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Denmark’s political parties have finalised plans to open up further next Wednesday – with indoor dining in cafes, restaurants and bars, as long as people book and provide a corona pass. Museums and art galleries will also be open for people with the “coronapas”. The downloadable pass shows if you have had a negative test in the past three days, have recently had Covid or have been vaccinated.

Two German states have decided to impose more stringent measures from Monday - Baden-Württemberg in the south-west and Mecklenburg-West Pomerania in the far north. In the north most shops and schools will shut – although hairdressers will stay open. The German government is changing the law so it can pull the so-called "emergency brake" across the country from Berlin, but that won’t happen until later next week.

Portugal will start lifting lockdown on Monday, but 11 local authorities out of more than 300 will have to wait because of a high incidence rate. Restaurants, shopping centres, high schools and universities will all reopen but Prime Minister António Costa has warned the transmission rate is higher now than it was at the start of March. France has confirmed it will reopen primary schools on 26 April and secondary schools a week later.

Dutch Health Minister Hugo de Jonge has rejected criticism of the spiralling cost of holding 445 test events over the next few weeks which have attracted 232,000 people. He insists the events are a “fantastic investment”, but critics point to the cost and the lack of public tender for the groups involved. One event in eight days’ time will attract 10,000 people.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is expected to have the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccination today. Aged 66, she is eligible for the AZ jab in Germany. Meanwhile, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, had her vaccination in Brussels yesterday.

Successful vaccine programmes will prevent another washout for summer holidaymakers, the boss of Europe's largest tour company tells the BBC.

Friedrich Joussen, who runs TUI, says the firm is "optimistic about the summer".

TUI - which owns a fleet of aircraft, cruise ships and a chain of travel agencies - says bookings in March alone hit 2.8 million.

As a result, it expects to operate up to 75% of its normal schedule for the summer season.

The company, which sells holidays to 180 different countries, suffered heavy losses during the pandemic.

Across the industry, income slumped by almost $4.5 trillion last year, leaving more than 62 million people without work, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council.

The industry body is pressing for international travel to resume in June to stem further job losses.

You can read more here.

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China's economy is recovering after shrinking in the first quarter of last year due to nationwide lockdowns at the peak of its Covid-19 outbreak.

The economy has grown a record 18.3% in the first quarter of 2021, compared with the same quarter last year.

It's the biggest jump in gross domestic product since China started keeping quarterly records in 1992.

"The national economy made a good start," says China's National Bureau of Statistics, which has released the first quarter data.

But it adds: "We must be aware that the Covid-19 epidemic is still spreading globally and the international landscape is complicated with high uncertainties and instabilities."

In the first quarter of 2020, China's economy shrank 6.8% due to its response to the coronavirus pandemic.

• Read more on this story here

Image source, Getty Images

New rules on travelling between council areas and meeting up outdoors are coming into force in Scotland as restrictions continue to be relaxed.

From today, people are permitted to travel outside their local area for non-essential reasons and six people from up to six households can meet up outdoors.

The easing of the rules has come earlier than expected, with the changes originally planned to come into force on 26 April.

The Scottish government says the changes are designed to help reunite families and close friends and have been brought in earlier to help boost people’s mental health and wellbeing.

The next significant easing of restrictions on 26 April should see all shops and some hospitality reopen.

You can read more here.

Welcome to our daily live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic in the UK and around the globe.

We’ll bring you the latest updates throughout the day.

Here are the main headlines this morning:

• New rules on travelling between council areas and meeting people outdoors have come into force in Scotland today as restrictions are eased. People can now travel out of their local area for non-essential reasons and six people from up to six households can meet outdoors
• A company in which Health Secretary Matt Hancock and his sister have shares has won contracts from NHS Wales. NHS Wales has given Topwood Ltd, which specialises in the secure storage, shredding and scanning of documents, £300,000 of business this year
• Successful vaccine programmes will prevent another washout for summer holidaymakers, the boss of Europe's largest tour company says. Friedrich Joussen, who runs TUI, tells the BBC the firm is “optimistic about the summer”. TUI - which owns a fleet of aircraft, cruise ships and a chain of travel agencies - says bookings in March alone hit 2.8 million
• China's economy grew a record 18.3% in the first quarter of 2021 compared with the same quarter last year in a post-Covid comeback. It is the biggest jump in gross domestic product since China started keeping quarterly records in 1992.