Health Secretary Matt Hancock says £13.4bn of historic debt held by NHS trusts is going to be written off.

He says this will put the service in a "stronger position" to fight the coronavirus, and for its long-term future.

He also says new guidance on the protective equipment for NHS staff published today is "amongst the highest in the world".

Image source, Family handout

Mr Hancock expresses his "deepest condolences" to the families and friends of the victims of the virus.

"We are steadfast in our resolve to beat this invisible killer," he says.

He also says he is "warmed by the dedication of those on the frontline" and pays particular tribute to the NHS staff who have died.

"Many of those who have died were people who came to this country to make a difference.

"They have given their lives as a sacrifice and I salute them."

Matt Hancock opens the press conference by saying that the government's "step by step action plan will slow the spread of the virus so fewer people will need hospital treatment at any one time".

He reiterates that the government has been following the scientific advice and implementing "the right steps at the right time".

He says those who have signed up to volunteer show "Britain at its best".

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has finally emerged and today’s Downing Street press briefing is under way.

Stay with us as we bring you all the latest updates.

Image source, Reuters

Nearly one out of 10 restaurants have closed permanently and some 800,000 jobs have been lost in the food service sector in Canada since 1 March, according to a survey by Restaurant Canada.

Restaurants across the country have been hard hit by the economic impact of the virus and measures put in place to stop its spread, says the industry association.

It estimates C$4bn ($2.8bn; £2.3) in lost sales nationwide in March.

Some restaurants are only open for delivery or take-out orders and have cut back on staff. Just over half have closed temporarily, according to the survey.

”In our 75 years of existence as Canada’s national foodservice association, these are by far the worst numbers we have ever seen," said the organisation's president, Shanna Munro.

The UK government’s press conference is running late - we now expect it to start at 17:25 BST.

The US Democratic party has announced that it will push back its presidential convention - where the presidential candidate is selected - from July to August due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The week-long event is now due begin on 17 August in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

It comes after Democratic frontrunner Joe Biden said it was hard to imagine the party convention going ahead in mid-July as scheduled.

President Trump will once again be the Republican nominee for November's election.

We expect the UK government’s press conference to start any minute, but in the meantime, you can have a look at our guide on the symptoms of coronavirus.

Image source, Getty Images

Saudi Arabia has imposed a 24-hour curfew on the holy cities of Mecca and Medina as part of efforts to curb the spread of coronavirus.

The cities had already been under 15-hour curfews, and the stay-at-home order has now been extended around the clock. Residents are only allowed out to buy food and for medical necessity.

The tightened restrictions come at a time of uncertainty over whether the Hajj - the annual pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina - will go ahead in July and August. The event usually attracts more than two million Muslims from around the world.

Saudi Arabia has the highest rate of coronavirus infections in the Gulf region, with 1,885 confirmed cases and 21 deaths from the disease so far.

Ahead of the No10 press conference where the issue of testing is likely to be prominent, here is a reminder of why it is important, and how the UK compares with other countries.

Read the full story here

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Governor Andrew Cuomo says current forecast models estimate that 16,000 people in the state of New York are expected to die in the coming weeks.

New York City is currently the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak in North America.

Mr Cuomo also announced that 2,373 people total had died in the state, up from 1,941 the previous morning.

Maddy Savage
BBC News, Stockholm

Sweden's unusual response to the coronavirus crisis has raised eyebrows, so government officials have tried to clarify it on Thursday.

Deputy Prime Minister Isabella Lövin stressed in a briefing that Sweden’s decision to keep more of society open than other parts of Europe was because of the need for a long-term approach.

“This is a marathon, it’s not a sprint and any measures also need to be sustained for a very long time in our view,” she said.

Lövin added that there was already strong evidence that Swedes were following existing guidance, with large numbers working from home and a significant drop in commuter and visitor numbers to the country’s largest cities.

She said that all the government’s decisions were based on“science and expertise” from the public health agency and said that Sweden was also closely following the advice of the WHO.

As of Thursday, 282 people have died in Sweden after testing positive for coronavirus and there are 5,466 confirmed cases of infection. Sweden's state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell said the spread of the virus had "reached a new level", with cases now increasing at the rate of 400-500 per day.

The start of today's press conference has been slightly delayed and is now expected at 17:15 BST. It's the first to be chaired by Health Secretary Matt Hancock since he came out of coronavirus self-isolation.

Expect lots of questions about testing, which is fast becoming a political hot potato.

While we wait, here's a round up of news from the UK:

• The daily death figure was 569 - not much changed from yesterday
• Football clubs came under fire for furloughing staff while continuing to pay players' high salaries
• Health officials expressed frustration over a lack of testing for NHS staff and care workers
• Comedian Eddie Large, famous for the double act Little and Large, died with coronavirus aged 78
• Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has faced widespread criticism over his government's testing strategy, said increased screening would be how the UK defeats the virus
• The UK's financial watchdog says loan and credit card payments should be frozen to support those struggling
• British Airways is expected to announce it will suspend around 36,000 staff because of the crisis
• And a third prisoner in the UK has died after contracting coronavirus at HMP Littlehey in Cambridgeshire

Image source, Getty Images

Paramedics in New York City are being told to stop bringing to hospital any cardiac patients whose heart has stopped and who cannot be revived at the scene.

Under the previous guidance, victims of heart attacks or any other heart problems would be brought to intensive care units (ICU), which are now growing increasingly full of coronavirus patients.

“In the event a resuscitation is terminated, and the body is in public view, the body can be left in the custody of the NYPD,” reads the new policy, according to the internal guidance to ambulance workers that was obtained by US media.

The New York Police Department has discussed creating so-called DOA teams - (short for Dead on Arrival) - of detectives who would transport bodies of coronavirus victims to mobile morgues around the city.

Ed Mullins, the head of the city's main police union, told the New York Post newspaper that the same kind of DOA teams were used after the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, which killed nearly 3,000 people.

Michelle Fleury
North America Business Correspondent

The speed with which US firms have shed workers is terrifying.

Roughly 10 million Americans have lost their job in the last two weeks. That rate is unprecedented.

There were several reasons for this week’s historic increase, including more states ordering non-essential businesses to close to contain the spread of the virus.

A government relief package was also signed last week that expanded unemployment benefits to help more people.

This record-breaking data is likely to mark the start of a bruising couple of months for the US economy.

Image source, Getty Images

• India's three-week lockdown - due to finish on 14 April - will end in phases, the country's Prime Minister Narendra Modi says. The "staggered re-emergence" was announced amid fears that a second wave of infections could sweep through the country of 1.3bn people
• Hong Kong has announced a two-week shut down of the region's bars and pubs. Secretary for Food and Health, Sophia Chan Siu-chee, announced the move after revealing 69 of the 132 locally transmitted cases since 19 March involved a visit to a bar or a pub, according to The South China Morning Post, external
• Thailand is the latest country to announce a nationwide curfew. It will run from 22:00 to 04:00 local time (15:00 to 21:00 GMT) each night from Friday. No end date was given. It means more than half the world is now under some form of curfew
• And finally, returning to India for some good news: the lockdown has resulted in improved water quality in the heavily polluted Ganges river. Checks of water quality at 27 of the river's 36 monitoring points suggest it is now suitable for bathing and for animals and wildlife to breed. Unfortunately, this is likely to be a temporary reprieve, activists say

Michelle Roberts
Health editor, BBC News online

Image source, Getty Images

Doctors are being told that, as the coronavirus pandemic spreads, they will face "agonising choices" over who gets potentially life-saving treatments.

The British Medical Association has issued ethical guidance, external for those working on the front line.

The professional body says there needs to be an urgent public debate about the issue in these "unprecedented times".

It warns that despite "heroic efforts" to boost capacity, the NHS may be overwhelmed.

Read more here about it here.

The UK daily coronavirus press conference is due to start at 17:00 BST.

We are expecting to hear from Health Secretary Matt Hancock - who has been self-isolating for the past week after testing positive for the coronavirus.

He is due to be joined by:

• Professor John Newton, director of health improvement, Public Health England
• Professor Stephen Powis, national medical director, NHS England

Premier League football clubs which do not cut the salaries of highly-paid players while furloughing non-playing staff must be told by the government to pay a windfall tax, says the Department of Culture, Media and Sport parliamentary committee.

DCMS committee chair Julian Knight has written to Chancellor Rishi Sunak urging for sanctions to be brought in to stop clubs pursuing what he describes as "a two-tier system".

"We are facing an obscene situation where top players who aren’t working are continuing to see hundreds of thousands of pounds roll in each week while the staff who keep the clubs going are losing wages," says Mr Knight.

Clubs have come under fire for not deferring the wages of their players, with players' union the Professional Footballers' Association facing criticism for its slow response.

Former England international Gary Lineker says he is "positive" the players will "want to do something to help".

Lineker - now a television presenter - thinks they will "respond in the right way" after agreeing on a course of action, although he thought the PFA rarely gave "great guidance or leadership".

Image source, Getty Images

Across Latin America, the number of coronavirus cases has risen above 20,000 - doubling in five days.

• In Mexico, authorities launched a smartphone application - Covid-19MX - which will help users self-diagnose. However, the ministry of health said some 1,500 ventilators were faulty and in need of repair. The country has had 37 deaths and 1,378 confirmed cases.
• Ecuadorean authorities say they have managed to collect bodies of people from homes where they had been left for days, an issue which has caused outrage in the country and shock around the region. They say 150 bodies were recovered in the port city of Guayaquil.
• In Cuba, some 30,000 medical students have been knocking on doors asking people whether they have been in contact with any virus-carrying foreigners and making them aware of rules to follow. Cuba has just over 200 confirmed Covid-19 cases.
• Authorities in Panama have concluded that the virus arrived from eight different places in the world - four from the US, three from Europe and one from China.
• Nicaragua says all Covid-19 cases so far are imported, there's has been no community transmission. There is unease, however, about the economic impact Covid-19 will have on a country of 6.6 million people where 2.4 million work in the grey economy, according to local media.
• LATAM Airlines, South America's largest carrier, has announced it will only operate 5% of its scheduled passenger flights in April.

Image source, Reuters