A bit more on that military support for NHS hospitals in London.

The head of the deployment is Air Commodore John Lyle, chief of staff at the Standing Joint Command. He says the military has a long history of supporting government departments and, in particular, the NHS over the past two years, "so this isn't anything new".

But he says there could be the potential for "further military support" in other areas.

He tells BBC Breakfast that throughout London the military has broken down its personnel into smaller teams, with a mix of defence medics and general duties personnel - who are able to help with tasks like carrying oxygen or helping at meal times.

"All of that allows the highly skilled clinicians to focus their care where it is needed most," he says.

He adds that "throughout this current surge we know that it is particularly difficult in London at the minute, but we are aware that it is impacting all across the UK" - and he says there are "a number of areas where we are looking at the potential of more assistance".

Our top story this morning is that 200 armed forces personnel are helping to plug staff shortages in NHS hospitals across London.

The Ministry of Defence will provide 40 defence medics and 160 general duty personnel for the next three weeks.

Hospitals in London have been hit hard by staff absences, with thousands off sick or isolating as the Omicron variant surged through the capital.

Earlier this week, the prime minister said he hoped England could "ride out" the latest wave without further restrictions.

Pressure on London hospitals has increased over the past month, with 4,000 patients currently in hospital with Covid compared with 1,100 in early December.

The Royal College of Nursing's director for England, Patricia Marquis, says the deployment shows the government could not deny there was a "staffing crisis" in the NHS.

As of Thursday afternoon, 17 hospital trusts in England were experiencing critical incidents - about one in eight of the total.

And if you’d like a short summary of exactly what has changed for fully vaccinated people (those who have had two doses of a Covid vaccine) coming to the UK, we’ve got you covered:

• People no longer need to take a pre-departure test two days before travelling
• You still have to take a PCR test within two days of arriving, but no longer have to self-isolate while waiting for the result
• However, from Sunday you can take a cheaper lateral flow test (LFT) instead - but these cannot be free NHS tests and must be purchased privately
• If your post-arrival LFT is positive, you must self-isolate and have a NHS PCR to confirm the result
• Vaccinated travellers still have to fill in and submit an online passenger locator form, external no more than 48 hours before arriving, even if they are just transiting

For more detail on the changes, click here.

Image source, Reuters

Good news for anyone waking up this morning with upcoming holiday plans – the requirement for a pre-departure test for fully vaccinated travellers coming to the UK has been scrapped.

People are also no longer required to self-isolate while they wait for the result of their test taken within two days of arriving.

From Sunday, this post-arrival test will no longer need to be a PCR either, but instead can be a cheaper lateral flow test (LFT) - although positive results from these rapid tests must be confirmed via NHS PCR.

LFTs must be bought from a private provider – free NHS ones cannot be used.

However, these changes will only apply to people who have had two doses of a Covid vaccine and to children.

The government introduced the now defunct rules in response to the emergence of the Omicron variant late last year, but now it has spread widely ministers say testing is no longer needed.

The travel industry has welcomed the move, which will make travel considerably cheaper and easier again, with some businesses confirming bookings have already risen since the changes were announced on Wednesday.

The changes were initially announced for England, but Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland have all aligned their rules.

Australia says it is investigating the visas of other foreign tennis players ahead of the Australian Open tournament, after detaining world number one men’s player Novak Djokovic in a row over vaccine rules.

Djokovic remains in immigration detention in Melbourne and is facing deportation after his entry to the country was denied on Wednesday.

He has launched an urgent court challenge to be heard on Monday, a week before the major tournament begins.

In an interview with Channel 9, Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews said there was intelligence to "indicate there are some individuals here now that have not met the entry requirements and we have to investigate that.

Djokovic, who has said he is opposed to vaccination, had been granted a medical exemption to play in the tournament for unspecified reasons, a decision that infuriated many Australians.

Here are some of the headlines from around the world this morning.

• As of 04:00 GMT fully-vaccinated travellers arriving in the UK do not need to take a pre-departure test and do not need to isolate while waiting for their post-arrival PCR result
• The Armed Forces is sending 200 personnel into NHS hospitals across London to plug staff shortages - with thousands off sick or isolating as the Omicron variant surges through the capital
• There are concerns that some older pupils in England are refusing to take lateral flow tests and wear face coverings in classrooms as they head back to school, parents and other pupils say
• Australia has said it is investigating the visas of other foreign tennis players, after detaining men’s world number one Novak Djokovic in a chaotic row over vaccine rules
• In India at least 13 passengers, who tested positive for Covid-19 upon their arrival in the city of Amritsar, have escaped institutional quarantine
• It comes as the World Health Organization (WHO) warns against describing the Omicron variant as mild, saying it is killing people across the world

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic.

We'll be bringing you updates from around the world throughout the day.