Covid-19: Surge testing and jabs expanded, as EU looks to open up

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

Surge testing and jabs will be expanded to six new areas of concern in England to combat the spread of the Indian Covid variant, the health secretary has said. They are Bedford, Burnley, Hounslow, Kirklees, Leicester and North Tyneside. The Scottish authorities are taking similar action in Glasgow and Moray. There have now been 2,967 cases of the variant identified in the UK, Matt Hancock said - up from about 2,300 on Monday. He added that of 25 people in hospital in Bolton with Covid, the majority are totally unvaccinated and 90% have not yet had two vaccine doses. Earlier, the prime minister said there was "increasing confidence" that Covid-19 vaccines are effective against all variants, including the Indian.

The public is being urged to take part in trials to find out whether a third dose of Covid vaccine could protect against new variants. All seven vaccines the UK has ordered will be tested on working-age people and over-75s as part of a randomised trial, with data gathered on side-effects and immune responses. The findings will help advisers decide if re-vaccinating some people in the autumn is necessary. Mr Hancock said it would be the first clinical study in the world to look at the impact of a booster jab.

EU ambassadors have backed proposals to reopen borders for non-essential travel from countries with low infection rates. A "safe list" of countries will be agreed this week. But BBC Europe correspondent Jean Mackenzie says there's some hesitation to include the UK, as some EU countries want to see how the surge of cases related to the Indian variant plays out. Boris Johnson and Matt Hancock have both said that people from the UK should only holiday in "green list" countries - and not amber ones.

Health authorities in Malawi have incinerated 19,610 expired doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, saying it will reassure the public that any vaccines they do get are safe. The country received 102,000 doses from the African Union on 26 March and used almost 80% - but the expiry date on the labels was 13 April, so vials were taken out of the cold chain. "If we don't burn them, people will think that we are using expired vaccines in our facilities," Dr Charles Mwansambo, Malawi's principal health secretary told the BBC. "And if they don't come, Covid-19 will hit them hard."

Iceland's Eurovision act won't be performing in this year's Eurovision live shows after a band member tested positive for coronavirus. The act, Daði og Gagnamagnið, will stay in the competition, but won't perform live at Wednesday's rehearsal, Thursday's semi-final or the final on Saturday. Instead, the competition will use footage recorded during a recent rehearsal.

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Can two households travel in one car? Will we still have to wear face coverings in shops this summer? We've been answering your latest questions on lockdown easing.

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