India's Covid caseload has risen sharply in the past few weeks. In January and February daily cases fell below 20,000, but the country has now registered 200,000 new cases for the first time.

So, how did India get from relative calm to its new crisis? Watch our video below.

Image source, Getty Images

University students in England have been told that they can return to face-to-face teaching - but no earlier than 17 May.

It is a similar picture in Scotland, where students have had some in-person teaching, but will return to more "blended" learning from the same date.

In Wales, students have returned, with a mix of face-to-face and online study. In Northern Ireland, hands-on courses have been taught in-person, but others are set to remain online for the rest of the term.

University leaders had lobbied for all students to go back in April, at the start of the summer term.

They say it is unfair to keep restrictions on campuses when shops are open.

Universities minister Michelle Donelan said the timing of students' return in England was a "cautious approach to the easing of restrictions"., external

Universities should be in touch with students with specific information on how the latest government guidance will affect them.

You can read more here.

Surge testing will be carried out in a town in the West Midlands after a case of the South African Covid-19 variant was found.

Sandwell Council says, external the extra testing will begin for some residents in Smethwick today.

A council spokesman "strongly encouraged everyone aged 16 and over within specific streets" in the Smethwick and Cape Hill area to take a swab test.

Here is a full list of the affected postcodes., external

Six London boroughs - Barnet, Harrow, Hillingdon, Lambeth, Southwark and Wandsworth are currently carrying out surge testing.

Rupert Wingfield-Hayes
BBC Tokyo correspondent

Image source, EPA

A senior member of Japan’s ruling party has said cancelling the Olympics remains a possibility if the coronavirus situation in Japan becomes too severe.

Toshiro Nikai is a very powerful politician in Japan’s ruling party, so his words carry weight.

In the TV interview he said the Olympics should be cancelled "without hesitation" if the virus situation in Japan becomes too severe.

“If the infections spreads because of the Olympics then I don’t see what the Olympics is for,” he said.

Nikai’s comments have been dismissed by other ruling party officials who told Japanese media the games will not be cancelled.

The governor of Tokyo said she thought Nikai had only meant that the virus must be contained by all means.

But the virus is not being contained. On Wednesday, Japan recorded nearly 5,500 new cases.

The so-called “Kent variant”, originally identified in England, is now the dominant strain in western Japan, and it is spreading fast in the greater Tokyo area.

Image source, Jessika Ricarte

Despite the overwhelming evidence that Covid-19 rarely kills young children, in Brazil 1,300 babies have died from the virus.

One doctor refused to test Jessika Ricarte's one-year-old son for Covid, saying his symptoms did not fit the profile of the virus. Two months later he died of complications from the disease.

Jessika feels sure that if Lucas had been given a Covid test when she had requested it back in early May he would have survived.

"It is important that doctors, even if they believe it is not Covid, do the test to eliminate the possibility," she says.

There is a misconception that children are at zero risk for Covid, says Dr Fatima Marinho, who is also a senior adviser to the international health NGO Vital Strategies.

Experts say the sheer number of Covid cases in the country - the second highest number in the world, external - have increased the likelihood that Brazil's babies and young children are affected.

Another problem driving the high rates in children is a lack of testing. Marinho says that for children often the Covid diagnosis comes too late, when they are already seriously ill.

Read more about Jessika's story - and why so many children in Brazil have been affected - here.

Sticking with treatment waiting times during the pandemic, NHS England figures also show that 174,624 urgent cancer referrals were made by GPs in England in February 2021, compared with 190,369 in February 2020.

It is a year-on-year drop of 8%, although February 2020 had 29 days not 28 due to the leap year. It follows a year-on-year fall of 11% in January but an increase of 7% in December 2020.

Urgent referrals where breast cancer symptoms were present - though not initially suspected - were down from 13,627 in February 2020 to 12,199 in February 2021, a fall of 10%.

Tim Mitchell, vice-president of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, said: "Although the most urgent operations, for cancer and life-threatening conditions, went ahead, hundreds of thousands of patients waiting for routine surgery such as hip and knee operations, cochlear implants and vascular operations had their treatment cancelled or postponed.

"People have been patient as they've seen the battering the pandemic has given the NHS, but how much longer can they be expected to wait?"

Coronavirus lockdowns have prompted people to carry out mass clear-outs of unwanted goods - but charity shops are warning that people should call and check before they drop off donations.

There are fears the pent-up demand to donate after lockdown could lead to overcrowding in shops, the Charity Retail Association says.

Chairman Robin Osterley says: "We have two asks of the generous public.

"Be thoughtful - is this stuff you'd be prepared to buy yourself? And the second is to contact the shop before you roll up with armfuls of goods."

The Salvation Army made record sales on Monday, after non-essential shops reopened in England and Wales.

Image source, Reuters

As we've just reported, about 4.7 million people were waiting for treatment in England in February - the highest since 2007, NHS England figures show.

Prof Stephen Powis, national medical director for the NHS in England, says treating 400,000 patients with Covid-19 over the course of the last year had "inevitably had an impact on the NHS".

But he adds "the hard work and dedication of staff" helped to deliver almost a million operations and procedures "in the face of the winter wave".

We've also got some more detail through which shows that A&E attendances at hospitals in England last month were up 10% year-on-year, according to NHS England - although this is partly a reflection of lower-than-usual numbers for March 2020, which were affected by the start of the pandemic.

A total of 1.7 million attendances were recorded in March 2021, up from 1.5 million in March 2020.

The equivalent figure for March 2019, a non-pandemic year, was 2.2 million.

Image source, Getty Images

Surge testing is used to prevent the spread of outbreaks of Covid - especially new, more contagious variants.

It's to try to stop the spread of strains which may be able to get round some of the protection offered by vaccines.

In specific locations (streets, postcodes or districts) there is increased testing and enhanced contact tracing.

Some testing is carried out by health officials going door-to-door.

Everybody aged 11 years and over who lives in, works in, or travels through the London boroughs of Lambeth and Wandsworth is currently being asked to take a Covid-19 PCR test.

Find out more about the testing and which areas are carrying it out here.

Hugh Pym
BBC News Health Editor

A total of 4.7 million people were waiting for routine operations and procedures in England at the end of February 2021, the highest number since modern records began in August 2007.

New figures from NHS England also show that in February there were 387,885 people having to wait more than a year to start hospital treatment - the highest number for any calendar month since December 2007.

In February 2020, the number having to wait more than 52 weeks to start treatment stood at just 1,613.

Jill McGivering
South Asia editor

Some blame new variants. Others point to public behaviour - with many flouting rules on social distancing and masks.

In recent days, massive crowds have packed political rallies in states facing elections.

And at the vast Hindu festival, the Kumbh Mela, pilgrims continue to flock in their millions.

Organisers say the festival will continue.

But in the worst affected areas - including Mumbai, Pune and Delhi - hospitals and crematoria are now simply overwhelmed.

Image source, Reuters

For the first time, India has registered a daily total of more than 200,000 new coronavirus cases.

Covid-related deaths exceeded 1,000 for the second day running.

The figures have doubled in 10 days, heightening concern about the rapid spread of the virus.

This week huge crowds have gathered in Haridwar city to participate in the Kumbh Mela festival, where hundreds of devotees, including nine top saints, have tested positive for Covid-19.

Many have criticised the government for allowing the festival to go ahead amid a raging pandemic.

Pop-up vaccination centres in mosques have been set up to help Muslims get a Covid-19 vaccine during Ramadan.

The NHS has also set up pop-up centres in workplaces and community centres, with options such as out-of-hours and women-only clinics under consideration.

It follows concern from Islamic scholars and NHS leaders that the month-long fasting period may discourage some from getting a jab.

During Ramadan, many Muslims abstain from allowing anything to enter their body, such as food and drink, between sunrise and sunset.

Dr Shehla Imtiaz-Umer, a Derby GP and representative of the British Islamic Medical Association, believes it is important not to delay the vaccination programme.

"As Muslims we have a duty to preserve life and getting vaccinated is the most effective way to prevent illness and loss of life from Covid-19," she says.

Read more here

Image source, Pacemaker

Stormont ministers will be asked to approve the full reopening of retail outlets in Northern Ireland on 30 April, the BBC understands.

Close contact services such as hairdresser and beauty salons will reopen the week before.

Outdoor visitor attractions will also open that week, if the proposed dates are agreed by the executive later today.

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

It's thought that outdoor hospitality for pubs will have to wait until 10 May before being allowed to welcome back customers.

Details will be outlined to assembly members at a special sitting, with an announcement expected this afternoon.

As surge testing takes place in four boroughs in London, some people complained on social media about long queues at test sites on Wednesday.

Isobel Knight tweeted:, external "I waited in line for over an hour this morning for the Lambeth surge testing.... If I didn't have Covid before, I probably do now."

Beth Eyre said, external she queued for two hours before having to leave to go to work, so was unable to get a test.

A Lambeth Council spokesperson said it has increased capacity to ensure queues are manageable, adding that tests were also available by post.

From today, additional testing sites will be available in Wandsworth., external

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Prof Kevin Fenton, London regional director for Public Health England, says more genetic sequencing of positive Covid-19 tests has found cases of the South African variant in London.

He tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme that sequencing is "identifying a low prevalence, a low number of cases, but we are finding cases of the South African variant".

"And in addition, we're surging to identify additional cases belonging to the south London cluster, which we're investigating in Lambeth, Wandsworth and Southwark."

Challenged on why people in surge testing areas are not being asked to stay at home pending their test results, when others had been back in February, Prof Fenton says this is in part because the level of infection now in London is "quite low", so the "probability of you not having an infection is much higher".

Asked if society will have to get used to more surge testing as the price of enjoying wider freedoms, Prof Fenton says: "There's going to be trade-offs in everything.

"As we begin to recirculate in society we want to encourage everyone to get vaccinated... but we need to continue to practise our preventative measures and we need to do the surge testing if we find variants in order to contain them."

Image source, Getty Images

Introducing Covid status certificates to help reopen society risks discriminating against some groups, the UK equality watchdog has warned.

The certificates, also known as Covid passports, which prove who is vaccinated, could help to ease restrictions "in principle", the Equality and Human Rights Commission says.

But they could create a "two-tier society whereby only certain groups are able to fully enjoy their rights".

The commission also raises concerns about proposals to make vaccination a condition of employment for some workers, saying "a blanket policy requiring workers to be vaccinated is likely to be unlawful" because there are a small number of people who are not able to have the jab.

Read more about the UK's plans for Covid passports here.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

As we've already mentioned, residents in Wandsworth, Lambeth and some parts of Southwark and Barnet are being urged to get tested, after cases of the South African variant were found in these areas.

Dr Jeff Barrett, director of the Covid-19 Genomics Initiative at the Wellcome Sanger Institute says the UK has set up a "very good system" geared towards identifying as many cases of the different variants of concern as possible.

Asked if society would have to get used to regular surge testing in the years ahead, he tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme that "may be the case" but it would be hard to set a timeframe, adding it is "really important to be able to try to keep that number [of cases of the variant] as close to zero as possible".

He says: "So far the [lockdown] restrictions have kept that number of infections of these new variants very small, and as the restrictions lift the key thing to really watch will be 'does that number go up week by week'.

"If so, it's really important to deploy the most effective measures possible to contain those outbreaks."

Dr Barrett adds that the surge testing would be one example, alongside tools that have been used over the last 12 months - such as giving support to those who have to self-isolate following a positive coronavirus test.

Image source, Reuters

Surge testing is taking place in four London boroughs after cases of the Covid-19 South African variant were found.

Residents in some parts of Southwark and Barnet have become the latest to be targeted, with those in certain areas within the SE16 postcode in Southwark and N3 postcode in Barnet being urged to get tested.

They join two other London boroughs - Wandsworth and Lambeth, where 44 confirmed and 30 probable cases were identified.

People aged 11 and over in the four boroughs are being urged to take a PCR test even if they have no symptoms.

Find out more about why experts are concerned about the South Africa variant.

Image source, Reuters

Germany’s rising infection number – 29,426 in the past 24 hours – has prompted intensive care doctors to appeal for urgent action. Chancellor Angela Merkel is pushing for a nationwide emergency brake including a night-time curfew and school closures where incidence rates are high – but legal experts have raised concerns, particularly about the curfew. Leading emergency medicine specialist Christian Karagiannidis says there’s no time to wait.

The Swiss will be able to return to cafes and restaurants outdoors from Monday, and cinemas and theatres will start allowing audiences of 50 people. Football stadiums, concerts and other outdoor events will be allowed to admit 100 people if they wear masks.

France will become the third country in Western Europe, probably this evening, to surpass 100,000 Covid deaths after the UK and Italy. There is no let-up in the country's third wave with almost 6,000 people in intensive care - the highest number since mid-April last year. President Emmanuel Macron will chair a cabinet meeting this evening on a plan to reopen outdoor catering and eventually culture venues.

Italy reported another 469 deaths yesterday evening, bringing the death toll to 115,557. But hospital numbers are falling – with 3,490 in intensive care. Italian health officials have secured another seven million Pfizer-BioNTech doses by the end of June – it’s becoming the most important vaccine for much of Europe.

The Italian consignment is among 50 million extra doses that the European Union has secured from Pfizer for the second quarter of 2021. The agreement fills a gap created by delays because of the suspended Johnson & Johnson vaccine and the limits imposed on the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. Meanwhile, Serbia has started production of the Russian Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine. Russia's sovereign wealth fund says it may be exported to other countries in the region.