Coronavirus latest news – New York variant hits the UK as holidays abroad BANNED until end of June

MP LETTER OVER PROTEST (CONT)

The letter said such "shocking scenes" were "entirely avoidable" if the Government had provided guidance to police and ensured protests were clearly exempt from the ban on gatherings under lockdown.

Sam Grant, head of policy and campaigns at Liberty, said: "In a healthy democracy, protest is a critical way we can fight for what we believe in.

"The Government's current quasi-ban on protest is completely unacceptable.

"Last week, the police conceded protest is not banned under the lockdown regulations, but used them to threaten then arrest demonstrators anyway.

"The Home Secretary must immediately issue guidance to all police forces to ensure socially distanced protests can go ahead and create an explicit exemption for protest in the current regulations."

MPS CALL ON GOVERNMENT TO ALLOW PROTESTS TO GO AHEAD

The Government is coming under renewed pressure to ease coronavirus lockdown restrictions to allow protests to go ahead.

More than 60 MPs and peers have signed a letter warning that allowing the police to criminalise people for protesting is "is not acceptable and is arguably not lawful".

The letter to Home Secretary Priti Patel and Health Secretary Matt Hancock was co-ordinated by Liberty and Big Brother Watch.

Signatories include the Tory MPs Sir Charles Walker, Steve Baker, Sir Christopher Chope and Sir Desmond Swayne and the Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey.

It follows the outcry over the way the Metropolitan Police moved in to break up a vigil last week on Clapham Common in memory of Sarah Everard.

£3.2M FOR CLINICAL TRIALS FOR NEW COVID-19 TREATMENTS

The Government is to provide £3.2 million to fund clinical trials into innovative new treatments which could prevent the most vulnerable from becoming infected with Covid-19.

The Department for Health and Social Care (DHCS) said hundreds of thousands of people could potentially benefit from the treatments aimed preventing the spread of the disease in care homes and among those with weakened immune systems.

The Project-V trial, run by Cambridge University, will look at treatments which could provide protection over and above that offered by the vaccines to immunocompromised groups such as kidney dialysis patients.

It will receive £1.5 million for the trials which are expected to last at least 12 months, with 2,250 people taking part.

If they prove successful, the DHSC said there were 500,000 people in England alone who could benefit from the treatments which would be made rapidly available on the NHS.

DRIVER ARRESTED AFTER HITTING 122MPH SPEEDING BACK TO ENGLAND FROM LOCKDOWN-BUSTING HAIRCUT IN WALES

A DRIVER has been arrested after hitting 122mph as he dashed back to England after breaching lockdown rules to have his hair cut in Wales.

The man was stopped by traffic cops as he sped along the M5 at breakneck speeds while being "unfit through drugs", shocked officers revealed.

Hairdressers and barbers in the Principality have been allowed to open since Monday but remain closed over the border.

Avon and Somerset Police tweeted that the driver had been "travelling back from Wales after getting a haircut" on Thursday.

In a tweet, the force said: "Officers stopped a car driving at 122mph near J23 of the #M5 yesterday.

BRITS TO RETURN TO FOOTBALL STADIUMS

Brits who can provide proof of a Covid vaccination or negative test could be packed back into football stadiums, cinemas, and theatres from June 12, the Culture Secretary declared today.

Oliver Dowden said ministers are working up plans for “Covid certificates” that would allow venues to let in big crowds and largely do away with social distancing measures and “get people back in significant numbers”.

The new documents would be combined with other measures like one-way systems for fans, mask wearing, and frequent hand sanitising to help make mass events Coronavirus secure.

They will be piloted indoors at the World Snooker Championship at Sheffield’s legendary Crucible on April 17, and then outdoors too during the FA cup final on May 15 at Wembley.

ITALIAN CAT IS ‘FIRST PET’ TO CATCH BRIT MUTANT COVID AS VIRUS RIPS THROUGH ITALY

A CAT has become the first pet to catch the British variant of Covid in Italy, it's been reported.

The moggy is said to have fallen ill in the town of Novara, west of Milan, around 10 days after its owners were diagnosed with the mutant strain.

After being struck down by the virus, the eight-year-old male began showing severe respiratory symptoms. However, both the poorly pet and his owners are now both on the mend, medics told the Italian news agency .

Experts from the Animal Health Research Institute discovered the infection after being invited to carry out tests on the stricken animal.

They later revealed they discovered the owners had infected the cat and not the other way around, say reports.

ANGELA MERKEL SAYS SHE WILL HAVE ASTRAZENECA VACCINE AS GERMANY HEADS BACK INTO LOCKDOWN NEXT WEEK

ANGELA Merkel tonight revealed she WILL now have the AstraZeneca Covid jab just days before her hard-hit country heads back into lockdown.

"Yes I would take the AstraZeneca vaccine," the German chancellor told reporters adding she "would like to wait until it's my turn but I would in any case".

Read more here.

ROYAL CARIBBEAN TO RESUME SELECT CRUISES IN JUNE WITH VACCINATED GUESTS

Royal Caribbean Group's divisions said on Friday they would resume sailing in the Caribbean in June for the first time in a year after the COVID-19 pandemic brought the cruise industry to a virtual standstill.

Adventure of the Seas and Celebrity Millennium ships will also have vaccinated crews and accept children under the age of 18 with a negative COVID-19 test, Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises said on Friday.

"Returning to the Caribbean ... marks the measured beginning of the end of what has been a uniquely challenging time for everyone," said Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, chief executive officer of Celebrity Cruises, a division of Royal Caribbean.

BRAZIL CONFIRMS RECORD CORONAVIRUS CASES AND SECOND HIGHEST DEATH TOLL IN 24 HOUR PERIOD

Brazil had a record 90,570 cases of coronavirus reported in the last 24 hours and 2,815 COVID-19 deaths, the second deadliest daily toll since the pandemic began a year ago, the Health Ministry said on Friday.

Ending the most lethal week yet in a surge of the virus driven by a more contagious local variant, the South American country has now registered 11,871,390 cases in all, while the death toll has risen to 290,314, according to ministry data.

THERE IS NO PROOF THAT THE AZ VACCINE GIVE BLOOD CLOTS DESPITE EU CHAOS, SAYS JVT

MAPPED: COUNTRIES THAT HAVE RESUMED USAGE OF ASTRAZENECA VACCINE

ADDITIONAL TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS ADDED TO FOUR COUNTRIES

Additional restrictions have been placed on travellers arriving in Scotland from the Ethiopia, Oman, Qatar and Somalia.

All passengers travelling to Scotland will be required to enter managed quarantine if they have been in one of these countries in the 10 days before arrival.

Exemptions from isolation will be cut, and available only for a short list of essential workers.

VACCINE DELAY NEWS: THE LATEST

• UK holds secret talks with India to get AstraZeneca supply back on track
• Lockdown could last LONGER as the Covid vaccine delay may spark a rise in cases, experts warn
• All adults WILL get a vaccine by July and the roadmap out of lockdown is still on course
• EU chief Ursula von der Leyen threatens to seize Covid vaccines from UK

ITALY PM DRAGHI WILL TAKE ASTRAZENECA VACCINE, SAYS SUSPENSION WAS NOT A MISTAKE

Italy's Prime Minister Mario Draghi on Friday said he himself will take the AstraZeneca COVID-19 shot, adding he was convinced the decision to temporarily suspend the vaccine was not a mistake.

"Yes, I will do the AstraZeneca vaccine," Draghi said in his first news conference since becoming prime minister in February.

Italy resumed use of the Anglo-Swedish vaccine on Friday after a three day pause due to concerns about possible blood clotting side effects, following a green light from Europe's medicines watchdog EMA.

Draghi said he believed any impact on people refusing to take AstraZeneca in the next days would be temporary.

"We will vaccinate 500,000 people every day in April and we aim to increase them further in May and June", Draghi said. 

MEXICO REPORTS FURTHER 613 COVID DEATHS AND 5,722 NEW CASES

Mexico registered another 613 coronavirus fatalities on Friday, bringing the overall death toll in the country to 197,219, according to health ministry data.

The ministry data also showed an additional 5,722 confirmed infections, for a total of 2,187,910 cases.

The government says the real number of infected people is likely significantly higher than the confirmed cases

FRANCE MAKES ANOTHER U-TURN ON AZ VACCINE

FRANCE has made ANOTHER U-turn declaring the AstraZeneca vaccine is safe - but only for those over the age of 55.

Regulators have recommended young people avoid the jab due to blood clot risks, just days after telling them it was safe.

France resumed use of the vaccine today with Prime Minister Jean Castex, himself aged 55, having the jab hours live on television in a bid to bolster public confidence.

But France's ambassador to the UK got the AstraZeneca vaccine on the NHS while the jab was still BANNED by her own nation.

Catherine Colonna took to Twitter this morning to boast about receiving the safe vaccine as Paris lifted the jab's pointless suspension after a ruling by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

WATCH: BORIS JOHNSON URGES EVERYONE TO GET COVID JAB AS HE RECEIVES FIRST ASTRAZENECA VACCINE

COVID NEWS ROUND UP: THE LATEST

• Boris Johnson has received his first dose of the AstraZeneca jab and said he "didn't feel a thing"
• The UK broke the Covid vaccine record today with more than 660,000 jabs doled out
• Covid deaths have plunged  with 101 fatalities reported today
• Don’t bet on holidays to EU, warns Prof Lockdown – we MUST keep South Africa variant out of UK
• Covid cases still rising in 124 parts of England – is your area on the hotspot list?
• Brits set to be packed back into football stadiums and theatres from June 21 with proof of a negative test or Covid jab

BORIS JOHNSON GETS HIS FIRST DOSE OF ASTRAZENECA VACCINE

The Prime Minister has received his first dose of the AstraZeneca jab and said: "I didn't feel a thing".

The PM was given his first shot at St. Thomas' Hospital in London - as European nations scrambled to undergo their damaging blockade of it.

Speaking to reporters outside the hospital, the PM said: "I did not feel a thing. It was very good and very quick. I cannot recommend it more highly. When you get your notification please go and get your jab.

Reassuring Brits that the Astrazeneca jab was safe, he added: "Don't just listen to me, listen to all the scientists and what the European Medicines Agency have to say."

He was joined by France's prime minister Jean Castex and Slovenia's leader Janez Jansa, who both received the AstraZeneca vaccine today to try and rebuild confidence in it on the continent.

IRELAND TO RESUME ASTRAZENECA ROLLOUT IN COMING DAYS

Ireland plans to resume its rollout of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine in the coming days for all those aged 18 and over, the National Immunisation Advisory Committee said on Friday.

But it said that recipients should be informed that "very rare, complicated clotting events have been reported in a small number of people who have recently received the AstraZeneca vaccine," the committee said in a statement.

Ireland last Sunday halted the rollout on concerns about blood clots, one of a number of European Union countries to do so.

It is reversing the move after the EU's drug watchdog on Thursday declared the vaccine safe and effective

BORIS JOHNSON TO RECEIVE 'SAFE AND EFFECTIVE' ASTRAZENECA VACCINE TODAY

Boris Johnson is to receive his first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine, as several European countries start inoculating their populations again in light of new assurances on the jab's safety.

The Prime Minister will receive his vaccine in London later on Friday, while countries including France, Germany and Italy restart their vaccine programmes with the AstraZeneca jab - reversing an earlier decision to suspend it over blood clot concerns.

WHO SAYS REPORT ON COVID-19 ORIGINS MAY BE RELEASED NEXT WEEK

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday that its long-awaited report into the initial outbreak of COVID-19 in China will probably be released next week.

WHO officials also told reporters from Geneva that a review for emergency listing of China's Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccinations should be concluded by April, while they were still waiting for full documentation for Russia's Sputnik vaccine submission.

WETHERSPOONS REDUCED MENU REVEALED FOR WHEN ITS 394 PUB GARDENS REOPEN

FRY ups, fish and chips and beef burgers will be back on the menu at Wetherspoons when it reopens in April.

It will come as a relief to fans after the pub chain said it would be offering a reduced menu when it is finally allowed to welcome back customers.

Read our exclusive story here.

IRELAND REPORTS ANOTHER 10 COVID DEATHS AND 507 NEW CASES

There have been a further 10 deaths of people with Covid-19 in Ireland.

Another 507 cases were also notified by the Department of Health on Friday evening.

As of 8am, there were 336 Covid-positive patients in hospital, of whom 87 were in ICU.

Meanwhile as of March 16, 632,359 doses of the vaccine had been administered in Ireland.

GRAPHIC: UK COVID-19 CASES AND DEATHS PER DAY