As it happened: Hancock hails 'seriously encouraging' vaccine news

Summary

Health Secretary Matt Hancock hails data which shows a single shot of the main UK Covid vaccines cuts hospitalisations by 80%
Number of new cases is coming down, but rate of decline has slowed, he says, but number of hospitalisations falling faster
The number of Covid patients aged over 80 admitted to intensive care in the UK has dropped to single figures in the last couple of weeks
English health officials are tying to trace a person who tested positive for the Brazilian variant of Covid-19, but did not get their result
Dr Hopkins says Public Health England needs to trace a passenger who was on Swiss flight LX318 on 12 February
Six cases of the P1 coronavirus variant first detected in Brazil have been found in England and Scotland
Passengers complain of queues of up to seven hours long at Heathrow Airport's border control
African countries start mass Covid inoculation drives using vaccines supplied through a scheme set up to share doses fairly with poorer nations

Welcome to our coveragepublished at 08:24 Greenwich Mean Time 1 March 2021

Coronvirus testing — Image caption,
Surge testing is taking place after the discovery of the Brazil variant in the UK

Good morning and welcome to today's live coverage. We'll be bringing you updates on the pandemic throughout the day. Here's a summary of the main headlines this morning to start you off:

Health officials are searching for a person who tested positive for a more infectious variant of coronavirus first discovered in Brazil. Five of the six people who have tested positive for this variant been identified, but the remaining person did not complete their paperwork
An extra £1.65bn will be provided for the UK’s vaccination programme in Wenesday’s Budget, as the country aims to meet its target of offering the vaccine to all adults by the end of July
A cross-party group of MPs has warned the chancellor that now is not the time for tax rises, saying they could harm the recovery from the Covid crisis. But the Treasury Committee said public finances are on an "unsustainable long-term trajectory"
South Africa, the worst-hit nation in the continent, is reducing its restrictions from level 3 to level 1. President Cyril Ramaphosa said all energy and effort must now go into growing the economy, while exercising caution to prevent a third wave
Weddings and civil partnerships can go ahead in Wales, as the nation begins to relax its coronavirus restrictions. But with wedding receptions still banned, some couples are delaying their big day until they can celebrate with more guests
Ministers are set to discuss the latest version of Northern Ireland’s exit plan from lockdown today - but it is not clear if the plan will be published as planned

Summary

Live Reporting