South African President Cyril Ramaphosa says some economic activity will be allowed to resume on 1 May, when the country will ease coronavirus restrictions.

However, he says the nation must avoid a rushed reopening of the economy which could trigger a spike in infections.

Image source, EPA

A plan for injecting billions of euros of emergency aid into Europe's struggling economies has been agreed by EU leaders.

At a video conference they agreed to set up a massive recovery fund, to be closely tied to the bloc's seven-year budget. The European Commission now has to work out the details.

They also confirmed that €540bn (£470bn) of financial support would be released through existing mechanisms, to ease the economic pain caused by coronavirus, from 1 June.

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said the future recovery fund would mobilise €1 trillion of investment.

There has been bitter argument over how to fund the much-needed aid. But Italy's Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said "great progress" had been made on Thursday.

Italy - the worst-affected country in Europe to date - has urged its EU partners, especially the richer countries of northern Europe, to show more solidarity.

For a fifth week in a row, people up and down the UK are applauding NHS staff and key workers.

Well-wishers have flocked to balconies, windows and doorsteps to make noise in appreciation for those on the frontline of the epidemic.

Image source, PA Media

In a few moments time, households across the UK will gather on balconies, doorsteps and in gardens to applaud health professionals and other key workers for their efforts during the coronavirus epidemic.

It'll be the fifth time the event has happened - and we'll bring you the best pictures and videos as we get them.

Image source, Reuters

We've just heard Health Secretary Matt Hancock announce that all essential workers in England - and members of their households - are now eligible for coronavirus tests.

But what about other parts of the country?

Downing Street has clarified that it can only set the testing eligibility criteria for England and it's up to devolved administrations to decide what happens in the rest of the UK.

The Welsh government announced it was expanding testing to key workers, such as teachers and food delivery drivers, on Sunday.

Its online portal to book a slot at a testing site is expected to be available next week.

Meanwhile, Scotland is prioritising NHS staff but has yet to announce any expansion of testing to key workers.

Northern Ireland is expanding its testing programme to include frontline workers in the private sector who are delivering key medical, utility and food supplies.

The Indian capital is one of the world's most polluted cities but in lockdown the skies are strikingly clear.

The city experienced some of its worst days in history for pollution in November. But India has been under strict lockdown since March and experts say this closure of factories and airports has resulted in a dramatic reduction in smog.

• A Chinese journalist has reappeared in a YouTube video almost two months after he went missing reporting in Wuhan - where the virus outbreak started
• China has pledged an additional $30m to the World Health Organization, one week after President Donald Trump suspended US funding of the body over its handling of coronavirus
• Indonesian transport officials have announced a temporary ban on some domestic and international air and sea travel to prevent further coronavirus spread
• Malaysian officials have extended curbs on travel and other restrictions for another two weeks to 12 May

Sarah Rainsford
BBC Moscow Correspondent

The chief doctor at one of the main Moscow hospitals treating coronavirus cases has recorded a video of his ER department full of sedated patients hooked up to artificial ventilators, and warned that more people are being admitted to hospital requiring ventilation.

Dr Valery Vechorko said the hospital was seeing more 40-year-old patients in a serious condition. His comments came as the Moscow mayor said Russia’s capital was "not even half way" towards the peak infection rate, with a daily increase in cases at a pace that was "not dramatic", but persistent - from 8 to 15% daily.

Sergei Sobyanin said Moscow would be "fighting coronavirus" for several weeks. The assessment follows two days in which the total number of new infections in Russia has fallen slightly; a large percentage of the new cases are said to be asymptomatic – picked up through increased screening.

Moscow’s coronavirus headquarters says the number of patients has climbed significantly - 1,300 people were hospitalised daily last week, now 1,900. The mayor said the healthcare system was coping but the number of beds and medical staff would need to be increased.

"I ask everyone to treat this infection seriously," Dr Vechorko wrote on Facebook, urging people to stick to the strict lockdown rules that have been in place in Moscow since the end of March.

"Don’t try to treat yourselves, if you don’t want to end up on a ventilator!" he warned. His hospital is operating over its intended capacity - treating more than 1,000 Covid-19 cases, with 500 more in-patients suspected to have the illness and 81 on ventilators.

Some of Britain's biggest TV stars have come together for a major charity telethon to raise funds for vulnerable people around the UK who have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

It's the first time the BBC's charities Children in Need and Comic Relief have joined forces.

The three-hour show was kicked off by presenters Sir Lenny Henry, Davina McCall and Matt Baker.

"It's seven o'clock on Thursday... or is it Tuesday... or Sunday," Sir Lenny joked. "Who knows any more. I'm just happy to be wearing trousers."

McCall told viewers: "We're all 2m apart, we're taking all the necessary safety precautions."

If you're in the UK, you can watch live on the BBC iPlayer.

Image source, FCO

The UK government has chartered 14 new flights to bring 3,600 more stranded British travellers back home, the Foreign Office says.

Once completed, these additional flights will bring the total number of people flown to the UK from India on government charter flights to more than 13,000, according to the department.

The flights, which leave from next week from Amritsar, Ahmedabad and Delhi, are for British nationals who normally reside in the UK and their direct dependants. Seats are only available for those who are already registered and on a waitlist.

More than 1.3 million travelling Britons have been helped to return to the UK on commercial flights - but "tens of thousands" are still stranded, officials said on Tuesday.

There is increasing talk about trials for a vaccine for coronavirus. But a lot of it is highly scientific.

So we've answered the critical questions in one simple video.

It's been a while since we saw favourites like Peter Kay, the Catherine Tate Show and Little Britain on all our television screens - but all three will return tonight for the BBC's Big Night In special.

The three-hour show aims to raise millions of pounds for vulnerable people around the UK who have been affected by the pandemic.

Children in Need and Comic Relief have joined forces for the first time for the event for UK viewers, which begins at 19:00 BST on BBC One.

• Read more about the charity show

Fergus Walsh
Medical correspondent

The first human trial in Europe of a coronavirus vaccine has begun in Oxford.

Two volunteers were injected - the first of more than 800 people recruited for the study.

Half will receive the Covid-19 vaccine, and half a control vaccine which protects against meningitis but not coronavirus.

The design of the trial means volunteers will not know which vaccine they are getting, though doctors will.

Read more about the trial here.

Image source, Getty Images

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has hit back at Senate Leader Mitch McConnell for his suggestion that states declare bankruptcy, as the coronavirus outbreak continues to pummel local economies.

"This is one of the really dumb ideas of all time," Cuomo, a Democrat, said at his daily coronavirus briefing. "You want to see the market fall through the cellar? Let New York State declare bankruptcy."

McConnell - the top Republican in the US Congress - said this week that additional assistance for state governments should be "thoroughly evaluated", in a press release called "Stopping Blue State Bailouts" - referring to Democrat-leaning states.

"How ugly a thought," Cuomo said of McConnell's "obsessive political bias", before calling the senator "the self-proclaimed grim reaper".

New York State reported 438 deaths yesterday, continuing a gradual decline in its death toll. Nearly 20,000 people have died statewide since the outbreak began.

At Thursday's briefing, Cuomo also announced that the state would begin an investigation of nursing homes, to ensure they are following state guidance during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Sameer Hashmi
Middle East Business Correspondent, BBC News

The UAE has announced it will be relaxing the 24-hour lockdown for the month of Ramadan. The new lockdown timings will be 10pm to 6am - allowing residents to step out during the day.

For the last three weeks, Dubai had imposed a strict lockdown, during which residents were asked to stay at home. The two main cities - Dubai and the capital Abu Dhabi - are also initiating a plan to reopen shopping malls soon.

They have issued a set of guidelines on the eve of Ramadan that include capping mall capacity to 30% and the management ensuring two-metre social distancing in all common areas. Visitors will be allowed to shop for a maximum of three hours and it will be mandatory to wear a mask at all times.

Restaurants will have to restrict seating capacity to 30% and maintain a distance of six feet between tables.The authorities in Dubai have also announced a plan that would allow residents to receive family members during Ramadan and leave home for “one outdoor activity" but the gathering cannot exceed 10 people.

Physical contact such as handshakes and hugging will be strictly prohibited during such gatherings, according to the guidelines issued. However, congressional prayers at mosques will still not be permitted across the UAE. Metro services in Dubai are also expected to start operations soon.

The UAE has reported 8,756 cases of Covid-19 and a total of 56 deaths.

In France, 516 deaths have been reported in hospitals and care homes in the past 24 hours, bringing the country's overall death toll to 21,856.

Jessica Parker
BBC political correspondent

“Test test test.”

When the World Health Organisation uttered that message last month it led to questions as to whether the UK had failed to grasp the importance of this element of the response.

A couple of weeks later the Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced a target of 100,000 tests a day by the end of April.

There’s been subsequent doubt as to whether that can be done.

Today’s the government’s testing coordinator, Prof John Newton, suggested the target will be reached - at least in terms of capacity.

But Downing Street has been clear that the target isn’t about capacity, rather the actual number of tests carried out.

So, with a week to go, the government is working to expand access. It may, to some, seem trivial as to whether we reach that exact figure within an exact number of days.

But amidst all the uncertainty swirling around this virus, ministers chose to name a target and a deadline. And while other elements of the response will come under scrutiny, this fixed measure of success that ministers set themselves has morphed into a broader measure of their competence too.

The UK government briefing has now ended. Health Secretary Matt Hancock focused on testing, an issue where there has been significant criticism of the government.

• He said expanding capacity is now ahead of schedule, and stands at 51,000 today. He said any essential worker in England, and anyone in their household, can apply online for a test from tomorrow. Employers can also apply for tests for their staff. There will be mobile and home testing, in addition to testing at labs and hospitals.
• Prof John Newton, who is leading the testing effort, says testing has allowed two-thirds of isolating NHS staff who have had the test to return to work. He said the government is on track to reach its target of doing 100,000 tests a day by the end of April. But he emphasised that scientists are not sure how much immunity people acquire through having the disease.
• Mr Hancock said there will be a huge contact tracing effort, hiring 18,000 people to track who has had the virus and who they might have spread it to.
• Asked about pressure to set out how, not when, the lockdown could be listed, Mr Hancock did not give any details but said the "test, track and trace" strategy could eventually help the UK move to lighter restrictions.

Matt Hancock was asked about whether the UK government should publish its strategy for easing the lockdown.

It comes after the Scottish government published a document earlier outlining its thinking on the matter - although without specifying dates.

Hancock says, though, that the Scottish government's approach is "based" on the UK government's five tests for when measures should be lifted, and both administrations have taken "similar" approach.

He adds that a UK-wide approach to easing the restrictions is the "best way to go".