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our guidance remains two metres at this point, and that should be reflected in the way that we go about our lives until such time as the scientific advice allows us to say otherwise. jk rowling reveals she experienced domestic abuse and sexual assault in her 20s. another statue targeted — us protestors pull down a confederate monument in virginia, as president trump rejects calls to remove pro—slavery figures and symbols. here, a statue of scouts founder, robert baden—powell, who was accused being a hitler supporter, is to be taken down by bournemouth council. and filming returns on the uk's most watched soap. corrie scriptwriters insist coronavirus won't dominate storylines. hello, good morning and welcome to bbc news. i'm annita mcveigh. for the first time since lockdown began 11 weeks ago, millions of people living alone in england will be able to stay overnight in another persons‘ house. the new measure, described by the prime minister, as the ‘support bubble‘ will come into effect from saturday, but does not apply to people who are shielding or to people in wales, northern ireland and scotland. the government is coming under increasing pressure from former cabinet ministers to relax the two—metre rule on social distancing in order to kick—start the economy. and, in the next hourfigures from nhs england are expected to reveal a decline in the number of people receiving urgent referrals for cancer care during the pandemic. our assistant political editor, norman smith is at westminster. let's begin with that to me to a social distancing rule. what is boris johnson's social distancing rule. what is borisjohnson‘s thinking on this? he is obviously under pressure to relax that for economic reasons, but as we heard at the briefing yesterday, there are still 39,000 estimated new infections every week in the community in england, so the scientists are not so sure about that. i think the battle lines are pretty clearly drawn. there is a large slab of the tory party desperate for the two metre rule to be released. chancellor rishi sunak came under a lot of pressure last night at a meeting of tory backbenchers and i think he gave them pretty clear nodding and winking that he sympathised with their view that if they wanted to kick—start the economy you have to ease up kick—start the economy you have to ease up on kick—start the economy you have to ease up on the two metre rule. against that we have scientists who are desperately nervous about the possibility of a resurgence, of a second wave. and anybody listening to sir patrick vallance or chris whitty at the downing street news conference yesterday, i don't think you would be left under any illusion about just how uneasy you would be left under any illusion aboutjust how uneasy they you would be left under any illusion about just how uneasy they are. you would be left under any illusion aboutjust how uneasy they are. sir patrick vallance saying, we are below one when it comes to the r factor but onlyjust. yes, the infection rate is coming down but far too slowly. chris whitty saying there is still a long way to go, we are only in the middle of this. so my impression is borisjohnson, while he is sympathetic to easing the two metre rule, is not going to ci’oss the two metre rule, is not going to cross the scientists because they have been, if you like, a political shield throughout this crisis. so where we are at the moment is in a bit of a standstill position with no obvious sign that there is going to bea obvious sign that there is going to be a quick or early easing of the two metre rule. that certainly impression we are left with listening to local government minister simon clarke this morning. we recognise fully the challenge it poses both to human cost, but also the economy. so we'll always keep this under review. clearly there is important work to be done looking at this and what sort of progress may be possible. at this point i want to reaffirm to viewers that our guidance remains two metres at this point, and that should be reflected in the way we go about our lives until such time as the scientific advice allows us to say otherwise. looking again at the scientific advice, norman, this eye—catching announcement from boris johnson yesterday at the briefing about new social bubbles. how confident is the government that it will not tip the r number back over one because it is pretty close to one in some areas? it isa pretty close to one in some areas? it is a balance of risk. i would say it's a fairly limited step. there had been ideas mooted about much bigger sort of family bubbles being allowed tojoin bigger sort of family bubbles being allowed to join with each other. we have single people who can join a family bubble and even then, single people who are not shielding and single people who do not live in a house with anyone else, so it's a comparatively small group. and in terms of easing the lockdown, my senseis terms of easing the lockdown, my sense is that among many mps, they think the focus of government attention should be on schools at the moment. that is the big one in terms of moving this forward and returning to some sense of normality because it's not just returning to some sense of normality because it's notjust about children's education, it's about getting parents back to work, and it is hard to get parents back to work if they can't send children to school and there are issues around childcare. 0n school and there are issues around childcare. on that, although the prime minister said yesterday he expects all schools, and i presume he means secondary schools as well, to be back by september one, it's not really clear how that will be achieved because again we come up against the buffers of the scientific advice which is that children should not be taught in groups of larger than 15 and that broadly means you need twice as many classrooms. so unless you are able to significantly expand a school estate and create more classrooms then you will have to change the scientific advice and to loosen up on the maximum 15 class size. again we come back to the issue of the scientific advice on whether you can move or change it or adapt it. norman smith, thank you. we will be talking about schools in a second with jonathan ashworth talking about schools in a second withjonathan ashworth of labour. precisely how much distance you should leave between you and other people varies from country to country. the uk has the same 2 metre rule as spain and canada. that drops to 1.5 metres if you are in australia, italy and germany. and then further reduces to a metre if you are in china, france or singapore. meanwhile official guidance from the world health organisation is to leave at least a metre between yourself and others to prevent the spread of coronavirus. let's speak now to the labour's shadow health secretary, jonathan ashworth. he joins us from leicester. good morning to you and thank you for joining good morning to you and thank you forjoining us today. bring us up—to—date with where you stand on this to me to rule, because it seems to me absolutely connected to what labour is focusing on at the moment, the idea of how children are going to get back to school. we must a lwa ys to get back to school. we must always proceed with caution, it remains a deadly virus and infection rates are still quite high. the decision on the two metre rule is a judgment that has to be based on whatever scientific advice the government receives and obviously we don't have access to that advice on a day by day basis. but if the scientific advice to ministers is that it can be relaxed then obviously we would accept that, but i want to underline the point, it has to be based on scientific advice, not because backbench conservative mps are pressurising the government. you are right, it does have an implication for schools because one of the reasons why the government have failed to get our children back into schools, and we've got a situation where bookmakers can open on the high street but children can't go back to school, is that the government who have failed to put in place a safety measure that is needed in schools. we are asking the government to show more imagination, more urgency, in getting children into schools and putting in place the measures that are needed. you can have lots of imagination and safety measures, but if you physically don't have the space and number of classrooms to get more children into school at just 15 children per classroom, what are you going to do? for example, there are lots of facilities in the wider community which are not being used at the moment. community centres, libraries, and some areas will have theatres and sports facilities not used. we have also seen facilities not used. we have also seenin facilities not used. we have also seen in the nhs, they established the nightingale hospitals when they thought there was a need for extra capacity. why can't we have a similar programme in schools across the country? finally, ministers promised to deliver laptops and ipads to some of the poorest children and they have not all been delivered. the point we are making is, ithink delivered. the point we are making is, i think ministers have been negligent, asleep at the wheel, and are failing a generation of children. tell us more about what labour's national plan to get children back to school looks like? asi children back to school looks like? as i have said, we can use community facilities, throwing up new buildings in school grounds. we are offering to work with the government, alongside trade unions who represent the teachers, and governors and parents, to build a national consensus to get children back into school but do it in a way thatis back into school but do it in a way that is safe, and safe for teachers. that's a key thing. but government have not done any of this. they have not put in place the measures needed to keep children safe and it feels like they have just given up on our children. has there been anything approaching engagement with labour on this from the government? keir starmer wrote to the prime minister asking for that level of engagement and the prime minister has not taken him up on that offer which is a poor show on the part of the prime minister, i would say. we are always going to put the health of people first and their safety first. but we wa nt to first and their safety first. but we want to work with the government to establish consensus about how we put that health and safety first. without that, do you fear that children will still be away from school in sizeable numbers in september? yes, and this is obviously a huge problem for children missing out on education forup to children missing out on education for up to six months. that's quite obviously a massive problem which everybody understands, but it's also a health problem, because if children are not at school they might not be doing physical exercise and we will see more obesity issues in the country. we already have a problem with childhood obesity in this country. mental health problems will be building up. many vulnerable children will be trapped at home with an abusive parent and we simply don't know what is happening to them, which is often referrals to specialists social services to protect vulnerable children that come through schools. that number of referrals has dropped dramatically because teachers don't know what is happening to some of the most vulnerable children in society. we heard from niall ferguson yesterday saying that with the doubling of the epidemic, doubling every three or four days before the lock here, and before interventions were introduced, he said if we had moved a week earlier we could have reduced the final death toll by at least half. given that context, what do you make of the introduction of these social bubbles? are you supportive of those? do you think the science just isn't there yet to allow that further relaxation?” listened to professor ferguson and i think anyone who has lost a loved one to covid must listen to that and find it heart—wrenching, the suggestion if we went into lockdown sooner than many more people would sooner than many more people would soon delete back still be with us. —— would still be with us. it's an indicator of how deadly the virus is and how we must proceed with caution at all times. the idea of a bubble for some people living alone is a goodidea for some people living alone is a good idea because there will be many people who have found this lockdown very difficult, and perhaps it has lead to mental health problems. we know we have problems with loneliness in the society. i also wa nt to loneliness in the society. i also want to emphasise we should always be proceeding with caution because there is a long way to go to defeat this very serious and deadly virus. jonathan ashworth, shadow health secretary, thank you for your time. jk rowling has revealed how she experienced domestic abuse and sexual assault, in an essay defending her comments on transgender issues. it comes after she was accused of transphobia, following a series of controversial tweets. in a blog post, the harry potter author said incidents in her past had shaped her opinions on the need to protect girls. nick beake's report contains some flashing images. apart from the occasional premieres for herfilms, jk rowling prefers to stay out of the limelight. but now, after being accused of transphobia, she says she has to speak up and has revealed deeply personal experiences. in a long essay, she describes her first marriage as violent and says she suffered a very serious sexual assault in her 20s. she doesn't identify her attacker. it's a reference to what she calls the relentless attacks on social media she's received after tweeting about the importance of biological sex. actor daniel radcliffe, who made his name in the harry potter films, spoke out, saying transgender women are women, and hoping thatjk rowling's comments would not taint the harry potter series for fans. eddie redmayne, who stars in the harry potter spin off fantastic beasts, also disagreed with her. jk rowling hopes people will see why her own experience compels her to speak out on sex and gender issues. nick beake, bbc news. the headlines on bbc news... for the first time since lockdown began, millions of people from saturday living alone will be able to spend a night and another person's house. ministers are warned of "dire" economic consequences if they don't ease the two metre social distancing rule in england. jk rowling reveals she experienced domestic abuse and sexual assault in her 20s. in the united states there are increasing calls to remove pro—slavery confederate names and symbols in response to the anti—racism movement triggered by the police killing of george floyd. despite the protests, president trump insists army bases named after officers who fought for the confederacy during the civil war won't change because they're part of america's heritage. david willis reports. they are potent symbols of a racist past, erected in honour of those who sought to keep african—america ns enslaved. now the statues of confederate generals are being cut down and carried away as a nation incensed by the death of george floyd seeks to turn its back on the past. the monument to the former president of the confederacy, jefferson davis, was taken away by police after being toppled in richmond, virginia. but the memory of slavery and segregation lives on through army bases which bear the name of confederate officers such as braxton bragg. there are ten of them in total and calls are now growing for those bases to be renamed. retired us army general david petraeus, who served at fort bragg, is among those in favour of renaming the bases. in an essay published in the atlantic magazine, he wrote... authorisation for a name change would have to come from the military, and senior officials have indicated they might favour such a move, but all ten bases are in southern and former confederate states, many of which supported donald trump in 2016 and the president is radically opposed to the idea. the white house press secretary said changing the names would amount to a demonstration of disrespect for the soldiers who had served at those bases. fort bragg is known for the heroes within it that trained there, that deployed from there, and it's an insult to say to the men and women who left there, the last thing they saw on american soil before going overseas and in some cases losing their lives, to tell them that what they left was inherently a racist institution. because of a name, that's unacceptable to the president. but symbols of the confederacy are under growing threat. the confederate battle flag, otherwise known as the stars and bars, has now been banned by nascar, the organisation that runs stock car racing in this country. the leader of the house of representatives, nancy pelosi, is calling for statues representing confederate leaders to be removed from the capitol building in washington, dc. the landscape is changing here in the wake of george freud here in the wake of george floyd in all manner of ways, as america grapples with a grim legacy of its past. david willis, abc news. the statue of slave trader, edward colston has been recovered from bristol harbour. the statue, which had stood in the city centre since 1895, was pulled down and thrown into the water by demonstrators at a black lives matters protest on sunday. bristol council says it has been retrieved from the water and taken to a secure location, before forming part of its museums collection. a statue of robert baden—powell on poole quay will be removed today and placed in "safe storage". baden—powell founded the scout movement in 1907. bournemouth, christchurch and poole council said it recognised some of his actions were "less worthy of commemoration" and said the statue would be removed "for now" to "create time for views to be aired". two men have been arrested on suspicion of assault on two police officers. a video circulating on social media, which we cannot fully show for legal reasons, shows an officer struggling on the ground with a man in frampton park road in hackney, east london. the attack was described as "sickening, shocking & disgraceful" by the home secretary, priti patel. yesterday the prime minister announced a further easing of the lockdown rules for england. from saturday, anyone in england living alone will be able to form what borisjohnson called a "support bubble" with one other household. he said the measure was aimed at those who have been particularly lonely during the lockdown. in a moment we'll be speaking to the virologist and broadcaster, doctor chris smith and putting some of our viewers questions to him but first, i'm joined by sally williams, she lives alone in swindon. thank you both very much forjoining us thank you both very much forjoining us this morning. we will begin with sally, tell us a bit about your story and what the last 11 weeks have been like for you. my partner andi have been like for you. my partner and i live apart. that's what we decided we wanted to do. when lockdown came about, suddenly we we re lockdown came about, suddenly we were not able to see each other. what has that been like? it's been very difficult. the first couple of weeks seemed 0k, very difficult. the first couple of weeks seemed ok, but as it dragged on and we realised lockdown was going to go on for a little longer, it just going to go on for a little longer, itjust got really difficult. we both missed each other terribly. itjust got really difficult. we both missed each other terriblym course. and you have grown up children as well, i believe. that's right. have you been able to see them or your partner at a distance at all? i manage to see my partner on his birthday and stand on the pavement while he was at the window and drop his presence off. i have also been able to go over and see my children but at a distance. it's very difficult. in terms of what happens next, who are you going to form a bubble with? your partner or with one of your children?” form a bubble with? your partner or with one of your children? i am going to choose my partner. are your children happy with that?” going to choose my partner. are your children happy with that? i think so, yeah. my two daughters lived with their dad and my son lives with his partner and his child. they have got people around them as well. but both myself and my partner live on our own. so we're pretty desperate for some company right now.” our own. so we're pretty desperate for some company right now. i don't you. absolutely. doctor chris smith, thank you so much. we have had some really interesting questions. so many people are talking about the idea of a social bubble today and trying to figure out what they can do and make a decision about who they form a bubble with. daisy asks, i have had a baby in lockdown and haven't been able to see any family or get help. my partner is now back at work as well. it is lonely and ha rd at work as well. it is lonely and hard being on my own. meeting outside is not the same. is my mother allowed to social bubble with me? hello and congratulations to daisy on her new arrival. the answer to this is the support bubble means people who live alone, or who live alone and are a single parent, that is they care for children under 18, day —— they can form a social bubble with one of the household. that means there is social contact and support for you and the children. if you have a partner living at home then you can't have a bubble with someone else because you are a household already. but if you are living on your own, then you absolutely can, a partner orfamily member, but it has to just be one of the household. so if daisy's mum is living alone currently... if daisy's mum is living alone currently than daisy's mum can social bubble with her. they can stay at each other‘s house. i hope that has answered your question, daisy. your mum can come to help with the new baby at your house. i'm sure it will be much appreciated. jan asks, i look after my grandson one day a week and now we have bubbles for contact can i pick my grandson up and take him to my house for the day? the way this works, you are merging a household with one person in it to another household, regardless of how many people are in the other household, as long as it is one exclusive household. that wouldn't be mixing between households if you formed the support bubble between you and the grand sum's household. that would be fine. les asks, in this bubble plan, cani fine. les asks, in this bubble plan, can i visit my father who lives over 200 miles from me in a care home and stay overnight in his apartment?” don't see why not. if that is an exclusive relationship then it is fine, but it will depend what the rules are regarding isolation and self isolation for the older individual. if that person is isolating and has been told to isolate by the government because they are at high risk then these individuals, the rules are not changing at the moment and the guidance is you should still continue to keep yourself in isolation. if the individual does not have other health problems there is no reason why you can't regard that as a support bubble and stay with them but it would be contingent on whatever rules have been put in place by the care home because they are taking a lot of steps at the moment for obvious reasons to make sure they keep the infection out of that home. talking about a care home in his father his father's apartment, so i'm not entirely clear whether it is sheltered accommodation for example as part of the care home, so it is an individual home if you like within a ca re individual home if you like within a care home setting. that could make a difference, couldn't it? yes, it's definitely worth checking with whoever is running that complex, if they have any specific rules because you must comply with those. but if it isa you must comply with those. but if it is a warden facilitated accommodation where people are being looked in on to make sure they are 0k, looked in on to make sure they are ok, i looked in on to make sure they are 0k, idon't looked in on to make sure they are ok, i don't think there will be a problem as problem as long as the individual is not isolating and hasn't had a letter from the government to say they are at high risk because those individuals, the guidance is to continue to isolate themselves and not form social bubbles right now. kirsty wonders under the new rules, because her husband works away or we can do is only home for two nights, do i class asa only home for two nights, do i class as a single parent for that time and cani as a single parent for that time and can i form as a single parent for that time and caniform a as a single parent for that time and can i form a bubble with my parents to help with child care if my husband then doesn't come into the bubble when we meet? hello to kirsty, i feel bubble when we meet? hello to kirsty, ifeel for you, bubble when we meet? hello to kirsty, i feel for you, and bubble when we meet? hello to kirsty, ifeel for you, and it can feel like you are a single parent when you have someone working away, but i'm afraid in that circumstance you would be regarded as a household with your partner and your parents asa with your partner and your parents as a different household. so you probably shouldn't be pairing up between those so that would not be in keeping with the rules u nfortu nately. in keeping with the rules unfortunately. lots of different scenarios, and there will be many more we haven't thought of. but hopefully those particular scenarios will help some of our viewers with their questions. doctor chris smith, thank you, and also to sally williams for telling us your story andi williams for telling us your story and i hope it is a lovely reunion for you and your partner when you meet up again on saturday. thank you. let's take a look at the weather with matt taylor. changeable conditions in the next few days. the best weather in northern scotland, but in the south—west, more than a month of rain falling for some overnight. rain persisting in the channel islands today and another batch of heavy showers working across england and wales and pushing south—west and they could turn thundery later. it will stay wet in the channel islands. we will see sunshine developed in parts of england and wales but be prepared for some nasty downfalls at times this afternoon. winds touching gale force in england and wales bringing more persistent rain to the north and east later. chance of rain in the north—west and northern ireland, spots of rain across scotland, but much of scotla nd across scotland, but much of scotland and northern ireland will see sunshine at times and the wind is not as strong as in england and wales. a blustery night and again tomorrow. rain through the night and again tomorrow with parts of north and ingrid, north wales and southern scotland, the worst of the rain across the north—east and a wet night to come, the west ranger, the channel islands that will spread north back into southern parts of england wales tomorrow. hello, this is bbc news with annita mcveigh. the headlines: an easing of the lockdown from saturday — new support bubbles mean people living alone, and single parents in england, will be allowed to stay with one other household. ministers are warned of dire economic consequences if they don't ease the two metre social distancing rule in england. 0ur guidance remains two metres at this point, and that should be reflected in the way we go about our lives, until such time as the scientific advice allows us to say otherwise. jk rowling reveals she experienced domestic abuse and sexual assault in her twenties. another statue targeted — us protestors pull down a confederate monument in virginia, as president trump rejects calls to remove pro—slavery figures and symbols. here, a statue of scouts founder, robert baden—powell, who was accused being a hitler supporter, is to be taken down by bournemouth council. and filming returns on the uk's most watched soap. corrie scriptwriters insist coronavirus won't dominate storylines. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's mike bushell. good morning. excited about something that could be happening next may, like a lot of sports fans. it has been described as the biggest boxing fight ever by bbc boxing commentator steve bunce. we've talking about anthonyjoshua against tyson fury. and you know when it's notjust the journalists and promoters, but the also fighters getting excited about a fight nearly a year away, it must be big. joshua — who holds, three of the four heavyweight world titles — has agreed a financial deal to fight fury, who is in possesion of the other belt. so for the first time in history, two british fighters will contest all four titles. and notjust once, but twice, in 2021. that's provided they don't get beaten in their respective world title defences beforehand. and it's clear fury, for one, is excited by the prospect of getting in the ring withjoshua.. the biggest fight in british boxing history has just been agreed. get up there, my boy! literally over the line. two—fight deal, tyson fury versus anthonyjoshua next year. so there we are, the gypsy king versus aj is on for next year. so that's tyson fury. and his promoter has descirbed it as an occasion that will be bigger than the 1966 world cup. there are a few other hurdles to overcome, including where it will take place and when. so for more on that, i'm delighted to say we're now joined live by anthonyjoshua's promoter eddie hearn. good morning eddie. thank you for joining us. good morning mike. have you spoken to ajay since the announcement and how is he feeling? yeah, it is an unusual announcement because sometimes you have an official press conference. there are some hurdles to overcome but i thought it was important to let the public no end of the sport know that these guys have agreed to fight. sometimes the most difficult element of the deal is the financial element and that has been dealt with. we are ina good and that has been dealt with. we are in a good position. 0bviously both quys in a good position. 0bviously both guys have got to move forward and when. dillian whyte is also knocking on the door. most importantly, the fight looks set for 2021. like you said earlier in the piece, two brits holding the heavyweight division in their hands, and to have those two contest for the undisputed championship is going to be very special for boxing and for this country as well. how important will it be for the sport as it returns and where would it bank with you in the all—time british sports list?” don't think you can compare it to any other occasion in british boxing. we have a joshua against klochko. we had carl froch against growth. we've had anthonyjoshua against rowles. nothing compares to the situation of two british fighters contesting for the world heavyweight champions —— championship. undisputed championship. undisputed championship. this is the biggest fight of my generation. very excited. coming through this pandemic, it is important to come back with a bang notjust in a few weeks but continuously over this period. what about the two hurdles that have to be overcome first? joshua has to fight pulev while tyson fury has to fight as well.“ either one lost would it be off? it would be off. anthonyjoshua holds three of the four belts and tyson fury holds the other. for a long time anthonyjoshua has wanted to fight deontay wilder because he held the other belt. if wilder was to beat tyson fury, which i can't see happening, we were to turn our focus to deontay wilder because anthony wa nts to to deontay wilder because anthony wants to become the undisputed heavyweight champion. let's be honest, the fight we would love to see is fury against anthonyjoshua. two great fighters, two great characters, to people who have come through adversity, great moment for the sport in general but of course british sport. there is a lot of talk about where and when. any potential for it to be the uk for the two british fighters?” potential for it to be the uk for the two british fighters? i think we would like that. i had an argument with nicky campbell earlier who said, just do it in the uk. these quys said, just do it in the uk. these guys are going into a very dangerous sport to have a fight for your entertainment. so we have to give them the respect and now that this is the pivotal moment of their career. money is important, of course it is. but they are two brits. if we can find a way to do it in the uk it would be very special. certainly one of the two fights. there have been offers from the middle east, from china, from the us. it is the biggest fight in the sport. we will have to see how it plays out and we will be trying to finalise the details in the next month. indeed. if it was tomorrow, it is hard to say because it is next may potentially, but if it was tomorrow, do you think anthony joshua would be the underdog and would it work in his favour? yeah, i think it would. it would work in his favour. i love it. i hope everybody expects tyson fury to win. ajay has got the spring in his step. he wants to be the underdog in this fight. for a long time everybody has just presumed he beat everybody. tyson fury coming off a great win against deontay wilder. we saw anthony joshua lose in madison square garden. there is a little bit of uncertainty. i love that. i want that to continue because i really believe ajay will do the business against tyson fury and become undisputed champion. to do it as the underdog would be extra special and sweet. eddie, we have to leave it there. like you for your time. be careful picking fights with nicky campbell in the future. —— thank you for your time. and just one other line to bring you from the premier league before i go. a report from finance firm deloitte says clubs in the league face a £1 billion fall in revenues this season. the season has been on hold of course since march, and the 92 remaining matches will take place behind closed doors. more on that on our website, plus a preview to the golf, which gets back underway in america, with rory mcilroy in action later. that is all for now. mike, thank you. virus experts warn the wave of anti—racism mass protests across the united states and many cities around the world could cause an increase in coronavirus cases. so could online demonstrations be the future for protesting? alice porter has been finding out. chanting being black is not a crime! sparked by the death of george floyd, anti—racism protests have been taking place around the world. while many people have tried to socially distance, on big demonstrations, it can be almost impossible. breathing, shouting, yelling, cheering — this will increase the air flow, it will increase the production of droplets and, therefore, it will increase the infectivity around you. so if you're surrounded by lots of people doing that, there is more opportunity for the virus to spread. lockdown has forced protesters to find more creative ways to make their points. back in march, brazilians took to their balconies, banging pans to show their discontent with president bolsonaro's handling of the pandemic. and israelis joined a virtual protest against prime minister benjamin netanyahu. over 500,000 people tuned in. so, do you have to be on the streets to protest effectively? i'm watching an online anti—racism protest where activists and mps will be speaking. people from all over the world can take part and of course there's no issues with breaking social distancing rules. i suffer from asthma, quite bad asthma, and so i've been stuck inside for the entire lockdown. i can't go out and protest physically, so what can i do? the most important things that we can do is learn, unpack and educate others around us. but can online protests have the same impact? under lockdown, extinction rebellion and black lives matter have still taken to the streets where they can cause disruption and get more publicity. at the end of the day, what's on our phones and what's on our screens is not real, and in order to create real change, we have to go outside, talk to people and shout, shout, shout. now, the government says that you shouldn't be protesting and that in fact demonstrators could be contributing to spreading covid. what do you feel about that? racism killsjust as much as coronavirus, and for me to be standing here in a pandemic, risking my health, that shows what the government's doing. why should i have to do that? why should i be there? i should be staying at home, protecting myself. but i feel the need to fight — fight for my rights. in many ways, the pandemic has given people even more reason to protest. but whether its online or on the streets, people have had to adapt so that their voices can still be heard. alice porter, bbc news. we can speak now to dr austin choi—fitzpatrick, who's a political sociologist in san diego. good to have you with us on bbc news. thank you for your time. 2020 has been a year of enormous social upheaval. because of course primarily by this pandemic and more latterly by the killing of george floyd. do you think that online protest, and we have seen a lot of that, really cuts it in times like this? is it really the people getting onto the streets you are going to make the change? it's a great question. these are unprecedented times. even trying to frame what moment we are in right now, is it a covid moment, a black lives matter moment? is it a global movement? these are sort of the larger backdrops. there are a couple of things to keep our eye on. one is that when people get together, some very important things happen. 0ne that when people get together, some very important things happen. one is solidarity. they stand in solidarity together. we see this in both the covid moment and we see it also in these larger protest. the second thing they are trying to do is apply pressure to decision makers to try to see things differently and do things differently. and so protest in this moment are doing a greatjob communicating and coordinating online when it comes to solidarity online when it comes to solidarity on this matter. there's only so much the online activities can do when it comes to really making the kind of difference that is necessary to change the status quo and to bend the ears of those in power so they act. as we heard from that last clip, this is what protest is on the streets are arguing for, is that more decisive and deliberate action is necessary to bring lasting social change. it has always been the case. whether it was the french revolution or vietnam or right up to date now with george floyd and the black lives matter movement. that idea protesting on the street is much more visceral, is always going to be much more visceral, isn't it, and something written online? it's more visceral and i think if it is done nonviolently people who have been sitting on the sidelines can see themselves in the movement. and so i think this is a moment we are having when i am talking to family members who don't share my politics, let's say, and they say, i think these non—violent protesters have a point, let's stop and listen to them. that is the purpose of this kind of activity on the streets where people can turn out across age groups and a broad representation of a democracy. it allows people who have been sitting on the sidelines to see other people like them taking decisive action and make it, make them come off the sidelines. maybe not into the protest but may be picking up the phone and calling a representative or getting online and amplifying that communication function that the online space has. those combined factors are what really moves social change. we saw in the report of the rational of some people for going out on the street and protesting, even though they are aware of the risk of the pandemic, especially large crowds of people gathering together and the risk of spread of the virus. looking specifically at online activism, which you have been doing a lot of research on, i know you have seen a real growth in this, unsurprisingly, during the pandemic. just tell us more about the examples of that that you have seen and how people are becoming more imaginative in order to make their voices heard, in order to make their voices heard, in order to protest? you all covered this really well in the clip before i came in. we've got folks clapping in the uk, we've got car parades in the us, people banging pots and pans, people singing in solidarity, people who are staging walk—outs or protests, pivoting off a very traditional activity. we see people doing this on line and we see them doing this on line and we see them doing these things off—line. the net effect is, as this entire segment shows, and the leading piece before this, capturing the country's attention here in the united states, capturing global attention worldwide and prompting folks to ask new questions about the moment they are in in the place they live in, which is why we see new place —— things happening in belgium, the united kingdom and elsewhere. it is a fascinating and important discussion. thank you very much. thank you. filming has returned on the set of coronation street and although coronavirus will be mentioned on the cobbles, programme makers insist it won't dominate storylines on the soap. remaining at a social distance while filming has seen new measures in place, including a one—way system around the set and stars doing their own make up. colin paterson has been speaking to some of the cast and crew. it is corrie in the covid era. after a gap of almost three months, the nation's most watched soap is back filming. emma brooker walking into a wall in front of sally webster. 0w! and corrie celebrated with her first ever broadcast press conference on zoom. that is me looking awkward, top row, second from the left. can you spot the two corrie stars? the head of itv in the north explained the new safety procedures they've put in place. we are maintaining the two metre distance. we've got people with poles going around. actually i saw some rather fearsome footage of dave the security guard wielding his pole this morning. you would not want to mess with that guy and his pole. we're getting a bit tight here, we need to keep the two metres... the average numbers on set have been reduced from a0 to 15, all filming on location has been supended, and older characters will only appear on the show when they facetime theirfriends. oh, and roy's rolls will only serve takeaway although planned plot lines have not changed much. i don't think people tune in to coronation street wanting to see more people banging on about the pandemic, actually. and we were very keen that what we wanted to do was carry on telling as many of the same stories that we were planning to tell as possible. the actors who have already filmed this week have enjoyed it. we were nervous, relieved, we have done it, we did it in plenty of time, it's possible, let's move on and the amount of actors who were sort of asking me, texting me, how did it go, how did you get on? just relief, we are back, lovely, really lovely. press conference over, i was given one—on—one time with jane danson who plays leanne battersby. she told me more about the changes. we are required to do our own make—up, ourown hair, which for me personally is not too much of an issue because my character is going through a particularly traumatic time at the moment so she's not really hugely bothered about what she looks like. these two then walk that way together, obviously a few metres apart... the day mayjust take a bit longer than it did before but we certainly found, within a couple of hours, we all got in our groove again. it just felt like we were doing our normal day, just very much at a distance. how do you think leanne battersby would have coped in a lockdown? laughs that is a really good question. she is stroppy at the best of times so i think she would have found this quite difficult and i appreciate fora lot of people being locked in with young children, it is kind of hard to occupy them at the best of times so i think she probably would have — she has got alot on her plate at the minute but had that not been going on, she would not have coped very well but, yeah, i think i have coped a little bit better than she would. action. we will find out exactly how corrie has coped when these episodes start being shown onjuly 24th. colin paterson, bbc news. we have literally just we have literallyjust had the latest figures showing how cancer patients have been affected by delays in their treatments due to the coronavirus. they have just come out in the last few moments. we will have more detail in a second. it comes as nhs england announce new measures to intorduce more convenient cancer treatment during the coronavirus pandemic, including chemotherapy buses that allow patients to be treated near their home, and an innovative type of radiotherapy which should cut the number of hospital visits. let's speak now to our health correspondent, anna collinson anna, i know you arejust anna, i know you are just getting your head around the detail as well. in the couple of moments you have had to look at the information, what are had to look at the information, what a re key had to look at the information, what are key headlines? sure. these figures are significant because they are the first we are getting to give an idea of the impact of covid on the nhs services. lockdown brought in at the end of march, these figures cover a pro. we have seen evidence of scaling back in last month's figures, but not that pronounced. there are two key sets of figures in terms of waiting times for cancer treatment. a two—week wait for for cancer treatment. a two—week waitforan for cancer treatment. a two—week wait for an urgent gp referral to the first consultation appointment. last april, if we compare to the previous year, it was just under 200,000. these april it is 79,573. that is a fall of more than 60%. extremely significant. as for the second set of data, that is also important. a two—month wait from an urgent gp referral to first treatment for cancer. last april it was more than 13,000. they separate it is 10,792. a fall, not as substantial, but 20%. this is significant because for weeks bosses have been concerned seriously ill patients aren't getting treatment for conditions that aren't coronavirus, particularly cancer patients. a message we have been talking about a lot the lockdown began, whether it is cardiac care, vaccinations, eyecare and of course cancer care? yeah. we have been hearing from the past month from the nhs bosses that the nhs is still open for business, that even though they are trying to battle its a pandemic, if you have other serious conditions you should be getting help. there has been a big push, as i say. earlier this month cancer research uk estimated 2.4 million people could be on waiting lists. as we heard just yesterday, nhs bosses we re we heard just yesterday, nhs bosses were also concerned that by the end of the year we could see waiting lists reaching around 10 million. thank you for that. anna collinson. with me is the oncologist and chief medial 0fficer at rutherford cancer centre, professor karole sikora. also, i'm joined by carole pollard, a cancer patient who has been recieving treatment during the coronaviurs pandemic. thank you both very much forjoining us on bbc news. professor, first of all, if i could get your reaction to those headlines on the cancer treatment figures? so that key when i guess, more than 60%, a massive drop in the number of people being treated or getting that first appointment after an urgent gp referral. a smaller drop, but still around 20%, in the gap between the urgent gp referral and first treatment? clearly the bottleneck is in the diagnostic phase and we have known that. we didn't know how big it was going to be when we look back. 60% is a very significant drop. that is because partly people are too frightened to come forward with symptoms to go to their gps. and secondly, the poor old gp is stuck with the patients and the diagnostic service has collapsed. he can't get an endoscopy, or a scan, because everything was shut. the nhs moved into covid and did incredibly well. now we have to pick up quickly. cancer doesn't wait, it doesn't take easter off. a lot of patients have suffered. there are still a lot of people out there who have got cancer who don't know. how long a delay is too long? 0bviously no delay, one doesn't want a delay at any point, but how long is too long when it comes to having an impact on the outcomes for cancer patients? anything over two to three months. let's take three months as the absolute limit. because what happens with cancer it begins in one organ, breast, lung, colon, prostate, and then it spreads. it spreads along the lymph nodes, the blood vessels into other organs. the longer you wait the more chance it spreads. you can still treat it, you don't give up. but it's more complex, it's more difficult, it requires more chemotherapy and radiotherapy. and the outcome is worse. that is the key problem. trying to get good good data, good outcomes, to give patients the best possible chance. we have smartened up possible chance. we have smartened up cancer services no end in the past decade in this country. this just hits us really badly. but we can recover. that is what we have to do. we have to get out there and give the whole thing moving again. the surge of patients won't come until the end of the summer. it will ta ke until the end of the summer. it will take a long time to go through the diagnostic phase. then we need the treatment phase. what we're hearing about new types of radiotherapy, new ways of giving chemotherapy, really important if you are dealing with an awful lot of people to try to get them moving quickly. absolutely. carol pollard, good morning. i know that you were diagnosed with cancer a week before christmas. have you been going to all of your treatment sessions? yeah, i've been one of the really lucky ones because i've been fortunate enough to go to a specialist cancer hub trust in the north—west. obviously a lot of patients haven't been that fortunate and have seen their chemotherapy or radiotherapy, or other treatment, posed indefinitely. but i've been one of lucky ones. however, it has beena one of lucky ones. however, it has been a really anxious time because the oncologist said at the beginning, as the current virus was ramping up, a decision would need to be made as to whether it was safe for each session to go ahead in view of the current pandemic. looking at numbers of patients, predicted peaks, that kinds of things. so dealing with the stress of cancer and then the stress of worrying about going to hospital and presumably thoughts of, could i catch covid—1919 by going to hospital, even though clearly the message has been a huge amount of ca re message has been a huge amount of care is being taken to make those settings absolutely safe for other kinds of treatment, including cancer. what has that flood like for you dealing with these two challenges at once? yeah. i mean, obviously it has been the most difficult, surreal time of my life. the first few sessions there wasn't adequate ppe in the hospital. that was rectified. but yeah, it has been a massively anxious time. i had to ta ke a massively anxious time. i had to take a calculated risk. the cancer is here now. it's aggressive. it will grow and spread without treatment. covid is a possibility, albeit one with serious consequences, albeit one with serious consequences, but on the balance of things i felt i had to continue with my cancer treatment despite the risk. but not to say it hasn't been really, really anxious. absolutely. and professor saying that she took a calculated decision, thought there was a calculated risk and on balance it was better to go for her cancer treatment, which is absolutely the message that you and other medical professionals have been trying to get across, whether it is cancer care, cardiac care and so on. how worried are you when people start to return to a point, people too afraid to go, that the nhs will be able to copein to go, that the nhs will be able to cope in dealing with the backlog? so, it will do. all sorts of plans are they are both at the top and in local level to try and get things moving, including weekend working, double shift working and so on, when everybody comes forward. i think we got to persuade people to make the first step. go to the gp, or at least phoned up the gp. a lot can be sorted out on the phone. the first diagnostic test is an x—ray. a ct scan. that can be fixed on the phone. you are going to have to go to the hospital to get it, there is no way around it. all sorts of processes a re no way around it. all sorts of processes are in place to make it safe. i am sorry, we are out of time. thank you both. good luck carol. take care. it is time for the weather. it is matt taylor. hello. it will start to feel increasingly humid with the sun is out in the next few days. but it will be tempered by strong winds across england and wales. it is here you will more likely to see sundry downpours. the driest and brightest weather will be scotla nd driest and brightest weather will be scotland and northern ireland today. some sunshine breaking through the cloud further south. for the channel islands into the afternoon, rain never far away. thunderstorms are moving through the midlands and wales. strong to gale force winds bringing yet more cloud and persistent rain to northeast thing that later. north—east england, much of northern ireland, will stay dry. a good part of scotland will stay dry and bright with low cloud close to 0rkney and shetland. temperatures not far off where they should be. tonight, rain will persist in the north—east of finland. a wet night in the channel islands. in between, something drier and a mild enough start to tomorrow. this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. ministers in the uk are warned of "dire" economic consequences if they don't ease the two metre social distancing rule in england. 0ur guidance remains two metres at this point, and that should be reflected in the way that we go about our lives until such time as the scientific advice allows us to say otherwise. an easing of the lockdown from saturday. new support bubbles mean people living alone and single parents in england will be allowed to stay with one other household. at least two million people in the us are recorded as having coronavirus. infections are rising in 20 states, as restrictions
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