That's all from us today, thanks for joining. Our live coverage of the pandemic will be back in the morning.

Before we head off, here are the main headlines this evening:

• MPs will vote later on extending emergency Covid laws in England for another four weeks - to 19 July - amid rising cases of the Delta variant. You can continue to follow the debate here
• The decision to delay the unlocking of restrictions is expected to be approved, with Labour backing - but senior opposition figures have continued to blame the surge in the Delta variant in the UK on the government's quarantine policy
• UK daily Covid cases have surpassed 9,000 for the first time since February, but deaths and hospitalisations remain low
• People in England aged 21 and over can now book their Covid vaccine, the NHS says - as the government pushes for all adults to be given at least one dose by 19 July
• But the mass vaccination of children in England aged 12-17 is unlikely in the near future, despite jabs being offered to those under 18 in the US and many European countries
• Covid jabs are to become compulsory for staff in care homes for older people in England, Health Secretary Matt Hancock has confirmed
• PM Boris Johnson called Hancock "hopeless" in a text message to Dominic Cummings, the PM's former chief adviser says

Today's coverage was brought to you by Hazel Shearing, Victoria Lindrea, Jen Meierhans, Jack Hunter and Hamish Mackay.

Alison Roberts
Portugal Correspondent, Lisbon

Image source, Getty Images

Daily cases in Portugal have reached their highest level in almost two months, with 1,350 new Covid cases - and 6 deaths - reported in the past 24 hours.

It's the highest daily case number since 24 February this year.

Of the cases recorded, 68% were in the capital Lisbon and the Tagus Valley region, where the Delta variant is spreading fast.

Under new rules, travellers arriving in Portugal from Nepal must now quarantine, along with those from India, South Africa and Brazil.

People may only travel from these countries to Portugal for essential reasons, such as work, family or health.

The government has said it will review the situation at its weekly cabinet meeting on Thursday.

It follows the UK's decision to remove Portugal from its quarantine-free "green list" for travel.

The debate about whether to delay the ending of all coronavirus restrictions in England to 19 July is ongoing in the House of Commons.

Our live coverage here will be ending soon but you can continue to watch the debate on BBC iPlayer and we will report the outcome of the vote on the BBC News website.

The UK has recorded another 9,055 new Covid-19 infections in the last 24 hours - above the seven-day average of 7,888.

However, while cases are rising, deaths and hospitalisations remain low.

Meanwhile, the number of first vaccination doses given is on the rise as the rate of second doses slows.

Image source, Reuters

As well as the revelations about the PM's opinion of his health secretary, former chief adviser Cummings also published messages - dated 27 April 2020 - in which the PM appears to call the situation around personal protective equipment (PPE) "a disaster".

One message alludes to diverting some responsibilities from Mr Hancock to Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove.

"I can't think of anything except taking Hancock off and putting Gove on," Johnson apparently adds.

At his appearance last week before the Health and Social Care and Science Committees, Hancock said he had seen no evidence to suggest any medical staff had died because of a lack of PPE.

In his blog, Cummings accuses the health secretary of trying to blame NHS England chief executive Sir Simon Stevens, Chancellor Rishi Sunak and the Cabinet Office for last April's "PPE disaster".

"The lack of PPE killed NHS and care home staff in March-May," he writes.

"The PM is trying to influence officials/advisers to support the re-writing of history and is encouraging ministers to give false accounts to Parliament."

Downing Street has yet to respond to the allegations.

As we reported earlier, Dominic Cummings - the PM's former chief adviser - has published expletive-laden messages apparently from Boris Johnson, in which Johnson brands the health secretary "hopeless".

Downing Street has not denied the authenticity of the messages.

You can watch Matt Hancock's fleeting response to the assesment below...

Alice Evans
Newsbeat

Image source, Daniela Arguello

More and more of us have been getting texts from our GPs (or our mums) to tell us it’s time to book our first Covid vaccine.

Appointments in England have now opened up for 21 and 22-year-olds.

But some people are feeling a complicated mix of emotions – even guilt – as they book their jab.

Daniela Arguello, 25, moved to the UK in January 2020, just weeks before Covid shut down global travel.

In Guatemala, where Daniela is from and her family live, the daily figures for new Covid infections are currently at an all-time high.

Daniela doubts any of her family will get a first dose this year. Her nan, 81, signed up back in February but has heard nothing back.

• Covid vaccines: How fast is worldwide progress?
• Who can book a vaccine now?

"Here we have the NHS and so much access to get care if you get Covid," Daniela says.

"They don't even have the capacity to deal with it, let alone have vaccines.

"It's scary and I worry about them all the time. It's sad because if they were living here they already would have been vaccinated at this point."

Read the full story here.

Conservative MP Sir Desmond Swayne says he always thought it was wrong for ministers to "take our freedoms even though they believed they were acting in our best interests in an emergency".

"But by any measure that emergency has passed and yet freedoms are still withheld and the government will not allow us to assess for ourselves the risk we are prepared to encounter in our ordinary everyday lives.

"The government does not trust the people that it governs," he says.

Swayne says many members of Sage have been out "busily underminding public morale" with one saying "we must all remain masked and distanced" forever.

He says after the health and economic consequences of coronavirus have been dealth with the government will have set a disastrous president in terms of the future of liberty.

Image source, PA Media

We've got more from the debate in the Commons now.

Mark Harper, chair of the Covid Recovery Group, says his worry is that there will be a continual extending of restrictions.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock denies this is likely, saying eradicating the virus is not possible - and the government is aiming "to live with Covid, like we do with flu".

The four-week delay is intended to get a second jab into "a majority" of over-40s by 19 July and the pause is estimated "to save thousands of lives", says Hancock - but he adds that a further pause would not save many more lives.

"I am confident we will not need more than four weeks to get this job done."

Image source, EPA

Away from the UK, Portugal will be the first country to benefit from the EU’s massive pandemic recovery fund, the bloc’s president says.

Speaking in Lisbon, Ursula von der Leyen says Portugal was the first country to present its ideas for how to spend its share of the EU's €750bn (£644bn) fund earmarked to help member states out of the sharp economic downturn caused by Covid-19.

It’s getting €16bn (£13.7bn) in grants and loans, after a 7% economic slump last year.

Ms von der Leyen’s next stop is Madrid, with Spain set to get the second-largest financial handout after Italy.

Image source, PA Media

Jonathan Ashworth says lifting restrictions now would be "akin to throwing petrol on a fire", confirming that as the shadow health secretary, he will be backing the delay to restrictions for a further four weeks.

But he adds "we shouldn't be here" - adding that the UK has failed to contain the Delta variant because of slack quarantine measures.

He says the health secretary will be forever branded "Hopeless Hancock" - following Dominic Cummings' revelations of text messages from the PM earlier - a view which, Mr Ashworth adds, might now be shared by members of the public.

Ashworth says the government "failed to protect our borders" and he accuses them of giving the Delta variant "the red carpet" - reiterating Labour leader's Sir Keir Starmer's attack at PMQs earlier today.

A total of 72,461,462 vaccination doses have now been given in the UK, according to the government's daily figures., external

That's 42,021,089 first doses and 30,440,373 second doses.

Find out where how the vaccine rollout is progressing across the UK here.

A further nine people have died with coronavirus in the UK, according to government's daily figures., external

This takes the total number of people to die in the 28 days following a positive Covid-19 test to 127,926.

There were also 9,055 new infections recorded in the last 24 hours.

Image source, PA Media

Matt Hancock confirms - as reported earlier by the BBC - that vaccinations will be mandatory for older people's care home workers in England and there will be consultation over whether to do the same for NHS workers and domiciliary carers.

He says: "The vast majority of staff in care homes are already vaccinated but not all and we know that the vaccine not only protects you but it protects those around you.

"And therefore we will be taking forward the measures to ensure the mandation for as a condition of deployment for staff in care homes and we will consult on the same approach in the NHS in order to save lives and protect patients from the disease," he says.

Hancock says he does not agree with making vaccines compulsory for the whole population but says it is a "sensible and reasonable step" for those caring for the most vulnerable.

He says there were "no proposals to go any wider" than those in domicillary care and the NHS.

By 18 June, the NHS says all adults in England will be eligible for their first dose. And by 19 July, all those aged over 50 and the clinically extremely vulnerable will have been offered second doses.

Across the rest of the UK:

• In Scotland - people aged 30 and over can get their vaccine, external, although in some parts of Glasgow people aged 18 and over can get a first jab
• In Wales - people aged 18 and over can get the vaccine, external
• In Northern Ireland - people aged 18 and over can book online, external or call 0300 200 7813

Our health reporter Philippa Roxby has everything you need to know about vaccines here.

Image source, PA Media

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has opened the debate on whether to delay the easing of coronavirus restrictions

He tells MPs the Delta variant has given the virus "extra legs" because it spreads more easily.

"And because there's some evidence that the risk of hospitalisation is higher than for the Alpha variant, which was of course previously dominant in this country," he says.

"The Delta variant now accounts for 96% of new cases. The number of cases is rising and hospitalisations are starting to rise too - they are up 48% over the past week," he says.

"The number of deaths in England is thankfully not rising and remains very low."

He adds: "We don't yet know the extent to which the link between hospitalisation and deaths has been broken, so we propose to give the NHS a few more crucial weeks to get those remaining jabs into the arms of those who need them."

MPs are now debating whether to extend emergency Covid laws in England for another four weeks, amid concern over rising cases.

Boris Johnson says delaying the planned lifting of restrictions until 19 July will give the NHS "a few more crucial weeks" to get people vaccinated.

Labour accuses ministers of letting the Delta variant in by not toughening rules on travel from India sooner.

But it is likely to support delaying an end to lockdown, meaning the government is expected to win the vote.

We will let you know when it goes to a vote. Here's all the background.

Image source, Reuters

Young people in Wales should be given free access to gyms and leisure centres, according to proposals being put forward by the Welsh Conservatives.

They have called for measures to boost participation in sport with Covid having a detrimental impact "at all levels".

Gyms, leisure centres and fitness facilities in Wales were forced to close for much of the pandemic, but have been allowed to reopen since 3 May.

The Welsh Conservatives spokesperson for sport, Tom Giffard, says many now needed help to recover.

He said it was "vital" to get "young and old back on the sporting fields and facilities of Wales".

Tory Senedd members have triggered a vote on the subject later this afternoon, although it is not binding on Wales' ministers.

You can read more about the plan here.

Image source, PA Media

A ban on landlords evicting firms for unpaid commercial rent is being extended for another nine months.

The ban, which stops landlords taking tenants to court for non-payment, was due to end on 30 June.

Treasury Secretary Stephen Barclay says the delay in easing lockdown restrictions, announced on Monday, "presents additional challenges" to business.

It is estimated that firms in retail and hospitality are £5bn in rent debt.

"Existing measures will remain in place, including extending the current moratorium to protect commercial tenants from eviction to March 25, 2022," Mr Barclay tells the Commons.

Thousands of companies, especially in the hospitality sector, are still unable to trade normally, among them nightclubs and leisure firms.

BBC Radio 5 Live

BBC Radio 5 Live is hearing what listeners think about plans to make all care home staff have a Covid vaccine.

Tina Bentley, who runs a care home in Essex, says she is absolutely behind vaccinating all care home staff.

She explains how all of her 36 members of staff are vaccinated: “From admin staff, to maintenance, everyone that entered my home on a staff level got vaccinated, and we had less heartache with that.”

Tina says she sees the Covid vaccine as a fundamental safety measure, like PPE.

“It’s not different to me putting a face mask on to protect someone. You’re trying to make them safe, that is what we are trained to do.

“So for me, a vaccine keeps everybody safe,” she adds.

Image source, PA

But another caller, Molly, says she thinks introducing compulsory vaccines in the care sector is a “slippery slope”.

Molly, who lives in Wiltshire, used to run a recruitment agency for the care sector.

She adds: “I’m sure there will be legal challenges against this. No one should be forced to have a vaccine.”

You can listen live to 5 Live on the BBC Sounds app.