Image source, Getty Images

If you are just joining our live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic this Friday lunchtime, here's what you need to know.

• Austria has announced a national lockdown will start on Monday amid rising Covid cases. People will be told to work from home and non-essential shops will close
• The country's chancellor Alexander Schallenberg has hit out at the unvaccinated, blaming them for an "attack on the health system" as he announced vaccinations will be mandatory from February
• It comes as coronavirus infections are on the rise across much of Europe, with restrictions being re-imposed in Germany, Belgium, Greece, Slovakia, Ireland and the Czech Republic
• Germany's health minister says the country is facing a national emergency after its daily cases hit another record high
• In England, it has been announced that travellers who have had a booster jab will be able to show it through the NHS Covid Pass from today
• New UK figures show one in 65 has Covid, down from one in 60 the week before
• The UK government was not properly prepared for a pandemic, a report by the National Audit Office has found. It said the government lacked detailed plans on shielding, job support and school disruption
• Northern Ireland's health minister has called for more people to be working from home as the nation heads in to winter

Ellen Clowser
Consultant statistician, BBC News

We've got more from the latest ONS estimates which show Covid cases are continuing to fall in children of secondary school age, leaving them with roughly the same rates as primary school children, both at around 3.5%.

There have been declines in both age groups, but this has been sharpest for secondary school students.

Estimated infections in adults aged 35-49 began to fall this week at 1.6%, compared to 1.8% last week.

Other age groups generally declined, although the trends were less clear for some age groups.

Ellen Clowser
Consultant statistician, BBC News

Less than one million people in the UK would test positive for coronavirus in the week ending 13 November, estimates from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) survey suggest.

This figure of 965,000 is the first time numbers have gone below one million since the beginning of October.

This is 1.5% of the population – or one in 65 people, down from one in 60 people last week.

The trend for estimated Covid-19 infections continued to decrease in England and Wales, remained uncertain in Northern Ireland, and was unchanged in Scotland, says the ONS.

Here's a break down by country:

England: 1 in 65 are estimated to be testing positive for coronavirus vs 1 in 60 last week

Wales: 1 in 55 vs 1 in 45 last week

Northern Ireland: 1 in 65 vs 1 in 75 last week

Scotland: 1 in 95 vs 1 in 85 last week

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Up to half of people booked for their Covid-19 booster jab in Northern Ireland fail to attend the appointments on some days, a group that represents pharmacies in the country has said.

Pharmacist Terry Maguire, who represents the organisation, says non-attendance leads to a waste of vaccines.

He has urged people to turn up for their appointments.

On Thursday Health Minister Robin Swann announced plans to speed up the booster programme, the pace of which has been criticised by some politicians.

Read more

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Hungary has reported 11,289 new Covid-19 infections today - its highest ever daily tally.

The previous high was 11,265, which was during the country's third wave.

Hungary, a country of 10 million people, has a vaccination rate that lags behind the European Union average - with 60% fully jabbed, compared to 66% across the EU.

It imposed some new restrictions on Thursday.

As we've been reporting, its neighbour Austria will enter a national lockdown from Monday, and has announced adults will be required to get the Covid vaccine, in an attempt to stem a surge in cases, from 1 February.

Image source, Reuters

More from the Austrian chancellor on his announcement that Covid vaccinations will become mandatory from February.

Alexander Schallenberg tells a news conference in the western Tyrol state: "Despite months of persuasion, we have not succeeded in convincing enough people to get vaccinated."

He says he blames those refusing to be vaccinated for an "attack on the health system".

He says announcing a national lockdown from Monday hurt enormously, but was necessary because too many people had not shown solidarity, and had chosen not to get vaccinated.

Image source, Getty Images

Meanwhile, back in the UK, Northern Ireland's health minister says the decision to relax guidance around working from home should be reversed.

Robin Swann says people who were working from home in Northern Ireland during the first wave of the pandemic "should be working from home" again, in a document issued to the country's devolved government.

It comes after the Department of Health warned on Wednesday that more restrictions before Christmas were possible unless transmission of the virus drops significantly.

Read more here

As we've been reporting, Austria is set to make Covid vaccinations compulsory, as well as enter a full lockdown from Monday. However, details on who will be exempt from the vaccine mandate are still to be worked out.

While a number of countries have made vaccinations compulsory for healthworkers and some other employees, so far only three nations have made them mandatory for all adults.

• Indonesia made vaccinations mandatory in February. Anyone who refuses the jab could be fined or denied social assistance or government services
• Micronesia, a small South Pacific island nation, mandated in July that its adult population be inoculated
• Turkmenistan has made vaccination mandatory for all residents who are 18 and over

Image source, Getty Images

The Austrian chancellor says a national lockdown is the only way to tackle record coronavirus cases.

Alexander Schallenberg says: "Considering the seriousness of the situation and considering the infection rates, the federal government and the state premiers have agreed there’s no other way than to introduce restrictive measures for everyone."

He explains the nationwide lockdown will come into force on Monday for a maximum of 20 days and will be evaluated after 10 days.

Under the measures, Austrians will be told to work from home, non-essential shops will close, and schools will remain open for children who require face-to-face learning.

He says these rules will automatically end on the 13 December and from then on "will no longer apply to the vaccinated and the recovered."

Many European countries are now seeing steep rises in coronavirus cases, with some bringing back tougher Covid restrictions.

Image source, Getty Images

Austria's chancellor says Covid anti-vaccine campaigners spreading misinformation are to blame for the country's record Covid cases.

Alexander Schallenberg tells a press conference: "Whipped up by radical anti-vaxxers, by fake news, too many among us didn’t get vaccinated. The results are overcrowded intensive care units and enormous suffering."

He says therefore the government took "a very difficult decision...that we will quickly introduce a nationwide vaccine mandate" from 1 February.

Image source, Getty Images

As we've been reporting, Austria has today announced it will impose a full national lockdown - days after imposing one on people who are unvaccinated.

Amid surging cases across much of the continent, a number of European countries are also re-imposing restrictions.

• Latvia announced a month-long full lockdown late last month
• Slovakia's Prime Minister Eduard Heger has announced that a lockdown for the unvaccinated will start on Monday
• The Czech government is also limiting access to a variety of services for people who are unvaccinated
• German leaders have agreed to introduce restrictions for unvaccinated people in areas with high Covid hospital admissions, affecting 12 of Germany's 16 states
• Belgium has said that, from Saturday, people will largely be required to work from home, with only one day in the office
• Greece has said that, from Monday, unvaccinated people will be largely barred from indoor spaces, including restaurants, cinemas and gyms
• In the Irish Republic, hospitality curfews and work-from-home guidance have been reintroduced

As well as announcing a national lockdown from Monday, Austria's chancellor says Covid vaccinations will become mandatory from 1 February.

Roughly 66% of Austria's population is fully vaccinated, one of the lowest rates in western Europe.

Prior to this morning's announcements, Austria's two worst-hit provinces, Salzburg and Upper Austria, had already said they would be introducing their own lockdowns on Monday.

Austria's infection rate is among the highest on the continent.

Image source, AFP

Meanwhile, neighbouring Germany is facing a "national emergency", the country's health minister has said, as a fourth wave of the pandemic grips the country.

Jens Spahn has been telling a news conference this morning that the situation is more serious now than it was a week ago.

"We are in a national emergency," Spahn says.

On Thursday, Germany's daily cases hit another record high of 65,371.

Asked about the possibility of a national lockdown for everyone, Spahn says nothing can be ruled out.

Austria has become the first country in western Europe to reimpose a full Covid-19 lockdown this autumn to tackle a new wave of infections.

It comes days after some two million people who are not fully vaccinated against Covid-19 were placed under lockdown rules as the country faces a surge in cases.

"We are not taking this step lightly, but unfortunately it is necessary," Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg said at the time.

Currently, unvaccinated people are only be allowed to leave home for limited reasons, such as working or buying food.

These rules will apply to the whole population from Monday.

Austria has recorded more than 15,000 new cases in the last 24 hours, according to the World Health Organization., external

Image source, Reuters

Austria's national lockdown will be assessed after 10 days, the chancellor says.

"We don't want a fifth wave," Alexander Schallenberg tells a news conference after meeting the governors of the country's nine provinces at a resort in western Austria.

He is also announcing that Covid vaccinations will become mandatory from 1 February.

Austria will go into national lockdown from Monday as the country grapples with record coronavirus cases.

Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg is telling a news conference the rules will last for a maximum of 20 days.

Lockdown rules already apply for some two million unvaccinated people.

Image source, Reuters

The Japanese government has approved a record Covid stimulus package of almost $500bn - including direct cash handouts to households.

A stimulus plan was promised by the country's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during his election campaign last month, but this is larger than many had predicted.

Most households with children under 18 are expected to receive around $900 per child.

There's also thought to be support for businesses hard hit by the pandemic, more money for hospitals, and wage rises for nurses and care workers.

During Covid, NHS doctors have spoken out about receiving abusive messages from coronavirus sceptics and anti-lockdown protesters.

And in the US, deep political divides over mask and vaccine mandates have deepened since the Covid vaccine became widely available.

One doctor in Tennessee tells us she's been forced away from her home after facing threats and taunts.

Image source, Getty Images

Returning to the report on the government not being fully prepared for Covid-19, the National Audit Office's Gareth Davies says the furlough job support scheme had to be "developed from scratch" in a matter of weeks.

He tells Sky News there was no plan to support people whose jobs would be lost because of the pandemic - or for how to deal with school closures.

He says: "There was no plan for employment support schemes. So, the furlough scheme had to be developed from scratch in just a very short number of weeks.

"So the question that rightly raises is, what is it about the way that the risk planning for these kinds of events was carried out that left us unprepared?"

He adds it is "crucial" lessons are learned in case there is another pandemic or "catastrophic event" that requires systematic government-wide planning.