Summary

  • President Trump said "incredible" British PM Boris Johnson called him after getting out of hospital

  • US House passed a $484bn (£390bn) stimulus package, with funds for small businesses and virus testing

  • EU leaders agreed to inject billions of euros of emergency aid into Europe's struggling economies

  • UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock said testing will be simpler and faster for essential workers

  • US unemployment claims hit 26.4 million - more than 15% of the workforce

  • WHO revealed 'deeply concerning' estimate that half of European Covid-19 deaths occurred in care homes

Live Reporting

Edited by Jude Sheerin

  1. How can the developing world cope?

    The World Health Organization warns the pandemic will hit the developing world particularly hard. With scarce resources, hundreds of thousands already die from preventable diseases each year.

    The BBC's Secunder Kermani and Anne Soy compare how prepared some countries in Asia and Africa are.

    Coronavirus: How will the developing world cope?

  2. China keeps virus deaths at zero

    Chinese doctors treating patientAFP

    China continues to keep its number of new coronavirus deaths at zero for a sixth consecutive day, official data shows.

    The country reported 10 new positive tests for the past day, down from 30 the previous day. The number of imported cases - travellers returning from overseas - declined, down to six from 23 the day before.

    China counts the number of asymptomatic patients in a separate tally and that number also declined, to 27 from 42 the previous day.

    China's virus data is difficult to verify and has been called into question by some observers who suggest Beijing is trying to keep the numbers low to maintain its narrative that it has the virus under control.

    Read more on that here: Why China's claims of virus success raise eyebrows

  3. Welcome back

    Hello and welcome back to our rolling coverage of the coronavirus outbreak. We're writing to you from Singapore, Sydney and Delhi this morning, and will be handing over to our colleagues in London later today. For now, here's what you need to know to get you caught up:

    • China recorded 10 new virus cases on Thursday, down from 30 a day earlier. It extended its streak of reporting no new deaths on Thursday - leaving the death toll unchanged at 4,632.
    • China has also dismissed the US state of Missouri's move to sue the Chinese government, with Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang saying it had no "legal or factual basis" and that it invited "ridicule".
    • An autopsy in California revealed that the first US coronavirus-related death came in early February - weeks earlier than previously thought. The first previously known death in the US was in Seattle on 26 February.
    • The UK will have to live with some disruptive social measures for at least the rest of the year, its chief medical adviser has said. Prof Chris Whitty said the ideal way out of this would be a "highly effective vaccine".
    • There have been more than 2.6 million confirmed virus cases globally and 183,027 deaths, according to a Johns Hopkins University tally.