Justin Harper
Business reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Here are the answers to some questions you might have about the crash in US oil prices.

Why is this happening?

As economic growth slumps, so too has the demand for oil. Factories and manufacturing plants have been closed and they consume a lot of oil. Transport has also been hit hard with planes grounded and less car usage.

So if there's an over supply, why not just stop producing oil?

Sadly it's not as simple as turning on and off a tap. It takes time to pump the oil and stop production. Plus it's very costly to restart operations.

The other issue is oil companies don't want to stop as this is their only source of revenue, and they don't want to lose market share.

So it's a supply and demand issue?

Not exactly. The price crash on Monday was also driven by oil trading. Oil is traded in contracts based on its future price. Contracts for oil for May were approaching their expiry date so traders were rushing to sell them.

What does it mean for the industry?

Oil companies are being battered by these unprecedented price falls and there are fears hundreds of oil firms in the US could go out of business.

Why was this just US oil?

Oil prices have two general prices - US oil is priced using West Texas Intermediate (WTI) as a benchmark. The rest of the world uses Brent as its benchmark. The futures contracts coming up for expiry were WTI based. Lack of storage is also one issue specifically facing the US.

Given the Virgin news today, we thought it would be timely to re-share this heartbreaking video from a Virgin Australia flight attendant, shot last month.

Casey Appleton had been working on board one of Virgin's final international flights in March before the company stopped its routes.

In an emotional farewell over the intercom to passengers she says: "Remember that tough times don't last, tough people do."

If you're just joining us now - welcome. Quite a lot has happened over the past few hours - here's what you need to know to catch you up:

• US President Donald Trump announced two hours ago that he would temporarily suspend immigration into the US in light of the virus, as well as "the need to protect jobs". This comes as the White House argued that the worst of the pandemic was over and the country could begin reopening.
• Airline Virgin Australia has gone into voluntary administration, with its chief executive calling it the "worst aviation crisis we've ever seen in our history". Administrators say they've already received interest from 10 investors.
• Over in Hong Kong, authorities are extending its restrictions by 14 days, with social distancing measures to be in place until 7 May.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

What can you do to shield yourself against the virus? It's a question on everyone's mind and a perfect breeding ground for false and misleading information.

Examples of that have been spreading widely on Indian news channels and social media.

We've been fact checking some of the most prominent examples, from fabricated studies to misinformation about how effective tea and herbs are.

US President Donald Trump has not given any more details beyond his earlier tweet that he will suspend immigration. He attributed the decision to both the fight against the virus and the protection of US jobs, but it's not clear what exactly the move will mean or when it will come into force.

The US has already agreed with both Canada and Mexico to extend border restrictions on non-essential travel until at least mid-May. Travel is also sharply restricted from Europe and China, though people with temporary work visas, students and business travellers are exempted.

On Monday, the US said it would continue to expel migrants it encounters along the border with Mexico for at least another month.

Image source, Getty Images

Spot the difference between these two photos of Delhi. One was taken before, the other after India went into lockdown, shutting down schools, suspending transport and diverting flights.

It was only six months ago that authorities said air quality in the Indian capital had reached "unbearable levels".

So could this outbreak trigger the policy changes needed to clean up India's air for good?

The BBC's Soutik Biswas looks into this here.

Image source, epa

Virgin Australia's chief executive has given a press conference where he said the firm had sunk in "the worst aviation crisis we've ever seen in our history".

"We're not immune to that," said Paul Scurrah. Indeed, all airlines are suffering now because of the global travel bans.

But in some good news - the firm's administrators said they had already received interest from 10 different investors. There were no plans for redundancies among the 16,000 workforce, they said.

Virgin's comments came shortly after Australia's treasurer reiterated that Canberra had no plans to bail out the airline. Josh Frydenberg said there were still market options on the table.

"Virgin Australia is a very good airline performing a very important role and this is a difficult day for its staff, for its suppliers, and for the aviation sector more broadly," said the minister.

"But the government was not going to bail out five large foreign shareholders with deep pockets who, together, own 90% of this airline."

Read more: Virgin Australia slumps into voluntary administration

Anthony Zurcher
BBC North America reporter

Donald Trump’s efforts at governing by social media should always be taken with a sizable grain of salt. His track record on following through on Twitter directives is decidedly mixed.

The details of his temporary ban on all immigration, announced a few hours before midnight on Monday, will shed considerable light on the breadth – and legality – of his actions.

Still, it’s no secret that the president, and several key advisers, have long viewed immigration not as a benefit to the nation, but as a drain.

And the text of his tweet - that the move is necessary not only to protect the nation’s health but also “the jobs of its great American citizens”- only emphasises this.

There’s little doubt the proposal, in whatever form it takes, will be vigorously opposed by pro-immigration groups, some business interests and the president’s ideological adversaries.

That’s probably just fine with a man who loves drawing political battle lines and goading his opponents whenever possible.

Four years ago, the president campaigned on an aggressive anti-immigration platform, including a total, if temporary, ban on all Muslims entering the country.

Now, with an uphill re-election fight looming, he’s found a similarly combative measure to champion.

Amid the pandemic, one industry has seem a grim surge in business - the funeral industry.

For funeral directors W Uden & Sons in south-east London, their workload has doubled in recent months.

The pandemic has also changed the way they operate: undertakers have to wear full protective equipment when collecting Covid-19 victims from hospital mortuaries. Watch how they work here:

Protests have been taking place across the US calling for the lifting of stay-at-home orders, but Facebook has said it will no longer let people list any event that violates local social distancing policies.

On Monday, it removed the listing for anti-quarantine protests in California, New Jersey, and Nebraska.

The discussion sparked outrage from some, including the son of President Donald Trump who said this violated free speech.

Facebook said it consulted with local governments and would only take down events that violated the state guidelines.

The social media network has been working to remove false information about Covid-19 from its platforms. Its aggressive action against coronavirus fake news has led some to question why the company seemed to have trouble managing false claims in the past.

Read the full story here

Image source, EPA

New Zealand said yesterday it would be lifting its lockdown restrictions next week after successfully containing the virus.

Its "going hard and going early" approach has been globally hailed - just five new cases were announced overnight adding to the 1,445 total.

No doubt its remote location and small five million population helped its efforts. But Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's leadership and skill in reassuring the public during the tough shutdown have also been widely praised.

"Jacinda is a brilliant communicator and an empathetic leader," one government adviser told the BBC's Shaimaa Khalil.

Read more about how New Zealand tackled the virus here.

Worldwide, the number of confirmed cases now stands at 2,472,259. , externalThis graph illustrate how steep the rise in infections has been.

It took more than two months for cases to reach one million, but just 13 days to reach two million.

And that's just the confirmed cases, which of course depends on testing. The number of actual infections, especially in poorer countries, is thought to be much higher.

Image source, Reuters

As we've mentioned, Hong Kong has just announced it will extend its restrictions aimed at tackling the spread of the virus by 14 days.

On Monday, the territory recorded no new virus cases for the first time in nearly two months. Overall, there have been 1,025 positive tests and four deaths in Hong Kong.

Social distancing measures will now remain in place until 7 May. Public gatherings of more than four people are banned while entertainment venues, bars, cinemas and gyms are closed and foreign arrivals at the airport have been suspended.

US President Donald Trump has said on Twitter that he will temporarily suspend immigration into the US as a result of the "attack from the invisible enemy" - a term he has used before to refer to the coronavirus:

The US president has raised eyebrows at the latest White House press briefing by playing a carefully chosen clip of one his most outspoken critics.

In the video footage, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo praised the US federal government's response to the coronavirus outbreak – in contrast to the recent exchange of criticism between him and Donald Trump.

A CNN reporter asked if the clip was appropriate given the US had reached the "grim milestone" of 40,000 deaths. Watch the exchange below:

Here are the latest updates from the region at a glance:

• Hong Kong has just announced it will extend social restrictions for another 14 days. A ban on public gatherings was originally supposed to end on 23 April. Gyms, cinemas and other public entertainment spots have also been closed

• China has reported 11 new cases on Monday, of which four were imported. Of the local cases, six were from the province of Heilongjiang, which sits on the border with Russia
• The number of foreign-worker linked cases in Singapore continue to rise, as more workers get tested. The leap in cases now means Singapore has the highest number of cases in South East Asia with 8,014

Image source, EPA

Good morning from Sydney, where Australia's second airline slumping into voluntary administration is dominating discussion.

Virgin Australia's collapse had been flagged for weeks now, sparking calls for the government to part-nationalise the airline to support 16,000 workers and overall tourism.

But while Canberra has repeatedly said it wants two airlines serving Australia's vast landmass, it has been loathe to support one commercial airline over another.

The government did not want to spend taxpayer dollars on saving a firm part-owned by Etihad, Singapore Airlines, two Chinese airlines and Richard Branson's Virgin group.

Yesterday, the billionaire offered his private Caribbean island to the UK government as security for a bailout for Virgin Atlantic.This morning, he released a video praising Virgin Australia's 20 years of operation, and warning against Qantas - the national carrier- gaining a near-total hold of the market.

In a glimmer of hope for the industry, the rate at which Australia has suppressed the virus suggests domestic flights could resume earlier than expected. Only a few dozen new cases were reported overnight.

Read more on Virgin Australia's collapse here.

Hospitals around the world have completely transformed the way they operate with the coronavirus pandemic. In Lanarkshire in Scotland, one hospital has had to rapidly expand its intensive care unit and rehaul its other services including the maternity unit. Our team recently spent 12 hours inside the University Hospital Wishaw, this is what they saw:

Image source, Reuters

The number of deaths linked to Covid-19 in the US now stands at 42,094, by far the highest toll globally. The same goes for the number of confirmed infections which is more than 784,000.

But despite the continuing spread in some parts of the country, several states are easing lockdown restrictions or are planning on doing so shortly.

South Carolina has allowed retail shops, including department stores, to reopen and Georgia will allow places like gyms and hairdressers to open from Friday, followed by restaurants and cinemas on Monday. Most businesses in Tennessee will reopen on 1 May. In all three states though, social distancing measures will remain in place.

There have been protests across the US against state restrictions.

Hello and welcome back to our rolling coverage of the coronavirus outbreak. We're bringing you the news this morning out of Asia and will be handing over to our colleagues in London later this afternoon. Here's a quick look at what's taken place overnight:

• Virgin Australia has gone into voluntary administration, putting around 16,000 jobs at risk. The airline is now seeking new buyers and investors, after failing to get a loan from Australia's government.
• The price of US oil continues to slump - turning negative for the first time in history. This means producers are now paying buyers to take oil off their hands.
• The number of deaths worldwide has topped 170,000, with more than 2.47m confirmed cases, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
• Singapore now has the highest number of cases in South East Asia, after a huge spike of 1,426 new cases in one day brought the total number of cases to 8,014.
• And now for a bit of better news. Over in Italy, the number of people officially identified as infected with coronavirus has fallen for the first time since the country's outbreak began.