As it happened: Hancock 'hopeful' as jab rollout extended to under-30s

Thanks for joining our live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic today, we'll be back tomorrow morning. Here's a round-up of the day's headlines:

• All adults aged 25 to 29 in England who have not yet had a Covid vaccine will be able to book their first dose from Tuesday
• Health Secretary Matt Hancock says vaccines are breaking the link between infections, hospitalisations and deaths - but adds it is too soon to decide if the 21 June lockdown easing willgo ahead
• In Wales, all adults in will have been offered a first Covid jab by the start of next week, the Welsh government says
• The UK has reported one further Covid death over the past 24 hours, as well as a further 5,683 cases
• Britons are scrambling for flights home from Portugal before the need to quarantine for 10 days comes into force early tomorrow
• Airline bosses are urging the US and UK to allow travel to restart ahead of the G7 meeting in Cornwall
• And finally, major Indian states that have been virus hotpots are easing restrictions as Covid case numbers continue to fall.

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Chloe KeljarrettCopyright: Chloe Keljarrett

A grieving daughter has described her father as "incredibly thankful" after hospital staff arranged for him to spend time with his dying wife - despite them both being treated for Covid on different wards.

Gerry and Barbara Jarrett, from Bracknell, were able to see each other three times at Frimley Park Hospital, Surrey, in the five days before Mrs Jarrett's death in January.

"The meetings were an indescribable comfort. We were so lucky," said the couple's daughter, Chloe Keljarrett.

Chloe says on 16 January, her mother told her "today was the day" and "to be prepared".

Chloe recalls: "The nurses instantly sprang into action and organised for dad to come up a final time.

"He was able to stay while she was awake and we were able to chat with mum until she and dad grew tired, at which point they said their goodbyes."

Chloe adds her father's lungs "are almost fully recovered".

"He's looking better now than he did before Covid," she says.

Shadow Education Secretary Kate Green accuses Gavin Williamson and the government of "failing to rise to the challenge" with the education recovery programme.

She says the government has failed staff, parents and pupils.

She says "children and young people have been betrayed" - by Williamson and the prime minister who she says had not stood up to the Chancellor "to prioritise the investment needed for their future".

Green laments the £3bn package - comparing the £50 allocated to every pupil in England to the £1,600 and £2,500 she says has been allocated in the US and Netherlands respectively.

Green says the programme failed to take action in areas where it was most needed - such as addressing mental health issues and boosting recreational activities - and says funding is needed to make up for "stealth" cuts to pupil premium funding.

Holidaymakers have been scrambling to get home before Portugal is added to the UK's travel amber list, which would require them to isolate for 10 days.

Some of them have been speaking to the BBC about their decision to fly home.

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The education secretary goes on to say that, as well as supporting pupils, he wants to support teachers.

He says: "An extra £400m will be made available to help provide half a million teacher training opportunities across the country, alongside professional development for those working in early years settings.

Williamson says he will "make sure all of them can access high quality training" - but does not specify how much the £400m works out at per teacher.

He adds that "by investing in our teachers... we don't just invest in them but in every pupil in every class".

Williamson concludes his statement by saying: "As the prime minister said last week, there is going to be more [funding] coming down the track, but don't forget that this is a huge amount we are spending."

With the health secretary's statement to the Commons now over, we turn to Education Secretary Gavin Williamson.

Williamson tells MPs helping children and their education recover from the pandemic is an "absolute priority".

He says 250,000 children will receive tutoring this year who would not have received it otherwise.

Williamson adds evidence shows disadvantaged children and those areas hard hit by Covid - such as the north of England - are among those most likely to have been affected.

He says the government's total recovery package for education now totals £3bn.

It comes after the education recovery commissioner for England, Sir Kevan Collins, resigned in a row over the lack of "credible" Covid catch-up funding.

NHS England chief executive, Sir Simon Stevens, has hailed tomorrow as "a watershed moment".

Sir Simon describes the vaccination programme as entering "the home straight" after Health Secretary Matt Hancock says first doses of the vaccine would become available to 25-29-year-olds from Tuesday morning.

"The NHS vaccination programme is a real team effort and it is a testament to NHS teams across the country, that we are able to open up to people in their twenties just six months on from delivering that world first jab to Maggie Keenan," says the NHS boss.

“The tireless efforts of NHS staff to protect the people they care for and their communities has quite simply saved lives, and when you get the text, you’re next."

Sir Simon says NHS staff were delivering jabs at more than 1,600 sites including vaccine buses, places of worship and sport stadiums.

“Getting the lifesaving Covid-19 jab is the most important thing you can do."

Alba Party MP Neale Hanvey asks how the "adaptability" of coronavirus, in all its variants, can be countered.

Matt Hancock responds that the different UK administrations have put in a big "team effort" and that "a lot" of people are doing "excellent" work together.

He adds he is "grateful" to all those involved.

That ends the health secretary's Commons appearance, during which he answered 31 questions.

Labour's Barbara Keeley calls the scheme to gather more information on Covid a "data grab" and says the government should "publicise" how people can "opt out" of giving information.

Matt Hancock replies that this is all about "how we can save lives", which is the "NHS's historic mission".

Conservative Esther McVey asks how many more hospital beds are available in the NHS than in March last year.

Matt Hancock does not give a figure, but replies that most of the growth was in the Nightingale hospitals, set up to deal with the demands of the pandemic.

He adds that, "all the way through", no one was denied treatment.

Labour's Derek Twigg says the government must be "clear" in future on what's happening regarding overseas travel, as hundreds of thousands of jobs depend on it.

Matt Hancock says he's taking a "cautious" approach, adding that this is sensible.

Conservative Mark Harper says that, if social distancing is not ended on 21 June in England, easing of restrictions will not have "gone anywhere close" to normal. He asks how effective vaccine jabs are at lowering the risk of serious illness and death.

The health secretary says he doesn't have the "precise figures in my head" and promises to give more detail at Health Questions in the Commons on Tuesday.

If you're just joining us now, the health secretary has been speaking to MPs about the latest in the UK's fight against coronavirus.

Matt Hancock announced that, from tomorrow, people in England aged 25-29 will be able to book a vaccination appointment. You can watch a clip from his statement below.

Green Party MP Caroline Lucas asks why the health secretary is not "ruling out" lifting restrictions in England on 21 June. She also urges him to reverse the decision to end mask-wearing in schools.

Matt Hancock says he doesn't understand Lucas's argument, adding he will be influenced by the data the government will receive over the next week before making a decision.

Conservative MP Huw Merriman asks what happened to the government's promised green watch list - in light of the swift removal of Portugal from the green list to the amber list last week.

He asks the health secretary if he can "give a milestone on when we can unlock international travel - and how can we give this industry and workforce hope for the future?"

Hancock says the government acted on the available bio-security advice, prompted by the presence of the variant Delta AW in Portugal.

He agrees opening up international travel is "challenging", particularly because of the risk posed by new variants.

"Domestic freedom has to be protected at all costs," says Hancock.

He stresses the need to protect the UK's borders: "A variant that undermines the vaccine would put us in a much more difficult place as a country".

Liberal Democrat Munira Wilson says the Covid data-collection programme - criticised by privacy campaigners - should be paused.

Matt Hancock says he agrees that trust is important among NHS patients, but says data compilation is key to beating Covid.