Covid-19: Care homes 'given only 10% of required PPE', and pubs plead for opening date

Here are five things you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic this Wednesday morning. We'll have another update for you this evening.

Care home staff were not given personal protective equipment (PPE) early in the pandemic because the government prioritised the NHS, MPs have said. The Commons Public Accounts Committee said care homes received only a fraction of the PPE needed. Between March and July 2020, the Department of Health and Social Care provided NHS trusts with 1.9 billion items of PPE, the equivalent to 80% of estimated need. The adult social care sector was given 331 million items - just 10% of its need. At the same time, about 25,000 patients were discharged to care homes from hospitals without being tested for Covid-19. Last month, our political editor Laura Kuenssberg interviewed a care home owner who said Covid "hit the home like a missile" last year.

The British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) is asking the government for a clear timeline for reopening and a "roadmap to recovery". The BBPA said trading restrictions and lockdowns knocked sales by 56% - worth £7.8bn - last year. "There's been a real lack of clarity," said Dianne Irving, who manages three pubs in Carlisle. "It's just really, really difficult to know where we are and where we are going." Under Tier 1 last year - the mildest of restrictions - two of her pubs were only breaking even, with her city-centre venue making a loss, she said. The government says it has a plan for reopening the economy, which it will reveal after 22 February.

Meet Dr Sarah Marsh, Argjira Luzha and Becky Leigh - three people fighting Covid-19 at Harrogate Hospital's intensive care unit. They spoke to the BBC's Newsbeat as part of an exclusive 48-hour visit to see what life is like on the NHS frontline.

Europe's oldest person has survived Covid-19, just days before her 117th birthday. Lucile Randon, a French nun who took the name Sister Andre in 1944, tested positive for coronavirus on 16 January but didn't develop any symptoms. She told local media she "didn't even realise I had it". "She has been very lucky," a spokesman for her retirement home said.

The BBC has found that "dangerous" coronavirus treatments are being sent on chat apps such as WhatsApp, as well as being widely available on social media. Our reporter Sima Kotecha tracked the origins of one of these false videos to the state of Gujarat in India.

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You can find more information, advice and guides on our coronavirus page. This piece looks at when different groups can expect to get the vaccine in the UK.

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