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There are concerns coronavirus lockdowns and school closures could compound the problem of childhood obesity.

Dr Naomi Simmons, consultant paediatrician at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd in Bodelwyddan, Denbighshire, Wales, says: "I do fear that the pandemic will contribute to an exacerbation of what's already a really, really significant problem.

"It's that lack of routine, it's being out of school, and not being able to access their usual forms of physical activity."

Daniel, from Denbighshire - not his real name - is the father of a six-year-old girl who was referred to Dr Simmons's clinic when a GP became concerned about her weight two years ago.

His daughter made "great progress" and lost weight. Then the pandemic struck.

"It had a bad effect on her, and not just the weight - mental health-wise it's also affected her. She's six years old and is worried about being around other people in the street," he said.

"In years to come, Covid will be gone, we'll have control of it. But obesity, that's the issue that's going to be prolonged."

You can read the full story here.

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Covid outbreaks on a number of Scottish islands are "believed to be under control", the national clinical director has said.

NHS Western Isles confirmed 10 positive cases on Barra on Thursday. One positive case has been identified on Benbecula, while Orkney has one case and Shetland has four cases.

However, Professor Jason Leitch said the islands are "not seeing sustained community transmission" and the Western Isles had seen no new cases in the last 24 hours.

Prof Leitch said one of the key things was whether all the positive cases could be related to other positive cases.

"We've seen how fragile the position is across the rest of the country and we keep that under constant review, " he said.

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Vaccine deliveries to Europe by Pfizer will be reduced "as of next week" while the company increases its production capacity, Norwegian health officials have said.

"The temporary reduction will affect all European countries," Norway's Public Health Agency (FHI) said in a statement.

"It is not immediately clear how long it will take for Pfizer to attain maximum production capacity, which will rise from 1.3 to 2 billion doses annually."

The FHI gave no data on deliveries to Europe as a whole, but said Norway would next week get 36,075 doses, down from the 43,875 previously expected.

Pfizer initially said deliveries were proceeding "according to the schedule agreed".

But it later confirmed there would be an impact on distribution in late January to early February due to changes to manufacturing processes to boost production.

The institute said there would be no delays in the rollout of the vaccines to Norwegians as it stocked reserves.

Meanwhile, the first Moderna vaccine was given in Norway on Friday.

As we reported earlier, Wales' First Minister Mark Drakeford has said there is "significant evidence" of Covid transmission in supermarkets.

With that in mind BBC health correspondent Laura Foster has put together this video to show you the small things you can do to help make sure you're safe when you go shopping.

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Seriously ill Covid patients have been transferred to hospitals in Newcastle from over-stretched intensive care units in London.

Fewer than five people were moved from the capital, almost 300 miles (482km) away, it was first reported by the Guardian.

Hospitals with the largest critical care capacity have been asked to take patients to help ease pressures in London and the South East.

Dr Uwe Franke, intensive care lead at Middlesbrough's James Cook Hospital, says: "Covid patients are incredibly ill, they are dependent on breathing machines, they are dependent on other machines that need organ support.

"To transfer these people across the country is quite a challenge."

Elsewhere, Northampton General Hospital - which is about 70 miles from London - has also been receiving critical care patients from outside its area.

We've got the full story here.

We just heard that the UK's R number - or reproduction number - is between 1.2 and 1.3, compared with last week's 1 to 1.4.

But what is the R number?

It's a measurement that lots of countries are using when it comes to making decisions about lifting and bringing in lockdowns, what restrictions should be kept in place and which ones should be lifted.

BBC health correspondent Laura Foster explains what governments are aiming for and why.

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EasyJet is cancelling holidays up until the last week in March amid the tightening of lockdowns around the world and international travel restrictions.

The operator says it's in the process of contacting customers who have holidays booked up to and including 24 March to let them know they will not be able to travel.

EasyJet says customers can choose to move their trip or receive a full refund or credit to be spent in the next 12 months.

Matt Callaghan, EasyJet holidays customer director, says: "We know this news will be disappointing. But we want to give our customers as much flexibility and choice as possible so they can decide what is best for them."

The company had already cancelled breaks up to the end of February following lockdown announcements made on 4 January.

Kevin Peachey
Personal finance reporter

A Supreme Court ruling today means tens of thousands of small businesses will receive insurance payouts covering losses from the first national lockdown.

It is the end of a complex legal case - involving disputes over disease clauses, access to premises and more.

But, at its heart, it is simple. As many as 370,000 small businesses felt they were covered for losses in the first lockdown through their business interruption insurance. Many insurers thought the opposite.

Today’s ruling at the highest court in the land is clear vindication for those small firms - many, but not all of which will receive payouts.

It also heaps pressure on insurers to make those payments quickly.

Even so, at the end of this saga, the money will be too little, too late, for some firms that would already have thrown in the towel owing to the economic effects of the pandemic.

The reproduction number, or R value, of coronavirus transmission in the UK is between 1.2 and 1.3, the Government Office for Science and the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) has said.

Last week, it was between 1 and 1.4.

The R number represents the average number of people each Covid-19 positive person goes on to infect.

When the figure is above one, it means the coronavirus epidemic is growing.

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There is “significant evidence” of coronavirus transmission in supermarkets, Wales' first minister has said.

Mark Drakeford announced stricter rules for shops at a press conference in Cardiff and said Wales' Test, Trace and Protect scheme showed there was “no doubt at all” that transmission was taking place in stores.

He added that while "the majority of supermarkets have worked very hard" to make their shops "as safe as possible", the visible signs of protection "have been reduced" compared to last spring.

Drakeford said it was the "responsibility of owners and managers" to make sure stricter measures were followed.

He also said the current restrictions in Wales would be reviewed on 29 January, adding that if things "continue to head in the right direction" ministers would consider whether "to begin the process of lessening the current level of restrictions".

There may be "marginal easements" to coronavirus rules in Wales if rates continue to fall, he said.

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Downing Street says it acted "as quickly as possible" to impose the UK ban on travellers from South America, amid concern about a coronavirus variant found in Brazil.

The prime minister's official spokesman says: "It's obviously right that we continue to look at different variants and take action accordingly.

"As soon as we identified this variant our teams were quickly working on this and, given that we know this could pose a significant risk to the UK, we acted as quickly as possible, which is why you've seen this travel ban from those countries enacted quickly."

It comes after a leading scientist advising the government said one of two coronavirus variants first detected in Brazil has been found in the UK.

But, Prof Wendy Barclay clarified, the version discovered is not the more infectious "variant of concern".

Read more here

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Asymptomatic testing of care home workers in Scotland will begin on Monday, the nation's health secretary says.

The Scottish government had previously said the rollout would be completed by the end of March but Jeane Freeman has told a press conference in Edinburgh this timetable is being brought forward due to the seriousness of the current situation.

She also says the fleet of mobile testing units operated by the Scottish Ambulance Service is being "significantly expanded" from 18 units to 42 by March.

This means that potentially 84 communities can be covered at one time and will play "an important part in making testing more accessible", Freeman says.

Speaking about the travel ban on countries in South America, Panama, Cape Verde and Portugal over concerns about a new variant of coronavirus found in Brazil she said: "Our basic message on travel right now is a really simple one - don't if you can possibly avoid it."

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Prime Minister Boris Johnson will hold a Downing Street press conference alongside England's chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty and the UK's chief scientific officer Sir Patrick Vallance at 17:00 GMT.

We will bring you updates from it here.

The Gates Foundation's managing director has been on BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast talking about the need to roll the vaccines out around the world.

"Until we reach everyone who’s vulnerable around the world, this pandemic is going to continue to rage on," Joe Cerrell said.

"So we really need to start thinking seriously about how we make sure this vaccine is made available to more people everywhere."

There are fears that poorer countries globally will wait far longer than richer nations to be inoculated.

Rachel Schraer
BBC Health Reporter

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This Brazilian variant is not going to be the last mutation we hear about.

Expect announcements of new variants to become common place as enough time passes to allow mutations to emerge, spread and take hold in the population.

For now there's no evidence the virus is becoming more deadly.

But as long as it doesn’t become less deadly, more people catching it still means that, left unchecked, more will potentially become ill or die.

Worryingly, the Brazil and South African variants do appear to have changes which let it evade some of our natural immune response.

There's no evidence yet that it can evade the vaccine - bearing in mind it has probably been in circulation since July - but this is something that scientists the world over will be monitoring very closely.

And while mutations are mainly being picked up in areas that do lots of sequencing of the virus, it’s almost certain others are circulating unseen around the globe.

The Brazilian coronavirus variant detected in the UK is not the one causing government concern, a virus expert says.

Professor Wendy Barclay, G2P-UK lead and head of department of infectious disease and chairwoman in influenza virology at Imperial College London, has explained the difference.

"There are two different types of Brazilian variants and one of them has been detected [in the UK] and one of them has not," she says.

"The new Brazilian variant of concern, that was picked up in travellers going to Japan, has not been detected in the UK.

"Other variants that may have originated from Brazil have been previously found."

A ban on travel from South America to the UK is aimed at stopping the import of the new variant, which is thought to be better at attaching to human cells, and therefore more infectious.

Graphic designer Luiz Amorim travelled to Brazil to visit family for Christmas and is now worried he won't be able to return to his wife in London because of the UK's South America travel ban.

"My work has been supportive and have allowed me to work from home but this is not a long-term solution," says Amorim, who has lived in London for six years.

"I may have to take leave if I cannot return.

"My original flight back was for the 18th but that was cancelled.

"Now I have a flight booked on the 27th.

"I am watching the news closely to see what will happen."

British and Irish citizens and foreign nationals with residence rights are still allowed to return - but must isolate for 10 days.

Read more about the UK's travel rules here

Alison Roberts
Portugal Correspondent, Lisbon

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Portugal's government has described the UK decision to suspend flights from Portugal as "absurd" and "illogical".

The UK government announced a ban on travel from South America and Portugal on Thursday, citing its links with Brazil, because of the emergence of a new variant of the coronavirus in the latter country.

Portugal's minister of foreign affairs, Augusto Santos Silva, said he had requested a conversation with his UK counterpart, Dominic Raab, after the "sudden and unexpected" suspension of flights.

Questioning both the lack of notice and the grounds for the decision, he stressed that not only was Portugal itself restricting flights from Brazil, but there was "no evidence" that the new coronavirus variant exists here.

He also called for reciprocity - while many EU countries barred flights from the UK when a new variant emerged in Kent, Portugal did not, only requiring passengers to present a negative test result.

Image source, James Ollerenshaw

James Ollerenshaw's hair salon was one of the businesses unable to operate during the first national lockdown.

He said he was delighted with today's Supreme Court ruling on insurance payouts covering costs for closing.

While he said the court's decision would not directly affect his policy, it would decide the principles on claims such as his - and was vital for the business.

His business - The Drawing Room in London's Spitalfields - paid an annual premium of £1,200 for business interruption insurance, and disease cover came as part of it.

"A payout would cover the major costs, which is the rent. We have debt sitting there," he said.

"The insurance industry needs to face up to the fact that it failed customers at their greatest moment of need, destroying companies, livelihoods and jobs," he added.

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As we told you earlier there has been a major ruling in the UK's Supreme Court today meaning small businesses are set to receive payouts from insurers covering losses in the first national lockdown.

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng welcomed the ruling tweeting that it would be "a lifeline for tens of thousands of hairdressers, bars, restaurants and other small businesses that did the right thing and closed their doors to protect the health of the nation".

Richard Leedham, who represented the Hiscox Action Group on behalf of small businesses, said it was a "landmark victory" for "a small group of businesses who took on a huge insurance player and have been fully vindicate".

He called for insurer Hiscox to accept the ruling and start paying out to policy holders, "many of whom are in danger of going under".

Sheldon Mills, the executive director of consumers and competition at the Financial Conduct Authority, said the judgment "decisively removes many of the roadblocks to claims by policyholders" and the FCA would be working with insurers to ensure they move quickly to pay claims.