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Bolton has the second highest rate of Covid-19 infections in England, prompting a roll-out of surge testing in the town.

On Tuesday, the mayor of Greater Manchester asked the government for everyone over the age of 16 in the region to get a Covid vaccine to curb the spread of the Indian variant.

Andy Burnham said it came after a "worrying" spike in Bolton among the under-25s, with cases doubling in a week.

The prime minister's official spokesman has said surge vaccinations have not been ruled out to deal with rising cases in areas with variants.

Labour councillor Mohammed Ayub said the council had been doing "everything possible" to suppress the virus and he believed the main cause of the surge was the Indian variant coming in from abroad.

The BBC has spoken to local residents, who are nervous about what rising cases could mean for lockdown restrictions.

Image source, Parliament TV

Shadow education secretary Kate Green has apologised for "offensive" remarks in which she suggested the pandemic was "a good crisis" for Labour.

In September, when speaking about coronavirus, Green was reported to have told Labour Party members they should "use the opportunity, don't let a good crisis go to waste".

She was said to have added: "Particularly for those of us in Labour, let's be talking now about what this has really exposed, about the way in which we've undervalued our whole education system."

Conservative MP Christian Wakeford brought up the matter during the debate on the Queen's Speech.

He says: "Children's attainment and literacy going backwards, children's mental health, children needing to go through potty training again, fear of the prospects of the job market. "Which of the above does she think is a good crisis for them (Labour) to be taking advantage of, and will she apologise for those comments that she made previously?"

Green replied: "They were inappropriate, insensitive and will have been offensive to people who have suffered terribly in this pandemic, including those who have been bereaved and lost those that they loved and will be missing terribly. I should not have used those remarks and I thank (Mr Wakeford) for giving me the opportunity to put that on the record in this chamber."

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The NHS contact-tracing app had a significant impact on lowering the spread of coronavirus in the UK, a peer-reviewed paper has found.

Researchers estimate the app prevented hundreds of thousands of cases of the disease, and thousands of deaths.

"On average, each confirmed case who consented to notification of their contacts through the app prevented one new case," the paper says.

The app works by using a smartphone's sensors to measure how close a user is - and for how long - to other app users. If one of those people tests positive for coronavirus, the app can issue an alert telling those who have been in close contact to self-isolate.

Read more.

Matt Cole
Senior Political Reporter

Surge testing in areas where the Indian variant has been found is not working, sources have told the BBC.

The strategy is identifying lots of cases but is not stopping the spread of the variant, according to sources.

The variant is now being seen in lots of places, with few cases linked to travel, and case numbers have been "grossly underestimated", they said.

Extra meetings of government scientific advisers - including the health secretary and chief medical officer - are taking place to consider the growing number of cases of the Indian variant, the BBC has been told.

It is believed stage three of the roadmap for easing lockdown in England will go ahead on Monday but consideration is being given to the question of whether social distancing rules could be relaxed.

The BBC understands that Prime Minister Boris Johnson has already signed off on a reduction of social distancing measures – but a politically difficult rethink may now be under consideration.

There are now also questions being raised about the possible need to delay stage four of the easing - planned for 21 June - which would see all legal limits on social contact lifted.

One of the key tests for unlocking is the emergence of variants - and the increasing number of cases of the Indian variant could have an impact.

It is believed an announcement of a greater focus on outbreaks of the Indian variant could be made some time after 14:00 BST.

The number of people on universal credit has doubled to six million since the start of the pandemic.

And cases of fraud and error involving this benefit have reached record levels, according to new figures.

A total of £8.4bn was lost in 2020-21, up from £4.6bn the previous year, according to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)

The vast majority of claims are genuine and fraud can be as simple as claiming money you're not entitled to, the DWP says.

But some criminals steal people's details to apply for advance payments of universal credit. The money is paid to them but the person whose identity has been stolen gets the bill.

That's what happened to Jo Darby from Birmingham who received a bill for a £1,475.52 universal credit advance.

The DWP refused to talk to her because she was unable to verify the security questions on the scam universal credit account. Then her employer was instructed to deduct money from her salary.

It took the intervention of BBC Radio 4's Money Box programme to resolve the situation - here's what happened.

The first large-scale outdoor event in Wales since March last year is being held as part of a trial to manage crowds as Covid restrictions ease.

Between 300 and 500 people are expected to celebrate Eid at Cardiff Castle.

Attendees will need proof of a negative Covid test on arrival and they must keep to social distancing rules.

Sporting matches, festivals and theatre events are among nine outdoor post-pandemic trials being held in Wales in May and June.

Eid is a celebration to mark the end of Ramadan, a month of prayer and fasting for Muslims.

Read more.

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Officials are not ruling out surge vaccinations in areas with spike of new variants, Downing Street has said.

The prime minister's official spokesman said the government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) was meeting later and would provide further updates on the variant first identified in India.

However, he said there were "no plans" to reintroduce the tier system in England amid concerns local restrictions could be needed in areas where variants are identified.

The spokesman said: "We have set out what we want to do on the road map, moving together as a nation on this, and that has been very successful so far.

"We have got a raft of measures available to us which are already in place, with regards local testing, surge testing and tracing," he added.

When Felicia Selvaraj became ill with coronavirus in April 2020, she was told she was unlikely to survive.

More than a year on, the nurse from Birmingham is still unwell with long Covid, feeling tired and breathless.

She's now receiving treatment at one of more than 60 specialist clinics set up across England to find out more about the lasting effects of the disease., external

There is no universally-agreed definition of long Covid, but it covers a broad range of symptoms., external

And it's thought to affect about one in five people five weeks after an initial infection, ONS figures suggest.

Ms Selvaraj says she's had a "very hard year" after Covid made her "very ill".

"The road to recovery, it's very very long. I'm getting better slowly, every day one more step," she says.

Also being treated at the clinic in Birmingham is Rob Smith, a key worker who contracted the virus in January. Four months on, he is exhausted after a short walk.

"Some days I wake up and I'm fine and then some days I wake up and I've got no energy," he says.

You can find out more about the work of the long Covid clinic here.

Image source, Danny Lawson/PA

Secondary school pupils in Selby, North Yorkshire, are being advised to continue to wear face coverings in the classroom from next week despite a change in national government guidance.

Face coverings have been recommended in classrooms in England since the return to school in March - but that will end on Monday as part of the phasing out of lockdown measures.

However, Louise Wallace, director of public health for North Yorkshire, has said pupils in Selby should keep their masks on in the classroom due to higher than average Covid infection rates in the area.

She said the secondary pupils and staff would continue to be advised to wear face coverings in classrooms and communal areas until the May half term at the end of the month.

Selby had a case rate of 68 per 100,000 people in the week to 8 May, compared to the England average of 16.

The prime minister has described NHS waiting times as "a massive national challenge", after the number of people waiting to start hospital treatment rose to a record high.

"There's no question that the NHS now faces a huge backlog," Boris Johnson said.

"It's a massive national challenge but I also know that a great, great national institution that has proved itself capable of rising to the most phenomenal challenges.

"It was never overwhelmed by Covid, it hasn't been so far and I know it can cope with the backlog."

Image source, Getty Images

The prime minister says he is "cautiously optimistic" that the country could get "much closer to normality".

Asked if guidance to wear masks and social distance could be dropped, Boris Johnson said more announcements would be made before the end of the month.

He added: "I think we have to wait a little bit longer to see how the data is looking but I am cautiously optimistic about that and provided this Indian variant doesn't take off in the way some people fear, I think certainly things could get back much, much closer to normality."

Under the current roadmap for easing restrictions all legal limits on social contact are due to be removed from 21 June.

The government is "anxious" about the Indian variant and is "ruling nothing out" when considering its response, the prime minister has said.

Speaking on a visit to a primary school in Ferryhill, County Durham, Boris Johnson said: "At the moment there is a very wide range of scientific opinion about what could happen.

"We want to make sure we take all the prudential, cautious steps now that we could take, so there are meetings going on today to consider exactly what we need to do."

Asked if local lockdowns were a possibility, the prime minister said there were a range of things the government could do, including surge testing and tracing, and it was "ruling nothing out".

He added: "At the moment, I can see nothing that dissuades me from thinking we will be able to go ahead [with easing restrictions] on Monday and indeed on June 21, everywhere, but there may be things we have to do locally and we will not hesitate to do them if that is the advice we get."

People aged 18 and over in the three areas of Blackburn will be able to book an appointment for a Pfizer vaccine from next week.

It comes after cases of the Indian variant of coronavirus were found in the town in Lancashire, north-west England.

The national booking system for England is currently only open to people aged 38 and over.

Over-18s living in the following areas of Blackburn will be able to get an appointment:

• Shear Brow & Corporation Park
• Billinge & Beardwood
• Bastwell & Daisyfield

Scientists believe the variant first identified in India could be more transmissible than the Kent variant, which is dominant in the UK. But there is currently insufficient evidence to indicate it may cause more severe disease or make current vaccines any less effective.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock says the NHS waiting list is at the "top of my agenda".

The number of people in England waiting to start hospital treatment has risen to a new record high of 4.95 million, according to figures released today.

"We got the number of people who were waiting over a year down to just over a thousand, almost zero, before the pandemic struck," he says.

"But of course one of the consequences of the pandemic has been this big increase in the waiting list. It’s right on the top of my agenda making sure we get that sorted”.

He adds “it will take some time” to clear the backlog.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock says the government “is worried about the rise of the Indian variant” and "are watching it very, very carefully”.

Speaking on a visit to a vaccination centre at the Central Mosque of Brent, north-west London, Hancock says the government is “putting in enhanced contact tracing so that people who test positive for this variant get extra support to make sure that we slow the spread as much as possible”.

When asked if regional lockdowns could happen, he says: “We rule nothing out. We’ve all seen last year what might be necessary.

"At the moment our goal is to tackle this through making sure everybody who tests positive gets that enhanced contact tracing and of course the vaccine programme is giving a high level of protection right across the board."

Image source, Getty Images

At a Covid vaccine appointment, you will probably be warned of possible side effects - fever, headache, a sore arm for a day or two afterwards. Changes to the menstrual cycle will not appear on the list.

But women online around the world have started asking if early, heavy or painful periods might be an unlisted reaction to the jab.

We don't yet know whether the vaccine is causing these changes - it hasn't been studied. It's possible women post-vaccination were more likely to notice or attribute changes, particularly after hearing about others' experiences.

But Dr Victoria Male, a reproductive immunologist at Imperial College London, says some post-menopausal women, and people taking hormones that stop their periods, have reported bleeding. So she's inclined to suspect there may be a physical reaction occurring.

And, though the link is unproven, there are logical reasons the vaccine could be causing changes to periods - but these changes are not anything to worry about, reproductive specialists say. While painful or unexpected periods can be distressing, they're not a sign of any long-term harm.

Read more.

The Champions League final between Chelsea and Manchester City will take place in Portugal with 6,000 fans from each club permitted to attend.

The game on 29 May has been moved from Turkey to the Portuguese city of Porto because of coronavirus restrictions.

Portugal is on England's green list so players and fans can attend without having to quarantine on their return home. Turkey is on the red list, meaning arrivals to the UK have quarantine for 10 days in a hotel.

It is the second successive year the final has been held in Portugal.

Read more.

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There has been an increase in the number of cases of the Indian variant of coronavirus in Northern Ireland.

BBC News NI has been told there are now at least 12 cases of the variant first identified in India.

Last week, the authorities confirmed seven people had tested positive.

It is unclear whether the additional cases are linked and the Public Health Agency would not confirm where they were found or how many were linked to travel.

While there has been a small increase in the overall number of positive Covid-19 cases in NI, it is understood health officials at this stage are not overly concerned.

Elsewhere in the UK, the number of cases of the Indian variant is rising at worrying rates including in Bolton, north-west England.

Image source, Reuters

The number of people testing positive for Covid-19 in England has fallen to the lowest level since the beginning of September.

A total of 14,313 people tested positive for the virus at least once in the week to 5 May, according to the latest Test and Trace figures.

This is down 9% on the previous week and the lowest number since the week to 2 September 2020.

Image source, Reuters

An indicative date of 21 June has been proposed for theatres in Northern Ireland to reopen, BBC News NI has been told.

It is not clear if the move will be discussed when ministers meet later to review lockdown restrictions.

Theatres have effectively been closed since the pandemic began last March.

Hugging of loved ones and the resumption of international travel are also expected to be discussed by ministers.

Read more.