Coronavirus live news: Denmark bans South African visitors over new variant; China blocks WHO investigators | World news

Pretty much every single UK national paper is leading with coronavirus today – as you’d expect given the new national lockdown that came (legally) into force overnight.

The Guardian print edition leads with “Tough curbs ‘for months’ as 1 in 50 now have virus”. Politics reporters Jessica Elgot and Peter Walker write:

Britain could face harsh restrictions for many months to come, Boris Johnson and his chief scientists warned as figures suggested more than 1 million people in England are infected with coronavirus, or one in every 50.

The prime minister said the plan to emerge from a newly-imposed national lockdown in mid-February was subject to “lots of caveats, lot of ifs”. He refused to guarantee that children would be fully back at school before the summer, calling this a “fundamental hope”.

Prof Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer, warned some restrictions on normal life may still be necessary next winter. Covid-19 would not disappear “in a single bound”, he said, though he said he believed measures would be significantly eased through the warmer months.

“Millions more vaccines on way,” the Times says, as it reports on a faster rollout as the third national lockdown begins. According to the paper:

Millions more coronavirus jabs will reach vaccination centres within days, The Times has been told, as Boris Johnson announced that almost a quarter of the over-80s had been given a dose.

Two million doses of the Pfizer jab held back for booster shots will be distributed this week and next after the strategy shifted to prioritising as many people as possible for a first injection.

The prime minister promised he was “using every second of this lockdown” to protect the elderly and vulnerable as he came under intense pressure to accelerate the vaccination programme to end restrictions sooner. Britain has more than five million finished doses awaiting distribution or final safety checks and health chiefs insist that both can be speeded up by next week.

According to the Telegraph, ministers have “snubbed” an offer by pharmacies to administer vaccines to patients (which is no doubt something to do with needing resus teams standing by in case of severe reactions to the jab):

High street pharmacies are “desperate” to roll out more than a million doses of the Oxford vaccine every week but have been snubbed by the Government, senior industry leaders reveal today.

Ministers have been urged to deploy an army of thousands of trained vaccinators at pharmacies including Lloyds and Boots to help deliver the jabs rather than relying on GPs, nurses and retired volunteers.

Simon Dukes, chief executive of the Pharmaceutical Negotiating Services Committee, which represents pharmacies during talks with the Government, questioned why the NHS was “scrabbling around” for vaccinators when his industry stood ready to help.

The Daily Mail reports that “Covid curbs may be back NEXT winter”:

Covid restrictions may still be needed next winter, the chief medical officer said last night.

Chris Whitty issued the stark warning after it emerged that more than a million people in England are now infected – a rate of around one in 50.

Saying the danger from the killer virus was ‘extraordinarily high’, the professor pleaded with the public to obey the latest lockdown

According to the Daily Express, there are “1.1m infected with virus…as 1.3m get jabs”. It says:

Boris Johnson has revealed that one in 50 Britons has coronavirus – but 1.3 million, including a quarter of all over 80s, have been vaccinated.

The Prime Minister sought to reassure the nation after the daily new infection rate soared past 60,000 for the first time yesterday.

In his second address in two days, he revealed that around 1.12 million people are infected but that the vaccination programme will provide the path out. He also promised to publish the number of jabs given every day “so that you can see day by day and jab by jab how much progress we are making”.

“One in 50 infected … & rising,” declares the Daily Mirror this morning, as it warned of the consequences of the prime minister dragging his feet in imposing new coronavirus restrictions.

BORIS Johnson’s late lockdown could spark 20,000 deaths this month, with one in 50 people now infected by Covid-19.

And the tough new curbs could last until March as medics struggle to contain the mutant virus.

The 2.2 million jabs a week target is “not easy”, Chris Whitty warned.

The Sun takes a similar angle. “1 IN 50 HAS COVID,” says the tabloid:

The PM warned 1.2 million were infected as daily cases hit a record 60,916. But a quarter of over-80s are now vaccinated and our Jabs Army has 15,000 volunteers.

Even the Star, which often tries to find an alternative story to lead on to its rivals, has had to follow the Covid trend today (in its own way), as it fulminates: “You can shove your keep fit, shove your diet & definitely … SHOVE YOUR DRY JANUARY.” It reports:

CELEBRITIES have joined a growing army of people ditching Dry January and urged the nation to enjoy a lockdown booze-up.

Former I’m A Celebrity winner Vicky Pattison, Ashes cricket hero Michael Vaughan and Line Of Duty actor Daniel Mays have all taken to the booze.

And they’re joined by a growing band of drinkers who have no intention of “being good” this month, which is set to be the drabbest January ever.