We continue to see China reporting mostly imported cases for another day.

Of the 46 new cases on Tuesday, 36 were imported from overseas.

The 10 remaining cases were locally transmitted - with the northern border province of Heilongjiang accounting for eight of them.

Today's numbers however, are lower than yesterday's reported 86 imported cases - 79 of which were imported cases in Heilongjiang.

China has recently seen a rise in imported cases as infected Chinese nationals returned from the border with Russia. It's now closed the border with Russia at Suifenhe, a city in Heilongjiang but this might have come too late.

China says Russia has become its largest source of imported cases, with a total of 409 of its infections coming from Russia. There are now 82,295 cases nationally.

Voters across South Korea are streaming into polling booths this morning for National Assembly elections, decked out in tightly fitted masks and plastic gloves.

Here are some scenes from polling centres in the country:

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Virus cases across South Korea continue to remain low, with less than 30 cases recorded for the third day in the row, says Yonhap News.

The 27 new cases on Tuesday brings the country's confirmed number of cases to 10,591.

You've surely seen your fair share of celebrities giving their two cents on the virus pandemic. But are they really still relevant in a crisis like this?

Psychologist Donna Rockwell is an expert on celebrity culture and she takes us through the good and bad.

Here are the latest updates from your region:

• South Korea is going ahead with National Assembly elections, despite the outbreak, but strict hygiene measures are being carried out to minimise the risk of infection

• Taiwan has reported no new coronavirus cases for the first time in more than a month - a sign that its early prevention methods are working
• in Singapore however, the number of cases continue to rise, with 334 cases reported on Tuesday, bringing the national total to 3,252
• India extended its nation-wide lockdown until 3 May, and we are waiting to hear more details of how strict it will be today
• and China has approved early-stage human tests for two experimental vaccines as it struggles to deal with a growing number of imported cases, many of which are Chinese citizens returning from Russia

Image source, Moore family

With everyone confined to their homes in the UK, it's easy for a sense of helplessness to set in.

But 99-year-old Tom Moore has managed to keep himself busy with the extraordinary feat of attempting 100 laps of his garden, to raise money for the National Health Service.

Even more impressively, after his determination got national and global attention, he has already raised more than $5m (£4m).

Mr Moore had hoped to complete the 100 laps of the 25-metre (82ft) loop in his garden before his 100th birthday at the end of the month - but has now said he'll just keep going.

"When you think of who it is all for - all those brave and super doctors and nurses we have got - I think they deserve every penny, and I hope we get some more for them too," he said.

Image source, AFP

Thailand has exetended its flight ban to 30 April, local media are reporting. There are some exceptions though, for instance repatriation and other virus related flights, or state and military aircraft.

It's the third time the flight ban has been pushed further. Whoever arrives on the few flights exempt from the ban will have to serve a 14-day quarantine.

Thailand has 2,613 confirmed infections and 41 deaths have been linked to Covid-19.

As we've mentioned, President Trump has said he will suspend US funding of the World Health Organization (WHO) while a review takes place into what he called the "severe mismanagement" of the crisis.

The new coronavirus - as we now know it - was reported to the WHO on 31 December. Here's a quick timeline of selected WHO action in the following month:

• 4 January: Notes the outbreak on social media for the first time, referring to it as a "cluster of pneumonia cases"
• 5 January: Publishes first outbreak news, external, with "no evidence of significant human-to-human transmission"
• 10 January: Publishes first travel advice, with "no international restrictions recommended", external
• 14 January: WHO's technical lead for the response says there may have been limited human-to-human transmission, external
• 20-21 January: WHO regional experts "conduct a brief field visit to Wuhan"
• 22 January: Field visit statement, external "suggests that human-to-human transmission is taking place in Wuhan"
• 22-23 January: WHO emergency committee fails to reach consensus on "whether the outbreak constituted a public health emergency of international concern"
• 24 January: Second travel advice published, external, which notes upcoming Chinese New Year but "advises against the application of any restrictions of international traffic"
• 27 January: Third travel advice published, external, which advises "measures to limit the risk of exportation...without unnecessary restrictions of international traffic"
• 28 January: Senior WHO delegation led by the director general meets Chinese leadership in Beijing, external
• 30 January: Emergency committee reconvenes and declares public health emergency of international concern

Image source, AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT/FACEBOOK

• New South Wales state has announced a public inquiry into the Ruby Princess cruise ship, which allowed sick passengers to disembark in Sydney last month. The ship is the source of 18 virus deaths, over 600 cases and is also facing a separate police investigation.
• As school resumes in some states, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has put out a video on Facebook urging teachers to return to classrooms. Schools are controversially still open but state authorities - contradicting Canberra - have advised parents to teach their children at home if they can.
• And Australia will see its economy shrink significantly this year – a 6.7% contraction says the International Monetary Fund - which makes it one of the worst- hit nations in the Asia-Pacific region.

A European island off the coast of Estonia has been labelled by locals as "corona island" after becoming a hotspot for the virus and being placed into strict quarantine.

The first Covid-19 cases on the island of Saaremaa emerged a month ago after a sports event was held there with a team from Italy. Now, health officials estimate that half of the island's population has contracted the virus.

Watch our video on how the island is coping, and responding, to the outbreak:

Image source, AFP

In another grim milestone, the deaths of 126,539 people have now been linked to Covid-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.

The highest toll is in the US with 25,992 deaths, followed by Italy (21,067), Spain (18,255), France (15,729) and the UK (12,107).

China, where the pandemic began has officially reported 3,345 deaths linked to the virus.

Image source, Getty Images

New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has just announced she and other government ministers will take a 20% pay cut for six months.

Ardern said the move was in solidarity with those who had lost their jobs, suffered pay cuts or were relying on wage subsidies.

"If there was ever a time to close the gap between different positions, it's now," she said.

"This is where we can take action."

Ardern earns a base salary of NZ$470,000 (£226,000; $285,000). The salaries of public sector bosses and other politicians will also be cut, she said.

The NZ PM has so far been praised globally for her empathetic leadership and swift action to enact a full lockdown early into the virus' spread in New Zealand.

New Zealand's economy is set to suffer a significant 7.2% hit this year, the International Monetary Fund has estimated.

Image source, AFP

Singapore has seen yet another spike in positive tests. Over the past day, 334 new infections have been confirmed, taking the total beyond 3,000. The city of 5.6m people also had its 10th death linked to Covid-19.

Singapore previously looked like it was in control with more imported infections than local transmission. Since last week though, local cases have skyrocketed.

Many of the clusters are among foreign workers who live in often cramped conditions in large dormitories. Many of the dorms are now under lockdown and some workers are being moved to floating accommodation offshore.

Authorities have now further tightened the already widespread restrictions to curb the spread. Residents will now have to wear a mask at all times outside their homes.

Last week, the government brought in a so called circuit breaker, closing all non-essential business and asking people to stay at home except for essential outtings.

Breach of the new regulations coming into effect on Thursday will result in hefty fines which Singapore is known to aggressively enforce.

Taiwan has recorded no new virus cases for the first time in 36 days on Tuesday, a sign that its early prevention methods are working.

There are currently 393 cases on the island that is home to around 23 million people.

"For the first time since March 9, I am happy to say that we recorded no new cases. The pandemic has not stopped so we shouldn't let our guard down, but this is something to be happy about," said its health minister Chen Shih-chung.

Taiwan was quick to identify, isolate and trace contacts of confirmed cases. Its success comes as a handful of other countries across Asia are struggling to deal with a second wave of virus cases.

To celebrate, Taipei's famous Grand Hotel lit up to form the words "Zero":

The other big story we're watching today is President Donald Trump saying the US will stop funding the World Health Organization (WHO) while "a review is conducted to assess the World Health Organization's role in severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus".

The US is the WHO's biggest single funder, providing $400m (£316m) last year - just under 15% of its total budget.

"Had the WHO done its job to get medical experts into China to objectively assess the situation on the ground and to call out China's lack of transparency, the outbreak could have been contained at its source with very little death," he said.

It has since been pointed out that Mr Trump praised China's "efforts and transparency" in a tweet in January.

The UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, said it was not the time to reduce the WHO's funding.

• Read more about Mr Trump's news conference here.

It's an election unlike any other.

Voters must come wearing masks and stand at least 1m apart. They will have their temperature taken, disinfect their hands and wear plastic gloves.

Only then will they be given their voting slip and be allowed to head into the booth to cast their ballot.

South Korea's parliamentary vote kicked off this morning, with some 43.9 million voters in the country eligible to cast their ballots.

South Korea has never postponed an election. Even during the Korean War in 1952, the presidential elections went ahead.

"This is about our right to vote," one person waiting in line told the BBC's Laura Bicker.

"Voting is something we must do," another said.

Find out what it takes to hold an election during a virus outbreak here.

Image source, EPA

Good morning from our Singapore bureau and welcome to our rolling coverage. Together with colleagues from across Asia and Australia we’ll be keeping you up to date on the global virus pandemic and later will be joined by our teams in Europe and the US.

Here’s what you need to know so far this morning.

• Voters are heading to the polls in South Korea, one of the countries that has best managed its coronavirus outbreak.
• US President Donald Trump says the US will halt funding to the World Health Organization, accusing the body of failing to properly warn the world.
• India has extended its nation-wide lockdown until 3 May.
• Pakistan announced a two-week extension to its shutdown, but said some industries would reopen in phases.
• In Europe, Italy has seen the smallest daily rise in new infections for more than a month, although the daily death toll remains high.