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 through the latest lockdown.

remote learning has returned for millions of school pupils across the uk. but questions remain about the assesment of those facing exams. in germany, high coronavirus cases are expected to delay next week's lifting of the lockdown until at least the end of the month. france promises to catch up with its neighbours after administering only a fraction of its available covid vaccinations. elections are taking place in the us state of georgia which will shape the course ofjoe biden‘s presidency. hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around

the world — and stay with us for the latest news and analysis from here and across the globe. i'm rebecca jones. with almost all of the uk impacted by coronavirus lockdowns, support for businesses worth over £4 billion has been announced by the chancellor in the past hour. millions of people in england are being told to stay at home once more, in a third lockdown announced by the prime minister, in the fight against coronavirus. borisjohnson warned the weeks ahead would be "the hardest yet". the £4.6 billion pounds worth of support has been announced by the chancellor rishi sunak, aimed at giving one—off grants of up to £9,000 to businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors. business leaders have been demanding more financial support to prevent another wave of closures and redundancies as a result of the lockdown restrictions. 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. other parts of the uk were already in lockdown. 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. let's talk to our business presenter ben thompson about those new measures announced by the chancellor in the last hour. tell us a little bit more about the

detail and what the chancellor has announced 7 detail and what the chancellor has announced? you are absolutely right, running through those details we have had from the uk finance minister within the last three minutes. they give us more detail about what helpful be available for business as it contends with more restrictions across large parts of the uk. as you outlined, those restrictions in england announced by the prime minister yesterday and restrictions already in place in scotla nd restrictions already in place in scotland and wales. we are told there will be more specific support for businesses that are forced to close, particularly in the hardest—hit sectors of retail, hospitality and leisure. we know those businesses are not able to open. they salvaged some of the christmas trading period but for many parts of the country, pubs, restau ra nts a nd bars many parts of the country, pubs, restaurants and bars were forced to close and lay off many staff, putting them on the does match—up

support scheme, the furlough scheme, so support scheme, the furlough scheme, so the taxpayer propping up their salaries. we are told there will be gra nts salaries. we are told there will be grants up to £9,000 per property, depending on the value of the property itself, the chancellor says that should help safeguard some businesses until the spring when it is hoped some restrictions can be lifted. there will be additional help in the form of business rate relief, we know businesses are struggling to pay the rates that are due at this time of year. the government is already reducing the amount of vat paid by businesses and there will be about £590 million available to businesses that do not qualify for those specific supports, in the form of local grunts to local businesses. the government says that package of measures it was 4.6 p in total but for individuals, a very uncertain time, they do not know how

muchjo uncertain time, they do not know how much jo —— if uncertain time, they do not know how muchjo —— if they can go to work and whether the jobs will be there. many businesses will be making hard decisions about what happens next, they will be planning for the coming few months, these restrictions will not be assessed in england until the middle of february, the end of january in scotland, they are in age for the long haul and will be making very ha rd for the long haul and will be making very hard decisions about which staff they can afford to keep. the government furlough scheme runs until the end of april, but some very ha rd until the end of april, but some very hard decisions about what state businesses will be in the end restrictions. we had just heard a statement from the british chambers of commerce which has said that while any immediate cash flow support for business is welcome, this will not be enough to save some sense. we need to see a longer term plan to support businesses well beyond spring and throughout 2021,

support must cover notjust those on the front line of retail and hospitality but also ferns in supply chains and wider business community is facing the devastating impact, that just in from is facing the devastating impact, thatjust in from the british chambers of commerce. will this be enough? we should not forget, as you have touched upon, the supply chain, it is not just have touched upon, the supply chain, it is notjust front line businesses we cannot go into that all the associated businesses supplying them, i was speaking to one pub owner this morning he says he has a cellar full of stock, student peer, he cannot sell that. many pubs have turned their hand to take a weighted home delivery could put in these latest restrictions, alcohol sales, even latest restrictions, alcohol sales, eve n ta ke latest restrictions, alcohol sales, even take away, will be prohibited. we should bear in mind the impact on consumer behaviour, the uk tipped

into recession, like many economies around the world, as businesses were forced to shut, but the question is how long it takes to recover and when the economy can start growing again. if we are maybe working fewer hours, perhaps we have lost ourjob, we will have less money and we will be less willing to spend when things pick up. latin industries are optimistic that will be a bounce back, particularly the travel and tourism sector, they know we have been cooped up for so long —— of industries are optimistic. they help accessing as restrictions are lifted and the vaccine roll—out in full, there will be a bounce back in people wanting to travel and get away from the same four walls, but equally many businesses will be very nervous about the coming months because we know hospitality particularly struggles in the rather lea n particularly struggles in the rather lean months of january, particularly struggles in the rather lean months ofjanuary, february and march anyway after watch which additionally be a busy christmas

period, they will be worried about the coming months and trying to make decisions about staff. the furlough scheme is trying to keep on as many people for as long as possible that the chancellor made it clear that he cannot save every chapel every business and is particularly clear in the announcements today, there is some targeted support but many will still through the gaps and there is no specific support. i spoke to the institute of directors in the last hour his highlighted that because of the way many self—employed people employed themselves to a limited company they are not eligible for support, so while this will help many businesses it is in no way a comprehensive package which will save every business and everyjob. good to talk to you and thank you so much, ben. let's talk to our political correspondent nick eardley. we have been speaking about this announcement by the chancellor of

one—off capital grants for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses in the wake of borisjohnson's enhancement of a third national lockdown in england and the government was under pressure to do more? significant pressure, it is really interesting because the tide yesterday there were not really any signs that england was about to go into that strict stay at home lockdown later in the day. a couple of things happened yesterday which really change that, the first was that the prime minister was given some statistics yesterday, we are told by downing street, showing a huge number of positive cases, 80,000 on december 29, but also the fa ct 80,000 on december 29, but also the fact that the chief medical officers from across the uk recommended that the alert level, the level of risk from coronavirus, was put up to size, the highest point at which it can go and basically means they

feared the nhs would be overwhelmed we re feared the nhs would be overwhelmed were there not some sort of change. listen to cabinet office minister michael gove in bbc breakfast. 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. so that was michael gove explaining why that decision was taken so quickly yesterday. i have to say, a lot of people saw it coming and i had been called throughout sunday and into monday from other political figures are for a lockdown to be protein in england, the labour leader sir keir starmer said it

should happen, we had tory grandees likejeremy should happen, we had tory grandees like jeremy hunt, the should happen, we had tory grandees likejeremy hunt, the former health secretary, saying that yesterday too. it was sunday, it is worth remembering, that on the bbc boris johnson tells parents of primary school pupils in england that they should send their children back to school on monday, yesterday morning borisjohnson said there were likely to be some new restrictions but they we re to be some new restrictions but they were happening in due course. it feels, when it comes to england anyway, that things moved very quickly in government yesterday and the arguments we are hearing from ministers is that that was in response to some of the warnings coming from the medical experts, but there was huge political pressure to borisjohnson to act too and in the end he was forced to do so. good to talk to you, nick eardley, our political correspondent in westminster. 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. earlier, i spoke to our correspondent alexandra mackenzie who gave us this update. scotland woke up to another lockdown 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 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 unless for essential reasons. there are some exceptions, you can go and

get groceries, you can care for someone and visit your extended household but very, very tough restrictions. you have to work from home unless absolutely necessary, so the same as march, and if you were shielding in march you should not be leaving your house all —— or going back to work. outdoor 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 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 said 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 parents will have groaned when they heard that. we spoke to nicola sturgeon earlier who acknowledged 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 or four weeks. the difference 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. people in the us state of georgia will go to the polls today in crucial run—off elections to the senate. the result will determine which party has control of the upper chamber of the us congress. ifjoe biden picks up both seats, the house will be split 50—50 — giving joe biden's incoming vice president, kamala harris the deciding vote.

let's get more from a senior lecturer in us politics and policy at queen mary's university, dr richard johnson. hankinsonjoining us. hankinson joining us. why hankinsonjoining us. why is this vote so important? because, as he said, the control of the united states senate is at stake. if the democrats when these two seats they will control both the senate and the house of representatives and the presidency, giving joe biden the ability to legislate, which is rare in american politics of having all those stars are aligned. if he does not win both of these seats then he will not control the senate, and that it's really significant because he will be the first president since george hw bush in 1989 not to have control of the senate in his first hundred days, which is really

important because the senate has to confirm all of his appointment to his own cabinet, so if he does not win the seats today that he has to rely on republican votes to fill his own administration. is it putting it too strongly to say the outcome of this election will determine the cause of the joe this election will determine the cause of thejoe biden presidency? it helps perhaps not the entire trajectory but it will affect that very crucial first hundred days which is often the most legislatively projected period. they enter, they have a honeymoon, they have that agenda, and then they use congress to legislate that, but it joe biden does not have the senate in both his legislative agenda is in doubt, but also the whole administrative agenda, his ability to put the kind of people he wants

in the executive branch, and that is not even getting onto the courts which also need senate approval for joe biden to appoint anyone to the courts, so smmt of the supreme court vacated their seats, if joe courts, so smmt of the supreme court vacated their seats, ifjoe biden did not win these two seats then there is a great question as to whether he could get their replacement. so how close is it? extremely. back in november the republican candidates got just extremely. back in november the republican candidates gotjust over 49% of the vote if you put the republican votes together. democrats, if you look at georgia, a jewel of them is called the 3030 will, the democrats need about 30% of the white vote and they need african—americans to of the white vote and they need african—america ns to compose of the white vote and they need african—americans to compose about 30% of voters. in november democrats won 28% of the white vote in georgia and african—americans were about 28%

of the electorate, so they need to doa of the electorate, so they need to do a bit better than in november otherwise i think it will be quite difficult for them to get over the line. the polling shows it is very close and i think that it really could be done to the wire, as they say. we know there has been a fairly high proportion of people who voted by post already but i wanted in terms of voter turnout, particularly amongst the republicans perhaps, what impact it anything you think the release of the tape we had yesterday which appear to show donald trump in the presidential election asking an election official to find votes, what you think? typically turn decreases in the second round of a run—off vote, that is not entirely surprising, there is voters fatigue and you do not have the pole of the presidential candidate at the top of the ticket

—— typically turnout decreases. i predicted it will be lower than in november but will it drop more for democrats or republicans relative to november? my analysis would be the republican messaging was quite mixed over the last three weeks, on the one hand republican messages these are crucial elections to hold the line againstjoe biden and in the more fantastical side of things joe biden's socialist agenda and so on, as they might put it, but on the other hand donald trump said the voting machines are broken, the system is corrupt, votes have been lost or thrown away and surely that must demotivate some republican voters who mightjust think why bother voting as my vote will not count? this is all not verified, there is no evidence that any of trump's games are correct but if

republican voters are fearing that you could imagine somebody would say, what is the point? and in such a tight election, that might make all the difference. all eyes on georgia. dr richard johnson from queen mary's university, good to talk to you. thank you. france's health minister has promised more vaccination centres and faster deliveries of vaccine doses, amid criticism of the country's immunisation programme. only a few hundred people were given the jab in the first week, despite half a million doses being available. courtney bembridge reports. front—page news and front of people's minds as the health minister visited a vaccination centre in paris. he was stopped by a doctor who told him her elderly patients were waiting to be vaccinated. translation: you can tell them it is soon. for the moment you are getting vaccinated because you have priority but soon it will be their turn and you will be able to protect them. france has been slow off the mark. in the first week of

the vaccination campaign, just over 500 people had the jab. regional leaders say there is too much red tape. translation: all the doctors write to me and tell me they are available, even on weekends, but we still do not have the directives to set up these logistics. the health minister says vaccinations have been ramped up this week and thousands more have now had the vaccine. translation: we are multiplying the number of centres by four, which means that there will be about 100 hospitals that will offer vaccination. but the numbers are still low compared to more than a million in the uk and more than 200,000 in germany. the sluggish start has irritated president emmanuel macron. one newspaper quoted him as saying the pace was like a family stroll which was not worthy of the moment, nor of the french. emmanuel macron's target is a million people vaccinated by the end of january, and the government says that many doses will be available

by the end of the week. but the vaccine will not be mandatory and france is one of the most vaccine—sceptical countries in the world. a recent survey showed just 40% of french citizens would get the vaccine if it were available. translation: the french population has always been anti—vaccinations. we see that here when we do the flu jabs. every year it is a mess. it is up to us as doctors to convince them that here the benefits far outweigh the disadvantages. that is clear. but some do not need any convincing. translation: have you just been vaccinated? translation: yes, i have been vaccinated. translation: how did it go? translation: very, very well. translation: i'll get the vaccination as soon as possible. i work in the health sector, i am an ambulance driver and so i would like to be vaccinated. france is among europe's hardest hit countries. its death toll is above 65,000, just behind italy in the uk. and with an election looming next year, the stakes could not be higher for emmanuel macron.

our paris correspondent, hugh schofield said there were various reasons why the vaccine rollout has got off to such a slow start. i think maybe there are a couple of issues at play. one is the bugbear of western democracies, the precautionary principle. it seems that anyone who has had the vaccine, and primarily at the start, people have to be consulted first and they have to have a consultation five days before they are administered the actual vaccine, that the standard procedure which pre—exists in the whole covid thing and that has been gone through again. in other words, before it's administered, there has to be a period of at least five after the consultation with the patience comes to see if they haven't got any complicating issues and so on, that's slowing things down and certainly doctors are saying we cannot afford to indulge in this precaution when the stakes are so high.

the other thing i think is a classic of france, lumbering bureaucracy, i'vejust been, health bureaucracy, i've been looking at a newspaper in the region i live in, in the countryside, three old people's homes say they are already to take to start the vaccination programme, people coming in at the weekends, they are waiting. but there is no vaccine, it hasn't arrived, the hospital has not got it, that's probably because the deepfreeze ridges haven't properly been certified and they need to be checked to make sure they are up to standard and so on. —— the deepfreeze fridges. all that kind of form filling and stamping of protocols and all the rest of it, it's just slowing everything down. hugh schofield in paris. chancellor angela merkel has just begun a video conference with leaders of germany's 16 states, at which they're expected

to extend coronavirus restrictions. the current lockdown — which has seen the closure of schools and non— essential shops — is due to expire on sunday. but it could be extended until at least the end of the month. here's our berlin correspondentjenny hill. actually, we had seen a rather downward trend in recent days intensive case numbers but the health authorities anticipate and are bracing themselves for a spike in those figures following the relaxation of some restrictions over christmas. as time has gone on and those case numbers have become so serious, we had started to see a little bit more in the way the agreement and cohesion between the states, if you look at a map of germany most places now are pretty badly affected, some worse than others, courts. like many other countries the controversial subjected schools, schools and

nurseries were closed last month as pa rt nurseries were closed last month as part of the response to rising numbers and there is a lot of controversy about whether they should be kept closed. some education ministers are saying we will have to stagger the start of school but we had to get kids back into the classroom, others say there is no way you can do that under the current circumstances. statistics at the moment are subject to delay because of the christmas reporting. at the situation could not be more serious with the number of death that were announced yesterday. back to the uk, and the announcement that most people across all its nations are being returned to tough lockdowns to be enforced by law. our reporterjohn mcmanus has been gathering reaction from england about how people feel at being told once again to stay at home. monday night in york, a place previously in tier 3, but where cases of the virus are rising as winter tightens its grip. as the prime minister announced a further english lockdown on tv,

the frustration on the face of this gym owner was easy to see. this news has broken me a little bit. erm, i like to think i'm a strong, resilient person. i pride myself on that. but i'm going home now, wondering, what are the things i can do to make sure my bills are paid? it's a double blow for frankie. as a self—employed businesswoman, she's not eligible for the furlough scheme. meanwhile, hundreds of miles away, devon has one of the lowest rates of infection in england. but nowhere in the county can escape lockdown. i think the whole country needs to be treated the same, really. it's probably just easier for the whole country to go into lockdown, and then see the whole rates decline, and then we can start again after that. i had it back in march. and then when i had it, obviously getting it down here was very rare. i wouldn't wish it on anybody.

so i think whatever it takes to protect who we need to protect, it's worth it. just a few days ago, the people of hull were hoping they might move down a tier. those hopes now dashed. and university students here, and across the country, have also been told they won't be returning to campus just yet. gutted. i'm a uni student, so i feel a bit let down boris didn't talk about universities. but, yeah, it sort of feels like we've not gone anywhere in ten months. we're key workers, obviously. we can still work and things like that. but like, we both live on our own, and obviously we can't see our family and friends. like, it is a bit lonely, especially when we live on our own. yeah. across england the outlook is challenging, with only the vaccine roll—out offering a glimmer of hope. john mcmanus, bbc news. let's get more on the business support announced by the chancellor this morning. to remind you... businesses in retail, hospitality and leisure are entitled

to a one—off grant to help them keep afloat until spring — worth up to £9,000 per property. £594m will be made available to affected firms outside these sectors. this money will be made available by local authorities. the help is in addition to business rates relief and the furlough scheme which has been extended until the end of april. we can speak to adam marshall, director general of the british chambers of commerce — a network of british businesses. welcome to bbc news. i presume you welcome this support, do you? it's great the chancellor is putting forward some additional support for hard—pressed forward some additional support for ha rd—pressed businesses as forward some additional support for hard—pressed businesses as we go into another lockdown. but this support is incremental in nature. we've had a lot of stop start restrictions over the past few

months, but businesses have had stop start support as well, rather than some consistency and i think we need to be looking towards a longer term plan to help firms get through what is going to be an uncertain year. yes, we are where we are. what is it that you would like in an ideal world ? that you would like in an ideal world? businesses are still facing some serious cliff edges here, some of the reliefs and some of the support that's available to them ends either at the end of march or in the case of the furlough scheme, at the end of april. we note that business cash flow is going to be challenged throughout 2021 because of course, even if the vaccine roll—out is successful, companies are going to need to rebuild, they are going to need to rebuild, they are going to need to get demand back, reopened their premises and restart. and that it takes time. that's why we need to see a support package in place that lasts the whole of the year, so businesses can plan ahead, not just for the whole of the year, so businesses can plan ahead, notjust for the next

couple of months but beyond. you will be aware, you don't need me to tell you, there are a lot of demands on the public purse at the moment. what are your conversations with government telling you about the likelihood of further support measures? i think it will be absolutely necessary because of course, businesses across the uk are the ones who generate the tax reve nu es the ones who generate the tax revenues that allow for all of our other public service priorities to be paid for. and if we don't have thriving businesses coming out of this period of lockdown, this period of enforced hibernation, if you will, then we won't be able to generate tax revenues in future or indeed, have the prosperity we all wa nt to indeed, have the prosperity we all want to see. so supporting business now upfront is a good bet to enable the recovery later. do you accept the recovery later. do you accept the argument there are some businesses, i'm thinking perhaps about travel, particularly, hotels, everybody, once this is all over,

will be desperate to get out of their homes and see somewhere new, that there are some businesses that will spring back and actually, this kind of help may be enough to tide them over? no doubt, there are businesses seeing suppressed demand, human beings are social animals and many of the businesses built around art socialising, whether it's hospitality and leisure, travel, as you mentioned, will indeed see a bounce back in the future but we don't know when that will come and if what we have is a period of drip feed support to businesses, rather than some consistency, until the point of reopening and until we see that bounce back, i think that will hurt more businesses than it will help. so consistency and clear support over the longer term is going to be needed. we've heard from the prime minister that he thinks the prime minister that he thinks the roll—out of the vaccination programme will be a way out of this for everyone here in the uk stop how confident are you that will be the

case? we certainly want the vaccination programme to succeed and result in a lowering of restrictions but we believe that will take time. so alongside vaccination, you also need to see the continuing ramping up need to see the continuing ramping up of mass testing. if we are going to give people the confidence to get into our town and city centres, to get back into their work where those have had difficulties with coronavirus before, we are going to see testing as well as vaccines. i would dearly love to see the whole of the population vaccinated in as quick a time as possible and we need to bring as much resource as we can to bring as much resource as we can to bear but we will need support and testing alongside it, in the meantime. a final thought, you mentioned public confidence and i do wonder what you think, and your members also, about the impact on consumer spending. do you think that people actually feel confident about spending money at the moment? and could that be a problem for your

members further down the line?|j think there are some understandable concerns amongst people who are concerned about their livelihoods and their income across the country. the furlough scheme has been an important support, both for those jobs but also for consumer spending over this period, ensuring a lot of people who are unable to go to the place of work right now are still able to spend in the economy and support their families. but yes, there are concerns around consumer spending right now, people are saving and looking at what they might need to do in future, as businesses are as well and getting that confidence back is so important. that's why a long—term support plan helps because it generates confidence. adam marshall, thank you so much forjoining us here on bbc news. the new uk lockdown means a a return to online learning at home for most primary and secondary pupils, just a day after many children in england returned to the classroom

for the start of the new term. vulnerable children and the children of key workers can still go into school. jayne mccubbin has been hearing from families about what the new measures mean for them. sunday morning, 9am. very straightforward question. yes. should parents of primary school children in england send them to school tomorrow morning? yes, absolutely they should in the areas where schools are open. schools are safe. watching at home was camille, who decided to go against the prime minister's advice and keep her child home. i texted into the whatsapp chat for our year group and lots of parents were feeling really unsure and didn't know what to do — which is why government advice is so important, right? we shouldn't have been in this position as parents to have to make these decisions on our own. we've been piling on 50,000+ cases a day, day in, day out, close to... you know, a quarter of a million cases in the last week. and, quite frankly, it's kind

of disgusting that we had to make those decisions at an individual level and the government's inaction has cost so many lives. just 35 hours after saying it was safe for parents to send kids in... schools may nonetheless act as vectors for transmission. primary schools, secondary schools and colleges across england must move to remote provision from tomorrow. you're furious, glenn. yeah! i really... more than i thought i'd be. because this wasn't something that was unforeseen, this wasn't something that came along and hit us out of the blue. this is something that everybody has known for a long, long time. glenn will now home—school his four children while juggling a full—time job. his daughter's gcse exams have been scrapped. i hate exams, but i hate not taking them more! you feel you're going to miss out. i'm going to... do so much worse on so many subjects and quite possibly not get

into the further education that i desire because of this. because they've consistently been told, "look, we'll get it sorted and there'll be exams, there's still going to be exams, we've got no chance of not having exams," that's what they've been preparing for. this has really pulled the rug out from under theirfeet. in scotland, five hours before boris johnson's address to the nation... i can confirm that we have now decided to extend that date and keep schools closed to the majority of pupils until the 1st of february. watching at home was andrina. this is little kitty, who is four. and this is duke, who is eight. and you've now got a lot more childcare on your hands. yeah. i mean, some of us are delighted not to be going back to school, but the rest of us — not quite so much! one week was a challenge. four weeks will be... a big challenge. yeah. your husband works in a testing centre. yeah, absolutely. the uplift in the numbers seem to be, you know,

going from not very busy to hugely busy the week up to christmas — and since, basically. so it makes perfect sense. yes, it definitely feels like the virus is a lot more out there right now. also watching in was scottish primary school teacher sarah. my dad is 80 next month. and, you know, i'm a single woman, so my parents are my support bubble. and i am conscious every time i walk into their house — which i'm allowed to do — what am i carrying? i don't know what i've got. so when people might say, "oh, but children very rarely are impacted by this virus seriously," you say it's not just about the kids. it's not about the children. and, you know, schools are not full... they are full of children, but they're also full of adults and they're full of the adults that keep the place going. our hospitals are under more pressure from covid than at any time since the start of the pandemic. the number of deaths is up

by 20% over the last week, and will sadly rise further. when news broke, amika was one of the few not to be watching — he was putting his kids to bed. bring them in. if you're happy for them to go on telly, bring them in. now he says he'll struggle tojuggle his business with home—schooling. but for his family and his community, he supports what lies ahead. i think it's the right thing, i think it's a sacrifice that we have to, you know, make. yeah, we're taking it on the chin for the country. stay at home, protect the nhs, and save lives. 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. as well as relief for some parents, that's raising concerns for the health of nursery staff. earlier i spoke to purnima tanuku, the chief executive of the national day nurseries association, about the implications. i think, you ithink, you know, nurseries i think, you know, nurseries have been open since the beginning of the pandemic but i think the announcement yesterday caused very mixed feelings and a lot of confusion and fear amongst parents and the staff equally. what we didn't hearfrom and the staff equally. what we didn't hear from the and the staff equally. what we didn't hearfrom the prime minister yesterday is the reason behind the decision that has been made to keep early years and childcare open, the science behind it. and of course a lot of parents are worried how come 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 really 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 of course we have seen positive cases in the staffing, they have a real issue with staffing. so yes, some nurseries will be open but with very low numbers of attendance, 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 get nurseries are not? your view, is it your view that nurseries are safe? nurseries so far have been safe and operating safely but what we don't know from the government and the scientific community is about the newer strain of the virus and how safe that is, for the nurseries to operate but 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 for the 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? i think, they are really, some are pleased that we are open but really worried for their own business because we have seen a number of closures since covid started, u nfortu nately, number of closures since covid started, unfortunately, the small, community—based nurseries cannot maintain their business at a very low level of occu pa ncy maintain their business at a very low level of occupancy because you know, fee—paying children are the ones who actually maintain the sustainability of nurseries and u nfortu nately, 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—covered levels, which has disaster at consequences for the government must do immediately, is to reassure pa rents government must do immediately, is to reassure parents and nursery staff in terms of their safety and most importantly, give them additional support but prioritise them for vaccination. that's the only way to keep workers and those pa rents a re only way to keep workers and those parents are going to be supported going forward. 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. the headlines on bbc news...

stay at home! people in england enter a third national lockdown as the government tries to reduce the spread of coronavirus. a lockdown came into force at midnight on the scottish mainland and the isle of skye. it 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 through the latest lockdown the number of people in london who are being admitted to hospital with coronavirus has exceeded that of the first peak in the spring. karl mercer has been investigating the pressures on the intensive care unit at st george's hospital in tooting in south london. this is a new acute dependency unit at st george's. 15 beds, part of the redesign of this hospital to cope

with ever increasing numbers of covid patients. for weeks, the numbers have been rising quickly, even more so this last weekend. i'mjane evans, a consultant in acute medicine. we have had several whole families admitted, some of whom have gone to intensive care, some of whom are here with us. and i think quite a lot of those people haven't been older people, they haven't been people with lots of medical problems, they have been young and fit people who have themselves been shocked at how unwell they've got, how quickly they become unwell. growing numbers mean growing pressures on staff. there were many staff back in march who said i could never do this again and here we are, facing what seems at the moment to be a worse surge of patients with covid. and you see people are very tired, very stressed and that's a real worry to us because we have to keep going because we have to be here for the patients. we can help out with the situation... hi. my name is chloe, i'm a senior staff

nurse on richmond a&eu at st george's hospital. it's the first monday after christmas and new year and it's been one of the worst shifts of my entire life. intense, i'm looking after many more sick patients than i normally look after. ijust, it'sjust overwhelming, the whole situation! i'm hannah packham, i'm thejunior sister of the acute dependency unit. today, i'm the nurse in charge. our colleagues are more like family, you can rant and rave and cry and no—one holds it against you. and do you? what? rant and rave and cry? i personally cry when i get home quite a lot at the moment. sleep, we are suffering with sleep problems, i think a lot of nurses and doctors as well. you just have to relax on your days off as best you can, ready, prepping yourself to come back again, i would say. you see the videos of the anti—covid people and you just think

to yourself, what am i even doing? does it demoralise you? demoralises me completely. i've never felt so demoralised in my life. we've all got family, a lot of us have actually had covid, you can see the other side of what could have been for you because there seems to be no trend in who gets sicker sometimes and who isn't. you see the other side, could be your mum, your dad, your grandparent laying in the bed. you're just trying to do your best for them. more than half the patients in st george's general and acute beds are now covid ones, pressure is growing too on its intensive care units. my name is paul randall, the head of nursing for the critical care unit at st george's hospital. this used to be our cardiothoracic intensive care unit. it's 21 beds. and for, probably since the beginning of december, this has been a covid intensive care unit. normally this hospital would have 67 intensive care beds, it now has 115. they may have to try to open even more. i'm dominic spray, the clinical director of adult critical care at st george's.

until you perhaps come in and see the wards and see the patients, it really hits home. and you see the nurses crying after their 12 hour shift and going home exhausted and drained. and then having to pick themselves up to come back in again the next morning. that's when it hits home. like other hospitals they have lots of staff here off with covid or self isolating, others looking after the growing tide of covid patients in the rest of st george's. working here is not the only stress many are facing. my name is mena scott. the senior sister on cardiac intensive care at st george's hospital. not only have you got stress at work, people are concerned about their own families, staff have had family members who lostjobs, they have children with all the anxieties about schooling. people are coming to work with a lot of other stresses that they wouldn't normally have and they are coming to this environment where there is a high mortality. we see a lot of death now. there's a lot of end—of—life care that we are trying to provide and that's really, really hard for staff as well. hard too for staff, they say, are images of people openly breaking lockdown rules.

the message from intensive care at st george's... you may not see the effects of it when you are doing that but we see the effects of it. the nursing staff see the effects of it. we have people in their 405, 30s, 20s in our intensive care unit dying of covid. we are having to think about whether we do cancer surgery, having to postpone cancer surgery because of the number of covid patients we have in, so even if you don't think you're doing any harm by bending the rules, you are. it has a knock—on effect and we are seeing the effect here. dr dominic spray at st george's hospital in south west london finishing that report by karl mercer. in the last hour the bbc is hearing that the uk's international travel is expected to be updated today. rule surrounded. it's understood that the government will announce further restrictions, possibly including pre—departure testing for international travel to the uk. but there is no confirmation about which types of test will be

used or the time frame. we will, of course, bring you the details as we get them. one other bit of news coming in which is releva nt, bit of news coming in which is relevant, we are hearing that hungary has lifted its ban on passenger air traffic from the uk, landing in hungary, the government has just announced that people will be able to travel to hungary, from the uk after hungary lifted its ban on passengers from here. the head of the serum institute in india — which is the world's largest vaccine manufacturer — says that exports of vaccines are permitted to all countries. the indian manufacturer of the oxford astrazeneca vaccine had said the government was preventing it from supplying other countries raising concerns for developing countries around the world. but in a tweet, the ceo of the institute said he wished to clarify the situation.

our correspondent in mumbai, yogita limaye, explains. we've just gone to the company to ask them for clarity on this statement, because on sunday mr poonawalla had clearly said in an interview to the ndtv news channel in india that the emergency use approval given by the indian government was on the basis of some conditions, and what he said in that interview was that the conditions were that serum institute of india, his company, was not allowed to either export the vaccine or sell it privately in the market here in india. yesterday, we sought clarification from the company and they said that that was the truth, today mr poonawalla has put out a tweet which seems contrary to his earlier statements, so we have put this question once again to the company to clarify which of these is true. in a couple of hours from now we are also expecting a press conference from the health ministry in india where again, you know, we will be putting this question

across to the government, whether there are any such controls which have been imposed on the oxford astrazeneca vaccine that has been produced by the serum institute of india. there are fresh hopes that a second round of direct talks between the taliban and the afghan government could bring about an end to the decades—old conflict in the country. talks last september were productive but fighting has continued on the ground in afghanistan. but with a new president about to take office in the white house, pressure will be on to progress the talks, with aides tojoe biden insisting on real progress if the us is to withdraw its remaining troops by may. israel's health ministry has approved a us—developed moderna covid vaccine and is aiming to immunise all vulnerable citizens by late january, the health minister says. it's only to immunise all vulnerable

citizens by late january. israel has bought six million doses of the vaccine. it's also imposed a third national lockdown to fight climbing infection rates. the polish health minister says a hospital that allowed a group of actors, media executives and a former prime minister to jump ahead of the queue and receive a coronavirus vaccination, is liable for a fine. there has been considerable public anger following the news the hospital invited the 18 cultural figures to have the jab when only medical staff are supposed to have it. warsaw's medical university hospital has fired its chief executive following the scandal. the fine for breaking poland's immunisation rules could be up to £50,000. the kuwaiti foreign minister is saying saudi arabia will reopen its airspace and land and sea borders to qatar. there's been a long—running dispute between qatar and several of its gulf neighbours. saudi arabia led a coalition of countries in the gulf

and beyond that cut ties with qatar in june 2017. now are watching bbc news. martin is coming up next. now it's time for a look at the weather with carol hello again. for many of us once again today it's going to be a cold day. some of us, we are looking at wintry showers in the forecast. now had pressures dominating the weather, effectively keeping the weather fronts at bay, however, there is one still very much with us, it has been with us for a couple of days in the south—east, extending towards the channel islands and it still producing showery outbreaks of rain. the isobars telling you we still have some gusty winds across england and also wales. here is the showery outbreaks of rain across the south—east and channel islands, some of that will be wintry on higher ground and it's the same for showers across northern england and also southern scotland. even into wales, some showers on higher ground will be wintry.

gusty winds not quite as gusty as yesterday but represented in the black circles, you will notice them and the brighter skies, south—west england, wales, northern ireland, western scotland. for the rest of us there will be some sunny skies at times, still be quite a bit of cloud also, and what you will find is that cloud will be thick enough for some showers, wintry on higher ground. the wind direction coming from the north—east, chilly direction, and we've got temperatures below average for january anyway, 3—6, add on the wind and it will feel colder. through this evening and overnight we hang on to the weather front in the south—east and channel islands, so further showery outbreaks of rain for you. further wintry showers across northern england and scotland, not all of us see them and it's going to be a cold enough for some frost, widespread across scotland, of ice on untreated surfaces. tomorrow, the high pressure gives way to low pressure and does this front comes in, it will introduce some rain later in the day.

the wind strength, the gusts won't be as strong and it's slightly changed so that means the distribution of showers will be slightly different from what we are looking at today, are looking at today, still a few different from what we are looking at today, still a few across the north sea coastline, some in kent and the channel islands for many of us, it's dry, some sunshine, cold, and through the afternoon we see the rain coming in across the north west of scotland. overnight that will sink south across scotland taking some snow with it, getting into northern ireland and it will slowly move southwards during the course of thursday. ahead of it, there will be a lot of dry weather, some showers, behind it, further wintry showers in the north.

this is bbc news. i'm martine croxall. the headlines at 11: 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 last at least until the end of the month. the chancellor announces a one—off top—up grant for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses worth up to £9,000 to help companies through the latest lockdown.

remote learning has returned for millions of school pupils. but questions remain about the assesment of those facing exams. because i want to be there for kids and families with young children that need to stay active and i'm going to do it three days a week, monday, wednesday, friday, 9am, just as before in lockdown one, and the videos will be saved. and how to keep fit whilst staying at home — joe wicks is back to help you and the family keep active with a series of new online workouts. businesses hit by the latest coronavirus restrictions are to receive over £4 billion—worth of financial support. millions of people in england are being told to stay at home once more, in a third lockdown announced by the prime minister, who warned the weeks ahead

would be "the hardest yet". the £4.6 billion—worth of support announced by chancellor rishi sunak is aimed at giving one—off grants of up to £9,000 to businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors. business leaders welcome the financial package, but are appealing to ministers to provide support for the whole of 2021 — notjust until spring — to help businesses of all shapes and sizes survive. 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. other parts of the uk were already in lockdown. 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. our political correspondentjess parker reports on the new measures 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, 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. the vaccine must be rolled out at speed.

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. let's talk to our political correspondent nick eardley. we had from the prime minister 88 o'clock last night and we are due to

hear from them o'clock last night and we are due to hearfrom them again o'clock last night and we are due to hear from them again at five o'clock. we didn't hear any questions to borisjohnson after the address and tonight i suppose there will be quite a few. the most pressing question is what made the government changes mind yesterday about these announcements. it was only on sunday that borisjohnson was telling the parents of schoolchildren in england that have primary schools were open this should be sending their children to school. it was around this time yesterday he was saying it was likely there would be some new restrictions in england but he didn't seem in any rush to announce them, seeing yesterday morning that would come in due course. a couple of things we are hearing from number ten and ministers this morning that changed. one is that borisjohnson got some figures that 80,000 people in one day at the end of december

had tested positive for coronavirus, the 29th of december. the other was that the covid alert level was put up that the covid alert level was put up to the top level, level five. they are worried the nhs could be overwhelmed. have a listen to michael gove this morning. 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. there was also considerable pressure. we saw that unfold over the day yesterday. it became clear

that scotland was going to go into a pretty straight stay—at—home lockdown. the labour leader, sir keir starmer, was calling for a national lockdown immediately in england and the former health secretary, the conservativejeremy hunt was making similar comments in the afternoon. it will be interesting to see how borisjohnson explains the significant change we saw between sunday and monday, from schools are safe, keep sending your children to schools if they are open to schools are closed and really all need to be staying at home. a lot has changed over the last 48 hours. let's get more on the business support announced by the chancellor this morning. to remind you... businesses in retail,

hospitality and leisure are entitled to a one—off grant to help them keep afloat until spring — worth up to £9,000 per property. £594 million will be made available to affected firms outside these sectors. this money will be made available by local authorities. the help is in addition to business rates relief and the furlough scheme which has been extended until the end of april. let's speak to our business presenter ben thompson. there will be a clamour by businesses for this money because they need it. just when they thought they need it. just when they thought they could make plans for the future they could make plans for the future the prime minister announced a further lockdown last night. what businesses will try to be working at now is whether cash will be coming from because so many businesses still have huge expense even though they can't open. they have to pay their rent and rates and other bills

as well as supporting staff even although they may be on the furlough scheme. the package of measures announced by the chancel this morning may go some way to rectify that. he says this will help businesses get through to the spring when they led to believe restrictions may be able to be lifted once again. i many businesses are frustrated that it is the on of restrictions proving so difficult to navigate. one landlord i spoke to this morning says he has a cellar. he was hoping to sell. even if they we re he was hoping to sell. even if they were able to do so through takeaway service. we are told now example that takeaway is of alcoholic drinks will be prohibited. many pubs and restau ra nts will be prohibited. many pubs and restaurants have been making a small bit of trade by being able to do ta keaway bit of trade by being able to do takeaway service but that has been ruled out. so lots of questions for business, not least how they get their hands on this money. also big questions for individuals. well theirjob still be there in the months to come? we know that many

businesses will be making some pretty big decisions right now about how they survive the start of this year. already pretty lean times after what would have been a christmas rush, january and february and then march are traditionally quite quiet. we know retailfor example, also leisure will be targeted in these measures to support the sector is most badly affected. but big questions about how long firms can keep this up. many i have spoken to are still frustrated some just hold hands up and say we cannot go on. and all of that of course on top of a change in how we go out and spend and shop. we have the money in our pockets and feel confident enough to go out and spend again when these restrictions are lifted? spend again when these restrictions are lifted ? some spend again when these restrictions are lifted? some clarity as far as financial help is concerned but still so many unanswered questions about whether we will spend, or whether the economy will be in recession and for the firms can buy this out and keep these jobs in place until restrictions are lifted.

a lot of the projections are that the unemployment rate is only going to go up and also questions about what happens to those who are self—employed who since last march have not felt at all well supported? first of all on the unemployment rate, the government spending watchdog has forecast the unemployment rate in the uk could hit seven and a half percent, more than doubling from current levels, by the middle of this year saw big questions about the number of people out of work. remember the furlough scheme that is supporting jobs, propping up salaries for those not able to work, is due to run out at the end of april. it was extended from the end of march so lots of concern there. of course it is a sort of self—fulfilling cycle. if people are out of work they don't have the money in their pocket to go out and spend and that creates for the problems down the line. but elsewhere there are a lot of people

who describe themselves as excluded. they say they have fallen through the gaps of the support schemes, whether they are the furlough scheme other self—employed income support scheme. the chancellor has been at pains to point out he is trying to help as many people as possible but there are people who fall through there are people who fall through the cracks, namely people who are self employed but have set up a limited company to pay themselves. if the other director of that company they are not entitled to any support and that includes all sorts of people who might not initially expect. people like personal trainers are self—employed people working on a number of different jobs. those people don't get as much support or any support as those in employment. and also it is very difficult in some respects for them to prove their income because we know if you're in self—employed you're in can can vary pretty wildly. so there is cold this morning for more targeted support for those who fall through the gaps. so far no details from the

chancellor. he says the vat reduction scheme is in place in the business reef leap rate relief scheme is in place and the furlough scheme is in place and the furlough scheme is in place and £4.6 billion to help leisure and retail. but still questions from people as to how they get their hands on it because they need that cash and they need it now. let's turn to scotland — where the whole of mainland scotland and skye are also in lockdown from today. people are told to stay at home — and should only leave home for essential reasons. a maximum of two people from up to two households can meet outdoors — that excludes under—12s. and in a divergence from england — places of worship are shut except for wedding and funerals. our scotland correspondent alexandra mackenzie is in glasgow. we canjoin we can join her we canjoin her now. this is

scotland's first day back in lockdown, a lockdown very similar to the one that we saw in march. this lockdown is due to last until the end of the month but it could last longer because the number of cases have been rising and the new variant is becoming more dominant. it does mean that the whole of mainland scotla nd mean that the whole of mainland scotland plus sky will be under very strict restrictions. —— skye. it will be illegal for anyone to leave home except for essential reasons, going out to get groceries, going to ca re going out to get groceries, going to care for someone and seeing someone within your extended household. people also have to work from home u nless people also have to work from home unless it is absolutely essential to go to your place of work. anyone who was shielding the last time has been told they shouldn't be going to a place of work, they should be staying at home. restrictions have also be tightened for meeting each other outside. it has been possible

for several people to meet up and go for several people to meet up and go for a walk but from today one person can meet one other person from another household. children aged 11 and underare another household. children aged 11 and under are exempt from this. they can meet and slightly larger groups. nicola sturgeon said the most difficult decision was about schools because the priority has been to keep schools open for as long as possible but schools for most children are now closed until at least the 1st of february. one of the key reasons that nicola sturgeon said she had to do this was to try and protect 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 within three to four weeks. one of the stark figures nicola sturgeon gave yesterday about the nhs was the capacity to deal with covid patients. she said currently in ayrshire and arran nhs trust are a 96% capacity and two other trusts, including glasgow at around 60% capacity. so very worrying. a key difference this lockdown is the vaccine. people have started to receive the vaccine was top around 100,000 people in scotland have received the first doors and nicola sturgeon has said by the beginning of may everyone over the age of 50 should have received a first doors so that does bring a glimmer of hope. nicola sturgeon said this morning she is absolutely scunnered by the switch is a scottish word for

totally fed up and she understands people are fed up but has urged people are fed up but has urged people to follow the rules because we could be in for a very difficult few weeks and months. and coming up we'll be answering your questions on the lockdown restrictions just after half past 11. i'll be joined by the public health expert, linda bauld. get in touch with the hashtag #bbcyourquestions — or email yourquestions@bbc.co.uk let's just take a look at the latest developments this morning. first — the prime minister will hold a downing street press conference at 17:00 this evening. also this morning:

the chancellor has announced a new support package for business — worth £4.6 billion. businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors will receive a grant worth up to £9,000. michael gove confirmed this morning that the summer exams will not go ahead — following the decision to order schools to switch to online learning. mr gove also said that a decision will be announced later on whether passengers entering the uk will need a negative covid test to do so. let's get more on that support for businesses — the chancellor has been speaking this morning. business will get £4.6 billion. that remains an extension to the existing schemes and furlough. the institute

of directors are seeing their main concern is a bit role of support is still on the cards for our businesses. can you tell us today you are prepared to extend furlough for as long as it takes? the tuc said the best way to take control of the virus is to get people to self—isolate and you have to introduce or increase the level of statutory sick pay. are you prepared to look at that? we are having a budget early in march and all of our economic support, including the announcement today, runs through to the spring so i think the budget in early march is an excellent opportunity to take stock of the range of support we have put in place and set a ten x monster coronavirus. we will have a budget and in early march where we will review all the support we have put out and set out our next response to

coronavirus at that point. once this new variant of the coronavirus became apparent and the level of contagion it could cause is not simply the case that you and the prime minister have been behind the curve fear? the decision making in government really needs to improve because businesses and parents are paying the price for delayed decision—making. parents were given virtually no notice schools would close and businesses on the today getting another emergency support package. could you not have done this a lot sooner? might the prime minister has acted decisively in the face of new information and we now have had to tackle a new variant of the virus and that has caused an u pta ke the virus and that has caused an uptake in cases and hospitalisation and death. regrettably in regard to schools with heavy heart but decisively in order to protect peoples lives and our health at this difficult time. and in respect to our economic support. we set out months ago complains of economic support that lasts all the way

through to the spring for the —— with editors furlough —— whether it is furlough our cash grants or whatever. we will have a budget early in march which will set out our support. we're joined by the shadow chancellor anneliese dodds. your party has been calling for this lockdown we have finally had an ounce. iam assuming lockdown we have finally had an ounce. i am assuming you will be in favour of the kind of support rishi sunak has announced today.|j favour of the kind of support rishi sunak has announced today. i have to say i am concerned by some of what the chancellor stated in the clip you just assured. it is not the case the types of support under different measures by government are all continuing through the spring. even just this month, for example, we

have an end to the ban on evictions, we have changed to the mortgage support scheme and we see very large numbers of people and businesses extremely concerned about their future. we should not have had yet again an announcement of new restrictions last night. without an acknowledgement of those economic problems. and for example if you think about many working parents, many of them already facing a situation where their children would have been at home. one in ten children would have been at home even under the limited school closures. we were calling on government to make changes to the furlough scheme to help those pa rents. furlough scheme to help those parents. we furlough scheme to help those pa rents. we have furlough scheme to help those parents. we have heard nothing about that and the chancellor again did not respond to that issue today. we really need to see the chancellor making a full statement around economic support. our country has had the worst recession of any major

economy. we need a much more complains of response than what we have heard today. but we are told this package of measures is worth £4.6 billion. it's a staggering amount of money. we know that the business rate relief is going to continue under bobby grant's pair property of up to nine thousand pounds and the furlough does continue to the end of april. we are hardly facing a cliff edge, are we? businesses are facing a cliff edge in support until now, that was one of many reasons why labour said some time ago that we needed clarity. that is looking backwards and sort of criticising something we now know is not the case. i havejust of criticising something we now know is not the case. i have just set out this incredible package of measures the chancellor has put forward. with respect, you did set out the business rates linked grant scheme

the chancellor announced this morning and as i was trying to say, i'm sorry if i wasn't her dad, as i was trying to say, obviously we have been calling for more clarity around that. if we look at the situation around many other groups and impacted people and businesses, we haven't seen a response from government. we have had many months of this crisis now where we have had large numbers of businesses excluded from support. no change from government around the self—employed income support scheme and how that is designed and we are facing a situation where our country as had a worse recession than any other major economy. of course it is welcome that we have seen an acknowledgement now of some of the challenges facing businesses but we need the chancellor to be willing, in

particular to come to parliament and face questions around these issues about excluded groups, situations for working parents and others. he hasn't been willing to do that and in the middle of this economic crisis i'm afraid that is not good enough. how much would it cost to provide the kind of support you believe is missing? we would say first of all the support must be appropriately targeted. we have seen billions of pounds unfortunately during this crisis not being necessarily targeted in the right directions, hundreds of millions of pounds wasted on contracts that have not delivered. and we've repeatedly pressured government to get a grip on that mismanagement and the crawly are some frankly that has infested much of the management contract. ——

cronyism. i think we need to talk about spending being specifically targeted. the chancellor often talks about overall spending and it says in the uk the overall spending on the covid response has been large compared to other countries. that is correct but the question is whether that spending has been focused with it is needed and would say right now we need simple changes to be made. for example to the furlough scheme and to working payments and quite simple changes to the social security scheme. we have costed those and are not significant changes. for people in the future who might become unemployed and might not have the confidence to set up might not have the confidence to set up their own businesses into the future. of course it is notjust the labour party who have been making many of those calls, in many cases we have also seen business

association is calling for that comprehensive support as well. have you done a costing of how much the support would cost the taxpayer for the support that you believe is missing and that the labour party would introduce if you were in power? for every different call that we have made on government we have set out what to the impact of that would be. the overall total? we have been having to respond to these different measures set out by government, so for example, we were calling for the £2 billion worth of returned business rates relief from supermarkets to be focused on those excluded groups. so we set out exactly how we would have delivered that support. we have no seamless package coming forward from government, we don't have an indication yet of course of how long it is anticipated it would last for. and really we are seeing to

government, please come forward with that more comprehensive package, don't know leave any change until the budget, which is what the chancellor seems to be is suggesting he would do. so the answer is you have not come up with an overall figure of what it would cost to provide the support you believe is missing? would support it mac -- with respect that is not the case. you have just avoided with respect that is not the case. you havejust avoided giving us a figure. you are more than welcome to look at the different announcements that labour has made. you are here asa that labour has made. you are here as a shadow chancellor to chart that out for us and tell us how much you think labour would need to spend to provide the support that isn't there and in your view. provide the support that isn't there and in yourview. it provide the support that isn't there and in your view. it isjust a figure, a ballpark figure. i've asked four times. but we have said that. what is it? we have

consistently done that. at the same time we have argued that support should be better targeted. if you look at the self—employed income support scheme we have just been talking about the enormous gaps in that scheme. the government did not make that targeted and by doing that they could have freed up funds so those who have not been covered could be delivered with the help that they need. we are absolutely determined that we need to have strong financial control. we have not seen that unfortunately from government during this crisis. the national audit office has made this very clear. labour takes a very different approach and i would say i think it is important for all politicians to set that out. i think it is very important for the chancellor to be doing that as well. news of another lockdown can be worrying and anxiety inducing for us all. the mental health charity mind said in november that more people experienced a mental health crisis during the coronavirus pandemic

than ever previously recorded. joining us to talk about how to look after our mental health is dr radha modgil, gp and wellbeing campaigner. thank gp and wellbeing campaigner. you very much forjt what thank you very much forjoining us. what are some of the symptoms people might be experiencing, that they might be experiencing, that they might not even realise they're about anxiety and depression? with every change that we undergo, with every uncertainty, with every changing guideline and changing room, it ta kes a guideline and changing room, it takes a lot of emotional energy, mental energy, and people i have been coming across as patients have been reporting a lot of anxiety, fear, a lot of de—motivation, frustration

and also a sense of losing hope. i think that is one of the key red flags. for example, if you are feeling more irritable, if you are feeling more irritable, if you are feeling tired, stressed out, if small things are getting to you, if you are avoiding talking to your friends and family on the internet, for example. if you are not exercising, getting out of bed coming during these routine self—care things, they are red flags that you might need a bit of support and help. give us a self-care plan, if you would, those small things that probably can cost you very much money, they don't need a great deal of effort that we can all make each day just to of effort that we can all make each dayjust to keep us of effort that we can all make each day just to keep us feeling of effort that we can all make each dayjust to keep us feeling in the moments, i suppose, dayjust to keep us feeling in the moments, isuppose, as dayjust to keep us feeling in the moments, i suppose, as much as anything. if you look too far into the future can feel very overwhelming. it is important that we focus on the things we are able to control and do in our day to day lives. people who need support, you need to talk to their gp or talk to mental health services, please do. for people who don't need that level

of support it is important to think about what she can do. think about control, what you are able to control. that is problem—solving, for example. if you are under financial pressure, warts can be due to problem solve. then there are other things you can control, so different strategies, going out in nature, meditation, grunting exercises can let go of those worrying thoughts. not to be too much in the future thinking, but more in the present moment. making two small choices. self—care, getting up, getting worse, eating, drinking is normal and as healthy as possible. then continuity. that is routine, structure, making you feel grounded. the next one was creativity. that is all about hobbies, nature, art, music. those

are hobbies, nature, art, music. those a re really hobbies, nature, art, music. those are really important things for us. those are things that we can control. so put on your coat, go for a walk, put on your favourite podcast, back and take your mind away from worrying. the last one was compassion. that is about being kind to yourself that you're having a tough day, but also being kind to other people and doing what we can asa other people and doing what we can as a community to look after each other. we are all very tired.|j think many people will echo those sentiments. it is a strange day when you congratulate yourselfjust sentiments. it is a strange day when you congratulate yourself just for getting out of bed and having a wash. thank you forjoining us.l pleasure, thank you. sport now and a full round—up from the bbc sport centre. here's jane dougal. good mornnng. elite level sport in england, such as premier league football, will continue from behind closed doors following the new coronavirus restrictions, but amateur sport will have to stop. all indoor facilities such as gyms must 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. england golf say they are 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. however, 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. tottenham host brentford in the league cup semifinal this evening, and tomorrow in the other match it is the manchester derby at old trafford. manchester united manager ole gunnar solskjaer says he knows that watching sport is keeping fans going during these difficult times. we are privileged to be able to play football and check the protocols that we are working under hopefully

we can continue. i think mentally, for many, it would be a release to watch games now, especially when we are infull watch games now, especially when we are in full lockdown again, so hopefully we can continue, but we know that we have to work hard to stay within the rules and guidelines and we are doing our best to keep the show on the road. 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. we reported yesterday that moeen ali had tested positive and he will be leaving the england base today and heading to the quarantine hotel near galle, where the two test matches will be played. sri lanka are not in the best of form right now, they've just lost their two—match test series against south africa 2—0. south africa comfortably winning the second test, on day three, just a few minutes ago by ten wickets. new zealand captain kane williamson showed why he's the world's

top—ranked test batsman with a masterful double century against pakistan in christchurch. he batted for nine and a half hours in a mammoth 369—run partnership with henry nicholls, as they took control of the second test and closed in on a 2—0 series sweep. williamson finished with 238. the black caps declared on 659—6, giving them a lead of 362 at stumps on the third day. 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 will 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. you can find more on all those stories on the bbc sport website.

the first race of the formula 1 season could be postponed because of covid—19 in australia. season could be postponed because of covid-19 in australia. it is ttip ta ke covid-19 in australia. it is ttip take place in melbourne between 19-215t take place in melbourne between 19—21st of march. that is all the sport for now. there's a fresh move today to make ‘non—fatal strangulation' a specific criminal offence in england and wales, as the house of lords debates an amendment to the domestic abuse bill. the government says it has no plans to change the law, arguing that it's already covered by existing legislation. however, campaigners say abusers who use non—fatal strangulation are threatening their victims with extreme violence, but are too often charged only with common assault. with me is rachel williams, the founder of stand up to domestic abuse. i'm alsojoined by nogah ofer, a solicitor at the centre for women'sjustice. welcome to both of you. for those of you who don't know, rachel, could you who don't know, rachel, could you explain what nonfatal strangulation is. i realise this is

a potentially deeply distressing question. i faced that experience when i was seven months pregnant. i was lifted up the job when i was seven months pregnant. i was lifted up thejob in my when i was seven months pregnant. i was lifted up the job in my throat. he was six foot seven and 22 stone, it was a body—builder. he later let me go on my lips turned blue. that was the first time i had ever experienced nonfatal strangulation and it was quite a regular violent a cts and it was quite a regular violent acts that my perpetrator carried out over the next 18 years. it is distressing even to hear that happening and for rachel to tell that story. how does the law regards nonfatal strangulation currently and why is it inadequate? the law is letting womenjoin why is it inadequate? the law is letting women join at the moment. the main problem is on the charging. a lot of nonfatal strangulation is

absolutely terrifying, it is a high level of violence, but it is usually charges common assault, which is the equivalent of a slap, the lowest level of assault charge. very often it is not charged at all. we think there needs to be a specific offence which makes it clear to police office rs which makes it clear to police officers that it is a really serious matter and is officers that it is a really serious matterand is an officers that it is a really serious matter and is an easy tool for them to use. tell us what is happening in the house of lords debate over this domestic abuse kill because the government is not inclined to change the law. the government needs to listen to do to have been abused and the victim of these perpetrators. their sole purpose is to have a reign of fear over their victims. my last active nonfatal strangulation carried out myself was six weeks prior to him coming in to my place

of work and treating me with a sawn off shotgun. six weeks later my 16—year—old son committed suicide. it is all well and good for them to say we have a lot of this, my perpetrator was charged with common assault and i have not spoken to one woman over the years of me campaigning and being an advocate for victims and survivors of domestic abuse and violence that have not been strangled or throttled. it really needs to be implemented on this bill. your story is so staggering to listen to, rachel. it is hard to move on from what you have just said. the minister ofjustice says that this crime is serious but it can be covered by an attempted murder charge. that is significantly more serious caution and common assault. i often do you see such a charge levelled against the perpetrator?m is very, very rare, for attempted murder you have to prove that the

person intended to kill. very often you can prove that in most cases are not fatal, it is usually a foremost course of control rather than an temp two kill someone, so that law just isn't really used very often and there is a gap in the law. the laws that we have got can be used sometimes but generally they are not and that is why we do end up with either of these common assault cases we re either of these common assault cases were nothing at all. we will keep an eye on that debate on whether that amendment gets through. i wanted to talk to you about what the prime minister said in his address to the country last night when he specifically mentioned that if you are at risk from domestic abuse during the lockdown, then that is a legitimate reason for you to leave home. how significant was it that he mentioned that last night?m home. how significant was it that he mentioned that last night? it is very important. i don't know what the word i'm looking for, it was music to my ears to hear the prime

minister saying that. since the lockdown last year in march i have supported over 300 women on a freedom programme that i run for abused women. i just freedom programme that i run for abused women. ijust want freedom programme that i run for abused women. i just want to freedom programme that i run for abused women. ijust want to put freedom programme that i run for abused women. i just want to put the message out there if there are any victims and survivors watching you need help, the services are open, the police will still come to those calls and also the freedom programme is an amazing programme, it is delivered online via soon and i have supported over 300 women since march last year. i brought up the subject of nonfatal strangulation and the majority of those women i have supported each week of all said that they have been strangled, so we really need to push and to get the message out there. you might be in lockdown, but you will get the police coming to you if you make that call, all the helplines are there to make that call and people can there to make that call and people ca n co nta ct there to make that call and people can contact me via my website and the freedom programme is there. i had 18 women on my programme in my

last intake he was still bitter perpetrator so it is there to help those violent men how well provided for our domestic abuse survivors, when we hear there is a desperate need for services out there. there has been some extra money for domestic abuse services that they are incredibly stretched. most services were underfunded before lockdown happened in lockdown came along, domestic abuse went through the roof. i know that all the front line services that we are in touch with our working around the clock, working a lot of time from home to support women. the services are out there, they are doing their best so i would encourage women to get in touch, but they need more support, the more the better to really address this during lockdown. thank you both forjoining us here on bbc

news. if you've been affected by any of the issues we've been talking about, you can find details of where to find support online at bbc.co.uk/actionline or by calling 08000155 998. some breaking news to bring you from our business correspondence regarding the high street stationers and card company paper chase. they are on the brink of administration we are told. it is felt a notice to appoint administrators as it tries to rescue the business. the company has 127 and 1500 employees. the second lockdown at the start of that christmas trading period was a big blow to paper chase with 40% of its sales coming from custom in november and december. they now have ten days breathing space to find a solution

and rescue the business. now on bbc news it's time for your questions answered. you've been sending it lots of questions about the new lockdown rules. here's to try and answer some of them is professor linda bauld, a public health expert from the university of edinburgh. thank you very much forjoining us. people understandably are trying to make sense of the latest announcements, the first question is from vanessa jones. she asked, can my son returned to his shared accommodation for university? i am conscious that different parts of the uk may have different answers to that question. it is a good question from vanessa and one that i am acutely aware of working in the university sector. i would say that not all universities have been very quick at communicating with their

students. what we know generally across the uk is that students who are studying courses where some face—to—face teaching is essential, like medicine, veterinary medicine, allied health professions, social work, they are permitted to return to campus and there will be some courses that will be provided. for the vast majority of other students they should stay where they are at they should stay where they are at the moment because the teaching will be online. that is certainly the case for most of my students. what i would say to vanessa's son, it is important that if he has a place in holes he leases directly with the university and accommodation provider to make cherry has the latest accommodation and to make sure there isn't a penalty associated with him not returning. peter white ask an estate agent stay open and still visit properties during lockdown? the buying and selling of homes are still permitted across the uk during this period. estate agents are being advised to

work from home, and most will be. viewings will still be permitted. i think most will be looking at homes online on the estate agent websites, and for the viewings that are permitted, there is clear guidance around those physical distancing etc. but the bang of selling and homes continues. peter asked, does the one person i can meet each day for exercise have to be the same one? no, it doesn't. we are a to meet... to spirits in scotland, there are two people your like to meet outdoors. for england, one person outdoors and that does not need to be in your bubble. if you're exercising with them can be a different person on a monday and tuesday, but it is really important that that physical distancing is maintained when you're exercising with someone not in your household, which can be tricky sometimes. the question i would ask is, this is probably not the time to be meeting a different friend every day of the

week for a jog, but it is important that we get outside for exercise. remember, we have to keep our distance if they are not in our household. there are lots of questions about support bubbles and who we can and can't meet. alice as, iam in who we can and can't meet. alice as, iamina who we can and can't meet. alice as, i am in a support distance with my partner but we are in a long—distance relationship. can we see each other if you travel by car and take all the necessary precautions? this is a question lots of people will be asking. i am particularly concerned about our young people and them maintaining their relationships. support bubbles to continue. if alex and his partner meet all the criteria for an existing support bubble, that is fine. they can also meet legally, evenif fine. they can also meet legally, even if they live further apart. we are being advised very clearly across the uk to stay local. the question i would ask alex is to try to think very carefully about not doing that in the normal way, but i

doing that in the normal way, but i do recognise the importance of maintaining these relationships. other people are also asking, if you have a support bubble can you then meet someone else from outside that support bubble because you have choose household and support bubble. can you make that extra person from another household ? can you make that extra person from another household? it just can you make that extra person from another household? itjust makes the group bigger and bigger and bigger if you're not careful. in terms of indoors, we should only be sticking with the support bubbles and childcare bubbles for indoors. if you want to see other people you keep doing it outdoors and those limits we just talked about in relation to exercise apply. stephen asked, we have my late mother was maxime funeral this thursday in up until last night we could have had 30 people attending. what are the rules now? funerals are still going ahead. in england are really still that 30 people can attend the funeral in an covid secure venue or an outdoor venue with physical distancing. in scotland the guidance

has been updated for 20 people. i haven't had a chance to check the numbers in wales and northern ireland, so depending on where you are in the country check your devolved government was my guidance. 13 and go ahead, and 20 in scotland. charlotte as we have a holiday booked for disneyland paris for my daughter was my birthday, will be still be still be able to go? it sounds like a brilliant family occasion but if it was for example next week, the advice would be no. there are two relative points there. there are two relative points there. the first one is that with the new restrictions we are all facing, we are only allowed to leave our homes for essential purposes and going on holiday is not one of those. in relation to international travel, we are being strongly advised not to travel internationally, and there are being strongly advised not to travel internationally, and their only restriction restrictions that had been introduced recently because of the new variants. in relation to france, nobody from the uk should be going to france at all except for

essential purposes up to the 6th of january. given that we are looking at mid february, things of course may change, but if that trip was occurring soon it definitely wouldn't be going ahead, u nfortu nately. wouldn't be going ahead, unfortunately. we will have to wait a little while longer to see if it can go ahead. clive says, my partner is clinically vulnerable and is now shielding, i work in a different house each day, or different houses each day, per my work is regarded as nonessential, what should i do? that is really tricky. if you look at the guidance it is not clear. there are a number of things to consider there. if it is nonessential work, clearly for your income, you need to maintain that. is there an opportunity you could shift some of that work to working from home? if you are worried about your partner going into lots of other people's titles is not ideal. it is more of a personal decision for you. you are allowed to leave your home for work, but you have to think about the health and well—being of your

partner. i don't have a straightforward a nswer partner. i don't have a straightforward answer from the guidance, it is more aboutjudgment. i would say with any householder you have a person who is clinically vulnerable, to speak to your gp, the person caring for your loved one to get the advice. jennifer asked whether her husband he is a builder can still carry on working in people's ohms? jennifer, the guidance is clear on that. obviously, we don't want to be faced with the situation during this period were somebody has a leaking roof damage and repairs that need to their home, so it is absolutely clear that trades people, including builders, are able to continue to work, able to go other parts mac houses and support and services. ellie asks, i have been staying with my parents just before the site is into tier 3. we are now in lockdown but they still need to get back to my home in sheffield. will i be fined for taking a train? public transport continues. i think it will

probably be reduced across the uk during this period, but you are able to leave the place where you are for essential purposes. let's imagine that ellie is returning to sheffield because she has to return to education or employment. that is entirely allowed within the guidance. have a look again at what your circumstances are, but it sounds like you are going back to your main life and activities in sheffield and that is certainly not outside what is permitted. bob has succumbed to what a lot of people have done during lockdown and he is getting a puppy. he is supposed to be collecting it on the 15th of january. is this allowed as it is just a handover? a couple of things to think about there. we have had questions on this earlier in the pandemic. people are allowed to leave their house for pet care, for visiting the vet or for animal welfare. that is permitted. however, collecting a puppy at the moment i

don't think it is viewed as essential. clearly you are allowed to meet another person outdoors so if it could be done locally that way, if you are going into the property of a breeder, that doesn't seem to me, for my reading of the guidance is in the spirit of what is being encouraged at the moment. still, padded, maybe one person. this is horrible for people, to have to understand these restrictions again, but they are for a very good reason. a final one from brian, will there be an mot extension? i am 74 and my mot runs out next week. there be an mot extension? i am 74 and my mot runs out next weeklj there be an mot extension? i am 74 and my mot runs out next week. i had to look this one up. my understanding is the mot or extended until the 20th of august, but during these new restrictions garages are permitted to remain open, mot can continue. unfortunately for brian, it doesn't look like he will be able

to getan it doesn't look like he will be able to get an mot extension. better to keep that car on the road if it is really needed. professor linda bauld, thank you for all of your research and for answering all of our very research and for answering all of our very many questions, thank you. now it's time for a look at the weather with carol. hello, again. for many of us once again today it's going to be a cold day. some of us, we are looking at wintry showers in the forecast. now had pressures dominating the weather, effectively keeping the weather fronts at bay, however, there is one still very much with us, it has been with us for a couple of days come in the south—east, extending towards the channel islands and it still producing showery outbreaks of rain. the isobars telling you we still have some gusty winds across england and also wales. here is the showery outbreaks of rain across the south—east and channel islands, some of that will be wintry on higher ground and it's the same for showers across northern england

and also southern scotland. even into wales, some showers on higher ground will be wintry. gusty winds not quite as gusty as yesterday but represented in the black circles, you will notice them on the brighter skies, south—west england, wales, northern ireland, western scotland. for the rest of us there will be some sunny skies at times, still be quite a bit of cloud also, and what you will find is that cloud will be thick enough for some showers, wintry on higher ground. the wind direction coming from the north—east, chilly direction, and we got temperatures below average forjanuary anyway, 3—6, ion the wind and it will feel colder. through this evening and overnight we hang on to the weather front in the south—east and channel islands, so further showery outbreaks of rain for you. further wintry showers across northern england and scotland, not all of us see them and it's going to be a cold enough for some frost, widespread across scotland, the risk of ice on untreated services. tomorrow, the high pressure gives

way to low pressure and does this front comes in, it will introduce some rain later in the day. the wind strength, the gust won't be as strong and it's slightly changed so that means the distribution of showers will be slightly different from what we are looking at today, still if you across the north sea coastline, some in kent and the channel islands for many of us, it's dry, some sunshine, cold, and through the afternoon we see the rain coming in across the north west of scotland. overnight, that will sink south across scotland taking some snow with it, getting into northern ireland and it will slowly move southwards during the course of thursday. ahead of it, there will be a lot of dry weather, some showers, behind it, further wintry showers in the north.

this is bbc news. i'm martine croxall. the headlines: stay at home. people in england enter a third national lockdown as the government tries to reduce the spread of coronavirus. a lockdown came into force on the scottish mainland at midnight and last at least until the end of the month. the chancellor announces one—off top up grants for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses worth up to £9,000 to help companies through the latest lockdown. it's important to remember that comes on top of the existing monthly

grants of £3,000 that those businesses receive an extension of ( they need to see the chancellor making a full statement around economic support. our country has had the worst economic response to coronavirus. we really need a full statement today. 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. i want to be there for kids, i want to be there for families with young children that need to stay active. and i'm going to do it for three days a week, monday, wednesday and friday at 9am, just like before in lockdown one. and how to keep fit whilst staying at home — joe wicks is back to help you and the family keep active with a series of new online workouts. businesses hit by the latest

coronavirus restrictions are to receive over £4 billion worth of financial support. millions of people in england are being told to stay at home once more, in a third lockdown announced by the prime minister, who warned the weeks ahead would be "the hardest yet". the £4.6 billion worth of support announced by chancellor rishi sunak is aimed at giving one—off grants of up to £9,000 to businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors. business leaders welcome the financial package, but are appealing to ministers to provide support for the whole of 2021 — notjust until spring — to help businesses of all shapes and sizes survive. 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. other parts of the uk were already in lockdown. 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. downing street has said that the prime minister will hold a breifing at number 10 at five o'clock this afternoon, where he will be joined by chief medical adviser to the uk, professor chris whitty, and chief scientific adviser, sir patrick vallance. in the last hour the chancellor, rishi sunak, has been talking about the new business support measures. in order to help support businesses through a difficult period through to the spring, today we've announced £4.6 billion of additional help for businesses in the most affected sectors who were asked to close. they will receive up to £9,000 in a one—off cash grant. it's important to remember

that comes on top of the existing monthly grants of £3,000 that those businesses receive and the extension of furlough all the way through to april. 729 million pounds will be made available to the administrations in northern ireland, wales and scotland. the prime minister has acted decisively in the face of new information and we now have had to grapple with a new variant of the virus and that has caused an uptick in cases and hospitalisation and deaths, as the prime minister set out. and it was right that we acted, regrettably in regard to schools, with heavy heart, that we acted decisively in order to protect people's lives and their health at this difficult time. and with respect to our economic support, we've set out months ago comprehensive economic

support that lasts all the way through to the spring, comprehensive economic support that lasts all the way through to the spring, whether it's furlough or grant or loans or tax deferrals, tax cuts, so that businesses could plan through that difficult period. we will have a budget early in march when we can take stock of all that support and then set out the next stage of our economic response at that time. for labour, the shadow chancellor anneliese dodds says that's not enough it is not the case the types of support under different measures by government are all continuing through the spring. evenjust this month, for example, we have an end to the ban on evictions, we have change to the mortgage support scheme and we see very large numbers of people and businesses extremely concerned about their future. we should not have had yet again an announcement of new restrictions last night. without an acknowledgement of those economic problems. and for example if you think about many working parents, many of them already facing a situation where their children would have been at home. one in ten children would have been at home

even under the limited school closures. we were calling on government to make changes to the furlough scheme to help those parents. we have heard nothing around that and the chancellor again did not respond to that issue today. we really need to see the chancellor making a full statement around economic support. our country has had the worst recession of any major economy. we need a much more comprehensive response than what we have heard today. let's speak to our business presenter ben thompson. £4.6 billion. labour still don't think it is adequate. just when businesses thought it was safe to make plans we had new lockdown restrictions in england announced by the prime minister last night on top

of those in wales and scotland. business will look how it can try and keep on some of the staff it has been keeping on so far since march since all of this began and what it will do next. as the chancellor said they are, what he describes as a comprehensive package of support and it gives a financial lifeline to some businesses but let's not forget there are a whole swathe of people that fall through the cracks we don't get any support given their financial situation or their employment situation, particularly those may be self—employed directors of their own companies. and also remember business needs cash and needsit remember business needs cash and needs it now. many businesses say the changing restrictions mean it is very difficult to plan and they have spent a lot of money preparing for opening and then at the last minute of the are not allowed to open. one pump company —— one public company i

spoke to this morning said it has a seller of produce it will have to go to waste. many businesses have to pay rates on bills even the way they are not open and encourage great expense just to keep open. they have to make decisions for the future is viable to keep on staff even if they are on the government furlough scheme and whether the businesses will survive until restrictions are lifted so lots of big question still and once again there are people who will not benefit from these latest rounds of financial incentives and support schemes that have been offered by the treasury. what is happening with paper chase? further evidence today about the impact that this is happening on businesses. you may know paper chase from the high street, telling us this morning it needs to appoint administrators. it by no means means it is the end of

the road but underlines how difficult it is for businesses out there. they have 127 stores in 1500 staff. they say they make 40% of their whole years worth of revenue and sales in november and december. christmas wrapping paper and business cards. they were not deemed to be an essential retailer are not able to open the stores. they do sell online and that held up pretty robustly but not enough to cancel out losses in high street stores. they have told us in the last hour they will appoint administrators. the idea of doing that gives a breathing space away from creditors are people it always tries to restructure the business but like we have seen at the end of last year andi have seen at the end of last year and i expect to see many more of these as we go through the start of this year, retailers that have not been able to make the money at the end of last year who now find themselves in the bleak months of january and february and march, a lot of bills are due then and they

do not have the money to pay them so we may see this is replicated elsewhere. but this morning paper chase telling us it's elsewhere. but this morning paper chase telling us its stores and staff are at risk if it cannot resolve this administration or perhaps find a new buyer. let's talk to our political correspondent nick eardley. 15.6 people 15. 6 people —— 15.6 people —— 15.6 million people watched the statement of the prime minister on the bbc alone and sir keir starmer will make a statement later. there is also a press conference at five o'clock with the prime minister and his chief medical adviser. it is a sign of how serious the situation as we are getting all

these daily updates. i expect to hear a bit more about the vaccine this evening when we hear from the prime minister. i suppose one of the questions he is facing and being asked by some of his political opponents is what change between sunday when we were hearing the prime minister telling parents in england it was safe to send children to primary schools, that we should be doing so this week. monday morning when he said yes, there might be new restrictions for england but did not seem much of a rush to announce them saying they would come in due course and yesterday evening when he basically put england back into that stay—at—home lockdown. one of the reasons we are being told by downing street is that he got new figures suggesting, showing that there had been a huge rise in the number of positive cases at the end of december. the other was the advice he was getting from the chief medical officers. have a listen to the cabinet office at minister

michael gove. 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. there was considerable political pressure yesterday, you had nicola sturgeon on the verge of introducing lockdown again in scotland and jeremy hunt, a former health secretary seeing immediate action needed to be taken and sir keir starmer said there needed to be an immediate lockdown in england. have a listen to what he was saying this

morning. we are in a race against time, we have a contract with the british people, i suppose, to say these are tough restrictions, and they are tough. in return, the government has to roll out the vaccine programme at speed and accelerate that, that is a huge i expect we will hear something similar from i expect we will hear something similarfrom the i expect we will hear something similar from the labour leader i expect we will hear something similarfrom the labour leader in response to the prime minister tonight. for questions about when this lockdown was necessary and what will be done over the next few weeks to make sure those restrictions can be lifted as soon as possible. as we've been hearing the nhs risks being overwhelmed — that was the key message that drove action in march and ten months on it is again the case — the chief medical officer for england chris whitty says covid cases are rising rapidly across the uk. to get a great sense of what is happening in hospitals right now across the country, we can speak to dr claudia paoloni.

she's president of the hospital consultants and specialists association, and a consultant anaesthetist in bristol. give us a sense, and oversight, if you would, of how hospitals are coping, notjust you would, of how hospitals are coping, not just those you would, of how hospitals are coping, notjust those already in tier 4 but those in the lower tiers. there is pressure throughout the country. what we are seeing and hearing from our members is that there is a general increase in the number of infections which is therefore having an impact on hospital admissions. of course it is quite patchy still across the country with the worst areas affected being london and the south—east and east of england but thatis south—east and east of england but that is having an impact on other areas now as there is this mutual help situation where when the hospitals are filling up in london they had to transfer patients out of region so that is really happening across the other areas, even of

those areas are slightly lower are not as badly affected. so that is impacting them. what is the impact at the moment on non—covid cases in hospitals? we are seeing that is also quite variable across the country. we have seen in some areas work are still carrying on but other areas such as worcester where they areas such as worcester where they are having to cancel elective work, certainly in london elective work is absolutely minimal although everyone is doing their absolute utmost using whatever means are possible to try to keep what going, for instance using the independent sector. but the knock—on effect, the reason this has had to happen and it is absolutely had to happen is because we can't wait for the areas that we re we can't wait for the areas that were in the lower tiers to become as affected by the new variant of the virus as has happened in london and the south—east and the new variant

is all over the country. so having to press down on it before it gets too bad to allow that to be some hope of stopping the nhs being overwhelmed nationally. when we had the first lockdown it was spring and throughout the summer months how much difference is that making that this is the winter? it is hugely different for a number of reasons. firstly the infection has been in our country for a long period of time it so the baseline number of infections, it has exponentially increase the numbers so there are more people infected and therefore more people infected and therefore more people infected and therefore more people being infected by those people. so the baseline numbers of infections are higher. we are going into the winter rather than coming out of the winter so we have the additional winter pressures and we have been working really hard trying to do touch—up work that had to be postponed in the earlier waves. and so the nhs workforce have been

absolutely working flat out ever since march and they are also now starting to burn out which is a real problem. the demographic of those who are now appealing in need of hospital support with covid, how is that change? the demographics is that change? the demographics is that there are more younger people being infected so there are people under the age of 50 coming into the hospitals. that is not to say the virus is becoming any more dangerous or harmful but it is the sheer number situation. we have more people infected generally and more of the younger age groups as well infected. the timing of this lockdown, some people have been calling for it for weeks. better late than never? when should it have come in. we certainly were calling for it well before christmas. i am

glad it has been done it is not the time no to criticise the government for when they should have been doing this earlier. it is an indication of how serious the situation is for the government to actually have to go back and what they have said about trying to protect schools and businesses, which is a very difficult balancing act for the government to do to stop for them to have to take this measure now should indicate to everyone just how serious the situation is right now. let's go to edinburgh where scotland's first minister is giving her daily briefing. she hasjust said the new variant is spreading across the country. exactly a week ago today, 93 people are in intensive care which is 28 more than a week ago today. 11 additional

deaths have been registered in the past 24 hours of patients who first tested positive in the previous 20 days. yesterday was a bank holiday so it is possible this figure today is artificially low as a result of that but it means that the total number of deaths reported under the steely measurement is now 4633. of course every single one of these deaths, a report here on a daily basis are statistics with every single one of those statistics represents a human being who has lost their lives to this virus and will have left behind grieving families and friends so again today my condolences and thoughts go to every individual and family in that situation. i'm joined today by the national clinical director who is going to help me answer questions in a few moments. but before we get to questions i want to take the opportunity to emphasise the key points that i set out yesterday in parliament. firstly, to reiterate,

the current situation we face now and the pandemic is in my view more serious than it has been at any time since the spring. and that's because this new more transmissible variant of covid is becoming increasingly common as i said a moment ago and as a result of that cases are rising much more steeply and rapidly than they had been in the latter part of last year and as a result of that more people are likely to become ill and the health service will become under more severe pressure. that is of course the negative, the worrying position we face and i don't see it for exaggeration, i see it because we all must take that seriously right now. but of course there is a difference between now and last spring and that is a positive difference, and that of course is the fact that vaccines have been approved for use in the uk now and

vaccines, as we know, does offer a way out of this pandemic. more than 100,000 people in scotland have already been vaccinated and as i set out in parliament yesterday we expect, though these timetables are still tentative, that by may more than 2.5 million people will have received at least the first dose of the vaccination and that includes eve ryo ne the vaccination and that includes everyone on what is called the priority list, everyone over the age of 50, and people under 50 who have specific underlying health conditions. we will do everything we can to speed that up to deliver vaccines as quickly as possible. and we will set out what our expectations are around that is the certainty we have on the floor supplies becomes much firmer, i hope, in the days and weeks to come. but in the race we currently face, andi but in the race we currently face, and i am describing it deliberately asa and i am describing it deliberately as a race between the vaccine and the virus because that really is in essence what it is. we cannot rely

solely on speeding up vaccination. that is important but because this new variant is spreading so much more quickly we must also act as we vaccinate more people to slow the by time so that the vaccination can get ahead and ultimately be in a position with it wins the race. and the new variant, because it is easier to transmit and spreads more quickly, it means that slowing it down is more difficult and that, to achieve that, takes much stricter restrictions than the ones that have beenin restrictions than the ones that have been in place over the past few months and that is why we got to the position yesterday of announcing what is effectively a new lockdown. and the key message we want to convey in our conveying and stressing very strongly as a simple message, not simple to abide by, but simple for me to communicate and thatis simple for me to communicate and that is a similar message to the one i communicated for much of last year and that is stay at home whenever

possible is the best way now of protecting ourselves, protecting each other, protecting the nhs and ultimately saving lives. there are of course specified essential purposes for which you can leave your house. these include exercise, essential shopping, your house. these include exercise, essentialshopping, providing your house. these include exercise, essential shopping, providing care, perhaps for a vulnerable relative. and because extended households are still permitted to try to help us in some way to tackle loneliness and isolation of these restrictions you can also leave home to visit the other people in your extended household. but fundamentally i'm asking everybody to really try hard to stay at home as much as possible and only leave home if it is for a genuinely essential purpose. and that means you must work from home as well if you can't. in fact it is only permissible to leave home to go to work if you cannot work from home. now, businesses and employers have a big part to play in making

sure we can achieve that. the economy secretary spoke to business organisers yesterday to reinforce this message. i want to be clear that we really need businesses in this next phase as they have been throughout to be responsible to help us fight this virus. and that means, just as this is true for individuals with the state home message, not a lwa ys with the state home message, not always looking for the loophole that allows you to stay open or have your staff are physically at work. instead it means thinking about how you as a business can maximise your contribution to the collective challenge that we all know face. and in return government must do and we will continue to do all we can to maximise the financial support available to you. the chancellor of the exchequer has just announced this morning a nationalfinancial support for businesses and we are over the course of the day trying to get clarity on the detail of that but we know what that then enables us to do in addition to the considerable financial support for businesses that is already in place.

now, returning to what lockdown means for all of us as individuals, we have also introduced tighter restrictions on outdoor socialising because this virus we know is spreading easily. it is still possible to meet someone outdoors but only two people from two households can now meet up. previously it was up to six people from two households. but now only two people from a maximum of two households. that rule applies to anyone age 12 are over and exercise it should only take place in groups of two and no more than two households. we announced several other restrictions yesterday. you can find full details of these on the scottish government website and with there is a need for it we will put forward and publish additional guidance to help people navigate their way through this as well as we can. one thing i want to mention specifically because i know it is very distressing for many people and that was the announcement yesterday

that was the announcement yesterday that places of worship would close over the next period. except for funerals and weddings. i know for people and faith communities who ta ke people and faith communities who take great comfort from collective worship this is a particularly hard restriction to be a but we do deem it essential at the moment to help us with that overall task of getting the virus back under control but we will not keep this restrictions in place for any longer than necessary. and of course we have also very reg retta bly and of course we have also very regrettably decided that school and nursery buildings will only be open for children of key workers and vulnerable pupils until at least the 1st of february. during that time remote learning will continue for the majority of pupils and this is without a doubt, said yesterday but worth repeating, the most difficult of the restrictions we put in place yesterday and i know how tough it will be for pupils who as well as missing education in the normal school environment will be missing

your friends and the normal social aspect of growing up and enjoying your school life and i am sorry about that and we will try to get back to school as soon as possible but this is also difficult for pa rents, but this is also difficult for parents, particularly those working are trying tojuggle parents, particularly those working are trying to juggle childcare and online learning and we are thinking about what more support we can put in place to help you through this difficult period. the decision on skills will be reviewed for nightly and we will do everything we can to get as many pupils back to school as soon as it is safe to do so but at the moment the community transmission of the virus is too high and still rising and also there is some uncertainty about the impact of the new variant on young people. in those two things together leaders to thejudgment in those two things together leaders to the judgment that it is not safe enough to have schools open right now for the majority of pupils as normal. now, the measures that were announced yesterday that i have just run through here today are of course not the start of this year any of us

would have wanted. they are really tough businesses, individuals and as i have said we will consider what further support we are able to provide. but the configure figures including those i reported today tell us that action is needed. this new variant is so much more easily transmitted that without these tougher restrictions cases in scotla nd tougher restrictions cases in scotland would definitely continue to rise very, very sharply. and that of course creates the likelihood that more people get ill and die than otherwise would be the case but it also creates the real risk that a national health service, which is currently coping, although the pressure on front line staff is considerable, but it creates the real risk that it would instead be overwhelmed and perhaps quite quickly. so by acting now, instead of waiting until things get more severe, we give ourselves the chance to avert the more serious challenge thatis to avert the more serious challenge that is currently being phased in some other parts of the uk right

now. i know that doesn't provide any comfort nor does it provide comfort for me to say that we are not alone but were not alone. people in england, wales and northern ireland are waking up today to similar restrictions and many other countries across europe are in similar positions. but while this is ha rd similar positions. but while this is hard for everyone to take we must hold onto the fact, and it is a fa ct, hold onto the fact, and it is a fact, that we now have in a way we didn't last year a clear route out of this pandemic through the vaccination programme. and the scottish government will be doing everything we possibly can to accelerate, speed up that programme and get the maximum number of people vaccinated as quickly as possible. but while we are doing that we absolutely must always collectively work to slow down this virus. that's why these measures are essential and why these measures are essential and why againi why these measures are essential and why again i must ask everybody to really rigorously abide by all of these restrictions.

wash your hands, wash hard surfaces even when you are staying at home it is really important to do that. keep two metre distance and when you are out and self—isolate and get tested if you have symptoms. these steps all still work on breaking the chains of transmission of this new variants and remain as important if not more so. fundamentally, the most important thing in the most difficult thing i am asking everybody to do again a stay at home. staying at home helps us control this virus, helps us protect ourselves and each other, helped us protect our nhs and fundamentally and ultimately it helps save lives, and ultimately it helps save lives, and that, as we have all known all along, is really important. my concluding message is the same as it was back in march, because the situation we face now is as serious as the one we faced back in march.

please stay at home, protect the nhs and save lives. thank you for listening. i will hand over... nicola sturgeon the third daily update on covid—19 saying it is more serious than it has been to in spring and that is because of the new variants of the coronavirus is spreading much faster. the promising pa rt spreading much faster. the promising part of course is that vaccines have been approved and are being rolled out, but she implored people not to look for loopholes in the guidance. if you're in scotland you can carry on watching that press conference at bbc scotland. we reported the other day thatjo stevens, the labour mp, had been admitted to hospital with covid—19. we are told she is improving, according to her team, after it was announced she was being treated for coronavirus. the mp for

cardiff central and shadow secretary of state for culture, media and sport was said to have been laid low with covid—19 for a while. she thanks everyone for their good wishes. let's get more on the business support announced by the chancellor this morning. to remind you, businesses in retail, hospitality and leisure are entitled to a one—off grant to help them keep afloat until spring, worth up to £9,000 per property. £594 million will be made available to affected firms outside these sectors. this money will be made available by local authorities. the help is in addition to business rates relief and the furlough scheme which has been extended until the end of april. we can speak to craig beaumount, director of external affairs at the federation of small businesses. welcome, craig. how far do these measures go in supporting your members? it is a really welcome first step, but it will not be

enough to save small businesses across the economy. if you look at the elements of this deal, that grant, you say 9,000, it is more at the smaller end, so small businesses will get a £4000 grant if they are in retail, hospitality or leisure. if you are a shop, restaurant or gym, that £4000 will be really useful and will be a lifeline to many. this is about 600,000 businesses across the economy, so 10% of businesses. while the level of support is good because the previous lockdown grants were about £300 a week to keep you going, this is much better than that, but it is too narrow in scope, it is vertical, so those who fall outside of retail, hospitality and leisure will struggle to access the support. hospitality and leisure will struggle to access the supportm is on top of losses over the christmas period, which is their most profitable time of year. it is

doubly noticeable when the help isn't there, i suppose. yes, doubly noticeable when the help isn't there, isuppose. yes, i doubly noticeable when the help isn't there, i suppose. yes, i think if you're watching this now and if you are not the owner of a bar, restau ra nt, you are not the owner of a bar, restaurant, shop or gym, you will be asking why aren't i worthy of the same level of help? it makes logical sense that g help those big businesses, but these smaller businesses, but these smaller businesses have had a tough festive period and a lot of these businesses are thinking how to survive up and sold the vaccine makes the recovery possible. the government should be throwing everything it has got. remember the chancellor said we will do whatever it takes? he said that for the first wave of lockdown and this is just as serious and we need that extra support. for owner managers, company directors, income support for the newly self—employed, we should look for more help on grants, a second round of small business grants a £10,000, that is what should be next, and some help on that as well so we need help on

the repayment front, as well. that is the spring economy plan that we would like the chancellor to be announcing. in the budget in march, do you mean? march is eight weeks away. i know small businesses that are getting in contact all the time saying i don't see how i can last eight weeks or ten weeks. there is the risk that the budget does include some support, but also sta rts include some support, but also starts to hike taxes and increased cost to small businesses. at the moment people are really worried. yes, big success if you are in this really tricky sector under huge pressure, but if you are outside of it you will be looking on wondering, how do i get some help, too? we know that small businesses are immensely resilient, they can be fleet of foot because of their size. what are some of the positive stories that you're hearing from your members about how they are trying to keep going? what

has been really good to see is the way people have adapted. people have changed their businesses. we have seen so many retailers, for example, who have moved to add an online presence, and the online presence is not as important as their physical presence. that is brilliant. you see real innovations and that is great. some businesses can't do that. that is why we are not so impressed today for those businesses who are in trouble. the government have announced an addition to those gra nts announced an addition to those grants that £594 million discretionary fund for local authorities. unfortunately, that will not go very far. that will help about another 100,000 businesses. you are getting to a scale that is paid but it is not across the economy. craig beaumont, thank you very much for your time. craig beaumont, thank you very much for your time. the number of people in london who are being admitted to hospital with coronavirus has exceeded that of the first peak in the spring. karl mercer has been investigating the pressures on the intensive care

unit at st george's hospital in tooting in south london. this is a new acute dependency unit at st george's. 15 beds, part of the redesign of this hospital to cope with ever increasing numbers of covid patients. for weeks, the numbers have been rising quickly, even more so this last weekend. i'mjane evans, a consultant in acute medicine. we have had several whole families admitted, some of whom have gone to intensive care, some of whom are here with us. and i think quite a lot of those people haven't been older people, they haven't been people with lots of medical problems, they have been young and fit people who have themselves been shocked at how unwell they've got, how quickly they become unwell. growing numbers mean growing pressures on staff. there were many staff back in march who said i could never do this again and here we are, facing what seems at the moment to be a worse surge of patients with covid. and you see people are very tired, very stressed and that's a real worry to us because we have to keep going because we have to be

here for the patients. we can help out with the situation... hi. my name is chloe, i'm a senior staff nurse on richmond a&eu at st george's hospital. it's the first monday after christmas and new year and it's been one of the worst shifts of my entire life. intense, i'm looking after many more sick patients than i normally look after. ijust, it'sjust overwhelming, the whole situation! i'm hannah packham, i'm thejunior sister of the acute dependency unit. today, i'm the nurse in charge. our colleagues are more like family, you can rant and rave and cry and no—one holds it against you. and do you? what? rant and rave and cry? i personally cry when i get home quite a lot at the moment. sleep, we are suffering with sleep problems, i think a lot of nurses and doctors as well. you just have to relax on your days off as best you can, ready,

prepping yourself to come back again, i would say. you see the videos of the anti—covid people and you just think to yourself, what am i even doing? does it demoralise you? demoralises me completely. i've never felt so demoralised in my life. we've all got family, a lot of us have actually had covid, you can see the other side of what could have been for you because there seems to be no trend in who gets sicker sometimes and who isn't. you see the other side, could be your mum, your dad, your grandparent laying in the bed. you're just trying to do your best for them. more than half the patients in st george's general and acute beds are now covid ones, pressure is growing too on its intensive care units. my name is paul randall, the head of nursing for the critical care unit at st george's hospital. this used to be our cardiothoracic intensive care unit. it's 21 beds. and for, probably since the beginning of december, this has been a covid intensive care unit. normally this hospital would have 67

intensive care beds, it now has 115. they may have to try to open even more. i'm dominic spray, the clinical director of adult critical care at st george's. until you perhaps come in and see the wards and see the patients, it really hits home. and you see the nurses crying after their 12 hour shift and going home exhausted and drained. and then having to pick themselves up to come back in again the next morning. that's when it hits home. like other hospitals they have lots of staff here off with covid or self—isolating, others looking after the growing tide of covid patients in the rest of st georges. working here is not the only stress many are facing. my name is mena scott. the senior sister on cardiac intensive care at st george's hospital. not only have you got stress at work, people are concerned about their own families, staff have had family members who lostjobs, they have children with all the anxieties about schooling. people are coming to work with a lot of other stresses that they wouldn't normally have and they are coming to this environment where there is a high mortality. we see a lot of death now.

there's a lot of end—of—life care that we are trying to provide and that's really, really hard for staff as well. hard too for staff, they say, are images of people openly breaking lockdown rules. the message from intensive care at st george's... you may not see the effects of it when you are doing that but we see the effects of it. the nursing staff see the effects of it. we have people in their 405, 30s, 20s in our intensive care unit dying of covid. we are having to think about whether we do cancer surgery, having to postpone cancer surgery because of the number of covid patients we have in, so even if you don't think you're doing any harm by bending the rules, you are. it has a knock—on effect and we are seeing the effect here. joining me now is dr stephen webb, he's president of the intensive care society and icu consultant at royal pa pworth hospital in cambridge. thank you forjoining us. how

different is this from a normal winter, when he would have a lot to people in hospital with the flu, for example? i can safely say that this is completely different from a normal winter. in my over ten years experience as a consultant in intensive care, it has never, ever been like this. we have never had to expand critical care units the way we have had to enter non—critical ca re we have had to enter non—critical care unit areas. we have never had to redeploy the nursing staff, medical staff from other areas to help us in the intensive care unit. we have never had to postpone or cancel the elective operations and cases that you have heard about and i have never seen the stress and strain that our staff are under either. as you just heard from st george's, that picture is being replicated up and down the country, not just replicated up and down the country, notjust in the hot spots in london

and the south—east and east of england, but in other parts of the country, as well. this is a problem thatis country, as well. this is a problem that is spreading across the country and it is very, very serious, nothing like a normal winter, at all. what do you believe this lockdown will do for the nhs?” all. what do you believe this lockdown will do for the nhs? i do really hope that this lockdown will provide us with some breathing space to be able to get control of the situation, to be able to treat the patients that are already in our intensive care units, to try to slow the rate of increase in the cases and in the number of hospital admissions. we really need to batten down the hatches, we need to follow the guidance, we need to make sure that the public knowjust how serious this diseases. this is a horrible, horrible disease which attacks the lungs, can cause death, or if not death can cause serious lung damage with permanent life

changing consequences. i really hope that through this lockdown we will be able to treat the patients that we have, and also prevent more patients coming into us through getting on well at home. you talk about the strain that it is placing on your colleagues, and all of those who are involved in supporting people with coronavirus you come to you. what is the long—term impacts for those health care workers? you are seeing deaths of people that is avoidable. you are seeing trauma upon trauma with no time to recover from it. from the first wave, we know that many staff and colleagues did suffer emotional anguish, mental health problems and that may occur during this wave, as well. we are very, very concerned about the work

the long—term impact on staff will be from the continual exposure, not just to death, but also from the stress and strain of having to spread themselves more thinly, to dilate themselves looking after more patients without the normal supporting systems that they will have in place. we need to remember that nursing staff, medical staff are used to giving very high quality care. they are continuing to give us high quality care as they possibly can, making a monumental effort, but having to spread themselves much more thinly than they would normally do. that brings great stress and great strain on them themselves. so, there could be a second wave not of coronavirus part of mental and emotional anguish that comes following this. i really hope that doesn't happen, but we need to be prepared for it in nature that services are available for staff,

should they need them. when would you have brought the lockdown in and how long would you keep it running for? it is a difficult question. i don't model myself the rate of rise and the models that will change, but i certainly think it is the right time to bring it in now. it needs a period of at least several weeks. we need to continue to assess it on a regular basis. it is the right thing to have brought it in. it will bring relief to intensive care units and intensive care units are better on the front line, but we will need to keep a close check on the numbers and see how the numbers respond. it is the right thing to do at this time. we hear the messages, we have been hearing them for months, but for those of us who don't go anywhere near a hospital, have never seen anybody with a really bad case

of covid—19, what is your message to people who say, if ijust break the rules a tiny bit, meet one more person than a meant to, what is your message for them? my messages, as we have already heard, this new variant of coronavirus is particularly bad. it is more transmissible, more infectious, and it does appear to infectious, and it does appear to infect younger people. the consequences of this disease needs to be understood. it is a terrible disease which can affect anyone of any age. you do not need to have underlying health problems. it can cause serious problems. this is not just like a cold orflu or pneumonia. you may get sick, you may need to go into hospital. we are seeing young patients coming into hospital needing to be intubated, ventilated, some patients need to go on to ventilated, some patients need to go ontoa ventilated, some patients need to go on to a special type of artificial

support for the lungs, we are seeing patients in intensive care staying for weeks and then ending up with longer term weakness and disability that will take months to improve. we need people to really understand that this is extraordinarily serious, and that they need to follow the rules as closely as possible. how optimistic argue that at least this time we have the prospect of the vaccine being rolled out this year? the vaccine undoubtedly is a fantastic story for the uk. through coronavirus, through all the ups and down, the shining light has been the human endeavour and also the way the uk has led research and discovery. having the vaccine, having two vaccines to be able to rule it is fantastic news. i think creating a lockdown period to allow delivery of the vaccine to the

high risk groups is the right strategy. i think that i am hopeful that it will create a more normal environment for us, easter time. i would love to be able to have a holiday at easter, but i'm sure many other people would come as well. i think it is the right thing to do to allow us time to rule out the vaccine, get people back —— vaccinated, including front line health care workers, who are a priority, and that it will create the immunity that we need so that people are protected. doctor stephen webb, thank you for taking time out to have an extremely busy day to us. let's just take a look at the latest developments this morning. first, the prime minister will hold a downing street press conference at 17:00 this evening.

also this morning, the chancellor has announced a new support package for business — worth four point six billion pounds. businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors will receive a grant worth up to £9,000. michael gove confirmed that the summer exams will not go ahead — following the decision to order schools to switch to online learning. mr gove also said that a decision will be announced later on whether passengers entering the uk will need a negative covid test to do so. let's get more on that support for businesses — the chancellor has been speaking this morning.

in order to help support businesses through a difficult period through to the spring, today we've announced £4.6 billion announced of additional help for businesses in the most affected sectors who were asked to close. they will receive up to £9,000 in a one—off cash grant. it's important to remember that comes on top of the existing monthly grants of £3,000 that those businesses receive and the extension of furlough and the all the way through to april. we remain committed to protecting jobs and supporting businesses. let me deal with some of the criticisms that have been levelled at the latest package. first of all, the institute of directors are saying their main concern is it is going to be a spring cliff edge, that withdrawal of support is still very much on the cards for some businesses. can you tell us today you are prepared to extend furlough for as long as it takes? the tuc say the best way to take control of the virus is to get people to self—isolate and to do so you need to introduce an enhanced statutory sick pay scheme or increase the level of statutory sick pay. are you prepared to look at that?

we are having a budget early in march and all of our economic support, including the announcement today, runs through to the spring so i think the budget in early march is an excellent opportunity to take stock of the range of support we have put in place and set out the next stage of our economic response to coronavirus at that particular time. we will have a budget and in early march where we will take stock of all the various support we have put in place, including today's announcement of cash grants, and then review and set out the nesxt stage of our economic response to coronavirus at that point. there's a wider issue here, isn't there? once this new variant of the coronavirus became apparent and the level of contagion it could cause, is it not simply the case that you and the prime minister have been behind the curve here? the decision—making in government really needs to improve because businesses and parents

are paying the price for delayed decision—making. parents were given virtually no notice schools would close and businesses only today getting another emergency support package. isn't this something you should have done a lot sooner? the prime minister has acted decisively in the face of new information and we now have had to grapple with a new variant of the virus and that has caused an uptick in cases and hospitalisation and deaths, as the prime minister set out. and it was right that we acted, regrettably in regard to schools, with heavy heart, that we acted decisively in order to protect people's lives and their health at this difficult time. and with respect to our economic support, we've set out months ago comprehensive economic support that lasts all the way through to the spring, whether it's furlough or grant or loanss or tax deferrals, tax cuts, so that businesses could plan through that difficult period. we will have a budget early in march when we can take stock of all that support and then set out the next stage of our economic response at that time. the prime minister acted decisively

once we received new variant, it is reg retta ble once we received new variant, it is regrettable that we had to act with respect to schools, but it is right that we take these measures to suppress the spread of the virus. finally, this game that year and i think today is predominantly for england's, there will be some financial support for the devolved administrations, can you guarantee that that support will be passed on to businesses and should you not be working closer with the devolved administrations? today's announcement of additional support for business as that £729 million will be made available to the administrations in scotland, wales and northern ireland to support their local economies are businesses. that is part of their unprecedented upfront guarantee that will be worth £16 billion this year to scotland, wales and northern

ireland. it is important to remember that many of the economic interventions we have put in place happen uk wide, for example are furloughed scheme has projected over a millionjobs in scotland, wales and northern ireland. his name is synonymous with lockdown and nowjoe wicks is set to reprise his role as the nation's pe teacher while schools are closed. the fitness trainer made the announcement on twitter last night and has been speaking about why he wants to help. well, yesterday afternoon, i made the decision, this was even before i knew anything about the virus announcement, i announced i was going to do pe withjoe work—outs starting next week, mainly for schools in london and anywhere else in the uk that's closed, and obviously i made the decision because i want to be there for kids and families with young children that need to stay active and i'm going to do it three days a week, monday, wednesday, friday, 9am, just as before in lockdown one, and the videos will be saved. if you miss them, you can always go back and do them another time.

i will try and keep it fun, short work—out, 20 minutes, this is about lifting children's energy and i had a really emotional moment last night, thinking about children in the uk and all around the world, at home in tiny little flats and places, they feel like they miss their friends. pe withjoe, three days a week is going to really help them get through those days, give them structure and hopefully help them feel a little bit happier and a bit more optimistic. coming up, simon mccoy will be here with the bbc news that one. if you have had enough of the wintry chill, i can't offer you a big warm up, but! chill, i can't offer you a big warm up, but i can offer you something a little bit less cold by the end of the week. the winds will shift run, bringing slightly milder air of the atlantic. before that arrives we are

stuck with the cold easterly winds. there will be a wintry mix across eastern parts of the country. rain, sleet and snow showers across parts of eastern scotland and england. mainly went towards east anglia and the south—east and the channel islands, but even here at the old fla ke islands, but even here at the old flake of snow could be mixed in. cabbage today a degree so up on yesterday, but it will still be cold. turning very chilly quite quickly as we head into tonight. it could be icy with the snow showers continuing across parts of northern england and south to scotland. the rain showers continue in the south—east and channel islands. it will be a particularly cold night with widespread frost, —56 in central scotland, —4 in the south—west of northern ireland. heading into wednesday, there are some changes, the winds will fall a bit lighter. —— michael —5 or —6. as

the wind changes direction attach, to showers in the south—east to be limited to parts of the coast, continuing across the channel islands. some dense fog patches in scotland. later in the day, rain preceded by sleet and snow are pushing to start —— parts of scotla nd pushing to start —— parts of scotland and northern ireland, lifting temperatures appear into the start of thursday morning. wednesday night, very cold 1,—7 in parts of scotland. there will be dense patches of our current to start thursday morning. some of that will linger all day long. the rain, sleet, snow makes across scotland and northern ireland will ease to something sunnier, but more snow flurries in scotland later. the weather front bringing this will get its way southwards. anyway across england and wales could see a slight flurry of snow to the extent of friday. frosty and ic. temperatures

left into the weekend, rain in western scotland, most will find it dry and sunny.

with the whole of the uk facing lockdown a financial lifeline for business as the chancellor offers new grants to help them cope the government package is worth £4—billion — and will allow up to £9,000 per business the prime minister has acted decisively in the face of new information. and we have had now to grapple with a new variant of the virus and that's caused an uptick in cases and hospitalisations and deaths, as the prime minister set out, and it's right that we acted. as the prime minister warns that the weeks ahead will be the hardest yet — health correspondent sophie hutchinson will be taking your questions on what lockdown means for you. also this lunchtime... a tough lesson for students as schools close in england and exams are axed the latest lockdowns follow a surge in cases of the new variant covid —