dominic hughes, bbc news.icial figures on the virus, which show iai,472 new infections in the latest 24—hour period into sunday. in the same period, 97 deaths were reported — that's of people who died within 28 days of a positive test result. that means the total number of people who've died with covid now stands at 150,151; since march 2020. on vaccinations, 35.5 million people have had a boosterjab, which means more than 61% of those aged 12 and over have now had three vaccine doses. to australia were on the backjog which will earn and if you are us time and weather has appeal has been successful. —— to australia where novak djokovic will learn whether his appeal has been successful. novak djokovic�*s appeal against deportation from australia begins in a few hours — with a court hearing. the men's tennis number one has been held in a hotel in melbourne since he arrived in the country — the australian government says he is not exempt from the requirement for visiting foreigners to be vaccinated. from melbourn

dominic hughes, bbc news.rus infections recorded in the latest 24—hour period. in the same period 97 deaths were reported — that's of people who died within 28 days of a positive covid test. it means the total number of people who've died with covid now stands at 150,154. on vaccinations, 35.5 million people have had a booster jab, which means, 61.7% of people aged 12 and over have now had three vaccine doses. novak djokovic's appeal against deportation from australia begins in a few hours with a court hearing. the men's tennis number one has been held in a hotel in melbourne since he arrived in the country. the australian government says he is not exempt from the requirement for visiting foreigners to be vaccinated. from melbourne, shaimaa khalil reports. a day before challenging his deportation in court, novak djokovic is still held at the immigration detention hotel, and his supporters are still outside, calling on the government to let him out. oh, mate, i haven't slept since he's come off the plane. we're

dominic hughes, bbc news. 141,472 new infections in the latest 24—hour period. on average there were nearly 174,000 new cases per day in the last week. there've been another 97 deaths — of people who died within 28 days of a positive test result. on average in the past week, there were 185 deaths per day. the total number of people who've died with covid is now 150,154. on vaccinations, 35.5 million people have had a booster jab. which means more than 61% of those aged 12 and over have now had three vaccine doses. pakistan's prime minister, imran khan, has ordered an inquiry after 100,000 people became trapped in their vehicles in a blizzard which caused at least 20 deaths. sudden heavy snow caught day trippers heading to the popular hill resort of murree on friday, with trees coming down on the road and some people freezing to death in their cars. our correspondent farhat javed reports. they thought it would be a family outing in the snow. but for many, it turned into a tragedy. most of the dead are members o

dominic hughes, bbc news. official figures on the virus which show iai,472 new infections in the latest 24—hour period. in the same period 97 deaths were reported, that's of people who died within 28 days of a positive test result. that means the total number of people who've died with covid now stands at 150,154. on vaccinations, 35.5 million people have had a boosterjab, which means more than 61% of those aged 12 and over have now had three vaccine doses. ealier i spoke to craig beaumont from the federation of small businesses. i asked whether his members would welcome the five day isolation period, if it was recommended by health officials. it would be. it has to be safe, so we wouldn't call for a public health measure, it's all about public health and safety, and this would have a huge impact. we have 2 million people with covid in the uk this week, so they are isolating, and if you are a big employer, what you can do is you can move projects around, you can move teams, even in the public sector except for

dominic hughes, bbc news.of the chinese port city of tianjin as health officials conduct mass testing, following at least 20 cases of covid. tianjin is only 150 kilometres from beijing, where the winter olympics will be held next month. the bbc�*s asia pacific editor, celia hatton, reports. here's the situation the chinese leaders had hoped to avoid. people living in the centre of one of china's busiest port cities lining up for covid testing following the discovery of the omicron variant there. translation: after screening the focus groups, a total of 18| coronavirus infections were detected among the close contacts in tianjin, and all of them have been transferred to designated hospitals for treatment and quarantine. technically, the city of tianjin isn't under lockdown, but some districts have already been sealed off. the residents inside have been told they must get tested quickly if they want to leave. the prospect of a full omicron outbreak in tianjin will raise alarm bells in beijing. tianjin isjust150

dominic hughes, bbc news, bolton.es show the number of people testing positive for coronavirus, is continuing to fall, with just over 107,300 new infections recorded in the latest 24—hour period. that means, on average, just under 93,000 new cases were reported per day in the last week. the number of people in hospital with covid has fallen again tojust under 18,500. there were 330 deaths reported in the latest 24 hour period, that's of people who died within 28 days of a positive test, though some may have died for reasons other than covid. on average in the past week, 266 deaths were announced every day. 0n vaccinations, just under 36,700,000 people have now had a boosterjab, which means nearly 64% of those aged 12 and over have now had three doses. children in england no longer have to wear face coverings during lessons, and from next thursday they won't have to wear them at all in any enclosed space. but some secondary school head teachers have criticised the move. they say they'll continue to tell students to kee

dominic hughes, bbc news, blackburn.coronavirus infections recorded in the latest 24—hour period — on average just over 96,000 new cases were reported per day in the last week. the number in hospital remains steady — 19,500 people yesterday. there�*s been a big jump in daily deaths recorded — a38 in the latest 24—hour period. but tuesdays often see a spike in the numbers. on average in the past week — 272 deaths were announced every day. on vaccinations, over 36.5 million people have had a booster jab, which means, 63.6% of people aged 12 and over have now had three vaccine doses. in ireland, police investigating the death of ashling murphy have arrested a man on suspicion of murder. the 23—year—old teacher was killed last wednesday whilejogging by a canal in tullamore in county offaly. the president and prime minister of ireland were among hundreds of mourners at her funeral today, from where our correspondent emma vardy sent this report. sadness has engulfed this town over the killing of ashling murphy. today they stoo

dominic hughes — bbc news.led to have the visa hearing for tennis star novak djokovic delayed, and it will go ahead as planned tonight. mr ovak djokoviclawyers say he has a valid medical exemption from australia's strict covid vaccination policy, because he had covid last month. simonjones reports. supporters of novak djokovic to gather outside the immigration detention centre in melbourne where he is staying. they want to see him on the tennis court. the countdown is on to his court case. oh, mate, i haven't slept since he's come off the plane. we are all sick to the stomach. it's a very unfortunate situation for australia. it's becoming very embarrassing. this was novak djokovic arriving on wednesday. his legal team said he had received a vaccine exemption to enter the country from tennis australia because he had tested positive for covid on the 16th of december. that was a day on which these pictures were taken, showing novak djokovic damascus at a ceremony in his home country of serbia in which he was honou

dominic hughes — bbc news.er i spoke to craig beaumont from the federation of small businesses. i asked him if his members would welcome the five day isolation period, if it was recommended by health officials. it would be. it has to be safe, so we wouldn't call for public health measure, is all about public health and safety, and this would have a huge impact. we have 2 million people with covid in the uk this week, so they are isolating, and if you are a big employer, what you can do as you can move projects around, you can move teams, even in the public sector except for specialised roles, you can move civil servants around between different functions. but if you are a small business with a team of five and you lose two or three of those, it will get very rough very fast, especially for customerfacing businesses, you have only got so many people to fill the hours in the day. so the self isolation aspect of this is a real issue for us, and if it can be done safely and it's a big if, we are basically looking a

dominic hughes, bbc news, manchester.latest coronavirus figures show there were just under 195,000 new coronavirus infections recorded in the latest 24—hour period. on average, there were over 183,000 new cases reported per day in the last week. there were 17,276 people in hospital being treated for coronavirus yesterday. 334 deaths were reported in the latest 2a hour period, that's of people who died within 28 days of a positive covid test, but that figure does include a backlog of hospital deaths reported overnight by nhs england covering the period from the 1st to the 11th january. on average in the past week, 171 deaths were announced every day. on vaccinations, more than 34.5 million people have had a boosterjab, which means more than 60% of people aged 12 and over have now had three vaccine doses. scotland is to cut the coronavirus isolation period from ten days to seven, in line with the rest of the uk. from midnight, anyone who tests postive will be allowed to leave their homes if they record a negative lateral fl

dominic hughes, bbc news, bolton.in england no longer have to wear coverings during lessons — from next thursday they won't have to wear them at all, but some secondary school head teachers have criticised the move as too sudden. they say they will continue to tell students to keep masks on until they're certain infection rates are falling. our education correspondent elaine dunkley reports. at chesterfield high in crosby, there is a change in the school rules. across england, pupils no longer have to wear masks in class. it steams up your glasses. i keep on having to take my glasses off if i'm wearing my mask. - every time you look down and writing, your maskjust falls down and then you have to think, oh, i've got to put it back on my nose, and itjust distracts you. good morning, everybody. this head says it is another announcement from the government at short notice. personally, i would have carried on wearing masks in classrooms until the half term and then actually retested everyone after half term and then, at th

the bbc�*s health correspondent, dominic hughes, has more. long way off the peak seen this time last year. but hundreds of thousands of people are currently isolating for at least seven days, so now there's a suggestion that — in england, at least — that period could be cut to five days instead. i think if the experts, and i have to defer to the uk health and security agency, deem it appropriate that you can have two negative tests on consecutive days, as we do now with day six and seven, then it's a good thing to keep under review. some experts agree a five—day isolation period could be safely introduced. you're generally infectious for about two days before you develop symptoms to about three, maybe four days afterwards, so limiting the cut—off point to five days wouldn't really substantially increased risk. so you think the advantages outweigh any possible risks? that would have considerable benefits in terms of staffing without significantly increasing the risk of disease transmission, so i think we should do that. lateral flow tests have

dominic hughes, bbc news, manchester.s on self—isolation and testing, which brings scotland into line with the rest of the uk. the first minister says those with a positive result will now have the option to end self—isolation after seven days rather than ten, as long as they have no fever and return two negative lateral flow tests. fully vaccinated adults who are in the same household as someone with covid no longer need to isolate, as long as their lateral flow tests are negative every day for seven days. our scotland correspondent, alexandra mackenzie, has more details. another new term overshadowed by coronavirus as some children in scotland returned to the classroom. i thought they would put another lockdown on school, i did think that, and i was hoping that was going to happen. i actually feel 0k about it because we've had coronavirus a few months ago. up to a quarter of the staff were off at the glasgow gaelic school because of covid. it is going to cause some challenges. i we are going to have to think about reorg

dominic hughes, bbc news, warrington. our health correspondent, jim reed, is here. behind that? this being cut again. what is the science behind that?— behind that? this is something ministers have _ behind that? this is something ministers have been _ behind that? this is something ministers have been hinting i behind that? this is something ministers have been hinting at| behind that? this is something i ministers have been hinting at for some time. just to be absolutely clear what we are talking about, this is the isolation period if you yourself test positive. for most of the pandemic it meant staying at home for ten days. just before christmas, that was reduced. so you could be released in england on day seven, then the other nations of the uk followed suit. from monday, in england alone, that is being reduced by essentially an extra day. so on day six, you can now leave isolation if you have a negative rapid covid test on day five and six. you asked about the science around this. scientists think at that point, after five days of being in isolation, around two

dominic hughes — bbc news. me now is craig beaumont from the federation of small businesses. good afternoon. nadhim zahawi is making the point that reducing isolation could help with staff absenteeism, so is it something that your members would welcome? it absenteeism, so is it something that your members would welcome? it would be. it has your members would welcome? it would be- it has to _ your members would welcome? it would be- it has to be — your members would welcome? it would be. it has to be safe, _ your members would welcome? it would be. it has to be safe, so _ your members would welcome? it would be. it has to be safe, so we _ be. it has to be safe, so we wouldn't call for public health measure, is all about public health and safety, and this would have a huge impact. we have 2 million people with covid in the uk this week, so they are isolating, and if you are a big employer, what you can do as you can move projects around, you can move teams, even in the public sector except for specialised roles,

our health correspondent dominic hughes has more.d news is that booster jabs are holding fast against the omicron wave. even as new cases have surged, hospital admissions remain a long way off the peak seen this time last year. but each day, hundreds of thousands of people are having to isolate for at least seven days, so now there's a suggestion that period could be cut to five days instead. it would help with staff absenteeism, hence why i think if the experts, and i have to defer to the uk health and security agency, deem it appropriate that you can have two negative tests on consecutive days as we do now with day six and seven, then it is a good thing to keep under review. mr zahawi denied reports the government was planning to start charging for lateral flow tests, and labour's shadow chancellor said people need to be able to test regularly to stop passing on the virus. i'm very concerned by this briefing from government that lateral flow tests could be charged for any time soon. lateral flow tests are absolutely essential to ke

and thanks to dominic hughes, health correspondent. are still without power after two storms hit the uk this weekend. two people were killed by falling trees after storm malik blew in and storm corrie has also caused some damage. james shaw has more details. the western isles yesterday evening experiencing gale force winds gusting up to 92 mph. trees were brought down across a broad swathe of the north of scotland, blocking roads and damaging power lines. work to clear away the wreckage began in the hours of darkness and will continue through today. in aviemore in the central highlands, emergency teams were working at height to clear roads around the town. and on schools in the worst —— schools the worst affected parts are closed today. the scale of the problems means services along the east coast of scotland and into the north of england are not yet back to normal. one of the biggest challenges is restoring power to people because mccombes after the double impact of two storms in quick succession is, storm malik followed by storm corr

dominic hughes, bbc news, blackburn.be dropped from next monday. the first minister, nicola sturgeon, says scotland has turned a corner with the 0micron variant — with cases falling. 0ur correspondent, lorna gordon, is in glasgow. the first minister said that the rise in cases here in scotland driven by 0micron peaked in the first week injanuary driven by 0micron peaked in the first week in january and driven by 0micron peaked in the first week injanuary and while we have not yet moved from the epidemic to the endemic stage of covid, she was hopefulfor a calmer phase going forward, certainly from the beginning of next week most restrictions here in scotland will be dropped, night clubs can reopen, large indoor events can resume, social distancing rules being dropped, guidance against adults meeting with more than three households at a time is being scrapped, along with curbs on indoor contact sports. some restrictions remain. people are being asked to work from home where possible and that longer running measure to wear

dominic hughes, bbc news, manchester. strategy ahead of next month's winter olympics. beijing has put all 1.2 million residents of the the city of yuzhou in lockdown after the discovery of just 3 asymptomatic cases. another city, xian, with a population of 13 million, has been under lockdown for two weeks. 0ur correspondent, robin brant, sent this report. this is extreme, even by china's standards. a city shut down because ofjust three new cases with no symptoms. everyone is prohibited from leaving the city, the sign says. one million plus people are now in lockdown in yuzhou. the latest proof that china is very committed to its zero—covid strategy. translation: it doesn't bother me to do a covid test at midnight, - it's for our own safety. 300 miles away and two weeks ahead of yuzhou is xi'an, a city famed for its terracotta warriors, where 13 million people have now been locked down since before christmas. what started out a fortnight ago with a late—night army of officials welding gates shut has led to this. some peopl

dominic hughes, bbc news, bolton.se record nhs waiting lists in wales and look at the figures in more details. the overall waiting list now stands at 682,279 just over a fifth of the population. the waiting list figure has been climbing month on month since may 2020, although this was the smallest monthly rise. the longest waits included over 50,000 people due for orthopaedic or trauma treatment although this figure has fallen over three successive months. the overall list has stayed about the same. the welsh government say... dr david bailey chair of the bma welsh council and gp in caerphilly. thank you forjoining us this evening. would you say that the nhs is right about that, that until 0micron hit, some progress was being made in reducing that? i omicron hit, some progress was being made in reducing that?— made in reducing that? i think we certainly were _ made in reducing that? i think we certainly were making _ made in reducing that? i think we certainly were making some - made in reducing that? i think we - cer

dominic hughes, bbc news, warrington.stepping down from his role as england�*s deputy chief medical officer. borisjohnson has thanked him for what he called his "extraordinary contribution to our country," and the professor became well known for his colourful analogies at downing street news conferences. don�*t tear the pants out of it. i think the mum test is very important. my mum is 78, she will be 79 shortly. and i have already said to her, "mum, make sure, when you�*re called, you�*re ready." it�*s clear that in the first half the away team gave us an absolute battering. they got a goal. and in the 70th minute we�*ve now got an equaliser. this is a complex product with a very fragile culture. it�*s not a yoghurt that can be taken out of the fridge and put back in multiple times. it�*s the third goal in the back of the net now in my penalty shoot—out. it�*s the third vaccine with a positive readout. the train has now slowed down safely. it has now stopped and the station and the doors have opened. what we need now is

our health correspondent dominic hughes has been looking at how one hospital — the royal bolton in thet? i'm thinking four. how many discharges have we got? i'm thinking four-— thinking four. clinical staff are workin: thinking four. clinical staff are working with _ thinking four. clinical staff are working with the _ thinking four. clinical staff are working with the local - thinking four. clinical staff are working with the local council| thinking four. clinical staff are l working with the local council to try and get patients back home. delays in discharging those who are well enough to get home are a big reason why hospitals are so busy. but it is complicated.— but it is complicated. there is so many services — but it is complicated. there is so many services involved _ but it is complicated. there is so many services involved in - but it is complicated. there is so many services involved in one i many services involved in one patient, there is equipment and package of care, access issues, family, transport, we need to make medicines ready. we need to make sure everyone is on the

dominic hughes, bbc news, blackburn.he rise in cases here in scotland driven by the 0micron variant peaked in the first week injanuary, and while we haven't yet moved from the epidemic to the endemic stage of covid, she was hopeful for a calmer phase going forward. so, from the beginning of next week, most restrictions here in scotland will be dropped. nightclubs can reopen, large indoor events can resume, social distancing rules are being dropped, guidance against adults meeting with more than three households at a time is also being scrapped, along with curbs on indoor contact sports. some restrictions remain. people are being asked to work from home where possible and that longer—running measure to wear facemasks in public places and on public transport does remain in force, as does the covid vaccination passport scheme. well, business groups have broadly welcomed the changes, as have political opposition parties in scotland, although the scottish conservatives are calling for that vaccine passport scheme to be droppe

our health correspondent dominic hughes has been looking at how one hospital — the royal bolton in the are working with the local council to try and get patients back home. delays in discharging those who are well enough to get home are a big reason why hospitals are so busy. but it is complicated. there is so many services involved in one patient, there is equipment and package of care, access issues, family, transport, we need to make medicines ready. we need to make sure everyone is on the same page. nhs england says 93% of all hospital beds are currently occupied. and the impact of covid on staff and patients makes things more complex. we have been hit by workforce shortages, the omicron wave has affected that as well. we have also had to work closely with our care homes, so our care homes have been managing outbreaks with their staff, but some with residents as well and that affected their ability to take people from hospital. although the number of covid infections is falling, hospitals remain under significant pressure and those pressures can be seen right across the system — fr

dominic hughes, bbc news, warrington. it is coming up to 8:15am.day, nine, ten, possibly 11s. furthersouth, if you are under the fog, it may get up to 4 degrees for example around the birmingham area. three this evening and overnight we still have a lot of cloud in scotland. a weather front coming in across the north will bring in rain. under clearskies coming in across the north will bring in rain. under clear skies of england, wales, northern ireland some mist and fog patches once again. with temperatures like this, even as low as —4 or at —5 in parts of england in sheltered areas, we'll have some frost and also some freezing fog. tomorrow the fog will be slow to lift. again, some just lifting into low cloud. the rain across the far north of scotland but across the far north of scotland but a lot of dry weather, a fair bit of sunshine is not as windy as in the last few days. sunshine is not as windy as in the last few days-— the lawyer representing virginia giuffre in her civil case against prince andrew has said she wants "vindication" and is un

dominic hughes, bbc news, warrington. our health correspondent katharine da costa is here.rity agency says that - that? the data from the uk health security agency says that two i that? the data from the uk health. security agency says that two thirds of people no longer infectious by day five, so that could mean that lots of people are being restricted when they don't need to be, but obviously the flip side to that is about a third of people could still be infectious and pass virus on. but the health secretary has said it is a balancing act you try to maximise activity in the economy and try to minimise the risk of reducing the isolation period. some scientists have expressed concern. they are saying it is very important that people do the lateral flow tests on day five and a six and report those results, and if they are released, they should still be cautious, wear masks in crowded indoor settings and avoid seeing vulnerable people. fiiq avoid seeing vulnerable people. ok, so this is something that will use pressure, potentially, the pcr testing capability and also ease pr

that hospital was in newcastle, and our health correspondent dominic hughes is there.nd who would have thought _ it really has. and who would have thought that two years on from those first patient puma grubbing right here in— first patient puma grubbing right here in the early hours of the 3ist january. — here in the early hours of the 3ist january, 2020, we would have be here talking _ january, 2020, we would have be here talking about this pandemic that is rolled _ talking about this pandemic that is rotied on— talking about this pandemic that is rolled on and on? after what has been _ rolled on and on? after what has been a _ rolled on and on? after what has been a momentous two years, we have asked _ been a momentous two years, we have asked the _ been a momentous two years, we have asked the staff here to reflect on their— asked the staff here to reflect on their experiences. there's a lot of questions getting asked, but, being a new pandemic, none of us really knew the answers. i don't tell my family much what's happened, because i don't understand. your colleag

hugh pym is here. how worried are the authorities? welcome of the original omicron strain, known as ba one, is still dominant but in recent weeks a news in england so far there is a faster growth rate and are currently substantial growth advantage, although from very low level of cases in its early days. they say there is higher transmission in households, a little bit, anyway, so you are more likely to pass it on to someone under the same roof. but there is no evidence that vaccines are less effective against it and no evidence that it causes more severe illness in terms of getting people into hospital, but it will be watched very closely. in denmark more than 50% of cases involve this strand. officials of the uk are saying given the relatively high overall number of cases people should continue to act cautiously. one virus expert has said based on this early analysis there is nothing that should worry as unduly for type hugh pym, thank you. a british hit man has been found guilty of conspiring to kill a pakistani dissident in the netherlands. a court in london heard how muhammad gohir khan was offered £100,000 to carry out the murd

hugh pym is here. a new strain of omicron has been detected, how worried are the authorities?— detected, how worried are the authorities? ~ ., ., authorities? well, the dominantthorities? well, the dominant strain is known as ba1 _ authorities? well, the dominant strain is known as em and - authorities? well, the dominant strain is known as em and they| authorities? well, the dominant - strain is known as em and they have strain is known as ba1 and they have identified a new strand called ba2. there are only 1000 cases in england so relatively not that many but officials say it grows at a faster rate and there is higher transmission in households. not a lot but it means there is a slightly bigger chance of passing it on to somebody under the same roof. there is no evidence vaccines are less effective against ba2 and no evidence it creates more serious illness amongst people who get it but it is the dominant strain now in denmark, where cases have been going up denmark, where cases have been going up fast. officials will be watching it closely more evidence. they say people should remain cautious with cases generally relatively high. one expert said this eveni

dominating tomorrow's front pages. borisjohnson appeared at prime minister's questions today after a pretty dramatic morning, which included an mp defecting from the conservatives to labour. what did you make of it all? laura hughesespondent at the ft. well, it was, not to sound like a football commentator, but it was an event of two halves. at the beginning, you started with this enormous bombshell of a tory mp defecting to the labour partyjust minutes before the prime minister faced parliament. and that felt like a real, real sort of moment which actually served in the prime minister's favour because i think it scooped a few tory mps who are feeling a bit nervous now. but then, at the very end of prime minister's questions, david davis, a former cabinet minister, a very sort of senior veteran tory, stood up and delivered this extraordinarily dramatic line to the prime minister, where he quoted a former tory cabinet minister in 1940, basically telling chamberlain it was time to go. and that was incredibly damaging for a prime minister who we all know wants to be winston churchill, not neville chamberlain. and i think we can hear that now, that sound bite which will be played in all the bulletins, iimagine. so i'