United Kingdom

Ministers will announce next week that the ban on overseas holidays will end on 17 May as part of the government’s Covid-19 roadmap out of lockdown restrictions, it has been reported. The Telegraph reported on Friday that the government was planning to introduce a traffic light system to allow Britons to go abroad on holiday, with a “tiny handful” of countries expected to be on the green list with the lowest level of restrictions. UK Covid-19 vaccinations: Latest figures All people, including those who have been vaccinated, will have to take a PCR coronavirus test when they return to the UK, according to the newspaper. Most European countries are reportedly likely to end up on the amber list, meaning holidaymakers will be required to quarantine for 10 days when they return and take t...

Half a million people who were eligible for universal credit at the start of the pandemic did not claim it despite often experiencing sharp falls in income, new research shows. A report led by the University of Salford and funded by the Health Foundation finds hundreds of thousands of people were not aware they could claim the support, while others had chosen not to claim due to the perceived hassle of applying or the stigma around claiming benefits. Ministers are now being urged to introduce a strategy to ensure people can claim the right benefits more quickly, correct misperceptions about the benefits system and attempt to address “benefits stigma”. The number of people claiming universal credit in the UK has doubled since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, with more than 6 million...

British scientists must urgently learn as much as possible about the Indian Covid-19 variant, a leading epidemiologist has warned, as calls mount for the country to be added to the Government’s “red list”. Mike Tildesley, a member of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling (Spi-M), which provides evidence on coronavirus to the Government’s Sage committee, said as much information about the new variant must be gathered “as quickly as possible”. But while confirming that there are “around 70 cases” of the new Indian variant in the UK, George Eustice defended the Government’s decision not to further restrict travel to the country. He added that the situation is being kept “under regular review”. Amid growing fears that the new strain could delay the Government’s lockdown eas...

Face coverings and social distancing will be suspended at a handful of venues during a government trial of the safe reopening of large events. The Events Research Programme (ERP) co-chaired by theatre director Sir Nicholas Hytner and co-founder of The Carphone Warehouse David Ross will test a range of safety measures in its first scheduled 10 to 15 events in the next few weeks, including the FA Cup Final on 15 May. Its aim is to establish which methods work best to minimise the risk of Covid-19 transmission in larger crowds, paving the way for large events to resume later in the year. The findings will inform ministers’ decisions over ending social distancing on 21 June, when Boris Johnson’s roadmap out of lockdown reaches its final stage. Face coverings and social distancing will be...

Prince William and his brother Prince Harry will not walk shoulder to shoulder in their grandfather’s funeral procession on Saturday, following speculation they could do so. The Duke of Cambridge and Duke of Sussex, who have been reunited in person for the first time following the explosive Oprah interview last month, will both be in attendance on Saturday. However, the brothers will walk separately, either side of their cousin Peter Phillips – Princess Anne’s son – as they trail their grandfather’s coffin at St George’s chapel in Windsor. When the coffin is taken into the chapel at Windsor Castle, William will then move ahead of Harry as the family arrives in pairs. Details of the funeral were released by Buckingham Palace on Thursday, marking almost a week since the death of Prince ...

Boris Johnson has urged against people meeting others from different households indoors over the Easter weekend, warning vaccines do not guarantee 100% protection from coronavirus. Groups of up to six, or two households, are now able to meet up in parks and gardens after the stay-at-home order ended in England earlier this week, but socialising indoors remains banned to limit the spread of the virus. As millions plan to see friends and family over the bank holiday weekend, the Prime Minister warned that the country was not yet at the stage of allowing people to meet indoors. The earliest date that families and friends could be reunited inside their homes under the Government’s road map is May 17, with the rule of six or two households then set to apply indoors. During a Twitter quest...

  A likely slowdown in new Covid-19 vaccinations due to a growing backlog of booster shots underscores the fragility of the Government’s target of jabs for all over-50s by early May, Telegraph analysis shows. If second doses ramp up in mid-March roughly two weeks before the 12 week deadline for revaccination sets in then the daily pace of first doses could grind to a halt before all over-50s receive theirs, projections based on the UK’s current roll-out suggests. Getting through the accumulated backlog of second dose recipients at a 10-week delay from their first without an increase in daily capacity would slow first doses down for two months meaning initial jabs for the 32 million in the nine priority groups by May could go down to the wire. Nonetheless current rates suggest ...

Secondary schools in England will not open to most pupils until the middle of January as ministers battle to bring the coronavirus pandemic under control. Primary schools in a small number of areas of England where coronavirus infection rates are at their highest will also not reopen for face-to-face teaching next week, education secretary Gavin Williamson has announced. The full list will be published by the government later today, Mr Williamson, said as he told MPs ministers must always act swiftly when circumstances change. The announcement came less than an hour after health secretary Matt Hancock told MPs that three-quarters of the country would be placed under the tightest coronavirus restrictions from midnight tonight. As ministers desperately try to bring the latest wave of the...

There are now more coronavirus patients in England’s hospitals than there were during the peak of the first wave of the pandemic, new figures show. As of 8am on Monday, there were 20,426 patients in the country’s NHS hospitals compared to the 18,974 patients recorded on April 12, NHS England revealed. The sobering update comes after the UK recorded its highest daily number of Covid-19 cases to date, with 41,385 infections confirmed as of 9am on Monday, according to the Department of Health. Meanwhile, London’s Nightingale hospital has been stripped of its beds as medics warn there are not enough staff to run the facility, the Telegraph reported. The facility at the Excel centre is being dismantled, while the majority of the seven Nightingale units created at a cost of £220 millio...

    Winds reached more than 100mph overnight as Storm Bella battered the UK bringing rain and blowy conditions across the UK. Two threat to life flood warnings remain in place in Northamptonshire after days of wintry weather across the Christmas break, with a cold snap with icy and wintry conditions still to come. The top wind speed was recorded at the Needles on the Isle of Wight where it reached 106mph overnight on Saturday. Aberdaron in north west Wales experienced gusts of 83mph, and locations on the south coast of England, including Dorset, got close to 80mph. Elsewhere in the UK, there was severe flooding with fire crews dispatched to rescue those were caught out or left stranded by flood waters. The most severely affected areas including Cambridgeshire, Bedfor...