Summary for Friday, 15th May
Hello and welcome back to our rolling coverage of the coronavirus outbreak. We're writing to you out of Singapore this morning. We'll be joined by our colleagues across Asia and London later on today.
Some good news for those of you based in the Australian state of New South Wales. People are now able to go for a meal at restaurants, pubs, and cafes - though social distancing rules still have to be obeyed, and there are capacity restrictions.
Japan too has lifted its state of emergency in 39 prefectures, after a sharp fall in new infections. Tokyo, however, will remain under the emergency restrictions.
The virus has now reached the world's biggest refugee camp in Bangladesh. Two Rohingya refugees tested positive in Cox's Bazar, where around one million people are encamped.
And in England, a swab test survey has suggested that one in 400 people has the virus - or 0.27% of the population.
There are now over 4.4 million confirmed cases across the world, with some 302,115 deaths.
But while the laws have been lifted, not all venues in Sydney are choosing to open their doors. There's a limit of just 10 patrons at any time - and many places say that's not a profitable number, so they'll just stick with takeaway orders.
It's one of the reasons why Victoria, (where Melbourne is the state capital), has not allowed dine-in trade just yet. It still has the most stringent restrictions in the nation.
But other states and territories are relaxing into the first stage of lockdown exit. In NSW and Queensland this weekend, households can receive up to five visitors and groups of up to 10 people can meet outside, gather for a bootcamp or go to church.
Even greater freedoms are already allowed in South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory.
Australia - seen as a world leader in fighting the virus - has reported under 1% daily growth in new cases for the past month.
There have been under 100 deaths, most of its 7,000 cases have recovered, and there are only 50 infected people in hospital currently.
The new case is said to be a teenager linked to the Marist cluster in Auckland - one the country's biggest clusters.
Marist College, a Catholic girls' school, has seen at least 85 cases linked to it.
New Zealand is currently at "level 2" alert, meaning shops can reopen, gatherings of up to 100 people are allowed, and public transport has resumed.
People in this city love their cafes - so there are lots of smiles this morning as more relaxed rules allowed people to sit in for a flat white or smashed avocado on toast.
At Kawa, close to Sydney's city centre, we found Graham Cordery - originally from Coventry in the UK - tucking into to a cooked breakfast.
“I can’t cook so I haven’t eaten this well in weeks,” he told me.
“I’ve missed the interaction you get in a cafe so it’s great to be able to come back.”
Cafe owner William Walsh has been getting by on takeaway coffees and food, but trade has been down 80 - 90%.
“We’re excited to be opening up and having people at our tables. We may never get quite back to where we were - this could be the new normal.”
The number of cases linked to the Itaewon district is now 142, as the government attempts to track down those who visited the area at the start of the month.
All bars and clubs in the city have now been shut indefinitely.
The cluster came after South Korea relaxed some of its social distancing guidelines.
"We had to watch the great teamwork of North Korean longshoremen and railroad workers from afar," said a translation of the statement by the TASS agency.
"We could see that they were doing their best to make sure that not a single grain was lost."
A UN report published in April warned that some 10 million North Koreans were facing severe food shortages.
It's not clear if food supply has been affected by the virus outbreak - Pyongyang maintains that there are no cases in the country.
Simon Atkinson - BBC News, SydneyAdministrators at Australia’s second-largest airline, Virgin Australia, say they’re expecting to receive eight bids for the carrier - and are likely to whittle them down to a shortlist of about three. Deloitte added that binding offers need to be made by mid-June.The carrier - which was hit hard by domestic and international travel restrictions - continues to operate a skeleton service.There's also some good news for Australians who had been saving the frequent flyer points issued by the airline.A freeze had been put on redeeming those points while the future of Virgin Australia was being resolved, but passengers have been told they can now use them to book flights on domestic routes from September onwards - and there’ll be full refunds if passengers or the airline cancel flights.'Baltic bubble' residents now free to travelMuch of Europe is still closed to travellers to contain the spread of coronavirus, but some countries have begun limited border openings.On Friday a "Baltic bubble" will open, allowing people in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to travel freely between the three countries. It includes travel by rail, air, and sea.A quarantine remains in place for visitors from other countries.None of the three nations reported more than seven new cases on Wednesday, according to Reuters. Together they have seen under 150 deaths in total.The EU has promised there will be a European summer tourist season in some form. The industry provides almost 10% of Europe's economic output.What's the latest sports news?
How exposed is your job?Millions of workers across the UK are doing their jobs from makeshift set-ups in their living rooms and kitchens, while those in England who can't work from home are now encouraged to go back in if they can do so safely.But how exposed to coronavirus might you be in your job? And how does that compare to others?Data from the UK's Office for National Statistics, based on a US survey, puts into context the risk of exposure to disease, as well as the amount of close human contact workers had before social distancing and other safety measures were introduced.
Read more about North Korea's shortage problems here
The 43-year-old man, identified only as Patient 91, has just 10% of his lung capacity left and has been on life support for more than 30 days, said state media outlet Tuoi Tre.
It's thought he caught the virus in a bar in Ho Chi Minh City in mid-March.
The only way to save his life, the health ministry said, is through a lung transplant. Ten people - including a 70-year-old military veteran - have volunteered as lung donors, but have been turned down.
The country's regulations don't allow living people to donate their lungs.
Vietnam has suffered no deaths as a result of the virus - and it's clear it doesn't want this to change.
The country has spent more than $200,000 trying to save the pilot, said the Vietnam News Agency, with a foreign ministry spokeswoman saying the country's "best doctors" were on the case.
Authorities in the Chinese city of Wuhan say they have tested more than three million people for the coronavirus, as part of fresh efforts to monitor the outbreak.
Earlier this week, officials announced plans to test all 11 million people in the city where the outbreak began last year, after a very small - but worrying - resurgence in reported cases.
Wuhan intends to give a nucleic acid test to all residents to try to find people who are asymptomatic - those who are infected and can pass on the virus, but do not show any symptoms themselves.
There has been a cluster of new cases reported in a housing compound in Wuhan, with dozens of people infected - attributed to an 89-year-old man who fell ill in March.
[*]Read more about Wuhan's testing plans here.
China has reported four new locally-transmitted virus cases - all in the north-eastern province of Jilin, which has seen a spate of new infections.
The city of Shulan in the province has already entered a state of lockdown.
The city of Jilin, which shares a name with the province, went into a partial lockdown after six cases emerged - almost all of which were traced to the cluster in Shulan.
As part of its $266bn (£216bn) economic plan to combat the Covid-19 lockdown, India will provide free food to domestic migrants for two months.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that grain supplies worth $463m would benefit 80 million migrants on Thursday.
Since the lockdown began, tens of thousands of migrants have been fleeing cities on foot, trying to return to their villages.
Many of these informal workers, who form the backbone of city economies, feared they would starve in the lockdown.
The plight of these workers - many of whom have been walking for days without adequate food and water - has caused widespread anger in the country.
The announcements on Thursday - the second tranche of a series of economic stimulus measures - were aimed at migrant workers, street hawkers, small traders and small farmers.
Click here for the full story
The head of the World Trade Organization is stepping down a year earlier than planned, at a crucial moment for the global economy.
Roberto Azevedo's surprise departure comes as the WTO faces the coronavirus pandemic and criticism from US President Donald Trump.
Mr Azevedo said his early departure was a "personal decision" that was in the best interests of the organisation.
Read more here
A High Court judge in Fiji has thrown out fines handed to 49 people who were caught breaking curfew or social gathering orders.
There is currently a ban on social gatherings in Fiji, which has only 18 confirmed virus cases.
Justice Salesi Temo said the fines were too hefty, calling them disproportionate for the offences committed.
In one instance, a 19-year-old girl was fined FJ$500 (£181) for hugging her boyfriend at a seawall.
More than 140 flights will go to 31 countries to rescue 30,000 stranded Indians abroad starting tomorrow, the country's aviation minister has said.
This is the second phase of India's mammoth repatriation mission. The first phase has already brought home more than 8,000 citizens from at least a dozen countries, Hardeep Singh Puri said earlier this week.
Air India tweeted on Thursday that bookings for flights in the second phase, which include the US, UK, Germany, Australia and France, have opened.
Since it closed its borders in March, India has operated a few flights to bring back Indian citizens. But the latest exercise, which has been dubbed the Vande Bharath (Hail India) mission, is the most organised effort so far.
India has reported more than 80,000 Covid-19 infections, including 2,649 deaths.
The folks over at NT News in Darwin, Australia have made it quite clear what their thoughts are on pubs reopening today.
The Northern Territory, like New South Wales and other states, will allow residents to head to their nearest pub. But there's a caveat - drinks will only be served with meals and there's a two-hour time limit to dining.
But NT News has not let that stop it celebrating.
"For the first time in 53 days, Territorians can go back to the pub," yelled the cover of the paper.
"Why? Because we're the safest place in Australia. Are we going to rub salt into the wounds of peasant Southerners?
"Too bloody right we are!"
The Northern Territory will from today also allow other indoor activities like going to gyms, visiting museums - or even getting a manicure.
Mexico has recorded its worst day for new coronavirus cases since the outbreak began.
The health ministry said on Thursday there had been more 2,400 new cases as well as 257 deaths.
The total number of Covid-19 deaths in Mexico is now at nearly 4,500.
The country’s coronavirus tsar, Hugo Lopez-Gatell, said Mexico was at the peak of its pandemic cycle and could not relax restrictions.
Anna Jones - BBC News
As we've mentioned, Vietnam has had no virus-related deaths so far, and just over 300 cases - despite its proximity to China.
Nearly a month has passed since its last community transmission and the country is already starting to open up.
So how has it achieved this?
"When you're dealing with these kinds of unknown novel potentially dangerous pathogens, it's better to overreact," says Dr Todd Pollack in Hanoi.
Read the full story here about how "extreme" action early on helped Vietnam fight the virus.
The coronavirus pandemic could cost the global economy between $5.8 trillion and $8.8 trillion (£4.7tn-£7.1tn) as measures to slow the spread of Covid-19 paralyse economic activity.
The latest estimate from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) equates to 6.4% - 9.7% of the world's economic output - and is more than double its prediction last month.
The ADB said the top end of the estimate was based on the assumption that curbs to movement and businesses operating would last six months.
The bottom end assumed the restrictions would remain in place for three months.
Read more here
Two Rohingya refugees have tested positive for coronavirus in the world's largest refugee camp, Bangladeshi officials say.
They are the first confirmed cases among refugees in Cox's Bazar, where around one million Rohingya are encamped, a government doctor said.
Officials told the BBC that those infected were being treated in isolation and that around 1,900 other refugees were being isolated for tests.
The Rohingya in the crowded camps of Cox's Bazar - who fled brutal treatment in Myanmar - have been living under lockdown since 14 March.
Aid agencies have been warning for weeks about the potential impact of the virus on the Rohingya refugees, who live in cramped, congested conditions, and have limited access to clean water.
Click here for the full story
There are fears the virus could spread rapidly in the camp
BBC World Service
Scientists at the World Health Organization say nearly a quarter of a billion people in Africa could catch coronavirus in a year.
Their study, published in BMJ Global Health, says between 150,000 and 190,000 Africans could die from Covid-19.
It says 5.5 million people would need hospital treatment, overwhelming services already struggling to treat malaria, tuberculosis and HIV.
Coronavirus has been relatively slow to spread in Africa, but has already taken hold in camps for displaced people in South Sudan.
AFRICA TRACKER: Updates on the continent's cases
Sharanjit Leyl - BBC News, Singapore
As the latest numbers confirmed a quarter of Americans had lost their jobs in the last two months, the chief executive of one of the country’s biggest credit card firms has reassured his employees that they won’t lose theirs this year.
Ajay Banga who runs Mastercard - which employs nearly 20,000 globally - told me in an exclusive BBC interview that one of the first things he did when the lockdowns started was to tell his employees “there would be no Covid-related layoffs this year”.
"So instead of being worried about their jobs," he said, "they should be worrying about each other, worry about their families, and worry about their clients."
Banga, who regularly ranks as one of the world’s top performing CEOs, took over as chief executive of the global payments processing firm at the height of the last financial crisis a decade ago.
He describes the current scenario as "many multiples of that" - and doesn’t see Mastercard or the global economy getting back to "a pre-Covid growth scenario" until later next year, when a vaccine may be available.
Brazil recorded a daily record of 13,944 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Thursday.
Brazil, the most populous country in Latin America, now has 202,918 confirmed cases and 13,933 deaths, the health ministry data shows.
But despite experts saying Brazil is at the peak of its pandemic curve, President Jair Bolsonaro has urged business leaders to push for lifting lockdown orders, which are imposed at state level.
The Chinese city of Wuhan - where the virus emerged last year - has begun testing its entire population for coronavirus after a small cluster of cases emerged in the city.
About 11 million residents are getting tested in makeshift tents in parks, residential communities and car parks.
The plans of 900 Muslim pilgrims to travel to Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj will be deferred to 2021, the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore has said, according to local media.
Saudi Arabia has not made an official announcement on the status of this year's Hajj, which is due to start in late July.
The council said more than 80% of those registered to go were above the age of 50 - a group health authorities say are at greater risk from Covid-19.
Every year millions of Muslims travel to the holy city of Mecca. Muslims are required to make the journey at least one in their life if they are physically able and can afford to do so.
Administrators at Australia’s second-largest airline, Virgin Australia, say they’re expecting to receive eight bids for the carrier - and are likely to whittle them down to a shortlist of about three. Deloitte added that binding offers need to be made by mid-June.
The carrier - which was hit hard by domestic and international travel restrictions - continues to operate a skeleton service.
There's also some good news for Australians who had been saving the frequent flyer points issued by the airline.
A freeze had been put on redeeming those points while the future of Virgin Australia was being resolved, but passengers have been told they can now use them to book flights on domestic routes from September onwards - and there’ll be full refunds if passengers or the airline cancel flights.
- Restaurants, cafes and shops can now open in Australia's most populous state, but with strict distancing rules
- The WHO has warned nearly a quarter of a billion people in Africa could catch the virus in a year
- A US whistleblower and virus expert has said "lives were lost" because of early government inaction
- A survey suggests one in every 400 people in England is infected with the virus
- The three Baltic states - Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia - create borderless travel zone for their citizens
- Japan has lifted the state of emergency in 39 prefectures, after a sharp fall in new infections
- More than 1.5m people have recovered from the virus worldwide, but 300,000 people have died
Hello and welcome back to our rolling coverage of the coronavirus outbreak. We're writing to you out of Singapore this morning. We'll be joined by our colleagues across Asia and London later on today.
Some good news for those of you based in the Australian state of New South Wales. People are now able to go for a meal at restaurants, pubs, and cafes - though social distancing rules still have to be obeyed, and there are capacity restrictions.
Japan too has lifted its state of emergency in 39 prefectures, after a sharp fall in new infections. Tokyo, however, will remain under the emergency restrictions.
The virus has now reached the world's biggest refugee camp in Bangladesh. Two Rohingya refugees tested positive in Cox's Bazar, where around one million people are encamped.
And in England, a swab test survey has suggested that one in 400 people has the virus - or 0.27% of the population.
There are now over 4.4 million confirmed cases across the world, with some 302,115 deaths.
Restaurants, cafes and some pubs re-open in Sydney
Restaurants and cafes have re-opened today in New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state. Pubs can also reopen but only for dining – the bar stays closed.But while the laws have been lifted, not all venues in Sydney are choosing to open their doors. There's a limit of just 10 patrons at any time - and many places say that's not a profitable number, so they'll just stick with takeaway orders.
It's one of the reasons why Victoria, (where Melbourne is the state capital), has not allowed dine-in trade just yet. It still has the most stringent restrictions in the nation.
But other states and territories are relaxing into the first stage of lockdown exit. In NSW and Queensland this weekend, households can receive up to five visitors and groups of up to 10 people can meet outside, gather for a bootcamp or go to church.
Even greater freedoms are already allowed in South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory.
Australia - seen as a world leader in fighting the virus - has reported under 1% daily growth in new cases for the past month.
There have been under 100 deaths, most of its 7,000 cases have recovered, and there are only 50 infected people in hospital currently.
New Zealand sees new virus case
New Zealand has reported one new virus case, breaking a run of three successive days with no cases.The new case is said to be a teenager linked to the Marist cluster in Auckland - one the country's biggest clusters.
Marist College, a Catholic girls' school, has seen at least 85 cases linked to it.
New Zealand is currently at "level 2" alert, meaning shops can reopen, gatherings of up to 100 people are allowed, and public transport has resumed.
I haven't eaten this well in weeks!'
Simon Atkinson - BBC News, SydneyPeople in this city love their cafes - so there are lots of smiles this morning as more relaxed rules allowed people to sit in for a flat white or smashed avocado on toast.
At Kawa, close to Sydney's city centre, we found Graham Cordery - originally from Coventry in the UK - tucking into to a cooked breakfast.
“I can’t cook so I haven’t eaten this well in weeks,” he told me.
“I’ve missed the interaction you get in a cafe so it’s great to be able to come back.”
Cafe owner William Walsh has been getting by on takeaway coffees and food, but trade has been down 80 - 90%.
“We’re excited to be opening up and having people at our tables. We may never get quite back to where we were - this could be the new normal.”
South Korea sees rise in Itaewon cases
South Korea reported 27 more cases on Friday - most tied to a cluster that emerged from a nightlife district in the capital Seoul.The number of cases linked to the Itaewon district is now 142, as the government attempts to track down those who visited the area at the start of the month.
All bars and clubs in the city have now been shut indefinitely.
The cluster came after South Korea relaxed some of its social distancing guidelines.
Where can you get a beer in Australia?
As reported earlier, the rules regarding pub and restaurant reopenings vary across this vast continent. So where exactly can you get a meal or drink this weekend? Here is what's allowed:- New South Wales: Bars are closed. Restaurants and cafes are open. Pubs are serving drinks if there's a meal order. Maximum 10 customers
- Queensland: Same as above, but rural venues can have 20 patrons
- Western Australia: Same as above, but 20 customers are allowed from Monday
- Australian Capital Territory: Bars, pubs, cafes and restaurants all open with a 10 person limit. Drinks need to accompany meals
- Northern Territory: Pubs are serving drinks with meals. Two-hour time limit to dining in restaurants and cafes
- Tasmania: Restaurants and cafes are open. Pubs reopen for drinks from Monday. Bars remain closed
- South Australia: Only outdoor dining is allowed with max 10 customers. No date yet on when pubs reopen
- Victoria: All dining and drinking venues remain closed. No date yet on when they reopen
Russia sends 25,000 tonnes of wheat to North Korea
Russia has sent 25,000 tonnes of wheat in humanitarian aid to North Korea, its embassy in Pyongyang said in a Facebook post. The embassy said the ship's crew had since been placed in quarantine and the cargo was unloaded from the ship in an isolated area of the port."We had to watch the great teamwork of North Korean longshoremen and railroad workers from afar," said a translation of the statement by the TASS agency.
"We could see that they were doing their best to make sure that not a single grain was lost."
A UN report published in April warned that some 10 million North Koreans were facing severe food shortages.
It's not clear if food supply has been affected by the virus outbreak - Pyongyang maintains that there are no cases in the country.
Simon Atkinson - BBC News, SydneyAdministrators at Australia’s second-largest airline, Virgin Australia, say they’re expecting to receive eight bids for the carrier - and are likely to whittle them down to a shortlist of about three. Deloitte added that binding offers need to be made by mid-June.The carrier - which was hit hard by domestic and international travel restrictions - continues to operate a skeleton service.There's also some good news for Australians who had been saving the frequent flyer points issued by the airline.A freeze had been put on redeeming those points while the future of Virgin Australia was being resolved, but passengers have been told they can now use them to book flights on domestic routes from September onwards - and there’ll be full refunds if passengers or the airline cancel flights.'Baltic bubble' residents now free to travelMuch of Europe is still closed to travellers to contain the spread of coronavirus, but some countries have begun limited border openings.On Friday a "Baltic bubble" will open, allowing people in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to travel freely between the three countries. It includes travel by rail, air, and sea.A quarantine remains in place for visitors from other countries.None of the three nations reported more than seven new cases on Wednesday, according to Reuters. Together they have seen under 150 deaths in total.The EU has promised there will be a European summer tourist season in some form. The industry provides almost 10% of Europe's economic output.What's the latest sports news?
- The International Olympic Committee has set aside $800m (£654m) to help with the "severe" financial impact caused by the postponement of Tokyo 2020. Organisers will get $650m after this summer's Games were put back to 2021. The other $150m is set to be split into loans for international sports federations and national Olympic committees
- The UK government says it is "opening the door" for the return of professional football in England in June. Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said Thursday's meeting with the Football Association, Premier League and English Football League had "progressed plans"
- Newcastle racecourse would host the first fixture under plans for British horse racing's return behind closed doors next month. Racing in Britain has been suspended since 17 March but - if a return is approved by the government - the Newcastle meeting would be held on 1 June
How exposed is your job?Millions of workers across the UK are doing their jobs from makeshift set-ups in their living rooms and kitchens, while those in England who can't work from home are now encouraged to go back in if they can do so safely.But how exposed to coronavirus might you be in your job? And how does that compare to others?Data from the UK's Office for National Statistics, based on a US survey, puts into context the risk of exposure to disease, as well as the amount of close human contact workers had before social distancing and other safety measures were introduced.
Read more about North Korea's shortage problems here
Vietnam goes all in to save British pilot
Vietnam is fighting to save the life of its most critically-ill Covid-19 patient, a British pilot who works for Vietnam Airlines.The 43-year-old man, identified only as Patient 91, has just 10% of his lung capacity left and has been on life support for more than 30 days, said state media outlet Tuoi Tre.
It's thought he caught the virus in a bar in Ho Chi Minh City in mid-March.
The only way to save his life, the health ministry said, is through a lung transplant. Ten people - including a 70-year-old military veteran - have volunteered as lung donors, but have been turned down.
The country's regulations don't allow living people to donate their lungs.
Vietnam has suffered no deaths as a result of the virus - and it's clear it doesn't want this to change.
The country has spent more than $200,000 trying to save the pilot, said the Vietnam News Agency, with a foreign ministry spokeswoman saying the country's "best doctors" were on the case.
Three million in Wuhan already tested
Robin Brant - BBC News, ShanghaiAuthorities in the Chinese city of Wuhan say they have tested more than three million people for the coronavirus, as part of fresh efforts to monitor the outbreak.
Earlier this week, officials announced plans to test all 11 million people in the city where the outbreak began last year, after a very small - but worrying - resurgence in reported cases.
Wuhan intends to give a nucleic acid test to all residents to try to find people who are asymptomatic - those who are infected and can pass on the virus, but do not show any symptoms themselves.
There has been a cluster of new cases reported in a housing compound in Wuhan, with dozens of people infected - attributed to an 89-year-old man who fell ill in March.
[*]Read more about Wuhan's testing plans here.
China reports four new cases
China has reported four new locally-transmitted virus cases - all in the north-eastern province of Jilin, which has seen a spate of new infections.
The city of Shulan in the province has already entered a state of lockdown.
The city of Jilin, which shares a name with the province, went into a partial lockdown after six cases emerged - almost all of which were traced to the cluster in Shulan.
India announces free food for fleeing migrants
As part of its $266bn (£216bn) economic plan to combat the Covid-19 lockdown, India will provide free food to domestic migrants for two months.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that grain supplies worth $463m would benefit 80 million migrants on Thursday.
Since the lockdown began, tens of thousands of migrants have been fleeing cities on foot, trying to return to their villages.
Many of these informal workers, who form the backbone of city economies, feared they would starve in the lockdown.
The plight of these workers - many of whom have been walking for days without adequate food and water - has caused widespread anger in the country.
The announcements on Thursday - the second tranche of a series of economic stimulus measures - were aimed at migrant workers, street hawkers, small traders and small farmers.
Click here for the full story
WTO head steps down early as downturn looms
The head of the World Trade Organization is stepping down a year earlier than planned, at a crucial moment for the global economy.
Roberto Azevedo's surprise departure comes as the WTO faces the coronavirus pandemic and criticism from US President Donald Trump.
Mr Azevedo said his early departure was a "personal decision" that was in the best interests of the organisation.
Read more here
Fiji throws out fines for Covid-19 rule breakers
A High Court judge in Fiji has thrown out fines handed to 49 people who were caught breaking curfew or social gathering orders.
There is currently a ban on social gatherings in Fiji, which has only 18 confirmed virus cases.
Justice Salesi Temo said the fines were too hefty, calling them disproportionate for the offences committed.
In one instance, a 19-year-old girl was fined FJ$500 (£181) for hugging her boyfriend at a seawall.
149 flights, 31 countries and 30,000 Indians
More than 140 flights will go to 31 countries to rescue 30,000 stranded Indians abroad starting tomorrow, the country's aviation minister has said.
This is the second phase of India's mammoth repatriation mission. The first phase has already brought home more than 8,000 citizens from at least a dozen countries, Hardeep Singh Puri said earlier this week.
Air India tweeted on Thursday that bookings for flights in the second phase, which include the US, UK, Germany, Australia and France, have opened.
Since it closed its borders in March, India has operated a few flights to bring back Indian citizens. But the latest exercise, which has been dubbed the Vande Bharath (Hail India) mission, is the most organised effort so far.
India has reported more than 80,000 Covid-19 infections, including 2,649 deaths.
Aussie paper celebrates pubs opening
The folks over at NT News in Darwin, Australia have made it quite clear what their thoughts are on pubs reopening today.
The Northern Territory, like New South Wales and other states, will allow residents to head to their nearest pub. But there's a caveat - drinks will only be served with meals and there's a two-hour time limit to dining.
But NT News has not let that stop it celebrating.
"For the first time in 53 days, Territorians can go back to the pub," yelled the cover of the paper.
"Why? Because we're the safest place in Australia. Are we going to rub salt into the wounds of peasant Southerners?
"Too bloody right we are!"
The Northern Territory will from today also allow other indoor activities like going to gyms, visiting museums - or even getting a manicure.
Mexico at 'peak of pandemic cycle'
Mexico has recorded its worst day for new coronavirus cases since the outbreak began.
The health ministry said on Thursday there had been more 2,400 new cases as well as 257 deaths.
The total number of Covid-19 deaths in Mexico is now at nearly 4,500.
The country’s coronavirus tsar, Hugo Lopez-Gatell, said Mexico was at the peak of its pandemic cycle and could not relax restrictions.
How 'overreaction' made Vietnam a virus success
Anna Jones - BBC News
As we've mentioned, Vietnam has had no virus-related deaths so far, and just over 300 cases - despite its proximity to China.
Nearly a month has passed since its last community transmission and the country is already starting to open up.
So how has it achieved this?
"When you're dealing with these kinds of unknown novel potentially dangerous pathogens, it's better to overreact," says Dr Todd Pollack in Hanoi.
Read the full story here about how "extreme" action early on helped Vietnam fight the virus.
Coronavirus could cost world economy $8.8 trillion
The coronavirus pandemic could cost the global economy between $5.8 trillion and $8.8 trillion (£4.7tn-£7.1tn) as measures to slow the spread of Covid-19 paralyse economic activity.
The latest estimate from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) equates to 6.4% - 9.7% of the world's economic output - and is more than double its prediction last month.
The ADB said the top end of the estimate was based on the assumption that curbs to movement and businesses operating would last six months.
The bottom end assumed the restrictions would remain in place for three months.
Read more here
Cases emerge in world's largest refugee camp
Two Rohingya refugees have tested positive for coronavirus in the world's largest refugee camp, Bangladeshi officials say.
They are the first confirmed cases among refugees in Cox's Bazar, where around one million Rohingya are encamped, a government doctor said.
Officials told the BBC that those infected were being treated in isolation and that around 1,900 other refugees were being isolated for tests.
The Rohingya in the crowded camps of Cox's Bazar - who fled brutal treatment in Myanmar - have been living under lockdown since 14 March.
Aid agencies have been warning for weeks about the potential impact of the virus on the Rohingya refugees, who live in cramped, congested conditions, and have limited access to clean water.
Click here for the full story
There are fears the virus could spread rapidly in the camp
WHO: 250m Africans could catch virus in one year
BBC World Service
Scientists at the World Health Organization say nearly a quarter of a billion people in Africa could catch coronavirus in a year.
Their study, published in BMJ Global Health, says between 150,000 and 190,000 Africans could die from Covid-19.
It says 5.5 million people would need hospital treatment, overwhelming services already struggling to treat malaria, tuberculosis and HIV.
Coronavirus has been relatively slow to spread in Africa, but has already taken hold in camps for displaced people in South Sudan.
AFRICA TRACKER: Updates on the continent's cases
Mastercard CEO: 'We will not lay off employees'
Sharanjit Leyl - BBC News, Singapore
As the latest numbers confirmed a quarter of Americans had lost their jobs in the last two months, the chief executive of one of the country’s biggest credit card firms has reassured his employees that they won’t lose theirs this year.
Ajay Banga who runs Mastercard - which employs nearly 20,000 globally - told me in an exclusive BBC interview that one of the first things he did when the lockdowns started was to tell his employees “there would be no Covid-related layoffs this year”.
"So instead of being worried about their jobs," he said, "they should be worrying about each other, worry about their families, and worry about their clients."
Banga, who regularly ranks as one of the world’s top performing CEOs, took over as chief executive of the global payments processing firm at the height of the last financial crisis a decade ago.
He describes the current scenario as "many multiples of that" - and doesn’t see Mastercard or the global economy getting back to "a pre-Covid growth scenario" until later next year, when a vaccine may be available.
Brazil virus cases hit daily record
Brazil recorded a daily record of 13,944 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Thursday.
Brazil, the most populous country in Latin America, now has 202,918 confirmed cases and 13,933 deaths, the health ministry data shows.
But despite experts saying Brazil is at the peak of its pandemic curve, President Jair Bolsonaro has urged business leaders to push for lifting lockdown orders, which are imposed at state level.
Wuhan residents queue for testing
The Chinese city of Wuhan - where the virus emerged last year - has begun testing its entire population for coronavirus after a small cluster of cases emerged in the city.
About 11 million residents are getting tested in makeshift tents in parks, residential communities and car parks.
Singapore defers Hajj plans for 900 pilgrims
The plans of 900 Muslim pilgrims to travel to Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj will be deferred to 2021, the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore has said, according to local media.
Saudi Arabia has not made an official announcement on the status of this year's Hajj, which is due to start in late July.
The council said more than 80% of those registered to go were above the age of 50 - a group health authorities say are at greater risk from Covid-19.
Every year millions of Muslims travel to the holy city of Mecca. Muslims are required to make the journey at least one in their life if they are physically able and can afford to do so.
What's the latest in the UK?
- When cancelled operations and other treatments resume in the National Health Service, there must be adequate safety measures, health unions say. That includes speedy testing and sufficient availability of personal protective equipment for staff
- Meanwhile doctors have been told not to speak out about shortages of protective equipment, the BBC has been told
- A row over whether it is safe to reopen schools on 1 June is ongoing. Unions say it would put the health of teachers at risk and it is still too early. On Friday one of England's largest group of primary schools says they will open their 35 schools on 1 June
- A large rail company has revealed its plans for social distancing on board its trains. Avanti, which runs services on the West Coast mainline, says passengers must wear face masks on board and that they should not turn up without a booking
- And Wales's plan for exiting the lockdown is to be published today
Eight bids expected for Virgin Australia
Administrators at Australia’s second-largest airline, Virgin Australia, say they’re expecting to receive eight bids for the carrier - and are likely to whittle them down to a shortlist of about three. Deloitte added that binding offers need to be made by mid-June.
The carrier - which was hit hard by domestic and international travel restrictions - continues to operate a skeleton service.
There's also some good news for Australians who had been saving the frequent flyer points issued by the airline.
A freeze had been put on redeeming those points while the future of Virgin Australia was being resolved, but passengers have been told they can now use them to book flights on domestic routes from September onwards - and there’ll be full refunds if passengers or the airline cancel flights.