and has issued a fresh warning tonight
that coronavirus will overwhelm the NHS
unless everyone starts to practice
social distancing and that the UK was no
more than three weeks behind Italy when
it comes to the spread of the disease
he's urged everyone in the UK to follow
official guidance to stay at home to
save lives
it comes as the NHS struck an
unprecedented deal with private
hospitals across England to utilise
nearly their entire Hospital capacity to
help in the fight against the corona
virus pandemic the NHS says the deal
will provide 8,000 additional hospital
beds across England nearly 1,200 more
ventilators and 700 doctors
news of the deal came hours before
health officials announced that a
further 56 people have died in the UK
after testing positive bringing the
total here to 233 with the latest his
Dominic Hughes tonight a stark warning
from the Prime Minister the NHS is a
real risk of being overwhelmed by the
coronavirus Boris Johnson warns we are
just two or three weeks behind Italy and
the virus is accelerating but some good
news too in what looks like a really
significant deal with private hospitals
8,000 beds
1,200 ventilators and thousands of staff
will be made available at cost to the
NHS this is fantastic news it will
really help me and my colleagues on the
front line to feel supported and have
the capacity in the hospital to admit
the sickest patients to give them the
care we need my only concern about this
is PPE visors mast gowns we know that
we've had some shortages in the NHS
recently and I would like to see some
assurances that the new staff who are
coming on board are going to be
protected and that there's going to be
PPE enough for all of us to use medical
staff are still extremely concerned over
access to adequate protective clothing
the government says enough of the right
kit is available
meanwhile on the first day of what is
meant to be something close to lockdown
and strict social distancing in the
center of Newcastle some people were
still out and about from the experts
though a real sense that a moment of
crisis is fast approaching if you follow
the advice you are saving somebody's
life this is the time in your lifetime
whereby your action will save somebody's
life it's as simple and as stark as that
a picture of those who are being
admitted to critical care units after
falling ill to the virus has begun to
emerge data was collected on 196
patients in England Wales and Northern
Ireland more than half of them were
being looked after by hospitals in
London there's a significant difference
between women and men more than
two-thirds were male and 132 patients
needed a ventilation machine to help
them breathe 16 patients sadly died 17
were able to be discharged to regular
hospital wards the rest remained in
intensive care
there is now real concern about the
number of cases that are presenting in
London but also a small but significant
cluster in Birmingham in the West
Midlands but the truth is this virus is
spreading throughout the country here in
suffered the deaths of two patients were
announced yesterday later this week one
and a half million vulnerable people
including some cancer patients and those
with lung conditions will receive a
letter it will strongly advise them to
stay indoors for the next 12 weeks from
Monday to shield themselves from the
virus all part of the effort to ensure
the NHS is not overwhelmed in the months
ahead
Dominic Hughes BBC News so the
government then tonight stressing just
how crucial it is to follow official
advice to help reduce the spread of the
disease Philip Norton is in York for us
and how have people been responding
there then ok just have a look here this
is York city centre and this time of
night on a Saturday night it would
normally be thriving with people out and
join nights out that'd be the sound of
music from pubs in this area but it's
almost silent and this is a scene being
Murphy repeated now right across the
country in Townsend
is with bars and restaurants closed in
fact the only people really we've seen a
round here in the city center a takeaway
delivery drivers who are helping
businesses as they adapt to this
shutdown but there are serious concerns
about the number of people who ignored
the advice to stay at home and went for
a day out today we've had reports of
seaside resorts around the country
reporting almost bank holiday light
conditions including Brighton
bridlington and Skegness and tonight
there's been warnings as well from the
mountain rescue teams in Wales where
there have been reports that Snowden was
full of people out climbing now the
National Trust tonight has said that
it's going to be closing its parks and
gardens from midnight but clearly
growing concerns growing calls now for
more tourist destinations to close to
help prevent the spread of coronavirus
indy Thank You Phil well meanwhile the
government is also stressing there is
more than enough food to go around and
people have no need to stockpile the
environment and food secretary George
juice has said people should think of
others especially health workers who
needed to shop at the end of their
grueling shifts our political
correspondent Nick early has this report
an unprecedented crisis and an
unprecedented challenge for the
government the Prime Minister continued
to urge everyone to follow advice
warning of the consequences if people
don't act together to try and stop the
spread ministers are trying to prevent
things getting worse in other ways too
in shops long queues like this one in
Sidcup this morning have become a
familiar sight
in say two empty shelves are common so
this afternoon a plea from the
government
don't buy more than you need be
responsible when you shop and think of
others buying more than you need means
that others may be left without and it
is making life more difficult for those
frontline workers such as our doctors
and nurses and NHS support staff who are
working so hard in such difficult
circumstances
he just meters ahead like dawn the
critical care nurse who found shelves
empty after 40 hours of work we should
all be ashamed but that has to happen
it's unacceptable these are the very
people that we will all need to look
after
perhaps us or our loved ones in the
weeks ahead but it's thought to be 1
billion pounds more food in people's
houses no compared to 3 weeks ago the
reasons though aren't always simple my
mum's 90 says she can't come on their
own and say how does that work if I come
in I look like I'm being the person
who's making the stuff from the old
people and actually my mum [ __ ] come out
to get it so I've just got her staff at
the chaotic and the [ __ ] drains come
here there's nothing available but all
those supermarket shelves may look empty
the message from industry chiefs is
there is enough to go around there is
plenty of food in the supply chain the
issue is around people and lorries so
getting that food right into the front
line on to our shelves which is why
we've seen shortages in some areas the
government has relaxed some rules for
supermarkets but might have to go
further
many of the pleas that we made so far
have fallen on deaf ears is the
government prepared to at some point
intervene and perhaps introduce
compulsory limits on what people can buy
I don't think it is necessary or
appropriate for the government to to
take this different stores on different
items are working together to identify
what an appropriate limit is so for now
that please continue the question
whether there are enough
Nicoli beauty news well a number of high
street firms including Topshop and John
Lewis have a
announced they are temporarily shutting
their stores although they will still
trade online the Labour leader Jeremy
Corbyn has said the government should do
more to provide Economic Security for
all those affected while one Minister
has admitted it will be operationally
difficult to help self-employed people
as our business correspondent Katie
Austin explains huge chunks of the
economy have already felt the pain as
customers stay away jobs have already
been lost this restaurant near Catford
has struggled on with business down 90
percent then the order came to close the
best I can and how long I can't in if
the government couldn't help me that
there will be a fantastic help the
managers here want to use yesterday's
new measures designed to prevent mass
redundancies under a grand scheme the
government will fund 80 percent of wages
for employees who now won't be able to
work up to two and a half thousand
pounds a month v80 payments will be
deferred self-employed people aren't
covered by the wage subsidy program but
benefits are being increased the
Chancellor's latest emergency support
package for the economy was welcomed by
business groups as something that will
save hundreds of thousands of at-risk
jobs but many self-employed people say
they're facing a cliff edge - and they
need more help at the moment one child
left today so my income has gone from
200 pounds a day to about 40 pounds a
day a massive massive d3 the Association
representing self-employed people once
wage subsidies extended to them - to
ensure that they also can meet the cost
of living pay their bills and buy food
the Chief Secretary to the Treasury told
the BBC government was doing what was
operationally deliverable in a short
timescale we're working with banks for
example of those self-employed as to fur
bare and so that they can get through
the cash flow challenge looking at
specific issues such as tax flexibility
to support them
as well so there's a range of measures
that have been set up many businesses
are trying to adapt to see this out more
temporary store closures were announced
this weekend meanwhile the wage grant
scheme won't be ready for a few weeks
and a cash flow crunch looms for the
worst-hit firms katie austin BBC news
let's return to our main news tonight
then the prime minister then urging
everyone across the UK to follow that
guidance to stay at home to save lives
our political correspondent Nick early
is a Westminster for us and he couldn't
be more clear on this now it has been an
extraordinary week hasn't it with some
of the most extraordinary interventions
in modern British political history but
the message from number 10 tonight is
still stark the Prime Minister telling
the country that the UK at the moment is
just 2 or 3 weeks behind italy urging
everyone to follow that advice saying
without a huge national effort to try
and stop the spread of this virus the
NHS here could well be overwhelmed in
the next few days the government will
lodge 1.5 million people in england
alone to stay at home for 12 weeks to
protect themselves from the virus the
list of who they think is the most
vulnerable will be published soon it has
as I say been a really extraordinary
period in British political history the
Prime Minister saying tonight that
people should stay at home and help save
literally thousands of lives