As visitors stay away because of coronavirus, many elephant keepers can no longer feed the animals.

As millions across the world stay at home under lockdown, many singers and musicians have been providing entertainment on livestreams and videos. Among them is Gary Barlow, the lead singer of Take That (for those unfamiliar with British pop, it's a boy band who rose to fame in the 1990s).

He's been posting live jams called The Crooner Sessions where he duets with another singer. Guests have included Olly Murs, Beverley Knight, and Ronan Keating of Boyzone (that's another 1990s boy band BTW).

Here's his latest jam, belting out a classic tune with Jason Donovan (pop singer and actor who rose to fame in the 1980s - we're really showing our age now, aren't we...)

Krutika Pathi
BBC News, Delhi

Good morning from Delhi, where we're entering into the eighth day of a three-week shutdown.

I'm working from home, which is about 1.5km (1 mile) away from Nizamuddin, the area that has dominated news here for sparking Covid-19 clusters. Here's more on that and other news from the country:

• At least 140 positive cases have been directly or indirectly linked to a religious event in the city's Nizamuddin neighbourhood. Officials are tracking thousands of those who attended the meet, organised by the Islamic missionary movement Tablighi Jamaat

• Cases in India have been steadily climbing - we reported the biggest daily spike on Tuesday, and now have more than 1,200 confirmed cases and 35 deaths
• With more than 300 cases, the western state of Maharashtra is the worst-affected in the country
• All 10 cases in India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands have been linked to the religious event in Delhi
• To end on a positive note, an elderly couple in the southern state of Kerala have recovered from Covid-19. The 93-year-old husband and his 88-year-old wife are still under observation at the hospital but no longer have the virus

Soutik Biswas
India Correspondent

In an 8,000 sq ft (743 sq m) facility in the western Indian city of Pune, a bunch of young engineers are racing against time to develop a low-cost ventilator that could save thousands of lives if the coronavirus pandemic overwhelms the country's hospitals.

India, by most estimates, only has 48,000 ventilators. Nobody quite knows how many of these breathing assistance machines are working. But it is a fair assumption that all those available are being used in intensive care units on existing patients with other diseases.

At least two Indian companies make ventilators at present, mostly from imported components. They cost around 150,000 ($1,987; £1,612) rupees each. But the invasive ventilator being developed by these young engineers will cost just 50,000 rupees ($662).

Read more

Image source, Getty Images

Two local staff at foreign missions of the US have died of Covid-19, the state department said on Tuesday.

The two deaths in Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of Congo are the first pandemic-related deaths among its staff around the globe. There have been no American casualties from the virus, the department said.

Last week, Congo closed the country's borders and imposed a state of emergency. Around 100 people have contracted the virus in the country and eight have died.

Indonesia has more than 1,500 cases and 136 deaths.

In Australia, the virus has led to the suspension of the print editions of around 60 regional newspapers across the country.

Media group News Corp on Wednesday said it will move content online.

"We have not taken this decision lightly," News Corp Australasia chief Michael Miller said - explaining that the already troubled sector had received another blow with advertising sales plummeting.

Image source, AFP

Two cruise ships headed to the US from South America have still no port where they can dock.

After passing the Panama Canal, the MS Zaandam and MS Rotterdam are heading towards Fort Lauderdale in Florida.

But Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has said there is no reason the two vessels with sick passengers on board should dock in his state.

"The problem is that takes resources away from the people in South Florida," he said. "Yes we do have available beds, but I don't want it to be a situation where those beds could have gone to Floridians."

After the Zaandam had its first suspected cases, it was no longer allowed to dock anywhere in South America.

Its operator sent the Rotterdam for supplies and relief - and now both are searching for a port.

More than 100 passengers and crew are sick with flu-like symptoms. Two deaths on the Zaandam are believed to be due to Covid-19.

South Korea has been widely seen as one of several countries that have successfully controlled their coronavirus outbreaks - but it is still seeing around 100 people testing positive every day.

Yesterday it saw 101 new cases, and also a new cluster from a Seoul church, reported Yonhap news agency., external

The country has reported 9,887 positive cases, though this is largely due to its mass testing. But its death toll of 165 has remained comparatively low.

US President Donald Trump is expected to help businesses in America by allowing them to delay payments on certain tariffs.

The US imposes tariffs - fees for importing certain products from overseas - on a raft of goods, including steel from China.

But he is expected to waive payment of these fees for 90 days to help improve US companies’ cashflows as they struggle with lockdowns.

The 90-day breathing space will apply to specific goods from “most-favoured nations”, although these are not expected to include imports from China or Europe.

Around 400 chief executives of small, medium, and large companies in the US urged Mr Trump in a letter on Tuesday to delay the collection of these fees for up to 180 days.

The cash would normally be paid direct to the US government.

The White House on Tuesday said projections show between 100,000 and 200,000 Americans could die with Covid-19. The current toll is under 4,000.

The projection is based on some people not doing everything they can to stop the spread, US coronavirus coordinator Deborah Birx explained.

"We really believe, and we hope everyday, we can do better than that."

US infectious disease chief Anthony Fauci said that "as sobering a number as that [100,000] is, we should be prepared for it. Is it going to be that much? I hope not and the more we push on mitigation the less likely it would be that number.

"But being realistic, we need to prepare ourselves... it will be difficult – no one is denying we are going through a very difficult time right now."

Image source, AFP

Canada's death toll has risen by more than a third to 101 in less than a day. The country how has more than 8,500 confirmed infections.

All 10 of the country's provinces (there are also three territories) have declared states of emergency and ordered people to stay home.

Quebec on Tuesday warned it was running low on key medical equipment and authorities have vowed to spend more to ease these critical shortages.

The province is also stationing police on the US border to ensure returning travellers know they must go into isolation.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Sunday said he would remain in self-imposed isolation even though his wife, who had contracted the coronavirus, has recovered.

It's 1 April, and a number of places around the world are warning people not to play pranks or spread fake news during the pandemic. Some governments have also highlighted their fake news laws and penalties.

Thailand for instance has warned that those found spreading rumours online could be penalised under its strict Computer Crime Act, external, while in India, Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh has tweeted a warning of swift action against "miscreants" who spread rumours about the virus., external

Germany's health ministry posted this plea saying "Corona is no joke", external, while Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen introduced a stern-looking "April Fools' Day Lucky Cat", who is pictured below saying: "This is not funny."

"On April Fools' Day, those who can't help themselves can be humorous, but please remember, do not use the pandemic to make jokes," she said in her Facebook post, before listing a string of penalties for spreading fake news.

The news was revealed by his brother, Andrew Cuomo - the governor of New York state.

Anthony Zurcher
BBC North America reporter

Image source, Getty Images

There was no sugar-coating it this time. No optimistic talk of miracle cures or Easter-time business re-openings. There was just the cold, hard reality of the facts on the ground.

“I want every American to be prepared for the hard days that lie ahead,” a grave-faced Donald Trump told the nation on Tuesday afternoon. "This is going to be a very, very painful two weeks."

How painful? The number of deaths, based on current projections, is between 100,000 and 200,000.

Mr Trump tried to frame this news as best he could, noting that the projections for US casualties if the government had done nothing were in the millions.

“A lot of people were saying 'think of it as the flu', but it’s not the flu,” he said. “It’s vicious.”

Of course, it was just a week ago the president himself was making exactly such comparisons, noting that the early fatality numbers were much less than those from the flu or even automobile accidents.

Now, however, the seriousness of the situation has hit home. He spoke of checking in on a friend who was in the hospital with the virus - "a little older, and he’s heavy, but he’s a tough person" - only to find out he was now in a coma.

“I spoke to some of my friends, and they can’t believe what they’re seeing,” he said.

• Read Anthony's full analysis of the US situation here.

Image source, Getty Images

First quarter business sentiment in Japan plunged, the central bank said on Wednesday.

The Bank of Japan's Tankan survey of business views for January to March was the first drop to negative in seven years.

It follows the biggest GDP contraction in more than five years in the fourth quarter (October-December) sparked by a hike in the sales tax on 1 October last year that hit consumer spending.

The survey did not capture the impact of the delay of the 2020 Tokyo summer Olympics now planned in 2021.

The next two-day Bank of Japan monetary policy review is on April 27-28.

The central bank already has negative interest rates, a measure designed to discourage commercial banks form buying short-term government securities and instead lend money to companies and consumers.

Image source, AFP

US President Donald Trump has told his citizens they should brace for "painful" weeks ahead.

Worsening projections suggest the virus might claim up to 250,000 US lives in the coming weeks and months.

"This is going to be a very painful - a very, very painful two weeks," Mr Trump said at the White House, describing the pandemic as "a plague".

"I want every American to be prepared for the hard days that lie ahead."

Australians who return from overseas are now required to spend 14 days in quarantine in hotels.

Myanmar has reported its first coronavirus death, as the number of cases in the country continues to grow.

The 69-year-old man also suffered from cancer, and died in the capital Yangon on Tuesday.

He had sought medical treatment in Australia and stopped in Singapore on the way home, said the health ministry.

It comes weeks after Myanmar denied that it had any virus cases - though this was questioned by experts.

A spokesperson for the government claimed that people's "lifestyle and diet" had protected them from the disease.

There are now 14 cases in the country.

Image source, Getty Images

The coronavirus has been linked to 865 deaths in the US over the past 24 hours, making it the country's biggest daily toll so far.

According to data from the Johns Hopkins University, external, the US now has more than 3,870 deaths from the pandemic, which is more than China where the outbreak started but still fewer than Italy, Spain and France.

The number of confirmed cases in the US stands at more than 188,000, by far the highest number around the globe.

When asked about the scarcity of masks at a news conference on Tuesday evening in the US, Mr Trump advocated using other methods of protection.