How can that be . One of the nurses said, excuse me, where did you get your ppe from . Applause as doctors, nurses, paramedics, turn out to share in tonights applause for the nations carers and key workers, we report from the front line on the huge team effort to save lives. And a guard of honour for 99 year old captain tom moore as he completes 100 laps of his garden and raises £16 million for the nhs. In sport on bbc news, an absolute mess. Rangers boss Steven Gerrard has strong words for scottish football bosses as leagues below the top tier end early. Good evening. The uk will remain in lockdown for at least three more weeks. The foreign secretary, dominic raab, said britain is at a delicate and dangerous stage in this pandemic and relaxing restrictions too soon could risk a second wave of coronavirus and even more deaths. He said the lockdown which is now extended until at least the 7th of may would only be lifted once the daily death toll comes down and experts can be sure the uk is beyond the peak. The latest official figures for the uk show there were 861 deaths reported, in the last 24 hour period. It means that the total official number of deaths in the uk linked to coronavirus is 13,729. That number doesnt include deaths in care homes, or in the community, in england and northern ireland. Our Political EditorLaura Kuenssberg reports. The start of another day. Come on, then, kids. Where looking out the window is the only way to see the world outside. More time for fun for roco and bonnie. But for their parents in wolverhampton, another 2a hours of working, playing, caring and cooking, all within the same four walls. Chocolate everywhere. Weve already done more than three weeks. And i guess, in some ways, thats been like an extended holiday. Weve had the weather, we just played a lot in the garden. But my fears about more time are more for the children. So i guess theres a danger that you could become quite worried about them missing out on things. As the foreign secretary, in the Prime Ministers place, confirmed today, that time at home will be longer. The government has decided that the current measures must remain in place for at least the next three weeks. Weve just come too far, weve lost too many loved ones, weve already sacrificed far too much to ease up now. But we are now at both a delicate and a dangerous stage in this pandemic. If we rush to relax the measures that we have in place, we would risk wasting all the sacrifices and all the progress that has been made. And that would risk a quick return to another lockdown, with all the threat to life that a second peak of the virus would bring, and all the economic damage that a second lockdown would carry. Youve been very clear about why in your view, and sages view, now is not the time. As you said yourself, in other countries, people have been told when and what to expect. From what you know now, is it more likely that were looking at another three weeks, or maybe another three months . We cant give a definitive timeline. Im afraid that would be to prejudge the evidence, that wouldnt be a responsible thing to do. But our message to the British Public is there is light at the tunnel. We are making progress. If i start giving you artificial and arbitrary timeframes, it would be the irresponsible thing to do and i cant do that. Come on, play life under lockdown certainly is a juggle. The rooks think they fortunate, sharing child care in a home office. But the situations intensely tough for millions of people, and dire for the economy. Ok, darling, let me just send this e mail. On the eighth floor of this tower block in birmingham, tamika gill, lives with her two kids. My kids bicker a lot. They are here together come in a confined situation. Its stressful. I almost fainted yesterday, to be honest. Its like all that stress, because im indoors and not being out, like i used to be. So its kind of made me feel a bit down. So, labour is pushing the government for a timetable of sorts. Whilst i support the extension of the lockdown, i do think the government needs to bring forward the exit strategy to tell us the principles on which things are going to change in a few weeks time. They need to do that, because they need the trust of the public. Were asking a lot of them, another three weeks, possibly more of lockdown. But decisions havent been taken about how and when restrictions will go. And there are nerves about giving the public the wrong impression. Likely to ease eventually, step by step. When we do, incrementally, ease restrictions, we must consider what we need to do instead to keep the virus under control. For example, testing and surveillance, Contact Tracing and isolation of people with symptoms. With the progress of the disease flattening, moves towards lessening the limits on our lives are starting to be discussed. But the pandemic will have an impact on all our lives, beyond next week, next month, and perhaps next year. Laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. The government says there is light at the end of the tunnel but restrictions can only be eased when five conditions are met and that will be when they are sure the nhs can cope. When theres a sustained and consistent fall in daily death rate. The government says there is light at the end of the tunnel when the rate of infection is down to managelable levels. When theres enough ppe to meet future demand. And when experts are confident any loosening of restrictions wouldnt risk a second virus peak. Our science editor David Shukman looks at the benefits and risks of relaxing the lockdown. Empty streets around the world. Images that are now familiar, of lockdown. A very blunt way to fight the virus, but it is working. And some countries are easing up. So whats involved in that . Well, first, a key question is the daily death toll falling . Thats yet to happen here in the uk, so for the moment, the lockdown continues. Belgium has also extended its measures until losses are reduced day by day, and the World Health Organization is warning that any move must be very careful. It is imperative that we do not let down our guard. Complexity and uncertainty lie ahead, which means that you are entering a period where we may need to rapidly adjust measures, introduce and remove restrictions, and ease restrictions gradually. So, how can the lockdown be relaxed when that moment eventually comes . In spain, it wasjudged that construction work is safe enough to resume as a first step. In italy, its small shops like bookshops that have been allowed to reopen. While in denmark, schools are seeing pupils return. Each of these steps bring benefits, but also comes with risks. And here in the uk we dont know how the government is planning to handle this. I think its essential that the government begins to tackle the issue of fear in the population and restore confidence, because, otherwise, the lockdown strategy will fail, simply because people wont go along with it. And keeping track of the virus and where it spreads is vital after measures are relaxed. Germany is highly praised for testing huge numbers of people. Something similar will have to happen here. In lichtenstein, they are planning to offer everyone a biometric bracelet in a radical drive to track the emergence of new cases. And apps like this will be needed to keep track of peoples contacts, to spot symptoms and isolate any new outbreaks. The challenge for any government is to try and strike a balance between making sure that people do maintain social distancing while offering a sense of light at the end of the tunnel. And that bit of it is made all the harder by the growing realisation that this wont be over soon. And theres a warning that some restrictions will be needed until next year. The scientists trying to predict the pandemic say that until a vaccine is ready to create immunity to the virus, some social distancing will have to continue to keep people safe. David shukman, bbc news. The boss of an nhs trust in southern england has called the bbc tonight to ask to be put in contact with the British Fashion house burberry whove offered to make gowns for the nhs. He told us he needed to speak to them because he doesnt have enough gowns for staff to get through tomorrow. The leader of Birmingham City council has written to the government, warning that the city will run out of protective face masks within two weeks. Our Health CorrespondentSophie Hutchinson has more. Alan stjohn cook, one of the now almost 111,000 people who have died with covid 19 in the uk. Aged 88, he and his wife had just celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary. Their daughterjulia was allowed into hospital to say goodbye. I took his hand. Even though i had my glove on, you know, i squeezed his hand, and he squeezed my hand, and he was like peeling his eyes open, like he was trying to open his eyes from a really deep sleep. And he knew that i was there. This was whatjulia wore into hospital. She bought most of the protective kit on the internet and was shocked when she saw the staff on her dads covid ward. That masks were very much like this, very sort of. Not very fitted, you know, whereas mine was close fitting. And ijust looked and it occurred to me, my goodness, my ppe is better. And how can that be . And one of the nurses said, excuse me, where did you get your ppe from . And at St Thomas Hospital in london, where the Prime Minister was treated, an a e nurse has told us he feels restrictions on ppe use are putting staff at high risk because the face masks provided arent properly protective. He criticised the governments guidance on when ppe should be worn and says its more about rationing than safety. He described what happened when he and a colleague were looking after a patient on a covid ward last week. We were in the process of washing him, and then he had a coughing fit, and we both knew that everything he coughed up was hanging around in the air while we were completing his personal care. And we had to. And that we were at risk of breathing that in, because the masks are not up to standard and dont provide the full protection we require. The trust that runs st thomas says it has no shortage of ppe and is acting in accordance with government guidance guidance which ministers say was based on advice from the World Health Organization. But another hospital in the south of england which wants to stay anonymous says that there are severe shortages. One trust said it had only two days supply of protective gowns left, and, as a result, had been carrying out ward rounds online. It has emerged in eyes that another major trust has called the bbc, requesting phone numbers for burberry and barbour, to ask them for stocks of gowns because it not have enough to get through tomorrow. It also says some trusts are now washing and reusing single use gowns and masks. Its not just protective equipment but also testing which continues to fuel bad feeling between the government and nhs staff. Ministers say they are able to carry out 35,000 tests a day to see if people have the virus but that staff arent turning up to be tested. You cant be expecting Health Workers who are ill to be going into a car to drive a Long Distance for a test. We need to make sure that testing is much more easily accessible being tested at home if you are ill and so forth. The governments acknowledged this evening that both ppe and testing remain major challenges. Sophie hutchinson, bbc news. Lets get more from our medical correspondent fergus walsh. So another high death toll today, but a drop in the number of people in hospital with the coronavirus. Yes, some positive news. There is still around 19,000 people with covid 19 in hospital. But, in the past 2a hours, there have been a 3 fall in that number. And thats the third day in a row. If we look at a slide, showing the regional variations, we can see london, which has had by far the biggest outbreak, has had by far the biggest outbreak, has had by far the biggest outbreak, has had significant falls. But the epidemic appears to be shrinking very much around the uk. We dont know how fast that will continue. But its due to social distancing, and until we get sustained and consistent falls in both the daily death toll and the number of new cases, weve got no hope of any relaxation of the current measures. We also got more information today about who is being particularly badly affected by the virus . Yes, the office of National Statistics has done some analysis. We know something is for certain. Firstly, the biggest risk factor is age. More than half of all deaths are in the over 80s. Secondly, nine than half of all deaths are in the over80s. Secondly, nine out than half of all deaths are in the over 80s. Secondly, nine out of ten people who died have had underlying conditions, on average they had three Underlying Health conditions, things like heart disease, diabetes. Third, men are far more likely to die than women. And we dont know why. Its unclear why a disproportionately large proportion of black, asian and minority ethnic people are in Critical Care. One in three. Now, its possible it is due to public facing roles, a very high proportion of public facing, front line workers, nearly half of medical nhs staff, are from ethnic minority backgrounds. But there could be lots and lots of other factors as well. Thank you. This pandemic has confronted nhs workers at all levels with an extraordinary challenge. Fergal keane and cameraman Tony Fallshaw spent time with some of the teams fighting the virus at Imperial College healthca re in london. Dr ali sanders is fighting a disease that has killed colleagues. Its everywhere, youre reminded when you are cycling down an empty road that everyones in lockdown, and its infectious and were coming to work. Were not locked in our homes, isolating from it. Weve put some new signs up just to give a bit of clarity to exactly what need to wear on red and super red. Ali leads Emergency Teams at Charing Cross and st marys, two of the five London Hospitals run by Imperial College healthcare. The team is now briefed for the day ahead and what really strikes you here is the sense of calm and of common purpose. Theyre two vital things as the staff face this pandemic. This is the resuscitation unit needed by some patients arriving with covid symptoms. Theyre treated by in staff full protective gear. Movement is careful, words are soft spoken. Part of an essential gentleness for patients who cant have relatives with them in this protected zone. To have an infection that goes through the entire spectrum of age, that has limited treatment options, and takes out people who are largely otherwise well, with no particular rhyme or reason, is quite hard. Every hour, the staff disinfect their working area. Imperial College Healthcare has adequate supplies of ppe, but even so there must be constant vigilance. How do you deal with the anxiety . I think its. You just take one day at a time. If you try to think about the whole situation, its too much. Theres been a massive reorganisation of staff, as the hospitals have gone from 68 to 143 Critical Care beds, with the potential for 300. It takes many to wage this struggle. From the cleaner raj at Charing Cross to the Clinical Trials manager serge, whos become a ward assistant at st marys. Matron dolores, who spent a0 years in nursing, and wanted to pass this message to the public. Stay home. And not to put our resources under more stress than they are, because we dont want this spreading, its quite simple. For staff, its deeply personal. Three colleagues have died since the crisis began. The latest was 60 year old nurse melujean ballesteros, from the philippines, a mother of two, and one of 18,000 filipinos working for the nhs. St marys is 175 years old, and sacrifice is part of history here. Staff fell in both world wars. But in the spring of 2020, it is in Critical Care units like this that staff willingly face a potentially lethal virus. We were invited to see the work of the cpap unit, where air is applied through a mask to help breathing. It can help some patients not all. In the process, infected droplets are exhaled. We use it for things to be passed through, so medications or equipment. Staff communicate with the outside by video link. The ward is specially ventilated to create what is called negative pressure that stops any contamination escaping. A Hong Kong Born doctor leads the team. How do you feel for the patients . They are isolated, they dont have people with them, they cant even hear us properly. I think it is a really scary time for them, and i think any small measures we can take to make them feel more at ease makes a big difference. I think doctors, we mainly see the patients, and we pop in and out to see them, but it is the nurses who stay here for a long time. That is what we need to recognise the hard work for. Nick, recovering, was deeply grateful to his carers, and having struggled for his life, there was a moment of clarity he wanted to share. It is because of these guys i am sitting up, because ill be honest, i never took it serious in the beginning. But after this, it has kind of told me to slow down. Family, you know what i mean . Being with your family is important. I was doing long, silly hours, but being with your family is really important, and that is what it has taught me. I have just come out of the unit, and that word hero that is being used a lot of late has been going in my head. If you said it to anybody here, they would say, no, imjust doing myjob, this is what i have been trained to do. But having watched the doctors, the ambulance people, the cleaners, the cooks, porters, all of the people who keep this struggle against the virus going, people from the uk, people from everywhere, brave hardly begins to describe them. Applause. As britain claps for its carers, Emergency Team leader dr ali sanders knows she is engaged in the greatest struggle of her medical life. You know, itsjust nice t