Angela Rayner continues her cost of living attack - and Boris Johnson continues using England's relatively relaxed Covid rules as a defence.

The Labour deputy leader tells the Commons that the rise in inflation and soaring energy prices means the average family is £1,200 worse off.

The PM says as a direct result of universal credit chanegs, a single mother of two is £1,200 better off - and everyone on the living wage has seen another £1,000 in their pay.

He also says it's down to the government's tough decisions that this country has a more open society and economy than any comparable country in Europe. It also has the fastest economic growth in the G7, he adds.

When Omicron emerged Labour reached for the lever of more restrictions, Johnson claims.

"They said lockdown, we said boosters," he says.

Angela Rayner - stepping in for Covid-stricken Sir Keir Starmer - continues her attack on the rising cost of living.

The PM says there are now record numbers of people in work - 420,000 more than before the start of the pandemic and with youth unemployment at a "record low".

And he argues that when Omicron struck Britain, Labour's "instinctive response" was that there needed to be "a roadmap to lockdown".

"If we listened to them, we wouldn't have anyone working at all," he adds.

Boris Johnson is on his feet in the House of Commons for Prime Minister's Questions.

The first question comes from Angela Rayner, who says that in October the PM said that fears about inflation were unfounded - but, she says, working people are starting the new year facing rising bills and ballooning prices.

The PM says he said no such thing - and the government is making sure it protects people throughout what is going to be a difficult period.

He says the most important thing we can do to look after those struggling is to continue the balanced and proportionate approach to the virus, to ensure we are able to keep our country and society going.

That is why we doubled down on the booster programme and are sticking with sticking with plan B, he confirms.

Image source, PA Media

We'll shortly be hearing from Boris Johnson as he returns to the House of Commons for the first Prime Minister's Questions of 2022.

It will get under way at 15:00 GMT, later than the usual start time of 12:00 GMT - and they'll be no Sir Keir Starmer facing him. He's just tested positive for Covid so is self-isolating for the sixth time.

Instead, Labour's deputy leader Angela Rayner will be giving the PM a grilling.

We're expecting a Commons statement on the latest Covid situation to follow.

Stay with us for all the latest.

Half a world away from Zhengzhou (see previous entry), the tiny Channel Island of Alderney - which has a population of around 2,000 - is also dealing with a rise in Covid cases.

The island has seen a "significant increase" in positive tests, its government's president has said.

William Tate said the 85 cases identified by 4 January had implications for local medical resilience and the island's "ability to keep services running".

The number of cases had been about 20 at the end of December.

Mr Tate said a care home had been closed to visitors, and people should report positive test results and wear face masks where required.

Read more here.

Michael Bristow
BBC World Service Asia Pacific editor

Image source, Getty Images

Local authorities in the central Chinese city of Zhengzhou have ordered more than ten million people to be tested for Covid. The order in Zhengzhou came after the discovery of a small number of infections.

Photographs show people lining up outside in the cold and snow to be tested.

The cities of Yuzhou and Xi'an have faced similar restrictions. China is still trying to eliminate every infection, particularly ahead of the Winter Olympics, which it's hosting next month.

There's a similar approach in Hong Kong, which also announced a series of strict new Covid rules on Wednesday, including a ban on flights from eight countries, and the closure of bars.

And the major city of Xi'an is currently under a tightly-controlled lockdown.

Tim Vizard
Consultant statistician, BBC News

Now it's back to the UK-wide picture: more than 3.7 million people in the UK would test positive for coronavirus in the week ending 31 December, estimates from the ONS survey suggest.

This would be the highest level of infections recorded by the ONS since the survey started.

The figures equate to 5.8% of the population, or one in 15 people in that week.

This compares with nearly 2.3 million people (or one in 30) testing positive in the week ending 23 December.

The rates of people estimated to be testing positive increased in all parts of the UK in the week ending 31 December:

• England: One in 15 (previously one in 25)
• Wales: One in 20 (previously one in 40)
• Northern Ireland: One in 25 (previously one in 40)
• Scotland: One in 20 (previously one in 40)

After finishing her statement, the first minister takes questions from fellow from MSPs.

The first comes from leader of the Scottish Conservative Party Douglas Ross.

He says every other part of the UK changed self-isolation to seven days earlier, but Scotland was left as an outlier. Why why did it take so long for Scotland to make that change?

Sturgeon says she makes no apology for considering the decision carefully - as the initial advice was that releasing people from self-isolation too early could risk a greater increase in transmission.

That balance of judgement has now changed, she says.

Rounding off her statement, Sturgeon stresses that Scotland is possibly entering its most challenging phase of the pandemic.

She says the highly infectious Omicron variant - notwithstanding its reduced severity - has the potential to be overwhelming.

She reminds the public of the need to get vaccinated and boosted as soon as possible.

"The more of us that are boosted, the less severe the impact will be, for each of us as individuals...and for society as a whole," she explains.

And the last of the big changes in Scotland: people who test positive on a lateral flow test but don't have symptoms will no longer have to confirm the result with a PCR test from tomorrow, Nicola Sturgeon says.

Instead positive cases must isolate and register their result online.

The safest thing to do is treat a positive lateral flow test as confirmation of Covid, she says.

Positive cases with symptoms should still seek a PCR test.

The same policy was earlier announced in England.

Sturgeon unveils the second change to Scotland's self-isolation rules, which applies to close contacts of positive cases.

She says this includes household contacts who are either under the age of 18 years four months, who are older than that and fully vaccinated - which she says means two doses and a booster or third dose.

Sturgeon explains that for contacts in these categories, the requirement to self-isolate for 10 days will be replaced with the need to take a lateral flow test every day for seven days.

If one of these tests comes back positive, the person will have to self-isolate.

Anyone identified as a close contact who is over the age of 18 years and four months and not fully vaccinated will still need to self-isolate for 10 days and take a PCR test.

The first minister says that from midnight tonight, there will be an option to end the 10-day isolation period after seven days for positive Covid cases.

That's if they have no fever and test negative on day six and again 24 hours after that.

The change brings Scotland into line with the rest of the UK.

The first minister says she will soon set out immediate changes to self-isolation rules and testing.

But turning to current Covid rules in Scotland, she says restrictions on large gatherings, social distancing between groups of people in public indoor spaces, and tables service in hospitality venues serving alcohol will continue until at least 17 January.

She says her government continues to advise the public to limit contact with other households - though this is not a legal requirement - and to limit the number of households gathering indoors to three.

Nicola Sturgeon says while she is not announcing any additional Covid-19 measures today, the existing guidance will remain in place for the coming week pending a review.

Omicron cases are continuing to grow and infections are more widespread than ever, she says.

Updates to follow...

Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is expected to update the Scottish Parliament shortly on the their Covid-19 measures.

Stay here for live updates.

Image source, Getty Images

We're just hearing from Downing Street that UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has the support of his cabinet ministers to keep Plan B restrictions in place in England ahead of a review of the rules before they expire on 26 January.

Mr Johnson spoke to his ministers earlier, setting out his case against bringing in tighter Covid restrictions in England.

In its account of the meeting, No 10 says the PM told his cabinet that the "next few weeks would be very challenging, particularly for the NHS where the number of people going into hospital because of Omicron will increase".

The PM insisted the UK's "balanced approach" - combined with new evidence suggesting the Omicron variant is less severe than Delta - meant it was "right" to maintain the current Plan B measures in England.

There will be a further review of the regulations before they expire on 26 January, No 10's statement adds.

Image source, Getty Images

As we reported earlier, the Scottish government is considering whether to change its self-isolation rules.

We're set to hear from First Minister Nicola Sturgeon when she addresses the Scottish Parliament soon.

Scotland's self-isolation rules are stricter for cases and contacts than other parts of the UK, with people there still required to self-isolate for 10 days.

Here's a quick reminder of the key rules in Scotland.

You should continue to self-isolate for 10 days if:

• you test positive for Covid
• anyone in your household tests positive - regardless of your age or vaccination status
• you are an adult who is not double-vaccinated and you are identified as a close contact of someone who has tested positive

You must take a PCR test and self-isolate while you await the results if:

• you have developed Covid symptoms
• you are a fully-vaccinated adult identified as a close contact of someone you don't live with
• if your PCR test result is negative, you no longer need to isolate

Liverpool's Carabao Cup semi-final first leg at Arsenal on Thursday has been postponed because of a "severe outbreak of Covid" among their squad.

Liverpool temporarily closed their first-team training centre on Wednesday after assistant manager Pep Lijnders became the latest member of the club to have to isolate.

The first leg of the fixture will now be played at Anfield on 13 January and the second at Emirates Stadium on 20 January, both at 19:45.

Read more here.

How many people are getting Covid for a second time?published at 13:20 Greenwich Mean Time 5 January 2022

13:20 GMT 5 January 2022

Philippa Roxby
Health reporter, BBC News

Image source, Getty Images

Reinfections, or people who’ve tested positive for coronavirus twice, are not currently included in the official daily case figures produced for the whole of the UK.

Only Wales currently includes them.

With Omicron much more transmissible than previous variants, and vaccines not protecting against infection they way they did against Delta, this means a whole lot of people are not being counted as confirmed cases every day.

Health officials say they will soon be included in the daily total – but how many of them are there?

The latest UK Health Security Agency report shows more than 11,100 people were infected with Omicron after being infected with either Delta or Alpha at least 90 days before.

That’s 9.5% of total cases up to mid-December being reinfections - but Prof Neil Ferguson, a scientific adviser to the government, thinks it could be more like 15%.

Pinning down how many people have had it twice at present means tests have to undergo genetic analysis (to confirm two separate infections and not the same one lingering).

Adding them to the total will require some careful rejigging of the data – and with new cases rising sharply to more than 200,000 a day, this could add an extra 30,000 to the daily tally.