Covid: New Zealand to reopen borders and WHO warns of 700,000 Europe deaths

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

New Zealand has unveiled plans to reopen its borders and allow foreigners to enter next year. Fully vaccinated visitors can enter from 30 April, but will have to self-isolate for seven days. More New Zealanders will be allowed to travel home from early next year as well, under similar rules. The move eases strict curbs that have locked out many citizens and tourists since the start of the pandemic. New Zealand is moving away from its ultra-strict "Zero Covid" strategy introduced in 2020.

A further 700,000 people could die of Covid in Europe by March, the World Health Organization has warned. Some 1.5 million people have already died in the 53 countries inside the WHO's Europe region, which includes Israel, Russia and former Soviet countries in Asia. Now the WHO says that figure could hit 2.2 million if current trends continue.

A gym owner has been fined for keeping her business open while coronavirus restrictions were in place last year. Michelle Meade-Wyatt, 46, admitted keeping The Ripped Gym in Harlow open in November last year. She was fined £1,000 and ordered to pay costs at Colchester Magistrates' Court. Essex was in tier two restrictions at the time, which meant gyms were banned from operating.

A 16-year-old girl who just missed out on being eligible for the Covid vaccine in August has urged other teenagers to have the jab, after being in hospital for four months. Areeb Khan, from Chadwell Heath in Essex, began having symptoms at the end of July. She now needs to re-learn how to walk and has been forced to delay taking her A-levels. "I've been in hospital so long, I just want to do normal things," she says.

"The nurses move around, fixing blankets and pulling curtains to protect patient dignity. At every turn, there is a sick person waiting to be seen or to be admitted onto a ward. At the peak, 134 people were waiting - in a department that originally housed 65 bedded cubicles." Read more from BBC Northern Ireland health correspondent Marie Louise Connolly's visit to an emergency ward here.

When should you get a test - and how do you get tested? All the information is here.

You can find more information, advice and guides on our coronavirus page. The UK reported 42,484 cases on Tuesday - check all the latest data here.

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