Coronavirus: People making a difference

Everyone needs to practise social distancing and keep at least 2m (6ft) away from other people to protect themselves from catching coronavirus.

But it can be hard to know exactly what that looks like.

The BBC's health correspondent Laura Foster helps explain the best ways to keep safe and keep the correct distance away from other people.

An ex-rugby league player, who broke his neck while playing in 2002, has walked 26 laps of his house for charity.

Jimmy Gittins has raised more than £6,000.

He said he was inspired by Captain Tom Moore, who has raised millions of pounds for NHS charities.

He said: "It's to show people that even when we think we are flat and we're down and the situation's not very good, we can still make a positive out of it."

Bruce OgilvieCopyright: Bruce Ogilvie

A businessman is deep-cleaning hundreds of park benches, bins and bus stops in a bid to stop the spread of coronavirus.

Bruce Ogilvie normally uses the cleaning equipment after fitting fire protection systems in schools, offices and hospitals.

With this work suspended, Mr Ogilvie has been putting the equipment to use in the public spaces of Ayrshire.

The 50-year-old is concentrating on the busiest spots around his base in Ayr.

This has included cleaning the street furniture along the sea front at Troon, public parks in Ayr and most of the bus stops between Ayr and Prestwick.

Reaching your 100th birthday is cause for a major celebration.

However, when you turn 100 during a pandemic the celebrations look quite different.

It was not the big party as planned for Bobby Strain from Dungannon, County Tyrone.

Instead, care home staff delivered his cake wearing masks and visors while his family sang Happy Birthday a few steps away - outside the building.

Mr Strain's daughter, Evelyn Carson, said they did their best to mark her father's milestone despite restrictions over coronavirus.

A head teacher has been pumping up pupil happiness by dressing up in a different inflatable costume every week during the lockdown.

Sally Maddison, of Sir John Sherbrooke Juniors, in Calverton, Nottinghamshire, has now held assemblies dressed as a lion, dinosaur, chick and rocket.

Sally MaddisonCopyright: Sally Maddison

She said the idea was to keep children engaged with school and put a "smile on their faces".

Ms Maddison had the costumes from previous World Book Days at the school. See more of her costumes here.

Sally MaddisonCopyright: Sally Maddison

A 101-year-old woman has been able to go outside for the first time in six years thanks to a volunteer who checked on her during lockdown.

Bessy from Selby in North Yorkshire, can now get herself from her house to the garden after volunteer James Sanderson bought her a walking frame.

James SandersonCopyright: James Sanderson

Mr Sanderson, 42, had called on her to deliver a hot meal when she told him she was housebound.

He bought the frame and delivered it to her later that day.

If you have to go outside you should stay more than 2m (6ft) apart from anyone other than members of your own household. This is what's known as social distancing.

• Government guidance urges people to"stay local", use open spaces near their home and avoid unnecessary travel

• However, National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) guidelines for England say driving to the countryside to walk is likely to be a reasonable excuse, as long as far more time is spent walking than driving. In Northern Ireland you can drive to a safe space for exercise
• People should only exercise once a day, although in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland there is no legal ban on exercising more. However, in Wales exercising more than once a day is now illegal - and potentially a criminal offence
• New tougher measures in Wales tell people they must exercise "as close as possible" to home. Cyclists are now being told they should travel no further than a "reasonable walking distance from home"
• You can exercise alone or with members of your own household
• Dogs can be walked as part of a person's daily exercise

More than £1,000 has been raised for a national charity fundraising campaign by North Wales Police's Chief Constable.

The 2.6 challenge was launched on Sunday - the day the 40th London Marathon was due to take place before it was postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The idea of the challenge - created to help cash-strapped charities at this time - was to undertake any task connected to the number 26, the number of whole miles run in a marathon.

North Wales PoliceCopyright: North Wales Police

However, Chief Constable Carl Foulkes took it a step further, taking part in a 126.26 mile indoor-cycling challenge to raise money for the Care of Police Survivors charity.

He said: “Thousands of fundraising events across the UK have been cancelled due to Covid-19, with a devastating impact on charity incomes.

"In this really difficult time I wanted to do something to support COPS, who do such a fantastic job in supporting those who have lost loved ones in the line of duty."

A nine-year-old boy with cerebral palsy has been inspired by Captain Tom Moore to walk a marathon in his street.

Tobias Weller, from Sheffield, uses a walking frame and was managing about 50m a day before lockdown began.

Tobias WellerCopyright: Tobias Weller

He has raised more than £8,000 so far for his two favourite charities, Sheffield Children's Hospital and Paces School, which he attends.

Tobias, who also has autism and cannot stand or walk unaided, said: "It's brilliant, we have loads of lovely neighbours who I have got to know loads better during lockdown."

Ian HedgesCopyright: Ian Hedges

Staff at a home in Northumberland have built shops for residents inside its grounds so they can still visit them during the lockdown.

Tynedale House in Blyth, a residential home for adults with learning disabilities, set up a temporary shop, a social club, and a church to “incorporate as much of the outside world as possible”.

Care supervisor Ian Hedges said the lockdown was “hard for residents to understand” as they were “used to going out and about” but he hoped the new measures would be the next best thing.

He said: “The delight on our residents' faces at having some normality was second to none.”

St John Ambulance GuernseyCopyright: St John Ambulance Guernsey

St John Ambulance Guernsey has launched a fundraising appeal to support its work during the coronavirus crisis.

In the #SoapUp4StJohn and #Smile4StJohn campaign islanders are asked to record short videos of them washing their hands or just having fun and making people smile, donating to St John in the process.

The charity said its regular methods of funding were no longer able to sustain them and they were hoping to raise money and community spirit at the same time, as well as give people some fun in difficult times

CLARE WHITECopyright: CLARE WHITE

An 11-year-old boy has raised more than £13,000 by "climbing Everest" to help save a zoo from closure.

Devon's Dartmoor Zoo said it was forced to launch an appeal after it lost all its revenue when it closed last month due to lockdown measures.

Josh White, from Sherborne in Dorset, is climbing his stairs 3,400 times, which he believes is the equivalent to scaling Mount Everest.

The zoo, which has raised £50,000, said it was "incredibly proud" Josh.

Almost 30,000 protective visors have been made by staff at one hospital for NHS colleagues on the front line.

A team from Salford Royal helped to design and make the visors that will be used in four hospitals in Greater Manchester.

Northern Care Alliance NHS GroupCopyright: Northern Care Alliance NHS Group

They went into production following widespread concerns about a shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE).

“We plan to keep the supply going for as long as it is needed,” said Dr Glyn Smurthwaite.

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Everybody should be avoiding non-essential contact, and you should stay at home wherever possible.

Read more about the rules here.

Karl HeidelCopyright: Karl Heidel

A football-mad 10-year-old girl has urged people to help her do 7.1 million keepy-uppies, one for each UK key worker, to raise money for charities.

Imogen Papworth-Heidel, from Hauxton, Cambridgeshire, hopes to raise £1,300 by keeping her football up in the air as many times as she can.

She is managing about 2,000 each day but has also asked for keepy-uppy donations to help her reach her target.

Members of Cambridge United have already taken on the challenge.

Tim BurgessCopyright: Tim Burgess

Online listening parties at home with The Charlatans singer have become the new going out for thousands during lockdown.

But why have they drawn such an audience?

Police on patrol in Essex came across a fleet of white vans, which turned out to be mobile testing vehicles for coronavirus.

Essex PoliceCopyright: Essex Police

Essex Police said: "These ones pictured are ready to go to the Armed Forces who will be going up and down the country distributing them."

Essex PoliceCopyright: Essex Police

A head teacher who is recovering from Covid-19 and ran a marathon in his garage to raise money for the NHS got a surprise call when he completed the distance.

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Paul Hyde, from Kidderminster, took to his treadmill after the pandemic stopped him taking part in the London Marathon on Sunday.

At the end of his effort he spoke to BBC WM and told them he felt "achey", having only recently recovered from Covid-19, but had raised over £2,200 for the NHS.

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To his surprise he was then connected to Paula Radcliffe, a three-time winner of the London Marathon, who congratulated him.

"It's an amazing achievement. I think you've made a huge difference to a lot of people," she said.

The two main symptoms are a fever or a dry cough, which can sometimes lead to breathing problems.

The cough to look out for is a new, continuous cough. This means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or having three or more coughing episodes in 24 hours. If you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual.

You have a fever if your temperature is above 37.8C. This can make you feel warm, cold or shivery.

A sore throat, headache and diarrhoea have also been reported and a loss of smell and taste may also be a symptom.

It takes five days on average to start showing the symptoms,but some people will get them much later. The World Health Organization (WHO) says the incubation period lasts up to 14 days.

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