Covid news live: Latest updates as UK government pulls ‘Stay at Home’ advert

The UK has recorded 1,239 more deaths within 28 days of a positive coronavirus test.

According to the government’s daily figures, 28,680 more people have tested positive for the virus.

The total UK death toll stands at over 103,000, while the total number of infections since the pandemic began is more than 3.7 million.

Labour MP Dr Rosena Allin-Khan has slammed the government’s now-scrapped advert urging people to stay at home:

The number of new cars built in the UK last year fell by nearly a third to less than a million, the lowest total since 1984, due to the pandemic.

New figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMTT) show that production fell by 29.3 per cent compared to the previous year, down to 920,928 units, with similar impacts on the domestic and overseas market.

The SMTT described 2020 as a “dreadful year” as auto manufacturers were hit hard by the coronavirus crisis, coupled with uncertainty for most of the year about a Brexit trade deal.

According to the organisation, around 10,000 jobs were lost in the supply chain as a result.

Take a closer look at the latest figures in the infographic below created by Martin Armstrong, for The Independent by Statista.

Boris Johnson has said he does not agree with a ruling made in Germany that the AstraZeneca vaccine should only be given to people aged under 65, arguing that it “provides a good immune response across all age groups”.

Asked if he is concerned about the verdict during a visit to Scotland, the prime minister told reporters: “No, because I think the MHRA, our own authorities, have made it very clear that they think the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine is very good and efficacious, gives a high degree of protection after just one dose and even more after two doses.

“And the evidence they’ve supplied is they think it’s effective across all age groups and provides a good immune response across all age groups. I don’t agree with that.”

Two men have been handed a £10,000 fine each after they organised a mass snowball fight in Leeds, which police said was a “blatant breach” of lockdown rules.

A 20-year-old and a 23-year-old, who remain unnamed, were tracked down by West Yorkshire Police after hundreds of people gathered to play in the snow for over two hours on Woodhouse Moor on 14 January.

The snowball fight, which was filmed and shared widely on social media, created “a significant and completely unnecessary risk of increasing the spread of the virus”, said the force.

A spokesperson for West Yorkshire Police said the 23-year-old had already been handed a fine in November for breaching restrictions in relation to mixing households at an address in the nearby Hyde park area.

Both men were interviewed on Wednesday and Thursday in relation to the incident and reported for fixed penalty notices to be issued.

Chief superintendent Damien Miller said: “The event attracted understandable media attention and widespread public condemnation of all those who irresponsibly took part.

“That said, it remains clear that the vast majority of people recognise the need for collective responsibility and are continuing to stick with the regulations that are there to protect our families and our communities.

“We will continue our approach of engaging, explaining and encouraging compliance but we won’t hesitate to enforce the law where people blatantly disregard the rules and put others at risk.”

Watch the snowball fight taking place below:

With government ministers in London and Edinburgh warning prospective holidaymakers against booking any trips for the summer, there has been a distinct shift in peak bookings from the usual month, August, to October.

Sales data provided to The Independent by TravelSupermarket shows that in the week beginning 11 January, the normal sales pattern prevailed: with peaks at Easter, the late May bank holiday week and August, with a small spike for the October half term.

Our travel correspondent, Simon Calder, has the full report:

Germany has recommended the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine should only be given to people under the age of 65, according to reports.

The country’s vaccine committee has reportedly said the jab, developed alongside the University of Oxford, should only be offered to people aged between 18 and 64.

Chiara Giordano has more:

Police have detained a man after a suspicious package was sent to a coronavirus vaccine production site.

All staff had to be evacuated from the Wockhardt site in Wrexham, North Wales, on Wednesday while the package was investigated.

The global pharmaceutical and biotechnology company provides fill-and-finish services for the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine – the final stage of putting the vaccine into vials.

Production ground to a halt for hours while police and the Army investigated the suspicious package, though it is understood the production schedule was not affected.

On Thursday afternoon, Kent Police announced that they had arrested a man on suspicion of sending the packages.

The 53-year-old, from Chatham, remains in custody.

As part of ongoing inquiries, police carried out warrants at addresses in Luton Road and Chatham Hill in the Medway town on Thursday morning.

Police said there is “no evidence” to suggest there is an ongoing threat.

Clea Skopeliti has the full report below:

The owner and three customers of a beauty salon in Wales have been fined after police found it was being used during lockdown.

Euphoria Tanning Hair and Beauty had been operating despite Welsh government coronavirus regulations requiring non-essential businesses to remain closed.

CCTV captured eight people running away from the back of the salon in Cwmbran, South Wales, after officers tried to gain entry on Saturday 16 January.

The owner of the salon has been fined £1,000 for failing to close a business or service premises not permitted to be open in an Alert Level 4 area of Wales. It is the second time it has been issued with a fixed penalty notice.

Three customers also received fixed penalty notices for attending the salon, with inquiries ongoing to identify the others.

North Macedonia and Senegal have reported their first cases of the new coronavirus variant that first emerged in the UK, which is more transmissible and potentially more deadly.

Venko Filipce, health minister in North Macedonia, said the new variant was detected in a sample from a 46-year-old man who has already recovered from the infection.

He said in a Facebook post that the strain was detected in a private laboratory in the capital Skopje.

The new variant was also detected in Senegal, its health institute has said, as measures to contain the spread of the virus appeared to have stalled a recent surge.

Souleymane Mboup, president of the health institute, said on TV: “Due to the fact that these variants are transmitted more rapidly, which could explain the speed of spread of the disease in some countries, it is imperative that individual and collective prevention measures be scrupulously applied.”

Health ministry spokesman Mamadou Ndiaye told Reuters one patient was confirmed with the B.1.1.7 variant, and analysis was ongoing to see if it had spread.