Coronavirus latest news: Boris Johnson hails 'extraordinary feat' as 15m now vaccinated

• 15m Britons receive Covid vaccine: the five key things the data shows

• Vaccine passports to enter shops, pubs and events 'under consideration'

• Picnics and coffee in the park from March 8

• Fears over ventilation in quarantine hotels

• Exclusive: Vaccine for all variants could be available soon

Boris Johnson has hailed a "significant milestone" as the number of people in the UK receiving a coronavirus vaccine passed 15 million.

The Prime Minister said it was an "extraordinary feat" just over two months after 91-year-old Margaret Keenan became the first person in the world to receive a Covid-19 jab as part of a mass vaccination programme.

It puts the Government firmly on course to meet it target of offering a first dose to everyone in the the UK in its top four priority groups - including all over-70s - by Monday.

In a video message posted on Twitter, Mr Johnson confirmed it had already been passed in England, while on Friday First Minister Mark Drakeford said it had been reached in Wales.

The Prime Minister said: "Today we have reached a significant milestone in the United Kingdom's national vaccination programme.

"This country has achieved an extraordinary feat - administering a total of 15 million jabs into the arms of some of the most vulnerable people in the country."

Earlier, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab rejected an "arbitrary" demand by lockdown-sceptic Tories in the Covid Research Group to commit to lifting all legal restrictions in England by the end of April.

Follow the latest updates below.

05:20 PM

Giving hospital-admitted patients Vitamin D could cut Covid deaths 60 per cent

Giving high-dose Vitamin D to coronavirus patients when they are admitted to hospital could cut deaths by 60 per cent – double the benefit of the best current drug, new research suggests.

Scientists from the University of Barcelona showed that patients prescribed calcifediol – an intensive dose of Vitamin D usually used for people with chronic kidney failure – had their risk of admission to intensive care dramatically cut and death rates significantly lowered.

Currently the steroid dexamethasone has shown the greatest impact, reducing deaths by 30 per cent, and is now recommended to seriously ill NHS patients.

But the new study suggests that calcifediol could be twice as beneficial if given early.

Sarah Knapton has the full story here.

05:12 PM

Comment: Ministers must never again be free to impose crippling restrictions without proper scrutiny

A new Public Health Act would prevent ministers imposing job-destroying restrictions without warning or scrutiny , writes Steve Baker.

Read the full commentary here

05:05 PM

Dutch skaters take to ice despite pleas from overwhelmed health services

The Dutch have had a rare chance to hit the canals after they froze over for the first time in almost three years.

Some however hit the ice a bit too hard, taking tumbles that landed them in hospital despite an official plea to spare overstretched emergency services.

In Amsterdam, dozens of skaters took to the Prinsengracht, an iconic canal in the city centre on Sunday, even though the ice was not thick enough in all places.

At least one person broke through, but was able to make it to safety unaided, local media reported.

Prime Minister Mark Rutte had warned against mass skating to avoid the risk of spreading Covid-19 as well as injuries that could clog up hospital emergency rooms.

04:55 PM

Run Eat Out to Help Out again, says Deliveroo

Takeaway firm Deliveroo and 300 restaurant groups are urging the government to run Eat Out to Help Out once again when restaurants are allowed to reopen.

They said the discount scheme, which encouraged people to eat out with discounts of up to £10 per diner in August 2020, would boost demand for ailing restaurants.

They also said other urgent support was needed to stop "viable" hospitality firms failing - and called on the government to extend the VAT reduction on restaurant food until at least the end of 2021.

In a letter to the prime minister, Deliveroo and partners, including Itsu and Pizza Hut, said many restaurants were "under immense financial pressure".

"Even when they are able to reopen to customers, restrictions around mixing of households and social distancing measures mean that a return to trading at full capacity will remain dependent on the successful vaccine rollout," the letter stated.

04:44 PM

Official Covid symptom list could expand to include headaches and fatigue

Official Covid symptoms could be changed following calls by experts to add other signs such as headaches and fatigue.

The Department of Health said it had a scientific group continually reviewing new evidence and was aware that the virus was associated with a much longer group of symptoms.

Currently people are only encouraged to be tested for coronavirus if they suffer from a continuous cough, a high temperature and a loss of smell or taste.

Yet a study of one million Britons by Imperial College published last week found that 60 per cent of people testing positive for coronavirus exhibit none of these symptoms in the week running up to a test.

They called for chills, headaches and loss of appetite to be added to the list.

Sara Knapton has the full story here

04:32 PM

What's next for the Covid-19 vaccination programme?

More than 15 million people in the UK have received their first dose of a Covid vaccine - just over two months since the first jab was administered.

Here are your questions answered about the future of the biggest vaccination programme in NHS history.

• How many people have been vaccinated so far?

Initially the NHS reached out to the top four priority groups, including those over the age of 70 and health and care staff, aiming to offer the jab to everyone in this group by mid-February.

On Sunday the Government said 15 million people in the UK had received their first dose.

Government data up to February 13 shows that of the 15,599,904 jabs given in the UK so far, 15,062,189 were first doses - a rise of 505,362 on the previous day

• What will this mean for the NHS?

The impact of the vaccination programme will not be immediately felt in the NHS.

But the health service should soon start to see some big reductions in hospital admissions.

It has been estimated that giving people in the top nine priority groups the jab will reduce deaths by up to 99 per cent.

04:23 PM

One in six children may never catch up after Covid school closures

One in six children may never catch up after Covid school closures, the Children’s Commissioner has warned.

The amount of lost learning by youngsters – in particular those from the most deprived households – requires a catch-up programme that operates on a “war-effort kind of scale,” according to Anne Longfield.

She said that without significant investment from the Government, the alternative is that “there is a group of children who won’t make up the time they’ve lost”.

Ms Longfield told Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday: “These are the ones who have started behind, who are struggling, potentially about one in six children. If they don’t get that level of support and boost they won’t ever catch up during their time at school.”

Camilla Turner has the full story here

04:15 PM

China hits back at US over criticism of WHO investigation

China has hit back at US criticism of the World Health Organisation and its investigation into the origins of Covid-19, the South China Morning Post reports.

Accusing Washington of “severely undermining” the world health body, the Chinese embassy in Washington referred to the US withdrawal from the WHO and subsequent post-Trump return.

“But the US, acting as if none of this had ever happened, is pointing fingers at other countries who have been faithfully supporting the WHO and at the WHO itself,” the embassy added.

“It is hoped that the US will hold itself to the highest standards, take a serious, earnest, transparent and responsible attitude, shoulder its rightful responsibility, support the WHO’s work with real actions and make due contribution to the international cooperation on Covid-19.”

04:01 PM

Rwanda begins Covid vaccination drive

Rwanda has begun vaccinating high-risk groups such as frontline healthcare workers with a limited number of Covid jabs, the health ministry announced on Sunday. n

In a statement posted on Twitter the ministry said the vaccinations had begun with "WHO-approved COVID-19 vaccines acquired through international partnerships in limited quantities."

"This initial phase will be followed by a wider roll-out this month with supplies expected from" the global Covax initiative to provide vaccines as well as an African Union programme.

A source at the health ministry, speaking on condition of anonymity, said vaccinations had begun on Thursday.

Some government officials told AFP news agency that they had also already received the vaccination.

03:50 PM

Czech government approves new state of emergency

The Czech government has approved a new state of emergency for the next 14 days due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Czech TV reported on Sunday, citing Deputy Prime Minister Jan Hamacek.

The move came after a last-minute deal with the country's regional governors.

They had requested the measure after lawmakers last week rejected extending the current state of emergency beyond Sunday, threatening a chaotic end to many anti-Covid measures.

03:33 PM

Vaccines are working as over-80s deaths drop twice as quickly as under-65s

Vaccines are working, new figures suggest, with deaths in the over-80s dropping twice as quickly as in the under-65s.

New research by the University of Oxford shows that since the peak in January, the case fatality rate (CFR) in the over-80s has fallen by 32 per cent.

In contrast, it has dropped by just 14 per cent in the under-65s in the same period.

The CFR measures the number of people dying after testing positive. The new figures suggest that even where people are contracting the disease, fewer people are now dying.

The Oxford team from the Centre for Evidence Based Medicine (CEBM) said results were “tentatively consistent with the impact of vaccination”.

“While several explanations are possible for these patterns, these results point to a potential impact of vaccination on the case fatality rate for 80-plus age groups,” the authors conclude.

Sarah Knapton has the full story here

03:26 PM

Guinea declares new Ebola outbreak

Guinea declared a new Ebola outbreak on Sunday, as tests came back positive for the virus after at least three people died and four fell ill in the southeast - the first resurgence of the disease there since the world's worst outbreak in 2013-2016.

The seven patients fell ill with diarrhoea, vomiting and bleeding after attending a burial in Goueke sub-prefecture. Those still alive have been isolated in treatment centres, the health ministry said.

It was not clear if the person buried on February 1 had also died of Ebola.

She was a nurse at a local health centre who died from an unspecified illness after being transferred for treatment to Nzerekore, a city near the border with Liberia and Ivory Coast.

"Faced with this situation and in accordance with international health regulations, the Guinean government declares an Ebola epidemic," the ministry said in a statement.

The 2013-2016 outbreak of Ebola in West Africa started in Nzerekore, whose proximity to busy borders hampered efforts to contain the virus. It went on to kill at least 11,300 people with the vast majority of cases in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

03:13 PM

Matt Hancock: 'The vaccine is our route to freedom'

Halth Secretary Matt Hancock said: "I'm so proud of the team - we've hit this fantastic milestone in our battle against Covid-19. In less than 10 weeks we've jabbed over 15 million people across the UK.

"That's one in every four adults now starting to receive protection from this dreadful disease.

"This accomplishment is thanks to the incredible efforts of frontline NHS workers, vaccine volunteers, the armed forces and all those working in local and central government. The vaccine rollout shows what our country can achieve working together.

"There is so much more to do and I urge anyone eligible to step forward and take up their appointment. The vaccine is our route to freedom - we will beat this virus jab by jab."

03:08 PM

Prince of Wales 'saddened by 'variable ' vaccine uptake

The Prince of Wales has expressed concern about the "variable uptake" of the Covid-19 vaccine in some ethnic minority communities.

Charles, who along with the Duchess of Cornwall has had his first coronavirus jab, described the 100,000 death toll in the UK - passed last month - as a "most sobering milestone".

The comments from the heir to the throne are in a keynote address he is making this week at the British Asian Trust's Webinar: Covid-19 Vaccine - Facts for the BAME Community.

Charles, royal founding patron of the British Asian Trust (BAT), will say: "In view of my concern about the health and welfare of our ethnic minority communities, I am so glad to be able to introduce this crucially important discussion on vaccination...

Everyone present today represents the collective effort we have made as a society to combat this relentless pandemic.

"Over the past year, we have all been inspired by innumerable accounts of dedication to duty not only from those working tirelessly in our marvellous National Health Service, or in social care, but also in all forms of public service, as well as - of course - in business, industry, commerce and the voluntary sector.

03:02 PM

Mexico receives 800,000 vaccines from India

Mexico received a shipment of 870,000 doses of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine from India on Sunday, the government said, as the country prepares to prioritize older adults in the next phase of its vaccination campaign.

Mexico is also expecting shipments of Pfizer's vaccine to resume, with 494,000 doses due to arrive on Tuesday, Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard told a news conference.

Sunday's shipment amounts to about 42 per cent of the two million doses of the AstraZeneca and Oxford University vaccine the country plans to import from India, in addition to packaging it locally, the government said.

Mexico and Argentina have an agreement with AstraZeneca to produce the vaccine for eventual distribution of 250 million doses in Latin America, with financial support from the foundation of Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim.

02:55 PM

Boris Johnson praises 15m vaccination doses as 'extraordinary feat'

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the Government had reached its target of offering a first dose of a vaccine to everyone in the top four priority groups.

Describing the news that 15 million people in the UK have now had a first jab as a "significant milestone", he said: "Over two months this country has achieved an extraordinary feat, administering a total of 15 million jabs into the arms of the most vulnerable people in the country."

He added: "It has been a truly national, UK-wide effort. We have done it together."

02:48 PM

NHS chief hails milestone of 15m vaccinations

The head of the NHS has hailed the milestone of 15m vaccinations describing the vaccination drive as "the biggest and fastest in Europe".

NHS chief executive Sir Simon Stevens said: “Hitting this milestone just 10 weeks after the NHS made history by delivering the first Covid vaccination outside of a clinical trial is a remarkable shared achievement.

“The NHS vaccination programme is the biggest and fastest in Europe – and in the health service’s history – and that is down to the skill, care, and downright hard work of our fantastic staff, supported by local communities, volunteers and the armed forces.

“On behalf of the whole country it's right to mark this successful first phase with a huge thank you to everyone involved in this extraordinary team effort.”

02:41 PM

Poles rush to ski, drink and party as Covid restrictions eased

Dancing, drinking and fighting marked the easing of some Covid-19 restrictions in Poland over the weekend as tourists, many without masks, let off steam in the ski resort of Zakopane.

Poland allowed ski slopes to reopen from Friday for a two-week trial period, with cinemas, theatres and hotels also allowed to open at a maximum of 50 per cent capacity.

Agata Manysiak was delighted to be back on the slopes in another Polish resort, Szczyrk.

"It's great, conditions are great. There is natural snow and it would be a shame not to take advantage of it," she said.

Many of the thousands who gathered in the centre of Zakopane were celebrating the second place finish of Pole Andrzej Stekala in a Ski Jumping World Cup event in the town.

"Fights, brawls, arguments, damage to shops ... a burning car," police spokesman Roman Wieczorek told private broadcaster TVN 24. "I can remember such situations ... but I can't remember them being as aggressive as that."

02:30 PM

England: A further 301 people have died from Covid-19

A further 301 people who tested positive for coronavirus have died in hospital in England, bringing the total number of confirmed deaths reported in hospitals to 78,889, NHS England said on Sunday.

The patients were aged between 32 and 102. All except eight, aged between 40 and 82, had known underlying health conditions.

The deaths were between December 1 and February 13.

There were 22 other deaths reported with no positive Covid-19 test result.

02:26 PM

France: Macron urges vaccine deliveries to poorer countries

French President Emmanuel Macron is demanding an urgent drive to deliver vaccines to poor countries.

While France's own vaccination program has suffered from delivery delays and bureaucratic troubles, Macron told the Journal du Dimanche newspaper that "African countries are asking us, justifiably, about their access to vaccines."

Macron met with global pharmaceutical CEOs and vaccine experts in recent days to discuss programs to fight vaccine inequality, to help end the pandemic and revive economies faster.

Among those programs is the U.N.-backed COVAX, which has suffered a slow start because of funding shortages and lack of commitment from some major world powers.

"We must speed up this effort further because each week counts," Macron was quoted as saying.

He also said vaccines made in China and Russia should be "integrated into this great multilateral effort against the pandemic."

02:19 PM

Vaccine minister hails milestone as 15m people now vaccinated

Vaccine minister Nadhim Zahawi has revealed that 15m people in the UK have now received their first dose of a Covid-19 Vaccine.

The MP for Stratford-upon-Avon posted on Twitter: "15,000,000! Amazing team. We will not rest till we offer the vaccine to the whole of phase1 the 1-9 categories of the most vulnerable & all over 50s by end April and then all adults."

02:11 PM

How an Italian bookshop beat lockdown: a bicycle and Google maps

A small bookshop in Turin that responded to last year's lockdown by taking orders online and delivering them by bicycle has attracted the attention of Google, which filmed the owner making his deliveries across the city as part of an advert for its mapping service, writes Erica Di Blasi in Turin.

Mattia Garavaglia, the owner, married the timeless technology of the bicycle with an up-do-date ecommerce tool called Bookdealer, the first online ordering platform for independent booksellers in Italy.

"I think I was the first bookseller in Turin to deliver books to customers' homes by bicycle," he said.

"The response was overwhelming and it was a physically exhausting period for me.

But delivery by bicycle has taught us that the bookshop can be a beautiful tool because it is fluid: it can welcome people or it can go to visit them at home."

He said 2020 had been like "a 10-year-long year" for him.

02:03 PM

Guinea reports first Ebola cases since 2016, including three deaths

Three people have died of Ebola, and another five have tested positive for the virus in southeastern Guinea, the state health agency said, the first possible resurgence of the disease there since the world's worst outbreak in 2013-2016.

The patients fell ill with diarrhoea, vomiting and bleeding after attending a burial in Goueke sub-prefecture. The five still alive have been isolated in treatment centres, auhorities said on Sunday.

It was not clear if the person buried on February 1 - a nurse at the local health centre who had fallen ill - had also died of Ebola.

The last major outbreak of Ebola in West Africa started in Guinea. It went on to kill at least 11,300 people with the vast majority of cases in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

A second round of tests is being carried out to confirm the latest Ebola diagnosis and health workers are working to trace and isolate the contacts of the cases.

01:51 PM

Alpine skiing-Saalbach to host cancelled World Cup races

The Austrian resort of Saalbach-Hinterglemm will host two World Cup races from March 5 to March 7 that were cancelled in Norway and Switzerland due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

One downhill and a super-G were due to be held in Kvitfjell, Norway, at the beginning of March but were called off due to travel restrictions.

Another downhill, now scheduled for March 5, replaces the one that would have taken place on Wengen's Lauberhorn in Switzerland last month.

The longest World Cup downhill ski race was cancelled after Swiss officials indicated an especially infectious coronavirus variant was spreading in Wengen after being brought in by a British tourist.

01:43 PM

Israel and Cyprus agree travel deal for vaccinated citizens

Israel and Cyprus have agreed a deal to allow coronavirus-vaccinated citizens to travel between the two countries without limitations once flights resume.

"Let me say how pleased I am with the recent understandings that will allow the renewal of flights between Israel and Cyprus and call on more countries to adopt the [approach]," Israel's President Reuven Rivlin said earlier today.

He described the arrangement that would allow vaccinated people to travel freely as a "green pass".

Israel reached a similar agreement with Greece last week. The nations are seeking to revive their tourism industries - which have been severely hampered by the pandemic - in time for summer.

01:33 PM

Mexico says delivery of Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine shipments to resume Tuesday

Mexico Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said on Sunday that shipments of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine to the country were expected to resume on Tuesday.

The next shipment was expected to include about 494,000 doses of the vaccine, Ebrard said at a government news conference.

Mexico had been relying on the Pfizer vaccine for weekly deliveries before the company delayed shipments globally.

01:24 PM

Wuhan outbreak far wider than previously thought

Investigators from the World Health Organization (WHO) looking into the origins of coronavirus in China have discovered signs the outbreak was much wider in Wuhan in December 2019 than previously thought.

The team are urgently seeking access to hundreds of thousands of blood samples from the city that China has not so far let them examine.

The lead investigator for the WHO mission, Peter Ben Embarek, told CNN in a wide-ranging interview that the mission had found several signs of the more wide-ranging 2019 spread, including establishing for the first time there were over a dozen strains of the virus in Wuhan already in December.

The slow emergence of more detailed data gathered on the WHO's long-awaited trip into China may add to concerns voiced by other scientists studying the origins of the disease that it may have been spreading in China long before its first official emergence in mid-December.

01:15 PM

'Universal vaccine' that can conquer all variants could be available within a year

A universal vaccine that would work on all Covid-19 variants by targeting the core of the virus instead of just the spike protein could be available in as little as a year, researchers say.

British scientists at the University of Nottingham are developing a "universal” Covid-19 vaccine which, if successful, would end the need to keep tweaking existing jabs as the virus mutates.

Existing vaccines like the Pfizer and AstraZeneca jabs target the spike protein of the virus, but their efficacy is expected to wane as this element of the virus mutates.

Already there is evidence they do not protect as well against variants containing the “E484K” mutation, such as those circulating widely in southern Africa and Brazil.

The new universal vaccines will also target proteins found in the core of the virus which are far less likely to mutate, meaning they would protect against all current variants and would theoretically have greater longevity.

Jennifer Rigby has the full story here

01:07 PM

EU to fast-track Covid-19 vaccines against virus variants

The European Union has agreed to fast-track approvals of vaccines updated to target coronavirus variants, the bloc's health commissioner said Sunday, following criticism of the EU's sluggish vaccine drive.

"We looked at the process together with the European Medicines Agency (EMA)," Stella Kyriakides told German daily Augsburger Allgemeine in an interview.

"And we have now decided that a vaccine, which has been improved by a manufacturer based on its previous vaccine to combat new mutations, no longer has to go through the entire approvals process.

"So it will be faster to have suitable vaccines available without cutting corners on safety," she said.

The EU's vaccine rollout has been snagged by delays and controversies, leaving it lagging behind countries like the United States, Britain and Israel where a larger share of the population has been injected so far.

12:57 PM

Covid-19 virus may not have emerged in China, WHO scientist claims

The virus which causes Covid-19 may not have emerged in China, a World Health Organisation (WHO) scientist has suggested.

Professor John Watson, who was part of the WHO team that travelled to China to investigate the origins of the pandemic, said the virus's leap from animals to humans may have occurred outside the country's borders.

He told BBC One's The Andrew Marr Show on Sunday that the pandemic most likely started with an infection in an "animal reservoir" which was then passed on to humans through an "intermediate host".

Asked if he was sure the virus emerged in China, Prof Watson, who previously served as England's deputy chief medical officer until 2017, said "no".

He said: "I think that there are all sorts of reasons to do with the way it did start in the outbreak in Wuhan and the various bits of information about the way in which these viruses live in different animal reservoirs, that suggest that China is a very, very possible source for the outbreak, but by no means necessarily the place where the leap from animals to humans took place.

"And I think we need to ensure that we are looking beyond the borders of China, as well as within China."

12:49 PM

French hospitals to move into 'crisis mode' from Thursday

The French Health Ministry has asked regional health agencies and hospitals to go into "crisis organisation" from February 18 to prepare for a possible surge in Covid cases due to highly contagious variants.

The move, which would echo measures taken in March and November 2020 when France went into national lockdowns, involves increasing the number of hospital beds available, delaying non- urgent surgery and mobilising all medical staff resources.

"This crisis organisation must be implemented in each region, regardless of the level of hospital stress and must be operational from Thursday Feb. 18," health authority DGS said in a memo reported by the Le Journal Du Dimanche.

France reported 21,231 new confirmed coronavirus cases on Saturday, slightly up from 20,701 on Friday, taking the total cumulative number in France to 3,448,617, the sixth-highest in the world.

12:36 PM

Concern for riding-school horses' welfare during lockdown

Horses have been fighting and breaking equipment because they are bored in lockdown, a riding school in Wales has said.

While horse riding itself is not prohibited during Wales' level four lockdown, non-essential businesses like riding schools have had to close.

It means riding horses, who are typically used to three hours of lessons a day, are largely confined to their stables.

Talygarn Equestrian Centre told the BBC their animals were also losing muscle while not working - and this would need to be built back up again when classes resumed.

Amelia Rogers, who runs the facility, in Pontyclun, Rhondda Cynon Taf, said the riding school had been hit hard financially, selling five of its 27 horses to stay afloat.

Ms Rogers said she believed one-to-one socially distanced lessons should now be allowed, both from an animal welfare point of view and also to help businesses financially.

12:28 PM

Japan approves first Covid-19 vaccine

Japan on Sunday formally approved its first Covid-19 vaccine and said it would start nationwide inoculations within days, but months behind the U.S. and many other countries.

Japan's health ministry said it had approved the vaccine co-developed and supplied by Pfizer Inc.

The announcement comes after a government panel on Friday confirmed that final results of clinical testing done in Japan showed that the vaccine had an efficacy similar to what overseas tests showed.

Many countries began vaccinating their citizens late last year, and Pfizer's vaccine has been used elsewhere since December.

Under the current plan, about 20,000 front-line medical workers at hospitals in Japan will get their first shots beginning around Wednesday.

About 3.7 million other medical workers will be next, followed by elderly people, who are expected to get their doses in April. By June, it's expected that all others will be eligible.

12:20 PM

Man charged after police break up illegal boat party

A man has been charged with breaching Covid-19 regulations after police broke up an illegal party on a house boat attended by nearly 30 people.

Jordy Nicholas Van Duijvenbode, 31, of no fixed address, was charged on Sunday with one count of holding a gathering of more than 30 people and one count of participating in a gathering of two or more people.

He has been released on bail to appear before Thames Magistrates' Court on Tuesday, March 2.

Metropolitan Police officers were called to several reports of a large number of people playing loud music on a boat on the River Lea between Tottenham Lock and Hackney, north-east London, in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Officers located the party boat off Hackney Marshes at 4.20am and found around 30 people on board.

Police said 26 people were reported for the consideration of fixed penalty notices of £800 for breaking the rules designed to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

12:11 PM

Covid infecting humans through animal host 'probable'

Professor John Watson, a senior member of the World Health Organization team investigating the origins of the pandemic told the BBC's Andrew Marr they had received a "great deal" of data from China.

Prof Watson also said there were a number of hypotheses about the origins of Covid-19.

He said the most likely explanation was that the virus moved from one animal to an intermediate animal host, and from there to humans.

12:02 PM

Serbia donates thousands of vaccines to North Macedonia

Serbia donated 4,680 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to North Macedonia on Sunday, allowing its southern neighbour to begin inoculations ahead of schedule.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and North Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev met in freezing cold temperatures at the Tabanovce border crossing for a ceremonial handover of one of the boxes containing doses of the jab.

"With this delivery we will be able to vaccinate all medical staff working in Covid centres," Zaev said.

Serbia is donating enough doses to fully inoculate 2,340 people with the two-dose regime. Vucic said his country had received clearance for the donation from U.S. drugmaker Pfizer , which developed the vaccine with Germany's BioNTech .

North Macedonia will become the fourth Western Balkan country to start inoculations, after Serbia, Albania and Bosnia. Montenegro and Kosovo have not started inoculation so far.

11:52 AM

Polish mink farm strain can spread to humans

A strain of coronavirus detected at a mink fur farm in Poland can spread to humans, the country's ministry of agriculture has confirmed.

The BBC said the virus samples discovered there did not contain the mutation found in Denmark or the genetic characteristics typical of the UK, South African or Brazilian variants.

The news has raised fears of a widespread cull. Poland has one of the world's biggest mink farming industries with more than 350 farms.

The authoritie s said that all of the nearly 6,000 mink at the farm in Kartuzy where the virus was found would be slaughtered.

Outbreaks in Denmark - which is the world's largest producer of mink fur - led the government there to order a cull of some 17m animals last year.

11:41 AM

Thailand defends decision not to join COVAX vaccine alliance

The Thai government on Sunday defended its decision not to join the WHO-sponsored coronavirus vaccine programme, saying that to do so would risk the country paying more for the shots and facing uncertainty about delivery times.

The government has been criticised by opposition politicians and protesters for lacking transparency and being too slow in procuring vaccines.

While the country of 66 million people has had low numbers of cases and deaths, it is dealing with a second wave of infections.

Frontline health workers are to begin receiving 2 million imported Chinese Sinovac shots within a month, but mass vaccinations for the general population are not due to begin until locally produced AstraZeneca doses are ready in June.

Government spokesman Anucha Buraphachaisri, responding to media reports that Thailand is the only Southeast Asian country to skip the WHO's COVAX scheme, said that as a middle-income country Thailand is not eligible for free or cheap vaccines under the programme.

11:31 AM

Blanket travel ban into UK 'not proportionate'

The Foreign Secretary has dismissed the idea of a blanket ban on travel into the UK ahead of the hotel quarantine plan kicking in.

UK nationals or residents returning to England from 33 countries will be required to spend 10 days in Government-designated accommodation from Monday.

Dominic Raab was asked if it is time for a "blanket ban" due to the South Africa variant of Covid-19 being detected in Austria for example which is not on the Government's red list.

He told Sophy Ridge On Sunday on Sky News: "I'm not sure that's proportionate, and of course having blanket bans on any, for example, air travel into the UK would be very difficult for the supply chains, things like freight."

Mr Raab said the data is assessed very carefully and they want to make sure the measures are "as targeted as possible".

11:15 AM

Germany partially closes borders despite EU criticism

Germany partially closed its borders with the Czech Republic and Austria's Tyrol on Sunday over a troubling surge in coronavirus mutations, drawing a swift rebuke from the European Union.

A thousand police officers have been mobilised to ensure strict border checks, which recall the much-criticised early days of the pandemic when EU countries hastily closed their frontiers to each other.

At the Kiefersfelden crossing in southern Bavaria, officers in yellow high-visibility vests and wearing balaclavas to stave off the sub-zero temperatures, meticulously stopped each vehicle coming from Austria.

Under the new rules, in place until February 17, only Germans or non-German residents are allowed to enter, and they must provide a recent negative coronavirus test.

11:06 AM

Vaccine passports 'under consideration' says Raab

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has said the Government is "considering" Covid vaccine passports for both domestic and international travel.

Speaking on LBC's Swarbrick on Sunday, the secretary of state confirmed the Government "hasn't ruled out" introducing the Covid documents both within the UK and for overseas travel.

The measure would effectively require people to show their vaccine passport in order to move internationally and within Britain's borders.

11:01 AM

Mark Drakeford: School reopening decision could be reversed if cases rise

new variant of Covid-19 would be enough to close schools in Wales after they reopen later this month, the First Minister has said.

Foundation phase schoolchildren aged three to seven will return to classrooms in Wales from February 22, along with some older learners on vocational courses.

But Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford told Sky News's Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme that the decision could be reversed if "things were to go against us".

Mr Drakeford said: "The advice to us from our chief medical officer and scientists is that you should, in these early stages, always take measures that could be reversed quickly if you needed to do that.

"If there were to be unintended consequences of having three to seven-year-olds back into school, then, of course, we would be able to go into reverse."

He said Wales was in a position to allow the youngest children back into school as a result of its national lockdown which began shortly before Christmas.

10:53 AM

'Draconian' restrictions cannot be justified after vulnerable are vaccinated, says MP

Mark Harper, the chairman of the Covid Recovery Group (CRG) of lockdown sceptic Tories, has said "draconian" restrictions cannot be justified once the most vulnerable have been vaccinated.

The CRG has written to Boris Johnson demanding an end to controls in England by the end of April - by which point the top nine priority groups should have received the jab.

"We've set out in the letter what we think is sensible. They're not random, arbitrary timetables. It's linked very much to the rollout of the vaccine," he told Times Radio.

"Once you have vaccinated the top nine groups - who represent 99% of the people who have sadly died from Covid and about 80 per cent of those who are seriously ill - I don't think there is a justification for all of these draconian restrictions.

"Once you have protected people from serious illness and from death, I don't think these draconian restrictions of not being able to meet your family, not see your friends, not see your children, not see your parents, not visit people in care homes, I don't think they are justifiable anymore."

10:46 AM

Israel sees reopening of restaurants on March 9 amid vaccination drive

Israel plans to reopen restaurants around March 9 as part of its gradual return to normality as a Covid-19 vaccination campaign gathers pace, an official said on Sunday.

With more than 41% of Israelis having received at least one shot of Pfizer Inc's vaccine, Israel plans to partially reopen hotels and gyms on Feb. 23 to those deemed fully inoculated, or immune after recovering from Covid-19.

Nachman Ash, the national pandemic-response coordinator, said the reopening of hotel dining rooms, restaurants and cafes would follow two weeks later.

"That would be around March 9," he told Ynet TV. "We want to open gradually, carefully so we don't have another breakout of another wave, and another lockdown."

10:40 AM

First vaccine doses provide 67% protection after three weeks

Single jabs of Covid-19 vaccinations are providing 67% protection against infection, according to data from the Zoe Covid Symptom Study App.

Epidemiologist Professor Tim Spector, of King's College London, told Sky News' Sophy Ridge on Sunday that the Government's policy of delaying second jabs appeared to be working and restrictions should be able to begin to be reduced within weeks.

Prof Spector said the R rate had been "persistently" below one during January.

He explained that a single vaccine was providing 46 per cent protection after two weeks and 67 per cent after three weeks.

10:35 AM

UK shares U.S concerns over WHO Covid-19 mission to China

Foreign minister Dominic Raab has said he shared concerns about the level of access given to a World Health Organization Covid-19 fact-finding mission to China, echoing criticism from the United States.

The White House on Saturday called on China to make available data from the earliest days of the coronavirus outbreak, saying it had "deep concerns" about the way the findings of the WHO's Covid-19 report were communicated.

Asked about the U.S. reaction, Raab told the BBC: "We do share concerns that they get full cooperation and they get the answers they need, and so we'll be pushing for it to have full access, get all the data it needs to be able to answer the questions that I think most people want to hear answered around the outbreak."

In a separate BBC interview, a member of the WHO's delegation to China said that, while Chinese authorities had not given them all raw data, they had seen a lot of information and discussed analysis of the first cases.

10:29 AM

No'workable proposition' for vaccine passports available, says Raab

Mr Raab said it is not yet possible to put forward a "workable proposition" regarding a vaccine passport.

It comes after former prime minister Tony Blair reiterated his calls for a global coronavirus vaccine passport scheme, writing in the Mail On Sunday: "We have the technology which allows us to do this securely and effectively.

"The need is obvious. The world is moving in this direction. We should plan for an agreed 'passport' now. The arguments against it really don't add up."

Asked if it will be put on the agenda at the G7, Mr Raab told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show: "We can certainly discuss those things both internationally and domestically, but the reality is you've got to have a workable system, so it's not something that I think yet is in a place where we can put forward a workable proposition that countries around the world would be able to rely on.

10:24 AM

New Zealand locks down Auckland after three new local Covid-19 cases

New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Sunday announced a three-day lockdown in the country's biggest city Auckland, after three Covid-19 cases emerged, the first local infections since late January.

Level 3 restrictions will require everyone to stay home except for essential shopping and essential work, Ardern said, repeating the strict approach the country has taken over the past year in virtually eliminating the pandemic.

"We have stamped out the virus before and we will do it again," Ardern told a news conference in the capital, Wellington.

New Zealand, which had gone more than two months without local infections before the January case, is to start inoculating its 5 million people against the new coronavirus on February 20, receiving the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine earlier than anticipated.

Restrictions were raised to level 3 through Wednesday, shutting public venues and prohibiting gatherings outside homes, except for weddings and funerals of up to 10 people. Schools will stay open for children of essential workers but others were asked to stay home.

10:18 AM

Quarantine hotels could become Covid infection hubs because of ventilation flaws

Quarantine hotels could become hubs for infection with flaws in ventilation, the head of a hotel group used by the NHS has warned, amid fears more airport accommodation does not have windows that open.

UK nationals or residents returning to England from 33 “red list” countries will be required to spend 10 days in government-designated accommodation from Monday, with adults paying £1,750 for the quarantine package.

But Meher Nawab, chief executive of the London Hotel Group, which cares for homeless Covid-positive patients for the NHS, said airport hotels – many of which don't have windows that open – rely on central air flow systems.

This raised the risk of cross-contamination between guests and with hotel staff, he said, allowing any airborne virus to circulate between rooms and corridors.

Mr Nawab told The Telegraph: “The risk is exactly what has happened in Australia. The quarantine hotels are becoming a bit of a hub where the virus is spreading.”

Charles Hymas, Patrick Sawer and Christopher Hope have the full story here

10:13 AM

Lebanon begins vaccination drive

Lebanon started its Covid-19 vaccination drive on Sunday by inoculating the head of critical care at its biggest public hospital, followed by 93-year-old celebrated Lebanese actor and comedian Salah Tizani.

Battling a sharp spike in infections in recent weeks which has overwhelmed its healthcare system, Lebanon took delivery of 28,500 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on Saturday, the first batch of 2.1 million doses set to arrive in stages throughout the year.

Delays in signing a deal to purchase a vaccine and the rollout of an inoculation programme have caused frustration in Lebanon.

The World Bank, which helped fund the first batch of doses, has said it would monitor the inoculation drive to ensure the shots go to those most in need.

"I will not be receiving the vaccine today, for today is not my turn and the priority is for the medical sector that has done its duty and presented big sacrifices," caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab told reporters at the Rafik Hariri hospital, where Lebanon's first coronavirus case was quarantined about a year ago.

10:05 AM

'Less fearmongery' when reporting Covid statistics, says epidemiologist

Epidemiology expert Tim Spector told Sky News he no longer watches Government briefings because the media tended to focus too much on the number of daily deaths, which he deemed "very misleading".

"On a normal day in February, 1500 people would die – mostly of heart disease, cancer, strokes, or flu," said Professor Spector, who argued for more context when reporting Covid infection and death figures.

"A lot of people are petrified... they won’t come out of their homes again unless we put these stats in perspective."

"I would like to see less fearmongery and more a general picture."

Covid-19 cases have dropped by 80 per cent since the start of January and hospital admissions have reduced by 60 per cent - with a 50 per cent decrease in people in hospital with the virus, the epidemiologist told Sky's Sophy Ridge.

He said single jabs of Covid-19 vaccinations are providing 67 per cent protection against infection, according to data from the Covid Symptom Study App.

10:00 AM

There will be enough hotels for quarantine measures, says Raab

Asked about reports that only 16 hotels have signed up for England's new hotel quarantine measure, the foreign secretary said he believed there will be enough capacity.

Dominic Raab said that "travel has largely dried up".

And on whether more countries will be added to the government's red-list of 33 Covid hotspots, he said: "Having blanket bans on any air travel into the UK will be very difficult for the supply chains.

"[We] want as targeted a measure as possible to keep those supply chains open."

Mr Raab asserted that the Government is 'committed' to opening schools on March 8.

09:55 AM

'Gradually easing lockdown is right approach,' says Labour

Labour's shadow health secretary has said that the gradual easing of lockdown "is the right approach".

Jonathan Ashworth told BBC's Andrew Marr that "we have to be driven by the data, not dates".

Mr Ashworth said: "I don't think anyone is expecting lockdown to end in one day, one snap.

"We have to be driven by the data, not dates".

He also called for "decent" sick pay for people to isolate, higher grade masks, investment in ventilation systems for public buildings and the national contact tracing to be handed to NHS England and local contact tracing to local public health leaders.

09:48 AM

Idea of pubs opening in April is premature, expert warns

Talking about pubs reopening in April is "premature" and pub bosses need to realise there is a danger of going "back to square one", an expert has said.

The warning comes after pub giant Young's said there is no reason pubs cannot open in April, as its boss expressed exasperation at the Government's "lack of interest".

The chain has called on Boris Johnson to "do the right thing" and show strong leadership when the industry "needs it most".

In a letter to the Prime Minister, the chief executive of Young's said the Government is basing its decision to keep pubs closed on "unfounded and unproven statistics".

But Dr Bharat Pankhania, senior clinical lecturer at the University of Exeter medical school said: "It's premature because we don't know what the state of cases will be in the country at that point in time.

09:44 AM

Most health workers do not believe pandemic has been handled well

Fewer than one in 20 NHS workers believe the Government has handled the coronavirus crisis well, according to a new survey.

Almost half of 3,500 health workers polled by the GMB said ministers have handled the pandemic badly and have made the situation worse, said the union.

The GMB said it has campaigned throughout the pandemic for NHS workers to have proper personal protective equipment (PPE), Covid testing and decent pay rises after a decade of austerity.

Rachel Harrison, GMB national officer, said: "NHS staff have been badly let down by ministers throughout this pandemic - it's no wonder they don't think the Government is doing a good job.

09:42 AM

Covid-19 cases dropped by 80% since January, says epidemiologist

Covid-19 cases have dropped by 80 per cent since the start of January, epidemiologist Professor Tim Spector has said.

Hospital admissions have also reduced by 60 per cent with a 50 per cent decrease in people in hospital with the virus, Prof Spector told Sky News's Sophy Ridge On Sunday.

09:33 AM

Raab rejects call for 'arbitrary' lifting of lockdown by end of April

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has rejected calls by Tory lockdown sceptics for an "arbitrary commitment" to lift all coronavirus restrictions by the end of April.

More than 60 MPs on the Covid Recovery Group have backed a letter to Boris Johnson demanding he commits to a strict timetable for ending controls in England.

They said schools "must" return by March 8 as planned with pubs and restaurants reopening from Easter.

Mr Raab said the Prime Minister would be setting out his "roadmap" out of lockdown on February 22 as promised, but that any decisions would depend on the data.

09:29 AM

One in six children may not ever catch up on lost learning

Anne Longfield, the outgoing children's commissioner for England, has said that up to one in six children may never catch up on learning lost during the pandemic.

Appearing on Sky News, Ms Longfield said she hopes schools can open "as soon as possible" - especially primary schools.

She pointed to countries across Europe where primary schools have gone back before secondary schools.

"You've got France, Italy, Spain, all of whom have primary schools back open," she said.

"There seems to be a trend that these smaller entities can get back open and can be managed."

09:26 AM

Covid measures 'could last longer,' warns epidemiologist

Professor Spector has warned that some Covid restrictions may remain in place "for a while longer".

Appearing on Sky News, Prof Spector said: "We're not going to suddenly wake up one day and say 'we're all cured' like in the Hollywood movies and wave flags, it's going to be a slow decrease out of this where we're going to have to need to be cautious about new variants coming in".

It "makes sense to be sensible for a while longer," he added.

And he adds he can see a scenario - not necessarily one we want - where masks carry on being used, and people are encouraged to keep washing their hands when they, for example, go to the supermarket and touch food.

09:17 AM

Some schools are 'safe enough' to open before March 8, says epidemiologist

"If it was up to me, I would say there are some regions would [schools] could be opened up earlier - particularly in rural areas, where they have very low rates of disease," Professor Spector tells Sophy Ridge.

"If you focus on the low-risk group, the youngest children who really pose very little risk to themselves or other people," he added.

But if there is a definite date of March 8, most parents would be "happy" as people don't like "sudden switches in policy overnight," Prof Spector added.

09:12 AM

UK should be back to early June 2020 Covid-19 levels 'within weeks'

Profesor Tim Spector, an epidemiologist and lead scientist behind a Covid symptoms app, said since January 1 cases have been falling across the country - a drop of about 80 per cent.

"We're at a similar state that we were in October," and are projected to be "where we were at the end of May, beginning of June" last year in several weeks' time, he explains.

"We should be able to reduce some of these restrictions, and I'm particularly concerned that we get kids back to school as long as possible," Prof Spector added.

09:09 AM

Welsh Labour leader splits with Starmer over school workers' vaccine priority

Mark Drakeford, asked if he agrees with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer that school workers should be prioritised for a coronavirus vaccine, tells Sophy Ridge: "We don't take the same view."

He adds it's up to the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation - and "if there advice changes, our approach will change".

Asked if he's concerned about Sir Keir's leadership, Mr Drakeford says he's done an "excellent job" in holding Boris Johnson's government to account.

09:07 AM

Mark Drakeford: 'Build the wall higher' on border measures to protect against variants

Mark Drakeford has said the devolved government in Wales has already hit the target of offering a vaccine to all those in the top four priority groups.

Asked about the hotel quarantine system - which won't apply in Wales because there is no international travel in and out of the country - he says he would have done the "opposite" to the UK government.

So instead of having a red list, the starting position should be that hotel quarantine should apply to everyone - apart from a select list of countries, he explains.

Mr Drakeford said he thinks the UK Government should "build the wall higher to make sure we're not vulnerable to any variants in any part of the world".

08:52 AM

Raab not sure of how many rooms booked ahead of hotel quarantine change tomorrow

Dominic Raab has said he does not know how many hotels and rooms have been booked for when quarantine rules change tomorrow for English nationals and residents.

Mr Raab said: "I don't know the precise number".

"We will have enough rooms, given travel has largely "dried up"

Asked why the hotel quarantine will only apply to 33 countries when virus variants have emerged in places not on the so-called "red list", Mr Raab said it was not "proportionate" to institute a blanket ban

Asked how many cases of the South Africa variant there are in the UK, Mr Raab says he doesn't have a number and he's "not sure it's ascertainable".

08:49 AM

Opening non-essential retail 'very important' but Government will 'be very careful'

Mr Raab has said "getting non-essential retail open will be very important".

Questioned over the Telegraph's findings that meeting with a friend for a coffee in the park and picnics will be allowed from March 8, Mr Raab said socialising outside and other quality of life issues "really matter... they're not small things".

The Government will "be very careful" because "we don't want to see" progress "unravel because we go too far, too quick," he added.

08:42 AM

Dominic Raab doesn't rule out only partial re-opening of schools in England on March 8

Asked if schools in England will fully re-open on March 8, or just partially, Mr Raab said the PM hopes to "start that process" and adds "we need to wait to evaluate the data carefully".

When Boris Johnson announces his roadmap out of lockdown, "there will be other measures that the PM wants to set out," Mr Raab added.

08:40 AM

Dominic Raab 'confident' first vaccine target will be met

The Foreign Secretary has said he is 'confident' the Government will meet their target of 15 million people in the four most vulnerable groups being vaccinated by tomorrow.

Appearing on Sky's Sophie Ridge, Dominic Raab said: 'We're confident we're on track to do so".

It will be a really important milestone - the first one towards the wider plan of offering all adults a first dose by the autumn, he added.

Asked if the target has been hit but he's just trying not to steal the Prime Minister's thunder, Mr Raab said the target is by tomorrow and that's when the latest data will be announced.

08:33 AM

All Covid restrictions must go by end of April, Tory MPs tell PM

Lockdown-sceptic Tories have piled pressure on Boris Johnson, calling on him to commit to a timetable for lifting coronavirus restrictions with a complete end to controls by the end of April.

In a letter to the Prime Minister, the leaders of the Covid Recovery Group (CRG) said the "tremendous pace" of the vaccination rollout meant restrictions in England should begin easing from early March.

They said ministers must produce a cost-benefit analysis to justify any controls that remain in place after that date, with a "road-map" stating when they would be removed.

The letter was organised by the CRG chair and deputy chair, Mark Harper and Steve Baker, and was said to have the backing of 63 Conservative MPs in all.

07:50 AM

Pakistan to market Covid shots privately

A Pakistani lab will soon receive Russia's Sputnik V Covid vaccine for commercial sale, a company official said on Sunday, making Pakistan one of the first countries to market shots privately as it scrambles to secure supplies.

Despite concerns over fairness and higher prices, Islamabad agreed this week to allow the commercial import and sale of vaccines without price caps, in contrast to most countries, which are importing and administering vaccines through government channels.

The government launched a vaccination drive this month with 500,000 doses of the Sinopharm vaccine donated by long-time ally China. But aside from the donated Chinese doses, Islamabad has not completed any deals to buy vaccines.

07:30 AM

Exclusive: Licence renewals to be handled online

Planning applications, driving licence renewals and doctor diagnoses could be handled entirely online under secret plans hatched by Boris Johnson to transform public services after the coronavirus pandemic.

The Prime Minister, with Michael Gove, the Chancellor for the Duchy of Lancaster, is leading a bid to transform the way public services are delivered and clear lengthening backlogs once the pandemic has passed.

Exclusive: Planning applications and driving licence renewals to be handled online under new plans​

07:26 AM

Airline chief urges PM to end 'mixed messaging' over holidays

The boss of Britain’s biggest airline has issued a direct appeal to Boris Johnson to save this summer’s holidays and capitalise on the success of the vaccine rollout.

Sean Doyle, chief executive of British Airways, has written to the Prime Minister warning that the uncertainty and ministers’ “mixed messages” over summer holidays are “troubling” not just for the UK’s 500,000 aviation workers but also families denied contact with relatives.

Mr Doyle urged Mr Johnson to set out a timetable for restoring travel in his February 22 speech on the roadmap out of lockdown, saying the launch of quarantine hotels on Monday marks the point to “start charting a course for people to return safely to flying”.

Read the full story here.

07:20 AM

Latest NZ cases are an Auckland family

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has urged the country to be "strong and to be kind" during its latest lockdown caused by three new local Covid-19 cases.

"I know we all feel the same way when this happens. We all get that sense of 'Not again'. But remember, we have been here before and that means we know how to get out of this again, and that is together," she said.

New Zealand's greatest vulnerability has been at the border.

New cases are regularly caught among returning travellers, all of whom are required to spend two weeks in quarantine.

Despite precautions, there have been several times when the virus has leaked out from the border before being controlled again, and officials are trying to determine whether that's happened again.

In the latest case, an Auckland mother, father and daughter caught the disease. Officials said the mother works at a catering company that does laundry for airlines, and officials are investigating whether there is a link to infected passengers. Officials said the woman hadn't been going aboard the planes herself.

Officials said the rest of New Zealand outside of Auckland will also be placed under heightened restrictions, although will not go into lockdown.

07:13 AM

Clinically vulnerable invited to book their jab

Clinically vulnerable people in England are being invited to book their Covid-19 jab as the vaccination programme moves into a new phase on Monday.

People aged 65 to 69 are also among more than one million people who have been invited to book their vaccine, NHS England said.

Almost 1.2 million letters were due to have landed on doorsteps by Saturday asking people to log on to the national booking service, with a further 1.2 million due to arrive this week.

Anyone unable to book online can call 119 free of charge between 7am and 11pm seven days a week, and those who receive a letter can choose from more than 100 vaccination centres or almost 200 pharmacy services.

Vaccination programme: The priority list for the Covid vaccines - and how you will be contacted

06:31 AM

New Zealand back in lockdown

New Zealand Prime Minsiter Jacinda Ardern today announced a three-day lockdown in the country's biggest city, Auckland, after three new local Covid-19 cases were reported.

Ms Ardern said the level three restrictions, which require everyone to stay home except for essential shopping and essential work, repeated the super-cautious approach the country has taken over the past year in stamping out the pandemic.

New Zealand has not had any local virus cases for months until the recent infections and was ranked the best performing in an index of almost 100 countries based on containment of the virus.

By closing its international borders early the island nation virtually eradicated the virus in the early stage of the pandemic.

05:58 AM

China hits back at concerns from the US

China fired back at the United States on Sunday over allegations from the White House that Beijing withheld some information about the coronavirus outbreak from World Health Organisation investigators.

In a statement on Friday, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Washington had "deep concerns about the way in which the early findings of the Covid-19 investigation were communicated and questions about the process used to reach them".

READ MORE: US demands more info from China about start of coronavirus outbreak

China responded with a statement from its Washington embassy on Sunday, saying the US had already "gravely damaged international cooperation on Covid-19" and was now "pointing fingers at other countries who have been faithfully supporting the WHO and at the WHO itself".

While it welcomed President Joe Biden's decision to reverse the Trump administration's move to leave WHO, China hopes the US will "hold itself to the highest standards, take a serious, earnest, transparent and responsible attitude, shoulder its rightful responsibility, support the WHO's work with real actions and make due contribution to the international cooperation on Covid-19", the statement said.

Following allegations of China withholding data, investigation team members tweeted in defence of their investigative experience.

05:51 AM

More Covid cases in Australia

Australia's second-most populous state, Victoria, reported two new cases of locally transmitted Covid-19 infections on Sunday.

It is day two of a snap lockdown as authorities scramble to curb the spread of the highly infectious UK variant of the disease.

The two cases, including a three-year-old child, were the first two who were not household contacts of a cluster of infected workers at a quarantine hotel at Melbourne airport that triggered the five-day lockdown, health authorities said.

The hotel cluster has now affected 16 people.

While there have only been three new local cases identified following thousands of tests since the lockdown was announced on Friday, Victoria's health officials said the tough curbs - forcing the state's six million-plus people to stay home for five days - were still needed.

05:47 AM

Restrictions extended in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia has extended by 20 days restrictions on entertainment activities, gatherings, and dine-in restaurant services to curb the spread of coronavirus, state news agency SPA said on Sunday, citing an interior ministry statement.

The announcement extends a set of measures brought in 10 days ago and includes cinema and indoor sports centre closures.

The restrictions, which come into effect from 10pm local time on Sunday evening, could be extended again, the ministry statement said.

Two weeks ago Saudi suspended entry to the kingdom from 20 countries, with the exception of Saudi citizens, diplomats and medical practitioners and their families.

05:18 AM

Expert warns of premature reopening of pubs

Talking about pubs reopening in April is "premature" and pub bosses need to realise there is a danger of going "back to square one", an expert has said.

The warning comes after pub giant Young's said there was no reason pubs could not open in April, as its boss expressed exasperation at the Government's "lack of interest".

The chain has called on Boris Johnson to "do the right thing" and show strong leadership when the industry "needs it most".

In a letter to the Prime Minister, the chief executive of Young's said the Government is basing its decision to keep pubs closed on "unfounded and unproven statistics".

But Dr Bharat Pankhania, a senior clinical lecturer at the University of Exeter medical school who has widespread experience of advising on national communicable disease control action plans at national and international level, said: "It is better to get it right than to prematurely bow to pressure and open up when you're not ready to open up."

04:52 AM

Six-week bailiff eviction ban extension

The ban on bailiff-enforced evictions in England will be extended until the end of March, the Government has announced.

Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick said the ban - introduced at the start of the pandemic last March to protect private renters - will remain in place for all but the most serious cases for another six weeks.

The latest extension comes after ministers announced in January that it would continue until February 22, having been due to expire on January 11.

National Residential Landlords Association chief executive Ben Beadle warned the announcement was storing up future problems.

He said 800,000 private renters had built up arrears since the ban came into force, which they would struggle to ever pay off.

READ MORE: Six-week bailiff eviction ban extension as lockdown cripples landlords and tenants

04:40 AM

Today's top stories

• On Saturday night a senior Government source confirmed that from March 8, people in England will be allowed to drink coffee on a park bench or have a picnic with anyone from their own household, or with another person on a one-to-one basis.
• Quarantine hotels could become hubs for infection with flaws in ventilation, the head of a hotel group used by the NHS has warned, amid fears more airport accommodation does not have windows that open.
• A universal vaccine that would work on all Covid-19 variants by targeting the core of the virus instead of just the spike protein could be available in as little as a year, researchers say.
• Lockdown has led to an “explosion” of children with disabling tics disorders and Tourette's syndrome, the president of the British Paediatric Neurology Association has said.
• Analysis: Whitehall officials like nothing more than a dashboard to help steer policy, and over the next nine days, the mother of all dashboards will be created – one whose “key metrics” will determine Britain’s route out of lockdown.