If you are just waking up to news of the new restrictions in the UK, here are three main points to get you up to speed:

• People in the UK have to stay at home, except for: shopping for basic needs; exercising a maximum of once a day; travelling to and from essential work; any medical need
• Non-essential shops and public places must close - this does not include parks, but does include playgrounds and other "communal spaces" within them
• All public gatherings of two or more people are banned - except when essential for work, or when those people live together (eg a family with children going to the shop)

The government's full list of restrictions is available here., external

Vicki Young
Chief Political Correspondent

We have been creeping towards this - Boris Johnson was giving people a final warning yesterday.

Ministers have been looking at the data, at how many people were in the streets going to shops and at how many people were travelling to tourist hotspots in the country.

There are questions about enforcement. Boris Johnson said the police have powers but how exactly will they use them? Will it go further than fines? It may depend on how seriously people adhere to these measures in the coming days and weeks.

Other countries have moved to even stricter controls - those are all still on the table for the UK government but they don't want to go there.

We on the live page team in London (where most of us are working from home), are now switching off and handing over to our colleagues in Singapore and Washington.

Asia is waking up to the news that strict restrictions are being put in place on British residents. People must stay at home except for shopping for basic necessities, daily exercise, any medical need and travelling to and from essential work... although Prime Minister Boris Johnson didn't call it a lockdown.

Over the past couple of hours, those us reporting from London have received quite a lot of personal messages from those of you who are confused or unsure about the new coronavirus rules in the UK. We've also seen many people sharing questions on social media.

We’ve heard your concerns and are working to find answers for you.

In the meantime, these links may help:

• Five things that are now banned
• How to apply for business support
• How do self-isolation and social distancing work?
• How to protect your mental health during the coronavirus crisis

Soldiers tackling Spain's coronavirus epidemic by disinfecting residential care homes have found a number of elderly people abandoned and left for dead in their beds, the country's defence minister has said.

The news comes as Spain's death toll from the disease rose from 1,720 on Sunday to 2,182. The total number of confirmed cases has increased to 33,089.

"The army has seen some totally abandoned elderly people – even some who were dead in their beds,” Margarita Robles told the Ana Rosa TV programme.

Those responsible would be met with "the full weight of the law", the minister added.

Image source, Getty Images

Laura Kuenssberg
BBC political editor

It seems hard to overstate how huge an impact this will have on the country, and what a massive decision this is for the government to have taken.

Remember this though, is not quite the kind of total crackdown we have seen in other countries - at least not yet.

Despite tonight's enormous announcement, there are steps that other places have taken - curfews or total travel bans for example - that the UK is not pursuing.

Read more from Laura here.

Fergus Walsh
Medical correspondent

Each country has its own unique epidemic but there are some striking similarities between Italy and UK in the early stages of their outbreaks.

The UK reached 233 deaths exactly two weeks after Italy recorded the same number.

These new measures can have a stark effect - social distancing and household isolation will save lives.

Robert Cuffe
BBC head of statistics

So what does the British government hope to achieve with these new restrictions on movement?

Scientists currently believe that each person infected with Covid-19 infects 2.5 people over the course of around five days.

That means 30 days after that first infection, 406 people will have the virus.

But, if we reduce our exposure by half, that first infection would only have led to 15 infections in 30 days - less than 5% of 406.

Of course, it’s not guaranteed that we can reduce our exposures by half and it takes a few weeks for the effect of any intervention to show up.

But if we reduce exposure by, say, a third, the reduction is just over 85% (or 53 infections).

Look at the graphic below, which may make the maths a little clearer.

And here is our guide on self-distancing, and how to do it. You're probably going to need it.

We're switching away from the US for a little and back to the extraordinary news in the UK this evening.

Boris Johnson did not describe the new measures announced tonight as a "lockdown" - instead calling them simply "restrictions".

He said the police will have the power to enforce the new rules "including through fines" and by "dispersing" gatherings - but did not mention arrests.

The online version of the measures, external also says "other relevant authorities" will have enforcement powers - something not in the TV speech.

The prime minister also talked about "enlisting" people in the effort to stop the spread of the virus, calling it a "national emergency".

• Read the prime minister's address in full here

The US president says he signed an executive order to prevent hoarding and price gauging of supplies needed to fight the coronavirus.

"We will not allow anyone to exploit the suffering of American citizens for their profit," he says.

US President Donald Trump has sent out a message of unity amid the coronavirus outbreak.

"I want Americans to know that we will get through this challenge... Normal life will return," he told reporters, in what appears to be a pre-prepared statement.

He reiterated his earlier message on Twitter that Asian Americans should not be blamed for the coronavirus. It comes after he faced criticism for repeatedly describing Covid-19 as the "Chinese virus".

He said normality would resume soon, saying he would not "let the cure be worse than the problem itself".

The US president is speaking at a press conference - we'll update you with what he says as soon as we get it.

Kerry Allen
BBC Monitoring, Chinese Media Analyst

The coronavirus pandemic has undoubtedly exacerbated the relationship between China and the US, perhaps at a time when both countries need each other more than ever.

In the early stages of the outbreak, China critically reported that the US was offering no assistance, unlike countries including South Korea and Japan, and that it was “creating and spreading fear”, by stigmatising ethnic Asians.

These tensions have intensified at Mr Trump’s repeated insistence on calling Covid-19 a “Chinese virus”. In recent days, it’s become common to see social media users on China’s Sina Weibo calling the US president “arrogant”, “stupid” and even “poisonous”.

Official broadcaster CCTV has even shown Chinese student representatives in the US venting their frustrations and voicing their fears, while speaking via video link to the US’s Chinese Ambassador, Cui Tiankai, external.

Papers have noted repeated criticisms Mr Trump has received within his own country to step up testing, and say that many of the points he has made have been “inconsistent with health experts”, and that he “has not taken the epidemic seriously”.

Government mouthpiece People’s Daily has called Mr Trump’s behaviour throughout this whole crisis “extremely immoral and extremely irresponsible” saying it “hinders the unity and cooperation of the world in fighting this epidemic”.

US President Donald Trump has just tweeted that Asian Americans should not get the blame for the coronavirus, adding that the infection "is NOT their fault in any way, shape, or form".

The president has been challenged in recent days by White House reporters for repeatedly describing Covid-19 as the "Chinese virus", and he has defended using that term.

Asian-Americans have been reporting physical and verbal attacks on streets and schools campuses ever since the outbreak reached the US.

A San Francisco State University study found a 50% rise in the number of news articles over the past month reporting anti-Asian discrimination relating to the coronavirus.

In case you’re just joining us, Britain's prime minister Boris Johnson has announced a major ramping up of coronavirus measures that will affect every single one of us living in the UK.

Here are the major points of his speech:

• From tonight, people in Britain will be allowed to leave their homes for only “very limited purposes” - shopping for basic necessities; for one form of exercise a day; for any medical need; and to travel to and from work when “absolutely necessary”
• People are warned not to meet friends or family members who they do not live with
• Shopping is only permitted for essentials like food and medicine, and people are advised to do it “as little as you can”
• Police have powers to enforce the rules, including through fines and dispersing gatherings
• All shops selling non-essential goods, such as clothing and electronic stores, are ordered to close
• Libraries, playgrounds, outdoor gyms and places of worship are to close
• All gatherings of more than two people in public - excluding people you live with - are banned
• All social events, including weddings and baptisms are banned
• Funerals are not included in the new restrictions
• Parks will remain open for exercise but gatherings will be dispersed
• Restrictions “under constant review” and will be checked again in three weeks. They will be relaxed “if the evidence shows we are able to”

You can read the full government guidance here., external

James Gallagher
Health and science correspondent, BBC News

It took:

• 67 days from the first reported case of coronavirus to reach the first 100,000 cases
• 11 days for the second 100,000 cases
• Just four days for the third 100,000 cases

Image source, EPA

As Chris Morris mentioned in that previous post, what we'll soon see in the UK is very different to what's happening elsewhere.

In the UK, residents are now only allowed to leave their homes for “very limited purposes” like shopping for necessities. Police can enforce these rules through fines, and social events are now off the table.

Here’s how that compares with other nations:

• Italy has slowed down industrial production and forced nearly all private or public offices to shut. Lombardy, one of the most severely affected regions, has also imposed restrictions on outdoor exercise and dog walking distance-limits

• France has toughened its lockdown rules, raising fines for people caught outside without a legal reason, and putting limits on taking exercise and outdoor markets. The minimum fine is 135 euros, with a max of 1,500 euros for repeat offenders

• China has most recently diverted all international flights destined for Beijing to other cities to screen passengers. During its most stringent restriction phase, movement in and out of the epicenter, Wuhan, and other cities was completely halted and residents were told to stay at home. Some regional lockdowns are still in place

• Spain has restricted its borders and imposed a nationwide lockdown which it is working to extend until 11 April. Hotels must close this week. Residents found outside without proof of identification and justification (like a grocery bill) can be fined

• India has imposed regional lockdowns affecting millions of people in its over 70 cities and districts, including capital New Delhi and Mumbai. A temporary curfew - 07:00 to 21:00 - was tested out on Sunday. Travel and transport in these areas have been restricted until the end of the month. People must work from home unless they are in an essential field like healthcare. Train services across the country have also been halted.

Chris Morris
BBC Reality Check

The direction of travel is clear, but the restrictions announced by the UK prime minister still fall short of the measures in place in many European countries, where most people can’t now leave their houses without a special permit.

In Italy and Spain even outdoor exercise is banned. Thousands of people who break the rules have already been hit with fines, and in some countries prison sentences can be imposed.

Following tonight's announcement from the prime minister, a lot more people will be spending a lot more time at home.

So what can you do at home to stay healthy and active?

If you're really looking to emulate the gym, you can invest in a set of weights or a turbo trainer to affix to the back of your bike.

Other options include foam rollers, skipping ropes and hula hoops.

But there are plenty of possible workouts without any equipment required.

We have put together a guide to exercises you can do while staying at home and the NHS website details a range of workouts for different parts of the body., external

Joe Wicks, the Body Coach and an ambassador for the BBC's Children in Need, is hosting daily PE classes online for kids (big and small) to stay active while the schools are off., external

And even activities like playing hide and seek or dancing will help you to keep active while these coronavirus measures are in place.

Vicki Young
Chief Political Correspondent

In the last couple of weeks Boris Johnson has been saying that this is a wartime government. He was talking in those terms again this evening saying that each of us is now enlisted.

Part of the reason for that language is to help people watching who feel frightened - it tells them that they can do something.

All of us now have a responsibility to make sure that the country gets through this in the best way we can.

He's not disputing that the next few weeks and months are going to be incredibly difficult.