Alex Regan
BBC News

Image source, Abdulla Mohsin

Two British nationals "stranded" in Fiji say permission to return to New Zealand has come six weeks too late.

Abdulla Mohsin and Catherine David, originally from Derbyshire, went to Fiji for their honeymoon before New Zealand, where they now live, closed its borders to most non-residents in March.

Initially, Mr Mohsin and Ms David were told that because they were on a "work to residency" visa, they were not classed as residents, despite living in Auckland since January 2019.

They have now been granted an exception to return to the country but no flights are scheduled until the end of June.

• Read more here

Image source, Science Photo Library

The United Nations has warned the coronavirus pandemic is causing widespread psychological distress - exacerbated by a long-term lack of investment in mental health care in many countries.

From frontline health professionals, to laid-off workers, to families struggling to home-school, to elderly people suffering loneliness and anxiety, the pandemic is taking a severe toll on many people's mental health.

In a policy document released on Thursday, the UN is calling for countries to include mental health and psycho-social support in their pandemic response plans.

Good mental health is critical to a functioning society, the UN says - and without these actions, the world faces not just a physical health crisis, but a mental health crisis as well.

Image source, Reuters

The coronavirus "may never go away", the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned.

"It is important to put this on the table: this virus may become just another endemic virus in our communities, and this virus may never go away," WHO emergencies director Dr Mike Ryan said.

He added that even if a vaccine was found, controlling the virus would require a "massive effort".

Almost 300,000 people worldwide have died with coronavirus, with more than 4.3m cases recorded.

• Click here to read our full story

Image source, AFP

China recorded only three new infections in the past day, officials said on Thursday. That's down from seven new cases a day earlier.

All three cases were local transmission and were recorded in the north-eastern provinces of Liaoning and Jilin.

The city of Shulan in Jilin had a small new cluster over the weekend, stoking fears of a resurgence that have yet to be realised.

The figures also showed there were no new fatalities and 12 asymptomatic cases.

The total number of cases stands at 82,929 - while the death toll remains at at 4,633.

For weeks, Dr Anthony Fauci has been the face of the US administration's coronavirus task force. The epidemiologist is among the top medical advisers to President Donald Trump on the virus.

Now there is open disagreement between Trump and the medical expert. Fauci had warned against opening schools and the economy too soon, as it might trigger a surge in new infections.

Trump dismissed the warning as "not acceptable", accusing Fauci of wanting "to play all sides of the equation".

The director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases made his warning in a testimony to lawmakers. Political pressure to reopen the economy is growing - despite new infections remaining high.

Erin Rae, in Nashville, and Mali, in Mumbai, are both singer-songwriters.

They talk about the impact of the pandemic on their work and what they think the future of music will look like.

Here’s what they had to say…and sing:

The data has just come out - and the Australian jobless rate has jumped from 5.2% to 6.2% in April - lower than the 8.3% forecast by economists.

Still, that's a loss of 600,000 jobs in a country not as severely affected as many others around the world.

But already, analysts say that number doesn't reflect the true damage to the economy. Welfare programmes have helped cushion the numbers.

Over six million Australians are receiving pay subsidised by the government. One million Australians have applied for unemployment payments. Together, that's over 40% of the workforce.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison told the nation: "It is a very tough day. Shocking but not unexpected."

He said more economic pain would come in the coming months, but the reopening of society in coming weeks would help.

The government has forecast unemployment will hit 10% by June, and GDP will fall 10% in the same period - the largest quarterly fall on record.

Image source, EPA

Image source, EPA

New Zealand - hailed a world leader for its virus success - has moved into its next stage of reopening.

So what's open in the "Level 2" phase? Basically, everything except bars.

Shopping malls, clothing shops, cinemas, garden centres, hairdressers, massage parlours and restaurants are all open for business. Bars will have to wait another week

Up to 10 people can meet up, although more are allowed if they're family. But people should still maintain at least a 1m distance when going out.

New Zealand only started to exit its lockdown three weeks ago. It has reported no new cases for the past three days.

• How NZ relied on science and kindness

Japan is expected today to lift its state of emergency for 39 of its 47 prefectures - though Tokyo is set to keep restrictions in place.

Prefectures like Hokkaido - which at one stage was the worst-hit region in Japan - and large cities like Osaka are also expected to keep restrictions.

The state of emergency was meant to last until 6 May, but was then extended to 31 May.

It gives local authorities extra authority to order people to stay at home, and close schools and businesses - but there is no penalty imposed for non-compliance.

Japan has a relatively small number of infections, with 16,000 confirmed cases in a population of around 126 million, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

This may be more indicative of its low rate of testing. Only those who are quite ill are getting tested - though the government has started to ease guidelines for those seeking virus tests.

Image source, Getty Images

Welcome back to our rolling coverage of all things coronavirus. With our teams across the globe, we’ll keep you posted on all developments today.

Here’s what you need to know as Asia kicks off this Thursday morning.

• Japan is expected to lift the state of emergency in most of the country - although Tokyo and other badly-affected prefectures will keep the measures for now
• The virus “may never go away”, an official at the World Health Organization has warned
• Brazil has seen another daily record - with more than 11,000 new infections in the past day
• The US has accused China of hacking organisations researching treatments and vaccines for Covid-19

• After a top US medical adviser, Dr Anthony Fauci, warned against reopening schools and the economy too quickly, President Trump says this was “not an acceptable answer”
• Countries across the EU are planning to reopen their borders in the coming weeks
• The UK says it is "very likely" the country is in a "significant recession"