Karishma Vaswani
Asia business correspondent, Singapore

Friday night plans? Well if you’re in Singapore, you better make sure you keep one metre distance from others or you could be fined up to S$10,000, jailed for up to six months, or both.

The latest regulations went into effect at 11:59pm on Thursday.

This is a pretty typical approach by Singapore’s government to make sure people do what they’re told. Penalties work here. You can still head out to restaurants and cafes, as long as you practise these safe social distancing measures. Offices and schools are open too.

The strategy appears to be shaving off salami slice pieces off our social lives bit by bit, so even if it isn’t officially called a lockdown, it certainly feels like one.

How they will enforce these new rules though - is another question altogether. The government’s language on this is ambiguous: it says if you’re caught intentionally sitting next to each other closer than a metre then you could be in violation of the law. But how do you determine what’s intentional?

While Singapore has won plaudits internationally for its efforts to combat the coronavirus, at home many people are frustrated that schools have been kept open. Clusters of infections amongst staff at a pre-school and international school have raised concerns of wider spread of the disease in the community.

Image source, Getty Images

The mandatory quarantine in hotels will apply to all those flying in after Saturday midnight local time (13:00 GMT).

Returning Australians will be held in the city they arrive in, rather than their home state.

"If their home is in South Australia or in Perth or in Tasmania and they have arrived in Melbourne, they will be quarantining in Melbourne," Prime Minister Scott Morrison said.

He declined to say how many people would likely be affected but said around 7,000 people arrived in the country yesterday.

Australia has already enforced a travel ban and told returning arrivals to self-isolate in their homes for 14 days.

However reports surfaced this week of people breaking those rules, and straying outside. Mr Morrison said the military would now help police in enforcing that self-isolation.

Two-thirds of Australia's cases are imported or linked to infected people who have returned.

Image source, Reuters

As we've been reporting all week, a US aircraft carrier has become the first to report a number of virus cases on board.

There has now has been a sharp rise in confirmed infections, CNN says citing navy officials. While there were initially only three sailors who tested positive, that number is now 25, according to the broadcaster.

An official statement by the US navy merely says "additional positive cases of Covid-19 have been discovered aboard USS Theodore Roosevelt".

The infected are being isolated and the ship is being deep cleaned. The carrier is headed for Guam but sailors won't be allowed to go beyond the pier.

If you're in self isolation or avoiding gyms, you may be wondering how you can continue to stay active. We got a fitness trainer (who's also a farmer) to show us some simple exercises to do while cooped up at home.

Geeta Pandey
BBC News, Delhi

Image source, Caremongers India

With India under lockdown and social distancing being advised to deal with the threat of the coronavirus, an online collective of "Caremongers" is reaching out to help the elderly and other vulnerable groups.

It all began when Mahita Nagaraj received a call from a friend in the UK asking her to help arrange some medicines for her "very elderly parents".

Ms Nagaraj found out that other friends living overseas needed help checking in on their parents too - and soon, a collective emerged.

"There is so much scaremongering in the current scenario," she says.

"We are trying to address the feeling of helplessness. We are telling people to stop spreading fear and panic, and instead spread love."

Read more about India's caremongering community here.

Image source, Getty Images

Shares in Asia have continued a global stock market rally on hopes global authorities will do more to combat the impact of the coronavirus.

On Thursday top US share indexes capped their best three-day gains since the Great Depression.

It comes as investors expect the US Congress to pass a massive stimulus package by the end of Saturday.

The Group of 20 major economies has also pledged to inject over $5 trillion into the global economy.

Read more here

There have been stark warnings from doctors, aid workers and the United Nations that camps for the displaced in North Western Syria could be devastated by an outbreak of coronavirus.

So far there are no confirmed cases, but health officials there fear as many as 100,000 might die unless medical supplies arrive urgently. Our video explains more:

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has just announced that all Australians returning to the nation will be quarantined for 14 days in hotels and other accommodation, rather than in their own homes.

He says this is because the majority - two-thirds of the cases in Australia - are from returning travellers.

Australia's case numbers have escalated from 700 to over 3,000 in the past week.

Image source, EPA

The epicentre in Europe remains Italy and despite a slowing death rate, there are now fears that the county's south and the regions around Rome and Naples might emerge as the next hotbeds. So far, the heart of the outbreak which has killed more than 8,000 people in the county was in the north. In the past 24 hours, Italy has seen more than 700 deaths.

Here are some of the other updates from Europe:

• In Spain, the death toll rose by 655 and the number of infections is at around 60,000.
• In France, 365 people have died, the highest number in a one-day period. The dead included a 16-year-old girl. The country has around 30,000 confirmed cases.
• The UK has recorded more than 100 deaths within a day for the first time. The country's overall death toll is now 587, out of almost 12,000 cases.
• Germany has more than 43,000 infections with a death toll of 267.

Image source, Getty Images

South African has begun enforcing a three-week nationwide lockdown in an effort to stem the spread of the virus.

All but essential movement is forbidden and both the army and the police are enforcing the measures.

Food shops are allowed to stay open although alcohol sales are banned. Jogging and dog-walking are also prohibited.

Ahead of the midnight deadline there were long queues outside supermarkets as people stocked up on essentials.

South Africa has reported 927 coronavirus infections - the highest number in Africa - but so far no deaths.

Yvette Tan
BBC News

Global K-pop superstars BTS have postponed a North American tour which was set to kick off next month, because of coronavirus fears.

The tour would have seen them perform in cities like Los Angeles, Orlando, Washington and Chicago.

Their management team Big Hit Entertainment said no new concert dates had been decided, but reassured fans that all tickets would remain valid.

Some questioned why they waited until less than a month before it was due to begin on 25 April to cancel.

K-pop expert Jeff Benjamin says the band may have been hoping for good news.

"[They] already had to postpone a [Seoul] concert so adding another postponement is not ideal for any artist," Mr Benjamin told the BBC.

He also points to the fact that their oldest member will soon be called to enlist in South Korea's mandatory military service.

"I believe time is of the essence for BTS. Jin is almost at the age where he'll be called to enlist. Maybe there were discussions on how to make sure [they] had enough time to see their fans as a full seven [before he enlists]."

Image source, Getty Images

A quarter of the world’s population is living under some sort of lockdown as a result of coronavirus.

But many couples, and single people hoping to find a match, are finding creative ways to date while under lockdown. They share their tips on keeping the spark alive - while staying safe.

Image source, Reuters

Starting Friday, Russia has suspended all international flights. The only exception are special flights evacuating Russians from abroad.

Anyone still overseas has been urged to get in touch but some are stranded in countries that have already closed their borders.

Starting Saturday, all shops except pharmacies and grocery stores are to close for one week. It's what President Putin called a "non-working" in an attempt to slow the spread of coronavirus.

In Moscow, the mayor has ordered the closure of all bars, restaurants and city parks while international rail and sea routes to and from Russia are also closed and foreigners were stopped from entering the country a week ago.

Jay Savage
BBC News, Sydney

Here are some of the latest developments:

• More than 3,000 people have now tested positive, with 13 deaths

• Federal and state leaders met this morning. There are no announcements yet - but local media reports that stricter lockdowns and rental assistance measures are being considered

• PM Scott Morrison has told G20 leaders that Australia will help small Pacific nations get access to "critical health services"
• Hundreds of Australians stranded in Peru and Uruguay will return home on specially arranged flights, the government says

Image source, Getty Images

China will soon ban foreigners with valid Chinese visas and residence permits, in a drastic move to limit the number of imported virus cases in the country.

The Foreign Ministry said the temporary ban would kick in on 28 March.

Exemptions will be given to travelling diplomats and holders of "C" visas - foreigners who provide international transportation services.

It comes as the number of imported cases continues to rise as more Chinese nationals return home.

China recorded one domestic case and 54 new imported cases on Thursday - there are now 595 imported cases across the country.

There were also five new deaths reported, bringing the total death toll to 3,292.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Despite the US president trying to assure citizens that he would protect the economy, the new unemployment numbers came as a shock.

The data was predicted to be catastrophic. The actual total, 3.3 million, turned out to be even worse than expected, says the BBC's North America reporter Anthony Zurcher.

The record-breaking amount reflects a US economy put into deep-freeze almost overnight. When times are bad, financial hardship becomes a roar that drowns out all other concern.

You can read more of Anthony's analysis here on what the unemployment numbers mean for the US and Donald Trump.

In South Korea, nurses caring for seriously ill patients with the Covid-19 disease have been working in two-hour shifts.

Each time they go in, they suit up in heavy self-contained respiratory systems like these. Watch more here:

Canada has criticised a US proposal to deploy troops along their undefended joint border, calling it "unnecessary".

Last week, both countries agreed to close their border to non-essential travel to slow the spread of the virus. A US official said the troops would help border patrol officers enforce this ban.

But Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said it was "strongly opposed to this", calling it a "entirely unnecessary step which we would view as damaging to our relationship".

However, the Wall Street Journal is now reporting that the US has since scrapped these plans after Canada's strong objections. We'll bring you more details on this when we have them.

Image source, NHS SOUTHEND CCG

The family of a GP who has died of suspected coronavirus have said he sacrificed his life for his profession.

Dr Habib Zaidi, 76, died in intensive care at Southend Hospital, Essex, 24 hours after falling ill on Tuesday. His daughter Dr Sarah Zaidi, also a GP, said he showed "textbook symptoms" of the virus.

If test results confirm he had Covid-19, he would be the first doctor in the UK to die from the virus.

Dr Sarah Zaidi told the BBC: "For that to be the thing that took him is too much to bear. It is reflective of his sacrifice. He had a vocational attitude to service.

"He was treated as a definitive case. There is little clinical doubt it is coronavirus, the test result is academic."

Dr Habib Zaidi, a GP in Leigh-on-Sea for more than 45 years, had been self-isolating and not seen patients in person for about a week.

His wife Dr Talat Zaidi and all their four children work in the medical profession.

Read more here.

Image source, Reuters

Looking at those US numbers in a bit more detail is illuminating. More testing explains this steep rise in confirmed infections: 83,836 is the number right now, but that is likely to soar once again.

So far 1,209 people have died and 681 have recovered.

But by far the worst-affected state is New York which has seen 365 deaths and reports from hospitals in New York City depict a health system on the brink.

Observers continue to warn that the true number of US infections could be much higher - and they point the finger at a shortage of test kits.