Stephen McDonell
BBC News, China correspondent

Image source, EPA

The Winter Olympics, which is being held in Beijing and nearby cities, is now just over two weeks away.

However, officials have announced there will be no general ticket sales for the Games because of the Covid situation.

Instead spectators will be organised via government and Communist Party organisations and be expected to adhere to strict coronavirus counter-measures.

Beijing recently reported its first Omicron case.

Downing Street says there are "encouraging signs" in the data as Boris Johnson considers whether England's Plan B restrictions can be lifted.

The measures are due to expire on 26 January and minister Nadhim Zahawi said earlier the country would be "in a better place" to remove some of them on that date.

The prime minister's official spokesman says the "maximum amount of time possible" will be given to prepare for any changes in the rules.

He says there are signs infections are falling across the country and some sign of falls - or at least plateauing - in hospital admissions.

But he adds the NHS remains "under significant pressure" and the government is "keeping a very close eye on the data".

You can read about the latest Covid data for the UK here.

No 10 says it is "not accurate" to suggest Boris Johnson knew in advance about a party held in the Downing Street garden on 20 May 2020.

It follows reports the prime minister was warned about the "bring your own booze" gathering beforehand.

But the prime minister's official spokesman says: "We made clear over the weekend that it's untrue to say that the prime minister was told or warned ahead of that."

The spokesman also denies Johnson had said people were "over-reacting" about the gathering.

No 10 has also denied reports that policies popular within the party are being rushed out to bolster the prime minister - dubbed "Operation Red Meat".

The prime minister's official spokesman says "none of these issues are things that we have not been seeking to address for some time" and that the government is "continuing to deliver on those policy priorities".

He adds he does not accept Labour's claim a reported plan to freeze the BBC licence fee is an attempt to distract from reports about lockdown parties at Downing Street.

Image source, PA Media

The prime minister commuted between his countryside residence of Chequers and Downing Street during March 2020 as his wife was pregnant and it was safer for her to be based there, No 10 says.

The prime Minister's official spokesman was asked about reports by news website Tortoise, external that alleged Johnson had travelled between Chequers and No 10 between 16 and 27 March 2020, when guidance said people should not travel for non-essential reasons.

He says: "At the time, as you know, Mrs Johnson was heavily pregnant and had been placed in a vulnerable category and advised to minimise social contacts, so in line with clinical guidance and to minimise the risk to her they were based at Chequers during that period, with the prime minister commuting to Downing Street to work."

The spokesman adds there would have been staff at Chequers with the couple and guidance on not travelling to second homes did not come in until 22 March, "at which point the prime minister and his wife were already based in Chequers, acting in line with clinical guidance".

Image source, EPA

Beijing city officials are recommending people stop ordering items to be delivered from overseas, after saying a local woman may have been infected by Omicron after opening a parcel.

They repeated the theory that Covid-19 could be spread internationally on imports of frozen food, something many scientists have questioned.

Officials say the woman who tested positive had no history of travel but they found traces of the virus on a package she received.

Less than three weeks before the Chinese capital hosts the Winter Olympics, city officials have imposed tough restrictions, requiring all new arrivals in the city to take a virus test.

The case is, so far, the only one in Beijing to have been recorded with the highly contagious variant of Covid-19.

Read the full story.

Northern Ireland minister Conor Burns has defended the prime minister over his handling of lockdown parties at Downing Street, saying people should "reserve judgement" until the results of an ongoing inquiry.

He tells BBC Two's Politics Live Boris Johnson has got the "big judgements right" on vaccines and reopening the economy.

When the government can "fully focus on the domestic agenda I think the prime minister can rebuild trust with the British people", he adds.

Asked about the reaction from Conservative Party members, he says "very few" he has spoken to feel the prime minister should go and they want him to refocus on the priorities he was elected for.

But Labour's Thangam Debbonaire says there is no need to wait for the results of an inquiry because the prime minister knows he attended a party which was against the rules - and he should resign now.

Ministers fill the vacuum before parties reportpublished at 12:26 Greenwich Mean Time 17 January 2022

12:26 GMT 17 January 2022

Adam Fleming
Chief political correspondent

Sue Gray's report into lockdown busting parties is unlikely to be completed before the end of the week. No 10 won't confirm or deny whether the prime minister has been interviewed by her.

Instead, the government is trying to fill the vacuum. A proposal to put the Ministry of Defence in charge of the operation to manage migrants in the English Channel has been in the works for a while but has been partially briefed out now.

The same with the plan to freeze the BBC licence fee for two years, but which was seasoned with a dramatic tweet announcing the government's intention to scrap the funding mechanism altogether.

Ministers and officials deny the mission to shore up the PM is called "Operation Big Dog" or that appealing to backbenchers is called "Operation Red Meat". There's some disquiet in Whitehall that long-planned announcements are being rushed out for political reasons.

In the meantime the Conservative Party is pulling in two different directions. Some MPs report less public anger than expected in their constituencies over the weekend. Others are accelerating their conversations about whether the prime minister should be replaced.

But this is a phony period of calm before the full details of the parties are laid out in black and white. Then everything could change.

Image source, Getty Images

If you're just joining us, here's a quick reminder of the main stories so far today:

• 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 - despite some Conservative MPs calling for him to resign
• 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
• Tennis star Novak Djokovic has arrived back in Serbia after being deported from Australia over being unvaccinated
• The chairman of global banking giant Credit Suisse, Antonio Horta-Osorio, has resigned with immediate effect after breaking Covid quarantine rules

Image source, Getty Images

Antonio Horta-Osorio, the head of global banking giant Credit Suisse, has quit after breaking Covid quarantine rules.

He was in the post for just nine months, and has now left after an internal investigation.

It came to light that Horta-Osorio went to the Wimbledon tennis finals in July, at a time when the UK's rules required him to be in quarantine.

He also breached Swiss Covid restrictions when, according to Reuters, he failed to quarantine for 10 days after his arrival at the end of November.

"I regret that a number of my personal actions have led to difficulties for the bank and compromised my ability to represent the bank internally and externally," he says.

Image source, Reuters

On Saturday, the Pacific island of Tonga was hit by a tsunami.

Now, officials are worried that the international response could bring coronavirus to the Covid-free nation.

Significant damage has been reported on the island, after the eruption of a volcano led to the emergency. But it's unclear how bad things are, as the disaster has affected communications.

"We don't want to bring in another wave - a tsunami of Covid-19," a Tonga official tells the Reuters news agency.

Curtis Tu'ihalangingie, Tonga's deputy head of mission in Australia, is appealing for patience while priorities for aid are decided.

Aid sent to Tonga will need to be quarantined, and foreign personnel will likely not be allowed to leave aircraft, he says.

Image source, REUTERS/HANNAH BEIER

In Northern Ireland, pregnant women are being urged to get vaccinated after a new study found an increased risk of birth-related complications after getting Covid-19.

NI's chief medical officer says Covid in the later stages of pregnancy "can have serious consequences for both mother and baby".

Sir Michael McBride says having Covid-19 during pregnancy "carries a far higher risk than having the vaccine".

A University of Edinburgh study, external has found pre-term births, stillbirths and new-born deaths are more common among women who have Covid-19 28 days, or less, before their delivery date.

The study's authors say "addressing low vaccine uptake in pregnant women is imperative to protect the health of women and babies".

Image source, Reuters

As seen in today's newspaper front pages, the Downing Street lockdown parties continue to make headlines.

Each new reveation leaves further questions - how it was allowed to happen, who knew and what happens next?

The BBC Politics team has attempted to answer some of those questions here.

If you missed it earlier, here's Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi telling BBC Breakfast the investigation into lockdown parties will be thorough.

"I reassure my constituents that Sue Gray is a very senior civil servant, very well able to conduct this investigation and will do an absolutely thorough job."

He says if Gray finds any evidence of law breaking she will refer it to the Metropolitan Police.

Image source, Getty Images

Now for a look at the impact of coronavirus around the world.

The pandemic has made the world's wealthiest far richer but has led to more people living in poverty, Oxfam says.

Lower incomes for the world's poorest contribute to the death of 21,000 people each day, a report by the charity claims.

But the world's 10 richest men have more than doubled their collective fortunes since March 2020, Oxfam says.

The charity typically releases a report on global inequality at the start of the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos.

For the second year running, the meeting, scheduled for this week, will be online-only.

Katy Austin
Transport Correspondent

Image source, Reuters

Daily cases may be declining across the UK but further planned cuts to rail timetables have come into effect this morning, in response to Covid-related staff shortages.

South Western Railway, Avanti West Coast, c2c and East Midlands Railway are removing some services starting today.

SWR says it is running 28% fewer weekday trains compared with pre-pandemic levels, as part of a temporary emergency timetable. It's told customers this is necessary because of the impact of Omicron.

C2C’s website says as well as improving reliability given increased staff sickness rates, the timetable it’s introduced until further notice will also “enable [it] to save taxpayer money, as passenger demand has fallen significantly in recent weeks”.

Avanti West Coast will only run one train per hour in both directions on each of its routes connecting London Euston with Birmingham, Glasgow and Manchester. Its reduced timetable is due to be in place until 25 February.

The Rail Delivery’s latest figure for staff absences is 11%. It says reduced timetables are providing more reliability as planned, with cancellations at 2.1% across all operators – below the average of 3%.

The RMT union is warning it will oppose “any attempt to use this crisis to cynically bulldoze through permanent cuts to services and staffing levels”.

Sir Keir Starmer's been talking on LBC radio about the investigation into lockdown parties at No 10. He doesn't think the report that will come out from that will be the end of the matter.

The Labour leader says he has "huge respect" for Sue Gray, the civil servant in charge of the probe, but she will probably only set out the facts of what happened.

It's "extremely unlikely" she will be able to say whether or not the events amounted to a breach of the rules, he says. It will be "for others" to determine that.

As a civil servant, she's in the position of reporting the facts to the PM. It's a system set up "before we had Boris Johnson" - when we expected prime ministers to behave in a "particular way", Starmer says.

The public are not waiting for Gray's report, Starmer adds, saying many already have a view about what happened.

Is the pandemic entering its endgame?published at 10:05 Greenwich Mean Time 17 January 2022

10:05 GMT 17 January 2022

James Gallagher
Health and science correspondent, BBC News

"When can I just get on with my life?"

The answer to that question could be... very soon.

There is growing confidence that Omicron could be hurtling the UK into the pandemic endgame.

But what comes next? There will be no snap of the fingers to make the virus disappear. Instead, the new buzzword we'll have to get used to is "endemic" - which means that Covid is, without doubt, here to stay.

What's changing is our immunity. The new coronavirus first emerged two years ago in Wuhan, China, and we were vulnerable. It was a completely new virus that our immune systems had not experienced before and we had no drugs or vaccines to help.

There were two options - either we would extinguish Covid, as we did with Ebola in West Africa, or it would die down but be with us for the long term.

Epidemiologists, who study the spread of diseases, would consider a disease endemic when levels are consistent and predictable - unlike the "boom and bust" waves so far in the pandemic.

The only major curve ball would be a new variant that can out-compete Omicron and cause significantly more severe disease.

Read more from James here.

Image source, Reuters

Meanwhile, away from the UK, there's been another twist in the Novak Djokovic visa saga. He could be allowed back into Australia sooner than anticipated.

The top men's player was deported on Sunday after losing a visa battle that's centred on the fact he's unvaccinated.

Under Australian immigration laws, Djokovic can't be granted another visa for three years.

But PM Scott Morrison has said he could be allowed entry sooner under the "right circumstances".

Australian law does allow for compelling or compassionate reasons for the three-year visa ban to be waived.

If you missed him earlier, Nadhim Zahawi has told BBC Breakfast that, with continued falling cases, some Plan B rules in England could soon be lifted.

"If you look at infection rates, they remain high, hospitalisations is still high, touching 20,000 people in hospital, but it feels like they're plateauing," he said.

"The good news is the number of people in ICU has been coming down, certainly in London, which was the epicentre, the level of staff absence in education has remained pretty flat, it was 8% before Christmas, it's at about 8.5% at the moment.

"So I'm confident that when we review this on the 26th of January, as we said we would do, then we'll be in a much better place to lift some of these restrictions."

Image source, Getty Images

We've been reporting this morning on the decline in daily Covid cases in the UK, and that positive news is leading to rule changes across the four nations.

In Scotland, large outdoor public events like football matches can take place again after some Covid restrictions were relaxed.

The Celtic vs Hibs match in Glasgow later will be the first test of revised rules which mean the vaccine status of at least 50% of attendees must be checked.

Restrictions on indoor sports, events and venues remain in place - but Holyrood will be updated on Tuesday as to when these will be removed.

Nicola Sturgeon has previously said she is hopeful that the restrictions on indoor events can be lifted on 24 January.

Here’s what the changes to rules in Scotland mean from today.