Reality Check

As the prime minister takes further action in England, it is clear that the situation is worse than before the second lockdown began in early November.

Back then, on 5 November, the case rate was 247 cases per 100,000 people.

Now it’s more than double that with 519 cases per 100,000.

And looking at the speed of increases before the lockdown, the coronavirus rate has increased by 70% in the past two weeks, compared to 10% in the period running up to the November lockdown.

As ever, we must look at all sources of data, as case rates can also be influenced by mass testing.

Looking at hospital data, the situation is – again – more serious.

There are currently now on average 2,550 new coronavirus admissions every day; this is compared to 1,327 on 5 November.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson begins his address by saying when the country was fighting the old variant "our collective efforts were working and would have continued to work".

But he says it is “both frustrating and alarming" to see the speed at which the new variant is spreading.

Scientists have confirmed the new variant is between 50% and 70% more transmissible, so people are much more likely to catch the virus and to pass it on, he adds.

Hospitals are also under more pressure from Covid than at any time since start of pandemic, he says.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is now beginning his televised address, where he is expected to announce new national Covid restrictions for England.

Following the earlier statement by the UK's chief medical officers, Prof Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer for England, has tweeted that the UK "must act now" to combat surging coronavirus cases and protect the NHS.

He wrote on Twitter:, external "Covid cases are rising rapidly across the UK in large part due to the new variant.

"The NHS is treating many more Covid patients and vaccinating vulnerable citizens. NHS staff deserve our profound thanks.

"But we must act now or the NHS will come under even greater pressure."

While we wait for the PM to announce more lockdown measures, here's a quick round-up of the top headlines in the UK so far:

• The UK's chief medical officers and NHS England's medical director have recommended that the UK Covid alert level should move up to level five, the highest possible, after warning that they were "not confident that the NHS can handle a further sustained rise in cases"
• All schools and colleges will move to online learning until 18 January in Wales, education minister Kirsty Williams has announced. Some schools had been due to open on Wednesday and others by 11 January
• A new lockdown has been announced in Scotland from midnight as Nicola Sturgeon warned she was "more concerned about the situation we face now than I have been at any time since March last year"
• Scottish MP Margaret Ferrier has been arrested by police after she admitted using public transport while infected with Covid-19. Police Scotland said she had been charged in connection with "alleged culpable and reckless conduct"
• Hospital admissions of patients with coronavirus have hit a record high, according NHS England data. There were 3,145 admissions in England reported for 2 January, exceeding the previous peak of 3,099 recorded on 1 April last year.

Image source, PA Media

Boris Johnson is due to give a televised address at 20:00 GMT, where he is expected to announce a set of new national Covid restrictions for England.

It is expected the measures will be similar to the March lockdown, with people told to work from home if possible and schools closing for most pupils.

The prime minister is likely to urge the public to follow the new rules from midnight - with MPs given a vote to approve them retrospectively on Wednesday.

Mr Johnson will set out plans for England only as the UK's devolved nations have the power to set their own coronavirus regulations.

It comes amid concerns over a new variant of the virus, which has been found to spread much more easily.

We'll bring you the all the latest updates and analysis here.

Maddy Savage
BBC News, Stockholm

A British teacher denied entry to Sweden despite having residency rights says she will be spending a second night on the floor at Gothenburg’s Landvetter Airport.

Gina Smart, 25, arrived on a flight from Manchester on Sunday and is among several Brits denied entry because border police say their Covid-19 tests aren't valid.

Smart tells the BBC she hasn't been able to sleep and is “exhausted” from the experience.

“I just want to get back to my home in Sweden,” she says. “I’m scared.”

Another passenger told Swedish news site The Local that five Brits denied entry were given a room to share at the airport last night.

Smart says Swedish authorities asked her to return to the UK on a flight to London, but she refused because she is from Manchester and has no home in the capital.

The BBC understands Swedish authorities refused to accept some Covid-19 tests - including NHS tests - at Gothenburg and Stockholm airports over the weekend, despite not specifying in advance to passengers which tests were valid for travel.

The British Embassy in Sweden now says all tests carried out by authorised providers, including those on the UK government’s official list of private providers of coronavirus testing, should be accepted.

Image source, Getty Images

Lebanon is mourning the death of musician Elias Rahbani, who wrote songs for the country’s most revered singer Fairouz, among many others. He was reported to be suffering from Covid-19.

The 83-year-old was the younger brother of Assi and Mansour, known simply as the Rahbani brothers. All three siblings produced songs and musicals that defined Lebanese culture for decades.

Their works, particularly their interpretation by Fairouz, are regarded as a high point of Lebanese art that transcended conflict and division.

“Your departure takes with it a large part of the romanticism of our wounded country,” said Lebanese singer Ragheb Alama as he joined tributes to Rahbani.

The news comes as the Lebanese government announced a new lockdown beginning on Thursday and lasting until 1 February. Around 1,500 people have died of Covid-19 in the country since the pandemic began, with almost 190,000 infections recorded.

Scottish MP Margaret Ferrier has been arrested and charged by police over an alleged breach of coronavirus restrictions.

She was suspended from the SNP group at Westminster after she admitted using public transport while infected with Covid-19 last September.

The Rutherglen and Hamilton West MP apologised after travelling from London to Glasgow having tested positive for coronavirus.

She said she had experienced "mild symptoms" and taken a test, but had then decided to travel to Westminster because she was "feeling much better".

She then travelled home again on a train after receiving the positive test result, and said she "deeply regretted" her actions.

Despite facing pressure to resign her seat, Ms Ferrier is now an independent MP.

Read more on this story here.

A leading government adviser says he can see schools closing under tougher coronavirus restrictions to be announced in England soon.

John Edmunds, a professor in the Faculty of Epidemiology and Population Health at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, told BBC Radio 4's PM closing schools would have "the biggest effect of a single measure and I can see that happening."

He says schoolchildren are the most important route of infection into the typical household, the second being through workplaces and the third due to social interactions.

Data shows the nation is "pretty compliant" in terms of social distancing rules and that wearing masks outdoors will not make a big difference.

He says: "All the evidence that we've collected for Covid up to this point suggests the risk outdoors is very low and mask wearing will help reduce your risk somewhat. I cannot believe if we got people to wear masks outdoors we would turn the epidemic around, that is not the issue."

"The total numbers of deaths will be unfortunately measured in 100,000 or more," he said.

Hospital admissions of patients with coronavirus have hit a record high, according to data from NHS England.

There were 3,145 admissions in England reported for 2 January, exceeding the previous peak of 3,099 recorded on 1 April last year.

The figure is made up of all patients admitted in the previous 24 hours who were known to have Covid-19, along with any patients who tested positive for the virus in hospital during the previous 24 hours.

Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers, which represents hospitals and other NHS trusts in England, said the data showed the pandemic was at a "critical point" and that "immediate and decisive action" was necessary.

"The government must now immediately tighten the current tier system rules," he said.

James Gallagher
Health and science correspondent, BBC News

What worked before may not work again - even a repeat of the March lockdown may not be enough to contain the new variant.

Consider the R number – the number of people each infected person passes the virus onto on average.

The March lockdown brought R down to 0.6 and led to a sharp decline in cases.

Every 100 infected people passed the virus onto 60 others, who passed it onto 36, then 21, then 12 and so on.

But the new variant is thought to be around 50% more transmissible so its R number, in the same lockdown conditions, would be around 0.9.

Then 100 infected people would pass the virus onto 90 others, then 81, then 73, then 66 and so on.

This is a far slower decline.

However, uncertainty around the new variant means there are scenarios where its levels plateau rather than fall during lockdown conditions.

It is going to be a tough start to the year. Even with immediate and tough restrictions there are a projected 20,000 additional deaths in the first months of 2021.

Now more than ever this is a race between the virus and the vaccine.

Robin Levinson-King
BBC News, Toronto

Image source, City Shul

Like many last March, the pandemic took Misha Allard by surprise.

The 36-year-old from Toronto, Canada, had recently quit her corporate job to pursue an acting career - something she felt was her "calling".

With productions halted and no work in sight, Ms Allard decided to use the spring to explore another calling - her growing interest in spirituality.

"I guess I kind of felt I was being led all along," she says, looking back with hindsight.

Like many millennials, Ms Allard had not attended church in years. She went every Sunday as a child, but when she hit her teenage years, she lost interest.

Now, with nothing but time on her hands, she decided she would revisit her faith and see if she could find it a home. The pandemic had caused most churches to go from in-person worship to online services, which made it easy for her to try out different denominations.

"I could just test different styles and figure out what fit best with me and my belief system and what made me feel the best," she says.

Read the full story here.

Three officers from the Metropolitan Police Service have been fined for having an illegal gathering just before London went into tier four.

The officers, who are based in the borough of Islington, have also been told to engage in "reflective practice" by more senior officers.

They could have been subject to other disciplinary action including being referred to the Directorate of Professional Standards.

The officers are thought to be two males and one female and the breaches are in relation to a gathering on 5 December.

The Metropolitan Police Service said: "These officers have been dealt with in the same manner as any member of the public. Our officers are responsible for enforcing Covid related legislation and it is important that any allegations of breaches by our own staff are properly investigated and the appropriate action taken."

Scottish MP Margaret Ferrier has been arrested and charged in connection with alleged culpable and reckless conduct over an alleged breach of coronavirus regulations last September.

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "We can confirm that officers today arrested and charged a 60-year-old woman in connection with alleged culpable and reckless conduct.

"This follows a thorough investigation by Police Scotland into an alleged breach of coronavirus regulations between 26 and 29 September 2020."

Image source, Reuters

Vaccine manufacturers BioNTech and Pfizer have warned there is no evidence that their injection will offer protection against developing Covid-19 if the second dose is given later than was tested during clinical trials.

“The safety and efficacy of the vaccine has not been evaluated on different dosing schedules," the companies said in a statement on Monday. “There is no data to demonstrate that protection after the first dose is sustained after 21 days.”

The two jabs are designed to be given three weeks apart, with full immunity only developing after the second dose.

However, the UK has already said it will delay giving the second dose of both the Pfizer-BioNTech and Oxford vaccines by 12 weeks, while Denmark has agreed to wait six weeks between injections. Germany is reportedly considering a similar move.

The warning came as the European Medicines Agency said that the maximum interval of 42 days between the first and second doses should not be exceeded in order to ensure full protection.

All schools and colleges will move to online learning until 18 January in Wales, education minister Kirsty Williams has announced.

Some schools had been due to open on Wednesday and others by 11 January, with decisions made by local authorities.

Teaching unions wanted a delay and a national decision on reopening amid concerns about the spread of the new coronavirus variant.

Read more.

The UK's chief medical officers and NHS England's medical director have recommended that the UK Covid alert level should move up to level five, the highest possible, after warning that they were "not confident that the NHS can handle a further sustained rise in cases".

In a statement they said that "without further action there is a material risk of the NHS in several areas being overwhelmed over the next 21 days".

"There are currently very high rates of community transmission, with substantial numbers of Covid patients in hospitals and in intensive care," they said.

"Cases are rising almost everywhere, in much of the country driven by the new more transmissible variant."

But the statement added it was "absolutely crucial" people still came forward for emergency care.

Senior Cabinet minister Michael Gove is understood to be discussing coronavirus restrictions with the leaders of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in a call ahead of Boris Johnson's statement at 20:00 GMT.

The talks come ahead of the Stormont Executive's meeting to discuss further possible coronavirus restrictions for Northern Ireland.

And they follow Scotland's First Minister's announcement of a new lockdown from midnight.

Wales is likely to remain in lockdown for the rest of January.

Boris Johnson is expected to announce a lockdown in England similar to the first wave of the pandemic in March.

Ahead of a statement from the UK PM, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is calling on Boris Johnson not to delay introducing measures that go "back to what we had in March".

He tells the BBC: "The virus is out of control, everybody can see that, the tier system clearly isn't working and we all know tougher measures are necessary.

"I say to the prime minister 'why delay?'. Have national restrictions and bring them into force as soon as possible.

"Those restrictions are now necessary to get the virus back under control, to protect the NHS which is near breaking point this January, but critically to create the space for the rollout of the vaccine, that now needs to be mission critical."

Sir Keir says the contract for asking the British people to suffer tighter restrictions has to be for the vaccine to be "rolled out as quickly as possible" and calls for two million doses to be delivered per week in January and "double that in February".