People around the UK hold phones, torches and candles on their doorsteps in tribute to the victims as part of a national day of reflection
The UK is "cautiously but irreversibly" on path to freedom, Boris Johnson says, exactly a year after he announced the first pandemic lockdown
The government will meet its target to offer a vaccine to all over-50s by mid-April and all adults by end of July, the PM tells Covid briefing
A "fitting and permanent memorial to the loved ones we've lost" will be built when the right moment comes, he says
He hopes to be able to detail more on the possibilities for foreign travel by 5 April
England's chief medical officer Chris Whitty warns of "bumps and twists on the road" such as vaccine shortages and new variants
A minute's silence was held at midday to remember the victims of Covid-19
The Queen sent flowers to a London hospital where Prince Philip was treated recently with a message saying it is a day to "reflect on the grief and loss"
Weekly coronavirus death figures in England and Wales are at their lowest since October, national statistics show
But across the pandemic, there have been 148,125 deaths in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate; 126,284 within 28 days of a positive test
Thanks for following our live coverage today. We'll be back tomorrow to bring you more coronavirus updates from the UK and around the world.
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Image source, PA MediaIt's been another busy day. Here's a recap:
Image source, PA MediaHealth care assistant Chellen Chellamboye lights a candle outside the Old House at Home pub in Dormansland, Surrey
Image source, PA MediaFurther along the street, residents came out with their candles and dogs
Image source, PA MediaTrafalgar Square was among the landmarks lit up on Tuesday evening
Image source, PA MediaSt Mary's Lighthouse in Northumberland was also illuminated
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has told the 1922 Committee of backbench Conservative MPs that the UK had got a successful vaccine quickly because of "capitalism" and "greed".
Sources at the meeting said the PM then very insistently withdrew the comments and it is also understood Mr Johnson spent much of the discussion emphasising the fact that drug giant AstraZeneca is providing the Oxford vaccine at cost.
The comments were first reported by the Sun newspaper, external.
A Downing Street spokesman declined to comment on a private meeting.
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and former health secretary Jeremy Hunt are among the public figures who have shared pictures of burning candles tonight.
It's part of the "beacon of remembrance" event which has encouraged people to light candles at their windows and doorsteps to commemorate those who have died from the virus.
Ms Sturgeon shared a photo on Twitter, as did Mr Hunt who addressed the families of the 126,284 people who have died, saying: "Our thoughts and prayers are with you tonight."
Other MPs also lit candles, including Labour shadow cabinet office minister Rachel Reeves who tweeted: "Tonight, I’ve lit a candle to connect with those grieving, and remember those sadly lost in the pandemic."
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As landmarks and buildings were illuminated, so too were doorsteps as thousands lit candles to remember those lost during the pandemic.
Image source, ReutersNeighbours spoke to each other over a glass of wine in Fulham, west London
Image source, ReutersPeople had been encouraged to light up their doorsteps on Tuesday evening
Image source, PA MediaHolly Wilson, whose grandmother Ada Wilson passed away during the pandemic, lit a candle at Belfast Cathedral
Image source, PA MediaThere was a sombre reflection for those lost during the pandemic in Dormansland, Surrey
Image source, ReutersA woman lit a candle outside an illuminated Lichfield Cathedral in Staffordshire
At No 10 Downing Street, a staff member was seen placing a candle on the doorstep for the 20:00 vigil.
Image source, Reuters
Image source, ReutersAs millions remember those who have died as a result of the pandemic in the UK with candles, torches and phones on the doorsteps, buildings across the country have also been lit up in remembrance.
Image source, ReutersSunderland's Northern Spire Bridge looked striking as it was lit up at nightfall
Image source, PA MediaThe iconic Kelpies sculpture in Falkirk is also lit up
Image source, ReutersIn the capital, the London Eye was among the landmarks illuminated
Image source, ReutersMeanwhile, the outside of Lichfield Cathedral bore the words "Reflect, Support, Hope". Inside the cathedral, candles were lit
Image source, ReutersIn Cardiff, the castle in the city centre was lit up
And the clock tower at Cardiff's Roath Park lake was also lit up in yellow
The focus of today has been looking back on the past year and remembering those who have died with coronavirus.
Earlier, Boris Johnson said there will come a moment where the UK can create a permanent memorial to the dead. But this evening, buildings are being lit up and people will stand on their doorsteps and light up their windows with candles and torchlight.
If you want to read about some of the people we are remembering ahead of tonight's vigil, then we've got a tribute page here.
To see tributes to all of the people who have died would take more than 312 hours. So we have gathered words of remembrance from friends, family and colleagues to remember more than 750 of those who have died.
Image source, PA MediaCandles have already been lit at places of worship across the country, including Lichfield Cathedral
Remembrance events are set to continue in cities across the UK tonight to mark the anniversary of lockdown and commemorate all those who have died with the virus.
This evening people are being encouraged to stand on their doorsteps with candles, torches or light shone from their phones.
It's due to happen at 20:00 - the same time that people used to stand at their doorsteps for the clap for carers - and it's been called a "beacon of remembrance".
Buildings across the UK are also going to be illuminated at nightfall.
London's skyline will turn yellow with landmarks including the London Eye, Trafalgar Square and Wembley Stadium lighting up.
Cardiff Castle and Belfast City Hall will also be lit up, while churches and cathedrals will toll bells, light thousands of candles and offer prayers.
Image source, EPAIntensive care units in Brazil are struggling to cope with a new influx of patients
Coronavirus continues to surge "dangerously" across Brazil, the World Health Organization's regional director for the Americas has warned.
Carissa Etienne urged all Brazilians to adopt preventative measures to stop the spread of the virus.
"Unfortunately, the dire situation in Brazil is also affecting neighbouring countries," Etienne, director of the Pan American Health Organization, said in a briefing.
She said cases have risen in Venezuela's Bolivar and Amazonas states, and in border regions of Peru and Bolivia.
Last week, Brazil's leading health institute, Fiocruz, warned of an historic collapse of the country's health service.
It said intensive care units in hospitals were running out of capacity.
Image source, Getty ImagesCovid "certificates" could be used to help people return to large gatherings such as sporting events, Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden has previously said.
But what are they?
In the UK, anyone who has had a jab receives a vaccination card and the details go on their medical records.
Now, the UK is among a number of countries considering whether to introduce other ways of confirming that people have been vaccinated. It's been suggested a passport feature could be added to the existing NHS app.
People could use it to prove they have been vaccinated or recently tested negative.
European officials have announced plans for a "Green Digital Certificate, external". This would allow anyone vaccinated against Covid, or who has tested negative, or recently recovered from the virus, to travel within the EU.
Officials hope it will be in place before the summer tourist season.
However, some EU members have expressed concerns the certificate could be discriminatory. And in the UK, a petition asking the government not to introduce vaccine passports will be considered for a debate by MPs.
Nick Triggle
Health Correspondent
The vaccination programme is going well, but once again we are being reminded of the threat of a third wave.
Both the prime ministers and his senior advisers made reference to it.
With restrictions lifting, cases are likely to go up – although there is hope the change in seasons will help limit those rises.
Over half of adults are vaccinated, but that still leaves many millions susceptible.
Some will be in the vulnerable groups – either because they have chosen not to take up the vaccine or because it has not worked.
That means people will still die just as they do from flu each year.
In a bad winter, there can be more than 20,000 flu deaths.
Modelling suggests with the vaccine rollout and a careful lifting of restrictions there could be 30,000 Covid deaths by summer 2022.
But the government’s advisers made clear there really is no other option, saying there is “close to zero chance” of zero Covid for a virus that spreads so easily, often undetected because so many do not even develop symptoms.
The challenge now is managing that risk.
Image source, Getty ImagesBBC Radio 4 Today presenter Nick Robinson is in Newcastle upon Tyne, where the BBC is hosting Lockdown Live: What Next? - a special programme that marks a year since the first UK lockdown was announced. Here's what he's got to say:
Stay safe the Toon. See you soon! That message above the entrance to the Everyman cinema on Newcastle's historic Grey Street is a reminder of what we're all missing. So too are the posters outside the Theatre Royal: "There will be a short interval."
It is, however, the closed shutters on bars and cafes and restaurants that are really stark reminders. This street in a city that takes pride in its reputation as a party town would normally be filled with people having fun long into the night.
There are signs, however, of a city preparing to open again. Come 12 April, people will be able to eat out and drink outside again, providing they're willing to wrap up warm and huddle beneath an outdoor heater.
Bar Luga's owner Ollie Vaulkhard, a well-known entrepreneur in the city, is preparing to welcome people back on to his outdoor terrace. A third of people are still terrified of Covid, he tells me. A third couldn't care less and a third are persuadable. That, he believes, adds up to plenty of business.
This pandemic has, he says, weeded out good businesses from the bad. He compares it to the meteorite that wiped out the dinosaurs but left others to take over the planet.
Reality Check
England’s chief medical officer Prof Chris Whitty was asked about the one thing he wished he had done differently.
In the early stages of the pandemic, he said that they had much less of an understanding about how widespread the virus was in Europe - “we now know the amounts of importation there were from Spain, from France and from bits of Italy…but at the time we didn’t have that information and that would almost certainly have led to slightly different approaches to how we did things.”
Between January and mid-March 2020, the focus was on quarantine measures on people arriving from Wuhan in China.
But a study subsequently found that the virus was introduced to the UK "well over a thousand times in early 2020", with a third of transmission chains brought in from Spain, followed by 29% from France, neither of which faced any restrictions at the time.
China accounted for just 0.4% of imported cases.
Early in the pandemic, the Sage group of scientists which advises the government, did not think that blocking international travel was a feasible option.
At a meeting in February 2020,, external Sage suggested that cutting the number of infections entering the UK by half would only delay the epidemic by five days. It estimated that a 95% reduction in imported cases, requiring "draconian" travel restrictions, would have pushed things back by a month.
Jessica Parker
BBC political correspondent
As we inch towards summer many people want to know whether they can realistically look to head off on holiday abroad.
Boris Johnson repeated the ministerial mantra that it’s "too early" to say. However, he also said he hoped to give an update by 5 April - although it’s not clear how significant an announcement that will be.
The taskforce looking at international travel wasn’t due to report until 12 April.
Either way, the overall tone wasn’t hugely optimistic as the prime minister also said that things looked “difficult” for the time-being due to rising case rates in parts of Europe.
Read more about the new travel rules here.
Deaths are below the usual levels for March, according to the most-recent weekly UK death registrations.
The number of patients in hospital with coronavirus is continuing to fall, too.
The most recent data showed there were 5,461 Covid patients in hospital, a number not seen since October.
There were 112 new deaths within 28 days of a positive test reported on Tuesday, with 5,379 new cases.
Another 329,897 people received a first vaccine dose.
Earlier, in his No 10 press conference, Boris Johnson said it was "thanks to all of you that we can continue on our roadmap to freedom".
He repeated the government's pledge to offer a vaccine dose to everyone aged over 50 by the middle of April, and to all adults by the end of July.
"And cautiously but irreversibly, step by step, jab by jab, this country is on the path to reclaiming our freedoms," he said.
The prime minister has just finished giving a coronavirus briefing from Downing Street on the anniversary of the first lockdown. Here’s what was covered: