Covid news - live: Door-to-door testing for South African variant to begin as thousands urged to stay home

Door-to-door testing for the South African coronavirus variant is to be rolled out across parts of Surrey after two people with no travel links to the country tested positive for the virus.

More than 100 cases linked to the variant have been discovered in the UK so far - however, the latest infections point to community transmission rather than the virus being picked up by travellers.

My colleague Samuel Lovett has the breaking news:

Boris Johnson has promised coronavirus vaccines from UK factories will be delivered to Europe, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has said.

As the Commission came under attack for the slow provision of jabs in the EU, Ms von der Leyen last night told German TV that AstraZeneca had agreed to step up deliveries of vaccine in February and March by 9m doses to 40m.

Our political editor Andrew Woodcock has more on this story below:

Just five local areas in the UK have recorded a week-on-week rise in Covid-19 case rates, while all national and regional rates have now dropped to pre-New Year levels, new analysis shows.

Derbyshire Dales and East Lindsey in the East Midlands, along with Argyll & Bute, East Renfrewshire and Midlothian in Scotland, are the only local authority areas in the country to show an increase in case rates for the seven days to January 27.

In all five areas the week-on-week rise was small.

The figures, which have been calculated by the PA news agency from health agency data, suggest the lockdowns currently in place across the four nations of the UK are having an impact in driving down the number of new reported cases of coronavirus.

The government is on a collision course with rail unions after revealing pay rises for workers in the industry will only be considered in exceptional circumstances.

Unions said the decision is a "kick in the teeth" for frontline staff who have kept working throughout the coronavirus crisis.

They have launched a campaign aimed at halting the threat of pay freezes and cuts to standards of living of rail workers.

More than 70 people have been reported for potential coronavirus fines after breaching lockdown rules to attend a party on a boat in London.

Police were called to North Acton shortly after 11pm on Saturday to reports of a large gathering on a moored boat.

Officers dispersed the group and 72 people were reported for the consideration of fixed penalty notices of £800 for attending an indoor gathering of more than 15 people in breach of the coronavirus regulations.

The organiser was identified and reported for consideration of a £10,000 fixed penalty notice.

Portugal reported close to half of all its Covid deaths in January, highlighting the severe worsening of the pandemic in a country that had largely been spared by the first waves of the coronavirus.

Hospitals across the nation of just over 10 million appear on the verge of collapse, with ambulances queuing sometimes for hours for lack of beds and some health units struggling to find enough refrigerated space to preserve bodies.

Officials have blamed the huge increase in the infection and death rates on the more contagious British variant of the disease, and also acknowledged that a relaxation of restrictions on social contact over the Christmas holidays played a role.

Ryanair said it is braced for "the most challenging year" in its 35-year history and expects to post a full-year loss of nearly 1 billion euros.

The Irish low-cost carrier said coronavirus continues to "wreak havoc across the industry" and is "cautiously guiding an FY21 net loss (pre-exceptional items) of between 850m euros (£750m) and 950m euros (£838m)."

However, the airline said it would be in a position where it could "capitalise on the many growth opportunities" after the pandemic, "especially where competitor airlines have substantially cut capacity or failed".

The company announced third-quarter losses of 307 million euros (£270 million) on Monday, adding that in the three months to December, 8.1 million passengers used Ryanair, compared to 35.9 million in the same quarter in 2019.

School closures could wind up costing pupils hundreds of billions in the long-term as they fall behind with their education and skills, a study has found.

The report, conducted by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), estimates the Covid crisis will result in children across the UK being likely to lose out on at least half a year of schooling in person.

Researchers used data on returns to schooling to calculate the collective loss in earnings they would suffer in the long term to be £350bn.

Maya Oppenheim explains more in the article below:

Any move to close the borders due to coronavirus is a "nuanced decision" for the government, which must also think about the economy, it has been suggested.

Professor Sharon Peacock, executive director of the Covid-19 Genomics UK Consortium, described the situation as a "complex balance".

She told Times Radio: "We do know that people coming into the country could be carrying the new variant in the same way that people leaving our country could be carrying the new variant.

"Quarantine and investigating people coming into the country is an effective way that other countries have gone.

"I think we have the sequencing capability to understand what people are introducing into the country."

Boris Johnson and other politicians and celebrities have wished Captain Sir Tom Moore well after it was revealed the centenarian had been admitted to hospital with Covid-19.

On Sunday, the war veteran’s family revealed that Sir Tom had been battling pneumonia for the “past few weeks”, which is why he hadn’t yet been vaccinated against the virus despite being in the most vulnerable category.

Olivia Petter has more on this: