Britain will have a "flu-type" relationship with Covid by the end of the year, a Government adviser has suggested.
Dr Mike Tildesley, from the University of Warwick and a member of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Modelling group (Spi-M), said: "Say we get into a situation where the virus becomes very, very mild and we are living alongside it - we're not there yet, but hopefully we will be at some point this year - then we do need to talk about not just cases but also hospital admissions and the number of people who are dying with the disease.
"If we can get those numbers as low as possible then hopefully we can see restrictions removed and we can live alongside the virus."
He added: "A while ago I did say probably January is going to be a little bit rocky, if this wave starts to turn around and hopefully as we get towards the warmer weather we can start to see these restrictions removed and we can have more of a discussion about what living with Covid is going to be like and hopefully we won't see a return to restrictions as we get further through the year."
Dr Tildesley said that, generally speaking, new variants of viruses tend to be more transmissible but "also generally milder", adding: "So my hope is that as we get further into this year and next year, we are dealing with milder versions of Covid and hopefully we have more of a flu-type relationship with Covid where potentially we protect the vulnerable as we get into the colder weather, but we don't see a return of restrictions."
New self-isolation rules have come into force today as ministers begin to relax Covid restrictions, with the isolation period cut by a day to a minimum of five full days in England.
？？Follow the latest updates below.
'Whoever wins the Australian Open now doesn't really count because Djokovic is the number one,' said one of his fans.
Read the full story here.
The world’s least-restricted country has a bad case of Covid denialism – and its scepticism comes from the top, reports Harriet Barber.
Read the full story here.
The tennis superstar's plight has highlighted Australia's draconian Covid policy, which might be starting to rebound, argues Alexander Downer.
Read Alexander's full piece here.
Pfizer will add a production facility for its antiviral Covid pill in France as part of a plan to invest 520 million euros in the country over the next five years.
The decision is part of Pfizer's strategy to boost global production of the pill, paxlovid, which was found to be nearly 90 per cent effective in preventing hospitalizations and deaths in patients at high risk of severe illness, according to clinical trial data.
The investment will initially involve the production of active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) for paxlovid at a plant run by French pharmaceutical group Novasep, Pfizer said, noting that additional Novasep facilities will be added next year.
"Novasep will produce API for use in our manufacturing network, expected to contribute to the overall (global) effort to produce 120 million courses of treatment in 2022," it added.
The drug obtained emergency approval from the US drug regulator in December, and is being assessed for possible authorisation in the European Union.
The latest postponement, the north London derby, prompted Tottenham to demand more 'clarity and consistency' regarding the rules, reports Jeremy Wilson.
Read the full story here.
Sir Antonio Horta-Osorio has resigned as chairman of Credit Suisse after an internal investigation into breaches of Covid rules, reports James Warrington.
In a dramatic statement late last night, the lender said that Sir Antonio had stepped down with immediate effect after just eight months in the role.
It follows reports the banker, a former chief executive of Lloyds, broke Covid quarantine rules twice last year.
He said: “I regret that a number of my personal actions have led to difficulties for the bank and compromised my ability to represent the bank internally and externally.
“I therefore believe that my resignation is in the interest of the bank and its stakeholders at this crucial time.”
Read the full story here.
Boris Johnson has held talks with the civil servant investigating allegations of lockdown breaches, with her report possible as soon as this week, report Ben Riley-Smith and Tony Diver.
Read the full story here.
Clinically vulnerable 12 to 15-years-olds who are most at risk from coronavirus will be able to get their Covid booster jab from today.
Around 500 children will be eligible, including those receiving chemotherapy or radiotherapy, those with leukaemia, diabetes, chronic diseases or severe mental illness, and those who live with someone who is immunosuppressed.
They are entitled to their booster three months after their two primary vaccine doses, while severely immunosuppressed children can get their booster after a third primary dose.
Those who have tested positive for Covid-19 must wait 12 weeks before getting their booster, or at least four weeks if they are in the highest risk groups.
Sir Keir Starmer has refused to apologise over a picture of him having drinks with Labour staff in May 2021, as he insisted: "We did nothing wrong."
At the time, indoor mixing between different households was prohibited except in work scenarios.
Nadhim Zahawi, the Education Secretary, was among senior Conservatives who called for Sir Keir to apologise in light of his own criticisms of Mr Johnson.
Follow all the latest Politics news on our live blog
Novak Djokovic could be barred from playing in the French Open after the French Sports Ministry said there would be no exemption from France's new vaccine pass law.
World number one Djokovic, who has not been vaccinated against Covid, was deported from Australia on Sunday before the first Grand Slam tournament of the year after losing a court case to have the cancellation of his visa overturned.
France's vaccine pass law, approved by parliament on Sunday, will require people to have a certificate of vaccination to enter public places such as restaurants, cafes, cinemas and long-distance trains.
It was wrong to impose the restrictions, but the elites responsible are incapable of admitting it, argues Tim Stanley.
Read Tim's full piece here.
Early data suggests a jump in obesity globally, particularly among children and young people, reports Jennifer Rigby.
Read more here.
Millions of people are causing themselves 'silent harm' after consuming more alcohol at home during lockdown, Royal College of Psychiatrists warns, reports Daniel Capurro.
Read the full story here.
Asked on the BBC's Radio 4 Today programme if Boris Johnson's job as the Prime Minister is safe, Nadhim Zahawi insisted that it was.
He said: "Yes, because he is human, and we make mistakes."
The Education Secretary said he did not recognise reports surrounding a bid to survive the "partygate" storm.
Reportedly dubbed "Operation: Save Big Dog", it has been suggested Boris Johnson could overhaul his top team, with the likes of his principal private secretary Martin Reynolds, who sent an email inviting staff to enjoy the good weather in the No 10 garden in May 2020, being shown the door as part of a move to protect the PM.
But Nadhim Zahawi told BBC Breakfast: "Honestly, I don't recognise that at all."
He added: "Government doesn't operate like that. If you look at the work I'm doing in the Department of Education on levelling up, on making sure that every child gets a really high level of education consistently in every corner of our country, the work that Michael Gove was doing on the Levelling Up White Paper (on) which I'm working closely with him because the most important capital's the human capital, the most valuable resource is the human resource.
"All that work, whether it be what Priti Patel is doing on her Nationality And Borders Bill to prepare to deal with the criminal element that is putting people's lives at risk on those little boats."
Asked why he had listed all the policies reportedly to be used as part of the bid to save the PM, he said: "They're on the list because these are the Government's manifesto."
Nadhim Zahawi said Boris Johnson "is focused on dealing with the big issues".
The Education Secretary told Times Radio: "If you think again about the big calls, whether it's Brexit, the vaccine programme which the Prime Minister very much focused on and I led the deployment, and of course the call on Omicron pre-Christmas... on the big decisions, he's made the right call.
"Of course, we're all human, we make mistakes. And when he made a mistake, he came to Parliament and apologised for it."
Mr Zahawi said he would have acted differently and told staff to "get back to your desk" if he had discovered a party.
Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi said it was not true that Boris Johnson had known about a party held at Downing Street on May 20, 2020.
He told Sky News: "It's not true that the Prime Minister knew about this. He implicitly thought this was a work event."
He said senior official Sue Gray must be allowed to carry out her inquiry into reports of coronavirus restriction-breaching events in Westminster, and he said the Prime Minister had "submitted himself to that investigation".
Mr Zahawi said he shared the anger of the public over the issue, adding: "I can absolutely say to you that the Prime Minister feels the pain."
He said: "All I would say is we have to allow the investigation to take place. Why? Because that's the fair thing to do - you don't condemn a man without a thorough investigation."
Here is your Daily Telegraph on Monday, Jan 17
Nadhim Zahawi said it was "looking positive" that Plan B measures could be lifted on January 26.
The Education Secretary told BBC Breakfast: "If you look at infection rates, they remain high, hospitalisations is still high, touching 20,000 people in hospital, but it feels like they're plateauing.
"The good news is the number of people in ICU has been coming down, certainly in London, which was the epicentre, the level of staff absence in education has remained pretty flat, it was 8% before Christmas, it's at about 8.5% at the moment.
"So I'm confident that when we review this on the 26th of January, as we said we would do, then we'll be in a much better place to lift some of these restrictions.
"But it's worth remembering that because we stuck to Plan B this economy is the most open economy in Europe."
Dr David Nabarro, a World Health Organisation (WHO) special envoy for Covid-19, told Sky News there was "light at the end of the tunnel" for the UK in tackling Covid-19.
He said: "Looking at it from a UK point of view, there does appear to be light at the end of the tunnel... I think that it's going to be bumpy before we get to the end.
"So even though it's possible to start imagining that the end of the pandemic is not far away, just everybody be ready for the possibility that there will be more variations and mutations coming along, or that there will be further challenges, other surges of even Omicron coming."
He said children do not get very ill from Covid-19, and "we're going to have children acting as vectors of the virus for some time to come."
He said there was a need to still be "respectful of this virus", adding: "Do what you can to stop transmitting it. Do what you can to protect others from being affected by it. It's not the common cold.
"I know people would like it to be but it's a virus that has still some really unpleasant features. Let's do our best to protect people from it if we possibly can."
Dr Mike Tildesley, from the University of Warwick, said changes to isolation rules come with "increased risk".
The member of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Modelling group (Spi-M) told BBC Breakfast: "It is a big change, we do need to remember that from an epidemiological perspective any relaxation in testing like that is going to have an increased risk attached to it but of course, I totally understand it's a practical thing.
"We're seeing an awful lot of absences, and it's particularly concerning in healthcare at the moment actually, so if we can reduce the isolation period then that will allow more people to get back to work
"Of course, important to remember that is done with two negative tests - so you can't come out of isolation until the sixth day with a second negative test. And if you don't get a negative test, you have to stay in isolation potentially even until day 10 so hopefully that mitigates some of the risk."
Dr Mike Tildesley, from the University of Warwick and a member of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Modelling group (Spi-M), said that the latest Covid-19 case figures were "cautiously good news" which could indicate that the Omicron wave is "turning around".
Asked about the latest UK data, he told BBC Breakfast: "I would say cautiously good news - it does look like across the whole of the country cases do seem to be falling.
"We have had very, very high case numbers throughout late December and early January - we peaked about 200,000 at one point. We do now seem to be a little bit beyond that.
"Hospital admissions are still relatively high albeit there is some evidence that maybe they're plateauing or possibly going down in London, which is cautiously good news.
"I would say we probably need about an extra week of data to really see the effect of children going back to school - we're still only two weeks since children went back to school - but if we still see that over the next week or so, I'd be pretty confident that we are seeing this wave turning around."
Asked whether changes in testing rules may have contributed to the drop in cases, he added: "Yesterday was a Sunday and we were in the region of 70,000 (cases) which is a lot lower than previous Sundays, so I think even taking into account any changes in testing I think it is pretty clear that the Omicron wave is slowing down."
People will no longer be legally bound to self-isolate when they catch Covid-19 under plans being drawn up by Downing Street to learn to live with coronavirus in the long-term.
The Telegraph understands Boris Johnson wants to permanently repeal emergency coronavirus laws which have governed how the public can live for almost two years.
Instead, official guidance would remain in place which encourages people to behave in certain ways, but would not result in fines or legal punishment if ignored.
The plans will be worked up over the coming weeks, with an announcement being penned in as early as the spring - although no final decisions have been taken.
Need help?
Visit our adblocking instructions page.