this is bbc news with the latest headlines. people in england are waking up to a third national lockdown as the government tries to reduce the spread of coronavirus. we hope that we will be able to increase the number of people who are vaccinated, it's good news that we now have two vaccines which are effective and can provide people with protection. the more people we vaccinate, the easier it will be to lift these restrictions. a lockdown came into force on the scottish mainland at midnight and will last at least until the end of the month. in half an hour we'll be answering your questions on the latest restrictions now in place across different parts of the uk. please do get in touch on twitter — i'm @rebeccajonesbbc — or you can use the hashtag

#bbc yourquestions. what help for struggling business? an update from the chancellor on support schemes is expected as unions and industry groups say thousands of companies and jobs are at risk. remote learning has returned for millions of school pupils. but questions remain about the assesment of those facing exams. elections are taking place in the us state of georgia which will shape the course ofjoe biden‘s presidency. hello and welcome to bbc news. millions of people in england

are being told to stay at home once more in a third national lockdown announced by the prime minister in the fight against coronavirus. borisjohnson warned the weeks ahead would be "the hardest yet". the new restrictions in england, which become law tomorrow, include staying at home and the closures of schools and colleges. there will be a review of the measures in the week beginning february 15th. in scotland, lockdown restrictions came into force at midnight. schools will close to most pupils until february. it is now illegal for many people to leave their homes, with some exemptions. in wales, schools and colleges will continue with remote learning until at least the 18th of january. northern ireland is putting its stay at home message into law, and extending the closure of schools. senior medics fear the nhs may soon be unable to handle a further sustained rise in cases, with more patients in hospital across the uk now

than in the first wave. business leaders are demanding more financial support to prevent another wave of closures and redundancies as a result of the lockdown restrictions. this report from our poltical correspondentjessica parker. since the pandemic began last year, the whole united kingdom has been engaged in a great national effort to fight covid. the stay—at—home message — so familiarfrom back in march — is again being strongly invoked across the uk. last night borisjohnson said that hospitals were under more pressure now from covid than at any point in the pandemic. on the new rules for england, he urged people to follow them right away, although they won't become a law until the early hours of tomorrow morning. the government is once again instructing you to stay at home. you may only leave home for limited reasons permitted in law, such as to shop for essentials, to work if you absolutely cannot work from home, to exercise,

to seek medical assistance — such as getting a covid test — or to escape domestic abuse. in england, you can meet one other person outside, but only to exercise — and any outdoor exercise should be limited to once a day. the extremely clinically vulnerable have been asked to shield again. follow me. good morning, everybody. hi. on how long the lockdown could last, the government's goal is to vaccinate enough people by mid—february to then subsequently reopen schools after the half—term, and potentially start moving areas down the tiering system — but this timetable is an aim, not a certainty. we are in a race against time, we have a contract with the british people, i suppose, have a contract with the british people, isuppose, to have a contract with the british people, i suppose, to say these are tough restrictions, and they are. in

return, the government has to roll out the vaccine programme at speed and accelerate that, that is a huge challenge. lockdowns were already in place in wales and northern ireland. one‘s coming into force across mainland scotland today. with schools closed to most children, they'll have to learn remotely. it would have been far better if we'd approached in england the management of schools opening and closing in the way that scotland has done — where there's been none of this "will they, won't they?", "will they listen to the evidence?", "when will schools be closed?" everyone knew that schools were going to be closed, but this constant brinkmanship of "how long do you have to go?" is terrible. it's terrible for teachers, it's terrible for parents. and it's not that nice for children, either. while there is new hope because of the vaccine, the weeks ahead spell a new test of endurance, as well. it may be a familiar, more simple message, but it's not necessarily one that's easy to hear. jessica parker, bbc news. i want to bring you some news just

in and we have had an update from the chancellor of the exchequer, rishi sunak, on support schemes for businesses. unions and business groups have said thousands of companies and jobs are at risk after the announcement of a third national lockdown. details are still coming, but let me get decent headlines. the chancellor has announced £4.6 billion in new lockdown grants to support businesses and protectjobs, according to the treasury. he has announced one—off top up grants for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses. that is worth up to £9,000 and the idea is to help businesses through to the spring after the announcement of that said national lockdown, a £591; million discretionary fund is also being

made available to support other businesses impacted by the third national lockdown and this comes in addition to £i.i national lockdown and this comes in addition to £1.1 billion of a further discretionary grant going to local authorities which is worth up to £3000 a month and an extension of the furlough scheme. we will have more details on that announcement just made by chancellor rishi sunak on support schemes for firms with oui’ on support schemes for firms with our business presenter in a moment. let's talk to our political correspondent nick eardley. he is in westminster. there had been pressure on the government to do more? yes, because i think the announcement will have caught some businesses in england by surprise. it means there will be a fairly protracted period now where they

will not be able to open, at least seven weeks of lockdown coming, we know the government hopes the vaccine will give them a way out of this in mid—february but if you listen to borisjohnson‘s language in that address there was heavy caveats, talking about the vaccine programme going to plan, talking about people sticking to the rules, talking about the plan for reopening society in mid—february being based on our understanding of that i was not changing again, so i think it is an aspiration rather than a guarantee and i suspect many people will be asking what change so quickly, because on sunday morning the prime minister was telling people to send their children back to school in england eight schools we re to school in england eight schools were open, it was around this time yesterday he told us new restrictions were probably coming but he did not seem in a particular rush, saying they would come in due

course. listen to the cabinet office minister michael gove this morning explaining what he says changed. the four chief medical officers of the united kingdom met and discussed yesterday the situation, and their recommendation, all four, was that the country had to move to level five, the highest level of alert, which meant that there was an imminent danger to the nhs of being overwhelmed unless action was taken. and so in those circumstances we felt that the only thing that we could do was to close those primary schools which were open. of course, it was with the heaviest of hearts. that is michael gove on why the government took this action, there we re government took this action, there were also new statistics yesterday showing there was a day in late december, the 29th, when 80,000 people had tested positive for the virus. i think there is a consensus among political leaders that action needed to be taken and clearly we are seeing more support being put on the table by the chancellor. for

anyone wondering about exams in england, we expect to hear more from the education secretary gavin williamson when parliament is recalled tomorrow but it is a safe assumption that the exams in the summer assumption that the exams in the summer anyway will not be going ahead as planned in england. nick ea rd ley, ahead as planned in england. nick eardley, our political correspondent in westminster, good to talk to you. let's get more on those announcements from chancellor of the exchequer rishi sunak. our business corresponded ben thompson joins us, tell us more about these announcements. we are led to believe it could be worth up to £9,000 per individual property of a business, the chancellor says it will help workers and businesses get to the worst of the latest restrictions, he says, so workers will be ready when businesses able to reopen again. he

was under mounting pressure to announce something pretty quickly get in the new restrictions put in place across england last night, restrictions already in place in scotla nd restrictions already in place in scotland and wales, remember, and therefore businesses will be planning what they do next and what they are looking at is what happens further down the line, they will be making very big decisions about investment, jobs and businesses, whether they are viable and they can keep them running, they will be making those decisions now and not waiting until the spring, so the chancellor was under the pressure to come up with money pretty fast. we have been told this latest round of support will help 600,000 different properties worth about £4 billion in total, there will also be an extension to the self—employed income support scheme, remember that was particularly controversial are many people said they fell through the gaps if they were self—employed. there will also be the furlough

scheme which has been extended until april already but there will still be people who will through the cracks and not get additional help so there will be further questions about whether they will be supported. it is this enough to safeguard jobs for the future? let's get the thoughts of roger barker, the director of policy at the institute of directors. good morning. the new announcements from the chancellor coming in within the last for minutes, i wonder if you have had chance to look at them yet and what if anything you make of them? is it enough to save businesses? i would welcome these measures, the chancellor needed to make an announcement today because we are going into another very serious period for business of national lockdown and with schools closing, it will have major implications for the operation of companies. i think what the chancellor needed to do, which he has done, was to target support on

those particular sectors, hospitality, retail, leisure, which will be particularly affected by this ongoing lockdown. i think it broad terms we have an overall package of measures across the economy including the furlough scheme and the ongoing suspension of business rates and lower vat levels for the hospitality sector which is reasonable. what needs to happen now is to do what you alluded to, which is to do what you alluded to, which is to do what you alluded to, which is to focus on the people who have falle n is to focus on the people who have fallen through the cracks so far and particularly people who were self—employed operating for a limited company, that is a big group of around 3 million people who have so of around 3 million people who have so far had no support during this crisis, and that is where i think the business support needs to be focused now. i wanted to come onto

that in a second, but firstly give mea that in a second, but firstly give me a sense of what businesses you are speaking to our thinking. we know they have their eye on the future, they are notjust dealing in what is happening today, they will be making big decisions about the spring, how big their business will be, where customers will be and crucially how many staff they can keep on? this situation differs to the situation of the summer because obviously we have light at the end of the horizon. it seems like we will have to go through an even tougher to a beforewedie to that recovery. there is no doubt many of our members will be suffering during the next few months. —— go through an event are 30 before we get to that recovery. the package of support from government to create a bridge to the future is, on the

whole, pretty good. i do not think it necessarily makes sense for business organisations to say we need more support, but that does not has put in a package of support, although people are falling through the gaps, we have to acknowledge. increasingly we need to think about how we move out of this crisis, what is the off ramp look like and how do we get the economy moving rapidly ahead once a vaccination programme starts to roll out? you have alluded to it again, there are people falling through the cracks, the so—called excluded in this, what would you like to see them offered? particularly people who are essentially self—employed but they happen to be operating to a limited company, they need to have some kind of support, they have got a company year without anything. probably the best way to do that is to local

authority grants and local authority funding, it seems too difficult to support them through the tax and welfare system, according to the government, and i think the help that the chancellor has announced today by increasing the discretionary grants available for local authorities could help, but then local authorities had to work with government to make such a reality and make that work. we will keep an eye on what if anything is announced for those people. it is good to total you, roger barker, director of policy at the iod. rebecca, so many issues for businesses, some support announced in the last few minutes by the chancellor put lots of finding celtic get through to work out who benefits, how much they get and how they get hold of it, because time is of the essence to save many businesses who are facing a very

tough timejust businesses who are facing a very tough time just to keep the books balanced and keep jobs tough time just to keep the books balanced and keepjobs in touch. ben, we will leave you to go to the fine detail and hopefully talk later. many thanks. the scottish first minister nicola sturgeon issued a stay at home order for scotland, which came into effect at midnight and will last until the end of january. scotland's lockdown, which is for the mainland and skye, will also see schools closed to pupils, places of worship closed and group exercise banned. our scotland correspondent alexandra mackenzie is in glasgow. tell us a little bit more about what scots are facing this morning? scotla nd scots are facing this morning? scotland woke up to another lockdown announcement this morning, very similarto announcement this morning, very similar to the lockdown we had in march and there are quite tough restrictions yet again that people will have to live under a possibly what the first minister said will be

until at least the end of the month, possibly even longer, because the number of cases have been increasing and the new variant is becoming more dominant in scotland. this means that most of scotland, all of mainland scotland plus arran and the isle of skye will be under a stay at home order and it will be illegal for people to leave their homes u nless for people to leave their homes unless for essential reasons. there are some exceptions, you can go and get groceries, you can care for someone get groceries, you can care for someone and visit your extended house helpers very, very tough restrictions. —— and visit your extended household, but very, very tough restrictions. you have to work from home unless absolutely necessary , from home unless absolutely necessary, say nothing much, and if you were shielding in march you should not be leaving your house all

going back to work. add restrictions have been tightened, we have not been able to visit people indoors for quite some time but we were able to meet with people and go for walks. that has become more limited, you can meet one person from one other household. children aged 11 and underare other household. children aged 11 and under are exempt, they can meet up and under are exempt, they can meet up in largergroups, and under are exempt, they can meet up in larger groups, and schools, nicola sturgeon said this was the most difficult decision she had to make, because it was always a priority to keep schools open for as long as possible so it shows how serious the situation is that nicola sturgeon and yesterday that schools will not reopen for most peoples until at least february the 1st. there are some exemptions, vulnerable children and the children of key workers will still be able to go into the classroom but others will be back to home—schooling,

online learning at home, many pa rents online learning at home, many parents will have ground when they heard that. we spoke to nicola sturgeon earlier who acknowledge that this was extremely difficult but she said there are real concerns for the nhs. unless you have an essential purpose to be outside your home just now, staying home is about saving lives and protecting the nhs. the nhs at the national level in scotland is coping, there will be regional variations, incredible pressure for front line staff but if we do not do what we're doing, modelling suggests it could be overwhelmed in three four weeks. the difference in compared to march is that the vaccine has started rolling out, nicola sturgeon has talked about the race to suppress the virus but also get as many people vaccinated as possible but until that happens we are in for a very difficult few weeks and months.

alexandra mackenzie, our correspondent in glasgow, thank you. and coming up we'll be answering your questions on the new lockdown restrictions just after 9.30. i'll bejoined by the infections disease expert peter drobac, and paul hunter, professor of medicine at the university of east anglia. get in touch with the hashtag #bbcyourquestions, or email yourquestions@bbc.co.uk thanks to the number of people who have already been in touch with us. nav wants to know why btec exams are still taking place when england international lockdown and judith harris asks, as a supermarket worker, are we high up the chain for the vaccine? we will answer as many of your questions as we can just after 9:30am. as we've been hearing, schools in england will stay closed until at least mid—february as a new national lockdown

is introduced. the prime minister made the announcement last night in a televised address to the nation tonight as he once again urged brits to "stay at home". nurseries, childcare centres and special schools will remain open and vulnerable children and children of key workers can continue to attend school. joining me now is thejoint secretary of the national education union, dr mary bousted. we are very grateful for your time, thank you forjoining us. schools remain open but only in a very limited number of cases, so i wondered your reaction to the prime minister's announcement of school closures ? minister's announcement of school closures? i welcome the announcement, it is not a decision that anybody wants to have taken or indeed to have happened, we know that schools are absolutely essential for children and young

people but there are two competing things going on, we have a pandemic with a huge health emergency and the u nfortu nate fa ct with a huge health emergency and the unfortunate fact is that schools we re unfortunate fact is that schools were acting as vectors for the virus so were acting as vectors for the virus so they have had to be closed, apart from for the children of key workers and vulnerable children and special schools. that is unfortunate but necessary. what is your understanding about the situation with exams? gcses and a—levels? am i right you had a conversation with schools minister naked and he told you exams were cancelled? that was my understanding that i am just holding something in reserve about that because that was not the main topic of discussion, he said he wa nted topic of discussion, he said he wanted us to work with the government to try and work out how we could assess gcse and a—levels in the best way possible but we are now waiting for a statement from gavin

williamson, the secretary of state for education, tomorrow about exams, we really have to wait for his statement to learn in detail what the government's proposals are. was ousted naked say to you? it was a fairly short conversation, we both agreed it was very unfortunate, i think it was particularly u nfortu nate think it was particularly unfortunate that the prime minister chose to make the announcement schools were closed after sending all pupils in primary schools back for a day, it is a very chaotic and very strange way to behave when you consider how much more definite and clear the announcement in scotland and wales has been. ifind it quite incomprehensible how last—minute, how chaotic these announcements have been and how much stress it has put

on parents and pupils uncertainly on teachers and support staff. moving forward , teachers and support staff. moving forward, you now expect more clarity from the government tomorrow around exams, you expect any input into what is decided and how do you think assessments can be made to beef? that is the $64,000, or is it merely, dollar question! —— all is it million? advice has been given that it exams are to be done, there needs to be fewer of them and i need to bea needs to be fewer of them and i need to be a question every major topic so to be a question every major topic so that students can be examined at what they have taught and it is done in the fairest way possible. but we have also said you need to make a plan b because we do not know whether exams will happen, we do not

know the cause of the pandemic and it is highly likely injanuary and february that would be the worst time for the pandemic because winter is, and also the most stressful time for the nhs, so we gave the government lots of ideas about how to do an alternative to exams. the problem is they wasted the whole term, the whole autumn term, when schools could have been setting pieces of work. is to do in school and at home which would have provided a common basis for assessment. that has not happened and that has been time wastage, and the reason it has not happened is the reason it has not happened is the government isjust the reason it has not happened is the government is just a muncher that there has to be exams and exams are the only way and they have refused to look at alternatives —— because the government has a mantra. if exams are not going ahead it will be harderfor teachers to if exams are not going ahead it will be harder for teachers to generate evidence on which to base great, particularly as so many year i! and he had 13 people have missed school

because they have had covid all been in close contact with another pupil who has, so they have had less opportunity to show what they can do. it is really difficult. one thing i know is that schoolteachers will strain everything new to try to generate evidence with pupils and try to do this fairly. —— they will strain every sinew. we will do our best for our people is that we have not been helped by gavin williamson. i want to ask about btecs, because you are talking about sites being treated fairly, pupils are sitting btec exams at the moment, is that right also? it would be a very hard decision to stop exams that students have expected to set this week. i think an example can be more socially distant thunder can be more

control that situation. it is a hard decision so i think the btec local ahead. dr mary bousted, good to talk to you. the new measures were introduced after rapidly growing cases of coronavirus and increasing pressure on hospitals. so, will these tough restrictions be enough to tackle the drastic rise in infections across england in the last week? from the new and emerging respiratory virus threats advisory group to the government, also known as nervtag. good to have you with us, professor. that is the question, i suppose, will these new measures work? are they enough? i think they will definitely save tens of thousands of lives, but i think we could be going a lot further and learning from the

previous lockdown and what we saw in the previous lockdown is a rates and deaths were concentrated in the poorest areas of the community, so we need to think about a strategy about how we protect those groups and key workers. what would you suggest? in key workers and poor health and workers we are already doing regular testing, but we need to think about extending some of the two other key workers working with employers, and that will reduce the extent to which they will be transmitting infection to each other, and we also need to support than when they need to isolate with paid isolation. intensity effect of communities, we know where all the hospitalisations are coming from, we

can work with community organisations to empower them —— in terms of effect. a focus on enablement rather than enforcement so enablement rather than enforcement so they can help to support people to be tested and isolated, to shield and ultimately to be vaccinated as soon as and ultimately to be vaccinated as soon as possible, so i think we really need a more bottom—up approach to this, and notjust think that because we have a lockdown it isjob done. that because we have a lockdown it is job done. to that end, i wanted to ask about the call from hospital co nsulta nts, to ask about the call from hospital consultants, doctors and nurses for hospital staff to be given better personal protective equipment? they say stop on general wards should have the same high—quality masks as those worn in intensive care. how concerned are you about ppn hospitals, especially with regard to this new variant? i don't think we've got any evidence

that the new virus spreads in a particularly different way to the previous virus so the sorts of mechanisms that worked before it should work now. the risk from aerosols is clearly much, much greater when you are having aerosol generating procedures, that's the policy that has been used so far. of course, with any of these precautions never ioo% protection. understood. in terms of vaccines, which of course is what the government has said is the way out of this for us, the prime minister ‘s goal of vaccinating 30 million people, clinically the most vulnerable in the over 70 s by mid—february, how realistic is that in your view? i think it's probably realistic from a logistics point of view in terms of being able to turn the nhs towards this and i guess, my

bigger concern, and i really don't know, is how quickly the vaccine can be manufactured and i think that might be the way. have you got any concerns around the new variant of the coronavirus, i'm thinking particularly of the one in south africa and the suggestion that perhaps a vaccine won't be as effective against it? well, i think one of the good things about the vaccines is that they produce quite a broad immune response so it's not just one bit of the virus that the immune system will be recognising, its multiple bits. so even if the virus changes a bit, then that should not remove all protection, it may potentially somewhat reduce the effectiveness but it's strongly unlikely to remove that effectiveness and i think, it's

going to be an ongoing issue, about the virus evolving, and we are going to need to keep an extraordinarily close eye on that and have systems whereby we can update our vaccines and get the updated vaccines approved very rapidly. this is sort of thinking more long—term. professor, we must leave it there but really good to talk to you and thank you for your thoughts. thank you. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's katherine downes. good morning. let's bring you up—to—date with what the new restrictions mean for sport. with the new coronavirus restrictions, elite level sport in england, such as premier league football, will continue behind closed doors — but amateur sport will have to stop. all indoor facilities such

as gymns will have to close, as well as outdoor activies. the lawn tennis association will be asking the government to allow outdoor tennis to resume as soon as possible — they say it's a naturally socially distanced sport that is safe to play. and england golf say they're extremely disappointed and will continue to make the case for courses to be allowed to reopen. recreational golf can continue in scotland under strict rules. but matches and training in non—elite football — which includes grassroots for all ages — have been suspended. only organised outdoor sport for disabled people is exempt from the new measures. away from the restrictions and on to matters on the pitch... southampton manager ralph hasenhuttl was reduced to tears, after his side beat the champions and league leaders liverpool last night. the only goal of the game came in the second minute, with former liverpool striker danny ings coming back to haunt his former club. and holding on for the rest of the game was all too much for hasenhuttl, who finally managed to get the better of his good friend jurgen klopp.

it was the last one i have never taken points so far, yeah. and, yeah, even... i think i had a phone call two months ago where i said, look, when i wish something that i take a point against you one time. and, yeah, it was tactically, for both sides, very demanding and this was maybe the perfect day today — this was a special day. championship side derby county have been forced to close their training ground after several players and staff members tested positive for covid—i9. they're in talks with the league and the fa regarding their upcoming fixtures — the first one is on saturday, an fa cup tie against non—league side chorley. manchester city women are also affected, with four first—team players testing positive. they're due to play west ham on saturday. the women's fa cup has been suspended, as it's classed as non—elite at this stage of the competition. england's cricketers and the rest of the touring party in sri lanka have all been tested again for coronavirus. all being well, they hope to train for the first time

tomorrow afternoon. until then, they have to stay in their rooms. after he tested positive, moeen ali will leave the england base this afternoon and head to the quarantine hotel near galle, where the two test matches will be played. world number one novak djokovic will lead the field at next month's atp cup, ahead of the australian open. djokovic and the serbia team are the defending champions, with the event halved in size and reduced to 12 teams, because of the coronavirus. it'll take place in the first five days of february and it's been moved to melbourne, so players can stay in a covid—safe bubble before the australian open starts on the 8th. that's all the sport for now — now on bbc news, it's your questions answered.

with me is paul hunter, professor of medicine at the university of east anglia and peter drobac, infectious disease specialist from the university of oxford. great that you are both with us, we have had a lot of questions so let's get straight to it. peter, if i start with you, lives in sheffield asks our support bubbles are still allowed for single parents? yes, support bubbles are still allowed, some of the criteria has changed, they certainly are allowed for single parents, one adult with multiple children in the household, for single adults and four adults caring for others with disabilities, in those specific circumstances you can form support bubbles. paul, tina asks my elderly mother is my support bubble but she doesn't live locally. she is an hour and a half drive away, am i still allowed to go and see her? at the moment, there is no

restriction on how far you are allowed to go to travel to go to a support bubble so the answer at the moment as yet although if you are thinking about forming a new support bubble or a childcare bubble, too, wherever possible, try to make those bought locally so you don't have to travel long distances. peter, we've touched on this but i think because people have taken the trouble to write to us it's good to answer specific questions so sarah in norwich wants to know will children with separated parents be allowed to travel between two households? the simple answer is yes and i would encourage you to refer to the guidance so you can do that safely. moving on, ruby wants to know under new lockdown will contractors and i think ruby has in mind builders, electricians, plumbers, still be able to work inside my house?

someone has also tweeted me to ask what about cleaners, can they come into the house as well? yes, they are explicitly stated in the guidance that was released by the government last night yes, they are allowed to come into your house but whilst they are there they must practice safe covid secure working wherever possible. they are allowed to comment but they've to be careful when they are there. good to know. peter, ellie from kingswood says why are teachers not being offered the covid vaccine as a priority to enable schools to reopen promptly and if! enable schools to reopen promptly and if i might add on a question from judith on twitter who wants to know if supermarket workers are high up know if supermarket workers are high up the chain for a vaccine? question here about vaccine priority. yes, great questions and difficult questions, there are a lot of people who can make a strong case for

kneading and benefiting from the vaccine but one thing to keep in mind with the vaccines, they are very effective and we know they are effective at preventing disease and death from covid, we don't know whether they prevent someone from passing on infection along to someone passing on infection along to someone else, preventing transmission and that's one of the reasons the priority in these early stages, for vaccines, are really on saving lives, those in care homes, those who are extremely clinically vulnerable, along with health workers who are exposed to covid every single day in the course of their work. i think there's a strong case to be made for other key workers including teachers and others on the front lines in future phases of that but again the jury is still out on how much this actually prevents transmission. paul, a question which i think in some ways it strikes at the heart of a lot of confusion around these rules and this is from maureen in sheffield who asks, simply, i am 77 years old, doi who asks, simply, i am 77 years old, do i have to stay in? i think,

basically, we all have to stay in however old we are. except for limited numberof however old we are. except for limited number of activities. such as essential shopping, exercise, visiting care bubble, attending medical care or indeed going for your vaccination. so from that perspective, yes, she has to but she can still go ahead and do all these other activities where necessary, although clearly, try and limit the numberof times although clearly, try and limit the number of times you do go out into society, generally. 0k. peter, lydia has had the first dose of the covid—i9 vaccine that she says i am on the clinically vulnerable list and have a letter to shield, should i still do so? in a sense, that's a question about how much protection one dose of the covid vaccine gives someone.

one dose of the covid vaccine gives someone. first off, one dose of the vaccine gives a significant amount of protection but still partial protection, takes some weeks for that to fully kick in and we would not consider someone fully vaccinated until they received the second jab which, as we now know may be delayed by some time. i think for the time being, the prudent course of action if you are on the extremely clinically vulnerable list, is to treat yourself as such and use extreme caution, i think for the guidance will come out around whether those folks will be asked formally to shield or not. but i would say using extreme caution, at least now, and continuing a conversation with your doctors would be appropriate. paul, this is a question from a nurse in fareham who says, iam question from a nurse in fareham who says, i am a nurse, question from a nurse in fareham who says, iam a nurse, my question from a nurse in fareham who says, i am a nurse, my husband question from a nurse in fareham who says, iam a nurse, my husband is recovering from blood cancer, i choose to work which does mean i am taking chances on his life but can i ask to be furloughed? i guess, in some ways, that will depend on her

employer, will it? absolutely. i don't think there is any guidance that i have read that says if you are living with a particularly extremely vulnerable person, you have any additional rights. but you are quite right, this is something for the person to discuss with her employer, but i am pretty sure that the furloughs scheme would not apply in that context but she would certainly need to discuss this with her employer. yes, that's probably the best place to start, isn't it? peter, michael in swindon, they are expecting a baby, his wife is to be induced on the 11th of january. but michael wants to know what does this mean for me being with her at the hospital and during labour? because this has been an issue on and off, hasn't it, over the past few months.

yes, firstly, congratulations and best of luck! yeah, the guidance is very clear that you are allowed to be with your wife in hospital during the labour period. hospital visits are also allowed for people hospitalised for other reasons as well. good to know. sharon, a question around funerals, and she wa nts to question around funerals, and she wants to know my father passed away on christmas day, please can you confirm restrictions around funerals during this new wave of lockdown? again, very clear in the guidance, you can attend funerals, you can leave home to attend funerals but no more than 30 people can attend the funeral and if you have a week after the funeral, no more than six people should gather for the week but otherwise, you can attend funerals.

i suppose i should ask, paul, what about weddings? i think the same applies but weddings, again, have a smaller number of people allowed to attend and i can't quite remember off hand, what that number is. no, no worries, i think you are correct. peter, we got some interesting questions around church worship so a simple one from brian williams which i think simple one from brian williams which ithink in simple one from brian williams which i think in some ways has been a nswered i think in some ways has been answered previously but the question, is church worship allowed? yes, it is allowed, some churches and other houses of worship are continuing to offer services in person, many others have closed their physical doors and gone online so their physical doors and gone online so certainly check on that. obviously, if and when you do attend a worship service, it is important to stay socially distanced and are only physically close to those in

your own household, and take all the usual precautions. charlie on twitter, peter, said to me how can places of worship remain open for communal worship, surely this is just an excuse to congregate and socialise? i don't know if i would call it an excuse, i think all of these restrictions are about balancing, protecting the public health with social value in the same way we made a decision to keep schools open as long as possible because of the important value for children. i think decisions were made to allow houses of worship to continue to practice so that's the reason the decision was made. understood. all, let's talk about shops. art nonessential shops to shut, tim from west yorkshire ask this. i suppose it's interesting, perhaps dry cleaners, for example, are they essential or nonessential? i think they would probably be nonessential. and yes, they have to close. the exception is if it's, if

you click and collect or you have delivery services, dry cleaners, for example, may well be able to arrange their business so actually, it's a click and collect or a delivery or collection service. there are ways you can continue to operate and many businesses should be able to come up with ways they continue to operate but the basic premise of a shop being open that people wander in and buy stuff from, they have to close unless they are selling food and essentials. i don't mind both of you, one of you, talking about this, a final thought but several questions touch on this, certainly on the tweets that i have received about compliance. for example, tracey has treated me, why has no one told our teenagers, young

adults, meeting outside the home with only one other person applies to them? my local park is full of young people who don't even wear masks as they think they are invincible but this touches on the wider issue of compliance. and how you can encourage people to follow the rules. peter, perhaps, your thoughts first of all. sure, it's obviously so important we do our pa rt obviously so important we do our part to slow the spread of this virus at such a critical time and to comply with the rose. i think many people did get a bit lax, some of the rules were made more lax but this lockdown that we are entering now is much like the one we had in the spring which was much stricter than what we've experienced since then. it's worth noting, for what it's worth, this is also something that police are going to be able to e nforce that police are going to be able to enforce if people are not respecting the guidelines so there is going to bea the guidelines so there is going to be a stronger enforcement element as well. hopefully we can all make smart choices and do the right thing for the greater good. paul, a final

thought from you because i'm sure people watching this, they understand the importance of following the rules but also, people are weary, aren't they? indeed. absolutely. hopefully, though, with the roll—out of the vaccine, this will be the beginning of the end of the most difficult part of this pandemic. the virus is not going away anytime soon and we will continue to have problems with the infection, over at some time to come. but almost certainly, it will bea come. but almost certainly, it will be a lot easier, once we got the vaccine out and if i may, can i go back to the question you asked about weddings? wedding ceremonies can progress but only with up to six people in attendance, that does not include the registrar or the priest, but what it does say is that weddings should only take place in exceptional circumstances such as an

urgent marriage when one person is seriously ill. so it is quite restricted, in terms of weddings and civil partnership ceremonies but it does not outright banned them. thank you so much for clarifying that and thank you both, paul and peter, thank you both, paul and peter, thank you both for your time. we are so thank you both for your time. we are so grateful for your thank you both for your time. we are so gratefulfor your time thank you both for your time. we are so grateful for your time and good to see you. children's nurseries will stay open throughout the new lockdown in england, a provision which wasn't in place during the first lockdown last march. on monday night, borisjohnson ordered primary schools, secondary schools and colleges to move to remote teaching for the majority of students, deeming schools ‘vectors' for infection. despite that, nurseries will remain open to all. so does this come as a relief to parents seeking childcare, or does it raise concerns for the health of nursery nurses and the children they care for?

well, i'm joined now by purnima tanuku, chief executive of national day nurseries association which represents private, voluntary and independent nurseries in england, scotland and wales. very good to have you with us. and i suppose i should start by asking you whether you welcome the news that nurseries are staying open. whether you welcome the news that nurseries are staying openlj whether you welcome the news that nurseries are staying open. i think nurseries are staying open. i think nurseries have been open since the beginning but i think the announcement yesterday caused very mixed feelings and a lot of confusion and fear amongst parents and their staff equally. i think what we didn't hear from the prime minister yesterday is the reason behind the decision that has been made to keep early years childcare open, the science behind it, and of

course a lot of parents are worried nurseries are open when primary schools are closed? nurseries have been operating very safely right from the beginning of covid and i think the government has treated them appallingly. i think they have given them very little support to keep open and with low numbers, and of course, their own staff, putting their own health at risk and we have seen their own health at risk and we have seen positive cases in staff so they have real issues in staffing. yes, some nurseries will be open but with very low numbers, and they won't be able to keep it open much longer. really. that's interesting. i mean, it might seem strange to some people that schools, colleges, are seen as ways of spreading the virus and yet nurseries or not? your view, is it that nurseries are safe? nurseries are so that nurseries are safe? nurseries are so far have been safe and operating safely but what we don't know from the government and the scientific community, is about the

new strain of the virus and how safe thatis new strain of the virus and how safe that is for nurseries to operate. equally, important, is that nurseries cannot manage their businesses while their staff are testing positive because what they need is priority testing, priority vaccination, because nurseries are the only sector open within the education sector which means that they have to be given priority to make sure all the staff are operating safely but most importantly prioritising vaccination. i know you've been on the phone to members of staff and members of your organisation all night, i think. members of your organisation all night, ithink. what members of your organisation all night, i think. what have they been telling you? some are pleased that they are open but they are really worried for their own business because we have seen a number of closures since covid started, u nfortu nately, closures since covid started, unfortunately, for small community based nurseries, they cannot maintain their business at a very low level. because, you know, that

fee paying children are the ones who actually maintain the sustainability of nurseries and unfortunately, that is going down and down in terms of numbers but also, the government has made the decision not to fund nurseries at the pre—disease—macro levels, for the spring term, which is absolutely having disastrous consequences of what the government must do is reassure parents and nursery staff in terms of their safety a nd nursery staff in terms of their safety and most importantly, give them additional support but prioritise them for vaccinations. that's the only way key workers and those parents are going to be supported, moving forward. good to hear from you, thank you for your time. thank you. police have arrested a scottish mp after she apologised for using public transport while infected with coronavirus. margaret ferrier has been charged with "culpable and reckless conduct" for travelling from glasgow

to london in september while awaiting the results of a covid test — and then making the return train journey having tested positive. she was suspended by the snp at westminster but has refused to resign from parliament. donald trump and joe biden have both been campaigning in the us state of georgia ahead of today's crucial vote for two senate seats. more than three million people have already cast ballots — nearly 40 per cent of the state's registered voters. if the democrats win, they will control all of congress and the white house. our washington correspondent, nomia iqbal, reports. the men standing withjoe biden mayjust be his most important friends right now. democrats pastor raphael warnock and investigative journalist jon ossoff are running for georgia's two senate seats. if they win, the president—elect‘s

party will control the senate. one state. one state can chart the course not just for the next four years, but for the next generation. for people in georgia, this means campaigning has never stopped. the place that we demand better is at the ballot box. the energy here in georgia is something i have never seen before. yes, we can do it. yes, we can! ifjon ossoff wins, he will be the youngest senator, a title that once belonged tojoe biden. he has been campaigning day and night. we are going to win on tuesday. and when we win on tuesday, we are going to enact an agenda that serves working people in this country. the pressure is on georgia's republicans too. kelly loeffler here meeting voters. we're in a battle for the country, so... fellow candidate david perdue has had to quarantine for a few days. make sure you get your friends and family out.

this is about turnout. we're going to win if we turnout. the early voter turnout in georgia has been huge, and that's because this state knows that their candidates will decide just how powerful joe biden's presidency will be. her pro—business, pro—conservative values have really trickled down to our city. as mayor, what i am telling people is go out there and vote. vote, vote, vote. and teenagers are getting organised too. with live streamed events like this. polls suggest they could give democrats the edge. since the presidential election, more than 23,000 have turned 18 and can now vote in this senate race. i did the maths in my head and it turns out i couldn't vote for the presidential election, i was short by a month, i got so mad, you couldn't have made me born a little bit later. even though i may not have been able to vote in the presidential election, still, in some ways i am able to vote on a presidential scale. georgia is the final battle for president trump.

he still wrongly believes the election was rigged. there's no way we lost georgia. there's no way. cheering. that was a rigged election. some republicans worry that he could put off voters, giving the advantage tojoe biden. nomia iqbal, bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with carol kirkwood. hello again. for many of us, it is going to be another cold day, in fact, temperatures are below average and won't start to pick up a little bit until the weekend and into next week. we've also got a weather front draped across parts of the southeast and the channel islands, producing showery outbreaks of rain. some of that will be wintry on higher ground, as indeed, will the showers be across northern england and southern scotland. plenty of dry weather, though, the sunny skies will be out towards the west and feeling chilly wherever you are, especially if you're exposed to the gusty winds in england and wales. tonight, not a huge amount of change. we still have the showery

rain in the southeast and the channel islands, wintry showers across northern england, southern scotland and wales. a cold night in prospect with some frost and the risk of ice on untreated surfaces. tomorrow, the shower distribution will be slightly different. we've got lighter winds coming from a different direction, but there still will be some showers in the forecast. a lot of dry weather. and then later, this band of rain arrives in the north west.

this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. stay at home — people in england enter a third national lockdown as the government tries to reduce the spread of coronavirus. we hope that we will be able to increase the number of people who are vaccinated, it's good news that we now have two vaccines which are effective and can provide people with protection. the more people we vaccinate, the easier it will be to lift these restrictions. a lockdown came into force on the scottish mainland at midnight and will last at least until the end of the month. the uk chancellor announces one—off top up grants for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses worth up to £9,000 to help companies