Soutik Biswas
India Correspondent

Muhammad Husain Siddiqui's family do not believe he died of Covid-19. His family say he was fine, that he looked good after having spent a month with his younger son in Saudi Arabia.

But 10 days after returning, he was dead - India's first official Covid-19 fatality.

Anxious family members had ferried him between two cities and four hospitals - all had rejected him. He died on his way to the fifth, where he was declared "brought dead".

The day after Siddiqui died, authorities announced that he had tested positive for the virus.

"We still do not believe he died of Covid-19. We haven't even got the death certificate," his son, Ahmed Faisal Siddiqui, told me.

In many ways, the story of his father's death underlines the chaos and confusion often marring the treatment of Covid-19 patients in India.

Read the full story behind his death here.

Image source, Getty Images

Economists around the globe are warning the fallout from the pandemic might be the worst downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s, external.

Almost every country on the planet is being affected but developing economies might get hit hardest. They'll be affected in four distinctive ways:

• Commodity prices will fall and many developing nations are exporters of those
• International investment will fall, investors might even pull money out from developing nations
• Declining local currencies will make it harder to repay foreign debt if it was taken for instance in US dollars
• Overseas workers will be earning less, sending back fewer remittances to their families.

Click here to read the full story on this by the BBC's Andrew Walker.

With 1,486 new infections confirmed on Wednesday, India has seen its second sharpest daily spike.

The health ministry also said 49 people had died in the last 24 hours, taking the total death toll to 681.

With the new cases, the total official tally in India has crossed 20,000 infections.

The sharpest spike yet was reported on Monday, when authorities said more than 1,500 people tested positive.

But there is also some good news. Officials have said that the doubling rate - the number of days it takes for infections to multiply by two - had increased to almost eight days, up from 3.4 days before the lockdown.

Since late March, all Australians who return from overseas have been required to spend 14 days in quarantine in hotels - or almost all of them that is.

Billionaire and media mogul Kerry Stokes and his wife were given an exemption from these quarantine rules on medical grounds by Western Australian police, meaning they could self-isolate in their home rather than be shut up in a hotel room, say local media reports.

The couple had reportedly returned to Perth from the United States on their private jet two weeks ago.

WA Premier Mark McGowan had earlier said the quarantine rules applied "for all Australians".

However, according to Australia's Department of Health, , externalit is possible for people to be granted a quarantine exemption on medical grounds on a case by case basis.

Image source, Getty Images

South Korea's economy has taken its biggest hit in more than a decade due to the virus pandemic. And that's despite strict and early measures to bring the outbreak under control.

GDP shrank 1.4% year-on-year between January and March, its biggest decline since 2008 during the global financial crisis. Private consumption even saw its sharpest fall in two decades, down by 6.4%.

The pandemic has also hit the music industry with concerts and touring all off limits.

But one unlikely star has just got to the top of the country's music charts - Pengsoo, a giant taboo-busting penguin who dreams of fame and is arguably immune to the virus.

The song - This is Pengsoo - is a project to mark World Penguin Day on Saturday and all proceeds will go to charity. And of course, it offers some light relief.

There's been a lot of talk online about the different ways you can beat or avoid the coronavirus - and not a lot of it is true.

Here’s the latest video from our ongoing Reality Check series debunking health myths – this time we talk about why 5G isn’t transmitting coronavirus, and why skin colour makes no difference in whether you can catch the disease.

And don’t forget to check out our previous videos too:

• Myths about garlic, ice-cream and drinking silver
• Myths about drinking cow urine and holding your breath
• Myths about lemon juice, mosquito bites and blood donations

Image source, Getty Images

Hundreds of millions of us are now using Zoom to stay in touch with friends, family and work colleagues, but that's led to a new problem: "Zoombombing".

That's when uninvited guests crash video meetings, and it's led to several companies, schools and governments stopping the use of the platform.

Now the firm has said it will release an improved version of the hugely popular video conferencing app this week.

The company says that Zoom 5.0 will include upgraded encryption features to help protect data and fend off Zoombombers.

Read more here

Five people who were accused of pelting stones at health workers in India's Uttar Pradesh state recently have tested positive for coronavirus.

Officials have now quarantined more than 70 police officers who may have come in contact with them.

The five are among 17 men who were arrested earlier this month in Moradabad district. The mob were trying to prevent healthcare workers from taking an infected patient to an isolation ward.

Police told local media that 73 officers have undergone tests so far, external.

Several healthcare workers in India have been attacked as they battle to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

On Wednesday, the government passed a new law by which those who are found guilty of attacking doctors or health workers can be sentenced to up to seven years in jail.

The BBC earlier spoke to doctors from across the country who've been harassed and attacked - you can read their accounts here.

Two cats in New York have become the first pets in the US to test positive for the virus.

But don't panic just yet - there is no evidence pets can spread the virus to humans, says the top US medical expert Dr Anthony Fauci.

It's believed the cats contracted the virus from infected people in their household or neighbourhoods, said the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The cats, which have mild respiratory illnesses, come from separate areas of New York.

They are expected to make a full recovery.

Here's a list of all the animals that we know have tested positive for the virus so far:

• Five tigers and three lions at the Bronx Zoo in New York, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society which runs the zoo
• A Pomeranian dog in Hong Kong, whose owner was infected with the virus. In February, the dog tested positive and was quarantined - later tests showed it was cleared of the virus and it was allowed to return home. However, it later died, though the cause of death remains unclear
• A second dog in Hong Kong also tested positive for the virus, a German Shepherd with an infected owner. It was later put into quarantine.

Image source, Getty Images

The elderly are some of the most vulnerable to the risks associated with coronavirus, but in times of such uncertainty they often have the best advice and words of encouragement.

From watching Netflix to playing hide and seek, grannies and grandads over the age of 90 from around the world tell us how they are staying positive and getting through lockdown.

Watch this lovely lighthearted video to get some of their top tips:

Image source, AFP

South Korea continues to keep its new infections in the single-digit range. Figures released on Thursday for the previous day showed only eight new positive tests, four of which were imported.

The death toll rose by two, taking it to 240.

South Korea was the first country outside of China that saw a large outbreak - in late February, the daily infections peaked at more than 900 cases.

Overall, there have been 10,702 confirmed infections although more than 8,000 of those have already recovered.

Vietnam is set to ease social distancing measures in the capital, Hanoi, and the commercial capital Ho Chi Minh City, as the rate of infection in the country slows down.

Stringent social distancing rules will be eased and non-essential services and businesses reopened from Thursday, subject to conditions, reported Vietnam's biggest daily Tuoi Tre., external

It's a different story in other parts of Vietnam, however.

According to Tuoi Tre, authorities locked down a small Vietnamese town that sits on the border with China,, external after a local girl was found to have the virus.

The lockdown, which applies to around 7,600 people in Dong Van, will be maintained until further notice, said authorities.

Image source, Getty Images

The Ruby Princess cruise ship docked in Sydney last month after a trip to New Zealand, letting 2,700 passengers disembark in the city centre despite reports of illness on board.

A day after this decision – four people who’d been on board tested positive for the virus, and now that number is upwards of 700. At least 25 deaths are also tied to the ship – making it the deadliest liner struck by the virus so far.

How did Australian authorities allow the ship to dock in Sydney?

That’s now the subject of several investigations including a New South Wales police probe and a special public inquiry, which kicked off yesterday.

Already it’s heard from the ship doctor and manager who said they were surprised state health officials gave the all-clear for passengers to get off. However NSW Health said they rated the ship as "low risk" based on the information the ship gave to them The inquiry is continuing.

The family of a US passenger who died last week is now suing the operator, Prince Cruise Lines, for alleged negligence.

Image source, Getty Images

The source of the biggest outbreak in Australia - the scandal-ridden Ruby Princess cruise ship - will finally leave Australian waters today with a skeleton crew, and head to the Philippines to take them home.

The ship, which freely unloaded sick passengers in central Sydney last month, has been tied to 25 deaths and at least 700 infections, about 10% of all Australian cases.

A public inquiry into the disaster began yesterday with the ship's doctor testifying she was surprised the ship was cleared by officials when there was reported illness on board.

Image source, Reuters

Some good news for today.

A one-month-old baby - the youngest coronavirus patient in Thailand - has now recovered.

Doctors used four antiviral drugs to cure the baby, said a Reuters report quoting the paediatrician who treated him.

"The strategy used to treat this child was to give him medication for 10 days. We conducted a health check on him every day and three to five days after that, his X-rays showed signs of gradual recovery," said Visal Moolasart of the Bamrasnaradura Infectious Diseases Institute in Bangkok.

There are currently 2,826 confirmed cases in Thailand and 49 deaths.

The coronavirus spreads easily and the majority of the world's population is still vulnerable to it.

A vaccine would provide some protection by training people's immune systems to fight the virus so they should not become sick.

But how easy is it to create a vaccine? And when could we expect one to be ready? The BBC's health correspondent Laura Foster takes a look:

The two new Covid-19 related deaths reported in New Zealand today bring the country's total fatalities to 16.

One of the deaths was a woman in her 60s in Dunedin, whose condition had been reported as stable earlier this week. Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield apologised to her family for confusion over her status.

The other person who died, a man in his 70s in Christchurch, had tested negative but officials have determined he was considered a probable case.

New Zealand enacted a full shutdown of public life last month, before its first death was recorded. It plans to move into a lighter lockdown next week after managing to contain the virus's spread.

Read more on their success here.

A rising wave of infections among Singapore’s massive migrant worker population threatens to derail the city-state’s success in fighting the coronavirus.

About 80% of all cases in Singapore have been linked to the dormitories where low paid migrant workers from South Asia are housed.

Singapore has now sealed off multiple dormitories, as the government carries out extensive testing and tries to move healthy workers out, but questions are being raised about why more wasn't done to protect them.

People living in the dorms told the BBC they were scared about getting ill, and about what the future holds for them. Some spoke to us on condition of anonymity - hear what they have to say here:

As a new working day gets underway in Asia, here's a glance at what's happening across the region:

• At least 48 people onboard an Italian cruise ship which is docked for repairs in the Japanese port city of Nagasaki have tested positive for the virus, says an NHK report. There are 623 crew members onboard and no passengers, say officials.
• A citizen journalist who went missing earlier in February in the Chinese city of Wuhan has now re-appeared. Li Zehua posted a video on Twitter saying he had been detained by police and put into quarantine for visiting "sensitive areas".
• A Japanese care home for infants has found eight cases of infection amongst its children. One staff member had earlier tested positive for the virus.
• A US cyber security firm has accused hackers they say are working on behalf of the Vietnamese government of attempting to break into Chinese state organisations. FireEye said the group had tried to hack into the email accounts of government officials in Wuhan. Vietnam has not responded.

Australia's government is on the front foot with the US in pushing for an investigation into the virus's origins and World Health Organization's response.

On Wednesday, PM Scott Morrison said he'd had phone calls with US President Trump about the need to "improve the transparency and effectiveness of international responses to pandemics", plus the French and German leaders on the need for international co-operation.

However the European nations say it's too early to focus efforts on blame while they're still fighting the disease.

Meanwhile, China has criticised Canberra as being a mere mouthpiece for Washington's attacks on Beijing.

Australia recorded just seven new cases overnight - further solidifying the infection rate's drop to under 1% from 25% in mid-March.