For the first time in its modern history the whole of Bavaria has been declared a disaster zone, to deal with the coronavirus crisis.

It is Germany’s second-richest state and has a population of 13 million people. Such special measures previously only applied to stricken areas of Bavaria, for example during floods.

All schools and kindergartens are now shut in the state.

There has been a sharp rise in the numbers testing positive for Covid-19 in Bavaria: 886 cases by midday Sunday, which was 205 more cases in 24 hours. Four elderly people have died, DPA news agency reports.

People are still able to move around freely in the streets – unlike in some other parts of Europe.

But these measures are now being introduced:

• From Tuesday, bars, cinemas and swimming pools are to close, along with non-essential businesses
• Longer opening times for providers of food and essential goods, such as supermarkets, pharmacies, petrol stations, banks. They can stay open until 22:00 on weekdays, and 18:00 on Sundays.
• Restaurants and cafes restricted to 06:00 to 15:00 openings, with customers kept well apart.

Image source, Getty Images

Interactions between firefighters and the public should temporarily be "drastically scaled back", the UK's Fire Brigades Union (FBU) has said.

Non-emergency work such as fire safety visits and inspections, school visits, and public meetings, should be temporarily suspended, it said.

“While the FBU fully supports public engagement and preventative work as essential to improve fire safety, these are exceptional circumstances," FBU general secretary Matt Wrack said in a statement.

“As a core emergency service, firefighters and control staff need to be protected from infection as far as possible. When an emergency does happen, we need to ensure that firefighters are healthy and available in good number to respond," he added.

A man in Australia has been charged after a fight broke out at a supermarket checkout in Sydney.

Like many countries, Australia has seen a rush on shops as people try to stock up ahead of what they believe will be shortages.

Coles, a major chain, has started limiting customers to one pack of toilet roll and two of things like pasta, flour and rice.

Both Coles and Woolworths have said they will start opening an hour early only for elderly people or those with disabilities, to help them shop more comfortably.

Yesterday 172 people tested positive for the coronavirus in Belgium, taking the total number to 1,058.

There are currently 252 people hospitalised in Belgium, 53 of whom are in intensive care. Five people have now died, the latest being an 88-year-old.

Shares in Primark owner Associated British Foods have been suspended, amid falling sales during the pandemic.

It comes after the discount clothing retailer said it had been forced to temporarily close stores which make up a third of its sales due to coronavirus,

The FTSE 100 - an index of leading companies listed in London - opened the week 9% down despite action by central banks.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, AFP

Bahrain has reported its first death from the new coronavirus disease.

The 65-year-old female Bahraini citizen, who had underlying health conditions, was also the first person to die as a result of Covid-19 in the six-nation Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC).

The woman had been placed in isolation since returning from Iran via a third country last month, the health ministry said in a statement, external.

Bahrain has reported 214 cases of Covid-19. Many of them are linked to travel from Iran, where more than 13,900 people have been infected and 724 have died.

Bahrain and the other GCC states have taken measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

Saudi Arabia closed public spaces and suspended most government operations on Sunday, while Kuwait largely went into lockdown over the weekend, closing all shopping malls except for those related to food and halted all commercial flights to and from the country.

The UK is one of a number of coronavirus-hit countries not to issue a nationwide closure of schools in response to the pandemic.

Many more - including France, Spain and the Republic of Ireland - have taken the measure.

But, while #Covid19Walkout trends on Twitter, one British mother, who has a weakened immune system, has been telling BBC Radio 5Live about why she has decided to take matters into her own hands.

Maddy Savage
BBC News, Stockholm

Ikea's headquarters in Almhult, southern Sweden, is being closed for two days for a deep clean in order to prevent the coronavirus spreading within the company.

Several of the furniture giant’s 2,300 staff have reported flu-like symptoms and one has tested positive for the coronavirus after a holiday abroad, although they did not return to the office after the vacation.

Ikea stores remain open across Sweden.

Like the UK, the Nordic country has chosen not to shut shops, restaurants, bars or schools. But numerous major Swedish companies including Spotify, Ericsson and gaming giant King are asking employees to work from home as much as possible.

On Sunday, Scandinavian Airlines announced it would temporarily lay off up to 10,000 staff.

A third person died from the coronavirus in Sweden on Sunday. More than 990 cases of the virus have been confirmed in the country of around 10 million.

Image source, Reuters

From today, people can get regular coronavirus updates from the BBC on their Amazon Alexa enabled devices.

These will be updated throughout the day, with all the latest news and information. All you need to do is say "ask the BBC for coronavirus update” or “coronavirus update from the BBC”.

A UK cabinet minister has been speaking more about possible measures related the over 70s.

On Sunday, Health Secretary Matt Hancock suggested that those older than 70 will be told "within the coming weeks" to stay at home for an extended period

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that those asked to stay home would still be able to go for a walk outside.

"It's about being sensible but not mixing in crowds," he said.

Image source, Getty Images

Vittorio Gregotti, an architect who helped renovate the 1992 Barcelona Olympic stadium, has died at the age of 92 after catching coronavirus.

He died in a Milan hospital on Sunday. According to local media, he died of pneumonia after having contracted Covid-19.

Gregotti also designed a housing estate in Shanghai, China and the Merassi stadium in Genoa for the 1990s World Cup in Italy.

Fellow Italian architect Stefano Boeri described him as a "master of international architecture" who "created the story of our culture".

Gregotti's wife Mariana Mazza remains in hospital in Milan.

Image source, Getty Images

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

The state-run Global Times has reported about a petition on the White House website urging the US government to release more information on the suspension of an infectious disease research lab under the Pentagon.

The Global Times, external noted that Chinese internet users and experts are calling for more information on whether The Fort Detrick laboratory was linked to the novel coronavirus, citing coincidental events between the lab’s closure and the outbreak of Covid-19.

It noted many English-language news reports about the closure of Fort Detrick were deleted recently, raising “suspicions over the lab's ‘relationship’ with the novel coronavirus”.

This is the latest in a series of remarks by Chinese diplomats and the state media fuelling a theory that the virus did not originate in China, but was only found there.

Last week, the official Xinhua news agency claimed that the epidemic was first reported in China but “that does not mean it necessarily originated in China”.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian has even tweeted, external that “it might be US army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan”.

A second British MP has revealed that they have been diagnosed with Covid-19.

Kate Osborne, Labour MP for Jarrow, in north-east England, said she would "continue to self isolate until I have fought off the illness".

It comes after health minister Nadine Dorries confirmed she had tested positive for the disease last week.

Several other MPs have entered self-isolation after coming into contact with the MP for Mid Bedfordshire.

Parliament remains open but visitor access is being limited from this week., external

The government in Delhi has invoked a 123-year-old law to prevent large gatherings in the city, which is expected to affect an ongoing protest against a controversial citizenship law.

All social, political and religious gatherings have been halted under the Epidemic Diseases Act of 1897, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said.

The move will impact the protests at Shaheen Bagh, where thousands of people,mostly led by Muslim women, have been protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

The CAA offers fast track citizenship to non-Muslim illegal migrants from six nearby Muslim majority countries.

Critics argue that it is discriminatory and can be used to persecute India's 200 million strong Muslim population.

India now has 110 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and two deaths.

Image source, Getty Images

After videos of Italians singing in solidarity with each other went viral, Iranians are doing the same.

Iran is the third most affected country by the coronavirus after China and Italy.

A total of 13,938 people have been infected with the virus and 724 have died in the country, health officials say.

More people have now been infected with the coronavirus globally than in China.

Over 87,000 people have been infected outside of China, according to Johns Hopkins University's worldwide coronavirus tracker.

Chinese health authorities say there are 80,860 cases in the country.

Deaths outside China have risen to 3,241, while there have been 3,208 deaths in China.

Image source, EPA

Global stock markets have sunk despite central banks around the world announcing a co-ordinated effort to ease the effects of the coronavirus.

London's FTSE 100 share index fell more than 7% in early trade. Earlier, markets in Asia closed sharply lower.

On Sunday, the US Federal Reserve cut interest rates to almost zero and launched a $700bn (£566bn) stimulus programme.

Read more from our business team here.

Harriet, 27, flew to Morocco from the UK on Saturday, just before all international flights were suspended. She told the BBC she's now struggling to get information about how to leave.

She says she checked the UK's travel advice before leaving home and "there was no indication that we should not travel, the only government advice was that there would be additional checks at Marrakech airport, where they checked our temperatures.

"Advice quickly changed and travel to and from many European countries was restricted, with the anticipation that the UK would be on the list soon. This was confirmed on Sunday with flights between Morocco and the UK due to end today.

"We are due to leave on the 18th and have had no communication from EasyJet regarding the status of our flights. We have been told rescue flights will happen, but again no information as to when. We don’t mind not being able to leave immediately, but need some guidance."

Howard Johnson
Philippines Correspondent, BBC News

The Philippine's main island of Luzon - home to the capital Manila - has been placed under "enhanced community quarantine".

According to President Rodrigo Duterte's spokesman, this means everyone will be subjected to strict home quarantine, with no transportation allowed except for the moving of basic services and necessities.

Manila is currently already under a "community quarantine" - all domestic travel to and from the capital has been halted.

People from within metro Manila can still move freely inside the region, says news site Rappler.

Image source, AFP

People have been stocking up on cannabis before the Netherlands goes into lockdown.