Image source, PA Media

We reported earlier that Pfizer and partner BioNTech plan to seek authorisation for a third booster dose of coronavirus vaccine in Europe, the US and Asia.

But the EU's regulator body says it is too early to determine whether any more than two jabs would be called for.

The European Medicines Agency says it is confident for now that two doses are "sufficient".

Pfizer BioNTech's plan is based on evidence of greater risk of infection six months after inoculation and the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant.

The World Health Organization says there is limited data on the length of protection offered by current vaccines.

Here's what we know about the NHS's booster vaccine plans so far.

Analysis: Millions could have to self-isolatepublished at 13:33 British Summer Time 9 July 2021

13:33 BST 9 July 2021

Michelle Roberts
Health editor, BBC News online

New Covid infections continue to rise in the UK, which means the risk of coming into contact with a positive case, and getting pinged, is also increasing.

Current figures from the Office for National Statistics, which will update later today, suggest one in every 250 people you meet may now be infected.

Daily new infections stand at more than 32,000.

Ministers have warned, with more unlocking, coronavirus cases could hit 100,000 a day this summer.

Potentially, that could mean millions more people having to self-isolate.

It's not until mid-August that people who have had two jabs will no longer be required to isolate if they come into contact with a case.

High vaccine uptake - although not perfect - is key to building a wall of protection against people getting very sick with Covid and needing hospital care.

Downing Street has urged people to continue using the NHS Covid app and to isolate when advised to do so.

It follows reports of possible changes to the app amid a huge rise in alerts as infections surge.

Number 10 said the app had been an "important tool" in breaking the chain of transmission of coronavirus.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson "has been clear that he continues to use it", a spokesman added.

"It is important that people continue to isolate if they are asked to do so. We continue to ask people to isolate if they are asked to through the app."

We reported a few minutes ago that the coronavirus infection rate in the UK is up by more than 50% in a week, based on estimates from the ONS survey.

Here's a breakdown by nation of the number of people estimated to be testing positive for Covid in the week up to 3 July:

• England: one in 160 last week v one in 260 in the previous week
• Wales: one in 340 v one in 450
• Northern Ireland: one in 300 v one in 670
• Scotland: one in 100 v one in 150

We have more on the numbers here.

Let's return to the possible changes to the NHS Covid contact tracing app, to follow the recent easing of restrictions. It comes amid a huge rise in alerts as infections surge.

One possible solution could be to change the sensitivity of the app, so it would tell people to self-isolate only after closer and more prolonged contact.

Sources at the app developers told the BBC they had not yet been asked to do this, although they were planning a change from 16 August when people would be able to record that they were fully vaccinated to turn off the self-isolation alerts.

The most recent figures for the last week of June show an extra 300,000 downloads, bringing the total to more than 26 million, but it is not known how many people are active users.

Dr Jenny Harries, the head of the new UK Health Security Agency, told MPs on Thursday that she was "aware that people are choosing not to use the app" when asked about concerns people have been deleting it to avoid being "pinged".

If you're just tuning into our live coverage, here's a quick round-up of the main coronavirus headlines this Friday:

• Airlines and travel companies have reported a surge in holiday bookings after the UK government announced that fully vaccinated UK residents returning to England from amber-list countries will not have to quarantine from 19 July
• Returning travellers could face longer peak-time airport queues because of Covid document checks, the Immigration Services Union has warned. It said looking at details of jabs, tests and possible virus exposure made processing passengers three to four times slower
• Speaking to the BBC, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the government was working to recognise overseas vaccinations as quickly as possible
• The NHS Covid contact tracing app used in England and Wales may need to change as Covid rules change, Shapps said. England ending the one metre-plus rule on 19 July may mean the app's sensitivity needs to be reduced, he said
• New figures from the Office for National Statistics show the UK economy expanded by 0.8% in May as Covid lockdown measures were relaxed to allow pubs and restaurants to open indoors. It is the fourth consecutive month of growth, but it was at a slower rate than analysts had predicted
• The Olympic flame arrived in Tokyo in a low-key ceremony just hours after the Japanese government announced it would ban all spectators from the Olympic Games due to rapidly rising Covid cases

Robert Cuffe
BBC head of statistics

Estimates from the Office for National Statistics survey suggest that around 400,000 people in the UK would test positive for coronavirus in the week to 3 July, up from 257,000 people the previous week.

This is 0.6% of the population, or one in 160 people. The ONS says that in the week ending 3 July, the percentage of people testing positive increased in every nation of the UK.

The last time rates were this high was the third week of February.

Pfizer and partner BioNTech plan to seek authorisation for a third booster dose of coronavirus vaccine in Europe, the US and Asia. The move comes as the highly-contagious Delta variant drives infection surges around the world.

Pfizer said a study from Israel showed that the effectiveness of its vaccine against symptomatic disease declined approximately six months after people were fully vaccinated.

The biopharmaceutical company's chief scientific officer, Mikael Dolsten, said the recently reported dip was mostly due to infections in people who had been vaccinated in January or February, according to Reuters.

The news agency also reported the country's health ministry as saying vaccine effectiveness in preventing both infection and symptomatic disease fell to 64% in June.

The World Health Organization has said there was limited data on the length of protection offered by current vaccines.

Image source, Getty Images

The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that the third wave of Covid-19 sweeping across Africa could get worse - as the highly transmissible Delta variant spreads to more and more countries.

Here's a round-up of the latest developments in Africa:

• Tunisia's health ministry says the situation has reached "catastrophic" levels and caused its health system to collapse. Field hospitals have been set up, and a health ministry spokesman said medics were struggling to provide patients with oxygen. The bodies of virus victims are being left in beds in hospitals because of a lack of staff to move them

• Nigeria has announced its first confirmed case of the Delta variant, which was detected in an international traveller following a Covid test. Officials have not said which country the infected person travelled from

• The government in Liberia has received a donation of tear gas and other riot control gear from France to enforce restrictions. It comes as many have ignored warnings to avoid mass gatherings with crowds still being seen in entertainment and market venues. The country has seen increased case numbers

Image source, Getty Images

An extra 100 workers have been brought in to help Scotland's Test and Protect system as it deals with a recent spike in Covid cases.

The Scottish Health Secretary Humza Yousaf said a deal had been reached with Barrhead Travel, through the government's commercial partner Ascensos, to supply the additional people.

Scotland's contact tracing system's performance had failed to meet the World Health Organization (WHO) standard of 80% in late June and early this month.

It only managed to reach 65.1% of infected people's close contacts within 72 hours in the week ending on 27 June, and 73.1% the following week.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has acknowledged contact times "fell below" the desired level but said changes were being made to speed up the process.

These include greater use of text message notifications and digital self-tracing forms.

Yousaf said he was confident performance was already improving, with the system "contacting unprecedented numbers of people" in recent weeks.

Image source, EPA

A new report by Oxfam says 11 people are likely dying from hunger and malnutrition every minute as global deaths from starvation have overtaken Covid-related fatalities.

The UK anti-poverty charity warned that the number of people enduring famine-like conditions had risen six-fold over the last year to more than 520,000 - driven mainly by the three "lethal Cs": conflict, Covid-19 and the climate crisis.

In its report, The Hunger Virus Multiplies, external, the charity said 155 million people in 55 countries have been pushed to "extreme levels of food insecurity", a rise of 20 million compared to last year.

It added: "Today, 11 people are likely dying every minute from acute hunger... This rate outpaces the current pandemic mortality rate, which is at seven people per minute."

The report explains that the combination of continued conflict; the economic disruptions of Covid-19 and an "escalating" climate crisis have "deepened poverty and catastrophic food insecurity in the world's hunger hotspots and established strongholds in new epicentres of hunger".

The charity warned that the "worst is still yet to come" and urged global governments to "urgently tackle food insecurity and its root causes head on".

Yemen, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Afghanistan and South Sudan feature on the report's list of "extreme hunger hotspots" where millions have been pushed into "crisis level hunger".

Analysis: UK economy still weakpublished at 11:15 British Summer Time 9 July 2021

11:15 BST 9 July 2021

Andy Verity
BBC Economics correspondent

After shrinking at the start of the year under renewed lockdowns, the economy is meant to be surging back. On a chart, a line graph looks like the second bounce of a precipitous economic bungee jump.

In that light, today's figures are a disappointment. The consensus forecast was for growth of 1.5% in May.

Instead we got barely half that - 0.8% - with activity in construction shrinking for the second month in a row and manufacturing also down.

Some of that was down to one-off factors such as the shortage of microchips, which forced carmakers to send workers home.

But while activity in restaurants and pubs jumped as customers were allowed inside for the first time in months, it's clear that our economic bungee cord is slackening before it was expected.

The economy remains 3.1% below where it was in February last year, and no larger than it was in January 2017, making it one of the two weakest performers in the G20 group of advanced economies.

Image source, Getty Images

The trilogy fight between Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder in Las Vegas on 24 July has been postponed after the Briton tested positive for coronavirus.

A source close to Fury told BBC Sport the WBC world heavyweight champion was deeply frustrated by the situation.

Fury tested positive on Thursday and after discussions with medical experts the fight was called off - it is likely to be rescheduled for October.

Wilder's manager Shelly Finkel said Deontay was "disappointed". An official announcement from the promoters Top Rank is expected later on Friday.

Fury beat Wilder to become WBC champion in February 2020 - 14 months after the pair shared a thrilling draw in Los Angeles. Neither man has fought since Fury's victory in Las Vegas

New figures from Public Health England reveal that 216,249 confirmed and probable cases of the Delta Covid variant have now been found in the UK.

UK cases of the variant - which was first discovered in India - are up by 54,268 from 161,981 cases in the previous week, a rise of 34%.

The Delta variant has become the dominant strain of the virus in the UK, accounting for approximately 99% of confirmed new cases.

PHE data , externalalso revealed:

• 1,904 people infected with the Delta variant were admitted to hospital in England as of 21 June
• Of these 1,283 were under the age of 50, while 615 were aged 50 and over
• Of the patients under 50, 987 were unvaccinated, 106 had received their first dose of vaccine less than 21 days previously, 118 were 21 or more days after their first jab, 48 were double vaccinated and 24 patients' vaccination status was unknown.

• Of those aged 50 or over, 195 were unvaccinated, 11 had received their first dose of vaccine less than 21 days previously, 140 had their first jab 21 or more days previously, 265 had received both doses and four patients' vaccination status was unknown.
• As of 21 June, 257 people infected with the Delta variant died in England within 28 days of a positive test
• Of this number, 26 were under the age of 50 and 231 were aged 50 or over

A border force union representative has blamed airport queues on the "political decision to check 100% of Covid arrivals".

Lucy Moreton of the Immigration Services Union told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that peak queues are currently up to two hours and could increase to six hours with the Covid inspections, which must be carried out by UK border staff regardless of airline checks.

Moreton called on the government and carriers to communicate with travellers to "help ease that frustration because the rate of verbal abuse of Border Force staff has absolutely rocketed".

Orla Guerin
BBC News, Brasilia

Image source, Family supplied

Had he lived, Josildo de Moura would have celebrated his 40th wedding anniversary this December.

Instead, the devoted husband and father of five died of Covid in May, gasping for breath outside a neighbourhood clinic on the outskirts of São Paulo.

He was 62, and like the vast majority of Brazilians, still waiting to be vaccinated.

"The pain is endless," says his wife Cida, sitting at her kitchen table, ringed by her children and grandchildren. "And every day we hear about more families suffering as we suffer, losing a loved one."

Josildo is one of more than half a million Brazilians who have died with Covid-19. The country the second highest death toll in the world, second only to the United States - but experts in Brazil predict it is on course to overtake the US.

How did it come to this, in a middle-income country, with an established system for vaccinating against diseases? For many, responsibility rests with Brazil's far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro.

Epidemiologist Prof Pedro Hallal says his country has been a laboratory for everything that could be done wrong in a pandemic.

"Everything that you should not do," he said "Brazil has done."

Read Orla's full report here.

Laura Bicker
BBC Seoul correspondent

South Korea is to tighten coronavirus restrictions in the capital, Seoul, after recording its highest daily rise in infections since the pandemic began. More than 1,300 cases have been confirmed in the last 24 hours, most of them in their 20s and 30s.

From Monday schools will be closed, along with bars and nightclubs, while service in cafes and restaurants will have a limited seating. No more than two people will be allowed to meet in public after 18:00 to try to stop young people gathering in groups.

South Korea has managed to keep coronavirus case numbers low and keep the country out of lockdown throughout the pandemic. But now it is facing its biggest rise in cases yet.

The country has struggled to get hold of vaccines and just 10% of the population have been fully jabbed despite the pace of the rollout increasing throughout June.

It hopes to achieve herd immunity by November and give everyone at least one shot of the vaccine by the end of September

UK councils face a £3bn black hole in their budgets as they emerge from the pandemic, a BBC investigation into their finances can reveal.

Some local authorities were struggling to carry out statutory duties and were at risk of bankruptcy, a local government expert said.

And 10 councils have asked to borrow £300m of emergency money from the government to plug financial holes.

The government says it has handed councils £12bn during the pandemic.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) said: "In the coming months, we will take stock of the demands faced by councils and the resources available to meet them and will decide on the timetable for future funding reform."

Here's a breakdown of the results of the investigtion.

If you've been following our coverage today you'll have seen there has been a surge in travel bookings since the announcement that fully vaccinated UK residents will soon be able to skip quarantine when returning to England from amber-list coutnries.

Speaking to the BBC about the effect of this rule change, Stephanie Boyle, from flight comparison website Skyscanner, said there was a "huge increase in traffic to the site" following the announcement.

She says traditional holiday destinations such as Ibiza, Palma and Medeira have been among the most popular searches in the UK recently, with Greece and the US - both of which are on the amber list - also featuring prominently since the announcement.

And this surge in bookings is not a surprise, she adds.

Image source, Getty Images

Scotland saw the steepest decline in shop footfall out of the four UK nations last month, according to retail industry figures.

The Scottish Retail Consortium found shopper numbers were down by nearly 5% from May, and by 29.9% on the same period two years ago.

The UK average decline over the two years was 27.6%.

SRC said the disparity may have been driven by the lag in relaxing Covid restrictions north of the border.

Scottish shopping centres in particular continued to struggle to attract shoppers, with footfall more than a third (34.1%) below the 2019 figure.

Glasgow fared worse than any other Scottish city, with numbers down by more than 30% on June 2019.