A study suggests the risk of getting rare blood clots is eight to 10 times higher after contracting coronavirus than it is for those who have been vaccinated against the disease.

Researchers at Oxford University (independent of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine) said the risk of cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) - an unusual blood clot in the brain also known as CVST (cerebral venous sinus thrombosis) - is around eight to 10 times higher after catching the virus than getting vaccinated with the BioNTech-Pfizer, Moderna or Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid jabs.

The researchers said people who have had Covid shouldn't be unduly worried by clots either.

The findings come after many European countries moved to restrict the use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine in younger people following reports of these rare blood clots.

The UK's watchdog, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has said the benefits of the jab still outweigh any risks, but added that under-30s would be offered an alternative jab.

Chris Dearden
BBC Wales News

Restoration of the castle used in last year's series of I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here! has moved ahead of schedule after featuring on the ITV show.

Gwrych Castle, near Abergele, Conwy county, replaced the series' usual home in the Australian jungle last November and December because of the coronavirus pandemic.

It has reopened to the public for the first time since the show aired, with extra renovation work done.

Mark Baker, chairman of the trust, said: "The show really accelerated the restoration process.

"We had everything in place - expert advice and specialist contractors - and were just starting to get funds together to get the work done.

"But ITV paid for a major restoration work on things like wall tops and window lintels. We're now about two years ahead of where we planned to be."

Since the castle has reopened, visitors have been able to see parts of the building which formed the set of the show.

These include the celebrities' outdoor toilets and the kiosk where they collected daily treats won in challenges.

You can read more here.

British Chinese children have told the BBC that racism during the coronavirus pandemic has got worse, leaving many scared to go outside.

A year since the UK went into its first lockdown, anti-Asian hate crime has increased by 300% according to the campaign group End the Virus of Racism.

Newsround went to meet some young people with Chinese heritage to hear about their experiences.

Image source, WAQAS AHMED

We've been telling you about the millions of people in England stuck on the longest NHS waiting list since since 2007.

One of those people was Zen Kahn, from London, who spent much of the past year in pain waiting for a vital, but not urgent, operation to remove a mass on his pancreas.

The 23-year-old, who has severe learning difficulties and mental health issues, was originally told he would have surgery in September 2020 - but in the end he waited until March 2021.

"He was losing weight, turning yellow, and getting weaker and weaker," his older brother Waqas says.

"Just to see him deteriorate daily, it was hard on us as a family."

Dr Katie Urch, divisional director of surgery at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, where Zen was treated, says surgery that was "absolutely time-critical" was prioritised.

"As our services begin to resume, our clinical teams are constantly reviewing our waiting lists to ensure we're managing care as safely and effectively as possible," she says.

Image source, WAQAS AHMED

Hugh Pym
BBC News Health Editor

The full scale of the backlog of non-Covid work which has built up because hospitals had to focus on coronavirus patients has been laid bare again.

Things are likely to get worse before they get better as the NHS tries to deal with new patients being referred for treatment as well as those already on waiting lists.

There is no obvious quick fix. The workforce is already over-stretched and training more staff takes years.

The government has allocated some extra cash to the NHS in England to try to help deal with the backlog.

But there have been calls for significant extra investment to fund overtime payments and make maximum seven-days-a-week use of operating theatres.

There have been warnings that the NHS in all parts of the UK will take years to recover from the consequences of Covid care and longer-term plans to expand the workforce and build new hospital facilities will be needed soon.

Image source, Pool

As we've been reporting, around 4.7 million people were waiting for routine operations and procedures in England in February - the most since 2007, according to new NHS England figures.

Asked about this during a visit to Britannia Royal Naval College at Dartmouth, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the government will ensure the NHS has the funding it needs to tackle the backlog in waiting lists built up during the pandemic.

He said: "We do need people to take up their appointments, and to get the treatment that they need.

"We're going to make sure that we give the NHS all the funding that it needs - as we've done throughout the pandemic - to beat the backlog and I think we put about £92 billion already extra into the NHS this year, and we're going to do whatever it takes.

"But the NHS has done an incredible job so far, I've no doubt that they're going to be able to tackle this as well."

Adam Easton
Warsaw Correspondent

Image source, Reuters

Poland has started giving people Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccinations today and has so far seen no sign that patients are refusing it because of concerns about potential side effects, says Michal Dworczyk, who is in charge of the government’s vaccination programme.

“We have no signs from the vaccination points that there are any problems, that patients are refusing it. But these are the first days so we must wait for some time,” Mr Dworczyk told a news conference.

On Tuesday, the US Food and Drug Administration recommended there be a pause in using the vaccine following the appearance of blood clots in female patients in a handful of cases.

“I hope that, as was the case with the AstraZeneca vaccine, after initial concern caused by media information, the situation will return to normal and we will use all the vaccines we have in Poland,” he added.

Earlier this week, health minister Adam Niedzielski said the government would follow the European Medicines Agency advice, adding it believed the benefits outweigh the risks.

Surge testing in under way in six London boroughs and an area of the West Midlands after cases of the South African variants of coronavirus were found.

But where do these new these variants come from? Health correspondent Laura Foster, external and virologist Dr Cindy Duke explain.

Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer has said he will consider the results of the government's five-week consultation over making coronavirus vaccinations mandatory for care home workers.

Ministers are seeking views on the proposal, which would see the jab requirement introduced this summer.

During a visit to Gower in south Wales, Starmer was asked if he believed care home workers should lose their jobs if they refused to be vaccinated.

He replied: "I think everybody wants care home staff to be vaccinated. There's a unanimous position on that. The question is whether that should be mandatory.

"Here in Wales, with the Welsh Labour-led government, you've got high levels of vaccination without making it mandatory. So it must be possible.

"Obviously we'll look at what the government puts out in any consultation.

"But the most important thing is to roll out the vaccination programme fully, and make sure just as many people are vaccinated as possible."

Image source, Getty Images

No 10 has reminded people that foreign holidays are still banned after Heathrow airport bosses said queues of up to six hours caused by Covid checks were becoming "untenable".

The prime minister's official spokesman says: "People should not be travelling unless absolutely necessary.

"The Border Force has staff there to check passengers are compliant with our border health measures and we continue to ask that passengers completed the necessary requirements to enter the UK in advance - things like purchasing testing packages."

He says the government is "constantly trying to improve the processes at the border" to keep the public safe while avoiding "an undue wait" and more details would be set out ahead of the earliest date of 17 May.

The spokesman said the Border Force has the "right level of staffing" given the current restrictions in place on travel.

Reality Check

Image source, Reuters

On Tuesday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was grilled about his country’s vaccination rollout.

“We know for example that the UK is ahead of just about everyone else on vaccinations, but they maintain very strong restrictions and are facing a very serious third wave,” he said.

“Vaccinations on their own are not enough to keep us safe.”

He is right to say the UK is ahead of almost all other countries, currently ranking sixth in the world for vaccination rates.

While the UK has given out 60 vaccine doses for every 100 people, Canada has given 23 doses, according to Our World in Data.

He is also right that social distancing is still required and restrictions remain in place, although they are slowly being removed with pubs reopening outdoors on Monday.

However, the UK does not appear to be facing a “very serious third wave”, in fact in the latest week cases in the country dropped by 12% and hospitalisations by 16%.

There is a belief, however, that the UK will see more cases over the summer as society reopens, but the vaccine could help prevent more serious cases.

Find out more about why vaccines alone won't stop the virus spreading.

Manish Pandey
Newsbeat reporter

Image source, Katie Scott

People with eating disorders have been telling us how difficult it has been to get support during lockdown.

Katie Scott, 23, told BBC Radio 1's Newsbeat that the news of Nikki Grahame's death left her "devastated".

Like Big Brother star Nikki, Katie has experienced anorexia and says lockdown has been "isolating and a hindrance" to her recovery.

She was attending treatment before the first lockdown, and since then it's all been online.

"It's been quite disjointed, through absolutely no fault of the treatment centres themselves," she says.

"But it's been a difficult time trying to get that kind of support."

Read more on this story here and help and support is available via the BBC Action Line and the charity Beat Eating Disorders., external

Jayne McCormack
BBC News NI political reporter

Politicians like announcing good news and Stormont ministers know this will be a hugely significant day for many people.

Having watched the relaxations already happening in England, Scotland and Wales, Northern Ireland looks set to start catching up from next Friday.

Those in desperate need of a professional haircut will be relieved, while the reopening of shops the following week marks the beginning of the high street's long road to recovery.

These tough restrictions have been in place for more than 15 weeks - a long slog - and health minister Robin Swann said he recognised if more restrictions weren't eased soon, compliance with public health advice could fall away and undo all the sacrifices made.

However, some businesses are unlikely to be impressed by the indicative timetable being proposed. Hospitality businesses in other parts of the UK have already reopened or will do so before the end of this month.

Ministers will face many questions about those differences when they confirm the changes in the assembly this afternoon.

Image source, Getty Images

Ministers in Northern Ireland are currently meeting to discuss the proposed dates for easing lockdown.

It’s the only part of the UK which hasn’t had expected dates yet for the lifting of restrictions.

Here are the dates being suggested for reopening:

• 23 April: Hairdressers, beauty salons, outdoor attractions
• 30 April: All retail, self-contained tourist accommodation
• 10 May: Outdoor dining, drinking, swimming pools and gyms
• 14 May: Wedding guest receptions for 30 people allowed
• Not before 1 June: Indoor drinking and dining and full tourist accommodation

As we hit lunchtime in the UK, here's a round-up of the main coronavirus headlines:

• Around 4.7 million people were waiting for routine operations and procedures in England in February - the most since 2007, new figures show
• Positive tests in England are down by 34% in a week, according to NHS Test and Trace figures. The 19,196 positive cases in the week to 7 April is the lowest since 2 September last year
• Ministers are meeting in Northern Ireland to approve the full reopening of NI retail outlets on 30 April. Close contact services such as hairdresser and beauty salons will reopen the week before - if the dates being proposed are agreed by the executive
• Surge testing for the South African Covid variant is taking place in six London boroughs, and in parts of Smethwick in the West Midlands
• More than 200,000 new daily cases have been reported in India for the first time, with deaths exceeding 1,000 for a second day running
• And a senior member of Japan’s ruling party has said cancelling the Olympics remains a possibility if the coronavirus situation in the country becomes too severe

Image source, PA Media

Universities minister Michelle Donelan says she understands the frustrations of students in England who have been told they will not be returning to universities before 17 May at the earliest, but she says the government "cannot move too fast, too soon".

Responding to an urgent question in the House of Commons, she said that an estimated 23% of students were yet to return to their term time accommodation.

"This still leaves up to 500,000 students yet to travel, and throughout the pandemic Sage (the government's scientific advisers) has warned of the risk posed by the mass movement of students - especially given they form new households."

Asked whether the government could "think again" on the date of 17 May, she said she agreed that it was "disappointing" that the government cannot get students back earlier, adding that it was "a very difficult situation for those students involved".

"But we cannot move too fast, too soon. This does risk a resurgence in infections, hospitalisations and deaths."

Asked by shadow universities minister Matt Western why the announcement of the return date had come so late, she said she could "assure him that students have never and will never be an afterthought for this government".

Image source, Getty Images

Everyone in England is now able to get two lateral flow rests per week from testing sites, pharmacies, or through the post.

The government hopes that widening access to testing for people who don't have symptoms will help stop outbreaks as lockdown is lifted.

Elizabeth Woodward from Poole in Dorset asks: "If I’ve had two vaccinations will I still need to take advantage of the free lateral flow tests being made available?"

The answer is yes. All the available data suggests the main vaccines currently in use are very effective at protecting people from becoming seriously ill - and in the majority of cases stopping people from developing symptoms at all.

However, no vaccine works for everybody who takes it, and so people should not think that just because they have had two doses of vaccine they are 100% safe - either from developing symptoms, or spreading the virus to other people they come into contact with.

Read more answers to coronavirus questions and submit your own here.

Image source, Getty Images

Not all people taking an "in-person" Covid test are receiving their result within 24 hours in line with the government's pledge.

A total of 88.8% of people who were tested in England in the week ending 7 April at a regional site, local site or mobile testing unit got their result within 24 hours.

This is down slightly from 90.6% in the previous week.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson had pledged that, by the end of June 2020, the results of all in-person tests would be back within 24 hours.

He told the House of Commons on 3 June he would get "all tests turned around within 24 hours by the end of June, except for difficulties with postal tests or insuperable problems like that".

Everyone in England is being offered two rapid coronavirus tests a week, whether or not they have symptoms, to help stop outbreaks as lockdown is lifted. Here's how you get one.

Image source, Getty Images

We've got more on the latest NHS Test and Trace figures, external which show that of the 16,926 people transferred to the system in the week to 7 April, 87.9% were reached and asked to provide details of recent close contacts.

This is down slightly from 90.5% in the previous week.

Some 11.4% of people transferred to Test and Trace in the week to 7 April were not reached, while a further 0.8% did not provide any communication details.

Image source, EPA

We've just had the latest NHS Test and Trace figures , externalthrough, which show that 19,196 people tested positive for coronavirus in England at least once in the week to 7 April.

This is down 34% on the previous week and is the lowest number since the week to 2 September last year.

Meanwhile, almost four million lateral flow tests - also known as rapid tests - were carried out in England in the week to 7 April - down from 5.5 million in the previous week.

The Department of Health said the decrease was due to some schools being on Easter holidays during this period.

All secondary schools and colleges in England have been using the lateral flow device (LFD) tests since 8 March along with care homes, universities and some workplaces.

Since 9 April, anyone in England has been allowed to order lateral flow testing kits from a local testing centre or pharmacy or to be delivered through the post.