The isolation period for people who test positive for Covid has been cut to five full days in England
From Monday, people will be able leave isolation from the start of day six after two negative tests
While the UK is "learning to live with Covid" the NHS will remain under significant pressure, health secretary Sajid Javid says
In a fiery exchange, his opposite number Wes Streeting questions why Javid has defended Boris Johnson over parties
The PM continues to face calls to resign from Labour and some senior Tories over a drinks party during lockdown
He earlier cancelled a visit to Lancashire because a family member tested positive
France is relaxing its travel rules for vaccinated Brits, who will no longer need a compelling reason to go there
Travel firms say they have seen a sharp rise in bookings to French skiing destinations
And England's deputy chief medical officer Jonathan Van-Tam is leaving his role
That's it from us. We'll be back tomorrow with more live updates on the Covid pandemic throughout the day.
Today's live page was brought to you by Becky Morton, Adam Durbin, Doug Faulkner, Chris Giles, Nathan Williams, Alexandra Fouche and Francesca Gillett, and edited by James Clarke, Emma Owen and Kevin Ponniah.
We'll be closing our coverage for the day shortly, but here's a reminder of what's been happening on another eventful one.
BBC Radio 5 Live
David explains how his daughter was dying, at the time of the Downing Street garden event.
Boris Johnson yesterday admitted attending a Downing Street garden drinks event during lockdown - on 20 May 2020, when rules in England banned large outdoor gatherings.
At the time David’s 25-year-old daughter was dying of a brain tumour.
He contacted BBC Radio 5 Live to explain how the lockdown restrictions at the time affected his family.
“We were told then that her tumour had started to grow, and we should prepare for the worst. Her sister couldn’t even come to visit her to say goodbye," he says.
“We were trying our best to follow the rules in very difficult circumstances, but the government making these rules were just completely ignoring them.”
Image source, PA MediaIn London, a man writes a message on the National Covid Memorial Wall. More than 150,000 people have now died with the virus in the UK
Image source, ReutersA healthcare worker administers a dose of the Covid vaccine during a door-to-door vaccination campaign in a slum in Karachi, Pakistan
Image source, EPAA woman is tested for Covid as she arrives at the annual Gangasagar Fair for Hindu pilgrims in eastern India
Image source, ReutersIn Paris a woman holds a placard reading "unmask my students" as part of a nationwide day of strikes and protests by French teachers against the government's handling of the crisis.
Image source, PA MediaPaul Givan said an inquiry into the Downing Street drinks party must be completed quickly
Northern Ireland's first minister says he doubts the public accepts Boris Johnson's claim he believed the No 10 party was a work event.
Paul Givan also says it was right the prime minister gave an apology, but the PM will be "tested" by both the public and his own party.
"Either he takes a decision himself or it will be for the Conservative Party to decide his future," he says.
Givan wants civil servant Sue Gray's inquiry into gatherings to come to a conclusion soon to "draw a line under this" and ensure health messaging is "consistent rather than distracted by what's going on in Downing Street".
Johnson admitted he'd joined colleagues for drinks in the Downing Street garden on 20 May 2020, to thank them for their hard work, but said he "believed implicitly that this was a work event".
More now on President Biden’s announcement to deploy military teams to states hit hard by Covid - we’ve been examining why the Omicron variant has led to the US having a record number of patients with the virus in its hospitals.
In many other countries, public health officials have noted the figure remains significantly lower than during previous pandemic surges.
So why is the US different?
Read more on this story here.
Image source, Getty ImagesA medical worker about to enter a negative pressure room at a US hospital
Nick Triggle
Health Correspondent
Cases are falling – down nearly a quarter over the past week compared to the week before.
But how much should we read into this? These, after all, are only the people who come forward for testing.
We know there has been huge demand on the testing system as cases have hit record levels with some complaining they have not been able to get tests.
With the exception of Wales, none of the other UK nations count reinfections, which are becoming increasingly common with the Omicron variant.
But despite all that the scale of the fall in detected cases clearly suggests infection levels have turned a corner.
Data from the Office for National Statistics, which uses a random survey to estimate the true infection levels in the population, suggests the rises were slowing up to last weekend.
We will have to wait until next Wednesday to get figures for this week.
But regardless of that, admissions have already plateaued at just over 2,200 a day on average.
The fact this has happened so quickly – normally it takes 10 days for changes in infections to filter through to hospital cases – is another illustration of just how different this Omicron wave is.
A man who was fined £100 by police in March 2021 for having three friends in his garden on his birthday during lockdown says Boris Johnson has "made fools of" the public.
Kieron McArdle tells the BBC the PM should resign over the May 2020 drinks party held in No 10, as it creates a perception of having "one rule for them, one rule for us".
You can hear more about what happened to him below:
Boris Johnson party row: Public 'made fools of' - man fined for gathering
A cinema owner who admitted breaching Covid rules has been asked to clarify the grounds of an appeal.
Cinema & Co owner Anna Redfern, 45, was given a suspended prison sentence and fined £15,000 in December at Swansea Magistrates' Court.
She has now lodged an appeal at the city's crown court.
In November, Covid passes became a legal requirement in cinemas in Wales, but Redfern refused to enforce them, saying they were "an infringement on our human rights".
At a hearing today, Judge Paul Thomas QC has said it was "ambiguous" whether the appeal is against the conviction or just the sentence.
The court's also heard Redfern had called to say she was unable to attend as her mother was "extremely ill" and she was "living off" about £30,000 in savings, with the judge asking about any evidence she was receiving funds from an "outside source".
Swansea council's prosecutor said Redfern had said she received about £55,000 from an online "crowdfunder".
Read more here.
Robert Cuffe
BBC head of statistics
Image source, Getty ImagesMost of the recent increase in Covid deaths could be “coincidental” Covid.
Currently 190 people on average a day are dying within 28 days of a positive test, up from 120 a month ago.
But because of the rising numbers of cases we’ve seen over the past month, that figure is catching a growing number of people whose death may have had nothing to do with coronavirus.
About 2,000 people die in the UK each day in winter months and some of them will, by coincidence, have tested positive recently.
You might expect to see, very roughly, about 55 of these “coincidental” Covid deaths a day, based on the nearly 6% of people in the UK who have tested positive in the past four weeks (mostly young people at lower risk of dying).
The rise in that figure over the past month would account for more than half of the rise we’ve seen in Covid deaths.
These coincidental deaths have always been a part of the figures but become more of a problem for the daily count when there’s lots of coronavirus around.
We can still get a good picture of the deaths caused by Covid: doctors registering a death record what caused it.
Data from those death registrations take longer to be published but will increasingly become our best picture of the pandemic’s death toll.
Kerry Allen
BBC Monitoring, Chinese Media Analyst
Image source, Getty ImagesChina has on Thursday confirmed that cases of the Omicron variant have reached a third Chinese city.
Official media are reporting that a case of the variant has been confirmed in Dalian, in north-east Liaoning province. Over the last week, cases have also been confirmed in Tianjin, and Anyang, Henan province.
There have been 124 local cases of Covid-19 in China in the last 24 hours. Areas where Omicron has been detected are stepping up precautions in an attempt to suppress further transmission.
The Tianjin government has said it will ban vehicles going into high-risk areas, even if they are visiting to deliver goods, and that only specialised personnel will be involved in this, external.
China’s Omicron outbreak comes just weeks before the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics is set to begin. Hundreds of millions of Chinese people are also set to travel in the next couple of weeks for the Lunar New Year.
China has consistently credited its zero-Covid strategy - which involves swift lockdowns and large-scale testing drives - for being able to quash localised outbreaks.
Prime minister's apology was 'heartfelt', says cabinet colleague
The international trade secretary has backed Boris Johnson, saying he shouldn't resign.
Anne-Marie Trevelyan says she was pleased the PM gave a "heartfelt apology" for attending a party in Downing Street during lockdown.
She tells Rajini Vaidyanathan his comments would be a "reassurance" for her constituents.
Johnson has been driving an "incredibly effective set of decisions through some incredibly hard times of the pandemic", she says.
But would she have attended the Downing Street party?
Image source, Getty ImagesTravel firms are delighted France has relaxed its travel rules for UK travellers - and they say bookings have jumped.
Airline Jet2 says it's seen a "sharp and immediate" spike in bookings and searches for flights to French skiing destinations.
And tour operator Tui says ski bookings doubled yesterday following reports the rules would change - and it was not alone.
"Bookings to France doubled yesterday even before the announcement and we would expect to see another very positive uptick now it's official," says Chris Logan, managing director of Crystal Ski Holidays.
Brittany Ferries has also welcomed the change in rules, and Eurostar says it will ramp up the frequency of services in the coming weeks.
Image source, Getty ImagesUS President Joe Biden will send additional military medical teams to six states buckling under the current Covid-19 surge.
Teams of doctors and nurses - a total of more than 120 military personnel - will arrive at medical facilities in Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio and Rhode Island, Biden has said in the past hour.
"They’re heroes, and I’m grateful for what they do," he says.
Acknowledging widespread frustration amid yet another Covid-19 wave, the US president again urges Americans to get vaccinated and boosted, calling it the first line of defence.
Biden also announces his administration will buy another 500 million at-home Covid-19 tests, in addition to the 500 million already being procured.
The White House will also be making high-quality masks available for free, he says, with further details coming next week.
More now on the government's announcement it's cutting the minimum self-isolation period for those who test positive for Covid in England to five full days.
People will be able to leave their home if they have negative lateral flow tests on days five and six.
Here's how the new system will work from Monday 17 January.
The change is being made because UK Health Security Agency data shows two-thirds of positive cases are no longer infectious by day five.
Many people have been struggling to get hold of tests due to high demand.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid told MPs supplies had risen sharply from pre-Omicron levels, with 400 million available in January, compared with 120 million in November.
The UK government has published its official daily figures,, external which show another 109.133 people have tested positive with Covid.
A further 335 people have also died within 28 days of a positive test.
There are 19,721 people currently in hospital with Covid, the figures show.
These three figures are all down on the previous day.
Image source, ReutersThe saga over Novak Djokovic's Australian visa has made headlines around the world since the tennis star was detained in Melbourne last week.
The unvaccinated player claims he had been given a medical exemption to enter the country based on a positive Covid test in mid-December.
A judge ruled he could stay and take part in the Australian Open, but the government is considering cancelling his visa again.
Here we attempt to answer some of the main questions that remain surrounding the case, including whether he actually tested positive.
Prof Van-Tam uses football analogy to explain Covid timeline
Jonathan Van-Tam's colourful analogies have turned the government medical adviser into something of a household name - and earned him praise for how he explains scientific concepts in layman's terms.
A Boston United fan, he has often compared stages of the pandemic to a football match.
Back in December 2020, after the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was approved for use in the UK, he said the country had scored an equaliser in the 70th minute, after getting "an absolute battering" in the first half.
Almost a year later, when Omicron emerged, he said the new variant was like "picking up a couple of yellow cards" and everyone needed to "up their game" and get their booster.
He's also compared the progress on the vaccine to landing a plane and waiting for a train.
And explaining the complexities of the rollout, he once said the Pfizer vaccine was like a yoghurt - it can't be taken in and out of the fridge.
Image source, EPAPoorer nations last month rejected more than 100 million doses of Covid vaccines distributed by the global programme Covax, mainly due to their rapid expiry date, a Unicef official quoted by Reuters says.
"More than 100 million have been rejected just in December alone," Etleva Kadilli, director of the supply division at the UN agency, tells the European Parliament.
The main reason for rejection is the delivery of doses with a short shelf life, she says.
Poorer nations have also been forced to delay supplies because they have insufficient storage facilities, including a lack of fridges for vaccines, she adds.
Northern Ireland's chief scientific adviser says he is "hopeful" a corner has been turned with Omicron case numbers.
Prof Ian Young adds he is now more concerned about hospital pressures during the current wave of Covid.
He explains health service staff shortages remain significant with about 6 to 8% of hospital staff off with Covid - on top of absences for other health reasons or leave.
There were 58 "red flag" cancer procedures cancelled during the first week of January, the latest figures show.
Red flag cases can describe urgent and often live-saving procedures.
Prof Young adds he hopes to see falling hospital numbers in the "near future", as the the NI executive has been meeting today to discuss the Covid situation.
Read more here.