Health Secretary Matt Hancock says it is “too early” to make a decision on if the final lockdown restrictions will be lifted on June 21. However, he adds there is not anything in the data to suggest the date needs to be delayed. The majority of people infected with the Indian Covid variant have not had either dose of the vaccine, with just 3 per cent of cases (177 out of 5,599) having received both doses, Public Health England figures show.
Of 201 people who ended up in hospital just five had had both vaccine doses, while 138 were unvaccinated and 45 had had their first dose more than three weeks previously.
It comes as the R-rate in England has inched higher and may now be above 1. Data released on Friday by the Department of Health and Social Care puts the figure between 1.0 and 1.1.
Here the latest developments at a glance:
- The UK reported 19,114 new cases on Friday, slightly down from yesterday’s 20,634, as well as a further 1,014 deaths from Covid-19.
- The Cabinet Office was right to say all adults aged 50 and over will have had a coronavirus vaccine by May, Downing Street said after initially dismissing the report.
- The government’s top scientific advisers warned last month that a “complete, pre-emptive closure of borders” was needed to fully prevent new coronavirus strains being imported into the UK.
- Around 1 in 65 people in the community in England are estimated to have had the disease in the week ending 30 January, compared with 1 in 70 in Wales, 1 in 65 in Northern Ireland and 1 in 115 in Scotland. The week before the figures were 1 in 55, 1 in 70, 1 in 50 and 1 in 110 respectively.
- London continues to have the highest proportion of people likely to test positive for coronavirus in any region of England, with around one in 50 people estimated to have the virus.
- The reproduction number, or R value, of coronavirus transmission across the UK is between 0.7 and 1, according to the latest government figures. Last week, it was between 0.7 and 1.1.
- The outcomes of targeted tests to track the South African coronavirus variant in England could take up to two weeks, public health officials have said.
- Health secretary Matt Hancock said it was “too early” to decide whether restrictions could be eased in March, and said there were no current plans to roll out vaccine passports for those who had received both jabs, despite a report to the contrary.
- The Oxford/AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine could be as effective at fighting the UK variant as it is in fighting the original virus, new research suggests.
- Covid vaccines approved for use in the UK are safe, with the benefits of their use far outweighing any risks, the UK’s medicines regulator has said after examining new data.
- Education minister Kirsty Williams told the Welsh government briefing on Friday that children in the foundation stage of their schooling would return to school from February 22.
- Scotland saw largest daily number of vaccinations given since rollout began, as another 48,165 patients in Scotland had received a first dose of coronavirus vaccine by Friday morning.