Good morning to those waking up in India. Here's a breakdown of the headlines this morning:

• PM Narendra Modi is likely to discuss a gradual exit plan from the lockdown with other chief ministers via video conference later today. India's lockdown began on 24 March and will go on until 3 May
• The capital Delhi reported a surge of 293 new cases just as India recorded its biggest daily spike yet of 1,975 infections on Sunday
• The Supreme Court will hear a petition on allowing stranded migrant workers to return home if they test negative for the virus - just as several chief ministers highlight the issue of them being stuck across states and cities
• Delhi is to audit seven hospitals as more and more health workers get infected with coronavirus - at least 50 health workers in the city tested positive for it last week, external, local reports say

• But according to authorities, the situation is getting better - the health minister said that "hotspot districts" are becoming "non-hotspot districts" at a press briefing on Sunday, adding that lockdown measures were working. The country has confirmed more than 25,000 total infections and 872 deaths
• And, like other countries, India has also relaxed some of its lockdown rules - over the weekend, it allowed small local stores to reopen after more than a month. You can read more details here.

Can the virus survive in the Sahara desert? How does the body fight off the virus? What does the 19 stand for in Covid-19?

We got a virologist to answer some of the most burning questions children had to ask, and explain in simple terms how the virus works:

With Australia's virus curve not just flat but "crushed" - as some keen local tabloids are describing it - restrictions are easing in some areas.

Currently, for the most part, Australians everywhere are still required to stay at home unless they have crucial work, shopping or exercise reasons.

When outside you must maintain a 1.5m distance from others. Bars, pubs, gyms, churches and other non-essential places have been shut down but restaurants are open for take-away and many shops remain open too.

Variations on these rules range from state to state. The two biggest states New South Wales (incorporating Sydney) and Victoria (incorporating Melbourne) have the strictest lockdowns and don't plan on lifting measures until mid-May.

But some of the less-affected states have relaxed some rules. In Queensland from Saturday, people can go shopping again for fashion, have a picnic in the park or go for a swim at the beach - as long as it's within a 40-minute drive from home.

Western Australia is also joining South Australia in expanding the national two-person limit on gatherings to 10 people - but again such meet-ups have to be for essential reasons.

Officials in the Japanese prefecture of Nagasaki say they are working to send crew members who tested negative back to their home countries.

The Italian-registered Costa Atlantica has been docked in Nagasaki for repairs since January with 623 crew members and no passengers on board.

Some 148 crew members have now tested positive for the virus, with one in serious condition at a local hospital.

The last cruise ships with passengers docked last week. Read our piece here.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, PA Media

The 99-year-old British war veteran who has raised £29m for the National Health Service by walking laps of his garden has been honoured with a special postmark.

Royal Mail will stamp all letters with the message to celebrate Captain Tom Moore's 100th birthday on Thursday.

All stamped post up until Friday will be marked with: "Happy 100th Birthday Captain Thomas Moore NHS fundraising hero 30th April 2020."

Read our full story here.

Image source, EPA

French police say they have seized the biggest consignment yet of face masks destined for sale on the black market.

Officers caught a businessman unloading 140,000 masks into a house near Paris.

France requisitioned all stocks and production of face masks last month to equip health workers.

Prices online and in shops had tripled before the measure was implemented.

Image source, Getty Images

Japan's Osaka prefecture has said it will name and shame more pachinko gambling arcades that are defying a nationwide lockdown request.

Japan is under a state of emergency but authorities can only request for places to lock down - rather than ordering them to do so.

Despite this, three of the six locations named by Osaka authorities have closed, with a spokesman saying "a lot of places have closed down after we named [them]".

Pachinko, a gambling machine that has similarities to pinball, is a popular game across Japan and parlours are a common sight.

There are currently 13,441 virus cases in Japan, though the country has only tested a fraction of its population. Japan has been criticised for its cautious approach to testing as well as its slow lockdown measures.

Japan's current state of emergency is due to last until 6 May, though a senior official told the Japan Times that an extension "will be unavoidable".

Restrictions of movement in Spain have been eased to allow children outside for the first time in six weeks.

Spain has had one of Europe's strictest lockdowns but the government hopes to ease measures further to let everyone exercise outside.

Kate Walder, who lives in Madrid, filmed her family both during the lockdown and as they ventured out again after 42 days inside. This is the moment her children tasted (some) freedom again:

Image source, EPA

Italy holds the grim record of the highest numbers of deaths linked to Covid-19 in Europe: almost 27,000 deaths and 200,000 confirmed infections.

But with the numbers slowly coming down, the country has now laid out plans how to come out of its lockdown.

From 4 May, with people being allowed to visit their relatives - only in small numbers, and only wearing masks.

People will also be allowed to move around within their regions, parks will reopen, restaurants will do takeaway, funerals can be held again - with a maximum of 15 people - and athletes are allowed to resume training.

More services like hairdressers and beauty salons will reopen on 1 June. Schools, though, will not restart classes until September.

Image source, AFP

Mexico says that over the past five weeks it has repatriated almost all migrants who were living in shelters across the country.

Authorities said that most had entered the country illegally, intending to seek asylum in the United States.

There were more than 3,500 and just over 100 remain. Officials say the move was intended to protect the lives of the migrants and prevent the spread of the coronavirus in Mexico.

They were flown back mainly to Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, which have closed their land borders because of the pandemic.

A boat carrying hundreds of Rohingya refugees was recently turned away from Malaysia, with the government citing fears over coronavirus.

Dozens died in the journey, and it's believed that hundreds more people are still stuck at sea.

The United Nations has since issued a plea for the international community to take urgent action. The BBC's Rajini Vaidyanathan spoke to a representative of the UN Refugee Agency on the dire situation:

Frances Mao
Sydney

The government has directly tied the use of the COVIDSafe app to the idea of Australians resuming normal life as soon as possible.

That appeal to freedom, and public duty, drove more than one million people to download it within hours of its release. (A reminder - Australia has around 25 million people.)

But there's also been a lot of apprehension and debate – and I could see it play out on my social media last night – with some friends urging people to “do their part” while others pointed out risks.

The app works by sharing your encrypted code through Bluetooth with other users around you. If you test positive, you make a report and that information will go to a central server accessed only by state health officials. Obviously, you know who's at risk in your own home but this way strangers you may have encountered at the supermarket will be alerted too.

The government says the data will be stored temporarily and only used for contact tracing - not quarantine monitoring or location tracking. But critics point out those protections aren't in law yet because parliament isn't sitting until mid-May.

In addition, tech experts say the app's source code should have been released for scrutiny, and that centralised storage is far riskier than the decentralised versions now favoured by nations such as Germany.

Image source, Getty Images

• China reported no new deaths and just three cases on Sunday - of which two were imported and one was a local case in the border province of Heilongjiang
• Chinese authorities also said there were no new virus patients in Wuhan and that all Covid-19 patients had been discharged
• The number of cases in Singapore continues to rise as more foreign workers test positive. There are over 13,000 confirmed cases, the vast majority of which are workers living in dormitories

• Indonesia reported 275 new coronavirus cases and 23 deaths on Sunday - putting its official death toll at 743, the highest in Asia aside from China.

Image source, Getty Images

It's not exactly a mosh pit, but hey, it's still a concert. German rap star Sido on Sunday gave a sold-out concert at a drive-in cinema in Dusseldorf. He performed in front of some 500 cars, and with two people per car allowed, that's an estimated crowd of around 1,000 people.

It looked a bit like performing in front of a car park but with all normal concerts and entertainment events cancelled, it was a welcome break for many people. And if you couldn't drive there yourself, it was live streamed on the web.

It's not the first time that Germany's very few drive-in cinemas were somewhat repurposed during the lockdown - at Easter, they were used for religious services and there are more concerts planned over the next days and weeks.

"The cure can't be worse than the problem itself!" Mr Trump tweeted a day ago, before repeating the message today.

Image source, AFP

The US total number of deaths reached almost 55,000 on Sunday night, according to data by the Johns Hopkins University, external. The number of confirmed cases is just over 965,000 - which is more than four times the number of cases in Spain, with the second-most number of cases.

Despite that, some US states are beginning to lift lockdown orders. Georgia, Oklahoma, Alaska and South Carolina have already allowed some businesses to reopen, while Tennessee and Mississippi will see measures easing on Monday.

The US virus task force has urged people to continue with social distancing throughout the summer. President Donald Trump has not held a White House briefing since Friday - after he'd been widely criticised for speculating that injecting disinfectant could kill the virus.

Image source, EPA

Good morning from Sydney. As new case numbers drop to near single digits, the focus is squarely on how society will move out of lockdown.

Canberra is stressing that a wide uptake of its contact-tracing app is crucial to this, and since it was released last night more than 1.13 million Australians have downloaded it.

Critics say there are privacy and transparency concerns with its rushed roll-out, but as opinion polls have shown, public trust in the government has risen since the start of the pandemic.

Meanwhile some states have begun relaxing restrictions, with Queensland set to bring back picnics and car trips, while Western Australia will now allow 10-person gatherings, up from the previous limit of two.

But New South Wales and Victoria – the two most-populous states – say they’re sticking with their measures until at least 11 May, when a national review is due.

We’re starting this week with some good news as countries all over the world begin easing restrictions. Here’s a quick glance at what you need to know:

• Children in Spain have emerged on skateboards, bicycles and scooters after lockdown measures were eased to allow them outside for the first time in six weeks
• Over in Italy, restrictions will be eased from 4 May, with people being allowed to visit their relatives in small numbers. Parks will also re-open but schools will not restart until September. Italy recorded 260 new deaths on Sunday – its lowest daily figure in more than a month
• And in South Korea, life is also slowly starting to get back to normal. The country’s large churches have re-opened, though worshippers are required to wear masks and keep a distance. The Shincheonji church was linked to a majority of infections in the city of Daegu
• And the downward trend continues in the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the outbreak emerged last December. A health official told reporters the city now has no remaining Covid-19 cases in its hospitals.