Various European countries have closed their borders or announced new restrictions in the past day or two. Here's a summary of some of the measures introduced:

• Denmark: Bans all foreigners from entering without a valid purpose (such as residency or emergency family visit)
• Poland: Foreigners banned from entering from Sunday
• Czech Republic: Bans all foreigners from entering the country, except those with residence permits. Bans its own nationals from leaving
• Slovakia: Closes borders to all foreigners except Poles and those with a residence permit
• Austria: Closes three land border crossings with Italy to all foreigners, except those with a medical certificate issued within four days. No restriction on Austrian nationals
• Ukraine: Closes border crossings to foreigners (except diplomats) for two weeks
• Hungary: Closes land borders with Austria and Slovenia
• Slovenia: Closes six border crossings with Italy. Bus and train travel suspended. Foreigners may only enter with a medical certificate issued within three days
• Serbia: Closes border crossings with Romania, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Croatia
• Romania: Closes borders with Hungary, Ukraine, Bulgaria and Moldova
• Albania: Closes borders with Montenegro, Kosovo and North Macedonia

Sport Relief - the UK's biennial charity fundraising telethon - got under way on BBC TV on Friday night with an acknowledgement by its host - ex-England football star Gary Lineker - that the country is living through "extraordinary and unprecedented times".

Lineker added that a "chunk" of the money raised from Sport Relief will go towards those affected by the pandemic.

The BBC has said it will do "everything possible to keep people safe" as the show is staged in front of a live studio audience.

US President Donald Trump has declared a national emergency in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Speaking at the White House, Mr Trump said the US had made incredible progress compared with the rest of the world.

The declaration gives him the ability to access a $50bn disaster relief fund. It will also allow the federal government to co-ordinate the response to the epidemic with state and local governments.

Nadine Dorries, a health minister in the UK government who has tested positive for coronavirus, has tweeted that her elderly mother also has the disease.

She added that the 84-year-old was "made of strong stuff".

Satellite imagery shows reduced nitrogen dioxide emissions, particularly over northern Italy, the agency says.

Poland has become the latest EU country to close its borders to foreigners, following Denmark and the Czech Republic in implementing strict measures to stem the spread of coronavirus.

Foreigners will be banned from entering Poland from Sunday, the country's prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki said.

A 14-day quarantine will be imposed on Polish citizens who return home, he said.

"The state will not abandon [its citizens]. However, in the current situation we cannot allow ourselves to keep borders open to foreigners," Mr Morawiecki said at a news conference.

Restaurants, bars and casinos are to be shuttered and public gatherings will be limited to 50 people, Mr Morawiecki.

Poland has confirmed 68 cases of coronavirus so far with one death.

Earlier, Denmark, the Czech Republic and Slovakia announced similar temporary bans on foreigners entering their countries, though Slovakia exempts Poles from the restrictions.

Ukraine, which is not a member of the EU, will also close its borders to foreigners.

Image source, EPA

Clare Gerada, a London-based family doctor and former chairwoman of the Royal College of General Practitioners, has tweeted that she is now recovering after an "unwelcome visit" from Covid-19.

Dr Gerada described the experience as the "worst case of the flu I have ever had" and it was "worse than child birth".

She added that she is still going to self-isolate for another few days.

David Clemson spoke to the BBC in the past week about his brother-in-law, Franco, who was in intensive care in hospital in Italy after contracting the coronavirus.

Mr Clemson emailed on Friday to say that, sadly, Franco had died.

"The horrible thing is that these people die without their family around them," he said.

"Due to the restrictions there can be no funeral and most of his nearest and dearest are in quarantine.

"People must take this virus seriously, it has no respect for anyone.”

Organisers of the London Marathon have said all runners who had a place in this year's race will be contacted on Friday to inform them of the decision to postpone the event until 4 October.

The marathon, which had been due to take place on 26 April, attracts about 40,000 runners each year.

Hugh Brasher, event director, said: "The world is in an unprecedented situation grappling with a global pandemic of Covid-19 and public health is everyone's priority.

"We know how disappointing this news will be for so many - the runners who have trained for many months, the thousands of charities for which they are raising funds and the millions who watch the race every year.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Proofpoint

Security experts say there has been a huge spike in email scams linked to the coronavirus pandemic, and that the situation is the worst they've seen in years.

Phishing emails have been sent in different languages - English, Italian, Turkish, Japanese and French.

The BBC's cyber-security reporter, Joe Tidy, tracked five of the scams.

Read his full investigation here.

Officials at the UK's Houses of Parliament have announced that access by visitors will be restricted from next Monday.

House authorities say that public tours will end and Members of Parliament are to be discouraged from bringing in visitors.

The public can still watch Parliamentary proceedings in the Houses of Commons and Lords and be able to meet MPs in the central lobby. School visits can also still go ahead.

Image source, EPA

The Welsh health minister has announced that all elective operations and non-urgent outpatient appointments in the nation are to be cancelled, to help the NHS there cope with an expected increase in the number of conoravirus-related admissions.

Vaughan Gething said he expected a "larger number of people requiring high levels of care is highly likely over the coming weeks". Access to cancer treatments and dialysis for kidney failure would not be affected, he added.

BBC Wales health correspondent Owain Clarke said the move would affect those patients who needed to stay in intensive care after their operation, and that to see the Welsh government act in this way was "unprecedented".

Joshua Nevett

Image source, Tamar Weinberg

A mother-of-four living inside the first coronavirus containment zone in the US has described her frustrations and fears as the outbreak spreads.

Tamar Weinberg and her family have been self-isolating at home in New Rochelle, a suburb of New York City, where a one-mile (1.6km) containment zone has been implemented.

She was a member of the synagogue where the local outbreak is reported to have originated.

The Weinberg family are among 1,000 members of the synagogue who have been under quarantine since the first case was detected.

Ms Weinberg said none of her family have shown symptoms of the virus.

But, speaking to the BBC from her home, Ms Weinberg said she has still kept her distance from her children as a precaution, resisting her motherly instincts.

“I find myself hugging my children without thinking, but I have to think twice now,” she said.

“I have to be cognisant and make sure I do not have any contact with them.”

Image source, Tamar Weinberg

Her four children – aged three, five, seven and 10 – have been having lessons from home, which said she have been “absolutely amazing”.

“They [the school] erected this virtual-learning website at incredibly short notice,” she said.

On Thursday, the National Guard arrived in the area to deliver food and help clean up public spaces.

Ms Weinberg compared the outbreak to an unforeseeable “natural disaster”, but was critical of authorities, who she felt had not done enough testing.

“It’s been kind of a mess here,” she said. “There have been a lot of inefficiencies in terms of testing.”

Authorities in the US have come under fire for carrying out far fewer tests than many other affected countries.

The number of deaths from coronavirus in Italy has rise by 250 to 1,266 - the largest increase in absolute terms since the outbreak began, according to the country's Civil Protection Agency.

Officials said the total number of cases had risen from 15,113 to 17,660.

The increase in the death rate is almost the same as the figure for China's worst day on 13 February, when according to the World Health Organization, the city of Wuhan - the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak - reported 254 additional deaths.

Image source, Reuters

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has announced her country will close its borders at 12:00 local time (11:00 GMT) on Saturday, until 13 April.

While Danish citizens will still be allowed to enter, those of other nationalities will need a valid reason to travel to Denmark to be allowed in.

It will still be possible to transport food, medicine and other necessary goods to Denmark, the government says.

...These are the main developments so far today:

• The World Health Organization says that Europe is now the epicentre of the pandemic, with the continent reporting more cases and deaths daily than China did at the height of its outbreak
• More than 132,500 people have been diagnosed with Covid-19 in 123 countries, and the total number of deaths is now around 5,000
• The UK has postponed local elections, due to happen in May, for a year - while in the US the Democratic primary in Louisiana will be delayed
• Iran is clearing the streets nationwide to allow for all citizens to be tested in the next 24 hours
• The number of countries to introduce travel restrictions is growing - the Czech Republic has completely closed its borders, and Pakistan has shut its land borders
• Canada advises its citizens to avoid non-essential international travel
• The pandemic continues to have dramatic effects on the travel and tourism industry - several airlines are warning that they face financial difficulties, and Costa cruise company has suspended trips until April
• School closures are now in place in 49 countries, including Switzerland and some US states
• And sports events continue to be dramatically affected - the London Marathon is the latest event to be postponed, as well as the German football's Bundesliga

Georgina Rannard
BBC News

Image source, Asha Shajahan

A doctor in Detroit, US has told the BBC about visits she made to homeless shelters on Friday to try to protect the city's large homeless population from coronavirus.

"Homeless people are at increased risk (about double) from Covid-19 compared to the general public because of their lack of access to soap, water and basic hygiene," Dr Asha Shajahan explains.

Homeless shelters are closing because volunteers have been termporarily banned, she said, meaning the homeless may have less access to medical attention.

She visited two shelters with a group of doctors and students in Detroit, which has more than 8,000 homeless people.

"At a women and children’s shelter we offered medical services and were available for questions about how to properly wash your hands, what to do if you think you have symptoms," Dr Shajahan explained.

If someone shows symptoms, they are sent to a triage centre.

Homeless people are at higher risk of poor mental health outcomes during an outbreak - anxiety could be exacerbated by social distancing, and they may fear getting help at clinics or shelters.

"We had a shelter patient with seizure disorder who was afraid to go to the hospital because of Covid-19,” she added.

Neglecting homeless populations could also lead to further spread of coronavirus, Dr Shajahan warned.

With international travel down dramatically and numerous countries closing their borders, how is the pandemic affecting airlines?

• The airline trade body warned that multiple airlines could collapse within two to three months

• British Airways says there will be job losses - the CEO warned his industry is facing a "crisis of global proportions like no other"
• German company Lufthansa has grounded two-thirds of its fleet, and may ask for state aid from European governments
• Norwegian Air warned it could collapse without government aid - on Thursday it said it will lay off up to half of its 11,000 employees as part of losses ongoing before the coronavirus outbreak
• US airline Delta says it's in talks with the White House over financial support

Image source, Reuters

Louisiana Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin has confirmed earlier media reports that the state is postponing its Democratic - and Republican - presidential primaries to help limit the spread of coronavirus.

Elections had been due to take place in Louisiana next month, but have now been pushed back to June and July, Mr Ardoin told a news conference on Friday. He added that all voting equipment would be disinfected before the rescheduled primaries.

"The law provides for extraordinary measures to be taken when facing disasters," Mr Ardoin said.

Jessica Murphy, BBC News, Toronto

Justin Trudeau is advising Canadians to postpone or cancel all non-essential international travel outside of Canada.

The federal government is now looking at ways to support Canadians and small businesses financially affected by the pandemic, said the prime minister.

It would be introducing a "significant fiscal stimulus package in the coming days", he said.

Mr Trudeau's address comes amid a host of new measures being taken by the government to limit the domestic spread of the virus.

All cruise ships carrying over 500 passengers will not be able to dock in Canada until 1 July.

Canada will also be limiting the number of airports where international flights can land in order to improve screening of travellers.

As of Friday, there were 157 cases of the coronavirus in Canada. One death has been linked to the virus.

A number of provincial governments have taken their own steps in recent days to limit contagion.

Ontario has closed all public schools, and many schools in Quebec have also been shut.

British Columbia and Quebec have banned all public gatherings of over 250 people.