Frontliners are joining in with the applause tonight.

Nurses, doctors and paramedics are standing outside five hospitals across Surrey to thank everyone for staying at home and protecting the NHS.

The Mayor of London is calling for the city's residents to wear masks or face coverings whenever they leave the house.

UK public health advice doesn't recommend wearing masks at this stage.

But Sadiq Khan says he lobbied the UK government's chief scientific officer, Patrick Vallance, and chief medical officer, Chris Whitty, in a meeting in Downing Street earlier, calling for the change in advice.

He tells BBC London: “The evidence around the world is that this is effective, and I’m lobbying our government, our advisers to change their advice, and I want us to do that sooner rather than later”.

Image source, Reuters

And here we go, get clapping in the UK for your carers!

The weekly moment is for your public transport drivers, your shop assistants, your nurses, and all those helping in the crisis.

Image source, Reuters

UK readers - have your pots and pans at the ready for Clap for Carers!

In just five minutes, you should hear your neighbours clapping and banging for frontline staff risking their lives to help during the coronavirus outbreak.

Tune into BBC One if you want to watch the moment live, and we will bring you posts from here.

US First Lady Melania Trump has spoken to Carrie Symonds, the pregnant fiancée of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, according to the White House.

A statement says that during the call, the First Lady offered "well wishes" and "noted that the United States was praying for their speedy and full recoveries".

Johnson is continuing to recover from his coronavirus diagnosis, after spending several days in intensive care.

His fiancée was sick in bed with coronavirus symptoms for around a week before she recovered.

According to the White House: "Mrs Trump and Ms Symonds expressed optimism that the United States and the United Kingdom would get through this difficult period and emerge stronger than before."

Image source, Getty Images

Households across the UK will be taking to their doorsteps, balconies and windows again at 20:00 BST (19:00 GMT) as they make some noise for the frontline workers fighting the coronavirus.

It will be the fourth "clap for carers" event, as people across the country show their appreciation for all those putting their lives at risk by going to work during the crisis.

It has become a staple for Thursday nights in lockdown, and we will bring you the best bits from around the UK as communities far and wide clap their hands, hit their pots and pans, and beep their horns for shopworkers, bus drivers, doctors and everyone in-between.

Image source, Reuters

Stories continue to come in due to coronavirus, with the EU apologising to Italy over the outbreak and Russia cancelling its World War Two Victory Day parade.

Here’s the latest from Europe:

• EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen offers a “heartfelt apology” to Italy, saying “too many were not there on time" when the country "needed a helping hand”
• The latest data from Italy on Thursday shows the country’s death toll rising past 22,000, with 525 deaths in 24 hours - compared with 578 on Wednesday
• Russia postpones the planned Victory Day parade on 9 May to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the end of World War Two in Europe, after veterans raised fears participants could be at risk
• Switzerland becomes the latest EU country to ease its lockdown measures, with small businesses allowed to reopen from 27 April – provided they submit a health and safety plan first
• Social distancing remains in place in Switzerland, though, with the country reporting more than 26,000 cases and a recorded death toll of more than 1,200
• And from next week Slovenia will launch a random testing programme of its population in a bid to see the real extent of infections - with teams visiting about 1,500 people at their homes to administer antibody tests

Image source, Getty Images

Russian President Vladimir Putin has postponed the 9 May Victory Day parade because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The parade is held annually to commemorate the end of World War Two, with major plans for this year's event to mark the 75th anniversary.

Plans had included 15,000 troops marching in Moscow's Red Square, along with the latest missile equipment, and it was to be attended by various world leaders.

In an televised address to the nation, Putin said: "The risks associated with the epidemic, whose peak has not yet passed, are still extremely high".

Earlier this week, Russian war veterans wrote to the president, asking him to postpone the event.

Putin said it would be rearranged for later in the year with June, September and November as potential dates.

The Nasa engineers driving the Curiosity Rover across the surface of Mars are carrying on with their jobs - even though they're working from home.

Normally, the team use high-tech goggles to look at 3D photos of the terrain on Mars, then decide where it's safe for the rover to go.

But the goggles don't work away from Nasa HQ.

Now, they have started using old red-blue/green 3D glasses instead - and apparently, they work almost as well.

You can read more about their working from home mission here.

Image source, Nasa

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has said authorities are closely watching care homes for the elderly, which he called "the ground zero for this situation".

Giving his daily briefing, the governor said 606 people had died on Wednesday with the coronavirus, and 2,000 new infections were detected in the state.

Of the total, 577 people died in hospitals and 29 in elderly care homes. The daily death toll was down from 752 one day earlier.

Cuomo said individual businesses should assess their own ability to re-open, and whether they could do so without endangering the public as the pandemic continues. But, he said, until more testing was available there was little chance life could go back to normal.

New York state, which has about 20 million residents, conducted 500,000 tests in the previous 30 days, he said.

Image source, Reuters

France reports another 753 fatalities in 24 hours - bringing its total death toll to 17,920.

The country now has the fourth highest number of reported deaths from coronavirus in the world.

Jerome Salomon, head of the public health authority, says the total number of people in intensive care units fell for the eighth day in a row to 6,248 - the lowest point since 1 April.

The number of confirmed cases now stands at 108,847, up from 106,206 the previous day.

What is it like being separated from your family as your country goes through a lockdown?

BBC Scotland's Amy Irons meets Jill Haddow at a care home in Bridge of Weir, Renfrewshire - from a safe distance of course.

Image source, PA Media

The UK government has just confirmed it will extend lockdown measures by at least another three weeks across the country.

And they have the backing of their main opposition in Parliament.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer says his party “fully supports" the move, adding: "The government is right to do this."

But Sir Keir continued to push for the government to reveal its lockdown exit strategy, saying it would require “mass testing in the community” being ramped up to “hundreds of thousands, if not millions”.

The government has set a target of carrying out 100,000 tests a day by the end of April.

Sir Keir adds: "I hope they rise to the challenge. And we’ll support them if they can rise to the challenge.”

Jessica Parker
BBC political correspondent

It isn’t a surprise. But it is hugely significant for every single person in this country.

The lockdown measures will go on for at least another three weeks.

Ministers from devolved administrations across the UK have agreed that as a united way forward.

The PM’s deputy, Dominic Raab, said today that we’ve sacrificed too much to ease up now.

Ministers in Westminster have been very reluctant to talk about a future exit strategy for fear it could distract from the core "stay at home" message.

But Mr Raab - the UK's foreign secretary - did nod to how we could, in future, see measures relaxed in some areas, while potentially strengthening them in others.

That may not sound like a lot of detail, but it is possible to start tentatively piecing this exit strategy puzzle together.

It’s important to say things could change as more information comes to light.

But, as things stand, it seems that the route out of this will be staggered, gradual and cautious.

The government’s clear and ongoing priority will be to avoid overwhelming the NHS.

Increased testing will be an essential part of tackling the infection.

And all of this will take place as the country, and indeed the world, waits for what appears to be the ultimate way out - a vaccine.

The daily press conference was given by the first secretary of state, Dominic Raab, who is standing in for the prime minister as he continues his recovery from coronavirus.

He was joined by the chief medical officer, Prof Chris Whitty, and Sir Patrick Vallance, the government's chief scientific adviser. Here's what they told us:

• The rate of infection in the community is now likely to be below one (meaning on average each infected person passes the virus to fewer than one other people) - but it may be higher in other settings, such as care homes
• The UK's lockdown will continue for at least another three weeks, as the government aims to avoid a second peak in infections
• The number of new cases is stabilising, and perhaps starting to fall. The same is true of hospital admissions. This will only continue if the public continues with social distancing
• The government is conducting a review of whether people from non-white backgrounds are disproportionately affected by coronavirus, but it is not yet certain that this is the case
• The public should continue to use A&E for non-coronavirus emergencies, as there is adequate capacity

Philippa Roxby
Health reporter, BBC News

The thorny issue of masks has been raised again, with the UK’s top doctor Professor Whitty saying it’s far more important for healthcare and care workers to wear facemasks than anyone else.

The clear message is that people on the frontline are the priority when it comes to masks.

But scientific advisers are looking at the evidence on masks again.

There is evidence of “a small effect” from wearing masks, but the UK advice has always been that a mask is more useful to people with symptoms than those without – as well as those caring for people with the virus.

Philippa Roxby
Health reporter, BBC News

Professor Chris Whitty was asked about the apparent disproportionate impact of Covid-19 on black, Asian and ethnic minority (BAME) groups.

He said he had asked Public Health England to look at this “in detail” and report back.

More than a third of patients critically ill in hospital with the virus are from these backgrounds, research suggests.

But he said it was not yet clear why people from BAME communities were more likely to become ill with the virus and die from it.

Others have suggested they are more likely to be key workers or in low-paid jobs, which could put them in closer contact with the virus.

Some groups are also more likely to have underlying health conditions, such as diabetes and high blood pressure, which could be a factor.

Asked whether it will be "business as usual" with China after the end of the crisis, Dominic Raab says there "absolutely needs to be a very, very deep dive after the event".

He says there will be "a review of the lessons" and the UK government "can't flinch from that at all".

But he adds: "The one thing this has taught us is the value and importance of international cooperation."

The foreign secretary says he was on a call with other G7 leaders earlier and there were a lot of questions about the outbreak.

"But there has also been good cooperation with the Chinese on the return of UK nationals and the procurement of things," he adds.

"We need to look at all sides and do it in a balanced way.

"But we can't have business as usual, and have to ask hard questions about how the outbreak came about."

There's a question about what can be done to reduce cases in the North-West of England, and what might be driving an increase.

Prof Chris Whitty says case numbers in the region have been starting to "trend downwards recently," although the trend is not confirmed.

He adds that "quite a few" care home outbreaks have been seen in the region.

Sir Patrick Vallance, the UK’s chief scientific adviser, says the data shows all regions are on the "same sort of trajectory", and there is "more similarity than difference".