Pressure on NHS hospitals is going to be "considerable" in the coming weeks as Omicron continues to "surge" through the country, the prime minister says.

But Boris Johnson says Omicron is "plainly milder" than other variants.

Speaking on a visit to a vaccination centre in Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, he says there are two million booster slots available at the moment, and urges people to get their third jab.

Johnson adds that the vast majority of people in ICUs have not had a booster jab.

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Thousands of people injured in household accidents were admitted to English hospitals during Covid lockdowns, new NHS figures show.

Numerous incidents were recorded, including eight people over the age of 90 who needed hospital treatment after falling from playground equipment.

More than 5,300 people were admitted to hospital after falls from a range of playground attractions such as swings and slides.

And DIY disasters injured many more as people spent more time indoors.

The 2020/21 figures for England were obtained by the PA news agency.

Continue reading here.

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Shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson has accused the government of "failing to take the action that's needed to reduce transmission and keep children in the classroom".

The Labour MP tells the BBC the government had known for 18 months that it would be "essential to make sure that classrooms are properly ventilated" if transmission was to be kept under control.

"It just isn't good enough," she says.

Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi says ministers are determined to keep schools open after learning a "painful lesson" from earlier closures.

Read our full story here.

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A teaching union is calling on officials in Northern Ireland to take urgent action to reduce any further disruption in schools as Omicron cases surge.

The NASUWT is urging the Stormont Executive to provide schools with air-cleaning units, support for on-site testing should it be needed and financial help to cover costs of substitute staff.

Before Christmas, some schools had to send individual year groups home for remote learning on specific days due to staff absences and difficulty getting substitute teacher cover.

Omicron now makes up 90% of Covid cases in Northern Ireland.

Read more here.

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France has relaxed isolation rules for people infected with Covid-19 as the country grapples with staff absences driven by a spike in Omicron cases.

From today, fully vaccinated people who test positive will only have to quarantine for seven days instead of the previous 10.

But they can end their isolation after five days if they receive a negative antigen or PCR test.

There will be no quarantine requirement for fully vaccinated people who come into contact with a positive case.

In the UK, there have been calls to follow a US decision to reduce quarantine to five days for fully vaccinated people. But the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) says doing so would be counterproductive and could actually worsen staff shortages.

People in England, Wales and Northern Ireland who have Covid can stop self-isolating after seven days if they test negative consecutively on day six and day seven.

Here's a handy explainer on the UK's self-isolation rules.

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Covid-related staff shortages have forced train operator ScotRail to make temporary changes to its timetable from Tuesday.

Hundreds of staff working for the Scottish rail operator are isolating and this has resulted in scores of services being cancelled.

To give customers a level of certainty about which trains are running, a temporary timetable will be in place until 28 January, it said. 

Affected routes are mainly in the central belt.

We've got more details for you here.

The rate of hospitalisations in London during the latest wave of Covid infections may have peaked, a health boss tells the BBC.

Chris Hopson, the chief executive of NHS Providers, says in London - the first region to be hit hard by Omicron - the number of hospitalisations has "dropped significantly" in the past two days.

That could mean the number of hospitalisations in the capital is now matching an earlier apparent peak in cases, he says.

But he warns the "future is uncertain" as we don't yet know the impact of mixing on New Year's Eve and the return of schools.

Hopson, whose organisations represents health trusts, adds that pressure on the NHS is now spreading to hospitals outside London.

"We're seeing increasing numbers of people coming into hospital, we're seeing increasing staff absences, and that's coming on top of a very significant amount of wider pressure," he says.

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Covid-related staff shortages are continuing to hit retailers and hospitality firms, with one boss warning of business closures if absences continue.

David Josephs, boss of food importer and retailer All Greens, told the BBC he could be forced to temporarily shut outlets and redeploy remaining staff.

Before Christmas, some firms saw 50% of staff off, one employers' group said.

But the chief executive of pub group Fullers said sickness levels among staff had improved significantly in the past week.

More on this story from our business team here.

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Hospitals in Lincolnshire, in the East Midlands, have declared a major incident due to "unprecedented" Covid-related staff shortages.

In a leaked memo, external, the United Lincolnshire NHS Trust told its sites it would be "unable to maintain safe staffing levels" leading to "compromised care" at the centres it covers, including Lincoln County Hospital and Pilgrim Hospital in Boston.

In a statement the trust's medical director Dr Colin Farquharson said: “As a result of significant staffing pressures due to absence related to Covid-19, we are having to take additional steps to maintain services."

He said staff were working exceptionally hard and anyone who needed to go to hospital for treatment should still do so.

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Children aged five to 11 can now be registered for a Covid vaccine in the Republic of Ireland.

Children with underlying conditions or living with a vulnerable person will take priority before the programme expands to the wider cohort.

Some high-risk children have already received a jab in hospitals, the Health Service Executive (HSE) told RTÉ, the national broadcaster.

Vaccines will begin to be administered more widely within the next two weeks.

Read more here.

Compulsory mask-wearing in England's secondary school classrooms is "not ideal" but is a necessary trade-off to stop the spread of Omicron, Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi said this morning.

Zahawi defended his decision to require masks for secondary students in England until 26 January, explaining the move had been recommended by experts given surging cases.

A study involving 123 schools showed mask-wearing "made a difference" to transmission, he said.

Zahawi told BBC Radio 4's Today programme he did not intend to have pupils wear masks for a "day longer than necessary" as Covid in the UK would hopefully transition "from pandemic to endemic".

Latest rules: Where do I have to wear a mask now?

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Over to Israel now, where the health authorities are seeing a huge surge in infections.

Israel is one of the most vaccinated countries in the world but the Omicron wave is what could see it reach Covid herd immunity, says the top health adviser.

"But we don't want to reach it by means of infections, we want it to happen as a result of many people [being vaccinated]," said Nachmann Ash.

Modellers have warned that up to four million people could be infected by the end of January. Israel's population is just over nine million.

Herd immunity is a scientific term describing the point at which a population is protected from a disease, either by enough people being vaccinated or by people having developed antibodies by having the disease.

Israel is offering a fourth Covid-19 vaccine to people over 60 as well as medical staff.

More on this story here.

More from the Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi now, as he says he is "determined" schools will stay open over the spring term.

He tells BBC Breakfast we learnt a "painful lesson" about the effect of school closures during earlier lockdowns, which is why he is "so determined - as is the PM - that education remains open".

He says he has also asked teachers who had left the profession or retired to come back as temporary support and urged all 12-15 year olds to get both doses of the Covid vaccine and for older children to get their booster jabs.

There is nothing in the current Covid data to suggest further restrictions are needed in England, the Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi tells the BBC.

Even though Omicron infections are moving into older age groups, 90% of over-50s have had a booster jab, he adds.

He says the government will keep a "close eye" on the latest data and assess the situation on Wednesday.

There are nearly 12,000 people in UK hospitals with Covid but the number of intensive care beds is stable, NHS bosses say.

Read more: How many cases are there in my area?

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More now on our top story this morning. Every secondary school pupil in England will be tested for Covid before starting the new school term, the government says.

Ministers have assured schools that enough testing kits will be provided to meet the demand for on-site testing, despite nationwide shortages.

Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi says he has organised a separate supply of tests for schools.

He tells BBC Breakfast the government has been working with school leaders on this week's testing programme from the end of last year.

In Scotland and Northern Ireland, students are already being asked to test twice every week.

The Welsh government has urged staff and students to test three times per week before the start of the new term.

Read more here.

Let's catch up with the main stories this morning:

• Every secondary school pupil in England will be offered a Covid test before they return to the classroom for the new term, the government says, as ministers assure schools they will be offered enough kits to meet the demand
• Schools in England have been urged to consider using support staff to keep in-person classes running if teachers are absent due to Covid
• A "critical incident" has been declared at hospitals in Lincolnshire, which say they're unable to maintain safe staffing levels because of "unprecedented" Covid-related absences
• Thousands of people injured in household accidents were admitted to English hospitals during Covid lockdowns, new NHS figures show
• An NHS boss in Scotland says it is "crunch week" for understanding the impact of the Omicron variant
• In the Netherlands, government advisers will meet later to discuss whether schools should reopen next week
• In France, children aged six and over will be required to wear face masks on public transport and in shops, museums and other public spaces
• India has started vaccinating children aged 15 to 18 against Covid, as the country records its sharpest-ever weekly rise in infections

Image source, AFP

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