Coronavirus - 27th April

Summary for Monday, 27th April

• Italy outlines plans to ease restrictions from 4 May as it records its lowest daily death toll since mid-March
  
• In Sweden, garden centres and hairdressers will be allowed to resume activities as part of a phased reopening plan
  
• In Spain, children were allowed out for the first time in six weeks on Sunday
  
• More US states begin to lift lockdown orders, but leaders warn social distancing will last months
  
• Wuhan, the Chinese city where the virus began, says the last Covid-19 patients have been discharged from hospital
  
• UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to return to work after recovering from the coronavirus
  
• New Zealand says it has eliminated local transmission - it moves out of its toughest lockdown level at midnight
  
• Singapore records another leap in cases among migrant workers - infections there now top 13,000
  
• There are almost 3 million confirmed cases and more than 206,000 deaths globally, according to Johns Hopkins University
  

Hello and welcome back

We’re starting this week with some good news as countries all over the world begin easing restrictions. Here’s a quick glance at what you need to know:

• Children in Spain have emerged on skateboards, bicycles and scooters after lockdown measures were eased to allow them outside for the first time in six weeks
  
• Over in Italy, restrictions will be eased from 4 May, with people being allowed to visit their relatives in small numbers. Parks will also re-open but schools will not restart until September. Italy recorded 260 new deaths on Sunday – its lowest daily figure in more than a month
  
• And in South Korea, life is also slowly starting to get back to normal. The country’s large churches have re-opened, though worshippers are required to wear masks and keep a distance. The Shincheonji church was linked to a majority of infections in the city of Daegu
  
• And the downward trend continues in the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the outbreak emerged last December. A health official told reporters the city now has no remaining Covid-19 cases in its hospitals.
  

Australians quick to download app

The CovidSafe app has had a better-than-expected uptake

Good morning from Sydney. As new case numbers drop to near single digits, the focus is squarely on how society will move out of lockdown.
Canberra is stressing that a wide uptake of its contact-tracing app is crucial to this, and since it was released last night more than 1.13 million Australians have downloaded it.
Critics say there are privacy and transparency concerns with its rushed roll-out, but as opinion polls have shown, public trust in the government has risen since the start of the pandemic.
Meanwhile some states have begun relaxing restrictions, with Queensland set to bring back picnics and car trips, while Western Australia will now allow 10-person gatherings, up from the previous limit of two.
But New South Wales and Victoria – the two most-populous states – say they’re sticking with their measures until at least 11 May, when a national review is due.

US states ease lockdown despite 55,000 deaths

The US total number of deaths reached almost 55,000 on Sunday night, according to data by the Johns Hopkins University. The number of confirmed cases is just over 965,000 - which is more than four times the number of cases in Spain, with the second-most number of cases.
Despite that, some US states are beginning to lift lockdown orders. Georgia, Oklahoma, Alaska and South Carolina have already allowed some businesses to reopen, while Tennessee and Mississippi will see measures easing on Monday.
The US virus task force has urged people to continue with social distancing throughout the summer. President Donald Trump has not held a White House briefing since Friday - after he'd been widely criticised for speculating that injecting disinfectant could kill the virus.

'Cure can't be worse than the problem' Trump says

"The cure can't be worse than the problem itself!" Mr Trump tweeted a day ago, before repeating the message today.

 :tweet: :Left Quotes: Donald J. Trump:
        @realDonaldTrump

So true!

:tweet: Donald J. Trump: @realDonaldTrump
Remember, the Cure can’t be worse than the problem itself.
Be careful, be safe, use common sense!

German rapper rocks drive-in cinema

Sido appeared on stage and, in larger form, on the cinema screen

It's not exactly a mosh pit, but hey, it's still a concert. German rap star Sido on Sunday gave a sold-out concert at a drive-in cinema in Dusseldorf. He performed in front of some 500 cars, and with two people per car allowed, that's an estimated crowd of around 1,000 people.
It looked a bit like performing in front of a car park but with all normal concerts and entertainment events cancelled, it was a welcome break for many people. And if you couldn't drive there yourself, it was live streamed on the web.
It's not the first time that Germany's very few drive-in cinemas were somewhat repurposed during the lockdown - at Easter, they were used for religious services and there are more concerts planned over the next days and weeks.

What's happening in Asia?

• China reported no new deaths and just three cases on Sunday - of which two were imported and one was a local case in the border province of Heilongjiang
  
• Chinese authorities also said there were no new virus patients in Wuhan and that all Covid-19 patients had been discharged
  
• The number of cases in Singapore continues to rise as more foreign workers test positive. There are over 13,000 confirmed cases, the vast majority of which are workers living in dormitories
  

• Indonesia reported 275 new coronavirus cases and 23 deaths on Sunday - putting its official death toll at 743, the highest in Asia aside from China.
  

Why is Australia's tracing app controversial?

Frances Mao - Sydney
The government has directly tied the use of the COVIDSafe app to the idea of Australians resuming normal life as soon as possible.
That appeal to freedom, and public duty, drove more than one million people to download it within hours of its release. (A reminder - Australia has around 25 million people.)
But there's also been a lot of apprehension and debate – and I could see it play out on my social media last night – with some friends urging people to “do their part” while others pointed out risks.
The app works by sharing your encrypted code through Bluetooth with other users around you. If you test positive, you make a report and that information will go to a central server accessed only by state health officials. Obviously, you know who's at risk in your own home but this way strangers you may have encountered at the supermarket will be alerted too.
The government says the data will be stored temporarily and only used for contact tracing - not quarantine monitoring or location tracking. But critics point out those protections aren't in law yet because parliament isn't sitting until mid-May.
In addition, tech experts say the app's source code should have been released for scrutiny, and that centralised storage is far riskier than the decentralised versions now favoured by nations such as Germany.

Rohingya refugees die after being turned away

A boat carrying hundreds of Rohingya refugees was recently turned away from Malaysia, with the government citing fears over coronavirus.
Dozens died in the journey, and it's believed that hundreds more people are still stuck at sea.
The United Nations has since issued a plea for the international community to take urgent action.

Mexico deports migrants back to Central America

Mexico says that over the past five weeks it has repatriated almost all migrants who were living in shelters across the country.
Authorities said that most had entered the country illegally, intending to seek asylum in the United States.
There were more than 3,500 and just over 100 remain. Officials say the move was intended to protect the lives of the migrants and prevent the spread of the coronavirus in Mexico.
They were flown back mainly to Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, which have closed their land borders because of the pandemic.

Kids in Spain go outside for first time in weeks

Restrictions of movement in Spain have been eased to allow children outside for the first time in six weeks.
Spain has had one of Europe's strictest lockdowns but the government hopes to ease measures further to let everyone exercise outside.

Japan 'names and shames' pachinko parlours

Japan's Osaka prefecture has said it will name and shame more pachinko gambling arcades that are defying a nationwide lockdown request.
Japan is under a state of emergency but authorities can only request for places to lock down - rather than ordering them to do so.
Despite this, three of the six locations named by Osaka authorities have closed, with a spokesman saying "a lot of places have closed down after we named [them]".
Pachinko, a gambling machine that has similarities to pinball, is a popular game across Japan and parlours are a common sight.
There are currently 13,441 virus cases in Japan, though the country has only tested a fraction of its population. Japan has been criticised for its cautious approach to testing as well as its slow lockdown measures.
Japan's current state of emergency is due to last until 6 May, though a senior official told the Japan Times that an extension "will be unavoidable".

Captain Tom honoured with 100th birthday postmark

Capt Tom finished his 100th lap on 17 April

The 99-year-old British war veteran who has raised £29m for the National Health Service by walking laps of his garden has been honoured with a special postmark.
Royal Mail will stamp all letters with the message to celebrate Captain Tom Moore's 100th birthday on Thursday.
All stamped post up until Friday will be marked with: "Happy 100th Birthday Captain Thomas Moore NHS fundraising hero 30th April 2020."
Read our full story here.

Nagasaki cruise ship: 148 crew infected

Officials in the Japanese prefecture of Nagasaki say they are working to send crew members who tested negative back to their home countries.
The Italian-registered Costa Atlantica has been docked in Nagasaki for repairs since January with 623 crew members and no passengers on board.
Some 148 crew members have now tested positive for the virus, with one in serious condition at a local hospital.
The last cruise ships with passengers docked last week. Read our piece here.

What's changing in Australia?

With Australia's virus curve not just flat but "crushed" - as some keen local tabloids are describing it - restrictions are easing in some areas.
Currently, for the most part, Australians everywhere are still required to stay at home unless they have crucial work, shopping or exercise reasons.
When outside you must maintain a 1.5m distance from others. Bars, pubs, gyms, churches and other non-essential places have been shut down but restaurants are open for take-away and many shops remain open too.
Variations on these rules range from state to state. The two biggest states New South Wales (incorporating Sydney) and Victoria (incorporating Melbourne) have the strictest lockdowns and don't plan on lifting measures until mid-May.
But some of the less-affected states have relaxed some rules. In Queensland from Saturday, people can go shopping again for fashion, have a picnic in the park or go for a swim at the beach - as long as it's within a 40-minute drive from home.
Western Australia is also joining South Australia in expanding the national two-person limit on gatherings to 10 people - but again such meet-ups have to be for essential reasons.

What's the latest from India?

Good morning to those waking up in India. Here's a breakdown of the headlines this morning:

• PM Narendra Modi is likely to discuss a gradual exit plan from the lockdown with other chief ministers via video conference later today. India's lockdown began on 24 March and will go on until 3 May
  
• The capital Delhi reported a surge of 293 new cases just as India recorded its biggest daily spike yet of 1,975 infections on Sunday
  
• The Supreme Court will hear a petition on allowing stranded migrant workers to return home if they test negative for the virus - just as several chief ministers highlight the issue of them being stuck across states and cities
  
• Delhi is to audit seven hospitals as more and more health workers get infected with coronavirus - at least 50 health workers in the city tested positive for it last week, local reports say
  

• But according to authorities, the situation is getting better - the health minister said that "hotspot districts" are becoming "non-hotspot districts" at a press briefing on Sunday, adding that lockdown measures were working. The country has confirmed more than 25,000 total infections and 872 deaths
  
• And, like other countries, India has also relaxed some of its lockdown rules - over the weekend, it allowed small local stores to reopen after more than a month. You can read more details here.
  

Why the world will look to India for a vaccine

Soutik Biswas - India Correspondent
India is among the largest manufacturer of generic drugs and vaccines in the world.
Now half a dozen Indian firms are developing vaccines against the virus that causes Covid-19.
One of them is Serum Institute of India, the world's largest vaccine maker by number of doses produced and sold globally.
The firm has partnered to mass produce a vaccine being developed by the University of Oxford and backed by the UK government.
Human clinical trials began in Oxford on Thursday. If all goes well, scientists hope to make at least a million doses by September.
It's clear that the world will need hundreds of millions of doses - and this is where Indian vaccine makers have a head start over others.
Serum Institute of India alone has an extra capacity of 400 to 500 million doses.
You can read the full story here.

New Zealand 'has won battle' against virus

New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says there are no undetected transmissions anymore and that the country has "won that battle".
At midnight, New Zealand will lift some of its nationwide lockdown measures, moving down one level on its alert scale.
Director-general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said the country had achieved its "goal of elimination".
He explained that this didn't mean zero cases "but it does mean we know where our cases are coming from".
There was one new confirmed case reported on Monday and one further death.
Overall, there have been fewer than 1,500 cases in New Zealand and around 80% of those have already recovered. The deaths of 19 people have been linked to the virus.

Australian rugby players caught breaching rules

One player posted pictures of the trip to his Instagram

Three Australian rugby league players are in hot water after they shared pictures online of a group camping trip, where they rode dirt bikes, practised shooting and hung around a campfire.
Under social-distancing rules in New South Wales, you can't leave your house for non-essential reasons and can only mix with your own household or one other friend.
Police are now investigating players Josh Addo-Carr, Latrell Mitchell and Tyronne Roberts-Davis. The players have apologised, and said they were with family members for a cultural gathering in the bush. But the National Rugby League called their actions "disappointing" and "unacceptable".
The league has been lobbying - against official health advice - for its competition to resume next month. If it does it will be one of the few sports leagues around the world to resume play.

UK PM Boris Johnson to return to work today

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will return to work on Monday, a month after he was diagnosed with the virus.
He spent a week in St Thomas' Hospital in London, including three nights in intensive care, after being admitted on 5 April.
He later said things "could have gone either way" when he was in hospital.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who has been standing in for the PM, said the prime minister was now "raring to go".
Mr Johnson will resume full-time duties - chairing the regular morning cabinet meeting on Covid-19 before holding talks with senior ministers and officials. It is not known whether he will lead Monday's press briefing.

Airbus boss warns company is 'bleeding cash'

The chief executive of Airbus has issued a stark assessment of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the plane maker.
In a letter to workers, seen by news outlets, Guillaume Faury is said to have warned the company was "bleeding cash at an unprecedented speed".
Mr Faury also told Airbus' 135,000 staff to brace for potentially deep job cuts and warned that its survival was at stake without immediate action, according to the Reuters news agency.
Read more here

Singapore: 'Shining example' to virus hotspot

Singapore, an island-nation of five million, now has one of the highest number of virus cases in Asia.
Once seen as a shining example of how to contain the virus, it now has more than 13,000 cases. That's the third highest figure in Asia behind China and India - both of which have populations of over one billion people.
Singapore says it's been testing thousands of people each day - mostly migrants - after an outbreak in its migrant worker communities.
People on construction work permits, usually men from South Asian countries, live in tightly-packed dormitories that have made it easy for the virus to spread.
There were 931 new cases reported on Sunday - the majority of which were foreign workers. Citizens and permanent residents made up just 15 of the new cases.
It's worth nothing that Singapore may not have the third highest number of cases across Asia - and that high numbers are down to its aggressive testing.
But as it continues testing, it's likely we'll see an ever-growing discrepancy - a rise in the number of migrant infections, and a fall in the rest of the population.

UK appears to be past virus peak

The UK appears to have passed the peak of the virus, weekend figures show.
Both the number of new cases and deaths appear to be decreasing steadily. However, England's deputy chief medical officer, Prof Jonathan Van-Tam, last week warned against ending measures too quickly.
"We are not out of danger yet. We must keep pushing on this," he said.

Germany sees fewer cases but enforces masks

Germany has recorded an increase of 1,018 new confirmed infections.
While the figure is low compared to last week's daily numbers, there's often a delay of reported cases over the weekends.
Overall, official data shows 155,193 confirmed cases with more than two thirds of those already recovered. The country's death toll has risen by 110, to 5,750.
Germany last week began easing lockdown measures but today made it mandatory to wear masks outside.

Ghana extends ban on public gatherings

Thomas Naadi - BBC News, Accra
Ghana's President Nana Akufo-Addo has extended the ban on public gathering by two more weeks.
The president last week lifted a three-week lockdown that had been imposed on various parts of the country.
Schools and borders remain closed and the president has urged all Muslims to pray at home during the month of Ramadan.
The country has so far confirmed 1,550 coronavirus cases and 11 deaths. Some 155 patients have recovered from Covid-19.

• Live tracker: Coronavirus in Africa
  
• Why lockdowns may not be the answer in Africa
  

Singapore races to build quarantine facilities

As we just reported, Singapore is seeing a massive spike in coronavirus infections, mainly among migrant workers from Bangladesh and India.
With thousands of them testing positive, mostly with mild or no symptoms, authorities are scrambling to build quarantine facilities to house them.
Take a look at this timelapse video of a large exhibition centre being converted within days into an isolation facility.

Pakistan warns of Covid-19 spike during Ramadan

A week after allowing congregational prayers at mosques, Pakistan has warned that the virus has the potential to spread rapidly during the holy month of Ramadan.
The warning from the government comes after various doctors urged against relaxations in the lockdown, saying any spike in infections would cripple Pakistan's already fragile healthcare system.
Pakistan has confirmed more than 12,500 cases so far and 269 deaths.
Here's more news from the rest of South Asia:

• Hundreds of garment workers in Bangladesh defied the lockdown to take to the streets to demand wages on Sunday. The industry is forecast to lose $6bn due to cancelled orders from international brands
  
• Sri Lanka, which was supposed to lift its lockdown today, has extended it for another week after a spike in cases. The island nation has confirmed 477 cases so far
  
• Nepal, which has 49 cases, marked the fifth anniversary of a devastating earthquake on Saturday while under lockdown. The prime minister blamed the pandemic for delaying the reconstruction of homes and other buildings wrecked by the disaster.
  

'Smallest Church in America' keeps doors open

While many places of worship in the US have shut their doors, the so-called "Smallest Church in America" remains open along Georgia's coast.
The tiny chapel - which has no pastor, measures 9 by 18ft (2.7 by 5.4m), and only has 12 seats - is a tourist attraction where passers-by and local residents visit to worship or post written prayers on the chapel's walls - while observing social distancing, of course.

More Chinese students return to school

Some school students in Shanghai and Beijing went back to school on Monday after weeks of lockdown.
In Shanghai, students in the last year of middle and high school returned to school. In Beijing only high-school seniors went back to class to prepare for the notoriously difficult Gaokao exam, which determines which university they'll be able to attend.
Across China, schools that were shut or moved to online-only began gradually reopening in the past month. In Wuhan, the epicentre of China's outbreak, schools are set to start on 6 May.
In one primary school in Hangzhou, pupils were actually wearing "one-metre-hats" to help them stick to social distancing guidelines. Have a look below...

Royal Mint to make nearly 2m visors for NHS

The Royal Mint has begun mass producing medical visors to protect NHS staff in England and Wales.
Around 150,000 have already been made by the UK government body, which is commonly known for making coins and investment products. It aims to make two million visors in total.
Engineers developed a prototype in 48 hours, and production has moved to 24 hours a day, seven days a week at the Royal Mint's site in Llantrisant, South Wales.
This is not the first time the Royal Mint has worked with the NHS in combating coronavirus.
Among other steps, it has helped to design and print Covid-19 awareness cards for staff at the Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board.

Japan's central bank ramps up stimulus

Japan's central bank has expanded its monetary stimulus and pledged to buy an unlimited amount of bonds to keep the cost of borrowing down.
"Japan's economy is likely to remain in a severe situation for the time being due to the impact from the spread of Covid-19 at home and abroad," the Bank of Japan said in a statement.
The move puts it in line with other major central banks around the world that have unleashed unprecedented amounts of support as the crisis raises fears of a deep global recession.

SA police apologise for remarks in mosque raid

South Africa's police force has apologised for remarks made by an officer during the arrest of Muslims who had congregated in a mosque against orders banning gatherings.
The incident, on Saturday in the Mpumalanga province, led to the arrests of 24 people, the AFP news agency reports.
Brigadier Vishnu Naidoo said in a statement that the comments made by the officer about Prophet Muhammad were "rather unfortunate".
He said it was "unacceptable that someone could make such an utterance".
Read:

• Coronavirus in South Africa: The lull before the surge?
  

Boris Johnson returns amid pressure over strategy

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson returns to work on Monday, a month after he was diagnosed with the coronavirus and hospitalised in an intensive care unit.
He returns to work amid continued criticism of the government over a shortfall in testing and lack of protective wear for NHS workers, and pressure on ministers to outline an exit strategy from lockdown.
In other UK news:

• Calls to a national domestic abuse helpline rose by 49% and murders doubled in the weeks after the lockdown, a report by MPs has revealed
  
• The UK will need to use artificial intelligence (AI) to counter a range of threats, according to a new intelligence report.
  

Coronavirus cases near 3 million worldwide

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases globally is approaching the three million mark, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.
There are currently 2,971,831 confirmed cases and 206,542 deaths worldwide. The US has the highest number of cases with a staggering 965,910, followed by Spain at 226,629.
The real number of cases worldwide is likely to be much higher because of under-reporting and under-testing.

Worrying about pregnancy under lockdown

The National Childbirth Trust has said it has been contacted by lots of parents and pregnant women concerned about catching the coronavirus.
Megan Bungay, from Illogan in Cornwall, is 31 weeks pregnant and said she was missing the support of friends and family during the pandemic.
Shelly Hamilton, a new mother, said it was upsetting that it could be months before her family could hold her newborn son.

Millions download tracing app in Australia

More than a million Australians downloaded a coronavirus contact tracing app within hours of it being released by the government.
The COVIDSafe smartphone app uses a Bluetooth wireless signal to exchange a "digital handshake" with another user when they come within 1.5m (4.9ft). The app then logs this contact and encrypts it.
Users will be notified if they have had more than 15 minutes of close contact with another user who tests positive.
Australia has recorded 6,694 cases and 80 deaths from the virus, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
The government says the data from the app will be stored temporarily and only used for contact tracing. But critics point out those protections aren't in law yet because parliament isn't sitting until mid-May.
Similar privacy concerns have been raised in the UK, where according to the health secretary a contact tracing app will be available for use within weeks.
You can read the full story here.

UK continuing antibody test trials

Junior health minister Edward Argar has said the UK is continuing to test antibody tests to determine who has already had the virus.
"The sign at the moment is positive but we're not there yet in saying this is 100% going to work," Argar told Talk Radio.
"We are continuing to research at pace... We are making very good progress now and I am hopeful we will see some positive news on that front."
An antibody test works by looking for signs of immunity generated when someone has had the virus. There has been speculation that successful antibody tests could prove decisive in determining who is allowed to return to work or move out from under other lockdown restrictions.

Too early to speculate about easing lockdown - UK minister

Junior health minister Edward Argar told the BBC he understood frustration with lockdown restrictions in the UK but "we're not in a place where the science says we can ease them".
He said it was "too early to speculate" on what changes might happen at the next review, scheduled for 7 May.
On who should wear face masks, he said the science was "mixed" - current advice is that they have value in a clinical setting, but not the same value for people going about their ordinary lives, though some research papers have taken a different view.

New face mask rules in Germany - Europe update

Face masks are now mandatory across Germany, and Italy has announced plans to ease its lockdown. Here’s the latest from Europe:

• Masks are now compulsory on public transport across Germany, with most states also making them mandatory when shopping. Officials are recommending people use simple coverings and leave medical masks for health professionals
  
• Italy’s Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced an easing of lockdown restrictions on Sunday. From 4 May, people will be allowed to visit relatives, hold small funerals, go to parks and travel within (but not outside) their own region
  
• Hairdressers and garden centres have reopened in Switzerland, and students will return to school from 11 May
  
• Malta, the smallest country in the EU, reported no new cases of the virus over the previous 24 hours on Sunday – the first time this has happened in more than six weeks
  

Boris Johnson thanks country for 'stepping up'

Boris Johnson is speaking in Downing Street, the first time we have seen him at Number 10 since he recovered from the coronavirus.
He began by thanking "the people of this country" and "everyone who has stepped up".
"Every day I know that this virus brings new sadness," he said.
"It is still true that this is the biggest single challenge this country has faced since the war.
"It is also true we are making progress."

Johnson: I refuse to risk second peak of infections

Boris Johnson has warned that the UK is at the point of "maximum risk" with regard to the coronavirus, in his first public remarks since recovering from the virus.
Johnson said he would not "throw away the sacrifice of the British people" by easing lockdown restrictions too quickly.
"I know it is tough. I want to get the economy moving as fast as I can," he said.
"But I refuse to throw away the sacrifice of the British people ... and risk a second peak."

Johnson: We cannot say when lockdown eased

Johnson said the government could not yet spell out how changes to the lockdown policy would be implemented - or how quickly.
"We simply cannot spell out now how fast or slow, or even when, those changes will be made," he said.
"Clearly the government will be saying much more about this in the coming days.
"These decisions will be taken with the maximum possible transparency."
Johnson returned to work on Monday under significant pressure to map out an exit strategy from lockdown restrictions, and to answer questions about a shortfall in testing in the UK.

UK calls to domestic abuse hotline rise by nearly half

Calls to a domestic abuse hotline in the UK have risen by 49% and killings doubled in the weeks after lockdown restrictions began, a report by MPs shows.
Researchers at the Counting Dead Women Project told MPs 14 women and two children had been killed in the first three weeks of lockdown - the highest number in a three-week period for 11 years, and double the average rate, they said.
Read more about domestic abuse in lockdown here. If you or someone you know needs support for related issues these organisations may be able to help.

What's behind New Zealand's success?

One country that's been in the news for doing more than just "flattening" the curve is New Zealand.
It says it has stopped community transmission, and with just one case reported on Sunday, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the virus was "currently" eliminated.
Fewer than 1,500 people have been infected among New Zealand's nearly five million population - and only 19 have died.
So how did New Zealand get to where it is now? Some experts point to it making an earlier start. Ardern announced strict lockdown measures in March - when only about 100 people had tested positive and no one had yet died.
The country's geography has also played a role in its success. A relatively small country, New Zealand has more control over who can come in than a larger country with more porous borders.
But many experts have attributed its main success to the clarity of the message coming from the government. Unlike nations that declared "war on Covid-19", the New Zealand government message was that of a country coming together. It urged people to "Unite Against Covid-19". Ardern has repeatedly called the country "our team of five million".
"Jacinda [Ardern] is a brilliant communicator and an empathetic leader," Prof Michael Baker from Otago University told the BBC.

Boris Johnson says this is moment of maximum risk
Watch Prime Minister Boris Johnson paying tribute to the UK for showing courage in fighting the coronavirus pandemic.

Analysis: Johnson directly addresses concerns

Jessica Parker - BBC political correspondent
After weeks away, suffering with coronavirus, Boris Johnson wanted to show he was back behind the desk and taking charge.
His government has rejected any claims that his absence created a sense of drift, but the prime minister - like or loathe his politics - is capable of communicating in a way his cabinet colleagues can’t.
He directly addressed concerns that have increasingly been aired in recent days, including by his own MPs, about the effect the lockdown was having on the economy. He also addressed evidence that some were beginning to tire of the restrictions.
The overall message was that people needed to hold tight. “Contain your impatience,” he said. The risk of a second peak clearly remains a key driver in the government’s thinking.
But Johnson also made it clear the government understood that this couldn't go on forever, and he sought to reassure the public that an exit strategy was being mapped out, even if it wasn't being spelled out.

Why is there so much US resistance to the lockdown?

Aleem Maqbool - BBC North America correspondent
In these times, the sight of a public gathering of hundreds of people, mostly without face masks, is an alarming one. But that is exactly what could be seen at a demonstration against the shutdown measures in Washington State.
"We believe that the state governor has gone beyond his constitutional authority in shutting down businesses and ordering people to stay at home," organiser Tyler Miller told the BBC from the grounds of the state capitol.
In mid-March, Washington Governor Jay Inslee announced an emergency proclamation mirroring many issued around the world - closing restaurants and bars and banning large gatherings.
But protesters claim the emergency order was unconstitutional.
"The fact I am protesting does not mean I think it is a good idea to have gatherings, I just believe that the government has no authority to prohibit them," Miller said.
Read the full story here.

Stockholm bars shut after failing safety checks

Maddy Savage - BBC News, Stockholm
Five bars and restaurants in Stockholm have been closed by the city council after failing inspections on coronavirus safety.
The inspections took place following concerns that some venues weren’t doing enough to encourage social-distancing between customers.
More than a dozen other venues were given a warning by inspectors over the weekend. Checks were also carried out in the university city of Lund, where all venues passed their inspections.
Sweden has kept pubs, restaurants and cafes open since the start of the outbreak, but last month it asked venues to offer only table-service to stop customers from crowding around bars.

'We want to see a clear path' - MPs respond to Johnson

UK MPs have been responding to the prime minister's statement this morning.
Conservative MP Tobias Ellwood said he was “pleased to hear" that the prime minister planned to provide more detail in the coming days.
Ellwood said any exit strategy from social distancing measures would only come with a vaccine, and restrictions would "have to stay in place for many, many months".
"What we need to look at is how we can learn to live with Covid-19, whilst making sure we don't see a second spike but parts of our economy can come back to work," he said.
Opposition Labour MP Luke Pollard said he wanted to see the publication of an exit strategy.
“All of us want to see a clear path ahead – if we don’t have that clear path my fear is lockdown will start withering at the edges," Pollard said.

Reality check: Is Johnson right about critical care beds?

Reality Check
In his speech at Downing Street this morning, the prime minister said, “We did not allow our NHS to collapse."
He also said the health service had not run out of ventilators or intensive care unit beds.
He is correct.
At the end of last week, there were 3,000 spare critical care beds available in the UK, according to the government.
The health service across the UK had 7,199 critical care beds at the end of last week, not including the several thousand made available in emergency field hospitals, such as the NHS Nightingale hospitals in London, Manchester and other cities.
The government has also said that every patient who needs a ventilator has received one, but has not yet met the goal of 18,000 ventilators pledged at the beginning of the month.
Are the UK's targets being met?

Dutch celebrate King's Day in lockdown

Anna Holligan - BBC News Hague correspondent

Musicians took to the streets to play the national anthem

Church bells have rung out across the Netherlands to celebrate King Willem-Alexander’s 53rd birthday - the “King’s Day” or Koningsdag holiday.
Dutch flags are hoisted outside homes and the national anthem is playing sporadically from living rooms across The Hague and beyond.
But today there will be none of the traditional flea markets or street parties that accompany this popular event. Instead, the Dutch prime minister tweeted to say the best people could give the king this year was to stay at home.
Covid-19 has perhaps united the country in more ways than even King’s Day could. The Dutch have mostly been diligently observing the social distancing rules imposed to try to limit the spread of the virus.
However, last night the hashtag #endthelockdown was briefly trending - showing a degree of frustration with the partial lockdown.
But the bars that would normally be rammed and bedecked in orange today are offering only takeaways or home deliveries in honour of his royal highness.

Back to school in Beijing

Some students in Shanghai and Beijing have returned to classes after weeks of lockdown. Chinese authorities also said there were no new virus patients in Wuhan, where the outbreak began, and that all Covid-19 patients had been discharged. Here’s the latest from other parts of Asia:

• New Zealand is lifting some of its nationwide lockdown measures. It says it has ended local transmissions for now
  
• India has also relaxed some of its lockdown rules - over the weekend, it allowed small local stores to reopen after more than a month
  
• The number of cases in Singapore continues to rise as more foreign workers test positive. There are over 13,000 confirmed cases, the vast majority of whom are workers living in dormitories
  
• In Australia, more than a million people downloaded a coronavirus contact tracing app within hours of it being released. Restrictions are easing in some areas
  

UK public asked to submit questions for daily briefing

The daily UK coronavirus briefing from Downing Street has become a familiar fixture since March, but now the public will now be able to submit questions.
The government says submissions will be reviewed at midday and only one question will be chosen by an independent polling organisation. The person selected can then have their question read out or can ask it themselves in a pre-recorded video.
To take part you have to be over 18 and submit your question and some personal details online.
The BBC's political editor, Laura Kuenssberg said she had received thousands of emails from the public in the past few weeks - with the most common themes being people worried about jobs and income, concerns about personal protective equipment and questions over why travellers are allowed to arrive in the UK without health checks.

Alert raised over rare reaction amongst young patients

Michelle Roberts - Health editor, BBC News online
NHS doctors and GPs in the UK have been sent an alert warning them to look out for a rare but dangerous reaction in children that may be linked to coronavirus infection.
The alert said that in the past few weeks, intensive care departments in London and other parts of the UK have been treating children with a “multisystem inflammatory state” that looks similar to toxic shock syndrome or sepsis.
These young patients of varying ages have had gastrointestinal symptoms – tummy pain, vomiting or diarrhoea – and inflammation of the heart, as well as abnormal blood test results.
The alert, which was issued to GPs in North London by their clinical commissioning group but has now been shared more widely, advises such cases are urgent and should be treated as such.
It is unclear how many have been diagnosed with the illness, although the numbers will be low.
Some of the cases have tested positive for coronavirus but others haven’t.
There is “a growing concern” that a coronavirus-related inflammatory syndrome is emerging in children in the UK, the alert says, or that there may be another, as yet unidentified, infection linked to these cases.

Lagos makes face masks compulsory

Nigeria’s commercial capital, Lagos, has mandated the compulsory use of face masks in public, as confirmed coronavirus cases continue to rise locally.
The governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, said Lagos state - home to 20 million people - was firmly in the community transmission phase of the pandemic and there was a need for more precautions.
Lagos and Ogun states, as well as Nigeria’s capital Abuja, are in the fourth week of federally imposed lockdowns due to expire at midnight on Monday.
Sanwo-Olu said failure by residents to use face masks in public places would attract penalties and sanctions.

El Salvador gangs 'take advantage of pandemic'

Jailed gang members will be confined to their cells 24/7 under the measures imposed by the president

Criminal gangs in El Salvador are taking advantage of the fact that police are busy dealing with the coronavirus pandemic to commit more murders, the country's president says.
President Nayib Bukele authorised the police and army to use lethal force to curb the violence after more than 50 people were killed between Friday and Sunday.
Read more about the measures Nayib Bukele is taking, including keeping jailed gang members confined to their cells 24/7.
You can also get a rare glimpse into El Salvador's prisons here.

Airbus boss warns company is 'bleeding cash'

The chief executive of Airbus has issued a stark assessment of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the plane maker.
In a letter to workers, seen by news outlets, Guillaume Faury warned the company was "bleeding cash at an unprecedented speed".
This month the firm announced it was cutting aircraft production by a third.
Meanwhile, its main rival Boeing is also battling another major crisis due to the year-long grounding of its 737 Max passenger jet, which had been its best-selling plane.
More on this story here

Norwegian Air 'could run out of cash by mid-May'

Norwegian Air has said it may run out of cash by mid-May if its creditors and shareholders do not approve the company's financial rescue plan.
The budget carrier has already grounded 95% of its fleet due to the pandemic. Last week four of its staffing subsidiaries filed for bankruptcy, and it cancelled contracts with a jointly owned firm that provides crew in Spain, UK, Finland, Sweden and the US. The two actions put 4,700 jobs at risk.
Norwegian has proposed a debt-to-equity swap which would hand the majority of control to the company's lessors. The move would allow it to tap into government guarantees of 2.7bn Norwegian Krone ($255m; £205m), on top of the 300m Krone it has already been granted.
Separate votes will be held on the plan by bondholders, shareholders and leasing firms. If approved, Norwegian could potentially ground its fleet until April 2021, aside from a handful of aircraft currently flying in Scandinavia.

French Grand Prix postponed

The French Grand Prix has been postponed from its 28 June date, the 10th consecutive Formula One race to be called off as a result of the coronavirus crisis.
The move had been considered inevitable since President Emmanuel Macron expanded the country's ban on mass gatherings until mid-July.
Meanwhile, organisers of the British Grand Prix at Silverstone say spectators will not be allowed this year.
Under current plans, the old British GP date of 19 July would be the first of two races at Silverstone, the second a week later on 26 July.
The season would start with the Austrian Grand Prix on 5 July, followed by a second race at the Red Bull Ring on 12 July.

Further 13 deaths in Scotland

A further 13 people who tested positive for coronavirus in Scotland have died, taking the country's total to 1,262 deaths.
Speaking at a Scottish government briefing, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon pointed out there were some delays to registration of deaths at the weekend, and these figures might be higher in the coming days.
She confirmed that 10,521 people had tested positive for Covid-19, an increase of 197 from yesterday's figure.
The latest figures for the whole of the UK are expected to be announced by the Department of Health and Social Care later.

Training set to resume for Serie A footballers in Italy

Sides in Italian football's Serie A will be allowed to return to individual training on 4 May and team training on 18 May after the Italian prime minister announced the first steps in lifting the country's coronavirus lockdown.
There are hopes Serie A fixtures could resume between 27 May and 2 June - with an end date for the season of early August.
Parks will also reopen in the country, which has Europe’s highest official death toll. The country reported 260 new deaths on Sunday - the lowest daily tally since 14 March.
In Germany, the Bundesliga plans to play spectator-free games next month but Spanish football is unlikely to return until the summer, the country's health minister Salvador Illa said.
The Dutch Eredivisie season was abandoned on Friday, but the Premier League hopes to complete its season with the UK government trying to help elite sport to resume behind closed doors.

Nadal among stars playing virtual Madrid Open

Tennis star Rafael Nadal is known as the King of Clay - but can he become the King of Clay-Station this week?
From today, the Spanish 19-time Grand Slam champion is one of 32 leading players taking part in a virtual version of the Madrid Open on PlayStation 4.
Britain's Andy Murray is also among the men competing online, while the women's tournament features fellow Grand Slam champions Caroline Wozniacki and Bianca Andreescu.
Both tournaments have separate prize pots of 150,000 euros (£131,210). Each champion will decide how to distribute the money into the relief funds set up to support lower-ranked players whose incomes have dried up during the pandemic.
Read more about tennis' biggest venture into esports here.

Prototype to ease ventilator shortage in Pakistan

Umer Draz Nangiana - BBC Urdu, Lahore
Engineers at a university in Karachi have come up with a prototype of a ventilator to help Pakistan deal with the outbreak.
The team at NED University of Engineering and Technology are putting the ventilator through its final tests - clinical trials are likely to start this week before it goes into production.
The man behind the initiative, Dr Riazuddin, told BBC Urdu his device meets international standards: it can be run in both invasive and non-invasive situations on ICU patients.”
Pakistan has confirmed more than 12,500 coronavirus cases so far and 269 deaths. Officials warn the virus could spread rapidly during the holy month of Ramadan, which began at the weekend.

Sting and Sir Patrick auction masterclasses for charity

Sing-alongs with Sting and Sir Rod Stewart, a Shakespeare lesson with Sir Patrick Stewart and a virtual cocktail with Hillary Clinton are being offered in a charity auction to raise funds for refugees during the coronavirus crisis.
Sting has promised to duet with the hightest bidder in a remote recording session, and Sir Patrick will teach the art of Shakespearean oration.
Clinton will discuss how the pandemic will change the world - over a drink - while Downton Abbey fans can bid for a virtual house party with creator Julian Fellowes, actor Hugh Bonneville and the current Earl and Countess of Carnarvon.
They are all raising funds for the International Rescue Committee, with the online auctions to be conducted by Sotheby's from 1-8 May.
It follows the All In Challenge, in which stars like Ariana Grande, Leonardo DiCaprio and Drake offered up-close-and-personal experiences, and which raised more than $20m (£16m).

UK government to judge ability to 'move forward' this week

Downing Street has briefed reporters this afternoon, following the return of Boris Johnson.
The prime minister’s official spokesman says that we could hear more about how the government will judge the UK's ability to “move forward” by the end of the week. This is after we heard Mr Johnson say this morning that more detail would be revealed in the "coming days".
The spokesman says Mr Johnson earlier gave a “clear-eyed assessment” of the situation.
He says the key is to satisfy the five tests set out by the government - we have more on that here - and they have to be confident that “refining” social distancing measures will not help “lead to a second peak".

Postmark honours fundraising war veteran

All mail sent in the UK until Friday will be stamped with the commemorative postmark

A 99-year-old war veteran who raised £29m for the UK's National Health Service by walking laps of his garden has been honoured with a special postmark.
Royal Mail will stamp all letters with the message to celebrate Captain Tom Moore's 100th birthday on Thursday.

Some Swedish businesses 'facing 90% drop in demand'

Maddy Savage - BBC News, Stockholm
Sweden’s bars, hotels and restaurants are facing a huge drop in business, despite being allowed to remain open during the pandemic, according to the country’s business minister, Ibrahim Baylan.
He told a news conference that many restaurants, hotels and bars were struggling - with a 50% average drop in demand. This has risen to 90% in areas typically popular with tourists.
Mr Baylan defended Sweden's decision to keep large parts of society open, saying it was important to mitigate the virus's economic impact while authorities tackled the outbreak.
His comments come after five bars and restaurants in popular nightlife spots were closed down in the capital, Stockholm.
The inspections took place following concerns that some venues weren’t doing enough to encourage social-distancing between customers.
More than a dozen other venues were given a warning by inspectors over the weekend. Checks were also carried out in the university city of Lund, where all venues passed their inspections.

UK to mark health workers' deaths with minute's silence

The silence will be held at 11:00 BST on Tuesday

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will take part in a minute's silence on Tuesday to remember health workers who have died from coronavirus.
The tribute was proposed by health unions Unison, the Royal College of Nursing and the Royal College of Midwives, and coincides with International Workers' Memorial Day.
A spokesman for Mr Johnson says the PM will observe the minute's silence at 11:00 BST (10:00 GMT) and ask everybody who works in government to take part.
Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon also says she will join in the tribute, saying it provides time to honour frontline workers and pay tribute to those who have died.

China denies spreading disinformation

China’s foreign ministry has denied claims that the country is spreading disinformation about the coronavirus.
A European Union report said last week there was “significant evidence” of covert Chinese operations on social media.
National security officials in the UK and the United States believe China is continuing to under-report the true number of deaths from Covid-19.
China's foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang defended Beijing's response in Monday's regular press briefing.
"I must stress China is against the creation and spreading of disinformation by any individual or institution. China is a victim rather than a source of disinformation," he said.

'Self-congratulation recurring' in Trump briefings

US President Donald Trump has spoken over 260,000 words in his coronavirus press briefings - and journalists from the New York Times have analysed every one to determine the patterns of his messages.
"By far the most recurring utterances from Mr. Trump in the briefings are self-congratulations," it says.
"He does credit others (more than 360 times) for their work, but he also blames others (more than 110 times) for inadequacies in the state and federal response."

The New York Times has analysed 42 of President Trump's briefings

My note:  The New York Times must be desperately short of news coverage, to be wasting time & effort on such a project!  

Kenya authorities share images of social distancing on ferry

Officials in Mombasa have tweeted some stunning aerial photos of a ferry boat. The images show hundreds of people practising social distancing during their commute across Kilindini Harbour.
A range of restrictions are currently in place across Kenya. Schools, pubs, entertainment venues, churches and mosques have been shut, and night-time curfews are in force. Residents can also be arrested for travelling outdoors without wearing a mask.

'Right' for public to question ministers - Downing Street

Downing Street says it's "right" that members of the public, who are making "significant sacrifices", get to put questions to ministers and experts.
Members of the public have been given the chance to ask a question at the government's daily virus update from Downing Street. There will be one question a day from a member of the public, in addition to the media.
Anyone over the age of 18 can submit a question, which will be chosen by an independent polling organisation.

Deaths in England rise by 329

A further 329 people who tested positive for the coronavirus have died in England.
NHS England said the patients were aged between 29 and 100-years-old.
The latest figure brings the total number of confirmed deaths in hospitals in England to 18,749.
In Scotland, a further 13 people have died, bringing the total in the country to 1,262 patients.
And in Wales, a further eight patients have died, totalling 796 in the country over the outbreak.

Czechs allowed to travel - but where can they go?

Rob Cameron - BBC Prague Correspondent
From today, people are legally allowed to leave the Czech Republic and travel to any destination they wish. Though, as PM Andrej Babis pointed out - where would you go? There are virtually no flights or trains, and most other countries are not letting anyone in.
Also, anyone who leaves also has to present a negative Covid certificate on their return, or face 14 days of quarantine. The only outsiders being let in are EU business people or university students, also with negative Covid certificates or quarantine.
The next stage of easing domestic restrictions begins today, with large retail outlets, gyms, libraries and zoos (outdoor spaces only) amongst the latest to open.
Authorities are concerned at an apparent flashpoint in the town of Marianske Lazne (Marianbad) near the German border, where there has been a spike in infections in hospitals.

PM warns of ongoing virus risk

Prime Minister Boris Johnson gave a speech from Downing Street earlier today urging the UK public not to lose patience with lockdown measures.
Mr Johnson said he refused to "throw away" the public's "effort and sacrifice" so far by relaxing coronavirus restrictions too soon.

Premier League footballers return to training grounds

Some Premier League footballers have returned to training grounds today, with plans to resume the English top-flight season set to step up this week.
Arsenal and Brighton opened their training grounds to players for individual workouts, with West Ham set to follow soon.
The Premier League is hopeful of potentially restarting on 8 June, depending on Government approval, with top-flight clubs meeting on Friday to discuss their options.

Arsenal defender David Luiz, pictured here before the coronavirus lockdown, was seen arriving at the club's training ground on Monday morning

What lockdown easing means to NZ

Simon Atkinson - BBC News, Sydney
Within the last couple of hours, New Zealand lifted its level four lockdown restrictions.
It’s a moment the country has been counting down to since the plan was announced a week ago.
“We’ve made it!” the country’s most popular newspaper website proclaims.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said that the high-level lockdown, which ran for over a month, had managed to stop the “widespread, undetected community transmission” of Covid-19. And New Zealand is being hailed as among the most successful countries at managing the outbreak.
But the reality is that for many Kiwis, life will not change too much.
I asked a friend living there what the step down to Level Three meant to them. “A takeaway flat white,” she said.
It is of course a huge step for the businesses (including cafes and restaurants) which are allowed to reopen in a limited form. And for those parents who really need to have their children in school, the partial opening of classrooms is a big relief.
But the PM has as always acknowledged that even at Level 3, life is restrictive. People should still stay at home unless working, going to school, doing essential shopping, or exercising - and stick within their social “bubble”.
“We’re opening up the economy, but we’re not opening up people’s social lives,” Ms Ardern said.

France reports record monthly rise in benefit claims

French authorities have registered a record monthly rise in the number of people seeking unemployment benefits.
The number of claimants rose by 7% to just over 246,000 - the highest since records began in 1996.
Over 3.7 million people are registered for benefits in France, and more than 10 million people have been temporarily laid off from work due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Trump task force will not hold briefing

US President Donald Trump will speak with members of the media when he meets industry leaders on Monday, but his Covid-19 task force will not hold a formal briefing, the White House says.
The task force has held daily briefings to update the American public on the state of the crisis. The president in recent weeks has made headlines by sparring with the press or state lawmakers during these briefings.
White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany told reporters the briefings would take place later this week - and "might have a new look to them, a new focus".
"I would not read into that anything that said we see them as negative because in fact we think that they have been a very positive, helpful opportunity for the president to speak to the American people," Ms McEnany said.

Sunak: A quarter of UK business has stopped trading

UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak is making a statement in the House of Commons on the impact of coronavirus on the economy.
He says one and a half million new claims have been made for Universal Credit and more than four million jobs have been furloughed.
He says "survey evidence suggests" that a quarter of businesses have stopped trading.
"These are already tough times and there will be more to come," Mr Sunak says.

GP alert over symptoms in children

NHS doctors in the UK have been warned to look out for a rare but dangerous reaction in children that may be linked to coronavirus infection.
An urgent alert sent out to GPs said that intensive care departments in London and other parts of the UK have been treating severely sick children with unusual symptoms similar to toxic-shock syndrome.
Some of the children, of varying ages, had tested positive for coronavirus.
Read more about the alert and the symptoms raising concerns.

Airbnb issues new Covid-19 cleaning rules

Homestay company Airbnb is rolling out new cleaning guidelines for renters due to Covid-19.
Hosts will now need to space out rentals by 24 hours, to allow adequate time for cleaning. A 40-page manual will detail the best practices for cleaning a room as well as the specific chemicals and products needed to do so, USA Today reports.
There are new personal protective equipment recommendations as well.
Airbnb told US media it developed these standards by consulting with the Obama-era US Surgeon General, Vivek Murthy.
The company, like many in the hospitality industry, has suffered due to the pandemic.
Last month, Airbnb announced a global extension to its “extenuating circumstances” policy, stating all guests booked between 14 March and 31 May would be eligible for full-refund cancellations.

Sunak announces support for small businesses

UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak has also just announced that small businesses will be eligible for new loans worth between £2,000 and £50,000, which are backed by a 100% government guarantee.
He says the government will pay the interest on these "bounce-back loans" for the first 12 months.
They scheme will open from 9:00 BST on Monday next week.
The chancellor says there will be "no complex eligibility criteria... just a standard form for people to fill in".
Loans should arrive within 24 hours of approval, he says.

No extension to Brexit transition - Gove

Cabinet minister Michael Gove has insisted there won't be an extension to the Brexit transition period past the end of this year.
Appearing remotely in front of a committee of MPs, Mr Gove said "we believe it is entirely possible to conclude negotiations" on the current timeframe.
He said "just shy of 100" civil servants have been redeployed from work on a Brexit deal to dealing with the coronavirus.
He predicted the odds of a deal are "better than two to one."

Gove clarifies civil servant redeployment

UK cabinet minister Michael Gove has clarified that the number of civil servants redeployed from work on a Brexit deal to dealing with the coronavirus is 47. Earlier he said it was "just shy" of 100.

US Girl Scouts in Alaska receive federal loan

The Girl Scouts of Alaska have received assistance from the Covid-19 small business federal loan programme after the pandemic shut down their fundraising efforts.
The organisation typically raises funds by selling cookies at schools and businesses each year but due to Covid-19 restrictions, scouts in Southern Alaska have been left with 144,000 boxes of cookies, stacked up in their homes, the Anchorage Daily News reports.
The money from the annual cookie sale typically goes towards staff and paying for scholarships and programmes for the girls.
The government loan will allow the scouts to keep employees and create online programmes for the scouts to do at home, including flamenco and magic trick lessons.
The scouts also have a new Covid-19 badge that is based on good hygiene.

NHS trust classifies all Bame staff as 'at risk'

An NHS trust in England is classifying all of its Bame staff as "vulnerable and at risk".
Somerset Foundation Trust announced the move in a letter to all ethnic minority staff. It is thought to be the first NHS organisation taking this step.
The measure will allow Bame staff and their families to be tested in the first five days of developing symptoms, and to request an FFP3 mask, which offers more protection than a regular surgical mask.
It comes after research found Bame patients were more likely to become critically ill or die of coronavirus, and that a disproportionate number of the NHS staff to have died of the virus have been Bame. The government recently launched an inquiry into the issue.

The UK picture

We should be hearing from the UK government in the next 30 minutes but let’s take a look at the latest from the country first:

• Prime Minister Boris Johnson has returned to work after recovering from coronavirus, warning the country is at the moment of maximum risk in the outbreak
  
• The PM’s spokesman said it would take “a couple of days” before we knew if the government would reach its target of carrying out 100,000 tests a day by Thursday
  
• Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced 100% taxpayer-backed loans for small businesses
  
• Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she would be issuing guidance on wearing face coverings on Tuesday
  
• Captain Tom Moore, who raised more than £29m by walking laps of his garden, has had his 100th birthday honoured with a postmark
  

New York City to open 40 miles of streets to pedestrians

New York City will soon open 40 miles (64km) of streets to pedestrians so residents have more space to social-distance outdoors, Mayor Bill de Blasio has announced.
"We are going to focus first on streets in and around our parks," the mayor said. "Oftentimes we are seeing that immediate area getting very crowded."
As warmer weather approaches, the city will seek to barricade some streets to expand sidewalks, he added. Some 100 miles of space could ultimately be opened up for pedestrian use.
This is the second time De Blasio has tried to open up street space for New Yorkers - his earlier effort was ended due to enforcement concerns from police.

Hancock: UK death toll reaches 21,092

Matt Hancock begins the UK government briefing by confirming the first question will come from a member of the public - after almost 15,000 were submitted.
He says the questions are selected by an independent polling organisation and they don't see them before the press conference.
The health secretary for England says the government is working through its action plan and "at its core is to protect life and protect the NHS".
He confirms a total of 21,092 people hospitalised with coronavirus have now died, and pays tribute to them and their families. That's a rise of 360 since Sunday.

Hancock announces life assurance scheme for NHS workers

Matt Hancock says 82 NHS staff and 16 care workers have also died from coronavirus.
"They have dedicated their lives to caring for others, and I have a deep personal sense of duty that we must care for their loved ones," he adds.
The health secretary announces a "life assurance scheme" for NHS and frontline staff.
He says the family of staff who die from coronavirus will receive a £60,000 payment.
He adds: "Nothing replaces the loss of loved one but we want to do everything we can for their grieving families."

Five tests for relaxing lockdown

Chris Whitty talks through the five five tests that the government has said must be met to “adjust” the current lockdown when it is reviewed in about 10 days.
These include the NHS’s continued capacity to meet its critical care demands- something that Mr Hancock referred to a few minutes ago.
These include a “consistent and sustained” fall in the number of deaths and the infection rate coming down to a “manageable” level.
Most crucially, and this is a point emphasised by Boris Johnson earlier, the government must be confident that any changes won’t risk a second peak of infections.

First question from the public - can we hug our grandchildren?

Lynne from Skipton is the first member of the public to get her question asked.
She says she is missing her grandchildren so much, and wants to know if when measures start to be eased, being able to hug them will be one of the first steps.
Prof Chris Whitty says for many, being able to interact with family is "absolutely essential".
But he warns that it "depends on the situation", and if she is older and needs to be shielded, she will still need to be protected.
Matt Hancock says he understands the impact of not being able to hug closest family, adding: "It affects all of us too.
"We just hope we can get back to that as soon as possible and way to get there fastest is to follow the rules on social distancing."

Restoration of NHS services to start tomorrow

"Starting tomorrow, we'll begin the restoration of other NHS services starting with the most urgent like cancer care and mental health support," Mr Hancock says.
"The exact pace of the restoration will be determined by local circumstances on the ground."

Analysis: 'Reasonable headroom in the NHS'

Nick Triggle - Health Correspondent
Health secretary Matt Hancock once again makes the point NHS open for business – and for the first time signifies services will start getting back to normal.
From tomorrow cancer care and mental health support will start being re-instated. Cancer surgery and treatment have been largely protected, but the amount of screening and referrals have dropped.
The reason he has been able to do this is because there is now significant evidence the peak has passed and there is reasonable headroom in the NHS – over 3,000 intensive care beds are available, while the number of beds on general wards occupied by coronavirus patients has dropped to under 16,000 from a peak of over 20,000.

UK 'on track to meet 100,000 target'

The first question from a journalist is from the BBC's health editor Hugh Pym who asks about progress on testing.
Mr Hancock says the UK is "on track" to hit its target of 100,000 tests by the end of month.
He says more than 37,000 tests were carried out in the last 24 hours and there has been a huge demand for home testing kits ordered online, with more than 5,000 despatched.

Foreign workers and NHS returners entitled to new scheme

The next question - and back to the journalists - is on the life assurance scheme.
The reporter asks whether overseas workers or those who have come back to the NHS after retiring will be entitled.
Matt Hancock says yes, adding: "This is for frontline staff working in the NHS and social care who die and are employees."
And he repeats the government is looking at other groups of workers who may need a similar scheme.

The latest from Europe

While the UK briefing has been going on we've heard that Italy’s new cases have dropped to a seven-week low. Meanwhile, restoration work is getting underway again at Notre-Dame. Here’s the latest from Europe:

• The latest figures from Italy show new confirmed cases dropped to their lowest number since the outbreak began. The recorded death toll rose by 333 in the last 24 hours to 26,977, higher than the 260 reported the previous day. Italy will slowly ease the longest lockdown in Europe from 4 May
  
• Face masks are now mandatory on public transport throughout Germany. Most states have also made them compulsory when shopping. Authorities however have said simple face coverings will do, and has asked people to leave medical masks for health professionals
  
• Russia has officially confirmed 87,147 cases of the virus, surpassing China’s case total. Lockdown restrictions have been in place since the end of March and are due to expire this week, but there are calls for them to be extended into May
  

• Restoration is back under way at Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris. Workers returned on Monday to make the construction site compliant with social distancing measures
  

Could people be quarantined at the border?

The panel are asked by the FT's Sebastian Payne about press reports that people arriving in the UK could be quarantined for two weeks and whether tighter controls at the border can be expected.
Mr Hancock says the UK did not consider testing people at the border earlier during the outbreak because travel restrictions meant relatively few people were arriving and the number of imported cases were low as a proportion of total cases.
But he says that, as the number of UK cases begins to fall in the next phase, this equation could change as it has in other countries, and he says the government will have "more to say" on potential controls.
On a separate question about antibody tests, Prof Whitty says he does not expect there to be a major breakthrough in the coming months but a series of "small, incremental steps" forward.

Global virus cases pass three million

There have now been more than three million cases of Covid-19 recorded around the world, according to tracking by Johns Hopkins University.
More than 208,000 people are known to have died.

UK government less than halfway to testing target

  Reality Check
In Monday's daily government briefing, Health Secretary Matt Hancock revealed that 37,024 tests for coronavirus were carried out on Sunday.
That’s far below the government’s target of 100,000 daily tests by the end of April, with only four days to go.
Up until recently, the government was carrying out about 20,000 tests a day, so this represents an almost doubling of that figure.
The government has now said that up to 10m key workers and their households in England can ask for a test.
We explain more here about how the testing system works.

Deaths show the UK is 'not consistently past the peak'

Talking about the number of hospital deaths, Prof Whitty stressed there are reporting lags over weekends and that he expects there will be an "uptick" later in the week.
"Nevertheless the trend overall... is a gradual decline, but we are definitely not consistently past the peak across the whole country at this point in time," he said.
Earlier, he said the percentage of critical care beds being used for Covid-19 patients is "gradually trending down".
Speaking about those figures, he said the peak is "very gradual", adding: "We're not seeing a dramatic fall off and nor do we expect to in the next short while."

What did we learn from UK briefing?

What were the key announcements and talking points from today's UK government briefing?
*The families of NHS and social care workers who have lost loved ones to coronavirus will be entitled to a £60,000 payment.
*The special life assurance scheme will apply to foreign workers and those who have returned from retirement.
*Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the UK was “on track” to meet its target of 100,000 tests by the end of the month.
*Chief Medical Officer Prof Chris Whitty said the number of cases is stabilising and the number of people in intensive care falling but he was "very cautious" about predicting future trends and death rates.
*The health secretary appealed to those with other serious illnesses to seek help, announcing the phased restart of previously cancelled hospital procedures, starting on Tuesday with cancer care.

New York deaths continue to decline

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo offered his daily update on the situation in his state, which remains the epicentre of the Covid-19 outbreak in the US.
Here are the key takeaways:

• While death rates continue to decline, 337 New Yorkers died in the last day
  
• There are still 1,000 new Covid-19 cases, daily
  
• Parts of the state could open after 15 May, when restrictions expire, but Cuomo urged local lawmakers to be "smart about it" and work within national health guidelines and other regional leaders
  

• The governor also called out criticism that some states are asking for federal aid, saying New York was a "giver" state and "nobody puts more money into the [national] pot"
  

Trump will address nation in news conference

US President Donald Trump will brief the nation at 17:00 EST (21:00 GMT; 22:00 BST), the White House has said.
Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany tweeted that there would be "additional testing guidance and other announcements about safely opening up America again".
Ms McEnany had told reporters earlier that Monday's Coronavirus Task Force briefing was cancelled and that briefings might be resumed later in the week in a "new format".
Ahead of the news conference, the president will meet industry leaders to discuss the response to Covid-19.

US Secretary of State: 'No other nation is doing more'

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says his country is doing more than any other to combat Covid-19 in Africa.
Speaking during a phone briefing with journalists in Africa, the top diplomat said the US is not reducing its spending on global healthcare despite the Trump administration's decision to stop funding the "dysfunctional" World Health Organisation.
"We have a massive effort to help our African partners fight Covid-19," Pompeo said.
"No other nation is doing more than we are. We committed more than $170m to this fight in Africa."
He said that Washington wasn't looking to cut back aid but wanted the money to go to a multi-national institution that "can actually deliver good outcomes".
When asked by the BBC's Africa correspondent Andrew Harding about whether America's image abroad had been damaged by recent comments from President Trump about treating Covid-19 with detergent, Mr Pompeo said foreign governments and media were spreading false information.
Mr Pompeo was also critical of China, saying it was trapping African nations in deep debt while giving relatively little away in aid.

How sport is looking to get the ball rolling again

The sports industry, like other industries, is trying to figure out how to resume activity safely.
Here are the latest developments:

• Some Premier League footballers have returned to training grounds, with clubs due to discuss on Friday plans to resume the English top-flight season
  
• Formula 1 bosses are "increasingly confident" of starting the season in Austria in July, after France became the latest country to postpone its race
  
• Boxing's biggest fights may "be a year away" from happening because of the pandemic
  
• Tennis stars are taking part in an esports tournament to help raise money for lower-ranked players without an income, although Rafael Nadal had to postpone a virtual match because of a "back issue"
  

Viral WhatsApp messages 'drop 70%'

WhatsApp says it has seen a drop of 70% in "highly forwarded" messages - the kind that may spread misinformation about the coronavirus.
The World Health Organization has said the spread of fake news about the outbreak is an "info-demic".
And two weeks ago, WhatsApp stopped messages sent between individual users five times or more then being posted to more than one chat group at a time. But experts say it still has more to do in the battle against misinformation.
“WhatsApp is committed to doing our part in tackling viral messages," a spokesman for the messaging platform said. "This change is helping keep WhatsApp a place for personal and private conversations."

Canada's largest province won't say when it will reopen economy

Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he's releasing a "roadmap, not a timeline" for when the economy will re-open.
The province accounts for 41% of Canada's population.
Schools are closed until at least 31 May, and Mr Ford avoided giving any hint as to when other restrictions might be eased.
His plan says there will need to be a consistent decline in new coronavirus cases for two to four weeks before he begins to re-open the economy in incremental stages.
There were 424 new cases of Covid-19 – a 2.9% increase – on Monday.

Trump's daily briefings may be over - why?

Anthony Zurcher - BBC North America reporter
After three days without a coronavirus task force briefing, the White House now says they will take on a new format as the president prepares for a Monday evening press conference instead. Why the change?
Part press briefing, part grievance-airing, all Trump spectacle, the daily coronavirus task force show, broadcast live from the White House for the past month, appears to be over.
At first, the high viewership appeared to be translating into improved overall public approval for the president, prompting some of the president's critics - who considered the events more style than substance - to demand the news media stop covering them.
As the US death toll from the virus mounted and the economic hardship worsened, however, the president’s job numbers once again declined.
The criticisms culminated last week in widespread outrage and derision after he suggested that scientists research using disinfectants and light to destroy the virus inside a human body.
Some White House aides had been urging the president to back off from the daily briefings, and at last he appears to have agreed.
Despite enjoying the national spotlight, the president may have acknowledged that the events were doing more political harm than good.
Read Anthony's full analysis here.

WHO chief defends agency's handling of pandemic

The director general of the World Health Organization (WHO) has defended its handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said countries should have listened to the agency after it declared a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern” on 30 January, when there were 82 cases outside China and no deaths.
"The world should have listened to WHO then, carefully," he told reporters.
"We advised the whole world to implement a comprehensive public health approach, and we said: ‘Find, test, isolate, and do contact tracing.’ You can check for yourselves: countries who followed that are in a better position than others.”
US President Donald Trump ordered the suspension of US funding to the agency after accusing it of “severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus”

Nigeria announces lockdown changes

Nigeria’s President Buhari has announced a gradual easing of the lockdown that has been in place in Abuja, Lagos and Ogun states for the last month.
The changes will start on Monday 4 May.

What do we know about that vaccine trial fake news?

Marianna Spring - Specialist disinformation and social media reporter
A fake news article circulated on social media, claiming that the first volunteer taking in a coronavirus vaccine trial in Oxford had died. She is alive and well – as BBC medical correspondent Fergus Walsh confirmed when he spoke to her on Skype.
The false claim seems to have originated in an article shared on a site with both genuine and fake global news stories. It was set up in March and registered in the US, but there’s very little information about who’s behind it.
Most articles are written by a mysterious character who is hard to find on social media. We’ve decided not to use their name or the site's at the risk of amplifying false information. The articles have been pushed out by a Facebook account, which has no information but a name.
BBC News has contacted the account, but had no response. This specific fake news story was re-shared in big Facebook groups which oppose vaccinations – or support conspiracy theories. BBC Monitoring's Shayan Saradarizadeh said: “In less than 48 hours, the fake story has been posted to a potential audience of millions. And it continues to spread – despite debunks and posts being removed.”

Belgians urged to eat more chips

Some of us may be guilty of using lockdown as an excuse to indulge in our favourite unhealthy foods, but now Belgians are being urged to eat more chips for a good cause.
The nation, known for its love of fries, is said to have 750,000 tonnes of potatoes piled up at warehouses because of coronavirus disruption.
Now Belgapom, the country's potato growers' union, has presented the "twice a week" chips initiative as a matter of survival for farmers.
Read more about the campaign.

'New Zealand is going to show the world how to do this'

New Zealand has said it has stopped community transmission of Covid-19, effectively eliminating the virus, while some non-essential business, healthcare and education activities will resume on Tuesday.
Jin Russell, a doctor in Auckland, spoke to BBC OS on World Service radio and said: “I’m at the end of a five-week lockdown staying at home with my two little boys and my husband. I’m really proud of my country. We’ve taken such strong collective action to keep each other safe.
“When our prime minister, Jacinda Arden, announced five weeks ago the lockdown was going to start I remember crying with relief because my whole family are doctors. My mum is a GP in her 70s, my dad is a full-time pathologist at the hospital, and my brother is a rheumatologist.
"I work at the children’s hospital here and when I saw what was happening with healthcare workers overseas catching coronavirus and being at risk, I was so relieved we locked down, went hard and went early. I feel very confident that New Zealand is going to show the world how to do this.”
New Zealand has reported fewer than 1,500 confirmed or probable cases of coronavirus and 19 deaths.

California governor scorns beach revellers

California Governor Gavin Newsom has pledged to step-up the enforcement of coronavirus-related measures after images spread of people flocking to the coast over the weekend.
A stay-at-home order was implemented statewide last month, but some counties have reopened beaches and thousands flocked there during recent hot weather.
“This virus doesn’t take the weekends off. This virus doesn’t go home because it’s a beautiful sunny day around our coasts," Governor Newsom said on Monday.
California, a state of about 40 million people, is one of the heaviest impacted areas in the US.

Trump to speak at coronavirus news conference

President Trump is expected to hold a news conference on the pandemic in the next 20 minutes or so, having earlier cancelled it.
His press secretary said it would be held in the Rose Garden and would "brief the nation on additional testing guidance and safely opening up America again".
Some of Mr Trump's advisers had called for a pause in his almost daily updates, following amazement at his suggestion last Thursday that injecting disinfectant might be a way of treating Covid-19.
Some Republicans have warned that the president's briefings were harming his chances of re election.

Nigeria's virus fight changes shape

Chi Chi Izundu - Nigeria correspondent
The 28-day lockdown in three parts of Nigeria was due to end tonight but, during a televised address to the nation, President Buhari just announced measures would continue for one more week.
And then, from next Monday, a new “phased and gradual easing of” restrictions will kick in to allow the restoration of some economic and business activities - but the easing comes with nationwide conditions.
It will now be compulsory for everyone to wear face masks in public, there will be an overnight curfew between 20:00 and 06:00 with only essential services allowed to move during those times. President Buhari also said there would be a ban on “non-essential inter-state passenger travel until further notice” and all bans on social and religious gatherings would remain in place.
He also expressed his deep concern over the “mysterious deaths” of a number of people in the northern state of Kano. As well as sending a government team to investigate, he said he’d issued a total lockdown for two weeks with immediate effect.

Trump says country is 'getting better'

The president begins by saying Covid-19 cases are declining or stablising across the country.
"In all cases getting better," he says. "Really a horrible situation that we’ve been confronted with, but they’re moving along."
He adds there's a "hunger" to get back to work.
"Ensuring the health of our economy is vital to ensuring the health of our nation - these goals work in tandem."

Pharmacy executives say they will expand testing

Industry executives say they are working on expanding testing, including self-swab tests.
Executives from retailer Walmart; pharmacy chains Rite Aid, Walgreens, CVS; and health diagnostics company LabCorp, as well as the US Cotton industry group said they would make more tests and testing sites available across the country.
LabCorp said it would release an at-home Covid-19 test in the coming weeks.
But even as commercial labs say they have expanded the capacity for testing, medical officials throughout the US have said they still face shortages of key materials, including testing swabs, reagents, and pipettes.
For example, the Ohio Health Department told CNN that the state is focused on testing the most “vulnerable patients” because of a “global shortage in supplies”. Ohio is due to begin reopening some businesses on Friday, 1 May.

Trump suggests 'somebody' could have stopped pandemic

The president has suggested an unnamed individual "a long time ago" could have stopped the "unnecessary death[s]" due to Covid-19.
"There has been so much unnecessary death in this country," he said.
"It could've been stopped and it could've been stopped short, but somebody a long time ago, it seems, decided not to do it that way and the whole world is suffering because of it."
He did not say who he was referencing and gave no other details.

Burden of testing to fall to states, White House guidance says

White House coronavirus task force co-ordinator Dr Deborah Birx and Assistant Secretary for Health Admiral Brett Giroir have begun outlining efforts to improve the US testing system.
Mr Giroir says the federal government will be able to supply every state with the tests they need.
But the fine print on the White House's new guidance for states suggests that the testing burden will fall to states.
Documents obtained by CBS News, the BBC's US partner, show that the guidelines direct governors are expected to craft their own plans for increasing testing. Most sentences begin with the words "states should".
States "must be able to proactively monitor for and respond to local outbreaks", the documents say, "and develop rapid response programmes that enable quick isolation and contact tracing of individuals who test positive".

Trump accuses Pelosi of 'dancing in Chinatown'

The president responds to a question criticising Health Secretary Alex Azar's early downplaying of the disease by saying it was "unfair". He claims Democrats did the same, including Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi.
"I was very fortunate through luck or whatever that we closed the border, we put a ban on China," he says.
"But I could tell you that Nancy Pelosi was dancing in the streets in Chinatown. She wanted to go, let's go out and party. That was late in February."
Back in February, Mrs Pelosi had encouraged people to visit San Francisco's Chinatown to help struggling businesses. She did not propose any parties, as the president suggested.
The city issued a stay-at-home order in March.

Trump 'can't imagine why' there are disinfectant calls

A reporter asks Trump about the state of Maryland reporting more emergency calls regarding ingestion of disinfectants after the president suggested that they could be used to treat Covid-19.
"I can't imagine why," Trump responds. "I can't imagine that."
Last week, the Maryland governor's office said it issued an alert warning against ingesting or injecting disinfectants after receiving more than 100 calls.
The president has said his comments were made sarcastically.
The reporter asks if the president takes any responsibility for the increase in calls.
"No," he replies.

Trump: 'People aren’t allowed to have their freedom'

Trump says people who can’t open up their stores because of lockdown measures face losing their livelihoods.
"The fact that people aren’t allowed to have their freedom causes a tremendous amount of problems, including death," he says.

Trump: 'We are not happy with China'

President Trump says his administration has launched "very serious investigations" into China's response to the novel coronavirus.
"And we are not happy with China, we are not happy with that whole situation, because we believe it could have been stopped at the source," he says. "It could have been stopped quickly and it wouldn't have spread all over the world."
Trump has been critical of China as the pandemic has progressed and has frequently touted his decision to close the US borders to China in an effort to curb the outbreak. Some health experts have said the effort bought time for the US to prepare, but the Trump administration has been accused of squandering the opportunity.

Trump: 'I never even thought' of delaying November election

Trump is asked if he has considered delaying the November presidential election.
"I never even thought of changing the date of the election," he answers. "Why would I do that? November 3rd. That's a good number."
Trump calls the suggestion "made up propaganda" and says that "sleepy Joe" Biden - his presumptive Democratic rival - was likely unaware his campaign had put the statement out.
Former Vice-President Joe Biden said at a virtual fundraiser last week that he thought Trump would "try to kick back the election somehow".
The president has frequently leveled insults at his Democratic opponent, often taking shots at the the former vice-president's mental fortitude.
"I look forward to that election," Trump says.

More Americans lost 'in six weeks than all of Vietnam War'

Here's the final question of the evening.
A reporter asks: If an American president loses more Americans over the course of six weeks than died during the entirety of the Vietnam war, does he deserve to be reelected?
Trump took the question in stride.
"So, yeah, we've lost a lot of people but if you look at what original projections were, 2.2 million, we're probably heading to 60,000 - 70,000," he says.
"It's far too many - one person is too many for this. I think we've made a lot of really good decisions," he adds. "The big decision was closing the border, doing the ban on people coming in from China."
He also brings up the "unbelievable" job his administration did with ventilators.
"I think we've done a great job. And I will say this - one person is too many."
And with that, the briefing is concluded.