Image source, EPA

A lot has been happening in Africa. To catch you up, here are the latest headlines:

• Cyril Ramaphosa, South African president and chairman of the African Union, has called for aid for Africa from the G20 group of nations. He said that the global recession likely to follow the pandemic would hit African countries "particularly hard"
• He has also announced that 70,000 extra troops will be deployed to help enforce the country's lockdown
• Ramaphosa earlier announced an economic relief package worth $26bn (£21bn) intended to protect companies and three million workers in South Africa. He said the assistance amounted to 10% of the country's entire GDP
• Governors of 19 northern Nigerian states have shut down all traditional Koranic schools, sending home an estimated nine million children
• South Africa's Communication Minister Stella Ndabeni has been fined 1,000 rand ($53; £42) for breaking the country's lockdown rules. She was previously placed on two months' administrative leave and had issued a public apology
• A number of African countries are among those at risk of famine this year as a result of the pandemic, the World Food Programme (WFP) has warned. They include DR Congo, Ethiopia and South Sudan

For all the latest headlines from the continent you can follow our Africa live page here.

We've heard from Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab at Wednesday's Downing Street briefing.

He was joined by the government's Chief Medical Adviser Professor Chris Whitty and the Chief of the Defence Staff, General Sir Nick Carter.

Here are some of the key developments:

• The UK should not expect a "sudden" decline in the number of cases, Prof Whitty said
• Social-distancing measures could be needed for "quite a long period of time", the chief medical officer added
• Mr Raab warned that lifting the measures too soon risked a second wave of cases and more economic pain
• The development of a "highly effective" vaccine or drug could be the only solution but Prof Whitty warned one was unlikely to arrive in the next calendar year

• He also said he was hopeful an antibody test - or a "have I had the virus already?" test - could be available in the "pretty near future"
• Meanwhile, the head of the Army, Gen Sir Nick Carter, said the military, NHS and government were working on a "very sophisticated" system to distribute more tests and PPE to the front line
• Gen Sir Nick said these plans involved a move to "upscale" mobile testing units, which he compared to mobile libraries
• He said doing so was the "greatest logistical challenge" he had ever faced in his 40-year career

These updated graphics offer some idea of the situation across the UK:

Image source, Getty Images

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has criticised the Chinese government and the World Health Organization (WHO) over the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.

"We strongly believe the Chinese Communist Party did not report the outbreak of the new coronavirus in a timely fashion to the World Health Organization," Pompeo told reporters.

Pompeo said there were very clear expectations about nations needing to "disclose data to protect global health".

He said China did not share all the information it had and instead "covered up how dangerous the disease is" and "censored those who tried to warn the world".

"The WHO's regulatory arm clearly failed during this pandemic," he added.

"Transparency and getting it right is critical to saving lives."

The US administration has said it will withdraw funding from the WHO, but officials at Mr Pompeo's briefing said it would not take back money that had already been given to the WHO.

Want to know more? Our Reality Check team fact-checked President Trump's criticisms of the WHO.

Image source, Getty Images

Lucha Libre wrestlers are known for their big personalities, flamboyant costumes and distinctive masks that conceal their identities.

One iconic fighter is even said to have been buried wearing his mask.

But now that coronavirus measures in Mexico have halted most spectator sport and shut non-essential businesses, fighters need to find other ways to pay the bills.

With materials and sewing machines already on hand for their wrestling costumes, several have pivoted to sewing and selling protective face masks - using the design of legendary fighters of course.

Read more (and see more pictures) here.

There were protesters outside the New York state capitol as Governor Andrew Cuomo gave his daily update. A reporter told Cuomo the demonstrators said they were not receiving unemployment funds and could not feed their families.

Similar anti-lockdown protests have occurred across the US, with demonstrators often quoting President Donald Trump's line that "the cure cannot be worse than the disease".

Cuomo responded: "How can the cure be worse than the illness if the illness is potential death?"

He said emotional stress, economic hardships, even rising domestic violence are all "very bad, but not death".

"You're now responsible for my life," he said, adding: "What if it was your family that might get infected?"

The governor also promised unemployment payments would be coming in "a couple of days".

"You wanna go to work? Go take a job as an essential worker," Cuomo suggested.

Read more on US lockdown protests:

• What's behind the coronavirus lockdown protests?
• The moment a man in scrubs confronts protesting drivers

Image source, Getty Images

The panel at the UK government's daily press briefing (which concluded a few minutes ago) was asked about a new app being tested that would make contact tracing of those exposed to the virus much easier.

David Hughes, from the Press Association, asked them how important the app - which people will be able to download on their phones and will be voluntary - could be in preventing a second wave of infections, and whether the army would have a role in its roll-out.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said it could have a "significant impact" on helping the UK ease out of the current restrictions and move onto the "next phase".

Prof Whitty, the UK's chief medical adviser, emphasised the importance of greater contact tracing and testing as "early as possible" in the incubation period of the virus to prevent further "resurgences".

Asked whether the Nightingale hospital in Bristol would be needed, Prof Chris Whitty said England's south-west, where the city is located, was "probably least" affected.

He added that the Nightingale field hospitals rapidly set up around the UK had in general not been needed to be used in "great numbers".

But he said the NHS would be under pressure for "really quite a long time" and having the extra capacity gave the health service "flexibility".

Nick Triggle
Health Correspondent

UK Chief Medical Adviser Prof Chris Witty acknowledged deaths in care homes reported so far “will be an underestimate”.

On Tuesday, the Office for National Statistics reported there had been 826 deaths in care homes linked to coronavirus in the week up to 10 April.

But what was striking was that there were many more extra deaths where the cause seemed unexplained.

There were around 5,000 deaths in care homes during that week - twice the normal number.

That leaves around 1,700 extra deaths. The suspicion is that a number of coronavirus deaths are going under-reported because a lack of tests means it is difficult for doctors to be sure if the virus is playing a role when filling in death certificates.

The briefing has now ended. There was a question about whether UK citizens would be the first to receive a successful vaccine developed in the country. You might remember that a human trial is beginning in the UK this week.

Prof Chris Whitty, the UK government’s chief medical adviser, said the matter was a "commercial question".

But he said the UK would want to get any vaccine, whether it is developed in the UK or overseas, "as fast as we can".

He cautioned, though, that the chances of a vaccine or "highly effective" drug treatments arriving within a calendar year were "incredibly small".

The Sun's Tom Newton Dunn asked what advice ministers were getting from scientists on face masks and whether they recommend people travelling to work tomorrow morning should wear them?

Dominic Raab said the Sage advisory committee recently discussed the issue but had not yet reported back to ministers. Until it does, the advice that masks are not necessary "will not change".

Prof Whitty, the chief medical adviser, was asked about the medical criteria for relaxing the lockdown.

In response, Prof Whitty hit a fairly downbeat note, saying the transmission rate - known as the R number - could not be allowed to rise above one again as that would quickly lead from "bad to really bad numbers". The R number signifies how many other people one infected person is expected to pass the virus on to.

He warned the virus would "not be eradicated or disappear" any time soon and the UK would have to live with it for some time yet.

There's a question about whether a reported increase in railway services for mid-May is an indication of when the lockdown measures will be eased.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab says the reports are "not something I recognise".

He is also asked whether the NHS surcharge paid by non-EU citizens will be waived for the family members of healthcare workers.

The charge is due to be extended to EU citizens at the end of the post-Brexit transition period.

Mr Raab does not respond to the question directly, but says the government is determined to "look after staff in every way possible".

Gen Sir Nick Carter is asked about testing - an issue that has dogged the government for weeks.

He says the military is working with the government and the NHS to create a "very sophisticated" system to ramp up testing across the country.

Part of this will involve a move to "upscale" mobile testing units, which he compares to pop-up libraries. He says the system must "match demand to supply in the right way".

Currently only about 20,000 tests are being carried out each day, despite ministers promising 100,000 a day by the end of April.

The government says there is now capacity for 40,000 tests but demand has fallen short. But the Labour Party says many workers have struggled to get to testing sites during the lockdown.

Asked whether the army is being underused, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab says the government is "considering what more can be done" with the armed forces.

Chief of Defence Staff General Sir Nick Carter says the army has deployed "all that we need to deploy at this stage".

He adds that soldiers working alongside healthcare workers will receive protective kit in the same way.

Prof Chris Whitty, the UK government’s chief medical adviser, is also asked about blood tests to tell people whether they've had the virus - these are not yet available in the UK.

He says there have been issues developing a reliable test, but he hopes there will be one in the "pretty near future".

Read this if you want more context on the different kinds of tests.

Sky's political editor Beth Rigby asks when the government will deliver on its promises to get protective kit to frontline workers and about the prospect for modest relaxations of the current lockdown, at the government's next review in early May.

On the lockdown, Mr Raab says there is "light at the end of the tunnel" and the UK is coming through the peak - but he adds we "are not done yet" and the government will be guided by its five tests. (Read more about those here.)

On PPE, Prof Whitty says he is no expert but concedes that supplies have been "tight for different items at different times".

While there have been big logistical challenges, he says the NHS has never "gone underwater" - a reference to running out of key items.

The first question is from the BBC's Alison Holt.

She refers to suggestions that English care home deaths could be double the number originally thought.

She asks Dominic Raab, who is leading this briefing, whether so many deaths is an inevitable outcome in an elderly and vulnerable population.

Mr Raab says no and insists the government is "straining every sinew" to minimise the loss of life.

He accepts that care home residents are vulnerable but says the government is doing everything it can, in terms of providing kit and testing residents and staff, to help them through the crisis.

Pressed further by Alison Holt on reported PPE shortages and testing shortfalls, Mr Raab insists the "situation is improving".

Prof Whitty says the number of deaths in care homes, which many say have been consistently under-reported, have been "relatively modest" so far but concedes the mortality rate will sadly be high.

On Tuesday, figures published by the Office for National Statistics suggested there had been 975 coronavirus deaths in care homes in England by 10 April.

But today the government said the number of deaths in the five days following 10 April could be double that.

Image source, Reuters

At the World Health Organization's briefing, its head has warned that although epidemics in Western Europe "appear to be stable or declining", there are still "worrying upward trends in Africa, Central and South America, and Eastern Europe".

"Make no mistake - we have a long way to go, this virus will be with us for a long time," director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

He said that while people are "understandably frustrated" with stay-at-home orders, "one of the greatest dangers we face now is complacency".

"The world will not and cannot go back to the way things were," Dr Tedros added. "There must be a new normal, a world that's healthier, safer and better prepared."

Image source, Downing Street

Prof Chris Whitty, the UK government’s chief medical adviser, says the drop in transport usage during the UK lockdown remains "very stable".

He adds that the number of people in hospital beds is either "improving" or "broadly flat", while UK deaths are "flattening off".

But, unveiling the new slide shown above with a rolling 7-day comparison of global deaths, he says based on other countries the UK should not expect a "sudden" decline in numbers.

For context, the UK hit a peak of 980 deaths in hospitals on 10 April. The latest increase, reported hours ago, was 759 deaths.

We are now hearing from the head of the UK's armed forces - General Sir Nicholas Carter - who is making his first appearance at these briefings.

The military has been helping in the distribution of protective kit to frontline services, delivering mobile testing labs and building emergency field hospitals.

Gen Sir Nicholas Carter says "humility" has been the military's "watchword" while providing that support to "heroic" front-line workers.

He says dozens of military experts have been providing support to local organisations and their work has helped the NHS get deliveries to about 50,000 locations.

He says that the operation to support the NHS has been "the single greatest logistical challenge" that he's come across in a 40-year career.

The UK government continues to face criticism and complaints over the availability of personal protective equipment (PPE).

From across the Atlantic, we've just had an update on the state of the crisis in New York, which has been the epicentre of the US coronavirus outbreak.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo says the death toll in his state "seems to be on a gentle decline".

Cuomo announced 474 people had died in the state in the last 24 hours - the lowest since 2 April.

It is also the third consecutive day that the increase in deaths has been below 500.

"We’re in a relatively good place," Cuomo said.

The foreign secretary starts by confirming the latest figures for the number of people who have tested positive, those who are currently in hospital and the number of deaths in hospitals (up 759 to 18,100).

He says his “heart goes out” to every bereaved family.

But he insists the government has been guided by the scientific advice at all times and insists that social distancing measures have helped save lives and protected the NHS.

He says these have been “tough times” for businesses, families and the vulnerable, describing it as an “economic, physical and mental strain” for the whole nation.

He says there is “no hiding from the tragedy” that the virus has wrought and says the UK is “not out of the woods yet”.

While he acknowledges there continues to be “challenges” in many areas, such as providing protective kit for NHS and care staff, he praises the way the nation has pulled together.

He goes on to pay tribute to the role that the armed forces have played in helping setting up the Nightingale hospitals and praising the “calm reassurance” they have provided.

“If we stick together and stay the course, we will defeat the virus for good.”