Boris Johnson says he is "very sorry" for those living in Bolton and Blackburn where there is a surge of the Indian variant and he will not impose further restrictions on them.

He says advanced surveillance and data gathering means if there is a danger of the NHS coming under unsustainable pressure we would see the signs early on and could react in good time.

The PM urges people "to exercise the greatest caution because the choices we each make in the coming days will have a material effect" on England's progress.

"We won't be preventing businesses from reopening on Monday but we will be asking you do to your bit," he says.

That includes getting the vaccine when eligible, getting free lateral flow tests and isolating when asked.

The PM says the government will proceed with the plan to move to step three of England's roadmap out of lockdown from Monday.

"But I have to level with you that this new variant could pose a serious disruption to our progress and could make it more difficult to move to step four in June," he says.

"I must stress that we will do whatever it takes to keep the public safe."

Boris Johnson says the government will accelerate remaining second doses to the over 50s and those who are vulnerable in England so they are eight weeks apart.

He adds it will also prioritise first doses for anyone eligible who has not yet come forward.

The PM says that "at this stage there is no evidence of increased cases translating into unmanageable pressures" on the NHS.

He says that is even the case in Bolton, where there has been a spike in the variant.

The PM adds: "I do not believe that we need on the present evidence to delay the roadmap."

The PM says "there are some important unknowns" about the Indian variant

"We believe this variant is more transmissible... but we don't know by how much," he says.

"If the variant is significantly more transmissible, we're likely to face some hard choices" when it comes to easing restrictions, he adds.

"So far we have no evidence to suggest that vaccines will be less effective."

Boris Johnson has started speaking. We'll bring you the latest updates from the coronavirus briefing.

We are going to be turning our attentions to a coronavirus briefing from Downing Street in the next few minutes.

We will be hearing from PM Boris Johnson and England's chief medical officer Prof Chris Whitty.

Stay with us for updates.

Scotland's first minister has just announced Moray and Glasgow must remain under level three coronavirus restrictions while the rest of the mainland moves to level two on Monday. So what do these levels mean for people living in Scotland?

Level two

Most areas will move to this level, which allows six people from three households to meet inside, external and stay overnight. There is no need to physically distance from family and friends in a private home. Travel around Scotland is permitted but you cannot enter somewhere with level three restrictions. You can also go to other parts of the UK as long as you follow their rules. Shops and leisure attractions are open, but soft play, funfairs and nightclubs remain closed.

Level three

Moray and Glasgow will remain in level three where six people from two households can gather at an indoor public place such as a cafe or restaurant. Groups of up to six from six households can meet outdoors, but there can be no indoor visits to private homes, external. Going inside someone's living accommodation is only permitted for essential purposes or if you are in an extended household. Shops and many leisure facilities can open, but cinemas, theatres, nightclubs, concert halls and stadiums cannot.

You can read an explanation of the various levels here.

Dozens of passengers booked on Australia's first repatriation flight from India will reportedly not be able to take it after testing positive for Covid or being close contacts of cases.

The flight was supposed to bring 150 Australian citizens home following a backlash over a three-week ban on anyone entering from Covid-hit India.

But local media reports suggest the plane may now take off half empty. Australia's strict rules mean the seats cannot be given to others in the queue.

Sunny Joura is one of those barred from the flight. He tells the BBC he has been trying to get home to Australia for the past 11 months, only to test positive for Covid hours before the plane was due to fly.

There are 9,500 Australians stranded in India at the moment, including 950 people registered as vulnerable and 173 unaccompanied minors.

Read the full story here.

Image source, Scottish parliament

People living in Moray and Glasow will not be allowed to travel in or out of the areas except for in permitted circumstances but businesses affected will be offered extra financial support, Scotlands first minister says.

Nicola Sturgeon says the decision to keep both places in level three coronavirus restrictions by "pressing pause for a few days" will avoid even more restrictive measures over the next few weeks.

She says Moray Council will receive £375,000 and Glasgow City Council £1.05m per week. This will allow them to give £750 a week to hospitality and leisure businesses that will not be able to honour bookings made next week.

The prime minister is likely to address concerns over the UK's surge in cases of the Indian strain of coronavirus in a slightly delayed briefing we're now expecting to start in about half an hour.

Boris Johnson and England's chief medical officer Prof Chris Whitty will speak from the Downing Street press room.

We will bring you updates and analysis from our experts.

Nicola Sturgeon says the Scottish government does not yet have the genomic sequencing data to know definitively if the Indian variant is driving a surge in cases.

She says more test results are showing signs of a different variant and factors such as the demographics in Glasgow are "heavily indicative that the Indian variant is at play".

She says Scotland has been vaccinating younger age groups as part of the response in Moray and talks will be held over whether this should be rolled out in Glasgow.

"I'm pretty sure there will be an accelerating vaccine aspect to this," Sturgeon adds. But she says she is awaiting further advice from the JCVI on the effect of the vaccine on the Indian variant.

Image source, Scottish parliament

Nicola Sturgeon says she is as "optimistic as it is possible to be" there will be a different decision regarding Moray's level of coronavirus retrictions this time next week.

She says the epicentre of the outbreak in Glasgow is in her constituencey so she know the issues very well.

She says there are concerns the Indian variant could be more transmissable than the Kent variant which is dominant across the UK.

She says door-to-door testing is under way in areas where there has been a spike in cases and households were being provided with lateral flow tests.

She is awaiting further advice from the JCVI later today on the use of the Covid vaccines again the Indian variant.

Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says she has taken the "difficult decision" in the past half hour that Moray and Glasgow will stay at level three restrictions for another week.

She says the situation in Moray is improving but case numbers are more than double the Scottish average.

She says similar reasoning has been applied to the situation in Glasgow which is "causing even more concern at this stage".

She says cases in Glasgow have risen to 80 per 100,000 and test positivity is at 35.5%.

Evidence suggests the outbreak which is heavily centred in the south side of Glasgow is being driven by the Indian variant.

In Moray cases are 69 per 100,000 - more than double the Scottish average.

You can read more on this breaking story here.

We've mentioned earlier that Prime Minister Boris Johnson is giving a coronavirus briefing from Downing Street later today.

But we've just heard it is delayed and now due to start at 17:30 instead of 17:00.

We will have full coverage here.

Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is going to be giving a coronavirus briefing from Holyrood in the next few minutes.

We will bring you live updates as we have them.

The UK has given a total of 55,434,965 coronavirus vaccinations.

That's a total of 36,115,955 first doses and 19,319,010 second doses.

It means 637,325 jabs were given yesterday - about two-thirds of them second doses.

There have been a further 17 coronavirus-related deaths in the UK, according to the government's daily figures., external

The total number of people to die within 28 days of a positive Covid-19 test is now 127,668.

There were also 2,193 new infections recorded today.

Image source, Getty Images

Politicians have questioned why it appeared to take so long for the UK to place India on its travel red list - therefore requiring all arrivals to quarantine in hotels.

Even as India reported growing numbers of cases and deaths, it continued to be on the amber travel list - requiring arrivals to isolate at home and conduct several Covid tests.

As the BBC's Reality Check team explains, red list decisions are based on Joint Biosecurity Centre risk assessments.

Read more about them here.

Kerry Allen
BBC Monitoring, Chinese Media Analyst

Image source, Reuters

A fresh outbreak of Covid-19 has been reported in China – in the eastern Chinese province of Anhui.

In the past 48 hours, three symptomatic cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed in the city of Lu’an and Feixi County.

This has meant two neighbourhoods in Lu’an have now become “medium risk”, meaning local lockdown measures are in place. Apartment buildings where patients have tested positive are in lockdown, and a citywide testing drive will now take place over the next three days. Large-scale events such as exhibitions have been cancelled.

One of the patients, surnamed Li, has recently returned from outside of the province. She had been travelling in the eastern city of Dalian, and so residents in that city have also been instructed to get tested if they were on the same flights or trains as Ms Li.

It is unclear what the source of this latest outbreak is. The authorities in Dalian have said Ms Li has “no history of contact with immigrants” while she was in the city.

This outbreak comes as China’s top health authority is today warning China has been seeing an increased number of import patients testing positive with Covid-19 mutant variants. State media are urging “accelerated” vaccination to prevent a similar situation to India.