Coronavirus latest news: New push for minority NHS staff to get Covid jab

• Exclusive: Pubs may reopen in April – with no alcohol

• US criticises EU as bloc turns to Russia for vaccine

• All travellers to be tested twice for Covid after arrival

• School day may lengthen to let pupils catch up

• New push for minority NHS staff to get jab

An NHS surgeon known for his work on tackling knife violence has pledged to battle coronavirus vaccine hesitancy, saying he does not want people to "die because of misinformation".

Dr Martin Griffiths, who has received a vaccine, is urging fellow staff and others from black, Asian and other minority groups to get the jab.

People from minority ethnic backgrounds are more susceptible to Covid but research suggests they are among those most hesitant about getting vaccinated.

Dr Griffiths said this situation is "tragic" and something he is "not prepared to tolerate".

Follow the latest updates below.

06:27 AM

'Citizen scientists' to count lockdown stars

People are being urged to take part in a nationwide star count to see if lockdown has had an impact on light pollution.

By counting stars within the constellation of Orion, "citizen scientists" will help map the best and worst places in England to enjoy a star-filled night sky, organisers said.

The information on light pollution will be used in efforts to secure darker skies, which improve health and wellbeing, protect wildlife and allow people to enjoy starry nights, CPRE, the countryside charity, and the British Astronomical Association's Commission for Dark Skies said.

And data from this year's annual survey will be compared with 2020's findings to see what impact lockdown has had.

Last year's star count, which took place before coronavirus restrictions took hold, revealed 61pc of people taking part lived with severe light pollution.

To take part, people just need to look up from their garden, balcony, doorstep or even bedroom during February 6-14 - during a clear night - and count how many stars within the constellation of Orion they can spot.

06:00 AM

UK variant detected in Hawaii

Hawaii officials are urging the public to avoid Super Bowl parties this weekend while announcing that a more transmissible variant of coronavirus has been detected on Oahu.

One individual with no travel history has been confirmed to have the B.1.1.7 variant that first emerged in the UK. One close contact of this person also tested positive.

The variant has been detected in more than 30 US states.

05:19 AM

Later curfews for South Korea

South Korea eased curfews today on more than half a million restaurants and other businesses outside the capital of Seoul, letting them stay open an hour later, amid a public backlash over tight curbs to contain Covid.

After using aggressive testing and tracing to blunt several earlier waves of the virus without drastic lockdowns, the authorities have imposed increasingly rigid social distancing rules as they fight the latest wave of the epidemic.

The restraints have pushed small business owners and self-employed people to the limits of what they can endure, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun told an intra-agency meeting on Saturday.

So businesses outside the capital will now be able to stay open until 10pm, but "the 9pm operations restriction remains as is in the metropolitan Seoul area, where more than 70pc of total infections are concentrated and still faces the risk of virus transmission", Mr Chung said.

04:36 AM

Tennis concerns ease as Victoria records no new cases

Australia's state of Victoria reported no local coronavirus cases on Saturday for the second straight day, boding well for the Australian Open tennis tournament due to start in Melbourne on Monday.

More than 500 staff and players in the Grand Slam event tested negative for the virus on Friday in re-testing required after a worker at their quarantine hotel caught the virus.

READ MORE: Doubt surrounds Australian Open as staff member at players' hotel tests positive

Positive cases could have spurred a lockdown, and qualifying matches were cancelled on Thursday while test results were pending.

The Victorian government ruled that except for players, masks will be mandatory at Australian Open games, which will be played under a closed roof.

Following the most recent case, masks are required in all indoor spaces in Victoria.

04:11 AM

School day may lengthen to let pupils catch up

The school day could be lengthened to help children catch up on their studies under plans being considered by the Government.

Ministers are drawing up a series of proposals on how best to address the lost learning inflicted on millions of children during lockdown.

Department for Education officials are understood to be studying the evidence and cost-effectiveness of adding on extra classes at the beginning and end of the day.

READ MORE: School day could be lengthened to help children catch up on lost studies

03:44 AM

Covid cases drop at US care homes

Coronavirus cases have dropped at American nursing homes and other long-term care facilities over the past few weeks, offering a glimmer of hope that health officials partly attribute to the start of vaccinations, an easing of the post-holiday surge and better prevention.

More than 153,000 residents of the country's nursing homes and assisted living centres have died of Covid, accounting for 36pc of the US pandemic death toll.

Many of the roughly two million people who live at such facilities remain cut off from loved ones because of the risk of infection.

03:25 AM

NZ investigates community infection

New Zealand health authorities are today investigating a new community coronavirus infection.

It is the fourth in two weeks among people who completed mandatory isolation at an Auckland quarantine facility for returned overseas travellers.

The new case was diagnosed in a person self-isolating at home in Hamilton, a city in the North Island of New Zealand, who was released from a two-week hotel quarantine on January 30 after testing negative twice for the virus.

"We consider the public health risk to be low and people in and around Hamilton should not be alarmed," Director of Public Health Caroline McElnay said.

"We are acting out of an abundance of caution. We are not advising any restrictions or cancellations of events."

The ministry has recently required all travellers who completed the 14-day quarantine at the Pullman Hotel in Auckland to self-isolate for five more days at home.

Genome sequencing has been carried out to determine if the case has the South African variant, which was reported in three other cases linked to the hotel. Those were New Zealand's first cases in the community in months.

03:20 AM

Yankees stadium a vaccine site for New York's minorities

Defying the cold and rain, hundreds of people bundled up in thick coats have been vaccinated in the famous Yankees baseball stadium in the Bronx, a New York borough that has been particularly badly hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

"It's like a choice between life and death," said Ines Figueroa, 64, a Puerto Rican resident of the Bronx, after receiving the shot. Her husband died in January of complications linked to the virus which she too contracted, although without developing symptoms.

The positivity rate in the Bronx is the highest in all of New York's five boroughs. That is why the authorities in this traditionally Democratic bastion of the city decided to reserve the vaccinations on offer at the stadium exclusively for residents of the Bronx.

01:23 AM

New push for minority NHS staff to get jab

An NHS surgeon known for his work on tackling knife violence has pledged to battle coronavirus vaccine hesitancy, saying he does not want people to "die because of misinformation".

Dr Martin Griffiths, who has received a vaccine, is urging fellow staff and others from black, Asian and other minority groups to get the jab.

People from minority ethnic backgrounds are more susceptible to Covid but research suggests they are among those most hesitant about getting vaccinated.

Dr Griffiths said this situation is "tragic" and something he is "not prepared to tolerate".

The NHS national clinical director for violence reduction added: "I've had coronavirus, I've seen it up close. You don't want to die. The people doing badly are the same people who are hesitant about taking up the vaccine and it's tragic.

Dr Griffiths is calling on patients and colleagues to share the message that the approved vaccines are safe for all, and the key to communities opening up again.

"Spread the word, not the virus," he said.

READ MORE: NHS moves to tackle Covid vaccine hesitancy among BAME staff

01:04 AM

Today's top stories

• Pubs and restaurants could reopen as soon as April if they agree not to sell alcohol under options being discussed to allow the widespread relaxation of coronavirus restrictions after Easter.

• The EU's top diplomat has called for the bloc to turn to Russia to make up its shortfall in vaccine supplies in a humiliating visit to Moscow that drew a sharp rebuke from the United States.

• All travellers will be tested twice for Covid after arrival in the country under Government plans to prevent the spread of new variants.

• Matt Hancock will take direct control of the NHS amid concerns that controversial reforms of the David Cameron-era have hampered its response to the Covid pandemic.

• Analysis: Its budget is more than £130 billion. It has 1.3 million staff. Last year the nation clapped for it, and this month it clapped for those who have raised money for it. In politics it is known as our national creed. But if the health service is a religion, could Covid-19 prove to be its reformation?

• The school day could be lengthened to help children catch up on their studies under plans being considered by the Government.