Georgina Rannard
BBC News

Image source, Instagram

As a second wave of coronavirus devastates India, with more than 350,000 cases reported daily, the families of the sick are desperately hunting on social media for help.

From morning to night, they scour Instagram accounts, drop messages on WhatsApp groups and work through their phone books. They're looking for hospitals beds, oxygen, the Covid drug Remdesivir and plasma.

It's chaotic and overwhelming. A WhatsApp message starts circulating: "Two ICU beds free." Minutes later, they're gone, to be occupied by whoever got there first. Another message: "Urgently needed oxygen concentrator. Please help."

As the health system buckles, it is community, self-help and luck standing between life and death.

But demand is outstripping supply and the sick don't have the luxury of time. When I started this piece on Friday, I spoke to one man looking for oxygen on WhatsApp for his 30-year-old cousin in Uttar Pradesh. By the time I finished it on Sunday, he had died.

Others are exhausted and distressed after days of shouldering the weight of finding life-saving treatment for their loved ones.

"It's 6am in India and that's when we start the calls. We find out my grandpa's needs for the day - oxygen or injections - and we hit WhatsApp and we call everyone we know," Avani Singh explains.

Read more here.

Robert Cuffe
BBC head of statistics

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has announced 402 deaths involving Covid-19 were registered in the UK in the week to 16 April., external

That’s the lowest figure since the start of October, and down by more than 95% from January’s peak.

The week-on-week changes aren’t as impressive.

The week before saw 422 deaths registered, so only a change of 20.

But the ONS warns that the recent trends should be “treated with caution” since the Easter bank holidays are still playing through in the figures.

Registry offices closed over Good Friday and Easter Monday and some of the deaths that were not registered in those weeks are still trickling into the system.

This also complicates any comparisons to the average levels of death in recent years, since Easter falls in a different week every year.

Image source, Getty Images

Makeshift pyres are being built in crematoriums in India's capital Delhi as the city runs out of space to cremate its dead.

Deaths have been steadily rising in India as a deadly second wave of Covid infections devastates the country, with 380 recorded in Delhi alone on Monday.

Medical oxygen, intensive care unit (ICU) beds and life-saving medicines are falling short.

India has recorded more than a million Covid-19 cases in just a few days.

The number of reported cases declined slightly on Tuesday, to 323,144 from the peak of 352,991 the day before, bringing the total cases to nearly 17 million with 192,000 deaths.

However, it is thought the true figures are far higher - both for deaths and cases.

An investigation by television station NDTV found at least 1,150 extra deaths which were not included in Delhi's official Covid count, external over the last week. Other investigations have found similar examples of undercounting replicated across the country.

Crematorium staff are working throughout the night, with relatives of the dead reportedly having to help with the cremations, piling wood and assisting in other rituals.

In Delhi, parking lots, parks or empty grounds are now being sought for the increasing need for cremations. Families often have to wait for hours before they are allowed to cremate their dead.

At the capital city's Sarai Kale Khan crematorium, at least 27 new platforms have been built, with 80 more being added in the park around the existing structure. Municipal authorities are also looking for additional spots near the city's Yamuna river bed.

Read more here.

Jim Reed
Health reporter, BBC News

About one in five people infected with coronavirus have symptoms of long Covid five weeks later, with one in seven still sick after 12 weeks, a survey by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) found in March, external.

Some 1.1 million people were affected in the UK in the four weeks from 6 February, according to ONS estimates.

There is no universally agreed definition of long Covid, but it covers a broad range of symptoms. , externalThe most common are fatigue and a cough, followed by a headache and muscle pain.

Paediatric doctor Zaz Hassan is among those still living with the after-effects of the virus.

He is one of more than 1,000 patients being seen by the long Covid centre at Croydon University Hospital in south London - which has another 500 people on its waiting list.

During a break from his physio class at the clinic, Zaz, 42, tells the BBC's Jim Reed: "You live with the hope that you will get better.

"For me, the end point would be to get back to work and just play with my kids. It may take time but people are recovering, so there is still the hope that I can come out of this."

You can read more here.

Branwen Jeffreys
Education Editor

According to research, there is growing evidence that the past year of lockdowns has had an impact on young children's language skills.

Data from 50,000 pupils and a survey of schools across England have shown an increased number of four and five-year-olds needing help with language.

Evidence shows poor speech development can have long-term effects on learning.

Emma, a mother at Ryders Hayes Primary School, in Walsall, was concerned about whether her son, Harry, would be able to articulate his needs once school started.

"I was worried about him making friends, that if something was troubling him he'd be sat in the corner upset and he'd not be able to ask for help or say what was wrong with him, so I was concerned," she said.

Harry has been participating in the Nuffield Early Language Intervention at school, which can help children make up about three months' progress.

"It is making a huge difference," Emma said. "He's become a little chatterbox. He's always asking questions and thinking more and asking more like, 'How does hair grow?' He's communicating his thoughts more."

Meanwhile Lisa, another mother at the same school, was anxious about how her daughter Niamh would respond to new teachers and children.

"She was one of the youngest in the year and it worried me that other children had got more school experience with nursery or pre-school," Lisa said.

"We tried to prepare her as well as we could. She was looking forward to it - but she didn't know any of the children in the class, so we were a bit worried about that."

But the school's approach had worked well. "We never had a tearful morning - we never had a day where she didn't want to come to school," Lisa said.

Image source, Getty Images

The NHS coronavirus vaccine booking system has been extended for the second time in two days to allow people aged 42 and over to book their jabs., external

It means people in England aged 42 and over, or those who will turn 42 before 1 July, can now arrange their vaccine appointment online.

The system only opened to those aged 44 and over on Monday.

In Northern Ireland, healthy adults aged 35 and over are being invited to book their jabs along with the clinically vulnerable.

In Scotland, preparations are being made to extend the vaccine rollout to healthy adults in their 40s.

And people aged 30 and over are being called for their appointments in some parts of Wales.

More than 33.7 million people have now received their first dose of a coronavirus vaccine in the UK.

Almost 12.9 million are fully vaccinated, government figures show.

Find out when you will get the vaccine here.

Image source, EPA

Medical supplies from the UK arrived in India on Tuesday - the first international shipment aimed at stemming a devastating Covid-19 surge.

Ventilators and oxygen equipment landed in Delhi, but far more will be needed, with India recording 320,000 new infections on Tuesday, and deaths rising close to 200,000 overall.

Hospitals are overwhelmed, with people waiting in the streets outside.

The US, France and Germany are among nations sending desperately needed aid.

The UK shipment, including ventilators and oxygen concentrators - which will help hospitals manage oxygen supplies - was unloaded at Delhi airport.

Foreign ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi said it was "international co-operation at work", but it is just the first trickle in what needs to be a flood of supplies.

And as we've reported, US President Joe Biden said on Monday he would send up to 60 million doses of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine abroad - although the destinations were not given, India could be a prime recipient.

The World Health Organization chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said it was "doing everything we can, providing critical equipment and supplies".

Read more here.

Dr Zarir Udwadia, who works in two of Mumbai's biggest private hospitals, says the situation in India is beyond crisis point.

"This virus has a country of 1.4 billion firmly in a stranglehold and it’s really exposed our healthcare system and our failure of leadership hasn't it?" he told BBC's Today programme this morning.

"I started at 7am and I see ward after ward of patients struggling to breathe on oxygen," he said.

Dr Udwadia says the current wave is "far more infectious and probably much more lethal than the first wave".

He says he sees younger patients dying, including two 35-year-olds yesterday.

The devastation on display in India is down to "years of disinvestment" and the fact less than 2% of the country's GDP is spent on healthcare, he says, and government complacency is to blame.

"We let down our collective guard and we were urged to by our leaders. Instead of being asked to be vigilant, we heard self-congratulatory declarations of victory," he said.

"We thought we had won when, because of luck, seemed to be conquering the first wave. All that has been cruelly exposed as mere self-assured hubris."

Medical supplies arriving from the UK are a "drop in the ocean", he adds.

Image source, Reuters

For only the second time since the start of the pandemic, Portugal has reported no deaths in the past 24 hours. A strict lockdown imposed in mid-January, which is gradually being eased, has helped bring infection rates down to the lowest in the EU per capita. PM António Costa says if all goes well then the Portuguese are a week from entering a definitive phase in reopening.

Italian MPs will today vote on a €222bn package, mainly of EU grants and loans, presented to parliament by PM Mario Draghi yesterday. Some of the money will be earmarked for training staff to remove asbestos from buildings and phase in electric buses and high-speed railways. Mr Draghi told MPs last night the package represented "above all the destiny of our country.”

France now has more than 6,000 people being treated in intensive care, but President Emmanuel Macron has been outlining a gradual reopening of society in the coming weeks. After older children return to school and travel restrictions are lifted on 3 May, outdoor dining will return in mid-May and restaurants will reopen indoors at the end of May or the start of June in areas with lower infection numbers.

Spanish reports say officials are working on plans for crowds to be allowed back for the final matches in the La Liga season. Spectators haven’t been allowed in grounds since March 2020 – but they could be allowed back for the second weekend in May. France’s RMC Sport reports that discussions are also under way to allow 35% of supportersto watch the French cup final on 19 May.

German leaders concluded a vaccination summit last night with an agreement to make vaccinations open to all ages in June at the latest. Chancellor Angela Merkel says at that point anyone can try to get an appointment,which will be granted according to vaccine supply. The northern city of Hamburg has started vaccinating the homeless with the single-dose Johnson & Johnson drug.

Image source, Getty Images

The US will share up to 60 million doses of its AstraZeneca vaccine with other countries as they become available, the White House says.

The doses will be able to be exported in the coming months after a federal safety review.

The US has a stockpile of the vaccine even though its regulators have not yet authorised it for public use.

Critics have accused the government of hoarding the vaccine, while other countries are in desperate need.

Last month President Joe Biden pledged to share about four million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine with Mexico and Canada - both of which have approved the jab.

The crisis in India has also piled pressure on the Biden administration to share US health resources.

On Monday, the White House said it expected that about 10 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine could be released when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) finishes its review in the coming weeks.

It said that another 50 million doses were in various stages of production.

Read more here.

Image source, Getty Images

Prime Minister Boris Johnson will chair a cabinet meeting later as he attempts to shift the focus from a string of claims and questions over his conduct.

Among them is an accusation the PM once said he would rather see "bodies pile high" than approve a third coronavirus lockdown in England.

Mr Johnson and No 10 strongly denied he said the phrase, as the PM described multiple reports as "total rubbish".

The remarks were alleged to have been made last autumn, during a heated discussion in Downing Street - just before the country went into its second lockdown from early November to early December.

BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg reported that, at the time, the prime minister was said to have had big concerns about the implications of another lockdown on the economy and non-Covid related health issues.

England entered its third lockdown on 6 January.

Shadow Cabinet Office minister Rachel Reeves described Mr Johnson's alleged comments about bodies piling high as "stomach-churning"; while bereaved families described them as "callous".

You can read more here.

Image source, Getty Images

Good morning and thanks for joining us. Here is a round-up of some of the latest developments around the World:

• The first shipment of medical supplies from Britain has arrived in India, as the country battles a devastating second wave of coronavirus

• Meanwhile, the World Health Organization chief calls the situation in India "beyond heartbreaking"
• Australia suspends direct flights from India to prevent more virulent coronavirus variants
• The United States will share up to 60 million doses of its AstraZeneca vaccine with other countries as they become available, the White House says
• Brazil's health regulator rejects requests from several states to import Russia's Sputnik V vaccine, stating that it does not have the data required to verify its safety and efficacy

Image source, PA Media

A parliamentary committee has called for all fixed penalty notices for Covid lockdown breaches - which can be as high as £10,000 - to be reviewed - amid fears the system disproportionately hits poorer people.

MPs and peers on the Joint Committee on Human Rights say the system of issuing fines is muddled, discriminatory and unfair.

The committee says it has significant concerns about the validity of fines, the inadequacy of the review and appeal process, the size of the penalties and the criminalisation of those who could not afford to pay.

A government spokesperson said it was right there were consequences for those who most flagrantly breached the rules.

More than 85,000 fixed penalty notices have been issued in England since the pandemic began, and 8,000 in Wales.

Those given fixed penalty notices by police mean people can either pay a penalty - between £200 and £10,000 - or opt to face a criminal prosecution.

In January, two women received an apology and had their fines waived after being given fixed penalty notices after driving to a Derbyshire beauty spot for exercise.

You can read more here.

Many of this morning’s UK newspaper front pages report mounting controversy around Prime Minister Boris Johnson over comments he allegedly made last year.

The Times leads with a fresh claim - reporting that Mr Johnson allegedly told Downing Street aides last September that he would rather let coronavirus "rip" than impose a second lockdown because of the economic harm it would cause.

According to the paper, the prime minister is said to have argued that there was no evidence lockdowns worked and described them as "mad". He's also said to have expressed regret about the first lockdown, the paper adds.

A No 10 spokesman tells the paper: "These are gross distortions of his position. Throughout this pandemic, we've done everything we can to save lives and protect livelihoods."

Other papers lead with the fallout from yesterday's claim that - in a separate debate - the prime minister had suggested he would rather see "bodies pile high" than order another lockdown.

"Boris on the ropes", is the headline in the Daily Mail, which broke the story. It says questions have mounted over his personal conduct.

You can read the full paper review here.

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic in the UK and around the world.

Here are the main UK headlines this morning:

• All fixed penalty notices issued for Covid lockdown breaches should be reviewed, MPs and peers on the Joint Committee on Human Rights say
• Prime Minister Boris Johnson will chair a cabinet meeting later amid claims over his conduct, including that he once said he would rather see "bodies pile high" than approve a third Covid lockdown. He denies saying it.
• There is growing evidence that the past year of lockdowns has impacted young children's language skills, according to research