Image source, Getty Images

The US' federal social distancing guidelines expire tonight - leaving reopenings in the hands of local lawmakers.

States across the US are beginning to ease social and economic restrictions.

Today, a stay-at-home order will expire in Texas, America's second most-populous state. By Friday, stores, theatres and restaurants will be allowed to resume business, albeit at limited capacity.

Georgia's order also expires today, and the governor is due to decide whether it will be extended. The state's easing of restrictions on personal care businesses last week was criticised by many, including President Donald Trump.

Alabama, Tennessee, West Virginia, Ohio and Idaho will begin phased reopenings by Friday, though some restrictions will still be in place, like limits on gatherings or certain types of businesses.

Florida has extended its stay-at-home order to 4 May, when the governor says most of the state can begin reopening.

TV personality Nadiya Hussain says her anxiety means there are times during the coronavirus lockdown when she has "struggled to get out of bed".

The winner of 2015's Great British Bake Off says there have been "days where I don't even want to get dressed".

"I'm so used to constantly doing things, I'm scared I'm not productive enough or doing enough," the 35-year-old mother of three told the BBC.

"If I brush my teeth and put a fresh set of clothes on, that's OK - that can be a goal I've met."

Last year she made a documentary for the BBC in which she spoke about and sought treatment for her regular panic attacks.

Read more from Nadiya's interview here.

Image source, Getty Images

Los Angeles is the first major US city to offer free Covid-19 testing to all its residents.

The county's 34 testing centres had previously been for symptomatic individuals or frontline workers only.

Mayor Eric Garcetti said those with symptoms would be given priority but even people with no signs of the virus could get tested as the city now had the capacity.

Residents can sign up for testing appointments online.

Image source, Reuters

We have just had it confirmed that the UK government will give its daily briefing at 17:00 BST (16:00 GMT).

As we already know, it will be led by Prime Minister Boris Johnson – his first time at a press conference since his return to work after having coronavirus, and a day after he became a father again.

He will be joined by chief medical officer Chris Whitty and chief scientific adviser Patrick Vallance.

Dr Anthony Fauci, the US infectious disease chief and a member of the White House taskforce, says he is "cautiously optimistic" as the nation begins reopening.

Dr Fauci told NBC News' Today television programme, external on Thursday the US was in early trial phases for a vaccine - and having doses ready by January was "doable if things fall in the right place".

When asked about the states that were easing distancing restrictions, Dr Fauci urged local leaders to follow administration guidelines for a phased approach.

States should only begin reopening if they saw a decline in new coronavirus cases over two weeks, Dr Fauci said.

He said states should also be prepared for fresh outbreaks of the virus, which he said was inevitable as restrictions lessened, and have systems in place to identify, isolate and contact trace.

"You can't just leap over things and get into a situation where you're really tempting a rebound," he said. "That's the thing I get concerned about."

An "isolation disco" has brought neighbours together in a colourful display either side of the River Tyne in north-east England.

Residents have grabbed torches and put on their best fancy dress to dance in their homes each night in North and South Shields.

Started as a "little joke" by friends and neighbours Scott Miller and Graham Moralee, people as far as Belgium and Australia now post videos of their best dance moves on the Facebook group.

Scott said: "It has grown into something beautiful in these dark days. Lifting everyone's spirits and bringing a little colour into our lives."

If you're just joining us, here are the latest headlines from around the world:

• In the past week, 3.8 million more people filed for unemployment benefits in the US, meaning at least 30 million Americans have lost their jobs since mid-March
• Meanwhile President Donald Trump stepped up his criticism of China over the outbreak, saying the country "will do anything they can" to make him lose in his re-election bid
• The global demand for energy is set to plummet by record amounts due to the lockdowns being enforced around the world, according to the International Energy Agency
• The eurozone economy shrank at the sharpest pace on record in the first quarter as the pandemic forced countries into lockdown
• In the UK, Prime Minister Boris Johnson will lead the daily coronavirus briefing for the first time since his return to work
• The UK government is pushing to meet a deadline for carrying out 100,000 tests a day, but ministers admit they seem unlikely to reach the target
• There are now more than 3.2 million recorded cases of the virus worldwide, and there have been more than 228,000 deaths

Another 391 people have died in England after testing positive for coronavirus, NHS England says.

It brings the total number of confirmed reported deaths in English hospitals to 20,131.

We'll get a fuller picture later when the UK-wide figures are released.

Bethany Bell
BBC News, Vienna

Image source, Getty Images

About 2,000 people in a remote Austrian Alpine valley that neighbours Germany are appealing for border restrictions to be lifted in the region between the two countries.

Kleinwalsertal, in the western Austrian Alps, is accessible only via a road from Germany. Locals say it has been cut off from the rest of Austria ever since border restrictions were imposed because of coronavirus.

An online petition, external, addressed to the interior ministers of Austria and Germany, says that nobody has currently tested positive for Covid-19 in Kleinwalsertal.

The Kleinwalsertal website says crossings are permitted for key workers and commuters or if there are critical medical or trade reasons.

Image source, EPA

Nearly 9,000 people have received fines for flouting lockdown restrictions in England and Wales, new figures show.

Police have had powers to issue fixed penalty notices (rather than on-the-spot fines) for alleged breaches since 26 March.

Figures released by the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) show that in the month to 27 April, police issued 8,877 fixed-penalty notices in England, and a further 299 in Wales.

Nearly 400 were for repeat offenders - with one individual given six.

Police can issue an initial £60 fixed penalty, which is lowered to £30 if paid within two weeks, before issuing £120 fixed penalties for second-time offenders - a fee which is doubled on each further repeat offence.

Guidelines have been issued to police over imposing lockdown, including a list of 'reasonable excuses' for people to leave their homes.

Image source, Reuters

The spread of the coronavirus in Denmark has not accelerated since lockdown measures started to be loosened earlier this month.

The so-called R0 rate, which shows the average number ofinfections one person with the virus causes, has increaseda little since mid-April but remains below 1.0, according to the State Serum Institute, which is responsible for preparedness against infectious diseases.

"However, there are no signs that the Covid-19 epidemic isaccelerating," it said.

Meanwhile, Germany began easing restrictions at the beginning of last week. It is also seeking to achieve a R0 rate below one.

In early March the German rate was three but by mid-April it was below one. On Monday evening, that rate did rise briefly to one before falling back again, and the current figure is 0.76, external.

Image source, Getty Images

British Airways has told staff its Gatwick Airport operation may not reopen after the coronavirus pandemic passes.

The admission came in a memo written by the head of BA's Gatwick hub, and seen by BBC News.

BA's Gatwick operation, which is currently suspended, is about a fifth as big as its Heathrow hub. It used to fly to more than 70 destinations.

In a separate letter, BA said it could not rule out suspending the rest of its Heathrow operation - and added that a quarter of BA's 4,300 pilots were set to lose their jobs.

Read more here.

Remarkably, last weekend a boxing match happened in Nicaragua, a country which has not locked down or brought in social distancing measures.

Photographer Carlos Herrera captured the build-up and the fight between little known local competitors which was televised live across Latin America.

Here is a selection of his pictures.

Image source, Carlos Herrera

Image source, Carlos Herrera

Image source, Carlos Herrera

Read more about the fight - with more pictures - here.

"You have flashbacks at the end of the day, you dream about it at night...you can't escape it."

As a respiratory consultant, Dr Hans Hartun leads a team of doctors trying to save patients from Covid-19.

The BBC spoke to him and his colleagues at Crosshouse Hospital in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, about coping with stress during the coronavirus crisis.

A further nine people have died with Covid-19 in hospitals in Northern Ireland, latest daily figures show.

It takes the total number of deaths to 347.

Northern Ireland health minister Robin Swann said the nation "remains on a knife edge" and urged people to stay home.

In the past week, 3.8 million more people filed for unemployment benefits in the US, bringing the total number of Americans made jobless up to some 30 million over the past six weeks.

Reality Check

President Donald Trump claims the US has “tested more than all countries put together”, as he continues to defend his administration's response to the coronavirus outbreak.

But is that true?

The latest data shows that a total of 6,026,170 tests have been carried out in the US.

This is nowhere near as many as the rest of the world combined. Just combining the testing totals of Spain, Italy, Germany and the UK gives you more than the US total.

The US has carried out more tests in total than any other country, but it has a much larger population than most countries, and still lags behind several major nations in terms of testing per capita.

In early March, the White House conceded that the country did not have enough testing kits, but since then the US has significantly ramped up testing, with the total number increasing almost six-fold since the start of April.

• Prime Minister Boris Johnson has chaired a cabinet meeting and will later lead the daily coronavirus briefing for the first time since his return to work
• The government is pushing to meet today's deadline for carrying out 100,000 tests a day, but ministers admit they seem unlikely to reach the target
• The prime minister's spokesman has dampened suggestions that the lockdown could be lifted before the end of June
• Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said next week may be "too early" to lift the lockdown restrictions "in any meaningful way"

• Captain Tom Moore, who raised over £30m for NHS charities, has been celebrating his 100th birthday - with some big surprises
• London's transport system may be overwhelmed when lockdown measures are lifted, a briefing to emergency planners says
• Sainsbury's customers are likely to see disruption to their shopping, including socially distanced queues, until September
• Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca has agreed to manufacture and distribute a coronavirus vaccine being developed by the University of Oxford if it proves effective

Another 22 people are confirmed to have died after testing positive for coronavirus in Wales, taking the total to 908 according to Public Health Wales.

Image source, Getty Images

As we've been reporting, UK ministers are pushing to meet today's deadline for carrying out 100,000 tests a day - but admit they seem unlikely to reach the target.

The tests can get some self-isolating key workers back to work, help scientists track the virus, and inform decisions around social distancing and lockdowns.

But is 100,000 enough?

That figure, says Health Secretary Matt Hancock, would allow the UK to begin the next "test, track and trace" phase of the government's strategy.

But earlier, his Cabinet colleague Robert Buckland told the BBC "frankly we need more", while Prime Minister Boris Johnson has previously spoken about plans to boost testing to 250,000.

And NHS Providers, which represents NHS trusts in England, has questioned the rationale behind the current target, calling it a "red herring".

Its chief executive Chris Hopson, said: "What we need to know is what are we going to do in terms of the testing regime over the next six, eight, 10, 12 weeks as we come out of lockdown?"

So, how well is the UK doing now, and how does it compare to other countries? Our health reporter Rachel Schraer has been keeping track.