Covid-19: Vaccine hope, testing progress, and a woman named Corona
- Published
Here are five things you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic this Monday evening. We'll have another update for you on Tuesday morning.
1. 'Breakthrough' vaccine
Preliminary results have shown a vaccine appears to prevent more than 90% of people from getting Covid-19. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the vaccine has "cleared a significant hurdle", but warned it was "very, very early days". At a Downing Street news conference, Mr Johnson warned people not to "rely on this news as a solution" to the pandemic. Meanwhile, England's deputy chief medical officer welcomed the news as an "important scientific breakthrough", but stressed that he did not see a vaccine making a difference to the current wave of the virus. The developers - American firm Pfizer and German manufacturer BioNTech - described it as a "great day for science and humanity". Their vaccine has been tested on 43,500 people in six countries and no safety concerns have been raised. Global stock markets rocketed in response to the vaccine results. Read more on what the developers have achieved, and who would get the vaccine.
2. Quarantine-free air travel hope
The UK is making "good progress" in developing a testing regime to reduce the quarantine period for international arrivals, the transport secretary has said. The "test and release" programme could allow a "much reduced" self-isolation period, Grant Shapps said. It is currently 14 days for many international arrivals. Mr Shapps also said rapid tests being used in Liverpool could "open the way" for quarantine-free air travel. The mass coronavirus testing programme launched in Liverpool last week is the first trial of whole-city testing in England. At the Downing Street news conference, the PM urged people to take part in the trial. He also said the government was distributing "hundreds of thousands" of rapid lateral flow coronavirus tests - which can provide a result within an hour without the need to use a lab - to local authorities across England and the devolved administrations.
3. Scotland restrictions
Scotland's Covid-19 restrictions are "highly unlikely" to be eased when they are reviewed on Tuesday, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said. Tuesday will mark the first review of local measures under Scotland's new five-level alert system. Ms Sturgeon said the curbs currently in place had "undoubtedly" had an impact on the spread of the virus, but she said there was a "very real concern" that overall case numbers were not yet falling. Scotland began its new five-level system of coronavirus restrictions on 2 November. Find more details of how it works here.
4. 'My name is Corona'
Corona Newton has endured jokes about her unusual name for as long as she can remember. Beer-related nicknames have followed the 49-year-old civil servant since before she was legally able to sup her first pint. But since the pandemic struck she has faced abuse over her unusual moniker. "People used to call me Guinness and Budweiser," she said. "That I could always laugh off. But this is more frustrating, especially when it gets aggressive." Read her story.
5. What would Lyra do in a pandemic?
In His Dark Materials, Lyra Belacqua is fiercely independent, headstrong and brave. The new season of the BBC's adaptation of the books began on Sunday. And to mark its return to TV screens, Newsbeat quizzed the stars of the fantasy on what their characters would do in a pandemic. So what would Lyra do?
And don't forget...
Find more information, advice and guides on our coronavirus page.
Plus, as Wales emerges from two week shutdown, learn about Covid's effect in one town in the nation.
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