Coronavirus - 21st May 2021

• Retailers enjoyed a surge in spending as shoppers flocked to UK high streets following the easing of restrictions
  
• Spain says it is officially lifting restrictions for UK travellers from Monday
  
• It says the UK and Japan will be on a list of countries whose residents will not need a PCR test to enter Spain
  
• The EU is delaying making a decision on which countries will be added to the EU-wide white list for travel for two weeks
  
• A decision is expected later about any change to the Covid protection levels, which dictate restrictions in Scotland
  
• A report suggests the risk of stillbirth or premature birth may increase for those who have coronavirus around the time of birth
  
• Most pregnancies are not affected and pregnant women should have the jab when offered it, scientists say
  
• Experts in Australia are concerned about rising vaccine hesitancy there
  

Here are some of the main headlines so far:

• Retailers have enjoyed a surge in spending as shoppers returned to high streets last month following the easing of restrictions
  
• A large UK study suggests having coronavirus around the time of birth may increase the chance of stillbirths and premature births - although the overall risks remain low
  
• Most pregnancies are not affected however, and scientists say pregnant women should have their vaccines as soon as they are eligible
  
• A teenager has been talking about having to stay in a quarantine hotel - despite the fact she has "brittle" asthma, meaning an attack can soon become life-threatening. The rules state those with serious health conditions should be allowed to quarantine at home
  
• Failures in England's Test and Trace system are partly responsible for a surge in the Indian variant in one of the worst affected parts of the country, a report seen by the BBC says
  
• Australia's troubled vaccine rollout has hit a potential new stumbling block - rising vaccine hesitancy. A survey has suggested about one-third of Australians said they were unlikely to get vaccinated, reportedly up from previous months
  
• Concerns over the Indian variant mean vaccination is being speeded up in many areas and second doses are being offered earlier to some people. Check here when you will be eligible
  
• And it is the first weekend since indoor hospitality opened again in England, Scotland and Wales on Monday.
  
• Northern Ireland’s devolved government has agreed to add Portugal, Israel and Gibraltar to its “Green list” for international travel, according to a letter to lawmakers seen by Reuters.
  
• The EU has reached a deal on Covid certificates designed to open up tourism across the bloc this summer, the centre-right European People’s Party said.
  
• Two doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine are around 85% to 90% effective against symptomatic disease, Public Health England analysis indicates.
  
• Canada announced it is renewing non-essential travel restrictions along the US border until 21 June.
  
• Japanese regulators recommended the approval of Covid vaccines developed by Moderna Inc and AstraZeneca PLC.
  
• Waiving intellectual property rights for Covid vaccines will not be enough to close the huge supply gap between rich and poor countries, the head of the World Trade Organization warned.
  
• South Korea has said it will conduct a clinical trial that mixes Covid vaccine doses developed by AstraZeneca Plc with those from Pfizer Inc and others
  
• Dogs are better at detecting Covid-19 in humans than many fast lateral flow tests, a French study found.
  

Latest across Europe

• EU member states and the parliament have come to an agreement for an “EU digital Covid certificate” that enables travel across all 27 countries. The digital or paper pass will be free and include vaccination, tests and recovery from Covid and should be in place by the end of June, in time for the main holiday season. A key condition is that PCR tests be affordable and accessible.
  
• An updated safe list for travel from non-EU countries is expected to be agreed later today – and EU ministers are set to decide whether the UK is on it.
  
• Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orban, has declared most Covid restrictions can be lifted, including the overnight curfew and the wearing of masks in public places. In his weekly radio interview he’s also said events can be held outdoors with up to 500 people.
  
• Portugal is to maintain a lockdown in four mainland towns in place since mid-January. Another 10 areas are on a watchlist because of relatively high infection rates – they include four on the Algarve such as Albufeira where thousands of holidaymakers have been heading in recent days, many from the UK. Portugal’s 14-day incidence rate of about 50 per 100,000 is still relatively very low.
  
• The Eurovision Song Contest has suffered a few Covid scares in the past week but it’s now one day away and the final line-up is known after last night’s semi-final success for another 10 countries including Iceland. Iceland had to pull out of the live show and use an earlier recording after one of the group tested positive for Covid. Poland also had a Covid scare but didn’t qualify.
  
• One of the world biggest tourist attractions, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, is to reopen on 16 July after months of closure. The number of visitors will be limited to 10,000 a day, under half of normal levels.
  

Today so far …

• A decision in Brussels to add the UK to an EU “white list” of countries from where tourists will be welcome this summer is to be delayed, it is understood, due to concerns over the Covid variant first identified in India.
  
• EU diplomats were expected to use a new lower threshold of infection cases to extend the list of countries at a meeting on Friday but sources said the decision will be put back by two weeks.
  
• Spain, though, says it will allow travellers from the UK and Japan into the country without a negative PCR test for Covid-19 from 24 May.
  
• Official tolls showing the number of deaths directly or indirectly attributed to Covid-19 are probably a “significant undercount”, the World Health Organization said this morning.
  
• In its annual World Health Statistics report, it estimated that total deaths from the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 were at least 3 million last year or 1.2 million more than officially reported.
  
• Half of the clinically extremely vulnerable (CEV) people in England continued to shield despite government advice that they no longer needed to, latest figures show.
  
• A large secondary school in Bedford has been forced to close its doors to pupils from next week because of the rapid spread of Covid-19 in the town.
  
• The government in Scotland is expected to announce later today whether there will be any changes to the current restrictions and what it will mean for East Renfrewshire and Glasgow, and also Moray which is the only other area currently in level 3.
  
• Ireland will adopt a Covid-19 certificate to help citizens travel more freely across the European Union “as early as possible” and not necessarily by late July as previously flagged, a senior minister has said.
  
• Hungary will lift most remaining Covid-19 curbs, including a night-time curfew, as soon as the number of those vaccinated reaches 5 million this weekend, prime minister Viktor Orbán has said.
  
• The GAVI Vaccine Alliance has signed an advanced purchase agreement with Johnson & Johnson for 200m doses for the Covax vaccine-sharing programme.
  
• Argentina’s government on Thursday announced a strict lockdown for the first time this year after more than 35,000 coronavirus infections were reported for the third straight day in Argentina and the death toll skyrocketed.
  
• Taiwan’s health minister, Chen Shih-Chung, has urged residents to stay inside their homes this weekend, after a further 312 domestic cases of Covid-19 were reported.
  
• Japan has approved two more coronavirus vaccines, raising hopes that the country can speed up its inoculation drive with only about 4% of its 126 million people having received at least one dose.
  
• Facebook has removed more than 110,000 pieces of Covid-related misinformation generated by Australian accounts in the first year of the pandemic, the company has revealed.
  
• Dozens of Spanish nationals who have been stuck in Nepal since the Himalayan nation went into a coronavirus lockdown last month were flown out of the country today on a chartered repatriation flight.
  

Spain to lift restrictions for UK travellers

Minister: Public can be trusted on holidays

'Yorkshire variant' being investigated

'No return' to full lockdown in NI

EU white list decision delayed

Woman turned away from airport hopeful for Spain travel

Potential rise in England infections

Moray to see restrictions eased - but not Glasgow

East Renfrewshire to stay in level 2 despite case rates

'Don't go to England hotspots', says Sturgeon

Sturgeon says cases rising across Scotland

Not turned the corner yet in Glasgow - Sturgeon

'Up to airports' to separate red-list travellers - Number 10

Hibs and St Johnstone fans urged to watch cup final at home

Indian variant: 'High potential' for community spread in Wales

Wider surge testing for five west London boroughs

Olympics will go ahead 'even if Tokyo still in state of emergency'

Heathrow Terminal 3 to be dedicated red-list arrivals hub

UK reports 2,829 more cases

Surge testing in North Tyneside begins tomorrow

Guernsey-UK travel set to return from 1 July

Heading out this weekend? Here are the new rules

• Pubs, bars, cafes and restaurants are allowed to serve customers indoors
  
• Groups of up to six - or two households of any size - are allowed inside
  
• Groups seated outside may have up to 30 people
  
• Landlords are expected to make sure all customers over 16
  
• check in with NHS track and trace, or provide contact details
  
• People still need to order, eat and drink while seated, where alcohol is served
  
• When not seated - for example being shown to a table, or going to the toilet - customers must wear face coverings
  
• Social distancing between groups is encouraged
  
• Capacity is restricted to what is possible with social distancing and table service.
  

• Venues can open until 22:30 indoors, serving food and alcohol in line with local licensing laws
  
• Customers need to book two-hour slots
  
• Groups of up to six people from three households are allowed to meet indoors
  
• Up to eight people from eight separate households are able to meet outdoors.
  

• Six people from six households can meet. Children under 11 or working carers aren't counted
  
• Licensed premises can offer table service only, with measures to support physical distancing
  
• Customers are encouraged to pre-book and must provide contact details.
  

What's been happening today?

• The Office for National Statistics estimates suggests there was a slight increase in new infections across England last week
  
• The figures cover a period before the latest relaxation of rules and are being attributed to the Kent variant of the virus rather than the Indian variant which has caused recent concern
  
• Levels remained low in Wales and Northern Ireland and in Scotland there was an overall decrease last week
  
• The Scottish government is to maintain tighter coronavirus controls in Glasgow, amid a rise in cases, but restrictions in Moray are to be eased
  
• Northern Ireland's finance minister says it is likely to have seen "the end" of the most stringent restrictions
  
• The vice president of the International Olympics Committee has said the summer games in Tokyo will go ahead even if the host city is under a state of emergency
  
• Hungary says it has defeated a third wave of coronavirus, and will now lift most restrictions
  
• Spain is lifting all restrictions for travellers arriving from the UK - but lesiure trips are still being restricted by the British government
  
• EU countries continued to debate whether the bloc, as a whole, should put the UK on its white list, which does not restrict travel
  
• London's Heathrow Airport will open a dedicated terminal for passengers arriving from countries with a high risk of Covid
  
• The European Union is to to invest 1bn euros (£859m) to build [url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-africa-47639452?ns_mchannel=social&ns_source=twitter&ns_campaign=bbc_live&ns_linkname=60a7ac144e3da602ed2a7804%26EU to build vaccine-manufacturing hubs in]Covid vaccine-manufacturing hubs in Africa[/url].
  

Thanks for reading

Today's page was written by Lauren Turner, Alex Kleiderman and Jo Couzens, and edited by James Clarke.