Ben King
Business reporter, BBC News

Image source, Getty Images

Some 292 British employers made plans to cut jobs in January.

A total of 32,000 redundancies were proposed. That's up 9% on last January. But it's also the lowest figure since the start of the pandemic, excluding December, which usually sees less activity because of the Christmas holidays.

This was despite lockdowns across almost all of the UK, which closed schools and many businesses including restaurants, bars and retailers deemed "non-essential".

"This seems to suggest that the extension of the furlough scheme from 31 October to 30 April has been effective in preventing another surge in job losses," said Ruth Gregory, senior UK economist at Capital Economics.

Read the full story here.

Image source, Getty Images

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is meeting with ministers today to finalise what he has called a "road map out of lockdown" for England.

He will announce the plans on Monday and there has been much media speculation about which restrictions might be relaxed first

Over the course of the past year, the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) has advised the government on the pandemic, assessing the risks of transmission of coronavirus in many areas of daily life.

This advice looks at how closing or opening certain sectors could affect its spread - although with varying degrees of confidence, as the precise impact of each measure is difficult to assess.

The assessments which have been publicly released have not yet factored in the impact of the vaccine rollout or the new, more transmissible Covid variants.

We have looked at what Sage has advised about the risks in a number of areas.

Image source, EPA

All adults in the UK will be offered their first dose of a coronavirus vaccine by the end of July, the prime minister has said.

More than 17 million people have been given a jab since the UK's Covid vaccine rollout began in December 2020.

The government's previous target was to offer all adults the first dose by September.

But Boris Johnson said he now wants the programme to "go further and faster".

He said the July target would allow vulnerable people to be protected "sooner" and would help to further ease lockdown rules across the country.

NHS England chief executive Sir Simon Stevens said there were "early signs" the vaccine rollout was contributing to a fall in hospital admissions.

Read the full story here.

Just waking up? Here's what you need to know this morning:

• Boris Johnson has said all adults in the UK will be offered their first dose of a coronavirus vaccine by the end of July.
• The PM is due to hold a final meeting with senior ministers about how to ease England's lockdown later, before he sets out the full "road map" tomorrow
• Some 292 British employers made plans to cut jobs in January (the lowest figure since the pandemic began), suggesting that the decision to extend the furlough scheme has helped to prevent wider job losses
• Israel is easing lockdown restrictions as studies there reveal the Pfizer vaccine is 95.8% effective in preventing hospital admissions and death
• Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison received the vaccine as the country prepares to start inoculations
• Prof John Wright, a doctor and epidemiologist who is writing a coronavirus diary for us, says this isn't a time to be choosy when it comes to getting the vaccine

Welcome to today's live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic.

We're just getting set up - stay tuned for the latest updates.