Coronavirus - 30th April 2021

• Coronavirus infections in the UK are back to levels seen at the end of last summer, ONS data suggests
  
• The R value in England is estimated to be between 0.8 and 1.1
  
• About 22 million people in UK are now living in areas which had zero Covid deaths in April, BBC analysis shows
  
• All people over 40 in England are being invited for vaccination, as 90% of over-45s have received at least one jab
  
• Shops, gyms, pubs, restaurants and cafes in Northern Ireland are reopening - but hospitality is outdoors only
  
• Liverpool will hold the first pilot of a live music event, with an audience of 3,000 people and no social distancing
  
• India sees the world's biggest recorded one-day rise in infections as Delhi runs short of sites for cremations
  
• Covid-19 deaths have passed 400,000 in Brazil, which has the second-highest death toll in the world
  

• About 22 million people in the UK are living in areas which saw zero reported Covid deaths in April, BBC analysis shows. This “give us confidence” as the country carefully eases restrictions, one expert said.
  
• All people aged 40 and over in England are being invited to book their Covid vaccinations. It comes as NHS England said 90% of people over-45 have had at least one jab.
  
• Shops and gyms are reopening in Northern Ireland, while pubs, restaurants and cafes will be able to serve outside from today.
  
• But across the UK, bar and restaurant owners say they are struggling to recruit staff for reopening, with many hospitality workers having left the industry or moved out of the UK.
  
• Amazon has reported a huge rise in sales and a tripling of profits in the first three months of the year, as the online retailer continues to benefit from the home delivery boom during the pandemic.
  
• Police in Delhi have asked local authorities to identify more sites for cremation as India tackles its Covid surge. The nation reported the world’s biggest one-day rise in infections on Thursday, with 386,452 recorded.
  
• And deaths in Brazil from Covid-19 have passed 400,000 as the country struggled with its vaccine rollout. Congress has opened an inquiry into the government’s handling of the pandemic.
  
• India posted a record daily rise in coronavirus cases of 386,452, while deaths from Covid-19 jumped by 3,498 over the last 24 hours, according to health ministry data.
  
• Several Indian states have run out of Covid-19 vaccines a day before a planned widening of a nationwide inoculation drive, authorities have said.
  
• Indian scientists have appealed in an open letter to prime minister Narendra Modi to publicly release virus data that they say would allow them to save lives.
  
• British bank Barclays says it has rushed out £1m ($1.4m) worth of medical supplies to India in the last week.
  
• Ukraine will impose an entry ban on non-nationals arriving from India from 2 May.
  
• Uganda has detected the Indian variant of the novel coronavirus, igniting fears the nation could suffer a resurgence of cases just when its outbreak has waned.
  
• Shops and pubs, restaurants and cafes with outdoor service have started to reopen in Northern Ireland after four months of lockdown. Its vaccination programme is also to be opened up to some 30- to 34-year-olds
  
• Access to vaccinations in England has been expanded again – with all over-40s being offered the opportunity to book their jabs.
  
• A new survey suggests that 31% of people in the UK believe vaccine passports will reduce civil liberties. That number is up from 25% when people were asked the same question last month.
  
• In Ireland, drinkers may be able to enjoy a pint inside a pub by the end of July and holiday abroad in late summer, prime minister Micheál Martin has said.
  
• Hopes are rising in Germany that the country has managed to flatten the curve of its third wave of the pandemic, as the latest infection rates defy worst-case predictions from earlier this spring.
  
• AstraZeneca’s CEO Pascal Soriot told a media briefing that the company did its best to deliver as much as it could to the EU. “We never overpromised, we communicated what we thought we would achieve at the time,” he said.
  
• In Cambodia a court has jailed three people, including a top police general, for more than a year for violating Covid-19 restrictions by attending a party.
  
• Russia’s agricultural regulator has said that Russia has produced the world’s first batch – 17,000 doses – of Covid-19 vaccines for animals.
  

What's the latest across Europe?

• Portugal lifts lockdown restrictions imposed in January at midnight on all but eight municipalities, after seeing infection rates fall to the lowest level in the European Union. The border with Spain will reopen for essential travel after several months, sport will be allowed without spectators and from tomorrow restaurants can stay open until 22:30.
  
• France begins its four-phase reopening from Monday, President Emmanuel Macron has told local newspapers. From Monday you can travel without restriction beyond the 10km (6 mile) current limit. Then from 19 May museums, cinemas and theatres will reopen and people can eat outdoors. On 9 June you can eat indoors, sport resumes outdoors with a health pass, the curfew is put back to 23:00, and foreign visitors can return with a health pass. The remainder of restrictions are set to be lifted on 30 June.
  
• Ireland is also bringing in a phased reopening over six weeks from 10 May, when hairdressers and click-and-collect shopping can resume. Travel will be allowed outside your own county for the first time since Christmas and up to 50 people will be allowed at weddings and funerals.
  
• Ukraine is barring entry to foreign nationals travelling from India from midnight tomorrow. It has recorded another 10,000 infections in 24 hours.
  
• The Dutch government has decided to allow 3,500 people in to watch all the rehearsals of the Eurovision Song Contest next month as well as all three TV shows. That’s 20% capacity of the Ahoy arena in Rotterdam, but tickets will only be available with a negative test and a face mask for people who bought them for last year’s cancelled contest. The big days are the semi-finals on 18 and 20 May and the final on 22 May.
  
• A hospital in the Romanian capital Bucharest is organising a vaccination marathon for four days from next Thursday for anyone without an appointment. The western city of Timisoara held one last week and vaccinated 6,700 people.
  

Police hunt nine men after violence at anti-lockdown protest

Delhi running out of space to cremate Covid dead

Brazil passes 400,000 deaths

Kenyan anti-vaccine doctor dies of Covid

Australians stuck overseas feel abandoned

Most of Europe should open to UK travellers, says Easyjet

Crowds of 10,000 to attend Heineken Champions Cup final at Twickenham

France sets out reopening plan

• Next week secondary schools will return to in-person classes and a ban on travelling more than 10km (six miles) from home will end
  
• On 19 May, an existing 19:00 curfew will be pushed back to 21:00. Non-essential shops, cinemas and museums will be able to reopen, as well outside cafes and restaurants
  
• On 9 June restaurants and bars can bring customers back inside, and the curfew will be pushed back still further. A "health pass" will be introduced for those attending large events, and for foreign tourists entering France
  
• On 30 June, the curfew will be lifted completely but nightclubs will remain shut
  

Sri Lanka bans public events amid spike in cases

UK infections nearly down to 1-in-1000 people

An Indian nurse's battle to keep patients alive

Japan's Olympics chief mulls Games behind closed doors

• How ready for Olympics are Japan and Team GB?
  

Clubbers to return to the dance floor for trial event

When will restrictions ease where I live?

Man arrested for faking Covid-19 check-in QR codes

What's been happening?

• Only about 0.1% of the population in the UK was infected with coronavirus during the week up to 24 April, an Office for National Statistics survey suggests. It means infections are now at the same level as late summer, while at the peak in January, almost 2% of the population were infected
  
• An analysis by the BBC has also shown that about 22 million people are living in areas which have reported zero deaths throughout April
  
• About 3,000 people are about to hit the dance floor at a warehouse party in Liverpool as part of a government trial to see how nightclubs might be able to reopen. The First Dance event doesn't require masks or social distancing, but attendees have to get a negative test to enter
  
• The Olympics in Tokyo, already delayed a year by the pandemic, could take place behind closed doors, organisers have said. A final decision is expected in June, before the games begin in July
  
• Shoppers were queuing around the block in Northern Ireland as many retailers opened their doors for the first time in four months. Pubs, restaurants and cafes can also serve outside and gyms are able to reopen for individual training
  
• Delhi's morgues and crematoriums are being overwhelmed by the number of Covid deaths during India's surge. The country reported 386,452 new cases on Thursday, the biggest one-day increase recorded anywhere in the world
  

England's R number rises slightly

Higher clot rate in younger adults, says UK medicines regulator

Japanese cruise ship turns back after passenger tests positive for Covid

Sweden pushes back vaccination target by three weeks

Singapore hit by rare Covid outbreak

Where can I go on holiday in the UK?

Covid case drop shows 'roadmap is on target'

Teletext Holidays faces court over unpaid refunds

UK records 15 coronavirus deaths

Surge testing in Redbridge after South Africa variant found

People arrested in India over fake remdesivir injections

Russia ‘offering free Covid-19 tests for pets’

What's been happening in the UK today?

• Coronavirus infections in the UK have dropped back to levels seen at the end of last summer with around one in 1,000 people infected, ONS data suggests
  
• It comes as England's vaccine rollout is extended to the over-40s and 90% of over-45s have received at least one jab
  
• Surge testing is under way in the London borough of Redbridge after two cases of the South Africa variant were discovered
  
• People in NI have been enjoying lockdown easing to allow shops, pubs, restaurants. gyms and cafes to reopen
  
• And about 3,000 people are about to hit the dance floor at a warehouse party in Liverpool without social distancing as part of a government trial to see how nightclubs might be able to reopen.
  

What's been happening around the world?

• Officials in Delhi have been urged to find more sites for cremations as the Indian city's morgues and crematoriums are overwhelmed by masses of Covid deaths
  
• A total of 386,452 new cases were reported today - the biggest one-day increase on record for any country. There were another 3,500 deaths nationwide and nearly 400 in Delhi - a record for the capital
  
• In Brazil, the number of deaths related to Covid-19 has passed 400,000, the second-highest in the world
  
• Sri Lanka has announced a ban on all public events, including weddings and large religious services, for the next two weeks, as the authorities try to curb the spread of the virus
  
• Portugal will lift lockdown restrictions imposed in January at midnight on all but eight municipalities, after seeing infection rates fall to the lowest level in the European Union
  
• The head of the organising committee for this summer's Olympic Games in Japan said the event could take place behind closed doors with no spectators due to the pandemic.
  

Goodbye for now

your updates were brought to you by Doug Faulkner, Emma Harrison, George Wright, Jennifer Meierhans, Henri Astier, Joseph Lee and Vanessa Barford.