Covid: Javid confident on jab boosters, and Nicole Kidman criticised in Hong Kong

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

A UK Covid vaccine booster scheme will take place and is likely to start next month, the health secretary has said. Sajid Javid said he was uncertain of the exact start date as the government was waiting for the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation's "final advice" before proceeding. Mr Javid added the "most vulnerable" would be offered the third jab first. However, it remains unclear whether the booster scheme would be for all adults, or just some, more vulnerable groups. Interim advice from the JCVI, released last month, suggested more than 30 million of the most vulnerable people - including all over-50s - should receive a third dose.

Nicole Kidman has become the latest Hollywood star to come under fire for circumventing quarantine rules for international travellers. The Australian actress's arrival in Hong Kong sparked widespread anger after she was spotted out and about two days after touching down. This is despite the region requiring up to 21 days' quarantine. There has been no direct, official comment on a possible exemption. However, Hong Kong's Commerce and Economic Development Bureau, in response to questions about "overseas film personnel" and quarantine, said rules are waived "to carry out designated professional work".

The number of alerts sent by the NHS Covid-19 app in England and Wales has fallen to its lowest number since the week ending 23 June. A total of 261,453 alerts were sent in the week to 11 August, down 18% on the previous week. The figures cover the first full week since changes were made to the app so that it notified fewer close contacts. Venue check-ins also fell, dropping nearly 480,000 to 1,305,356. At its peak in July, the number of self-isolation alerts sent in England and Wales in one week was just under 700,000.

The number of people on waiting lists for non-urgent hospital treatment in Wales has again hit record levels. There were 624,909 people waiting in June, with the list climbing steadily each month and up by 41% since the early days of the Covid pandemic. Those waiting the longest, more than nine months, rose again to 233,210. Eluned Morgan, Wales' minister for health and social services, said Covid had had a "massive impact" on the NHS and social services in Wales.

When tickets sold out in minutes for a festival in the Welsh mountains in May, the organisers had no idea if it would be able to go head because of Covid rules. Now, thousands of people are heading to Crickhowell in Powys as Green Man begins. Fiona Stewart, managing director, said staff were crying as they welcomed festival-goers back after such an uncertain time. "I've been blubbing the whole way," she told the BBC. "We only knew four weeks ago we were going ahead. To get from there to here in that time is just astounding."

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What are the rules surrounding face coverings, given most Tory MPs didn't wear them during a packed debate in Parliament about Afghanistan on Wednesday? Find out here.

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