Covid news: Lockdown extended in Northern Ireland as over 500,000 get second vaccine
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Your support makes all the difference.The Stormont executive has agreed to extend Northern Ireland’s current lockdown to 1 April, but pupils will begin a phased return to the classroom from March.
Primary school pupils in year groups P1 to P3 will return to face-to-face learning on 8 March, the PA news agency understands, while secondary school pupils in year groups 12 to 14 will return to school on 22 March.
It comes as the number of people in England who have received two doses of a Covid vaccine surpassed half a million, according to the latest NHS data.
A total of 14,318,115 Covid-19 vaccinations took place in England between 8 December and 17 February, according to provisional NHS England data, including first and second doses. Of this number, 13,817,914 were the first doses while 500,201 were a second dose.
Meanwhile, further discovery of the South African variant of the virus in Leeds has prompted more “surge” testing.
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- UK Covid variant appears to linger in body for longer than other versions of virus, research suggests
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- Pubs and restaurants likely to be among last to come out of lockdown, Boris Johnson says
- Should employers be allowed to demand all their workers are vaccinated?
Broadcasters air video urging ethnic minority communities to get Covid jab
A video starring Adil Ray, Beverley Knight, Romesh Ranganathan and Denise Lewis - which urges members of ethnic minority communities to get vaccinated against coronavirus - has been broadcast on television.
The clip was played simultaneously on ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, STV and a number of Sky channels this evening at 9.56pm.
The BBC, whose charter prevents it from airing the campaign video, featured information relating to the video throughout the day.
The video begins with the words: "If you could save someone's life... would you?"
Historian David Olusoga, England cricketer Moeen Ali, writer Konnie Huq, actor Sanjeev Bhaskar and actress Meera Syal also feature.
That’s the end of our live coronavirus coverage for today. Join us again in the morning for more live updates on the latest news and statistics.
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