Soutik Biswas
India Correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

On 24 March, India shut its $2.9 trillion economy, closing businesses, suspending all transport and issuing strict stay-at-home orders to more than a billion people.

But as testing has ramped up, new clusters of infection are being reported every day. The country now has more than 5,000 Covid-19 positive cases and 150 deaths from the virus.

The lockdown is already hurting the economy, and unemployment is on the rise. But lifting it could easily trigger a fresh wave of infections.

Experts say a complete lockdown is unrealistic. Instead, India will have to prepare itself for what some describe as several rounds of "suppress and lift" cycles, external.

"Restrictions are applied and relaxed, applied again and relaxed again, in ways that can keep the pandemic under control but at an acceptable economic and social cost," says Gabriel Leung, an infectious disease epidemiologist.

Read the full story here.

Sharon Barbour
BBC Look North

After weeks of speculation, NHS England will today confirm the opening of a new Nightingale hospital to treat Covid-19 patients from across the north-east of England.

Work has been under way to transform a building at the Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Advanced Manufacturing near the Nissan car plant in Sunderland. The project has been managed by the Newcastle Hospitals health trust.

I understand up to 500 beds will be on the site for a range of patients suffering from coronavirus, including those on ventilators who need the highest level of critical care.

The north-east of England has been behind London when it comes to the spread of the virus, but health experts have warned this week that the region is on the “edge of the pandemic” and hospitals are rapidly starting to see more patients - and more deaths.

The South Tyneside and Sunderland health trust alone has now reported more than 100 deaths.

In case you or someone you love is feeling unwell, here's a reminder:

The two main symptoms of coronavirus are a fever and a dry, continuous cough, which can sometimes lead to breathing problems.

You have a fever if your temperature is above 37.8C. This can make you feel warm, cold or shivery. A sore throat, headache and diarrhoea have also been reported, and a loss of smell and taste may also be a symptom.

In the UK, people should not go to A&E if they are concerned. The NHS 111 website , externalwill guide you through what to do. If you are so breathless that you are unable to speak more than a few words you will be told to call 999, as this is a medical emergency.

Here are more useful explainers we've put together:

• What are the coronavirus symptoms and how do I protect myself?
• How many confirmed cases are there in your area?
• What are social distancing and self-isolation?
• Coronavirus: What it does to the body

Alice Cuddy
BBC News

Anthony Almojera is a senior paramedic in New York City. He has chronicled one day of his work, and we’ll be bringing you more of his story and those of other frontline workers over the weekend.

Image source, Anthony Almojera

I start to hear the radio get busy around 07:00. We have already had more than 1,500 calls since midnight. I get called for the assignment - a cardiac arrest.

New York City has the busiest emergency medical services (EMS) system in the world - with about 4,000 calls a day on average. Sometimes you get a spike like with a heatwave or a hurricane, but the busiest day before this was 9/11. This is 9/11 call volume with patients every day.

We arrive at the house and I put on my mask, gown and gloves.

We find a man. His family says he has had a fever and cough for five days. We start CPR and I watch the medics pass a tube down his throat to breathe for him.

We work on him for about 30 minutes before we pronounce him dead. I make sure the crews are OK and get back in my truck - decontaminating everything first. I hit the button to go available.

Twenty minutes later, I get another cardiac arrest. Same symptoms, same procedures, same results.

Hit the button, get another one.

Hit the button after that, get another one.

It is now around 11:00 and I’ve done about six cardiac arrests.

In normal times, a medic gets two or three in a week, maybe. You can have a busy day sometimes, but never this. Never this.

Spain is has seen the third highest number of coronavirus deaths in the world, behind only the US and Italy.

It has reported another 605 deaths in the past 24 hours, taking its official total to 15,843. But that figure for new deaths is the lowest for 17 days and a further sign that the outbreak is past its peak in Spain. The country's state of alert has been in place since 14 March and the mortality rate peaked in early April.

Spain has seen 157,022 cases, more than Italy, and yet the daily rate of increase in new infections recorded - 4,576 - is also down to 3%. That's the lowest since the outbreak started, the El País newspaper reports. Over 55,000 patients have recovered. A look at the health ministry map shows the spread of infections per 100,000 people in the past two weeks. The Madrid region is worst affected.

Image source, Spanish health ministry

Image source, Getty Images

Wall Street's S&P 500 share index has risen 12% this week, as the US central bank announced more stimulus measures to support the economy.Financial markets have experienced extreme volatility as the economic impact from the coronavirus has worsened. Many markets, including those in the US, are closed on Good Friday.

On Thursday, the Federal Reserve - the US central bank - said an additional $2.3 trillion was available to support debt markets, saying it would act "forcefully, pro-actively, and aggressively" to combat an economic tidal wave.

The strong words came after data showed US jobless claims jumped by 6.6 million, taking the three-week total to more than 16 million unemployed and seeking benefits.

Get the full rundown on the situation here.

Every time you tell yourself to stop touching your face, you are trying to do something that's entirely unnatural to you.

So how do we stop?

Katya Adler
Europe Editor

After two tortuous weeks of wrangling, EU finance ministers have agreed a number of common financial measures to protect the workers, businesses and EU countries most in need during the coronavirus pandemic.

So is everything hunky-dory now in the EU? The dark mutterings of deep divisions banished?

Not really.

The EU is stumbling through this as it has through the migration and financial crises.

The bloc is not about to disintegrate, but scars will remain in countries that felt the chilly absence of EU solidarity in their hour of need.

"This has not been our finest moment," a diplomat from an influential EU country told me. "Our response has come late and has been marred by nationalism. Solidarity went out the window with the first coronavirus victim."

Read the full analysis here.

Almost 96,000 people have died across the globe with coronavirus, according to statistics compiled by Johns Hopkins University, external.

Nearly 18,300 deaths have been recorded in Italy, 16,686 in the US - including more than 5,000 in New York city alone - and 15,447 in Spain, the university says (although its figures can vary from those issued by governments).

The true global number is likely to be higher because many countries have not included deaths outside of hospitals in their statistics.

However, it's worth noting that some experts say many of those dying with Covid-19 might have died in a short period anyway - because many victims are old, frail and have underlying health conditions.

You can read more about that, in the UK context, here.

Sameer Hashmi
Middle East Business Correspondent

A potential deal between major oil producers to counter the slump in demand caused by the coronavirus outbreak has hit a roadblock after Mexico refused to approve an agreement committing to historic production cuts.

Members of Opec-plus - an oil cartel consisting of over 20 oil-producing countries led by Saudi Arabia and Russia - had agreed to reduce supplies by 10%.

But with Mexico walking out, the deal is under threat.

Worldwide fuel demand has plunged by around 30% of global supplies, as steps to fight the virus have cut vehicle usage, grounded planes and virtually shut down economic activity.

Oil prices dropped to 18-year lows in the last week of March.

On Thursday night, for a third week running, people across the UK gave a round of applause for key workers leading the fight against coronavirus.

The news at the moment is often grim. We're well aware. So hopefully this update will make you smile.

A 101-year-old man who tested positive for coronavirus has returned home from hospital after making a full recovery.

Keith Watson, from Worcestershire, was initially admitted for surgery on his leg following a fall and was tested for Covid-19 after developing a high temperature.

"Having gone in for the operation is one thing and then when we learned he tested positive we were thinking the worst," said his daughter-in-law, Jo Watson. "He's amazing for his age."

Mrs Watson said her father-in-law had gone back to his care home after spending two weeks in hospital and is "complaining about the pain in his leg", but "not anything else".

A Facebook post from Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust with Mr Watson has since been shared more than 3,000 times.

British firms and individuals have lost more than £1.86m to coronavirus-related fraud since the crisis began, police have revealed.

Most of that is to bogus companies selling non-existent products like masks and sanitisers.

A BBC investigation found criminals in West Africa have set up hundreds of these scam websites in the last month, targeting businesses, hospitals and care homes seeking to buy in bulk.

Europe's finance ministers have welcomed a late-night €500bn (£430bn) rescue package for workers, businesses, and governments caught up in the coronavirus crisis. Germany says it shows Europe's strength and solidarity and Italy calls it ambitious. In other developments:

• Russia has recorded its biggest daily increase in infections, with 1,786 new cases and 18 deaths, bringing the total to 94. Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin says the city is "at the foothills" of the disease, not the peak
• Seventy people who were among around 100 at a birthday party in Sweden in early March fell ill, according to Dagens Nyheter newspaper
• In France, two specially-equipped high-speed TGV trains will transfer another 50 patients out of the Paris region for treatment at hospitals in the south-west
• A Roma (Gypsy) settlement of 3,000 people in Greece has been put under strict quarantine after 13 people tested positive for the virus
• Moscow zoo says its two giant pandas, Ru Yi and Ding Ding, have been missing their daily human visits since the city went into lockdown

A spike in infections has been reported from a US navy warship, whose captain was removed from command, external for pleading with his superiors to do more to halt a coronavirus outbreak on board.

In a letter dated 30 March, Capt Brett Crozier of the USS Theodore Roosevelt had urged his superiors to act to prevent US troops dying outside of wartime.

There were at least 100 confirmed infections aboard the ship at the time. But now a report from NPR says that number has climbed to 400, while at least one sailor is in intensive care.

Around 2,700 crew members of the ship have disembarked - a little more than half the total crew.

Image source, Getty Images

If you're in the UK - perhaps just waking up after a lie-in - here are the latest headlines:

• Prime Minister Boris Johnson "must rest up" after he was moved out of intensive care, his father, Stanley Johnson, has said. Downing Street said on Thursday that the PM remained in hospital and was in "extremely good spirits"
• Brits are being told to stay home to have a "safe Easter" despite the warm weather. Shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds said he thought police had "got it about right" when it comes to enforcing social distancing measures
• Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick has defended his travel moves amid reports he flouted lockdown rules
• Prof Neil Ferguson, who worked on the government's coronavirus modelling, external, said he believed it would be "several more weeks" until it became clear whether restrictions could be lifted
• Prof Paul Cosford, Emeritus Medical Director for Public Health England, said that "isn’t unreasonable" but that he hopes it’s "sooner than that"
• Canterbury and York cathedrals are broadcasting services online over Easter, while online sales of Easter eggs are surging as UK consumers turn to the internet to buy chocolate during the lockdown

• A survey suggests 15% of people in the UK are finding it "extremely difficult" to cope

Image source, Getty Images

We've already seen that big cats can get coronavirus, after a tiger tested positive at a zoo in the US.

But what does that mean for great apes, the closest relatives to humans?

While we don't know for sure if they could get infected, vets and rangers in parts of Africa where the virus has been spreading are taking no chances.

Gorilla tourism has been suspended and sanctuaries for apes like orangutans are closed.

Read more from our Environment Correspondent Helen Briggs.

Laura Bicker
BBC News

South Koreans are proving their commitment to democracy - heading to the polls amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The two days of early voting ahead of the parliamentary elections next Wednesday have seen a record turn-out.

All voters must have their temperatures checked, and wear masks and gloves before casting their votes.

South Korea recorded 27 new cases on Friday, bringing the total tally to 10,450. The death toll also rose by four to 208 according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

But the city of Daegu, which was the epicentre of the country’s Covid-19 crisis, has reported no new cases of the virus for the first time.

• Prof Sir John Bell of Oxford University, a government adviser on life sciences, tells the BBC's Today programme he "wouldn't be surprised" if it were less than 10% of the UK population
• However, he says the data is "shaky" because researchers are only just starting to carry out complicated studies needed to work it out - so he wouldn't "hang his hat" on it
• Scientists are trying to work out which drugs currently used for other medical purposes could be valuable in the fight against Covid-19, he adds
• "The idea is not to do large, long controlled trials that might take years. The idea is to have a quick look, with a small number of patients, enough to see a very significant effect... and then move them into definitive trials," he says
• He adds that centres for swab-based testing have been set up by volunteers across the country, which could see testing capacity eventually increase to 200,000 a day - double the government's current target for the end of the month

Aparna Alluri
BBC News, Delhi

It's Day 17 of India's 21-day lockdown. And it's almost exactly the same as the last 16 days.

It's eerily quiet, except for the birds, and the garbage truck, which rolls around every morning around 8am, blasting an anthem from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "Clean India" campaign.

I don't remember hearing it in pre-corona times - but it works because people dash to the street to make sure they don't miss the pick-up.

Then there's the lookout for the neighbourhood vegetable vendor - whose arrival we cannot afford to miss because ordering in groceries is no longer the most convenient option. The occasional delivery does arrive but it's now "contactless" - they leave it at the door.

Narrow balconies in my neighbourhood, where people would rarely spend time before the lockdown, are the new place to hang out. That's where everyone gathered to clang pots and pans, and light lamps, as requested by Mr Modi.

It's also where I find my neighbours in the evenings, looking at me curiously as I walk past their houses to the now-empty neighbourhood park.