Times, ministers under fire new normal is. Rachel, the Financial Times, ministers underfire for new normal is. Rachel, the Financial Times, ministers under fire for the situation over ventilators and supplies have said the call came too late. Offers were not taken up, it seems. late. Offers were not taken up, it seems. Suppliers. Late. Offers were not taken up, it seems. Suppliers. Several points made in this piece in the Financial Times and it starts by saying there are currently 8000 ventilators which the nhs has and it will be receiving 8000 more by next week but it needs a total of 30,000. Some of the criticisms made include that there are companies that make ventilators that offer their services to the government but did not hear back. One company said it was able to provide 500 and did not hearfrom government. There are other cases of other companies that are able to make ventilators but were not asked and they wonder why other companies without that expertise such as dyson have been asked to make those ventilators by the government from scratch and of course we heard yesterday, the European Commission has now clarified that it is not as the government claimed down to a communications blip that britain is not signed up to the eus bulk buying programme whereby European Countries are basicallyjoining forces so they can bulk by ventilators for those countries. The uk has not signed up to that. It claims that it did not receive the e mail informing it of that development. What is commendable, i suppose, is that there are manufacturers out there who can turn their factories manufacturers out there who can turn theirfactories are manufacturers out there who can turn their factories are doing something really quite different if they are given the instruction to do so. Really quite different if they are given the instruction to do som is fantastic, through their duty and they are coming up with ideas and thatis they are coming up with ideas and that is why it is a shame to see them publicly remarking and revealing that they were writing to whitehall but their e mails would get lost in the post back. The Civil Servants are so frazzled and so much in the in trays that some of the businessmen did not may be passed onto the Health Department or downing street, because one thing rachel was touching on, the eu invitation tojoin the rachel was touching on, the eu invitation to join the procurement scheme for ventilators, the government is now blaming a communication issue. It is interesting, because hancock matt the Health Secretary was quoted on question time as saying we are engaging with the eu on this as if to say he was at least aware of it, this was a few days ago. People say, so, the government was aware of this. Some of the supermarkets said something similar over the conversations mr hancock claims to be having. The telegraph, tests rolled out for front line be having. The telegraph, tests rolled out forfront line nhs be having. The telegraph, tests rolled out for front line nhs staff, and people have said the government have been too slow with this. At least they are doing it now. The Prime Minister, chris whitty, prince charles, they have had these tests and that suggests they are happy enough andi and that suggests they are happy enough and i think it is valid to use it, and clearly they are now rushing through this weekend to use it on the front line staff who are on this front line. That is quite right, as well, very sensible move. This will be next week in the coming days, then it will be people like amazon and boots, really poised to get this out to wider use. That will tell us more accurately what the infection rate has been. The who a lwa ys infection rate has been. The who always said that the most important thing is to test, test, test, and it is something the uk has not been doing with the rigour of other countries. The nhs have been calling for testing for some time and nhs staff doing incredible work and putting themselves and their families at risk in doing so but also they are taking time off work and self isolating if they have any symptoms so it is important in terms of capacity as well as everybodys individual health that it is known whether or not they have had the virus. You would hope that knowledge and the ability to find that out would then extend to other essential workers who are involved in other key work across the country after the nhs do have that capacity to test. The other story we want to look at, dont drive out to exercise, says ministers, after the police were trying to discourage people from turning up in beauty spots like the peak district, it is not a holiday it is a shutdown. The weather is too enticing for people and the reason we are supposed to keep this distance from each other is because it is an airborne form of transmission. That is right. Some Police Forces have been criticised for being somewhat overzealous in their patrolling of public behaviour, especially going to parks and into the countryside. The government seems to have clarified its position on how we should take this, up to an hour of daily exercise outside, and i guess the reasoning is that they dont want crowds of people rushing to one particular nature spot or park, and therefore have clarified that people should only be going to parks that they can reach by foot and not driving to the places. I would imagine that is the logic behind this new announcement. Go from your own front door if you can probably not by car. How do you use your one opportunity each day to exercise . Not by car. How do you use your one opportunity each day to exercise . |j go opportunity each day to exercise . go for a good jog, but not having Police Drones chasing after me, but i have total sympathy for those who have done, because the Derbyshire Police said they were coming from sheffield as if to suggest they should stay in sheffield, and when you see in many of the big cities like london, that they are closing many of the parks because they feel social distancing has not been observed, what is the result of that . They go to the fewer parks that . They go to the fewer parks that remain and it will be even more densely packed. You can understand why they might go off to pastures new. How do you use your one opportunity to exercise . new. How do you use your one opportunity to exercise . I go to nearby parks and sometimes even running there and back. Very good. I go out with my dog. A walk without a dog is a bit of a waste. Finally, the daily star, it never disappoints. To help postmen, because there are so to help postmen, because there are so many people touching and fiddling with those bells and door knobs, so do them a service and give them a white, and that way they can go about their business. They are essential workers and they can do it safely. Indeed. And postwomen, as well. Postal workers. Safely. Indeed. And postwomen, as well. Postalworkers. Thank safely. Indeed. And postwomen, as well. Postal workers. Thank you, rachel. The people coming to my door arejust rachel. The people coming to my door are just chucking stuff at me or leaving it on the doorstep which is fine by me. I was thinking about door knobs, i think about that a lot. Laughter do you . I live in a block and there is one communal door with a button to push to go outside which i only do once a day for my allocated walk, but presumably that has a lot of hands on it, as well, and these surfaces, metal surfaces, are thought to be areas where the coronavirus can live for a bit longer compared to cardboard, for example, so important to keep them clea n. Example, so important to keep them clean. We cant be too careful. Dont go anywhere. We will see you again at half past 11. Thats it for the papers this hour. Asa bennet and rachel shabi will be back at 2330 for another look at the papers. Goodbye for now. Hello, the weather is going to feel very different for many of us this weekend. Some warmth in the spring sunshine across england and wales in recent days. For scotland and northern ireland, weve had this cold front which has been slow moving, bringing some cloud and patchy rain and drizzle. Overnight sinking further south. By this stage, really just a band of cloud, may be the odd patch of drizzle. To the north, clear skies and wintry showers in scotland leading to some icy stretches. Further south, clearer skies but with the strength of the breeze it should keep any frost at bay and for most, a degree or so above freezing, maybe three or four in the centre of town. This is the weekend on saturday we have this slow moving cold front. A band of cloud by this stage but look at the squeeze in isobars. Picking up the colder, north easterly wind and the dividing line between the mild air weve had recently and something much colder sweeping across the uk. A real chill in the wind, especially on sunday. For saturday, variable cloud, some sunny spells. More cloud than weve had recently over england and wales. Also, some wintry showers, especially across eastern counties of scotland and england. Temperatures range from 6 12c but with a strengthening wind its going to feel colder. Parts of scotland will struggle to get above 4 5c. Wind strengthening all the time tomorrow and that continues on sunday. In the early hours of sunday the clocks are Going Forward one hour. We start british summertime but on sunday its going to feel colder. A lot of cloud, the best sunshine in northern ireland, western scotland, north west and south west england. A chance of wintry showers for eastern counties but the strength of the wind is going to be the feature on sunday. Gusts of 30, aomph, 45 for some channel coasts. The thermometer might read 6 9c, but adding on the strength of the wind its going to feel closer to freezing. A significant wind chill on sunday and a bitterly cold day, especially compared to recently. Moving into the early part of next week the wind is going to ease down. Still a cold feel with some frosty nights. A chance of some wintry showers. Thats all from me. This is bbc world news. Im martine croxall. Our top stories britains Prime MinisterBoris Johnson tests positive for coronavirus as does the uks health sectretary. Ive developed mild symptoms of the coronavirus. Thats say a temperature and a persistent cough. And on the advice of the chief medical officer have taken a test. That has come out positive. In italy, 919 people have died in the past day the biggest daily rise so far in a country thats been locked down for almost two weeks. President trump has signed the largest ever us financial stimulus package, worth 2 trillion, as the country grapples with the coronavirus pandemic. Plus, aid agencies warn of a potentially catastrophic