Dr Rick Bright, who led the US office charged with developing countermeasures to infectious diseases, has been testifying to lawmakers over the last hour or so.

Bright has filed a whistleblower complaint saying he was unfairly removed by President Trump for opposing the president's touting of an unproven coronavirus treatment.

"Americans deserve the truth," he said. "The truth must be based on science. Let us speak without fear of retribution."

He said there was "a limited window of opportunity" to plan for seasonal influenza.

"There will be likely a resurgence of Covid-19 this fall that will be greatly compounded by the challenges of seasonal influenza.

"We will either be remembered for what we did, or what we failed to do to address this crisis."

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

The briefing will be led by Transport Secretary Grant Shapps.

He will be joined by Deputy Chief Medical Officer Prof Jonathan Van-Tam.

Image source, Getty Images

One in 400 people in England has coronavirus, a survey of nearly 11,000 people in households suggests.

They were asked to carry out swab tests over two weeks up to 10 May.

This means around 148,000 people in England could currently be infected - 0.27% of the population.

Those tested did not include hospital patients or people living in care homes, where rates of Covid-19 are likely to be much higher, according to the Office for National Statistics, external.

There was no obvious difference between the proportion of people infected in different age groups, according to the ONS infection survey.

NHS England has announced 207 more deaths of people who tested positive for Covid-19, bringing the total number of reported deaths in English hospitals to 24,159.

Separate figures from the UK government show 428 more deaths across the UK - bringing the total in hospitals and the wider community to 33,614.

Yesterday the World Health Organization warned that the novel coronavirus may never go away.

Now the UN's special envoy for Covid-19 has said the world must get used to restrictions and that life may never go back to the way it was before. He also warned that finding a vaccine and mass immunisation would be a lengthy process.

"We’ll adapt our behaviour to minimise the threats it causes," Dr David Nabarro said in an interview with the BBC.

"We know there are some places where it’s going to be particularly tricky. But we’re going to learn to have fun, to do our work, to socialise and to be with our families - and basically it's going to be part of our lives," he explained.

Image source, Getty Images

Transport for London (TfL) will be forced to reduce services unless it receives a government grant by the end of the day, the mayor of London has said.

Without financial support, the transport body must cut its Tube and bus networks, Sadiq Khan said.

He said TfL had been negotiating with the government for about six weeks.

The UK prime minister's official spokesman said negotiations were at an "advanced stage".

TfL has previously said it expects to lose £4bn this year due to the impact of coronavirus.

Read more on this developing story.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, AFP

Two Rohingya refugees have tested positive for coronavirus in the world’s largest refugee camp, located in Bangladesh.

These are the first confirmed cases among the refugees in Cox's Bazar, according to a doctor working for the government's Rohingya Refugee Repatriation Commission.

Officials told the BBC that those infected were now being treated in isolation.

About 1,900 other refugees who may have contacted them were being isolated for tests.

One million Rohingya refugees are living in crowded camps in Cox's Bazar after fleeing persecution in neighbouring Myanmar (Burma).

The camps have been under lockdown since 14 March.

Image source, Getty Images

If you are just joining us, here are some of the main headlines so far today...

• A test to find out whether people have been infected with coronavirus in the past has been approved by health officials in England

• The cost of the UK government's efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic has risen to £123.2bn, according to latest estimates from the government's independent economics forecaster
• The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits jumped by almost three million last week as virus shutdowns continue to weigh on the US economy - one in four US workers are now on benefits
• Japan has lifted a state of emergency, after a sharp fall in new infections
• Thousands of businesses in New Zealand have reopened as the country moves into Level 2 of its coronavirus restrictions, with shops, cafes, hairdressers and public parks among those now operating again

Faisal Islam
BBC Economics Editor

Image source, EPA

The UK's independent economics forecaster now anticipates that government borrowing will top 15.2% of the size of the entire economy this year.

That's the highest proportion since 1944-45 (when 22.1% was seen) - and in general a number only previously seen during a world war.

Borrowing for this year is calculated to be £298 billion ($363bn), by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).

• That's up £26bn on the first attempt to calculate the impact of the pandemic a month ago
• And it is £243bn more borrowing than the OBR predicted in its last official forecast at the Budget - just two months ago.

This is mainly because of the extra costs of extending the scheme paying furloughed workers' salaries.

Read more details here

The UK government is making 30,000 coronavirus tests a day available to care homes in England, Minister of Innovation Lord Bethell has told the House of Lords.

He says the government aims to have offered tests to “all care home staff and residents specialising in the care of older people and those living with dementia by early June”.

The Conservative peer was responding to Labour’s Baroness Wheeler, on when he expects care homes in England to be offered Covid-19 tests and whether the government can get hold of the “tragic chaos that currently prevails”.

She says nearly 1.5m tests are needed.

Read more about the situation in the UK’s care homes here

Image source, Getty Images

A Dublin breakfast radio show had a surprise special guest on Wednesday - Oscar-winning actor Matt Damon.

The 49-year-old American has been living in a suburb of Dublin (where he was making a film) throughout the lockdown and SPIN 1038 presenters Nathan O'Reilly and Graham O'Toole have been trying to get Damon on their show ever since.

But when the actor did call the show, via video-link, the presenters told Damon they thought it was going to be a prank and O'Reilly said: "I feel like I'm about to throw up."

Damon responded by saying: "I heard you guys on the radio about a month ago and I shouldn't have put you through this. I was in my car with my kids, I heard you talking and you gave the number to call.

"I was trying to memorise the number then I walked into the house and my wife started to talk to me about something and I totally forgot your number."

Helier Cheung
BBC News, Washington DC

Image source, Nickolas Ray

Almost three million Americans filed jobless claims in the past week, bringing the total unemployed to more than 36 million since the outbreak hit the US.

The latest figures come a day after the chair of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, warned that "the scope and speed of this downturn are without modern precedent" and that a long downturn could "leave behind lasting damage” to the economy.

He also voiced his support for "additional fiscal support", saying while it would be expensive, it would be "worth it if it helps avoid long-term economic damage".

The crisis has caused people in widely different sectors to lose their jobs - including Nickolas Ray, a 30-year-old IT consultant in Atlanta, Georgia.

"Being laid off kind of hit me out of the blue," he said. "In my company we thought we were all safe.

"I’m job hunting right now - everyone’s very excited to talk, but unfortunately no-one knows what’s going to happen so there aren’t any firm job openings."

Read more about US job losses here

The daily figures from the Stormont Department of Health show there have been five more deaths linked to Covid-19 in Northern Ireland, taking the overall total to 454.

Three of the five deaths happened in the 24 hours, before 10am this morning, and two previously. The figures mainly comprise deaths in hospital, and include some but not all deaths in other settings, such as care homes.

There are also 38 new confirmed cases, making a total of 4,291.

Tomorrow the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency will publish its weekly statistics, which indicate how many deaths featured Covid-19 on the death certificate, and therefore give a fuller picture of the mortality rate.

Image source, Reuters

French citizens will be able to go holidays in France by July and August, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said, announcing an €18bn (£15.9bn) rescue package for the country's tourism industry.

Hotels and leisure facilities are currently closed in France, although some beaches have reopened with strict rules.

On Tuesday, the UK health secretary said many British people would be unlikely to take foreign holidays this summer - although the European Commission's vice president, Margrethe Vestager, thinks summer holidays in Europe "can be done safely".

"Tourism is facing what is probably its worst challenge in modern history," said Philippe.

"Because this is one of the crown jewels of the French economy, rescuing it is a national priority.

"This very French pleasure, which is at the heart of our identity, to meet up, eat well and have a chat, has been compromised by the lockdown first, and then the conditions of lifting that lockdown."

Image source, Getty Images

Labour's Shadow Health Secretary Jonathan Ashworth has called the fall in non-virus related hospital admissions a "ticking time-bomb."

A&E visits in England have halved since the outbreak started, and there have also been drops in cancer referrals and routine operations.

"It appears that people are avoiding going to A&E, that operations have been cancelled. We know of cancer patients whose treatment - their radiotherapy - has been delayed and this is building up longterm health problems," Ashworth said.

"It's a ticking timebomb, some would say, so we need a plan to treat covid patients, of course, but we also need to plan to re-set the NHS to deal with this growing clinical need."

As lockdowns continue around the world, what does a day in the life of a teenager look like now?

We asked young people in 14 different countries to record their day - from when they woke up to the moment they went to bed - to find out how they are coping with the pandemic.

Image source, Reuters

A top US vaccine doctor who was removed from his role in April is to testify shortly that the Trump administration was unprepared for the coronavirus pandemic.

Dr Rick Bright was head of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, which sought to develop countermeasures to use on the virus.

He will say the US could face the "darkest winter in modern history", according to prepared testimony obtained by CNN.

He is expected to say: "Our window of opportunity is closing. If we fail to develop a national co-ordinated response, based in science, I fear the pandemic will get far worse and be prolonged, causing unprecedented illness and fatalities."

Bright is due to testify before a subcommittee of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Last week he filed a whistleblower complaint alleging he was removed from his position for opposing the use of hydroxychloroquine - an unproven drug touted by the US president - as a treatment for coronavirus.

Image source, Getty Images

A state of emergency has been lifted in most of Japan, after a sharp fall in new infections. The order still applies in Tokyo, Osaka and on the island of Hokkaido. People have been told to keep wearing masks and following distancing guidelines.

Elsewhere in Asia:

• In Pakistan some markets have been shut in Sindh province for flouting social distancing rules. The move comes after more than 2,300 new cases were reported within 24 hours. Two days ago markets were allowed to open, prompting traffic jams
• The number of South Koreans being tested for coronavirus following a cluster outbreak at nightclubs in Seoul has surged. More than 35,000 people have now been traced and tested nationwide in connection with the outbreak. The tests are now anonymous, so people, many from the LGBT community, can come forward without fear of discrimination
• Taiwan has gone a whole month without recording any domestically transmitted cases. Overall it has registered just 440 cases and seven deaths

A further 428 people have died with Covid-19 in the UK, the government's latest daily figures show.

It brings the total number of deaths in hospitals and the wider community to 33,614.

The government carried out or posted out 126,064 tests on Wednesday, the figures also show.

This is the third time it has met its 100,000 a day target, according to its criteria.

A former Labour MP has spoken about being unemployed for the first time and having to apply for universal credit during the coronavirus lockdown.

Paul Sweeney lost his Glasgow North East seat to the SNP at last December's general election.

Until then, he had been expected to rise through the Labour ranks and was working on Angela Rayner's bid to become deputy party leader.

Now he finds himself with no income as the jobs market has ground to a halt.

"The expectation was that something would come up and I would find something useful to do," he told the BBC.

"But when you are stuck at home all the time with the lockdown, it is very tricky to do that."

• Read more on this story here

Another 2.98 million Americans sought unemployment benefits last week as the economic toll from the coronavirus continued to mount.

The new applications brought the total number of unemployment claims since mid-March to 36.5 million.

This is the fourth week that the number of new claims declined, but the US Labor Department said unemployment was still rising at a higher rate than analysts expected.

Figures for the month of April showed the unemployment rate had risen to 14.7%, with 20.5 million jobs lost over the month - the worst unemployment seen since the Great Depression.