There's been a huge drive to vaccinate Bolton residents as Covid cases linked to the India variant continue to rise there.

Q Gentlemens Barbers in York has received 12 fixed penalty notices from City of York Council.

Some of the children were due to go on their first holiday before the pandemic struck.

Testing will be targeted at secondary schools in Ealing, Hillingdon, Brent, Harrow and Hounslow.

As UK coronavirus restrictions are relaxed, public transport could become much busier.

The first minister had confirmed Glasgow is remaining in level three coronavirus restrictions.

Public Health England says it does not cause more severe illness or makes vaccines less effective.

Friday's figures also show that another 84 people in NI have tested positive for Covid-19.

The pandemic has both drawn attention to the gender digital divide - and helped close it.

People aged over 16 who live in North Tyneside will be able get tested for Covid from Saturday as part of a programme to try and stop the spread of the Indian variant.

Increased testing - or surge testing as it's known - will be carried out at units in North Shields and Wallsend for residents who aren't showing symptoms, including those who've had their vaccine.

It follows a rise in cases of the so-called Indian variant.

Covid-19 cases in the borough have risen from 22 to 53 per 100,000 people in the last week and North Tyneside Council believes the 19 confirmed cases of the variant in the region will increase.

Public Health Director Wendy Burke said: "We will be offering additional testing to identify any further cases of Covid-19 and in particular the variant, so that we can support people to self-isolate and identify their contacts.

"In addition, we will also be making available better accessibility to the vaccination programme and we will be doing more work to try to get those who haven't yet accessed their first dose of vaccine to come forward."

North Tyneside Council and the NHS are also looking to create additional appointments for those eligible to get vaccinated.

Ms Burke said: "We won't be offering the vaccine to anybody who is not currently eligible so it will continue to be restricted to the people who are eligible through the national roll-out.

"What we're trying to do is identify over-50s and those in the 'at risk' category who haven't yet had a first dose."

The two mobile testing units will be open between 10:00 and 16:00 and an appointment is not needed.

One will be located at Wallsend Forum, behind the Anson pub, and the other in North Shields town centre.

Covid Indian variant: Where is it, how does it spread and is it more infectious?

Who can book their Covid vaccine now?

BBC World Service

Image source, Reuters

The European Union (EU) intends to invest 1bn euros ($1.2bn; £859m) to build Covid vaccine-manufacturing hubs in Africa.

It will also donate at least 100 million doses of coronavirus vaccines to low- and middle-income countries by the end of the year, Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, said.

She was speaking at a Covid summit in Rome, where one of the leading vaccine manufacturers, Pfizer/BioNTech, announced it would make two billion doses available at cost to poorer countries over the next 18 months.

The meeting in the Italian capital - in part virtual - seeks to co-ordinate global efforts to combat the pandemic.

Here's a recap of what happened at today's Scottish government briefing:

• Moray will move to level two restrictions from midnight
• Glasgow will remain in level three for at least another week
• East Renfrewshire, where case levels per 100,000 are now higher than in Glasgow, will stay in level two
• The first minister explained that the number of cases is significantly smaller in East Renfrewshire, where there were 17 on Thursday compared with 166 in Glasgow
• East Renfrewshire cases have been mainly traced to household cluster
• A new travel ban has been introduced to English virus hotspots Bedford, Bolton, Blackburn and Darwen

• Nicola Sturgeon urged Hibs and St Johnstone fans to watch this weekend's cup final at home
• The Scottish government will now refer to the so-called "Indian variant" as the April 02 variant to avoid stigmatising communities.
• Scotland registered 414 new cases of Covid-19, 1.9% of all tests
• There were no further deaths following a positive test in the last 24 hours
• A total of 3,082,251 people have received their first dose of the vaccine
• The number who have had their second dose has reached 1,769,040
• Cases across the whole of Scotland have risen by 25% over the past week

That's it from the live page for today. We will return for the next coronavirus update. In the meantime, stay safe.

Tribute is paid to efforts to drive down infections after Nicola Sturgeon says Moray would move to level two from midnight.

Anas Sarwar comments on the name-change by the first minister from the "Indian variant" to the "April 02 variant".

He mentions issues with Chinese communities and says he has heard concerns from the Indian community over the impact of the name.

He welcomes the use of a different title and says the virus does not discriminate on race, background or faith.

Appearing on the BBC One programme, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, who is self isolating, says he "feels the pain" of other families in isolation with small children.

As someone who lives in the "spike area", he says the Glasgow news is disappointing and is devastating for people and businesses who are staying in restrictions.

He wants to see the city emulate Moray with mass PCR testing, mass vaccination and bringing the case load and hospital levels down.

He says he saw all the measures in action, while taking his children for follow-up testing on Thursday.

The BBC One programme goes to Moray where Scottish Conservatives leader Douglas Ross is delighted his area is moving to level two.

He says Moray has suffered very negative headlines for several weeks but thanks to the community effort to get the virus under control, hospitality and tourism businesses can welcome people back from midnight tonight.

He says everything possible must be done in Glasgow to enable the city to move down to level two.

He says we have to learn lessons from Moray's success.

A West Yorkshire pub is catching up on delayed celebrations by marking Christmas in May.

Image source, Getty Images

The first minister ends by stressing that vaccination remains the route out of the pandemic and the performance of the vaccines has been "better than we dared hope".

She says the route is also not "straightforward" and what we are experiencing now is just a "bump in the road".

But she says there are no signs so far that the new variant causes more severe illness.

She says we should continue to hope we can continue through the protection levels during the summer.

She says the April 02 (Indian) variant means we should be careful but there are still grounds for optimism.

She ends with a clear call to action for everyone.

Image source, SNS

Ms Sturgeon urges fans of both teams to avoid gathering in groups to watch the game.

She appeals to the winning team to be sensible and reminds them that people should not be congregating in large groups.

She says: "Enjoy the game, celebrate if your team wins, but for your own sake and the sake of everyone else, do it safely."

The game - at Hampden - will be played at an empty stadium due to Glasgow remaining in level three.