Coronavirus updates: Latest as PM orders hospitality shutdown
See the latest coronavirus updates from across the Black Country, Staffordshire and the UK.
Boris Johnson has ordered that all cafes, pubs, restaurants and leisure centres must close from Friday.
The announcement came as the Government announced unprecedented measures to cover the wages of workers who would otherwise lose their jobs due to the coronavirus outbreak.
It came after the “key workers” list was published and included frontline health and social care staff, people involved in food production and delivery and utility workers.
It means the children of those workers will continue to be cared for at school during the coronavirus pandemic.
The death toll in England today rose to 167, with a further 39 Covid-19 patients confirmed to have died, but none of these were in the Black Country or Birmingham.
Yesterday five more people were confirmed to have died after testing positive for coronavirus in the Black Country - three in Wolverhampton and two in Dudley. Two patients also died in Birmingham.
Today details of how GCSE and A-level grades will be awarded were released.
Meanwhile scientists advising the Government have said that social distancing measures will need to be in place for most of a year in order to control the spread of Covid-19.
Later today the Chancellor is set to unveil an emergency package aimed at protecting workers’ jobs and wages as they face hardship in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
He will reveal new measures at the daily Covid-19 press conference in Downing Street, where he is expected to be joined by Boris Johnson.
Key updates:
Key worker list includes healthcare workers, teachers, supermarket staff, utility workers and police.
England death toll rises by 39 to 167 but no new deaths in West Midlands.
Five people in Black Country and two in Birmingham confirmed to have died on Thursday.
The death toll in Italy has risen to 3,405, overtaking the total number of deaths so far registered in China.
Global coronavirus deaths have passed 10,000.
Retired medics are being asked to return to help fight the virus.
