Image source, PA Media

That's it from us today - thanks for following our live coverage.

Here's a reminder of the day's main stories:

• England will be in a better place to lift some restrictions on 26 January as hospital admissions appear to be plateauing, the Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi says
• Infectious disease modeller Prof Mike Tildesley says it's "pretty clear that the Omicron wave is slowing down" but an extra week of data is needed to see what effect the return of schools has had

• Meanwhile, Zahawi says the prime minister is not in danger over his handling of lockdown parties at Downing Street
• But senior backbench Conservative MP Steve Baker says his constituents are about 60 to one against Boris Johnson on the issue
• The minimum self-isolation period for people testing positive for Covid-19 in England has been cut to five full days
• In Scotland, large outdoor public events such as football matches can take place with crowds again, as restrictions on capacity are lifted
• No tickets will be sold for the Beijing Winter Olympics, which is due to take place in just over two weeks, because of the Covid situation
• Tennis star Novak Djokovic has arrived back in Serbia after being deported from Australia over being unvaccinated

Today's live page was written by Jennifer Meierhans, Nathan Williams, Alexandra Fouche and Becky Morton and edited by Hamish Mackay and James Clarke.

You can keep up to date with all the latest Covid developments on the BBC News website.

Before we finish for the day, we've got more from Conservative MP Steve Baker, who says his constituents are "absolutely furious" about the lockdown parties at Downing Street.

Asked whether the prime minister will lead the party at the next election, he tells reporters: "In a situation as volatile as this it’s impossible to say, and I regret that very much.

"I’d still prefer Boris Johnson was a roaring success, but right now, listening to the public who remember very well all the sacrifices they made, I think people may well be too angry to forgive. But it remains to be seen."

Six Conservative MPs have publicly called for Johnson to resign but Baker says he is waiting for the results of an ongoing inquiry into alleged rule-breaking at No 10.

With every passing day, UK Covid data looking betterpublished at 17:09 Greenwich Mean Time 17 January 2022

17:09 GMT 17 January 2022

Nick Triggle
Health Correspondent

Coronavirus cases are now falling steeply – although the changes to testing rules and the fact only Wales has been counting reinfections to date has made some wary of putting too much emphasis on these figures.

It is why it's also important to look at hospital admissions.

Last week there were definite signs of a plateau nationally, although that masked differences between different areas of the UK, with some seeing rises and others falls.

But now it looks like all regions in England – as well as Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland – have turned the corner.

If this holds, it means pressures on the NHS will have peaked at just over 2,000 admissions a day – very much in best-case scenario territory.

What remains to be seen is how quickly they come down.

There have been fears there could be a very slow descent or even a long, flat peak so what happens next will be watched closely.

It's less than three weeks until the start of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, and China shows no signs of abandoning its tough "zero Covid" policy.

Spectators in Beijing will be told they are allowed to clap but not cheer or chant to avoid spreading the virus.

The Games come as the authorities try to combat a series of outbreaks of the highly infectious Omicron variant.

Lynette Ong, Professor of Political Science at the University of Toronto, says the Chinese government is determined to continue the policy as the issue is seen as one of social stability as well as public health and that there are fears of outbreaks in the rural population.

She says scientists have also found that the Chinese vaccines are not as effective as those vaccines developed elsewhere - but Chinese authorities are not prepared to admit that and import the more effective vaccines.

More now on the UK's latest daily Covid figures, which show reported cases are continuing to fall.

The total number of cases in the past seven days are down 41.7% on the previous week and the UK has recorded fewer than 100,000 daily cases for the fourth day in a row.

The number of patients being admitted to hospital with Covid also appears to be plateauing, with the weekly total down 2% - although these figures only go up to 11 January.

There is a lag between people catching the virus and then getting seriously ill so Covid deaths are continuing to rise - the weekly figure is up 38.7%.

The prime minister's former chief adviser, Dominic Cummings, says a "drinking culture" did not exist in May 2020, when Boris Johnson attended a party at Downing Street, and those talking about it are "useful idiots" for spin doctors.

Using his analogy for the prime minister - a shopping trolley veering from one side to another - Cummings says that, contrary to his claims, the prime minister "knew he was at a drinks party cos he was told it was a drinks party and it was actually a drinks party".

Cummings left Downing Street in November 2020 after internal battles over his role.

Conservative MP Steve Baker says his constituents are about 60 to one against the prime minister on the issue of lockdown parties at No 10.

He tells reporters at Downing Street, where he is handing in a petition opposing Covid passes, "I’ve listened very carefully to members of my [Conservative Party] association, too. There are some very strident voices in my constituency demanding that I support the prime minister."

He says "there must be one rule for all" and "the rule-makers must obey the rules that they apply on others".

"But I think at the moment all Conservative MPs are waiting for Sue Gray’s report [on alleged lockdown parties] and then to decide what they’re doing," he adds.

A further 84,429 coronavirus infections have been recorded in the UK, the government's daily figures, external show.

There have also been a further 85 deaths within 28 days of a positive test.

Meanwhile, some 36,473,316 people - or 63.4% of the population aged 12 or over - have now had three vaccine doses.

Overall, 90.6% of people aged 12 or over have had their first vaccine, and 83.4% have had two jabs.

Image source, Getty Images

Nicola Sturgeon says she is "cautiously optimistic" that Scotland's Omicron wave is "turning a corner", ahead of a statement on possible changes to restrictions.

The first minister says the country is "in a better place than I feared we would be before Christmas" but refuses to comment on whether she plans to ease all rules.

The Scottish Tories have called for most measures, with the exception of mandatory face coverings, to be scrapped.

Limits on numbers allowed to attend outdoor events were lifted in Scotland today but caps remain for indoor events, while alcohol-selling venues must be table service only and Covid passes are mandatory for some large events.

Sturgeon will set out plans for future restrictions to Holyrood on Tuesday.

Image source, Getty Images

Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has been suffering from health issues since a bout of Covid.

Now the 32-year-old has been released from Gabon's Africa Cup of Nations squad and will return to his club for "in-depth examinations".

Aubameyang tested positive for Covid when he arrived in Cameroon earlier this month for the tournament.

He missed Gabon's draw with Ghana on Friday after scans revealed "heart lesions".

He's not the only Gabon player to have health issues - Nice midfielder Mario Lemina has been released from the squad after "heart lesions" were also found in his scan.

Image source, AFP

Greeks aged 60 or over who haven't been vaccinated against coronavirus face being fined from Monday.

They can be fined up to €100 (£85) every month.

People who can't get vaccinated for medical reasons are exempt.

The money will be used to bolster the Greek health system.

Two in three of all Greeks have been fully vaccinated, slightly under the European Union average.

Read more here.

Over half of the world’s population has received at least one dose of a Covid vaccine. Supply is still a big problem, especially in poorer countries where less than 10% of people are vaccinated. But even when vaccines are available, some remain hesitant to take them.

BBC Reality Check's health reporter Rachel Schraer answers some of your concerns - from pregnancy side effects to the speed at which vaccines were developed.

Image source, Reuters

Novak Djokovic is back in Serbia, having lost his Australian visa battle over his unvaccinated status.

Now there are questions about whether he'll be able to make it to the next Grand Slam in the calendar - the French Open, which starts in May.

As things stand, he would be stopped from playing in France, the Reuters news agency is reporting, because of a new vaccine pass law.

"This will apply to everyone who is a spectator or a professional sportsperson," the French sports ministry says in a statement.

It adds, however, that the pandemic situation could change by May: "We'll see, but clearly there's no exemption."

The AFP agency is reporting along similar lines, saying all tennis players who want to compete in France will need to be jabbed.

So, is Djokovic out, before his next chance of a 21st Grand Slam record?

Read more: What next for Novak Djokovic?

The Conservative leader of Shropshire Council says reports of lockdown parties at Downing Street have detracted from the government's ability to deal with other pressing issues.

Lezley Picton tells BBC Radio Shropshire: "I want to be talking to the government about the difficulties we've got with adult social care - I don't want to be talking to the government about who went to what party, because I can tell you now Shropshire Council wasn't having parties.

"We were actually out there delivering food parcels, making sure that business grants got out the door. You need to lead by example.

"Am I disappointed? Yes, I'm disappointed. Do I think [the prime minister] needs to resign? I think he needs to look long and hard at what's happened and make that decision... and if the MPs think they need a new leader, there needs to be 54 of them to write that letter."

Kerry Allen
BBC Monitoring, China Media Analyst

Image source, Getty Images

We mentioned earlier that no tickets are being sold for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics due heightened fears of a Covid outbreak in the Chinese capital.

But one of China’s top sporting stars has spoken of his confidence that the Games will be a success.

Former NBA player Yao Ming has been “one of the leading Chinese sports figures backing Beijing’s [Olympic] bid”, the GlobalTimes says. , external

The paper reports him as commenting on how the Summer Games in Tokyo went ahead with success, despite sporadic cases at the time. “And we can build on that experience and improve.”

Over the past week, five Chinese cities have confirmed cases of the highly transmissible Omicron variant, one of which is Beijing.

However, media are seeking to alleviate people’s fears in the city by saying there is limited evidence of community transmission., external

Image source, Getty Images

Labour's Yvette Cooper says a culture of rule-breaking "comes from the top" so the prime minister must be "accountable".

The shadow home secretary tells BBC Radio 4's World at One programme: "The big problem is the way in which they seem to have behaved at a time they were making the rules, which prevented other people going out for drinks."

"Schools were closed, families were separated, children couldn’t go out and play with their friends, people couldn’t visit dying relatives," she says, adding that holding parties in Downing Street was "shameful".

Asked whether she thinks there is a drinking culture at No 10, Cooper says "it's certainly not something I ever recall seeing" before 2010, when Labour was in power.

What's been happening around Europe?

• Austria has presented details of its draft law on compulsory vaccinations, which is expected to come into force in February. Vaccine refuseniks will face fines from €300 (£250) to €3,600
• France's parliament has given final approval to the government's latest measures to tackle Covid, including a vaccine pass
• Credit Suisse boss Antonio Horta-Osorio has quit with immediate effect after breaking Covid quarantine rules
• Tennis champion Novak Djokovic has arrived back in Serbia after being deported from Australia over his lost visa battle concerning his Covid status.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, PA Media

Drinking alcohol during the working day has been "very routine" at Downing Street for years, a former government special adviser says.

Sonia Khan, who was a special adviser before the pandemic in the first months of Boris Johnson's time as prime minister, says the drinking doesn't feel like a party because "drinks is part of your work day" and "usually sandwiched between pieces of work".

She tells BBC Radio 4's World at One programme drinks were used as a way to say thank you and keep people motivated when they were working very long hours.

Khan, who also worked as a civil servant in No 10 under David Cameron and Thersea May, adds "there was a very strong sense" people should take part, especially for junior staff members who could get access to senior people through such events, and there was a risk of being "ostracised" if you didn't drink.

She recalls a few instances when people would wake up in Downing Street the next day in the same clothes after sleeping on sofas overnight following a heavy evening of drinking.

Khan was sacked from her role as special adviser to then Chancellor Sajid Javid in August 2019, after a confrontation with Dominic Cummings.

Image source, Dr Prit Buttar

A retired GP says he has been "humbled" by the response to a social media post on why he broke Covid rules to hug a bereaved woman at a vaccine clinic.

Dr Prit Buttar's Twitter thread, which starts "Let me tell you about the time that I broke Covid rules", has generated hundreds of responses.

He says he was prompted to post by the political row surrounding gatherings at 10 Downing Street.

Dr Buttar tells BBC Radio Scotland's Good Morning Scotland programme of the woman's reaction when he embraced her.

"This poor person just dissolved into tears and as she sobbed, she told me that I was the first person who had embraced her since her husband had died."

He says: "Everyone in the thread who said they'd broken the rules had done so in order to help somebody else, not because they wanted to have a party."

Rob Cameron
BBC Prague Correspondent

The latest changes to Covid rules and restrictions have come into effect in the Czech Republic in anticipation of a wave of the Omicron variant.

The changes mainly target vaccinated people, who will no longer be exempt from five-day quarantine if they're identified as contacts of someone who tests positive.

However they can be released from quarantine immediately after one negative PCR test. Employees will be tested twice a week at work, schoolchildren once a week.

The government quickly abandoned a proposal to use "working quarantine", whereby employees identified as risk contacts would continue to go to work but try to stay away from colleagues.

Experts said this was impractical, so the scheme will only apply to medical staff and care home workers - and only in essential cases.