A fire at a St Petersburg hospital has killed five coronavirus patients in an intensive care unit.

The blaze was apparently started by a short-circuit in a ventilator, Russian news agencies have said.

"Ventilators are working on the brink of collapse. According to preliminary data, there was an overload and a machine ignited which caused the fire," news agency Interfax reported, quoting a source at the St Petersburg emergencies department.

All of the patients who died had been on ventilators.

The fire has been contained and 150 people have been evacuated from the hospital, the country's emergency ministry said. It is not clear how many people have been injured.

A criminal investigation has been launched into the incident.

Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg is being tested for Covid-19 after suffering a coughing fit during a lengthy address to parliament today.

As we reported earlier, the treasurer was giving an economic update which included projections of Australia's GDP falling over 10% by June.

Frydenberg was overcome by coughs halfway through his speech and jokingly wheezed out "too long a speech" as he tried to finish his sentences.

In a statement just released he said he was getting tested "out of an abundance of caution" and would isolate. His results are due tomorrow.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock believes the concept of social "bubbles" where one household can meet with one other household only could ease the pain of those missing their loved ones during lockdown.

It is an idea that has been used in New Zealand, and was touted as a potential future option in the government's new guidelines issued on Monday.

"I understand the anguish of people who desperately want to see members of their family but also desperately want to do the right thing," he told BBC Breakfast.

"We want to get this right so have asked the scientists to look at it.

"It will help with a lot of this anguish to see family members who are in another household, whether that’s a grandparent - although older grandparents are at greater risk - or people who are in a relationship in different households. I hope that we can make some progress."

• Can I see my parents now? The social distancing and self-isolation rules.

Image source, Reuters

All mosques in Iran are due to reopen temporarily on Tuesday, as part of the government's plan to ease coronavirus restrictions.

They will be open for three days to commemorate specific nights during the holy month of Ramadan, and have been asked to comply with strict health protocols.

It is unclear whether they will stay open, according to the Fars news agency.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei on Monday called on officials to pay attention to people's need for prayers during this critical time and particularly in the fasting month of Ramadan.

Last week, mosques in low-risk areas reopened in more than 160 cities and towns, but most have been shut for almost two months since the beginning of Iran's outbreak.

Iran has seen 109,286 diagnosed cases, and a total of 6,685 deaths.

Employers and their staff need to work together to make sure those returning to workplaces feel safe, says England's Health Secretary Matt Hancock.

He told BBC Breakfast: "Workplaces need to follow the guidelines in making the workplace safe for Covid-19 and we will be setting out details on that later."

He said everybody who can work from home should continue to do so.

Asked if employees could legally walk out if they were unhappy with safety measures, he said: "Employment law has not changed, but that isn’t the point. Businesses and their employees should be working together."

Read more on the guidance here: What should my employer do to keep me safe?

Image source, Getty Images

Five Covid-19 patients have died in a fire at a hospital in St Petersburg after a short-circuit in a ventilator, according to Russian news agencies. We'll bring you more as we get it.

Image source, Getty Images

Rows and rows of bumper-to-bumper traffic were seen across cities in Pakistan on Monday after the lockdown was eased, local media reported.

People also flocked to markets in cities, which opened for the first time in more than a month. The government earlier announced that it would lift its lockdown in phases to give some relief to the economy.

While public transport is still shut, factories and offices have opened, external, reported the Dawn newspaper.

“We opened today after almost two months; I am almost bankrupt and owe workers their salaries,” said Muhammad Sattar, a garment shop owner in Karachi.

But the easing of the lockdown comes amid concerns that cases are not receding in Pakistan. In fact, daily infection rates continue to grow. The country has witnessed more than 32,000 infections and 706 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

France has begun to ease its lockdown, and thousands of businesses have started to reopen, including hairdressers.

One salon owner in Paris spoke to the BBC about the safety of her staff, and the economic challenges she is facing:

Image source, EPA

This year's summer solstice celebrations at Stonehenge in southern England have been cancelled because of the ban on mass gatherings prompted by the coronavirus.

Traditionally about 10,000 people gather at the Neolithic monument in Wiltshire, on or around 21 June, to mark midsummer.

English Heritage said it was cancelling the event "for the safety and wellbeing of attendees, volunteers and staff".

The occasion will instead be live streamed on the charity's social media accounts.

Read more here.

Image source, Getty Images

Japan's baseball league is due to begin in June, having been delayed since March by the pandemic.

"The 12 teams agreed to make efforts so that the season can start in the latter half of June, on the condition that all necessary preparations can be made while carefully monitoring the spread of the infection," Atsushi Saito, commissioner for Nippon Professional Baseball, said in a statement.

Baseball is hugely popular in Japan, with even youth leagues getting television coverage.

Germany's Bundesliga will be the first of the world's top football leagues to resume playing this Saturday - also to empty stadiums.

Premier League clubs have been told they could have to repay an estimated £340m to domestic and international broadcasters - even if the season resumes behind closed doors.

And BBC Sport has learned the clubs were warned on Monday that figure could rise if the season is curtailed or if relegation is scrapped.

In other developments:

• No professional sport, even behind closed doors, will be staged in England until 1 June at the earliest, the UK government has announced
• The British Grand Prix is under threat this year because of a financial stand-off between Formula 1 and Silverstone
• English and French clubs have written to World Rugby in a bid to be formally involved in the establishment of a new rugby union schedule post-coronavirus

Image source, Getty Images

"Johnson under attack for risking staff safety in back-to-work dash" is the front-page headline on the Financial Times.

The FT's leader article says Mr Johnson's approach suggests a "cavalier attitude towards the welfare of blue-collar workers".

Meanwhile, the Daily Telegraph highlights the prime minister advising the public to use "good, solid common sense".

• Read a full round-up of the UK newspaper headlines here.

Image source, AP

On Monday, people in England got more information about what the easing of the lockdown would entail.

• The government wants people who can’t work from home to return to work from Wednesday, but said they should avoid public transport
• Some of the limits on outdoor activities in England are also being lifted
• People are being asked to wear face coverings in enclosed spaces where they can't socially distance
• The government plans to introduce quarantine for those coming from abroad as soon as possible, but gave no fixed date
• The governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own guidelines, which are more cautious than those for England
• Meanwhile, the Chancellor Rishi Sunak is due to reveal the future of the UK government's job retention scheme later

Here's a graph of Germany's cases from the country's official institute for infectious diseases.

The yellow bars show the number of reported cases, the blue ones only the onset of symptoms. The occasional sudden drops are usually on a Monday because of delayed weekend data.

The easing of the lockdown began on 20 April, when the country allowed small shops to reopen.

In the following weeks, some schools began allowing some pupils to return to class. Since then, the country's different states have eased measures further - with some even allowing restaurants and bars to open.

While numbers of new infections have fallen below 1,000, and remain way down on their peak, worries remain that easing restrictions will drive infections up again.

The latest figures from Germany, not on the chart, show a daily rise of 933 cases.

Image source, RKI

A new sign in New York's Times Square shows the number of US coronavirus deaths that its creator says are down to inaction by President Trump.

The "Trump Death Clock", created by filmmaker Eugene Jarecki, was installed on the roof of a Times Square building.

As of Tuesday, the website Trump Death Clock , externalshows the figure 48,586.

The website says that Trump "declined to act until 16 March", adding that epidemiologists said that "had mitigation measures been implemented one week earlier, 60% of American Covid-19 deaths would have been avoided".

More than 80,000 people in the US with Covid-19 have died since the outbreak began.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Australian lawmakers are back in parliament chambers for the first time in weeks. While Australia has succeeded in subduing the virus, lockdown and the forced closure of businesses have been brutal for the economy.

GDP is expected to shrink more than 10% - or A$50bn (£26bn; $32bn) - in the three months to June. This will be the biggest fall on record, says Treasurer Josh Frydenberg. Also:

• Unemployment will double to 10% or 1.4 million people
• Air travel is down by 97%
• Australia's stock market lost a third of value in four weeks
• A third of jobs were lost in accommodation and food services, and a quarter of jobs in arts and recreation

In Sweden, the rules allow most people to go outside and visit bars, restaurants and shops, as long as they try to stay distant from each other.

The country has seen 26,322 cases and 3,225 deaths from the virus - with many, including some Swedish citizens, questioning the approach.

So what does social-distancing outside of lockdown look like - and is everyone comfortable?

Laura Bicker
BBC News, Seoul

Some 101 people have now tested positive for the coronavirus after a cluster outbreak at clubs in Seoul’s party district of Itaewon.

Containing this latest surge in cases is a huge challenge for South Korea’s “track, trace and test” measures which have so far proved successful.

All club-goers were required to put down their names and contact numbers at the door. It was one of the guidelines for re-opening on 19 April - along with wearing masks and using hand sanitiser.

Some of the clubs at the centre of the investigation were run for and by the LGBT community. And in conservative South Korea, LGBT people face daily discrimination.

"Coming out" can often mean losing your life as you know it - your family, your job. Some of the names and numbers left at the door of the club were false - which is making it difficult for officials to track everyone down.

A Protestant-run newspaper in Seoul was the first to run with the headline that the outbreak came from “gay nightclubs”, a term health officials were deliberately trying to avoid.

Amnesty International has today hit out at some of the media coverage and said that “stirring up hatred and branding a certain group is the biggest obstacle to effective disease prevention".

Now, health officials have said that people being tested do not have to give their name. They also believe that there is more than one person at the source of this infection.

A team of over 8,500 police are tracking down nearly 11,000 people who were in Itaewon on that holiday weekend. They have phone numbers based on network towers and they’ve been checking credit card records.

Texts have been sent in English and Korean urging people to get a test. The Korean Centre for Disease Control has clarified to the BBC that anyone who was in the area at the time, including foreigners, can be tested for free. So far, more than 7,000 people have come forward.

Public health was valued over privacy at the height of this outbreak. In efforts to be transparent, some local governments, including Seoul, were releasing the last names, ages and occupations of those who tested positive in press releases to hundreds of journalists.

But now this country is learning that privacy is a matter of public health, if this outbreak is to be brought under control.

• Gay in South Korea: 'I don't need a son like you'

One of the world's busiest airports, Singapore Changi, is closing another terminal.

Terminal 2 was suspended for 18 months from 1 May, and now Terminal 4 is following for an unspecified period of time.

The airport said the decision was "in view of the steep decline in passenger traffic and the likelihood that air travel demand will not return to pre-Covid-19 levels in the near term".

• The disappearing sound of airports

This is the moment a family was reunited after the lockdown was lifted in parts of Spain - which had some of the toughest measures in Europe.

Two aunts greeted their family for the first time in two months, and found their one-year-old niece had learned to walk.

But they also made sure there was no body contact - see how they did it: