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Nightclubs and indoor live music venues in Wales will not reopen until after talks take place in June or July, the first minister says.

Asked if a certain percentage of young people would need to receive a jab before clubs could open, Mark Drakeford tells the PA news agency: "As of yesterday, 56% of people in their 30s had already received a first dose of a vaccine, and 37% of people in their 20s had received a first dose.

"That number is going to keep on rising and rise pretty quickly over the weeks ahead. So every week that goes by does extend the protection that vaccination offers to younger people, and that does mean that the reopening of some of those live venues will get closer."

But he says the virus thrives in indoor settings when people are close together for some time where ventilation is not "particularly strong".

"That's not far off describing a nightclub," he says. "So it's just inevitable those venues will come towards the end of the reopening queue.

"We're probably talking about the three-week cycle that will happen towards the end of June and into July before active consideration of those venues begins to happen."

Earlier this week, nightclub bosses pushed the FM for a reopening date saying some operators were running out of money.

You will be able to follow full updates from our colleagues in Wales on Mark Drakeford's upcoming announcement on the latest changes to regulations. We'll bring you the key points on this page.

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All adults on the island of Jersey will be offered a coronavirus vaccine by mid-August, health bosses have confirmed.

From Friday, people aged 30 to 34 can book their appointments for the jabs, which will begin on Saturday.

Jersey - a UK crown dependency and the largest of the Channel Islands - decided not to give the AstraZeneca jab to people under 40 after new advice was issued last week.

Read more here.

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Hugging people from other households will be allowed in England and Scotland from Monday - but Wales and Northern Ireland are putting it off a little longer.

For millions of people this will be the first time they've hugged family and friends in months but the government is urging people to be cautious.

We've gathered advice from coronavirus experts on how to hug safely.

Top tips include being selective about who you hug to keep the number of people down and making it quick to reduce the time you are in close contact with someone.

The risks of transmission are lower if you hug outside and turn your faces away from one another, experts say.

Here are five ways to make hugging safer.

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Wales' First Minister says there are now 26 cases of the Indian variant of coronavirus across different parts of the country, with every case associated with foreign travel as opposed to community transmission.

Mark Drakeford says: "The travel is from India in particular, but there are probably some cases from the broader subcontinent."

Earlier we reported Wales would delay a small number of reopening measures that were due on Monday in the response to the rise in cases of the new variant.

Drakeford now says food festivals and small live music or arts events would be able to go ahead from next week if evidence about the Indian variant showed there was no need to pause the relaxing of more restrictions.

He tells the PA news agency: "If the advice is that we can move ahead safely, then we don't have to wait three weeks and we'll be able to do that as early as next week.

"If the advice is that we need to pause a bit longer while we get a better understanding of the scale of transmission of the Indian variant, particularly across our border, then we'll have to do that."

The FM is due to announce later that Wales will move to Covid alert level two from Monday.

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India's federal government has opened up vaccinations for some 960 million eligible people without having anything close to the required supply - more than 1.8 billion doses.

Worse, the severe shortage comes amid a deadly second Covid wave and warnings of an impending third wave.

How did the world's largest vaccine manufacturer, often dubbed the "pharmacy of the world" for generic drugs, end up with so few vaccines for itself?

"India waited till January to place orders for its vaccines when it could have pre-ordered them much earlier. And it procured such paltry amounts," says Achal Prabhala, a co-ordinator with AccessIBSA, which campaigns for access to medicines in India, Brazil and South Africa.

Between January and this month, India bought roughly 350 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab and Covaxin jabs. At $2 per dose, they were among the cheapest in the world but not nearly enough to inoculate even 20% of the country's population.

Declaring that India had defeated Covid, Prime Minister Narendra Modi even took to "vaccine diplomacy", exporting more jabs than were administered in India by March.

This was just one element of a cocktail of blunders - poor planning, piecemeal procuring and unregulated pricing - by Modi's government which turned India's vaccine drive into a deeply unfair competition, public health experts tell the BBC here.

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Online holiday booking platform Airbnb is predicting a travel rebound "unlike anything we have seen before" after seeing a big jump in reservations.

Demand for breaks has risen as some countries emerge from lockdowns.

In the first three months of the year, US bookings beat pre-pandemic levels, while there was a "steady improvement" in business in the UK and France.

Booking values jumped 52% to $10.3bn (£7.3bn) as customers snapped up long-term stays and rural properties.

In the three months to 31 March, holiday bookings for families also outpaced those for smaller groups or solo travellers, it says.

Airbnb also says holidaymakers are searching and booking further in advance.

"While conditions aren't yet normal, they are improving, and we expect a travel rebound unlike anything we have seen before," says Airbnb co-founder and chief executive Brian Chesky.

We've got more on this story here and you can find out the rules on holidaying in the UK and further afield here.

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While wearing a face mask has become part of daily life during the pandemic, some people are exempt - which should include women giving birth.

But Rosie Brown is among those who were told they had to wear a face mask during labour.

The 39-year-old has a condition called emetophobia, a phobia of vomit. And she says the smell of the mask was making her nauseous, which in turn made her panic.

"It was making me feel really sick," says Rosie, who gave birth to her third child during the pandemic.

There were complications during her labour, and Rosie was terrified her son wasn't going to make it.

She says the mask "was just put on my face" while she was in advanced labour.

Read more here.

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Dozens of the world's top experts in how diseases spread have called for big improvements to the air in buildings.

They say current rules on ventilation are failing to stop infections, including Covid-19.

Writing in the journal Science, the scientists and engineers say there's evidence from studies of cases in restaurants, ships and schools that respiratory infections can be passed through the air.

One of the authors, Prof Cath Noakes, an environmental engineer at the University of Leeds says a "revolution" is needed in how governments regulate indoor air quality.

The article includes a proposal for public places to have "ventilation certificates", like those for hygiene.

It quotes estimates that improving ventilation to reduce airborne infections would add less than 1% to the cost of a typical building - you can read more here.

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Coronavirus vaccines have saved 11,700 lives and stopped 33,000 people becoming seriously ill with Covid-19 in England, research suggests.

The Public Health England analysis, up to the end of April, found people in their 70s and 80s had seen the biggest fall in deaths and hospital admissions.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock says the figures are "remarkable".

Getting a vaccine is "one of the most important things you will be asked to do in your lifetime", he adds.

Read more here.

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People in Wales are being advised to only travel abroad for "essential" reasons for at least three more weeks.

UK government advice is that people in England can holiday abroad to a small number of countries from Monday.

But Welsh ministers say people in Wales should only go abroad from Monday 17 May for "essential purposes".

It comes as First Minister Mark Drakeford is set to say Wales is to move into Covid "alert level two" from Monday.

He will hold a press conference to confirm more details later. Read more here.

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A maskless Joe Biden has hailed "a great day for America" as it was announced face coverings are no longer required for those who are fully vaccinated.

The US president removed his mask in the Oval Office with Republican lawmakers as the guidance was being announced.

He and Vice President Kamala Harris went without coverings in the White House grounds.

The advice still calls for wearing masks in crowded indoor settings such as buses, planes and hospitals.

The Biden administration has faced pressure to ease restrictions on fully vaccinated people.

Read more here.

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There is confusion over whether UK tourists will be able to travel to Portugal from Monday, according to an MP in the country.

Cristovao Norte says a decision should be taken "immediately" over whether British tourists can travel to Portugal from 17 May.

Norte, who is MP for the Algarve, tells BBC Breakfast he does not know whether Britons will be allowed to visit the country next week.

He says: "We are today going to make an urgent inquiry asking the [Portuguese] government whether or not the English travel can come to Portugal next Monday because we are three days ahead from the 17th and no one is sure what is going to happen.”

Portugal is one of a handful of nations approved by the UK government for foreign leisure travel for people in England - but Portugal has not yet reciprocated the move.

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The two-metre social distancing rule in Wales will not change on Monday, mainly due to the Indian variant, First Minister Mark Drakeford says.

He tells BBC Radio 5 Live: "Within your own household bubble or extended household you'll be able to make decisions about who you hug and who you cwtch."

But he says the emergence of the Indian variant means "we expect the two-metre social distance to be sustained" outside of household bubbles or extended households.

"We can change the rules, we don't have to wait two or three weeks. If we get advice that says it's safe to move ahead on that, we'll do so as soon as we get that advice," he says.

"But we are just pausing to make sure that we have the best possible evidence about the newly emerging risks that there may be because of (the) Indian variant."

If you are cwtching or hugging here are five ways to make it safer.

Blackburn with Darwen's public health director has questioned why he was stopped from extending coronavirus vaccinations to all adults in the area.

On Thursday, the authority briefly announced vaccines would be available for all over-18s in certain postcodes - before a swift U-turn.

Professor Dominic Harrison tells Breakfast on BBC Radio Lancashire: "I am furious. I cannot understand why [the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation] or Department of Health and Social Care are stopping local directors of public health from taking the action they know will halt this surge of the Indian variant."

He calls for extra vaccinations for the borough, because of the spread of the India variant of coronavirus.

As the borough's infection rate doubles in a week, Prof Harrison says a mixture of community engagement, surge testing and surge vaccination is needed.

Why does the Indian variant pose a threat?published at 09:36 British Summer Time 14 May 2021

09:36 BST 14 May 2021

James Gallagher
Health and science correspondent, BBC News

Why could the Indian variant be a problem when the vaccination programme is doing so well?

The issue is we are only part way through even though those most at risk have been prioritised.

There is still debate about how transmissible the new variant is.

But modelling by the University of Warwick has estimated a 30%-40% more transmissible variant, combined with relaxing restrictions in May and June, could lead to more hospital admissions than in the first wave.

It would be a very different situation if we were in the autumn when overall levels of immunity would be making it harder for the virus to spread.

Instead we are in the delicate phase where restrictions are being eased as the vaccine is taking over the burden of suppressing the virus.

One option being considered is closing the gap between the first and second doses.

This would give vulnerable people, who have already been offered their first jab, extra protection more quickly.

However, there could be a trade-off as studies suggest the current 12-week gap between doses leads to a better immune response than the originally planned three-week gap.

Image source, PA Media

Wales will delay a small number of reopening measures on Monday in response to the rise in cases of the virus variant first found in India.

First Minister Mark Drakeford tells BBC Radio 4’s Today programme he has decided to hold back “just to make sure that we are continuing to take a cautionary approach in case the Indian variant is on the march”.

He says that - if advice from government scientific advisers suggests the next stages of Wales’ roadmap out of lockdown should be delayed - he would follow that guidance.

Drakeford confirms there are 17 cases of the Indian variant in Wales and says north Wales has close links with the North West of England.

He is due to make a fuller announcement at the next Welsh government Covid restrictions review press conference later.

Greater Manchester's NHS has asked the government for permission to vaccinate younger people more quickly, the area's mayor Andy Burnham says,

Burnham says they had asked the government "in a spirit of partnership" to "let the NHS move down the age ranges more quickly."

He tells BBC Breakfast "it makes sense to put more vaccine into areas where case rates are highest" and urges the government to "move on vaccination today".

He also says local lockdowns "can't be the answer" and his "heart sank" when he heard the prime minister talking of them.

Burnham says previous local lockdowns "caused real damage to people's lives" and the position was not the same as in 2020 because there are fewer hospitalisations.

He says he welcomes the surge testing that's being introduced.

The India coronavirus variant "clearly has been out-competing" the Kent variant in a number of areas around the UK, Paul Hunter, professor in medicine at the University of East Anglia, says.

The expert says the variant is "now in most regions of the UK, with the possible exception of Yorkshire and Humber in the North East, which seem to have very few cases so far".

He tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme the variant "seems to be a little bit more resistant from the early indications, from what people are saying who are doing this sort of work".

"Not as resistant as the South African variant, but a little bit more resistant than the Kent variant," he says, adding it is "not all bad news" as jabs appear to offer some protection.

Prof Hunter says "even people who get the infection seem to be getting a much milder infection if they've had a vaccine, and we've heard doctors talking about this from India, saying that people after vaccine are still getting the Indian variant but much less severely".

Government scientific advisers will meet again later to discuss the rise in cases of the India virus variant, Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi says.

Zahawi tells the Today programme one of the four tests of the government was that we “have got to bear down on the infection rates” before any further reopening.

The relaxation of all measures on 21 June would depend on the four tests, which includes whether the health service is under pressure and how well the vaccine rollout is going.

Monday will see the biggest single step in England's roadmap out of lockdown as indoor hospitality and overnight stays return.

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The increase of India variant cases could be due to a surge in their importation, rather than because it is more infectious, a virus expert says.

Prof Nick Lowman of Public Health England tells BBC Radio 4’s Today programme it will take time to establish whether the India virus variant is more transmissible.

He says: “There are regions that have much higher number of cases and a high growth rate but that still, at this point, could be driven by factors such as the number of separate imports and some amount of randomness in terms of whether those individual imports end up in large clusters.”

He adds: “If the virus [variant] does have an intrinsically higher transmissibility, we should start to see the [variant] in each part of the country take over from other virus [variants] circulating.”

“I’m feeling quite good about the vaccine,” he adds, saying current research does not show virus mutations that are likely to escape the jab.