The Green Party is calling for a "precautionary approach" to lifting foreign travel restrictions, its co-leader Jonathan Bartley says.

"What we are very concerned about is that we don't see a proper quarantine system in place already so to go to this traffic light system then we are worried that it isn't going to be effective."

The discovery of a new coronavirus variant first identified in India "is very worrying", he says.

He urges the government to "follow the science, lets go slowly,"

On the idea of vaccine passports, Bartley says the Green Party is "worried it will produce a two tier system".

He says it is "much better to get test trace and isolate functioning far more effectively."

On making vaccines mandatory for care home workers he says: "We don't feel there should be a jab to work programme."

He says care homes are "a grey area".

"Certainly there should be the encouragement for it to happen but we are very, very cautious about making it absolutely mandatory."

He says he does not want a situation where care home workers face losing their jobs if they refuse to have the jab but suggests it could be a condition for new recruits.

Image source, Sky

A ban on foreign holidays must continue to avoid the importation of new coronavirus variants, Scotland's first minister says.

Nicola Sturgeon tells Sky's Sophy Ridge: "The big risk we face, not just in Scotland but across the UK right now, is the importation of new variants."

"Which is why I think one of the restrictions we are all going to have to live with for longer is a restriction on international travel," she says.

"In Scotland we insist that people quarantine in managed isolation wherever in the world they come from...we mustn't allow the progress we are making domestically to be undermined by a lax position on international travel."

Sturgeon says a traffic light system that categorises countries red, amber and green due to the likelihood of a new strain originating there "poses a risk".

"None of us know where the next variant that might be really problematic is going to come from, which is why unfortunately we've got to be very careful we don't allow it to be reseeded with dangerous variants from elsewhere."

She says Scotland had "almost eliminated the strains that were circulating" ahead of the current lockdown "but probably opened up international travel too quickly".

There is not yet enough data to classify the new Indian strain as a "variant of concern", Prof Hopkins adds, but she says investigations are ongoing.

"We have seen a couple of cases (of the Indian variant) that haven't arisen from travel but we're still trying to undergo the investigations to look in great detail at where they might have acquired it from," she says.

"To escalate it up the ranking we need to know that it is increased transmissibility, increased severity or vaccine evading, and we just don't have that yet."

There has been a "small amount" of community transmission of the South African variant of coronavirus, Public Health England's Prof Susan Hopkins says.

She tells the Andrew Marr Show two-thirds of the cases of the variant have been linked to travel - either someone travelling directly or a member of their household.

"However in pockets around the country we have seen transmission," she says, adding surge testing in the community is being carried out as a result.

The largest community transmission is in South London, says Prof Hopkins.

There are small pockets of transmission in "urban areas like Manchester, Birmingham and London" - elsewhere in the country, there are very low levels of transmission or no transmission.

Some of those found to have the South African variant, or the Kent variant, have had their first vaccine, she tells the programme.

The first dose is not 100% effective, so people still can get the virus or pass it to others.

Some data from South Africa shows vaccines may not be as effective against the South African variant at preventing infection and transmission - but they are still likely to be very effective at reducing hospitalisations and death, adds Prof Hopkins.

Speaking about the Indian variant, she says a few cases are not linked to travel - but the vast majority of cases are in people who have travelled. Research is ongoing as to where those cases have come from, she adds.

Prof Susan Hopkins of Public Health England, chief medical adviser to NHS Test and Trace, has been talking about plans to reopen the hospitality industry further in England on 17 May.

Restaurants and pubs are due to open indoors on that day.

"I think we've seen really positive progress over the last month," she says. "However the data from the ONS [Office for National Statistics] is a look back, it is looking a week or so behind us."

Because restrictions were eased on 12 April, that means we won't see the data we need until later, she adds.

"We can see right now the number of cases in the community is at the lowest level since September last year," she says.

"But as we release restrictions and as people start moving around again, then transmission can occur, so people need to take precaution as they do that.

"We really hope the next step can take place as planned but as we've always said, we will look very carefully at the data and we need two to three weeks' data at least."

Vaccine passports are "too intrusive" of young people's freedoms, a pub and club industry expert says.

Michael Kill, CEO of the Night Time Industries Association, has been speaking to BBC Breakfast on the first weekend after lockdown easing in England that has allowed pubs, bars and restaurants to serve alcohol and food outdoors.

He says "it's great to be back" and hospitality venues have taken bookings weeks in advance but people without bookings are also willing to queue.

Asked whether people are sticking to social distancing rules he says "the first weekend has been a bit of a challenge".

He says "it's a very exciting time for people" who have been under lockdown for a long time and it will take some "bedding in" time for people to get used to things.

Kill is asked about the idea of vaccine passports to gain entry to a venue, given many younger people are still some way off having their jab.

He replies: "We don't believe vaccination passports are a necessary measure".

He calls for "other mitigating measures" to be put in place as passports are "too intrusive" of civil liberties.

Vaccine passports are "unnecessary, expensive and divisive", the leader of Liberal Democrats says.

Sir Ed Davey tells the BBC's Andrew Marr show his party is "totally opposed to these Covid ID cards."

Marr says there are 29,000 pubs that will not be able to reopen and proof of vaccination could be a way to save their businesses.

Davey replies: "If you talk to the pubs they don't want them."

He says: "I think the government should focus the money that's available to make sure the test, trace and isolate system really works - they've failed miserably on that."

One way to get record hospital waiting lists down is to "keep a lid on the situation with Covid right now", says the shadow communities secretary.

Steve Reed tells Sky's Sophy Ridge: "We have to keep rolling out the vaccination programme but also we need to do much better with testing and contact tracing."

He says: "New variants are coming out and we need to identify and crack down on them quickly."

The UK needs to "keep control of the borders" to avoid the import of new strains of coronavirus, he says.

"The government still does not have a comprehensive quarantine programme," he says.

Reed says Prime Minister Boris Johnson should not travel to India to meet the government there and should "set an example" by having virtual meetings.

"The government is telling people people don't travel if you don't absolutely have to travel," he says.

"I don't see why the prime minister can't conduct his business with the Indian government via Zoom".

Asked on the same programme about the PM's India trip, Environment Secretary George Eustice says: "Public health does come first but there doesn't mean that there should be no visits at all for business purposes.

"But absolutely measures will be taken to ensure that the visit is Covid-secure."

The shadow communities secretary is calling for an independent investigation into former PM David Cameron's lobbying for a company he worked for to be included in a Covid-related government loan scheme.

Steve Reed was talking to Sky's Sophy Ridge on Sunday about Cameron texting Chancellor Rishi Sunak, asking for support for finance company Greenshill where he was a paid adviser.

Reed called for "open parliamentary investigation into what's been going on".

He says Greensill did get access to the scheme and "we don't know whether that was a result of the lobbying that David Cameron was doing."

He says: "We haven't seen all the texts or the secret phone calls" and called for them to be exposed in the sunlight.

Asked about Cameron's conduct, Environment Secretary George Eustice tells Ridge: "Well look, he himself has said that with hindsight it probably would have been better if, rather than texting ministers, if he had instead written letters to set out his views more formally.

"But I think the real point is. 'has he done anything wrong?' Well, on the face of it, no. There's a review that is going on, we mustn't prejudge that."

Clearing the NHS waiting list will be "very high" on Health Secretary Matt Hancock's agenda, says the environment secretary.

George Eustice says the NHS has been through a "huge endeavour" with coronavirus. He says the government has tried to encourage people to keep coming in, other than at peak periods for the NHS, to have their routine operations.

He says those operations are "so important" and can have "life consequences" so it is vital to get on top of them.

Moving on to the Indian variant, Eustice says a "fairly small" number of cases have been found, about 70 so far. No evidence yet says it is more contagious or resistant to vaccines.

The wider concern is that at some point a variant does evade the vaccine so it is "high on our concerns", he adds.

Asked why India is not yet on the red list, given its current number of Covid cases, Eustice says the list is often reviewed - he adds everyone arriving needs a pre-departure test and another on arrival.

Environment Secretary George Eustice has defended Health Secretary Matt Hancock for owning shares in a company which was approved as a potential supplier for NHS trusts in England.

In March, Hancock declared he had acquired more than 15% of Topwood Ltd, which was granted the approved status in 2019.

The firm, which specialises in the secure storage, shredding and scanning of documents, also won £300,000 of business from NHS Wales this year.

Eustice tells Sky's Ridge on Sunday the reason we knew of this in the first place was that Hancock had declared the interest and that he has had no role in any procurement decisions.

He says there is "nothing wrong with ministers having financial interests and declaring them". If they then have no say in procurement, this removes a conflict of interest, he says.

The systems in place with ministers declaring interests and the existence of the ministerial code is a "pretty good one", he adds.

BBC Breakfast

Dr Mike Tildesley also speaks about images of people in England seen enjoying their first Saturday night out in months after the partial easing of restrictions.

He says we will have to wait until the end of April to see if the increased mixing has an effect in the number of hospitalisations and deaths.

But he adds he has seen nothing yet that will put the roadmap in jeopardy.

While the images we see are often of people who are not adhering to the rules, the "vast majority" are being "extremely responsible" and are going about things safely by maintaining social distancing, adds Dr Tildesley.

Hopefully we can "still do that for a little bit longer" and get to the end of the roadmap by the end of June, he says.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, reu

BBC Breakfast

A leading epidemiologist says it is crucial scientists learn as much as they can, as soon as possible, about the Indian Covid-19 variant to assess what action needs to be taken to restrict its transmission.

Dr Mike Tildesley, a member of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling, which feeds into the government's Sage committee, says the variant is a "concern".

"I would always say when these new variants do emerge it is a concern and it's really important that we get as much information as we can as quickly as possible," Dr Tildesley tells BBC Breakfast.

"What's concerning about the Indian variant is there appear to be two mutations which... may make the vaccines less effective, and may make the virus more transmissible.

"The key thing here is 'may'. We are still trying to gather evidence about this."

While variants arise all the time, action needs to be taken - for example with surge testing - if they are found to be of specific concern.

The number of people who have died worldwide in the Covid-19 pandemic has surpassed three million, according to Johns Hopkins University.

The US, India and Brazil - the countries with the most recorded infections - have accounted for more than a million deaths between them, the university says.

The milestone has come the day after the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) warned the world was "approaching the highest rate of infection" so far.

India - experiencing a second wave - recorded more than 230,000 new cases on Saturday alone.

Almost 140 million cases have been recorded since the pandemic began.

WHO chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned on Friday that "cases and deaths are continuing to increase at worrying rates".

He added "globally, the number of new cases per week has nearly doubled over the past two months".

Image source, Getty Images

Music fans are to get the chance to enjoy a near-normal gig as part of a government pilot event next month.

The 5,000-strong crowd at Sefton Park, Liverpool, on 2 May will not need to be socially distanced or wear face coverings - but will have to provide evidence of a negative Covid test to get in.

They will also be asked to take a lateral flow test after the event and give contact details to NHS Test and Trace to make sure they can be reached if someone does later test positive. It's not yet known who will be performing at the outdoor event.

Meanwhile, the FA Cup semi-final between Leicester City and Southampton at London's Wembley Stadium will host a crowd of 4,000 this evening as part of a series of government trial events.

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden says: "We're one step closer to a summer of live events now our science-led programme is under way."

Image source, Getty Images

Welcome to our coronavirus live coverage this Sunday morning. We will be bringing you the latest from the UK and around the world.

Here are some of the morning's headlines:

• An open-air gig is to be held in Liverpool next month with 5,000 fans who do not have to socially distance
• It's part of government plans to test how live events can resume safely
• The FA Cup semi-final will take place later with a crowd of 4,000 watching
• On Saturday, the UK recorded 2,206 new cases and 35 deaths, according to the latest government figures
• The first weekend after the easing of restrictions in England saw crowds gather to eat and drink with friends outside
• In Scotland, people can now travel between council areas and meet more people outdoors - they have been urged to stay "sensible" and stick to guidelines will doing so
• The worldwide coronavirus death toll has passed three million people, Johns Hopkins University says