Image source, Getty Images

China's notoriously difficult Gaokao exams will be postponed by a month this year because of the virus. It's the entrance exam for university and usually more than nine million high school graduates will take it.

This year, the exams will be moved from June to July, state media reports.

Hubei province, the centre of China's outbreak, and the capital Beijing will be allowed to put forward suggestions on their own schedule for the tests.

The world has in a matter of weeks been turned upside down. Many have lost their livelihoods and businesses, others are suffering from emotional and financial difficulties brought on by the crisis.

But amid the darkness, there are also opportunities, says one writer. Here's some good that could come out of our current upside down, far from normal world.

it's been a busy few hours. Here's a quick recap of the latest updates as we head into the lunch hours in Asia:

• the World Bank says that signifiant economic pain for the Asia Pacific region is "unavoidable"
• Japan looks set to close its borders for nationals from the US, Canada, China, South Korea and most of Europe
• India is reporting its biggest daily spike in cases
• One of the world's biggest airlines, American Airlines, says it will apply for $12bn (£9.7bn) in government help
• In Europe, the two hardest hit countries Italy and Spain say there's hope the rate of infections is slowing
• Around the globe, more than 37,000 people have died and there are close to 800,000 confirmed infections

Anyone breaking quarantine rules in South Korea will face a year in prison or a fine of 10 million Korean won ($8,200, £6,600) under a new law which comes into effect from 5 April.

Image source, Emily Evans

There have been plenty of stories of travellers stranded abroad but this odyssey is something else.

It took Flossy Reeves, 18, a staggering 59 hours to get home from Honduras where she had been working as a volunteer.

Read all about her trip which featured a personal security detail and private flight to Mexico.

Don't worry, she's now safe and sound now, back home in the UK where she's self-isolating for two weeks.

Karishma Vaswani
Asia business correspondent

As we've mentioned, the World Bank has released its economic outlook for how countries in East Asia will fare this year, taking into account the impact coronavirus will have on their future growth.

The outlook is grim - the virus has threatened tourism, trade and commodity-driven economies. Worse still - it’s also risking the livelihoods of millions of Asia’s most vulnerable.

The poor will get poorer, and even rich countries will struggle to keep businesses and households afloat.

In China - where the outbreak began - the bank says the virus’ impact will see economic growth shrink from 6.1% last year to 2.3 % in 2020 if the pandemic doesn’t get worse. But if it does, then we are looking at growth of just 0.1% this year. And it's a similar picture across the region.

Worse still is the serious impact on poverty, both directly through illness and indirectly through lost incomes. The bank forecasts nearly 24 million fewer people will escape poverty in 2020 because of the virus. In the worst case - poverty is estimated to increase by 11 million people.

Asia - and in particular China - have been the world’s economic engine for the last decade. The coronavirus has stopped that growth in its tracks.

Recovery will be a long and difficult road ahead.

On Monday night, Singaporeans gathered by their windows to give a round of applause to healthcare workers and other frontline staff. Some even banged pots and pans, or thumped on plastic crates. They join other places around the world such as Italy, the UK and France which have also done similar gestures of appreciation. As of Monday, the city-state has had 879 positive cases and three deaths.

Jay Savage
BBC News, Sydney

Many of Australia's positive tests have come in wealthy suburbs, or places favoured by backpackers.

Parties in Sydney areas such as Bondi, for instance, were blamed for early clusters. The beach was also where crowds spectacularly shunned distancing rules 10 days ago – though of course no one group was to blame.

But health officials are now stepping up their warnings about backpackers, calling on doctors to lower their threshold for testing people in the area. They will also install a "pop-up clinic".

"We have had a small number of cases in that community where there aren't obvious links, but a plausible explanation is they have come into contact with an infected backpacker before that backpacker was aware they had Covid-19," said Kerry Chant, the chief medical officer for New South Wales.

"For prudency, we want to increase testing."

Image source, Getty Images

Here are the latest updates from countries in South Asia:

• China will help set up a temporary hospital in Pakistan, which is the worst-hit in the region with more than 1,500 cases and 20 deaths
• authorities in Nepal have rescued more then 1,200 foreign travellers who were stranded across the country after a lockdown was imposed last week
• as cases rise to beyond 120 in Sri Lanka, the country has also recorded its first death from Covid-19 - a 65-year-old diabetic man
• Bangladesh's garment industry is feeling the brunt of the economic impact, external- manufacturers there say they have lost $3bn in orders due to the virus, which has infected 48 and killed five in the country

Seven days into a country-wide lockdown and India has seen its sharpest spike in daily infections. Local media are quoting the health ministry as saying that 227 new cases were confirmed, external, taking the total number of active cases in the country to more than 1,200.

One wine shop in the US has found an innovative way to serve its customers while also maintaining social distancing. At the Stone House Urban Winery in Maryland, a dog named Soda Pup delivers bottles of wine to customers waiting outside to pick up their orders. Watch how he does it in our video below (note: the footage was provided without sound).Soda Pup's owner Lori Yata told CBS News that the dog only carries two bottles every time and gets plenty of breaks. There's also little evidence currently that pets can get coronavirus or can transmit it - though a dog in Hong Kong recently tested positive for the virus., external

Image source, AFP

The Central American nation has announced severe new movement restrictions based on gender, AFP reports.

Panama citizens had already been in lock-down for over a week but these measures - to last an initial 15 days - will now separate men and women.

From now on, only women are allowed out on Monday, Wednesday and Friday for two hours to go to the shops.

Men can go on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. No one is allowed out on Sunday.

"This absolute quarantine is for nothing more than to save your life," said security minister Juan Pino.

Panama's first case was reported only three weeks ago - there have been over 1,000 infections and 27 deaths recorded since.

Even though the epicentre of the pandemic appears to be shifting to the US, Europe still has by far the highest death toll.

• Italy's death toll has risen to 11,591. But there is a hopeful sign: there was a 2.2% rise in new infections, less than the previous 5.4%. There are now 101,739 overall cases.

• Spain has now 87,956 cases - more than China, where the outbreak began. The country is the worst-hit after Italy, with 7,716 deaths in total. But the government says the virus’s upwards curve appears to be flattening.

• The UK has 22,454 infections, including 1,411 people who have passed away. Authorities say people are heeding the advice to stay at home and there are early signs that it is working,

• Hungary’s government now has sweeping emergency powers and can rule by decree. Opponents though warn the changes could erode democracy.

"The phone slipped into the bath."

"A colleague's half-naked boyfriend walked behind her."

"We can all see you watching porn."

As more and more of us work from home, chances are you've had to deal with bad internet connections, wonky microphones and less than flattering camera angles at some point.

But for some people, video-conferencing has gotten a lot more embarrassing than just that. Here are some instances of conference calls gone very wrong.

Image source, Andy Weeks

Workers at e-commerce giant Amazon and US food delivery firm Instacart are threatening to go on strike - amid booming demand for delivery services due to the virus.

Instacart workers called on the company to provide protective gear, offer hazard pay and to extend the pay for those unable to work because of the virus.

Amazon has also been questioned over reports of shortages of protective and cleaning supplies, as well as its sick leave policies.

The companies said they were taking extra precautions.

Read more about the situation here.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Getty Images

The financial fallout from the coronavirus pandemic will stop almost 24 million people from escaping poverty in East Asia and the Pacific, according to the World Bank.

In its latest report, the bank said that “significant economic pain seems unavoidable in all countries” while warning of “substantially higher risk” among households that depend on industries particularly vulnerable to the impact of the virus.

These include tourism in Thailand and the Pacific Islands along with manufacturing in Vietnam and Cambodia.

Under its worst case scenario, the bank predicts that almost 35 million people would be expected to remain in poverty, including 25 million in China. It defines the poverty line as living on $5.50 a day or less.

The World Bank predicts growth in the developing East Asia and Pacific region will slow to 2.1% in its baseline scenario this year. This compares with an estimated expansion of 5.8% in 2019.

The World Bank urged the region to invest in expanding healthcare, medical equipment factories and to offer subsidies for sick pay that would help with containment and aid households.

More details now on Japan tightening its borders, saying it will ban entry for nationals from the US, Canada, China, South Korea as well as most of Europe including the UK.

The country is urging its own citizens to avoid all travel to a list of now 73 countries and regions, Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said.

The government will ban entry of non-Japanese nationals from those newly added countries, as it has for countries already on the list, Mr Motegi said. He did not say though when the new measures would go into effect.

Japan has 1,953 confirmed infections including 56 people who have died.

The government also said that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his deputy Taro Aso would no longer attend the same meetings as a precaution should one of them be infected.

The death toll in the US state of New York has reached a "staggering" number, says its governor Andrew Cuomo.

"We've lost over 1,000 New Yorkers. We've reached staggering. The only point now is do everything you can to save every life possible," he said at a press conference.

The governor also called for health care workers to come to New York, saying "please come help us".

"We need relief. We need relief for nurses who are working 12-hour shifts. We need relief for doctors. So if you're not busy, come help us please. And we will return the favour."

Image source, Getty Images

The US has seen the number of cases and its death rate spike dramatically in recent days. Watch this video comparing the US with China, Italy and South Korea to show what could be in store.

Image source, Getty

In a situation mirrored around the world, Australian authorities are also contending with several cruise ships that have reported sick passengers on board. One enterprising Reddit user has built a tracking tool here., external

In some cases, very ill passengers and crew members have been brought to shore for treatment. However officials say there's only so much humanitarian care they will show.

“There are thousands of people, potentially, in cruise ships off our coasts that aren’t members of our state and if we take them in, that could well flood our system,” said New South Wales police commissioner Mick Fuller.

He revealed a number of ships were "lingering" in Australian waters despite being given “warning notices” to return to their port of origin.

Over 400 cases have come from cruise ships in Australia - with the Ruby Princess's docking in Sydney over a week ago now viewed as a major mistake by health officials.