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Schools across the UK will close today indefinitely. But key workers, such as NHS staff, have been told their children will still be able to go so they can carry on working.
Retired doctors and nurses will be asked to come back to work to help manage the pandemic. More than 65,000 retired staff could come back but it's believed they won't be asked to work in frontline roles. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said returning staff would be given training.
Sweeping powers for police to detain and quarantine people with coronavirus for up to 6 weeks have been tabled in parliament. If people fail to comply they could face fines of up to £1,000. Immigration officers will also be given limited powers to detain people and direct them to screening.
The number of confirmed cases worldwide now stands at nearly 250, 000. More than 10, 000 people have died.
In the UK 144 people have died from Covid-19. Two of the deaths were in Wales and 6 in Scotland. There have been 3,269 confirmed UK cases, 79 patients have recovered. 61,352 people have tested negative.
The Chancellor Rishi Sunak is expected to announce a series of measures to help support workers and businesses facing pressures because of the spread of the virus.
Earlier this week he promised £350 billion to support businesses. Today's announcement is expected to be about supporting workers - measures could include wage subsidies.
Drastic measures taken by the Bank of England yesterday appear to have helped shares and the pound to rebound. The FTSE 100 index jumped by 5.2% as markets opened. It lost some of its gains later, with trading up around 3.5%. The pound also rose after interest rates were cut to a record low of 0.1%. The Bank of England also unveiled plans to increase the UK government and corporate bonds it holds by £200 billion in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
In California all 40 million residents have been told to stay at home to stop the spread of Covid-19. The mandatory order was announced by the state governor Gavin Newsom and comes after 19 people died from Covid-19.
