Coronavirus news – live: UK reports new record daily death toll, as PM warns there is ‘more to come’

A group of politicians who drank together at the Senedd, or Welsh parliament, during an ban on the sale and consumption of alcohol on licensed premises have been condemned for “very serious, poor behaviour”.

Sir Alistair Graham, a former standards official, urged a “speedy investigation” into the drinking session, which saw former Welsh Government minister Alun Davies, Welsh Conservatives leader Paul Davies, chief whip Darren Millar and chief of staff Paul Smith consuming wine in a Senedd tea room four days after the alcohol serving ban came into place.

“I think the public hate hypocrisy, they hate being told to abide by the rules by all of the politicians and then suddenly they find examples of where it looks like the rules may have been broken, or the behaviour has been inappropriate given the the decision being taken to ban the sale of alcohol," Sir Alistair told BBC Radio Wales.

A week after The Independent first raised concerns about the lack of detail on the government’s new “test before travel” scheme, the Department for Transport (DfT) has changed the rules – but not in time to prevent travellers being stranded between flights, Travel Correspondent Simon Calder writes.

In a bid to limit the importation of coronavirus cases from abroad, the government now requires all travellers to provide a negative Covid test before a flight, train or ferry to the UK.

When the DfT initially set out the rules for the new scheme, it simply stipulated that a negative coronavirus test must have been undertaken three days before departure to the UK. It made no distinction between the place of origin and any en-route hub.

Read the full story here:

Here follows a round-up of Boris Johnson’s answers to coronavirus-related questions at PMQs just now:

He refused to say why he overruled home secretary Priti Patel on her recommendation to close the borders last March as coronavirus hit the UK. (In response to a question from Sir Keir Starmer)

The prime minister refused to commit to a Covid inquiry now, saying it will take place "in due course". (In response to a question from Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey)

Mr Johnson said the vaccine programme was on track to meet target of vaccinating top four 'at-risk' categories by mid-February, but said it was proving difficult due to supply constraints. (In response to a question from Tory MP Rob Butler)

He said he would like police and other groups to be prioritised for vaccination, but said the government must rely on advice of Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation. (In response to a question from Tory MP Jason McCartney)

Scotland has recorded 92 deaths from coronavirus and 1,656 positive tests in the past 24 hours, Nicola Sturgeon said.

It brings the death toll under this measure — of people who first tested positive for the virus within the previous 28 days — to 5,468. The figures are lower than the 7,448 deaths given earlier by the National Records of Scotland as they do not include suspected and probable coronavirus infections.

Yesterday, the first minister announced that lockdown restrictions in Scotland were to be extended into February. 

Thousands fewer heart attack victims sought help from hospitals during the UK’s second national lockdown in November, sparking fears among researchers of more avoidable deaths, health correspondent Shaun Lintern reports.

Experts said as many as 2,000 excess deaths may be linked to the drop in patients going to hospital during the first wave of the virus in 2020, warning that similar levels could be occurring now as well as during the November lockdown.

Researchers looked at data on the numbers of patients with heart failure and heart attacks attending 66 hospitals across England and Wales and compared the numbers to previous years.

Read the full story here:

Boris Johnson rejects demands for immediate inquiry 

The prime minister has rejected mounting calls for an immediate inquiry into the government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, telling MPs it must wait until after the current crisis.

He told the Commons that it would not be “sensible” to divert government resources away from the fight against Covid-19.

Sir Keir Starmer has told The Independent that bereaved families “deserve to know” when the inquiry will begin. Our political correspondent Ashley Cowburn reports:

India starts exporting vaccine

India has begun to export coronavirus shots to its neighbours, with the first shipment set to reach Bhutan and Maldives, less than a week after it started its own vaccination drive, said to be the largest in the world.  Stuti Mishra in Delhi reports:

UK vaccines may be less effective against South Africa variant, experts find

Covid-19 vaccines being rolled out in the UK and around the world may be less effective against a new variant of coronavirus that has emerged in South Africa, scientists have said.

In a new study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, researchers from South Africa also found that the SA variant, known as 501Y.V2, contains mutations that may be resistant to immunity from previous coronavirus infection.

Earlier, a separate study suggested the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine appeared to protect against the UK variant dubbed B.1.1.7.

Professor James Naismith, director of the Rosalind Franklin Institute, described the new findings on the South Africa variant as "not good news but not unexpected".

He said: "Of course, we would rather neutralisation had occurred but this does not mean that the new virus will infect, make ill and spread from those who have already been infected with the original strain.

"What is true for immunity from infection is likely but not certain to be true for immunity from vaccination.

"The vaccines do stimulate very strong responses, immunity is a sliding scale it's not an on-off switch."

Lawrence Young, a virologist and professor of molecular oncology at Warwick Medical School, who was not involved in the research, said: “This preprint suggests that individuals might be able to get infected with a variant of Sars-Cov-2 (the virus that causes Covid-19) even if they have previously had Covid-19.”

Netherlands considers ban on flights from Britain and national curfew

The Dutch government has proposed the first nationwide curfew since the Second World War and a ban on flights from South Africa and Britain, in its toughest moves yet to limit the spread of new coronavirus mutations in the Netherlands.

Prime minister Mark Rutte said the curfew must be approved by parliament, which is due to debate measures tomorrow.

The flight ban, which Rutte said also will apply to all South American countries, will begin on Saturday. The curfew was expected to take effect this weekend, he said.

"This is a very tough measure, but we are at a crossroads," Rutte said in a televised news conference. "The British variant doesn't leave us with an alternative."

The team behind the Oxford vaccine is preparing to design new versions of its jab in response to the different coronavirus variants that have emerged in the UK and elsewhere, The Independent understands.

Scientists at the university are currently assessing the ability of their vaccine to provide protection against the British and South African variants which were detected late last year, with the results of this analysis set to be released within the first half of next month.

However, the Oxford team is adopting an “at-risk” approach and intend to begin synthesising new versions of the vaccine without waiting to find out if they will be needed, with professor Sarah Gilbert – one of the lead scientists – “actively working on this”.

Read the exclusive story from Samuel Lovett in full here: