Adam Fleming
Chief political correspondent

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The government’s global travel taskforce is considering a tiered or traffic light system for international travel when the ban on leaving the country is lifted.

The discussion is focusing on what restrictions would apply to travellers returning from destinations in the lowest level.

“How green is green?” in the words of one adviser.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock told the Today programme earlier that the government had to take into account rising cases in Europe.

“It’s reasonable to take a precautionary and careful approach, which is what we are doing at the borders.”

He said there were no current plans to put all of Europe on the so-called “red list”, from which travel into the UK is banned. British nationals and people who are normally resident in the UK returning from these countries have to enter hotel quarantine upon arrival.

The intention is to publish the framework on 12 April, with decisions about which countries are in which tier to be taken later.

The prime minister’s roadmap for lifting the lockdown says international travel could resume from 17 May, but officials cannot guarantee this will happen.

Testing for children who travel is being considered because there are no plans for under-18s to be vaccinated.

Read our explainer here on when summer holidays may be allowed.

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The hashtag #NationalDayofReflection is trending on Twitter as the UK marks a year since the first coronavirus lockdown.

Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer used the hashtag to tweet that he would be taking part in a minute's silence to remember all those who have lost their lives in the pandemic.

He tweeted:, external "As we mark one year since our country entered the first lockdown, my thoughts are with all those who have lost loved ones since the pandemic began. Today at 12pm, I will join people across our country to observe a minute's silence on this National Day of Reflection."

Image source, Reuters

We can now bring you more from Germany, where lockdown measures have been extended for a further three weeks after a surge in coronavirus infections.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced the new restrictions on Tuesday morning, after marathon crisis talks with regional leaders.

The chancellor said Germany was in a “very serious" situation, leaving the country racing against time to roll out coronavirus vaccinations.

Merkel said the highly contagious UK variant of coronavirus had become dominant in Germany, plunging the country into what she called "a new pandemic".

“Essentially, we have a new virus,” Merkel said. “It is much deadlier, much more infectious and infectious for much longer.”

Some research, external does suggest the UK variant may be associated with a higher risk of death.

Compulsory Covid vaccinations for care home staff could put "an extra burden" on an already understaffed sector, the chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) says.

Dame Donna Kinnair told BBC Radio 5 Live: "It's always been a fundamental human right that we have autonomy over what goes into our bodies...the most important thing is making sure that all healthcare workers get access to the vaccine."

She says a survey by the RCN found of those who hadn't received a vaccine, 70% were healthcare staff working outside of hospitals who "hadn't even been offered it".

She says: "In a society where we know that care homes are struggling to get people to work for them to put an extra burden on them seems a bit conflicting really."

Kinnair volunteered at the Nightgale Hospitals and says although they were never full "40 patients in a row on ventilators was quite startling".

She says: "I have been personally moved by the efforts and the stories I've heard of the people who have continued to nurse...and thank them for the skill and professionalism."

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Health Secretary Matt Hancock says there are currently no plans to put all of Europe on the travel "red list" amid a third wave of cases seen in countries such as France and Italy.

As a month-long lockdown returned to several French regions, including Paris, health minister Lord Bethell raised the prospect of having to "red-list all of our European neighbours".

Mr Hancock tells LBC: "We don't have any plans to do that. "We do have this red list and the amber list, and at the moment that is working well, so we don't have plans to do that."

People from "red list" countries are currently not allowed to travel to the UK, with the exception of British nationals and people who are normally resident in the UK - but those two groups must pay to quarantine in a hotel if they do choose to come at the moment.

Here's our guide to testing, quarantine and the red list.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has been appearing on Radio 4's Today programme.

He is asked about whether, taking into account the number of deaths in the UK death and economic hit, the response to the pandemic has been a "national failure".

Hancock says it has been the hardest year in a generation.

He says it is "critical" that the UK learns "all the way through", adding this has been a central part of the government's response to the pandemic.

Pressed further on the issue, Hancock says: "There are some areas where we've learned and we've strengthened the response over time, there's other areas where the team has hit the ball out of the park."

The health secretary adds there will be a time for "everybody to reflect" and a future inquiry.

BBC Radio 5 Live

Image source, Debi McCormack

To mark one year since the UK’s first lockdown, BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Breakfast are asking people to share their photos and memories of pre-pandemic life, using #LifeBeforeLockdown.

5 Live presenter Adrian Chiles says he was secretly pleased about cancelling his birthday party on 21 March 2020 – because he is “generally stressed at parties”.

“I thought I ought to look a bit sad,” he says of his photo. He put a candle in the fruitcake made by his mother-in-law and sent her the picture. “She seemed chuffed with that”.

Debi McCormack, from Cheltenham, met her brother and sister she’d only discovered existed shortly before lockdown on 18 March. Her photo is of this “amazing” meeting.

Although they got to know each other more over Zoom, they are now “desperate” to meet again. “I’m so pleased we managed to get that one meeting in,” she says.

In May last year we asked you what your last “normal” photo was, here is what people shared.

Mark Easton
Home editor

Image source, PA Media

Working from home, walking and shopping locally are among the lockdown behaviours that look likely to remain popular after pandemic restrictions are lifted, according to a new survey.

The study for BBC News and King's College London, conducted by Ipsos MORI, suggests virus regulations may have a lasting impact after Covid.

Some 40% of 2,200 people surveyed said they expected to walk more than before.

And staying at home appears to have connected people to their neighbours.

Read more here.

Health Secretary Hancock is asked about a report in the Daily Telegraph, external that care home staff could be compelled to be vaccinated.

Hancock tells BBC Breakfast no decision has been taken on this, but he confirms this is being considered.

He says those who look after people in care home have a duty of care to them, and not every resident in elderly care homes can be vaccinated.

The good news is that more than three quarters of staff in care homes for elderly people have been vaccinated, Hancock says, but there is still a "long way further to go".

He points out that doctors in the health service are already required to take some vaccines, including the hepatitis B vaccine, adding that some care homes have asked the government to change the law to compel their staff to be vaccinated.

Hancock is asked about the £5,000 fine for anyone in England trying to travel abroad without good reason, which will come into effect from Monday.

Foreign holidays are currently not allowed under the "stay at home" rule, external, but the measure is to become law.

Hancock tells BBC Breakfast that from Monday, the stay at home rule within England will be lifted as part of a “slight easing” of coronavirus restrictions.

He says therefore it needs to be replaced with a law that is equivalent to the current rule in preventing people from travelling abroad without a reasonable excuse.

He says: “That’s because internationally we’ve both got to guard against large numbers of cases coming here... but also the risk of new variants, which might put the vaccine rollout at risk.”

Read our story about the new rules and the fine here.

Image source, Reuters

Germany is extending its current lockdown to 18 April and shutting down almost completely over the Easter holiday from 1-5 April to slow down soaring infections. Chancellor Angela Merkel and state leaders had hoped to loosen the lockdown, but she said they had to “break the exponential growth of the third wave”. Over five days at Easter, only food shops can open for one day on Saturday 3 April and no more than five adults from two households can meet. The slogan is “We’re staying at home”. A further 7,485 infections and 250 deaths have been announced in the past 24 hours.

Spain’s ministry of health has approved extending the use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine to everyone up to the age of 65 after initially restricting it to under 55s including key workers such firefighters, police and teachers. AZ vaccinations are to resume in Spain tomorrow after a short suspension for safety checks. The jab will also be extended to over-65s if it’s backed by a national health panel.

While many European countries are seeing a third Covid wave, Denmark has escaped that and its political leaders have agreed a gradual plan to reopen the country. Schools and professions such as hairdressers will start opening up after Easter. A corona pass is being introduced to show whether you have been vaccinated or have a negative test.

The Czech death toll from the pandemic has passed 25,000. In a separate milestone, a million Czechs have now had at least one dose of vaccine, out of a population of 10.7 million.

French hospitals have admitted another 471 patients into intensive care in 24 hours, and another 15,792 cases have been reported. The total number in intensive care is over 4,500.

Bosnia has reported a record 73 daily coronavirus deaths. The capital Sarajevo and majority ethnic-Serb region, Republika Srpska, are both in lockdown.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock is asked on BBC Breakfast about Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s comments that a third wave of the pandemic in Europe will "wash up on our shores".

Asked about what the the UK is doing to try to stop that from happening, Hancock says there are “stringent measures” at the borders - including the requirement to be tested three times and stricter quarantine.

He says the evidence is that these measures are protecting the UK from large numbers of new variants and cases coming from abroad.

But the question is whether any of these measures can be released over the summer, Hancock says. He says he “entirely understands” people’s “yearning” for holidays abroad this summer.

A taskforce will report back on this in the middle of next month, Hancock says.

Image source, Getty Images

The UK is marking one year since the first coronavirus lockdown was announced.

On 23 March 2020 Prime Minister Boris Johnson outlined measures to stop the spread of Covid-19. Since then, the UK's official death toll , externalhas risen from 364 to 126,172.

Alongside the lockdown have come tough restrictions on socialising, closures of schools, pubs and shops with many rules currently still in place.

A minute's silence will be held at midday as part of a day of reflection.

A year on, Mr Johnson has praised the "great spirit" shown since that moment and offered his condolences to those who have been bereaved during the pandemic.

People are also being encouraged to stand on their doorsteps at 20:00 GMT with phones, candles and torches to signify a "beacon of remembrance".

Read more here.

Image source, Getty Images

Good morning and welcome to our coronavirus live page.

Here is a round-up of the main stories this morning:

• The UK is marking one year since the first coronavirus lockdown was announced. On 23 March 2020 Boris Johnson outlined measures to stop the spread of Covid-19. Since then, the UK's official total number of deaths within 28 days of a positive test , externalhas risen from 364 to 126,172. A minute's silence will be held at midday as part of a day of reflection
• A £5,000 fine for anyone in England trying to travel abroad without good reason is due to come into force next week as part of new coronavirus laws. The penalty is included in legislation that will be voted on by MPs on Thursday
• Working from home, walking and shopping locally are among the lockdown behaviours that look likely to remain popular after pandemic restrictions are lifted, according to a new survey. The study for BBC News and King's College London, conducted by Ipsos MORI, suggests virus regulations may have a lasting impact after Covid
• The virus that causes the common cold can effectively boot the Covid virus out of the body's cells, say researchers. Some viruses are known to compete in order to be the one that causes an infection
• A massive increase in appeals for help over the past year from those suffering domestic abuse has exposed the scale of the problem, say campaigners. Refuge says it recorded an average of 13,162 calls and messages to its National Domestic Abuse helpline every month between April 2020 and February 2021
• Covid-19 vaccines, vaccine passports and faked negative test papers are being sold on the darknet. Prices range between $500 (£360) and $750 for doses of AstraZeneca, Sputnik, Sinopharm or Johnson & Johnson jabs