Anne Soy
BBC News, Nairobi

Image source, AFP

The World Health Organization (WHO) is warning that the number of deaths from malaria in sub-Saharan Africa could double this year because of the pandemic.

A new modelling analysis by the organisation says nearly 760,000 people in the region could die from malaria in the region in 2020, if there is severe disruption to access to the medicine and insecticide-treated nets that help prevent malaria.

That, the WHO warns, could lead to a return to malaria mortality levels last seen 20 years ago.

At the best of times, African countries account for over 90% of more than 400,000 deaths from malaria recorded each year. But because of the pandemic, borders are closed, air travel is suspended and movement severely restricted in most countries.

The organisation is urging countries to use this time, when Covid-19 cases are still low in Africa, to increase the distribution of malaria prevention and treatment commodities.

The return of German football's Bundesliga competition is currently being discussed at a news conference held by the governing body.

Christian Seifert, the CEO of the country's football league (DFL), had expressed hope that the league would be ready to return on 9 May with games played behind closed doors, although added that approval from politicians was required.

He said: "Games without spectators are not what we want - but at the moment are the only thing that seems feasible."

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Maddy Savage
BBC News, Stockholm

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Sweden has seen its confirmed cases of Covid-19 jump from 16,004 to 16,755. The rise was much larger than in recent days, during which Sweden’s Public Health Agency had been cautiously celebrating a flattening of cases.

The agency's deputy state epidemiologist Anders Wallensten said the majority of the new cases were in Stockholm. Increased testing of healthcare workers could be a factor, he said, but scientists were looking into other potential reasons.

The agency also adjusted an earlier estimation that one-third of Stockholm residents will have been infected by the virus by 1 May, which was featured in a report released by the agency earlier this week and withdrawn after officials admitted errors in calculations.

“I don’t think this should be looked upon as something that is representative of Swedish statistics in general,” Wallensten told the BBC from the news conference via video link. “It was a mistake, I think many people understand that we are working hard these days... unfortunately this was not spotted before it went out.”

He said it was “too early to say” how much of an impact asymptomatic infection rates and the subsequent potential for immunity would have on the potential to lift social-distancing recommendations in Sweden in the near future, in comparison to places which have endured stricter measures.

Unlike other countries Sweden has not implemented strict social distancing measures.

There's been a lot of debate on whether healthy people should wear masks, and many places around the world have now either made it compulsory or issued advisories. Germany for instance has become the latest country to urge its people to wear masks in public.What is the advice from the World Health Organization? After a recent meeting to discuss the issue, it still maintains that medical masks should be reserved only for healthcare workers and not for the general public.

The BBC's health correspondent Laura Foster explains the scientific argument behind this stance.

Frank Keogh
BBC Sport

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A former world youth darts champion has ditched the sport to help out during the coronavirus pandemic.

Keegan Brown had already been working part-time as a medical laboratory assistant despite turning professional.

Now the 27-year-old from the Isle of Wight has stepped up his shifts at the island's only hospital since the crisis started.

"For now my skills are required in the laboratory, not on the dartboard, so my focus is there," the world number 30 told BBC Sport.

The BBC's More or Less programme compares Covid-19 rates around the world: who is faring worse or better in the fight against coronavirus?

They spoke to Christl Donnelly, professor of statistical epidemiology at Imperial College London, about the situation in the UK which has been compared unfavourably to Ireland as it has had more deaths per million population.

"We're in a country that is very densely populated and also very interconnected, both within the country and internationally, and so both of those things will increase the amount of virus coming in initially, and also then how much transmission happens - the more dense the population is, the more you'd expect transmission to happen," she told the programme.

Read more here: Why are international comparisons difficult?

The programme also looks at whether the UK is already past the worst of the infection, and whether birds have been singing more loudly.

NHS England has announced 514 new coronavirus-related hospital deaths, bringing the total number of reported deaths in hospitals in England to 16,786.

Patients were aged between 31 and 100 years old. Sixteen of the 514 patients (aged between 37 and 92 years old) had no known underlying health condition.

A further 17 people have died after testing positive for coronavirus in Wales, bringing the total number of deaths there to 641, Public Health Wales says.

A further 234 people have tested positive for Covid-19, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 8,358.

Dr Robin Howe, from Public Health Wales, says: “Based on the new case numbers there is emerging evidence suggesting a levelling-off in the number of new cases of Covid-19 in Wales, which may be an indication of the effectiveness of lockdown measures.

“However, it is still too early to tell for sure, and it is too soon to end the current social distancing rules."

For many people, one of the silver linings of lockdown has been getting to know your neighbours.

This group, who live next door to one another, have really gone for it, forming a street orchestra to keep people's spirits up.

The quintet, who live in Pontcanna, Cardiff, regularly play to their neighbours while concert venues are closed down.

Robert Plane, who plays the clarinet, says it's "heart-warming for us because it makes us really realise that what we do is hugely appreciated."

Image source, Getty Images

An Australian jockey has been banned for six months after headbutting a rival rider and breaching social distancing rules.

Luke Tarrant injured Larry Cassidy during an altercation after a race at Doomben, in the state of Queensland.

Racing in Australia has continued during the coronavirus pandemic, behind closed doors and with strict protocols.

A stewards' report said Tarrant's helmet "made contact with the nose" of Cassidy and caused him an injury.

More on this story here.

Nick Triggle
Health Correspondent

The suggestion from the World Health Organization that over half of coronavirus deaths are taking place in care homes is certainly plausible.

Lockdowns have brought cases down in the community - and as a result reduced deaths in hospital. But it is a different matter for care homes. Care homes are largely closed environments, so the lockdown has little impact on them.

They are also, of course, full of vulnerable people - the elderly are most at risk from the virus.

What is more, once the virus gets into a care home, it is very difficult to eradicate. Isolating cases is harder, and staff have not always had access to the personal protective equipment or testing needed to stop its spread.

The result is catastrophic, with large numbers of residents falling victim to the virus.

Kerry Allen
BBC Monitoring, Chinese Media Analyst

The promotion of a traditional Chinese greeting as a way of encouraging people to think about social-distancing has been gripping Chinese social media users.

Tuesday's video of primary school students in the eastern city of Quzhou performing the “zuoyi” led to animated discussion online, and today, the Global Times newspaper notes officials in the city are also being required to use it at government meetings.

The “zuoyi” is a formal custom - people stretch their arms out in front of themselves, link their hands, and bow their head.

It is not without controversy, though, dating back from China’s imperial era thousands of years ago.

Image source, .

Image source, .

The UK prime minister's spokesman said he could not "give a timetable" for Boris Johnson's return to work, as he continues to recover from coronavirus.

The prime minister has been at his official country residence, Chequers, since leaving hospital.

He has been speaking to his No 10 team and receiving regular updates on the coronavirus response, the spokesman said, but "he is not doing government work".

Mr Johnson spoke to the Queen last night.

Image source, Getty Images

Volkswagen has restarted its plant in Zwickau in eastern Germany, after a five-week standstill. The group is building a fully electric car there, and says it still plans to launch the new model this summer.

Car makers including Renault and Daimler - the maker of Mercedes Benz - have announced plans to kick off production again. But others are holding off, with dealerships shuttered worldwide amid the lockdown measures.

Latest figures show another 4.4 million Americans have filed for unemployment benefits in the last week.

More than 20 million Americans had filed new claims for unemployment in the previous five weeks, while a $349bn loan programme for small businesses ran out of money within two weeks.

The new applications have brought the total number of jobless claims since mid-March to 26.4 million - more than 15% of the US workforce.

• Stories of unemployment, fear and hope in the US

Some carers at a home on the Isle of Wight have taken the selfless step of moving into tents at the site to try to protect the home's elderly residents from coronavirus.

Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is now taking questions from the press, after outlining her ideas on how to ease the coronavirus lockdown in Scotland.

BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg asks if, given Ms Sturgeon has announced today's proposals, external in order to keep the public "in the know", the UK government is risking treating the public like children if they do not do the same.

Ms Sturgeon says "we all have a responsibility and desire to be as open as we can be with the public".

"This is the start of a process, the start of a conversation. There is a lot more detail that lies ahead."

She adds: "There are no absolute rights and wrongs on this."

"Getting coronavirus is not a death sentence for everybody with underlying health conditions."

That was the message from a man with chronic pancreatitis who has recovered from Covid-19 and spoke to BBC News earlier today.

"I was scared to sleep as I didn't know if I would wake up," he added.

"But some of us can get through this and that's what has been missed out - that little bit of glimmer of hope. If you can spread that message, it will give people a little bit more hope and a little bit more fight."

Watch the interview below.

Vicki Young
Chief Political Correspondent

The four nations of the UK have been working together on the coronavirus crisis, but there have been differences in communication.

The Scottish government wants to give people and businesses some hope about the ending of lockdown restrictions, but also give them a sense of reality that we will not be going back to normality any time soon.

But in setting out a communication strategy, and a strategy for ending complete lockdown, Ms Sturgeon may be setting down a challenge for the UK government.

We've been hearing from Scotland's First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon - who is still taking questions from the press.

She focused on how Scotland might begin to lift the lockdown, but said the country would have to be flexible and change course as we got more evidence. She committed to giving continued updates on the Scottish government's thinking.

She said the government wanted to find a better balance between the negative effects of severe lockdown and protecting people's health. But she said restrictions would not be changed until the exponential spread of the virus was definitely under control.

Parts of the lockdown would last for months, Ms Sturgeon warned. She said some form of shielding for vulnerable people was likely to continue for a while, and large gatherings would continue to be restricted longer than other activities. She suggested different groups of children were likely to return to school at different times.

Ms Sturgeon urged the public to continue with social distancing.