the virus, they are infecting, statistically speaking, one other person it makes a big difference how many current infections you have. So at the moment, germany is getting around 1,100 new infections confirmed every day. Thats a very different picture when youve got an r rate of one, than perhaps a country where youve got a rate of 5,000 a day. So you can see the big sums that the scientists are having to do. But the point is still that they are being very cautious here. Angela merkel and her experts say germany is not out of the woods, and as they ease these restrictions, theyre watching all of those figures very, very carefully indeed. Stay with us on 0ustide source. Still to come the us now has more than one million coronavirus cases. Thats a third of the global infections. Well bring you the latest from washington. Scotlands first minister Nicola Sturgeon has advised the scottish public to wear Face Coverings in enclosed public spaces such as supermarkets or when using public transport. She said it would not be mandatory or enforced at this stage but would be kept under review. The guidance also makes clear that the evidence on the use of Face Coverings is still limited. However, it recognises that there may be some benefits in wearing a Face Covering if you leave the house and into an enclosed space where you will come in contact with multiple people, and safe social distancing is difficult for example, on public transport or in shops. Of course, most shops are closed, so right now this would apply in particular to food shops. Now to be clear, the benefit comes mainly in cases where someone might have the virus but isnt aware of that because theyre not experiencing any symptoms, and therefore not isolating completely in line with the rules. This is 0utside source, live from the bbc newsroom. Covid i9 related deaths in care homes in england and wales have trebled in the space of three weeks. The us has now recorded more than a million covid i9 cases. Thats almost a third of the global total. More than 58,000 people have died in america. Heres donald trump a short time ago. You have to understand that when it comes to testing, we do more than any other places. If you chest, test, you will see many more cases. So we are doing more testing than any other country in the world by far, which wejust any other country in the world by far, which we just discussed over at the oval office. So we will show more cases because we are doing much, much more testing double anybody else. Lets go to washington and speak to katty kay. Lovely to see you. A million cases now reported in the united states, get irregularities in the state by state and how they are reacting to this what is your general feeling there . Is a grim figure, isnt it . Getting to that milestone, everybody expects that the actual number of people infected, and possibly the actual number of people who have died from covid i9 is higher than those because although mr trump said there is a lot of testing going on, america still not testing enough, according to Public Health experts. And yet as you have this Million People being infected figure coming out, you also have states starting to open up around the country. And it is causing quite a lot of confusion, because some states are doing one thing, some states are doing one thing, some states are doing another. The white house itself is putting out certain mixed m essa 9 es itself is putting out certain mixed messages with trump urging some states to open up quicker, but then criticising other states were opening up too quickly. To some extent, it is a reflection of the fa ct extent, it is a reflection of the fact that this is a very, you know, state driven country where people do different things. But i think some of the weaknesses of that system are showing up in this particular pandemic. And in this particular moment where some states open up and others dont. Mr trump has promised a vigorous testing being available to all, how far are we along with that promise . Look, as in some other countries, the lack of testing has caused huge problems here. Initially the white house said that it was sending out millions of tests, it sent them out, but then there werent the reagents in order to satisfy getting those test results, there werent the swabs necessary in orderfor people to there werent the swabs necessary in order for people to administer the tests, the nurses who are meant to administer the test didnt have the protective gear in order to administer them. And all governors are saying they would like to have more testing in order to open up the country. The figures range up to 22 million tests for americans per day toi million tests million tests for americans per day to i million tests for americans per day. The figures are all over the place, but one thing that is clear is that america is not there yet in terms of sufficient numbers for the governors to be able to open up their states and keep a monitoring eye on where the hot spots might be. Katty kay, thank you very much. As the global death toll passes 200,000, tensions continue to escalate between china and other nations over how the virus began. Lets bring ros atkins back in. Hi, ros. Thanks, babita. Lets start with chinas ambassador to the uk, speaking to the Bbcs Hardtalk programme. China is a victim of the coronavirus. China is not a source of this problem. China is not the producer of this epidemic. And that is something we have to come clean about. Donald trump sees it differently. He has said hes considering suing china, accusing china of not doing enough early on to stop the spread of the disease. We are not happy with china. We are not happy with that whole situation, because we believe it couldve been stopped at the source, it couldve been stopped quickly, and it wouldnt have spread all over the world. And we think that should have happened. So well let you know at the appropriate time, but we are doing serious investigations. And this was the response to that from the Chinese Foreign ministry. Translation american politicians have repeatedly ignored the truth and have been telling barefaced lies. They have only one objective shirk the responsibility for their own poor Epidemic Prevention and control measures, and divert public attention. But the facts speak louder than words, and justice naturally inhabits a mans heart. Their plot can never succeed. So no question this is a major battle over the narrative of this outbreak and this matters for domestics politics in china and the us and also for both countries standing on the world stage. Lets look at how its played out. This is from 2a january donald trump tweeted. But by march, the tone had changed. The White House National security adviser said. A Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman hit back, tweeting. Maybe though theres zero evidence to back up that accusation. Then in april, donald trump said the World Health Organization was too china centric and announced the us would suspend its funding. Next heres our china correspondent Stephen Mcdonell with his view of these tensions. The war of words between washington and beijing continues regarding the coronavirus, allegations going back and forth. Its been like this for months. Conspiracy theories being peddled by both countries, and often its sort of in the form of a question, a rhetorical question that seems to be designed to throw mud at the other side. Now weve had this latest broadside from donald trump and the response from the chinese government. The foreign ministrys spokesperson did not mention mr trump by name, but said certain us politicians were lying about the coronavirus situation in order to cover up their poor performance. And i think were going to see more and more of this as other countries are being pulled into the debate over the source of the coronavirus, the extent to which china has covered it up, and the question of whether more could have been done to prevent its spread, and also the extent to which china should potentially have to pay for the damage from this disease spreading around the world. Now australia is also being drawn into this. China has accused the Australian Government ofjoining the us after it suggested there needs to be an inquiry into how the virus started. Look at this from chinas ambassador to australia. Bear in mind that china is australias largest trading partner. Well, australias trade minister responded, saying. But as one academic told the sydney morning herald. And this is why the story of this virus matters so much it will directly impact on chinas relationships in the world. Lets go to washington now to speak to zhaoyin feng from bbc chinese. Shes based in washington. What do you make of those comments directed in australia . It was quite a different tone to the one weve heard from the chinese. Indeed, in only two months ago, china was overwhelmed by the pandemic. But the tide has turned now. China appeared to be getting its outbreak under control while western countries are still scrambling to ease the pandemic. And this contrast has emboldened beijing to push back at criticism and skepticism coming from countries like australia and the us will stop when phasing all these questions around the start of the outbreak, chinas response has basically been, mind your own business, get your outbreak under control, and dont try to shift the blame on to us. And this is also pa rt blame on to us. And this is also part of beijings campaign of narrative. The countrys eager to turn the page on the handling of the pandemic, and to repair its damage to its National Pandemic to like her reputation. But some may argue that by making threats like the ones you just mentioned, beijing has further damaged its reputation. And you were saying china wants to turn the page. Help us understand better the risk secure for china if it loses control of the narrative . The narrative about the origin of the virus is very hostile because it has lots to do with chinas international image. If the rest of the world continues to associate the virus with china and to blame the great human and economic losses on china, this will bea economic losses on china, this will be a huge Public Relations crisis for beijing. And in the bigger picture, it is also another dimension of china trying to gain more international through ins, especially at this time where the us is raising this so called America First doctrine. And even when. was just first doctrine. And even when. wasjust going to first doctrine. And even when. was just going to jump first doctrine. And even when. wasjust going tojump in first doctrine. And even when. was just going to jump in there because we are at the end of the programme. They can get more of these through the bbc website. The headlines are coming up next. Hello again. Its been the sunniest april on record, and up until today, it was also unusually warm and unusually dry. But all that changed across england and wales today. This was yesterday, and although the heat was more limited, still up to 19 degrees. A significant drop in the cloud and rain today, and in coventry it was only seven degrees this afternoon. Still some wet weather around at the moment. Overnight, the worst of that rain pushes away eastwards. But it stays cloudy and misty, some hill fog and some drizzle around as well. Where we have the clearing skies across northern and eastern scotland as the showers reduce, so there could be a touch of frost, but elsewhere temperatures remain at six or seven degrees. And whilst its turning a bit drier overnight, theres more rain to come tomorrow. This weather front bringing some rain up from the south west wrapped around that area of low pressure. Ahead of it, there could be some sunshine in scotland, a few showers, too. Pretty grey and cloudy and damp elsewhere. And then well see this band of more persistent and perhaps heavier rain pushing northwards and eastwards. Once that clears, youve got a good few hours of dry and sunny weather before it turns wet and windy again in the south west later on. And although theres more rain to come on wednesday, it wont be as cold for england and wales as it was today. But all this rain means that the pollen levels have dropped, and they remain low to moderate across the country tomorrow. More rain to come overnight, as well, on those two weather fronts there. And as we head into thursday, as that centre of low pressure gets closer, so weve got more wet weather to come as well. So, a bit of patchy rain to start with on thursday in scotland, a band of rain for Northern England and northern ireland, but south of that, well see some sunshine but also some heavy and potentially thundery downpours developing and some strong and gusty winds through the English Channel as well. Those temperatures still disappointing for the time of year. Typically 12 or 13 degrees. Now, as we close out april and move into may, weve still got an area of low pressure close by. Its only moving away very, very slowly, so again, its not going to be completely dry. Around that weather front in northern scotland, some more rain. Whilst we see some sunshine elsewhere, the showers are likely to develop, push their way eastwards and again those could turn heavy and thundery before it turns brighter and drier in the south west of england and wales later. Temperatures in the sunshine in the south up to 15 or 16 celsius. This is outside source on bbc news for viewers in the uk and around the world. Were covering all the latest coronavirus developments here in britain and globally. New figures show a third of all coronavirus deaths in england and wales now take place in care homes. The uks Health Secretary announces testing will soon be rolled out to all residents and staff. Anyone who is working or living in a care home will be able to get access to a test whether they have symptoms or not. British airways announces 12,000 redundancies after a collapse in passenger numbers caused by the pandemic. France announces plans to ease its lockdown, but the Prime Minister says the country will have to learn to live with the virus. And we find out how cuba is helping some countries manage their Health Care Systems under the pandemic. Welcome. British airways is set to make up to 12,000 workers redundant. Its Parent Company iag announced the planned job cuts as it revealed that revenues had plunged 13 in the First Quarter of the year. British airways has currently furloughed its 22,500 employees. It says the recovery of passenger numbers to levels seen last year will take years. Sally gethin is an aviation commentator and is here in london. Good to have you with us. First, what is your reaction to the news today that British Airways are to make 12,000 workers redundant . For me it is not about out of the blue. The same is true for anybody in the airline industry. This is a terrible situation for all the staff obviously but in fact it is going to parfor obviously but in fact it is going to par for the course moving forward for all airlines around the world. And there were going to be morejob losses and more airlines will go under. Do you think it was action they were about to take too soon really given the fact that we dont know how this pandemic is going to play out . In particular how things may indeed get to a certain level of normality in the future to do with the aviation sector and how passengers are travelling around the world. They are tightening their bell and looking ahead and they can see that this is not going to be a quick return to recovery. And so they can see that they will not be able to operate as an airline like they were before. It is largely a Long Haul International Intercontinental Airline and that is the worst hit part of the sector. That is to be the sector that likely will take the longest to return. Eventually we will do start to travel again, they are more likely to start with short to medium haul markets, regionally where they feel safest a nd markets, regionally where they feel safest and most comfortable. And so iag is looking ahead and taking preemptive action because of the end of the day they have got to deliver a profit and they can see they are haemorrhaging profits at the moment airlines are basically grounded. So they had to take these drastic steps right now. I have to put you what the reaction has been from the unions. The news coming as a boat from the blue says one and the unite unison union says they are threatening legal action against British Airways for this and it is a sta b British Airways for this and it is a stab in the back. Clearly this will affect a large number of people and theirfamilies. What affect a large number of people and their families. What would you say to that where again there is premature . The argument that the union has and is a valid argument is that iag has furloughed staff and is paying them out of the relief package that the british chancellor made available to all companies actually and not particularly airlines. And so unite is arguing its case that that should not be able to happen, that airline should not be able to take taxpayer relief while actually making plans and using that time to ask its own staff. So they are using that loophole in a way that an airline should not be taking taxpayer subsidized revenues off the government while actually making plans which could return it to profitability in the future because it isa profitability in the future because it is a privately. It is a publicly floated airline. We were out of time but thank you very much for joining out of time but thank you very much forjoining us. If you arejust joining us and listening to the news what redundancies, British Airways and the redundancies, more Detailed Analysis on it and the applications of it on the website. Across the globe, countries whose Health Care Systems are buckling under the coronavirus pandemic are turning to cuba for help. Since the start of the crisis, cuba has sent more than 1200 doctors and nurses to the front lines in 22 countries. Most have arrived into vulnerable african and caribbean allies of cuba, including venezuela, jamaica and nicaragua. But also richer nations, including italy and china. South africa is the latest country to receive cubas help. These pictures were sent from an airbase in pretoria on sunday. The cuban doctors are being welcomed by the government and members of the cuban community. Around 200 medical staff are helping south africas health system. For decades, cuba has sent its doctors abroad, winning friends in remote countries, but also filling a desperate need. State media tells us more than 400,000 Health Care Workers have been sent abroad since 1963, often seen as icons of cubas socialist solidarity. While some are sent on humanitarian grounds, many are paying for their service. The Economist Says medical exports make up 46 of the islands export earnings. To put that into context more, cuba earned 6. 3 billion from medical services in 2018. Thats twice as much as it earned on tourism. While it is a major source of income, it offers an even bigger prize diplomatic prestige. We found these pictures from italy last month. Take a look. Applause. Cuban doctors receive a heros welcome in lombardy. These pictres were posted by a pro cuban Revolution Group in italy. Italy was the first developed european nation to accept cubas help. While many hail them heroes, critics believe cubas real interests are economic and diplomatic. The us is a staunch critic. In a statement to the Washington Post, the Us State Department said. The wall streetjournal has harsher words. Back in 2015, it called cubas International Doctor diplomacy its slave trade. Havana denies all the allegations. This is interesting. The Washington Post reports that some of washingtons latin American Allies who sent cuban doctors back because of changes in leadership now need their help to fight covid 19. Will grant is our Central America correspondent and joins me from his home in the uk. Good to see you. Talking us through all of this, it is really hard to get past the fact that these are key worker assuming essentialjob saving lives. And yet the Politics Around this is casting a shadow on this, is it not . This has always been controversial since its inception in a way. And its always been a key pa rt a way. And its always been a key part of the cuban revolution, the idea of sending brigades of doctors around the world to support like minded nations and unnecessarily to support nations that just need the unnecessarily to support nations thatjust need the happen if to cuba for that. They were there after the haiti earthquake, they were there in the ebola crisis in west africa and so on and so forth. If you go to that quote that you said from the state department and calling it not inherently altruistic, that gets to the brunt of it. This one believe that it the brunt of it. This one believe thatitis the brunt of it. This one believe that it is altruistic as have anti claims and as many other doctors who go on these brigades say . Or does one agree with washington and miami that that know this is about funds coming into the cuban government . 0k, stay with us. Lets turn away from medical diplomacy and focus on whether cuba is equipped to handle the coronavirus outbreak on the island itelf. Cuba is somewhat of a medical powerhouse. It boasts the worlds highest ratio of doctors to population. Pro venezuelan media suggest cuba has as many as 100,000 doctors, or nine physicians for every 1000 citizens. Its Free Health Care system is considered a pillar of the revolutions success. Reuters describes it as renowned for its focus on prevention, Community Oriented primary health care and preparedness to fight epidemics. Cuba was quick to take action with the pandemic. Officials banned tourist arrivals, isolated at risk groups and shut schools early on, when the country still only had 21 confirmed cases. But other factors make cuba vulnerable. The country has the oldest population in the americas. More than 20 are over 60. And the pandemic is putting cubas fragile economy under even more strain. The economist reports containment measuers are hurting food supplies, and many supermarket shelves are empty. These pictures give you a better sense of life in the capital. The pictures on the left were taken in havana last year a bustling, vibrant city. The footage on the right was captured a week ago. Havana now resembles a ghost town. Lets go back to will grant. Talking about how they are exporting their specialism and expertise around the world but on home turf how are they ferrying . Normally as you know i would speak to you from havana but i happily back in the uk for a short visit and then havana pulled up the drawbridge. Part of those measures that were taken very early to make sure the virus did not spread as quickly as it was in other parts of the region. And they are doing pretty well in that regard. What do i mean by that . Well, they have only reported 48 fresh cases today. They have in total only had just under 60 deaths altogether since this whole covid 19 situation began to unfold. So they are cautiously optimistic that they are beginning to see the top of the curve and a beginning to flatten the curve and a beginning to flatten the curve on the island. That said, they are going to keep these measures in place. People have to wear face masks. There are cases being brought against people who break that. Obviously it is a very centralised, controlling government so people will be arrested if they break the law in many areas, which is obviously a big question on the human rights situation on the island but when it comes to these situations, cubas but when it comes to these situations, cu bas centralised system situations, cu bas centralised syste m m ea ns situations, cu bas centralised system means a government, the communist party just makes system means a government, the communist partyjust makes a decision and it does get executed throughout the island. So in a sense thatis throughout the island. So in a sense that is working in their advantage. It isa that is working in their advantage. It is a mixed picture. There is still a lot of problems with distancing and cues to find food but by and large they still have not yet hit 60 deaths on the island and i think they are optimistic consciously about what that means. Thank you very much for that, will grant there. The nigerian president , muhammadu buhari, has ordered a total lockdown in the Northern State of kano after gravediggers said they were burying an unusual number of bodies. Mr buhari has sent a team of investigators to the state which has one of the highest Coronavirus Infection rates in the country. The Authorities Say the deaths are not related to covid 19, but could be from other illnesses. Our nigeria correspondent Chi Chi Izundu reports. From these graves, whispers of rumours started. Gravediggers who said theyd noticed a higher than normal number of burials. Translation no, we have never seen anything like this, not since the major cholera outbreak that our parents have told us about. That was 60 years ago. They told us, at that time, they used to run away from the dead bodies, but they will still called to bury the dead. Kano has been in lockdown due to coronavirus for almost two weeks. Private health care centres, which provide more than half of all health care in the state, have closed. Testing for covid 19 started in mid april, but its now been suspended for almost a week after the contamination of a laboratory. Once fumigated, officials hope to have it up and running. The rumoured deaths of around 640 people over the last week has shocked the medical community. Deaths arent registered here, so its not easy to find out why people are dying. But nigerias centre for Disease Control has sent a 17 strong enhanced support team to start taking verbal autopsies, Contact Trace those whove been around positive cases and implement steps to contain the spread of covid 19, all to try and stop kano becoming the next epicentre. Authorities say early reports show the deaths could have been caused by complications around diabetes, acute malaria, meningitis or hypertension. But its not coronavirus. The count of the deaths is alarming, and the number are not unconnected to the coronavirus pandemic, and it might likely be due to the shutdown of private hospitals. There are a lot of hypertensive patients, diabetic patients, asthmatic patients, cancer patients, and they have not much access to the hospitals because the lockdown affects everybody. Preparations are under way to treat the rising number of cases. Officials, however, are asking for time time to investigate and time to contain the spread of the virus. But as cases across nigeria continue to increase, time is a luxury few can afford. Chi chi izundu, bbc news. Stay with us on 0ustide source. Still to come, we take a look at the availability of personal protective equipment and find out why ppe tends to be designed for male bodies. In the netherlands, the number of daily cornavirus cases is falling. On monday, the dutch king urged all people to stay at home instead of flocking onto the streets clad in orange as they normally do for the annual celebration of kingsday. Heres more from Anna Holligan in the hague. Here in the netherlands, the figures for both hospital admissions and deaths show a downward trend. The bad news is its not over yet. So, in the last 24 hours, another 40 people died of covid 19, taking the total number of dutch desk to 4566. And theyre only people who were tested for the virus before they died. The actual number is thought to be about 40 higher. But there are reasons to be cheerful. As we saw on monday, people celebrating the dutch King Willem Alexanders 53rd birthday, dressing up in the colour of the dutch royal family and granting his wish that they celebrate by staying at home rather traditional street parties. And here in the netherlands, actually theres only ever been a partial, or what the Prime Minister likes to call an intelligent lockdown. So, the advice is stay at home, work from home, but if you need to go out, then just keep that 1. 5 metre social distance. And the thinking is really that this will help to make the exit strategy more manageable, but also to cushion the economic, social and psychological costs of the virus. Spains Prime Minister, pedro sanchez, has outlined a phased withdrawal from one of europes strictest coronavirus lockdowns. This is mr sanchez holding a Cabinet Meeting where he said schools would not return until september. Religious services can resume the week after next if theres space to keep people apart. An easing of the rules could begin on four Spanish Islands from next week, he said, but the rest of the country would have to wait another week. This is outside source live from the bbc newsroom. Covid 19 related deaths in care homes in england and wales have trebled in the space of three weeks. The availability of personal protective equipment has been one of the biggest issues during the coronavirus outbreak. This graphic is from the cdc. Ppe is essentially goggles, gloves, masks and gowns. For many countries, its been hard to meet demand. Theres another aspect to this thats gaining attention in the uk, and its to do with the fact that ppe tends to be designed for male bodies. Ros atkins has been looking at this. Hi, ros. Thanks, babita. Lets get this to the experiences of the uk. Here in the uk, around three quarters of nhs staff are women. Last week, the bma which is the professional body for doctors in the uk highlighted that ppe tends to be designed for men, which in turn it says may put women at risk. A spokesperson for the department of health and social care responded to these concerns. Telling the bbcs womans hour programme. Dr helen fidler is a consultant gastroenterologist and deputy chair of the bma uk consultants committee. We dont have enough data on this, and thats one of the problems is that weve just ignored the fact that 70 of Health Care Workers are female and assumed that masks designed for a male template will fit them. Its disingenuous to talk about this being unisex unless by that you mean unisex is the male sex. And in terms of ppe, is there an issue with all types of this equipment or are there particular types we should be focused on . Yeah, so, its inconvenient and uncomfortable to wear gowns that are too long, and ive been a consultant for 30 years. And like many of my female colleagues, have put up with ill fitting ppe previously, but now were in a global pandemic, having correct fit for the face masks can be a matter of life and death. So, ppe is just one weapon in the battle against covid. But when its used, it should be used appropriately and it should fit properly and it should be available each and every time its needed. Presumably, given the lack of data you describe, youd accept that the solutions to this issue are long term. Its not something that can be resolved in the short term during this outbreak. Well, its very impressive how quickly the department of health has turned around the nightingale hospitals in two weeks. Theyve produced hospitals that can accommodate 4000 patients. So, i wouldve thought that if they know that 70 of Health Care Workers are female, they could find masks that fit them equally quickly. Liz truss, uk trade secretary, said last week that Health Workers required the same protection regardless of what gender they are. The writer Caroline Criado perez was among those who criticised her. Liz truss responded with this tweet. The book in question is invisible women, which details the many aspects of our world that are designed to the specifications of the male body. We talked to Caroline Criado perez earlier. This is actually a hugely widespread problem that goes far beyond personal protective equipment, and it basically comes down to the sort of societal bias that we have where we think of the male body as kind of a unisex body, and the female body isjust well, just the female body, and slightly weird and different. And if were trying to design something that works for everyone, well base it off men. But of course, that means for issues like stab vests or respiratory equipment where you do have to have a very close, tight fit the differences in male and female bodies mean that the personal protective equipment that women have just doesnt work for them. And the issue that i found when i was researching invisible women was that this was worst for those working in the emergency services, where only 5 of female workers said that the personal protective equipment, which lets bear in mind is there to help them do the job, protect them while they do theirjob only 5 of them ever said it never hampered their work. So, what about the idea that a bigger range of sizes is needed for equipment like masks . Thats certainly the demand of dr helen fidler from the bma who we heard from earlier. How is that suggestion being received . Heres Caroline Criado perez. The problem we have with the default ppe is that that is all we really have. It is on the case that hospitals are not with the mask it is the ppe that exist because this is the ppe that exist because this isa is the ppe that exist because this is a historical problem and women have just kind of soldiered on in the past. Certainly there was one woman i spoke to who is a critical ca re nurse woman i spoke to who is a Critical Care nurse and she told me that she had this problem with ppe during the swine flu epidemic. But because it was not such a a huge overwhelming outbreak and there were not that many patients, it was ok, she can be rotated out elsewhere. In this pandemic, it is so huge and there are such a large lima patients that the option of rotating people out is one that we dont really want be taking. And, babita, there is much more on the broader efforts to get more ppe into the National Health service on the bbc website. This is all committed to supply chains and also geopolitical diplomacy as well. It is fabricated and you can find all the information on the website if you want to work through the different obstacles in the way of the government and others getting the ppe that they need to their doctors and nurses and you can find all that on the website which you will know is at bbc dot com slash news. And if the world wasnt occupied enough already, Scientists Say an asteroid theyve been tracking for 20 years will be passing by planet earth on wednesday. But perhaps the asteroid is more fearful of us than we are of it. Scientists who took telescope images of the asteroid joked from looking at the photographs that it even remembered to wear a mask, a necessary precaution as it prepares to pass by planet earth. Thank you forjoining us. Hello there. The last few days of april will be remembered for being cool and wet, but that wasnt the case the rest of the month. Its been a record breaking month in terms of sunshine. That data from the met office. And up until tuesday, it was unusually warm and unusually dry. But with the persistent rain across england and wales, some places saw temperatures no higher than eight degrees, really cold for this time of the year. It wont be as cold over the week ahead, but there is more rain to come. Weve got a next area of low pressure coming in from the atlantic, swinging rain up from the south west. Now, there may be some sunshine for a while in scotland and a few showers, as well. A cloudy start elsewhere. This band of rain could be quite heavy and persistent. Itll move northwards and eastwards. Once it clears away, youve got a few hours of sunshine before it turns wetter and windier in the far south west later. Now, because of those low temperatures that we had across england and wales, wednesday wont be as cold. Temperatures still only around 12 or 13 degrees, mind you. And that rain band, the first one, continues up into scotland. The next heavy rain comes back into south western parts of england and wales. And many parts of the country will see some further rain overnight because of those two weather fronts there. And as we head into thursday, weve got low pressure in charge of our weather, so more wet weather to come. And weve got the first band of rain sitting across northern parts of england, some patchy rain in scotland, but its further south, across england and wales, that well see some heavy and perhaps thundery downpours developing through the day and strong and gusty winds through the English Channel in particular. And those temperatures still disappointing, at around 12 or 13 degrees. By the time we get to the end of the week, the start of your new month, of course, the first day of may sees that area of low pressure very close to the uk and the threat of some more showers. There may be more persistent rain and stronger winds across northern scotland. Those showers developing through the day, heading their way eastwards, again possibly heavy and thundery. More in the way of sunshine developing, though, across wales and the south west as the showers begin to ease away from here. Those temperatures perhaps up to 15, maybe 16 degrees in southern parts of england. For the first day of the weekend, were going to find the back of that area of low pressure, and were waiting for the next one to come in, so were in what we call a col. Its that period where were just waiting for the weather to happen. Now, it looks like itll start off quite dry and sunny. Cloud amounts will increase. There may be one or two showers on saturday, but its going to be drier than the next few days. Still those temperatures around about 14 or 15. Thats near normal for this time of the year. The second half of the weekend, we start to see that area of low pressure winding itself in, but very, very slowly. Its going to be weakening all the while. The weather fronts likely to bring some rain up from the south west, heading northwards rather than eastwards, so for many eastern parts of england, perhaps even in the midlands, it may well be dry for most of the day. Not promising much in the way of sunshine, but at least here it will be a bit warmer, 17 degrees, maybe 18. Towards the north west, were looking at around 13 or 14. Now, that area of low pressure shouldnt last long, and the rain on it shouldnt last long, because pressure is starting to build as we head into next week, so higher pressure around. Weve still got lower pressure towards the south west and across the western side of the uk, but ourairshould be coming in from continental europe, so hopefully something a little bit warmer on the way. So, if we look at some city forecasts, you can see theres still going to be some rain in the outlook, more likely across the western side of the uk. In the south east it should get a bit warmer, those temperatures back up to 20 or 21 celsius. Tonight at 10 00 the total number of deaths in the uk during the week after easter was much larger than initially reported, and double whats normally expected. And a third of all deaths linked to coronavirus in england and wales are now happening in care homes, as relatives describe their loss. She wasnt eating or drinking and then itjust came that theyjust said to come and see her and i knew then that that was the end of her life. During the day, ministers announced that millions more people will be eligible for testing, including care home staff and residents. Also tonight. In scotland, the government recommends that people should cover the mouth and nose when in enclosed public spaces