The thefts from five hospitals during the coronavirus crisis could have led to cancelled operations.

Rob England
BBC News

Families of children with special educational needs in Norfolk are able to access money usually ring-fenced for clubs and activities, on play equipment for their homes, external.

The county council said the cash was from its "short breaks fund", which is allocated to more than 900 families in the area.

Councillor John Fisher said the lockdown was "particularly tough" for children and young people "who so often rely upon routine".

"Offering families a flexible way in which they can buy the play equipment they need... has been really positive," he added.

Image source, Norfolk County Council

Joe Pope's family bought him a trampoline with the funds. The 13-year-old from Frettenham, who has autism, would usually go to an activity centre for exercise.

His mother, Claire, said: "Joe needs help to be stimulated to get him to do things and be active, so the trampoline has been absolutely brilliant to give him exercise and make him alert"

David Downes is one of a number of artists in the East of England using the pandemic as inspiration.

Police say they are keen to offer the individual some "words of advice" regarding the outfit choice.

Staff at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King's Lynn braved the rain to observe this morning's one minute's silence to remember key workers who have lost their lives to coronavirus.

Watch a video featuring scenes from across the region.

Image source, Queen Elizabeth Hospital Kings Lynn

NHS staff and other key workers stopped to remember colleagues who have died battling coronavirus.

A minute's silence has been held in the East of England as the region paid tribute to key workers who have died during the coronavirus pandemic.

Healthcare staff in Milton Keynes, Letchworth, Bedford and King's Lynn were among those paying respects to their colleagues at 11:00 BST.

At Southend Hospital, empty shoes were laid out in front of the site to symbolise UK workers who have lost their lives.

Shoppers in Bury St Edmunds also stopped in their tracks and Cambridgeshire police officers fell silent outside their Huntingdon headquarters.

We might be in lockdown but the peregrine falcons at Norwich Cathedral are soaring with delight as they welcome three chicks into the world.

Two chicks were revealed by the nesting platform camera on Sunday, with a third arriving this morning. One egg is still to hatch.

Live action can be viewed via a webcam, external on the cathedral spire nest.

The charity supports breast cancer patients and is getting "creative" with fundraising in lockdown.

Paramedic Tristan Cork says he faced a dilemma but wants to "be part of the fight" against Covid-19.

Norwich City will "stick to their guns" on a decision to furlough non-playing staff and expect to lose up to £35m.

Touch is the first sense humans develop in the womb - is that why so many are finding lockdown difficult?

Image source, Whitbread

More than a 100 phones, desks and chairs that are no longer needed by brewers-cum-hoteliers Whitbread have been redistributed to the East of England Ambulance Service (EEAS).

The office supplies were left over when Premier Inn relocated its headquarters from Luton to Dunstable.

After hearing the EEAS needed additional equipment for its expanding call centres, the supplies were sent to Bedford, Norwich and Chelmsford.

Huw Thomas, head of facilities at the company, said: "Quick thinking by one of our key partners enabled us to put to good use equipment that we no longer had need for."

Piers Harrison-Reid reflects on the health service as its staff tackle the coronavirus pandemic.

Nic Rigby
BBC News

A road markings firm has said a big thank you to the NHS and the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital by painting on the road.

Image source, East Anglian Road Markings Ltd

East Anglian Road Markings Ltd, with the permission of the hospital, has written "Thank You NHS" with rainbow-coloured heart on two roads at the hospital site.

Richard Clarke, from the painting firm, said: "After a very definite 'yes' from my contact on the site we thought it would be nice to show our appreciation to our key workers for the outstanding work they do during these very difficult times.

"We installed these to remind people who the real heroes are today and for many days to come."

Jessica Frank-Keyes
Local Democracy reporter

A Norfolk MP has praised Britain for its “long-held belief that we should look after people in need” as he spoke out to quell concerns over asylum seekers temporarily housed at a former RAF base.

Image source, Jerome Mayhew

The old officers’ mess at RAF Coltishall, used by fighter pilots during World War Two, is being used to offer temporary housing to asylum seekers who have fled from war-torn countries, says the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Some 77 rooms were used by asylum seekers, while 20 were available for councils to house homeless people.

The Home Office said the move to house asylum seekers while their status was being considered was not permanent and was "to help in the fight against coronavirus".

Broadland Conservative MP Jerome Mayhew (pictured) said 24-hour security at the site was in place "not because there’s any increased risk, but to provide reassurance".

"I’m in discussions with the council to help in that process, which is to answer questions, provide reassurance and make sure we have the right level of scrutiny and oversight, whilst living up to our country's long-held belief that we should look after people in need," he added.

The Home Office said it would review the measure before the end of June.

Alex Pope
BBC News Online

Image source, Getty Images

We should always try to look on the (Mr) Brightside of life, so with that in mind, Somebody Told Me that The Killers have set a new date for a concert that was due to take place at Norwich City Football Club, external this summer.

The US band will now perform at Carrow Road on 2 June, 2021, instead of 1 June this year.

All tickets purchased for the concert will remain valid for the rearranged date, the club said.

Ben Kensell, chief operating officer, said: "It’ll be an exciting and much-anticipated appearance and hopefully something that all those who have purchased tickets for can look forward to."

The band also had stadium concerts scheduled, external in Falkirk, Middlesbrough, Coventry, Doncaster, Manchester, Southampton, Bristol and London.

For the fifth week in a row, people across the country have opened their windows and gone to their front doors to celebrate carers and key workers.

Many emergency services congregate by hospitals to show their appreciation.

Here is a very small sample:

In Cambridge... emergency workers and the public gathered at the heart and lung hospital...

Whereas at the Suffolk Owl Sanctuary in Stonham, they're claiming a clap with a difference...

Matt Precey
BBC Look East

The latest figures for the number of Covid-19 deaths in the East of England has been released by the government, external.

In the BBC East region, statistics for the NHS hospital trusts show a rise of 101 deaths in total, up from the previous day's figure of 80.

The total number of deaths at the region's hospitals is now 2,144.

• ·Basildon and Thurrock: 2
• ·Bedford: 4
• ·Buckinghamshire Healthcare: 3

• ·Addenbrooke's: 3
• ·East and North Hertfordshire: 5
• ·Colchester and Ipswich: 11
• ·Kettering General: 6
• ·Luton and Dunstable: 3
• ·Broomfield, Chelmsford: 3
• ·Milton Keynes: 4
• ·Norfolk and Norwich: 2
• ·Norfolk Community: 1
• ·North West Anglia, Peterborough and Hinchingbrooke: 5
• ·Northampton General: 11
• ·Northamptonshire Healthcare: 1
• ·Royal Papworth, Cambridge: 2

• ·Southend: 6
• ·Princess Alexandra, Harlow: 1
• ·Queen Elizabeth, King's Lynn: 6
• ·West Hertfordshire Hospitals: 20
• ·West Suffolk: 2

The total number of coronavirus-related UK deaths in hospitals is 18,738.

A new clinical trial to find alternatives to ventilators in the treatment of coronavirus patients will take place at Norfolk's James Paget University Hospital, external (JPUH) – the only hospital in the East to take part.

It will compare the standard care for critically ill patients, which includes intubation and ventilation, with two non-invasive techniques.

If the two alternatives - continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) masks driven by oxygen or high-flow nasal oxygen (HFNO) through the nose - prove as effective, it could reduce the pressure on the NHS to find ventilators and the staff to operate them, both of which are in short supply.

All three treatments are already commonly used in hospitals, but it was not yet known which is more effective in treating critically ill Covid-19 patients, said the JPUH.

Dr Venkat Mahadevan, a consultant leading the trial, said it would be “a tremendous boost to find effective, alternative ways to treat patients with Covid-19”.

The study is being led nationally by a team at Warwick Medical School, supported by the National Institute for Health Research, external.