Coronavirus - 30th January 2021

Summary for Saturday, 30th January

• The EU reverses a decision to temporarily override part of the Brexit deal amid an ongoing row over Covid vaccine supplies in the bloc
  
• The move could have seen checks at the border of Ireland and Northern Ireland to prevent shipments entering the UK
  
• Northern Ireland First Minister Arlene Foster described the move as an "incredible act of hostility"
  
• France announces tough new Covid-19 border restrictions, closing its borders to most non-EU travel
  
• PM Boris Johnson publishes open letter to parents, saying he is “in awe” of how they are coping with home schooling
  
• The WHO urges the UK to pause its vaccination programme once vulnerable groups have had their jabs, to ensure the global rollout is fair
  
• Funeral directors consider asking bereaved families to agree in advance to pay any fines they might incur if their ceremony breaches Covid rules
  
• Australian Open organisers allow 30,000 spectators a day - half the number of fans who would usually be allowed in due to the pandemic
  

Good morning and thank you for joining us for updates on coronavirus in the UK and around the world. Here are the headlines this morning.

• The EU has reversed its decision to temporarily override part of the Brexit deal amid a row over Covid vaccine supplies in the bloc
  
• The move could have seen checks at the border of Ireland and Northern Ireland to stop jabs entering the UK "via the back door"
  
• Despite the U-turn, the EU says it has "no choice" but to press on with introducing export controls on vaccines
  
• UK PM Boris Johnson publishes an open letter to parents, saying he is "in awe" of how they are coping with home schooling. He has also promised "hundreds of millions of pounds" will be spent on a catch up programme after the pandemic
  
• The EU's drugs regulator has approved the use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid vaccine for all adults
  
• French PM Jean Castex announces tough new Covid-19 border restrictions, but has again resisted imposing a new nationwide lockdown
  
• Funeral directors in the UK say they might need to ask bereaved families to agree to pay any fines incurred if a service breaches coronavirus attendance limits
  

WHO team continues 'important' Wuhan probe

Stephen McDonell - BBC News, China correspondent, Wuhan


The WHO team visits the hospital which published research about Wuhan’s earliest known coronavirus case

The World Health Organization (WHO) team investigating the origins of the coronavirus has visited another hospital on the second day of their field work in Wuhan, China.
Doctors at the Jinyintan Hospital - the infectious diseases facility which treated many coronavirus patients in the early stages of the outbreak - have published research about Wuhan’s earliest known coronavirus case.
Scientists from the WHO came to this centre on their second full day out of quarantine.

• Searching for answers in Wuhan
  
• China's painful year of fighting the virus
  
• Wuhan marks its anniversary with triumph and denial
  

The WHO team is now able to visit sites like this for face-to-face interviews; however, their main role is to analyse work already carried out in China rather than conduct their own studies.
The international experts have said the process of tracking the origins of the coronavirus is highly complicated and may take years to complete.
One team member said the visit was an important opportunity to talk directly to medical staff involved at the time:

  Peter Daszak:
2nd day on-the-ground in Wuhan meeting w/ leaders & staff at the famous Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital that treated large numbers of severe COVID cases early in the outbreak. Important opportunity to talk directly w/ medics who were on the ground at that critical time fighting COVID!

EU's NI vaccine controls an 'incredible act of hostility'

Northern Ireland's first minister says the EU's vaccine control moves are "an absolutely incredible act of hostility" to the country.
Arlene Foster was responding after the EU threatened to temporarily override part of the Brexit deal to introduce checks at the border of Ireland and Northern Ireland to prevent shipments entering the UK. The EU has backtracked on the decision after an uproar from governments in London, Belfast and Dublin.
Foster told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "This was nothing to do with making sure that Northern Ireland was in a peaceful state and all to do with the European Union's vaccine embarrassment and mismanagement.
"It's absolutely disgraceful and the prime minister now needs to act very quickly to deal with the real trade flows that are being disrupted between Great Britain and Northern Ireland."

Ex-NI secretary says EU move was 'almost Trumpian'

Former Northern Ireland secretary Julian Smith has said "the EU cocked up big time" by threatening to override part of Northern Ireland Protocol under its coronavirus vaccine controls.
The Tory MP told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "Years have been spent trying to ensure goods will flow freely and there will be no hard border and last night the EU pulled the emergency cord without following any of the processes that are in the protocol if one side wants to suspend it.
"And they did that, in my view, without anywhere near the understanding of the Good Friday Agreement, of the sensitivity of the situation in Northern Ireland, and it was an almost Trumpian act.
"The relationships are complex, we need to spend much, much more time, much, much more money and much, much more resources in getting this relationship right. The EU cocked up big time last night but we all need to work in the interests of preserving Northern Ireland.
"It is not just a back door for goods going to Britain, it is a very sensitive place and we have a duty of care between the EU and the UK to preserve no hard border and stability in Northern Ireland."
Read the latest developments here.

Families could be asked to pay funeral fines

UK funeral directors say they might need to ask bereaved families to agree to pay any fines incurred if a service breaches coronavirus restrictions.
The National Association of Funeral Directors (NAFD) said it was "utterly ridiculous" its members risked penalties for doing a frontline job.
Rules vary across the UK but there are limits at funerals in all four nations.
One director was given a £10,000 fine after nearly 150 people turned up to a funeral in Hertfordshire.
Only up to 30 people are able to attend services in England.
The NAFD told the BBC that it is considering suggesting to its members that they ask families in some areas to guarantee the cost of any potential fines, in order to protect their businesses. You can read more here.

EU forced into U-turn after trying to block supply of Covid-19 vaccines into Northern Ireland

Jack Beresford - Irish Post
The EU has been forced to backtrack on plans to trigger a Brexit deal clause that would have seen border controls established on vaccine doses moving from the Republic into Northern Ireland.
It comes amid simmering tensions between the EU and UK after pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca announced it would only be able to deliver 25% of the 100m vaccine doses ordered by the European commission before the end of March. 
AstraZeneca has also refused to divert any of doses of the vaccine from UK plants in an attempt to make up the shortfall. 
In response the European commission announced all vaccine suppliers would be required to seek authorisation of their exports. 
Under the plans, exports of vaccines would be blocked if it was determined that they posed a threat to the timely delivery of doses from companies who have contracts with the EU. 
As part of the plans, the EU had hoped to trigger Article 16 of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement that would allow it to control exports between Northern Ireland and the Republic. 
This comes despite the terms of the Brexit withdrawal deal setting out that all goods should be allowed to move freely between the EU and Northern Ireland, with the region still part of the single market for goods. 
The proposed plan was put in motion as part of an effort to frustrate any potential attempt to use Northern Ireland as a back door to export vaccines to the UK. 
However, those plans now lie in tatters after DUP, Sinn Féin and both the British and Irish governments reacted with anger and concern to the proposals. 
The European commission walked back on proposal for the vaccine border after its president, Ursula von der Leyen, spoke directly to both the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the Irish Taoiseach, Micheál Martin. 
Johnson and Martin had earlier held what a No.10 spokesperson described as a “constructive discussion” on the matter. 
“The PM set out his concerns about the EU’s use of Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol and what these actions may mean for the two communities in Northern Ireland,” they said. 
“The PM stressed the UK’s enduring commitment to the Belfast/Good Friday agreement and said the EU must urgently clarify its intentions and what steps it plans to take to ensure its own commitments with regards to Northern Ireland are fully honoured. 
“The PM stressed the UK’s commitment to working together with other countries in response to the coronavirus pandemic.”

Micheál Martin

The European commission  later confirmed fresh plans would be drawn up for an export control mechanism that would “ensure that the Ireland/Northern Ireland protocol is unaffected”. 
“The commission is not triggering the safeguard clause,” the commission said. “Should transits of vaccines and active substances toward third countries be abused to circumvent the authorisation system, the EU will consider using all the instruments at its disposal.” 
Martin described the change of direction as a “welcome decision.”   
The EU’s attempts at blocking the supply of Covid-19 vaccines into the region drew strong criticism from parties across the political spectrum in Northern Ireland. 
Stormont First Minister Arlene Foster was among those to condemn the plan, branded the EU’s triggering of Article 16 of Brexit’s Northern Ireland Protocol an “incredible act of hostility”. 
“By triggering Article 16 in this manner, the European Union has once again shown it is prepared to use Northern Ireland when it suits their interests but in the most despicable manner – over the provision of a vaccine which is designed to save lives,” she said. 
“At the first opportunity, the EU has placed a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland over the supply chain of the coronavirus vaccine” 
Deputy First Minister and Sinn Fein vice president Michelle O’Neill expressed similar concerns describing the move as “totally ill judged” on social media. 
“Calm heads need to prevail, this needs sorted urgently,” she added.


SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said the plan was “a grave error of judgment that undermines the work that has taken place over the last five years to defend the interests of people on this island.” 
“I am a proud European because I believe in co-operation, compromise and solidarity across national borders. This decision sadly places the commission at odds with those values,” he added. 
Ulster Unionist leader Steve Aiken felt the EU had let Northern Ireland down.
“For weeks now we have been told that Article 16 cannot be invoked accompanied by all sorts of feeble excuses for not doing so. The EU has unilaterally blown that concept out of the water by invoking Article 16.” 
"Despite EU claims that they always acted in the best interests of Northern Ireland, when push came to shove, the EU looked after itself.” 
Alliance Party MP Stephen Farry also reacted with fury to the idea.
“We don’t need a vaccine war, and other alternatives exist for the EU to manage its vaccine supply," he said.
“The situation in Northern Ireland is already fragile and we should not be placed at the centre of this dispute.” 
Traditional Unionist Voice leader Jim Allister, meanwhile, said the EU was showing its “callous” true colours. 
He said: “This afternoon’s invocation of Article 16 of the protocol to inhibit exports of Covid vaccines from the EU to Northern Ireland is the most telling illustration imaginable that for the EU the protocol is a plaything to be exploited when it suits its selfish interests. 
“The idea that the EU cares anything for Northern Ireland or its people is exposed as utterly bogus.”

The Papers: 'EU vaccine war explodes', and Macron 'attacks' Oxford jab

Let's have a look at some of the front pages being laid out in newsagents this morning - and there are no prizes for guessing the story that leads most of them.
The Sun declares: "Now EU really are giving us the needle." MPs accused Brussels chiefs of "behaving like the mafia", according to the Daily Express.
The Daily Mail updated its first edition to say the EU had performed what it called a "screeching U-turn". And the backtrack is dubbed "humiliating" in the Guardian's story.
Read our full newspaper review here.

'Vaccinate the world's vulnerable first'

Coronavirus vaccines should be given to all vulnerable groups and health workers across the globe before each country starts giving the jabs out more widely, the World Health Organisation (WHO) says.
This is morally and economically "the right thing to do", WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris told BBC Breakfast.
She says: "There have been a number of very interesting analyses showing that just vaccinating your own country and then sitting there and saying 'we're fine' will not work economically.
"We're so connected and unless we get all societies working effectively once again, every society will be financially effected."
When asked to clarify whether once the UK has vaccinated the top nine priority groups, it should help efforts elsewhere instead of continuing its own immunisations, Ms Harris says: "We're asking all countries in those circumstances to do that - 'hang on, wait for those other groups'.
"Rather than rushing to vaccinate one country, we need to be doing the lot and we need to be doing it together."

Analysis: Despite U-turn, the damage was already done

Katya Adler - Europe Editor
"Mistake," "misjudgement," "blunder."
These are just some of words EU insiders have been using privately to describe the European Commission's initial decision on Friday to suspend areas of the Brexit deal dealing with Northern Ireland.
Although it then U-turned on those plans, critics say the damage was already done.
Brussels previously lectured the UK government about respecting the Irish Protocol - which was painfully and carefully drafted during Brexit negotiations.
Now the EU seems quick to undermine the agreement.
Member state Ireland felt stung that it hadn't been consulted. This all adds to the impression of chaos surrounding the EU's vaccine rollout.
Brussels was already under fire from a growing number of EU countries for having been slow to sign vaccine contracts with pharmaceutical companies.
This "mishap" over the Irish Protocol as Spain's Foreign Minister called it, hasn't exactly helped the commission's reputation.

Oxford don criticises France's Macron over vaccine claims

Sir John Bell, a professor who is part of the Oxford University vaccine team, has accused French president Emmanuel Macron of "demand management" over his claims the AstraZeneca vaccine is "quasi-ineffective" for the over-65s.
The professor told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I'm not sure where he got that from."
He acknowledged an original study only had small numbers of elderly people, with many shielding themselves from the pandemic, but added: "The numbers still pointed toward a very highly effective vaccine but the numbers were small, in fairness, we always accepted that."
But he said other studies proved "elderly people responded just as well in other age groups" and that "there's really persuasive evidence that this is a protective vaccine in those populations".
"I suspect this is a bit of demand management from Mr Macron," he added. Pressed if he thinks he is trying to reduce demand, Sir John said: "Well, if he didn't have any vaccine the best thing you could do is reduce demand."

Explained: What is the Northern Ireland protocol?

The Northern Ireland protocol was part of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement (remember that?). It set out special arrangements for Northern Ireland, to avoid the need for checks along the Irish border.
The controversy over the European Union's vaccination programme came after delays and supply problems led the European Commission to introduce export controls on vaccines produced in the EU.
Part of this was a decision to temporarily override part of the Brexit deal to allow checks at the border of Ireland and Northern Ireland to prevent shipments entering the UK.
It prompted uproar and led to a swift U-turn. Read more about Brexit's impact on Northern Ireland here.

France closes borders to most non-EU travel

France has announced tough new Covid-19 border restrictions, closing its borders to most non-EU travel, but stopped short of imposing a third national lockdown.
From Sunday, all but essential travel from outside of the EU will be banned. Testing requirements from inside the EU will also be tightened.
Police will increase their enforcement of an evening curfew and other rules already in place, PM Jean Castex said in a televised statement on Friday evening.
"We know the grave impact [of a lockdown]. Tonight, looking at the data of the past few days, we consider that we can still give ourselves a chance to avoid one," he said.
Infections remain high in France, despite recent rule tightening.
The new restrictions will affect the UK, now no longer in the EU, but UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said on Twitter the change would not impact hauliers transporting goods to or from the UK.

  Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP:
French PM Jean Castex has announced that France is to close its borders to all countries outside the EU from Sunday. However, I can confirm that this does NOT apply to hauliers, so trade will continue to flow smoothly.

Analysis: 'Something went badly awry' over EU NI controls

John Campbell - BBC News NI Economics and Business Editor
The Irish government and its diplomats have spent a huge amount of time and energy educating their EU partners on the nuances of the Irish border.
During the Brexit negotiations there was a slick operation where visiting dignitaries and camera crews were whisked up the road from Dublin airport to see the border in County Louth.
This paid dividends for Ireland: its concerns remained top of the EU’s priorities during the negotiations.
Some of the European Commission’s most talented officials were deeply involved in the Irish elements of the Brexit deals.
But something clearly went badly awry on Friday.
The use of the Article 16 mechanism, to override part of the Brexit deal, caught the Irish government by surprise.
Those Commission officials with special knowledge of Ireland were either not consulted or not listened to.
Dick Roche, Ireland’s former Europe Minister, told the BBC that the government had been ‘blindsided’ and ‘embarrassed.’
He said the Taoiseach had been ‘very annoyed’ and made ‘very strong representation’ to the Commission.

Man charged over suspicious package at vaccine plant

A man has been charged after a suspicious package was sent to a Covid-19 vaccine production plant in North Wales.
The item, which police say "was not a viable device", was sent to Wockhardt UK's plant on Wrexham Industrial Estate where the Oxford-AstraZeneca is being made.
The package arrived on Wednesday morning and the plant was evacuated and the surrounding area cordoned off while an army bomb disposal team investigated.
Anthony Collins, 53, of Chatham Hill, Chatham was arrested by Kent Police officers on Thursday.
He has been charged with dispatching an article by post with the intention of inducing the belief it is likely to explode or ignite and will appear in court later.

Australian Open to allow half the usual number of fans

More than 812,000 people attended the Australian Open in 2020

Spectator numbers for the Australian Open will be restricted to about half seen in previous years, it has been announced.
A daily crowd capacity of 30,000 will be permitted for the first eight days of the tennis tournament, split equally between day and night sessions. It will then be reduced to 25,000 from the quarter-finals
"Over the 14 days, it means we will have up to 390,000 people here at Melbourne Park, about 50% of the average over the past few years," Victoria state's sports minister Martin Pakula said.
The Australian Open runs from 8-21 February in Melbourne.
Melbourne endured one of the world's longest lockdowns last year and many locals have concerns about the potential Covid-19 risk posed by the tournament.

The devastating toll of the pandemic on children

From increasing rates of mental health problems to concerns about rising levels of abuse and neglect, the pandemic is threatening to have a devastating legacy on the nation's young.
BBC health correspondent Nick Triggle says children are not likely to get seriously ill with Covid - but they are still the victims of the virus in many other ways.
For one, the closure of schools is, of course, damaging to children's education. But schools are not just a place for learning. They are places where kids socialise, develop emotionally and, for some, a refuge from troubled family life.
Read more

Swedish nurse wins Gothenburg film festival's isolation prize

Maddy Savage - BBC News, Stockholm
A Swedish emergency care nurse has won a global competition to watch the Gothenburg Film Festival’s entire 60-film programme from an isolated island off the west coast of Sweden.
Lisa Enroth beat 12,000 film fans from around the world who applied to spend a week living alone in a lighthouse without a phone, computer, books or any other form of entertainment.
Organisers said they were searching for a genuine movie fan who was emotionally and psychologically up to the task.
Mirja Wester, the festival’s CEO, said it felt right to give the unique opportunity to one of the many heroes working in healthcare during the pandemic.
After months working on Covid-19 wards, Ms Enroth said she was “drained of energy” and was looking forward to experiencing the wind, waves and the possibility of being part of a totally different kind of reality.
The nurse usually lives in Skovde - a small city east of Gothenburg where she’s part of a local movie club. Now she’ll be exposing her film reviewing skills to the world, posting a daily video diary from the island, where she was taken to by boat early on Saturday morning.

  Fokus:
Sjuksköterskan Lisa Enroth, 41, isoleras i en fyr – för att kolla på film
https://www.fokus.se/2021/01/sjukskoterskan-lisa-enroth-41-isoleras-i-en-fyr-for-att-kolla-pa-film/

'My reaction was to reach for the wine'

Last night Stephen Kelly's phone rang off the hook, writes Katie Prescott, business correspondent. As Chief Executive of Manufacturing Northern Ireland his members were clamouring to know what on earth the European Commission's decision meant for their businesses.
"We'd just started to get used to the new regime - and now they want to rip it all up again? My reaction was to reach for the wine," he says. "Getting to the Brexit deal has been a tortuous tormented journey and yesterday was an extraordinary, worrying episode."
For business, the decision to trigger Article 16 and the subsequent U-turn was a test that delivered a swift result, but raised the spectre of many more.
A month on from the Brexit deal and companies were aghast at the prospect that the European Commission could so quickly trigger a change that was only meant for the most egregious circumstances.
Could this be a passing flurry, a storm in a teacup because of panic over the vaccine? Or could it be the start of a trigger happy commission with future consequences for trade?
One senior figure told me that the decision didn't even really make sense - given the EU is not responsible for vaccine distribution in Northern Ireland and none of it is made there.
Business is anxious about this perceived irrationality and the scale and speed at which it was implemented, disproportionate to events. The Brexit deal and Northern Irish protocol which eliminated the need for a border on the island of Ireland is, businesses feel, vital for maintaining peace and prosperity.
Arlene Foster said this morning that the protocol isn't working. There are indeed trade issues relating to the implementation of barriers between Great Britain and Northern Ireland - delays, cancellations. But experts say the protocol is doing exactly as it was planned to do - which is ensuring goods can flow friction free across the island of Ireland's border.
And as Stephen Kelly emphasises, it gives businesses at least four years of certainty until it is voted on by the Northern Irish Assembly. He says that while Article 16's existence has always left business with an uneasy sense of instability lurking in the background, its triggering last night just enhanced that.

Hancock has 'constructive' vaccine talks with NI health minister

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has spoken to his counterpart in Northern Ireland, Robin Swann, over the supply of coronavirus vaccines after the EU imposed export controls.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: "The health secretary and minister of health for Northern Ireland had a constructive discussion on the supply of Covid-19 vaccines."
It is the latest in a series of developments in the past 24 hours after the EU said it would move to check exports of vaccines produced in the bloc.

Couple marry on hospital Covid ward

A couple have married on a hospital coronavirus ward after an urgent appeal for a registrar.
Phillip, 78, and Patricia, 88, from Coventry, tied the knot at the city's University Hospital where Patricia is being treated for Covid-19.
Their wedding came after hospital staff member Joanna Shakespeare appealed on Twitter for help to find a registrar.
The NHS trust says it was "an afternoon we won't forget".
The couple have known each other for more than 46 years after first meeting on the set of a pantomime they were both working on.
The trust say they were planning to marry after the pandemic but after waiting a year their plans changed and they asked for help from hospital staff.

US records 90,844 Covid deaths in January alone

Close to 100,000 coronavirus-related deaths have been recorded in the United States since New Year's Day, according to Johns Hopkins University data.
So far in January, 90,844 deaths have been reported, a record monthly high, data on the university's Covid dashboard showed.
Some 23,274 of those deaths were reported in the week 10 January to 16 January, itself a record week, with a further 22,652 reported over the following seven days.
According to Johns Hopkins, there have now been a total of 436,799 Covid deaths in the US since the pandemic began.

What's happening in the UK and around the world?

If you're just joining us, or need a recap on the day's news so far, here's where we're at:

• The US has recorded nearly 100,000 coronavirus-related deaths this month. A total of 90,844 deaths have been recorded since New Year's Day, bringing the total deaths to 436,799, according to Johns Hopkins University data
  
• NI's first minister is calling on the UK PM to override part of the Brexit agreement to deal with problems moving goods between the two countries
  
• Arlene Foster is reacting after the EU reversed its decision to use the same mechanism to control the export of vaccines from the EU into NI
  
• EU countries have a big shortfall in vaccines and there was concern the Irish border could be used as a back door to get jabs into the UK
  
• But the World Health Organization (WHO) says such measures were "vaccine nationalism" that risked "prolonging the pandemic"
  
• WHO is calling for vaccines to be given to all vulnerable groups and health workers across the globe before each country starts giving the jabs out more widely
  
• France has announced tough new Covid-19 border restrictions, closing its borders to most non-EU travel, but stopped short of imposing a third national lockdown
  
• Meanwhile, a man has been charged after a suspicious package was sent to a Covid-19 vaccine production plant in North Wales
  
• Environmental groups have called for a review into HS2 in the light of the pandemic
  
• The UK prime minister has written an open letter to parents saying he is "in awe" of the way they are coping with home schooling
  
• And the Australian Open will allow about half its average number of fans when it gets under way next month
  

Apology after children invited for Covid vaccine

Health bosses have apologised after some clinically extremely vulnerable children were mistakenly sent letters inviting them for a Covid vaccination.
In the UK, no-one under the age of 16 has been advised to have a vaccine yet.
But Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) said a "processing error" meant the letter was sent to children.
A statement said: "We are extremely sorry for this mix-up" and told anyone who received the letter to ignore it.
So who should be getting vaccinated? The jabs are being given to the most vulnerable first, with a list of nine high-priority groups being followed.
You can read more details about that here.

Vatican Museums to reopen

The Vatican Museums, including the Sistine Chapel, will reopen on Monday after being closed for 88 days due to coronavirus restrictions - the longest closure since World War II.The world-famous collections will open their doors to the public from Monday to Saturday, but visitors must pre-book tickets and will be given timed entry slots, bosses say.

US students stage tuition strike

Students at Columbia University in the US are withholding tuition fees for the spring semester and refusing to pay for remote learning during the pandemic in the face of what they say are steep costs, US media report.
They want the Ivy League university to lower its prices along with other changes.
Some 1,000 students have pledged not to pay tuition, according to the group that organised the protest.
In a letter to the presidents, trustees and administrators of Columbia University, Barnard College and Teachers College, they demanded that the university "alleviate the economic burden on students" by decreasing tuition by at least 10% and increasing financial aid by at least 10%.
The Columbia-Barnard chapter of the Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA) began organising the strike in October, and said students began withholding tuition on Friday of last week when payments were due, reports say.
Tuition for undergraduates for an academic year are close to $60,000 (£44,000).

Footballer 'an idiot' for posting haircut photo

Joelinton shared a picture of himself in Tom Baxter's salon on Friday


A barber to the stars has called a Premier League ace an "idiot" for sharing a photo of himself getting an illegal lockdown haircut.
Stylist Tom Baxter cut Newcastle United forward Joelinton's hair on Friday, but the Brazilian forward shared a photograph of the moment on Instagram.
The crimper says it was obvious many footballers were getting professional cuts done, adding that if "I didn't do it someone else would".
He does, however, accept he "is not above the law" regarding Covid rules.
Mr Baxter says Joelinton's visit was part of a photoshoot which could be allowed under the rules, although the stylist said he "should not have" cut his hair and Joelinton was an "idiot" for putting it on social media.
He says he is expecting a visit from the police and will "accept what's handed down to me".

Public loo closures 'debilitating and degrading'

Miriam Barker - BBC News
Sianny Thomas, 34, has Inflammatory Bowel Disease and believes many councils did not consider people like her before closing some public toilets during the pandemic.
"It can be so debilitating. It's a horrible feeling, needing the toilet and not being able to go," she said.
"Conditions like mine are exasperated by stress, and it's a spiral for people, when they get stressed the condition worsens and they deteriorate, knowing the toilets were open would give people a lot of relief."
It can also be a problem for homeless people and parents with young children, Sianny added.
Richard Edwards, chief executive of rough sleepers charity Huggard, said public safety came first and keeping toilets open during the pandemic was difficult but he said the current stay-at-home order "ignores the fact that too many people don't have a home".
"Without public toilets or other accessible facilities, people who find themselves sleeping rough have no alternative but to relieve themselves in the street," he said.
"This is personally degrading and socially unacceptable."
Read more here.

Police swoop on large gatherings with new £800 fines

Increased fines for illegal indoor gatherings of more than 15 people in England came into effect on Friday - with police quickly issuing the tougher penalties.
Sixteen people were fined £800 each at a Plymouth house party on Saturday morning by Devon and Cornwall Police.
Sgt Dan Brenchley said the party was an example of a "small minority" who were "continually flouting" lockdown rules.
The new £800 penalty is a £600 increase on the previous fine for big indoor groups. The penalty for attending illegal indoor gatherings of 15 or fewer people remains £200, while fines of up to £10,000 for holding large illegal gatherings of over 30 people still only apply to organisers.
Read more here.

Malaysia records highest daily increase in coronavirus cases

Malaysia has reported its largest daily increase in coronavirus cases, recording 5,728 new cases and 13 further deaths.
The new cases takes the total of infections in the country to 209,661, and the number of fatalities from the pandemic to 746.

Indonesia reports highest daily rise in cases

Indonesia has reported its highest ever daily increase in coronavirus cases, with a further 14,518 cases recorded. This takes its total number of recorded cases to just over 1.06 million.
A further 210 people lost their lives to the virus, taking the country’s national death toll to 29,728.

More than 1,000 people in the UK have died of Covid each day of January

More than 1,000 people in the UK have died of coronavirus on average each day in January, making it the deadliest month of the pandemic so far by the government’s official records.
The news comes as the UK marks the first anniversary of its first coronavirus death today.
As of Thursday, a total of 28,171 deaths had occurred in the UK between 1 and 28 January. The figures refer to the government’s count of Covid deaths occurring within 28 days of a positive test.
This easily tops the previous highest death toll, which was seen at the height of the first wive in April. Then, the equivalent death toll stood at 24,070 deaths, an average of 802 deaths a day.
You can read the full story here

Norway to ease lockdown measures from Wednesday

Norway will start to gradually ease lockdown measures in its capital region from 3 February, with some shops and recreational activities able to reopen from then onwards, the health minister, Bent Høie, has announced.
The region had been under stricter measures following the outbreak of the new, more contagious variant of coronavirus, first discovered in the UK. It marked the first time that all non-essential shops had been closed.
“Infections are going down continuously in Norway and we now have a better overview over the outbreak and spread,” Høie said at news conference, although he said that situation around Oslo remained uncertain.
Stores that are not in shopping centres will be allowed to reopen on Wednesday, as will restaurants. However, they cannot serve alcohol.
Restrictions on schools will also be eased gradually, allowing for more classroom teaching and bigger groups of students, although this will depend on local conditions.

From lockdowns to pool parties: how Covid rules vary around the world

Countries around the world have tackled coronavirus restrictions differently, diverging over their approach issues including to socialising, schools and travel.
From France to Brazil, Italy to China, our reporters look at how different countries have tackled the pandemic - and with what success.
Read more

96 foreigners fined at Austrian ski resort

The Guardian
Austrian police have fined 96 foreigners at the ski resort of St Anton am Arlberg for breaching public health rules on entering the country and the national lockdown.
The mayor of St Anton, which is one of Austria’s most popular resorts, said dozens of young tourists from across Europe had recently come to his town despite the lockdown restrictions in place. Ski lifts are open, but hotels in the area are closed to tourists.
Fifteen police officers were involved in the operation, and those caught in violation of the rules face fines of €2,180 (around £1,920).
Police said that “Britons, Danes, Swedes, Romanians, Germans, Australians, Irish people and Poles were checked and fined.”


General aerial view taken on 23 April 2020 shows the village and ski resort of St Anton am Arlberg in Tyrol, Austria. Photograph: Johann Groder/EXPA/AFP via Getty Images

Austria, which has a population of just under 9 million people, has recorded 413,208 cases and 7,703 deaths from coronavirus.
The country has been in its third national lockdown since Boxing Day, with non-essential shops closed. However, there have been some controversial loopholes in the restrictions. Regular skiers cannot stay overnight at a resort, but despite this, ski teacher training courses were allowed to be held for European visitors, and saw a number of coronavirus clusters emerged at the courses.
In St Antons, some travellers appear to have got round restrictions by fraudulently claiming to be looking for work. Tourist accommodation is only available to business travellers, and St Anton’s mayor Helmut Mall has said new arrivals there have registered a local address saying they are looking for work even though there are no jobs available.

More countries tighten their borders

France is imposing new border restrictions from tomorrow to slow the spread of coronavirus and the import of new variants.
All but essential travel from outside the EU will be banned and testing requirements on travellers from within the EU will be tightened.
So what's happening in other countries?

• From Saturday,Germany has banned most travellers from countries hit hard by new variants. The countries are the UK, Ireland, Portugal, Brazil, South Africa, Lesotho and Eswatini.
  
• The move is expected to last until 17 February.
  
• Also from Saturday, the Czech Republic has banned non-essential entry into the country, again to try to curb the new variants.
  
• Portugal on Thursday banned non-essential overseas travel by air, land or sea for its citizens for a fortnight.
  
• Belgium on Wednesday banned non-essential trips out of the country until 1 March.
  
• In contrast, Italy said on Friday it would move more areas into less-restrictive rules from Monday, despite health officials warning it was risky. No areas would be classified as "red", which brings tough travel and business restrictions.
  

Read more here.

Shielding extended for 130,000 people in Wales

Around 130,000 people who are clinically extremely vulnerable to the coronavirus are being asked to keep shielding in Wales until the end of March.
The group - many of whom have underlying health conditions - were originally advised to stay at home and isolate from others during the first wave last year.
This was paused in August, but resumed before Christmas amid a rise in cases linked to the new virus variant.
The Welsh Government has extended the current shielding period from 7 February until 31 March. Guidance for those shielding elsewhere in the UK has yet to be updated.
All those deemed clinically extremely vulnerable are treated as a priority for the UK's vaccination programme.
Read more here.

Vietnam has approved its first coronavirus vaccine, the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine

It was approved on Saturday morning amid the worst outbreak the country has seen during its highly successful response to the pandemic.
Vietnam has so far had a highly successful response to the coronavirus pandemic, recording just 1,767 cases and 35 deaths since the disease was first detected a year ago out of population of 98 million people, according to Reuters. Its success has been attributed to mass testing and a centralised quarantine programme.
However, the country is currently tackling its worst outbreak of the virus yet, recording 208 new cases after the discovery two locally transmitted cases in the northern province of Hai Duong on Thursday.
On Saturday, Vietnam locked down two remote districts in the coffee-growing central highlands province of Gia Lai after at least five people there tested positive for the virus, Reuters said, citing the government.
The virus has spread to Hanoi, where the ruling party is holding its five-yearly congress to select a new leadership. According to state media, congress has been cut short and will now end on Monday, although the reason for this has not been confirmed.

Stricter restrictions for Europeans arriving in Iran

Travellers to Iran from Europe will be required to self-quarantine for two weeks after testing negative upon arrival, a health official said, Reuters reports.
Travellers from other regions, including neighbouring countries, will have to have tested negative before arrival in the country, Alireza Raisi, spokesman for the national coronavirus taskforce, said on state TV.
Raisi said travellers arriving from Europe should have negative test results, would be tested again and would have to self-quarantine even if their test is negative, state media reported.
Previously, people coming from Europe were only required to test negative.
He did not say when exactly the new measures will go into effect, saying only “from now on”.
Meanwhile, health officials said the Iranian-manufactured Barekat vaccine was found to be effective against the highly contagious coronavirus variant that emerged in Britain.

Vaccination roll-out begins in Algeria

Algeria symbolically launched its vaccination campaign on Saturday in the town where the country’s first case of infection with the coronavirus was confirmed in March, Associated Press reports.
A 65-year-old retiree got the first shot of Russia’s Sputnik-V vaccine at a hospital in the town of Blida, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) southwest of the capital, Algiers, in the presence of health authorities.
“All measures have been taken to ensure a good rollout of the vaccination campaign on the national territory,” Health Minister Abderrahmane Benbouzid said.
Vaccines will start being administered in all regions of the country on Sunday. The campaign is set to start with health care workers, the elderly and other vulnerable populations.
Algeria received its first shipment of vaccines Friday at the Boufarik military airport, west of Algiers. Authorities did not indicate how many arrived, though the government had said it had ordered a first batch of 500,000 doses.
The government said it is also negotiating acquisition of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Algeria has lost at least 2,884 lives to the coronavirus pandemic and confirmed more than 106,000 cases.
Algerians have been frustrated by repeated broken promises of an imminent Covid vaccine rollout. Concerns are also growing about Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, convalescing for more than a month in an undisclosed location in Germany after suffering Covid side effects.

EU to publish revised rules after Covid vaccine border fiasco

Daniel Boffey - The Guardian
Brussels will publish a revised regulation to potentially block vaccine exports out of the EU on Saturday, after an international outcry over its initial plans to erect an export border for doses on the island of Ireland.
The European commission’s newly drafted implementing regulation is expected to be both unveiled and come into force on Saturday with officials insisting they would now “ensure that the Ireland-Northern Ireland protocol is unaffected”.
The original plans sought to avoid leaving a backdoor open for vaccines to be exported into the UK from the EU through Northern Ireland, as part of the commission’s new export register mechanism.
You can read the full piece here.

681 further deaths reported in England

A further 681 people who tested positive for the coronavirus in England have died, taking the total number of confirmed deaths in hospitals to 71,226, NHS England has said.
The youngest patient who died was aged 18, and the oldest was 101. The dates of their deaths range from 11 November 2020 to 29 January 2021.
All except 23 people, who were aged 47 to 92 years old, had known underlying health conditions.
The deaths are broken down by region as follows:
East of England - 93
London - 136
Midlands - 134
North East & Yorkshire - 57
North West - 88
South East – 155
South West - 18

Northern Ireland reports a further 17 Covid-19 related deaths

A further 17 people have died after testing positive for Covid-19 in Northern Ireland.
PA Media reports:

This brings the toll in the region to 1,831 as hospitals remained under pressure on Saturday, caring for 713 Covid-positive patients, including 69 in ICU.
While strict lockdown measures remain in force across Northern Ireland, the number of new cases continues to rise each day.
On Saturday, the department of health confirmed another 455 positive cases.
There have been 3,841 new cases across the last seven days and 103,534 across the pandemic to date.
Meanwhile, more than 220,000 doses of coronavirus vaccines have been administered so far.

A further 1,200 coronavirus deaths in the UK

A further 1,200 people have died with coronavirus in the UK, according to the government's daily figures.
This takes the total number of people to die within 28 days of a positive test to 105,571.
A further 23,275 coronavirus cases have been recorded in the UK, according to government data.
That's down on yesterday's figure of 29,079 positive tests.
The number of deaths recorded today - 1,200 is only slightly lower than Friday's total of 1,245.
The number of people who have received their first vaccine is 8,378,940 and 480,432 people have received their second dose.

Italy reports 421 coronavirus-related deaths on Saturday

Italy reported 421 coronavirus-related deaths on Saturday, down from 477 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections fell to 12,715 from 13,574.
Some 298,010 tests for Covid-19 were carried out in the past day, against a previous 268,750, the health ministry said.
Italy’s overall Covid-19 death toll now stands at 88,279, the second-highest toll in Europe after the UK’s and the sixth-highest in the world.
Patients in hospital with Covid-19 - not including those in intensive care - stood at 20,098 on Saturday, compared with 20,397 a day earlier, Reuters reports.
A further 132 people were admitted to intensive care units, down from 148 the day before. The total number of intensive care patients stood at 2,218, down slightly from 2,270 on Friday.
When Italy’s second wave of the epidemic was accelerating quickly in the first half of November, hospital admissions were rising by about 1,000 per day, while intensive care occupancy was increasing by about 100 per day.

Today's news from the UK and beyond

Thanks for following our updates, we are drawing them to a close now so here's a look at the news of the day.

• The EU "made a mistake" in triggering a Brexit emergency clause in a bid to control Covid vaccine exports, the UK's Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove said
  
• The move, which the EU has since reversed, could have reimposed checks at the Irish border, he said adding that the EU had now agreed to a "reset" and "to put the people of NI first"
  
• NIs first minister said the EU's actions were an "act of hostility"
  
• Gove also said the UK's vaccine supply will continue as planned and is "on track" to deliver 15 million jabs by 15 February
  
• The World Health Organization says the EU's move on the NI border is "vaccine nationalism" that risks "prolonging the pandemic"
  
• It is calling for vaccines to be given to all vulnerable groups and health workers across the globe before each country starts giving the jabs out more widely
  
• In the UK, a further 1,200 deaths and 23,275 covid cases were reported in the government's daily figures
  
• Meanwhile, the US has recorded nearly 100,000 coronavirus-related deaths this month. A total of 90,844 deaths have been recorded since New Year's Day, bringing the total deaths to 436,799, according to Johns Hopkins University data
  
• And France has announced tough new Covid-19 border restrictions, closing its borders to most non-EU travel, but stopped short of imposing a third national lockdown
  

Thanks for joining us - we'll be back with more coverage tomorrow.