UK

Retired teachers and career-switchers are being urged to come forward to help with COVID staff shortages in the new year. Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi is asking them to temporarily help plug gaps in order to maintain face-to-face teaching. The rapid spread of the Omicron variant is expected to force an increasing number of teachers to

Sajid Javid has not ruled out plans for a two-week circuit breaker after Christmas, as he accused those unwilling to have the vaccine of having a “damaging impact” on society. When pushed on reports that ministers are drawing up plans to introduce more restrictions after Christmas, the health secretary told Sky News’ Trevor Phillips on

Extra restrictions are needed within days to prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed by Omicron, according to senior government scientists. Sky News understands experts who produce advice for ministers believe there are now “hundreds of thousands” of infections every day, many more than the number of official cases recorded on the daily dashboard. Even if transmission

Thousands of protesters have marched through London to voice their anger over the latest COVID restrictions. Amid reports that further measures could be on the way, crowds assembled in Parliament Square as part of a “Freedom Rally” against vaccine passports and other virus rules. Demonstrators shouted “shame on you” as they clashed with police –

Officials are drawing up plans for a two-week circuit breaker lockdown after Christmas which would include a ban on indoor mixing, according to reports. Draft regulations are being prepared which would ban meeting others indoors except for work purposes, and that pubs and restaurants would be limited to outdoor service only, according to The Times.

The UK has reported 93,045 cases of coronavirus in the latest 24-hour period – a record high for daily infections as the Omicron variant surges across the country. It comes after the UK recorded another 3,201 new cases of Omicron. It takes the total number of confirmed cases of the strain to 14,909 as it

Four children who are believed to be related have died in a house fire in south London. The London Fire Brigade (LFB) said eight fire engines and around 60 firefighters were sent to Collingwood Road, Sutton, just before 7pm on Thursday. Crews faced an “intense blaze” throughout the whole of the ground floor of the

“Each six months will be better than the last six months”, England’s chief medical officer has said, as he predicted it could be “possibly 18 months” until a wide range of vaccines covers all variants of the coronavirus. Professor Chris Whitty said it is likely that COVID vaccines and anti-viral drugs will do “almost all of

Hundreds of thousands of people who have tested positive for COVID-19 are not using the NHS contact tracing apps to alert their close contacts, despite the outbreak of the Omicron variant, new figures reveal. In Scotland less than 20% of people who have downloaded the contact tracing app are using it to inform people that

Large numbers of COVID patients ending up in hospital is a “nailed on prospect” as the Omicron variant spreads at an “absolutely phenomenal pace” across the country, England’s chief medical officer has warned. Professor Chris Whitty, speaking at a Downing Street news conference, warned the UK was facing “a really serious threat” from the new

A woman who killed 16-month-old Star Hobson after inflicting ‘utterly catastrophic’ injuries on the toddler will be sentenced today as questions surround the response of social services following concerns raised over her safety. Bouncer and security guard Savannah Brockhill, 28, was found guilty on Tuesday of murdering Star and has been branded as “pure evil”

More than 500,000 people received their boosters on Monday – just a day after the prime minister announced plans to offer third jabs to all adults before the end of the year. A total of 513,722 booster jabs were given, compared with 397,532 administered on Sunday, meaning 24,075,451 people in the UK have now had

Planned changes to the Human Rights Act have been condemned as a “blatant, unashamed power grab from a government that wants to put themselves above the law”. Campaigners are warning that the rights of ordinary people could be weakened by proposals that will be announced by Justice Secretary Dominic Raab on Tuesday. Mr Raab argues

The health secretary has said the Omicron variant now represents more than 20% of COVID cases in England. Sajid Javid said the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) estimates that the current number of daily infections is around 200,000. He also said Omicron, which is thought to be much more transmissible than previous variants, represents more

Nursing leaders have expressed fears about the “scale and pace” of the booster programme given that the NHS is “already beyond full stretch”. To meet the target of giving every adult in England a third COVID-19 jab by the end of December, the prime minister said the NHS will have to postpone some appointments into

The UK has reported 1,239 additional confirmed cases of the Omicron variant – the highest daily rise and nearly double the previous high recorded on Saturday. That takes the total numbers of cases of the variant to 3,137 in the UK. Of those, 1,196 new cases were reported across England with 2,953 overall recorded. In

People aged 30 and over in England are invited to book their COVID boosters from Monday, amid concerns Omicron cases will rise significantly over the next few months. There are around 7.5 million people aged 30 to 39, and 3.5 million of those are eligible for boosters from Monday, NHS England said. All eligible adults

Another 633 Omicron cases have been found in the UK – the biggest daily increase since the COVID-19 variant has been detected in the country. The latest figure brings the total number of confirmed Omicron cases to 1,898 across the country, the UK health security agency said. In England, another 618 confirmed cases of the

The UK will have more than one million Omicron cases by the end of this month if current trends continue unchanged – but booster jabs provide 70-75% protection against symptomatic infection, says the Health Security Agency. The UKHSA said in a statement: “It is projected that if current trends continue unchanged, the UK will exceed

The UK has recorded 448 new Omicron cases in the latest 24-hour period – taking the total across the country to 1,265. It comes after 249 new infections of the COVID-19 variant were reported on Thursday. The latest figures released by the UK Health Security Agency show 443 cases have been recorded in England, one