A cancer charity has launched an appeal amid the "toughest challenge" it has ever faced, as it fears it will be unable to provide support in future due to the impact of coronavirus.

Clan Cancer Support, external has had to postpone major fundraising events due to the Covid-19 outbreak, but has seen significant demand for its telephone support, counselling and online services.

The charity, which has centres across the north and north-east of Scotland, is now calling for donations for its Here For You, external appeal.

Clan's Fiona Fernie said: "Without the income from our shops and fundraising events, we cannot sustain the provision of our professional cancer support in the longer term.

"Cancer is not going away and our services are more vital than ever, so we want to ensure we are here to support those who need us most, not just now but also into the future."

Szu Ping Chan
Business Reporter, BBC News

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Countries are being forced to use extreme measures to keep the economy afloat amid the coronavirus crisis.

Now, the Bank of England has signalled that it may take the cost of borrowing below zero.

Last month, the Bank started new work on how negative interest rates could affect banks and the wider economy.

But what exactly are negative interest rates? And could a world where savers are penalised and borrowers rewarded end up doing more harm than good?

Read more

With lockdown easing in certain countries - restaurants, parks and places of worship are using creative solutions to ensure social distancing.

We've put together a little picture gallery, and here's a glimpse!

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Here are the main points from First Minister Nicola Sturgeon's daily briefing:

• Confirmation that Scotland is likely to ease some lockdown measures this week, with outdoor activities to be allowed from Friday.
• Nicola Sturgeon called for Dominic Cummings to apologise for breaking lockdown rules and recommended the prime minister "reconsider" his decision to back his advisor.
• Three more people have died of Covid-19 in Scotland, while a total of 15,156 have now tested positive for the disease.
• Scotland is still aiming to have 2,000 contact tracers, but just 660 would be in place the the end of the week.

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Paul Malik from the Courier asks about training for staff to ensure testing, including self-swabbing, does not result in false negatives. He also asks about plans to expand testing centres ahead of a possible influx in demand.

Ms Sturgeon says a range of different routes will be available for testing, including home testing, although this is a relatively small part of capacity at the moment.

She says the aim is to have testing as local as possible and as rapid as possible.

Jeane Freeman, the health secretary, says the government is “very conscious” of the need to make testing as straightforward as possible, confirming some of the details will be set out tomorrow.

Tom Martin from the Daily Express asks why the Scottish government is not aiming to have 2,000 contact tracers in place by the end of the week.

"We are not dropping the 2,000 target," replies the first minister.

She insists the numbers must be flexible and adapt to need. There may be times when more than that is needed, but also times when fewer tracers are required she says.

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The next question is from the Telegraph’s Simon Johnson, who says Dominic Cummings will make a statement later today.

It has been confirmed the PM's chief adviser will make a statement and take questions over the allegations he broke coronavirus lockdown rules.

Mr Johnson asks: "What would you like to hear him say to the British people?"

The first minister replies: "Perhaps, you know, concede that he made a mistake. That he didn’t follow the rules and instead of trying to retrospectively rewrite those rules, to admit he made a mistake and apologise for that."

She says there are lots of detailed questions about his account and the account from his wife that “to me don’t seem to tally up”.

The first minister says a lot of parents will feel it is being suggested that, in following the rules, they didn't act like good parents and "I think that is really, really unfair".

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Derek Healey from the Press & Journal asks if the first minister owes an apology to families who have lost someone to the virus in a care home.

The first minister says she has made the general point that if we had all the knowledge then that we have now, the government may have taken different decisions.

This is a general point, not specific to the question from Mr Healey, she says.

Ms Sturgeon points out if older people had been left in hospital when they did not require to be there they would also have been put at considerable risk.

She says: "At every step of the way we have sought to do what we considered best to protect older people."

Mark McLaughlin asks about the outbreak in Scotland following a conference of Nike employees.

The Times journalist wants to know why Scotland waited a week until after Holland to ban gigs and sporting events, despite Holland telling Scotland of a Nike delegate with Covid on 2 March.

Mr McLaughlin asks if the government wanted to get herd immunity in Scotland.

He asks if the government saw figures from scientifc advisors about potential deaths on 3 March.

The first minister says she will not confirm which reports she saw when without checking and says she has sought to take decisions based on the best information and knowledge and applying the best judgement to that every step of the way.

“It has never been my view that we should simply let people get this virus. All along saving lives has been one of the core objectives we have set.”

All of these things will be considered and looked at in the fullness of time, she says, emphasising her focus is getting Scotland through this health crisis.

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Gina Davidson from the Scotsman says the number of suspected cases in Lothian hospitals has risen from 52 a week ago to 187 yesterday.

Ms Davidson says every other health board has seen a fall in this number and she asks if this could be due to good weather or lockdown complacency and asks if the first minister is concerned about the situation in Lothians area.

The first minister cautions against reading too much into the fluctuations in numbers of suspected cases.

Ms Sturgeon says confirmed cases are where most attention should be given, as different hospital decide who is a suspected case differently.

She says the data must be looked at carefully and it shows: “We have made real progress here but we are not out of the woods yet.”

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"We have not refused to release any data, we want to make sure the figures we do publish is robust and reliable," says the first minister when asked about the lack of clarity on the rate of hospital infections by The Sun.

Nicola Sturgeon adds that figures released by the Scottish government are "more up to date than other areas of the UK".

Health Secretary Jean Freeman then stresses that it is important to remember that incubation period of Covid-19 makes it tricky to know when and where infections occurred.

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Nicola Sturgeon is asked about the discharge of more than 900 untested hospital patients into care homes back in March.

"I have no doubt there will be enquiries and reviews into how this government has handled this crisis - that is right and proper," says the first minister.

"It's easy to apply hindsight now but we didn't have many good choices"

In response to a question from a Press Assocation reporter, she explains these older patients were not not medically required to be in hospitals.

Hospitals were preparing for an influx of Covid cases, she says, and that keeping these older patients in would have placed them at "significant risk".

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"We will have access to 2000 contact tracers by the end of the month but we do not think we will need all of them by then given the current low level of virus," says the first minister in response to a question from STV News.

Nicola Sturgeon adds that flexibility within the system is important and that the capacity may have to increase in future.

More details will come on the test, trace, isolate and protect strategy this week.

"It only works if we as citizens know what is expected of us in terms of coming forward with the symptoms and isolating - and if we are prepared to do it. Building the knowledge of and understanding of that system is going to be really important," says the first minister.

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Lynsey Bews from BBC Scotland asks if the first minister misread public opinion when initially resisting calls to fire Dr Catherine Calderwood.

She wants to know if she thinks the prime minister is making the same mistake with Dominic Cummings.

Nicola Sturgeon explains she did not defend the actions of her former chief medical officer (who was spoken to by police after visiting a second home) and that Dr Calderwood had apologised publicly for her behaviour.

The first minister adds that she still regrets, "to some extent", missing Dr Calderwood's advice. However, she realised retaining the chief medical officer would "risk undermining public confidence" in the stay-at-home message.

Before saying she hopes the prime minister will "come to a different conclusion" on the future of his chief aide, she asserts Dr Calderood did not "try to save her own skin" and that she acted with "great integrity".

Ms Sturgeon stresses: "Trust in the the public health advice is so important and becomes more important as we go into later phases as we move from the letter of the law to appealing to people's judgement."