Boris Johnson has said he is "optimistic" that he will be able to unveil a roadmap to exit lockdown on February 22, with schools still on track to reopen first.
Speaking during a visit to the Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies plant in Teesside - where the new Novavax vaccine will be manufactured the Prime Minister said said the Government will adopt a "cautious" approach as they do not want to be "forced into any kind of retreat or reverse ferret".
But he added: "I'm optimistic, I won't hide it from you... I will be trying to set out as much as I possibly can in as much detail as I can, always understanding that we have to be wary of the pattern of disease."
Mr Johnson reiterated that children's education would be prioritised in plans to lift restrictions. He hinted that non-essential retail could be the next to reopen, followed by hospitality.
The Prime Minister also said he agreed with comments made by Matt Hancock, who said during a Telegraph interview that Covid-19 could become a "manageable disease" like seasonal flu.
"The miracles of science are already making a huge difference, not just through vaccinations but therapies as well... which are enabling us to reduce mortality, improve our treatments of the disease," Mr Johnson said.
"I do think that in due time it will become something that we simply live with. Some people will be more vulnerable than others - that's inevitable."
Follow the latest updates below.
05:20 PM
News in brief - global
Following on from our previous post, here's today's key international news:
The United States has "deep concerns" about the way the findings of the World Health Organization's Covid-19 report were communicated, calling on China to make available data from the earliest days of the outbreak.
Sweden overestimated the number of asymptomatic Covid-19 cases, according to the country's top infectious diseases specialist, who said the virus was perhaps falsely compared with flu.
Mario Draghi has been sworn in as Italy's premier after assembling a government of economic experts, technocrats and career politicians from across the spectrum to guide the pandemic-devastated nation toward recovery.
Portugal has extended a suspension of flights to and from Brazil and the UK to March 1, with only humanitarian and repatriation flights allowed.
Deaths from Covid-19 in Africa have risen by 40 per cent in the past month, pushing the official death toll to near 100,000 as the pandemic escalates dramatically on a continent which had largely been spared the catastrophic effects seen elsewhere.
And finally, railway journeys in China during the usually busy Lunar New Year holiday travel rush are down by almost 70 per cent, amid calls for people to stay where they are to avoid a new outbreak of the coronavirus.
05:17 PM
News in brief - UK
Here's a roundup of the UK headlines you should be aware of this evening, scroll down for more details.
Boris Johnson has said he is "optimistic" that he will be able to unveil a roadmap to exit lockdown on February 22, with schools still on track to reopen first.
According to the latest data, 14,556,827 people had received their first dose of a coronavirus vaccine by the end of yesterday, putting the Government on track to meet Monday's target.
But vaccine uptake among care home staff remains "far too low", at 66 per cent nationally, according to the deputy chair of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).
The efficacy of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine in children is set to be tested in a new clinical trial.
Matt Hancock has told the Telegraph he hopes vaccines and treatments will have turned Covid into a disease we can "live with, like we do flu" by the end of the year.
Surge testing will be deployed in parts of Middlesbrough, Walsall and Hampshire after cases of the variant first detected in South Africa was identified.
The target date of March 8 may be too early to reopen schools in England, the chair of the NHS Confederation has warned, amid concerns the NHS workforce is "on its knees".
The number of patients reporting symptoms of Covid-19 weeks after becoming ill could be as high as 20%, an immunologist said, as he warned it could place an additional burden on the NHS.
Covid-19 treatments will soon be fast-tracked through the UK's clinical trial system, meaning they could be available on the NHS in months rather than years.
05:11 PM
South Africa to reopen 20 land borders to normal travel next week
South Africa will reopen 20 of its land borders to allow normal travel after restrictions were implemented to control rising Coid-19 infections last month, the Home Affairs Ministry said on Saturday.
The ministry said land borders, including those with Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Botswana, would reopen after being closed on Jan. 11.
South Africa has recorded the highest number of coronavirus infections and deaths on the African continent, with more than 1.4 million cases and over 47,000 deaths:
Inside a Covid intensive care ward where patients learn to stand and speak again
The road to recovery after ventilation is long and gruelling, writes Eleanor Steafel. Below is an extract of her report on Northwick Park Hospital, which you can read in full here.
A month ago, Mohammad Akram was driving his taxi around the streets of London. Now, after Covid-19 ravaged his previously healthy body, he struggles even to lift a pen.
Sitting up in bed in the intensive care unit (ICU) at Northwick Park Hospital, Mr Akram, a 53-year-old father-of-three, is just beginning the painfully slow process of recovering from coronavirus.
Unable to speak thanks to the tracheostomy feeding oxygen into his lungs through a hole in his neck, he begins to write on a little whiteboard held up by a physio, who asks how he is feeling today. “Ok but tired,” he writes.
Mr Akram was admitted on Jan 19 and spent over two weeks sedated and on a ventilator. Over the past couple of days he has emerged from an induced coma, been weaned off the sedatives and had his ventilator swapped for a tracheostomy.
Mr Akram had a temporary tracheostomy to assist his airway and needs to write messages on a white board to communicate - Heathcliff O'Malley
04:52 PM
Vietnam leads the world - in its pandemic response and support for vaccines
Vietnam, a leader in pandemic performance, has 93.8 million people, only 35 covid deaths (1 in 2.8 million, lowest risk in the world) and <2,500 cases It also has the highest support for vaccineshttps://t.co/93Drmv9ECj@TheLancetpic.twitter.com/Z9MN2sWT3e
Analysis: Russia's Sputnik coronavirus vaccine is a shot in the arm for the Kremlin
It has been a long time since the Kremlin could claim a true soft-power victory: but in the development of its coronavirus vaccine, it appears to have finally found one, writes Nataliya Vasilyeva.
The Sputnik V, which was last week revealed to be 92 per cent effective by the latest trial data, was named after the satellite that Moscow sent into orbit in a world-first in 1957.
The vaccine’s rushed registration last August was met with deep scepticism. But now the cheap, easy-to-transport jab is drawing envious glances from around the world, winning new friends in poorer countries and breaking ice with geopolitical rivals.
Even after Moscow began a rollout to its citizens last year, there was widespread doubt about the value of the Sputnik V. Full trial data had not been released, many Russians noted, while the Kremlin’s announcement that it was slightly more effective than the Moderna and Pfizer jabs was taken in the West as mere propaganda.
That changed with the release of Sputnik V’s late-stage trial data, showing in a publication in the highly respected Lancet that the vaccine did indeed rival the efforts of Western science.
Mario Draghi becomes Italian Prime Minister, charged with country's pandemic recovery
Mario Draghi, the man largely credited with saving the euro currency, took the helm as Italy's premier Saturday after assembling a government of economic experts and other technocrats along with career politicians from across the spectrum to guide the pandemic-devastated nation toward recovery.
Draghi and his 23 Cabinet ministers took their oaths of office at the Quirinal presidential palace. Italian President Sergio Mattarella had tasked the former European Central Bank president with trying to form a government up to managing the the health, economic and social crises of the coronavirus pandemic.
In deference to coronavirus precautions, all participants in the swearing-in ceremony were masked, and a palace aide provided each minister with a fresh pen to sign their oath. Draghi made no public comments during the first hours of his premiership, and his eyes showed no discernible emotion over his N95 mask.
Italy's new Prime Minister Mario Draghi holds the first council of Ministers at Chigi Palace in Rome - ETTORE FERRARI/POOL/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
04:18 PM
Watch: Vaccinating police and teachers to be considered once all over 50s are inoculated
04:04 PM
Latest UK data: 14.55 million people receive their first dose in UK
According to the latest data, 14,556,827 people had received their first dose of a coronavirus vaccine by the end of yesterday, including 534,869 who had been given two shots.
This suggests that Government is on track to meet the ambitious target of protecting 14.6 million people by February 15 - Monday.
Meanwhile the data shows that an additional 13,308 people have tested positive for Covid-19 and 621 people have died within 28 days of a positive test.
These figures compare to 18,262 cases and 828 deaths reported last Saturday.
03:59 PM
Pandemic in pictures
Hong Kong:
Worshippers wearing face masks burn joss sticks as they pray at the Wong Tai Sin Temple, in Hong Kong, to celebrate the Lunar New Year - AP Photo/Kin Cheung
Amazonas state, Brazil:
Maria Castro de Lima, 72, receives a dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine from a healthcare worker, while sitting on the porch of her home in the Recanto community, along the Purus River - AP Photo/Edmar Barros
Kayalar, Turkey:
Members of the Gevas Public Health Center vaccination team walk through the snow to vaccinate a resident with the Chinese Sinovac Coronavac vaccine during a house call in the village of Kayalar - Chris McGrath/Getty Images
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil:
The Rio Carnival Sambadrome, empty and illuminated, in Rio de Janeiro. The Sambadrome, which will remain empty and silent between this Friday and Ash Wednesday due to the cancellation of the most famous Carnival in Brazil due to the pandemic, will have special lighting at night in tribute to the victims of the coronavirus - Antonio Lacerda/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Ubachsberg, The Netherlands:
Family members celebrate their own carnival party at home due to coronavirus control measures - Marcel Van Hoorn/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Newcastle, Britain:
Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson elbow bumps a person as he visits the QuantuMDx Biotechnology company during a visit to the company in Newcastle - Ian Forsyth/Pool via REUTERS
03:50 PM
Children in Yemen on the brink of severe malnutrition, report warns
Yemen's children are being pushed to the brink of starvation thanks to a seven-year cycle of disease and devastation brought on by war and now Covid, aid agencies have warned.
An estimated 2.3 million children under the age of five are expected to go hungry or face acute malnutrition by the end of this year, according to the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification report released today.
Of that number, 400,000 are expected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition and could die if they do not receive urgent treatment, aid agencies including Save the Children, as well as the World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have warned.
“These numbers are horrific. It’s deeply worrying that millions of children are already in a daily battle for survival and that it’s only getting even worse,” Xavier Joubert, Save the Children’s country director for Yemen, said.
“The figures are a clear warning that 2021 is going to be a long and possibly deadly year for children in Yemen unless urgent action is taken."
Watch less, watch better: my half-term survival guide for film-lovers
Last weekend our family reached a lockdown milestone of sorts, writes Robbie Collin.
During a Saturday in which we must have left the living room a grand total of twice, the boys saw for the first time in their lives the automatic-power-down message pop up on the television.
“This screen has been active for the last 12 hours,” it read. “We’re not sure if you’re still alive, but if so, we just wanted to let you know we’re going to turn it off now for your own good, unless you click OK in the next 60 seconds, you revolting couch potato.”
Obviously, we clicked OK. What else was there to do? It was below zero outside. Our kitchen and garden are both out of commission. (Blame an unexpectedly protracted refurb.) The block had already been walked around, the takeaway coffee shop already visited, the grandparents already FaceTimed (both sets).
But as we settled in for another irritable hour of goodness knows what – let’s say Junior Bake Off, because I’m sure it was in there somewhere – my mind flashed nervously forward to the February half-term break. If an ordinary lockdown winter weekend had left us all climbing the walls, what on earth kind of state were we going to be in after seven days?
So, partly inspired by similar campaigns around animal welfare and nutrition, I’m suggesting the following slogan should govern our screen time during the coming week off: watch less, watch better.
US has 'deep concerns' about the way WHO investigation has communicated findings
The United States has "deep concerns" about the way the findings of the World Health Organization's Covid-19 report were communicated, the White House said on today, calling on China to make available data from the earliest days of the outbreak.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said in a statement that it is imperative that the report be independent and free from "alteration by the Chinese government".
It comes after one of the scientists on the WHO-led mission to Wuhan said China refused to give raw data on early Covid-19 cases to the team, potentially complicating efforts to understand how the outbreak began.
The team had requested raw patient data on the 174 cases of Covid-19 that China had identified from the early phase of the outbreak in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019, as well as other cases, but were only provided with a summary, said Dominic Dwyer, an Australian infectious diseases expert who is a member of the team.
Such raw data is known as "line listings", he said, and would typically be anonymised but contain details such as what questions were asked of individual patients, their responses and how their responses were analysed.
"That's standard practice for an outbreak investigation," he told Reuters via video call from Sydney, where he is currently undergoing quarantine.
Yesterday the WHO insisted it has not yet ruled anything out in its quest to uncover the origins of Covid-19, following some criticism that its recent investigation in Wuhan was quick to discount certain theories. Read our full report here.
03:08 PM
Equatorial Guinea cuts off capital due to lack of testing kits
Equatorial Guinea has announced a suspension of air and boat links between its capital Malabo, located on an island, and its mainland due to a lack of Covid testing kits.
Equatorial Guinea, a country with 1.3 million people, has officially recorded 5,663 cases of coronavirus, of which 87 have been fatal.
The economic capital Bata is located on the mainland and the suspended travel links will be a severe blow to the people of the oil-rich country, where the vast majority lives in grinding poverty.
The tiny state, ruled by 78-year-old President Teodoro Obiang Nguema for the past 41 years, scaled back a rigorously enforced range of restrictions in August.
"From Sunday February 14 until a date that will be decided later, all flights and boat crossings are suspended between Malabo and Bata and vice-versa because the Covid-19 testing kits have been depleted," the state television said late Friday.
On Tuesday, the country imposed a curfew and made coronavirus negative tests obligatory for people wishing to travel between the mainland and the island where Malabo is located.
According to official statistics, there are about 50 new coronavirus cases per week on average.
03:00 PM
Watch: Police issue fines after discovering illegal pop-up pub in Leicester
02:49 PM
Global news in brief
Here's a quick look at what's happening elsewhere in the world. Scroll down to 12:07pm for the latest UK update:
The head of the EU's disease control agency has warned that the coronavirus could last indefinitely, even as global infections slowed by nearly half in the last month and vaccine rollouts gathered pace in parts of the world.
Sweden overestimated the number of asymptomatic Covid-19 cases, according to the country's top infectious diseases specialist, who said the virus was perhaps falsely compared with flu.
Portugal has extended a suspension of flights to and from Brazil and the UK to March 1, with only humanitarian and repatriation flights allowed.
A strain of the coronavirus discovered in mink on a farm in northern Poland can be transmitted to humans and vice versa, the country's agriculture ministry has said.
Australia's second-largest city of Melbourne went from welcoming thousands of fans for its Grand Slam tennis tournament to deserted city streets overnight, as millions began a five-day coronavirus lockdown.
Peru as registered a record number of hospitalised cases. 213 new admissions were registered in the last 24 hours, taking the total in hospital with Covid-19 to 14,333. The number of infections and deaths has quadrupled from the level at the end of December.
And finally, China refused to give raw data on early Covid-19 cases to a World Health Organization-led team probing the origins of the pandemic, one of the team's investigators said, potentially complicating efforts to understand how the outbreak began.
02:38 PM
Sweden overestimated asymptomatic Covid-19 cases, says architect of country's response
Sweden overestimated the number of asymptomatic Covid-19 cases, according to the country's top infectious diseases specialist.
Dr Anders Tegnell, Sweden's state epidemiologist who devised the no-lockdown approach, said the level of immunity populations had against the virus was "an enigma and mystery" in the early stages of the pandemic.
Covid-19 was perhaps falsely compared with flu, when a large proportion of people catch it and show no symptoms, recover, then develop antibodies, said. Dr Tegnell.
This resulted in Sweden believing more people had developed immunity than was accurate, he explained.
"We thought that it would be similar with Covid-19 - that we would have quite a large part of people that actually develop antibodies with very low levels of symptoms and didn't show up in health care," Dr Tegnell told the Oxford Union this week.
Rail travel down by 70 per cent during China's Lunar New Year celebrations
Railway journeys in China during the usually busy Lunar New Year holiday travel rush are down by almost 70 per cent amid calls for people to stay where they are to avoid a new outbreak of the coronavirus.
The China State Railway Group reported 52.33 million passenger trips from January 28 to February 11. The travel rush is considered the world's largest annual human migration, when urban residents, migrant workers and students return to their hometowns for family gatherings.
Air and bus travel are also down considerably, but one figure is up: China's box office receipts smashed the previous one-day record on the first day of the new lunar Year of the Ox, bringing in more than $269 million.
Street decorations are pictured in Guomao Business District as China celebrates Chinese New Year 4719, the Year of the Ox. - Artyom Ivanov/TASS
02:24 PM
Surge testing deployed in parts of Middlesbrough, Walsall and Hampshire
Surge testing will be deployed in parts of Middlesbrough, Walsall and Hampshire after cases of the variant first detected in South Africa was identified.
The Government has announced that additional testing will be made available to help monitor and suppress the highly infectious variant, known as 501Y.V2 or B1351, after cases unrelated to international travel came to light.
"People living within these targeted areas are strongly encouraged to take a Covid-19 test this week, whether or not they show symptoms", a spokesperson from the Department of Health said.
"People with symptoms should book a test in the usual way, and those without symptoms should visit their local authority website for more information."
02:14 PM
We will have to 'simply live with' Covid-19, says Boris Johnson
Boris Johnson has said coronavirus is a disease which people will have to "simply live with".
Speaking during a visit to a vaccine manufacturing facility in Teesside, Mr Johnson said Health Secretary Matt Hancock was right when he told The Telegraph that Covid-19 could become a "manageable disease" like seasonal flu (read the interview here).
"A nasty disease like this will roll through. A new disease like this will take time for humanity to adapt to, but we are," the Prime Minister said.
"The miracles of science are already making a huge difference, not just through vaccinations but therapies as well. New therapies are being discovered the whole time which are enabling us to reduce mortality, improve our treatments of the disease.
"I do think that in due time it will become something that we simply live with. Some people will be more vulnerable than others - that's inevitable.
"I think the Health Secretary spoke about the autumn. Let's see where we get to."
02:05 PM
Boris Johnson warns overall cases remain 'very high' across UK
The Prime Minister added that while coronavirus infection rates are falling, overall numbers remain very high - and a resurgence remains a risk.
"We have made huge progress with the rollout of the vaccines. That is great," he said during a visit to a vaccine manufacturing facility in Teesside.
"But we have still got infections running very high throughout the country - levels which last year we would have thought were really very high indeed (and) still sadly a great many deaths in our hospitals.
"Although the number is beginning to come down, and perhaps starting to come down quite fast, we need to look at the data very, very hard."
He added that the efficacy of vaccines will impact the trajectory of the outbreak. As the chart below shows, a jab that prevents transmission would have a far greater effect on the pandemic than one that protects only against severe disease and hospitalisations. Read more here.
"Something also that will be very important is the efficacy of the vaccines - are they working in the way that we hope that they are? - and making sure they are really helping, along with the lockdown, to drive down the incidence. That is the key thing."
01:51 PM
Boris Johnson 'optimistic' that roadmap to exit lockdown will be revealed on Feb 22
Boris Johnson has said he is "optimistic" he will be able to begin announcing the easing of restrictions when he sets out his "roadmap" out of lockdown in England on February 22.
Speaking during a visit to the Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies plant in Billingham, Teesside, where the new Novavax vaccine will be manufactured, the Prime Minister said: "I'm optimistic, I won't hide it from you. I'm optimistic, but we have to be cautious."
He said his first priority remained opening schools in England on March 8 to be followed by other sectors.
"Our children's education is our number one priority, but then working forward, getting non-essential retail open as well and then, in due course as and when we can prudently, cautiously, of course we want to be opening hospitality as well," he said.
"I will be trying to set out as much as I possibly can in as much detail as I can, always understanding that we have to be wary of the pattern of disease. We don't want to be forced into any kind of retreat or reverse ferret."
Boris Johnson visits manufacturing facilities in the North East - Scott Heppell/ePA Wir
01:45 PM
England: 436 additional fatalities reported
A further 436 people who tested positive for coronavirus have died in hospital in England, bringing the total number of confirmed deaths reported in hospitals to 78,588, NHS England said on Saturday.
Patients were aged between 21 and 100. All except ten, aged between 49 and 89, had known underlying health conditions. The deaths were between January 4 and February 12.
There were 58 other deaths reported with no positive Covid-19 test result.
01:36 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 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 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.
March 8 too soon to reopen schools as NHS staff 'on their knees', health chief warns
The target date of March 8 may be too early to reopen schools in England, the chair of the NHS Confederation has warned, amid concerns the NHS workforce is "on its knees".
Lord Adebowale said on Saturday that ministers need to be "very cautious" about easing any coronavirus restrictions, as debates about easing lockdown gather pace.
"What we cannot afford is another peak," he told BBC Radio 4. "I understand the pressure to open schools. We need to do so very safely. I think mid or late-March is when we should be re-assessing.
"We have had a number of false dawns when we have set dates, taken the action, then find ourselves having to row back very quickly," he added.
It comes as Professor Steven Riley, a member of the Spi-M modelling group, suggested Britain could face another wave as big as the current one if lockdown restrictions were all lifted.
Conservative former cabinet minister David Davis urged the Government to adopt a "stepwise change" and gradually ease restrictions, with reopening schools a priority.
"I think we are going to have to relax the schools, that is the first thing to do. It is probably the lowest risk," he told the BBC. "We are unlikely to get full freedom until April/May or maybe even a touch later than that, but we have to start soon."
01:06 PM
Portugal extends ban on flights to UK and Brazil until March
Portugal has extended a suspension of flights to and from Brazil and the UK to March 1, with only humanitarian and repatriation flights allowed, the interior ministry said in a statement.
Portugal had suspended flights to and from Brazil for a two-week period at the end of January, and had halted them for the UK from the January 21 to try to prevent the spread of Covid-19 variants.
Passengers allowed to return to Portugal must present a negative Covid-19 test taken a maximum of 72 hours before departure, and quarantine for 14 days upon return, the statement said, measures that have already been in place.
The variant first detected in Britain was first seen in Portugal at the end of last year, deemed to be partly responsible for a devastating surge in cases at the start of 2021, putting hospitals under crippling strain.
The variant first detected in Brazil appeared in Portugal for the first time on Wednesday.
Portugal, a country of 10 million people, has so far reported 15,034 Covid-19 deaths and 781,223 cases:
01:01 PM
Covid strain found in Polish mink can pass to humans
A strain of the coronavirus discovered in mink on a farm in northern Poland can be transmitted to humans and vice versa, the country's agriculture ministry has said.
Covid-19 was found in mink in Kartuzy county late last month, in what agriculture officials said was the first such case in Poland, raising fears of costly culls in an industry that counts over 350 farms in the country.
"Data obtained from the chief sanitary inspectorate and last year's experiences in Denmark and the Netherlands clearly indicate that also in Poland, this virus can spread from mink to humans and vice versa," the ministry said in a statement.
Denmark's entire herd of some 17 million mink, one of the world's biggest, was ordered to be culled in early November after hundreds of farms suffered outbreaks of coronavirus and authorities found mutated strains of the virus among people.
In August, the Netherlands decided to order the closure of more than 100 mink farms after several employees contracted Covid-19.
Following the discovery of Covid-19 at the farm in Kartuzy county, Polish authorities said all mink there would be culled.
Polish medical staff work at a mink farm in a village near Kartuzy, northern Poland. - Adam Warzawa/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
12:52 PM
Watch: Why does this lockdown feel so different?
12:40 PM
Czech Republic in talks to secure AstraZenca jab - outside EU deal
The Czech Republic is in talks with AstraZeneca to secure Covid-19 vaccine supplies on top of the three million doses reserved for the country under an EU deal, news website Seznam Zpravy has reported.
Citing a Health Ministry spokeswoman, the report said the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker had offered the country further deliveries of its vaccine, and that the ongoing talks were about details such as the number of doses, price and delivery dates.
The European Commission, the European Union's executive, has signed supply deals with vaccine makers for doses to be distributed on a pro-rata basis to members states, which have committed not to hold parallel talks.
Today's Seznam Zpravy report said the Health Ministry still had to verify to what extent bilateral deals were in line with the EU deal.
12:26 PM
Stamp duty holiday could be extended by six weeks
Rishi Sunak is considering extending the stamp duty holiday by six weeks to prevent tens of thousands of home buyers being caught in a “completion trap”, The Telegraph has learnt.
The Chancellor is looking at a limited extension through to mid-May which would help to alleviate fears that sales risk falling through after the March 31 deadline expires.
He is said to oppose calls for a longer six month extension due to the “gratuitous” impact this would have on tax receipts, with the Exchequer desperate to recuperate revenues depleted by various tax breaks announced during the pandemic.
“It is certainly the case that a lot of people would be caught in the completion trap if the holiday were to end when it is due to,” a source said.
Harry Yorke has more details here. Meanwhile, Mr Sunak has been in his position for a year today:
Growing up I never thought I would be in this job (mainly because I wanted to be a Jedi).
I'm honoured that on this day last year the PM asked me to serve as Chancellor.
It's been incredibly tough but thank you to everyone who has supported me along the way. pic.twitter.com/lCZrq9Sona
Third Ebola case detected in DRC yesterday afternoon
In a stark reminder that the coronavirus pandemic is not the only health threat facing the globe, the World Health Organization has warned a third Ebola case was reported in the Democratic Republic of Congo yesterday afternoon.
Earlier this week the country reported that a woman had died from the deadly hemorrhagic fever in the same region that witnessed the country's worst outbreak in history from 2018-2020. A second fatality was reported yesterday.
"Obviously two cases and now a third may not seem like many many cases in the light of what's happening globally with Covid," said Dr Mike Ryan, head of the WHO emergencies programme, told a press conference.
"But we've been on the alert waiting for any signal of the return of Ebola in eastern Congo and we'll do everything in our power to support the government and the response."
He added that scientists in the DRC are sequencing the genomes of the first cases to understand the origin of the outbreak, and hope to have more information over the coming weekend.
Here's a look at the UK news stories to be aware of this morning:
Matt Hancock has told the Telegraph he hopes vaccines and treatments will have turned Covid into a disease we can "live with, like we do flu" by the end of the year.
The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine will begin being tested on children today, as researchers take the first steps towards adding younger age groups to the national rollout.
The Government is launching a fresh drive to encourage people to accept a coronavirus vaccine ahead of targets set to protect the top four priority groups by Monday.
Meanwhile vaccine uptake among care home staff remains "far too low", at 66 per cent nationally, according to the deputy chair of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).
The target date of March 8 may be too early to reopen schools in England, the chair of the NHS Confederation has warned, amid concerns the NHS workforce is "on its knees".
Treatments for Covid-19 will soon be fast-tracked through the UK's clinical trial system, meaning they could be available on the NHS in months rather than years.
Plans to save the summer sporting seasonby sending fans Covid tests with tickets and conducting on-site temperature checks are being devised by officials, The Telegraph has learned.
The number of patients reporting symptoms of 'long Covid' weeks after becoming ill could be as high as 20%, an immunologist said, as he warned it could place an additional burden on the NHS.
Finally, Britain could face another coronavirus wave as big as the current one if lockdown restrictions were all lifted, a scientist advising the Government has said.
11:55 AM
Israel sees more hospitalisations in under-60s than elderly for first time
For the first time since the start of the pandemic, Israelis aged over 60 are being hospitalised with Covid-19 in fewer numbers than their younger counterparts, scientists have announced, in the latest signal that the jabs are highly effective.
In a post on Twitter Eran Segal, a scientist at the Weizmann Institute, said: "For the first time in the pandemic, there were fewer Covid-19 hospitalisations this week in the 60 y/o and older age group than in the 60 y/o and younger age group."
He added: "The 60 y/o and older were first to vaccinate and 91% of them have been infected or vaccinated to date."
Israel is running one of the fastest vaccination drives in the world, in which around 40 per cent of the population have already received their first jab. The vast majority of over-60s in Israel have also received vaccines provided by Pfizer and Moderna.
Covid and climate change push Bangladeshi farmers back into poverty
Access to foreign markets pulled farmers hit by climate change out of hardship – but the pandemic has switched progress into reverse, writes Susannah Savage. Below is an extract of her story - which you can read in full here.
Nilufa Begum and her husband. At the start of the Covid-19 outbreak China banned crab imports. As demand crashed, the price of crabs in the domestic market fell by two-thirds - Susannah Savage
Criss-crossed by rivers and surrounded by sea, there are few places on earth more impacted by climate change than Bangladesh.
Farmers in the South Asian country have been dealt a heavy blow in recent years as a result: rising sea levels, saltwater intrusion, flooding, drought and super-charged cyclones have hit agriculture hard.
Access to foreign markets has helped many of them adapt to survive but now Covid-19 is pushing them back into poverty. Nilufa Begum and her husband started farming crabs 10 years ago.
Like most people in the coastal region of Khulna, they used to grow rice but rising sea levels have made the soil increasingly salty and infertile. Farmers have instead turned to alternative sources of income, with shrimp or crab farming becoming increasingly popular.
11:18 AM
Vaccine certificates being developed to unlock international travel
Vaccine certificates for travellers who want to holiday abroad and verify their Covid inoculations are to be developed by the Government after being backed by Cabinet ministers.
Grant Shapps, the Transport Secretary, will lead work on options for the certificates, which would operate in a similar way to yellow fever cards. They are being prepared in anticipation of an agreed international system for countries to accept certificates as a condition of entry for travellers.
Greece, Spain, Poland, Iceland and Portugal are among the nations to have already committed to developing and using such certificates to help unlock international travel.
IATA, an association of airlines, has been in talks with UK officials about its TravelPass vaccine certificate app which is already being trialled by IAG, the company that owns British Airways. Alexandre de Juniac, the IATA CEO, told The Telegraph he was "pretty optimistic" that the system would be live by the end of March and said the Department for Transport was "very interested".
Around half of Mexico's states reduce Covid-19 alert level
Mexico is reducing its Covid-19 alert level in about half of the country's states amid a drop in infections and hospitalisations in many places - including the capital.
Mexico City announced that starting next week gyms, indoor swimming pools and churches will be allowed to open and restaurants will be able to operate outdoors until 10pm. Mexico's capital let shopping malls partially reopen this week.
"The epidemic continues but it is, at least at the moment, heading downward," said the federal government's spokesperson on the pandemic, Hugo Lopez-Gatell. "Vaccination is going forward; let's continue calmly and optimistically but with prudence and discipline."
But the latest coronavirus figures do not show so much reason for euphoria. Mexico has 1.9 million infections with at least 172,557 confirmed deaths, although authorities acknowledge the real number of deaths could be much higher.
The government is trying to speed up the vaccination program with the authorisation of two new vaccines this week and the arrivl of more batches. In total, fewer than 86,000 people have been fully vaccinated in a country with 126 million inhabitants.
10:54 AM
Let children play this summer, psychologists urge government
Youngsters should be able to play with their friends this summer to aid their mental health, child psychologists have said.
PlayFirstUK, a group of experts in child development, have written to Education Secretary Gavin Williamson calling for plans to reopen schools and ease lockdown restrictions to prioritise the social and emotional wellbeing of pupils.
The group, which includes 15 child psychologists and education specialists led by Professor Helen Dodd from the University of Reading, said children in England should be exempt from the rule of two as soon as it is safe to do so.
They warned plans for intensive "catch up" activity and summer schools may worsen young people's mental health and wellbeing, and instead called for children to be encouraged to spend time outdoors, be physically active and play with friends.
In the letter, they said: "This spring and summer should not be filled with extra lessons; children, teachers and parents need time and space to recover from the stress that the past year has placed on them."
The Government is said to be considering a number of options - including summer schools, extended school days and shorter summer holidays - as part of catch-up plans for pupils who have missed out on learning due to Covid-19.
10:45 AM
Africa Covid deaths skyrocket as official toll nears 100,000
Deaths from Covid-19 in Africa have risen by 40 per cent in the past month, pushing the official death toll to near 100,000 as the pandemic escalates dramatically on a continent which had largely been spared the catastrophic effects seen elsewhere.
Thirty-two countries reported a rise in deaths in the last 28 days, said the World Health Organization (WHO) as it published the statistics on Thursday.
"The second wave, which appears to have peaked in January, has been far more lethal than the first. The increasing deaths from Covid-19 we are seeing are tragic, but are also disturbing warning signs that health workers and health systems in Africa are dangerously overstretched," Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO's Africa director, told a press briefing.
Nearly a year to the day after the first case of coronavirus was reported in Africa, new, more contagious variants have fuelled a rapid rise in cases and sparked concern over the slow roll out of vaccines as richer nations stockpile doses.
A worker arranges cones at a mostly-empty vaccination site at Dodger Stadium. A nationwide shortage of jabs is hindering efforts to vaccinate residents of California and other states. LA temporarily shut down five mass vaccination sites after running out of vaccine. - AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez
Tokyo, Japan:
Protesters hold banners as they call for the Tokyo Olympics to be cancelled. Polls have indicated that a large percentage of Japanese oppose holding the postponed Olympics this summer amid the continuing coronavirus pandemic. - Carl Court/Getty Images
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia:
A worker disinfects the Thean Hou Temple during during first day of Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations. A movement control order (MCO) currently enforced across the country to help curb the spread of the coronavirus has been extended to Feb. 18 - effectively covering the Chinese New Year festival that falls on Feb. 12 this year. - AP Photo/Vincent Thian
Melbourne, Australia:
It was announced yesterday that the Australia Open will proceed without crowds over the next five days after the state of Victoria was placed under a snap lockdown to contain a fresh outbreak of the coronavirus - REUTERS/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake
Maryland, United States:
President Joe Biden speaks next to an NIH staff member as NIH Director Francis Collins listens during a visit to the Viral Pathogenesis Laboratory at the National Institutes of Health - REUTERS/Carlos Barria
10:23 AM
China refused to provide WHO team with raw data on early Covid cases, team member says
China refused to give raw data on early Covid-19 cases to a World Health Organization-led team probing the origins of the pandemic, one of the team's investigators said, potentially complicating efforts to understand how the outbreak began.
The team had requested raw patient data on the 174 cases of Covid-19 that China had identified from the early phase of the outbreak in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019, as well as other cases, but were only provided with a summary, said Dominic Dwyer, an Australian infectious diseases expert who is a member of the team.
Such raw data is known as "line listings", he said, and would typically be anonymised but contain details such as what questions were asked of individual patients, their responses and how their responses were analysed.
"That's standard practice for an outbreak investigation," he told Reuters on Saturday via video call from Sydney, where he is currently undergoing quarantine.
This comes after the WHO yesterday insisted it has not yet ruled anything out in its quest to uncover the origins of Covid-19, following some criticism that its recent investigation in Wuhan was quick to discount certain theories. Read our full report here.
10:10 AM
Watch: ‘Looks like we’re on target’ to vaccinate most vulnerable, says Boris Johnson
10:00 AM
Two white tiger cubs reportedly die of Covid-19 in Pakistan
Two 11-week-old white tiger cubs that died in a Pakistani zoo last month appear to have died of Covid-19, officials have said.
The cubs died in the Lahore Zoo on January 30, four days after beginning treatment for what officials thought was feline panleukopenia virus - a disease that zoo officials said is common in Pakistan and targets cats' immune system.
But an autopsy found the cubs' lungs were badly damaged and they were suffering from severe infection, with pathologists concluding they died from Covid-19.
"After their death, the zoo administration conducted tests of all officials, and six were tested positive, including one official who handled the cubs," the zoos deputy director, Kiran Saleem, told Reuters . "It strengthens the findings of the autopsy. The cubs probably caught the virus from the person handling and feeding them."
Pakistan's zoos regularly draw the ire of animal rights activists, who say hundreds of animals have died from poor living conditions there.
"The last two white tiger cubs have died at Lahore zoo and once again the negligence of the management and authorities has come out," said Zufishan Anushay, founder of JFK (Justice for Kiki) Animal Rescue And Shelter.
09:53 AM
‘I was too weak to nourish him’: Lockdown’s toll on pregnant women in India
Experts predict a spike in child and maternal mortality due to closure of nutritional and antenatal programmes, Cheena Kapoor reports. Below is an extract of her dispatch, which you can read in full here.
Nisha Devi, who lost her unborn baby, with her husband Sandeep Kumar - Cheena Kapoor
A loving husband, a steady income, and a healthy child on the way – at the beginning of last year Nisha Devi's future seemed bright. Then, her life started crumbling.
On March 22, with just four hours’ notice, a nationwide lockdown was imposed on India. As businesses and other activities ground to a halt, workers, especially migrant labourers like Devi's husband Sandeep Kumar, lost their livelihoods. Sandeep – along with hundreds of thousands of others – returned to their home villages to sit out the pandemic.
Days turned into months. With the family’s income reduced to almost nothing, there were days when the young couple had barely enough to eat. Then the government delivered the final blow by suspending its nutritional programmes.
Just days before her due date, on a cold, grey day in November, Devi lost her child. Doctors said she haemorrhaged due to anaemia. “There was hardly anything to eat. Doctors said my child died inside of me because I was too weak to nourish him,” she says.
At just 21 Devi seems drawn, exhausted. “I carried the dead child for three days,” she says, staring into the distance.
09:41 AM
Vaccine uptake at 'far too low' among care home staff, at roughly 66%
Vaccine uptake among care home staff remains "far too low", according to the deputy chair of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).
Professor Anthony Harnden told the BBC that nationally, only 66 per cent of care home staff had taken up the offer of the jab.
"If they are to stop potentially transmitting to those vulnerable people who they look after and care for deeply, they need to take the immunisation up. The message needs to come across loud and clear," he said.
But he argued against suggestions the vaccine could be made compulsory among staff if they wanted to carry on working in care homes.
"I would much prefer to be able to persuade by the power of argument than to force people or to make people lose their jobs because they didn't take up the vaccine."
09:32 AM
Ministers take part in drive to encourage jab uptake ahead of Monday deadline
British ministers, health workers and volunteers will be part of a weekend drive to encourage those in the most vulnerable groups to receive a Covid-19 vaccination, as the government nears its first target of delivering shots to top priority groups.
Britain says it is on track to have offered an injection by Monday to everyone who is aged 70 and over, as well as those who are clinically vulnerable, frontline health and social care workers and older adults in care homes.
More than 14 million Britons have received the first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine so far, and uptake stands at around 90 per cent but the authorities hope to reach those who have yet to accept one.
Almost 30 government ministers will tour vaccination centres, from sports stadia to cathedrals, to spread the message of the importance of getting a shot.
"It is so important that everyone aged 70 and over who hasn’t yet had a vaccination comes forward this weekend and contacts the NHS (National Health Service) to book in their jab," said health minister Matt Hancock.
In a video posted to Twitter, the Prime Minister urged the "few people, a million or more, who have not come forward to get your vaccinations in this group" to do so.
09:21 AM
Covid-19 treatments to be fast tracked through UK clinical trials
Treatments for Covid-19 will soon be fast-tracked through the UK's clinical trial system, meaning they could be available on the NHS in months rather than years.
The Government, which currently funds phase 2 and 3 trials such as the Recovery trial, which brought dexamethasone and tocilizumab to the NHS, has awarded multimillion-pound funding to a phase 1 clinical trial platform, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said.
Phase 1 trials, usually arranged by researchers, are the earliest stage of human trials that ensure treatments are safe and show a signal of benefit in treating a disease.
The funding has been awarded to expand the Agile clinical trial platform and will allow for the progress of cutting-edge treatments for Covid-19 through all three clinical trial phases in the UK - a streamlined process that is hoped to protect the supply chain.
The DHSC said this will attract "the brightest of researchers and manufacturers from around the world" to trial their medicines in Britain.
Oxford-AstraZeneca jab to be tested on children in new clinical trials
The efficacy of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine in children is set to be tested in a new clinical trial.
Researchers will use 300 volunteers to assess whether the jab - known as the the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine - will produce a strong immune response in children aged between six and 17.
Andrew Pollard, professor of paediatric infection and immunity, and chief investigator on the Oxford vaccine trial, said: "While most children are relatively unaffected by coronavirus and are unlikely to become unwell with the infection, it is important to establish the safety and immune response to the vaccine in children and young people as some children may benefit from vaccination.
"These new trials will extend our understanding of control of SARS-CoV2 to younger age groups."
The first vaccinations under the trial will take place this month, with up to 240 children receiving the vaccine and the others receiving a control meningitis jab.
Here's a look at the front pages of the UK's newspapers this morning - they're dominated by potential "next steps" in tackling the coronavirus pandemic.
The Telegraph: 'We hope to live with Covid like flu by end of the year'
The front page of the Daily Telegraph:
'Hancock: We hope to live with Covid like flu by the end of the year'#TomorrowsPapersToday
Lift lockdown now and face another devastating wave, says government expert
Britain could face another coronavirus wave as big as the current one if lockdown restrictions were all lifted, a scientist advising the Government has said.
Professor Steven Riley, a member of the Spi-M modelling group, has said the rollout of the vaccination programme did not mean coronavirus controls could be dropped.
"No vaccine is perfect. We are certainly going to be in the situation where we can allow more infection in the community but there is a limit," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
"In the short term if we were to allow a very large wave of infection, that wave will find all the people who couldn't have the vaccine for very good reason (and) those people who had the vaccine but unfortunately it didn't give them the protection they need.
"I think scientists are genuinely worried. We don't want to show that it is an excellent-not-perfect vaccine by having another large wave in the UK.
"If for some reason we were to choose to just pretend it (coronavirus) wasn't here any more then there is the potential to go back to a wave that is a similar size to the one that we are in now."
And as the chart below shows, a jab that prevents transmission would have a far greater effect on the pandemic than one that protects only against severe disease and hospitalisations. Read more here.
08:42 AM
South Africa may ‘swap or sell’ Oxford/AstraZeneca doses
South Africa says it may swap or sell its Oxford University/AstraZeneca vaccine doses amid fears it is less effective against the locally dominant variant.
Separately, 20 of the European Union’s 27 member countries will now not use the jab for older people, citing a lack of data over its effectiveness among those populations.
The signs that the vaccine is losing its gloss among some in the international community came as the World Health Organization backed it for use on Wednesday, for adults aged 18 and over “without an upper age limit”, as well as in countries where variants are circulating.
However, South African health minister Zweli Mkhize said on Wednesday the country would instead start vaccinating health workers with the as yet unapproved Johnson & Johnson vaccine in the form of an "implementation study" some time next week.
Up to 20 per cent of coronavirus infections trigger 'long covid', experts warn
As many as 10 to 20 per cent of coronavirus cases have resulted in people reporting long Covid symptoms, according to Danny Altmann.
The professor of immunology at Imperial College London told Times Radio this morning that he thought the figure reported in October - that 1 in 20 people have long Covid - was "a bit low".
"Many people would have 10-20 per cent as their range if you look at the papers on how many people are still reporting significant symptoms several months afterwards," he said.
Prof Altmann added that long Covid clinics should be opened in the UK.
"The UK has been fairly speedy at recognising it (long Covid), the problem is recognising it and doing something aren't necessarily the same things."
08:09 AM
Concern over schools reopening on March 8
The chair of the NHS Confederation has expressed concern that the Government's target date of March 8 for reopening schools in England is too early.
Lord Adebowale said the NHS workforce was "on its knees" and that ministers needed to be "very cautious" about any easing of coronavirus lockdown restrictions.
"We have to be really careful, really systematic about easing any lockdown. What we cannot afford is another peak," he told the BBC Radio 4 programme.
"I understand the pressure to open schools. We need to do so very safely. I think mid or late-March is when we should be re-assessing.
"We have had a number of false dawns when we have set dates, taken the action, then find ourselves having to row back very quickly."
Crowds are usually welcome and even encouraged in tourist-dependent New Orleans in the days leading up to Mardi Gras but as the final weekend of the 2021 season began Friday, police warned that crowds won't be tolerated amid efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
Police chief Shaun Ferguson held a news conference with state police and the New Orleans sheriff to drive home the point, saying a bar closure order that took effect Friday would be enforced through Fat Tuesday, the end of the annual pre-Lenten festivities.
All parades in the city have been cancelled.
Mardi Gras celebrations last year are now believed to have contributed to an early surge of infections in Louisiana.
People in costume walk past a shuttered bar on Bourbon Street in the French Quarter of New Orleans - AP
06:19 AM
In the war against Covid, an arsenal of drugs is on the way
There is currently no cure for coronavirus, with the world pinning its hopes on mass vaccination to end the pandemic.
Yet scientists are also racing to find treatments that could dramatically alter the course of the disease.
Already, Britain has approved dexamethasone and tocilizumab, which together can lower the risk of death in sickest patients by around 40 per cent, following UK trials.
So is a cure for coronavirus just around the corner? Probably not.
Read the full story to find out what treatments scientists have been working on to help save patients' lives
05:36 AM
Peru's health minister reportedly resigns over vaccine scandal
Peru's health minister resigned on Friday, state TV reported, amid a growing scandal over claims that former President Martin Vizcarra was vaccinated against Covid-19 before the jab was available to the public.
Pilar Mazzetti - who had served as the country's minister of health since July last year - has presented her letter of resignation to President Francisco Sagasti, state television network TV Peru reported. The government is yet to formally confirm she is stepping down.
Her successor is due to be sworn in Saturday, local media said, and will be the South American nation's fifth health minister since the pandemic first emerged in the country 11 months ago.
The number of confirmed cases in Germany increased by 8,354 to 2,328,447, data from the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases showed on Saturday. The reported death toll rose by 551 to 64,742.
Mexico's Health Ministry on Friday reported 10,388 new confirmed cases and 1,323 fatalities, bringing the overall total to 1,978,954 cases and 172,557 deaths.
Leaders of several major US airlines met online on Friday with White House officials to press their case against requiring coronavirus tests for passengers on domestic flights, saying it would undermine the already fragile industry.
China reported eight new cases in the mainland for Feb. 12, compared to 12 cases a day earlier, the health commission said on Saturday.
Brazil's health regulator Anvisa on Friday approved a request by biomedical institute Fiocruz to import more doses of the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford from the Serum Institute of India, without specifying how many.
The head of the World Health Organisation says the drop in confirmed cases around the world is encouraging. However, he cautioned against relaxing restrictions that have helped curb the spread.
A more contagious variant first detected in Britain now accounts for nearly 18 per cent of all cases in Italy.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is pushing back against critics of the country's slow vaccine rollout, saying vast vaccination centers set up last year will be full by April.
A healthcare worker arrives to the Cairu community, in the Labrea municipality, Amazonas state, Brazil to vaccinate residents with the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine - AP
02:45 AM
Melbourne starts lockdown, no spectators at Australian Open
Australia's second most populous state Victoria entered a five-day lockdown on Saturday as authorities raced to prevent a third wave of cases sparked by the highly infections UK variant.
One new locally acquired case was confirmed in the past 24 hours, Victoria health authorities said on Saturday, taking the number of active cases in the state to 20.
"A lot of people will be hurting today. This is not the position Victorians wanted to be in but I can't have a situation where in two weeks' time, we look back and wish we had taken these decisions now," Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews told reporters on Saturday.
Mr Andrews said Prime Minister Scott Morrison had agreed to stop all international flights to Melbourne through Wednesday, after five en-route, with about 100 passengers, land on Saturday.
The cluster that triggered the renewed restrictions stemmed from a quarantine hotel at Melbourne airport.
A closed entrance gate at Melbourne Park - Reuters
02:41 AM
Extra testing in Middlesbrough after SA variant detected
Extra coronavirus testing will be carried out in Middlesbrough following the detection of a case of the South African variant.
An additional test centre has been set up at the Parkway Centre in Coulby Newham and anybody over the age of 16 from Marton and Coulby Newham is being urged to get tested.
An appointment is not needed.
According to Public Health England data analysed by the PA news agency, Middlesbrough currently has the fifth highest infection rate in England.
As of February 8, the rate per 100,000 people stood at 357.5, down slightly from 359.6 the week before.
02:31 AM
Dench backs national day of reflection for bereaved
Dame Judi Dench has said a day of reflection for the millions of people bereaved since the pandemic began is a "necessary step to begin to heal".
The Marie Curie charity is calling for March 23 - the day the UK first entered lockdown - to be a national day of reflection to remember those who have died and to show support for everyone who is grieving.
Dozens of MPs and a host of celebrities have joined care organisations, charities, businesses and community groups in supporting the plan.
Dame Judi, 86, said: "Grief is difficult to manage at any stage of your life but this year has been particularly hard for so many. A dedicated day for everyone to come together, support one another and remember our loved ones who are no longer with us, is a small but necessary step to begin to heal."
Marie Curie estimates that more than three million people have been bereaved since the pandemic began.
Matt Hancock has said he hopes vaccines and treatments will have turned Covid into a disease we can "live with, like we do flu" by the end of the year.
Rishi Sunak is considering extending the stamp duty holiday by six weeks to prevent tens of thousands of home buyers being caught in a “completion trap”, The Telegraph has learnt.
Vaccine certificates for travellers who want to holiday abroad and verify their Covid inoculations are to be developed by the Government after being backed by Cabinet ministers.
Plans to save the summer sporting season by sending fans Covid tests with tickets and conducting on-site temperature checks are being devised by officials, The Telegraph has learned.
Former NBA guard Darius Morris has died at the age of 33. He played for five teams during his four NBA seasons. Morris played college basketball at Michigan.
Affluent Americans may want to double-check how much of their bank deposits are protected by government-backed insurance. The rules governing trust accounts just changed.
Miami Heat president Pat Riley rebuked comments Jimmy Butler made about the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks, while also implying that his star needs to play more.
Jake Mintz & Jordan Shusterman discuss the Padres-Marlins trade that sent Luis Arraez to San Diego, as well as recap all the action from this weekend in baseball and send birthday wishes to hall-of-famer Willie Mays.
An annual government report offered a glimmer of good news for Social Security and a jolt of good news for Medicare even as both programs continue to be on pace to run dry next decade.
