Reports in Japanese media today suggest the Tokyo Olympics organisers are eyeing next July as a start date for the postponed Games.

Tokyo 2020 was scheduled to open on 24 July this year, with the Paralympics due to start on 25 August, but has been postponed because of the worldwide coronavirus pandemic - a decision unprecedented in peacetime.

Given the ongoing pandemic and need for preparation time, the most likely plan would be for the Games to begin on 23 July 2021, public broadcaster NHK said, citing sources within the organising panel.

Meanwhile, World Athletics president Lord Sebastian Coe says the decision to push back the Games has saved athletes from "mental turmoil", adding that sport had to "take a back seat".

Image source, Getty Images

The number of people volunteering to help the NHS combat the coronavirus pandemic has reached 750,000 - three times the initial goal.

Royal Voluntary Service chief executive Catherine Johnstone said the organisation was "absolutely overwhelmed by the response".

"As history shows, it is often in times of crisis that we pull together and become our best selves," she added.

Volunteers are being asked to perform tasks such as delivering medicines from pharmacies, driving patients to appointments and making phone calls to check on people isolating at home.

The lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) for NHS health workers in the UK continues to be central to the debate about the fight against coronavirus.

Dr Guddi Singh, a paediatrician who is being drafted in to help adults who are sick with the virus, says there is a "huge amount of anxiety".

"There is still a huge amount of confusion around the use and availability of PPE," she said.

Colleagues, she added, had been told to "close your eyes when a patient coughs".

Iran has announced 123 more coronavirus deaths, raising the total number to 2,640. The number of infected people has reached 38,309, officials say.

It has been one of the countries worst-hit by Covid-19.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has shut down entry and exit into the Jeddah governorate and brought forward a curfew there to begin at 15:00 local time (12:00 GMT) rather than 19:00, the state news agency has said.

Saudi Arabia applied the same measures to Riyadh, Mecca and Medina last week. The kingdom has the second highest rate of infections in the Gulf after Iran.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked Indians for forgiveness after imposing a lockdown.

Amid criticism over the lack of planning ahead of the shutdown which was introduced with less than four hours' notice, Mr Modi apologised for the impact in his weekly radio address.

"Possibly many would be angry at me for being locked in their homes. I understand your troubles but there was no other way to wage war against coronavirus. For a country like India with a population of 1.3 billion it is a battle of life and death and we have to win it."

As we head towards lunchtime in the UK, here are the latest developments:

• The lockdown will be in place for a “significant period” and could last longer if people do not stick to the rules, according to Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove
• Each household will receive a letter from the prime minister warning that stricter measures could be put in place if necessary
• Home Secretary Priti Patel has pledged to protect victims of domestic abuse, who she says are particularly at risk because of the need to stay at home

• The number of people who have died with coronavirus in the UK has reached 1,019, with a further 260 deaths announced on Saturday
• Scotland's Chief Medical Officer Catherine Calderwood says restrictions on movements could last for 13 weeks
• GPs in parts of Wales claim they are having to buy their own personal protective equipment
• In Northern Ireland, new powers have come into force to ensure people stay at home and businesses stay closed

The Swiss death toll has risen to 257, Reuters news agency quotes the country's health agency as saying.

The number of confirmed cases has increased to 14,336 from 13,213, it said.

This places Switzerland among the top European countries by number of cases, behind Italy, Spain, Germany, France and the UK.

Welcome to everyone who's just clicked onto our live coverage - and a particularly warm welcome to those who are in self-isolation, shielding, or under a formal lockdown.

To catch you up, here's a summary of what's been happening so far - with the death toll worldwide topping 30,000 people.

• Spain has recorded another 838 deaths in the past 24 hours - the highest daily rise in fatalities so far. It's brought the number of deaths in the country to 6,528. It comes after people in Spain paid tribute to the country's health workers on Saturday night
• A leading adviser to the UK government, Neil Ferguson, has warned the country's lockdown will need to be in place "probably until the end of May, maybe even early June"
• US President Donald Trump has backed away from the idea of quarantining New York after the state's governor, Andrew Cuomo, said the idea was "preposterous"
• South Korea has said all overseas arrivals will have to go into mandatory quarantine for 14 days as of 1 April
• Australia has tightened its rules too, including limiting public gatherings to just two people, and closing all playgrounds, outdoor gyms and parks from Monday

Image source, Getty Images

A total of 30,982 people have died of coronavirus globally, with 669,312 confirmed cases, according to the latest figures from Johns Hopkins University.

The BBC has revealed that its long-running Radio 4 soap The Archers will have its first coronavirus-related storyline in May.

There are enough pre-recorded episodes of the show, which has been going nearly 70 years, to keep listeners going until the end of April. After that, there will be temporary changes to the programme.

Voice actors will record episodes from their homes, rather than busy studios involving numerous cast and crew.

Producers said episodes would involve fewer of the Ambridge residents interacting with each other - instead "characters will be sharing more of their private thoughts with the listener".

Image source, AFP

To free up intensive care beds in some of the country's worst-hit areas, France has been using specially adapted TGV trains.

The fast train has been converted into a moving hospital to ferry patients from one part of the country to another.

"We have a lot more space than in an ambulance or a helicopter," says François Braun, president of the Samu emergency service.

Stretchers are attached above the seats and the buffet car has been converted into a medical space.

On Sunday, two medical TGV trains will transfer about 40 patients from eastern cities of Nancy and Mulhouse to the south west, AFP news agency reports.

Philippa Roxby
Health reporter, BBC News

Despite Saturday's news of the largest rise in people dying in the UK with Covid-19, the message is that everything we are all doing now to reduce social contact is having an impact.

We just can't see it in the figures yet.

That's because it takes time for the effects of not going out and not going to work to be felt in hospitals, where the most seriously-ill are being tested and some are, sadly, dying.

The epidemic is expected to peak in the UK in the next two to three weeks.

Until then, it is likely the number of people confirmed to have the coronavirus and the number of people dying after testing positive for the virus will continue to grow at a similar pace - doubling every two or three days.

The hope is that everyone's efforts now to stay at home and reduce the spread of this deadly virus will slow that growth rate at the right time, and, in time, bring it down.

Luck doesn't come into it, people are being told. Only a huge national effort will make the difference. Every one of us now has a part to play in making that happen.

Image source, Jon Matson

A UK postal worker is delivering his rounds in fancy dress to "lift the spirits" of the community during the outbreak.

Jon Matson, from South Tyneside, said he had so far dressed as Little Bo Beep and a Greek soldier for his deliveries.

Image source, Jon Matson

He said when he was no longer able to work alongside his colleague, he asked if he could do his rounds in fancy dress.

The 39-year-old said the reaction from people on day one had been "amazing."

Mr Matson said he had been told he could do his round in fancy dress as long as he wore his ID and company-provided shoes.

South Korea says all overseas arrivals will have to go into mandatory quarantine for 14 days.

Foreigners can be deported and South Korean citizens will face fines if they do not comply with the measures, which will come into force on 1 April.

All arrivals must download the quarantine app on their phones, which monitors their symptoms and movements.

Around half of the country's new coronavirus cases in recent days have been people coming in from abroad.

With nearly 4,000 confirmed cases across Africa and 117 deaths, here are the latest updates from the region:

• In Mali, people are voting in long-delayed parliamentary elections a day after the country reported its first death from Covid-19. Some opposition parties had called for it to be postponed
• In many countries, churches and other places of worship have closed their doors. In Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, pictures on social media show services taking place outdoors with the worshippers standing or sitting two metres apart

• South Africa has 1,187 cases - the largest number on the continent - and it is now in the third day of a three-week nationwide lockdown. The military has called up medics in its reserve force to help deal with the outbreak
• Zimbabwe and Ghana are set become the latest countries on the continent to impose full or partial lockdowns. On Monday, Zimbabwe, where there have been seven confirmed cases and one death, begins a 21-day stay-at-home period. At the same time, Ghana’s two biggest cities, Accra and Kumasi, will go into lockdown for a fortnight

Another 838 people died in Spain in the past 24 hours, the health ministry has announced - the highest daily rise in fatalities so far.

It brings the number of deaths from the virus to 6,528.

The total number of those infected rose to 78,797 from 72,248.

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The UK Government missed the deadline to join an EU-wide scheme to get extra ventilators because of "communication confusion", according to Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove.

Earlier this week Downing Street said the UK had decided to pursue its own plan rather than joining the EU's procurement scheme, which will use the EU's buying power to purchase more stock.

But Downing Street later said that officials did not get emails inviting the UK to join. The EU has said the UK can still take part.

Asked whether an email was received by the government, Mr Gove said: "There was some communication confusion, I don't know all the details of that."

He added: "I’ve talked to senior figures in the NHS and they’ve reassured me that there is nothing that we can’t do as an independent nation that being part of that scheme would have allowed us to do.” Remember Brexit? The UK has left the EU - but remains in a transition period during which it is expected to reach its own trade arrangement with the 27-member bloc.

The UK currently has 8,000 ventilators available and has placed orders for another 8,000, but there are concerns about capacity in hospitals as the spread of the virus worsens.

Juventus' players and manager Maurizio Sarri have agreed to their pay being stopped for four months to save the club an estimated 90m euros (£80.7m) during the coronavirus pandemic.

All sport in Italy has been suspended until at least 3 April.

The Juve squad, which includes Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo and Wales midfielder Aaron Ramsey, will not be paid their full salaries in March, April, May and June.

They top Serie A by a point from Lazio.

Image source, Getty Images

The government has faced criticism about the speed and availability of testing, but Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove says there has been a "significant" acceleration. The UK carried out 10,000 tests yesterday, and this, Mr Gove said, was just ahead of the end-of-March deadline set by the health secretary, external.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock tweeted that the UK was on track to reach 25,000 tests a day.

Because Covid-19 is a new respiratory virus, scientists and governments all around the world are trying to work out the best way to fight it. Vaccine development is under way but for now the best protection is thought to be regular and thorough hand-washing.

You should also:

• Avoid contact with people who are unwell
• Catch coughs and sneezes with disposable tissue
• Throw away any used tissues and wash your hands
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands

Many places are also recommending and implementing social distancing measures.

You can read the latest UK advice here, and click hereto find out more about the symptoms and how to protect yourself.