1.3m in UK have received vaccine as cases soar

People who were advised to shield during the first lockdown last year are being advised to do the same again.

Those who are categorised as clinically extremely vulnerable will receive a letter from the government with new information about the next few weeks.

Jayne Duggan, from Somerset, has asthma and a heart condition. She shielded during the first lockdown and only started going out again in August. In November, she decided to stay at home again.

Jayne wishes masks were mandatory everywhere, including outside.

She told 5 Live's Rachel Burden:“You might be taking precautions but not everybody else is, and you're put at risk.

"You have to be on red alert. It's quite nerve-wracking," she added.

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Police in Nigeria’s Lagos state have raided several nightclubs, arresting 71 people for allegedly violating Covid-19 protocols.

The police say the raids happened in the Lekki and Surulere areas of Lagos city and the suspects will be prosecuted for allegedly violating guidelines put in place in an attempt to reduce the spread of Covid-19.

Lagos state police spokesperson Olumuyiwa Adejobi told the BBC that the club-goers had allegedly violated a ban on large gatherings and the reopening of clubs and had broken a midnight to 04:00 curfew in the state.

The authorities say they will intensify such raids to ensure ‘’total compliance’’ with Covid-19 protocols.

The arrests come as Nigeria continues to record a surge in coronavirus infections amid fears of a second wave of the pandemic.

On Monday, Nigeria’s Centre for Disease Control announced 1,204 new infections - the country’s highest confirmed daily cases so far.

Nigeria has recorded 91,351 cases, with 75,699 recoveries and 1,318 deaths from the virus. Lagos state is the country’s epicentre of the disease.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has called for a "round the clock" vaccination programme to tackle the rise in Covid cases.

As part of a televised speech on BBC One, he called on the government to use the lockdown in England to establish "a massive, immediate, and round the clock vaccination programme" to "deliver millions of doses a week by the end of the month in every village and town, every high street and every GP surgery".

He said there were "serious questions for the government to answer" over the timing of the lockdown in England, but added that his party would support the restrictions - which MPs are due to vote on this Wednesday.

The Labour leader said the UK had reached a "critical moment in our fight against coronavirus, but added: "Whatever our quarrels with the government and with the prime minister, the country now needs us to come together.

"At this darkest of moments, we need a new national effort to re-kindle the spirit of last March - to come together and to do everything possible to stay at home [and] to protect the NHS and save lives."

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Some of the UK's biggest music festivals could be called off by the end of this month, MPs are told.

The House of Commons culture select committee is carrying out an inquiry into the viability of this summer's events, after the coronavirus pandemic wiped out the 2020 festival season.

Tuesday's hearing came a day after Glastonbury festival organiser Emily Eavis assured fans the 2021 event hasn't been cancelled.

The committee has been told the government needs to introduce Covid cancellation insurance for live events and an extension to the current VAT cut on concert tickets.

The UK live music industry was worth £1.3bn in 2019 - but it has been hit hard by the pandemic, with more than 90% of the gigs planned for 2020 cancelled.

Before Tuesday's hearing, music industry trade body UK Music called on MPs to name a "restart date" after which gigs can go ahead.

The lack of coronavirus insurance is the "biggest barrier" to events resuming, it says, pointing out Germany has recently announced a £2.3bn event cancellation fund, in line with several other European countries.

You can read the full story here.

As we heard earlier in today's briefing, Prof Chris Whitty warned of the risks posed by the new coronavirus variant if people do not adhere to newly imposed lockdown rules.

Professor Whitty said the element of risk will reduce as people continue to get vaccinated but only "by degrees" and the restrictions will not disappear in a "single bound".

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We are used to events moving quickly in this pandemic, but how did we get from Boris Johnson urging parents to send their children back to school, to announcing a strict lockdown for England the next day?

This was not the plan. At least not at the start of Monday.

In the space of 36 hours, the government went from urging parents of primary pupils in England to send their children back to school - to shutting classrooms for almost all children for at least seven weeks and telling everyone to stay at home.

So what changed?

Find out from our political correspondent Nick Eardley here.

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There are continuing problems for people travelling from the UK to Sweden - Swedish border police have confirmed to the BBC that 58 people making the journey have been turned away since the New Year, including 28 British citizens.

The release of the figures follows days of travel confusion for Britons who are resident in Sweden. They face extra hurdles returning to their Swedish base, due to a new requirement to provide a negative coronavirus test result from 1 January, alongside post-Brexit paperwork required to prove their right of residence in Sweden.

On Sunday it emerged that some British passengers arriving with negative coronavirus tests had nevertheless been told to return to the UK, while others refused and spent the night on the floor or on plastic chairs at Gothenburg’s Landvetter Airport.

The UK’s Ambassador to Sweden Judith Gough raised concerns that there was a need for “greater clarity and consistency” over which types of Covid-19 tests were valid, and dispatched embassy staff to the airport on Monday. The travellers were allowed to enter Sweden shortly afterwards.

Swedish border police have told the BBC that of the 28 British citizens turned away since 1 January, 13 were registered residents of Sweden who did not have a valid negative coronavirus test and five were not registered as living in Sweden. Police were unable to provide firm information on the reason for the denial of the other ten travellers.

As the UK battles its rise in cases, Germany has announced its lockdown will continue until 31 January.

Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday that new restrictions to reduce contact will be introduced in order to curb rising infections.

Nationwide measures, including closing schools and non-essential businesses were introduced in mid-December and were due to continue until 10 January.

Germany has recorded more than 1.8 million coronavirus cases and 36,000 deaths since the pandemic began, figures from Johns Hopkins University show.

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Ambulance workers in Los Angeles County, California, have been told not to transport hospital patients who have extremely low chances of survival.

The directive comes as officials say the region could soon hit more than 1,000 Covid-related deaths per day, and hospitals are overrun with patients.

Emergency workers have also been told to ration oxygen, which is in short supply due to the pandemic.

Hospital beds in LA are running low and officials fear a post-holiday spike.

New York City issued a similar directive to ambulance workers last April at the height of the city's Covid outbreak, instructing them not to bring in patients who could not be resuscitated at the scene.

The LA County Department of Public Health reported 9,142 new Covid cases on Monday, and an additional 77 deaths. The county, which is the worst hit in the US, has recorded 818,000 coronavirus cases and more than 10,700 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

Read more here.

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Buckingham Palace says there will be no garden parties this year - in either London or Edinburgh.

The social events are normally staged at Buckingham Palace in London and the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh, and the decision comes as England enters its third national lockdown and mainland Scotland sees the introduction of similar restrictions.

A palace spokesman says: "The decision has been taken that garden parties will not take place in 2021."

Garden parties were cancelled during 2020 following the first UK lockdown.

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If you're a reality television fan who follows your favourite stars online, chances are you have seen some of them jetting off to luxury destinations in recent weeks - despite rising infection rates and restrictions across the UK.

With much of England first plunged into tier four and now lockdown, many seem to be wondering how all of these glamorous breaks have been able to go ahead at a time when millions are being told to stay at home.

From a Love Island star facing charges for alleged Covid breaches in Barbados, to the Celtic football team drawing Scottish government criticism for travelling to Dubai for training - tabloids and social media have been full of scrutiny of these trips in recent days.

So, what is going on and what do the rules say?

BBC reporter Kelly-Leigh Cooper takes a closer look here.

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With the announcement of another lockdown and schools moving to remote learning the BBC is launching the biggest education offer in its history.

Starting on Monday, each week day CBBC will have a three-hour block of primary school programming, including BBC Live Lessons and BBC Bitesize Daily, as well as other educational programming such as Our School and Celebrity Supply Teacher.

Meanwhile, BBC Two will cater for secondary students with programming to support the GCSE curriculum, with a least two hours of content each weekday.

The content will also be available on demand on the iPlayer.

BBC director general Tim Davie says: "Education is absolutely vital - the BBC is here to play its part and I’m delighted that we have been able to bring this to audiences so swiftly.

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On the UK's High Street, Topshop's store in Oxford Street is set to close its doors after 27 years.

The High Street chain's owner Arcadia went into administration in November, putting 13,000 jobs at risk.

News of the sale of the three-storey building has prompted an outpouring of emotion on social media, with shoppers recounting how important the flagship store was to them.

The store, which boasted a DJ booth, nail bar and food stalls, was a retail sensation when it opened in 1994.

The sale of 214 Oxford Street, managed by agents Savills and Eastdil, follows the failure of Sir Philip Green's retail empire to secure funding to pay its debts after sales slumped during the pandemic.

You can read the full story and see some of the farewell tributes being paid to the store here.

Here's a reminder of the key points from today's briefing, as daily case figures in the UK rise above 60,000 for the first time since the pandemic began:

• Prime Minister Boris Johnson said more than one million people are currently infected in England, with the numbers of patients in hospitals 40% higher than in the first peak
• He said that over 1.3 million people have been vaccinated in the UK so far, including 1.1 million in England and more than 650,000 people aged 80 and over
• Almost 1,000 vaccination sites will be operational by the end of the week, including 595 GP-led sites
• The prime minister said there would be daily updates on vaccinations from Monday to ensure "maximum transparency"
• Prof Chris Whitty said that the UK case rate increased by 70% in the last two weeks of 2020, with the Office for National Statistics estimating that around one in 50 people are currently testing positive for the virus
• Prof Whitty added that the new variant of the virus is taking off in "all" areas of the UK
• He said more people are in hospital than ever, noting that this increase means "we will inevitably see a rise in deaths" in the coming weeks
• Boris Johnson said, with certain provisions, it could be possible to end lockdown measures in mid-February

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The last question is from Dominic Yeatman from the Metro newspaper, whose reporter asks the PM whether he regrets allowing millions of children to go to school on Monday and delaying the lockdown by 24 hours.

The PM says he wanted to keep children in school but the data he received on Monday about infection levels no longer supported it.

Mr Johnson is also pressed on the cost to families of home learning amid claims some people are being charged up to £100 to access websites via pay-as-you-go mobile phones.

The PM says the government will look at the costs involved and he wants to do everything he can to help parents.

He then sums up the position the country finds itself in, saying the winter has been made much more difficult by the new variant and it is vital that people stick to the rules to help the country cope as the vaccination programme gathers pace.

He closes by repeating the basic message that people must stay at home, protect the NHS and save lives.

Prof Chris Whitty is asked whether the lockdown will be enough to reverse the spread of the virus.

He says if everyone sticks to the rules "really strongly" and the NHS is vaccinating as fast as it can “then our hope is the lockdown will be enough”.

But he says this will require a "collective effort", with everyone "buying into this really seriously".

In the longer term, the chief medical officer says we all hope the vaccination programme will mean we don’t need restrictions in the future.

But he warns the virus "is not going to go away", saying we "shouldn’t kid ourselves that this just disappears with spring" - although the risks will go down.

“Hopefully we’ll have spring, summer, autumn, possibly winter as well, with almost nothing in place, once the full vaccination programme is through. But we just need to be aware of the fact this is not a problem that just disappears.”

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Andy Woodcock from the Independent asks about testing for people arriving into the UK from abroad and why it wasn't done sooner.

The prime minister says the government will be bringing in measures to "ensure that we test people coming into this country and preventing the virus from being readmitted".

Responding to a second question on schools and whether teachers and pupils should be vaccinated, Prof Chris Whitty says there is no evidence of hospitals filling up with children and it appears, that even with the new variant, "children are relatively much less affected than other groups".

He says from a clinical point of view the real priority is to vaccinate the people that we know "are by far the most likely to die and by far most likely to end up in hospital".

He adds there will have to be decisions made once the most vulnerable groups are vaccinated but we are not yet at that stage.

The chief medical officer adds that neither vaccine currently in use in the UK has been licensed for children yet.

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The prime minister is asked by Jason Groves from the Daily Mail what needs to happen to ensure the government meets its commitment to vaccinate around 13 million people in the next six weeks.

Boris Johnson says this will be "a huge effort" and will require groups such as the NHS, the armed forces and every aspect of government to work together "absolutely flat out".

“The rate-limiting factor at the moment is making sure we can get enough vaccine where we want it fast enough," he says.

He adds that the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine needs to be properly batch-tested and approved before it can be given to people, which takes time.

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Sky's Sam Coates asks the PM if he "can look parents in the eye" and tell them their children will be back in classrooms by the summer.

Johnson says he shares the "optimism and fundamental hope" expressed by Chris Whitty earlier.

He says a "huge amount" can be done to immunise the vulnerable and therefore speed-up school openings and other "non-pharmaceutical interventions".

"Things will be very different by spring and that is what I would say to every parent in the land."

On a separate question about the new variant, Chris Whitty says the threat at the moment is "extraordinarily high" if people do not adhere to the lockdown rules.

He says vaccinations will reduce the risk going forward but only "by degrees" and the restrictions will not disappear in a "single bound".

Some curbs may be needed next winter, he adds, citing the number of people who die each year from flu.

It will be up to the government to decide what level of risk is tolerable going forward, he adds, suggesting that will ultimately be a political rather than a societal decision.