We're going to close this livepage for the day - thanks for sticking with us (in a socially distant way) tonight.

Stay with the BBC News website if you're after more news on the global impact of the pandemic overnight.

If you haven't read it, this beautifully crafted piece by our Visual Journalism colleagues in London is well worth a read.

We'll be back here with minute-by-minute coverage from Northern Ireland at 07:30 tomorrow.

We leave you with the smiles of Meabh and Eimear Jamison, enjoying the spring sun at Wallace Park in Lisburn, as Northern Ireland's country and forest parks reopen for pedestrian access.

Take care.

Image source, Pacemaker

Image source, Pacemaker

Here is a round-up of Tuesday’s developments in Northern Ireland:

• Nine more Covid-19-related deaths are recorded by the Public Health Agency, bringing their total to 216
• NI’s chief scientific advisor says the curve for cases is "flattening" and there could soon be a downward slope
• Pedestrian access has been reopened to country and forest parks
• Stormont parties are divided on whether cemeteries should reopen.
• There have been 730 deaths in the Republic after a further 44 were reported on Tuesday
• The Irish government says gatherings of more than 5,000 people will remain banned until at least September
• The health secretary says human trials for a vaccine will begin in the UK on Thursday

Apologies for the delay in posting, there - gremlins of a technical kind!

The system should be back up and running at full capacity tomorrow.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Pacemaker

If you are just joining our live page coverage, welcome!

Here's an update on some key developments today:

• Nine more Covid-19-related deaths are announced by NI's Public Health Agency, bringing its total to 216
• A further 44 reported deaths in the Republic of Ireland bring its total to 730
• The Irish government says gatherings of more than 5,000 people will remain banned until at least September
• NI’s chief scientific advisor says the curve for cases is"flattening" and there could soon be a downward slope
• Pedestrian access has been reopened to country and forest parks
• Stormont parties are divided on whether cemeteries should reopen
• The health secretary says human trials for a vaccine will begin in the UK on Thursday

Marie-Louise Connolly
BBC News NI Health Correspondent

Image source, Reuters

Recent reductions in the daily number of hospital admissions and deaths suggest Northern Ireland may have passed the peak of this outbreak.

If that's the case, and we get to a situation where the executive feels it can relax the lockdown, how would that work?

BBC News understands that, by 9 May, it could relax the rules surrounding parks and cemeteries; there is a possibility that shops and cafes would be allowed to reopen.

However, bars and restaurants are considered high-risk, and it might take longer for these to open their doors.

Even when businesses are allow to raise their shutters, the two-metre social distancing rules would still apply.

A significant question is whether there will be an all-island approach to how lockdown restrictions are lifted.

Scientists and academics have recommended a co-ordinated approach to ending lockdowns in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland would be more effective than easing restrictions at different times.

Read more from our health correspondent here.

Anyone suffering symptoms of a serious illness, such as chest pain, should still seek medical help despite the stay at home message, Londonderry’s mayor says.

In a tweet, Michaela Boyle says the current restrictions do “not apply if you are having serious symptoms such as chest pain.”

Earlier today a senior doctor voiced concern that attendances at emergency departments have fallen by more than a half since the Covid-19 outbreak began.

Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council says there has been an increase in fly-tipping in recent weeks while recycling centres have been closed.

The council's mayor, Sean Bateson, says: "A lot of this material is bin liners filled with household waste that should have been placed in the black bin.

"I appreciate that household recycling centres are currently closed to the public but I would ask for everyone to dispose of their rubbish properly and not to fly-tip on private lands or the roadside.

“Fly-tipping is unsightly but more importantly it can create problems with vermin," he adds.

Image source, Causeway Council

The council says it is an offence to litter any private or public land and anyone found doing so could face a fine of up to £2,500.

Captain Tom Moore, the 99-year-old war veteran who raised over £27m for the NHS, has opened a new Nightingale hospital in Harrogate.

Image source, PA Media

Captain Moore, who raised money by completing 100 laps of his garden before his 100th birthday, appeared via video link at today's opening ceremony of the 500-bed facility.

Read more.

Image source, Getty Images

Dr Mark Taylor, NI Director of the Royal College of Surgeons, has told BBCNI there is a "mix of emotions, each and every day" among medical teams during the ongoing coronavirus outbreak

"Emotions relating to stress, to worry," he adds.

"Obviously we know we have lost colleagues to Covid-19 and every day we all try to practice with a mindset of not only keeping ourselves safe, but preventing spread to other patients and also we all have home lives."

He says "camaraderie" among multi-disciplinary hospital teams is crucial at the time.

Dr Taylor acknowledges there is a "great deal of anxiety" around the matter of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).

"The PPE issue is very raw at the frontline," he adds.

Parks are re-opening in the Armagh, Bainbridge and Craigavon council area from tomorrow.

Image source, Tracy Maguire

Born prematurely at just 3lbs 5oz (1.5kg), baby Peyton was diagnosed with Covid-19 at just three weeks old.

The new mother says it is one of the "worst things" she has seen.

But this story has a happy ending, as Peyton fought off the virus and is now home and settling into a routine.

Read more here.

Jonathan Blake
BBC political correspondent

Matt Hancock’s announcement that human trials of a vaccine against coronavirus will begin this week is undoubtedly significant.

“In normal times reaching this stage would take years,” he said.

But he was also careful to manage expectations, stressing that the entire process was about trial and error and nothing was certain.

An effective vaccine is the one guaranteed way of ensuring the UK can lift lockdown restrictions and begin to think about life after coronavirus with confidence.

But it may yet be a long way off.

Image source, PA Media

In the meantime, the government’s decisions now and early on in this crisis continue to come under scrutiny.

After apparently contradictory comments by the top civil servant at the Foreign Office and the secretary of state for health there is, to put it mildly, confusion over whether the UK has joined an EU joint procurement scheme to obtain medical equipment.

One claims it was “a political decision” not to and the other said it was no such thing… we hear a clarification will be forthcoming.

Northern Ireland’s health minister says he is concerned by a significant drop in the number of child protection referrals.

Robin Swann says referrals to children’s services during the first three weeks of April are 38% lower than the 2019 weekly average

He urged urged people with concerns to contact Health and Social Care Trust Gateway Services or the NSPCC helpline.

"There is a range of support available in the community, including through Family Support Hubs which are continuing to support families in a number of creative and innovative ways,” the minister says.

Image source, Getty Images

Northern Ireland’s chief social worker Seán Holland said while it is too early to have a full picture, the drop in referrals here echoes a trend being seen across the UK.

Mr Holland says safeguarding organisations are working hard to mitigate these risks but need "maximum support from the public to help keep children safe."

Where there’s any concern that a child is in immediate danger, people should contact the PSNI via 999 without delay.

There have now been more than 2.5 million coronavirus infections worldwide.

The current figure stands at 2,501,156, according to Johns Hopkins University in the US.

The death toll currently stands at 171,810.

Pat McManus, 60, who had been a nurse for more than 40 years, died after contracting coronavirus on Sunday.

Originally from Strabane, he had been nursing at North Staffordshire Royal Infirmary and then County Hospital in Stafford.

His niece, Aileen Mullan, told Radio Ulster’s Evening Extra that her uncle saw it as “his duty” to be out on the frontline.

“I got a phone call Saturday week that he was taken in with symptoms. We were keeping an eye on him daily on his progress. It just didn’t seem to be getting any better," she said

“There’s times you would have got a wee ray of hope, but then nothing.

“We got the call on Saturday evening that his boys were sent for to say their goodbyes. We knew then that was it."

Image source, Family handout

“We just cried, me and my sister, we were just waiting on the phone call. We didn’t ring the boys, we just wanted to give them time with their daddy.

“He died doing what he loved doing. He didn’t have to be out on the front line, he had underlying health problems, it was him that put himself there, nobody forced him.

“He wanted to do it, he would have seen that as being his duty. That’s what he signed up for 40 years ago, to help people.

“He was so caring, he was so loving, he was funny. He was just our Pat.“

John Campbell
BBC News NI Economics and Business Editor

Image source, Getty Images

The construction industry says that Stormont guidance on priority industries still leaves it unclear whether building sites should be operating during the ongoing lockdown.The new guidance is only advisory, rather than legally binding, so it is up to individual firms what to do.The Construction Employers Federation (CEF) provided its own guidance at the start of the crisis.It says the new official advice "adds little clarity to the situation".That is echoed by the Royal Society of Ulster Architects (RSUA) who say firms operating in other markets have been given clearer guidance.Ciaran Fox, RSUA director, said: "Clients are still in the position of being quite unclear as to whether construction sites should start.

"It's unclear whether it should only be these priority sectors."

Read more here

Image source, Getty Images

Every Thursday evening the UK is clapping for NHS staff, carers and other key workers. But many are on low pay.

Labour leader Keir Starmer said that many key workers are "overlooked and underpaid", while the Liberal Democrats have called for front-line health and care workers to receive a £29-a-day reward.

The following chart represents where most workers - 60% - sit in the salary range.

The average full-time cashier, shop assistant, care worker, food processor, bus driver and postal worker all earn below the median income.

Nurses and primary teachers are paid just above the median income, while doctors and pharmacists earn substantially above it.

Read more

Two of Derry’s most recognisable buildings will light up tonight in support of victims of domestic abuse.

The city’s mayor Michaela Boyle says the coronavirus lockdown puts many people in an especially vulnerable position.

"The advice to stay home and the act of self-isolation is a victim's worst nightmare and one that brings feelings of fear, anxiety and entrapment," she says.

"Being in a confined space with their abuser unfortunately means that there are many people suffering acts of domestic abuse and violence right now,” the mayor adds.

The Guildhall and the Strand Road council offices will be bathed in purple light later on Tuesday because “we have a duty to let each and every one of those victims know that they are not alone,” Ms Boyle says.

The Irish department of health says the 730 Covid-19 related deaths in the Republic announced today are only those confirmed by laboratories.

Image source, RTE

The country's chief medical officer, Dr Tony Holohan says an additional 108 deaths are suspected to be connected to the virus, but have yet to be confirmed.

First Minister Arlene Foster says there have been 2,096 applicants to the £25,000 business grant scheme, which opened yesterday.

She added there have been 19,138 applicants for the £10,000 business grant.

Of those, Mrs Foster says 16,338 have been paid to date, with a further 655 to be paid today.