Latest coronavirus news

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  The Telegraph

  New UK entry testing rules: Everything you need to know

  Anyone travelling into the UK will soon be required to show proof of a negative Covid-19 test, taken up to 72 hours prior to departure.
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  The Telegraph

  Three-quarters back curfews to prevent evening socialising

  More than three-quarters of the public back curfews to stop people socialising in the evening, a YouGov poll has revealed. Almost half the 1,566 adults surveyed – 48 per cent – said they felt "very comfortable" with curfews in the fight against Covid. A further 29 per cent said they felt "fairly comfortable", meaning a total of 77 per cent of those polled supported the measure. The backing for tougher enforcement of the lockdown extended to supermarkets, with 71 per cent backing the idea of having police at stores to ensure people wore masks, the poll, commissioned by crime and justice consultancy Crest Advisory, showed. A similar proportions of more than seven in 10 supported police arresting people who failed to comply with their instructions and asking people to provide a valid reason for being out of their home when challenged. However, nearly two thirds of people believe the police's role in enforcing Covid lockdown rules has been undermined by Boris Johnson's decision to exercise on his bicycle seven miles from Downing Street. Asked about the Prime Minister's journey last weekend, 63 per cent said it made it harder for police to enforce the measures, regardless of whether he had broken the lockdown rules. The survey suggested overall support for the way in which the police are handling the pandemic has fallen since the first lockdown. Twenty-seven per cent said they fully supported the police approach, while 33 per cent said they supported the police but thought that, in some cases, officers were going too far. In April, a Crest-commissioned poll found 42 per cent fully supported the police and 31backed them but thought they were going too far in some cases. The proportion of respondents who thought the police were too heavy-handed as a rule remained largely unchanged at seven per cent, while the proportion of people who think the police have no role to play in the pandemic has risen from two to five per cent. Harvey Redgrave, the chief executive of Crest Advisory, said: "Our polling shows there continues to be broad-based support for how the police are approaching enforcement of the current lockdown. "However, as we predicted last spring, that support has grown more qualified since the first lockdown, reflecting the challenge of enforcing rapidly-changing laws over a prolonged period."
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  Reuters

  Forty seven players quarantined after COVID-19 cases on Australian Open flights

  Forty-seven players have been forced into two weeks of hotel quarantine in Melbourne after three coronavirus infections were reported on two chartered flights carrying them to the year's first grand slam, the tournament organisers said on Saturday. Two dozen players who arrived from Los Angeles entered strict hotel quarantine after an aircrew member and Australian Open participant who is not a player tested positive for the new coronavirus. Later, another non-player passenger on a flight from Abu Dhabi tested positive, prompting the organisers to usher 23 players into hotel quarantine.
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  Evening Standard

  Tottenham legend Ossie Ardiles recovered after ‘long fight’ with Covid-19

  Tottenham legend Ossie Ardiles has revealed he has recovered from Covid-19 after “a long fight with this horrible virus”. Ardiles, who is loved by Spurs fans after helping the club win the FA Cup in 1981, announced he had tested positive for coronavirus earlier this month. The 68-year-old tested positive on January 1 and revealed the news after Tottenham’s Carabao Cup semi-final with Brentford earlier this month, describing Spurs’ win as the “perfect antidote”.
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  The Guardian

  Coronavirus UK: Covid cases and deaths today

  Coronavirus UK: Covid cases and deaths todayAre UK coronavirus cases rising in your local area and nationally? Check week-on-week changes across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and the latest figures from public health authorities
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  Evening Standard

  New Brazil coronavirus variant ‘likely’ already in UK, SAGE scientist warns

  Government accused  of  ‘closing the door after the horse has bolted’ by stopping all quarantine-free travel into the UK on Monday
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  The Telegraph

  Britain could have more Covid-19 variants as population has greater immunity, Sage scientist suggests

  Britain could experience more Covid-19 variants than other countries because a greater proportion of the population has built up immunity, a Sage scientist has suggested. Prof John Edmunds, a member of the government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said the virus tends to mutate in areas where many people have had it. The South African and Brazilian variants emerged among populations who had already developed some resistance to the virus, he said, and it may be evolving in order to "evade the immune response". "In parts of South Africa where the South African variant arose, there was probably quite a high level of immunity in the population at the time," said Prof Edmunds. "That's also true of the Brazilian variant that we're really concerned about. There's good data to suggest that in Manaus there was high levels of immunity at the time it arose." The South African variant was first spotted in Britain in December. There are two Brazilian variants. One – known as P.1 – was detected circulating in Manaus, northern Brazil, by scientists in December. This is the one the government is most concerned about. A second one - known as P.2. - has been spotted 11 times in Britain and carries a mutation which can bypass antibodies.
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  Evening Standard

  India launches ‘world’s largest Covid-19 vaccination campaign’

  India has started inoculating health workers in what is set to be the world’s largest Covid-19 vaccination campaign. For workers who have pulled India’s battered health care system through the pandemic, the shots offered confidence that life can start returning to normal. The first dose was administered to a health worker at All Indian Institute of Medical Sciences in the capital New Delhi, after prime minister Narendra Modi kickstarted the campaign with a nationally televised speech.
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  The Guardian

  Biden team plan shake-up to get coronavirus shots into US arms

  Biden team plan shake-up to get coronavirus shots into US arms. Trump’s Operation Warp Speed led to vaccines in record time but was a communications and logistical ‘failure’, experts say
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  Evening Standard

  Two people test positive for coronavirus on chartered plane to Australian Open

  A number of players are set to have their preparations for the Australian Open hit after two people on a chartered flight to the tournament tested positive for coronavirus. All players arriving in Australia for the competition must undergo a two-week quarantine period, but are usually allowed to leave their hotel rooms to practice outside for several hours per day. Victoria's Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement on Saturday a crew member and an Australian Open participant who is not a player have been taken to a health hotel after returning positive tests.