Hospices in the UK could close as they "cannot wait any longer" for emergency funding.

Charity Sue Ryder said it was facing a £12m gap in funds over the next three months while Marie Curie said it would need £30m to keep services running over the same period.

"We have been calling on the government to support us but no funding has materialised," said the chief executive of Sue Ryder, Heidi Travis.

Read more on the struggle hospices are facing here.

Image source, Marie Curie

Image source, Getty Images

Japan is bracing itself for a state of emergency to be put in place for its big cities, like Tokyo and Osaka.

"I have decided that a situation gravely affecting people's life and the economy has occurred," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Tuesday. "This evening, I plan to call a government headquarters meeting and declare a state of emergency."

It's thought the measure will kick in at midnight and give local governors the power to ask people to stay at home and close businesses.

Seven regions will be affected: Tokyo, Chiba, Kanagawa and Saitama, the western hub of Osaka and nearby Hyogo, as well as the southwestern region of Fukuoka.

While we're looking at New Zealand, this was PM Jacinda Ardern breaking some bad news to the nation's children at a press conference on Monday: the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy may not be able to visit this year because of the lockdown, she said.

But there might be a solution, she said, and it'll involve some parental help and colouring in.

There was a positive tone from New Zealand earlier day, which appears to be "on track", its Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has said. The country has just recorded its lowest number of cases in two weeks, at 54.

A level four lockdown - the highest level - has been in place in New Zealand for almost two weeks.

All schools and non-essential services have been closed and five million people told not to leave their house unless necessary.

There have been 1,160 confirmed cases, with one death.

Image source, Getty Images

Three hospitals in two of India's largest cities - the capital, Delhi, and Mumbai - have been shut after staff tested positive for Covid-19. No-one can go in or leave, and staff can only go home once they've tested negative

In Wockhardt Hospital in Mumbai, more than 50 staff members have tested positive, external. And in Jaslok Hospital, a well-known private hospital in the city, more than 10 nurses tested positive on Monday.

A renowned state hospital in Delhi known for specialising in cancer treatment has been closed after 18 healthcare workers, including nurses and doctors, were confirmed to have coronavirus.

At least 50 other staff members at the Delhi State Cancer Institute have been asked to self-quarantine.

The news has been met with concern in India, where there are already fears over a fragmented healthcare system that may not have enough doctors, beds or ventilators to handle a full-blown pandemic.

Frances Mao
Sydney

Image source, EPA

The Australian government has just given a comprehensive update on the virus situation.

Early trends are looking good here, where due to a quarantine on travellers and strict social distancing laws, infection rates have been steadily declining.

There are more than 5,800 cases but fewer than 100 people in intensive care. Australia also has ready resources to suppress any future outbreaks.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Australia was in a position "other nations would be jealous of" and would be able to make it through the projected six-month pandemic period, if citizens stuck to the rules.

"We are flattening the curve," chief medical officer Dr Brendan Murphy said.

"We are on a life raft and we now have to chart the course for where we take that life raft."

Stephen McDonell
BBC News, Beijing

The first day with zero new reported coronavirus deaths since the National Health Commission started publishing daily figures is no doubt a cause for hope in China and even across the world.

In a way it doesn’t matter if the figure is real. There has been much debate about the veracity of this country’s coronavirus statistics. Even if the overall number of infections and deaths is under-reported, the trend seems instructive.

Why? Because the trend matches reality in so many ways.

Interestingly, China’s Communist Party-controlled media is not reporting the first 24 hours without fatalities with any great fanfare. The subject isn’t even a key trending subject on Chinese social media platforms.

It was the same when we had the first day with no new homegrown infections. This either means Chinese media outlets know too well that there are flaws in the accounting here or, more likely, that the Party knows there are flaws in its accounting so it’s ordered a cautious presentation. Either way, in the end, it’s probably neither here nor there.

Look at the trend. In the trend there is good news.

Image source, Get

In the UK, there's only one thing dominating the news headlines this morning.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson spent the night in intensive care, after his condition worsened.

The 55-year-old, who caught the virus more than a week ago, will now be closer to a ventilator - which takes over the body's breathing process. However, he is not currently known to be on one.

Downing Street said he was receiving "excellent care".

Elsewhere in the UK, thousands of people have been missed off the government's high risk list for Covid-19 despite meeting the criteria.

Among them have been transplant patients, people with asthma and some with rare lung diseases.

Krutika Pathi
BBC News, Delhi

Good morning to those joining us from India. It’s a bright, nearly cloudless morning in Delhi and we’re about a week away from the end of a 21-day lockdown - we hope.

Here’s what you need to know about India this morning:

• A group of ministers are set to meet today to discuss whether the lockdown should be extended.

• Meanwhile, at least seven states - which are home to almost one-third of overall cases in India - have indicated that they would continue to have restrictions in place, external after 14 April.
• The government has quarantined more than 20,000 members of the Islamic preaching group, Tablighi Jamaat, external. The organisation has dominated news here after a weeks-long event set off massive Covid-19 clusters.

• India reported its biggest spike in deaths - 32 - in a single day on Monday after 693 fresh cases took the total number to more than 4,000 cases.
• And to end on a positive note, the country's oldest couple to beat coronavirus have returned home, external. The 93-year-old man and 88-year-old woman have told local media that they feel "blessed" to be able to celebrate another Easter.

Image source, Getty Images

China says it has recorded not a single coronavirus death in the past day.

While the deaths have been in the single digit range for some days - and there are ongoing questions about the validity of China's data - it's a symbolic moment to have a zero in that category.

The good news comes just a day before Wuhan - which was the centre of China's outbreak - will further ease its lockdown measures. People will be allowed to leave the city for the first time since it was locked down on 23 January.

China's apparent defeat of the virus is a welcome headline for authorities. It comes just as the US has more than 10,000 overall death and the highest daily death toll from any country battling the virus.

Beijing has for the past weeks been offering and sending help to other countries in Asia and Europe that are still battling their own virus crises.

In terms of new infections, China has reported 32 new cases for the past day - all of which it says were imported by people coming in from abroad.

The world's poorest countries should not have to pay their debts at a time where they're struggling to deal with a virus outbreak, say major charity organisations.

Oxfam and ActionAid International are among the charities that have called for debt relief which would free up more than $25bn (£20bn) this year.

"Developing countries are being hit by an unprecedented economic shock, and at the same time face an urgent health emergency," said Sarah-Jayne Clifton, director of the Jubilee Debt Campaign.

Calculations show that 69 of the world's poorest countries are due to pay $19.5bn to other governments and multilateral institutions, and $6bn to external private lenders this year.

Read more on this here.

Image source, Getty Images

Tessa Wong
BBC News, Singapore

Image source, Getty Images

It's quiet on the streets of Singapore, where new social distancing measures kick in today. The country has seen a sharp uptick in infections in recent days.

For the next month, Singapore will be under its own version of a lockdown, which it calls a "circuit breaker". Everyone has to stay at home, with some exceptions for those in essential services. Businesses whose employees can't work from home have to shut. This means most shops are closed, though supermarkets, banks, pet stores, and hairdressers (yes, they're considered essential here, for a basic cut) remain open. Food establishments are also open but only for takeaways and deliveries. And from tomorrow, all schools will be shut as well.

Singaporeans have been told to remain indoors except to buy food or exercise; to keep 1m apart when outside; and to avoid meeting anyone outside of their household.

The consequences of not obeying the rules can be harsh: you could be prosecuted under the city-state's strict Infectious Diseases Act and face up to six months in jail and/or fined S$10,000 (£5,700, US$7,000).

Welcome to our rolling coverage of the global coronavirus pandemic.

Here's what you've missed last night and what's been happening in Asia this morning so far.

• British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been moved to intensive care in a London hospital after his coronavirus infection worsened.
• Japan is expected to declare a state of emergency, possibly as early as today.
• China says it has recorded no deaths from Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, that's the first time since the outbreak peaked in the country where the pandemic started.

• Indonesia has seen ever bigger daily infection numbers over the past days with at least 24 doctors among the 209 dead.
• The US has seen 1,150 deaths in the past day, more than any other country.