UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson promises help for families and businesses
In the US, the Trump administration is preparing a near $1tn aid package
The EU has banned all non-essential travel in the Schengen free-travel zone
In Italy the number of deaths has passed 2,503, Spain has reported another 182 deaths
China has reacted angrily to a tweet from President Trump that described the coronavirus as "Chinese"
The Euro 2020 football tournament has been postponed by one year until 2021
Image source, Getty ImagesSir Patrick Vallance says that vaccines “are the answer to this” and that progress has been remarkable, but adds it’s unlikely one would be ready for mass use within a year.
We’ve previously looked at when a vaccine might be available. Click here to read.
Rishi Sunak is asked about people who have been laid off today after the new social distancing advice came into place, and urges business to stop and take a breath.,
"Many businesses are frankly struggling right now," adds the chancellor. "They haven't done anything wrong [but] are watching their finances fall off a cliff.
He says that the new announcements he has made should "hopefully provide reassurances that support is on its way".
Mr Sunak adds: "We will help them get through this. They don't need to rush these decisions.
"We want to help them get through this. It is better for them, better for the economy and better for everyone."
Question from Michailo in London
While the PM is taking questions from journalists, our health journalists are trying to answer your questions on coronavirus.
Michailo works in a large open plan office with several hundred people and thinks he may be a at risk.
BBC Online Health Editor Michelle Roberts says:
People with asthma are one of the higher risk groups – people who could potentially develop more severe disease if they catch coronavirus – which means they are strongly advised to avoid non-essential contact with others. Whenever possible, they should be working from home rather than travelling in to the office.
If you have a coronavirus question you want the BBC to answer, get in touch:
We've just reported that the UK government has promised a £330bn package to support businesses. What's the picture globally? As the potential for coronavirus to devastate economies is hitting home, numerous countries are announcing huge stimulus packages:
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is asked about his father appearing to ignore government advice on social distancing by saying: "Of course I'll go to a pub if I need to go to a pub."
Mr Johnson says: "What I say to people who are thinking about this advice is that the more we follow this advice, the better our chances collectively of slowing the disease, of protecting the NHS and of saving life."
"Of course people care about pubs, they are right to care about pubs, that is why we are announcing the extraordinary package."
A reporter refers to research saying it could take up to 18 months for things to return to normal and asks Sir Patrick Vallance if he believes this is the case.
He says the current plan, trying to "squash" the spread of the virus, "needs to be done in a way that we can look at releasing it" and seeing if it holds.
He adds: "None of us anywhere in the world know how to do that yet."
However, the chief science officer does say: "Vaccines are the answer to this and it is remarkable the progress that has been made."
In recent years, he claims it could have taken 20 years to create a vaccine but things are moving much faster.
"I think we will be lucky to get one for mass use in a year, but there is progress."
We now come to questions. BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg asks if firms who need to pay wages now will lose out while the government works through the details of what comes next.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson replies: "The state is asking people to make considerable changes to their lives - only right that the state should stand behind people as they make those changes.
"That is what we are going to do," he adds.
At the budget last week, the chancellor committed £1bn to support vulnerable people through the welfare system and hardship funds for local councils.
But he plans to increase that further, with the announcement that mortgage lenders will provide three-month mortgage holidays for those that need them.
"In the coming days I will go much further to support people's financial security," he adds, promising to talk to trade unions and business groups to arrange new support.
But he also wants to reiterate his promise that "this is first and foremost a public health emergency and... whatever resources the NHS needs they will get."
Chancellor Rishi Sunak says there are concerns about the impacts on pubs, clubs and theatres.
"For those venues which do have a policy that covers pandemics - the government action is sufficient to allow them to make claims," he says.
For the smaller businesses in that sector who don't have insurance he says he will provide cash grants of £25,000 per business "to help bridge through this period".
He also says businesses in the sector will get a "business rates holiday".
Chancellor Rishi Sunak says the coronavirus is "a public health emergency but also an economic emergency".
He promises government intervention "on a scale unimaginable only a few weeks ago".
"The government will stand behind business small and large," he says and announces government backed loans "to get businesses through this".
He says this will amount to £330bn of guarantees.
Boris Johnson seeks to reassure the public, adding: "Yes, this enemy can be deadly, but it is also beatable.
"And we know how to beat it and we know if as a country we follow the scientific advice... we know that we will beat it".
He says: "However tough the months ahead, we have the resources and the resolve to win the fight."
Boris Johnson says the UK "must stop the disease spreading to a point where it overwhelms our NHS".
He says coronavirus is "so dangerous and so infectious that without drastic measures to check its progress it would overwhelm any health system in the world".
Mr Johnson says the steps announced yesterday will "have an effect on the spread of the disease".
He adds: "I stress although the measures are extreme we may well have to go further and faster.
"And we must act like any war-time government and do anything it takes to support our economy."
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is opening the press conference on the coronavirus.
He is accompanied by Chancellor Rishi Sunak and the government's chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance.
Hugh Pym
BBC News Health Editor
Image source, PA MediaHe is the official who will probably have the greatest impact on our everyday lives of any individual policymaker in modern times.
Since the start of the coronavirus crisis, Professor Chris Whitty has been front and centre of the decision-making and communication of messages to the public.
As the government's chief scientific advisor, Prof Whitty and his colleagues know their careers will be defined by the UK's response to the pandemic.
Few civil servants in recent British political history can ever have had to carry such a burden.
Image source, PA MediaMore on the temporary release of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe in Iran.
The UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab welcomed the move and urged Tehran to ensure she receives any necessary medical care.
"While this is a welcome step, we urge the government now to release all UK dual nationals arbitrarily detained in Iran, and enable them to return to their families in the UK," Mr Raab added.
The Free Nazanin Campaign said it was pleased to confirm the news but added Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe would "be exceptionally required to wear an ankle tag during the furlough".
It said: "This makes her release more comparable to house arrest than the standard furlough arrangement that has been granted to other prisoners".
We answer your questions about coronavirus
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The daily press conference on coronavirus is due to start shortly.
We are expecting to hear from Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak.
A lot came out of that health committee in the House of Commons, where British MPs questioned the government's science adviser and senior figures from NHS England.
Here are just some of the things we learnt:
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the British-Iranian woman detained in Tehran, has been released from prison for 10 days, her MP has said.
In a tweet, Tulip Siddiq said she is "relieved that she'll be with family rather than in jail at this time of terrible chaos and uncertainty in Iran".
Iran has freed 85,000 prisoners on temporary leave in a bid to curb the spread of coronavirus.
Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been held since 2016 on spying charges, which she denies.
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The total number of deaths from coronavirus in England now stands at 67, a rise of 14 on Monday's figures, the NHS says.
A statement from NHS England said the patients were aged between 45 and 93 years old and had underlying health conditions.