Vaccinate children 'as fast as we can' to end disruption in schools, says Sage scientist

The vaccine rollout should turn to children "as fast as we can", an expert advising the Government has said.

Professor John Edmunds said until everyone is jabbed, there remains a "significant risk of a resurgence" of the virus.

The scientist, who is a member of the Government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), said the UK is currently in a "strong position" due to the successful vaccine programme and the Prime Minister's pledge to offer all adults a jab by the end of July will make a "huge difference".

However, Prof Edmunds warned it will take months to have everyone covered.

He told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show: "It takes some time, it's going to take months yet to vaccinate all of us.

"We're all at risk and we can all spread the virus, and so until we've all been vaccinated - I include children here - then there is going to be significant risk of a resurgence."

Prof Edmunds, who said he is a father of two children of secondary school age, said he believes "there is an argument for turning to children as fast as we can" in the rollout.

He added: "There will continue to be major disruption in schools until we have vaccinated our children."

05:25 PM

Today's top stories

That's all for today. Thanks for sticking with us. Before you go here's round-up of the day's coronavirus headlines the UK and around the world:

• A third of the UK adult population has now been given the first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, latest figures show.

• A scientific adviser to the government said today that the UK's coronavirus cases are falling "impressively fast" but that is "primarily the lockdown and not the vaccine programme".

• The Health Secretary also announced that he will not being resigning over a court ruling which found he broke the law by not publishing the details of PPE contracts within 30 days of them being awarded.

• Dr. Anthony Fauci said that it is possible Americans will still be wearing masks in 2022.

• Israel is reported to have agreed to fund Covid-19 vaccines for the Syrian regime as part of a Russian-brokered prisoner exchange deal between the enemy states.

• The head of the World Health Organization has appealed to Tanzania to take "robust action" to combat Covid-19 in the country, where the president has long played down the virus.

• Taiwan has confirmed three cases of the Covid-19 variant first discovered in Brazil,

05:16 PM

A further 215 die with coronavirus in the UK

A further 215 people have died with coronavirus in the UK, daily figures from the government show.

It takes the total number of people to die within 28 days of a positive Covid test to 120,580.

There have also been a further 9,834 new cases recorded in the last 24 hours.

05:16 PM

Vaccines pass 17.5m in the UK

The total number of people to receive their first vaccination in the UK has risen to 17,582,121, according to today's figures.

Another 615,148 people have also had their second dose.

05:16 PM

Russia starts giving Covid vaccine to homeless

Forty homeless people in Saint Petersburg received coronavirus vaccine jabs on Sunday, under a charity initiative that has received the backing of local officials.

"Here there are many people at risk. It is important for them to be vaccinated," said Taysia Suvorova, of the Nochlezhka non-governmental that organisation provides aid to the homeless in Russia's second city.

The 40 people receiving the vaccine are currently housed by the charity.

According to official figures there are 15,000 homeless people in the former imperial capital, out of a total population of five million.

05:06 PM

Medical regulator investigates £30m Covid contract firm

A firm is being investigated by the UK medical regulator after it was awarded a £30m contract during the pandemic.

Alex Bourne - who used to run a pub near Matt Hancock's old constituency home in West Suffolk - made vials for Covid testing through his firm Hinpack, which had no history of medical goods.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has confirmed it is now investigating the company.

Mr Hancock has previously said he had nothing to do with the contract.

The MHRA said it took "all reports of non-compliance very seriously".

The Guardian reported Mr Bourne had offered his services to the government via a personal WhatsApp message to the health secretary, saying they had known each other for years.

The businessman told the newspaper that there was "no evidence" he was given preferential treatment by the Department of Health and Social Care because of the connection.

04:54 PM

One third of adults in the UK have received first vaccine dose

A third (33.4%) of the UK adult population has now been given the first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, latest figures show.

Government data up to February 20 shows that of the 18,197,269 jabs given in the UK so far, 17,582,121 were first doses - a rise of 334,679 on the previous day.

Some 615,148 were second doses, an increase of 10,263 on figures released the previous day.

04:44 PM

Amsterdam police clear square of anti-lockdown demonstrators

Police in Amsterdam forcibly cleared anti-lockdown demonstrators from the city's Museum Square on Sunday after they ignored instructions to leave amid a ban on public gatherings due to the coronavirus epidemic.

Large numbers of people were out in the city's streets and parks after an abrupt turn in the weather to sunny skies and mild temperatures following a colder spell a week earlier. The Museum Square has become a regular meeting place for people opposed to social distancing and other lockdown rules.

At Sunday's demonstration, some were carrying signs saying "freedom" or held yellow umbrellas, but others appeared simply to have joined the throng of several hundred mostly young people.

Police conducted raids on horseback and a handful of protesters were detained.

The Netherlands saw several days of rioting in January, when an evening curfew was added to other lockdown measures.

04:11 PM

India's Maharashtra state imposes new Covid-19 lockdowns in some areas

India's western Maharashtra state, home to the country's financial hub Mumbai, said on Sunday it would impose new coronavirus-related restrictions in four districts, amid concerns about a second wave and slow vaccine rollout.

India, with a population of about 1.4 billion, has reported 10.9 million confirmed coronavirus infections, the world's second highest after the United States, and 156,212 deaths. It has vaccinated about 11 million people since mid-January.

As the number of cases has risen in recent days, India's Health Ministry has asked several states to expand testing and surveillance, including Maharashtra, which has about 112 million people and accounts for about 16% of India's economic output.

Maharashtra's Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said daily cases in the state had risen to almost 7,000 from about 2,000 earlier this month, demanding stricter measures from Monday to control the spread of the virus in four districts of the state.

"The second wave has been knocking on our door. Whether it has come or not will be confirmed in next eight to 15 days," he said in a televised address, adding that restrictions could be widened beyond those four districts if necessary.

03:08 PM

Fauci says it is possible Americans will still be wearing masks in 2022

US infectious diseases official Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Sunday that it is possible Americans will still be wearing masks in 2022, but that measures to stop the spread of Covid-19 would be increasingly relaxed as more vaccines are administered.

Fauci made the comment during an interview on CNN.

02:56 PM

Pandemic partygoers hide from Madrid police

Partygoers hid under mattresses and in a cupboard at a packed house in Madrid in an attempt to avoid police at one of 227 illegal parties raided in the city over the weekend for breaches of Covid-19 restrictions.

Police video showed the hiding revellers, who were arrested. Another raid took place a bar which was not complying with restrictions to try and contain the spread of the virus.

"Two hundred and twenty seven illegal parties have been detected in Madrid on Friday and Saturday. People were not complying with the curfew, not using masks or were in premises without any security measures," Madrid's Municipal Police force in a statement issued on Saturday.

"We keep asking you for collaboration and responsibilty."

Madrid has the second highest two-week infection rate in Spain at 427 cases per 100,000 people on Friday, while the national rate is 294, a marked decline from 900 at the end of January.

02:42 PM

England logs further 258 deaths

A further 258 people who tested positive for coronavirus have died in hospital in England, bringing the total number of confirmed deaths reported in hospitals to 81,304, NHS England said on Sunday.

Patients were aged between 29 and 101. All except 17, aged between 52 and 100, had known underlying health conditions.

The deaths were between December 10 and February 20.

There were 31 other deaths reported with no positive Covid-19 test result.

02:24 PM

Canada to provide Covid swab tests at US border

Canada will provide mandatory swab tests at over a hundred land crossings on its border with the US from Monday, Ottawa said, as concerns over the spread of new coronavirus variants grow.

"Travellers entering Canada at land borders, unless exempt, will be required to take a test using a self-swab kit," a statement from Canada's Public Health Agency said Saturday.

"This test can be taken either at the traveller's quarantine location or at a border testing site."

The border is currently closed to all but essential travel, a policy which is due to last until 21 March after it was extended on Friday.

Travellers entering Canada, unless exempt, must undergo two Covid-19 tests, one on their first day of arrival and one later in their 14-day quarantine period.

From Monday, air passengers arriving in Canada will have to undergo a three-day hotel quarantine at their own expense while they wait for the results of a coronavirus test.

01:58 PM

Israel 'funded Covid vaccine' for Syria to secure prisoner swap deal

Israel is reported to have agreed to fund Covid-19 vaccines for the Syrian regime as part of a Russian-brokered prisoner exchange deal between the enemy states.

The prisoner swap was done to secure the freedom of a 23-year-old Israeli woman who was arrested for illegally crossing into Syria at the beginning of February. She was exchanged for two shepherds who had crossed the border from Syria.

It was initially reported as a straightforward prisoner exchange, before Israeli media learned of an unpublished part of the agreement which had been blocked by the country’s military censor.

A source familiar with the negotiations confirmed the reports of the Russian-brokered vaccine deal to the New York Times.

While the number of doses Israel has agreed to pay for remains unknown, reporter Barak Ravid and Israeli news site Ynet, reported the deal was for $1.2 million worth of Sputnik V.

Abbie Cheeseman reports. Read more.

01:34 PM

Surge testing rolled out in Essex

Surge testing is being rolled out in an area of Essex after a case of the South Africa coronavirus variant was found.

A spokesman for the Department of Health said: "Working in partnership with the local authority, additional testing and genomic sequencing is being deployed to the CM13 postcode in Brentwood, Essex, where a single case of the Covid-19 variant first identified in South Africa has been found."

People living in the postcode area are "strongly encouraged" to take a test when offered, whether or not they have any symptoms of the virus.

01:15 PM

Local measures may need to continue, suggests scientist

Statistician Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter said the Government may still need to use "highly local" measures when it approaches the easing of lockdown.

Speaking to Times Radio, Sir David, of the statistical laboratory at Cambridge University, said recent coronavirus data indicating drops in hospital admissions, death rates and cases across the country was "very encouraging".

However, he said there were areas with still "quite a lot of cases" and "really quite substantial numbers", adding: "These are pockets around the country."

Sir David, a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), said some "scattered" areas were seeing above 200 new cases per 100,000 per week, which was "of concern".

He warned that unless there was greater take-up of coronavirus vaccine in some communities, in particular some ethnic communities, where it has been slower, it could become an "increasing issue".

12:57 PM

Israel re-opens further with 'green pass' for vaccinated

Israel took a step towards normalcy Sunday, re-opening a raft of businesses and services following its third national lockdown, with some sites only available to those who have been vaccinated.

Nearly three million people, almost a third of Israel's population, have received the two recommended doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine, the world's quickest inoculation pace per capita.

With a steady flow of data proving the Pfizer vaccine's efficacy in stopping serious illness from Covid-19, Israel's government has begin gradually easing restrictions.

Shopping malls and stores with street access re-opened Sunday, with certain limitations on crowd size.

But gyms, swimming pools, hotels and some cultural facilities are re-opening only to those who have been fully vaccinated and obtained the so-called green pass.

12:14 PM

Swiss could re-examine AstraZeneca vaccine contract

Switzerland could pass on the doses of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccination it has ordered, with the country yet to approve the shot, newspaper NZZ am Sonntag reported.

Switzerland earlier this month demanded more efficacy and quality data before greenlighting the shot that has already been approved by the European Union.

NZZ am Sonntag said there was speculation among local authorities that the government wanted to cancel its order, a situation which could occur if tests show the drug is insufficiently effective.

"It is still unclear what will happen with AstraZeneca," Nora Kronig, vice director of the Federal Office of Public Health (BAG) told the newspaper. "There are considerations to pass on the material."

Switzerland, which has ordered 5.3 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, is waiting for results from trials in North and South America, after saying earlier testing did not produce clear data including on efficacy in older people.

Withdrawal from the AstraZeneca sales contract is currently not an option, Kronig told NZZ am Sonntag. But this would be re-examined if need be, she added.

11:53 AM

Early data suggests reduction in transmission for those who get the jab, says Matt Hancock

11:32 AM

Serbia receives first shipment of AstraZeneca vaccine

A shipment of 150,000 Covid-19 vaccines developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University arrived at Belgrade airport on Sunday, making Serbia the first country in the Western Balkan region to receive supplies of the shot.

The vaccines, which arrived on a Turkish Airlines plane from Istanbul, were produced in India, said President Aleksandar Vucic, who came to the airport to meet the shipment.

Vucic said the price of the vaccine was "very good as both AstraZeneca and Oxford gave up their profits". He added that another shipment of 150,000 vaccines is expected in 12 weeks time.

"This vaccine was developed by a young team at the Oxford University which also included young people from Serbia," British ambassador Sian MacLeod told reporters at the airport.

More than 730,000 people, or a little over 10% of the population, have been vaccinated against Covid-19 since December with one or two doses of the vaccines available in Serbia.

11:10 AM

WHO says still has no details from Tanzania Covid-19 response

The head of the World Health Organization urged Tanzania on Sunday to share information on its measures to combat the coronavirus pandemic, saying the authorities there had repeatedly ignored his requests.

President John Magufuli's sceptical approach towards Covid-19 has caused alarm among WHO officials. A government spokesman told Reuters on February 12 that Tanzania had "controlled" the outbreak, but it stopped reporting new coronavirus infections and deaths in May last year. At the time it had registered 509 cases and 21 deaths.

WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Sunday that Tanzanians testing positive for Covid-19 abroad underscored "the need for Tanzania to take robust action both to safeguard their own people and protect populations in these countries and beyond."

Tedros also repeated a call he made with Matshidiso Moeti, WHO's Africa head, in late January for Tanzania to bolster public health measures against Covid-19 and prepare to distribute vaccines.

He added that since then he had spoken with several authorities there to no avail.

"This situation remains very concerning. I renew my call for Tanzania to start reporting Covid-19 cases and share data," Tedros said in a statement on WHO's website.

10:48 AM

Strong testing system needed to support vaccine programme

Professor Devi Sridhar, chair of global public health at Edinburgh University, said a strong testing system was needed as the vaccine programme continued.

Speaking to Sky's Sophy Ridge show, she said: "The question is how do we ease restrictions in a one-way process - we don't see a third wave over the next few months while the vaccine's rolled out.

"That requires a strong, test, trace and isolate system, especially supporting people in isolating more, as well as mass testing to really hit higher prevalence areas."

Prof Sridhar also said the UK would have to consider vaccination rates in poorer countries once rates are "super low" at home.

She said 130 states around the world did not currently have any vaccines at all.

As well as the "moral" argument around vaccinating people abroad, she said the UK should consider its own self-interest in preventing new strains from emerging and addressing geopolitical competition.

Prof Sridhar said: "We are seeing Russia and China donating their vaccines to low-income countries for clear geopolitical reasons.

"We've heard with the G7 going on that there is concern about what will it mean for the influence of European and North American countries if China and Russia are seen as being the most reliable support rather than the western world."

10:11 AM

Hancock on PPE contracts: We did the 'right thing'

Asked by Andrew Marr about controversial PPE contracts, Health Secretary Matt Hancock says his team did the "right thing" and was "totally focused on saving lives".

He says there was a "technical issue" in that "we were just over a fortnight late on average with the publication of these things".

"We were very, very tight on PPE and... thanks to the incredible work of my team we didn't have a national shortage," he says.

Marr asks whether there was something "fundamentally wrong" in the awarding of PPE contracts.

Hancock says there are "loose ends" that need tying up but stresses again his team did the "right thing".

10:10 AM

Vaccine programme has put UK in a 'really strong position'

Sage member Professor John Edmunds said the UK is in a "really strong position" due to the vaccine rollout but warned that until everyone - including children - has been jabbed there will be "significant risk of a resurgence" of the virus.

He told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show: "I think there's an argument for turning to children (in the vaccine rollout) as fast as we can.

"I mean, I have two children myself, they are in secondary schools and I think that there has been major disruption at schools and there will continue to be major disruption in schools until we have vaccinated our children."

He said opening schools now would likely see the R number come close to 1, but that mixing outside is unlikely to have much effect.

Asked if he would be more comfortable opening primary schools and then secondary schools later, he said: "Obviously I'm just sticking to the epidemiology rather than other needs. Of course there's great needs to get our kids back in schools as fast as we can. But sticking to the epidemiology, yeah, of course, it's always safer to take smaller steps and evaluate."

Asked if two households socialising outside was likely to have any effect on the R number, he said: "Not much, mixing outside is pretty safe."

09:59 AM

Ease lockdown 'gradually'

Professor John Edmunds, a member of the Government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), said any easing of the lockdown must be gradual to prevent a surge in hospital admissions and deaths.

He said vaccinating all adults by the end of July will make a "huge difference" but cautioned the vaccine will not give 100% protection.

He told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show: "If we eased off very rapidly now, we would get another surge in hospitalisations, so we have to ease very gradually.

"Otherwise we will put the health service under pressure again and we'll get a surge in hospitalisations, and indeed deaths."

He said the South African variant is being "held in place now, as everything else is being held in place by the lockdown".

He added: "The risk comes really when we release the lockdown."

09:34 AM

Starmer says he doesn't want Hancock to resign

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer did not call for Matt Hancock's resignation following a court ruling that he acted unlawfully over coronavirus contracts.

The High Court ruled the Government unlawfully failed to publish details of billions of pounds' worth of public contracts.

Sir Keir told Sky News' Sophy Ridge on Sunday: "I don't want to call for him to resign. I do think he is wrong about the contracts - there have been problems with the contracts, on transparency, on who the contracts have gone to.

"There's been a lot of wasted money and I think that is a real cause for concern.

"But, at the moment, at this stage of the pandemic, I want all Government ministers working really hard to get us through."

09:31 AM

Cases are 'falling due to lockdown not vaccine programme'

A scientific adviser to the government says coronavirus cases are falling "impressively fast" but that is "primarily the lockdown and not the vaccine programme".

Professor Adam Finn, a member of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), told BBC Breakfast: "The vaccine programme is beginning to have an impact now, I think, on the rates of hospitalisation, according to the studies we're doing here in Bristol, but it's only just starting.

"The reason we're seeing this impact at the moment is not the vaccine programme.

"But, conversely, getting the vaccine programme done and rolling it out across the population will be really important, as we go forward, in continuing to bring the virus circulation down and reducing the chance of emergence of new variants that might escape that immunity.

"I think the objective of getting this done quickly is a really good one."

09:19 AM

Government not 'serious' about inequality, says Starmer

The labour leader also accused the government of not being "serious about dealing with inequality" as a result of the pandemic.

Asked about the furlough scheme, he said: "I'm not suggesting we ignore that, of course they've taken measures... we think they should have gone further in various places."

But he adds: "The idea that this is some conversion... to social democracy I think is completely wrong."

09:16 AM

National debate needed on vaccine passports, says Starmer

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer says there needs to be a national debate on calls for vaccine passports.

"Let's not pretend there's an easy yes or no answer on this one," he told Sky's Sophy Ridge.

On new vaccine target, he said: "I absolutely welcome the news and I think the whole country will welcome the news.

"The vaccine is the light at the end of the tunnel and all credit to those on the frontline who have been rolling this out.

"The NHS have done a fantastic job. I’ve been to a number of vaccine centres and it’s very, very uplifting and I think everybody wants to support this so this is very welcome.”

09:15 AM

'Get kids back to school' on 8 March, says Starmer

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer says he wants to get children back into school "ideally" on the 8 March.

"We're going to have to carefully, of course we are," he told Sky's Sophy Ridge.

"I've always been concerned about the impact on children being out of school."

09:02 AM

Hancock says he won't resign over contracts ruling

The health secretary also says he will not resign over a court ruling which found he broke the law by not publishing the details of PPE contracts within 30 days of them being awarded.

"It's important to be clear on what this court case did and didn't find," he tells Sky's Sophy Ridge on Sunday.

"It did not find there was a problem with any of the contracts," he says.

But it did find that "on average we published them in the heat of the crisis in 47 days after they were signed".

He says he has always been committed to publishing the details of contracts awarded by the government and will continue to do so.

09:02 AM

Hancock calls for a cautious easing of lockdown

Matt Hancock has insisted it is right to take a "cautious" approach to easing lockdown restrictions despite the vaccine programme going "very well".

The Health Secretary said: "I know that everybody at Sky News is keen to be able to get back to having parties and all of us understandably want to get back to normal.

"But it is right to be cautious - it is incredibly important. There are still almost 20,000 people in hospital with Covid right now...

"The vaccination programme, whilst clearly going very well, will take time to be able to reach all people who have significant vulnerability, especially because we need to get the second jab to everybody.

"So, we've got time that needs to be taken to get this right. The Prime Minister will set out the road map tomorrow and he will set out the full details - taking into account that we need to take a cautious but irreversible approach, that's the goal."

08:54 AM

Trial under way on whether to vaccinate children

Matt Hancock said there was evidence the vaccines could reduce transmission by two-thirds, which could be a factor in deciding whether to vaccinate children against Covid-19.

He told Sky's Sophy Ridge on Sunday: "There's clinical trials under way as to whether children should be vaccinated.

"There are two points here. One is that it absolutely must be safe, specifically for children, so that is being currently investigated.

"The second is - because children very, very rarely get symptoms or serious illness from the disease - the value, the importance, of vaccinating children is to try to stop the spread of the disease."

He said the impact of the vaccine on stopping transmission is "something that we have early evidence" of.

"It looks like the first jab reduces your impact of transmitting the disease by about two-thirds, but we need more evidence on that as well. "

08:49 AM

Health secretary rejects calls for teachers to be bumped up vaccine queue

Health Secretary Matt Hancock again rejected calls for teachers to be given priority in the vaccine queue before schools return.

He told Sophy Ridge on Sunday: "We've asked the expert group, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, what order we should vaccinate in, broadly in order to reduce the number of deaths as fast as possible.

"I think everybody can understand why we asked that as the question.

"They set out the priority groups one to nine, which includes those who are clinically most vulnerable and their carers, and includes the over-50s, going down the age range.

"They are currently considering, after that, what might be the best order in terms of clinical priority.

"There isn't strong evidence that teachers are more likely to catch Covid than any other group, but I'll leave it for the JCVI to set out what they think is the best order in which to do this that minimises the number of deaths."

08:47 AM

'Enough supplies to offer all adults jab by end of July'

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the Government believed it had the vaccine supplies to meet the new target of offering all adults a jab by the end of July.

"We now think that we have the supplies to be able to do that, we can see the NHS and all of those partners and all of those working on this have been able to deliver jabs at about half-a-million a day, which is an incredible effort," he told Sky News' Sophy Ridge on Sunday.

"So, collectively, the whole team now needs to focus on this renewed target of all vulnerable groups, all those over 50 by April 15 and then we will keep rolling out and make sure that all adults get access to the jab."

08:42 AM

Roadmap not yet signed off

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has told Sky news that the "roadmap" out of lockdown is still being worked on and has yet to be signed off.

07:58 AM

Mayor of Nice calls for weekend lockdown

The mayor of the French Mediterranean city of Nice called on Sunday for a weekend lockdown in the area to stop the flow of visitors and curb a sharp spike in coronavirus infections.

07:43 AM

South Korea to begin using Pfizer vaccine

South Korea will begin administering the first of 117,000 doses of Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine on Feb. 27, a day after the country begins its first vaccinations with AstraZeneca's products, the prime minister announced on Sunday.

Plans call for about 10 million high-risk people, including health care workers and staffers and some residents of assisted care facilities and nursing homes, to be inoculated by July.

The first AstraZeneca vaccines are scheduled to be administered on Friday, with Pfizer's shots being deployed the next day, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said in remarks reported by Yonhap news agency.

Aside from AstraZeneca and Pfizer, South Korea has also reached agreements with Moderna, Novavax Inc, Johnson & Johnson, and global vaccine-sharing scheme COVAX, for the supply of their vaccines.

07:20 AM

Serum Institute of India asks for patience on vaccine supply

Serum Institute of India (SII), the world's biggest vaccine maker by volume, on Sunday asked for patience from foreign governments awaiting their supply of Covid-19 shots, saying it had been directed to prioritise India's requirements.

Based in the western Indian city of Pune, the company is manufacturing the Oxford University/AstraZeneca vaccine, one of the two shots that India is using to initially vaccinate some 300 million people as part of a national inoculation drive.

Read more: Britain on track to offer vaccine to all over-50s by April 15

06:43 AM

Taiwan confirms three cases of Brazil variant

Taiwan's government said on Sunday that it had confirmed three cases of the Covid-19 variant first discovered in Brazil, and that all arrivals from that country would undergo centralised quarantine from this week.

Health Minister Chen Shih-chung said the three people, whose initial infections officials announced last month and are being treated in the hospital, had been confirmed on Saturday to have what is known as the P1 Brazil variant.

Chen added that starting at midnight on Wednesday, anyone arriving in Taiwan from Brazil or who had been in Brazil the previous 14 days must quarantine at a centralised facility for two weeks, as arrivals from Britain and South Africa also must to prevent the spread of separate variants found there.

Read more: Meet the world's top Covid 'variant hunter'

06:29 AM

Lockdown decluttering leads to increase in discovery of WWII explosives

Decluttering of sheds and attics during lockdown has led to a surge in Second World War explosives being discovered, the Ministry of Defence has said.

Army and Naval bomb teams responded to more than 2,700 discoveries during 2020, a 20 per cent increase from the previous year, the MoD said.

Colonel Daniel Reyland, commander of 29 Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Search Group, said people “digging gardens,” “clearing attics and sheds” and “going for walks in places they hadn’t walked before” had caused the rise.

Read the full story

04:13 AM

Locked-down pub becomes Ireland's first wildlife hospital

A pub that closed its doors during lockdown is now serving a menagerie of very different clientele after transforming into Ireland's first wildlife hospital.

The bar of the Tara Na Ri pub in County Meath to the northwest of Dublin is now deserted, the Guinness taps dry and the till empty. But the pub's outbuildings are a hive of activity.

In one, a member of staff bottle-feeds Liam, a two-week-old wild Irish goat who was found on a mountainside.

Three swans nest on straw in former stables, a skittish fox settles in a new enclosure, and a wide-eyed buzzard is being nursed back to health.

02:29 AM

Australian PM gets first dose of vaccine

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison was injected on Sunday with the first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine jointly developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, as the nation started its inoculation programme a day ahead of schedule.

Up to 4 million Australians are expected to receive a Covid-19 vaccine voluntarily by March, with Mr Morrison and Paul Kelly, the country's chief medical officer, among a small group of Australians receiving the first inoculations.

02:22 AM

Today's top stories

• Every person aged over 18 will have been offered a coronavirus vaccination by the end of July, Boris Johnson announced on Saturday night, raising hopes of foreign holidays and the return of outdoor events by August.
• All over 50s will be offered their first dose of the vaccine by April 15, with Britain on course to complete nearly a fifth of the age group within two weeks.
• When Boris Johnson sets out the country’s “road to recovery” on Monday afternoon, his mantra will be one of “caution” rather than a “big bang” return to freedom.
• Experts have warned the world may face a dramatic resurgence of flu next winter, after social distancing measures cut the virus to levels not seen for over a century.
• Glasses wearers are up to three times less likely to catch Covid-19, a study has found.