Coronavirus latest news: No plan for vaccine passports to go to the pub, says PM

• Quarantine chaos: five-hour airport queues predicted

• Live politics news: PM pledges 'cautious but irreversible' roadmap out of lockdown

• Grandparents to reunite with grandchildren in March under lighter lockdown

• 15m Britons receive Covid vaccine: the five key things the data show

• Steve Baker: Tough restrictions must never be imposed without proper scrutiny

There are no plans for vaccine passports to be used as a requirement to go to the pub, Boris Johnson has said.

The Prime Minister said that there will be "great interest" in certificates for international travel, but ruled out the idea of passports being used on a day-to-day or domestic basis.

"I think inevitably there will be great interest in ideas like can you show that you've had a vaccination against Covid in the way that sometimes you have to show you've had a vaccination against yellow fever or other diseases in order to travel somewhere," he told Sky News.

"What I don't think we will have in this country is as it were 'vaccination passports' to allow you to go to the pub, or something like that."

Lateral flow testing will really "come into its own" when combined when high vaccination rates in order to keep coronavirus case rates down, Mr Johnson said.

It comes after Dominic Raab, the Foreign Secretary, sparked concern at the weekend by suggesting the Government was looking at the use of domestic vaccine passports for shops, pubs and restaurants.

Follow the latest updates below.

12:27 PM

Vaccines are working as over-80s deaths drop twice as quickly as under-65s

Vaccines are working, new figures suggest, with deaths in the over-80s dropping twice as quickly as in the under-65s.

New research by the University of Oxford shows that since the peak in January, the case fatality rate (CFR) in the over-80s has fallen by 32 per cent.

In contrast, it has dropped by just 14 per cent in the under-65s in the same period.

The CFR measures the number of people dying after testing positive. The new figures suggest that even where people are contracting the disease, fewer people are now dying.

Our Science Editor Sarah Knapton has the full story.

12:24 PM

Roadmap out of lockdown will be 'cautious, but irreversible'

The roadmap out of lockdown​ will be "cautious but irreversible", Boris Johnson has said, as he stressed the need for coronavirus​ rates to reach a "really, really low" level before any wider reopenings.

12:01 PM

Best Western or Barbados? The best holidays for the same price as a quarantine hotel stay

Would you rather spend £1,750 on ten lonely nights locked inside a Novotel next to Heathrow Airport, or on a luxury escape for two in Barbados?

As of today, anyone arriving into England from 33 red-listed countries (or Scotland from all overseas destinations) will have to enter a mandatory ten-day quarantine in a Government-approved hotel – a policy which has been dogged with criticism and delays.

For the privilege, arrivals will need to pay £1,750 and take two tests – on days two and eight after arriving in the UK – before being released into the world on day 11.

But there is another way, of course. That £1,750 could be put towards a slightly more luxurious escape than an airport hotel incarceration.

Greg Dickinson rounds up 15 holiday options for the equivalent price of a solo stay in quarantine.

11:57 AM

British citizen admits to breaking hotel quarantine to see fiancee

A British citizen could face jail sentences after breaking Singapore's hotel quarantine in order to see his wife.

Nigel Skea will appear in court for sentencing on February 26 after he admitted to visiting Agatha Maghesh Eyamalai - who was his fiancee at the time - on three occasions at the Ritz-Carlton Millenia Singapore hotel.

On one of his visits, Skea, 52, climbed an emergency stairwell to spend nine hours with Eyamalai. Arrivals in Singapore currently have to spend 14 days in an assigned room as part of the country's travel quarantine regime.

Prosecuting lawyers have asked for him to be jailed for four weeks and receive a fine of 1,000 Singapore dollars, while his defence lawyer has asked for a one-week jail term or fine. Eyamalai is also being represented by the same defence lawyer.

So far, no Britons have been jailed for breaking coronavirus rules in Singapore.

11:42 AM

Hotel quarantine scheme takes off, in pictures

The UK's hotel quarantine scheme came into effect today amid warnings of suspended flights and five-hour queues with extra checks needed on up to 8,000 passengers per day flying into Heathrow.

Staff have already faced heavy queues in recent days after a surge in passengers arriving in efforts to avoid the 10-day enforced quarantine in hotels for which they have to pay up to £1,750 per person.

11:24 AM

Vaccine passports unlikely to be used domestically, says Boris Johnson

Boris Johnson has dismissed suggestions that 'vaccine passports' will be used at a domestic level, saying that lateral flow testing will instead come into its own.

"I think inevitably there will be great interest in ideas like can you show that you've had a vaccination against Covid in the way that sometimes you have to show you've had a vaccination against yellow fever or other diseases in order to travel somewhere," he told Sky News.

"But I think that's going to be very much in the mix down the road. That is going to happen. What I don't think we will have in this country is as it were 'vaccination passports' to allow you to go to, say, the pub, or something like that. I think that that would be going it a bit...

"Looking at the future, what we hope to have is such a high proportion of the population vaccinated is that when you couple that with rapid testing, lateral flow testing, you really start to get the kind of answer you're talking about."

11:19 AM

Road map out of lockdown will set out Government target dates

Dates will be set out as part of the Government's road map "if we possibly can", Boris Johnson has said.

11:17 AM

Boris Johnson: 'Vulnerable will suffer' if infection rates too high

Boris Johnson was asked by Sky News whether - after the over-50s and most vulnerable groups have been vaccinated - the country will learn to live with the virus like flu, as Matt Hancock suggested at the weekend.

"That's a very interesting question," Mr Johnson said. "As we get ever better with testing and tracing and enforcing fights against new variants, we'll want to see that those rates are really, really low.

"The risk is that if you have a large volume of circulation - even young people getting the disease, and a couple of things happen - first of all you have a higher risk of new variants within the population, secondly there will also be a greater risk of the disease spreading out into the older groups again."

Mr Johnson noted that no vaccination programme is 100 per cent effective, and said that if infection rates are too high then "inevitably, the vulnerable will suffer".

11:14 AM

Schools reopening: No date confirmed yet as PM urges 'cautious, irreversible' progress

Asked about when schools will reopen, Boris Johnson stressed that "no decisions have been taken" around the exact date on which pupils will return.

"Clearly for a long time schools reopening has been a priority of the Government and families up and down the country," he said. "We'll do everything we can to make that happen but we've got to keep looking at the data, keep looking at the rates of infection."

Too many people are still dying of coronavirus, Mr Johnson said, and while rates of infection are coming down "they're still very high, so we've got to be very prudent".

"What we want to see is progress that is cautious but irreversible, and I think that's what the public and people around the country will want to see."

11:10 AM

Boris Johnson: 'Numbers very good' in UK vaccination drive

The numbers are "very good" among over-80s and over-75s who have been vaccinated, Boris Johnson has said.

Urging those who have not already had their jab to come forward, Mr Johnson said the vaccines "are safe, they're efficacious, and they will help to protect you against disease and death".

"They're a wonderful thing to have to help protect you, your family and your neighbours, and I think people get that and it's why they're coming forward in such numbers," he told Sky News.

Anyone who has not yet been contacted by the NHS but feels they need a vaccine should get in touch "and we'll fix you up with a jab", the Prime Minister added.

11:06 AM

Almost half of Covid patients develop depression, study finds

Nearly half of people struck down with Covid-19 also develop depression, according to new research.

The problem in coronavirus patients is also two-and-a-half times more common than previously feared.

Prof Shahina Pardhan, of Anglia Ruskin University, and co-author of the research, said: "Our study found a high number of respondents suffering depression alongside their Covid-19 symptoms, particularly those who were more vulnerable."

The findings are based on 1,002 adult coronavirus patients from Bangladesh, aged 18 to 81, who were tracked for a month in September and October.

In total 48 per cent were categorised as having moderate to severe depression, the international team found.

10:39 AM

More support and clear exit strategy from lockdown needed for businesses to survive

Kate Nicholls, chief executive for UKHospitality, said there will need to be more support for businesses if restrictions continue.

She told Good Morning Britain: "If we are to stay closed or severely restricted for much longer then we are going to need to have additional government support over and above that (which has been provided to date). Flexible furlough and grants going on beyond March 31 so that our businesses can survive."

Ms Nicholls called for a "very clear phased exit strategy from the lockdown and then from the restrictions that the hospitality sector is facing".

She said: "We need to see not just that initial date but the phasing out of those restrictions linked to the rollout of the vaccine."

10:35 AM

Four coaches of passengers have arrived at the Radisson Blu Edwardian hotel

At least four coaches have dropped off small numbers of passengers at the Radisson Blu Edwardian hotel at Heathrow Airport on Monday morning.

One coach pulled up by the side of the road but others stopped on the hotel's driveway and near the building entrance.

Passengers have left the coaches, collecting their luggage from inside the vehicle, before going into the hotel.

Two children were seen leaving one arriving coach.

Coach drivers are wearing face coverings, as are men in high visibility jackets who are meeting the coaches as they arrive at the hotel.

10:28 AM

Figures show Covid cases drop in nearly 95 percent of the UK

Public Health England data published on February 14 show that Coronavirus case rates have fallen across nearly 95 percent of local authorities in the UK.

Of the 380 local authorities areas across the UK, only 23 (6%) have seen a week-on-week increase in case rates compared with 354 (93%) where the rates have fallen.

The highest case rate in the UK was in Corby, Northamptonshire, with 277 new cases recorded in the seven days to February 10 - the equivalent of 383.6 cases per 100,000 people.

The figures, for the seven days to February 10, are based on tests carried out in laboratories (pillar one of the Government's testing programme) and in the wider community (pillar two).

10:23 AM

Matt Hancock: 'some way to go' before lockdown is eased

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said there is "some way to go" before lockdown is eased, as ministers are to begin reviewing coronavirus restrictions in England.

He stressed on Monday that the Government is awaiting key data on how successfully vaccines reduce transmission after more than 15 million people across the UK received their first dose of a vaccine.

Mr Hancock told BBC Breakfast: "We are taking those decisions this week, so we will be looking at the data, looking at the success of the vaccine rollout and how far that has reached and its impact in terms of protecting people, looking at the number of cases and critically, looking at the number of people who are in hospital and the number of deaths - those two factors are vital.

"Right now, as of today, at the latest count there are still over 23,000 people in hospital with Covid - that's more than in the April peak - so we've still got some way to go, but we are looking to set out that road map on Monday."

Watch him on BBC Breakfast below.

10:14 AM

Medical expert warns not to 'repeat the mistakes' made in the past

Professor Gabriel Scally, president of the epidemiology and public health section at the Royal Society of Medicine, said there needs to be a "strategic plan" for easing restrictions by driving down the virus.

He said cases must come down "consistently", adding: "We can't repeat the mistakes that we made in the past by loosening restrictions in places where there still is a lot of circulating virus."

Prof Scally, who is a member of Independent Sage, said schools must be made safe before reopening.

He told Good Morning Britain: "By taking on extra space, by improving ventilation, by extending mask-wearing in schools - all of these things will help.

"But I don't get the feeling that the Government is interested in anything other than a simple 'This is the date when we'll drop resections'."

10:10 AM

Hancock explains how red-list arrivals are being kept away from others

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the hotel quarantine system for travellers arriving from "red list" countries has been operating "smoothly" since it came into force at 4am on Monday.

Asked on Times Radio how "red list" passengers are being prevented from mixing with other arrivals in airports, he said: "All of this has been clearly set out, and I'm glad to say that, as of 6.30am when I got my latest update, this is working smoothly."

Pressed on the same question, Mr Hancock added: "You go down a separate channel at the gates and, once you've been through the gates, which are manned by the Border Force, there is then a security operation supported by the police so that people are gathered, go and pick up their luggage and then go to the hotels.

"So that's all in train; there was a walkthrough of it yesterday and obviously it has been in place since four o'clock this morning."

10:00 AM

JCVI deputy chairman calls UK jab rollout 'remarkable'

Professor Anthony Harnden, deputy chairman of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, said the rollout of coronavirus jabs has been "remarkable".

He told Sky News: "It's a monumental achievement and a real milestone and a real credit to all those vaccinators around the country, in particular GPs and their teams - they've done really well.

"I must pay tribute to my colleagues, they've stepped up to the mark, they've delivered the immunisation programme in a sympathetic, efficient and straightforward way, as I expected they would.

"This is only the first of many milestones; we still have a long way (to go) in this country in terms of vaccination, but the performance to date is quite remarkable."

However, Prof Harnden added: "We've got problems not only with care home staff, we've got problems with BAME groups, reaching out to socially deprived populations, homelessness.

"There are a number of people that we really need to reach out and persuade that these vaccines are safe and effective."

09:56 AM

Calls for those with learning disabilities to be prioritised for vaccinations

BBC Radio 2 presenter Jo Whiley posted a tweet this morning that her sister, Frances, who has a rare genetic disorder called Cri du Chat, has not received her vaccination yet.

There is now a Covid outbreak at Frances' care home.

The tweet has prompted calls for those with learning disabilities to be prioritised for Covid vaccinations.

09:41 AM

'There probably is leeway to reopen all schools', says Prof Ferguson

Professor Neil Ferguson said he is "encouraged" by the Government's "cautious strategy" to date.

The scientist said he has also felt "very surprised and encouraged by how quickly case numbers have been coming down in recent weeks".

He told Good Morning Britain: "All the Government messaging is that they will take it one step at a time.

"The thing we don't want to repeat is what has happened on previous occasions - namely relaxing too fast."

He said he feels it is "quite likely" that all schools in England will reopen on March 8 but there will then need to be two or three weeks to look at how that affects case numbers.

He said: "The modelling we and other groups and universities in the UK have been doing would suggest there probably is leeway to reopen all schools."

09:36 AM

Vaccine certification may be 'right way' to have safe global travel again

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the Government is looking at how to ensure people in the UK can continue to travel if other countries choose to only allow visitors who have been vaccinated against Covid-19.

"Let me tell you exactly what the situation is," he said on Sky News.

"There are some countries around the world that are considering bringing in rules saying you can only travel if you have been vaccinated - these aren't in place yet but there are countries who are actively floating this idea and proposing it.

"In that case, it will be important for people from the UK to be able to show whether or not they have been vaccinated in order to travel, so we are working with countries around the world on the basis for this and how that vaccine certification can happen in a way that can be assured.

"We want Brits to be able to travel to those countries and therefore enable Brits to be able to demonstrate their vaccine status, so that sort of vaccine certification is something we are talking to our international counterparts about and there are people who are arguing that is the right way to have safe global travel again because obviously that's very restricted at the moment."

09:32 AM

The UK has hit its first vaccine roll out target - here's how we did it

The UK’s Covid-19 vaccine programme has been a success so far and we have hit our first major target: offering vaccines to the top four priority groups by February 15.

Only a handful of countries have a better record of jabs administered per 100 people - and they all have a much smaller population.

But how have we reached the ambitious milestone?

Watch the video below to see Health Editor Laura Donnelly's five key reasons behind the success of the programme.

09:28 AM

'Some sort' of vaccine passport expected to be used in the future

The World Health Organisation special envoy for the global Covid-19 response, has said he expects "some sort" of vaccine passport will be introduced in future.

Dr David Nabarro said: "I am absolutely certain in the next few months we will get a lot of movement and what are the conditions around which people are easily able to move from place to place, so some sort of vaccine certificate no doubt will be important."

He added that countries would only be able to form "bubbles" for travel purposes if they both had the same standards of coronavirus restrictions and similar levels of vaccination uptake.

Dr Nabarro told Sky News that transparency over Covid-19 measures between countries was key to keeping an eye out for new variants of the virus.

09:21 AM

First travellers begin their hotel quarantine

The first international travellers required to isolate at quarantine hotels have begun arriving for their stay at Heathrow Airport.

White coaches carrying a handful of people pulled up to the Radisson Blu Edwardian hotel shortly before 9am.

One woman, who said she had come from Zambia, got off a coach at the side of the road and confirmed she was about to start quarantine.

Asked how she felt about the prospect, she replied: "I'm not happy, but you have to do it."

She said she had booked her stay on Sunday.

Men in face masks and hi-vis jackets were present in the hotel car park and by the entrance as the coaches arrived.

09:19 AM

Conservatives urge Johnson to allow Covid-safe weddings from March 8

Senior Conservative backbenchers have urged Boris Johnson to allow Covid-safe weddings to resume from March 8 before permitting unrestricted ceremonies from May 1.

Thirteen MPs, including 1922 committee chairman Sir Graham Brady, Covid Recovery Group vice-chairman Steve Baker and ex-minister Tim Loughton, have backed a campaign seeking to pressure the Prime Minister as he considers his plan to ease restrictions.

Former work and pensions secretary Esther McVey said: "Vaccinating the top nine risk groups will prevent around 99% of deaths from Covid and around 80% of hospital admissions.

"That should be a huge moment for the UK to hold its head up high, for couples to walk down the aisle, and for families up and down the country to reunite, to celebrate and to plan their futures."

09:13 AM

WHO expert says challenge is to stop virus resurging with travel

Dr David Nabarro told Sky News: "Over the period since mid-December all over the world the numbers have been coming down, a bit like we see in the UK which has been a dramatic reduction in cases but globally also, its the daily numbers, the weekly numbers have been dropping.

"It really is because people have worked out how they are going to get on with their lives but at the same time stop this virus from spreading."

But he warned the challenge in future would be to stop the virus resurging when people begin travelling again.

He said: "(Cases) are I'm afraid still rising in other parts of the world - in Latin America and parts of Africa we've got some really nasty situations that are causing some disturbance, but the overall picture is one of really extraordinary efforts being made and good results, so if we can keep it up then we can get on with our lives."

09:11 AM

Hancock: 'long way to go' before lockdown ends despite vaccine success

09:05 AM

Health Secretary 'absolutely' wants this lockdown to be the last

Asked on BBC Breakfast whether the Government wanted the current lockdown to be the last, the Health Secretary said: "Absolutely, we very much hope so.

"For me, making sure that as we lift measures, we do so carefully and cautiously to make sure that we don't have to put them on again, that is at the core of the judgment we have to make."

Mr Hancock said the vaccine programme would help lift the restrictions as it reduced hospital admissions and Covid-related mortality, adding: "And there is also early evidence that it reduces transmission, so people who have been vaccinated we think have reduced transmission by about two-thirds, so this is really good news from the vaccine programme.

"We obviously want to see that actually in the data, not just from the trials but also see the impact of the vaccine programme on the number of hospitalisations and deaths falling."

08:42 AM

The vaccine rollout in numbers

Matt Hancock gave a breakdown of what percentage of people in each of the top four priority groups had been vaccinated to BBC Breakfast.

The Health Secretary, who said the Government believed a jab had been offered to everyone in those groups, said: "The take-up is incredibly important - it's over 90% among the over 70s as a whole, so more than nine in 10 of everybody aged over 70 in the country has taken up that offer.

"It is higher in some groups, so among the 75-79-year-olds, over 97% have taken up the offer and we obviously want to keep that proportion going up so anybody who hasn't yet been able to be vaccinated for whatever reason ... then please do come forward."

The Government minister said the figure among health care staff was "a little bit lower than 90%", with "around two-thirds" of social care staff jabbed and "four-fifths" of NHS staff receiving their first dose.

In care home residents, Mr Hancock said that, among those eligible to be vaccinated, the percentage who had been given a jab was "over 90%".

08:39 AM

Commentary: First arrivals from red-list countries

Eleanor Steafel is at Heathrow airport for us for the first group of arrivals from "red-list" countries. Here is her commentary.

The first people returning to England from “red list” countries were taken to quarantine hotels at Heathrow Airport this morning. Flanked by three security guards and led by a member of airport staff, eight passengers were met at customs and escorted to a shuttle bus which took them on to one of the quarantine hotels at Heathrow.

They were led out via the main arrivals door, crossing paths with people entering the terminal. The passengers are understood to have been grouped together at customs before being escorted to their bus.

They could have landed on any of the flights that arrived this morning but are likely to have come in on connecting flights from Madrid or Doha, where people flying in from high-risk countries like Argentina or South Africa may have flown via.

All UK nationals or residents arriving back in England from high-risk countries will begin checking into government-designated accommodation as the hotel quarantine regime to prevent the spread of new coronavirus cases begins.

08:36 AM

Day one of quarantine hotels, in pictures

08:17 AM

Heathrow braced for quarantine chaos

Heathrow has warned of quarantine chaos that could lead to passengers queueing for up to five hours and flights being suspended as the Government’s new border controls come into force today.

The airport warned ministers the extra checks needed on arrivals and shortages of Border Force staff could “compromise” the safety of up to 8,000 passengers a day flying into Heathrow to quarantine either in Government-approved hotels or at home.

Border Force officials estimate the checks on whether passengers have come from one of the 33 red list countries and paid for their quarantine hotels and Covid tests could double the time taken to 15 minutes per arrival. E-gates have been shut because of the need for face-to-face checks.

Staff have already faced heavy queues in recent days after a surge in passengers arriving in efforts to avoid the 10-day enforced quarantine in hotels for which they have to pay up to £1,750 per person.

08:01 AM

'Too early' to match falling deaths to vaccine

Matt Hancock said data was not yet available to suggest what the impact of the vaccination programme had been on reducing Covid-related deaths.

The Health Secretary told Sky News: "The signs are that, thankfully, the number of deaths is falling and has been coming down for a few weeks.

"It is too early to say whether that is directly due to the vaccination programme yet.

"It is too early to be able to measure the direct impact but of course we are looking at that and we can see overall that the number of cases is coming down sharply, the number in hospitals is coming down but it is still too high - at the latest count there were 23,000 people in hospital with Covid."

07:47 AM

'No rest for the wicked': Government eye next priority groups

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the Government was looking to the next priority groups after meeting its target of vaccinating the top four groups by February 15.

He told Sky News: "There is no rest for the wicked and we are straight on to the next groups, so the letters have already been sent to over a million over 65-year-olds asking them to come forward, and also the next group after that is those who have underlying health conditions and are carers.

"There is a huge programme under way rolling out to invite the next group of people to be vaccinated and, at the same time, from next month we have the second jabs of all the people who have come since January to make sure they happen on time, because they have to be within a specific 12-week time period. So there is still a huge amount of work to do but we have managed to vaccinate those who are most vulnerable."

Mr Hancock said efforts would be made to reach those who are in the top four priority groups but had yet to be given a jab.

07:42 AM

'It's a shambles': Union criticises 'rushed' hotel policy

The GMB union has warned that its security guard members working in quarantine hotels are being put "at risk" by the Government's "rushed policy".

National officer Nadine Houghton said: "Once again, the Government's rushed policy is putting staff at risk. Without working through the detail and listening to the voice of the workers delivering their policies, ministers risks failing at the first hurdle when trying to contain new variants.

"The Government has given security companies less than 36 hours' notice to put staff and plans in place to carry out this policy. It's a shambles.

"We will not sit back while our members are asked to do potentially unsafe work. There must be thorough negotiations on risk assessments and ensuring proper PPE is being provided. This isn't just about the safety of workers, it's about preventing new variants from spreading at a time when we are beginning to turn the tide on the virus."

07:29 AM

Today's front page

Here's your Daily Telegraph on Monday, Feb 15.

06:42 AM

Arrests in China over fake vaccines

China is cracking down on vaccine-related crimes, making dozens of arrests over the production and distribution of fake coronavirus vaccines, price gouging and illegal inoculations, the official Xinhua news agency said today.

Authorities had arrested 70 suspects by Wednesday, in 21 vaccine-related cases, it added, many of which surfaced during the initial phases of rollout.

One group of suspects made a profit of about 18 million yuan (£2m) by packaging saline solution or mineral water in 58,000 doses of spurious vaccines, Xinhua said, identifying its leader, arrested last Christmas Day, only by the surname Kong.

In other cases, fake vaccines were sold at high prices, included in emergency inoculation schemes at hospitals, or smuggled abroad.

06:04 AM

The impact of hotel quarantine policies

Hotel quarantine comes into force in the UK today.

Arrivals from "red-listed" countries will initially be affected: they will have to book and pay for a package costing £1,750.

There is no clear exit strategy and attempts to dodge this rule will come with harsh penalties.

Both New Zealand and Australia have been successful in keeping virus cases to a minimum, and both have strict hotel quarantine policies in place.

We spoke to travellers who have experienced hotel quarantine Down Under during the pandemic and those separated from family because it is "virtually impossible to get an exemption" to enter Australia and New Zealand.

READ MORE: 'It's unbearable that I can't see my family' – the impact of hotel quarantine policies​

05:40 AM

Traffic down 70pc at world's busiest airport

Dubai International Airport saw the coronavirus pandemic push passenger traffic down by an unprecedented 70pc in 2020 compared to the previous year, even as the airport held on to its prized title as the world's busiest for international travel, its CEO announced today.

While the key east-west transit point started to see an uptick in traffic after long-haul carrier Emirates resumed its routes last summer, the airport's 2020 passenger load of 25.9 million is still a trickle compared to 2019.

For months as the travel industry collapsed worldwide, Dubai's massive airport, which saw 86.4 million passengers in 2019, became a ghost town of shuttered shops. But recovery gained momentum in December as the city promoted itself as a pandemic-friendly vacation spot for tourists fleeing tough restrictions back home.

Underpinning Dubai's reopening since last July has been an aggressive coronavirus testing campaign, with visitors welcome from anywhere as long as they get tested on arrival and in many cases before departure.

Meanwhile, the UAE is struggling with a major surge in cases, prompting countries to halt flights to Dubai.

The UK banned all direct flights to Dubai last month, freezing the world's busiest international air route. London was ranked as the top destination city for Dubai's airport last year, with 1.15 million customers.

Dubai International Airport surpassed London's Heathrow as the world's busiest airport for international traffic in 2014.

05:10 AM

What it's like to stay in hotel quarantine?

Airport hotels are the appetiser – or dessert – of a holiday; they certainly aren’t designed to be the main course, writes Lucy Aspden.

But from today Britons returning to the UK from 33 countries will have to pay in the region of £1,000 to quarantine in an airport hotel for up to 10 days, or until they have received two negative test results.

The Radisson Blu at Manchester Airport is one such hideaway. Connected to the terminal and train station by a covered walkway it’s location couldn’t be any more convenient for passengers – making it an ideal candidate for the Government’s new scheme.

When you normally judge a hotel, the focus tends to be on the facilities available to you during your stay; the activities, the ambience, and the amenities. But with the leisure club, swimming pool, restaurant, bar and other communal areas closed to me on my one-night stay – as they would be were I actually quarantining – the four walls of my standard room were my only company. And it’s surprising how when you’re confined like this, you pick up on things you might have previously overlooked.

Read more: What awaits those facing hotel quarantine? I stayed at the Radisson Manchester Airport to find out

04:05 AM

New Zealand outbreak involved UK strain

A coronavirus outbreak that sent New Zealand's biggest city into a snap lockdown over the weekend involved the more transmissable UK variant, health officials have confirmed, the first time the strain has been detected locally.

Auckland's nearly 2 million residents were plunged into a new three-day lockdown on Sunday after three new Covid-19 cases were detected in the city.

The restrictions will be reviewed tomorrow, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said in a news conference.

Ardern also said the first shipment of the COVID-19 Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine has arrived in New Zealand.

01:35 AM

The travel industry is on the brink of collapse

In recent days, government ministers have done their best to torpedo the entire travel sector by telling UK citizens not even to book a holiday in the UK or abroad, write Paul Charles, chief executive of The PC Agency, and Henry Morley, chief executive of True Travel.

It is hard to think of a more damaging approach by Ministers who are elected to protect jobs and ensure economic growth. With their callous words, they have damaged their own careers as well as threaten up to 2.4million jobs at risk in the UK travel and tourism sector.

Such is the outrage, we have created a far-reaching group in just three days called Save Our Summer. This is an SOS from the entire travel sector - from aviation to tour operators, hotel groups to cruise lines - as the government appears to have no strategy for rebuilding and boosting the travel sector as we emerge out of lockdown.

The travel industry has often been split, with various lobby groups for aviation or travel agents alone. But the pandemic, and the damaging approach in recent days from ministers offering conflicting advice, has brought those of us responsible for growing travel together. An industry which employs more than 1 in 10 jobs in the UK and represents 10% of our GDP has been pummelled from pillar to post in the last 12 months. Enough is enough.

Read more: Time for ministers to step in and Save Our Summer

01:29 AM

Today's top stories

• Heathrow has warned of quarantine chaos that could lead to passengers queueing for up to five hours and flights being suspended as the Government’s new border controls come into force today.

• Grandparents would be able to see their grandchildren again from as early as March under plans to ease lockdown being considered by the Government.

• Vaccine passports for pubs, shops and events are under consideration by the Government, Dominic Raab has said.

• The travel industry goes to war with the Government today with a campaign urging the public to ignore ministers and book their summer holidays now.

• Normal weddings with no restrictions must resume from May 1, Tories have urged the Government.

• Vaccines are working, new figures suggest, with deaths in the over-80s dropping twice as quickly as in the under-65s.

• One in six children may never catch up after Covid school closures, the Children’s Commissioner has warned.