Here's the latest news from the covid pandemic: 

  • There have been a further 481 positive tests for Covid-19 in the North-East and North Yorkshire. The Government said a further 345 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 as of Friday, bringing the UK total to 122,415. The Government also said that, as of 9am on Friday, there had been a further 8,523 lab-confirmed cases in the UK. It brings the total to 4,163,085. A total of 16,785,841 Covid-19 vaccinations took place in England between December 8 and February 25, according to provisional NHS England data, including first and second doses, which is a rise of 448,280 on the previous day’s figures.
  • TheHealth Secretary has promised that the vaccine roll-out in the North-East will continue to be as "important" as it is across the UK after some clinics could not run due to supply. Speaking at the Downing Street press conference on Friday, Matt Hancock told The Northern Echo that issues with supply of the Covid vaccine were "equally balanced" across the country. It comes as The Echo this week learned that some GP-led vaccine clinics could not run as they had not recieved any supply, with one being forced to cancel their clinics until March 5 at the earliest. Mr Hancock said: “The North-East has done a brilliant job in vaccinating. It came out of the blocks really fast and has worked absolute wonders and I want to thank in particular the volunteers and the NHS staff in the North-East, who have worked so hard to get those vaccinations done."
  • The coronavirus reproduction number, or R value, across the UK is between 0.6 and 0.9, according to the latest Government figures. This is unchanged since last week. R represents the average number of people each Covid-19 positive person goes on to infect. When the figure is above 1, an outbreak can grow exponentially, but when it is below 1, it means the epidemic is shrinking.
  • The percentage of people testing positive for coronavirus has decreased in all regions in England except Yorkshire and the Humber, the ONS said. It said that in the week ending February 19 the trend in Yorkshire and the Humber was “uncertain” but caution should be taken in over-interpreting “small movements in the latest trend”.
  • Over 40s will be next in line for the coronavirus vaccine, with working through age groups the fastest way to stop Covid deaths, experts advising the government announced  The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) had considered whether groups such as teachers and police officers should be vaccinated next, but concluded the most effective way to prevent death and hospital admission is to carry on prioritising people by age.
  • Downing Street has defended the decision not to prioritise key workers such as police officers in the next phase of the coronavirus vaccine rollout.A No 10 spokesman said: “The JCVI have advised that even in the under 50s, age remains the biggest single factor determining mortality and hospitalisations, so it is therefore right that we accept their advice to continue to prioritise by age as this will protect the most people and have the biggest impact on reducing NHS pressures. They are also clear that giving priority to certain professions would not be as effective or as fast in reducing deaths and hospitalisations as protection of those at higher risk of serious disease. Prioritisation by age will also protect individuals working in jobs with potentially higher risk of exposure with the most vulnerable in those occupations vaccinated first.”
  • Hundreds of thousands of people asked to shield earlier this month are being invited for a Covid jab as the NHS vaccination programme gathers further momentum. Public health officials identified 1.7 million people who are at additional risk from coronavirus earlier this month, with around 600,000 now being invited to book a slot at a Vaccination Centre or pharmacy service.  The remainder have already had their jab in the first phase of the programme, the biggest in NHS history.
  • Positive attitudes towards the coronavirus vaccine have increased, with nearly 95 per cent of adults saying they have either received the jab or would be likely to have it if offered, new data shows.