Singapore has recorded its highest daily spike so far with 386 new cases - the majority of which are foreign workers living in dormitories.

Several clusters have emerged across Singapore - with 586 cases linked to one migrant worker dormitory which was said to house workers in cramped conditions.

Officials are now working to move about 1,300 healthy workers out of these dorms and into "floating hotels" -the first batch of workers has now moved in. There will be two of these floating facilities - which can each take a few hundred people.

Authorities have said they will house two or three occupants to a room with sufficient space for safe distancing.

There are now 2,918 confirmed cases in the country and nine deaths.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT

For over two weeks now, the curve has been significantly flattening in Australia.

That’s led to chatter about when restrictions could be lifted, but Prime Minister Scott Morrison is urging the public not to be complacent.

In a round of morning TV interviews, he said we were still “many weeks” away from any relaxation of the rules and more "clusters" were likely to break out.

He referred to countries like Sweden and Singapore which saw a resurgence in infections last week, despite previous efforts which had appeared to bring the spread under control.

“If you take your eyes off this thing, [it] gets away from you,” he said.

Kerry Allen
BBC Monitoring, Chinese Media Analyst

Image source, EPA

Many Chinese people are anxious that foreigners entering the country could lead to a second wave of Covid-19. This has not been helped by extensive coverage of foreigners refusing to self-quarantine, criticising China’s strict controls, or refusing to wear masks in public.

Government media have highlighted where individuals have been deported, fired from their jobs, or forced to isolate after ignoring local orders. In one case, a man had his apartment fitted with an alarm system so the authorities knew if he tried to leave.

But as xenophobic attitudes have built up, the government has sought to reiterate that foreigners are "welcome", and has highlighted examples of cases where Chinese have tried to falsely report foreigners.

Local authorities have tried to bridge the language barriers and cultural differences by setting up various hotlines. In Shanghai, English-speakers can dial a hotline to enquire about masks, or the latest government procedures.

And the authorities are now also rolling out English-language material giving advice on “sleeping, diet and emotion management”, to benefit the “nearly 500,000 foreign experts working in China”.

As we've mentioned President Donald Trump has recently ended a combative press conference in which he defended his administration's handling of the pandemic.

The US is now the worst affected country globally.

In the same press conference he claimed he had "total" power to lift the country's lockdown, raising eyebrows.

Most US states have imposed stay-at-home orders, and while some are considering lifting them soon, others are holding fire.

But Mr Trump, who is keen to restart the US economy, said he could override state orders, contradicting what governors and constitutional scholars have said.

Watch him speaking at the press conference:

Some pet owners in the Middle East are abandoning their animals over fears they could spread coronavirus. That's despite there being no proof that pets have a significant role in spreading the disease.

The World Health Organization advises all pet owners to instead focus on good hygiene around their furry loved ones.

Peter Bowes
North America correspondent

Image source, AFP

US President Donald Trump has said he has no intention of firing one of his senior medical advisers, Anthony Fauci, after the infectious diseases expert said earlier mitigation efforts against the coronavirus outbreak could have saved more lives.

Trump told reporters at the White House that he liked Dr Fauci and that they had been on the same page about the viris "from the beginning.”

Speaking at the White House briefing, Dr Fauci said he’d been answering a hypothetical question when he told a TV interviewer that lives could have been saved. He’d been responding to media coverage that suggested Donald Trump hadn’t done enough to contain the virus. Dr Fauci made it clear that the President had listened to him when he recommended mitigation efforts that included strict social distancing guidelines.

During a sometimes contentious briefing, the US president played a video for reporters defending his administration's response to Covid-19.

As most of Asia begins to wake up, here's a quick look at what's happening around the region:

• China reported 89 new cases on Monday, down from 108 the day before. Of this, 79 were Chinese citizens who had travelled back from Russia, said broadcaster CCTV
• Singapore confirmed 386 more virus cases on Monday - its biggest daily jump so far, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 2,918
• India's prime minister Narendra Modi will be addressing the country at 10:00 local time. Local reports say he's likely to announce an extension of the ongoing nationwide lockdown due to end on Wednesday
• the streets of Thailand are unusually quiet, despite the fact that the country is currently celebrating its traditional new year - Songkran. Typically, this is celebrated with massive water fights across the country

Image source, EPA

Good morning. Australians are hearing largely good news after a four-day Easter long weekend where case rates dipped again.

Authorities are generally praising people for staying inside and following restrictions. But Prime Minister Scott Morrison says there are still “many weeks” of the lockdown to come in order to prevent further outbreaks.

One cluster occurred at a hospital on the island state of Tasmania at the weekend after 49 people became infected when medical staff attended an “illegal dinner party”.

States are again ramping up their testing capabilities, with New South Wales announcing people will be able to receive their results within a day.

And treasury modelling showed the unemployment rate would have tripled to 15% had the government not brought in a A$132bn (£67bn; $85bn) wage subsidy programme.

Welcome back to our rolling coverage of the global pandemic. We'll keep you up to date on developments worldwide, writing from Singapore, Delhi, Sydney and across Asia and later we'll be joined by our colleagues in Europe and the US.

Here’s what you need to know this Tuesday morning.

• The number of globally confirmed infections is edging towards 2 million
• US President Donald Trump has defended his administration’s response to the pandemic, saying that "everything we did was right".
• New York state's death toll passed 10,000, but Governor Andrew Cuomo said hospital admissions appear to be levelling off.
• India and Pakistan are planning to partially reopen their economies to cushion the impact of the containment measures.
• Singapore has seen another big spike in positive tests, mainly linked to construction workers living in dorms.
• While Spain has begun lifting the lockdown for some businesses, France has extended its measures until 11 May.