At the briefing, President Trump said a number of US states - led by both Democrat and Republican governors - had already announced "concrete steps to begin a safe, gradual and phased opening".

He said Texas and Vermont would allow certain businesses to open on 20 April, while Montana would begin lifting restrictions on 24 April.

Ohio, North Dakota and Idaho had advised non-essential businesses to prepare for a phased opening starting on 1 May.

Trump has continued with his rant against the media, and specifically New York Times journalist Maggie Haberman, for an article she wrote about White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.

“So Maggie Haberman gets a Pulitzer Prize,” he said, “she’s a third-rate reporter.

“And because we exposed her as being a bad reporter, what happened is she came out and said Mark Meadows was crying.

“And they made it sound - I said Mark, and it’s okay if he did... I think he was crying, probably really for the wrong reason they had it down.

“But he’s not a crier. And if he was I - look, I could tell you people that I know that are very famous. They cry. And that’s okay too.

“And the New York Times is a very dishonest newspaper. That’s my opinion. It’s not an opinion, it’s actually from my standpoint.”

Maggie Haberman has responded to the president's remarks on Twitter.

At his press conference, President Trump defended his administration's response to the outbreak, saying that China had a higher death rate than the US.

According to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University, America has a far higher death toll - 37,938, compared with 4,636 in China.

But the death rate in China current stands at 5.5%, one percentage point higher than that of the US.

Trump has once again taken aim at the media, this time calling for New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman to have her Pulitzer Prize revoked.

“I even read a story where Mark Meadows, a tough guy, he was crying,” he said. “This was Maggie Haberman, you know, she won a Pulitzer Prize for her coverage of Russia, but she was wrong on Russia. So was everyone else. They should all give back their Pulitzer Prizes.”

Haberman was amongst the staff of the New York Times and Washington Post which won the National Reporting Pulitzer Prize in 2018 for their reporting on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and its ties to the Trump campaign.

“In fact, it turned out that the crime was committed by the other side,” Trump said. “The crime was not committed by this side, it was committed by the other side, a bunch of bad people. You saw the reports coming out over the last two weeks. They got caught.”

Trump has reiterated his claim that the previous US administration left his government with a small stockpile of ventilators.

“Our cupboards were bare," he said. "We had very little in our stockpile, now we’re loaded up."

He went on to say that the government "loaded up" hospitals, and then made a series of comments about how they would agree terms for payment for the goods they were sent.

"We gave billions of dollars worth of things to hospitals," he said. "We’ll have to work that out at some point. In fact, I guess they’re going to be working that out with Congress.

“But we loaded up hospitals, the federal government loaded up hospitals with things to take care of people that are very desperately ill - we weren’t worried about payment at that time. We said you’ll take care of it at the right time.

“But we gave billions and billions and billions of dollars of medical goods and medicines and equipment to hospitals, and we’ll work it out with them.

“But people don’t like to talk about that."

Mark Savage
Music reporter, BBC News

Image source, Global Citizen

French pop star Christine + The Queens used her moment on the Together At Home concert to talk about the mental health issues people have been facing in isolation.

"It’s really strange," said the singer. "It’s all about screens now and no human contact, and I know it can be draining emotionally. It’s the fourth week here in France and it’s been quite intense.

"I know it’s hard [but] don’t hesitate to reach out to people virtually if you feel down," she said.

She went on to play People, I've Been Sad - a vulnerable and intimate single that shared her own struggles with happiness - in one of the night's most affecting performances so far.

Trump has opened his press conference by focusing on discussing the numbers "per capita".

“In Louisiana, Massachusetts and other hot spots,” he said, “we have tested more people per capita so far than all other major countries, so think of that.”

He said that in New York, per capita testing was 6% higher than in Singapore - before clarifying: “in fact, there’s a typo. It’s 67%. Good job out there.”

Speaking about the production of tests and ventilators, Trump said he inherited "broken junk".

"We assembled an army of young, brilliant geniuses," he said, to get ventilators produced. "They did a job like nobody could believe. Round the clock.

"And now the rest of the world is coming to us asking if we can help them with ventilators.

"If there was a surge, we could have ventilators [to the states] within hours."

Mark Savage
Music reporter, BBC News

Image source, Global Citizen

The Killers joined the One World: Together At Home concert to play a stripped-back version of Mr Brightside, with Brandon Flowers accompanied on guitar Ronnie Vannuci Jr (more usually seen behind the drum kit).

"We wanted to express our gratitude and show some appreciation and support for people on the front lines, whether that be hospitals or clinics or supermarkets," said Flowers.

"And the teachers out there - God bless you."

Image source, Global Citizen

Pop star Charlie Puth played See You Again - originally written as a tribute to Fast and the Furious actor Paul Walker - but which took on new significance amidst the lockdown.

A similar sentiment was shared by Indian-American singer Lisa Mishra, who dedicated her performance "to all the lovers who are away from each other right now".

Meanwhile Jessie J encouraged fans to "let the inner diva out" sing along to with her rendition of Flashlight - unless they didn't know the words and might irritate someone they're living with.

The concert continues until 02:00 GMT, and is streaming on YouTube, Amazon Prime, Twitter, Facebook, Twitch and many other services.

We are underway at the White House as President Donald Trump gives his daily coronavirus task force update.

Trump opened his press conference by stating that, on a per capita basis, the US has seen fewer deaths than some other countries.

"Our mortality rate is far lower than other nations of Western Europe," he said, "with the lone exception of possibly Germany.

"This includes the UK, Switzerland, Belgium, France. Spain has a mortality rate which is nearly four times that of the United States.

"When the fake news gets out there and starts saying the US is number one... we’re not number one, China is number one. It’s not even close. You know it, I know it, they know it."

Helier Cheung
BBC News, Washington DC

In the US, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended that people wear cloth masks or face coverings in public, which help reduce transmissions from asymptomatic carriers.

Some parts of the country have gone further - in Washington DC, for example, the mayor has issued an order , externalsaying that all people entering supermarkets or food halls must wear face coverings, and observe social distancing. All retail food sellers are required to post notices outside asking customers to cover their faces, and limit the number of people in store.

At one local grocery store, I also saw a sign urging customers to "only touch items that you plan to purchase".

Mark Savage
Music reporter, BBC News

Image source, Global Citizen

Pop star Annie Lennox appeared to address Donald Trump's threat to pull funding from the World Health Organisation as she joined the One World: Together At Home concert.

"In this unprecedented moment in history we have a collective responsibility to make sure that global health systems are strong enough to identify and prevent future pandemics before they happen again," said the singer, although she didn't mention the US president by name.

"Be safe. Be well. And please, stay home," she added, before playing the Eurythmics' 1999 hit single I Saved the World Today.

Image source, Fifa/YouTube

• Some of football's most well-known faces - including Pele, Diego Maradona and David Beckham - take part in a collective round of applause for healthcare staff across the world, as part of a new video campaign, external launched by the sport's governing body Fifa
• World Rugby boss Sir Bill Beaumont says he is confident a revised Nations Championship - a revolutionary new competition - will be launched in the aftermath of the pandemic
• India plans to launch a domestic tennis circuit from July to support its players who are struggling financially during the sport’s shutdown due to the Covid-19 outbreak
• Manchester City's Raheem Sterling is one of a host of players set to test their Fifa 2020 video games skills in the inaugural ePremier League Invitational knockout tournament, which starts next week
• By the way you can take part in BBC Sport's Quarantine quiz by clicking here

Image source, Getty Images

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced that the Canada-US land border will remain closed to non-essential travel for an additional 30 days.

The current closure was set to expire on Tuesday.

“This is an important decision and one that will keep people on both sides of the border safe," he said.

It has been another busy day of news in the US. Here are the highlights:

• More protests are being arranged with people calling for an end to the lockdown. Facebook pages are calling for gatherings in Maryland, Wisconsin, Virginia and Pennsylvania. It is unclear how many people will attend. The four groups have more than 100,000 members combined

• New York governor Andrew Cuomo criticised the protesters. "Everyone wants to reopen," he said. "You don’t have to hold up a placard saying it. The tension is how fast can you reopen without raising the infection rate."
• And a national helpline in the US has seen a dramatic increase in people getting in touch - an 891% increase in calls

The One World: Together At Home music show, external is into the third of its eight hours. It will feature 100 artists singing in several different languages.

Puerto Rican Luis Fonsi, widely known for the summer classic Despacito, Honk Kong's Eason Chan, Indian-American Lisa Mishra and Emirati Hussain Al Jassmi have already performed .

Sir Elton John, Rolling Stones and Billie Eilish are coming up. Lady Gaga, who helped organise the concert, will also perform.

The event run by the Global Citizen movement and the World Health Organization (WHO) is being live-streamed and broadcast on TV.

Image source, Global Citizen

US President Donald Trump's White House coronavirus task force briefing is slated to begin soon.

The conference is due to start at 17:00 EDT (22:00 BST) - although typically these briefings rarely start on time. We'll give you updates as they come.

Ever since Spain's prime minister imposed nationwide restrictions on movement on 14 March, children have had to stay indoors. It is among the strictest lockdowns in Europe with only adults allowed out to visit their nearest supermarket or pharmacy or for essential work.

The country has seen 20,000 deaths in one of the biggest outbreaks of Covid-19 in the world.

Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau pleaded with the government this week with the message: "Free our children."

Now PM Pedro Sánchez has given children some hope. From 27 April he has said children will be allowed outside but the measure is stlil being finalised and may involve under-12s only.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Global Citizen

We are more than an hour into the unique One World: Together At Home music event, external which will see more than 100 artists including the Rolling Stones and Billie Eilish play live from their homes.

The eight-hour marathon is being held to support frontline workers tackling the coronavirus outbreak.

Proceeds generated from the concert will go to the Covid-19 Solidarity Response Fund for the WHO, although musician Lady Gaga, who helped organise the event, said the show was not a fundraising telethon.

We have already seen Liam Payne - formerly of One Direction - and The Killers perform.

Image source, Global Citizen

The president of the UN General Assembly also joined the One World: Together At Home concert with a video message thanking essential workers.

"Today we stand together as one world to thank our healthcare workers and frontline essential community workers," Tijjani Muhammad-Bande said.

"You embody the very best of humanity by caring for the most vulnerable in our communities, often at great personal sacrifice."

Image source, Getty Images

Beaches and parks in Jacksonville, Florida, have reopened amidst calls for states to ease the lockdown measures in place.

Duval County, where Jacksonville is located, has recorded 817 cases of coronavirus with 15 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Despite the images of crowds on the beach, the City of Jacksonville tweeted the public space should be used for "exercise only".

Image source, Global Citizen

"This time in history is strange," US singer and songwriter Adam Lambert said, before performing Mad World for the One World: Together At Home concert.

"We all know that we're here to flatten the curve, we're trying to get through this thing - and we will get through this thing."

Rita Ora followed by singing Lonely Together, before host Jamila Jameel returned

"We're gathering together now because this is a time for hope, this is the time to act to ensure this never happens again," she said. "We have to build stronger healthcare systems, we have to support nurses and frontline workers."