Soutik Biswas
India Correspondent

More than 100 healthy babies have been born to mothers infected with the novel coronavirus in one hospital in India's western city of Mumbai.

Three of the 115 babies born to infected mothers at the Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital in the past month initially tested positive for Covid-19, but subsequent tests cleared them, doctors said.

Two other infected pregnant women died at the hospital, including one who died before her baby was born.

A team of 65 doctors and two dozen nurses have been treating these Covid-infected mothers in a 40-bed special ward. With the surge of infections, the hospital is planning to add another 34 beds for infected pregnant patients.

With nearly 20,000 reported infections and more than 730 deaths so far, India's financial and entertainment capital has become the epicentre of Covid-19.

Read the full story here.

Is it an act of community service, or ungenerous neighbourly behaviour?

Whether to snitch on others - or "dob in" as it’s known in Australia – can provide something of a social dilemma, especially when social distancing rules are sometimes not clear-cut. We’ve explored that in more detail here.

But today, in Australia’s second most-populous state, Victoria, officials confirmed a record number of people had contacted a police hotline last month. Of the total 102,000 calls, about a fifth were to report mass gatherings.

"I don’t think we understood what an important role [the hotline] would play and how committed Victorians were to ensuring that people followed the advice," state Police Minister Lisa Neville said.

Australia has recorded more than 7,000 cases of coronavirus and 100 deaths.

Foreign domestic workers in Singapore have been told to stay home on their rest days even after the country's partial state of lockdown ends on 1 June, says a report by news outlet the Straits Times., external

Domestic helpers in Singapore, who almost all live with their employees, are entitled to one day off per week - or financial compensation if they choose not to take their rest day.

For many, it's the one day they spend meeting their friends or heading out to shops.

The partial lockdown has meant that they've had to stay home - as public meet-ups have been banned across the country and shops shuttered.

If they do wish to go out, they've been told to so only on a weekday, to wear a mask and for a limited time only.

Singapore is home to an estimated 250,000 foreign domestic workers, many of whom come from neighbouring countries like Indonesia and the Philippines and who often leave their own children at home.

Image source, Getty Images

How many times will you be washing your hands today? Yes - we're looking at you.

It's been the advice since the very early stages of this virus. And a new study by UK researchers says washing your hands as many as 10 times a day makes catching infections like coronavirus much less likely.

It looked at data, from 2006-09, on viruses structurally very similar to the strain circulating now.

The study found the 1,663 participants were much less likely to be infected if they washed their hands at least six times a day.

Hand-washing more than 10 times a day did not appear to cut the risk of infection further, however.

Coronaviruses are a family of virus that most usually cause mild illness such as the common cold.

And all of them, including the pandemic one, can be killed by soap and water.

Image source, Getty Images

Leaders of the UK's National Health Service (NHS) have said that time is running out to finalise a track and trace strategy that would avoid a potential second wave of the virus.

The NHS Confederation warned of "severe' consequences if this was not established rapidly.

It said lockdown measures should not be eased until a clear plan was in place.

"We are 10 weeks into the pandemic and developing a strategy with a well worked through local base should have been in place much sooner," said Niall Dickson, chief executive of the confederation.

• "If we do not rapidly instigate the right system, involving the right people, then the ramifications for the NHS, including its staff and its patients, could be severe."

Several countries have credited their own success in quashing the virus to their ability to trace the contacts of every confirmed case to ensure if they are also infected they can't pass it on further.

Read more on that here: Can we learn about coronavirus-tracing from South Korea?

Image source, PA Media

Image source, FCCJ/Screenshot

A parody logo meant to show a mash up of the coronavirus and the Tokyo Olympic Games has not exactly had the effect it intended.

The image was published by the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan as the front page design for the April issue of their magazine.

But Tokyo Olympic officials are anything but amused. They've called for the image to be taken down, saying that it was "disappointing to see the games emblem being distorted and associated with the virus".

"The design is clearly using... the Olympic emblem. We therefore consider it an infringement on our legally secured copyright," said Tokyo spokesman Masa Takaya, according to an AP report., external

The artist of the logo - the magazine's art director, Andrew Pothecary, told the Asahi Shimbun , externalthe design was a parody and was meant to make a "powerful statement about the situation in Japan".

Tensions between Australia and China are being stoked again with both nations' media outlets focusing on provocative rhetoric.

Yesterday, an editorial in Chinese newspaper The Global Times quoted an anonymous internet user's post describing Australia as the "giant kangaroo that serves as a dog of the US".

Several Australian outlets then promoted that quote in their headlines, interpreting it as an insult from Beijing.

It comes as trade and diplomatic relations worsen between the two nations following Australia's call (echoing the US) for an inquiry into the virus' origins. Initially, some politicians had suggested China was at fault - prompting an angry reply from Beijing.

China's ambassador to Australia suggested consumers might even boycott Australia's products. This week Beijing whacked a harsh tariff on Australia's barley and continued a halt on major beef imports.

China denies that its trade actions are a response to Australia's virus push - but Canberra has said they are concerned.

Image source, EPA

Image source, Getty Images

Pakistan has reported 40 new deaths in the last 24 hours, taking its death toll from Covid-19 to more than 1,000.

The country has confirmed more than 47,000 cases so far.

But it has also begun to ease lockdown restrictions, and reopen for business.

The Supreme Court on Monday ordered all shopping malls and markets to stay open even during weekends, saying: "Coronavirus does not go anywhere on Saturday and Sunday. What is the reason behind keeping markets closed on Saturday and Sunday?"

Japan says it will lift its state of emergency in Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo today as the number of virus cases continue to drop.

Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said the number of new infections in these places remained under 0.5 cases per 100,000 people, said a Reuters report.

Most places in the country have already had the state of emergency lifted, but it's still in place in the capital, Tokyo, and four other prefectures - including the northern island of Hokkaido.

In Tokyo, the rate of infection per 100,000 people stands at 0.59 and at 0.69 for Hokkaido.

Under the state of emergency, local governors have more powers to call on businesses to stay closed and ask for people to stay at home - though there are no legal implications if people choose to break this rule.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Reuters

Officials across North America are grappling with planning for floods, wildfires, hurricanes, severe heat waves and other extreme weather events this summer alongside the pandemic.

The considerations necessary are wide-ranging, from managing already strained resources to sourcing extra protective equipment and figuring out the logistics of safely evacuating at-risk populations - even how to cajole evacuees, who might be fearful of catching the virus, from their homes.

This week, 10,000 residents were evacuated in Michigan after two dams collapsed following days of heavy rain.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer, noting the city of Midland in the US state could see historic high water levels, said: "To go through this in the midst of a global pandemic is almost unthinkable."

• Read our full story on disaster response amid the pandemic

Starting 25 May, Indian airlines will begin flying domestic routes again - some two months after the country suspended all air travel.

The government is set to release guidelines on social distancing at airports and during travel.

Civil aviation minister, Hardeep Puri, has said that leaving the middle seat vacant was not "viable" as it would increase prices, and "you'll still have a situation where prescribed distance... isn't followed".

India's lockdown is slated to end on 31 May, but the country has already begun easing restrictions in areas that have not been identified as hotspots.

Cases continue to spike - India registered its biggest single-day surge on Wednesday, with more than 5,000 new cases.

The national tally of confirmed cases has now crossed 106,000, but the recovery is nearly 40%. And the death toll - at 3,303 - is, relative to some countries, low.

US President Donald Trump has again taken to Twitter in criticism of China's handling of the outbreak, saying "they could have easily stopped the plague, but didn't".

Though he fell short of naming Chinese President Xi Jinping, he added that it "all comes from the top".

He then re-iterated that China wanted Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden to win the next election as they can "continue to rip-off the United States, as they have done for decades, until I came along".

Read more about the US' new strategy on China here.

Yvette Tan
BBC News

Image source, Getty Images

I was meant to be flying to Greece on my honeymoon today. The virus, of course, has meant everything has had to be put on hold.

The hotels we had booked were quick to let us know we could reschedule anytime this summer, even allowing us to re-book high-peak dates at no additional cost. It's clear how eager they are to restart a pillar of their economy that has been battered by virus restrictions.

Greece has now announced that its tourism season will kick off next month, adding that international flights will resume in July.

But we won't be heading to Greece - at least anytime this year. For one, the country where I live - Singapore - is still advising against non-essential travel. If I do choose to go, I'll have to isolate myself for 14 days upon my return.

It's also just difficult to imagine going on a summer holiday at a time like this - lounging by the beach in a mask - while the world is still very much in the midst of a global pandemic.

In today's "headlines we never thought we'd be writing", a South Korean club has been fined 100 million won ($81,100; £66,500) by the K-League for filling their empty stadium seats with sex dolls.

FC Seoul had put 30 "premium mannequins" in the stands - as fans were unable to attend due to virus restrictions.

The club said they did not know the dolls were adult products and apologised.

"The incident has greatly insulted and hurt female and family fans," a K-League statement said.

Image source, Yonhap/AFP

Image source, Drive-in Entertainment Australia

With social distancing restrictions in place, rocking up to a show or concert with hundreds of other people has been banned across the world.

But some companies have come up with the innovative idea of drive-in performances - where people can go in the safety of their own car.

There have already been such gigs in Denmark and the US, and last week country superstar Keith Urban got on board, performing one for healthcare workers in Tennessee., external

In Sydney today, a local company is trialing the idea with a free concert. Headliner Casey Donovan told punters: "You’ll be able to interact with me via Zoom - and instead of clapping, I think I’ll be hearing car horns."

Image source, Getty Images

At least 15 people have been killed in eastern India and Bangladesh in a severe cyclone that made landfall on Wednesday.

Cyclone Amphan lashed coastal areas with ferocious wind and rain. Rescue efforts were hampered by the Covid-19 crisis.

Social-distancing measures made mass evacuations more difficult as shelters are unable to be used to full capacity. And police in West Bengal state, which is the worst-hit by the storm, told the BBC that many people did not want to go to shelters because they feared contracting the virus.

Winds gusting up to 185km/h (115mph) uprooted trees, toppled homes and left large stretches with no electricity - including West Bengal's capital, Kolkata, one of India's biggest cities.

The state's chief minister, Mamata Banerjee, said the storm has devastated the coastal areas far more than Covid-19.

This is the first super cyclone to form in the Bay of Bengal since 1999.

The virus has had a "dramatic" effect on the way people use dating app Tinder, its boss has told BBC News.

On one hand, user engagement is up, but the economic impact of lockdown means people have less money to spend.

Tinder has been downloaded more than 340 million times since its launch in 2012. But the vast majority of its revenues come from just 6 million subscribers who pay for the "gold" service.

“I’m very concerned about what happens economically for our society and the impact it will have on so many of our members," said chief executive Elie Seidman.

Read more about the effect on dating apps here.

Image source, Getty Images

Jonty Bloom
BBC Business correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

Which sector of the economy do you think is being hardest hit by the coronavirus - construction, retail, transport or catering? Well, you are all wrong, and need to do some more homework. The answer is - education.

Many people probably don't even think of education as part of the economy. The groves of academe are surely above such sordid considerations as money and finance?

Not a bit of it. Money is the lifeblood of education - endowments from wealthy alumni, catering and accommodation fees, conference facilities, and the biggest of the lot - attracting lots of fee-paying students every year.

The trouble for the education sector is that it is uniquely vulnerable to the coronavirus pandemic.

For hundreds of years its business model has been to bring thousands of people together from across the country, and around the world, to sit together in rooms for three years and talk to each other.

As a result, nearly all its income streams are under attack at the same time.

Read more: Universities fear fall in lucrative overseas students

With many parts of the world either still in lockdown or only just emerging, one area that could take a while to fully recover is TV production – like soap operas.

But in South Africa, one group of actors took the opportunity of the stringent lockdown to start a new, online "soapie" that they shot themselves at home.

Lockdown Heights have proved so popular, it's now already into its third season.

Last New Year's Eve, bushfires tore through the rural town of Mogo in New South Wales.

The local zoo there was closed for two months. No animals were hurt in the blazes fortunately, but the site was damaged from the flames.

It then managed to re-open - but only briefly, before virus restrictions forced it to shut down again.

So what does its future look like and how will it survive? Watch the report from the BBC's Simon Atkinson.