People in areas where the South African variant was found should get a test, the health secretary says.

Enhanced testing will detect which variants are circulating in the community, officials say.

We'll be back with you from 08:00 on Wednesday with all the latest news, sport, travel and weather.

Treat hampers have been delivered to more than 20,000 health and social care staff in the West Midlands since the beginning of the pandemic.

Image source, PA Media

Hampers for Heroes, external was set up during the first England lockdown of 2020 by Victoria Hanson, 44, a management consultant from Solihull.

A further £7,000 has been raised in the scheme's latest appeal since January to support ICU staff.

Image source, PA Media

"We can all see on TV the strain on ICU staff, and having to deal with death at that kind of level every day is just horrendous, frankly," Mrs Hanson said.

"We want to keep supporting NHS and key workers with the mental health toll, which we all know is going to be significant."

Dylan Rixon has spent almost a year at the care home where he works, to reduce the risk of Covid.

Shropshire Star

Headlines from the Shropshire Star today include:

• Vaccines under way as hub opens at Ludlow Racecourse, external
• Another 28 Covid deaths confirmed in the county, external
• Finances of Shrewsbury's shopping centres now held in UK, council says, external

Three Vietnamese nationals were discovered at a property in Bedworth, Warwickshire, on Monday.

Two mobile testing units have been opened in Walsall, said the borough council.

Image source, PA Media

Anyone who lives or has worked in the WS2 area since Christmas should get tested at Walsall College or the Walsall Arena and Arts Centre, officials say.

Stephen Gunther, director of public health for Walsall, said door-to-door tests would also start "later this week".

"We'll be knocking on doors, dropping off kits and asking them to swab and then collecting those later on," he said.

Image source, PA Media

"This [case] was picked up with routine surveillance, so it's likely that we'll pick up some more cases as part of this, but that's the whole point of the exercise."

The case of the South African variant was confirmed at the "back end" of December, he said.

Asked why it had taken so long to start testing in the area, he said: "It takes time in terms of doing the sequencing - this was picked up as other cases across the country were also picked up."

Coronavirus vaccinations have begun for the over-70s at Ludlow Racecourse.

Image source, Shropshire Council

The first person to be vaccinated today was 72-year-old Malcolm Bunn from the Shropshire town.

The retired Severn Trent Water technician said he was looking forward to going on a cruise with his wife once the pandemic is over.

A vaccination centre also opened earlier at the Bucks Head stadium in Wellington.

A cyclist suffered serious injuries when his bike was hit by an HGV in Nuneaton earlier.

The man in his 40s was injured on the A444 southbound carriageway at about 06:15 GMT, said Warwickshire Police.

He was taken to hospital where he remains in a critical but stable condition.

Officers are asking anyone who may have witnessed the crash to come forward.

The health secretary has been updating Parliament with the latest on testing in areas that have registered a case of the South African variant of coronavirus.

Matt Hancock ran through the approach they are taking in the areas they have seen the South African variant, including Walsall, such as mobile and door-to-door testing.

He said it was “imperative in all these areas to stay at home” and if offered the test people should take up the offer.

Everyone aged 16 and over, even if they have already been vaccinated, will be offered a test.

You can find live updates on events in Parliament here.

Express and Star

These are some of the Express and Star headlines:

• Race to test 10,000 people in Walsall as South African Covid variant detected, external
• New appeal for information and closure on Janine's murder, 30 years on, external
• Calls for inquiry as figures confirm huge rise in deaths across region, external

Those in areas where the South African variant was found should further limit time outside, a minister says.

Abdulahi Shire is sentenced after being tracked to Norway following Zakir Nawaz's crash row death.

Ben Godfrey
BBC Midlands Today

Surge testing has begun in Walsall to try to identify any further cases of the South African variant of coronavirus.

A mobile testing centre opened at 10:00 GMT at the Walsall Arena and Arts Centre.

They have lanes for drive-thru Covid testing and separate areas for walk-in tests.

The arena sits near the WS2 postcode boundary where officials hope about 10,000 people will seek a test to identify possible further transmission of the South African variant.

It seemed a slow start, there were no queues but a steady trickle of people arriving.

Newsnight

The government is planning to provide substantial extra funding to stave off a growing rebellion over the costs of fixing unsafe cladding, BBC Newsnight has been told.

Image source, PA Media

Thousands of flat owners face large bills for fire safety work prompted by the Grenfell Tower fire that killed 72 people.

Hana Imaan, a resident of Brindley House, in Birmingham, told BBC Two's Newsnight her service charge had gone up by £500 a month, in addition to higher insurance costs.

She said the rise was "financially crippling" and described the stress of increased bills as "phenomenal".

Housing minister Chris Pincher said the government would announce a financial solution "very shortly".

Part of a ward at a Wolverhampton hospital is partitioned to treat pregnant patients.

Birmingham City sign teenage Arsenal midfielder Ruby Mace on a dual registered contract until the end of the season.

BBC News

People in areas including Walsall where "surge testing" for the South African Covid variant is being carried out should limit their time away from home, universities minister Michelle Donelan has said.

Image source, Getty Images

The government said it would "come down hard" on the strain after 11 cases were identified with no obvious link to foreign travel - prompting fears it is spreading in the community.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said "finding every case" of the variant was the goal.

People in the targeted areas are being asked to talk to their employers about working from home and to stay at home even more.

Birmingham Live

Some of the Birmingham Live headlines today include:

• Covid inquests: How fetching a paper or putting out the bin led to tragic deaths, external
• Arson probe as fire started in medical centre with staff inside, external
• Kings Norton paedophile abused toddler and baby, external