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Around the world, a number of major cities have cancelled or scaled down their New Year's Eve celebrations because of Covid:

• Usually one of the first places to welcome in the new year, New Zealand has organised a light show over the Auckland Harbour Bridge instead of the traditional fireworks display

• Paris has also cancelled planned fireworks as well as festivities on the Champs-Elysées avenue
• New York City will hold a scaled-back version of its own celebrations, with fewer people allowed to watch the giant ball drop over Times Square

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Hospital trusts preparing for a possible surge in coronavirus patients say even if extra restrictions are put in place it will take two weeks to reduce the admission rate.

Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers, which represents health trusts in England, says it believes the government has set a high threshold on introducing new measures.

"So, on that basis, trust leaders can see why the government is arguing that, in the absence of a surge of seriously ill older patients coming in to hospital, that threshold hasn't yet been crossed," he tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

He says the government needs to be ready to introduce tighter restrictions at real speed should they be needed.

"And just to make the point that that is somewhat different to a headline that states NHS leaders think there is no need for more curbs - they may be needed at pace if the evidence warrants it," he says.

"It does take about a fortnight for any new restrictions to affect the level of hospital admissions, so the pattern of hospital admissions for the next fortnight has already been set."

We're hearing a lot about rapid lateral flow Covid tests and problems with supply.

But what are rapid tests - and how do they work?

Lateral flow tests pick up the most infectious people by detecting material from the surface proteins of the virus.

Read more about the different types of Covid test here.

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Reports of difficulties in getting hold of lateral flow tests come amid stories of people unable to find PCR test slots to confirm their positive result.

Chris Hughes, who runs a PCR test lab, says making more appointments available is limited by the number of staff who are trained to carry out the testing.

Hughes, of industrial testing firm PerkinElmer, tells BBC Breakfast: "We've gone from a couple of thousand cases in the summer now to six-figure numbers daily.

"We've added capacity in December and we will be adding more capacity next week so we can ramp up in January.

"The limiting factor is very much the people - we need people with a certain set of skills and they are given very specific training in the lab.

"It takes about two weeks to get somebody fully competent."

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The Department of Health and Social Care says it has met the goal of ensuring all eligible adults in England are offered a Covid booster by 31 December.

The prime minister brought the target forward by a month on 12 December in response to the emergence of the Omicron variant.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland also say they have met the booster target.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid thanks the public, NHS staff, volunteers and the armed forces "who have made it possible for us to meet the booster target".

But shadow health secretary, Labour's Wes Streeting, suggests the prime minister "shifted the goalposts on what he actually promised to deliver" in the rollout, but adds "this should not detract one bit from the fact that the NHS has pulled off an unprecedented number of vaccinations in recent weeks".

Back to the UK where lateral flow Covid test supply to chemists is still "patchy" and staff are facing abuse from people frustrated by being unable to get their hands on any, according to a leading pharmacist.

National Pharmacy Association chairman Andrew Lane tells BBC Breakfast that distributor Alliance Healthcare tells him they are are putting out two million rapid lateral flow tests a day.

"It is still very patchy though, so I will say that not every pharmacy today will have a box but most pharmacies in the country will be having a box so we just ask the public to persevere, and also treat us with respect.

He said there had been incidents of abuse but "teams are doing their very best to help the public".

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In China, some residents under lockdown in the city of Xi'an say they do not have enough food, even as officials insist there are adequate supplies.

More than 13 million were ordered to stay at home last week as authorities sought to battle a Covid outbreak.

People have not been allowed to leave except under limited circumstances, and cannot go out to buy food.

Many have said on social media that they are running out of supplies. Government workers are delivering aid.

The lockdown on the northern city is entering its ninth day as authorities battle the worst outbreak the country has seen in months.

Read more here.

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Meanwhile in South Africa, overnight curfew rules have been lifted, with officials saying the country may have passed the peak of its fourth wave of Covid-19 infections.

The Omicron variant, while highly transmissible, had seen lower hospitalisation rates than previous waves, the government said in a statement.

There had been a marginal increase in the number of deaths, it added.

The variant - first reported by South Africa last month - is spreading fast elsewhere leading to widespread curbs.

But in South Africa, cases and hospital admission rates had dropped in almost all provinces across the country, according to a statement released after a special cabinet meeting.

Read more here.

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Staying with lateral flow Covid test supply problems - the Welsh government has "loaned" four million kits to the UK government for use in England.

It brings the total number of tests sent across the border to 10 million, according to the PA News agency.

It follows reports that tests were temporarily unavailable for order online while many pharmacies were out of stock.

Deals such as these are common between the Welsh and UK governments, and have been negotiated previously to address shortages of tests and PPE.

It is unclear how the loan will work and how it will be repaid.

There has been huge demand for rapid Covid lateral flow tests in recent weeks as ministers encourage people to test themselves more.

But this has led to shortages of the rapid tests, with Health Secretary Sajid Javid warning there will be a need to "constrain" in supply for two weeks.

Now the British Medical Association and Royal College of Nursing are calling for NHS workers to be be given priority access to the tests, amid concerns the issue is contributing to staff shortages.

Caroline, a GP nurse in Kent, says she had to return to work after Christmas without taking a test as she could not get hold of any lateral flow tests or book a PCR - but later developed symptoms and tested positive.

"I will have put my patients at risk, including a new born baby coming for their first immunisations, and my colleagues," she tells the BBC.

The main story in the Guardian focuses on supply problems with Covid tests. Health secretary Sajid Javid is being urged to ensure NHS workers are prioritised for tests or face the risk of a "devastating" impact on patient care, it says.

The Times says NHS chiefs do not believe the threshold, external for new Covid restrictions has been crossed, despite a surge in hospital admissions.

Although concerned by the increase, the paper says they have been reassured by the fact that serious illness among elderly people has not risen significantly.

You can see a full newspaper review here.

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It’s New Year’s Eve and many people across England are preparing to celebrate at home or in pubs, bars and restaurants.

The prime minister is urging people who go out later to take a Covid test first and "remember the importance of ventilation".

Speaking in a message that will be posted on social media later, Boris Johnson says it is thanks to the "huge national effort" on Covid vaccinations that we can celebrate tonight at all.

Meanwhile in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland tighter rules are now in place for venues and there are restrictions on the number of people who can gather.

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Welcome to our New Year’s Eve coverage of coronavirus developments in the UK and around the world.

Here’s your morning briefing:

• The government says it has met a target to offer Covid booster jabs to all adults in England by today
• The same claim has been made in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
• Prime Minister Boris Johnson is urging everyone to take a Covid test before tonight’s New Year’s Eve celebrations
• He says the UK is in an "incomparably better" position now than this time last year thanks to the huge national effort on vaccines
• Health bodies are calling for NHS workers to get priority access to lateral flow tests amid patchy supply and staff shortages
• It comes as UK daily Covid cases reach another record high of 189,213 on Thursday
• But in South Africa, where the Omicron variant was first discovered, officials say the fourth wave of Covid infections may be over