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.

For those of you just joining our coverage, a summary of some of the main global stories from the last few hours:

• As the death toll from the coronavirus in the US passes the 5,000 mark, reports say the federal government’s reserve of protective equipment and medical supplies is almost exhausted
• Global oil prices have risen after US President Donald Trump said he expected Saudi Arabia and Russia to reach a deal soon to end their price war
• Australian authorities say foreign cruise liners must sail for home, so as not to flood local hospitals with patients
• Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called on all citizens to wear face masks when out in public. He added that religious festivals should only be celebrated with immediate family members
• Women's organisations in Latin America say they are bracing for increased gender violence amid widespread lockdowns. One Mexican NGO said women were struggling to stay safe from their violent partners
• Millions of Syrians living in refugee camps across the Middle East are bracing themselves for the pandemic. Social distancing is proving very difficult in over-crowded living conditions

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

The UK government continues to face widespread criticism over its testing strategy.

On Wednesday it was revealed that only 2,000 out of some half a million frontline NHS workers in England had been tested and Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said the UK needed to "massively ramp up" testing.

Labour's Shami Chakrabarti told the BBC's Today Programme that the government needed to show clarity in its plans for testing.

She said: "We’re asking the government to be transparent and to be clear - because that is so important in a public health emergency - about what its plans are to deliver the kind of scale of testing that we need.

"Without widespread testing in the population, we don’t understand – having listened to experts – the way out of the lockdown.”

Five things you need to know about the coronavirus outbreak this morning.

David Shukman
Science editor, BBC News

This key question is going to be taken up by a panel of advisers to the World Health Organization (WHO)., external

The group is weighing up research on whether the virus can be projected further than previously thought; a study in the US suggests coughs can reach 6m and sneezes up to 8m.

The panel's chair, Prof David Heymann, told the BBC that the research may lead to a shift in advice about masks.

Currently, the organisation says people who are sick and show symptoms should wear masks and says healthy people only need to wear them if they are caring for others suspected of being infected or if they themselves are coughing or sneezing.

Read more

Image source, Reuters

Vikas Pandey
BBC News, Delhi

Image source, Getty Images

Air India recently operated a number of flights to rescue Indians stranded in Covid-19 affected countries.

But a group of pilots have now alleged that their safety was seriously compromised during these rescue missions.

A senior pilot told me that the PPE kits given to them are “flimsy” and "tear and disintegrate easily on rescue flights".

The pilots also allege that the the norm of following 14-day quarantine period for everybody returning from abroad was not applied to crew members.

You can read the full story here

A 77-year-old man has become the third British prisoner to die after contracting coronavirus.

The inmate, who had a number of underlying health conditions, was serving at HMP Littlehey in Cambridgeshire and died in hospital on Friday.

He is the second prisoner from HMP Littlehey to die with the virus. The Ministry of Justice said that as of 17:00 BST on Monday, 65 inmates had tested positive in 23 prisons.

If you're in self isolation or unable to access your usual workout facility, 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.

Image source, Getty Images

Empty landmarks and beauty spots have provided some of the defining images of this crisis.

In Sydney, the usually packed beaches are now eerily quiet. Officials were forced to temporarily close them earlier this month after large crowds flouted the government's advice to stay inside.

And now the city's lifeguards are making sure people are left in no doubt. They've written their message - stay at home - in huge letters in the sand at several popular spots.

Take this one, at Tamarama Beach:

Image source, Getty Images

And this one at the world-famous Bondi Beach.

It's certainly one way to get the message across...

Image source, Getty Images

Laura Kuenssberg
BBC political editor

In the last fortnight, more than 900,000 people have signed up to receive universal credit benefits in the UK.

That's more than nine times the normal number of people who might register on the system to help them through a rough patch when they lose some income, or to top it up if they are earning less than they need to live on.

The sudden and vast increase in those signing up is powerful evidence that the coronavirus crisis is an economic emergency for a very significant portion of the public, losing work and losing income in ways they could never have anticipated a few short weeks ago.

The government has already stepped in with support for the economy and for workers in ways that have no modern parallel.

In time, there may be questions about whether the country can really afford to support new legions of workers through hard times for more than a short emergency period.

But right now, these figures provide urgent evidence that only a fortnight after the country was told to shut up shop, there are many, many thousands, already in economic need.

Read more from Laura

Zubair Ahmed
BBC Hindi, Delhi

The Tablighi Jamaat have come into the spotlight after an event they held in Delhi spawned a number of Covid-19 clusters across the country.

Founded in 1926 in the northern Indian region of Mewat by prominent Islamic scholar Maulana Mohammed Ilyas Kandhlawi, its aim was to inculcate "true" Islam among the "Umma" (global Islamic community).

Many Muslims at the time felt that their political and religious identities were being compromised under the British Raj.

It is now a global religious movement, with followers in more than 80 countries, including Indonesia, Malaysia and the US.

The Jamaat has its own headquarters in every country it operates in, but its global spiritual centre remains the Markaz (centre) in Delhi.

Read more about the group here

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Reuters

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has urged people to stick to social distancing rules, saying police would get "more aggressive" in enforcing the rules.

He also said he was shutting New York City's playgrounds and basketball courts because some young people were still failing to comply.

"You still see too many situations with too much density by young people. Compliance is still not where it should be. Use the open space in a park, walk around, get some sun. Great. No density, no basketball games."

His comments come after the city's mayor Bill de Blasio said earlier this week that New Yorkers could be fined up to $500 for failing to practise social distancing.

New York is by far the United States' worst-affected state, with almost half of the country's overall deaths.

The coronavirus pandemic may have emerged in China, but the country now has fewer recorded cases than the US, Italy and Spain.

The Chinese government has used technological tools including phone tracking to control the outbreak. Other countries are starting to look at similar solutions.

But how does China's controversial surveillance system work, and can state intervention on this scale be justified? Our video report explores the issue:

Image source, Getty Images

The American jazz musician Ellis Marsalis Jr has died from complications of Covid-19, his family has announced.

The pianist, who was 85, spent the majority of his career in New Orleans and released more than 15 albums.

"Ellis Marsalis was a legend. He was the prototype of what we mean when we talk about New Orleans jazz," the city's mayor, LaToya Cantrell, said in a statement.

Marsalis Jr taught jazz and the creative arts at a number of schools and universities, largely in New Orleans. He also spent decades mentoring young musicians in the city.

He was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame in 2008.

Four of his six sons have had successful careers as jazz musicians, including nine-time Grammy winner Wynton Marsalis.

From drinking cow urine to avoiding ice cream, there's been a lot of talk online about the different ways you can beat or avoid the coronavirus - and not a lot of it is true.

We’re debunking several myths in an ongoing Reality Check series (here’s part 1 and part 2) – have a watch of our latest video on why lemon juice can’t protect you from getting infected, and mosquitoes are not passing on the coronavirus.

Nomsa Maseko
BBC News, Johannesburg

Image source, Getty Images

African governments continue to roll out stringent measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19, which has taken the lives of more than 200 people across the continent.

Burundi has blocked cargo trucks from Kenya and Uganda via Rwanda, even after the various governments agreed to facilitate free movement of goods.

South Africa’s Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize has raised concerns about increasing numbers of coronavirus local transmission cases in the country.

The government has now stepped up door to door testing and screening, with the country’s national health laboratory service deploying mobile sampling units across the country.

In Kenya, the government has confirmed 22 new Covid-19 cases.

Meanwhile, nine members of Uganda’s famous children’s choir are in a stable condition after testing positive. The group was on tour in the US and Canada two weeks ago.

Image source, Reuters

It looks like US citizens are not only stockpiling food and toilet paper - but also guns.

New data from the FBI, external shows a 32% surge in background checks for people who want to buy firearms.

For the month of March, some 3,740,688 such checks were made, compared to 2.8 million the previous month.

It's the highest number of checks since beginning of the data in 1998.

Image source, Getty Images

Global oil prices have risen after Donald Trump said he expected Saudi Arabia and Russia to reach a deal soon to end their price war.

The cost of crude had fallen to 18-year lows as the two countries slashed prices and ramped up production.

At the same time demand has been hit hard by shutdowns around the world to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Speaking about the dispute at a White House news conference, Mr Trump said: "It's very bad for Russia, it's very bad for Saudi Arabia. I mean, it's very bad for both. I think they're going to make a deal."

In Asian trade Brent crude oil was up by more than 6% to over $26 a barrel, while US oil was some 5% higher.

Read more here

Shaimaa Khalil
BBC News, Sydney

As of this week, no more than two people in Australia are allowed to gather – unless you live in the same house. There are also new tough rules about when you're permitted to go outside.

So can you visit your partner, for instance, if you don’t live together? The answer seems to depend on which state you live in.

In New South Wales, police say such a visit falls under "care" for someone else – one justification to legally leave your house. In Tasmania, it comes under the umbrella of "social support" – considered an essential reason there.

In Queensland, however, it’s a general "no" unless your partner lives alone.

Many have expressed anxiety on social media about when they’ll be able to see their partner, or whether they’ll be fined if they do.

All states seem to agree that it’s OK for partners to move in together. But visits remain a grey area, and given the tight restrictions and threats of fines, it's questionable how romantic they'll be!

Laura Bicker
BBC News

Image source, EPA

The official two-week campaign period for South Korea’s upcoming election has begun - and candidates are having to find new ways to connect with voters as the country continues to battle Covid-19.

Candidates were seen on the streets of Seoul today disinfecting subway station entrances and shops, instead of shaking hands with prospective voters.

Political parties would usually hold mass rallies across the country but that will not be possible. Instead, many are using cars with loudspeakers to convey their message in hotly-contested districts.

There had been speculation that the ballot to elect 300 members of the National Assembly would be postponed.

But the government has announced the election will go ahead on 15 April. All voters will have to wear masks, stand at least two metres apart at polling stations and use hand sanitiser and gloves before casting their vote.

There are around 4,000 coronavirus patients being treated for the infection who will be allowed to cast their ballot by mail.