First Minister Arlene Foster says the latest figures released by Nisra around Covid-19 related deaths provide "a fuller pictures of the course of the virus across our communities".

The agency released data this morning, which shows there have been 157 deaths - 39 more than previously reported.

Arlene Foster says the new information would be used to "help inform the executive’s ongoing response" to the virus.

Image source, PA Media

She adds that it is "also extremely sad, as we learn that Covid-19 has robbed many more families of their loved ones".

"Our thoughts and prayers are with all those who have lost someone to this disease.

"We think particularly of all those who have passed away in care homes," she says adding, "your precious loved ones will not be forgotten".

The people of east Belfast will see a more colourful Translink bus on their roads in the coming days.

A bus driver, in Transink's Short Strand depot, has decorated his bus with colourful rainbow pictures from staff and their children.

The rainbow bus will also show messages of support for NHS staff.

Shane Harrison
BBC NI Dublin correspondent

Officials in the Republic of Ireland say the modelling shows that the lockdown measures are working.

Professor Philip Nolan from Maynooth University has been leading a team of around 50 mathematicians looking at trends in the crisis.

During a briefing on Thursday evening, he suggested that Covid-19 had reached a plateau and should soon start to fall.

Image source, Getty Images

He added that since 3 April, the growth rate in new cases has been “close to zero” and the ICU numbers have been stable since then also.

He added that if emergency measures had not been taken, there could have been 1,700 deaths in the Republic so far.

There have been 486 deaths with Covid-19 to date.

At the start of the crisis, each confirmed case was infecting on average 4.5 people but that figure is now down to between 0.7 and 1 and falling.

A nurse in the South Eastern Trust has come up with a way to give relatives some measure of comfort if loved ones pass away, a pair of memorial hearts that can be used as a form of connection during final moments.

An Alliance MLA is calling on those who are using disposable gloves to bin them after noticing a number of them discarded on the street during an evening run.

"I don't think it's much to ask people to put them in the bin," Andrew Muir told Good Morning Ulster.

"It's a criminal offence to be littering and obviously the councils are under a lot of strain in terms of enforcement of that. All we are asking people to do is put these in the bin."

Image source, Andrew Muir/Twitter

Mr Muir's plea was backed up by Dr Gerry Waldron from the Public Health Agency (PHA).

He said "The gloves don't provide as much protection (against Covid 19) as people think they do. The important thing for people to remember is to maintain good hand hygiene and also to maintain social distancing."

"The glove will provide a barrier but it is not a complete answer. And put the gloves in the bin," he added.

BBC Radio Foyle also spoke to a 17-year-old student who had a question about the exam system for Education Minister Peter Weir - how can exams be marked fairly when many teachers mark exams differently?

Claudia Daly, who attends Dominican College in Portstewart, says she is concerned some students may be marked more harshly by one teacher over another, due to "different marking strategies".

"Some teachers could mark fairly, while others could mark too lightly," she says.

Image source, Getty Images

The student from Magiligan said she is worried students may not be able to "properly show off what they're truly capable of".

In response, Mr Weir told BBC Radio Foyle it's "understandable" students will have concerns, but the minister says the system will not rely solely on "personal teacher judgement", but also include "statistical modelling".

"Fairness is absolutely at the core of that," Mr Weir adds.

With exams cancelled and predicated grades set to be used for GCSE and A-levels, there have been concerns about how fair the process will be.

A Londonderry principal says he's worried about how predicted marking may "disadvantage" some of his A-Level pupils.

Michael Allen, who is the principal of Lisneal College, told BBC Radio Foyle earlier this morning that some of his students may be hindered by a system that uses AS grades to supplement decisions for A-level grades.

Image source, Getty Images

As an example, he says one of his pupils, who had a "nightmarish AS paper", will be "seriously hampered" with this system, despite working very hard and now "outperforming others".

"Thousands of pupils around the country just won't sit inside that perfect model process, there are pupils who are late bloomers and some that just pull it out of the bag at the last moment," Mr Allen says.

"The process can't be perfect, but there needs to be some flexibility" for those cases, he adds.

Olga Ivshina
BBC Russian Service

These are strange times for everyone but spare a thought for the three astronauts who have just returned home from the International Space Station (ISS).

No strangers to isolation, Russian Oleg Skrypochka and Jessica Meir from the US left Earth in September 2019, well before Covid-19 emerged.

Another American, Andrew Morgan, has been on the ISS since July 2019.

Image source, NASA

The coronavirus pandemic has changed the usual routine for returning space crews.

"It's quite surreal to see it unfolding on Earth below," Ms Meir told reporters during a recent video call. "From here, Earth looks just as stunning as usual, so it's hard to believe all of the changes that have taken place since we left."

Read more here.

Figures have been released by Nisra showing 157 deaths linked to Covid-19 up to 10 April - here's how the deaths are broken down by age group.

And below shows the total number of deaths in Northern Ireland, showing how many of them are related to Covid-19.

Jayne McCormack
BBC News NI political reporter

The total of coronavirus-related deaths in Northern Ireland is 39 higher than had been previously reported.

The breakdown has been published for the first time by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (Nisra).

It recorded 157 coronavirus-related deaths in NI by 10 April.

The number of deaths also includes suspected cases, whereas the Public Health Agency, uses a different method and had recorded 118 deaths by the same date.

It says there were 109 hospital deaths, 41 in care homes and hospices and seven at residential addresses.

Dr Ultan Power, a professor of molecular virology at Queen's University, tells Good Morning Ulster that it's "extremely difficult" to say how long social distancing could go on.

"We don't have enough testing done, we don't know how many people are already infected," he says.

"Until we know the percentage of the population that have already been infected with the virus it's very difficult then to make a call on how long this is going to last."

He says if there was one positive thing to come out of the pandemic it could be that people were now more aware of "how lethal some of these viruses can be".

Dr Power said that in future when we deal with highly vulnerable people "we will do so in a manner that's a lot safer than what we have done before".

Northern Ireland should follow the Republic and introduce a 2km limit for travel for exercise - that's the view of SDLP leader Colum Eastwood.

He tells the Nolan Show that the rules around this were a "mess" and that "people don't know what the rules are".

It comes after concerns were raised that people are travelling long distances in cars in order to exercise.

The Foyle MP says a similar approach should be taken as in the Republic of Ireland, where citizens can only exercise within a 2km radius of their home.

"That seems sensible and you can measure it," he says.

On Thursday, PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Alan Todd told the Nolan show: "People travelling significant distances for the purpose exercise, we believe, supported by legal opinion, puts you in breach of the restrictions."

The head of Northern Ireland's examination body says he expects there to be appeals made by pupils receiving A Level, AS Level and GSCE results this summer.

Yesterday, it was announced teachers here will predict the grades they think pupils would have achieved in the cancelled exams.

Justin Edwards, chief executive of the CCEA, tells Good Morning Ulster the system it presented to the Department of Education was not "perfect" but it was the fairest one and placed less burden on learners.

Image source, DAVID JONES/PA WIRE

He adds the body is now looking at building a new appeals process.

"We would anticipate appeals, but the actual number of those depends on the confidence the learners have in the grades they receive.

"So, for us, making sure it's transparent and understood is essential in ensuring that the number of appeals does not rise to a much higher level."

Mr Edwards also says he expects a decision on vocational qualifications to be taken "rapidly".

These care home workers in Scotland are going further to ensure they reduce the risk of coronavirus spreading to residents by moving into campervans at the care home's car park.

The 13 staff members hope that by restricting their movements they will lessen the risk to those who live at Isobel Fraser Home in Inverness.

The workers have agreed to stay in the campervans for the duration of the lockdown.

Their actions have been praised by residents and their families.

Read the story here.

A senior doctor says he's concerned about a 'marked drop-off' in the number of people seeking treatment for heart attacks and strokes in Northern Ireland during the coronavirus pandemic.

Dr Brian Gallen, a stroke consultant at the South West Acute Hospital, tells Good Morning Ulster it's a worrying pattern that's been seen not only across Northern Ireland, but also in the rest of the UK and Europe.

He says some patients are waiting up to four days before presenting with stroke or heart attack symptoms.

He stresses that while the stay at home message was important during the pandemic, people should not miss treatments that they are still able to access.

"There are quite understandable concerns about coronavirus and obviously people are worried about going to hospital and catching it there.

"But one thing i can say is that your risk of harm from a stroke or heart attack is significantly more than catching coronavirus."

The secretary of state says Mid and East Antrim Borough Council "may well have taken a view for very good reason" to reopen recycling centres and can do so as long as they follow social distancing guidelines.

Brandon Lewis made the comments on BBC Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster programme.

The MP says it was a "matter for the local authority" and that it's "allowable" as long as those visiting the centres follow the guidelines.

Image source, Getty Images

In terms of lifting lockdown regulations, Mr Lewis says decisions would be made on "the medical advice on what is right and appropriate".

"It's a new virus, and the medical and scientific teams are learning new things about it the every day," he tells Good Morning Ulster.

"As they are learning more, their views and advice will go in a particular direction."

He adds that it's "hard to judge where that will go" in the coming weeks but that it's "very clear we will continue to flatten the curve".

Earlier this week, the GAA said it is "highly unlikely" that there will be any inter-county activity before the start of July.

But Derry's football manager, Rory Gallagher, tells BBC Radio Foyle he can see "no reason" The Championship cannot go ahead in some form this year.

"There's no reason we can't play it behind closed doors with limited crowds and stream the games," Mr Gallagher tells the programme.

One of the major issues for all sports would be players potentially having to be sequestered away from family members when playing games and Mr Gallagher concedes that the Championship could only go ahead if the crisis eases both north and south of the border and can be "done safely".

Mr Gallagher said fans and players would both welcome GAA back into their daily lives in any form and we should "make the most of what you have in front of you".

"It's not what you want, but if that's the only option then it's better than nothing at all," Mr Gallagher says.

Sinn Féin has criticised a decision by Mid and East Antrim Borough Council to start re-opening some of its recycling centres.

The council were the first to reverse their decision to close because of the Covid-19 lockdown.

One recycling centre will reopen in Ballymena at 09:00 this morning.

Centres in Larne and Carrickfergus are due to return to action next week.

Sinn Féin councillor James McKeown says the move is premature, and goes against public health advice.

However, the council says it’s an essential service and will be carried out safely.

The council has stressed the service is only for people within the council area, and proof of address will be required.

Asked about the issue of Good Morning Ulster, NI Secretary of State Brandon Lewis says each council "will know its area well enough to know the build up and need" and are entitled to open up recycling centres "for the right reasons and following the guidelines".

Robbie Meredith
BBC News NI Arts and Education Correspondent

Yesterday, we found out how GCSE, AS and A-level grades will be given out following the cancellation of exams, with teachers allocating predicted grades to students.

In some ways the situation is deceptively simple.

Teachers will take as much information as they have on a pupil's performance over the course of GCSEs or A-level classwork, homework, coursework, exams or mock exams.

They'll use that and their knowledge of the pupil's work to calculate a mark - something they would already be doing for students applying to universities through Ucas.

Image source, Getty Images

Schools will then be asked to rank pupils in each subject from top to bottom, and those results will be sent to the Northern Ireland examination board, CCEA, who will make sure no-one is being marked to generously or harshly.

The real change comes for AS-level students - normally their AS exam makes up 40% of their final A-level mark.

They have been told they will get an AS result this year, but that it won't count towards their final A-level exam score. Instead their entire result will be based on exams they take next May or June, rather than the usual 40-60 split.

Companies trying to profiteer from struggling businesses and consumers during the coronavirus crisis "should be reported for market exploitation", says the SDLP's economy spokesperson Sinead McLaughlin.

Ms McLaughlin tells Good Morning Ulster she had received complaints from farmers over the past couple of weeks and reported the incidents to the Competition and Markets Authority.

"Farmers are feeling exploited by the buyers and that is the corporate food retailers and wholesalers and to a lesser extend the food processors," she says.

Image source, Getty Images

Ms McLaughlin said companies were "using their market power to drive down prices significantly".

The Competition and Markets Authority responded to say they were aware of market exploitation arising out of Covid-19 and have warned firms involved that they will investigate it and take enforcement action.

Ms McLaughlin said farmers "are front-line workers as well" who "feel like they're at the very bottom rung of the pecking order".