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

Stormont deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill has outlined “tentative” preparatory steps towards the lifting of coronavirus restrictions in Northern Ireland.

She said the approach will be driven by “health, community, economic data and analysis”, not hard dates that will “only disappoint”.

My colleague Ella Glover has the details:

Passengers who flew to Scotland on board the BA1312 flight from Heathrow to Aberdeen on 29 January, with three travellers who tested positive for the Manaus strain of Covid-19, are being urged to call contact tracers.

Health secretary Jeane Freeman said all those on board the flight would be called, and while that work was continuing, correct details were not available for all travellers.

She appealed for anyone who was on the flight to contact the NHS National Contact Tracing Centre.

Ms Freeman said: “Because not all the data we have received about the passengers is correct, we are asking anyone on that flight who did not provide up-to-date contact details should call the NHS National Contact Tracing Centre on 0800 030 8012.”

She added that the new P1 variant of coronavirus, first detected in the Brazilian city of Manaus, was “of concern in terms of both the possibility that it is more contagious than the current dominant Covid-19 strain in Scotland, and how it responds to the current vaccines”.

Expert work on both these issues is continuing, she said.

Police in Wales arrested a man who had been on a walk with his family 22 miles from their home, after he refused to give his personal details and told officers to stop “harassing” his wife.

Radek Kotlarek, 39, from Rhos-on-Sea, was taken into custody for a potential breach of coronavirus regulations after officers from the North Wales Police force found him, his wife Marta and their teenage son walking in Talacre beach on Sunday for a “mental break”.

Footage of the arrest, filmed by Mrs Kotlarek, has drawn backlash. North Wales Police maintains the officers “behaved in a calm and reasonable way”.

Read the full story here:

A man who was diagnosed with a rare disease more than 20 years ago has been given his Covid vaccine from the same “guardian angel” doctor who saved his life back then.

Andy Barr, 44, was diagnosed with Goodpasture syndrome when he was 21 thanks to a doctor who was doing a rotation at the Gloucester Royal hospital where he was being treated, by chance.

Goodpasture syndrome is a rare autoimmune disease in which antibodies attack the kidney and lungs.

On Tuesday, he attended his appointment for a Covid jab only to find it was being administered by the same doctor who saved his life as a young man.

Mr Barr, a PR specialist from Newest, wrote about the experience on Twitter and said it “freaked” him out.

He later told the PA news agency: “I looked at him and smiled and thought ‘I recognise you’.

“He said ‘I didn’t think it could be the very same Andy Barr. I saw your name this morning and it jumped out at me’.”

Mr Barr said he was “freaked out” and “a bit teary” at the coincidence.

Scientists and campaign groups have called for more research into long Covid in children, as uncertainty surrounding the phenomenon continues to grow.

The latest data from the Office for National Statistics suggest that 13 per cent of under-11s and nearly 15 per cent of 12- to 16-year-olds are reporting at least one symptom five weeks after being infected with Covid-19.

My colleague Samuel Lovett reports:

The transport secretary has chaired a meeting of a taskforce aimed at “restarting international travel in a safe and sustainable way”.

Grant Shapps chaired the first meeting of the revived Global Travel Taskforce, comprising government departments, industry representatives, transport operators and travel agencies.

Our Travel Correspondent Simon Calder has more on the story:

A new survey suggests that more than three out of five people would support flights that only accept vaccinated passengers.

Some 61 per cent of 2,105 UK adults polled by a travel think tank said they would be in favour of such a move.

The survey by Thrive indicated that 74 per cent of people think it would be reasonable for airlines to continue mandating face masks on board, even if passengers have had a vaccine.

It also suggested that 79 per cent would be happy for their vaccination details to be passed on by the NHS to a digital health app for inspection by airport officials in other countries.

It comes as the boss of Australian airline Qantas said passengers will need to prove they have had a Covid jab before they can board its international flights in the future.

Sania Jaq, a senior researcher for Thrive, said: “These findings suggest consumers are now conditioned to ongoing social distancing measures which reduce transmission and prevent the spreading of Covid-19.

“It is also clear that few are worried about any privacy issues regarding their vaccination details if it means they can seamlessly access other countries and travel for business or leisure.”

Matt Hancock has ruled out a regional approach to ending the coronavirus lockdown in England, insisting “we are going to move down” the current roadmap as one nation.

It comes as data shows that infections are now falling at different rates across the country, with some areas reporting close to no cases of Covid-19, while elsewhere they have risen in recent weeks.

My colleague Samuel Lovett reports:

Work and Pensions Minister Justin Tomlinson told the Commons that the eligibility criteria for the Government’s £500 Test and Trace Support Scheme has been updated to include “a parent or guardian who is staying off work to look after a child who is self-isolating”.

It comes after Labour called last month for the one-off payment to be available to anyone who does not have access to occupational sick pay and low-income parents of self-isolating children.

The £500 Test and Trace Support Scheme, introduced in September, is to financially help those people on low incomes who cannot work during their self-isolation period and will, as a result, lose income.

Those who meet the eligibility criteria will receive a support payment of £500 which will be paid directly into the bank account of the person who has been told to self-isolate.

Responding to an adjournment debate tabled by Labour MP Richard Burgon (Leeds East) on statutory sick pay, Mr Tomlinson told the Commons that the Government has “listened to feedback from charities and support groups on the front line” in coming to its decision to extend the eligibility criteria.

Mr Tomlinson said: “Beyond the welfare safety net, we have also introduced a number of unprecedented packages of support to put money directly into the pockets of those who are in the most need.

“We are providing financial support to self-isolate to those on low incomes through the £500 Test and Trace Support Scheme, alongside £35m being made available to local authorities for discretionary payments to support those on low incomes who cannot work from home if they are required to self-isolate, because they have tested positive for coronavirus or have been identified as a contact of someone who has.

“We have worked with local authorities to monitor the effectiveness of the scheme since it launched in September 2020 and have listened to feedback from charities and support groups on the front line and therefore I welcome the changes to the eligibility criteria to include a parent or guardian who is staying off work to look after a child who is self-isolating.

“And we will also be making an additional £20m available for discretionary payments every month from March until the end of the scheme, which has been extended until the summer.”

PA

The World Health Organisation has officially discounted an anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine as a possible means of protecting people from contracting Covid-19.

The drug had been previously touted by former US president Donald Trump as a “miracle drug” - but the WHO’s Guideline Development Group said the anti-inflammatory drug was found to have “no meaningful effect on preventing the spread of coronavirus.

Read the report by Sam Hancock below: