US First Lady Melania Trump has been tweeting about the well wishes that have been pouring in, and says she is "feeling good", despite suffering from mild symptoms of coronavirus.

A further 6,968 people have tested positive for Covid-19 in the UK, according to the latest figures from the Department of Health.

Sixty-six people have died who had tested positive for Covid-19 within 28 days of their deaths, the figures show.

It takes the overall UK death total from coronavirus to 42,268.

Since the start of the pandemic 467,146 people have tested positive for the virus in the UK.

The White House chief of staff has been briefing reporters on the president's condition and says he is experiencing "mild symptoms" from coronavirus. But, Mark Meadows added, Mr Trump is still "very energetic," and he and the first lady are in "good spirits".

"Core members" of the Trump administration had been tested and all results had come back negative, the official said.

"I fully expect that, as this virus continues to go on, other people in the White House will certainly have a positive test result... and we’ve got the mitigation plan in place to make sure the government not only continues to move forward, but the work of the American people continues to move forward.”

Mr Meadows was not wearing a mask as he spoke to the media. Defending that choice he said he had already been tested for the virus and was standing more than six feet (1.8 metres) away from journalists.

Image source, EPA

News from Europe now, where we are told the Spanish capital will enter a partial lockdown from 22:00 (20:00 GMT) tonight.

Some 4.8 million people in Madrid and nine neighbouring towns will not be allowed to leave the area unless they have to make an essential journey. Restaurants and bars will shut earlier.

Madrid has a rate of 780 infections per 100,000 people and meets the criteria agreed by regional governments – who are in charge of healthcare – to impose restrictions.

Although it is complying with the ruling, Madrid’s regional government did not vote in favour of the restrictions and has launched a legal challenge against them.

With just 32 days until the US election, the announcement that President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania had tested positive for coronavirus shot to the top of every news agenda across the globe.

In much of the world's media, the news was accompanied by criticism of what was said to be the US president's "botched" response to the coronavirus pandemic, external, and his "open scepticism" over the use of face masks and social distancing.

German media seemed somewhat unsurprised. "Trump usually does not wear a mask in public", wrote the centre-right Die Welt, external, while the centrist Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung pointed out, external that the pandemic did not deter him from making numerous major election campaign appearances.

Media in France echoed the sentiment that Trump undermined his own health by underestimating the virus.

Iran's international-facing English-language Press TV observed that Trump "has been somewhat cavalier" about the Covid-19 threat, adding that "it was only a matter of time" before the US president caught the virus.

We have a round-up of global press reaction here.

Image source, Reuters

The Trump campaign has told staff who have been in contact with anyone testing positive for coronavirus to "immediately begin" self-isolation

Campaign manager Bill Stepien said in an email sent out on Friday that some public events would be cancelled, but stressed that "the campaign office remains open and our nationwide team will continue with our efforts to re-elect President Trump".

"While we do not believe anyone else without symptoms needs to self-quarantine at this time, it is on all of us to continue to exercise the smart judgment and practices the campaign has long encouraged: wear a mask, wash your hands, socially distance, check in via the live safe app on a daily basis and work from home if you’re not feeling well," the email advised.

Rory Cellan-Jones
Technology correspondent

All week there has been concern from users of the England and Wales NHS Covid-19 app about disturbing alerts that quickly vanish. Now the Department of Health says it is working on a fix - but warned it could take some time.

The alerts are generated by the underlying Apple and Google framework rather than the app itself, but they are causing alarm and confusion.

Lee Stanley, who says he installed the app last Thursday as soon as it was available, saw this message flash up: "Possible Covid-19 exposure. Someone you were near reported having Covid-19. Exposure date, duration and signal strength have been saved."

He said: "When I clicked on that to open up the notification to see what happened, it didn't do anything."

That message received by Lee - and many others - merely signals that the Bluetooth contact tracing is working and has made contact with someone infected with Covid-19. But that contact does not meet the threshold set by the scientists advising the NHS, as significant enough to force someone into isolation.

Image source, Getty Images

Fox News anchor Chris Wallace, who moderated this week's heated debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, has said he will be getting tested for coronavirus in light of the president's diagnosis.

Speaking on Fox News, Wallace said Trump never approached him and was always at least 10ft (3m) away.

"There was no sign during the debate of any problems with the president in terms of his health, but it is worth noting that the different people treated the safety rules inside the hall differently," he said, adding that no members of the Trump family wore a mask.

The 72-year-old shot to international attention for his handling of the debate. He said he believed President Trump's diagnosis will have a "dramatic impact" on the election.

"This is going to put Covid back at the top of the agenda and this will raise questions again about whether the president has been serious enough in the way he has treated Covid now that he has caught it himself," Wallace said. "That may be fair or unfair but it's the political fact of life."

Alistair Coleman and Christopher Giles
BBC Anti-disinformation unit

President Trump's diagnosis prompted all sorts of unsubstantiated rumours online. One of the scariest was that a US plane that can deliver commands to nuclear missiles was launched because of the news.

One viral tweet claimed that the E-6B Mercury was launched to warn "adversaries" - a show of force to deter a potential attack. The tweet included an image of a flight path over the east coast of America taken from a flight tracking site.

But public flight data shows that E-6B Mercury flights - often called "doomsday planes" - are common, even when the president is well. In fact, they happen about every other day.

The particular plane in question has flown 19 times in the past month. The flight may also be part of a military exercise that was publicly announced by US Strategic Command., external

That the latest flight coincided with President Trump's diagnosis seems to be nothing more than a coincidence.

James Gallagher
Health and science correspondent

It is easy to feel lost in the mass of coronavirus data, but overall the story is very simple. Cases are going up. It is not as bad as March. Things are better than anticipated two weeks ago.

Imagine the epidemic in the UK is a car and we are behind the wheel.

At the start of the year we had our foot to floor and the epidemic was rapidly picking up speed. Lockdown was like slamming on the brakes. We slowed down, but without coming to a stop as we still had Covid cases.

We continued moving at a fairly steady speed over summer, but in early September we hit the accelerator again and cases started to shoot up.

The semi-positive news is it looks like we have eased off the accelerator a bit. We are still gaining speed, just not as much as feared just a few weeks ago.

How many cases are there in your area?

Image source, Getty Images

Inmates at a prison in Nottinghamshire are being held in their cells for all but 30 minutes a day as the number of coronavirus cases there rises to 84.

Nottinghamshire's public health director Jonathan Gribbin said prisoners at HMP Lowdham Grange have all been issued face masks and mobile testing units are on site.

With 63 prisoners and 21 staff members testing positive, Gribbin added that workers could also be contributing to an increase in cases in other parts of the county.

"We have seen rates in Newark and Sherwood have surged over the last 10 days or so," he said. "The situation in Lowdham Grange prison is a significant driver of those rates locally."

Prison director Mark Hanson said he was working with Public Health England, the NHS and the council "to look after everyone in the prison and we are taking every measure possible to keep them safe, maintain their mental wellbeing and combat the virus".

Image source, Getty Images

President Trump will be "frustrated" by having to self-isolate, his former doctor has told the BBC.

"He does love to be out among the folks, out on the campaign trail,” said Dr Ronny Jackson, who was the official physician to the president until 2018, and is now running for Congress as a Republican.

He said Trump is in "incredible health", and that it could be less than 10 days before the president is testing negative for the virus and is "back to his normal style".

"It reminds us all that he's the president of the United States, but he is a human being just like the rest of us and is also susceptible to this kind of stuff, too," Dr Jackson told BBC Radio 4’s World at One.

"So if he gets past this and he remains asymptomatic, I think it will reassure a lot of folks in this country."

Image source, Getty Images

The US Republican National Committee (RNC) has confirmed that its chairwoman Ronna McDaniel has tested positive for Covid-19.

In a statement, the RNC said she received the news on Wednesday, and was tested after a member of her family contracted the virus. They added that she has been at her home in the state of Michigan since last Saturday.

Meanwhile, in the last hour, we have also heard that several members of Donald Trump's family - his son Barron, his daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner - have tested negative.

President Donald Trump is experiencing "mild symptoms" of Covid-19, the Associated Press and New York Times report, quoting an unnamed White House official.

Earlier, the president's doctor said Trump and First Lady Melania, who has also tested positive, were both well and planned "to remain at home within the White House during their convalescence".

Image source, Reuters

Some more news from Europe. Masks will have to be worn outdoors in the Italian capital Rome and surrounding areas from this weekend. A health official for the Lazio region said only children under six, those who cannot wear face coverings for medical reasons and people exercising would be exempt from the rule.

Previously, masks were only mandatory in enclosed areas such as shops, although other regions, including Naples, have already introduced similar outdoor rules.

Italy was the first European country to face a significant number of coronavirus infections at the beginning of the pandemic, but authorities in the country have so far managed to prevent the second wave seen elsewhere on the continent.

On Thursday, however, the number of daily infections in Italy rose to more than 2,000 for the first time since late April.

Image source, Getty

President Trump was out on the campaign trail on Thursday, hosting a fundraiser at his club in the town of Bedminster, New Jersey.

With news of his Covid-19 diagnosis, the state's Governor Phil Murphy has urged everyone who attended the event "to take full precautions, including self-quarantining and getting tested.", external

Murphy, a Democrat, also wished the president and his wife "a speedy and complete return to good health.

"If there is one thing we have learned in New Jersey over these months, it's that we pull together and support everyone fighting this virus," he added.

While attendee numbers are unclear, the New York Times reports that Trump came into contact with over 100 people at the event. Officials have also told the Washington Post that he did not wear a mask at the fundraiser.

Several European countries are re-imposing lockdowns and other restrictions in their worst-affected regions as figures show they are experiencing a second rise in the number of daily cases.

Spain, which reported another 182 deaths and 9,419 infections on Thursday, is bringing in tighter restrictions on movement for peoplein and around the capital Madrid, where most of the cases have been recorded.

In the UK, which recorded 6,914 cases and 59 deaths on Thursday, large parts of northern England are now subject to tough lockdown rules.

France recorded 70,458 new cases in the past week and is considering shutting hotels, cafes and restaurants in several cities including Paris and Bordeaux from Monday.

Students at universities around the UK have had to self-isolate following a series of outbreaks of Covid-19.

Many of them, having only recently left home for the first time, have suddenly found themseles confined to their student accommodation.

Ross, Inez and Niamh are first-year students at the University of Glasgow, and have been isolating in their flat.

They told BBC Scotland what it was like to self-isolate in student halls.

As the US wakes up to the news that President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump have tested positive for coronavirus, figures from across the political spectrum have reached out to offer their support.

From across the aisle, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has he would "pray for the health and safety" of Mr Trump and his family.

Former Democratic presidential candidates Pete Buttigieg and Tulsi Gabbard have also wished the couple a speedy recovery.

Reverend Jesse Jackson Sr, a veteran civil rights campaigner and Obama supporter, has tweeted: "For whatever religious or political persuasion you may be, we must all pray as millions of people are affected by this disease".

Meanwhile Texas' Republican Governor Greg Abbott was one of many state leaders to offer their wishes for the couple's health.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he was "praying" for their recovery, and told reporters he himself had tested negative for coronavirus on Friday.

The UK's R number, the rate at which coronavirus spreads, has risen to between 1.3 and 1.6.

Data released by the government's scientific advisory group Sage shows the figure for the whole of the UK has risen compared with last week when it was between 1.2 and 1.5.

Sage has cautioned that while there are some early indications which suggest the growth of the epidemic might be slowing, it is too early to draw firm conclusions.

Any number over 1 means the virus is spreading exponentially.