The death toll from the virus in the UK rises to more than 26,000 after care home deaths are included for first time
1.5bn workers at risk of having livelihood destroyed, especially in informal economy - UN
Germany and the US both report sharp economic contractions
The US has confirmed one million virus cases, making up almost a third of the total global tally
With more than 58,000 deaths, more Americans have died with Covid-19 than died in the Vietnam War
Half a million face masks handed out at stations in Paris
China's parliament will meet again next month, a sign officials believe the virus is under control there
The number of confirmed coronavirus deaths in Northern Ireland has risen to 338 after nine further deaths were announced by the Department of Health.
UK-wide figures will be published by the Department of Health later today. The figures will include deaths in care homes and the community, as well as those in hospital, for the first time.
Image source, EPAFresh from deputising for Boris Johnson at Prime Minister’s Questions earlier, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab will lead today’s UK government press conference in around an hour.
Alongside him will be Prof Jonathan Van Tam, the deputy chief medical officer for England, and Prof Yvonne Doyle, medical director at Public Health England.
Reality Check
Image source, Getty ImagesTasuku Honjo shared the 2018 Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology
A viral message attributed to Japanese Nobel Prize laureate Tasuku Honjo claims that he believes the new coronavirus was “manufactured” in a lab in the Chinese city of Wuhan.
The post has been shared thousands of times on WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter in multiple languages.
But Professor Honjo, the 2018 winner of Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, has made no such remarks.
In a statement published on the website of Kyoto University, external, where he holds the position of deputy director-general of the Institute for Advanced Study, he said he was “greatly saddened” that his name had been used to spread “false accusations and misinformation”.
“At this stage, when all of our energies are needed to treat the ill, prevent the further spread of sorrow, and plan for a new beginning, the broadcasting of unsubstantiated claims regarding the origins of the disease is dangerously distracting,” he added.
Conspiracy theories about the man-made origin of the virus have been doing the rounds on social media since the start of the outbreak. This has been widely dismissed by scientists who say genome sequencing shows that it came from animals.
Image source, Getty ImagesMillions of cups of tea are consumed around the world each day yet the global tea market is starting to feel the effects of the coronavirus pandemic just as consumers in lockdown drive up demand.
Strict restrictions on movement to contain the virus have already disrupted the key leaf-picking season, delaying some shipments by about a month and triggering a spike in prices.
Five countries - China, India, Kenya, Sri Lanka and Vietnam - account for 82% of global tea exports., external
Prabhat Bezboruah, chairman of India’s Tea Board, said India’s output is likely to drop by 9% in 2020 as the lockdown initially forced plantations to suspend plucking during the opening harvest.
Prices for raw tea, which Russia imports, jumped as much as 30% from pre-lockdown levels.
There have been claims on social media - which are false - that drinking a hot drink will help protect people from coronavirus.
Image source, AFPMPs in Uganda who allocated themselves a total of 10bn Ugandan shillings ($2.6m; £2m) to raise awareness about coronavirus have been ordered to hand back the money.
Each MP was set to get the equivalent of $5,000, although some rejected the cash.
Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni criticised the MPs and called their decision to allocate funding to themselves "morally reprehensible".
The High Court in Kampala has now ordered Ugandan MPs to hand back the cash.
Uganda has so far confirmed 79 cases of coronavirus. The country is in lockdown, with restrictions due to end next Tuesday.
Image source, Getty ImagesNuno Gomes Nabiam became prime minister of Guinea-Bissau in February
Nuno Gomes Nabiam, the prime minister of Guinea-Bissau, and three of his cabinet have tested positive for coronavirus.
They were quarantined in a hotel in the capital Bissau after the results were confirmed on Tuesday, the health ministry said in a statement.
The west African country has more than 70 cases of the virus, with one death, but Health Minister Antonio Deuna warns the rate could rise.
Image source, EPAThe death toll in India has sadly passed 1,000, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
Wednesday saw the largest daily death toll yet with 73 fatalities recorded.
Over 31,000 cases have been confirmed in the country.
The figure is relatively low in comparison with other countries however experts have warned that there is a lack of testing in the country.
Virologist Jacob John told AFP news agency: "We see low numbers but we do not know how to validate those numbers or rates."
India has been in lockdown since 25 March and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has indicated that the lockdown could continue beyond 3 May.
Image source, Getty ImagesGermany is extending its travel ban for unnecessary international travel until 14 June.
Foreign Minister Heiko Maas says the warning, which had been due to expire 3 May, is being extended because there has been no change to the danger posed by the coronavirus pandemic.
"Naturally we all hope we won’t need this travel warning after June 14," Mass said.
According to Johns Hopkins University data, external, Germany currently has 159,912 confirmed cases of coronavirus, and 6,314 deaths from the virus.
Image source, PA MediaDominic Raab said the government will seek to vaccinate "all of the people here in the UK"
The UK government has pledged more than £1.5bn over the next five years as part of international efforts to find a Covid-19 vaccine.
International Development Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan told MPs the UK would contribute the equivalent of £330m a year for the next five years to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance - formerly the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation.
First Secretary Dominic Raab later said the government will seek to vaccinate "all of the people here in the UK" as well as supporting the "most vulnerable and poorest countries" in immunising their populations.
A further 445 coronavirus-related hospital deaths have been announced in England, taking the total to 19,740.
The deaths included a patient aged 14 with no known underlying health conditions.
In Wales, a further 73 people have died after testing positive for the virus, taking the total number of deaths there to 886.
UK-wide figures will be published by the Department of Health later today. The figures will include deaths in care homes and the community, as well as those in hospital, for the first time.
The US economy sank at an annual rate of 4.8% during the first quarter, according to official figures released on Wednesday. It is the most severe contraction in more than a decade., external
More than 26 million people in the US have filed for unemployment. Forecasters expect growth to contract 30% or more in the three months to June.
Countries around the world are feeling the economic strain from the impact of Covid-19.
In Germany, Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said the pandemic will send the country's economy into the worst recession since World War Two.
The country's GDP is expected to shrink by 6.3%.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has predicted that global growth will drop by almost 3%.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is to take a “short period” of paternity leave at some point later this year, a Downing Street spokesman has said.
The spokesman said Mr Johnson was now back at work in No 10, following the birth of his son this morning.
The family is expected to live at Downing Street, in the flat above No 11.
Zhanna Bezpiatchuk
BBC Ukrainian Service reporter
Ukraine's national airline has cancelled a special flight taking seasonal contract workers to the UK, where they can earn four times as much as at home.
The Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) flight was scheduled to leave Kiev for London today. But with very short notice, the state aviation agency barred the flight.
Over a hundred Ukrainians, most of whom have six-month work permits in the UK, were left stuck at the airport.
Ukraine remains under lockdown until 12 May with numerous restrictive measures. However, some special flights upon request are still allowed to be operated.
"We were told by the airline that they are fighting for our right to go for work to the UK. It’s not clear what we do now," Igor Petrenko, one of the stuck workers, told the BBC.
He was hired to work in an agriculture job until October.
The Ukrainian government has said it won’t help other countries with flights for seasonal workers. Instead, it encouraged Ukrainians to stay and work at home.
"In Ukraine the first priority is safety and health of our citizens. Amid [the] pandemic any trip brings risks of contraction, especially when it comes to flight," said Ukrainian foreign affairs minister Dmytro Kuleba.
Image source, Getty ImagesFree visa extensions are to be automatically granted to more overseas health and care workers in the UK, Home Secretary Priti Patel has said, external.
Front-line workers, including midwives, radiographers, social workers and pharmacists, with visas due to expire before 1 October 2020 will receive an automatic one-year extension. It will apply to those working both in the NHS and independent sector and their family members.
It comes after the home secretary announced a similar move for NHS doctors, nurses and paramedics last month, external.
James Gallagher
Health and science correspondent, BBC News
The biggest study of Covid-19 patients in the UK shows a third admitted to hospital have died.
Just under half have been discharged, with the rest still being treated.
Prof Calum Semple, the chief investigator from the University of Liverpool, said the "crude hospital fatality rate is of the same magnitude as Ebola".
He said around 35-40% of hospitalised Ebola patients die.
"People need to hear this... this is an incredibly dangerous disease."
Nearly 17,000 patients from 166 hospitals were part of the study. Obesity and age both increased the risk of death.
The study also confirmed that men are more likely to have severe disease, and the gap between outcomes for men and women gets wider with age.
The UK has repatriated 1.3 million people since the coronavirus outbreak, Foreign Office minister Nigel Adams has said.
Among those, Mr Adams said 200,000 British nationals had returned from Spain and 50,000 from Australia in the past month alone.
He added that the UK planned to bring back thousands more travellers in the next week on charter flights, including from Bangladesh, Nigeria and New Zealand.
Image source, Getty ImagesAuthorities in Spain have apologised after spraying a beach with bleach in an attempt to protect children from coronavirus.
Zahara de los Atunes, near Cadiz, used tractors to spray more than 2km (1.2 miles) of beach with a bleach solution a day before Spain allowed children out of lockdown for the first time.
The beach and its dunes are protected breeding and nesting places for migratory birds. Environmentalists say the move caused "brutal damage" to the local ecosystem.
Spain has recorded 23,800 coronavirus deaths.
Image source, Getty ImagesThe reopening of schools in England is expected to take place in a "phased manner", Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has said.
He told the Education Select Committee the date for opening would depend on scientific advice - but schools would get "as much notice as possible".
However, when pupils start returning, it could just be for some year groups.
"All schools returning on day one with a full complement of pupils would not be realistic," the education secretary told MPs.
Once travel restrictions are eventually eased, passengers flying to Berlin are set to land in the German capital's long-awaited new airport - which will open later this year after a nine-year delay.
The Berlin-Brandenburg airport was due to open in March 2011.
A series of delays and scandals - including two redesigns of the terminal, the construction planning firm going bankrupt and a corruption whistleblower claiming his coffee was poisoned - put it on hold.
Building authorities have finally given it clearance for take off on 31 October. It will replace the capital's old Tegel and Schönefeld airports.
Image source, Getty ImagesThe new airport will be named after former West Germany chancellor Willy Brandt
Image source, AFPAbout half of all workers worldwide are in danger of having their livelihoods destroyed because of the pandemic, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has warned.
The figure equates to more than 1.5 billion people.
Covid-19 has infected more than 3.1 million people around the world and killed nearly 220,000.
The ILO says those with informal work arrangements are most in danger - many are in the retail sector, manufacturing and food services industry.
Already, two billion informal workers have seen their wages fall by a global average of 60% during the first month that the pandemic unfolded in their region.
"For millions of workers, no income means no food, no security and no future. Millions of businesses around the world are barely breathing,” said ILO Director-General Guy Ryder.
“They have no savings or access to credit. These are the real faces of the world of work. If we don’t help them now, they will simply perish,” he added.