The UK economy shrank at the fastest pace since the financial crisis in the first quarter of 2020, as the country was forced into a coronavirus lockdown.

The Office for National Statistics said the economy contracted by 2% in the three months to March, following zero growth in the final quarter of 2019.

The UK's dominant services sector suffered a record decline.

Analysts expect a bigger slump in the second quarter, before the economy starts to recover.

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Image source, Getty Images

Mexico reported 353 deaths on Tuesday from coronavirus - a jump of nearly 100 on its previous high last Thursday. It marks the largest daily rise for the country so far. The health ministry also confirmed 1,997 new cases.

On Wednesday President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador will reveal plans for re-opening the country's economy, particularly the motor industry. The US government and car manufacturers have called on Mexico to re-open factories that serve the US market.

Image source, Getty Images

If you're just joining us this morning, here are some of the key developments from the UK:

• Millions of self-employed people whose business has been affected by coronavirus can apply for grants from the UK government from Wednesday
• People in England can spend more time outside, meet a friend at the park and move home, as the UK government begins easing some lockdown measures
• Employees who cannot work from home are being "actively encouraged" to return to their workplaces
• Childminders in England can reopen from Wednesday if they are caring for children from the same household
• But the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are keeping stricter measures in place and retaining the message to stay at home
• Garden centres have become the first businesses allowed to reopen to the public - first in Wales and from today in England - since the government shut down non-essential shops
• And young people in the UK have told of their job despair during the pandemic

For those who survive being admitted to an intensive care unit with Covid-19, the battle may not end there - some face a prolonged recovery both physically and mentally.

The BBC's medical correspondent Fergus Walsh visited University College Hospital in London to meet patients beginning rehabilitation, and the multidisciplinary team that helps them on their way.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has encouraged people in England who can't work from home to return to work - revealing a list of guidelines , externalfor companies to follow to ensure a "Covid-secure" workplace.

But what might that mean for offices and other workplaces? Watch here...

Image source, PA Media

People in England who cannot work from home are being encouraged to return to their workplaces today, as the UK government begins easing some lockdown measures.

Under the new rules, garden centres can also reopen and people can meet one person from outside their household.

Meanwhile, people can spend more time outside, meet a friend at the park, and move home.

But the changes don't apply in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland - where the message remains "stay at home".

Commuters in England are still being urged to avoid public transport wherever possible, but have been advised to wear a face covering.

• Read more on this story here

Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge says it has seen a large drop in the number of children arriving - as parents avoid hospitals.

Laura Bicker
BBC News, Seoul

South Korea’s prime minister has told club-goers who may have been infected with Covid-19 in Seoul’s party district that they must come forward this week.

Some 119 cases have been confirmed in a cluster of infections from nightclubs in the country’s capital. More than 22,000 people have been tracked and tested so far.

There are now at least 10 bars and clubs in two districts of Seoul under investigation. One case dates back to late April, when nightclubs reopened.

Health officials are managing to trace thousands who may have been in the area using the GPS on mobile phones and credit card records.

But one man who was tracked could face criminal charges after lying to officials about his job and his movements.

The 25-year-old is an after-school teacher in Incheon and has infected eight people, including six students.

He was tracked using his mobile phone and did not disclose he was a teacher - which cost officials valuable time in tracking down others who were potentially infected.

Two of the people he infected went to church over the weekend and there are now more than 700 people in Incheon in quarantine.

South Korea’s infectious disease laws state the man could face up to two years in prison or a fine of 20 million KRW (£13,000; $16,000).

The LGBT community used many of the clubs at the centre of the outbreak - and there’s concern some people will not come forward due to fear of discrimination.

The prime minister said today that, even if someone tests positive for the virus, officials will delete all personal data.

Twitter’s decision to allow staff to work from home "forever" is sending ripples around the business community.

Many have predicted other tech firms will follow suit - and one digital innovation expert even called it “era-defining news”.

“Some people may not take this seriously as it's Twitter - but we can learn a lot from Silicon Valley about workplace flexibility,” said New York-based Sree Sreenivasan, a Loeb Visiting Professor at the Stony Brook University School of Journalism.

“There has been a mentality that working from home was stealing from the boss and face-time in the office was more important.

“But people are proving they can be far more productive and get tasks done working from home.

"A lot of people tell me they are working harder at home and are exhausted."

Image source, AFP

Thailand has reported no new virus infections for the past 24 hours - the first time since 9 March the daily toll was zero.

There are 3,017 cases overall in Thailand with 56 deaths. Of the remaining cases, all but 163 have recovered.

A Japanese sumo wrestler has died at the age of 28 from complications caused by Covid-19, say media reports quoting the Japan Sumo Association (JSA).

Shobushi was admitted to hospital on 8 April. He was taken into intensive care on 19 April, and died from multiple organ failure.

Last month, the JSA said that at least five sumo wrestlers had contracted the virus.

Image source, AAP/EPA

Australian authorities say an 81-year-old woman, a passenger on the Ruby Princess, died in New South Wales overnight.

The Princess is the Carnival-operated cruise ship linked to 700 virus cases and now 22 deaths.

In March, authorities allowed the ship to dock in Sydney and unload more than 2,700 passengers while there were reports of illness on board.

There are separate police, government and coroner investigations into what went wrong.

One of those, a special public inquiry, has rigorously questioned witnesses including ship employees, state health authorities and port officials.

The testimonies have suggested a number of errors were made - including miscommunication between officials and a failure to carry out due diligence. The investigations continue.

The top US infectious diseases doctor has warned senators the virus will spread if the country opens up too soon.

Dr Anthony Fauci said if federal guidelines to reopen are not followed, "little spikes" will become outbreaks.

His message is at odds with the upbeat tone of President Trump who is keen to get the economy going again.

Dr Fauci was speaking via video to a Republican-led committee of the US Senate.

Up to 50 people can now say farewell to their loved ones in New Zealand, said authorities, backtracking on a previous ruling.

It comes just hours before New Zealand moves into alert level 2 - which allows retail stores, restaurants, cinemas and other public spaces to reopen.

Under the level two rules, mass gatherings are limited to under 100 people - but the government had maintained that funerals would be restricted to 10 people.

Opposition leader Simon Bridges called the restriction "inhumane".

"It's not just unkind, it's inhumane. If you can socially distance at a movie theatre with 99 other people you can do the same at a funeral," he told Newstalk ZB.

Funeral parlours however, will need to ensure that measures including social distancing are met.

Vikas Pandey
BBC News, Delhi

Inspector Munish Pratap Singh was about to finish his shift around 22:00 when a helpless father called him with an unusual request.

"Could you please get a birthday cake for my son? It's his birthday and he is really sad," the father said.

Insp Singh is not used to dealing with such requests, but these are no ordinary times. All shops were shut in his area, but he called a baker he knew and - luckily - a cake was available.

"The happiness on the boy's face made everything worthwhile. My team and I forgot how tired we were," he says.

Insp Singh is not alone among his colleagues with such a simple act of kindness.

Many other officers in India have delivered birthday cakes to children and the elderly, external, given food to the homeless and provided essential medicines.

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All 323,000 foreign workers living in dormitories in Singapore will be tested for the virus, authorities have said.

Singapore, which was held up as a model in how to beat Covid-19, has since been hit with a large-scale outbreak amongst its migrant worker community.

The island is home to hundreds of thousands of migrant workers, often from South Asia, many of whom work in construction.

The construction workers live in tightly-packed dorms, with up to 16 migrants packed in a room. Thousands of workers across a dozen dormitories in Singapore have been placed under quarantine, but hundreds are testing positive each day.

So far, more than 32,000 workers in dorms have been tested - about 10% of the total. National Development Minister Lawrence Wong said, external about 3,000 tests were carried out each day.

There are currently 24,671 confirmed cases in Singapore - almost all migrant workers - and 21 deaths.

Image source, Getty Images

Parking restrictions were eased in Wellington, New Zealand during the lockdown. But things got back to normal pretty quickly.

According to the NZ Herald, external, more than 800 tickets were issued on Tuesday, as paid parking returned.

"We think we've given people a pretty good run up and a warning that enforcement was going to start again," a city council spokesman told the Herald.

"I know a lot of people would love us to put the parking wardens away and never see them again, but unfortunately that's never going to happen - they're back."

Image source, EPA

There has been another rise in infections linked to a cluster in Seoul's nightlife district Itaewon, taking the total to 119.

The nightlife outbreak came after the government began relaxing some social distancing rules - showing how difficult it is to control infections after returning to normal life.

South Korea, through extensive testing and contact tracing, had managed to bring daily cases down to single digits without enforcing a national lockdown.

Tracing the nightclubs cluster has proved difficult, though, as some clubbers provided false names or numbers when entering LGBT clubs.

Overall, there have been just under 11,000 confirmed infections in South Korea with about 1,000 still active and the rest recovered. The death toll stands at 259.

The western state of Maharashtra will release nearly half of its prisoners - 17,000 out of 35,000 - in a bid to curb the spread of Covid-19 in its jails.

On Tuesday, the state's home minister said that Arthur Road jail in the state's capital, Mumbai, had recorded at least 180 positive cases.

“This measure has been taken to ensure that social distancing norms are observed in every jail of the state and spreading of Covid-19 is prevented," Anil Deshmukh told local media, external.

He added that those being released would be out on temporary bail - and that those jailed for "serious crimes" including murder, rape, and financial fraud, would stay in prison.

India has reported more than 70,000 cases, including 2,293 deaths. Maharashtra is one of the worst-affected states in the country, with more than 24,000 infections.