Welcome to bbc news. Our top stories the uk government admits ppe is in short supply in england and that more needs to be done to secure stock. Weve got to do more to get the ppe that people need to the front line. This is an extremely challenging situation. President trump insists that the United States is performing better than other rich countries in its response to the virus and can relax the lockdown soon. Doctors injapan warn that the countrys medical system could collapse amid a rising number of coronavirus cases. And police in hong kong arrest leading figures in the Pro Democracy Movement on charges related to last yea rs mass protests. And ambulances in moscow 0 for more than nine hours to drop patients at hospitals. Queue for more than nine hours to drop patients at hospitals. Welcome to bbc news. Were covering all the latest coronavirus developments here in britain and globally. The virus has been spreading rapidly around the world, with more than 2. 2 million cases now confirmed in 185 countries. At least 153,000 people have died, but the true figure is likely to be significantly higher. The us has the highest death toll in the world with more than 37,000. One third of those are in the state of new york alone. Spain is the Second European country after italy where more than 20,000 people have now died. The uk recorded 888 deaths in hospital in the last 2a hours, bringing the total to more than 15,000. Well cover the situation in
the states and across the world a little later, but first, with the latest in the uk, heres our health correspondent, dominic hughes. John coker, a detective constable for british transport police, who leaves a wife and three children. Retired paediatrician judith darmady, founder of a childrens charity, awarded an 0be, who dedicated her life to the care of others. Two of more than 15,000 deaths caused by covid 19. Its hitting families across the country, but the really sad thing for people is when someone dies, they are dying alone. They are probably scared, and theirfamily are not able to console them, not able to know how it happens, and after all this is over, there are going to be many stories required to be told by nhs staff who were the last people
with loved ones as they died. More lives are being saved than lost, but medical staff are worried theyre being put at risk because of the continuing shortage of Personal Protective Equipment, ppe, especially gowns worn when treating the sickest patients. As hospitals face the possibility of running out of some kit, Public Health england changed its guidance some gowns could be reserved for the most high risk procedures while staff could re use washable clothing. And today, a promise that fresh supplies are on the way. 84 tonnes of equipment, including 400,000 gowns. We are trying to do everything we can to get the equipment we need. Were trying to source more internationally. That is difficult at times, and there is a great deal of demand for it and the security of that supply ca n prove very challenging, but we are making progress there. But medical workers are anxious about where this leaves them. A e doctor nick works directly with covid 19 patients. Back on shift tomorrow, he doesnt know how much ppe will be available. There are apprehensions about what there might be and what might there not be and how much has deteriorated and changed, especially when we see news reports saying stocks might be close to zero, nationally, it is really worrying, especially being on the front line. And we have to do what we do and it comes with the job, but it would just be good if we were adequately protected. The new guidance is in line with World Health Organization advice and hospital managers are facing a global shortage of ppe. We have to really focus on what we can do because there is a shortage of gowns, and in that situation, following world health 0rganisation guidelines has to be the way that we go. They are saying that if other stocks are not available, then this is the way to go and this is safe to use. The new guidance only applies when ppe stocks are running low,
and the picture across the uk is mixed, but the patience of healthcare workers is also in short supply. Dominic hughes reporting. In the us, demonstrations have continued in several areas against lockdown restrictions imposed by state officials to try and stop the spread of coronavirus. In his white house briefing, President Trump said some states would start lifting restrictions soon. Rich preston has this report. From New Hampshire to minnesota, ohio to texas, these protesters want lockdown restrictions lifted. Angry at how measures to control the spread of coronavirus have impacted on work and the economy, some have lost theirjobs, their livelihoods and their incomes and say theyd rather risk catching the virus than continue like this. President trump using saturdays White House Press briefing to reaffirm that
america will again be open for business. Texas and vermont will allow certain businesses to open on monday while still requiring appropriate social distancing precautions. Montana will begin lifting restrictions on friday. 0hio, north dakota and idaho have advised non essential businesses to prepare for a phased opening starting on may the first. But there is concern lifting restrictions too early could lead to more people becoming infected and potential for a spike in the death rate. In new york, by far the worst affected state, a counter protest by this far smaller crowd who say the trump administrations measures havent gone far enough and that the president is responsible for the deaths of thousands of americans. When the virus first hit america, President Trump said the cure for the disease should not be worse than the disease itself. America is often referred to as a divided nation, whether its on issues like healthca re, guns or the environment. That division remains. Even on an issue like this, with a death toll of more than 38,000 people in the worlds richest nation, amongst fears that the nations wealth is now too injeopardy, all ahead of a president ial election due in november. Doctors injapan are warning that the countrys medical system could collapse because of a new wave of coronavirus cases. Japan initially appeared to have the virus under control but there has been a recent surge and there are now more than 10,000 confirmed cases. Reged ahmad reports. A much quieter tokyo in the wake of the state of emergency declared by the government. Japan had its first recorded covid 19 infection injanuary and, since then, the government has been criticised for not doing enough
to prepare for an increase. Now, two medical associations say the outbreak is reducing japans ability to treat other serious medical emergencies, even strokes. It is understood one patient with a fever was turned away by 80 medicalfacilities before he was accepted by a tokyo hospital. Like many countries, doctors are complaining of a lack of protective equipment too. Critics have taken aim at the Prime Minister, saying he has delayed restrictions in favour of the economy. Shinzo abe says he is trying to effectively reduce people to people contact. Translation people out on weekdays in city areas like shibuya in tokyo have been reduced by about 60 . In umeda in osaka, its been reduced by about 70 . But we have not yet reached our target level. Japan is facing a new wave of infections, and with it,
a push to increase relatively low testing levels. It now remains to be seen if the country has done enough quickly enough to protect its medical system and head off a major outbreak. Reged ahmad, bbc news. Almost all of europe is still in lockdown, and while some countries are beginning to ease restrictions, many others have extended the measures introduced to fight the virus. The impact is clearly visible with empty streets being seen all across the continent, as the bbcs tim allman reports. This is madrid, one of the worlds great capital cities, looking more like a ghost town. Spain has been one of the hardest hit countries, with more than 20,000 dead. The Prime Minister says the state of emergency is to be extended for another 15 days. Nearly 500 more fatalities in italy, but that figure is down
from the day before the death rate appears to be slowing. In france, more positive news. This military Field Hospital is being partly dismantled as the situation in the country improves. Heading east to baku, the capital of azerbaijan, where the streets are being sprayed with disinfectant. Quarantine will last at least another two weeks. The countrys borders are closed. In lithuania they have seen a record jump in the number of coronavirus cases, just a day after the Health Minister insisted the Virus Outbreak had reached its peak. The hot spot this town just outside vilnius, the military police stopping anyone going in or out. Translation its been decided to test virtually all the adult residents of town. Tests will be carried out to find not only active cases of the disease but also to try to identify residents who might already have immunity. This situation
is indeed dangerous. In poland, the president ial election is due to take place next month, but how does a country of nearly a0 Million People vote in the middle of a Global Pandemic . Translation the coronavirus epidemic will be part of reality for the coming months. A president ial election in the traditional manner would be possible in two years time at the earliest. If the parties dont agree, the only secure form of a president ial election would be postal voting. And this is istanbul, where europe meets asia another place where the streets are deserted. A two day curfew is in place. Anyone younger than 20 or older than 65 has been told to stay home. The fight against the virus goes on. Tim allman, bbc news. Thousands of Greek Police Officers have been told to deter Orthodox Christians from celebrating easter community. Drones are on patrol and roadblocks have been set up to prevent the customary exodus to the countryside. Plainclothes Police Officers are keeping watch on churches to stop the celebration of midnight mass. Orthodox christians have been celebrating easter in the middle east, transferring the fire of the holy church of this poker to bethlehem. The ceremony, considered a miracle in the religion, took place despite a lockdown preventing any crowds gathering to watch. Concern for the residents of care homes for the elderly has been expressed in many countries as coronavirus has spread around the world. Here in the uk, the not for Profit Organisation the National Care forum says the number of deaths linked to the virus in one week was twice that seen in the whole of the previous month. It calculates that in the week ending the 13th of april more than 4,000 people died
in british care homes. Heres our social affairs correspondent, alison holt. This is green heys care home in liverpool. In recent weeks, they lost eight out of their 25 elderly and disabled residents. All the deaths are links to covid 19. Its a sign of the huge pressures care homes are under from the virus. Staff here found it spread rapidly. It was very unpredictable. People would present with the virus in different ways, so we had some people that might be fine in the morning. I can think of one example where there were a couple of people actually that were ok in the morning and then by the evening time, they deteriorated so rapidly, it was end of life care. Green heys is one of the homes that provided the data that lies behind todays report. Information collected by the National Care forum found that by april 13, there had been 299
deaths to covid 19 in not for profit care homes looking after 30,000 residents. They calculate if that happens across all residential and care homes, there could have been more than 4,000 coronavirus linked deaths, most of which are not reflected in the officialfigures. Once residents who died in hospital are included, they say the number will be considerably higher. Clearly, the concern is if we dont make important changes now, if we dont focus on social care, those figures could increase and we could be talking again about this next week with even higher levels of deaths within homes. The government has set out an action plan for social care and says its working on the support and equipment care staff need. But some homes have taken matters into their own hands. At this derbyshire care home, residents are helping staff make their own protective equipment. They are virus free and want to keep it that way. We are in our war of this time. We do what we have to do to battle on. One small sign of the determination in such homes to protect the people they care for. Alison holt, bbc news. This is bbc news. The latest headlines the uk government admits ppe is in short supply in england and that more needs to be done to secure stock President Trump insists that the United States is performing better than other rich countries in its response to the virus and can relax the lockdown soon. Now, away from coronavirus, 15 prominent members Vladimir Putin has warned russians that, as the number of coronavirus cases rises, covid 19 continues to pose a high risk to his country. Russia has seen its biggest daily increase in the number of confirmed coronavirus cases, up nearly 5,000 from yesterday. Our moscow correspondent steve
rosenberg has this report. Rarely has moscow felt so calm. Bells chime so quiet. So empty. In lockdown, a city of 12 Million People so peaceful. But not everywhere. On the edge of moscow, ambulances queue outside a hospital thats treating covid 19. The crews had to wait more than nine hours to bring in their patients. This is a Health System under pressure. At another facility, doctors are preparing for their shift in the coronavirus ward. With moscow the epicentre of the outbreak, the hospital is already overcapacity. But its head doctor is used to emergencies
he was a paramedic in chernobyl. Translation the pressure on us has increased. Were getting around 150 new patients every day. Were not at breaking point yet, but were getting close. When georgiy got sick with suspected coronavirus and was struggling to breathe. Coughing. Twice he called for an ambulance, but none came. The system was overloaded. Translation when i did get to hospital, it was like watching a Conveyor Belt ambulances constantly coming and going, bringing in new patients. The strain on the system is close to catastrophic. I decided to go back home. Most of the patients were sicker than me. But coronavirus isntjust a medical challenge. Its a political one too. In the 20 years hes been in power, Vladimir Putin has never faced the challenge of this magnitude. A virus, an invisible enemy thats not only threatening lives, but the entire russian economy. And with it, the image that Vladimir Putin has been keen to cultivate, mr stability. The epidemic has already forced the president to postpone the annual may 9 victory day parade on red square. Huge celebrations for the 75th anniversary of the end of world war ii now on hold. And in moscow, the lockdown is tightening. To use a car or public transport, you now need a digital permit. The aim to slow the spread of the virus by keeping more muscovites off the streets. Steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. Now, away from coronavirus, 15 prominent members of hong kongs Democracy Movement have been arrested for organising illegal protests last year, in whats being seen as a fresh attack on Anti Government activists. Britain has expressed its concern over the arrests, calling the right to peaceful protest fundamental
to hong kongs way of life. Earlier this week beijings most senior official in the city called for a new security law to deal with dissent. David campanale has more. Its the biggest crackdown on the Democracy Movement since the outbreak of mass protests last year. Those detained in a coordinated swoop by the police include several who have, for decades, been important figures in hong kongs campaign for greater freedom. Among them, the 81 year old barrister martin lee, known in the territory as the father of democracy. Translation i am proud to have had the chance to walk along our road to democracy with hong kongs excellent young people. The publishing tycoon jimmy lai was also arrested. He runs the apple daily newspaper, which is frequently critical of the hong kong and Chinese Communist leadership. The detentions relate
to a series of Anti Government protests last year. The first of these was attended by 1. 7 million hong kong citizens. The authorities have not said why its their high profile figures, among them, former members of the legislative council, whove been targeted for detention. Peaceful protest is protected in both the joint declaration between britain and china and the basic law. But Hong Kong Police maintain that the rounding up of the suspects is simply the impartial application of the law. Translation they were arrested on charges of organising and participating in Unlawful Assembly at Hong Kong Island and kowloon on 18 august, 1 october and 20 october 2019. Before the coronaVirus Outbreak, hong kong had witnessed almost weekly demonstrations for greater democracy and less control from beijing. Over recent days, chinese officials seeing the city have been making increasingly belligerent noises. Some think beijing is worried about losing ground in local elections later this year. In this climate, its hard not to see this coordinated series of arrests as anything less than a warning of beijings intention to tighten its grip