Carry On

People are clearly and sensibly desperate for useful news, and latest BBC figures are impressive - 8.8m watching the Six O'Clock News on BBC1 on Wednesday night, with a further million turning to the simulcast on the BBC News Channel and another 700k coming via live streams on the iPlayer.

Former TV News boss Roger Mosey has words of praise. I'd just like a slightly tougher approach. Last night, we had shots of the temporary mortuary at Westminster, and BBC local pubs and restaurants like the Crown and Sceptre, Yorkshire Grey and Sergios still ticking over nicely enough for their owners. In the South East, BBC presenter Natalie Graham was out and about in Seaford, where the High Street was having a pretty normal day.

Today, let's go for, say, executives of M&B, owners of the Crown and Sceptre; and ask for some shots of the ICU floors at Brighton Hospital. Let's ask the M&B spokesman if their staff can identify customers with the virus. Let's ask if they know that, in Germany, 80% of those identified with the disease are under 60.  Ask if they know that in Italy, 50% of those who make it to an oxygen supply in intensive care, die anyway. And that doctors meet daily, to decide who does and doesn't get the beds next. And that the treatment for those seriously ill with the disease but who don't get chosen for oxygen, is, principally, morphine.

In Brighton, let's track some of the hospital patients who have been sent home, still ill, to make space for coronavirus cases. Let's ask for some stats on the numbers recovering after treatment in intensive care. Let's ask for shots of doctors meeting to decide who gets what treatment - even if it's not forthcoming.

Generally, let's try to find a UK business that is actually now building ventilators, and ask how many. Let's ask the Government for access again to our current testing procedures, and see how we've got up to 25k a day - and what it will really take to increase that tenfold. Let's ask our correspondents worldwide to find one of these test kits for coronavirus antibodies, and see how much it costs. Keep at 'em.