Coronavirus - 26th January 2021

Summary for Tuesday, 26th January

• Ministers are expected to approve a plan to require UK citizens to quarantine in a hotel if they arrive in England from high-risk countries
  
• They are meeting tonight to discuss the plan - a decision may not be announced until Wednesday
  
• More than 100,000 deaths involving coronavirus have been registered in the UK, according to the Office for National Statistics
  
• The UK is confident it will receive enough doses of coronavirus vaccines to meet its targets, the vaccine minister has said
  
• The EU warns it will tighten exports of vaccines produced in the bloc, amid a row with AstraZeneca over a cut in planned supplies
  
• Protesters defying a Covid-19 curfew in the Netherlands have again clashed with riot police, after a weekend of unrest
  
• Latin America's richest man Carlos Slim has tested positive for Covid-19
  

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. We’ll be bringing you all the latest news throughout the day from the UK and around the world. Here are the main headlines this morning:

• Rules for people entering the UK could get tighter later - with the government expected to announce hotel quarantine in England for some arrivals, over concerns about new Covid variants. The measures are likely to apply to people coming from South Africa, South American and Portugal
  
• Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi says he is confident the UK’s vaccine supply "remains safe" and will not be delayed by the EU's dispute with AstraZeneca over the slowness of supplies to EU citizens
  
• The EU has warned it will tighten rules on exports of Covid vaccines after AstraZeneca said it was unable to provide as many doses as it had promised
  
• The UK's unemployment rate rose to 5% in the three months to November, up from 4.9%, as coronavirus continued to hit the jobs market
  
• MPs say the UK government should cancel the debt owed by developing countries struggling with the impact of Covid-19
  
• And riot police in the Netherlands have again clashed with protesters defying a curfew, following a weekend of unrest over the newly imposed coronavirus restrictions
  

Summary of key global developments from the last few hours:

• Joe Biden warned of 600k deaths before US turns corner. US President Joe Biden warned the nation was going to be “in this for a while, and could see between “600,000 and 660,000 deaths before we begin to turn the corner in a major way.” The US toll is currently just over 420,000.
  
• Indonesia is set to officially surpass one million coronavirus cases on Tuesday, a grim milestone for the Southeast Asian nation that has struggled since last March to get the Covid-19 pandemic under control.
  
• The Australian government expects doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to be rolled out in March and that there will be no shortfalls, despite threats by the European Union to block exports of the vaccine due to a lack of supply.
  
• New Zealand and “the world” need to return to some semblance of normality before the country’s borders open to foreign nationals, said New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern. The prime minister shut the border in mid-March and said on Tuesday she would not open it again until New Zealanders were “vaccinated and protected” – a process that will not start for the general population until the middle of this year.
  
• California eased strict stay-at-home orders on Monday, allowing restaurants to reopen for outdoor dining and greater social mixing as state public health officials cited slowing rates of coronavirus infections and hospitalisations.
  
• A Minnesota lab confirmed the first US coronavirus case associated with Brazil variant. Laboratory testing by the Minnesota Department of Health has confirmed the first known coronavirus case in the United States associated with a more contagious variant of the novel coronavirus originally seen in Brazil, the agency said on Monday.
  
• Wuhan doctor: China authorities stopped me sounding alarm on Covid. A doctor from the Wuhan hospital hit hardest by the Covid-19 epidemic has said he and colleagues suspected the virus was highly transmissible in early January last year, weeks before Chinese authorities admitted it, but were prevented from warning anyone.
  
• Mexico’s official death toll from the coronavirus passed 150,000 on Monday following a surge in infections in recent weeks that has stretched the health system in the capital to the limit and led to the president contracting Covid.
  
• The Covid-19 vaccine divide between rich and poor nations is worsening by the day, the World Health Organization warned Monday, insisting the failure to distribute doses fairly could cost the global economy trillions of dollars.
  
• Moderna said on Monday it believes its coronavirus vaccine protects against the British and South African variants, although it will test a new booster shot aimed at the South Africa variant after concluding the antibody response could be diminished. Britain’s health minister and health officials have said they believe the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines being rolled out in the country work against the UK variant.
  

Quarantine hotel plans set to be announced

Some travellers coming to England will have to quarantine in hotels, the government is expected to announce later, over concerns about new Covid variants.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson will make a decision after discussing the proposals with senior ministers.
The measures are likely to apply to UK citizens and those with permanent residency rights arriving from high-risk countries such as South Africa, South America and Portugal.
Most foreign nationals from high-risk countries already face UK travel bans.
Whitehall sources said those quarantining in hotels would have to pay for the costs of their own accommodation.
However, BBC political correspondent Iain Watson said it would not be possible to implement any new measures immediately.

Quarantining measures 'may need to be more widespread'

The UK's quarantining proposals might "need to go further" than applying only to those arriving from countries where new variants of Covid-19 have been discovered, such as Brazil and South Africa, says former health secretary Jeremy Hunt.
Asked whether he supported a universal approach to quarantining international arrivals, Mr Hunt told Radio 4's Today programme: "I think it is a big logistical exercise to do that and it is not going to be possible to do it overnight anyway.
"But I think the real question is buying us enough time, and we don't know which countries these variants are arising in."
He said the UK needed to be "very cautious" because if the rollout of the vaccine could reach sufficient levels then the country "can really cut down the transmission in this country and transform the battle against the virus".
"If we do have to go further, I hope it would only have to be for a temporary period," he added.

EU to tighten vaccine exports amid row

The EU has warned it will tighten exports of Covid vaccines produced in the bloc, amid a row with AstraZeneca over a cut in planned supplies.
Last week, AstraZeneca told the EU it was falling behind on its supply target because of production problems.
Pfizer-BioNTech has also said supplies of its vaccine will be lower, slowing down the EU's vaccination drive.
The AstraZeneca row could affect supplies to the UK of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which has been developed by the US and Germany. Pfizer's Belgian plant supplies the UK.

 

UK registers more than 100,000 deaths

More than 100,000 deaths involving coronavirus have been registered in the UK, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Some 7,776 deaths involving coronavirus were registered in the UK in the week of 15 January, bringing the total to nearly 104,000.
The ONS figures are based on death certificates that mention coronavirus as being involved in the death.
These are different to the government's daily figures which report deaths within 28 days of a positive test – the figure currently stands at 98,531.

Protesters defy Covid rules on Australia Day

Several people have been arrested for breaking Covid rules while protesting against the culturally sensitive Australia Day holiday.
At least five arrests were made in Sydney at a rally attended by around 2,000 people, despite rules limiting the numbers allowed to gather at 500.
The day is controversial as it marks the start of Australia's colonisation.
Australia Day is celebrated on 26 January, the anniversary of Britain's First Fleet arriving in Sydney in 1788.
Branded by its critics as "Invasion Day", it attracts annual protest rallies drawing attention to the injustices faced by Australia's indigenous people.
Read more here

Covid patients turned away as hospitals in Indonesia face collapse

More than 1m cases of coronavirus have now been detected in Indonesia since the pandemic began, with the Southeast Asian country passing the milestone as it launches one of the world’s biggest vaccine drives.
Indonesia has recorded 1,012,350 virus cases and almost 29,000 deaths, according to official data. But, according to the AFP news agency, low testing rates mean the crisis is believed to be much bigger than those figures suggest.
Pandu Riono, a University of Indonesia epidemiologist, told AFP:

I think we hit one million cases of Covid-19 a long time ago. We are still climbing a mountain and we don’t even know where the peak is. This is a never-ending climb.

Indonesia is now beginning the mass distribution of vaccines, produced by Chinese company Sinovac, with health workers and other high-risk groups among the first in the queue.
The president, Joko Widodo, received the country’s first Covid-19 jab on live television along with his health minister, several senior officials, as well as business and religious leaders.


Mourner Coki Pratomo places petals on the grave of his mother, 68-year-old Lolly Dumora Sari Siregar, in a Jakarta cemetery for Indonesia’s coronavirus victims.
Photograph: Willy Kurniawan/Reuters

Health experts in Indonesia have warned that hospitals in some areas are on the brink of collapse as the nation passed one million confirmed cases of coronavirus.
In one case, a man died after he was turned away from 10 hospitals, including three in Jakarta, with doctors under greater strain that an any time in the pandemic.
Read more here.

Mexico death toll passes 150,000

Mexico’s official death toll from the coronavirus passed 150,000 on Monday following a surge in infections in recent weeks that has stretched the health system in the capital to the limit and led to the president contracting Covid.
The Health Ministry on Monday reported 659 new deaths, bringing the total death toll to 150,273. There were 8,521 new cases on Monday for a total of 1,771,740 confirmed infections.
The government says the real number of infected people is likely significantly higher than the confirmed cases.


Graves in a new area of El Palmar cemetery reserved for Covid victims in Acapulco, state of Guerrero, Mexico, on 21 January 2021. Photograph: Francisco Robles/AFP/Getty Images

Mexico has struggled to contain the pandemic and has the fourth-highest death toll worldwide. In the capital, Mexico City, families are struggling to buy or rent vital tanks of oxygen for relatives suffering from Covid.
On Sunday, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, 67, who has a history of heart problems and high blood pressure, said he had tested positive for Covid and was being treated for mild symptoms.
Government officials close to Lopez Obrador said on Monday they would undergo testing. Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell, who has spearheaded Mexico’s response to the outbreak, said in a video call during a regular government news conference that he was self-isolating due to potential exposure.

Dutch curfew riots rage on

Rioters in the Netherlands have clashed for a third night with police over coronavirus restrictions.
There were violent scenes in several cities across the country on Monday night. Riot police clashed with protesters in Amsterdam as well as Rotterdam, Amersfoort and Geleen.
In Rotterdam, police fired warning shots and tear gas, after an emergency order issued by the mayor failed to move demonstrators.
More than 150 people were arrested in several cities.
Unrest started over the weekend as protesters kicked back against newly imposed coronavirus restrictions.
Prime Minister Mark Rutte has condemned what he called "criminal violence".
The government has introduced its toughest measures since the start of the pandemic - including a night-time curfew which runs from 21:00 (20:00 GMT) to 04:30. It is the first in the Netherlands since World War Two.
Read more here

Here’s more from Jon Henley, the Guardian’s Europe correspondent, on the latest night of rioting to hit cities in the Netherlands, where mostly young people are railing against the imposition of a nighttime curfew.

About 150 people were arrested on Monday in Amsterdam and Rotterdam, where shops were vandalised and looted, and the mayor, Ahmed Aboutaleb, issued an emergency decree giving police broader powers of arrest.
“These people are shameless thieves, I cannot say otherwise,” he said. “I had to threaten them with the use of teargas – a far-reaching measure. I find that sad, because I have never had to do that in my entire career as mayor.”

Young people seeks confront police and on Beijerlandselaan in Rotterdam. Photograph: Killian Lindenburg/MEDIATV/EPA


A motorcycle burns during the disturbances in Rotterdam on Monday night. Photograph: Marco de Swart/ANP/AFP/Getty Images

But trouble also flared in smaller centres around the country such as Den Bosch, Zwolle, Amersfoort, Alkmaar, Hoorn, Gouda – where several cars were set on fire – and Haarlem, where police were attacked with stones.
Officials said the rioters, who reportedly used social media apps to organise, were overwhelmingly teenagers, and questioned the extent to which they were motivated by opposition to the 9pm curfew, which came into force on Saturday.

Read more here

Sweden stops Pfizer payments amid vaccine disagreement

Sweden has stopped vaccine payments to Pfizer amid a disagreement over the number of doses of vaccine in each vial delivered by the drug company, according to a report in the Swedish press. Reuters has the story:

Sweden is seeking clarification on the number of doses it has been billed after Pfizer charged for six doses in each vial. It originally was thought only five doses could be extracted from each vial and Sweden now want the EU Commission and Pfizer to reach an agreement on how many doses there are in each vial.
“Until then, we have told the company that we must wait with the invoices that are available until we get clarity on what applies,” chief epidemiologist Anders Tegnell told Dagens Nyheter.
Pfizer Sweden declined to comment on the report.

EU could sue AstraZeneca over vaccine hold-ups, says Latvian minister

Latvia’s foreign affairs minister has said that European Union member states could sue UK-based drug maker AstraZeneca for breach of contract if it fails to honour its Covid-19 vaccine delivery schedule.
AstraZeneca, which developed its shot with Oxford University, told the EU on Friday it could not meet agreed supply targets up to the end of March. Each EU member state has a separate supply contract with the company.
“The possibility [of legal action] should be evaluated, and it should be coordinated among the EU countries,” Edgars Rinkevics, Latvia’s foreign minister, told Reuters, via his spokesman.
His comments were reinforced by senior a official from another EU state, who told Reuters: “Coordinated court cases would be more effective way to ensure that AstraZeneca keeps to its commitments than unilateral legal action from member states.”
Italy said on Sunday it would take legal action against Pfizer and AstraZeneca over delays in deliveries of Covid-19 vaccines.

UK newspapers: Holidays 'under threat'

The UK's front pages look ahead to potential new travel restrictions. "Looks like it's Bognor again, dear," is the Sun's take on the likelihood of plans for quarantine hotels being introduced for UK arrivals.
Travel experts say the move will cost families at least £1,000 extra and "wreck plans for foreign breaks".
The Guardian says the policy is part of a "more cautious approach" following England's third lockdown. Details still to be finalised include whether "test to release" will apply - which currently frees travellers from self-isolation at home if they test negative after five days.
The Daily Telegraph and the i newspaper both report that the cabinet is split over the policy.

Latin America's richest man Carlos Slim has Covid

Carlos Slim and his family are worth an estimated $52bn (£38bn), according to Forbes magazine

Latin America's richest man Carlos Slim has tested positive for Covid-19.
The 80-year-old Mexican telecommunications billionaire was only showing "light symptoms" and was doing "very well", his son wrote in a tweet.
It comes a day after Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, 67, also contracted the disease.
Mexico is among the world's worst hit nations, with more than 1.7 million confirmed cases since the pandemic began, and over 150,000 deaths.
Read more here

Mauritius begins roll-out of Covid vaccine

Yasine Mohabuth - Port Louis, Mauritius
Mauritius has started a nationwide Covid-19 vaccination campaign, with medical staff at ENT hospital, the main treatment centre, being the first to be immunised.
Three teams of health workers have also been deployed at Victoria Hospital in the town of Quatre Bornes.
Those vaccinated will get a second dose of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine in about 20 days.
Mauritius received 100,000 doses of vaccine from India on Friday.
A batch of 240,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine is expected to arrive in the country by 15 February, according to World Health Organization representative Laurent Musango.
The Pfizer/BioNtech vaccines were obtained through Covax - a global initiative led by the WHO to make sure vaccines are shared fairly among all nations, rich and poor.

Vaccine minister 'angry' after uncle died with Covid

Vaccine minister Nadhim Zahawi has revealed that one of his relatives died after catching coronavirus.
Zahawi said his uncle had been eligible for a vaccine jab but caught the disease before he got the opportunity to receive it and "didn't make it".
Speaking to ITV Good Morning Britain's Piers Morgan, the minister said: "It's painful, and it's closer to home than you think, Piers, in terms of losing relatives and family.
"I lost my uncle last week to Covid, but you're right it is grim and horrible but our way out of this is the vaccination programme.
"It makes me angry, but it makes me determined to make sure we vaccinate the most vulnerable people in our country and protect them as quickly as possible and then protect the whole nation."

US strengthens travel ban

In the US, President Joe Biden has re-imposed a US travel ban that Donald Trump lifted just days before his term ended on non-US visitors from Brazil and most of Europe, including the UK and Ireland. It also imposed a new ban on South Africa over its virus variant.
The move comes as several new variants of the coronavirus have emerged out of these countries and the national coronavirus case count above 25 million cases.
Former President Donald Trump had ordered the bans to end on 26 January as one of his final acts in office.
The new travel restrictions came as Minnesota recorded the first US case of the Brazil variant from a resident who had recently travelled to that country.

Big rise in redundancies among young people

People aged 25 to 34 face the highest risk of redundancy in the UK, according to the latest unemployment figures which show Covid has pushed the jobless rate to 5%.
In the three months to November, those aged 25 to 34 had a redundancy rate of 16.2 per 1,000 - a fivefold increase on the same period a year earlier.
One of those is Abigail Ward, 27, who freely admits she was "a bit naive" when she began her latest job hunt after being made redundant as a store manager at J Crew in London last September.
"I knew it would be hard, but I've been in this position before," she told the BBC.
"Back then, it only took me three or four weeks to find a role and maybe 10 job applications, so it all happened quite seamlessly, whereas this time around, it's definitely been a lot more difficult.
"I've probably sent off around 30 to 40 job applications in the last six months, the majority of which just go into the abyss. You never hear a word.
"There are so many hundreds of applications and it's so competitive," she adds. "It's definitely been a big challenge."

Analysis: Job losses kept in check by furlough scheme

Faisal Islam - BBC Economics Editor
While the main rate of unemployment has reached 5% for the first time in nearly five years - and this morning's numbers saw the largest increase in the numbers unemployed since the financial crisis - the chancellor must now be tempted to extend the furlough scheme to co-ordinate with the rollout of the post-vaccination reopening of the economy.
There are some bad numbers in this release, as would be expected from the pandemic restrictions, but they were expected to be a little worse.
In the quarter to November, there were 418,000 extra people unemployed than over the same period in 2019 - the sharpest annual rise since the 2009 financial crisis.
The rate of redundancies reached a record of 14 per 1,000 people.
Loss of jobs was concentrated in sectors such as retail and hospitality, most affected by social restrictions, which were reintroduced at the end of the period. Young people also faced the sharpest drops in employment.
The jobs numbers are yet to reflect the current return to national lockdowns.
Though a significant rise over the past few pandemic-afflicted months, unemployment at 5% is still low by international standards and is being kept in check by the government's job retention furlough scheme.
The current plan is to end the costly scheme in April, which economists expect would see a sharp jump in jobless figures to 6% or 7%.
But as the government continues to communicate caution about how fast restrictions on the economy will be lifted, business groups are adamant that the scheme needs to be extended into the early summer, or at least linked to the success of the vaccination programme.

COVID-19 Vaccine Scam

Police have received number of reports from concerned residents, who have received text/emails asking them to pay to book a COVID-19 vaccine appointments.
COVID-19 vaccine will always be free in the UK and delivered by the NHS.
Patients will be sent a letter by the NHS call/recall service informing them of their eligibility, and receive a call from Primary Care Networks, offering the choice of booking at a GP-led vaccination center or using the national booking service.
We would like to remind people who are contacted to remember that any contact regarding a real NHS COVID-19 vaccination booking will never:
1. Ask for payment or any bank details
2. Ask you to press a button on your keypad when on the phone
3. Ask you to send a text to confirm the booking
For more information and advice, please visit Action Fraud: https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/alert/coronavirus-vaccine-scams-warning

Care home deaths surpass 30,000 in England and Wales

More than 30,000 care home residents in England and Wales have now died with Covid-19.
The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics show a total of 30,110 deaths of care home residents have been registered as involving coronavirus.
In the week ending 15 January, 1,719 residents died in either care homes or in hospitals with Covid mentioned on their death certificates.
That is a rise of 349 on the week before, so an increase of 25% over seven days.
More than 30,000 care home residents in England and Wales have now died with Covid-19.
The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics show a total of 30,110 deaths of care home residents have been registered as involving coronavirus.
In the week ending 15 January, 1,719 residents died in either care homes or in hospitals with Covid mentioned on their death certificates.
That is a rise of 349 on the week before, so an increase of 25% over seven days.

NHS stretched 'in an extreme way'

NHS England's chief executive Simon Stevens says the number of Covid patients in hospital in England has currently “plateaued” at just under 33,000.
Speaking to MPs, he said it was an “incredibly high number” which followed a huge acceleration since Christmas, adding that it has all sorts of “knock-on consequences” for patients and other NHS services.
"Although we’re beginning to see new admissions beginning to turn down slightly, the beds occupied that are decreasingly slightly in London are being offset by increases in the Midlands, for example."
He said that everybody who needed intensive care and ventilators was able to have them but “let’s not disguise the fact that this is obviously stretching the system in an extreme way”.

NHS chief 'most concerned' about cancer patients

When coronavirus infections are high and hospitals fill up, it has a major knock-on effect on patients who need care for other conditions, including cancer.
Head of NHS England, Sir Simon Stevens, has told MPs he is particularly worried about patients who need cancer surgery.
There have been some reports of cancellations of urgent surgeries, which doctors have decided need to be carried out within a month – although this is not common.
Sir Stevens says: "The area we are most concerned about is cancer surgery. Chemotherapy and radiotherapy, I think, are continuing and for the most part in an uninterrupted fashion."
The health service is doing “everything possible” to keep these services going, he says.
But this is a challenge when three-quarters of intensive care beds are being used by Covid patients, and a quarter of all hospital beds, he says.
While more space and beds can be found, particularly in the private sector, Sir Stevens says the availability of staff is one of the biggest blocks.
In particular there is “huge pressure on anaesthetists at the moment”, being diverted to care for Covid patients in intensive care units, Sir Simon says.
And the surgeons and anaesthetics working in the private sector are “generally the same people who are working for NHS”.

Latest world updates

Here's what's been happening around the world today:

• The EU has warned it will tighten rules on exports of Covid vaccines after AstraZeneca said it was unable to provide as many doses as it had promised
  
• Rioters in the Netherlands clashed for a third night with police over coronavirus restrictions in defiance of a newly imposed curfew
  
• Protesters in Australia have defied Covid rules on Australia Day while protesting against the culturally sensitive holiday. Several people have been arrested
  
• Latin America's richest man, Carlos Slim, has tested positive for Covid-19
  

What's happening in the UK today?

If you're just joining us or need a recap, here's some of the news we've been following this morning:

• The UK coronavirus death toll has passed 100,000, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
  
• Some 7,776 deaths involving coronavirus were registered in the UK in the week of 15 January, bringing the total to nearly 104,000.
  
• The UK's unemployment rate rose to 5% in the three months to November, up from 4.9% as coronavirus continued to hit the jobs market
  
• People aged 25 to 34 face the highest risk of redundancy in the UK, according to the latest unemployment figures.
  
• The government is expected to announce hotel quarantine in England for UK arrivals over concerns about new Covid variants.
  
• The measures are likely to apply to UK nationals coming from South Africa, South American and Portugal.
  
• Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi says he is confident the UK’s vaccine supply "remains safe".
  
• He says the jabs will not be delayed by the EU's dispute with AstraZeneca over the pace of exports to countries in Europe.
  

Bolsonaro thanks China for fast-tracking vaccine supplies

A demonstrator wearing a face mask reading "Out Bolsonaro" takes part in a protest against the Brazilian leader and his handling of the coronavirus outbreak in Brasilia

Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro, who had previously been a sceptic of Covid vaccines made in China, thanked Beijing on Monday for rapidly approving the export of active ingredients for local vaccine production.
"They are already being sent to Brazil and will arrive in the next few days," he said in a Twitter post.
Mr Bolsonaro had previously said Brazil would not buy a Chinese-made Covid-19 vaccine.
Brazil began its national vaccination programme a week ago, but there are already reports of serious problems in the roll-out.
Scientists say the country is close to running out of vaccine, syringes and other vital equipment, and they blame Jair Bolsonaro's government for the shortcomings. Some critics say the government is failing in the vaccine roll-out.

UN experts challenge Sri Lanka's order that those who die of Covid be cremated

A group of UN experts has criticised Sri Lanka’s requirement that those who die of Covid be cremated, even it goes against a family’s religious beliefs, and warned that decisions based on “discrimination and aggressive nationalism” could incite hatred and violence, AP reports.

The experts, who are part of the Special Procedures of the U.N Human Rights Council, said in a statement that rule amounts to a human rights violation.
“We deplore the implementation of such public health decisions based on discrimination, aggressive nationalism and ethnocentrism amounting to persecution of Muslims and other minorities in the country,” the experts said. “Such hostility against the minorities exacerbates existing prejudices, intercommunal tensions, and religious intolerance, sowing fear and distrust while inciting further hatred and violence.”
Sri Lanka introduced the rule in March, saying there was a risk that bodies with the coronavirus could contaminate the ground water if they were buried. The WHO, as well as Sri Lankan medical groups, have said that burial of those who died of Covid is safe.
More than 70% of Sri Lankans are Buddhist, a faith in which cremation is common. But 9% of people in Sri Lanka are Muslims and many say cremation goes against their religious beliefs.
Sri Lanka, which has a population of 22 million, has seen 283 deaths from the coronavirus out of more than 59,000 reported infections.

Iran approves Russia's Sputnik V vaccine

Iran has approved Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine and plans to both import it and produce it, foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has said.

“The Sputnik V vaccine was yesterday also registered and approved by our health authorities,” Zarif said at a meeting with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, in Moscow on Tuesday. “In the near future, we hope to be able to purchase it, as well as start joint production.”
Earlier this month supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s highest authority, banned the government from importing vaccines from the United States and the UK.
Iran, which has a population of 83 million, has recorded over 1.38 million cases and 57,560 deaths, according to the latest government data, but there has been a decline in new infections in recent weeks.

Thailand's banned politician facing 'royal insult lawsuit'

Thailand’s health minister has sought to explain the country’s coronavirus vaccine procurement plan amid criticism that the government has lacked transparency and been too slow in securing supplies.
The strategy came under scrutiny last week when banned opposition politician Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit said the government had been too reliant on a company owned by King Maha Vajiralongkorn to produce vaccines for Thais while failing to negotiate multiple deals, as other countries have, Reuters reports.

Thanathorn faces a royal insult lawsuit for mentioning the king in questions he had raised regarding royal-owned Siam Bioscience, which will manufacture the AstraZeneca vaccine locally for regional distribution.
Public health minister Anutin Charnvirakul said Thailand started negotiating in April with “every vaccine producer” but its laws prevented government agencies from making non-refundable down-payments for products not yet manufactured.
AstraZeneca presented the best option with its lower-priced vaccines and promised technology transfer to Siam Bioscience, he said. “The offer from AstraZeneca to use a factory in Thailand to produce its vaccines to sell in Southeast Asia means vaccine security for Thailand,” Anutin said in a Facebook post addressed to Thanathorn. “Please believe that we don’t have a political aim and don’t wish to use public health and safety as a political tool.”

Ireland is to remain under Level 5 lockdown until at least 5 March, a Cabinet sub-committee agreed last night.

According to The Irish Times, the Government will this morning announce that Level 5 will remain in place until at least 5 March, and there will be extra restrictions with regards to travel in an attempt to further stem the spread of the virus.

Under new plans,  passengers into Ireland from abroad who do not have a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours of their departure will undergo mandatory quarantine at their own expense and may have to pay a fine.

They will be quarantined in a designated hotel at their own expense for at least 5 days: if, on the fifth day, they test positive for the virus, they will be held for a further 14 days.

Anyone who does arrive into Ireland without a negative test, which has been the rules for several weeks, could face fines or a prison sentence under the new restrictions.

Passengers who do have a negative test must still restrict their movements or self-isolate for a further 14 days regardless of whether their test is negative-- while this has always been advised, this will soon become law.

This will also apply to passengers from abroad who enter the Republic via Northern Ireland, and authorities on both sides of the border have agreed to share data in relation to passengers to help slow the spread-- the first time this has happened.

A ban on travel from South Africa and Brazil, where new variants of the disease have been discovered, is also on the cards, and Irish people who are caught breaking existing Level 5 rules may be issued with increased fines.

Schools, shops, cinemas and all non-essential services will remain closed until at least 5 March, although the Government is fighting to open special schools sooner, Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said.

The Irish Times reports that an estimated 2,000- 2,500 people in Ireland have flown to Spain in the month of January, some of them holidaymakers-- the new rules would see them forced to quarantine on their return under threat of fines or prison.

Ireland had been hit with the highest rates of transmission in the world following an explosion of cases at Christmas; now the incidence rate has dropped, but the number of patients hospitalised and in ICU with the virus has resulted in the health service being under serious strain.

Yesterday, a further 7 deaths and 1372 new cases were announced.

The Government is expected to make an official announcement on Level 5 later today.

Mandatory quarantine requirements for anyone arriving in Ireland could remain in place for an entire year if the government decides to give the proposal the green light.

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said that holidays abroad would be off the cards - as would travelling home for Christmas in December.
Speaking on the Claire Byrne Live show, Varadkar said that mandatory quarantine would "probably be for a year" if it was introduced and would be difficult to reverse.
He warned that travelling abroad for educational and professional reasons could pose problems, and hinted that travelling to visit a sick or dying family member could also be off the table.
The Tánaiste also said the initiative wouldn't be fully effective without an all-Ireland approach to the rule.
"Speaking to my New Zealand counterpart [about mandatory quarantine] there is only so much you can do," Varadkar said.
"You can only let about 500 or 600 people in a day. That would mean that some travel that we deem essential would not be permitted.
"People going to London for an interview, people who are travelling for education, people who want to see a dying relative, we wouldn't be able to guarantee that that travel is possible.
"So I'm not saying we won't be doing it, we are looking at it. But people need to understand that it won't be fully effective."

Summer holidays and travelling home for Christmas could be off the table if mandatory quarantine is introduced in Ireland

Leo Varadkar has warned that holidays abroad and even travelling home for Christmas could be off the cards this year should mandatory quarantine be introduced.
The government is under increased pressure to reduce the transmission of Covid-19, as hospitals around the country continue to work close to full capacity, with some near breaking point.
Many have been urging the introduction of mandatory hotel quarantining for anyone arriving into Ireland.
The Tánaiste warned that such a rule will have a massive impact on life in Ireland for months - possibly even for the entirety of 2021 - stressing that foreign holidays and Christmas celebrations would likely be off the cards.
"We need to be frank with people about this. If we did it, it would probably be for a year," Varadkar said speaking on Claire Byrne Live on Monday evening.
"I think once you do a very dramatic public health measure like that, it is hard to reverse. We probably wouldn't reverse it until everyone was vaccinated. Then we'd be heading into the winter.
"We wouldn't want to open up flights before Christmas. So people who maybe would like to take a summer holiday in August, people who would maybe like to see their relatives this Christmas ... that would probably be off the agenda."

This idea of mandatory quarantine was discussed during a Cabinet Sub-Committee meeting on Monday, but a decision isn't expected to made just yet.

It's understood that a five-day mandatory quarantine is to be introduced for anyone arriving from Covid variant hotspots such as South Africa and Brazil, but many have been pushing for an extended and more expansive rule.

There are calls for a 14-day quarantine to be introduced for anyone arriving in the country without a negative PCR test, though Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald is among those saying a two-week quarantine should apply to all arrivals, not just those without a negative test result.

Casino boss vaccine ruse rumbled in Beaver Creek

Rod Baker and his wife travelled to the remote northern Yukon territory for the jabs

The CEO of a Canadian casino company valued at nearly $2bn (£1.6bn) has quit after he and his wife were charged with misleading authorities to get a Covid vaccine.
Rod Baker, of the Great Canadian Gaming Corp, and his wife Ekaterina had travelled to the remote northern Yukon territory for the jabs.
The region, home to many indigenous people, has a faster vaccination rate than in the rest of Canada, data shows.
The couple had posed as motel workers.
They were only found out after asking to be taken to the airport straight after the vaccination last week in the small community of Beaver Creek, on the border with the US state of Alaska.
Read more here.

'No way' we'll quarantine in hotel say SA travellers

Jessica Gold (centre), her son William Copsey (left), and her mother, Rossana Gold, are trying to get home to the UK from South Africa

We've been reporting this morning that the government is expected to announce hotel quarantine in England for UK arrivals over concerns about new Covid variants.
Jessica Gold, from London, has been trying to get home from South Africa with her mother, 77, and son, 13, since 1 January - but their flights home have been cancelled three times.
She says the idea of having to quarantine in a hotel when she eventually manages to get home is "absolutely absurd".
"Now we are booked to return on 16 February, and there is no way we can or will stay in a hotel to quarantine when I have my own place and we can quarantine there, as we have done in the past," says Jessica.
She flew out to South Africa, where she owns a safari lodge in Greater Kruger National Park, at the end of November. Her son and mother then joined her for Christmas.
Jessica, 42, wants the government to get tougher on enforcing travellers' home quarantines, rather than bringing in the hotel rule - which she describes as "ridiculous and an extra unnecessary expense during these very tough times".
Jessica adds that she's looking into other ways of getting back to the UK earlier, before any potential new rules kick in.
Any new hotel quarantine rules are likely to be compulsory. In Australia, where such rules have already been implemented for travellers from all destinations, not following the rules is a criminal offence.

China to finish building 1,000-room quarantine facility in seven days

Kerry Allen - BBC Monitoring, Chinese Media Analyst


Volunteers deliver daily necessities to residents in Tonghua

On Wednesday, a new, large-scale quarantine facility is set to be completed in China, in the north-eastern city of Tonghua, Jilin province.
And it has not taken much time to complete this project at all. Work began on 21 January to construct the 1,186-room facility, on the grounds of a 48,000sqm (510,000 sq ft) logistics centre. So the whole centre is expected to have been completed within seven days.
Jilin province is one of China’s current hotspots for the coronavirus. It has reported more than 200 cases of Covid-19 since the start of the year.
Most of these are in the city of Tonghua, which is currently under strict lockdown. People are prohibited from even leaving their homes to go to the supermarket, and are reliant on volunteers delivering aid.
It is a strict requirement that at-risk people in China undergo centralised quarantine, unless they have special circumstances. However, it has become difficult for hospitals in the city to quarantine hundreds of potential close contacts.
China, however, has a track record of being able to construct massive facilities in a short space of time. In mid-January, 1,000 quarantine rooms were built in just four days to help quarantine residents in the north-eastern city of Shijiazhuang. The city, like Tonghua, reported hundreds of Covid-19 cases.
And last year at this time, the world watched livestreams of construction workers building two hospitals within two weeks in the city of Wuhan, the original epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak.

 

UK PM to hold press briefing later

Prime Minister Boris Johnson will hold a press conference at 17:00 GMT today with England's chief medical officer Chris Whitty and England's NHS chief executive Sir Simon Stevens.

No changes to Scotland's current lockdown measures

Despite some encouraging signs, case numbers in Scotland are still far too high with the NHS under too much strain, says Deputy First Minister John Swinney.
He adds: "The position in Scotland remains precarious."
The cabinet has decided not to make any changes to the current lockdown measures, says Mr Swinney.
"They will remain in place at least until the middle of February."

School to withdraw places for lockdown-breach pupils

A school in Greater Manchester has threatened to withdraw places for pupils who have told teachers they are visiting people outside of their households.
Yew Tree Community School in Oldham said several children had admitted visiting friends, neighbours and family, contrary to Covid-19 lockdown rules.
In a letter posted on the school's Facebook page, headteacher Martine Buckley said: "Our lovely children are open and honest and they tell us about their lives and activities.
"A number of them are telling us that they are visiting friends, neighbours and family, which is against the law.
"Our teachers and support staff are putting their own safety at risk to look after your children and they should be confident you are doing your bit to follow the lockdown rules.
"I am afraid I will have to withdraw the offer of a place in school to children whose parents are putting us in danger."
During the current lockdown, schools are open only to pupils listed as vulnerable and the children of key workers.

Colombian defence minister dies with Covid-19

Carlos Holmes Trujillo, 69, served through some of Colombia's most difficult times

Colombia's defence minister has died in hospital after contracting coronavirus, the government has announced.
Carlos Holmes Trujillo, 69, was taken to hospital with Covid-19 earlier this month and had developed viral pneumonia.
"Colombia has lost one of its best men," President Ivan Duque said on Tuesday.
A long-serving politician, Mr Trujillo was a key figure in Colombia's struggle to combat organised crime.
He had been treated in intensive care in a military hospital in the capital, Bogotá.
José Renán Trujillo has paid tribute to his brother on Twitter writing, "It is with great pain that I hear my brother has died. He fought for his convictions and he died defending them."
Read the full story here.

Ramaphosa condemns rich nations over Covid vaccines

BBC World Service
The South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa, has condemned so-called vaccine nationalism by the world's wealthiest countries.
Addressing the World Economic Forum online, he said some governments had ordered far more coronavirus vaccines than they needed.
Without naming any countries, he appealed to them to release surplus stocks so that others could benefit.
Last week, the World Health Organization said unequal access to vaccines across the globe risked becoming a catastrophic moral failure.
South Africa - which is the worst-hit country for cases and deaths on the continent - is yet to receive any vaccines.
It hopes to receive its first million doses of the AstraZeneca jab from India later this month.
Read our story on how vaccines will be shared here.

Italian PM resigns in split over Covid response

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has resigned amid divisions over spending in the coronavirus crisis, in which more than 85,000 Italians have died.
It is not clear if he will be able to form and lead a new coalition government.
Conte met President Sergio Mattarella, who may ask him to form a stronger government. Last week he lost his Senate majority.
But someone else could become Italy's PM, or a snap election could be called.
Read more here.

More than 30 Met Police officers fined for lockdown haircuts

A group of 31 London Metropolitan Police officers are each facing £200 fines for breaching coronavirus regulations, after getting their hair cut by a barber while on duty.
The two officers who organised the trims, at Bethnal Green police station on 17 January, will also be investigated for misconduct, Scotland Yard said.
Local policing commander Detective Chief Superintendent Marcus Barnett said: "It is deeply disappointing and frustrating that my officers have fallen short of the expectation to uphold Covid-19 regulations.
"Although officers donated money to charity as part of the haircut, this does not excuse them from what was a very poor decision. I expect a lot more of them.
"It is right, therefore, officers should each face a £200 fine, as well as misconduct action for those two who organised this event."

UK coronavirus headlines

16:27
We're expecting to hear from the prime minister at a Downing Street briefing in just over half an hour. Before we do, let's take a look at today's UK headlines:

• Vaccine minister Nadhim Zahawi says he is confident the UK’s vaccine supply "remains safe" despite the EU's dispute with AstraZeneca over the pace of exports to countries in Europe
  
• The government is expected to announce hotel quarantine in England for UK arrivals over concerns about new Covid variants
  
• The number of people to have died with coronavirus in the UK has exceeded 100,000, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics. These are different from the government's daily coronavirus figures which we are expecting shortly
  
• The Welsh government has missed its target to vaccinate 70% of over-80s by the weekend
  
• Scotland's lockdown measures will stay in place until mid-February as coronavirus cases are "still far too high", says the deputy first minister
  
• Schools in England will be given two weeks notice before reopening and there will be announcements on the plan in the next few days, the education minister says
  
• The NHS has warned people to be vigilant about fake invitations to have the coronavirus vaccination sent by scammers
  
• British Asian celebrities including comedians Romesh Ranganathan and Meera Syal and cricketer Moeen Ali have made a video aimed at dispelling Covid vaccine myths
  

UK coronavirus death toll passes 100,000

The UK death toll from coronavirus has passed 100,000, according to government figures.
A total of 100,162 people have died in the UK within 28 days of a positive Covid test since the start of the pandemic.
The daily number of deaths was 1,631 - this is higher than yesterday's figures when 592 deaths and 22,195 cases were recorded.

'Sobering moment' says public health chief

The 100,000 coronavirus deaths "are not just numbers", says Dr Yvonne Doyle, Medical Director at Public Health England.
"This is a sobering moment in the pandemic," she says.
"Each death is a person who was someone’s family member and friend. This virus has sadly taken millions of lives across the world, but we have learnt a lot about this coronavirus over the past year.
"The best way to slow the spread is to follow the rules and right now that means staying at home.
“We should all be encouraged that hundreds of thousands of people are receiving a vaccine every day. However, there is still a way to go and these people might still be able to pass the virus on to others.
"That is why it is essential for all of us to work together by staying at home. This sacrifice will help slow the spread, protect the NHS and save lives.”

A miserable landmark in an abnormal year

Laura Kuenssberg - Political editor
It wasn't normal when the prime minister stood at the lectern in Downing Street's wood-panelled State Dining Room and announced that four people had died from coronavirus on 9 March last year.
It wasn't normal, that day, when he announced the obscure-sounding virus was a global pandemic that, in the 21st Century, the UK government would struggle to contain.
It was unprecedented, in peacetime, when, on 23 March, Boris Johnson instructed the country to stay at home.
It was shocking when, on 28 March, official figures reported more than 1,000 cases in a single day.
But today that number has reached a terrible height - more than 100,000 deaths. Every one of those 100,000 lives lost leaves its own story, and sorrow, behind.
This miserable landmark is a moment to remember, maybe, that what has happened in the last year, to our politics, to us all is not normal at all.
Read more from Laura here

What did we learn from today's press conference?

The Downing Street briefing today came just as news of more than 100,000 deaths in the UK of people with Covid was breaking, figures repeated by Boris Johnson.
He offered his condolences to all those who have lost a loved one.
Mr Johnson was joined by England's Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty and Sir Simon Stevens, chief executive of the NHS.
Here's what they told us:

• Over the year since the start of the pandemic, a quarter of a million people have been treated by the NHS
  
• We will see more days with high death tolls in the coming weeks, as the infection rate remains high
  
• Over time, medical staff may be better able to treat the virus, but for now the infection rate will drive the death rate
  
• The new UK variant of the virus has changed the equation in terms of balancing case rates and lifting restrictions
  
• There was a promise to learn the lessons of this pandemic
  

'Earlier autumn lockdown 'would have saved lives' - Ferguson

Radio 4 PM



The epidemiologist whose modelling prompted the UK government to impose the first lockdown last March says he believes more action in the autumn of last year could have saved lives.
Speaking as more than 100,000 deaths were recorded, Prof Neil Ferguson told BBC Radio 4’s PM programme: "The new variant was unpredictable and did change our understanding of how much was needed to control spread, but we did just let the autumn wave get too far."
Asked if there was one thing that could have made a difference, he added: “In some sense back in March we had much less information to go on than in September.
"Had we acted both earlier and with greater stringency back in September when we first saw case numbers going up, and had a policy of keeping case numbers at reasonably low levels, then I think a lot of the deaths we’ve seen - not all by any means, but a lot of the deaths we’ve seen in the last four or five months - could have been avoided.”

How to help someone who's grieving

Amber set up her Grief Gang podcast after her mum Sue died

The figure of 100,000 deaths is a devastating number and it leaves behind many thousands of grieving friends and families. So how can you support someone through the loss of a loved one?
"For every person who dies, around eight to 10 people are significantly affected," psychotherapist Julia Samuel tells Radio 1 Newsbeat.
Restrictions on going to funerals and rules around household mixing mean the normal support networks might not be as easy to reach.
"Your friend will need your support for a lifetime," Amber Jeffrey says. Amber set up the Grief Gang podcast and Instagram page after her mum Sue died. She said the idea was to reach out to others like her.
Here's what you can do to help someone dealing with grief.

What it's like cooped up in 'Hotel Quarantine'

George Bowden - BBC News



The UK government is expected to announce plans for a form of hotel quarantine for international arrivals into the country.
While exact details of the policy remain unclear, similar schemes are already in place across the world, including in Australia and New Zealand.
Some travellers have been telling us about their experiences.
After finally securing her family's place in Australia's quarantine system, Keri McMenamin prepared for the worst - and ordered a vacuum cleaner.
The 38-year-old was returning to the country with her husband and two children after securing a job offer - leaving the UK in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic last year.
"It is literally luck of the draw," she says of where her family would spend 14 days together once they arrived. "You didn't know what to expect."
Read more about the experiences of Keri and others here.

Lockdown Measures In Spain, Denmark And The Netherlands Bring Citizens Out In Protest

Curfew stays despite riots in Dutch cities

In the Netherlands, the Dutch government says it will not lift a curfew, after a third night of violent protests against increased Covid curbs.
Shops in Rotterdam and other cities were looted and Finance Minister Wopke Hoekstra condemned the violence, saying: "It's scum doing this".
More than 180 arrests have been made.
The Dutch chief of police said the riots no longer had "anything to do with the basic right to demonstrate".
The criminal violence had to stop, said Prime Minister Mark Rutte.
A night-time curfew from 21:00 (20:00 GMT) to 04:30 (03:30 GMT) was imposed last Saturday to help to halt the spread of the virus. Anyone caught violating it faces a €95 (£84) fine.
Read more here

What's behind the Dutch riots?

Anna Holligan - BBC News Hague correspondent


Some of the worst violence was in Rotterdam

The ignition of discontent has rocked the core of Dutch society.
In the absence of any legitimate way to socialise, is this simply an outlet for young men to feel part of something, their masks concealing their identities and enabling them to violently channel their frustrations?
There are more sinister influences at play. Messages on social media, overt and covert, have whipped up anger. Misinformation has even been spread by some politicians.
Some feared a curfew would be a tipping point, as Dutch restrictions tighten while some neighbouring countries relax their rules. The vast majority of people in the Netherlands are peacefully observing the curfew.
The unrest was initially seen as a response to the first "stay-at-home" order imposed since Nazi occupation during World War Two. That notion has been dismissed by Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who said the rioters were simply criminals and would be treated as such.
But there are simmering anxieties in Dutch towns and cities, and with less than two months before a general election, voters are vulnerable and the streets volatile.

Denmark to pay mink farmers billions over Covid cull

Diggers tipped piles of dead mink into trenches in Denmark

Mink farmers in Denmark - the world’s largest producer of mink pelts until a coronavirus mass cull - have been given a compensation package worth more than 19 billion Danish kroner (£2.2bn).
It was voted through by MPs late on Monday.
The agriculture minister said it was a chance to move on, while the Danish mink breeders association said the industry would never return, as China and Poland could produce mink furs much more cheaply.
Mink farmers were ordered to destroy their entire stock of about 17 million animals last November, over fears that a mutant strain of Covid-19 could pass from mink to humans.
But chaos followed.
The scientific basis of the order came into question, and mass graves appeared to be poisoning soil and water supplies.
The issue led to the resignation of the previous agriculture minister.

Why are Palestinians not getting vaccines?

Reality Check
Israel has the highest per capita vaccination rate in the world - but vaccines are yet to be rolled out to Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, viewed as occupied territories by the international community.
Israel’s health minister says it is the Palestinian Authority’s responsibility to provide healthcare under an interim deal for self-rule in Palestinian areas.
But UN human rights experts say there are international rules about the duty of an occupying power to provide healthcare - although Israel often argues it isn't technically occupying the West Bank and Gaza.
Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem are entitled to be vaccinated against Covid - they have Israeli residency status. And medics working in Palestinian hospitals there are also getting vaccines.
Some health experts and business leaders have also called for Israel to include other Palestinians in its vaccine programme, as around tens of thousands of Palestinians travel daily to work in Israel and in Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health - which operates in the West Bank – said they are doing deals with four companies that will provide enough vaccines for 70% of its people, and will get another 20% from the World Health Organization-backed Covax scheme.
But there are few details at the moment about when vaccines will start or who will receive them.
Read more here

Was US vaccine roll-out a 'dismal failure' under Trump?

Jake Horton - BBC Reality Check
President Joe Biden has said that the US might be able to boost its daily vaccination roll-out targets after criticising the Trump administration’s record.
Biden, who has described the previous vaccine programme as a "dismal failure", has committed to getting 100 million vaccine doses done in his first 100 days and has since said: "I think we may be able to get that to 1.5 million a day, rather than one million a day."
Is he right about the vaccine roll-out under the Trump administration?
As of 20 January, when Biden became US president, about 16.5 million vaccines had been administered.
That is some way off the Trump administration's target of vaccinating 20 million people by the end of 2020. In fact, fewer than three million people had received a jab by 31 December.
Vaccinations have sped up since the start of the year.
The daily average for the week before Trump left office was less than 900,000, according to Our World in Data.
That figure has since risen above one million doses a day, and Biden has come under some scrutiny for not setting a more ambitious target.
When you look at the countries doing the most vaccinations by population, the US is fourth after Israel, the UAE and the UK in terms of doses per 100 people.
Read more here

Wuhan: Five days that shaped the outbreak

While the UK reaches a milestone in terms of the number of deaths today, it is one year ago that the Chinese government locked down the city of Wuhan.
For weeks beforehand, officials had maintained that the virus outbreak was under control - just a few dozen cases linked to a live animal market.
But in fact, coronavirus had been spreading throughout the city and around China.
We look back at those five critical days early on in the outbreak.

Plan to finally allow Philippines children outside scrapped

Michael Bristow - BBC World Service Asia Pacific editor
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has abandoned plans to allow some children out of their homes for the first time in 10 months.
They've been cooped up to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Under-15s have been unable to legally go outside since March - one of the toughest virus restrictions on children anywhere in the world.
It has had an effect on their schooling and mental health, as well as the economy because family trips have been impossible.
Last week though, the government finally said 10 to 14-year-olds would be allowed out from February.
But President Duterte has now rescinded that order after the more contagious UK variant of the virus was discovered.
Duterte told children they'd have to continue watching TV instead.

What's happened around the world today?

Thanks for joining us today. Here are some of the biggest developments from around the world.

• In the Netherlands, the government says it will not lift a curfew, after a third night of violent protests against increased Covid curbs across the country
  
• Germany's health ministry and AstraZeneca have rejected reports that cast doubt on the effectiveness of the drug-maker's vaccine for older adults
  
• President Joe Biden has said he expects the United States will soon be able to vaccinate 1.5 million people a day
  
• Italy has reported 541 coronavirus-related deaths, up from 420 the day before. It comes as Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte resigns amid divisions over spending in the pandemic
  
• Mink farmers in Denmark - the world’s largest producer of mink pelts until a coronavirus cull - have been given a compensation package worth around £2.2 billion
  
• People have been arrested for breaking Covid rules protesting against the culturally sensitive Australia Day holiday
  
• Thousands of teachers and students in France have been holding demonstrations to demand better working conditions during the pandemic
  
• The EU has warned vaccine producers they must deliver agreed supplies, amid fears reductions could seriously hamper its inoculation drive. AstraZeneca and Pfizer-BioNTech have both said production problems mean they cannot supply the expected numbers
  

What are the main UK developments today?

We're about to bring our coverage to an end. Here's what's been happening around the UK.

• It has been a bleak day in the progress of the pandemic as the number of people who have died with Covid-19 in the UK has surpassed 100,000
  
• The prime minister says he is "deeply sorry" and takes "full responsibility for everything that the government has done"
  
• The number of daily deaths is likely to come down "relatively slowly" before the effects of the current lockdown and vaccines are felt, the Chief Medical Officer Prof Chris Whitty has warned
  
• The total number of people in the UK who have received their first Covid jab is 6.8m
  
• But the Welsh government has missed its target of vaccinating 70% of people aged 80
  
• The number of people out of work has risen to 1.72m, its highest level in almost five years, amid the impact of the pandemic
  
• Ministers are holding talks about making travellers coming to England quarantine in hotels, with an announcement expected soon
  
• And 31 Met Police officers who broke coronavirus rules to get haircuts are facing £200 fines
  

Join us again tomorrow

Thanks for following our live updates today.
For more on the pandemic in the UK, Panorama this evening shares the stories of some of those who have lost their lives. It's called 100,000 Deaths and is on BBC One at 20:30 GMT.

Today's updates were brought to you by Alex Kleiderman, Alexandra Fouche, Claire Heald, Ella Wills, George Wright, Jennifer Meierhans, Justin Parkinson, Katie Wright, Lucy Webster and Sarah Collerton.