That concludes BBC Scotland's live online coverage of the latest developments in the Covid-19 crisis. Today:

• The first minister warned it could be "catastrophic" to drop the stay at home message.
• She announced that the lockdown is to be extended in Scotland.
• But she said people may be able to spend more time outdoors soon.

Live coverage will resume early on Friday.

Reporting Scotland

Scotland's biggest teaching union has warned of the "huge challenges" facing the country's schools when lockdown is eased.

Larry Flanagan, general secretary of the EIS union, told BBC Scotland: “We’re looking at how schools can open.

“The calculation is reasonably straight forward if you’re going to maintain two-metre social distancing in an average classroom that would normally house 30 pupils that would bring down somewhere to ten maybe 12 or 13 depending on the age-group."

The use of extra facilities such as church halls and the hiring of extra teachers are also being considered, Mr Flanagan added.

Drivetime with John Beattie
BBC Radio Scotland

Scotland's national clinical director Prof Jason Leitch says taking a four-country approach remains the best way forward, but "minor differences" are acceptable.

But we are keen to ensure these differences do not become big, he says.

Prof Leitch says some baby steps in terms of altering the guidance have been set out by the first minister today but these are not being taken yet.

He says: "The present guidelines say you should only leave your house for essential reasons. The best protection from the virus is your front door."

When Lee Brook failed to get a flight home to the UK, he joined the crew of a racing yacht.

The Foreign Secretary says the prime minister will outline what steps the UK "can responsibly take over the following weeks."

Drivetime with John Beattie
BBC Radio Scotland

Millions of us will return to our doorsteps tonight at 8pm to clap for the country's carers, but is clapping the best way to support them?

Writer Owen Jones thinks not, telling John Beattie: "If you are a Conservative politician with the actual power to make people's lives better and you spent the last few years implementing policies that made them worse, you are a grotesque, nauseating hypocrite."

Thomas Waterson, chair of UNISON Scotland's health committee, agrees with much of what Mr Jones said in the interview and says he will be out clapping with his family this evening.

Mr Waterson says: "We can turn the clapping into cash."

He says if politicians who voted against pay rises for frontline staff and then clap are hypocritical.

Image source, Getty Images

Scottish government ministers have written to the Chancellor seeking assurances that the job retention scheme would continue to apply in Scotland if it stays in lockdown longer than the rest of the UK.

The Economy and Finance secretaries want to ensure Scottish companies and staff aren’t disadvantaged if the UK government decides to stop paying the wages of furloughed workers.

Fiona Hyslop and Kate Forbes have urged Chancellor Rishi Sunak to take Scotland’s economic and public health circumstances into account when he makes a decision about the future of the scheme.

Drivetime with John Beattie
BBC Radio Scotland

Image source, John Gordon

John Gordon is a councillor on Skye and he lost his dad to COVID-19 at this week.

Mr Gordon's dad, John Angus Gordon, 83, is among five residents who have died at Home Farm in Portree.

John explains he and his family had to say their goodbyes over video chat because they could not visit the care home. "It was very hard knowing we were just minutes away from the nursing home but we couldn't be with him."

He describes how his dad "loved touch" and would often use physical contact to feel close to people. It become more important as his dad's dementia progressed, where a handshake would often reassure and settle him.

When the family were saying their goodbyes, his dad reached out and held his carer's gloved hand. "We are so grateful for the staff," John says.

He also said questions need to be asked of care home owner HC One on how coronavirus was able to spread and what should have been put in place to prevent this.

Image source, bbc

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab confirms the UK coronavirus death toll has now reached 30,615 after a further 539 people died having testing positive.

In the 24 hours up to 9am on 7 May, there were 86,583 tests in the UK - up by more than 17,000 on the previous day – although it was the fifth day running that testing was below the government’s 100,000 target.

After reaching the target by 30 April and again on 1 May the number has again been below the mark.

A total of more than 1.5 mllion tests have now been carried out.

Image source, bbc

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab will lead this afternoon's UK government press conference very shortly.

He'll be joined by Sir Ian Diamond, chief statistician at the Office for National Statistics, and Dr Jenny Harries, deputy chief medical officer for England.

The briefing comes as Boris Johnson has urged caution amid reports on how the lockdown in England might be eased, saying the government will proceed with “maximum caution”.

Scotland has extended its lockdown.

The Bank of England has warned that the UK economy is heading towards its sharpest recession on record.

We'll bring you the headlines but you can follow live updates here, external.

Drivetime with John Beattie
BBC Radio Scotland

Scottish universities are warning they could lose more than £500m between them next year due to the coronavirus crisis.

Image source, Getty Images

Universities Scotland Alistair Sim described it as a "very, very serious situation" which will limit universities' ability to assist in Scotland's recovery after coronavirus.

Getting international students back "may take a while" which has "left institutions in a vulnerable position", he explained.

He called for "meaningful support" from both governments, though welcomed the £75m announced by John Swinney earlier this week.

Image source, Gerry Stott / Aberdeen Artists Society

Artists in the north east of Scotland have been invited to submit their work for the first ever online exhibition of Aberdeen Artists Society.

The society had been planning a return to Aberdeen Art Gallery for the first time since 2014.

However those plans had to be changed following the gallery’s enforced closure as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

The online exhibition is now scheduled to open on 20 June. The deadline for submissions is 17 May. Further information is available at www.aberdeenartistssociety.co.uk, external

Image source, Getty Images

Black men and women are nearly twice as likely to die with coronavirus as white people in England and Wales, according to the Office for National Statistics.

There are no statistics available yet for Scotland.

The analysis shows the inequality persists after taking into account age, where people live and some measures of deprivation and prior health.

People from Indian, Bangladeshi and Pakistani communities also had a significantly higher risk of dying.

The government has launched a review into the issue.

Read more here.