including lean on me, lovely day and ain't no sunshine has died from heart complications. hello, good afternoon. the first of the nhs‘s nightingale hospitals has been opened, set up to expand capacity during the coronavirus outbreak. it's been built in less than a fortnight, inside the excel conference centre in east london, and the first patients are due to arrive early next week. it comes as the uk records 684 coronavirus related deaths in a day. it's the highest rise so far, but slightly below the expected trend. the death toll now stands at 3,605. meanwhile, from self—isolation the prime minister took to twitter to urge people to stay inside this weekend — mrjohnson also said he would continue his isolation as he still has a fever. and more messages of support on their way, as it's announced her majesty the queen has recorded a special broadcast to the nation, which will go out on sunday evening at 8pm. more on that soon, but first, our correspondent angus crawford reports on the opening of the first nightingale hospital. ladies and gentlemen, as the wonders of modern technology can only do so much and i can't quite reach, perhaps i can invite nightingale's head of nursing — natalie gray — on my behalf — to unveil the plaque to declare nhs nightingale hospital open. applause. a royal opening from lockdown. at his home in scotland, prince charles — still recovering from the virus — paid tribute to staff here and around the country. everyone can now have the reassurance that they will receive all the necessary technical care they may need and every chance to return to a normal life. this hospital, therefore, offers us an intensely practical message of hope for those who will need it most at this time of national suffering. an empty shelljust days ago, look, an army of civilian contractors and the military have built nightingale from scratch — wards stretching the length of the building. 500 beds to start with — increasing to a total of 4,000 if needed. at that point, 16,000 staff would be needed to run it. 0nly patients already on ventilators will be admitted. the first should arrive in the coming days. the idea was dreamt not long ago of having a new hospital. and this london nhs nightingale hospital, which was put together, its core, in nine days, is a testament to the leadership of the people who stand behind me. this may eventually become the biggest hospital in britain. it's an extraordinary achievement to have created it in less than two weeks. but, now it's open, medical staff have to ready themselves for the harsh reality. the waves of patients that may come in the weeks ahead. it's now become the model for other nightingale units being set up across the country — including in birmingham, bristol, cardiff and glasgow — such is the concern about the potential spread of the virus. there are questions, though. will the unit get enough equipment and staff? and how will they cope if and when the wards start to fill? for now, though, nightingale stands open and ready. angus crawford, bbc news. 0ur health correspondent lauren moss is here. first of all, just run us through the latest figures on overall cases in the uk? there are m50 new cases of coronavirus in the uk, confirmed up of coronavirus in the uk, confirmed up to nine o'clock this morning. a total of 38,168. that is the largest increase in a single day but also more tests have been carried out as well come at an increase of 10,500 tests, the largest we have seen in a single day so we would expect those positive number of cases to increase. around 40% of people tested, their test result came back positive. if we follow the trend over the last few days, it has been climbing. we can show graph that shows the number of cases have been on the up after a dip at the weekend. following that throw, we could have seen over 5000 new cases today and it's less than that by around 500,500, today and it's less than that by around 500, 500, so this could provisionally suggest numbers of slowing down but of course, 10,500 people tested. nhs staff now among those, so we would have expected the sorts of numbers. it doesn't also assume that everyone who has symptoms has been tested because we are only testing people in hospitals and nhs staff who may have symptoms 01’ and nhs staff who may have symptoms or live with people who do. an epidemiologist says it's possible the figures will rise again but that could be down to more testing rather than more cases. and the daily death toll for the last 2a hours, again, the highest we have had so far? 684 deaths recorded in the uk in the last 24 hours, up to 5pm yesterday. that is the largest number in a single 24—hour period. the number of people dying has been increasing every day, doubling roughly every three and a half days. 3605 people in total now. but with that in mind, what we have seen today in what we have seen over the last few days with the increase in deaths, that is what we would have expected if you are taking into context the rate over the last week or so. so although these numbers are very stark and these people we're talking about, they are not numbers just on graph but the deaths are what we have been warned to expect. they are not higher and they are not lower. very sadly, some of those deaths also include health care workers? just two of the very sad accounts we are hearing today, 39—year—old nurse in kent died after testing positive. amy o'rourke died in margate last night. she was a mother of three. the hospital staff spoke very movingly about her today, saying they are devastated, she was a valuable part of the team and it was an honour to work with her. another nurse we have been told about in walsall nurse we have been told about in wa lsa ll was nurse we have been told about in walsall was 36 and died in intensive care. the head of the trust there had said losing one of their own is beyond words and that she was a very committed staff nurse. throughout the hospital this morning and prior to this morning, there is a huge amount of anxiety and a lot of psychological distress, i guess. because staff are dealing with, day in, day out, people who one minute are ill, but alert, and the next minute deteriorate very, very rapidly indeed. and areema's death has hit her colleagues on the acute medical unit, colleagues who were lacking —— looking after her in intensive care and the wider organisation extremely hard this morning. so although the number of people dying with coronavirus and the number of positive tests are still climbing, it is still too soon to say exactly when the people hit exactly. matt hancock didn't want to be drawn on that specifically but the data will be played out over the coming days as more people are tested. thank you for that update, oui’ tested. thank you for that update, our health correspondent lauren moss. the health secretary matt hancock has admitted that meeting a target to test 100,000 people for coronavirus in england by the end of this month is a "huge undertaking". the target was announced yesterday, after criticism that not enough frontline nhs staff were being tested. labour has called for more details about how the goal will be achieved. richard galpin reports. the country is potentially facing the biggest challenge of this outbreak so far. the peak is expected in just over a week's time on easter day, and already infections are surging, doubling every few days, leaving thousands of people in hospital. testing people for the virus is vital. key workers — including nhs staff — can find out if they are clear to go to work without the fear of spreading the infection. but the government is facing sharp criticism for failing to scale up the testing programme quickly enough. and yet suddenly it has now announced it is aiming to increase testing from around 10,000 people a day to 100,000 by the end of the month, raising yet more questions. but the health secretary is determined to make it happen. well, we have got to. it is a goal and i've set it for the whole system. the 10,000 a day that we reached on target was from the public health england and the nhs working together incredibly hard, firstly to develop the test — we were one of the first countries in the world to do that — and then to increase the number. for those on the frontline in the battle to save lives and defeat the coronavirus, maximising testing could make a big difference. it can't come quickly enough. you know, we are talking to hospital and other health service chief executives every day, and the issue of staff absence is huge for them. staff themselves really want to get back to the frontline and hospital leaders really need those staff on the frontline. to reach 100,000 tests a day will require a massive effort involving industry and laboratories from all around the country — including these recently—built mega laboratories. those in charge of this ramp up claim there will soon be an exponential increase in the number of people being tested. the test currently in use is a swab test — checking if the person has the virus. there is also a blood test which can prove if someone has previously had the virus and, therefore, may have some immunity, but it has not yet been approved for use. the most extravagant claims of some of the manufacturers are for about 90% specificity — which means that we would still have about one in ten positives that would be a false positive — which means that somebody could be given a certificate of immunity when they were not really immune, but because of that being the nature of those kind of tests, we may need to learn to live with that degree of risk in the future. with the peak of the epidemic now just days away, it has been announced that more conference halls and other buildings like this one here in bristol, are to be converted into field hospitals. there will be at least six around the country, providing thousands of extra beds. a measure of what this country could soon face. richard galpin, bbc news. one person who has been writing about what tests the world needs to track the pandemic is science editor of the financial times, clive cookson — we can speak to him now. clive, you have been looking at this for quite some time and can you a nswer for quite some time and can you answer the question as to exactly why the uk is lagging behind countries like south korea and germany, which seem to be so far ahead? it is partly because the uk has adopted quite a centralised policy. from the start, the nhs and public health england insisted on keeping control and the early testing was all done in the public health england lab. 0nly testing was all done in the public health england lab. only recently, only within the last two or three weeks, have they realise that their own facilities are far too small and decentralised bringing in a lot of other laboratories, university labs, other laboratories, university labs, other labs, private labs and now building these three mega labs in milton keynes, manchester and glasgow. in contrast, germany has adopted a much more decentralised approach and that has been able to mmp approach and that has been able to ramp upfar, approach and that has been able to ramp up far, farfaster. also, germany has a stronger biomedical industry. there are more diagnostics companies. so i think it probably had a head start, in terms of its own industrial capacity. but i think if england or the uk had geared up more quickly, we could have been in a better place now and not scrambling to catch up. in fact, we had much more capacity than public health england used at the beginning? that's right. and what would have been really good would have been if, near the beginning, we'd done, as i think germany did, built upa we'd done, as i think germany did, built up a good stockpile of the supplies. now the supplies, notjust the chemicals and reagents needed to carry out these tests but the other things, the swabs, the special precision plastics needed to build the kits, those are in huge worldwide shortage. if we had started building up supplies earlier, we wouldn't be in such a mess. we've certainly got the capacity now. i think everyone in the industry says with the mega labs, this new collaboration with universities and private labs, we have enough capacity. the question is if we will have enough equipment, rea g e nts is if we will have enough equipment, reagents and kits to make use of it. bearing that in mind, how realistic is the health secretary cosmic announcement of 100,000 tests a day by the end of the month? it is realistic if the supply chains commit. it is realistic. we have the staff. we have tens of thousands of committed scientists and researchers, many of whom were doing other things until very recently. they are all there and in place. it's so hard... i've been trying to identify where these shortages are and it's such a multifactorial problem, you can't say reagent x or reagent y is going to be running out. so it's possible. i should also say that they are saying that the 100,000 willjust be on tests to tell who is infected. if we get the new sort of test, the antibody tests that show who has been infected in the past, that will be an extra. they are not relying on these antibody tests, of which they have bought millions, but they are not sure yet how well they work. we will have to leave it there, thank you very much for your time. clive cookson, the science editor of the financial times. thank you. it's just past four o'clock. you're watching a bbc news special on coronavirus. in around an hour's time, we're expecting the daily update from downing street. let's have a look now at that video from the prime minister released on twitter, where he revealed he is still suffering from a temperature, after being diagnosed with covid—19, and will therefore remain in isolation. 0ur chief political correspondent vicki young is in westminster. we have seen the prime minister once 01’ we have seen the prime minister once or twice in self—isolation. he was sounding quite hoarse i'm not looking great, perhaps worse than before. we have seen pictures of him using the remote cabinet, that meeting with all of them doing it remotely. and his personal messages he has put out. but in some ways, he is trying to lead by example by saying, i have done my seven days in isolation, but i still have mild symptoms and a temperature and the guidance very clearly is of course if you still have some of the symptoms, you must stay away from others. that is what he is doing even though he is the prime minister. downing street at pains to say these are mild symptoms and that he is still working. he has been chairing that morning meeting they have every single morning and he has attended remotely the cabinet meetings. and he is keeping in co nsta nt meetings. and he is keeping in constant touch with colleagues. but it must be difficult. we have had the prime minister in isolation, until yesterday, the health secretary, the chief medical officer also, it will make things much more difficult to coordinate, but the clear message from the prime minister is, i am doing it the way it needs to be done even though i am the prime minister, i am trying to leave the country during a time of national crisis, but you must still stick to these rules. the other a clear message from the prime minister in that video was telling people to stay at home this weekend even though the weather is going to be fine, he once ordinary people to stop doing ordinary things. yes, there is real anxiety about this because even though children have been off school in the sand schools have been close, a lot of them have been set work by their teachers and have kept themselves busy to a point, but the easter holidays are starting and children of course will wa nt to starting and children of course will want to go outside as well others especially if the weather is good, so especially if the weather is good, so there is some concern people might think we are coming two weeks into these new restrictions, the weather is good, spring is here, we wa nt to weather is good, spring is here, we want to get out of the house a bit more. the guidelines are still you can go out to exercise, but they don't want people going out for the entire day and mixing with us, beyond theirfamily entire day and mixing with us, beyond their family group. they certainly don't want people getting into the car and driving to beautiful parts of the country. we saw that a couple of weeks tends ago, and the police trying to clamp down on that. that is the anxiety for this weekend —— a couple of weekends ago. and also going into the easter holiday. we have to be that there, vicki young, thanks very much. as you've heard, the queen will address the nation on sunday over the coronavirus crisis. 0ur royal correspondent nick witchell is with me now. very unusual times. broadcast is this, distinct from her christmas day message, reserved for message —— moments of real national significance. there have been a handful of them during her 68 years. we remember the live broadcast from the eve of the funeral of diana princess of wales or 1991 as british troops went into action in the gulf war. close consultation between downing street and buckingham palace over the past couple weeks and it was certain she would make a broadcast at some point. it is recorded and it will go out at 8pm on sunday evening. and i am sure it will embrace the themes she set out in the written statement issued on the 19th of march when she talked about a period of great concern and uncertainty, the emphasis she said was on people and communities coming together to work as one and the central message she said, now more than at any time in our recent past, we all have a vitally important part to play as individuals. so i expect there will be an emphasis on personal responsibility, community cohesion, national solidarity. together, of course, with immense gratitude. i am sure she will wish to record her thanks, profound thanks to all those in the nhs and other key workers for their heroic effo rts other key workers for their heroic efforts to look after people and keep the machinery turning. so that is the purpose, to deliver a message from the head of state, the head of the nation, a message of reassurance and solidarity at this difficult time. and of course, her family has been touched by coronavirus. indeed, the prince of wales now recovered. he had it last week. the duchess of cornwall is still in self—isolation. but yes, they have their own experience, the prince of wales undoubtedly will have reported to his mother on how it was to suffer from the virus. and he has already of course made his thanks and views known. and in saying that we will come through this, i am sure that will also be a theme the queen will wish to develop. you so much. our royal correspondent, nicolas witchell. the department store chain debenhams is facing adminstration for a second time. it's set to file a notice to appoint administrators as early next week to protect the company from claims from creditors, as it tries to restructure its business. the company has already closed 22 stores this year, with a further 28 to shut next year, as part of a turnaround plan. the scheme which offers government—backed loans to businesses which are struggling to survive is to be expanded. the chancellor rishi sunak says more small firms will be eligible, and those with a turnover of up to £500 million will also qualify. so far, more than 130,000 enquiries have been received, but fewer than 1,000 have been approved. 0ur economics correspondent andy verity reports. the government has been listening to criticism that its government—backed business interruption loans weren't getting through to many firms because the rules said banks had to check first to see if they could get a normal loan. now it's lifted that rule and made it easier to lend the government—backed loans faster. we are also acutely aware that there is an urgent need for an additional product for businesses with a turnover over £45 million, so we're working at pace with banks, with the treasury, to try and offer a better solution for those businesses up to a turnover of £500 million. the promise three weeks ago was an unprecedented £330 billion package of loans and other support but, so far, only £145 million has been lent. 130,000 firms applied for loans in a rush for help last week, but only 1,000 have had loans approved, which doesn't yet mean they've got the money. however, some grant money is now getting through from local authorities to shops, hotels and pubs who have seen their incomes plummet. more businesses will now be able to apply for emergency loans and most won't have to sign personal guarantees that could jeopardise their savings and other wealth. the treasury has clearly listened to what business communities around the country have been saying. the changes that have been made over the last 24 hours make it easier for businesses to get access to business interruption loans and will also give businesses more confidence to try to use the scheme. the banks say they're operating under the same constraints as any workplace. if their staff are staying at home, they can't open branches like this one. but they say they are really trying to get businesses the help they need. and the government's redesign of its scheme is partly an admission that it was flawed and needed changing. now there is a worrying development — the staff who do get into their branches are getting abuse from customers, frustrated that they can't get help. there are still significant holes in the safety net, and some people feel like they're falling through it. this photography studio near newbury employs seven people. the staff have been furloughed. because the owner gets most of her pay as dividends, she is not covered by help either for companies or for the self—employed. in this time, small business owners are being faced with no income coming in through their business, bills still going out. and then, when we reopen, you're being faced with taking potential losses while you're rebuilding your business back up. these are huge welfare reforms, done at pace, in an emergency. but business owners and banks have at least been able to come and talk to a listening government. andy verity, bbc news. let's speak now to mel stride mp, chair of the treasury select committee. i don't know if you could hear that report. a lot of issues raised. so despite the government's enormous largesse, a lot of people feeling they'll are falling through the net. well, these are extraordinary times, and what you are seeing is the government reacting at considerable pace to get a huge programme of fiscal stimulus and employment support out into the economy. inevitably, this is moving at such pace that a couple of things are happening. 0ne pace that a couple of things are happening. one is that there are emerging and serious hard edges to the policy decisions being taken and secondly, as you havejust the policy decisions being taken and secondly, as you have just reported, there is an issue of getting this help out as quickly and efficiently and effectively as possible. but i think the announcement that the chancellor has just made around the soft business loans that are being on offer is significant. because one of the reasons for delays in the banks getting this money out has been that businesses have had to effectively demonstrate that they can't get a loan on the normal commercial terms before qualifying for this business interruption loan scheme. and that impediment has now been removed. and i think that is significant. and it should help a great deal. but firms are worried about what might happen after the initial 12 month interest free period. what sort of interest rates might be charged after that? well, thatis might be charged after that? well, that is an extremely good point. that has not been prescribed in any way by government and i think it is going to be committees like mine, the treasury select committee and governments themselves and the treasury as well who are going to have to apply appropriate pressure to the banks to make sure that after what will be a 12 month period of no interest charged on these loans, that the interest that is charged after that point in time is fair, proportionate and reasonable. and that will be a clear focus of my,, to make sure that that actually is achieved. there has been an important change here and an area we took evidence on and we have pushed ha rd took evidence on and we have pushed hard on, and that is the requirement for personal guarantees for these loa ns. for personal guarantees for these loans. what the chancellor has now said is loans up to £250,000 cannot have personal guarantees as part of the package and i think that will come as a great relief to many businesses. your, as to people and businesses. your, as to people and businesses to send in their issues andi businesses to send in their issues and i understand you have got 14,000 people writing into you in just five days, what sort of things with a raising? they raised the points we have just covered, the speed at which the access to these loans is occurring or not, that it hadn't been quick enough. certainly, the issues of the personal guarantees that i have just raised. there are a number of issues. when we first issued our call for evidence, around support for the self—employed, we started our evidence and things are changing so quickly, this was only still a matter of a week back, but at that point, there was great support for the self—employed and the chancellor has now come forward with various measures in that area. but those measures themselves have a number of hard edges associated with them and i think in your package, you gave an example of somebody who has some macro to earnings, but ta kes m ost has some macro to earnings, but takes most of their profits by way of dividends and the scheme currently doesn't recognise the dividend income that individual would have —— to earnings. when it comes to calculating the support on a monthly basis that the government will be providing. you have also got theissue will be providing. you have also got the issue of people who have become self employed very recently and don't have the texture tends to be able to demonstrate income and the fa ct able to demonstrate income and the fact that they have been genuinely self—employed. so i am afraid that this is going to be, i think, it continuously rather iterative process in terms of the government catching up with these harder edges, but it is the role of my committee and the evidence we take and we have had sessions already with the chancellor, the tuc and the cbi and we have hr mc appearing before us this wednesday, we will keep very firmly our foot down on these particular issues. very good to talk to you, thank you so much, mel stride, the chair of the treasury select committee, thank you. some other news this afternoon now — and the three—time grammy award winning soul singer, bill withers, has died aged 81. he had a string of hits in the 19705, including lean on me, lovely day and ain't no sunshine. # wonder this time where she's gone # wonder if she's gone to stay # ain't no sunshine when she's gone # and this house just ain't no home # any time she goes away let's speak to our entertainment correspondent, colin paterson. such a familiar voice, a familiar sound, who doesn't know bill withers? what a song that is! michaeljackson went on to cover it. there were those who didn't even try to become a musician until he was in his 30s, spent nine years in the us navy and then move to la at the end of the 605. by 1970 he was 33, fed up of the 605. by 1970 he was 33, fed up and going to quit it all when he met booker tjone5. he produced that song, ain't no sunshine, and his career was off and running. lean on me was his first big top ten hit. a song that has become so meaningful to so many people during the coronavirus outbreak. a shot recently of an italian man 5inging it. then he went on to have a huge hit with a lovely day, in which he held a note for 18 seconds, at the time the longest note in uk chart history. what makes a story all the more remarkable, 1985, hejust walked away from the business. after eight albums he thought enough was enough, he wanted to become a family man. when he was inducted into the rock and roll hall of fame he refused to sing and said he was finished and he never came back. if you get the chance, see the bbc four documentary about his decision to walk away. a lot was to do with his shyness and the fact he had a stammer which hampered his ability to communicate with people, except when he sang. what a voice! that oak soul sound. # lean on me when you're not strong # lean on me when you're not strong # and i'll be your friend, # lean on me when you're not strong # and i'll be yourfriend, i'll # lean on me when you're not strong # and i'll be your friend, i'll help you carry on... #. i remember hearing that he had a stammer and being astonished. such a fluent, easy sing and he was somebody who then went on to help younger people deal with their own stammers, didn't he? absolutely, set up stammers, didn't he? absolutely, set upa stammers, didn't he? absolutely, set up a foundation and did a lot of charity work on that. what a smooth singing voice he had, one that became so influential to many hip—hop acts that sampled it. like black street. if you are going to check out an album, maybe go for live at carnegie hall. hardly anyone in britain got to see him live because he never played after 1985 so because he never played after 1985 so you because he never played after 1985 so you can because he never played after 1985 so you can at least listen to him on that record. we will go out and get it! many thanks, colin paterson remembering bill withers there. schools and colleges in england have been told to award students grades based on teachers' assessment of their work, after this year's gcse and a—level exams were cancelled. let's get more on this from our education correspondent, elaine dunkley, who's in our salford studio. just remind us... what has been decided in england? a few weeks ago the situation would have been unthinkable to students in the uk. under normal times, normal circumstances in the uk they would be busy revising, cramming and submitting coursework and building up submitting coursework and building up to that big moment where they walk into the exam and the invigilator says turn over your papers, you can begin. that has all changed. now teachers will be predicting what grade they would have got and that is what they will be given. they will decide on these grades by looking at the performance in mock exams, assessments over the yea rs, in mock exams, assessments over the years, homework and also, if it is a course like pe or drama where there isa course like pe or drama where there is a practical element, things like their participation. that is how they will decide on what grade that student would have got if the exams had gone ahead in the summer. they will also be asked to rank students. this is to standardise grades across schools in england to make sure they are consistent with previous years. also, the exam board will be looking at the previous performances of schools and colleges, to ensure they are not widely over estimating are underestimating those grades which will be awarded to students. stu d e nts will be awarded to students. students can find out what grades they will get in august and earlier we spoke with the chief executive of the regulator, 0fqual. the student certificates this year, with their grades, will be like any other... any other certificates. they will use those grades to progress, they will use those grades in their lives, just like any other set of students, and that's hugely important. i think what we can't underestimate here is the huge levels of stress and anxiety that this disruption has caused to students. when you think about it, their schooling all builds up about it, their schooling all builds up to that moment where they take their exams. you only have to remember back to august, when we see stu d e nts remember back to august, when we see students opening their results and there is the joy, students opening their results and there is thejoy, thejubilation, sometimes the disappointment and you hear about their hopes and dreams for the future. there is some concern about the way that grades are going to be decided. there is concern, for example, and studies have shown students who are high achieving in from deprived backgrounds tend to be underestimated and tend to do much better in the actual exams. also, the potential of some black students tend to be underestimated and they tend to be underestimated and they tend to be underestimated and they tend to do a lot better in the final exams. what they regulator has said is the students who are unhappy about what grades they have been predicted, there will be an opportunity for them to sit those exams at the earliest opportunity. in scotland, grades will be estimated in the same way, by teachers. but the scottish qualifications authority says coursework won't be included because of the coronavirus pandemic. wales and northern ireland, we are still waiting for details to be published about what they will be doing with cancelled exams. many thanks for that update, thank you. the authorities in new york city and los angeles have advised people to wear a face covering when they're outdoors, to try to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. but one of president trump's chief scientific advisers has said she didn't want that to give people a false sense of protection. meanwhile, a cruise ship on which four people with the virus have died, has docked in florida after weeks at sea. several countries had refused to allow the zaandam's passengers and crew to disembark. 0ur north america correspondent peter bowes reports. heading home at last, docking at port everglades, in fort lauderdale, the zaandam, with its sistership, the rotterdam. it follows days of protracted negotiations with the florida authorities over whether passengers should be allowed to disembark in the state. chartered planes have been laid on to transport foreign nationals on the ships back to their home countries. the number of coronavirus cases is continuing to surge in many us cities. new york has taken delivery of more than 200 ambulances to help the city's fight against the pandemic, but ventilators are still in short supply and health workers say there is a chronic lack of protective clothing. this is outrageous, that we have people coming and sewing things for us, sewing masks, sewing shields, making things out of plastics. this is what we are doing now! how... i mean, that would be like a soldier going to war and making a plastic gun to bring with him. at the daily white house coronavirus taskforce briefing, president trump said he'd used wartime powers to order the technology firm, 3m, to make extra masks, and he promised more ventilators would soon be production. we have thousands of them being built right now, and they are starting to arrive in a week and a half, but there will be a time when we are going to build stockpiles — by the way, the states should have been building their stockpile. we have almost 10,000 in our stockpile, and we have been building and we've been supplying it, but the states should be building. we are a backup, we are not an ordering clerk. the shortage of medica—grade masks has raised questions about their use by all americans. in los angeles, and new york city, people have been advised to wear a face covering when they leave home. it could be a scarf, it could be something you create yourself at home, it could be a bandana — it does not — not — need to be a professional surgical mask. in fact, we do not want you to use the kind of masks that our first responders need, that our healthcare workers need. don't use those. president trump said he was not going to make it mandatory for people to cover their faces. one of his chief medical advisors said it might send the wrong message. we do not want people to get an artificial sense of protection because they are behind a mask, because if they are touching things, remember, your eyes are not in the mask so if you're touching things and then touching your eyes, you are exposing yourself in the same way. president trump said new guidelines on the use of face coverings will be issued in the next few days. peter bowes, bbc news. let's talk to dr peter kahung chan from the nuffield department of population health. really interesting there is, the difference between medical grade masks and face coverings. what is the proof that face coverings protect you? so, i wouldn't say there's a lot of evidence about face coverings protecting you. what i'm guessing the us is trying to promote is to get whatever people can get to prevent people, particularly silent carriers of the coronavirus, from infecting others, because anything you can get hold of can stop droplets or a certain amount of droplets or a certain amount of droplets coming out of yourself when you talk, breathe, cough or sneeze, so you talk, breathe, cough or sneeze, so you you talk, breathe, cough or sneeze, so you can you talk, breathe, cough or sneeze, so you can prevent transmission to others. i see, so it's better in terms of preventing the transmission to others rather than as a protection for somebody who doesn't already have the disease. i'm told that you have the disease. i'm told that you have a face mask there because there has been some talk about how correctly to put a face mask on. can you show us? yes, so this is a typical sort of disposable surgical mask. so you would always want to wash or sanitise your hands before you touch a mask. you want to ensure that the water resistant layer, which is usually coloured, is on the outside. the moisture absorbing layer is on the inside and then the metal wire on the upper side. so you put it on with the ear and then pinch the metal wire tightly onto your nose bridge. at the same time, pull the mask all the way down to your chin, so mask all the way down to your chin, so it's just large enough to cover about half of your face, from the nose to the chin and from left to right. and ensure it is relatively... not a lot of air leakage around the rim. so that is very clear, it's simple, but there are some things there that people might not necessarily know, for example pinching on the wire at the top, that is very useful. i will let you take it off now if you wish 01’ let you take it off now if you wish or you let you take it off now if you wish 01’ you can let you take it off now if you wish or you can stay with it on if you like. i wanted to ask you as well, how are we meant, as a population, to deal with the shortage of facemasks, are we being selfish if we try and obtain face masks ourselves or should we be allowing any that exist to go to people working in the front line in the nhs? i wouldn't go as far as say people we re i wouldn't go as far as say people were being selfish procuring their own masks because the nhs for example is a very different, a much larger purchasing power that they have. they will have different stores of procurement. and whatever the civilians get would be likely from different sources. and the demand is not going to affect large buyers such as the nhs that much. not to mention that civilians are unlikely to get too many medical masks nowadays. yes, indeed, of course. we have to leave it there, thank you so much for your time, thank you so much for your time, thank you so much for your time, thank you very much, dr chang. you are watching a bbc news special on coronavirus. it is nowjust after 4:30pm. a new temporary hospital in london to treat coronavirus patients has been officially opened — via videolink — by the prince of wales. it tookjust nine days to build, with 500 beds ready to use. staff started moving into the temporary intensive care unit this morning, with the first patients expected to arrive next week. let's listen now to prince charles' announcement and get some of the opening pictures. perhaps i could invite nightingale's head of nursing, natalie grey, on my behalf, to unveil the plaque to declare nhs nightingale hospital open. applause iam nowjoined by professorjames calder, clinical lead for the nightingale hospital on the excel site. this must have been a good moment, but at the same time, the work sta rts but at the same time, the work starts now. the work started a long time ago and i am a small cog in a huge wheel. and although i look after the compassionate care, the end and palliative care aspects, as well as the staff welfare, excuse the voice—over, it is a huge team that goes into support that. and volu nteers that goes into support that. and volunteers as well, notjust nhs staff. who is it we can hear in the background? that is reminding those we have to stay at least two metres apart. there is no one anywhere near me. good, you certainly won't forget that with that going on! tell me more about how the hospital is going to be run and perhaps the way in which it has been set up now because it depends a lot on volunteers, doesn't it? yes, it does, obviously, the nhs staff have come back from retirement and from other things and they are extremely important in this, but so are the volunteers in other various areas. a lot of people have been provided with support in areas, administration, as well as assisting the clinical staff. the first aid nursing auxiliary, they are incredibly important to provide help with the families, support and liaison teams. we have other people from various areas to support with psychological help for some of the families. very, very difficult times. and the other areas particularly important, they are the spiritual leaders and the courage —— and the cultural leaders. for certain cultural groups, it is a particularly difficult time to understand when they can't see their loved ones after they have died and what the rituals are you can go through after they have died with an infected and deceased person. so all these areas are important and very complicated. yes, one of the very disturbing aspects of this crisis. i should just point out for people who don't know that team rubicon are made up of ex military volunteers. you clearly have a range of people. cani you clearly have a range of people. can i ask you in terms of, there are no patients there yet and you expect your first patients next week, when are you expecting a spike in numbers? it is difficult to come looking at the stats from the epidemiologists daily. but we expect somewhere over the next two weeks, thatis somewhere over the next two weeks, that is where we keep on looking for it. but it seems, we get briefed every day and what is going on and i don't think anyone can say with any certainty exactly when that is going to be. we hope it will never happen, we hope. it is one of those where you hope this hospital never needs to be used, but you have to be practical about it, we have to make provisions for it. what about clinical staff in terms of, you are going to have hundreds of patient, —— patients, if not thousands, are you going to have enough staff to deal with them? yes, you going to have enough staff to dealwith them? yes, we have had a huge support from the workforce team who are filtering through the thousands and thousands of people that have volunteered. and trying to work to exactly who is going to be the best person to put into a particular post is very complicated. but so far, we have scaled up some stuff and as we build up through the woods building up to potentially 4,000 people we have got individual algorithms for individual scaling up, from 42 wards doubling up to 84 and then going up to 500 initially and then going up to 500 initially and moving on from there, it is a huge organisation. but we have got the algorithm is already so we know exactly who we need to place into which position. and does that include medical staff as well, that includes clinicians and doctors and nurses? yes. it includes doctors and nurses? yes. it includes doctors and nurses involved in care either in the intensive care unit or in the area where patients are recovering and being prepared for discharge. but also in supportive roles. there is the psychological supportive role for patients who have been in intensive care for a couple of weeks and then they are recovering and they need support. also palliative care. we have palliative care team is available to discuss what are the best methods for support both for the family and the patients?” suppose, i want to pursue a bit on the medical staff. the question has been raised, the nightingale hospitals are a phenomenal achievement, but where are the medical staff going to come from? because they are already needed in the hospitals in which they already work. i totally agree and that has been a difficulty. from what i understand, the call went out from nhs england are essentially four hospitals to identify which staff they can release. and the other option is whether we can staff individual wards from individual hospitals, so you will so keep the tea m hospitals, so you will so keep the team approach in the wards on nightingale. 0k, we will have to move it there, thank you very much indeed, professor calder, the clinical lead for the nightingale hospital on the excel site and sorry about the break—up on the line. 126 people in scotland have now died after being diagnosed with coronavirus, and the number of people in hospital and intensive care continues to rise. 0ur correspondent lisa summers has been given exclusive access to ninewells hospital in dundee to find out how staff there are managing. the seriously ill are cared for here. staff work round—the—clock as numbers of covid—19 patients in high dependency rise. there have been deaths in this hospital, but many are on the mend, like 73—year—old thomas maxfield. how are you being treated? 0h, very well. very well. the staff can't do enough for you. so, this is where we've been assessing patients. i'll take you through to show you what we do. 0ur doctors and nurses put on ppe, and that's a surgical face mask, one of the plastic pinnies and gloves, and they go into do all the assessments, including the swabs. they take off all their ppe inside the rooms and clean and wash hands, and they come back out into this area, which is kept clean. in this corridor, although covid— positive patients have been through, it's a safe area and you're more than two metres away from anyone, so we can walk around without any ppe on very safely. staff on the covid wards are busy, but not overwhelmed. i actually think that most of my family and friends are much more nervous for me than what i am for myself. i feel like we're quite safe here, we're wearing the right ppe, we're not in with patients very long, it's a minimal amount of time. in terms of my day—to—day working life here, i don't really have any anxieties about my safety and the way that the senior team have been running things. it's all seemed very under control to me. once they get to this point, the risk of covid increases, because we have covid—positive patients through here. and we'll go through now to show you what kind of precautions we take. just a few weeks ago, this was an orthopaedic ward. now it belongs to covid patients. you have to remember that this is a brand—new virus that we as humans have not come across before, so we have no immunity to it. another thing we do know is that there's regionality to the infection rates. we're hoping that in areas of scotland, particularly, where social distancing has been taken up much more readily than in some areas, bigger areas in england, that we'll be able to flatten the curve and that, yes, infections are going to happen, but we'll be able to spread that out. everything has been scaled up. this hospital had eight intensive care beds, now they have 19, and contingency plans for 50. people here believe they can cope, but testing staff and keeping them fit and healthy will be key. it's really important that we test staff. three weeks ago, we started a comprehensive programme of testing members of staff, so that we could get them to return to the workforce and, as of today, over 700 members of staff from nhs tayside have been able to return to work, back to the workforce. the tea trolley continues to come on the covid ward. routines carry on, for now. no—one can predict when the peak of this crisis will come or how bad it will be, but they do what they can to be ready. lisa summers, bbc news. let's focus now on how the coronavirus is affecting the care sector. i'm joined by two health care assistants from the mylife home care group. suzanne westhead is in whitstable and has been self—isolating. and angela bailey is in canterbury. good afternoon to you both. thank you for coming tojoin good afternoon to you both. thank you for coming to join us. good afternoon to you both. thank you for coming tojoin us. 0ut good afternoon to you both. thank you for coming to join us. out of particularly angela, out of a very busy schedule and, suzanne, you would normally be extremely busy. i wonder if i could start by asking, angela first, what your days are like at the moment with these very increased demands on you? angela. nothing much has changed really. we are nothing much has changed really. we a re really, really nothing much has changed really. we are really, really well supported by the office and we have lots and lots of ppe. we are in contact with the office all the time. they are really, really supportive. 0bviously, really, really supportive. obviously, it is a problem for our clients, lots of them are really worried about this virus at the moment. but we are trying to keep things as cheerful and as positive as we can. we have got a lovely bunch of clients out there. other than that, i don't thing our days have changed really that much.” wonder if you are being quite modest there, angela. suzanne, i don't know how long you have been self—isolating, how long have you been unable to work? since last saturday, i developed a cough, but i feel fine now, better. saturday, i developed a cough, but i feelfine now, better. good. even though angela is saying people have, that your work has gone on as normal, people are relying on care workers such as yourselves to bring them hope, comfort, company, much more than usual? yes, i would like to think that we do that anyway, without this pandemic. but yes, we keep it light. we haven't personally felt extra pressure, it is quite a pressurised job anyway. like angela says, we have lovely clients and they are following all the guidelines, which makes it much, much more helpful for us. yes, we would like to spread a bit ofjoy for them really. angela, what sort of things are people saying to you about the coronavirus crisis? 0bviously, they are really, really worried about loved ones and not having visitors, family. how they are going to get their shopping, they are trying to order online and it is not always available. sometimes, it means we are popping into the shop for them. they are worried about their relatives. and others, of course. they do worry about us. do they? how long are you able to spend with each client, angela? we are actually allocated times and we make sure we stay there for that time. normally, times and we make sure we stay there forthat time. normally, it times and we make sure we stay there for that time. normally, it is half an hour, 45 minutes, or one hour. sometimes longer. sorry, go on. no, all their needs are catered for within that time. but we will go out of our way for them if it is necessary. suzanne , of our way for them if it is necessary. suzanne, other clients becoming impatient with the restrictions? -- are your clients. i think everyone is, really. yes, they can be. it is difficult because when you can't have your family visit you and we have to relay that information that it is vital that people are not visiting and so on. so, yes, it is a bit upsetting for them, yes, like we are all a bit frustrated. but we have got to crack on really. life just frustrated. but we have got to crack on really. lifejust goes frustrated. but we have got to crack on really. life just goes on. yes. you seem very philosophical, both of you, and accepting and resigned, but smiling. i think we have got to be. the carers out there do a greatjob. notjust our the carers out there do a greatjob. not just our company, for carers the carers out there do a greatjob. notjust our company, for carers on a whole do a greatjob and i must say that thursday evening at eight o'clock, that has been a great lift to us. everybody out there cheering has been brilliant. i was going to say because you can't see this, angela, but suzanne was clapping there and thursday evening, 8pm, it has been a clap for all the heroes, how does that feel, suzanne? 0h, has been a clap for all the heroes, how does that feel, suzanne? oh, it was wonderful, angela and i were out the first day that it happened. yes, it wasjust really the first day that it happened. yes, it was just really overwhelming, wasn't it? we got quite emotional. quite emotional, quite tearful. but it was lovely, it is nice, it makes us it was lovely, it is nice, it makes us all feel united in this. thank you. no, thank you. is there anything your clients have said to you in this period that you would like to share with us, anything that sticks in your heads as being particularly emotional or wise? i think they are just all really grateful for the care that is being brought into them. they know it's difficult for us, as well as it being difficult for them. but as i say, we are really well supported and we've got great people to talk to here in the office. no... the clients are great, you know? they give us, they are as good for us as we are for them. they cheer us up as much as we cheer up them. yes, yes, iagree. much as we cheer up them. yes, yes, i agree. so good to talk to you both. really good luck on hanging on in there throughout this period. thank you so much. thank you. michu! —— miss you. two hotels in dorset are the first in the country to be turned into discharge hospitals to help the nhs cope with the covid—19 crisis by accommodating low risk patients and care workers. the hotels will be home to almost 43 patients and 20 care staff with preparations underway at both sites to get ready for their arrival. the hotels have worked closely with dorset county council and four local hospitals, to start taking patients as early as monday. i'm joined by rob paterson, the ceo of best western hotels. thank you forjoining us. and we can also speak tojon and jenny fletcher — owners of the grange at 0borne hotel in dorset, so good afternoon to you, as well. just talk us through first of all, jon and jenny fletcher, what preparations you have had to make? we don't have to make major changes to the hotel, we just spent a week closing down and then the next week opening it all back up again. we have to think carefully, obviously, about the guests and any additional things they might need in their rooms to make their lives as easy as possible and discussing with the chefs menus and food we can provide. and rob patterson, what preparations have you had to make?” and rob patterson, what preparations have you had to make? i think since two weeks ago, matt hancock appeared on the andrew marr show and said they would need hotel rooms to help support the nhs. from that moment, i was overwhelmed with requests from hoteliers like jon and jenny was overwhelmed with requests from hoteliers likejon and jenny saying we wa nt hoteliers likejon and jenny saying we want to be involved, we want to help. we put it out to as many people as we possibly could to say we are ready to help. a lot of our hotels have closed but we stand ready to reopen and help where ever we can in what feels like a bit of a helpless situation at times. yes, absolutely. the grange is at weymouth. did you volunteer for this scheme, jon and jenny? there is a hotel called the rembrandt in weymouth which is also taking part in the scheme. we are in west dorset near sherborne. we volunteered. we volunteered about three weeks ago and sadly we had to close, like all other hotels. that we were delighted when best western hotels contacted us when best western hotels contacted us along with the council and they incredibly quickly put this together. it was a bit of a whirlwind. 0n together. it was a bit of a whirlwind. on monday this week, we had some nhs staff and council staff visit us to assess the hotel. we had a decision yesterday that we could go ahead and we are expecting to ta ke go ahead and we are expecting to take the first patients and carers in about eight days' time. right, that's great. jenny, the people that he will have will be low risk patients that there will still be health concerns, won't there? the patients we will be having to stay are ones that are ready to go home but perhaps can't actually go home because they might need additional care. so ordinarily, they might go home and have a care worker come into their house to help them with their physical needs but because there is so much pressure on the syste m there is so much pressure on the system at the moment, there are not those care workers available. so by putting them into a hotel, they have... they can increase the ratio is, keep everyone safe in their rooms and we canjust do our bit to make their lives easier until they are able to go home. which of course frees up hospital beds to make sure there is more availability and capacity for those that need it with the current crisis. yes, indeed. what role will you two play whilst you have patients there? quite a numberof carers you have patients there? quite a number of carers will be staying with us. so we probably won't come into contact with the patients much at all. but we are bringing back some of our staff. we contacted them over the last day. others will remain on the phone. we are bringing back a skeleton staff to support the carers. so people that will help serve food and housekeeping staff.” was going to say, in this situation, it's a case of all hands on deck and we all muck in and do what we need to do. if that is taking food entrees up to the corridors so the ca re entrees up to the corridors so the care workers entrees up to the corridors so the ca re workers can entrees up to the corridors so the care workers can take the food to the patients, we will do that. can i go back to rob paterson, chief executive officer of the best western hotels chain. these are two hotels that you have many more in your group. do you see this happening with other hotels as well? yes, we have conversations going on right across the country at the moment. we are trying to support in every location where we can and where there is a need. so we already have conversations and we expect this to be a trend of more hotels opening up to help. we have about 230 hotels closed, who are ready to open their doors. 0k. 230 hotels closed, who are ready to open their doors. ok. that sounds potentially very promising. we will wait to see what happens. for the time being, rob paterson, chief executive officer of best western hotels great britain and jon and jenny fletcher. thank you all very much indeed. a charity fund to help communities affected by the virus has begun distributing millions of pounds in donations. the national emergencies trust, set up after the grenfell tower fire, has raised £20 million to go towards projects including food banks, and it's hoping to raise millions more. here's our home editor, mark easton. social distancing means we cannot place a comforting arm around a troubled shoulder. but people still want to help others during the crisis. whenever and wherever adversity strikes, the people of the united kingdom have a unique ability to pull together. the public‘s desire to help in the wake of tragedy needs to be managed and channelled in the best possible way. this has led to the creation of the national emergencies trust. with royal blessing, the national emergencies trust has launched its first appeal, raising £20 million injust two weeks. and support survivors at the time of a domestic disaster. money being passed on to community projects, helping those struggling to cope in the lockdown. that packet of pasta that you donated is going to go to a real person and a real family who are genuinely grateful and genuinely need it. the horncastle food bank in lincolnshire is one of the charities already benefiting from the trust. it has seen a trebling in demand for parcels. if i could wave a magic wand, i would encourage people to look at the appeal, to donate, look to see if they can help locally. there are local action groups that have popped up, bringing the fabric of society back where it should be. the voluntary sector is the glue that keeps our society together. the national emergencies trust was set up after the grenfell tragedy, when it was realised that without coordination, the huge wave of generosity was not reaching the people who needed it most. that is what it wants to achieve now. in many ways, we would like the spirit of british helpfulness to become a virus, if you like, more contagious than coronavirus itself. i think it's a great way for the country to come together. most charities welcome the trust, but the sector itself is facing the toughest time in living memory, with predictions of a £4 billion loss in the next 12 weeks. there is, of course, a question as to how much the funding of support to the most vulnerable during this crisis should fall to community volunteers, and how much to the welfare state, especially at a time when so many charities themselves are struggling to survive. the big charities need big money, they need support from the government. the government is thinking about that at the present moment. but actually, the money that we are raising can make a real difference in local areas on the ground. it's not the answer to everything, but the national emergencies trust is trying to harness the tide of goodwill that this crisis has inspired, to help those who can to help others who can't. mark easton, bbc news. in france, restrictions on travel have been tightened just as the easter holidays have begun. police have been checking motorway toll stations. hugh schofield has more. if you are a french family and hoping to take off for the easter break, maybe to visit grandparents down here in the provinces, the message from the british government is quite clear— think again. there is quite clear— think again. there is no school of course at the moment but technically today is the start in the paris region of the easter holidays are normally the motorways would write now will be crammed with vehicles heading for the countryside 01’ vehicles heading for the countryside or the seaside, packed trains as well. but the chief of police in paris has deployed 8000 officers to check on people leaving the city and has promised a policy of zero tolerance. he will be there at the start of the journey, during the journey and at your destination. it isa journey and at your destination. it is a tough message, prompted by the knowledge that after nearly three weeks, the policy of confinement is having psychological effects on people, particularly on trissy and is living in their small paris apartments. the bad news is, it's not going to end anytime soon. officially, the lockdown ends the 15th of april but with infection rates showing no sign of slowing down, everybody knows that the period could be longer, may be much longer. our paris correspondent hugh schofield there. now for a look at how one household in grimsby is hoping with the lockdown. they have four generations of the same family living in one house, so who will crack first? great grandma, grandma, pa rents crack first? great grandma, grandma, parents or children? we first met this household in 2018. fast forward two years... four generations, still under the same roof in a very new kind of world. we are together in this house but not altogether any more.” are together in this house but not altogether any more. i feel frightened, it's left me really frightened. i was in the second world war and nothing like that. i wasn't frightened then because you knew what was coming, but there is, you just don't know. we are still muddling along, aren't we? we are, yes. tickle me! the daffodils tickle you? from great gran dorothy at 93... all the you? from great gran dorothy at 93. .. all the way you? from great gran dorothy at 93... all the way down to two—year—old gabriella. they may be socially isolating that there is no chance they will ever feel alone. just once... squats. today, we are going to play my trampoline. we lived together because it works well, we help each other. my mum is never lonely. children come down in the morning and see us. so young and old living together is very beneficial. and to keep spirits high, joanna and her mum dorothy are singing a song a day and sharing it to spread a bit of joy. imiss my of joy. i miss my friends at the choir but we sing a song every day for the choir. # may never know the reason why you love me as you do... i think when everything is back to normal, we have all learned lots of lessons. we need to love each other, take care of each other. your advice would be what, mum, to everyone? do as you're told, stay home and look after yourself. good night everybody. good night everyone. good night mum, everyone. the night john boy, good nightjim bob. everyone. the night john boy, good night jim bob. good everyone. the night john boy, good nightjim bob. good nightjim bolger! laughter i think viewers of a certain age will understand that reference to the walton is at the other end but otherwise that is how one family has been cheerfully coping in grimsby. one thing we have seen in the enforcement lockdown in the last few weeks is the way families have come up weeks is the way families have come up with creative ways to get their sporting fix. one last delivery for olympic gold... this has decided to find a unique way to recreate the drama of great britain's success at olympic curling, with plenty of spectators looking on. and these are more people finding creative ways to train at home. this family from george and our professional table tennis players and using it, it seems, any surface tennis players and using it, it seems, any surface they can find to keep practising. —— george f. but the rest of us to shame! it is five o'clock, you are watching a bbc news special on coronavirus. inafew in a few moments, we expect a daily update from downing street. first, these are the updates. the first nhs nightingale hospital has been opened to expand capacity during the coronavirus outbreak as the uk records 680 410 macro related deaths ina day, records 680 410 macro related deaths in a day, the highest rise so far but slightly below the expected trend. the death toll now stands at 3605. meanwhile, from self—isolation, the prime minister took to twitter to urge people to stay inside this weekend. mrjohnson also said he would continue his isolation as he still has a fever. and more messages of support on their way as it is announced to her majesty the queen has recorded a special broadcast of the nation which will go out on sunday evening at 8pm. the hospital has been built in less than a fortnight inside the excel conference centre in east london and the first patients will arrive early next week. prince charles took part in the opening ceremony by video link from his home in scotland. the prime minister was not in attendance, he is still in self—isolation because of his health. and we are going straight to downing street now as the press conference is starting. good afternoon and welcome back to downing street for today's coronavirus press briefing, i am joined by our deputy medical, deputy chief medical officer professor jonathan van—tam and by the chief nurse ruth may. our plan is to save as many lives as possible by protecting the nhs and preventing it from being overwhelmed and we are doing this in two ways. one, by slowing the spread of the virus. and thatis slowing the spread of the virus. and that is why it is so important that people stay at home. and that's true for everyone who is watching. how important it is that we stay at home. and two, by boosting the capacity of the nhs to care for those who fall sick. that means more beds, more staff, more life—saving equipment, and more effective treatments. we will get onto that. coronavirus continues its grim march. i can report that through the government's ongoing monitoring and testing programme, according to the latest figures, as of this morning, a total of 173,784 people have been tested, of whom 38,000168 have tested, of whom 38,000168 have tested positive. 3605 people have sadly died. and we are reminded again today that for the nhs, this truly is the front line. in the last 24 hours, two nurses and two health ca re 24 hours, two nurses and two health care assistants have tragically died fighting coronavirus. every life lost to this dreadful disease makes me more determined than ever to push for victory. and today, i want to update you with the latest on what we are doing to boost nhs capacity so the capacity we have to care is a lwa ys so the capacity we have to care is always above the need for that care. first, we are delivering more critical care beds. this morning, i attended the opening of the new nightingale hospital in east london with ruth and many others. it was planned, constructed and fully staffed in just nine days. and that is now —— an outstanding achievement andi is now —— an outstanding achievement and i pay tribute to ruth and all who have been involved in its construction. it shows what is possible when we come together as one team in one national effort. i pay tribute to the extraordinary work of everyone, the nhs, the military, the construction industry who both donated supplies and of course their expertise. the engineers, the electricians, plumbers, the caterers and others. all playing their part to build a place of hope and a place of healing. it was really inspiring to go and see the sheer scale of it and the team going on there. and lastly, i want to thank you, i want to thank eve ryo ne i want to thank you, i want to thank everyone who is at home. because you are giving the nhs the time to expand so that it can save lives. by staying at home, you are saving lives. we have more nightingale hospital is planned and on the way in birmingham and glasgow. and today, we have announced that we will begin the work on two further nightingale hospitals in bristol and harrogate. the bristol nightingale will have a capacity of up to 1,000 beds and in harrogate, a capacity of up beds and in harrogate, a capacity of up to 500. the nightingale hospitals are not only, are not the only expansion we have seen across the nhs. it is this —— since the start of this crisis, we have boosted the number of critical care beds to care for coronavirus by over 2,500. that is before the addition we will get from the nightingale hospitals. and the result of this extraordinary work is that in every hospital in the country, we have managed to expand capacity. and as we stand today, over 2,000 critical care beds are free and available. and they are ready, should they be needed, and thatis ready, should they be needed, and that is before the nightingale hospitals. and we are working round the clock to deliver essential deliveries of ppe across the nhs, across social care, key public services and in all four nations of the uk. yesterday, more than 26 million ppe products were delivered to 281 different organisations. and i have agreed with the northern ireland executive that we will immediately be providing more ppe to northern ireland to meet their needs, over 5 million items including goggles and aprons and masks. over 7,000 nhs staff had now been tested. and alongside testing, we are intensively researching drugs and treatments. since the start of this crisis, we have been clear all our plans are based on the best possible science and that science gets better every day. but there is still a lot we don't know about how to treat and potentially prevent covid-19. so to treat and potentially prevent covid—19. so research about treatments is absolutely central to our plan. the uk of course has a long tradition we are very proud of of being the best in the world in this sort of science. and we are a world leader in clinical trials. and we are putting this to use right now, bringing together some of the finest research minds in the country to design new trials and we are delivering them at record pace as well. we have established three national clinical trials covering each major stage of the disease, primary care, hospital care and critical care for the most seriously ill. and just like the nightingale, one of these trials was in fact put together in just one of these trials was in fact put together injust nine one of these trials was in fact put together in just nine days, which is breathtaking speed. these trials are looking at the effect of existing drugs and steroids, repurposed for treatment of covid—19. one of the trials, called recovery, which deals in hospital care, is the largest of its kind in the world with 926 patients involved. we have also set up patients involved. we have also set up an expert therapeutics task force to search for and shortlist other candidate medicines for trials. i am advised on that work by my brilliant colleague jonathan van—tam, one advised on that work by my brilliant colleaguejonathan van—tam, one of the finest research scientists of his generation and jonathan will say more about this in a few minutes. we need more patients to volunteer to be part of these trials because the bigger the trials, the better the data and the faster we can rule out the treatments. if and only if it is proven to work. these treatments will help us as the science develops. but for now, the only way to protect yourself and your family from this disease is to stay at home. and of course, while this is a national effort to find these treatments, it is also an international effort. in the same way we have donated more money to the global search for a vaccine than any other country, so, too, we will read to the world in the science of these treatments and whatever we learn, we will share. because we are all on the same side in this war. early today, i spoke to my cou nterpa rts early today, i spoke to my counterparts in the g7 to coordinate our research efforts over this and other things and whether it is treatments or equipment or nhs capacity, we will strain every sinew, we will move whatever mountains need to be moved. we need eve ryo ne mountains need to be moved. we need everyone to keep playing their part, and that includes you. the only way to protect yourselves and others now is to stay at home. and the one final thing i want to say is this. we are set for a warm weekend in some parts of the country. but the disease is still spreading. and we absolutely cannot afford to relax the social distancing measures that we have in place. we cannot relax our discipline now. if we do, people will die. so i end with the advice that we all know. this advice is not a request. it is an instruction. stay at home. protect lives. and then you will be doing your part. i am now going to hand over to ruth may, the chief nurse, to say a little bit about the nightingale hospital and then to jonathan van—tam to talk about the treatments and data we have got. thank you, secretary of state, before i talk about the nightingale hospital in london, i want to recognise that today, we have had the very sad news of the loss of two of my colleagues. we have lost today areema nasreen and... two registered nurses working to protect our public. they sadly have died. my sincere condolences to their families, have died. my sincere condolences to theirfamilies, their have died. my sincere condolences to their families, their friends and their families, their friends and their colleagues. because they were one of us. they were one of my profession of the nhs family. i worried that there is going to be more. and i want to honour them today and recognise their service. so as the secretary of state said, we we re so as the secretary of state said, we were with his royal the prince of wales joining we were with his royal the prince of walesjoining by video camera as he opened the first nhs nightingale hospital in london. it was an extraordinary feat. people have worked so hard from all sorts of walks of life. all sorts of backgrounds, and they have come together as one team to build an nhs hospital, an enormous piece of work of absolutely huge proportions. as a secretary of state said, he has announced two further facilities in harrogate for the people of the north—east, in bristol for the people of the south—west. and that is alongside birmingham and manchester. so thank you to all of our nhs staff, all of our staff and social care, nurses, midwives, doctors, all of them pulling together to make sure that we continue to prepare for covid—19 surge. i continue to prepare for covid—19 surge. lam continue to prepare for covid—19 surge. i am grateful to all our front line staff and all of our support staff, who are caring as a team for our sick patients. i am very grateful to you, the british people, for your patients and in helping our nhs. as the secretary of state said, this weekend is going to be very warm and it will be very tempting to go out and enjoy the sunshine. but please, iask tempting to go out and enjoy the sunshine. but please, i ask you to rememberaimee o'rourke sunshine. but please, i ask you to remember aimee o'rourke and areema nasreen. please stay at home for them. thank you, ruth. and if you could bring his up to speed on the treatments, jonathan van—tam, and the latest data we have. thank you, secretary of state, i will begin with the data and the first site i wa nt with the data and the first site i want to show you is a survey which shows the behavioural change is of march 29th in relation to the social distancing advice government has given. as you can see on the side, if you begin on the left, there is a small increase in mobility within residential settings. this actually is good because it shows people are staying at home. if you then contrast that with the bars further to the right, which move progressively through grocery and pharmacy and public parks and workplaces and transit stations and finally to retail and recreation, you can see progressively larger declines in mobility across the uk. this is very encouraging indeed and shows the british public are following advice that was given to them but it needs to continue. next slide, please. if you move on and look at the change in transport use between the 5th of march and just a few days ago, you can see dramatic declines across the piece. in total motor vehicles and use of national rail, buses and the tube in london. this, again, is very encouraging. next slide, please. however, as we have always said, we do not expect these changes to turn the curve on this awful disease immediately. it will take time. as you can see, this slide shows the number of uk cases by day, and you can see the numbers are increasing. this remains a dangerous time. it remains vitally important that people continue to stay—at—home and practice the social distancing that we have asked of them. even this weekend, as the weather turns warmer. next slide, please. you will see a similar picture for hospital admissions, that they are increasing. again, this reinforces the advice we give. the final slide, please... shows the comparison of the uk in relation to various other countries. the index is set at the first day in each country when 50 deaths were reported. you can see from this slide that it is a global battle and that the uk is in the same situation, in terms of the curve and the shape of the curve, as many, many other countries around the world. this is a serious battle. we need to keep fighting it. i would now like to talk about clinical trials, if you could take their slide down, thank you. the first thing i want to say is that this is a new disease, where at the moment we do not have any proven treatments. the uk is absolutely determined, however, to find effective treatments for this virus disease. weeks ago, we began to look at clinical trials. we may not have publicised it at that point, but a lot of work has been going on for weeks behind—the—scenes. clinical trials are a gold standard way to discover if a treatment works or not. but saying whether it works or not. but saying whether it works or not. but saying whether it works or not is rather too simplistic. treatment has to be effective, it also has to be safe and also have to understand the right dosage to use, the right patients to give the treatment to and the right time in the illness to give that treatment. this is complicated stuff and the only way to unpick the signal and make sure we get it right is through clinical trials. and as my colleague, the secretary of state, has said, there are three trials already up and running in the uk that target different places in the patient pathway, from primary care through to critical care. their recruitment rate has been absolutely astonishing, particularly in the recovery trial, where we are at 926 patients, some three weeks after the trial began. it is astonishing, it really is a fantastic tribute to the fa ct really is a fantastic tribute to the fact that the nhs is getting on with delivering care, but at the same time, is committed to finding the right effective treatments. now, again, as the secretary of state has said, our initial focus has been on what we call repurposed medicines. medicines that are already licensed for some other use or indication. an example would be hydroxychloroquine, which is a malaria drug. another example in our clinical trials would be a combination of the can of air and —— and hiv treatment. so we are going the full ground targets in the first instance, where we already have a drug that is licensed. but we are not stopping there. we are determined in the next round of clinical trials to move on to new medicines, ones that are what we call in phase two of phase three development now, possibly for something else, but that might have a role to play and we are going to explore all of those technologies. to do this, we are going to need this therapeutics task force that we have set up, to keep on oversight and to coordinate this. now i know there will be a question about when are we going to get some results from these clinical trials. my straight answer to you is, i don't know. i think it's going to be a few months but it will all depend upon how quickly patients are recruited into the trials across the nhs. the faster we go on getting bigger numbers in the trials, the clearer and more emphatic and more granular signals we will get about what works and how it works for. thank you. thank you very much. if we now go to questions. the first question is going to be from hugh pym of the bbc. thank you very much. it is a question that jonathan thank you very much. it is a question thatjonathan van tam. when do you expect at the peak of the epidemic to be and at that point, will the nhs have enough ventilators to give those who need critical care that care, at a time when some patients fear they might not be able to get it? thank you for the two questions. the first one is about when we will turn this curve around, when we will peak and when we will come down. we don't know the answer to that yet. we have always said that we will know if our social distancing measures are working a few weeks after we have put them in place. by my quick calculation, we are at ten or 11 days at the moment. so it is too soon days at the moment. so it is too soon to say. that will partly depend upon how well those social distancing measures are adhered to by every one of us. but i hope it will be soon. we are going to watch very carefully to see when we have hit the peak and when we are starting to turn it that we will not ta ke starting to turn it that we will not take any premature actions. we are going to stick with the science and see where it takes us. your second question is kind of related and about how tall the peak will be and whether there will be enough ventilatory whether there will be enough ve ntilatory capacity across whether there will be enough ventilatory capacity across the nhs. ican ventilatory capacity across the nhs. i can tell you that i don't think we are anywhere close to that kind of scenario at the moment. we will watch it extremely closely and we will make decisions as we need to on a day by day basis. but i repeat, we are not anywhere close to the scenario you describe at the moment. thank you very much. robert peston of itv. good afternoon. firstly on the clinical trials. jonathan van damme said the success depends on a certain extent to the numbers enrolled on that trial. is that a call from those two have symptoms to enrolling those trials, are you looking for volunteers question but secondly, very recently we heard on the basis of the lag between infections and deaths, that there we re infections and deaths, that there were probably 1000 people in the community with this virus for every death. does that mean we think we are not far off 4 million people infected or do we have a new rule of thumb now that we are further on? finally, secretary of state, you are well aware because of ministers and people you know that the range of symptoms you can get with this is a very broad indeed. for example a lot of evidence losing sense of smell and taste is a symptom. are you looking at changing the guidelines to people from when they quarantine? at the moment, you are saying self—isolate if it is a high fever and cough but will you add to the symptoms where people should self—isolate? symptoms where people should self-isolate? thank you. if! answer some of that and then i will cast over to jonathan van tam. some of that and then i will cast over tojonathan van tam. on the last one, which you addressed directly to me, robert, it's complimentary of you to ask me a scientific question but i will resist the temptation to answer it because we have a proper medical scientist in the room and we are following the science. for me personally, i did lose my sense of taste. that actually... it has come back, though. i can assure people who have lost their sense of taste is the good news is, at least in my case, that wasn't permanent. and just on the first point about the clinical trials. the answer is that we are looking for people to sign up to the clinical trials, where that is possible within that hospital where there is clinically advised. this is... the call, really, is to the nhs, who are the ones who would make recommendations that people would be on a clinical trial. do you wa nt to would be on a clinical trial. do you want to add to those two questions and answer the middle question from robert? yes, thank you. i will a nswer robert? yes, thank you. i will answer those questions. on the point about the loss of taste and smell... we have actually asked our expert advisory committee to look at this and there are some anecdotal data that are now in the published domain that are now in the published domain that suggest that a proportion of people do indeed lose their sense of smell and taste. however, we have looked at the data that there are in relation to whether that on its own isa relation to whether that on its own is a symptom that would be important to add to the case definition and the answer to that, from our experts, is absolutely not. that, yes, this is true, or as far as we can tell on limited data rate appears to be true, but it doesn't contribute anything on its own to the overall affinity of the diagnosis. on the second point about volunteers for clinical trials, people will have read in the newspaper sometimes when a new drug is being tried that there is an advert and you ring up a new volunteer for the clinical trial. this is a very different scenario. here, these are about patients who are undergoing treatment at some stage covid—19. first of all, we need the physicians in charge of their care to sign up for the clinical trial. then it is up for the clinical trial. then it is up to the physicians to approach the patient and ask them if they would like to take part. it is a process of very careful written, informed consent for that to happen. but the straight answer is yes, we do need people to take part in the clinical trials and they are doing. for the recovery trial, yesterday's figure reported to me was a little over 700 patients into the trial. today, i'm walking on my way to number ten downing st and the number comes through with 926. this is really fantastic work by both clinicians and by patients. on your final point about are there more people out there than we are counting through there than we are counting through the case numbers? ourtesting is based primarily, at the moment, in hospitals, where it is needed most and there will be further cases out there, people who are isolating in accordance with the guidelines, who have covid—19, who we have not counted in the official statistics. how large that is, i wouldn't like to speculate. any follow-ups to that, robert? there was a ratio used of1:1000. it that, robert? there was a ratio used of 1:1000. it was rule of thumb he thought was useful. do you have a rule of thumb at the moment? do you personally think that is not terribly helpful? that is the official advice we have heard from the scientific group for emergencies but there is a lot of imprecision associated with those kind of estimates and i think is unhelpful at this point to try nail it down, as it were. i think another way to add to that is palerfour of i think another way to add to that is paler four of the testing strategy is having survey tests to try to find the answer to that question as scientifically as possible and there is a huge amount of work on the way under pillar four. sam? earlier today you seem to indicate, matt hancock, you did think easter sunday would be the projected peak for coronavirus deaths but jonathan van projected peak for coronavirus deaths butjonathan van damme doesn't seem to quite endorse that when speaking just now. why is that, what was going on there? and secondly, to all of you, there are people, some elderly, some disabled, being told by gps today that they fit in the category of do not resuscitate, that they won't be taken to hospital, that they won't be treated. what you say to them, theirfamilies, should be treated. what you say to them, their families, should they fight those do not resuscitate notices or should they just accept what they are told? thank you. on the first one of those, the truth is that we don't know. i think you have over interpreted my comment. i was asked about these, a suggestion earlier, andi about these, a suggestion earlier, and i said, i answered the same, that we don't know. actually, there isa that we don't know. actually, there is a reason we don't know when that is a reason we don't know when that is because it depends on how people act. this is why the absolute central message, the most important message that anybody can take away from this press conference or the entirety of the government's messaging and how we feel is that you've got to stay—at—home. i know we repeat this but it is really important, because the more people stay at home, the faster that we will get through this. on the question of dnrs, i will hand over to ruth. my clinical colleagues have these discussions all of the time with patients and their families, thinking about their wishes, thinking about their wishes, thinking about their wishes, thinking about what their care being planned is and that is right and proper. covid—19 is no excuse to have those discussions in a sensitive way, but these discussions need to happen all of the time with families and with patients themselves. but it is nothing, it needs to be done sensitively and covid-19 needs to be done sensitively and covid—19 should not be used as an excuse to do that quite separately. thanks very much. liz bates, of channel four. if i could thanks very much. liz bates, of channelfour. ifi could direct thanks very much. liz bates, of channel four. if i could direct my questions primarily at matt hancock. first, you hugely raised expectations when you said that 3.5 million antibody tests had been ordered and would be widely available, now you say they don't work. are these tests ever going to materialise? secondly, if! work. are these tests ever going to materialise? secondly, if i may, countries which have carried out more tests than the uk have had fewer deaths per million. has the decision to carry out fewer tests than places like germany and south korea cost lives here? thanks, i can ta ke korea cost lives here? thanks, i can take both those questions. we have provisionally ordered 17.5 million, not 3.5 million antibody tests. as i have been absolutely clear all along, we will only use them if they work. in fact, along, we will only use them if they work. infact, on along, we will only use them if they work. in fact, on the g7 call earlier, it is clear that no g7 country has yet found a home antibody test which is pillar three of the testing strategy that works. but we continue to search for one. again, this is an area where the science is constantly developing and there is a huge amount of global effort going in to finding one of these tests that does work. but i have also been clear we are putting the orders in place so that should they work, then we can get them here in the uk. and on the second point, can you remind me of the second question? that we haven't tested. 0h, question? that we haven't tested. oh, about the numbers of testing, yes. the truth is we have had a clear ramp up in testing as part of the strategy from the start. we had just under 2,000 tests a day a month ago. i set the goal of reaching 10,000 a day and we have reached that. and we hit that on target at the end of march. and now we have got the clear goal of 100,000 tests a day by the end of april. there are countries that have tested more than us countries that have tested more than us like germany, as you mentioned, but there are others like france that haven't tested as much as us. the question of the correlations is a very complicated one with lots of factors in it, i don't know if you wa nt to factors in it, i don't know if you want to add anything, jvt? yes, i would add something, secretary of state, and the quality of tests. it is absolutely vitally important, any tested medicine, any test, is never 100% accurate, that is a truism. and the wrong antibody test that is not accurate is going to say to people, you have antibodies when you don't. it is also going to say to another selection of the population, you are not immune, when you are. and so it is really important that these are rigorously evaluated so that the tolerances on those error rates are very low indeed. and we have to get that right before we can even think about how we can use these antibody tests in the most advantageous and informative way for everyone. thanks very much, andy bell, channel 5. thank you very much, a quick follow—up to you, mr hancock, to liz's question. have you spent any money on those 70 million tests we have ordered. and a question for jonathan van—tam, stephen power is twice this week from nhs england has talked about seeing green shoots, is that how you would characterise what you are seeing at the moment in the data? on the first question, of course, the samples we have got in, we have needed to pay for those samples because they have been tested. but what matters here is these tests, if we can get them and if they are accurate and if they work and we have the confidence in them that we can use them, then the positive impact that will have on people knowing with confidence that they can get back to normal life more quickly will vastly outweigh any more quickly will vastly outweigh a ny cost. more quickly will vastly outweigh any cost. so of course, cost is a consideration, but frankly, getting a test that works is worth more than just money. jvt. thank you, on the green shoots, the answer to your question is where you look for them. i absolutely see grange —— green shoots, i really do, in terms of the massive change in public behaviour that has already taken place. if that has already taken place. if that continues for as long as the government asks for it to continue, then they really will be quite big green shoots in the end. however, if you are asking me about the health ca re you are asking me about the health care hospital admission data, then i think it is too early to make any kind of interpretation such as that. there will be day—to—day variations in the numberof there will be day—to—day variations in the number of hospital admissions that occur as a feature of near random chance. and so one must not interpret the data, one needs to be patient and look for a long—term trend. thanks very much. martin brown, of the express. hello, martin. thank you. mr hancock, can i ask what measures, what help is being given to the mental well—being of thousands of patients who are in hospital on their own, many of whom are sadly dying without their loved ones by their side? and the same also goes for pregnant women as well, women giving birth. what help is being given to their mental well—being? is being given to their mental well—being ? and is being given to their mental well—being? and for is being given to their mental well—being ? and for the is being given to their mental well—being? and for the medical experts, can i just well—being? and for the medical experts, can ijust ask is there any benefit in wearing a face mask, the public wearing face masks when they are outside? countries such as japan, south korea and singapore, the use of face masks is more prevalent in the public and they seem prevalent in the public and they seem to have lower levels of infections and deaths from coronavirus. thanks, martin. i really worry about the impact of coronavirus on the mental health of those who are badly affected. and i really feel for those who have seen their loved ones die and not be able to be with them at the end. and i think this is a really difficult issue. we have to make sure that we support people with compassion and understanding for what they are going through. we have put £5 million in to support mind for people feeling the impact of coronavirus on their mental health. but this is going to be i think an issue of increasing importance as the crisis goes on. i am going to ask ruth to say something about that and also about the maternity question. and then ifjvt and since the second question. ruth. thank you very much, i was only on a phone call this morning to sebastian, a doctor, a medical colleague of mine, and he had lost his father from covid-19. and and he had lost his father from covid—19. and hearing his story about the extraordinary lengths that the nurses come at the matron on that night shift had gone to to make sure they were able to connect, a conversation with his brother in singapore, to connect and make sure the battery was fully charged for his dad to be able to have numerous phone calls. i am seeing across the united kingdom nurses, midwives, the whole clinical team going to extraordinary lengths to make sure we absolutely do that. and whilst we know that visiting has been reduced to the absolute limit, it is also a fa ct to the absolute limit, it is also a fact that visitors can go to end—of—life care, but technology is really important. looking at the well— being of really important. looking at the well—being of our patients is really important, and also the well—being of our staff. we need to set out measures to look after our staff as well. i didn't get quite the maternity question, secretary of state, would you mind repeating that? just the same really, what help is being given to women who are alone in hospital without their loved ones giving birth?” alone in hospital without their loved ones giving birth? i am very fortunate to work with our chief midwifery officer who provides enormous and fantastic midwifery leadership across england. she has told me with —— midwives yet again i doing exactly the same, going to extraordinary lengths to make sure they are using technology, using seem, technology to make sure people are connected. there have been ple nty of are connected. there have been plenty of people doing just that to make sure people can get together when they can safely to connect with their new members of their families. thanks, ruth, on the second question, jvt. i willjust begun on the first, actually, to say i realise this is an awful and distressing illness. and i am very distressed personally when i hear the stories of families separated, when i hear everything that is going on in that space, it is really terrible. but to your evidence point about facemasks, wearing a face mask by the general public. this has been a controversial area in pandemic preparedness and planning for the 15 years that i have been involved in it. and indeed, it was on the phone this morning to a colleague in hong kong. a professor there. who has done the evidence review for the world health organization on facemasks. and off the same mind that there is no evidence that general wearing of facemasks by the public who are well affects the spread of the disease in our society. what matters right now of course is social distancing. yes, it is true that we do see very large amounts of mask wearing, particularly in southeast asia. but we have always seen that for many decades and it is entirely wired into some cultures that masks get worn quite frequently in open spaces. so it is very different. but in terms of the hard evidence and what the uk government recommends, we do not recommend facemasks for general wearing by the public. thanks very much. i hope that a nswe rs thanks very much. i hope that answers the question, martin, pretty clear. dan martin from the mail. mr hancock, you said that if people don't obey the rules, you would considering —— you would consider toughening the lockdown in place. in france, they are station employees at stations and checkpoints to see where they are going, could this happen here? institute of biomedical science has said today the able target is practically impossible if they don't have the equipment and chemicals they need to, are you concerned about that? thank you very much, we rule nothing out in terms of further social distancing if that is needed or further of further social distancing if that is needed orfurther enforcement of social distancing. however, the british public are in very large pa rt british public are in very large part following the new rules. and the police are policing them largely with their normal consent —based attitude and approach. and i pay tribute to the police because bringing ina tribute to the police because bringing in a new set of rules like this in short order does of course provide a challenge to the police andi provide a challenge to the police and i think that they have risen to that challenge. on the second question of the testing, we are absolutely determined to hit the new goal of 100,000 tests a day, under all five pillars of the testing strategy that i set out. yes, that will involve some challenges, there is no doubt, including making sure we get hold of all of the parts. and all of the reagents. and everybody can see that there are challenges around the world in terms of increasing testing, but we are determined that we are going to get there and this is going to have to bea there and this is going to have to be a national effort which not only my team and people at public health england and across the nhs, but the whole life sciences industry is going to have to play a part. i have been really delighted by the response since i set that challenge down at this press conference yesterday and more people have come forward saying that they can turn their capabilities to increasing testing and we are going to have to hit that target. jvt, i don't know whether you will want to add anything? no, secretary of state, i think you have answered the question. any follow-up? that is fine, thanks. yesterday's briefing when you promised 100,000 tests a day by the end of the month, you said some of these would be the antigen test that tells of the patient has the virus. delivering on what the prime minister said last month is delayed until the end of april. given your knowledge today that the peak will come in the next fortnight in germany has increased to 70,000 a day, do you think it could come too little too late? secondly, could we have some clarification on the national lockdown guidance and what the eve of what might be a sunny weekend? given families may not have a garden, could families go for a picnic for an hour if they are in household groups or as a case ofjog or walk for an hour and then go home? thank you. on the first one, i wa nt to home? thank you. on the first one, i want to be crystal clear that the goal i set yesterday was 100,000 tests per day over all five pillars of the testing strategy. pillar one which brought us to 10,000 tests per day, that is said and was always set to get to 25,000 by the end of april. but attempt pillar two, that is part of the goal, as is pillar three, the antigen test, to see if you have had the virus. four is if you have had the virus. four is if you have had the we in fact increased the goal from the end of april from that 25,000 to 100,000. then we will go on to meet the target that the prime minister has previously said out of eventually 250,000 has previously said out of eventually 250 , 000 tests has previously said out of eventually 250,000 tests per day. this is all, it was all as set out yesterday, answering that specific question. on the question about what people should do over the weekend. it is incredibly important that people follow the guidelines. i know that it is going to be sunny and it may be tempting but it is staying at home that saves lives and i think we should be absolutely crystal clear about that. the guidelines have been set out, in terms of people going out for exercise reasons, either on their own or with people from the household. people need to stick to the guidelines and we are going to stick with those guidelines. thanks very much. jen williams from the manchester evening news? hello, thank you. a couple of questions for the health secretary five may. we are getting reports here and reports elsewhere as care homes being told their residents may not be admitted to hospital if they had suspected coronavirus. there have been cases where a significant number of people have died, including in salford. is the blanket policy not to admit care home patients into hospital? also, there we re patients into hospital? also, there were growing concerns at a lack of ppe. councils are having to source their own but are escalating prices. there are fears more briefly social ca re there are fears more briefly social care is not being prioritised. is it an afterthought on this? on ppe as a whole, how many units do we have in the national stockpile and how much is the government expecting to need during the course of the outbreak? 0k, during the course of the outbreak? ok, thank you for those three questions. the first one on care homes. it is absolutely not a blanket rule that people shouldn't go to hospitalfrom care homes. hospital is there for people when they need it. when the doctors advise that they go and we have 2029 spare critical care beds in the nhs right now. 2029. that is before we bring on stream did nightingale hospital is testament to the nhs who have done amazing work. they have already expanded the number of critical care beds by over... by 2500 for covid—19 patients. so there is capacity in the hospitals right now to deal with covid—19 and there is no blanket rule. it is a clinical judgment about when somebody goes to hospital. i don't know if ruth might wa nt to hospital. i don't know if ruth might want to add something on that. on the ppe question, we have millions of pieces of ppe in the stockpile. i could make sure that we get the exact figure to you. i haven't got it on me. but we are also replenishing it all the time, because whilst we have a very large stockpile, we are also using it. so we have to make sure that we replenish it and we are replenishing it both from buying internationally, where much of it traditionally has been made, and making it domestically. i will give a shout out to burberry who have turned over their production to the production of gowns to add to the stockpile i had to get ppe to people who need it, which is another part of the national effort. i think burberry deserve credit for what they have done so farfor the deserve credit for what they have done so far for the nation. hopefully lots more burberry gown is to come. ruth? thank you. about the ca re to come. ruth? thank you. about the care homes. my mother—in—law lives ina care care homes. my mother—in—law lives in a care home and that is her home. so clinicians from whatever background will make a decision based on the clinical need of that person as to whether they need a hospital care because that is the important part. with regard to social care, i know out of the 6000 nurses that are coming back onto our emergency register, some of those are opting to go into social care. i'm delighted to see that we are offering people the option of coming into our hospitals, coming into our private care setting but also into social care. i'm going to be making sure we continue to do so over the next few weeks. does that answer the question? wright does but on the ppe, you said you would come back on big numbers, in terms of how many you have in the stockpile. do you know how many you will need over the course of the pandemic? it depends how long the pandemic lasts. at the moment, we are distributing many millions of pieces every day. in the last 24 hours, it was 26 million. over the last couple of weeks, it's around 400 million. so, you can see we are getting through it fast. so we are getting through it fast. so we are getting through it fast. so we are replenishing it at the other end as fast as we can. the challenge of ppe is a challenge of distribution rather than having the stock. i also didn't answer your question about social care with ppe because it's incredibly important to me that we get the protective equipment that we need to people working in social care, as well as in the nhs and all parts of the nhs. the new ppe guidance that we set out yesterday, which has got very broad support, that sets out what sort of ppe is appropriate and what sort of setting and we will deliver that ppe into social care. i know that it's a challenge, not least because there is around 26,000 social care settings, a combination of care homes and organisations that provide ca re homes and organisations that provide care in peoples homes. so it is more complicated than delivering to the nhs, but the priority of getting the right ppe to social care is exactly the same as the priority of getting the same as the priority of getting the right ppe to the nhs and that is what the system, with the support of the military, is doing. thank you very much indeed. i think thatis thank you very much indeed. i think that is all we have time for today but no doubt there will be more to come in these daily press conferences. i'm very grateful to all of the questions and i'm very grateful to both jonathan all of the questions and i'm very grateful to bothjonathan van tam and ruth may for answering the questions with me. thank you very much indeed. so, that was the health secretary matt hancock wrapping up that latest daily briefing from downing street. he wasjoined by daily briefing from downing street. he was joined by ruth may chief nurse, and jonathan van damme, deputy chief medical officer for england. we can speak to lauren moss, what were the things you learn from that briefing today? and few things emerged from possibly the longest daily briefing we have had since the outbreak began. they spoke today for the first time, one of the first time is about the new clinical trials that are under way to treat patients with the coronavirus, looking at existing medicines that we have and seeing which could be used to treat those patients. if you trouser up and running already. more than 900 people have volunteered to be involved in that. they are asking for more patients, more people to get involved in that because it will bea get involved in that because it will be a few months before we get the results of those trials. matt hancock also revealed how 7000 nhs staff have now been tested. this began last week. this is nhs staff who have been self—isolating at home with suspected coronavirus or live with suspected coronavirus or live with somebody who has suspected symptoms as well. matt hancock also gave an update on the number of critical care beds, as well. he says they have increased by 2500, there are now 2229 critical care beds available, free and available right now, even without the nightingale hospitals, which of course opened today. we could have 4000 possible beds they're ready, so 2000 critical ca re beds they're ready, so 2000 critical care beds available if they are needed. we just have a few moments left that there were some graphs that were shown. just run us through the themes of the graphs if not the detail? one showed the number of new cases and you can see in that that the number is climbing all day. there was a dip over the weekend and then increased again on tuesday and wednesday of this week. although the graph doesn't have a today's figures, which were 4450 new confirmed cases, if you look at the rate, we would have expected to see 5000 new cases. so it shows if you follow the pattern, it slightly lower and this translates into hospital admissions in england. you can see the number is increasing as the outbreak continues and how much further ahead of the curve london is as well, with the midlands also, although lower than london, still quite high. lauren, many thanks for that. lauren moss. it will be the six o'clock news in a moment with my colleague clive myrie but now look at the weather. in the coming days, many of us weather. in the coming days, many of us will be able to enjoy some spring warmth in our windows, balconies, perhaps in a brief walk in the park. by sunday, 20 degrees in the park. by sunday, 20 degrees in the south of the country and as far north as yorkshire. throughout the uk, feeling quite a bit warmer. it is thanks to this low pressure here, sitting to the south—west of our neighbourhood. that is going to send a plume of warm air all the way from the southern climes. you can see it is not here yet. this map shows how warm the atmosphere is. you can see those yellows and oranges approaching us over the next couple of days. but not yet. at the moment, still pretty chilly outside. we have some showers, we have had a keen breeze out of the north—west for some time now. that wind is starting to shift direction for sub you can see behind me, the arrows lifting in from the south, so that means the air is starting to arrive from the south as well. this coming night, not as frosty as the night before, in fact most major towns and cities even in the north will be above freezing. so, saturday starts off on a sunny note across many parts of the country. a little bit more cloud and some spots of rain across one or two areas of scotland but on the whole, areas of scotland but on the whole, a fine day. 16 in london, still left overs of that chilly air in scotland, 11 degrees. the real warmth arrives into sunday. saturday night into sunday, this low pressure approaches. as it approaches, it actually strengthens that southerly wind. it is that southerly wind that will help lift that warmth from the south. it will be quite a strong wind out towards the west, ireland and northern ireland, gust of wind in excess of 40 mph. it won't be beautiful everywhere, in fact in western areas, cloud and also occasional rain and a little cooler, 15 in northern ireland but 20 in the south—east and high team is expected across the north—east of england as well. worth mentioning the pollen levels. moderate generally speaking across england and wales but peaking at around high in the south—east. even be on the weekend, it looks as though those temperatures will hang around the high teens for some of us at least. thanks for watching. tonight at six... a clear warning for the public to stay indoors this weekend, to beat the coronavirus. the number of dead continues to rise. it comes as two nurses have died, leaving behind three children. that advice is not a request, it is an instruction. stay at home, protect lives, and then you will be doing your part. the public is asked to please stay at home for the sake of nhs staff. also on the programme... in her first comments on the outbreak, the queen will

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