Zoe Thomas
Technology reporter

Image source, MARCO MASCORRO

A team in Colombia is to test a ventilator made with a Raspberry Pi computer and easy-to-source parts.

The design and computer code were posted online in March by a man in California, who had no prior experience at creating medical equipment.

Marco Mascorro, a robotics engineer, said he had built the ventilator because knew the machines were in high demand to treat Covid-19.

"I am a true believer that technology can solve a lot of the problems we have right now specifically in this pandemic," he told the BBC.

It's a modern-day Romeo and Juliet story.

An Italian couple have fallen for one another during lockdown in the city of Verona.

It was love at first sight , externalfrom the balconies of their neighbouring blocks of flats for Michele D’Alpaos, 38, and Paola Agnelli, 39 as they emerged to listen to music at 18:00 - a daily occurrence in Italy.

The live music was provided by Ms Agnelli’s sister, a professional violinist who lives with her and chose that day to play Queen’s We Are the Champions as neighbours applauded.

Paola told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I went out on to the balcony to watch my sister play her violin and I saw Michele standing on the opposite balcony. I realised he was my friend's brother and I said 'What a handsome man'.

"When the music was over I got a message on Instagram. It was from Michele and he said 'I could write a book called Love In The Time Of Coronavirus'.

"That night we wrote to one another until the early hours. We realised we shared the same values and that those would be a solid base for a relationship."

European countries have seen steep rises in cases and deaths, but slowing infection rates are raising hopes that strict social distancing measures are curbing the spread of the coronavirus.

Italy has the highest toll outside the US, with nearly 20,000 deaths so far, but recent data suggests the infection rate is slowing.

Spain's death toll is not far behind, on 17,500 - the third-highest of any country. There are now nearly 170,000 confirmed cases in Spain, but the rate of new cases is falling there as well.

A series of maps and charts tracking the spread of the virus since it emerged in China in December last year can be seen here.

Official data from Belgium shows the daily death toll there rose by 303 on Monday, bringing its recorded total to 3,903. The update includes deaths in care homes from people who were suspected of having the virus, but were not necessarily tested.

Though the number may seem small compared with other European nations, Belgium's population is only about 11.5 million. Germany has a population of about 83 million, and has recorded about 3,000 deaths in total - meaning proportionally, Belgium's death toll is closer to Spain and Italy per head of population.

Belgium has confirmed more than 30,000 cases since the outbreak began.

Image source, Getty Images

One consequence of the lockdown in the UK has been a surge of interest in home composting.

The Royal Horticultural Society says views of the relevant pages on its website were up nearly 500%, external in the last nine days of March compared with the whole of 2019.

This comes as more than a third of councils in England have stopped collecting garden waste.

The RHS said there was a similar increase in page views on its advice of how to divide perennials.

More than 2,550 new cases of coronavirus have been recorded in Russia in the past 24 hours - the country's largest daily rise in infections so far.

About 11,500 of the 18,328 people infected have been in the capital Moscow. There have been recorded 148 deaths.

Although Russia has a relatively low number of cases compared with many European countries, the government has introduced a range of measures to deal with the outbreak. A full lockdown has been imposed in most regions.

Read more about the government's response here.

Image source, AFP

"Look at the blood, look at how they're carrying a body. Oh my god."

Residents in Ecuador's largest city, Guayaquil, have been forced to keep the bodies of their relatives in their homes, sometimes for days, with authorities unable to keep up with the need to remove them

Images emerged last week of bodies left lying on the street, and many residents are still waiting to bury their loved ones. Some spoke to BBC Mundo.

(Warning: this video contains upsetting scenes).

World-renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma has been posting a series of mini-performances from home during the global lockdown.

Today's is Bach's Prelude to Cello Suite No 1, which he said had "seen me through times of stress, loss, joy, and transition".

The cellist has been posting his so-called #songsofcomfort, external since mid-March, saying he wanted to "share some of the music that gives me hope".

Image source, Reuters

You would be forgiven for thinking the coronavirus has not reached Nicaragua. Photos taken this weekend show people gathering for a festival and professional footballers playing a league game.

Figures from Sunday suggest there have been nine Covid-19 infections and one death in the country. What sets it apart from the rest of the region is the approach the government has taken to the pandemic.

While other leaders imposed strict restrictions on movement and closed borders, Vice-President Rosario Murillo told Nicaraguans to keep calm and carry on working.

The governing party - led by Murillo and her husband, President Daniel Ortega - has also convened mass gatherings. The Pan-American Health Organization expressed concern about "inadequate infection prevention and control”.

President Ortega, 74, was last seen on 12 March taking part in a conference call. His wife insists he is "here, working, directing, co-ordinating all the efforts", but there are no shortages of rumours about the president's health.

Image source, EPA

Washing your hands is still one of the most effective ways to prevent catching the virus. Here’s our 20-second explainer on the right technique.

Image source, Getty Images

Wearing facial protection will soon become normal, according to the World Health Organization's Covid-19 spokesman David Nabarro.

Speaking on Radio 4's Today programme, Nabarro said people had to come to terms with the new reality of living with the virus.

"This virus is not going to go away. We don't know whether people who have had the virus stay immune and we don't know when we will have a vaccine," he said.

"Some form of facial protection I am sure is going to become the norm, not least to give people reassurance. I think it will come because of what I am calling being Covid-19-ready."

Listen to the interview here.

Broadcast news crews normally have fully decked out studios or vans' worth of equipment in tow. But the coronavirus outbreak has changed the way many are working - and journalists are no exception.

The BBC's media editor Amol Rajan took a look at some of the ways covering news has changed since the pandemic began.

It is now three weeks since lockdown restrictions were brought in to curb the spread of coronavirus in the UK.

The restrictions have affected all aspects of life, with non-essential travel and public gatherings stopped, and the population urged to leave home only for exercise, to shop for basic items, for medical care, or when their work cannot be done at home.

Click here to read about six ways the lockdown has changed the UK.

Image source, Getty Images

Guy Hedgecoe
Freelance journalist

New Spanish data released on Monday showed 517 people had died in the previous 24 hours, compared with 619 recorded on Sunday. The number of new confirmed new cases also fell.

The figures came as Spain allowed builders, factory workers and others unable to work from home to return to work, provided they follow strict safety guidelines. It was a return to normality of sorts for some non-essential workers.

On the Madrid metro and at bus and railway stations, police handed out face masks to commuters. But even at rush hour, use of Madrid’s transport system was much lower than normal.

Antonio Álvarez, a self-employed manual worker, described it as a relief to be able to resume work on the digging of a swimming pool on a private property near the capital.

“I think the restrictions so far have worked. If they hadn’t implemented them it would have been disastrous,” he said.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, AFP

Singapore continues to see a steady increase of new confirmed cases. The latest figure from Sunday was 233 tests coming back positive. It's the second time in a week that new cases had spiked above 200 in the city state of less than 6 million people.

Singapore had long been a model of how meticulous contact-tracing seemed to keep the virus under control. For long, the main concern was not local transmission, but imported cases. By now though, the spread is local.

Many of the recent positive tests are from workers' dormitories. The number of residents testing positive is "likely to continue going up especially as we undertake more aggressive testing at the dormitories," the health ministry said.

Workers in affected dorms are being isolated, some even in floating accommodation off the coast. In many cases, entire dorms are under lockdown, affecting tens of thousands of workers who in normal times contribute to Singapore's strong economy.

Overall, Singapore has 2,532 confirmed cases while 8 deaths have been linked to Covid-19.

Image source, Reuters

Mike and Caroline McGee, the parents of Jenny McGee, one of the nurses thanked by Boris Johnson after he left hospital, spoke to TVNZ about their pride in their daughter's professionalism.

The UK prime minister said two nurses - Jenny from New Zealand and Luis from Portugal - stood by his bedside for 48 hours at the most critical time.

McGee told her parents it was the "most surreal time in her life", they said.

Johnson was admitted to St Thomas' Hospital in London on Sunday - 10 days after testing positive for Covid-19.

Read our full story here:

New Zealand nurse who treated Boris Johnson says it was 'surreal'

A former chief rabbi of Israel has died with Covid-19 - the highest profile death from the disease in the country.

Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron, 79, was chief rabbi of the Sephardi community - Jews or their descendants from the Iberian Peninsula, North Africa and the Middle East - from 1993 to 2003. He was noted, among other things, for his work in promoting interfaith dialogue.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Bakshi-Doron "served as a guide to all Israeli communities, in Israel and in the world".

Owing to social-distancing rules, police urged mourners not to attend Bakshi-Doron's funeral, which would normally have attracted large crowds.

Image source, Brian Hendler

Image source, AFP

Essential shops in many countries have been devising ways of keeping till staff and customers separate. You may have seen some sort of barrier in your own local food shop.

In Japan, some convenience stores have begun hanging plastic sheets at the tills to separate customers and workers.

"I actually feel safer," one Japanese customer told the Reuters news agency.

A state of emergency was declared last week in seven Japanese prefectures, including the capital Tokyo, with people requested to stay at home as much as possible.

According to figures released by state broadcaster NHK on Monday, there have been more than 7,400 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 137 deaths in Japan.

Image source, EPA

As Christians across Europe observe Easter Monday under lockdown, governments are slowly beginning to ease the restrictions. Here’s the latest news from Europe:

• In Spain, people in construction and manufacturing can now finally return to work – albeit under strict safety rules. All other workers must continue to stay at home. You can read more here
• President Emmanuel Macron of France will address the nation at 18:00 GMT. He’s expected to extend the lockdown until 10 May, although he’s also expected to sketch out how France can eventually end its restrictions
• Stay-at-home orders have cut the spread of the virus across the continent, but home isn’t always safe for some. Experts fear domestic abuse cases have skyrocketed in recent weeks
• And more than half of Germany’s 128,000 confirmed cases have now recovered, according to official data

Image source, Reuters

Germany now has more people who have recovered from coronavirus than active cases, officials say. Over the past 24 hours, there were 2,537 new positive tests, taking the total to 127,854. That's the fourth-biggest number in Europe, but just over 50% of those have recovered.

In Spain, 37% of the 166,831 people infected have recovered, in Italy 22% of 156,363, in France 21% of 133,670. In the UK 85,208 people have tested positive, but data on the recovery rate was not available.

Germany also has a lower mortality rate, which is attributed to widespread testing, so that among the positive tests are many patients with only mild symptoms.

Chancellor Angela Merkel and top state officials will meet on Monday to discuss a possible easing of the countrywide lockdown.