The government calls on retired doctors and nurses to come back to work and help fight the coronavirus outbreak. Letters are being sent to 65,000 retired nhs staff in england and wales telling them their Health Service needs them. We are saying to anybody who has had a recent qualification and has let that qualification lapse, a doctor, nurse, to come back to the nhs, your nhs needs you. It comes as ministers promise all hospitals will get enough Personal Protective Equipment for their staff. Also this lunchtime. New measures expected from the chancellor today to protect the jobs and wages of workers plunged into uncertainty by the crisis. Schools out the gates close this afternoon on schools across the uk but some will stay open for the children of key workers no end in sight to the panic buying frontline healthworkers make a desperate plea for people to be less selfish people are just stripping the shelves of basic foods. You just need to stop it she sobs. And we talk to one of the thousands of couples whose wedding day has been ruined by the coronavirus outbreak and coming up on bbc news, snookers World Championship is postponed. The tournament which was due to begin next month will be rescheduled injuly or august. Good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. Letters are being sent to 65,000 retired doctors and nurses in england and wales, asking them to return to work to help deal with the coronavirus crisis. Later today, the chancellor rishi sunak will unveil a package of measures, aimed at protecting workers jobs and wages during the crisis. And the government has now published its list of key workers who can keep sending their children to school. They include healthcare workers, police and food delivery staff. Around the world, the death toll from coronavirus now stands at more than 10,000 with 144 deaths in the uk. 0ur Health Correspondent lauren moss has our first report. A rallying call to return to work. Letters are being sent to thousands of retired doctors and nurses in england and wales to boost the ranks while cases at the coronavirus continue to climb. The letter will explain what they need to do because they may need a refresher and weve got some online refresher courses and there will be some put in place where they need to physically be there. And then, also, critically, making sure they are trained especially in the areas that we need for dealing with coronavirus because this is a respiratory illness, disease, and medics who have left the profession in the last three years are also being urged to reregister and final year students could be asked to work during the outbreak. Some people have already contacted me, many people have already contacted me and we got lots of people wanting to support us and wanting to come back. We are writing to them, they will get that this morning, we will then make sure that they are able to complete the necessary forms to get them back on
the register and we will invite them back into our hospitals in the next few weeks. A large proportion of those being written to our general practitioners or specialists. Nearly half are aged between 45 and 64 yea rs half are aged between 45 and 64 years old. And one third are under the age of 44. But not everyone is enthusiastic about being asked back to work. After three years out i feel very out of date. I would not be able to keep up with the it, the science, the general changes in nursing care and i would feel unsafe andi nursing care and i would feel unsafe and i think that would not be a position i would want to put any patient in, having an unsafe nurse caring for them. The way we go about oui caring for them. The way we go about our lives is certainly changing. After today, school gates will close to most no one knows how long for. And from monday, Rail Companies will be running much reduced services. Despite limiting the number of items shoppers can buy and dedicating
certain hours for older customers, supermarket shelves are still being stripped bare. Hospitals have been asked to free up beds and manufacturers to scale up of ventilator production for patients who may become very unwell. The race is also on to get protective equipment out to nhs staff. We are seeing far too Many Health Workers infected in italy and itsjust heartbreaking. So many of them are dying as well. Do not let this happen in britain. Health workers, they keep on talking about them in military terms like they are the front line, they are not soldiers. The government is in negotiations to buy a new antibody tests to detect if someone has a ready had the virus and become immune and in a month, its hoped 25,000 patients every day will also be able to be tested. Uk scientists have today said some social distancing measures may need to be in place for most of the year to be in place for most of the year to avoid overwhelming the nhs in what theyve described is an
incredibly fast moving and developing situation. Lauren moss, bbc news. 0ur Health CorrespondentJames Gallagher is with me now, and james, what have the goverments scientific advisers been saying about how long restrictions need to stay in place . Yes, the whole game plan of the government is not to overwhelm the mhs, particularly intensive care units and thats why we are having these measures put in place when School Closures to other social distancing measures weve been told about. As the report said, itsjust been published by the Scientific Advisory group for emergencies, these measures are likely to need to bea these measures are likely to need to be a place where most of the year, thats not spending most of the year as we are today, the anticipation is there will be an alternating period between some of the moderate social distancing measures and some of the stricter once we are currently doing, the stricter end as closing schools and telling everyone to socially isolate, the milder interventions are isolating cases or just getting the most Vulnerable People to socially isolate but the
clear point here is we are facing this for the long term. At the other killer in here is we are going to spend half the year in those stricter social distancing measures so those strict policies we are facing down, happier, some form for most of the year, we are in this for the long haul. James, thank you very much, the long haul. James, thank you very much, james gallaher. Classrooms in england, scotland and wales will close later this afternoon to everyone except Vulnerable Children and those with a parent identified as a key worker. Pupils in england and wales are waiting to find out how their gcse and a level results will be awarded after this years exams were cancelled. John maguire reports from bristol. Bell rings. For the last time in what may be a long time, the school bell signals the start of the day at blagdon primary near bristol. The pupils, staff and families face Uncertain Times ahead as parents and children prepare to share workspace at home. I will be working from home and so will my husband. We will have to obviously home school the children as well. You know, we set up Whatsapp Group so the children can still interact with each other and school have set up e mail so they can still talk to each other. Often the end of term cant come soon enough. But this feels different. Strange, but also exciting. And maybe schooling from home could just be as fun as schooling from actual school. Hopefully its not my last day because then i might not ever see my friends again. Because im going to a different school. This doesnt mean weeks of being confined indoors. The guidance for children is the same as for adults. Fresh air and exercise is beneficial but they should keep their distance. The government has now published the list of workers whose children can stay at School Including nhs
staff, teachers, and those involved in food production. Distribution and sale, people who work in essential financial services, such as banks, and journalists, providing Public Service broadcasting. Now with the list of key workers being published overnight, head teachers and schools for the first time have a clearer idea of exactly how many children will be in school over the next couple of weeks and indeed, through the school holidays. At this school for example it is looking at around 25 so just over 100 pupils, maybe 20, 25 pupils, Something Like that. For primary schools and when it comes to younger children, staff are thinking notjust about their education but also their mental and emotional well being. Weve made sure that there is work ready for them, there are things online. Weve got childrens e mail addresses are all set up and
they are able to use those so they can keep contacting their teachers. Keep those relationships going. And between the children themselves. Good morning class 3. Good morning, miss. How are you feeling . Everyone will need to adapt to a new way of working. So notjust a place of learning but of friendship, safety and sometimes refuge. Schools may be closing and for some time, but their vital work continues and may prove more crucial than ever. John maguire, bbc news, north somerset. As we said, the chancellor is expected to unveil an unprecedented package of measures to help protect millions of workers plunged into uncertainty by the coronavirus crisis. Many companies are warning they could collapse with huge numbers of job losses. Self employed workers and people on zero hour contracts are already struggling. 0ur economics correspondent, andy verity reports. This is the normally busy victoria quarter in leeds. This is the centre of cardiff. And this is glasgow. Companies cant cope with a normal recession of their income dropped by maybe 20 but for thousands of Companies Hit by antivirus measures, its up to 100 . This is 0xford circus, normally one of the busiest places in the world. But today, just like other shopping areas around the country, theres hardly anyone in the shops. And if you are a business it simple, if you dont have customers you dont have an income, you cant afford to pay wages or service debts, and if that keeps up, you are going to have to let people go and declare bankruptcy. Business groups say the Health Emergency has now become an economic one. Threatening to push thousands of companies into bankruptcy and hundreds of thousands of people onto benefits. This morning, the food chain pret a manger, facing a 75 drop in income asked staff to take a
temporary 25 pay cut so it could keep them in work. Businesses across the uk need to see action now. We need to see an immediate suspension of vat, National Insurance and business rate payments that are coming up next week. And we also need to see a form of income support as well. For those businesses that are going to be inevitably disrupted oi are going to be inevitably disrupted or have to close during the coming weeks. Its notjust shops and restau ra nts weeks. Its notjust shops and restaurants who are most obviously hit by emergency measures, this manufacturer makes mechanical and electronic parts for industrial customers, its still busy promoters placed before the crisis struck but will struggle if the shutdown goes on for months. Like every manufacturer we have the same concerns if we start to see significant drops. In relation to people. Thats the simple case for all manufacturers. It really is then see what direct Government Intervention we can see to help make sure we protect jobs
intervention we can see to help make sure we protectjobs and livelihoods so we come out the other side, fit, well and strong. Government help for firms wage bills will cost tens of billions but wont help the self employed. This woman is a freelance theatre director, with no performance as her income has plummeted. For me personally it has involved quite a sad transition from closing the building that i love to work on at the moment with a core tea m work on at the moment with a core team and all of us are self employed and we have no idea what that means in terms of our income. Job security. Whether we can pay our rent next month. And we have no idea when any shows or work will start again for when any shows or work will start againforany of when any shows or work will start again for any of us. The emergency measures will effectively put the government on a war footing, going into debt to help pay millions of private sector wages. The cost is huge. But the cost of not doing so both economic and human, could be greater. Andy verity, bbc news. Nhs workers are at the frontline of the efforts to tackle the virus the peak of the outbreak could be months away,
but staff are already under huge strain. This report from Charlotte Rose begins with one exhausted nurse who broke down after being unable to buy food at the end of her shift, and asked people to remember those who are caring for the sick. Im a Critical Care nurse. Ive just finished 48 hours of work and just wanted to get some stuff in for the next 48 hours. There is no fruit, there no vegetables. Ijust dont know how im supposed to stay healthy. And those people, people are just stripping the shelves of basic foods. With many nhs workers dealing with an unprecedented workload, the strain is starting to show. Health secretary matt hancock this morning urged people to stop panic buying. Just stop it please i hope the video itself shows people the consequences of being irresponsible with what you buy. There is perfectly adequate food supply in this country, it is not a problem and it is not going to be a problem. Difficulty getting food isnt the only problem. Many front line staff say there are not getting the protective equipment they need to stay safe. What we havent had is anything to protect us from aerosol transmission of the covid i9 virus. And that would be ffp masks and hoods. Which are in short supply. Mr hancock said lorries took new supplies to 150 hospitals last night and deliveries to gps and social care providers would follow this weekend. But there are those showing their appreciation for nhs staff. Offering places to stay and delivering food. We are doing longer hours. Shops may shut earlier. I know a lot of the shops have got a lot of schemes for nhs staff as well as vulnerable and elderly people which is brilliant and we are being looked after. But its just people, people need to stop panic buying. The Health Secretary is today asking 65,000 doctors and nurses to come out of retirement to help to deal with the crisis saying your nhs need you. But many already working feel they need more help too. Charlotte rose, bbc news. Covid 19 first appeared in the uk at the end of january, and since then the numbers have risen sharply. The bbcs head of statisitics robert cuffe is with me to give us a picture of how the virus is spreading, and where. It is doubling every 3 4 days. It can be hard to keep track of all of the numbers thrown at you. The dot down here shows where we were a week ago, just around 600 cases and it has doubled and then doubled again and now it is up atjust over 3000 and now it is up atjust over 3000 and you see the same pattern for deaths albeit at a lower base. You
can go from running at half capacity and everything looks 0k, to full capacity, in a very short period of days, unless that doubling slows down, unless measures like social distancing start to work. What about the geographical spread . We can take a look at a map. London is pulling ahead of the rest of the country. The dots are showing roughly the number of cases, scotland about the hundred and 70, northern ireland, 80, wales, 170, but what stands out is london. You would expect that. 16 of people live in london but this represents 44 of cases, so the epidemic is really concentrated in london and it wasnt as bad last week, it was just under a quarter then, so london is pulling ahead of then, so london is pulling ahead of the rest of the nation. The time is 17 minutes past one. Our top story this lunchtime your nhs needs you the government calls on retired doctors and nurses to come back to work and help fight the coronavirus outbreak. Seperating fact from fiction the dangers of misleading advice online about coronavirus. Coming up on bbc news, the rugby season in england draws to a close, as the rfu confirms that all levels below the premiership will end their campaigns early, in response to the coronavirus outbreak. The olympic flame has arrived injapan but there are growing doubts as to whether the games will be able to go ahead in tokyo. Plans for the torch relay have been cut back but up to now the organisers have resisted growing calls to postpone the games. Rupert Wingfield Hayes reports from tokyo. There may not be much surf for her to show off in today, but for na 0moura, every day in the water counts. Now she has her sights set on a medal in the first ever 0lympic surfing contest. At least that was the plan until the virus arrived. Translation right now, im afraid. I dont know whats going to happen. The olympics is a dream for me, but we dont want to have a bad olympics, so maybe its better to have the olympics when the fear has gone. Here injapan you could be forgiven for thinking there is no global pandemic. Schools are closed, but apart from that life is going on pretty much as normal, and it is the same with the olympic games. The japanese government insists it is full steam ahead for the Opening Ceremony onjuly 24. But there are now some
prominent voices here saying that is denying reality. In central tokyo, the brand new Olympic Stadium is ready. 30 billion has been spent preparing the city. But the former governor of tokyo says the chances of holding the olympics this year are now tiny. Normally, just 10 . Unfortunately now. Thats it, you know. Chance no, or postponed, 90 . Thats awful here, i dare to say. Japan looks like it has the coronavirus under control. This was the popular omotesando district of tokyo today. There was no sign of the social distancing or public panic that has been witnessed across europe. But experts say that does not mean tokyo 2020 can be held safely. Even if you could be successful
in controlling the disease injapan, if other regions like europe and africa were really suffering from Infectious Diseases, nobody could come to japan, because