Mr Hancock tells NHS and social care staff they are "the frontline in the war against this virus".

He adds that he will "strain every sinew" to keep them safe.

It comes after criticism that healthcare staff do not have adequate protective equipment.

Mr Hancock addresses a question about the clarity of government social distancing advice and on who should be going into work.

He says the new rules are "crystal clear" - and quotes the four reasons why people should be leaving their homes.

England’s deputy chief medical officer Dr Jenny Harries says people should be keeping at least two metres apart.

She says employers should spread people out in their places of work, calling it "common sense".

A new hospital is to be established in the ExCeL centre, an exhibition centre in east London, Mr Hancock says.

The new NHS Nightingale Hospital will consist of two wards and hold up to 4,000 patients, Mr Hancock says.

In response to the UK's call for retired medics to return to the NHS, Mr Hancock says more than 11,500 have come forward, including 2,660 doctors and 6,147 nurses.

He adds that more than 5,500 medical students and 18,700 student nurses will also join the NHS workforce.

Mr Hancock says the steps outlined by the prime minister on Monday "are not requests, they are rules".

He says "everyone has a responsibility to follow those rules" and calls on the country to come together in the national effort.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock says they are looking for 250,000 "NHS volunteers" to help national health service employees with "shopping, delivery of medicines and to support those who are shielded"

UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock has started his briefing - we'll bring you any developing lines as they emerge.

If you’re just joining us, we are soon expecting the latest UK government press conference – this time led by Health Secretary Matt Hancock.

He’ll be joined by England’s deputy chief medical officer Dr Jenny Harries and Prof Stephen Powis, the medical director of NHS England.

For the first time, this will be a virtual conference – with journalists posing questions via video link.

Image source, Getty Images

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has renewed his plea for federal assistance amid deepening shortages for critical medical supplies.

“We need federal help and we need the federal help now,” Mr Cuomo said. “New York is the canary in the coal mine, New York is happening first, what is happening to New York will happen to California and Illinois, it is just a matter of time.”

New York state has reported 25,665 Covid-19 infections with at least 210 deaths. It accounts for more than half of US infections overall.

Gov Cuomo blasted the number of ventilators - 400 - sent to New York from the US Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema).

“Four hundred ventilators? I need 30,000 ventilators. You want a pat on the back for sending 400 ventilators?” he said.

“You’re missing the magnitude.”

There have been 87 deaths caused by coronavirus in the UK since Monday, taking the total to 422 - according to the latest government figures.

The lockdown of a country of 1.3 billion people for 21 days is difficult to fathom in ordinary times.

These are not ordinary times, though, and most Indians appear to recognise that reality as coronavirus cases continue to increase in the country, hitting 482 with nine deaths so far.

On social media, Indians seem to be broadly accepting of the new restrictions on their life, with many welcoming the measures or seeing them as a necessary step to prevent the spread of the disease.

There has been some criticism, of course, as people come to terms with what the lockdown means for them and their families. Some commented on the short notice, while others queried how their jobs would be affected.

Anthony Zurcher
BBC North America reporter

Negotiations between the Trump administration and congressional Democrats over the latest coronavirus aid package are following a familiar path. A White House official, in this case Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, shuttles between legislators to negotiate a deal.

Final approval, however, rests with the president – who has shown he is perfectly willing to torpedo an agreement he doesn’t like, even if it means undercutting his own representatives.

Such was the case on Monday night, as Donald Trump began blasting congressional Democrats and House speaker Nancy Pelosi on Twitter. Both Republican and Democratic leaders in Congress still say an agreement - with aid to workers and businesses (with more robust oversight) - is close.

A procedural Senate vote scheduled on Tuesday could indicate both sides are satisfied. It will take a very public sign-off from the president, however, before anyone can be certain this is a done deal.

Rajini Vaidyanathan
BBC News South Asia correspondent

Image source, EPA

Many parts of India, including cities such as Delhi and Mumbai, are already under tight restrictions, but this move extends those provisions to every corner of the world’s second most populous country.

An earlier one-day curfew, which was seen as a trial, was flouted by many. At 17:00 on Sunday as part of a nationwide lockdown, Mr Modi called on Indians to clap and cheer emergency services from their balconies, but many misunderstood the call, congregating in the streets as they danced and chanted.

“It’s impossible to fathom the cost that India may have to pay if such irresponsible behaviour continues,” Mr Modi warned. “Social distancing is the only option to combat corona.”

The implications of a total lockdown in India are huge, not just economically, but socially, in a nation where community is everything, and going to worship at a temple, mosque or church, is an essential part of daily life for so many. It’s a seismic cultural shift, but like the rest of the world facing similar restrictions, a necessary one.

Indian PM Narendra Modi has just announced the most wide-ranging lockdown the world has seen yet - with some 1.3 billion people affected.

Here are the key points of his address:

• The lockdown will be "absolute" and in force for 21 days
• No citizen will be allowed to leave their homes during this period
• It will come into force from midnight local time tonight
• Mr Modi said it was the only way to break the cycle of the virus and that if the country could not manage the next 21 days, it would be set back by 21 years
• He also announced a fund of nearly $2bn (£1.7bn) towards health infrastructure in combating the coronavirus
• He called on people not to spread rumours and to follow instructions
• He said he was confident India would emerge from the crisis "successfully"

Soutik Biswas
India Correspondent

Image source, Shaukat Ahmed

On 8 March a 68-year-old suffering from pneumonia was admitted to the intensive care unit of a private hospital in Bhilwara, in the northern Indian state of Rajasthan.

Within a few days, and after being transferred to two hospitals in Jaipur, he had died.

At the time doctors didn't appear to comprehend the gravity of the situation even though it was clear that India was facing an imminent outbreak of Covid-19. Days later, 12 doctors tested positive for the coronavirus.

When news of the infections leaked, all hell broke loose - but the authorities moved swiftly.

They imposed a "civil curfew", prohibiting people from coming out of their homes and banning public gatherings. They shut schools, colleges, offices, and stopped people from leaving or entering the district. The private hospital was sealed and its 88 patients moved to other healthcare facilities in the area.

Drawing from the experience in China and Italy, doctors now know that hospitals might turn out to be the "main source" of Covid-19 transmission. The potential for community transmission of the infection across a large geographical area from the Bhilwara hospital is real, officials fear.

So could this city of 400,000 people and a major textile making hub, turn out to be India's first coronavirus "hotspot"?

Read the full story here.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has told Indians to "forget" leaving their homes for 21 days.

Addressing the nation at 20:00 local time (14:30GMT), he said that "social distancing" was the only way to combat the spread of coronavirus in the country.

The prime minister said that some people in the country had misunderstood the concept, and had acted "irresponsibly" in the last few days.

He said the lockdown would save many Indians and warned that "putting even one foot out" would jeopardise people.

Even developed countries were facing issues combating the virus, he said, and he talked about it spreading despite all efforts.

Mr Modi has also announced a fund of nearly $2bn (£1.7bn) to combat the virus and vowed to upgrade health facilities across the country.

We know that many people are contracting the coronavirus around the world, but establishing a death rate is no simple task.

The World Health Organization (WHO) says about 3.4% of all cases have resulted in deaths, but scientists estimate that the death rate is actually much lower because many cases have mild symptoms and are not reported.

The rate of fatalities also depends on a range of factors including age, sex, pre-existing conditions and the health system you are in.

From the evidence available, we know that some groups of people are more likely to die if they contract the virus - the elderly, the unwell and, maybe, men.

Click here to find out more about the difficulty in calculating death rates and the groups most at risk.

India, the world's second most populous country, will introduce a lockdown from midnight for 21 days.

"There will be a total ban on venturing out of your homes," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a televised address.

There have been 482 confirmed cases of coronavirus and nine deaths in India so far.

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi has just announced that the country will go into full lockdown from midnight local time - that's in just under four hours.

Laura Bicker
BBC News

US President Donald Trump has asked South Korea for medical supplies to help fight the coronavirus pandemic, according to the presidential office in Seoul.

Mr Trump made the requested in a phone call to the South Korean leader Moon Jae-in.

South Korea has been widely praised for its handling of the Covid-19 outbreak which has involved aggressive use of technology, widespread testing and contact tracing.

It’s not yet clear what kind of medical devices are being requested by Mr Trump. President Moon said his government would provide “maximum support” if enough supplies were available.

The presidential office in Seoul said the equipment may require approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) which Mr Trump claimed would be given by the end of today.

Robert Cuffe
BBC head of statistics

It's the first day of new restrictions on movement in the UK. So what does the British government hope to achieve?

Scientists currently believe that each person infected with Covid-19 infects, on average, a further 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 lead to 15 infections in 30 days - less than 5% of 406.

Of course, it’s not guaranteed that we can all reduce our exposure 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 diagram below, which may make the effect of reducting the infection rate a little clearer.

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