It was a day when we saw 18 more deaths linked to coronavirus in Northern Ireland.

Amidst the tragedy, there are also remarkable stories of courage and humanity.

We'll be back in the morning with another live page, but in the meantime we will leave you with more heartening news.

Captain Tom Moore, the 99-year-old war veteran, has raised more than £20m for the NHS.

He originally aimed to raise just £1,000 for NHS Charities Together by completing 100 laps of his garden before his 100th birthday.

You can read more about Captain Tom's fundraising here.

Taoiseach (Irish prime minister) Leo Varadkar has expressed "discomfort" after it emerged that a large number of people have been flown to Ireland to pick fruit.

He was responding to the news that Keelings fruit company flew in fruit pickers from Bulgaria this week.

"I share the discomfort expressed by the chief medical officer about the report of a large number of people coming to Ireland earlier this week to work in the horticulture sector," he said.

Image source, Getty Images

In a statement Mr Varadkar said that airports and ports must be kept open so that "essential goods and essential workers can get in and out of the country and Irish citizens and residents can return home".

But he said there was also a need to keep travel to a "minimum and ensure that passengers are interviewed on arrival and that quarantine is observed."

Keelings has said that it needs 900 seasonal workers, but only received 40 Irish applications for the jobs.

It added that all the workers "had been health screened by a doctor before they travelled to Sofia airport, where they were temperature checked before entry".

Image source, Getty Images

If you're just joining us, here's a recap of the day's main events:

The deaths of 18 more people in hospital in Northern Ireland with Covid-19 brings the total to 176.

The total death toll is likely to be higher, after new figures from Nisra showed Covid-19 deaths were a third higher than reported., external

Forty-four people have died in the Republic of Ireland after being diagnosed with Covid-19. Eleven people died in one nursing home in Dublin.

It means the total number of deaths there is now 530.

Other key developments:

• The first and deputy first ministers will start talks on a recovery plan next week but also warned we are still in the middle of the surge
• The Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced he is extending the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme - or furlough scheme - to the end of June
• A Level and GCSE marks and rankings from schools have to be with exam board CCEA by 29 May

The Department for the Economy has published guidance on making workplaces safer and the list of priority sectors, workers and businesses during the current crisis.

The list was drawn up by a forum of representatives from business, trade unions, councils, government, the Health and Safety Executive NI, Public Health Agency and Food Standards Agency.

The department said the list was published for "advisory purposes" to allow companies to make their own decisions.

Image source, Getty

Economy Minister Diane Dodds said "if a company can work within the social distancing guidelines, then it should do so".

The priority sectors list , externalincludes the following:

• Production
• Construction
• Distribution
• Service Industries
• Financial and Insurance
• Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
• Public Administration and Health

There is also a guide to make workplaces safer, external.

Mrs Dodds said: "The safety guidance will have practical application in the workplace."

The DUP group leader on Mid and East Antrim council described the decision to reopen the borough’s recycling centres as “sensible and reasonable”.

The facility at Waveney Road in Ballymena reopened earlier today.

The council will reopen two more recycling centres in Larne and Carrickfergus on Monday morning.

In a statement councillor Gregg McKeen said that the local authority’s decision was the correct one.

He added: “We are responding to the need of our community and ensuring the proper management of our waste."

Mr McKeen said he believed the council's stance was in line with legislation and this was "backed by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland this morning".

"The health and safety of our staff and citizens remains our number one priority throughout this time."

The Department of Health has set up a new email contact point for health and social care staff to raise PPE concerns.

The address is: Covid19PPE.queries@health-ni.gov.uk

Image source, Getty Images

The department said the emails will be checked every day and anonymity of staff using it will be protected.

In a statement the Health Minister Robin Swann said PPE is a "major priority".

He added: "This is the latest demonstration of just how seriously we are treating staff concerns on PPE."

The boss of the Bank of England has said that emergency lending to businesses "has to be sorted out" amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Governor Andrew Bailey questioned whether the system is "too complicated" as banks struggle to cope with applications.

Mr Bailey said that the government-backed scheme had taken longer to get into full operation than expected.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak said in March that UK-based small and medium-sized business could apply for an interest-free loan of up to £5m to help them with Covid-19 related difficulties.

However, the British Chambers of Commerce said on Wednesday that only 2% of UK firms had so far secured the loans.

Ireland's Health Service Executive says Covid-19 testing for both staff and residents will be enhanced in residential care settings.

There have been 335 outbreaks of coronavirus across the Republic's residential care network and 196 nursing homes have confirmed infections.

Image source, RTE

The HSE's Chief Operating Officer Anne O'Connor said extra staff would be redeployed where needed and "some but not all" of these homes are experiencing difficulties coping with the disease.

At a HSE briefing today Ms O'Connor said: "We have redeployed 61 people to these centres. We have more work to do and we need to redeploy more.

"It's a huge challenge for us, there is no doubt."

Image source, Getty Images

Until recently, many people in the UK had never heard of furlough.

But the impact of coronavirus on the economy means that over the next few months millions of workers will rely on the scheme.

This feature by Eleanor Lawrie explains what furlough is and answers some of the key questions around it.

Read more here.

Conor Macauley
BBC News NI Agriculture and Environment Correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

The Ulster Farmers' Union has criticised a Northern Ireland meat processor for selling imported Polish beef to shops here during the coronavirus crisis.

It said the decision by Ballymena-based Doherty and Gray was putting the livelihoods of local producers at risk.

But the company refuted claims that it had "disregarded local farmers".

Beef farmers have reported a reduction in prices for their cattle of up to £75 a head as the lockdown hits consumption.

Doherty and Gray said it sourced lots of Northern Ireland produced beef and would continue to pay the best possible price for it.

Read more on this story here.

The House of Commons is to reduce its sitting hours and prioritise coronavirus-related business when it returns next week.

There will be no proceedings on Thursday or Friday for the foreseeable future and consideration of non-virus legislation will be pared back.

Under a "hybrid" plan put forward by Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle, business will continue in the Chamber but with significantly fewer MPs attending to allow social distancing rules to be observed.

While there are expected to be no more than 50 MPs in the chamber at any one time, the aim is for a further 120 to be able to ask questions virtually using videoconferencing technology.

The Commons does not routinely sit on Fridays, unless MPs are debating Private Members Bills.

Could one of the few upsides to the current health crisis be that a generation of young people acquire new digital skills?

Some parents have been using the Covid-19 lockdown to introduce their children to coding while stuck at home.

There are a number of websites dedicated to developing coding skills, many incorporating games and visual puzzles.

The UK-based site Code Today, external has weekly online coding courses aimed at children and the hugely successful Raspberry Pi project have plenty of coding ideas on their blog, external.

The BBC micro:bit, external is a pocket-sized codeable computer with motion detection, a built-in compass and Bluetooth technology which can be programmed from a tablet.

Tech giant Microsoft offers a website full of project ideas, external for the micro:bit.

Listen to the latest Tech Tent podcast on BBC Sounds for more inspiration and ideas.

Police have revealed that they have received 4,646 Covid-19 related calls since lockdown regulations were brought in on 28 March.

They have issued 278 fines in the same period.

Jonathan Blake
BBC political correspondent

Downing Street has said that government guidelines and official Foreign Office advice "do not allow for people going on holiday."

This morning the transport secretary Grant Shapps suggested people should not book summer holidays for later this year.

Image source, Getty Images

The Prime Minister's spokesman said: "While we are making progress in our fight against coronavirus we are not able to say with certainty the point at which social distancing measures can be relaxed."

He added that travelling within the UK for holidays was "not something which the current guidelines allow for" and Foreign Office advice "continues to be that you should go abroad for essential travel only".

Joe Tidy
Cyber-security reporter

Scammers are sending 18 million hoax emails about Covid-19 to Gmail users every day, according to Google.

The tech giant says the pandemic has led to an explosion of phishing attacks in which criminals try to trick users into revealing personal data.

Image source, Getty Images

The company said it was blocking more than 100 million phishing emails a day. Over the past week, almost a fifth were scam emails related to coronavirus.

The virus may now be the biggest phishing topic ever, tech firms say.

Google's Gmail is used by 1.5 billion people.

Read more

The Irish health service (HSE) says there will en "enhanced testing" for staff and residents in residential care settings.

Anne O'Connor said there would also be extra staff redeployed where needed.

The HSE said there have been 335 outbreaks of coronavirus in residential care settings with 196 nursing homes included in this.

Image source, Getty Images

RTÉ said Covid-19 has infected about 30% of all nursing homes in Ireland.

Ms O'Connor said "some but not all" of these homes are experiencing difficulties coping with the disease.

Image source, Getty Images

Premier League clubs remain committed to finishing the 92 remaining fixtures of the current season but did not discuss a deadline by which play must resume at a meeting today.

Clubs were expected to debate a 30 June deadline to resume play but instead discussed "possible scheduling models".

The Premier League said it "remains our objective" to complete matches but currently "all dates are tentative".

The league has been suspended since 13 March due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Read more on this story here.

Another 44 people have died with Covid -19 in the Republic of Ireland, the Irish Department of Health has announced.

It brings the total death toll in the country to 530.

A further 597 cases have been diagnosed, while a further 112 cases of Covid-19 have emerged from a backlog of tests sent to Germany.

Image source, Getty Images

It brings the total number of new cases today to 709.

Health Minister Simon Harris earlier said he expected to clear the backlog of tests by the end of this week.

There is now a total of 13,980 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Ireland.

People struggling with payday loans, car finance and pawn shop borrowing will be granted a payment holiday under plans by the City watchdog.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) says the measures will help borrowers experiencing money problems amid the Covid-19 outbreak.

The FCA wants motor finance firms to grant a three-month freeze.

Image source, Getty Images

It's also asking firms specialising in rent-to-own, buy-now-pay-later and pawnbroking loans to delay repayments.

Those people with a payday loan will be given a one-month reprieve under the FCA's plan.

Last week, the watchdog announced a three-month freeze on loan and credit card repayments.

Read more

Business Secretary Alok Sharma has announced a new government-led “vaccine taskforce”, which he says will accelerate the development and manufacture of vaccines in the UK to fight the coronavirus outbreak.

He says it is up and running, and will report to him and the Health Secretary Matt Hancock.

It will be led by chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance and deputy chief medical officer Professor Jonathan van Tam, and made up of experts from across government, academia and industry.