Holiday boost as covid tests for vaccinated travellers to UK finally scrapped

Nicola Sturgeon confirmed "baseline" covid restrictions will remain in place across Scotland.

Neighbourhoods in Tameside are dominating the region’s biggest Covid-19 hotspots.

pub broke Covid social distancing rules, local council chiefs have claimed. Ye Old Axe on Hackney Road, east London was slapped with a £1,000 fine for various breaches of coronavirus rules last year.As the venue applies to renew its sexual establishment licence, its shortcomings from last year have been revealed.

Demands are growing for the publication of the entire Sue Gray 'partygate' report amid claims that police interference in the process will lead to a whitewash.

Kate Garraway's first guests will include Welsh singer Charlotte Church and Liverpool FC legend John Barnes. READ MORE: Fans support Katie Price as she announces huge career move The move comes after the 54-year-old was made an MBE in the New Year Honours for her services to broadcasting, journalism and charity.

Sainsbury's and Waitrose are asking people to continue to wear a face covering in their stores when restrictions ease in England on Thursday.A Sainsbury's spokesperson said: "Safety remains our highest priority."From Thursday, we're asking our customers and colleagues in England to continue to wear a face covering in our stores if they are able to."In Scotland and Wales face coverings remain mandatory for those who can wear them in our stores, in line with the latest government restrictions."They added: "We continue to have a range of safety measures in all of our stores, including screens and sanitising stations."John Lewis and sister company Waitrose are also "suggesting" customers and staff should wear a face covering when inside their stores.Another high street giant, electronics specialists Currys, is asking staff to wear masks in-store. A release from the company said it would "continue to assess our approach based on infection rates and colleague feedback".Stay in the loop with all the latest Daily Star news by signing up for one of our free newsletters here.USDAW, the retail workers’ trade union is also urging shoppers to "observe Covid safety measures”as much as possible in order to protect its 360,000 members.

A nurse described as a 'hero' and 'incredibly compassionate' died from covid on the same day as an alleged party took place in Downing Street - breaking lockdown rules.

Coronavirus infections skyrocketed during the end of 2021 and early 2022 due to the emergence of the Omicron variant.

A fit and healthy police officer who ran marathons died of a heart attack seven hours after completing a standard GMP 'bleep' fitness test, an inquest heard.

The Scottish Government have confirmed 33 people have died from coronavirus in the last 24 hours.

Experts have warned that the Omicron variant of coronavirus "poses a greater risk" to people with blood cancer.

Vladimir Putin lining up a massive army and making NATO chiefs jittery about a possible invasion.Meanwhile, the UK has said that it would send troops to Ukraine to help its ally if Russia were to set foot over the thin red line. Speaking the House of Commons Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: "If Russia invades Ukraine, we would look to contribute to any new Nato deployments to protect our allies in Europe."Russia has a huge army that makes the UK's look tiny, and so any efforts the UK were to make would be alongside its NATO allies, which includes the likes of the USA, Canada, Germany and France.

Last week (Wednesday 19 January) saw Boris Johnson bring an end to working from home - an enforcement re-intoduced to help combat the rising Omicron wave in December.

Plan B measures put in place to slow the spread of Omicron will be lifted completely this week.

The Scottish Government have confirmed 23 people have died from coronavirus in the last 24 hours.

Boris Johnson is facing more backlash after reports emerged of another party being held at Downing Street during the first lockdown.

coronavirus.Covid-19 began spreading rapidly once the new Omicron variant emerged.In early January, cases soared past the 200,000 mark despite Plan B restrictions that were put in place in England.Thankfully, although they are still high, the number of confirmed cases are much lower than they were at the beginning of the year.They are now down to 88,447 as of January 25, up from the previous day's figure of 78,317.Boris Johnson and his Cabinet are hoping this means the variant has now peaked, while some experts feel the changes still present a risk.As a result, restrictions that have affected when we wear a face mask and the way we act in shops, nightclubs and other public places are being lifted.So what are the changes?As the clock ticks down on Plan B restrictions, people can legally stop wearing them in public indoor spaces from Thursday January 27; Plan B expires the day before.The Prime Minister has already announced they no longer had to be worn inside the classroom by secondary school pupils and staff, but now people do not have to wear them in indoor public places if they so choose.People can still wear masks if they want to.Johnson said they now hope to be able to allow Plan B measures to expire and move to 'Plan A' Covid rules.The PM said: "The Cabinet concluded that because of the extraordinary booster campaign together with the way the public have responded to the Plan B measures - we can return to Plan A in England and allow Plan B regulations to expire."This means the end of NHS Covid passes needed for large venues and work-from-home guidance has already been scrapped.Venues can choose to enforce the use of Covid passes on entry to their venue if they wish to do so.People will be able to visit care homes

Nicola Sturgeon will make her weekly statement on coronavirus today as Omicron restrictions in Scotland are finally scrapped.

The Scottish Government have confirmed no people have died from coronavirus in the last 24 hours.

Boris Johnson has confirmed that fully-vaccinated travellers arriving in England will no longer have to take a coronavirus test.

Weekly Covid infection rates are dropping in the UK, but a World Health Organisation (WHO) expert has said that the pandemic isn't over yet.