A sub-variant of Omicron has now been detected in 57 countries, the World Health Organization says
In some countries, BA.2 now accounts for over half of sequenced Omicron cases, the WHO says
Estimated UK Covid infections rose to more than 3 million last week, according to the ONS
The government has written off £8.7bn spent on PPE during pandemic, accounts show
Items costing £673m were unusable, while £750m of equipment was not used before it expired
Another Tory MP has called for Boris Johnson to resign, as the fallout from parties held in No 10 continues
Tobias Ellwood says the Conservative Party is "slipping into a very ugly place"
In France, restrictions are being eased, with face masks no longer compulsory outdoors, and an end to limits on large crowds
Tonga is to go into lockdown after a handful of Covid cases were recorded in the capital city Nuku'alofa
We're now pausing our live coverage of the pandemic.
Today's live page was written by Nathan Williams, Alexandra Fouché, Becky Morton, Jen Meierhans, Dulcie Lee and Chris Giles and was edited by Alex Therrien.
We'll be back tomorrow.
Image source, ReutersWe'll be bringing our live coverage of the pandemic to a close shortly. But before we do, here's a reminder of the main stories today:
Imogen Foulkes
BBC News, Geneva
Image source, ReutersSwitzerland will begin lifting its Covid-19 restrictions from Thursday, when the mandatory work-from-home rule and the quarantine requirement for those coming into contact with someone who has Covid will be lifted.
A proposal to lift all further restrictions - including the Covid certificate, limits on public and private gatherings, and the wearing of masks - has been submitted to the cantons (provinces) and could take place as early as 16 February, depending, the government says, on whether case numbers indicate the Omicron wave has peaked.
Swiss health officials believe the country is moving out of the pandemic and towards a situation where Covid-19 is endemic.
They say the lifting of restrictions is justified because the feared pressure on hospitals due to the rapid spread of the Omicron variant did not materialise.
Switzerland has recorded more than 12,000 deaths since the start of the pandemic, and continues to have one of the lowest vaccination rates (around 66%) in western Europe.
Moments ago we reported that the number of deaths reported in the UK today, 534, is the highest number since 23 February last year.
Now Meaghan Kall, an epidemiologist for the UK Health Security Agency, has explained the figure is only this high because of a backlog from earlier this week.
She points out that when you look at the trend according to the date of the death - rather than the date it was reported - deaths are falling.
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The number of Covid deaths within 28 days of a positive coronavirus test reported in the UK today, 534, is the highest daily figure since 23 February last year.
However, there can be a big variation in the number of deaths reported on given days in a week. On Monday, 51 cases were recorded, while there were 219 on Tuesday.
The total number of deaths recorded over the past seven days is slightly down on the previous week - by 1.4%.
The weekly figure for cases is down by 3.5%, while weekly hospital admissions are down 11.8%.
A further 88,085 coronavirus cases have been reported in the UK, according to the latest daily figures, external.
The number of people who have died within 28 days of a positive coronavirus test has risen by 534.
However, those figures do not include Scotland, for which no data was reported today.
Image source, Getty ImagesUS soldiers who refuse to get a Covid vaccine will be immediately discharged, unless they have approved or pending exemptions, the US army has said, external.
The order applies to regular army soldiers, army reservists on a certain type of active duty and cadets, it said in a statement.
Quote MessageArmy readiness depends on soldiers who are prepared to train, deploy, fight and win our nation’s wars. Unvaccinated soldiers present a risk to the force and jeopardise readiness.
Christine Wormuth, US Secretary of the Army
In December, more than 100 US Marines were booted from the ranks for refusing Covid jabs.
While the vast majority of US military personnel have been vaccinated, thousands have been reprimanded.
Up to 20,000 troops have sought exemptions or refused to be vaccinated.
Image source, ReutersAid has been reaching Tonga after last month's volcanic eruption and tsunami — but the Pacific island nation is now in lockdown after several Covid cases.
Tonga had previously managed to stay effectively Covid-free.
It's not yet known where the new cases might have come from.
After the volcanic eruption, Tonga stressed the need for outside aid to be delivered in a "contactless" way to keep the virus out.
"In Tonga, emergency provisions are being sent in - but personnel are not - and strict Covid protocols are followed on delivery," says Aaron Davy, of the Council for International Development, in New Zealand.
Aid agencies also provide assistance remotely - such as co-ordination expertise - but local authorities and community groups run the response on the ground.
Robert Cuffe
BBC head of statistics
Across the UK the picture is broadly flat: A very slight rise in the estimated number of Covid infections that could well be a random blip.
Overall, it suggests that the rapid falls of recent weeks are over for the moment. In Wales and across England, every region is seeing about one in 20 people testing positive.
In London, that's not great since it looks like recent falls have stalled.
In the North, it's much better since they were, until recently, the UK's Covid hotspot with rates closer to double that.
And in Wales and the South, where rates had been lower, things are moving in the wrong direction.
Northern Ireland has now taken the dubious honour of the highest rates in the UK. About one in 15 people there were estimated to test positive last week, sharply up on last week’s figures.
Scotland is seeing lower rates of infection: Roughly one in 30.
Parents of young children will probably already know that rates among primary schools have been at record highs for a while.
Last week, more than one in eight children surveyed were testing positive, only slightly up on last week.
More now on the latest infection estimates from the ONS, which cover the week ending 29 January.
The ONS say the rates for people testing positive were high but flat in England and rose in Wales and Northern Ireland. The trend was less certain in Scotland.
For that time period, these were estimated numbers with Covid:
Just under 3.1 million people in the UK would have tested positive for coronavirus last week, according to the latest estimates from the Office for National Statistics.
The figures, for the week ending 29 January, show an estimated 4.8% of the population had the virus, compared with just under 3 million people - or 4.6% of the population - the previous week.
The ONS says this equates to roughly one in 20 people in the latest week and the rise is driven by increases in Wales and Northern Ireland.
The World Health Organization has said a sub-variant of Omicron, BA.2, has now been detected in 57 countries.
But should we worry about the emergence of BA.2?
Last week - before the WHO's most recent update - a couple of experts gave their views on BA.2.
Prof John Edmunds, professor in the Centre for the Mathematical Modelling of Infectious Diseases at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, says the new strain could become dominant in the UK within the next few weeks.
He says this may well extend this wave of infection, or even lead to another peak.
The good news, he says, is that at present there is no evidence to suggest BA.2 is more severe than the original Omicron variant and vaccines appear to be just as effective against it.
Prof Jonathan Ball, professor of molecular virology at the University of Nottingham, also says early indicators suggest the vaccines will provide similar levels of protection against BA.2 as seen with the original Omicron variant. Whether or not BA.2 causes more severe disease will become apparent as more data is collected, Ball says.
He adds: “Of course, it is important to keep monitoring the situation and try to gain a better understanding of how this variant behaves, but so far there is nothing in these early analyses to worry us unduly.”
James Gallagher
Health and science correspondent, BBC News
The world’s first Covid “challenge trial” – which deliberately infected people with the virus – has given a unique view on the early stages of the disease.
Thirty-six young and healthy volunteers all had an identical dose of Covid squirted up their nose in a hospital in London.
Of those, only 18 became infected. What protected the other 16 will be the focus of future studies to understand our inherent protection against Covid.
The virus took off rapidly in those that did develop an infection, with the first symptoms and positive test results appearing within just 42 hours. The virus got a foothold first in the throat, but the levels were highest once it reached the nose. The researchers say it's important your facemask covers both.
Symptoms were mild, but some volunteers had a prolonged loss of their sense of smell.
It is hoped challenge trials can now help develop the next generation of Covid vaccines and new anti-virals.
Nick Triggle
Health Correspondent
Scientists in the UK and abroad are closely monitoring BA.2, a sub-variant of Omicron.
At the moment there is much that is not yet clear.
It appears to have a growth advantage compared to the version of Omicron, BA.1, that has swept the globe. Analysis by the UK Health Security Agency suggests it could be substantial, although there is a risk of over-estimating growth advantage in the early stages.
What we know is that it is certainly growing as a proportion of overall cases in the UK.
Because of a quirk in how it shows up in test results, we can see the numbers of suspected BA.2 doubled in the week up to 24 January.
But at that point the sub-variant still appeared to account for less than one in 20 cases.
That contrasts to Denmark where it has become dominant.
A preliminary assessment by UKHSA did not find a difference in vaccine effectiveness, although it said there was no data yet available on severity.
But it is worth noting that Denmark has seen similar trends in terms of hospital admissions and intensive care as the UK has, suggesting BA.2 does not mark a sea-change in severity.
And even if it does become the dominant version of Omicron, it may not actually alter the trajectory of the pandemic in countries that have seen a big wave of BA.1. That’s because there could be cross-immunity – an infection with BA.1 could offer some protection against BA.2.
It is one for the scientists to watch, rather than for the public to be alarmed about at this stage.
The new subvariant of Omicron doesn't appear to be more severe than the original, the World Health Organization has said.
The BA.2 form has now been detected in 57 countries, and is beginning to replace the original in some places.
It appears more transmissible than the original Omicron strain and more able to infect the vaccinated, according to a study in Denmark, the first country where the subvariant overtook the original.
But there appears to be no difference in disease severity from this subvariant, based on data from Denmark, says the WHO's Dr Boris Pavlin.
"Looking at other countries where BA.2 is now overtaking, we're not seeing any higher bumps in hospitalisation than expected," he says.
Image source, EPAIf you're just joining us, or want a reminder about what's been going on, here's a roundup of today's top Covid stories.
Variation in the variant: A sub-variant of Omicron has been detected in 57 countries now, the World Health Organization has said. In some countries, "BA.2" accounts for over half of sequenced Omicron cases, the WHO says. Some studies have suggested it could be more infectious than the original Omicron variant.
PPE write-off: The UK government has written off £8.7bn spent on protective equipment during the pandemic. A large portion of this is because the government paid more for the items than they are currently worth, now that global supplies have recovered.
Record cases: Germany and the Czech Republic have seen record numbers of daily coronavirus cases.
France eases rules: France is the latest European country to ease Covid restrictions, with rules on masks outdoors being lifted, and home working no longer compulsory.
Partygate fallout continues: Senior Conservative MP Tobias Ellwood is the latest in his party to say he's submitting a no-confidence letter in the PM.
Reality Check
Image source, ReutersThe Beijing Winter Olympics starts this Friday, and there have already been some Covid cases reported among athletes and officials.
China is sticking to it's policy of trying to supress all cases. Here are some of the measures it has in place:
Read more about the Games and China's "zero Covid" policy here.
Beijing has kicked off the Winter Olympics torch relay, just two days before the games' opening ceremony.
It's a scaled-down event with very few spectators because of coronavirus restrictions in China.
Another 32 infections have been recorded from people arriving at the airport and athletes and officials already inside the huge Olympic isolation bubbles.
A sub-variant of Omicron, known as BA.2, has now been detected in 57 countries, the World Health Organization says.
The first versions of Omicron - BA.1 and BA.1.1 - still account for over 96% of all cases of Omicron that have been sequenced, the WHO says in its weekly epidemiological update.
But there has been an increase in cases involving the BA.2 subvariant, which has several different mutations from the original including in the spike protein.
In some countries, the subvariant now accounts for over half of all Omicron sequences gathered, the WHO says.
Several recent studies have suggested that BA.2 is more infectious than the original Omicron variant, but the WHO stresses that little is known about the sub-variant and more researched is needed to compare its characteristics.
Phil Kemp
BBC producer
The sums are staggering - a total of £8.7bn written off the value spent on personal protective equipment in 2020-21.
The bulk of that, £4.7bn, is a write-down on the inflated prices charged at the height of the pandemic.
But a lot of it is money that was wasted - £673m was spent on items not suitable for any use.
Some £2.6bn was spent on PPE that is not suitable for use in the NHS or social care but might be used elsewhere, while £750m has been written off for items that will expire before they can be used.
And the costs keep mounting. The government is currently spending around £1m every two days for storage.
The Department of Health and Social Care says the supply of such vital PPE kept the NHS open in a national crisis and they are seeking to recover costs wherever possible.
Labour says taxpayers’ money has been poured down the drain.