Covid news - live: Hunt for missing patient narrowed to 379 households and third vaccine dose may be needed

Good morning and welcome to The Independent’s live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. Follow for rolling updates and statistics throughout the day.

A senior World Health Organisation (WHO) official has said it would be "premature" and "unrealistic" to think the pandemic might be over by the end of 2021.

Dr Michael Ryan, director of WHO’s emergencies programme, said the arrival of effective vaccinations could at least help dramatically reduce hospitalisations and death by the end of the year.

But he warned against complacency, saying nothing was guaranteed in an evolving epidemic.

The world's singular focus right now should be to keep transmission of Covid-19 as low as possible, he added.

"If we're smart, we can finish with the hospitalisations and the deaths and the tragedy associated with this pandemic" by the end of the year, he told a press conference in Geneva.

"If the vaccines begin to impact not only on death and not only on hospitalisation, but have a significant impact on transmission dynamics and transmission risk, then I believe we will accelerate toward controlling this pandemic."

But he added: "Right now the virus is very much in control," he said.

France will start allowing some people over 65 to receive the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine, after initially restricting its use to younger populations because of limited data on the drug's effectiveness.

While France first authorised the vaccine only for medical professionals under 65, health minister Olivier Veran said it will soon be available to people over age 50 with health problems that make them vulnerable to Covid-19.

Mr Veran also said people who have had the virus in recent months will only need one injection of the two-dose Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines.

France's High Authority for Health has argued that recent infection acts as partial protection against the virus, so a second dose is not essential.

France had used less than a quarter of the 1.1 million AstraZeneca vaccines it received as of Friday, according to government data.

The world has yet to see “the full extent of the evolution” of coronavirus as it continues to adapt to humans, the head of the UK’s genetic surveillance programme has said.

Professor Sharon Peacock told The Independent that the dominance of the new and emerging variants, including the UK, South African and Brazilian versions, suggests the virus is approaching “a fitness peak”.

Samuel Lovett has this exclusive report:

Business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has played down suggestions Britain could host additional Euro 2020 matches this summer as the coronavirus vaccine drives down infections.

The tournament is due to be hosted across 12 different countries, with the semi-finals and final to be played at Wembley, although Uefa is reported to be looking at other options in the light of continuing coronavirus restrictions.

However, despite the success of the vaccine rollout, Mr Kwarteng played down suggestions Wembley could take more games.

"It is March 2 now. I don't want to run ahead of ourselves," he told Sky News.

"The information is very encouraging, the vaccine rollout has been very successful. I don't want to over-egg it. I don't want to say we are completely free of coronavirus. There are still dangers ahead.

"The numbers are encouraging but I don't think it would be right for me to speculate about football tournaments in two or three months' time."

Secondary school reopenings are likely to be "staggered" as pupils retake Covid-19 tests before returning to the classroom, Geoff Barton, from the Association of School and College Leaders, has said.

He told BBC Breakfast that for primaries it will likely feel "pretty normal" from next week.

On secondary schools and further education, he added: "I think for secondaries you've got the issue of the testing, which means there is inevitably going to be a bit of a staggered start because those young people won't be able to go into their classroom until the first of those tests has been done.

"Over the first two weeks they need three of those tests and then the responsibility moves back to the home."

Mr Barton added: "If we see next week for secondary and further education young people as a transitional week of starting to bring them back into school, starting to teach them how the testing works, the week after that, starting the 15th, is going to look as normal as it might do."

Calum Semple, professor of outbreak medicine and child health at the University of Liverpool, said after children have performed Covid-19 tests under supervision, they "get used to it".

"Perhaps we're generating a new group of scientists in the process," he added.

He told BBC Breakfast the package of measures for getting children back to the classroom - increased ventilation, masks and tests - mean schools "can be safe".

Video conferencing app Zoom has seen revenues soar more than four-fold over the last year as the pandemic forced family, friends and businesses to turn their face-to-face meetups virtual, the company has announced.

Revenues at the California-based company rose 326 per cent year-on-year to $2.65bn (£1.87bn), while for the fourth quarter they were up an even more impressive 369 per cent over the previous year, at $883m.

Tom Batchelor has more details:

A Public Health England (PHE) study which shows use of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine dramatically reduces hospital admissions in over 80-year-olds could also see encouraging results for other age groups, it has been claimed.

Dr Mary Ramsay, PHE's head of immunisation, said of the study: "We were able to show that even if people did get a case of Covid after having been vaccinated their risk of hospitalisation and of death are markedly reduced."

On whether this is likely to be replicated down the age groups as the rollout reaches more younger people, Dr Ramsay told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: “Yes, if anything we would expect it to be a stronger protection from the vaccine.

"The only difference obviously is that lower down in the age range is that people's chances of being hospitalised and dying are much lower because this is a disease that has caused most of its morbidity in older people.”

National disability charity Scope is calling for the government to make the £20 uplift to Universal Credit permanent and give shielders the automatic right to furlough.

James Taylor, executive director of strategy at Scope, said: “It is crucial that the budget tackles the hardship disabled people have faced during the pandemic, and delivers on the promise to build back better for everyone.

“The pandemic has been devastating for disabled people. Many disabled people have not felt safe going into work, forcing them to make impossible decisions between their health and their finances.

“Forty-five per cent of disabled people who were in employment at the start of the year reported no earnings by the middle of the year. Disabled people who are shielding need an automatic right to furlough, it should not be left to employer discretion.

“Scope has heard from disabled people who are living in desperate situations right now, going without food and not being able to get out of bed because they can’t afford to heat their homes.

“The government must make the £20 uplift to Universal Credit permanent and extend the uplift to legacy benefits such as Employment and Support Allowance.”