it comes as a study from imperial college london suggests infection levels in the community didn't fallart of the latest lockdown, and may in fact have risen. we'll have more on that in a moment, but first our health correspondent dominic hughes reports on the uneven roll—out of vaccines. at this mosque in birmingham, vaccinations are well under way. this is one of more than 60 new venues that have opened up today, run by local pharmacies. it's an important way to get the vaccine to communities that are especially vulnerable to covid—19 and sometimes hard to reach. is there any other way of tackling this pandemic than the vaccine? i don't see any other way. that is the most sensible thing for each and every one of us to do. i have a role to play. that is what i personally believe. if we can come together and play this role, i am definitely certain we will eventually overcome this challenge. but problems with the supply of the vaccine remain a challenge, leaving those trying to deliver it exasperated. it is frustrating. we have spent a lot of time and effort setting up centres. there are

professor paul elliott is the director of the react programme at imperial college london. covid cases are taking much longer to come down, compared with the first lockdown. as you say, in the first ten days of our study, we were actually seeing a very flat picture. it has now started to come down, which is good news, but by no means fast enough and certainly not as fast as it came down in the first lockdown. are you gathering any data on why, making any suppositions, on why that is the case? we do collect a lot of information from people. so, not only do people produce a swab for us, but we ask them various questions and we see things such as large households, there is a higher prevalence amongst minority ethnic groups. again, a higher prevalence. and also in more deprived areas. so, there are some hints that the sort of people who we know have been more badly affected by the virus, that does come through in our data. but we are also seeing differences in regional patterns. very, very high levels, as you say, in london, which is putting tremendous pressure on the nhs in lo

imperial college has published full results for its survey.abs from over 160,000 volunteers in england between the 6th and 22nd of january. it found one in 64 had the virus over that period. it suggests infections are gradually falling or plateauing in most regions, except for the east midlands. but rates are still highest in london and among 13—24—year—olds. the prevalence is so high, the pressure on the health service is so high, that it's really important that we get these rates down as quickly as we possibly can. as i say, we've got a hint in the last seven days that things are now moving in the right direction, but not fast enough, so we just have to do more. there has been some progress. daily case numbers are falling. 70% of swab results were returned in 24 hours, up from just over 50% last week. contact tracing has remained stable, with just under 70% of close contacts reached and asked to isolate. the vaccine rollout continues to be ramped up. this islamic centre in derby now one of around 1,400 vaccination sites in england. more than

we'll be talking to a professor from imperial college to get a take on all of that.his is bloomberg. guy: welcome back. dealing with the data out of the u.k.. 1564 new virus deaths. that alarming number is the highest level we have seen since the pandemic began. boris johnson says there are signs the national lockdown is beginning to work. he is also warning it is too early to call it. pm johnson: the lockdown measures are starting to show signs of some affect. we must take account of that. nobody can doubt the serious damage done by lockdowns to people's mental health, two jobs, to livelihoods as well. guy: johnson saying too early to say if relaxation is possible by mid february, relaxation of the rules. joining us is u.k. government reporter emily ashton. the u.k. is in a race against time. we are hearing that from government officials. you need to vaccinate a lot of people quickly. case counts are rising and the death is also rising. is there any suggestion the top of things working will deliver the early end of the lockdown, or as scotland is now doing, do you t

dr paul mackay on the imperial college vaccine in the u.k. currently in phase 2 trials he's also researching the new code variant while challenging and he backs misinformation to the number one question is politically this is rushed these there is no safety data for this how can you possibly make a vaccine in this so much time so people are concerned that the crops the same safety analyses haven't been done on these vaccines that are done every other 5 scenes and we can assure them that it's exactly the same. rigorous safety analysis is has been done on all of these vaccines. dr out of the lake lee is another has become an unlikely internet style with her in gauging vaccine explanations putting in 3000000 lights had ticked up video on formulating a vaccine imperial college as a tribute to dolly parton. she hopes people watch her videos for the entertainment but stay for the science and she says this way she can connect with the general public and reassure them about the speed at which the vaccine is developed its ingredients and side effects

imperial college, there was a research paper, niall ferguson, and author of that, who was also on sagehygiene and tropical medicine that they had on the 23rd john edmunds, one at the authors of that and all of those papers are saying the same thing, but government should close schools. that is my slight interpretation of what they say because the r rate won't be below one if they don't. before christmas, we had, again, looking at government statistics, cases going up very fast among secondary statistics, cases going up very fast among secondary age pupils and primary age pupils, so that they we re primary age pupils, so that they were the highest covid—19 rates of any of the age demographics. and thatis any of the age demographics. and that is the science that we think has to be acted on. what do you say to parents and carers, many of whom face great difficulty in terms of their work and their childcare? who are thinking right now, look, i can't do two weeks of primary school. i need my kids to going to school. i need my kids to going to school. i need my kids to going to school. i can

imperial college has published full results for its survey.mple of swabs from over 160,000 volunteers in england between the 6th and 22nd of january. it found one in 64 had the virus over that period. it suggests infections are gradually falling or plateauing in most regions, except for the east midlands. but rates are still highest in london and among 13—24—year—olds. the prevalence is so high, the pressure on the health service is so high, that it's really important that we get these rates down as quickly as we possibly can. as i say, we've got a hint in the last seven days that things are now moving in the right direction, but not fast enough, so we just have to do more. there has been some progress. daily case numbers are falling. 70% of swab results were returned in 24 hours, up from just over 50% last week. contact tracing has remained stable, with just under 70% of close contacts reached and asked to isolate. the vaccine rollout continues to be ramped up. this islamic centre in derby now one of around 1,400 vaccination sites in england.

joining me now is professor robin shattock, head of immunity at imperial college london. this sunday afternoon. first of all, a lot of talk about these vaccines and this decision to extend the time between the first and second dose. what are the first and second dose. what are the risks and potential advantages of doing that? well, the potential advantage of having a wider gap is you can get more people to receive their first dose and that may well prevent them from ending up in hospital in the short term. and certainly, there is evidence there to support that for the astrazeneca oxford vaccine. the evidence for the pfizer vaccine is less robust. it is only for three weeks, we don't know what level of protection a single dose might give over a period of up to 12 weeks. the potential risk is if it is a suboptimal immune response, although it may reduce hospital admissions it may give the virus a window to evolve mutations that may render the vaccine less efficacious in the future, so it is really a judgment call. there is no obvious right decision and people are trying to

but ministers say the research from imperial college london doesn't take into account the full impactlockdown in england, new infections remain high, and instead of coming down may well have slightly increased in some areas. researchers from imperial college looked at swab results from a random sample of more than 140,000 volunteers between the 6th and 15th of january. they found 1.58% had the virus, that's about one in 63 people. rising to 2.8% in london. i think it is quite a complex picture. we did see a little bit of a dip at the beginning of the lockdown but now we see essentially a level with an r of around one. but we are not seeing that fall that we really need to see from these very high prevalence levels. figures from nhs test and trace had suggested a recent drop in symptomatic cases. researchers think that could reflect a fall in infections just after christmas which is only now being picked up in officialfigures. data on people's movements show increased activity in early january, as people went back to work, which researchers say is keeping transmission high. i think wha

researchers from imperial college london and elsewhere reported their findings from a clinical trial of the rheumatoid arthritis drug, aktemra. they say the mortality rate was nearly 36% for about 400 patients in a control group receiving standard care, but was reduced by more than seven points to 28% for about 350 people who received the drug. it was developed by japan's osaka university and shugi pharmaceutical among others. the drug is expected to help inhibit the overreaction of the immune system. the british government said on its website that it encourages the use of the drugs to treat covid-19 patients in intensive care uni. >>> the seychelles islands off east africa have begin administering a coronavirus vaccine developed by the chinese state-owned drug maker sinopharma. local drug makers say this is the first time a covid-19 vaccine has been used in africa. the country says it received a donation of 50,000 doses from the united arab emirates. the president explain why he became the first in the country to get the shot at a hospital in the capital, victoria. >> i want this to

dr paul mackay worked on the imperial college vaccine in the u.k. currently in phase 2 trials he's also researching the new code variant while challenging and he backs misinformation to the number one question is politically this is rushed these there is no safety data for this how can you possibly make a vaccine and this is what types of people are concerned that the crops the same safety analyses haven't been done on these vaccines that are done every other 5 scenes and we can assure them that it's exactly the same. rigorous safety analysis is has been done on all of these vaccines. go to alabama a cli is another has become an unlikely internet style with our gauging vaccine explanations putting in 3000000 light that had ticked up video on formulating a vaccine imperial college as a tribute to dolly parton. says. she hopes people watch her videos for the entertainment but stay for the science and she says this way she can connect with the general public and reassure them about the speed at which the vaccine it's ingredients and side effects when i

let's find out more about that new study released by imperial college london, which has found that thethat someone with the covid—i9 variant can infect is far higher than the original strain, and is affecting more people under 20. professor emma thomson is working on the sequencing of this covid mutation. she told us what we still don't know about the virus. there are some key questions about the variant. the first thing that we fully understand now is that this new variant is transmitting more rapidly across the uk. the percentage of cases now being caused by this new variant are starting to dominate all the other variants that are in circulation. it's problematic because it transmitting more. there are two other questions that we are in the process of trying to answer at the moment, one is whether not the new variant causes more severe illness and also where there are not its compromises immunity in any way, particularly immunity from vaccines. but there is no sign of any problem at the moment with the efficacy of vaccination. there is no sign at the moment of any more serious illnes

the imperial college study suggests transmission of the new variant tripled during england's novemberkdown it's been confirmed that all primary schools in london are to remain closed for the start of term — after a u—turn by the uk government. leaders of nine london local authorities had written to the uk education secretary gavin williamson urging him to rethink the decision. a new era begins, as the brexit transition period ends and the uk completes its formal separation from the european union. borisjohnson said the uk had "freedom in our hands" and the ability to do things "differently and better". now the long brexit process was over. but opponents of leaving the eu maintain the country will be worse off. now, rebecca morelle looks back on how scientific endeavour reached new heights over the past twelve months — in review 2020: the year in science. it was the year that would put science to the ultimate test, battling a pandemic that swept across the globe. as cities locked down, the air became cleaner, but not for long, and the impacts of climate change are still accelerating. a

it's been at times difficult personally and for many of my colleagues notjust at imperial college but of hopefully making a difference not just in the uk. the centre i run advises countries around the world and has a global remit. and, yes, at being at the heart of a crisis quite of this magnitude. well, it isn't over yet sadly but professor neil ferguson, i thank you very much indeed for being on hardtalk, thank you. hello there. temperatures have been plummeting away in the night especially across the glens of scotland, —10 or —11 celsius here but there's just a hint as we go into next week that we're exchanging the cold wind we have at the moment for something a little milder coming in off the atlantic but still quite a lot of stagnant cold air and actually for the meantime, we've got that northeasterly or north—northeasterly again with us through the day ahead. so, icy to start with some snow showers around and some freezing fog, particularly scotland and northern ireland. these showers will have a little bit of winteriness in them as well and temperatures are close enough to free

it's been at times difficult personally and for many of my colleagues notjust at imperial college buthough in terms of hopefully making a difference notjust in the uk. the centre i run advises countries around the world and has a global remit. and, yes, at being at the heart of a crisis quite of this magnitude. well, it isn't over yet sadly but professor neil ferguson, i thank you very much indeed for being on hardtalk, thank you. hello there. it was a very cold start to the weekend, a widespread frost, some ice around, also some freezing fog patches and some low cloud across southern areas which could linger throughout the rest of the day. we will see some sunshine around though and across the north, this thick cloud is actually rain bearing cloud thanks to a weather front pushing in off the atlantic, so it will be quite wet for the north and west of scotland. some of that rain turning to snow over the high ground as it pushes its way further inland, but for much of northern ireland, southern scotland, england and wales, it should be dry with some sunshine although it could stay quit

it's been at times difficult personally and for many of my colleagues notjust at imperial college butugh in terms of hopefully making a difference notjust in the uk. the centre i run advises countries around the world and has a global remit. and, yes, at being at the heart of a crisis quite of this magnitude. well, it isn't over yet sadly but professor neil ferguson, i thank you very much indeed for being on hardtalk, thank you. hello. after what has been a code wea k hello. after what has been a code weak both by day and by night, we will start to see changes to our weather now, particularly across western areas with less cold air moving in. it is pretty chilly for the rest of today across the south and east. it started off rusty with dense fog around. the cloud is thickening up in the west is a persistent rain affecting the north and west of scotland, a bit of snow on the high ground. temperatures recovering 8 degrees. in and glasgow. further south, recovering 8 degrees. in and glasgow. furthersouth, low single figures for most. a degree also on yesterday. tonight, there's temperatu

smoothly and they're doing everything they can to protect that we've also seen imperial college london who were developing a new vaccine alongside the astra zeneca in the pfizer stock there and now focusing solely on looking at how to tackle any new variant mutations of the virus that come up just showing how important that focus now is for the odd series charlie ensor reporting live charlie many thanks indeed. we were watching that press briefing with the u.k.'s prime minister the us senate confirmed anthony blinken as the new secretary of state the foreign relations committee had already voted to back the veteran diplomat blank and was deputy secretary of state during the obama administration that has close ties with president joe biden let's go live now to the capital of sirius had your castro is in washington d.c. heidi tell us more. well a jury in this confirmation was widely expected as anthony of lincoln sailed through his committee hearing process yesterday and this vote now is proceeding on a bipartisan basis and he certainly has the numbers now to be confirmed as biden's secr

every month, imperial college london sends out coronavirus testing kits to 140,000 plus people across up those with and without symptoms, and the latest findings are worrying. the swabs were carried out between january six and the 15th. they suggest that one in 63 people in england was infected. there was no apparent decline in cases during those ten days. that's puzzling because we look at uk wide positive tests, there was a sharp decline during the same period, from around 60,000 cases a day, to around 40,000. i think it's shown us that the lockdown is partially working. there's been a change of behaviour and the epidemic isn't growing as fast as it would have done but we need it to be shrinking right now. just keeping it level�*s not enough, given the pressure on hospitals and the number of deaths we have each day. that's why vaccination is the hot ticket. this cinema in aylesbury, buckinghamshire, is a covid vaccination centre. no popcorn on offer, but the chance for people to get a jab in the heart of their community. this mosque in birmingham is the first in england to offer the

the imperial college study suggests transmission of the new variant tripled during england's novemberart of term — after a u—turn by the uk government. leaders of nine london local authorities had written to the uk education secretary gavin williamson urging him to rethink the decision. a new era begins, as the brexit transition period ends and the uk completes its formal separation from the european union. borisjohnson said the uk had "freedom in our hands" and the ability to do things "differently and better". now the long brexit process was over. but opponents of leaving the eu maintain the country will be worse off. now, rebecca morelle looks back on how scientific endeavour

a new study released by imperial college london has found that the average number of people that someonent can infect is far higher than the original strain, and is affecting more people under 20. the new variant has already led to strict lockdowns across the uk, where it was first discovered, but infection rates show little signs of slowing down. just yesterday, the uk reported nearly 56,000 new daily cases, the highest figure on record. professor emma thomson is working on the sequencing of this covid mutation and is part of the cog—uk association, which monitors the virus. shejoins me from glasgow university. thank is a much for being with us. what questions do you need to solve about this variant? well, there are some key questions about the variant. i think the first thing we fully understand now is that this new variant is transmitting more rapidly across the uk. the percentage of cases now being caused by this new variant are starting to dominate all the other variants that are in circulation. so it is problematic because it is transmitting more. there are two other questions that

researchers at imperial college london say that even with a lockdown similar to the one in england in november, the number of cases would still triple, and that this was "the most serious change in the virus that we've seen." it comes as the government reported another 53,285 new infections. the surge in cases has left nhs emergency staff at "battle stations," according to medical leaders, with health workers exhausted and struggling to cope. our health correspondent dominic hughes reports. it might be a new year, but there is no letup in the pressure on hospitals in london and the south—east. a surge in seriously ill covid patients mean staff are being pushed to the limit. intensive care beds are a real pinch point. some patients are being moved from kent to bristol and plymouth where there is spare capacity. that in itself is not unheard of but doctors say it shows the pressures they are working under. if the number of cases don't begin to reduce fairly soon, and indeed reduce sharply, we would be ina indeed reduce sharply, we would be in a situation where the health care infrastruc

variant is growing quickly among children and young people, and there was a scientific study from imperial collegeemonstrated this a bsently few weeks ago that demonstrated this absently perfectly. however, not the only people. the government's own scientific advice in this age group just before christmas, and in august was four schools to close. sage is so was four schools to close. sage is so concerned and in the minutes of their meeting on the 22nd of december that they state they cannot be sure that measures like the lockdown in march and april will be enough to get the infection rate below one. we are not doing this out ona limb. below one. we are not doing this out on a limb. we are being discharged by scientific advice. how practical is it, with so little notice, for pa rents is it, with so little notice, for parents who are expecting the children to go back to school, and for people who don't necessarily have access to the technology they need for their children to learn remotely? there will be some children who are left behind, even more than those who are not coming into class but are ab

were warnings from various scientific advisers, sage, from imperial couege advisers, sage, from imperial collegedoes the modelling before christmas that cases were going to go up and further measures would be needed and there is a feeling really that by leaving it up to the new year, borisjohnson may have left to do it again and as a result u nfortu nately we'll have left to do it again and as a result unfortunately we'll see more cases, hospitalisations and deaths. in this press review i said be repeat to people what they have already set. 50 i have repeated your story. already set. so i have repeated your story. and michael and i will repeat what you said earlier. you said one in 50 sounds terrible but 2% suddenly seems easier to manage. but nonetheless, the mayor has gone with one in 50 almost as if it is an agatha christie holding up a newspaper going one in 50 looking around going, "who is the one who has got a?" i suppose none of us arein situation with a 50 people. —— anand am repeating. of course it could be one and 30, that is even more striking. one of this is gold standard data from t

a professor at imperial college london. very good to have you with us, professor.is the more up—to—date data in contrast to what the government says? it is saying that your study doesn't give the full picture and the very latest findings. full picture and the very latest findinus. ~ . ., , full picture and the very latest findinus. ~ ~ . , full picture and the very latest findinus. ~ . ., , ~ ., findings. well, certainly, you know, we have to — findings. well, certainly, you know, we have to look _ findings. well, certainly, you know, we have to look at _ findings. well, certainly, you know, we have to look at our _ findings. well, certainly, you know, we have to look at our study - findings. well, certainly, you know, we have to look at our study in - findings. well, certainly, you know, we have to look at our study in the l we have to look at our study in the context of all the data streams. clearly, there is the symptomatic testing, which has been coming down up testing, which has been coming down up until now. and there are other surveys. we are just one piece

the latest data from imperial college london's react study shows a slight decline in infection levels taken from 168,000 volunteers between 6th and 22nd january suggest that 1.57% or one in 64 people had covid during the first two weeks of the lockdown. the data shows a varied picture across england — london had the highest proportion of positive tests where 2.8% of people had the virus. numbers are even higher in younger people across the capital with 4% of people aged between 13 to 17 and 18 to 2a testing positive. the prime minister said yesterday that there is not enough data available yet to decide when it will be possible to end england's lockdown. borisjohnson promised ministers would lay out a road map for lifting restrictions towards the end of next month. paul elliott is professor of epidemiology and public health medicine at imperial college london and director of the react programme. hejoins us now. professor he joins us now. professor elliott, thank you for your time, bringing us up—to—date with the latest data you have. two issues. as we have mentioned, obviously, infect

gordon is a consultant in intensive care medicine and chair in anaesthesia and critical care at imperial collegeeatment. just tell us what you found.— help and treatment. just tell us what you found. yes, we've been lookin: what you found. yes, we've been looking at — what you found. yes, we've been looking at treatments _ what you found. yes, we've been looking at treatments for - what you found. yes, we've been looking at treatments for the - looking at treatments for the sickest patients with coronavirus and i think we've learnt over time that part of the problem with this virus is that it reduces a lot of information in sick patients and so we've been looking at various ways to dampen down that inflammatory response. we saw that first was steroid in the summer, but more specifically, what we've seen recently, is these drugs with complicated names that block specific pathways in the body's in inflammatory response. these could help the sickest patients recover from coronavirus. i’m help the sickest patients recover from coronavirus.— help the sickest patients recover from coronavirus. i'm gla

danny altmann is the professor of immunology at imperial college, london. hejoins me now.lect on these figures, we should talk about trenton patterns rather than individual daily totals, but you will forgive me if i pick up on this daily total of vaccinations, that's an encouraging sign. 0n daily total of vaccinations, that's an encouraging sign. on that rate of progress, we are on course to meet the government's target of vaccinating all over 70s and the most clinically vulnerable by the middle of this coming month. it’s middle of this coming month. it's ureat middle of this coming month. it�*s great news and we are on target. this is an aspect of our pandemic response that is still going well that we can be proud of. it’s that we can be proud of. it's actually brilliant. _ that we can be proud of. it's actually brilliant. what is the lesson of this? a few months ago we were crouching about the problems with the track and trade system another aspect of how the process was being managed, whether we were effective in enforcing restrictions on social distancing. are there an

every month, imperial college london sends out coronavirus testing kits to 140,000—plus people across and the latest findings are worrying. the swabs were carried out between january the 6th and the 15th. they suggest that one in 63 people in england was infected. and there was no apparent decline in cases during those ten days. now, that's puzzling because if we look at uk—wide positive tests, there was a sharp decline during the same period, from around 60,000 cases a day, to around 40,000. i think it's shown us that the lockdown is partially working. there's been a change of behaviour and the epidemic isn't growing as fast as it would have done but we need it to be shrinking right now. kind ofjust keeping it level�*s not enough, given the pressure on hospitals and the number of deaths we have each day. that's why vaccination is the hot ticket. this cinema in aylesbury, buckinghamshire, is now a covid vaccination centre. no popcorn on offer, but the chance for people to get a jab in the heart of their community. this mosque in birmingham is the first in england to offer the vaccine.

professor anthony gordon is a consultant in intensive care medicine at imperial college london.o me earlier what the studies have found. we've been looking at treatments for the sickest patients with coronavirus and we've learned over time that part of the problem with this virus is that it produces a lot of inflammation in sick patients and so we have been looking at various ways to dampen down that inflammatory response. we saw that first with steroids in the summer, but more specifically, we've seen these drugs with complicated names, tocilizumab and sarilumab, that block specific pathways in the body's inflammatory response, can help the sickest patients recover from coronavirus. i'm glad you said those names because they are a bit tricky. are they now being used? i know steroid drugs are regularly used in the treatment of covid patients in hospital. what about the arthritis drugs? yes, they are being used now. it's onlyjust recently that we saw the full results and we are still working through them, but i know several thousand patients have already been treated with these d

we think that it's unsafe, based on what sage have said about the r rate, based on the imperial college tropical medicine, those studies talk about the possibility of there being an increased propensity of the new variant of the virus to spread amongst children. we need science, we need more science on that. they've also talked about the new variant being so much more transmissible that we'll have to take more steps to get it down. we know that members of our union got sick, some of them died over the christmas period, so there is the concern for our members. there's also the concern for parents and grandparents and we don't think it's safe. we think they should be a period of closure to get those cases down to make sure they've fallen well below where they were before christmas. it's vital that happens. 0ur political correspondent chris mason is here... a lot of pressure on the government. can we expect a u—turn, another u—turn? can we expect a u—turn, another u-turn? fest and suggests a u-turn is entirely possible. whether commences this afternoon, and they say this is a pretty quickl

that was professor axel gandy, chair of statistics at imperial college london.the other storeys in the news. the new york stock exchange says it will delist three chinese telecommunications firms because of their alleged links with china's military. the move comes after president trump signed an executive order in november barring us investments in chinese companies that were seen as a threat to national security. rescuers in norway have found a body in the debris of homes swallowed up by a landslide near oslo on wednesday. it's the first confirmed fatality. homes were buried under mud — some left teetering over a crater caused by the slide. nine people, including children, are still unaccounted for. adobe flash — the internet browser plug—in for watching animations and playing games is being discontinued after 24 years. released in the early days of the web, adobe's flash player was once one of the most popular ways to stream videos online, but the software failed to make the transition to the smartphone era. a new era has begun for the united kingdom, after co

in fact, a study by imperial college london found that cases might even be rising.rittain's environment secretary says the government is considering fully closing the u.k.'s borders to contain the spread of the new virus variants. the situation is dire. the u.k. is now nearing 95,000 deaths. daily fatalities averaging more than 1,000. it's the fifth most effective nation from the pandemic worldwide in the number of cases and deaths according to johns hopkins. it comes as european health authorities warn nations to take extra measures now as cases surge in western and eastern new york, some countries are posing tough restrictions on travel. portugal is banning flights and the netherlands will pose a nightly curfew starting this saturday. let's bring in our team. melissa bell is in paris. let's begin with scott mcclain in london. scott, what can you tell us about potentially closing all borders? that would be a drastic move which reflects the seriousness of the situation there. >> reporter: absolutely, kim. important to know that any travelers coming in from abroad ha

every month imperial college london sent out testing kits to 140,000 plus people across england —— contagiousup those both with and without symptoms and the latest findings are worrying. the swabs were carried out betweenjanuary six and 15th and they suggest that one 63 people in england was infected and there was no apparent decline in cases during those ten days. that is puzzling because we look at a uk wide positive tests and there was a sharp decline during the same period from around 60,000 cases per day to around 40,000. i from around 60,000 cases per day to around 40900-— around 40,000. i think it sure is that the lockdown _ around 40,000. i think it sure is that the lockdown is _ around 40,000. i think it sure is that the lockdown is partially - that the lockdown is partially working, there has been a change in behaviour and the epidemic is not growing as fast as it would have done but we need it to be shrinking right now, just keeping it at levels is not enough given the pressure on hospitals and the number of deaths we have each day.— we have each day. lockdown restrictions _ we hav

the study by imperial college london found that one in every 63 people had the infection between thet the full impact of the current restrictions. more than 60 new covid—19 vaccination centres will open today in england, as the roll out of the programme continues. in some regions the over 70s are now receiving the jab, while in others those in their 80s are still waiting. new venues include a mosque in birmingham and a cinema in aylesbu ry. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: no time to waste. president biden gets down to work — just hours after being sworn into office. he signs a series of executive orders aimed at reversing key policies of his predecessor, donald trump. three chinese telecom giants have asked the new york stock exchange to review its decision to delist them. the nyse initially said it would delist china unicom, china mobile, and china telecom on 7january based on a donald trump executive order. let's go to sharanjit leyl who's following the story from our asia business hub. hello, sharanjit hello, shara njit leyl. hello, sharanjit leyl. hi, hello, sharan'it ley

professor anthony gordon is a consultant in intensive care medicine at imperial college london.he explained to me earlier what the studies have found. we've been looking at treatments for the sickest patients with coronavirus and we've learned over time that part of the problem with this virus is that it produces a lot of inflammation in sick patients and so we have been looking at various ways to dampen down that inflammatory response. we saw that first steroids in the summer, but more specifically, we've seen these drugs with complicated names, that block specific pathways in the body's inflammatory response, which can help the sickest patients recover from coronavirus. can help the sickest patients recoverfrom coronavirus. j’m can help the sickest patients recover from coronavirus. i'm glad ou said recover from coronavirus. i'm glad you said those _ recover from coronavirus. i'm glad you said those names _ recover from coronavirus. i'm glad you said those names because - recover from coronavirus. i'm glad| you said those names because they are a bit tricky. are they now being

imperial college has published full results for its survey.xcept for the east midlands. rates are still highest in east london and amongst 13 to 24—year—olds. the amongst 13 to 24-year-olds. the prevalence _ amongst 13 to 24-year-olds. the prevalence of _ amongst 13 to 24-year-olds. the prevalence of so _ amongst 13 to 24—year—olds. the prevalence of so high and the pressure _ prevalence of so high and the pressure on the health service so hi-h pressure on the health service so high that— pressure on the health service so high that it — pressure on the health service so high that it is really important we -et high that it is really important we get these — high that it is really important we get these rates down as quickly as we possibly can, and so we have got a hint_ we possibly can, and so we have got a hint in_ we possibly can, and so we have got a hint in the — we possibly can, and so we have got a hint in the last seven days that things— a hint in the last seven days that things are — a hint in the last seven days that things are now mov

seen a slowdown in the number of lab—confirmed cases reported daily by the government but the imperial collegect study suggest that between the 6th and 15th of january, 1.58% had covid—i9 — or one in every 63 people. the highest level was in london — where 2.8% of people had the virus. ministers say the study does not yet reflect the impact of the national lockdown in england. professor paul elliott is director of the programme and i spoke to him earlier. well, certainly, you know, we have to look at our study in the context of all the data streams. clearly, there's the symptomatic testing, which has been coming down, up until now. and there are other surveys. so, we are just one piece of the puzzle, if you like. as you said in your introduction, we sent out swabs to over 140,000 people. and those people are randomly selected in the population. so, some of them will have symptoms, but many of them will not have symptoms and will not know that they are carrying the virus. we are picking up the early signal of people who, at the time of the swab, are asymptomatic and some of those may go on to h

a recent report from imperial college, london, said during the november lockdown, the number of infections the new variant. we know that the new variant is now in at least 33 other countries and here in london, they're taking dramatic steps, re-activating field hospitals, the nightingale hospital is re-activated, shutdown primary schools in london, kids supposed to be going to the classroom after winter break are being told to stay home because research suggests the new variant is more prevalent in people under 20, so that's cause for alarm at a moment when the health care system here is really being pushed to the brink. reports that we're hearing from inside hospitals are extremely concerning and it bears repeating that the push for this rollout on monday of the oxford astra-zeneca vaccine where they have a half million doses is really something that a lot of people in this country are hanging their hopes on at this point. >> all right, sarah harmon, you set us up for the next guest. i want to bring in dr. peter hotez, co-chair of the vaccine development. happy new year to you. let's talk

and there is actually a new study by imperial college of london, which i think paints just how dangerous this new variant is. in that study, the researchers say that the new variant of covid-19 tripled under a lockdown, paula, under a lockdown in november, it tripled. whereas, the original strain of coronavirus actually reduced by a third. so, you can see why they're struggling. and -- and -- and really trying to pull all the stops here, to deal with this new variant of covid-19 that's, quite simply, been spreading through this population. paula. >> yeah. it's terrifying. lockdown. cases peak. it's no wonder that there is a lot of pandemic fatigue. salma abdelaziz, for us, in london. appreciate it. >>> senior infection prevention epidemiologist, joins me now, from tucson, arizona. you know, just when you think you've understood this virus, it tends to, all of a sudden, get so much more complicated. you know that. we should, now, know that as well. in terms of these variants, dealing very specifically with the uk variant and the south african variant, which most experts say, these are, li

and imperial college london just came out with a new study, and i want to share a little bit of it with you because i think it clarifies some things. in this study, they say the november lockdown, that variant of covid-19 that is more transmissible, tripled. tripled. whereas, the other, more regular covid, for lack of a better term, decreased by a third. so now, you have this new variant, quite common, here in london and southeast england. spreading through the population. three-quarters of the country now in lockdown. but scientists and experts say that's not enough. the entire country needs to shut down. and doctors warning the worst is yet to come. that this is going to be a nail-biting month because celebrations during christmas and new year's eve. well, the spike from that has yet to hit the hospitals. so, the concern is that there is more coming and, yes, now, you can understand, in the context of all this, why the uk government might be looking at doing one dose, instead of two doses, of that vaccine. because the country's chief-medical officers say that, by doing that one dose f