Over 1,000 people a day expected to be hospitalised amid surging Covid cases

• Sir Patrick Vallance said during a Downing Street press conference that hospitalisations from Covid-19 could reach 1,000 a day
• Boris Johnson, who joined the press conference remotely from Chequers as he is self-isolating, announced plans for vaccine passports for nightclubs and large venues from September 
• Andrew Lloyd Webber slammed isolation rules that have led to cancelled performances of his new West End musical Cinderella
• The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall visited Exeter Cathedral - mask-free - with the Duchess saying she hopes we are "over the worst" of the pandemic
• 11 arrests were made at an anti-vaccination protest in Westminster
• The US has told people not to travel to the UK amid rising cases

Kate Nicholls, the chief executive of the trade group UKHospitality, has criticised the Government's plans for vaccine passports for nightclubs and large events from the end of September.

By Georgina Hayes, in Glasgow

New guidance that could remove the blanket requirement for double-vaccinated NHS staff to isolate if they are a close contact of a Covid case will come within days, Scotland’s deputy chief medical officer said on Monday.

Dr Dave Caesar said the new advice will be issued "in the next day or two" after it emerged that double-jabbed NHS staff in England will be allowed to carry on working in "exceptional circumstances".

Under the new system South of the Border, certain staff who are contacted by Test and Trace will need to show a negative PCR test before they can resume working, followed by daily lateral flow tests.

SNP ministers are in discussions to implement a similar plan, with the hope the move will free up medics to deal with pressure in hospitals as services attempt to grapple with the Covid backlog.

"There would be very clear criteria around it - it would be for the essential maintenance of services that otherwise would, if they weren't there, cause potential harm to patients if they were not able to access them,” Dr Caesar told BBC’s Good Morning Scotland programme.

Andrew Lloyd Webber has said "'Freedom Day' has turned into closure day" following the cancellation of performances of his new West End musical Cinderella.

In a statement, he said that although other members of the cast had tested negative, Monday's production could not go ahead because of "the impossible conditions created by the blunt instrument that is the Government's self-isolation guidance".

He added: "We have been forced into a devastating decision which will affect the lives and livelihoods of hundreds of people and disappoint the thousands who have booked to see the show.

"Cinderella was ready to go.

"My sadness for our cast and crew, our loyal audience and the industry I have been fighting for is impossible to put into words."

The Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said he was "deeply disappointed" to hear about Cinderella's cancellation and said he recognises the "particular challenges" that self-isolation presents to the arts.

Mecca, Saudi Arabia

 Kathmandu, Nepal

Leeds, England

Four in 10 NHS Covid app users say they are unlikely to self-isolate if they test negative after being pinged by the app.

A YouGov poll of 1,761 British adults found that 57 per cent of Britons say they are unlikely to self-isolate if notified by someone they were with recently who has tested positive for coronavirus and a PCR test was negative.

Meanwhile, 50 per cent of NHS app users say they are unlikely to self-isolate if pinged by the app and a PCR test was negative.

By Jamie Johnson, in Washington

America’s Centre for Disease Control has recommended that people “avoid travel to the United Kingdom,” raising the Covid alert level to 4 - the highest ranking possible.

England is celebrating “freedom day,” with the lifting of social distancing and mask restrictions despite having more than 50,000 cases a day, and it appears that America has taken a dim view of the policy.

The travel notice was updated on Monday, with key information reading: “Because of the current situation in the United Kingdom, even fully vaccinated travellers may be at risk for getting and spreading Covid-19 variants.”

It says explicitly, in bold lettering, to “avoid travel to the United Kingdom.”

It adds: “If you must travel to the United Kingdom, make sure you are fully vaccinated before travel.”

Other countries in level four include Brazil and Indonesia.

Professor Jonathan Van-Tam said that young people have the "absolute right" to want to build relationships and socialise after a period of sacrifice to protect the elderly in the UK.

He said that young people "like socialising, and they like partying" and have sacrificed important life experiences by locking down, to protect the elderly and to prevent "catastrophic" deaths and hospitalisations.

He did acknowledge that transmission and risk is higher among the unvaccinated, so again urged young people to get vaccinated against the virus.

Boris Johnson said the lockdown roadmap is "we hope irreversible but we can't guarantee that". 

The Prime Minister warned that "some mutant, some new variant" could change things, adding: "I've always been very clear about that."

The only way to guarantee that freedoms are not again restricted is to exercise caution.

Professor Jonathan Van-Tam said that he wants everyone to go "cautiously and gradually" and added that the final success of the vaccination programme will determine "our destiny".

Professor Jonathan Van-Tam said it is not helpful to pinpoint certain businesses or buildings as being responsible for a spike in Covid-19 cases, and said he could invite friends round for a party and "that would do it".

Sir Patrick Vallance did acknowledge that we will see outbreaks related to nightclubs - as seen in other countries like Israel and the Netherlands - and said there is "no question" that transmission is easier in those closed-space environments.

Boris Johnson said he does not want to single out certain industries, and again urged nightclubs to use the Covid NHS app to keep people safe. 

The Prime Minister said they may eventually mandate a certification scheme once everyone aged over 18 has been offered the chance to get vaccinated.

Boris Johnson said that "young people have been absolutely heroic" throughout the pandemic and have sacrificed formative life experiences to protect the elderly, their loved ones and the NHS.

The Prime Minister said he has "boundless admiration for what they've done and the character they've shown" and urged any young people who are yet to get vaccinated to do so.

Sir Patrick Vallance, the chief scientific adviser, said that Covid-19 cases are "high and increasing - and that is a risk, we need to be aware of it."

The rise means we "need to go cautiously" with reopening the economy and avoid places with a high risk of infection.

Sir Patrick said that cases are "quite close" to the winter wave, and urged young people to get vaccinated to guarantee the highest level of protection.

He adds that younger people must get vaccinated to ensure they are fully protected. 

He said they expect to see over 1,000 people a day hospitalised but the rate should be slower than it was previously, and vaccines should provide a critical buffer.

The second slide shows that hospitalisations are rising but at a smaller rate than the case rate, with 4,094 people in hospital with Covid-19 as of 16 July. 

Sir Patrick Vallance, the chief scientific adviser, says this "a different picture" to previous waves due to vaccination.

The third slide shows that the number of people dying from Covid-19 remains low, with the most recent seven day average standing at 42.

The first slide from the Downing Street press conference shows that the number of people testing positive for Covid-19 is continuing to rise, with the seven day average at 46,024.

Chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance says cases are likely to continue rising as England has reached step four of the lockdown roadmap.

Boris Johnson said nightclubs should do the "socially responsible thing" and use the NHS Covid-19 app as a condition of entry, to know whether attendees have been vaccinated, tested negative for coronavirus or recovered recently from the virus.

The Prime Minister said he "does not want" to have to close nightclubs again in the future, so encouraged venues to adopt the certification - and said the Government "reserves the right to mandate certification" at any given time if cases rise too much.

Mr Johnson added that full-vaccination will be a condition of entry for nightclubs and large venues by the end of September, when all eligible adults aged over 18 will have had the chance to have both jabs. 

He said: "We want people to be able to take back their freedoms as they can today. We want this country to be able to enjoy the fruits of our massive efforts and our enormous vaccination campaign, but to do that we must remain cautious and we must continue to get vaccinated."

Speaking remotely at a press conference from Chequers while self-isolating, Boris Johnson has reiterated his "if not now, when" approach to reopening as most Covid-19 restrictions ended in England today.

The Prime Minister said that although some people would have preferred legal restrictions and social distancing to stay in place for longer, "if we don't open up now, then we face a risk of even tougher conditions in the colder months when the virus has a natural advantage".

Mr Johnson admitted that cases are increasing rapidly and more people are having to self-isolate, but said the current numbers are within the projections drawn up by scientists who assisted with the roadmap.

He said that prolonged restrictions could merely "delay the inevitable" of hospitalisations and deaths from the virus, and said it is "essential to keep up the system of test, trace and isolate".

Nadhim Zahawi said full vaccination against Covid-19 will be a condition of entry to nightclubs and other large venues from September, when everyone aged over 18 will have been offered the chance to have both jabs.

The vaccines minister said: "By the end of September everyone aged 18 and over will have the chance to receive full vaccination and the additional two weeks for that protection to really take hold.

"So at that point we plan to make full vaccination a condition of entry to nightclubs and other venues where large crowds gather.

"Proof of a negative test will no longer be sufficient."

He encouraged businesses to use the Covid pass in the coming weeks and added that lifting restrictions was a "long-awaited moment" but warned that "we are not at the finish line yet".

A mega lab hailed by Matt Hancock as "future-proofing" Britain against pandemics is running at less than 10 per cent capacity, The Telegraph can reveal. 

The delay is fuelling a shortage of PCR test capacity – a concern partly to blame for ministers only planning to lift self-isolation for those who are fully vaccinated from August 16, it is understood. 

The Rosalind Franklin Laboratory, in Royal Leamington Spa, opened last week and is expected to process thousands of tests each day. Announcing the facility in November, Mr Hancock, the former Health Secretary, said it was "future-proofing our national infrastructure to respond to future epidemics".

But it has emerged that the mega lab, which has so far only hired 300 of the 1,500 staff required to run it, is operating at eight per cent capacity. Only one processing line out of the 12 originally planned is currently open, multiple sources confirmed to The Telegraph.

• Read the full exclusive story here: Covid testing mega lab operating at less than 10 per cent capacity

Children who are at an increased risk of Covid-19 are to be offered the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine on the NHS "as soon as possible", as well as children who are living with people with weakened immune systems, Sajid Javid has announced.

The Health Secretary said he had accepted the advice of the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) to make the vaccine available to 12 to 15-year-old children in the UK with the following conditions: severe neuro-disabilities, Down's syndrome, immunosuppression, multiple or severe learning disabilities.

Other conditions, including type 1 diabetes, are not currently included in the list.

Mr Javid said: "Today's advice does not recommend vaccinating under-18s without underlying health conditions at this point in time.

"But the JCVI will continue to review new data, and consider whether to recommend vaccinating under-18s without underlying health conditions at a future date."

Paul Askew is the Chef Patron of The Art School restaurant in Liverpool, one of the north's leading restaurants, and has featured on BBC's Great British Menu.

He said that hospitality is facing numerous crises as most of the economy reopens today, including staffing issues and closures.

He said: "It’s been a very difficult time exacerbated by the pandemic and now the entire industry has lost so many good people. Then it’s having to operate under so many restrictions.

"We are not against this as it’s been part of the fight, but countless businesses across England have been damaged by this seemingly endless process to get us to Freedom Day.”

He also said that his restaurant lost £30,000 in profit on Father's Day due to staff having to self-isolate, and added that he felt "Freedom Day is illusory" because it is not a "sudden return to normal" as the industry remains fragile.

Eleven people have been arrested at an anti-lockdown protest in Westminster, which saw demonstrators block a road and force traffic to a standstill on so-called "freedom day".

Protesters held signs and chanted "freedom" as they gathered in Parliament Square on Monday after all remaining coronavirus restrictions were lifted in England, including an end to social distancing rules.

The demonstration moved from Parliament Square to spread onto the road and up to the gates of the Palace of Westminster, leading Metropolitan Police officers to urge protesters to move out of the road.

• Read the full story here: Eleven arrests at London anti-lockdown protest on day restrictions lifted

The UK has recorded 39,950 new cases of Covid-19 and a further 19 deaths within 28 days of a positive test.

Cases have risen by 41.2 per cent in the past seven days, while deaths have fallen slightly from 25 reported yesterday.

Women have been hit harder than men by global job losses caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, and only men's employment is likely to recover this year to 2019 levels, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) said.

Women have been more likely to have been made redundant or had their working hours reduced over the past year, when many countries have implemented economic and social restrictions, especially in sectors like accommodation, food services and manufacturing, the UN agency said.

Many women have not only experienced severe loss of income but also continue to bear the brunt of unpaid care work.

"Only 43.2 per cent of the world's working-age women will be employed in 2021, compared to 68.6 per cent of working-age men," the ILO said.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is evaluating an application to use a Swedish arthritis drug to treat Covid-19 in adults with pneumonia who are at risk of severe respiratory failure.

The rheumatoid arthritis drug, Kineret, is the latest possible coronavirus treatment to be reviewed by the EMA, following US-based Lilly's application for Olumiant as a treatment for hospitalised Covid patients receiving oxygen.

Kineret and its active substance anakinra reduce the activity of the immune system and a chemical messenger in the immune process that causes inflammation.

"It is thought that this could also help reduce the inflammation and tissue damage associated with Covid-19," the EMA said in a statement.

Gilead's remdesivir is the only drug currently authorised for coronavirus treatment in the European Union.

Any Saudi citizen wishing to travel abroad will be required to have had two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine from next month, the interior ministry said.

"The second dose of the vaccine against Covid will be a condition of all overseas travel for all citizens from August 9 2021," the ministry wrote in a statement published by the official SPA news agency.

Children under 12, those with approved health insurance, patients recovered from coronavirus within the last six months and former Covid patients who have received one dose of a vaccine will be exempt.

Officials said back in May that vaccines would be mandatory from August to access public and private spaces, including public transport. At that time only a single vaccine dose was required for international travel.

Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle told the Commons that a "large number" of people have been contacted by NHS Test and Trace to self-isolate, and advised MPs to wear face coverings and "not push the limits for the sake of it".

Making a statement, he said: "With the increasing infection levels in the community and people having to isolate, I strongly advise that everyone on the estate should wear face coverings when moving around - assessing catering venues and in the areas they consider crowded, including the chamber.

"We have four sitting days before the House rises. I really want us to behave safely, responsibly, during these few days.

"None of us wants to risk taking Covid back to our families, staff or constituents and I'm sure we will want everyone working on the estate to feel safe and secure, and to ensure the business of this House continues.

"I've got to say we've certainly got a large number of people that have been contacted so I'm very worried about the outcome.

"Four days to go, I want us all to have a good break and enjoy our holidays so hopefully we will take it seriously and not push the limits for the sake of it."

Organisers of the Tokyo Olympics have warned participants not to visit restaurants that serve alcohol or are open after 8pm to avoid "grave reputational risk", Reuters reports.

The warning comes after Japanese media outlets reported that participants had been spotted drinking in downtown Tokyo or violating quarantines.

“These incidents have also been raised in the National Diet, and have the potential to severely damage the reputation of the Tokyo 2020 Games and your organisations,” organisers said in a note sent to Covid-19 liaison officers at the Games.

The Games, already the subject of much controversy in Japan due to coronavirus concerns, has reported its first outbreaks among athletes, including an alternate gymnast for the US team and a volleyball player from the Czech Republic.

People trying to order lateral flow tests online through the gov.uk website earlier this afternoon were told to try again tomorrow due to there being "no more" available.

The Department of Health has now confirmed that this was just a "temporary technical glitch" with the website and said there are still lateral flow tests available to be ordered.

Sir Keir Starmer has described Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak's "attempts to dodge isolation" over the weekend as "crass and insensitive".

The Labour leader said: "With family events cancelled, businesses having to close and workers going without pay, Johnson and Sunak's attempts to dodge isolation were crass and they were insensitive.

"Let's be clear, Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak only went into isolation because they were busted."

He also said that we have seen "chaos, confusion and cronyism at the heart of Government" throughout the pandemic.

The Duchess of Cornwall has said she hopes the country is "over the worst" of the Covid-19 pandemic, as she and the Prince of Wales visited Exeter Cathedral for their first mask free engagement.

Camilla spoke to Exeter resident Sarah Clarke, who said afterwards: "She said it's lovely to be here and hopefully we're over the worst of it and I said 'Fingers crossed'. She also said we've just got to be careful."

The Dean of Exeter, the Very Reverend Jonathan Greener, said the visit was a "wonderful experience" on the "first day of freedom".

He said: "The sun's shining, we don't have to wear masks, they were both on sunny form - it was marvellous, and they were so interested in what people were telling them."

Customers are still spending less in the hospitality sector, new data suggests, with spending at 36 per cent below pre-pandemic levels.

A report by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) found that card transaction data for the week to June 27 showed spending in pubs and restaurants has recovered from its low during the first lockdown, but is still 36 per cent below its pre-pandemic level.

Business turnover recovered to £6.9 billion in May 2021 as venues reopened - but this was still around a quarter below the same period in 2019.

Hugh Stickland, a senior economist at the ONS, said: "Today's figures show that while spending on food, drink and accommodation have recovered somewhat from the rock-bottom seen during the first lockdown, it still has quite a way to go.

"Confidence about the future remains low across hospitality, possibly further hit by the delay to full reopening, showing the pressure the sector is under."

Virgin Atlantic has reopened its onboard bars following a 15 month closure due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The communal areas in Upper Class cabins are again being used on flights to countries including Antigua, Barbados and Grenada.

Virgin Atlantic said social distancing is being enforced in the bars "where possible", but passengers are permitted to remove their face masks when eating or drinking.

Corneel Koster, the airline's chief customer and operations officer, said: "Our onboard bars and social spaces are a signature part of our Upper Class experience so I'm delighted we're finally able to reopen them to our customers, where they can enjoy a drink and catch up with friends.

"I know our cabin crew teams can't wait to get back to providing our customers with the full Upper Class service we're famous for and that's been missed by many over the last 15 months."

Asked whether Boris Johnson was relaxed about the scenes from nightclubs, which reopened in the early hours of Monday morning with no caps on attendance, the Prime Minister's official spokesperson said: "As far as I'm aware those nightclubs are operating within the rules.

"We continue to urge nightclubs to use the Covid pass to enable them to check whether people have been double-jabbed or have had a recent negative tests - I think that's in their interests and the interests of those attending."

Making Covid passes compulsory could be considered "if necessary", the spokesperson added.

Asked whether clubs could be closed again if deemed necessary, the spokesperson said: "That would be a significant step. Our approach is to work closely with those businesses and encourage them to use that certification.

"We are reserving the right to mandate certification in certain venues, maybe at a later date if necessary, and we will keep that under review."

Scotland Yard said officers were responding to protesters in Parliament Square after those taking part in an anti-vaccination demonstration blocked a road in the area.

The force tweeted: "We are responding to a demonstration in Parliament Square this afternoon. A group have blocked the road which is causing traffic disruption.

"Officers are on scene, speaking with those taking part in the protest and looking to ease congestion as soon as possible."

Boris Johnson will virtually lead a Government press conference on Monday at 5pm to mark the lifting of most legal coronavirus restrictions in England, No 10 has confirmed.

The Prime Minister will appear via video link from his official country residence Chequers where he is in self-isolation.

UK chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance and England's deputy medical officer Professor Jonathan Van-Tam will also contribute from Downing Street.

Almost two-thirds of people in Ghana who had heard stories of the indecision over the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine following its links with blood clots in Europe said they are now worried about getting the Covid-19 jab. 

In a nationally representative survey led by the University of Southampton and PACKS Africa, 32 per cent of the 1,558 respondents said they had come across stories about the adverse event and government reactions to it across the world. Of that group, 62 per cent said they now had some concerns about the vaccine. 

The researchers said it was a sign the events may have contributed to vaccine hesitancy globally, as well as in Ghana particularly, where 29 per cent are now hesitant about the jabs, up from 18 per cent in March. 

Dr Michael Head, senior research fellow in global health at Southampton, who worked on the report, said: “The actions of how we in Europe and North America handle these vaccines is seen all over the world, and we don’t want the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine to be widely viewed as ineffective or dangerous, when the evidence shows it is safe and effective.”

The study also found that people educated to university level were more likely to show vaccine hesitancy than those who were not. 

Tourists in Spain are ignoring curfew rules to gather in their thousands to party on Barcelona’s beaches, reports the El País newspaper.

As of Friday, the Catalonia region is under a new curfew between 1am and 6am.

On the same night, however, the municipal police had to move on 4,350 people who continued to party - most of them tourists - reports the newspaper.

It said: “The majority of the participants are French, German, Italian and Dutch. All of them are young, and very few are wearing masks."

Iran has imposed a week-long lockdown in Tehran and the surrounding region, as cases of Covid-19 continue to surge in the country.

The lockdown will begin on Tuesday and last until next Monday.

All bazaars, market places and public offices will close, as well as cinemas, gyms and restaurants in both the Tehran province and the neighbouring province of Alborz.

Iran reported 25,441 new cases on Monday and 213 deaths over the past day, bringing the overall death toll to 87,374, with more than 3.5 million confirmed cases throughout the pandemic.

Fully-vaccinated people travelling from the UK to Ireland will from today no longer have to self-isolate or take a pre-departure PCR test.

Travellers will need to provide proof of vaccination, or recovery from Covid-19 within the previous 180 days.

The Irish government announced the change as part of a wider relaxation of international travel rules.

However, unvaccinated travellers from the UK will still have to provide a negative PCR test result and commit to self-quarantine.

Suspected arsonists set fire to a Covid-19 vaccination centre in Urrugne, France over the weekend, prosecutors said, as the government prepared to unveil a draft law on Monday aimed at pressuring citizens into getting jabbed.

The mayor of the town, Philippe Aramendi, said there was "no doubt" about the intentional nature of the blaze, saying an inflammable liquid had been poured around the outside of the tent housing the centre.

"Fortunately the fire brigade was able to quickly put out the flames and the tent has only been partially destroyed," he said.

It comes after another vaccination centre in Lans-en-Vercors was vandalised and tagged with anti-vaxxer graffiti on Friday night.

Over 100,000 people protested across France on Saturday against proposed stricter vaccination rules, which dictate that people will need to show proof of full-vaccination or a recent test to enter public venues such as restaurants, bars, shopping centres, long-distance trains and cinemas.

As work from home guidance ends today, read Miranda Levy's hilarious account of how she survived her first day back in the office.

Last Thursday, I was standing by an editor’s desk, discussing a piece of work I was about to submit. “Miranda,” she said. “You are twanging your knicker elastic.” I was mildly embarrassed to see that she was right.

Several hours into my first post-Covid WFW (Working From Work) day, it was becoming clear how out of practice I was. Like many people fortunate enough to have had the WFH option, I have spent the last 17 months writing articles from the spare room, where the only person on the “tea round” was me.

Back in the office, it was fast becoming clear I was a bit rusty on workplace etiquette.

Read the full story here: Forgetting colleagues' names and wearing a bra again: how I survived my first day back in the office

Around one in six areas in England are reporting their highest Covid-19 case rates since comparable records began last summer, latest figures show.

The list includes almost all local authority areas in north-east England, close to half in south-west England and nearly a third in Yorkshire and the Humber.

The north-east has the largest number of cases, with Redcar and Cleveland having the highest rates in the country with 1268.0 cases per 100,000 people, closely followed by Middlesbrough at 1,178.9.

In Yorkshire and the Humber, six areas currently have record high rates, with Doncaster (729.1 per 100,000) and Wakefield (667.2) being the highest.

All rates are for the seven days to July 14.

Nightclubs across the UK reopened at midnight on Sunday as most Covid-19 restrictions came to an end in England, with jubilant clubbers returning to dancefloors in their droves.

• Read an account of one London nightclub by Susannah Goldsbrough here: ‘It feels normal and weird at the same time’: inside UK nightclubs’ first night back

Delhi has reported no daily Covid-19 deaths for the first time in over four months, as India’s devastating second wave continues to subside. On Sunday, the positivity rate in India’s capital remained at a mere 0.07 per cent, down from a peak of 36 per cent on April 22.

The encouraging figures are not only bringing relief to Delhi’s residents - who experienced some of the most desperate scenes of the second wave as hospitals rapidly ran out of both beds and oxygen - but also renewed questions as to why India remains on the United Kingdom’s red list. Currently, arrivals to the UK from India have to complete a ten-day hotel quarantine at an eye-watering cost of £1,750, even if they are double vaccinated.

Nationwide, the number of new daily cases continues to plateau in India just below the 40,000 mark, approximately one tenth of the figures seen in May.

But, public health experts warn the country could endure a third wave in the Autumn if Indians continue to ignore social distancing measures as many states relax lockdown measures.

India’s immunisation programme has also been beset with delays, due to dose shortages and vaccine hesitancy, with just over six percent of its 1.38 billion citizens receiving two jabs.

Cuba now has the highest Covid-19 case rate in Latin America, which has led to the country's health system struggling to deal with the surge and rare protests erupting across the Communist nation.

The nation of 11 million people reported nearly 4,000 confirmed cases per million residents over the last week, nine times more than the world average and more than any other country in the Americas for its size.

The outbreak has been fuelled by the highly contagious delta variant, with hospitals in the virus epicentre in the province of Matanzas particularly struggling.

State media has shown images of patients in bed in corridors and doctors complaining of a lack of resources, including oxygen, ventilators and medicines.

People took to the streets in protest last Sunday in unprecedented anti-government demonstrations in a country where public spaces are tightly controlled, with demonstrators also protesting food and medicine shortages and infringements on civil liberties.

• Face masks are now voluntary in all settings, including shops, hospitality and mainline trains. However, face coverings are still required on Transport for London services after a mandate from London mayor Sadiq Khan
• Social distancing guidance has been scrapped and hospitality businesses no longer need to offer table service or conform to capacity limits
• Nightclubs have reopened
• The limit on visitor numbers in care homes has ended but residents (or responsible family members) should still choose named visitors, which cannot be changed
• The requirement for people to work from home has ended
• UK residents who are fully-vaccinated - though it needs to have been 14 days since their final dose - no longer have to self-isolate when returning to England from green or amber list countries, with the exception of France

Pub chain Greene King has been forced to shut 33 pubs in the past week because of staff shortages caused by workers being told to self-isolate by the NHS Covid app.

Nick Mackenzie, chief executive of Greene King, said he believes that current self-isolation rules need to be reformed after he was forced to shut some pubs or reduce opening hours.

Mr Mackenzie told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "This is a problem and I think it could get worse. It is disruptive to the business.

"We had to close, in the last seven days, 33 pubs due to lack of staff because of self-isolation.

"Across the industry we think it is about one in five of our team members who have been affected by this and therefore it is causing a real issue for us setting up business on a daily basis - we're having to have shortened hours in some circumstances."

Mr Mackenzie, whose group runs 2,500 pubs, hotels and restaurants across the UK, called on the Government to expand its test and release scheme to allow staff who test negative for coronavirus to return to work after being "pinged".

Professor Andrew Hayward, from University College London and a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), which advises ministers, said it is important that people remain cautious after so-called Freedom Day.

He told Sky News on Monday: "We are heading into the biggest wave of Covid infection that we have ever seen and, even though the vaccine will substantially reduce the number of deaths and hospitalisations, it's still likely that we will see somewhere in the low tens of thousands of deaths even if we are cautious.

"And that could move into the mid and high tens of thousands of deaths if we just went back to normal activity.

"So I think this remaining cautious is really a key thing in this unlocking of legal restrictions."

Health psychologist Professor Robert West, who is a member of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Behaviours (Spi-B), said it is a "pretty big risk" to go for a herd immunity strategy.

He told Times Radio: "The problem with people saying 'If we can get everyone infected now, we should be in a much better position at the end of the year' is that the level of immunity we are getting from infection and from vaccination are not 100%.

"They don't last forever. It's a pretty big risk to go for what is effectively a herd immunity strategy."

Health psychologist Professor Robert West, who is a member of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Behaviours (Spi-B), said removing restrictions was a political decision not a public health one.

He told Times Radio on Monday that the Government might have wanted to delay but thought it could not get it past its backbenchers.

He added: "Certainly, talking to the epidemiologists, I think they have been very puzzled as to why the Government took the view it was better to do it (ease restrictions) now than later.

"I suspect in the end it was a political decision rather than a public health one."

Nightclubs reopened for the first time in 16 months in the early hours of July 19 and clubbers filled their favourite haunts as England lifted most Covid-19 restrictions at midnight.

Britain, which has one of the world's highest death tolls from Covid-19, is facing a new wave of cases, but Prime Minister Boris Johnson is lifting most restrictions in England in what some have dubbed "Freedom Day".

Epidemiologists are generally sceptical that lifting restrictions is the right thing to do, but many Britons have grown weary of 16 months of lockdowns.

"I have not been allowed to dance for like what seems like forever," said Georgia Pike, 31, at the Oval Space in Hackney, east London. "I want to dance, I want to hear live music, I want the vibe of being at a gig, of being around other people."

Boris Johnson realised it was "wrong" for him to avoid self-isolation by taking part in a regular testing scheme, Nadhim Zahawi said.

Speaking to ITV's Good Morning Britain, the vaccines minister said: "We make thousands of decisions, and of course we don't get every decision right.

"This has been an extraordinarily challenging time."

Asked whether the Government had made an error in announcing that the Prime Minister and Chancellor Rishi Sunak were to take part in a pilot testing scheme, Mr Zahawi said: "Of course, and as soon as the Prime Minister realised that this would be wrong, he came out very clearly and said 'We will self-isolate, that's the right thing to do'."

Health psychologist Professor Robert West, who is a member of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Behaviours (Spi-B), said he thinks it is a "mistake" to ease restrictions before more people are vaccinated.

He told Times Radio on Monday: "The extent to which we had already opened up, as we saw, is leading to a very rapid increase in cases.

"I think it would be a mistake to do it before we have got more people vaccinated.

"We are putting all the emphasis on the vaccine to protect us. That was always going to be unwise.

"We would always need a combination of the vaccine and other kinds of changes to keep us safe and it's that side of things the Government is neglecting."

Health psychologist Professor Robert West, who is a member of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Behaviours (Spi-B), said it is not enough to tell people to be "cautious".

He told Times Radio on Monday: "The thing about behaviour and encouraging and getting people to do things is you need to be much more specific - it just isn't enough to say 'Be cautious, be careful, do the right thing'.

"Many, many people are simply not aware of what they need to do."

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Nadhim Zahawi denied the Government has been taking the public for "fools" after insisting multiple times that the Prime Minister only "considered" entering a pilot scheme to avoid having to self-isolate before deciding to stick to the rules.

The vaccine minister's comments came despite No 10 putting out a statement on Sunday confirming that Boris Johnson would use the quarantine exemption before a sudden U-turn.

Put to him that it was public anger over the decision that forced Mr Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak to quarantine instead, Mr Zahawi told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "No-one is taking anyone for fools.

"Every decision the Prime Minister has had to make throughout this pandemic has been a tough decision - there are no easy options here."

Mr Zahawi said the Cabinet Office and No 10 will "no longer be on the pilot scheme".

The minister said he was "very much briefed" that Transport for London, Network Rail and Heathrow had been part of the scheme, despite TfL challenging that it had been approved.

Health psychologist Professor Robert West, who is a member of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Behaviours (Spi-B), said he expects a "very substantial reduction" in people following protective measures from so-called Freedom Day.

He told Times Radio on Monday: "There's no doubt we are going to see an even faster rise in infection rates."

Asked how fast, he said: "We know the Health Secretary said he would not be surprised if infections rose over the summer to 100,000 (a day).

"I think that's looking like an optimistic estimate. We could be seeing maybe even double that."

Prof West said hospital admissions will increase as well, adding: "We don't know where it's going to end.

"We have always taken action to get it down and this time it looks like the Government decided it's not going to do that."

Richard Walker, managing director of supermarket chain Iceland, said around four per cent of the total workforce were currently absent because of coronavirus.

"We have got over 1,000 people absent due to Covid, that's the highest ever since testing began," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"It's about four per cent of our total workforce of 30,000. In fact, we have just announced employing an additional 2,000 people on top of that to give us a deeper pool of labour, because so many people are now getting pinged."

Asked about the impact on the business, he said: "A number of stores have had to close and the concern is that as this thing rises exponentially, as we have just been hearing, it could get a lot worse, a lot quicker.

"We have got a 50% increase week on week in terms of people off and it's a 400% increase compared to mid-June."

Customers asked to wear a face covering when entering a shop in England should "respect" the advice, even though legal restrictions have been lifted, according to the vaccines minister.

Nadhim Zahawi told BBC Breakfast: "I think it is right that we now move from government by diktat because we're wanting to get our lives back, get back to normality and get people to take personal responsibility, yes, but also corporate responsibility, and people should respect that.

"If you want to go into a shop and the shop owner says you have to wear a mask, people should absolutely respect that.

"If you want to travel on public transport and your public transport system says you have to wear a mask, then you should wear a mask.

"By the way, you don't know if the person sitting next to you on that crowded carriage may be someone who is immuno-supressed or immuno-compromised - it is right that you take that responsibility and protect yourself and protect them as well."

Prime Minister Boris Johnson made the "right decision" to U-turn and to self-isolate rather than enter a pilot testing scheme after being alerted by NHS Test and Trace, one of his ministers has said.

Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi told BBC Breakfast: "Let me try and share with you a bit of the background.

"The pilot to, instead of self-isolating, take a daily lateral flow test has been running since December and the Cabinet Office and No 10 had subscribed to it, as had other organisations, such as TfL for example.

"That was considered but actually the Prime Minister, rightly, weighing up that many businesses, many hundreds of thousands of people are self-isolating because they have been in contact with someone who had tested positive - as he had because of the Health Secretary (Sajid Javid), and as had the Chancellor (Rishi Sunak) - took the right decision that the right message to send to the country was that they should also self-isolate and follow the rules, and that's exactly what they are doing."

Professor Sir Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group, said the Beta variant first identified in South Africa can escape vaccine immunity but he expects the AstraZeneca jab will still give "very high protection" against hospital admission and death.

"The Beta variant is also in the UK, and just as with the Delta variant it's able to escape vaccine immunity to some extent," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"It's actually quite good at escaping vaccine immunity and so we would expect it to be able to spread in vaccinated populations.

"We know that people who have had RNA vaccines, like the Pfizer vaccine, as well as the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, can become infected with the Beta variant."

Asked about the effectiveness of the AstraZeneca vaccine against the Beta variant, he said: "There is one really important study, which was conducted in South Africa by Johnson and Johnson, and that showed with a single dose of that vaccine there was 100% protection against hospitalisation and death.

"The RNA vaccine, the Pfizer vaccine, and the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, are given as two doses. The AstraZeneca vaccine is very similar to the Johnson and Johnson one and we would expect from the biology here to have very high protection against hospitalisation and death, and I'm absolutely confident that that will be the case, because that's how vaccines work."

Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi said that the NHS Covid-19 Test and Trace app has been downloaded 25million times. 

But he conceded this could mean one person being responsible for multiple downloads in situations such as someone deleting the app and reinstalling it, downloading it on a second phone or a new phone. 

There are around 53million adults in the UK, according to latest figures, suggesting that less than half of those over 18 in the country have the app installed on their phones. 

Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said a new campaign encouraging people to continue wearing face coverings after so-called "freedom day" was not about being "pious".

He told Times Radio on Monday that the Not Too Much To Mask initiative was about people taking "sensible measures" to reduce transmission such as wearing face coverings, meeting outdoors, keeping indoor areas well ventilated and getting vaccinated.

He added: "This campaign is not about calling people out or being pious, it's just about saying to people 'you are not alone, there are other people who are doing this'.

"One of the most powerful things about a mask is it is a signal to fellow citizens you are showing concern for them."

So, can we all throw away our face masks?

It is complicated. Legally, face coverings will mostly no longer be mandatory in indoor settings.

But the Government says it "expects and recommends" masks to be worn by workers and customers in crowded, enclosed spaces.

This could include using public transport or mixing with people you do not normally meet.

The official message is one of "personal responsibility" and "informed choice".

Where will face masks still be needed?

In London, Sadiq Khan has said they will still be compulsory on the capital's transport network.

Passengers in bus stations operated by combined authorities West and South Yorkshire, on the North East's Metro and Greater Manchester's Metrolink tram services will also be required to wear them under local rules.

Supermarket chains - including Tesco, Asda, Lidl, Morrisons, Sainsbury's and Waitrose - will encourage customers to keep masks on.

But now on quiet carriages on certain trains, you will not have to wear a mask. As has been the case throughout the pandemic, the rules are not completely clear. 

High street chains such as Waterstones and John Lewis have said they expect customers to keep wearing masks. But others such as Costa Coffee said customers and staff would no longer have to wear masks.

In contrast, the country’s two largest airports – Heathrow and Gatwick – will require all travellers to wear masks.

This means customers face the prospect of having to wear a mask in a terminal or a busy train station, removing it if they enter a Costa branch, and then being forced to put it back on again when they leave the café.

Dr David Nabarro, the World Health Organisation's special envoy on Covid, said the Government "needed to consider" what to do with people who are being asked to isolate, and messaging needed to be "absolutely clear".

He told Sky News there was a need at some point "to get on, and get our lives going again" but added: "There is no sense of freedom in my heart.

"Unfortunately there's a sense that this virus is very much here and is giving us lots of surprises, lots of anxieties, and therefore as a society we go into the next period with our eyes wide open, knowing pretty well what to expect, that is more disease, more long Covid and more challenges as to how we actually behave.

"My recommendation is simply wear your mask, don't get too close to people, watch out in confined spaces and remember this virus hasn't gone away.

"If you're asked to isolate, please isolate and just let's get through the next two or three months with the minimum possible damage, and at the same time working out how to get on with our lives, despite the presence of this virus."

He added that "while a lot of us are still to be vaccinated, we've got to do everything possible to reduce the rate of build-up of this virus and be ready for new variants coming along because that will be a big challenge for the months to come".

An update on vaccinating children against coronavirus will be given to MPs on Monday, the vaccines minister has confirmed.

Nadhim Zahawi told Sky News: "The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) have just delivered their advice, we'll consider it.

"In fact, after my morning round, we have the Covid O (committee) and then I'll deliver a statement to Parliament.

"But suffice to say they have looked very closely, especially at children who are more vulnerable to serious infection from Covid, children who live with adults who are more vulnerable to serious infection from Covid and, of course, 17-year-olds who are close to becoming 18 - so three months from their 18th birthday - and we will take that advice before I make a statement to Parliament later today."

Pressed on why the Government was not looking to jab all children, Mr Zahawi added: "The JCVI are continuing to review that. There is new emerging data of children vaccinated in America and elsewhere with a first dose, not yet enough data with a second dose, so they want to look at all the data."

The minister said there had been cases of inflammation of the heart in some children who had received the vaccine, adding: "On balance, I think the JCVI are coming down on the side of continuing to review all children, healthy children, but wanting to protect the vulnerable children first."

Nadhim Zahawi suggested there would be no changes to the NHS Covid app's sensitivity after calls for it to be dialled down amid a shortage of staff in some sectors.

Asked what could be done to change the app, the vaccines minister told Sky News: "I think the right thing to do is to continue to clinically advise people, with that sensitivity, that they have come into contact with people who have tested positive.

"The difference now so that we've got almost 88% of people with one dose and 68% of people with two doses, so we can take decisions like we've just done with NHS and social care staff, we can make decisions that on August 16 anyone who is double vaccinated doesn't need to then isolate if they are pinged and don't test positive for Covid.

"Those changes are happening because of the vaccination programme."

Businesses have continued to call for reform of self-isolation rules, with Nick Mackenzie. chief executive of pub chain Greene King, telling BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "This is a problem and I think it could get worse. It is disruptive to the business.

"We had to close, in the last seven days, 33 pubs due to lack of staff because of self-isolation.

"Across the industry we think it is about one in five of our team members who have been affected by this and therefore it is causing a real issue for us setting up business on a daily basis - we're having to have shortened hours in some circumstances."

Mr Mackenzie, whose group runs 2,500 pubs, hotels and restaurants across the UK, called on the Government to expand its test and release scheme to allow staff who test negative for coronavirus to return to work after being "pinged".

Humphrey Cobbold, chief executive of PureGym, told the programme: "We've been talking for a while internally about living in the 'United Pingdom' and it has become a huge challenge for individuals and businesses.

"Up to 25%, in some areas, of our staff have been asked to self-isolate - we've been able, through flexibility and sharing of labour, to keep sites open so far but it has been a very close call in certain circumstances, and I would echo that I think there is a different way of reacting to the pings for vaccinated people and using lateral flow tests that would help industries of all sorts a great deal and keep the economy functioning."

Liam Turner, 24, a warehouse worker from Banbury, said he had "missed the buzz of being in a queue going into a club".

"I need a wee but we're in the queue, I've missed the feeling," he told the PA news agency, speaking outside EGG nightclub in north London.

"We're so keen, it's been so many months, too many months so I'm just glad to be back.

"I've missed the buzz of being in the queue going into a club."

Clubbers eager to get inside venues on Monday morning said being back was "overwhelming" but admitted they were already bored of queuing.

One woman, who gave her name as Dolores Frankenstein, said: "I'm a bit open-minded as to how it's going to be.

"I don't know if it's going to be good, it might not be. It might be quiet, it might be busy.

"I think it'll be a bit overwhelming to be around so many people again."

She added: "I'm a bit bored of queuing already."

Fundraiser Chloe Waite, 37, described the reopening of the EGG nightclub in north London as "like New Year" as she waited to get in.

"It's a bit like New Year isn't it? It's going to be a special night," she told the PA news agency.

"Whether we'll have more of these in the future, who can say, I wouldn't like to speculate.

"For me this is a New Year's-type event and something we're going to remember for a long, long time and we might not get the opportunity for a while."

Alex Clarke, 40, who joined her at the front of the queue, said: "There's a bit of apprehension and uncertainty about the protocols.

"But as long as everyone is sensible then it'll be alright."

Gabriel Wildsmith, 26, a video producer from London, waited for an hour to get into EGG nightclub in north London.

"I'm so excited I've been waiting for this for so long... basically since we locked down," he said.

"I love going to clubs and I love meeting random people.

"You make great friends and you couldn't do that until tonight."

He added: "I've been here for an hour, I'm really keen."

Professor Sir Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group, said that death rates will remain low because of the jab, but warned that they will rise.

"The effectiveness of the vaccines against severe disease and hospitalisation and death remains extremely high against the variants which are around here in the UK," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"I think with that information, we can be very confident that the rates will remain low - but they are going to rise, and we know that.

"The modelling predicts that there will be an increase in cases as we have been hearing over the last few days.

"Of course we're seeing it, that there are more people getting infected, and that will unfortunately translate into an increase in hospitalisations and deaths.

"But it will be far lower than we have experienced in previous waves."

Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi said he was "confident" the Government was "doing the right thing" in lifting most coronavirus restrictions in England.

He told Sky News: "We have to be careful, we have to remain vigilant.

"Our border controls remain in place, our expectation and recommendation that people in crowded places continue to wear masks and take both personal and corporate responsibility, and it is great to see TfL and others doing that.

"It is a step forward, an important step forward - there is no perfect time to take this step, this is as good a time as any as (Professor) Chris Whitty has said, with the summer holidays and schools being out, which will hopefully bear down on the R number, the transition rate.

"So, I'm confident that we are doing the right thing.

"I think the vaccination programme has allowed us to take this step, to take it cautiously with this wall of protection among adults in the United Kingdom."

Here is your Daily Telegraph on Monday, July 19. 

Trust in Indonesian President Joko Widodo's ability to handle the pandemic has fallen sharply among the public, as authorities struggle to contain a wave of coronavirus infections that has pushed hospitals to breaking point.

Fueled by the spread of the more virulent Delta variant, Indonesia has reported more new Covid-19 cases than any country in the world. It was second only to Brazil in terms of the number of deaths.

An opinion poll by The Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI), which was conducted in late June before the worst of the current outbreak, showed trust that the president can handle the pandemic fell to 43 percent compared with 56.5 percent in a poll in February.

"Trust in the President's ability to overcome the pandemic declined steeply in the past four months," said Djayadi Hanan, LSI's executive director, adding trust in the government was important to enforce programmes such as vaccinations and movement curbs.

All of Scotland drops to the lowest level of its five-tier system from today but restrictions are being "eased, not abandoned".

Face coverings in shops and public transport will remain mandatory for "some time to come", while social distancing will reduce to one metre inside public places as the shift to Level 0 kicks in, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said.

Ms Sturgeon has also warned so-called "freedom day" applies to England only, tweeting: "As this chart shows, cases in (Scotland) are falling, but still too high.

"To talk of tomorrow as 'freedom day' (England only remember) is not sensible IMO, given current situation.

"Vaccines going well and do offer route through - but as we vaccinate, we must ease up gradually."

Waiting among hundreds of fellow travelers to catch a ferry out of Bangladesh's capital, unemployed construction worker Mohammed Nijam knew he was risking catching the coronavirus, but he felt it was even riskier to stay in Dhaka with another lockdown looming.

"I have to pay rent every month even though I have no work," he said, adding that his landlord had been bothering him for money even as he was struggling just to feed himself. "I'd rather go to my village home and lead life as God lets me."

Nijam is among the tens of millions of Bangladeshis shopping and traveling this week during a controversial eight-day pause in the country's strict coronavirus lockdown that the government is allowing for the Islamic festival Eid-al Adha.

The suspension has been panned by health experts who warn it could exacerbate an ongoing surge fueled by the highly contagious delta variant, which was first detected in neighboring India.

Australian authorities on Monday said Victoria state will extend a Covid-19 lockdown beyond Tuesday despite a slight drop in new infections, as the country's two biggest cities fight to stop the spread of the highly infectious Delta variant.

Victoria state Premier Daniel Andrews said lockdown rules would not be lifted as cases were still being detected in the community and he wanted to avoid going back into lockdown after "a few days of sunshine".

Victoria, the country's second most populous state which includes Melbourne, on Monday reported 13 locally acquired cases, down from 16 a day earlier. All new local cases are linked.

Almost half Australia's 25 million people have been confined to their homes with Sydney, the country's largest city, in a five-week lockdown, and all of Victoria state under stay at home rules, after the fast-moving Delta strain triggered the country's worst outbreak for this year.

With hospitals in junta-run Myanmar empty of pro-democracy medical staff and coronavirus cases surging nationwide, volunteers are going house-to-house to collect the fast-rising number of victims dying in their homes.

Early each morning, Than Than Soe's phone starts ringing with requests from family members of those who have died in the commercial capital Yangon.

She writes the name, address and contact number of the victim in a ledger and dispatches a team to their home.

"We are running our service without resting," she said at the bustling office of her volunteer group. Every day "my team is collecting between 30-40 dead bodies... I think other teams will be the same like us".

Australia has cancelled far-right British commentator Katie Hopkins' visa after she boasted about flouting the country's strict hotel quarantine rules, a senior official said on Monday.

Hopkins had flown into Sydney to appear on a reality television show when she posted a video on Instagram talking about answering the door naked and maskless to workers delivering meals to her hotel room, local media reported.

Most international arrivals to Australia are required to complete 14 days in mandatory isolation in a hotel, under rules designed to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews said Australia's border agency "acted quickly to make sure that the visa on which she entered was cancelled" after the footage appeared.

"We will be getting her out of the country as soon as we can possibly arrange that," she said.

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Singapore's health ministry on Sunday "strongly" advised unvaccinated individuals, especially the elderly, to stay home as much as possible over the next few weeks, citing heightened concerns about the risk of community spread of Covid-19.

The country reported 88 new locally-transmitted coronavirus cases on Sunday, the highest daily toll since August last year, driven by growing clusters of infections linked to karaoke bars and a fishery port.

Though Singapore's daily cases are only a fraction of the number being reported among its Southeast Asian neighbours, the jump in infections is a setback for the Asian business hub, which has successfully contained its earlier outbreaks. On July 10, it had reported no new cases.

As a precaution, authorities on Sunday shut fresh fish and seafood stalls in markets across the city-state as it tested fishmongers for Covid-19.

The NHS App, which allows users to display their vaccine status, has more than 10 million users, according to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).

As the remaining restrictions are lifted across England, it is hoped the app will help people return to the workplace, attend large-scale events and clubs, and travel abroad.

Since the launch of the Covid Pass feature on May 17, which allows people to easily show proof of vaccination, the app has gained over six million new users, the DHSC said.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid said: "As we cautiously reopen, the NHS Covid Pass will enable people to prove their vaccination status when travelling abroad and support venues and businesses to reopen safely, while protecting staff and the public."

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison's approval ratings fell to the lowest level in more than a year, according to a poll published on Monday, as a sluggish vaccine rollout dented voters' confidence in his conservative government.

A Newspoll conducted for The Australian newspaper showed Mr Morrison's public support dropped two points to 51 percent over the past three weeks, the lowest level since he faced criticism early last year over his response to devastating bushfires.

The Prime Minister has come under increasing pressure as a slow national vaccine rollout leaves Australia exposed to a deadly new wave of coronavirus. Sydney and Melbourne, the country's biggest two cities, are in lockdown in a bid to stem a fast-moving outbreak of the Delta variant.

Morrison's Liberal-National Party coalition government also slumped to its lowest electoral position this term, the Newspoll showed, trailing the opposition Labor Party 47-53 on a two-party preferred basis, indicating "a significant defeat" if an election were held.

Frontline health and social care workers in England may be able to carry on working even if they are exposed to someone with Covid-19, the government said on Monday as minister seek to ease pressure on the health service caused by rising infections.

Cases of Covid-19 are surging in Britain, causing hundreds of thousands of workers to be told they need to spend 10 days at home because they have been identified as a close contact of someone with the disease.

That has caused staff shortages in schools, businesses and the healthcare system.

To ease the burden on the healthcare system, where the rise in cases is also causing increased workload, the government announced an exemption for fully-vaccinated staff in exceptional circumstances.

• Boris Johnson is under pressure to end the "mad" system of self-isolation as he and two other top ministers were forced into quarantine on "Freedom Day".
• When Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak were identified as close contacts of Sajid Javid, the Health Secretary, who recently tested positive for Covid, most people were expecting that they would go into self-isolation for 10 days.
• Deaths are currently just one sixteenth of the level seen during similar infection rates in previous Covid waves, the latest figures show.
• Passengers face a chaotic commute on "Freedom Day" after rail bosses said face masks must be worn on busy platforms but can be removed if boarding a quiet train.
• All children may be offered the Covid vaccine later this year once trials conclude, despite officials being set to stop short of that recommendation on Monday.