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Will pubs, restaurants and hotels be raising a glass to Nicola Sturgeon later today?

Scotland's first minister will update MSPs on the latest changes to Covid restrictions from around 2.20pm.

She's facing calls from the Scottish Conservatives to begin scrapping almost all measures from next month.

The first minister has previously outlined her hopes to end limits on indoor live events, restrictions in hospitality and distancing in indoor public places from 24 January.

You can follow live coverage of Nicola Sturgeon's coronavirus update here.

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Labour's deputy leader Angela Rayner has repeated her call for Boris Johnson to resign following his latest comments on the drinks party at Downing Street during lockdown in May 2020.

"Boris Johnson clearly knows it's the end of the road," she says.

"He's the prime minister, he sets the rules, he didn't need anyone to tell him that the party he attended broke them."

"If he had any respect for the British public, he would do the decent thing and resign."

As we reported earlier, the health secretary has been telling MPs he's "cautiously optimistic" Plan B restrictions can be substantially reduced in England next week.

But Boris Johnson says there is still a need to be "careful" about Covid, when asked if the Cabinet supported Sajid Javid's view.

"We have got to continue to remember that it's a threat, don't forget there are still 16,000 people in hospital because of Covid," he says.

Urging people to get their booster jab, he adds: "If you don't get vaccinated you are eight times more likely to end up in hospital, 90% of people in intensive care are people who have not been boosted."

Plan B restrictions, which are due to expire on 26 January, include compulsory face masks in most indoor public places, Covid passes for entry to nightclubs and large events, and advice to work from home where possible.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson says he "categorically" never saw an email inviting staff to a drinks party in the Downing Street garden during lockdown in May 2020.

It comes after his former chief aide Dominic Cummings accused him of lying to Parliament about the event, claiming the prime minister knew in advance it was a drinks party.

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More now on Boris Johnson's latest comments about rule-breaking parties in Downing Street.

The prime minister has been asked about two leaving events which were held on the eve of Prince Philip's funeral in April 2020, and whether it was "a moment of shame" for him when he apologised to the Queen last week.

Johnson says: "I deeply and bitterly regret that happened and I can only renew my apologies both to Her Majesty and to the country for misjudgements that were made and for which I take full responsibility."

The prime minister is repeatedly asked if he will resign if senior civil servant Sue Gray finds he misled Parliament.

Boris Johnson declines to answer the questions directly, saying: "We’ll have to see what she says and I think she should be given the space to get on and lead her inquiry."

"I repeat my apologies for any and all misjudgements that were made for which I take full responsibility but I think people do need to wait and see the conclusion of the report," he adds.

Boris Johnson has insisted that he "implicitly" believed a drinks party in No 10's garden during the first lockdown was a work event.

“I do humbly apologise to people for misjudgements that were made but that is the very, very best of my recollection about this event," he tells reporters during a visit to a hospital in north London - his first public appearance since last week.

"That's what I've said to the inquiry, we’ll have to see what they say.”

It comes after his former chief aide Dominic Cummings accused him of lying to Parliament about the event, claiming the prime minister knew in advance it was a drinks party.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson says he "categorically" never saw an email inviting staff to a drinks party in the Downing Street garden during lockdown in May 2020.

Asked if he saw the email from his principal private secretary Martin Reynolds, or if any advisers raised it with him, Johnson says he only saw the email when it emerged last week and "clearly" it was phrased in a way that "was not right".

"I can tell you categorically that nobody told me and nobody said that this was something that was against the the rules, that was in breach of the Covid rules," he adds.

After expressing his hopes that Covid restrictions can be reduced in England next week, the health secretary has told MPs the NHS and social care sector have been "under huge pressure".

Sajid Javid told the House of Commons it has been "the most challenging time in their history," but says there has also been a huge rise in non-urgent treatments.

The decision on whether to lift Covid restrictions in England on 26 January comes against a backdrop of falling cases.

They dropped 41.7% over the past seven days compared to the previous week. Hospital admissions also appear to be plateauing.

However, because there is a lag between people catching the virus and getting seriously ill, Covid deaths are still rising - up 38.7% on the previous week.

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More now on the health secretary's announcement that England's Plan B Covid restrictions could be reduced soon.

Sajid Javid told MPs: "I am cautiously optimistic that we will be able to substantially reduce restrictions next week."

England's Plan B measures are due to expire on 26 January. They include:

• Compulsory face coverings in most indoor public places and for secondary pupils in classrooms
• Advice to work from home where possible
• Proof of full vaccination or a recent negative test to gain entry to nightclubs and other large events

Meanwhile, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will set out plans to ease restrictions in Scotland later today.

Limits on crowds at large outdoor events were lifted on Monday and Sturgeon says she hopes to reduce curbs on indoor venues from 24 January.

You can read more about the rules across the UK here.

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Health Secretary Sajid Javid says he is "cautiously optimistic" that Plan B restrictions can be substantially reduced in England next week, when they are due to expire.

Javid tells the House of Commons that the UK is the "most boosted" and tested country in Europe, as well as the most open one.

"I have always said that these restrictions should not stay in place a day longer than absolutely necessary," he says.

"Due to these pharmaceutical defences and the likelihood that we have already reached the peak of the case numbers of hospitalisations, I am cautiously optimistic that we will be able to substantially reduce restrictions next week."

Plan B restrictions include mandatory face coverings in most indoor public places, Covid passes for nightclubs and large events and advice to work from home where possible.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak says he accepts Boris Johnson's explanation that he was not warned in advance about a Downing Street drinks party during lockdown in May 2020.

In his first comments on camera about the issue, Sunak said: "The prime minister set out his understanding of this matter last week in Parliament. I refer you to his words."

"[Senior civil servant] Sue Gray is conducting an inquiry into this matter and I fully support the prime minister's requests for patience while that concludes."

The PM's former chief aide has accused Johnson of misleading MPs over the drinks party because he claims he knew in advance about it.

Asked if the prime minister should resign if he lied to Parliament, Sunak said: "I am not going to get into hypotheticals, the ministerial code is clear on these matters."

Pressed on whether Johnson has his unequivocal support, Sunak ended the interview.

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Back in the UK, and as we've been hearing, Boris Johnson's former chief aide, Dominic Cummings, has accused the PM of misleading MPs over a lockdown drinks party held in the Downing Street garden - something No 10 has denied.

Since leaving Downing Street at the end of 2020, following an internal battle over his role, Cummings has become one of the prime minister's biggest critics, making a number of damaging claims.

But Cummings was once at the centre of a lockdown rule-breaking controversy of his own.

In March 2020 he drove from London to County Durham after his wife developed Covid symptoms to stay on his parents farm. Then in April he made a now infamous trip to Barnard Castle, which he said was to test his eyesight.

Cummings had been a key figure in British politics for many years, acting as campaign director for Vote Leave during the EU referendum and later playing a central role in Johnson's successful 2019 election campaign.

You can read more about Cummings in this profile from July last year.

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Elsewhere, Australia says it has seen its deadliest day of the pandemic so far, recording a total of 77 deaths - up from the previous national high of 57 on Thursday.

The country is dealing with its worst Covid-19 outbreak, fuelled by the Omicron variant that has put more people in hospitals and intensive care.

New South Wales premier Dominic Perrottet told a media briefing, "today, is a very difficult day for our state," as he announced 36 people had died there, a new pandemic high.

Last month, Australia lifted many strict restrictions after reaching a 90% double-jab target for over-16s.

About 73,000 new infections were reported today, external, down from a high of 150,000 last Thursday.

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In the Canadian province of Quebec, novel curbs are being introduced for people who haven't had a coronavirus vaccine.

From today, alcohol and cannabis stores will ask shoppers to show proof of vaccination to secure their purchases.

Health officials say they hope the measures will encourage more people to get their jabs.

Last week, authorities in Quebec said they would impose a health tax on residents who were not vaccinated against Covid-19.

Quebec has seen the highest number of Covid-related deaths in Canada and is currently struggling with a surge in cases.

Read more here.

Grace Tsoi
BBC News, Hong Kong

Turning to what's happening elsewhere in the world now, and there's bad news for some 2,000 hamsters and other small animals in Hong Kong.

They will be culled after a shopkeeper and a member of staff at a pet shop tested positive for coronavirus.

All pet shops selling hamsters in Hong Kong will suspend operations.

Health authorities found 11 samples taken from the pet shop tested positive.

The city has also stopped the import of small pets such as chinchillas and rabbits.

The shopkeeper was the city’s first Delta variant case, but its origin is untraceable.

"Internationally, there is no evidence yet to show pets can transmit the coronavirus to humans, but... we will take precautionary measures against any vector of transmission," the territory's Health Secretary Sophia Chan said at a press conference.

We've heard some cautious optimism from experts about the latest UK coronavirus case numbers this morning - so what are the latest stats?

After a sharp increase in December linked to the Omicron variant, the number of daily confirmed cases are now falling - with 84,429 announced yesterday.

However, the number of Covid deaths within 28 days of a positive test reported each day has been rising - with 85 deaths reported yesterday.

The BBC's Head of Statistics Robert Cuffe says most of the recent increase in these Covid deaths could be down to "coincidental" Covid - people who died with, but not due to, coronavirus.

With the high proportion of cases in the population seen over the past month, the number of coincidental Covid cases are expected to increase.

Read more on the current picture here.

It's been a busy morning of developments in the coronavirus pandemic.

Here's a quick recap of what's happened so far today:

• Dr David Nabarro, the World Health Organization's special envoy on Covid-19, says although the coronavirus situation in the UK gives "grounds for hope" as infections appear to fall, it is important not to make "premature" promises about ending restrictions
• His warning follows suggestions the government will drop Plan B measures in England - which include wearing face masks in most indoor settings, advice to work from home and Covid passports - at the next review on 26 January
• Boris Johnson is under further scrutiny after his former top aide claimed the PM was warned about the 20 May 2020 drinks party in the No 10 garden during lockdown
• Dominic Cummings said he "waved aside" concerns about the event and lied to MPs over lockdown parties
• Justice Secretary Dominic Raab called Cummings' claims nonsense. He said a prime minister found to have deliberately lied to Parliament would "normally" resign but backed the PM, saying he had "made clear" he had not known about the event in advance

• The latest official labour market data shows average pay rises are failing to keep up with the rise in the cost of living.

• Hospitality bosses and opposition politicians are urging the Scottish government to ease Covid rules more quickly, as Nicola Sturgeon prepares to update MSPs later

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Professor Andrew Hayward, a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, has been telling Times Radio there are "very encouraging signs" of Covid cases plateauing or dropping in some places.

But he adds nobody is sure whether they will stabilise at a very high level or dip down.

Hayward also says any new coronavirus variant will need to "out-compete Omicron" through increased transmissibility or escape from immunity, and not through changes in severity.

"It doesn't do the virus any good to become increasingly severe," he says.

"In fact, it looks like the Omicron variant, by becoming more transmissible, that it's also become less severe, and we would hope that's the general direction of travel."

Robert Cuffe
BBC head of statistics

Some 23% of deaths “involving” Covid in England and Wales in the first week of the new year were not “caused by” Covid, according to figures just published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS)., external

Doctors registering a death record all the factors that contributed to the death as well as the ultimate cause.

If Covid contributed, the death “involved” Covid.

The figure of 23% is basically unchanged from the last week of 2021 when 22% of deaths involving Covid were not caused by it.

However, it is sharply down on most of Autumn and the weeks leading up to Christmas when about 15% of deaths involving Covid were not caused by it.

There is a worry that Omicron (which is milder but infecting many more people) will change what the death figures mean: with fewer people dying from their infection but more people happening to catch Covid before they die.

These figures suggest that, so far, this has had some effect but that the large majority of people whose death involves Covid were killed by it.