UK PM Boris Johnson halts plans to ease restrictions in England due to start on Saturday
Rules on face coverings are extended to more indoor settings, including museums and places of worship
England at "outer edge" of how much restrictions can be eased, says chief medical officer
Millions in northern England face new restrictions after a spike in cases
Hong Kong postpones elections after a spike in cases
Spain records its biggest daily rise in cases since its lockdown was lifted last month
A record 292,527 new cases reported worldwide on Friday - WHO
Vietnam reports its first death, months into the pandemic
Globally there have been more than 17m cases and nearly 700,000 deaths
Dan Roan
BBC Sports editor
The prime minister is set to announce that fans will no longer be permitted to attend the sporting pilot events allowing limited numbers of spectators at Goodwood, the Crucible and the Oval in coming days.
It comes after evidence that the infection rate has risen across the country.
Boris Johnson is at the lectern for a press conference on coronavirus, joined by chief medical officer Chris Whitty.
We will bring you all the updates here.
The R number for the UK as a whole is between 0.8 and 0.9. For England it is between 0.8 and 1.0.
The growth rate of the coronavirus in the UK and in England is between minus 4% per day and minus 1% per day.
These figures are in contrast to the ONS statistics just announced which suggest cases are rising in England.
The Muslim Council of Britain's secretary general, Harun Khan, criticises the way the government announced new restrictions in northern England, which came the day before Eid celebrations began.
"With the first day of Eid being today, for Muslims in the affected areas, it is like being told they cannot visit family and friends for Christmas on Christmas Eve itself," he says.
"Whilst the safety of communities is of paramount importance, as has remained the case from the very outset of this crisis, so is effective communication delivered in a timely fashion.
"Failure to communicate makes it difficult for communities across the country to continue working together to minimise the spread of the virus, whilst eroding trust in the ability of authorities to steer our course as we tackle the Covid-19 crisis.
"The UK government has failed to provide clarity on the shockingly short notice and the reasoning behind the new rules that British Muslims deserve - any such clarification would be most welcome."
Read more on the changes here.
Glenn Campbell
BBC Scotland Political Correspondent
The Scottish government is advising against all but essential travel to and from parts of northern England after a rise in coronavirus cases.
Image source, AFPWe should be hearing from Boris Johnson in the next few minutes.
The UK prime minister has warned in recent days there are signs of a "second wave" of coronavirus cases in Europe.
But what is the evidence for that?
Why not read our analysis from BBC health correspondent Nick Triggle while we wait for the press conference to start.
Image source, Getty ImagesWe are expecting to hear from UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson in the next 15 minutes.
You can tune in to a BBC News special on BBC One now, as well as following all the updates here.
But while we wait, take our quiz to see if you can answer six questions about coronavirus in the UK.
There is evidence to suggest a slight increase in the number of people in England testing positive on a nose and throat swab in recent weeks, the Office for National Statistics says.
The figures are based on its infection survey, which takes swabs from people selected at random in homes in England.
The ONS estimates that about 1 in 1,500 people in homes in England are infected (roughly 36,000 people in total) with 4,200 new infections each day.
Both figures are up on last week, when it was estimated there were 2,800 new infections each day and that one in 2,000 people (28,000 total) were infected in homes in England.
Image source, ReutersWe should be hearing from UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson in the next 30 minutes, but let’s take a look at the latest from the country first:
Hong Kong's leader Carrie Lam has said September's local elections will be postponed because of the rising number of coronavirus cases in the territory.
It is not yet clear when it is being delayed to.
September's poll was seen as a test of support for pro-democracy candidates in Hong Kong, after China's imposition of a controversial national security law.
Coronavirus cases have recently been on the rise in Hong Kong, a special administrative territory of China.
The prime minister has told opposition parties a further easing of restrictions due to come in tomorrow in England is being postponed, the BBC's Nick Eardley reports.
It had been expected that venues such as casinos and bowling alleys would reopen from tomorrow. Live indoor theatre and concerts were also due to resume with socially distanced audiences.
Details are expected in the prime minister’s press conference shortly.
Nuala McCann
BBC News NI
Image source, Getty ImagesFor thousands of people across Northern Ireland who have been shielding since the Covid-19 pandemic began, today is a big moment as restrictions on their movements finally eased.
Marianne Cleary is 32 years old and has been shielding with a rare neurological condition.
Travelling from her home in Crossgar to hospital appointments, she was dismayed that so few people were wearing face masks.
"I was really shocked," she said. "Face masks should have been compulsory by the time the most vulnerable in society were allowed out."
Marianne will not be rushing out into the world.
"Baby steps and caution seems the most logical way forward for me personally," she said.
"I certainly won't be taking any unnecessary risks like going to restaurants or pubs. I haven't found a meal or drink yet that I would, quite literally, die for."
Read more here.
Image source, PA MediaWe have had it confirmed that Boris Johnson will be giving a press conference at 1200 BST (1100 GMT).
He will be joined by the chief medical officer, Professor Chris Whitty.
It follows the announcement of further local restrictions in the north of England and the reintroduction of quarantine measures for travellers coming back from Luxembourg.
We will bring you all the updates here and you can watch a BBC News special from 1145 on BBC One.
Rahila Bano
BBC Asian Network
Image source, PA MediaWorshippers are seen socially distancing as they arrive at the Bradford Grand Mosque in West Yorkshire
The new restrictions in the north of England came on the eve of Eid al-Adha, when Muslim families were preparing to meet family and friends to celebrate the three-day festival.
Many Muslim families usually attend Eid - even those who don't usually go to the mosque at other times of the year.
Mosques have reopened and special Eid prayers will be held in Greater Manchester, Leicester, Lancashire and West Yorkshire.
But they'll look different to previous years.
The 2m distancing rule means many mosques won't be able to accommodate as many people as normal and those who do attend have been asked to bring their own prayer mats.
People have been told to wear masks, those over 70 have been told not to attend and, in some mosques, worshipers must give their details for contact tracing.
Image source, ReutersFrance, Italy and Spain have plunged into recession, after their coronavirus-ravaged economies suffered sharp contractions in gross domestic product (GDP).
Figures showed their economies all shrank in the second quarter of the financial year between April and June, as lockdown measures took their toll.
A recession is commonly defined as two consecutive quarters of a contraction in GDP.
In the second quarter:
The US also posted dire economic figures on Thursday. The figures showed the US economy shrank by an annual rate of 32.9% between April and June, its worst downturn since World War Two.
Image source, Getty ImagesGroups of up to 30 people will be able to meet outdoors in places like Cardiff Castle from Monday
The rules on how many people can meet outdoors in Wales will be eased next week, the Welsh Government has said.
Since early June outdoor meetings have been restricted to just two households.
But from Monday groups of up to 30 can meet, and it will not matter how many households they are from.
Children under 11 will no longer have to maintain a 2m distance from each other or from adults from Monday, because of lower rates of transmission in their age group.
Swimming pools, gyms and leisure centres can also reopen from 10 August.
Read more here.
Imogen Foulkes
BBC News, Geneva
Image source, ReutersWHO chief DrTedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has been the face of the global response to the pandemic
The World Health Organization’s (WHO) emergency committee will meet on Friday to reassess the Covid-19 pandemic, six months after first declaring a global public health emergency.
But we already know one outcome of that meeting: the global emergency will stay in place. The discussion will instead be over what more can be done to control the virus.
When the WHO committee declared the emergency in January, there were fewer than 100 recorded cases of Covid-19, and no deaths, outside China.
The hope was that lockdown measures would end the pandemic, but as countries cautiously ease those restrictions, the virus is returning.
WHO experts may try to offer encouragement to people around the world to keep going. And perhaps, they will assess progress towards that vital vaccine, viewed by many scientists now as the only way out of the pandemic trap.
BBC News Channel
Shadow business minister and Manchester MP Lucy Powell has criticised the government for causing a "huge amount of uncertainty" about what the new lockdown measures mean.
Ms Powell says a lack of clarity is "causing people a great deal of anxiety and uncertainty."
She says there are "questions here which we need urgently answering" about "what these restrictions mean".
It was wrong for the government to announce these changes "without being around to answer those basic questions", she says, adding that the "blanket set of restrictions" is the "government recognising that their track and trace system is just not fit for purpose".
Image source, ReutersCases are on the rise again in some regions of France
Local authorities may enforce the wearing of face masks in outdoor spaces to mitigate the spread of coronavirus, France’s health minister has announced.
“This decision can be taken locally, depending on the situation of the epidemic in each region,” the minister, Olivier Veran, wrote on Twitter, external.
The French government has already made face masks compulsory in all enclosed public spaces, including public transport and shops.
President Emmanuel Macron declared a "first victory" over the virus in June and has ended the national state of emergency, but local outbreaks remain.
France reported 1,377 new coronavirus infections on Thursday. France, one of Europe's hardest-hit countries, has recorded more than 200,000 infections and over 30,000 deaths since the start of the pandemic.
Helier Cheung
BBC News
Until recently, Hong Kong was considered a poster child in its handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.
It contained the outbreak through strict border controls, testing and tracing cases, the widespread use of masks, and social distancing measures.
But it is not a second but a third wave of infections it is now facing and the government has warned its hospital system could face collapse.
How did this happen?
Health experts say exempting people in certain professions from quarantine seems to have led to imported infections spreading in the community - and that other countries, including the UK, should take note.
Image source, Reuters