The PM backed the continued use of lateral flow tests as "one of our most important lines of defence" against Covid. It comes as Michael Gove also denied reports the government plans to scrap free test kits
The UK has recorded another 142,224 coronavirus cases and 77 deaths within 28 days of a positive test. More than 35.6m boosters have now been given and the PM says 90% of over-50s have had one
Students of Kakungulu Memorial Secondary school in the Ugandan capital Kampala attend a classImage caption: Students of Kakungulu Memorial Secondary school in the Ugandan capital Kampala attend a class
Ofcom will not investigate TV show over inaccurate Covid claim
The media watchdog received 3,833 complaints after he incorrectly said 90% of the Covid patients in hospital were unvaccinated - a figure that was more applicable to those in intensive care.
The claim was made on 6 December. A clarification was aired two days later.
Ofcom says it has "told ITV that greater care should be taken by trusted medical experts when presenting facts and figures on public health issues".
PA MediaCopyright: PA Media
Rotherham council leader urges return to remote meetings
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images
The leader of Rotherham council has called for a return to remote meetings amid spiralling numbers of Covid-19 cases.
Labour's Chris Read says it is "perverse" that meetings are taking place in person despite government guidance urging people to work from home due to the rapid spread of the Omicron Covid variant.
Legislation allowing council meetings to be held virtually from April 2020 expired in May 2021.
Speaking ahead of the next full council meeting on Wednesday, which will see 59 councillors plus staff, public and press meet at the town's Magna centre, Read says there's a "cost and complication" to in-person meetings.
"It seems wrong to me that the government are telling people to work from home where you can, but specifically saying you councillors can put your health at risk by going and all sitting together in one big room," he tells the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
In the seven days to 3 January, Rotherham recorded 2,479 new infections per 100,000 people, above the England average of 1,758 cases.
A spokesperson for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities says councils should follow government guidance and that it will be "responding shortly" to evidence submitted regarding "a longer-term decision about whether to make express provision for councils to meet remotely on a permanent basis".
Did Novak Djokovic break rules after testing positive for Covid?
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images
Novak Djokovic was tested in Serbia on 16 December - regulations in the country require people to isolate for 14 days following a positive Covid resultImage caption: Novak Djokovic was tested in Serbia on 16 December - regulations in the country require people to isolate for 14 days following a positive Covid result
More now on Novak Djokovic who’s won a court battle in Australia overturning his visa cancellation.
We know he sought a medical exemption from the country's strict Covid regulations on the basis that he'd contracted the infection in December.
There have been questions over whether the tennis star broke Covid rules in his home country Serbia, apparently attending several public engagements in the days after his positive test.
Our colleagues at Reality Check have compiled a timeline of events from what we know so far - you can read it here.
Staff absences impacting teaching in schools - poll
ReutersCopyright: Reuters
Almost half (46%) of teachers have been asked to cover lessons for absent colleagues, according to a poll by a teaching union.
The survey of nearly 7,000 NASUWT members in England suggests 23% say staff absences due to Covid-19 are having a major impact on their school, while 61% say they are having some impact.
Dr Patrick Roach, general secretary of the NASUWT, describes the poll as "concerning".
"Our members are telling us that staff absences due to Covid-19 are having serious impacts on teaching and learning," he says.
"Higher rates of staff absence are making a very challenging situation much worse for schools struggling to maintain appropriate staffing levels without disrupting pupils' education.
"Whilst the start of term saw around one in 10 teachers absent due to coronavirus, these numbers are likely to increase in the absence of effective measures to ensure Covid-safety in classrooms."
Dr Roach adds: "Urgent additional investment is needed in providing air filtration units to every classroom where they are needed.
"Ensuring good ventilation is vital to minimising further disruption to pupils' education."
Council staff asked to help in care homes amid shortages
A UK council is appealing for volunteers among its 30,000-strong workforce to help out in its 23 care homes amid staff shortages due to Covid.
Derbyshire County Council is looking for employees, who've had two Covid vaccines and their booster jab, to take on duties such as catering and laundry.
Helen Jones, the council's executive director of adult social care and health, says “it is a real opportunity to make a huge difference and to help some of Derbyshire's most vulnerable people at this extraordinary time".
PA MediaCopyright: PA Media
Staff from all areas of the council have been asked to take on shiftsImage caption: Staff from all areas of the council have been asked to take on shifts
More than 35.6m boosters given across the UK, data shows
Latest vaccination data shows about 195,000 jabs were given yesterday, Sunday 9 January - including 22,205 first doses, 31,360 second doses and 141, 495 boosters - according to the latest government data.
A total of 35,664,164 boosters or third doses have now been given across the UK - with PM Boris Johnson saying on Monday about 90% of the over-50s have now been boosted.
BreakingMore than 142,000 new cases in the UK
The latest goverment data has revealed a further 142,224 positive Covid cases have been registered in the UK in the past 24 hours.
In addition there were 77 deaths of people who tested positive for Covid in the previous 28 days.
Cabinet briefed on 'more positive' Covid data
Ione Wells
Westminster Correspondent, BBC News
Cabinet ministers received a Covid data
update earlier from England's Chief Medical Officer Sir Chris Whitty, with
sources describing the briefing as "more positive" than in recent
weeks.
The BBC has been told the latest data showed key graphs depicting cases across English regions, admissions to Intensive Care Units and
hospitalisations appeared to be “flattening”.
It's understood ministers were told by
scientists that next week they should be in a position to know whether Plan B
restrictions will be needed in England beyond 26
January, when they are expected to come to an end.
Data showing the percentage of the
population testing positive in each of the four nations stood at:
6.4% in England
5.5% in Wales
4.4% in Northern Ireland
5.26% in
Scotland
Sources present at the meeting described the
different percentages as "marginal" when factors such as population density,
geography and demographics were accounted for.
Daily Covid data delayed
We normally bring you an update on the daily Covid data at this time of day, but we've been told the update is going to be delayed today
We'll bring you all the latest government stats as soon as they're published.
Chinese man charged £1,000 for rental car thanks to lockdown
Kerry Allen
BBC Monitoring, Chinese Media Analyst
Houlang VideoCopyright: Houlang Video
The man can see the car from his new home but cannot use or return itImage caption: The man can see the car from his new home but cannot use or return it
A man has racked up more than £1,000 in arrears
on a rental car in China, after a swift lockdown meant he was unable to return
it.
Mr Liu lives in the northern city of Xi’an, and
rented a car on 17 December to move house.
However, while moving his luggage, his community
went into swift lockdown, meaning he was not allowed out of his building
to return the car.
Mr Liu told Houlang Video he wasn’t told of
the developments mid-move, and epidemic-related personnel wouldn’t even
let him go to his car. A lot of his luggage was still in it, and so he had to
ask a neighbour if he could borrow a duvet.
Houlang VideoCopyright: Houlang Video
Mr Liu is still in lockdown, and is being charged by the minute for his vehicle. He has so far spent 10,279 yuan ($1,612; £1,188) on his car. His woes have generated significant attention on social media, and many Chinese are commenting online that they hope he can get the charge quashed.
The port has applied to be included in the scheme saying staff are key workers who maintain "the operations and the critical flow of goods into the nation".
The Cabinet Office says the UK Health Security Agency will run the testing programme with employers and further details would be set out in the coming days.
WATCH: Djokovic family end press conference after Covid event question
Earlier, the family of men's tennis champion Novak Djokovic held a press conference after he won a court battle to overturn the cancellation of his Australian visa on Covid vaccination grounds.
Video caption: Novak Djokovic family end press conference after Covid event questionNovak Djokovic family end press conference after Covid event question
More than 300m confirmed Covid cases globally
As Covid-19 continues to spread around the world, there have been more than 300 million confirmed cases and more than five million deaths reported across almost 200 countries.
The US, India and Brazil have seen the highest number of confirmed cases, followed by the UK, France and Russia.
BBCCopyright: BBC
Meanwhile, nearly every nation in the world is now administering Covid vaccines and publishing rollout data, while at least 89 countries and territories have moved on to booster jabs.
Some countries have secured more vaccine doses than their populations need, while other lower-income countries are relying on a global plan known as Covax, which is seeking to ensure everyone in the world has access to a vaccine.
Of those countries that have moved on to booster campaigns, Chile, Denmark, the UK and Bahrain have currently vaccinated the highest proportion of people.
Downing Street has denied the Prime Minister's principal private secretary - Martin Reynolds - is to be moved to another position, following claims he invited staff to drinks in the garden of No 10 in May 2020 - in apparent breach of Covid rules.
"The Prime Minister has full confidence in his team. There is no change in that post," the PM's official spokesman says.
He refused to respond to reports Boris Johnson had attended the same event.
"There is an independent process going on to look into this, led by Sue Gray, and I can't comment further while that is taking place," the spokesman says.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer says Johnson would have "serious questions to answer" if found to have attended a lockdown-breaking party but adds: "We need to let the inquiry take its course, see what the findings are."
Beijing ‘on high alert’ ahead of Winter Olympics
Kerry Allen
BBC Monitoring, China Media Analyst
ReutersCopyright: Reuters
The National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, will hold the opening and closing ceremonies of Beijing 2022 Winter OlympicsImage caption: The National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, will hold the opening and closing ceremonies of Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics
Over the weekend, there was an outbreak of the Omicron variant in the eastern Chinese city of Tianjin.
It is now 25 days until the Beijing Winter Olympics, and there are fears that cases could spill over from Tianjin, given that “many people commute from there to work in Beijing”.
Train tickets from Tianjin to Beijing have today been suspended, and people are being urged not to travel between the two cities.
In recent months, the media have sought to reassure people that the Olympic Games will go ahead without a hitch, stressing heightened Covid-19 preventative measures are in place.
China Daily notes that as part of this, designated transport is being arranged for Olympic-related personnel.
The Beijing Traffic Management Bureau has factored in that there could be circumstances where people might come into contact. It says should a traffic accident occur in the city, “citizens should keep their distance and avoid contact with the vehicle or its occupants”.
‘Shorter isolation would certainly help us’ – Vue Cinemas boss
BBC Radio 5 Live
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images
Tim Richards, chief executive of the Vue Cinemas chain, says
reducing the isolation period from seven days to five would help his cinema
staff return to work faster.
Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live’s Wake Up To Money podcast, he says
the chain has had to “borrow some staff from one cinema to put in another,” due
to absences.
“We’ve been hit by Omicron as hard as
everyone else has, it’s meant a lot of work," he adds.
Vue employs almost 5,000 staff at 91
sites across the UK and Ireland.
But there’s some positive news for the industry, which has been
hit hard in the pandemic.
Cinema visits are up 68% compared with 2020, according to Cinema UK. And there were five million admissions in the week up to
Christmas.
Analysis
Government faces big decisions over long-term Covid plan
Adam Fleming
Chief political correspondent
A Whitehall source has denied the government is working on a
plan for living with Covid in the long term. But there's speculation about what changes that might eventually
entail.
The government has already said in its Autumn and Winter Covid
plan for this year that one day lateral flow tests will have to be paid for by
businesses and individuals that benefit from them, rather than by the taxpayer.
But the source said ministers had not even made a decision about when such a
decision might be needed.
Then there's the period you must isolate for if you have Covid. That's
already come down from an automatic 10 days to seven if you test negative on
the final two, after ministers asked the UK Health Security Agency to review the
rule. But the UKHSA estimates there's a 10-30% chance than an individual
could still be infectious on day six, so it's not coming down any further for now.
That's why ministers who are enthusiastic about people being stuck home for
less time say they would support a change if the science changed.
There are other questions, such as when does the government stop
financial support for people who are isolating? You don't get a cheque if
you've got a cold, the argument goes.
The PM's adviser-turned-enemy Dominic Cummings wrote
in a blog post last week that the government had also failed to plan ahead for
future variants.
These issues will come to a head in the build-up to 26 January when
the measures implementing Plan B in England are due to expire. And again at the
end of March when the legislation that underpins much of the response to Covid
lapses, too.
Starmer would back cut in isolation time if science supports it
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images
Labour leader Keir Starmer pictured on a visit to Northumberland last month.Image caption: Labour leader Keir Starmer pictured on a visit to Northumberland last month.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said he would back a reduction in the Covid isolation period if the science supports it.
Speaking to reporters via video call from isolation after testing positive for the virus last week, Sir Keir says he will be "guided by the science" and would be "inclined to support" a cut in the quarantine period if scientists and medical experts say it was safe.
He adds there are "many, many people in isolation - including myself - who will be watching that science very, very carefully".
Sir Keir insists the continued supply of free lateral flow tests is "absolutely crucial at the moment" and warns against withdrawing "one of the most important means of our protection at the moment".
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said earlier the UK would continue to use testing "as one of our most important lines of defence for as long as is necessary".
Live Reporting
Edited by James Clarke
All times stated are UK
Get involved
-
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said the government will "look at the science" over possibly cutting the minimum Covid isolation period from seven days to five - with the UK Health Security Agency leading the fact-finding task
-
The PM backed the continued use of lateral flow tests as "one of our most important lines of defence" against Covid. It comes as Michael Gove also denied reports the government plans to scrap free test kits
- Unvaccinated tennis star Novak Djokovic has won his appeal against the cancellation of his visa - but immigration minister Alex Hawke is still considering revoking the player's visa
-
The UK has recorded another 142,224 coronavirus cases and 77 deaths within 28 days of a positive test. More than 35.6m boosters have now been given and the PM says 90% of over-50s have had one
-
A small-scale study has found natural defences against a common cold could offer some protection against Covid-19, too - but vaccines remain key
- Children in Uganda have finally returned to school nearly two years after they were closed because of Covid, but authorities warn at least 30% of students may never return
ReutersCopyright: Reuters Students of Kakungulu Memorial Secondary school in the Ugandan capital Kampala attend a classImage caption: Students of Kakungulu Memorial Secondary school in the Ugandan capital Kampala attend a class 
PA MediaCopyright: PA Media 
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images 
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images Novak Djokovic was tested in Serbia on 16 December - regulations in the country require people to isolate for 14 days following a positive Covid resultImage caption: Novak Djokovic was tested in Serbia on 16 December - regulations in the country require people to isolate for 14 days following a positive Covid result 
ReutersCopyright: Reuters 
PA MediaCopyright: PA Media Staff from all areas of the council have been asked to take on shiftsImage caption: Staff from all areas of the council have been asked to take on shifts 
-
6.4% in England
-
5.5% in Wales
-
4.4% in Northern Ireland
-
5.26% in
Scotland
Houlang VideoCopyright: Houlang Video The man can see the car from his new home but cannot use or return itImage caption: The man can see the car from his new home but cannot use or return it 
Houlang VideoCopyright: Houlang Video Video caption: Novak Djokovic family end press conference after Covid event questionNovak Djokovic family end press conference after Covid event question 
BBCCopyright: BBC 
BBCCopyright: BBC 
BBCCopyright: BBC 
ReutersCopyright: Reuters The National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, will hold the opening and closing ceremonies of Beijing 2022 Winter OlympicsImage caption: The National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, will hold the opening and closing ceremonies of Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics 
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images Analysis
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images Labour leader Keir Starmer pictured on a visit to Northumberland last month.Image caption: Labour leader Keir Starmer pictured on a visit to Northumberland last month.
Latest PostFarewell
That's all from today's live page team. We'll be back tomorrow, bringing you all the Covid-related news, in the UK and around the world.
Your live page writers today were Chris Giles, Victoria Lindrea and Mary O'Connor.
The editors were James Clarke and Jasmine Taylor-Coleman.
Have a good evening.
What's been happening today?
Monday's live page is nearly at an end. Here is a round-up of the main coronavirus-related stories we have covered today.
Ofcom will not investigate TV show over inaccurate Covid claim
Ofcom says it won’t investigate ITV's Lorraine show after Dr Hilary Jones made an inaccurate statement about Covid-19 figures.
The media watchdog received 3,833 complaints after he incorrectly said 90% of the Covid patients in hospital were unvaccinated - a figure that was more applicable to those in intensive care.
The claim was made on 6 December. A clarification was aired two days later.
Ofcom says it has "told ITV that greater care should be taken by trusted medical experts when presenting facts and figures on public health issues".
Rotherham council leader urges return to remote meetings
The leader of Rotherham council has called for a return to remote meetings amid spiralling numbers of Covid-19 cases.
Labour's Chris Read says it is "perverse" that meetings are taking place in person despite government guidance urging people to work from home due to the rapid spread of the Omicron Covid variant.
Legislation allowing council meetings to be held virtually from April 2020 expired in May 2021.
Speaking ahead of the next full council meeting on Wednesday, which will see 59 councillors plus staff, public and press meet at the town's Magna centre, Read says there's a "cost and complication" to in-person meetings.
"It seems wrong to me that the government are telling people to work from home where you can, but specifically saying you councillors can put your health at risk by going and all sitting together in one big room," he tells the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
In the seven days to 3 January, Rotherham recorded 2,479 new infections per 100,000 people, above the England average of 1,758 cases.
A spokesperson for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities says councils should follow government guidance and that it will be "responding shortly" to evidence submitted regarding "a longer-term decision about whether to make express provision for councils to meet remotely on a permanent basis".
You can read more here.
Did Novak Djokovic break rules after testing positive for Covid?
More now on Novak Djokovic who’s won a court battle in Australia overturning his visa cancellation.
We know he sought a medical exemption from the country's strict Covid regulations on the basis that he'd contracted the infection in December.
There have been questions over whether the tennis star broke Covid rules in his home country Serbia, apparently attending several public engagements in the days after his positive test.
Our colleagues at Reality Check have compiled a timeline of events from what we know so far - you can read it here.
Staff absences impacting teaching in schools - poll
Almost half (46%) of teachers have been asked to cover lessons for absent colleagues, according to a poll by a teaching union.
The survey of nearly 7,000 NASUWT members in England suggests 23% say staff absences due to Covid-19 are having a major impact on their school, while 61% say they are having some impact.
Dr Patrick Roach, general secretary of the NASUWT, describes the poll as "concerning".
"Our members are telling us that staff absences due to Covid-19 are having serious impacts on teaching and learning," he says.
"Higher rates of staff absence are making a very challenging situation much worse for schools struggling to maintain appropriate staffing levels without disrupting pupils' education.
"Whilst the start of term saw around one in 10 teachers absent due to coronavirus, these numbers are likely to increase in the absence of effective measures to ensure Covid-safety in classrooms."
Dr Roach adds: "Urgent additional investment is needed in providing air filtration units to every classroom where they are needed.
"Ensuring good ventilation is vital to minimising further disruption to pupils' education."
Council staff asked to help in care homes amid shortages
A UK council is appealing for volunteers among its 30,000-strong workforce to help out in its 23 care homes amid staff shortages due to Covid.
Derbyshire County Council is looking for employees, who've had two Covid vaccines and their booster jab, to take on duties such as catering and laundry.
Helen Jones, the council's executive director of adult social care and health, says “it is a real opportunity to make a huge difference and to help some of Derbyshire's most vulnerable people at this extraordinary time".
More than 35.6m boosters given across the UK, data shows
Latest vaccination data shows about 195,000 jabs were given yesterday, Sunday 9 January - including 22,205 first doses, 31,360 second doses and 141, 495 boosters - according to the latest government data.
A total of 35,664,164 boosters or third doses have now been given across the UK - with PM Boris Johnson saying on Monday about 90% of the over-50s have now been boosted.
BreakingMore than 142,000 new cases in the UK
The latest goverment data has revealed a further 142,224 positive Covid cases have been registered in the UK in the past 24 hours.
In addition there were 77 deaths of people who tested positive for Covid in the previous 28 days.
Cabinet briefed on 'more positive' Covid data
Ione Wells
Westminster Correspondent, BBC News
Cabinet ministers received a Covid data update earlier from England's Chief Medical Officer Sir Chris Whitty, with sources describing the briefing as "more positive" than in recent weeks.
The BBC has been told the latest data showed key graphs depicting cases across English regions, admissions to Intensive Care Units and hospitalisations appeared to be “flattening”.
It's understood ministers were told by scientists that next week they should be in a position to know whether Plan B restrictions will be needed in England beyond 26 January, when they are expected to come to an end.
Data showing the percentage of the population testing positive in each of the four nations stood at:
Sources present at the meeting described the different percentages as "marginal" when factors such as population density, geography and demographics were accounted for.
Daily Covid data delayed
We normally bring you an update on the daily Covid data at this time of day, but we've been told the update is going to be delayed today
We'll bring you all the latest government stats as soon as they're published.
Chinese man charged £1,000 for rental car thanks to lockdown
Kerry Allen
BBC Monitoring, Chinese Media Analyst
A man has racked up more than £1,000 in arrears on a rental car in China, after a swift lockdown meant he was unable to return it.
Mr Liu lives in the northern city of Xi’an, and rented a car on 17 December to move house.
However, while moving his luggage, his community went into swift lockdown, meaning he was not allowed out of his building to return the car.
Mr Liu told Houlang Video he wasn’t told of the developments mid-move, and epidemic-related personnel wouldn’t even let him go to his car. A lot of his luggage was still in it, and so he had to ask a neighbour if he could borrow a duvet.
Mr Liu is still in lockdown, and is being charged by the minute for his vehicle. He has so far spent 10,279 yuan ($1,612; £1,188) on his car. His woes have generated significant attention on social media, and many Chinese are commenting online that they hope he can get the charge quashed.
There have now been more than 2,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the city of Xi’an. An outbreak began in early December, and some 13 million residents have been in strict lockdown for over two weeks.
The Global Times newspaper says the figures in this outbreak make it the“largest domestically-transmitted epidemic since [the] Wuhan outbreak”.
SEE ALSO:Xi’an residents in lockdown trade goods for food amid shortage.
Port boss asks UK government for Covid test support
The Port of Dover's chief executive, Doug Bannister, is calling on the government for support in getting hold of daily lateral flow Covid tests for its workers.
Last week, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said 100,000 key workers would receive daily tests.
The port has applied to be included in the scheme saying staff are key workers who maintain "the operations and the critical flow of goods into the nation".
The Cabinet Office says the UK Health Security Agency will run the testing programme with employers and further details would be set out in the coming days.
WATCH: Djokovic family end press conference after Covid event question
Earlier, the family of men's tennis champion Novak Djokovic held a press conference after he won a court battle to overturn the cancellation of his Australian visa on Covid vaccination grounds.
Watch the video below for the moment they ended the press conference after being asked about the world number one testing positive for Covid on 16 December yet still attending public events in the days that followed.
Video content
More than 300m confirmed Covid cases globally
As Covid-19 continues to spread around the world, there have been more than 300 million confirmed cases and more than five million deaths reported across almost 200 countries.
The US, India and Brazil have seen the highest number of confirmed cases, followed by the UK, France and Russia.
Meanwhile, nearly every nation in the world is now administering Covid vaccines and publishing rollout data, while at least 89 countries and territories have moved on to booster jabs.
Some countries have secured more vaccine doses than their populations need, while other lower-income countries are relying on a global plan known as Covax, which is seeking to ensure everyone in the world has access to a vaccine.
Of those countries that have moved on to booster campaigns, Chile, Denmark, the UK and Bahrain have currently vaccinated the highest proportion of people.
PM's private secretary staying put, despite claims of Covid rule breach
Downing Street has denied the Prime Minister's principal private secretary - Martin Reynolds - is to be moved to another position, following claims he invited staff to drinks in the garden of No 10 in May 2020 - in apparent breach of Covid rules.
"The Prime Minister has full confidence in his team. There is no change in that post," the PM's official spokesman says.
He refused to respond to reports Boris Johnson had attended the same event.
"There is an independent process going on to look into this, led by Sue Gray, and I can't comment further while that is taking place," the spokesman says.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer says Johnson would have "serious questions to answer" if found to have attended a lockdown-breaking party but adds: "We need to let the inquiry take its course, see what the findings are."
Beijing ‘on high alert’ ahead of Winter Olympics
Kerry Allen
BBC Monitoring, China Media Analyst
Over the weekend, there was an outbreak of the Omicron variant in the eastern Chinese city of Tianjin.
As a result, Chinese media are reporting that China’s nearby capital city Beijing is “on high alert”.
It is now 25 days until the Beijing Winter Olympics, and there are fears that cases could spill over from Tianjin, given that “many people commute from there to work in Beijing”.
Train tickets from Tianjin to Beijing have today been suspended, and people are being urged not to travel between the two cities.
In recent months, the media have sought to reassure people that the Olympic Games will go ahead without a hitch, stressing heightened Covid-19 preventative measures are in place.
Tickets will not be made available to overseas spectators at this year’s event and visitors to the Games will be part of a “closed loop”, meaning they are kept separate from locals.
China Daily notes that as part of this, designated transport is being arranged for Olympic-related personnel.
The Beijing Traffic Management Bureau has factored in that there could be circumstances where people might come into contact. It says should a traffic accident occur in the city, “citizens should keep their distance and avoid contact with the vehicle or its occupants”.
‘Shorter isolation would certainly help us’ – Vue Cinemas boss
BBC Radio 5 Live
Tim Richards, chief executive of the Vue Cinemas chain, says reducing the isolation period from seven days to five would help his cinema staff return to work faster.
Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live’s Wake Up To Money podcast, he says the chain has had to “borrow some staff from one cinema to put in another,” due to absences.
“We’ve been hit by Omicron as hard as everyone else has, it’s meant a lot of work," he adds.
Vue employs almost 5,000 staff at 91 sites across the UK and Ireland.
But there’s some positive news for the industry, which has been hit hard in the pandemic.
Cinema visits are up 68% compared with 2020, according to Cinema UK. And there were five million admissions in the week up to Christmas.
Government faces big decisions over long-term Covid plan
Adam Fleming
Chief political correspondent
A Whitehall source has denied the government is working on a plan for living with Covid in the long term. But there's speculation about what changes that might eventually entail.
The government has already said in its Autumn and Winter Covid plan for this year that one day lateral flow tests will have to be paid for by businesses and individuals that benefit from them, rather than by the taxpayer. But the source said ministers had not even made a decision about when such a decision might be needed.
Then there's the period you must isolate for if you have Covid. That's already come down from an automatic 10 days to seven if you test negative on the final two, after ministers asked the UK Health Security Agency to review the rule. But the UKHSA estimates there's a 10-30% chance than an individual could still be infectious on day six, so it's not coming down any further for now. That's why ministers who are enthusiastic about people being stuck home for less time say they would support a change if the science changed.
There are other questions, such as when does the government stop financial support for people who are isolating? You don't get a cheque if you've got a cold, the argument goes.
The PM's adviser-turned-enemy Dominic Cummings wrote in a blog post last week that the government had also failed to plan ahead for future variants.
These issues will come to a head in the build-up to 26 January when the measures implementing Plan B in England are due to expire. And again at the end of March when the legislation that underpins much of the response to Covid lapses, too.
Starmer would back cut in isolation time if science supports it
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said he would back a reduction in the Covid isolation period if the science supports it.
Speaking to reporters via video call from isolation after testing positive for the virus last week, Sir Keir says he will be "guided by the science" and would be "inclined to support" a cut in the quarantine period if scientists and medical experts say it was safe.
He adds there are "many, many people in isolation - including myself - who will be watching that science very, very carefully".
Sir Keir insists the continued supply of free lateral flow tests is "absolutely crucial at the moment" and warns against withdrawing "one of the most important means of our protection at the moment".
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said earlier the UK would continue to use testing "as one of our most important lines of defence for as long as is necessary".