Pregnant women should be offered a jab in line with their age group and clinical risk, UK vaccine advisers say
About 130,000 people in the UK are estimated to have had coronavirus in the week to 10 April, the Office for National Statistics says
That is down sharply from 185,000 people the previous week, and represents one in 500
One in six UK adults are now fully vaccinated against Covid
But the World Health Organization warns Covid cases around the world are increasing at a "worrying rate"
Chancellor Angela Merkel says the third wave has Germany "firmly in its grip" and the situation there is "very serious"
England's reproduction number, or R value, is between 0.7 and 1.0 - meaning every 10 people with Covid will infect between seven and 10 others
New rules on travel and meeting people outdoors have come into force in Scotland today as restrictions are eased
A new Covid-19 variant in the UK, first identified in India, features two mutations that could be a cause for concern, an expert says
We're going to leave our live coverage here for today. For everything you need to keep up to date, visit our coronavirus page here.
Today's live page was brought to you by Vanessa Barford, Dulcie Lee, Emma Harrison, Mary O'Connor, Mal Siret, and James Clarke.
Image source, EPAUndertakers from Rome protest with placards reading: "Excuse us, but they do not allow us to bury your loved ones"
Image source, ReutersAs we've heard, 77 cases of a new variant first identified in India have been found in the UK.
Reacting to the news, Labour's shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds is calling for a "proper hotel quarantine system in place urgently".
“Ministers have been warned time and again that failing to introduce a comprehensive hotel quarantine policy would leave us exposed to variants of Covid," he says.
"The blame for these dangerous new variants reaching this country rests squarely with the UK government, and lives are being put at risk."
Public Health England has designated the B.1.617 variant as a "variant under investigation" and said there was currently no evidence to suggest it caused more severe disease or that vaccines were less likely to work against it.
Find out more about other coronavirus variants that have been identified in the UK here: What are the Brazil, South Africa and UK variants and will vaccines work?
Image source, ReutersSurge testing has also been taking place in six London boroughs this week
A "small number of cases" of the South Africa Covid-19 variant have been found, Birmingham City Council says.
One case was within the Ladywood and Soho & Jewellery Quarter wards and surge testing will be carried out.
Residents aged over 16 who live or work there are strongly encouraged to take part in door-to-door testing when offered, external, even if they are not showing symptoms, the authority says.
This week surge testing for the South African variant has taken place in certain postcodes in Smethwick in the West Midlands, as well as in six London boroughs.
The Visual and Data Journalism Team
More than 860 million doses of coronavirus vaccines have been administered in 165 countries worldwide.
However, there are vast differences in the pace of progress in different parts of the world.
With an aim to give doses to nearly every adult around the world, this is the largest vaccination programme in history.
The US and China have administered the highest number of doses, 198 million and 183 million respectively.
India ranks third, with more than 117 million.
But while nearly all of Europe and the Americas have begun vaccination campaigns, some countries in Africa are still to get started.
The first vaccine to be approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) was produced by Pfizer and BioNTech, and was then followed by several others.
The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is now the most widely used around the globe.
As we've been hearing, 77 cases of a new variant first identified in India have been discovered in the UK.
Officials have called it a "variant under investigation" but Danny Altmann, professor of immunology at Imperial College, says it is likely to be escalated to a "variant of concern".
"I think we should be terribly concerned about it," he tells BBC Radio 4's PM programme.
"It is similar to the ones we know about - it mixes and matches some of the features we've seen before with this E484 change that we've seen before in a similar but different version in South Africa and Brazil, and then the infectivity change that we saw in the Californian variant."
He says all of the variants are "a worry" as "they are things that can most scupper our escape plan at the moment and give us a third wave".
Read more about the Brazil, South Africa and UK variants here
Covid-19: Car park becomes dance floor for lockdown pair
Sue Whitehead, 67, and Geoff Shaw, 72, have been dance partners for three years, but a tightening of Covid rules at the start of the year meant they could no longer go to their local studio to practice.
The pair, who live alone, decided to form a support bubble so they could dance together - and used Sandwell Valley car park to practise their moves.
Sue says many passers-by had offered their support, some mimicking Strictly Come Dancing by giving them a score for their routine.
But Geoff jokes there's been a financial downside to using the car park for their sessions.
"I've got about 25 [parking] tickets in the window of my car," he says.
Image source, ReutersMore than 500,000 people have had the AstraZeneca jab so far in Kenya
Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta has ordered all teachers to have a Covid-19 vaccine irrespective of their age.
The country has been vaccinating school managers and those aged above 50, elderly citizens and front-line workers.
More than 500,000 people have had the AstraZeneca jab out of the more than one million doses delivered to the country.
All teachers and non-teaching staff in schools should have the jab before schools reopen on 10 May, the president says.
According to the head of Kenya's Teachers Service Commission, Nancy Macharia, 15 primary teachers, three deputy headteachers and eight headteachers have died of Covid-19 during the pandemic.
Image source, Ann BuchananAnn Buchanan and her grandson Jensen were reunited in St Andrews
In Scotland more families and friends have been able to reunite today at parks, gardens and beaches, after months in lockdown.
Restrictions have been eased allowing people to travel between council areas and meet up to six people outdoors.
St Andrews' famous West Sands beach was one popular spot for family reunions.
Ann Buchanan, who lives near Stirling, met up with relatives, whom she had not seen since last year, at St Andrews' West Sands beach.
"We have not been able to meet up for ages, for such a long time, and it is really nice to get together here, she says.
"This is the furthest I have driven in a year. It's just like passing your driving test again."
Andrew McVie, 27, from Glasgow, says he is "super excited" to be visiting Millport, on the Isle of Cumbrae, to cycle round the island for the first time in more than two years.
"I've missed it so much not being able to go because of the travel restrictions but I'll still be taking precautions," he says.
Jonathan Blake
BBC political correspondent
Image source, PA MediaFans attending the FA Cup semi-final and final and other sporting events which are part of a government pilot to manage Covid and large crowds will not need to show proof they've been vaccinated against coronavirus.
Those attending will only evidence of a recent negative test.
Guidance published on Friday says "there will be no requirement for participants to show proof of vaccine" at events in April and May including the FA Cup semi final and final at Wembley Stadium.
There had been speculation that proof of vaccination would be required for the pilot events after the government said two weeks ago that it was developing a certification system involving vaccination, a recent negative test, or natural immunity.
Read more: What are the UK plans for Covid passports?
Image source, Getty ImagesWorld number one Judd Trump says the return of fans will help bring out his best at the World Snooker Championship in Sheffield, which starts tomorrow.
Until now the 2020-21 season has been entirely played behind closed doors because of Covid-19 restrictions.
However, the tournament is part of the UK government pilot scheme to help fans return to sporting and cultural venues.
"You miss the coughing and the mobile phones going off," Trump, who won the World Championship two years ago, tells BBC Radio 5 Live.
"When you are losing and you get a frame or two behind [without fans], it is so much easier to give up because you feel nobody is there to see it.
"When you've got a crowd you sometimes take a toilet break just to get the roar of the fans and get them calling your name to get you back in the game. So it makes a huge difference."
Image source, ReutersA pregnant woman is given a jab in Schwenksville, Pennsylvania, US
More now on the new official advice that pregnant women should be offered a Covid jab.
The announcement, from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, brings the UK in line with other countries.
Dr Mary Ross-Davie, director for professional midwifery and Covid vaccine lead at the Royal College of Midwives, says the move is a "welcome" and "sensible step".
"It empowers pregnant women to make their own decisions about whether or not to receive the vaccine," she says.
"Ultimately it will be a woman’s choice and midwives and obstetricians will be there to support them to make an informed decision that is right for them."
Up until now, the advice for women has been to discuss having a vaccine with their GP if their risk of exposure to the virus is high or if they have underlying health conditions which put them at higher risk of Covid complications.
Read our full story here.
World Press Photo: ‘Finding love even in the most dark hour’
A picture of an elderly care home resident receiving her first hug in five months amid the Covid-19 pandemic has been named World Press Photo of the Year.
The image shows 85-year-old Brazilian woman Rosa getting her first embrace from nurse Adriana through a transparent hug curtain.
The photographer Mads Nissen told BBC World News that he was covering the Covid crisis in Brazil which has been one of the countries most affected by the crisis.
“I was photographing the graveyards, the cemeteries where people were mourning, hospitals, the ambulances, but I also felt there was need for a different kind of picture,” he said.
He wanted a picture which could show “this certain Latin American spirit to fight and find love even in the most dark hour".
Brazil has the second highest death toll in the world from Covid-19.
People who are pregnant should be offered a Covid vaccine at the same time as the rest of the population based on their age and clinical risk group, new official advice says.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) says there are "no specific safety concerns" identified with "any brand of Covid-19 vaccines" in relation to pregnancy.
The JCVI said data from the US showed around 90,000 pregnant women had received jabs, mainly the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, "without any safety concerns being raised".
It therefore advises that it is "preferable" for pregnant women in the UK to be offered these two vaccines where available, adding: "There is no evidence to suggest that other vaccines are unsafe for pregnant women, but more research is needed."
We'll bring you more details as we get them.
One in six UK adults are now fully vaccinated against Covid, with more than two million second doses given in the past week, according to the latest figures, external.
As we reported a little earlier, more than 8.9 million people have now received both doses - the equivalent of 17.0% of the adult population.
Breaking that down by nation, Wales is estimated to have given two doses to nearly a quarter of adults at 22.8%. In Northern Ireland it stands at 17.2%, in England it's 16.8% and in Scotland it's 15.5%.
The figures are for vaccinations reported by the UK's health agencies up to 15 April.
Image source, Getty ImagesA hearse with a placard that reads: "Sorry, but they won't let us bury your loved ones"
Funeral workers in Italy's capital city, Rome, are protesting over a build-up of bodies at cemeteries amid a backlog of burials and cremations following a surge in coronavirus deaths.
More than 2,000 bodies are being stored at Rome's main crematorium, which can carry out about 50 cremations a day, while other cemeteries in the city are also full, Reuters news agency reports.
"Every few days we are told the cemeteries are blocked and they haven't got any more room to take in the dead," head of Italy's federation of funeral workers, Giovanni Caciolli, says.
Workers have placed wreaths on display in hearse vehicles that read: "Sorry, but they won't let us bury your loved ones."
The city's authorities responsible for handling burials and cremations, AMA, said in a statement this week it was facing an unprecedented situation and was working to create 60,000 new burial plots for the city.
Italy has reported more than 3.8 million cases of coronavirus since the start of the pandemic, and over 116,000 Covid-related deaths.
Philippa Roxby
Health reporter, BBC News
Viruses mutate all the time in a bid to survive. The challenge for scientists is to work out which mutations change how the coronavirus behaves.
Do they alter how the virus spreads, for example, do they cause people to be more seriously ill and could they evade the protection of vaccines?
These are all questions experts will now try to answer about the Indian variant by carrying out experiments in the lab and looking at data on cases in the real world.
So far, we know that it has two mutations – the first, E484Q is similar to one found in the Brazilian, South African and Kent variants – and the second, L452R has been found in a variant in California.
That means it could be a concern based on what is known about those variants already.
But the "double mutation" on its own isn’t unusual and has been found in other variants.
Covid vaccines are still very effective at reducing the risk of serious illness and manufacturers plan to update their vaccines in response to the most worrying new variants.
A further 34 people have died in the UK within 28 days of testing positive for coronavirus, according to the latest government figures, external.
Another 2,596 people have tested positive for the disease.
Meanwhile, 8,931,547 people have received their second dose of the vaccine and 32,574,221 have had their first.
Loch Lomond wild swimmers enjoy lockdown easing
Wild swimmers have been enjoying the easing of travel rules across Scotland.
From today, people are allowed to travel out of their local area for non-essential reasons and for six people from up to six households to meet up outdoors.
At Loch Lomond, people took advantage of the relaxation in restrictions to brave the waters for an early morning spring dip.
While some donned their wetsuits and woolly hats, others took the plunge just in their swimsuits or trunks.