The stratospheric trajectory of a fundraising effort by almost-centenarian Tom Moore has soared past £12m.

The 99-year-old World War Two veteran originally wanted to raise £1,000 for NHS Charities Together by completing laps of his garden.

Image source, HANNAH INGRAM-MOORE

He has now hit 12,000 times his initial target thanks to donations from more than 600,000 people online.

As he set off on his final 10 laps earlier, he said it was "an absolutely fantastic sum of money".

Read the full story here.

Good Morning Ulster has been continuing its focus on how to stay healthy - physically and mentally - during the Covid-19 pandemic.

This morning, the focus was on mental health - Derry student Daire Ní Chanáin tells the programme she struggled emotionally in the first weeks of lockdown.

"I was watching the news and was on Twitter all the time and I was having a lot of intake about how serious this was and could feel in myself that my body wasn't right."

She has since cut back on her consumption of news and social media and has felt an improvement in her mental health.

"A lot of it is about listening to myself," she adds.

Image source, Getty Images

Dr Siobhan O'Neill, a professor of mental health sciences Ulster University, says "everybody's situation is completely different".

"One of the things we recommend is to make connections, build social structures. Set goals every day, maybe ones that are linked to bigger goals.

"Connecting to those you care about should be an important part of that and we have so many mechanisms that allow us to do that."

For those who are living alone "not through choice", the restrictions can be difficult, she says.

"If you're feeling anxious pick up the phone and ask for help."

The possibility of allowing people to say goodbye to their dying loved ones amid the coronavirus outbreak is being examined by Health Minister Robin Swann, Arlene Foster says.

On Wednesday, UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock said close family members will be able to see dying relatives to say goodbye under new coronavirus guidelines.

He said the UK would introduce new steps to "limit the risk of infection" and allow goodbyes "wherever possible".

Image source, Getty Images

Mrs Foster tells Good Morning Ulster that she spoke to Health Minister Robin Swann last night after the announcement and he was "considering this immediately".

"I think the health minister will be looking at how he can make that happen," she says.

"Working with not just hospitals but also nursing homes to make that happen, and I am sure he will want to say more about that in the near future."

Pat Cullen, head of the Royal College of Nursing in NI, says she has concerns over the supply and type of PPE (personal protection equipment) in care homes.

Ms Cullen told BBC Radio Foyle those working in the care sector should have the same equipment to those working in hospitals.

"It needs to be continuous, they need that reassurance that its going to be there, when it is available it is excellent, it's reassuring and they're using it appropriately," Ms Cullen said.

Ms Cullen tells the programme she understands PPE is currently a "precious commodity" but says "the most precious commodity" we have are our front-line health workers.

Northern Ireland is preparing for the "strong possibility" of a second surge in the coronavirus, First Minister Arlene Foster says.

Speaking to the Good Morning Ulster programme, she says the executive had been advised of that outcome by the chief medical officer Dr Michael McBride.

Mrs Foster is speaking after she and Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill announced yesterday that lockdown measures in Northern Ireland would be extended for another three weeks.

Image source, Reuters

"We want to make sure that we contain that in the way we have been able to contain what is with us at present," she says.

Mrs Foster also says Northern Ireland reopening would be a "step-by-step process".

"It will not just be a complete reopening again, because that would be wrong," she said.

The interim Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary Louise Haigh has been speaking to BBC Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster about her new brief.

She is performing in the role while Tony Lloyd is in hospital for treatment for coronavirus.

Image source, PA Media

Ms Haigh told the programme Northern Ireland "an area of the world I am very, very fond of”.

She says she had visited Belfast in the weeks before the lockdown came into effect, and would be "running out the door" to the airport once restrictions are lifted.

Ms Haigh also reiterated her party's position that the government needed to lay out its strategy for ending the lockdown - and that the only two ways of doing this is either through a vaccine or widespread community testing.

Northern Ireland's Shadow NI Secretary Tony Lloyd is still "very poorly" but "responding well" to treatment, his stand-in says.

The Labour MP was admitted to hospital with the virus earlier this month.

Image source, PA Media

"We are all really worried and praying for Tony’s recovery at the moment," Interim Shadow NI Secretary Louise Haigh told Good Morning Ulster.

"He is still in hospital, but he is responding well to treatment so we are hoping he will make a full recovery soon."

UK ministers are expected to announce a three-week extension to the coronavirus lockdown later today.

On Wednesday, Northern Ireland's leaders announced a three-week extension while the devolved governments in Wales and Scotland had already announced the same.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab will lead emergency Cobra committee and cabinet meetings about the continuation of social distancing measures.

Labour has said it will support an extension, but also called for details on how and when the lockdown would end.

Image source, Getty Images

Speaking at Wednesday's daily press briefing, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said restrictions on movement were beginning to help reduce the spread of the virus.

But he warned "we will not lift these measures until it is safe to do so".

The UK's chief medical adviser, Prof Chris Whitty, has warned of a possible "bounce" in the numbers soon, due to delays in reporting deaths over the Easter weekend.

Read more here.

A County Londonderry firm has teamed up with medical experts to develop a shield to protect healthcare staff.

It sits over patients' heads and is being used across the world.

Seating Matters, in Limavady, took an existing prototype and worked with Irish designers and anaesthetists to produce the item.

Image source, Guard Med

Health experts say inserting and extracting ventilation tubes for a patient are the most dangerous procedures for clinical staff.

The procedure leads to the risk of a greater exposure to aerosol generation.

The manufacturers have made it an open source design, which means others can take it and put it into production in their own countries.

You can read more here.

Robbie Meredith
BBC News NI Arts and Education Correspondent

A decision on how GCSE, AS and A-Level results will be awarded this summer is expected later.

Arlene Foster said on Wednesday that Education Minister Peter Weir would give a statement to the assembly on Thursday.

Earlier, Mr Weir warned there was no "perfect solution" to awarding grades.

Exams due to take place in May and June have been cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Mr Weir told Stormont's education committee said an announcement on alternative arrangements for results was "very imminent".

Read more

Image source, Getty Images

Thank you for joining us.

We'll have all the latest on the coronavirus pandemic in Northern Ireland throughout the day, so stay with us.