The BBC's Laura Kuenssberg also asks about the possibility of a new variant emerging that is resistant to the existing vaccine.

Susan Hopkins, chief medical adviser to Public Health England, says this is a "live issue" and that the UK is working with global scientific networks and the World Health Organization to decide what any such new vaccine would look like.

The UK is already looking at how fast a new vaccine could be built and rolled out, she adds.

Jessica Parker
BBC political correspondent

Quite a striking moment there.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock squeezes in a pro-union message during his statement at the Downing Street press briefing, saying that, from vaccines to ambulance services, the UK is “stronger together” in the battle against Covid.

It comes on the day that the former Labour Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, has urged ministers to focus on the “benefits” of the union.

There’s nervousness amongst pro-union politicians about the upcoming Scottish parliamentary elections and the SNP’s push for another independence referendum.

Polls suggest that support for Scottish independence has been rising. So expect more mentions from ministers in Westminster about the union and, if that last one was anything to go by, don’t expect them to be subtle.

BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg asks how and when lockdown can start to be eased.

Matt Hancock says "it's important to understand where we are right now" - with more than 37,000 in hospital, nearly double the 19,000 in hospital at the first peak in April. There are also more people on ventilators now than at any time in the pandemic.

"Pressure on the NHS remains huge." he says, adding: "Of course I understand the yearning people have to get out of this."

The government has to look at the facts and monitor them, Hancock tells the press conference, saying while "everyone wants a timeline" for that it's a case of studying the data.

Factors like the death rate, number of hospitalisations and the success of the vaccine rollout have to be looked out. And then steps will be taken to come out of lockdown as soon as it's safe, Hancock adds.

The PM, he says, has set out when measures will be reviewed.

Jenny Harries, deputy chief medical officer for England, adds: "We are not out of this by a very long way."

She also adds that with cold weather, and many parts of the UK having had snow over the weekend, there's an increase in clinical admissions in the NHS which has an impact too.

Image source, PA Media

The UK is far way from herd immunity, the chief medical adviser to NHS Test and Trace says.

Dr Susan Hopkins is responding to a question at the press conference from Colin from Sunbury on Thames. He asked that if 1 in 10 people in the UK currently had antibodies to coronavirus, how far away were we from herd immunity.

Dr Hopkins says: "The big job here is to roll out the vaccine to people at high risk of death and hospitalisation and then to the rest of the population once we've done that.

"We should not be focusing on getting infection and the consequences of that infection getting us out of where we are now."

Julie from Walsall asks when the current lockdown ends will we revert back to tier system or a new one.

Dr Hopkins says we need to see our death rates fall "much lower" before any decisions can be made.

"We are at the highest number of individuals in ICU [intensive care] today and the numbers of hospitalisations are still twice the peak," she says.

"We will look at and monitor these and use them to help inform government on how the tiering should look in the future," she says.

Image source, PA Media

The health secretary says people must maintain social distancing, even if they've had a jab. The body takes around three weeks to get to maximum protection levels and it's not known if those who are vaccinated spread the virus, he adds.

On new variants, Matt Hancock says scientists are "learning more all the time". The variant first found in Kent is spreading 30% to 70% faster than the original and "may" have a higher mortality rate, he tells the public.

The public's response must remain "extra careful", and the "end is in sight".

The overall rise in the number of cases is falling, while vaccinations are increasing, Matt Hancock says.

Receiving a jab is an "emotional" experience, he adds.

The health secretary says 78.7% of over-80s have been vaccinated, but supply is the biggest issue.

New venues administering jabs are opening, he says. And some 6.6 million people have received a jab, Hancock continues, calling it a "truly national effort".

Matt Hancock says 37,258 cases of coronavirus a day on average have been seen in the UK during the last week. The NHS is under "intense pressure", he adds, with 592 more deaths reported today.

The work done by medics to deal with the crisis is "relentless", Hancock says, adding that it is the "duty of all of us" to support them.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has begun speaking in Downing Street.

The health secretary Matt Hancock will be starting a Downing Street briefing on coronavirus in a few minutes.

Stay with us as we bring you live updates and analysis.

Image source, Getty Images

Labour is calling on the government to cancel a planned hike in council tax bills which is set to kick in from April across England.

It comes as households budgets are squeezed and many councils are warning they're on the brink of bankruptcy due to the pandemic.

Labour says central government should be stepping up and providing extra funds to local authorities rather than leaving them to pass the cost on to families.

The government says councils in England have access to a £7.2bn pot of money to respond to coronavirus as well as extra funds to provide critical services and adult social care.

But what is council tax and what does the money get spent on?

Read our guide here.

The latest data shows there have been 98,531 deaths, external in the UK within 28 days of a positive Covid test.

Between 19 January and 25 January, there were 8,671 deaths within 28 days of a positive coronavirus test - an increase of 9.8% compared to the previous seven days.

More than 6.5 million people have so far received their first dose of vaccine and 470,478 have received both jabs.

Image source, Reuters

We're expecting today's press briefing from Downing Street in about half an hour.

Today it's being led by Health Secretary Matt Hancock. He'll be joined by Jenny Harries, deputy chief medical officer for England, and Susan Hopkins of Public Health England.

We'll bring you the latest from it as it happens.

Image source, Getty Images

As vaccinations are rolled out across the UK, people are wanting to know what the rules are for those who've had the jab.

Can you spread coronavirus if you've been vaccinated, for example?

Well, several weeks after the second vaccine, people appear far less likely to become seriously ill with coronavirus.

But what's less well understood is whether being vaccinated stops someone from passing it to others.

And do you still have to follow lockdown restrictions?

The answer to that is a definite yes, both to protect yourself and help bring down the number of cases.

But it's hoped it is hoped widespread vaccination could ultimately allow some or all of the population to move closer to normality.

We have an explainer here on those questions and more.

A further 592 people have died in the UK within 28 days of testing positive for coronavirus, according to the latest government data, external.

There were 22,195 positive cases recorded in the past 24 hours.

Image source, Reuters

Covid case rates in most regions of England are at their lowest level since before the start of 2021, latest figures show.

In London, the rolling seven-day rate as of 20 January stood at 557.8 cases per 100,000 people - down from 770.6 a week earlier, and the lowest since the seven days to 16 December.

In the south west the rate is 281.1, down from 351.1 and the lowest since 30 December, Public Health England data shows.

But the picture is more mixed across the Midlands and northern England.

Rates are down in every region, but not every area is quite back to levels last seen at the end of 2020.

North-west England, for example, is currently recording a rate of 441.3 cases per 100,000, down from 557.3 for the previous week and the lowest since 1 January.

Yorkshire & the Humber continues to record the lowest rate of any region: 241.2, down from 286.1.

You can find out how many coronavirus cases there are in your area by using our look up tool.

BBC Radio 5 Live

5 Live’s Naga Munchetty has been speaking to former Australian foreign minister Alexander Downer after reports the UK might be having an "Australian style" quarantine system for people arriving in the country.

He says Australian citizens need the permission of the government to leave the country so "in effect you can’t leave".

"The travel industry has really suffered… there are almost zero international tourists coming into Australia where normally there would be millions and millions.

"The [tourism] industry has been slightly compensated by so many Australians holidaying at home instead of going abroad, but in parts of Queensland and New South Wales, they have really suffered grievously in that industry."

Listen to 5 Live on the free BBC Sounds app.

A group of people were dispersed by police after being filmed dancing and holding hands in a park in Leicester.

Leicestershire Police says an officer spoke to the group in Spinney Hill Park on Sunday and told them they were in breach of Covid-19 rules.

The people left minutes later and no fines were issued, the force says.

A volunteer at Leicester Royal Infirmary, who recorded the footage, says "at least 50 people" had gathered.

"It's really, really annoying that these people gather up like that. My daughter is a nurse," he says.

Men working in processing plants had the highest rates of Covid-19 deaths in England and Wales last year, according to figures published by the Office for National Statistics.

The factory workers recorded a rate of 143.2 deaths per 100,000 males, compared with a rate of 31.4 deaths among men of the same age in the wider population.

A notably high incidence of coronavirus deaths was also recorded among male security guards, restaurant managers, chefs and taxi drivers.

Teachers are not at significantly higher risk of death from Covid-19 than the general population, the figures suggest.

The ONS figures cover deaths registered between 9 March and 28 December 2020.

However, Ben Humberstone from the ONS says there are a "complex combination of factors that influence the risk of death - from your age and your ethnicity, where you live and who you live with, to pre-existing health conditions".

He says the findings "do not prove that the rates of death involving Covid-19 are caused by differences in occupational exposure".

The Trades Union Congress says the pandemic has exposed "huge inequalities" in the labour market and urged ministers to improve workplace safety guidance and get tough on employers who breach the rules.

Read more here.

Image source, PA

There is no evidence that vaccines will not work against the new variant of the virus that first emerged in the south of England last year, an expert in emerging diseases says.

Prof Peter Horby, chairman of the New And Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (Nervtag), says: "The core principles of control remain exactly the same for this virus as the old variants.

"There's no evidence that this new virus is evading any of the treatments that have been found to work - or any of the vaccines."

A Nervtag study, published on Friday, said there was a "realistic possibility" that the variant may be associated with an increased risk of death.

However, there remains huge uncertainty around the data.

"The evidence we have is very solid, but it still could be wrong, with different data, or change with different data sets," says Graham Medley, professor of infectious disease modelling at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Prof Medley says it is "critical" to reduce the incidence of infection, but that the latest conclusions do not suggest "we need to do anything hugely different".

Almost £300m in funding to tackle Covid-19 pressures in this financial year remains unspent in Northern Ireland.

NI Finance Minister Conor Murphy says is now asking departments to submit new bids as a "matter of urgency".

He has also asked the Treasury for flexibility to allow some funding to be carried over into 2021-22.

Shortly before Christmas, Covid funding available to Stormont was increased by £200m to £3bn - but Mr Murphy says the assembly had received "late notice" of additional funding.