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Edited by James Clarke

All times stated are UK

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That's all from us for now. Today's updates were written by Emma Harrison, Adam Durbin and Becky Morton and the page has been edited by Hamish Mackay, George Bowden and James Clarke.
Headline round up - Tuesday's biggest stories
As we wrap up the coronavirus live page for the day, here's a round-up of the main coronavirus developments so far :
- Number 10 says it is too soon to draw conclusions from a levelling off of Covid cases
- The UK has recorded the highest daily Covid deaths since March at 263, however previous technical issues mean the figures include a 72-hour period in Wales
- A public sector pay freeze put in place last year because of the pandemic is due to be lifted by the Chancellor Rishi Sunak in tomorrow's Budget
- COP26 will "inevitably" pose a risk of transmission of Covid-19, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has told Scottish Politicians
- At least 6.1 million booster jabs have now been given across the UK
- The possibility of abandoning testing of both asymptomatic people and school children has been suggested by government advisers
- Heathrow Airport's pandemic losses have hit £3.4bn and bosses have warned air travel may not normalise until 2026
- Football star Joshua Kimmich's vaccine hesitancy has drawn criticism from experts in Germany.
Health chief calls for mandatory mask wearing to help curb Covid spread

Cumbria's director of public health is urging the government to bring in its Plan B measures for tackling Covid in England, including mandatory face masks in some public places.

Colin Cox tells BBC Radio Cumbria: "It seems to me we've been at a level of infection for quite some time that has been much higher than we would have accepted before, and we're accepting a higher rate of infection because it is not translating into a massive rate of hospitalisations and deaths."

However, he adds that there are more than 60 people currently in hospital with Covid in Cumbria, which "still adds very substantially to the burden on the NHS".

The NHS Confederation and the British Medical Association are among the groups to have called for some restrictions to be reintroduced in England, amid rising cases.

But the government has said the data does not suggest "immediately moving to Plan B".

Read more: What is Plan B?

Copyright: BBC
Watch: Dancer takes up nursing after Covid care work

A student from Liverpool who took up care work during the coronavirus pandemic has decided to don scrubs instead of dancing shoes in a change of career.

Paul Wilson, a dance graduate from Edge Hill University, worked in a home during the lockdowns to help fund his degree.

"I quickly realised I had a massive passion and love for the profession. Nothing gave me the satisfaction I get from care," Paul says.

Video content

Video caption: Liverpool dancer takes up nursing after Covid care work
Scottish dental treatments dropped by 75% during pandemic

Copyright: Getty Images

The number of dental treatments carried out in Scotland last year fell to just a quarter of the figure for the previous 12 months, according to the latest official figures.

Public Health Scotland says Covid restrictions led to a drop of about 3.5 million dental treatments - a 76.4% fall.

Dentistry was badly hit by the first national lockdown in March 2020, which resulted in practices being told to suspend all treatments.

Urgent dental centres were then set up in every health board area to provide emergency care for those who needed it.

Restrictions have since been eased but the British Dental Association says it is dealing with an "unprecedented backlog".

Read more.
Hong Kong paper reports on anti-vaxxers in China

Kerry Allen

BBC Monitoring, Chinese Media Analyst

Copyright: Reuters

Image caption: Three quarters of the 1.4 billion people in China have been fully vaccinated

Although anti-vax movements have appeared in many countries such as the US and the UK in recent months – and concerns have been highlighted about dangerous misinformation linked to many such groups – there has been notably little to suggest any sort of similar attitude in China.

However, Hong Kong's South China Morning Post says it has interviewed people in China who are sceptical about the safety and efficacy of vaccines in the country. It interviews a Beijing travel agent called Jessica Xu who says: "I feel I need more time and evidence to show the vaccines are safe and effective for me to take it." The paper says Ms Xu has "advised her parents not to either".

SCMP also interviews a Beijing-based officer manager, Sun Zhaoyun, who says: "I feel vaccination makes little difference."

Sun tells the paper: "I am less worried about getting Covid-19 without vaccination than about being judged and mocked for not being inoculated."

Official media have said this week that 75% of China's 1.4bn population have been fully vaccinated.

Copyright: Reuters

Vaccination is actively encouraged in China, where the media environment is overwhelmingly state controlled, meaning it delivers a shared message. Anti-vax attitudes are largely presented as a Western phenomenon due to societal divisions.

However, it is not mandatory and discouraged among people with certain medical conditions, or with flu and cold symptoms.

Regardless, the governments of urban Chinese communities have stressed vaccination is important "to strengthen the immunity barrier of the whole population". Some local governments have moved to restrict the non-vaccinated from venues where large groups of people might congregate, but there have been divisive attitudes from specialists in the country towards this.
Vaccination sites for 12 to 15-year-olds 'made safe' against protests

Kathryn Stanczyszyn

Political Reporter, BBC Radio WM

Birmingham's director of public health says plans to open Covid vaccination centres to 12 to 15-year-olds have been taking longer than expected as sites had to be made safe following anti-vaccination protests.

Dr Justin Varney says: "There have been some issues around anti-vaxxers - aggression and abuse of staff at vaccination sites.

"Yesterday when I had my booster I was hearing from the pharmacy where they had people coming in and being quite aggressive to them and that's disgraceful."

Copyright: BBC

Image caption: Dr Justin Varney said new sites were opening up every day

He says the council has to ensure sites, particularly those visited by children, "aren't environments where they can get hassled or abused by anti-vaxxers and that's what is taking a bit of time but there are sites opening up every day".

He urges people to look for centres on the NHS website . Children aged 12 to 15 in England are being offered the vaccine outside schools in bid to get more vaccinated.

Dr Varney says the latest Covid-19 case rate in the city was 310 cases per 100,000 people, which is about an 8% rise from the previous seven days.
More than 86% of over-12s have had at least one vaccine dose

Some 86.5% of the UK population aged 12 and over have had at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, while 79.3% have had two doses.

Another 37,809 people have had a first dose and a further 21,446 have had a second dose.
Breaking UK records highest number of daily deaths since March

The UK has recorded another 263 deaths within 28 days of a positive test - the highest daily figure since 3 March.

Figures for daily deaths tend to be higher on a Tuesday because of recording delays over the weekend.

Due to technical issues, today's figures also include deaths and cases in Wales covering a 72-hour period.

However, the total number of deaths recorded over the past seven days is up 7.8% on the previous week

Another 40,954 cases have also been recorded - a slight rise on yesterday's figure of 36,567.

Before today, cases had fallen for four days in a row.

The total number of cases recorded over the past seven days is down slightly - by 0.4% - on the previous week.
Pay rebound for workers hit by pandemic

Copyright: Getty Images

Workers hardest hit by the pandemic saw the biggest rebound in pay in 2021, official figures show.

Employees aged under 21 and those in low-paid work saw the sharpest dip and recovery, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Construction and manufacturing were among the sectors to see sharp rises in pay.

Meanwhile, Chancellor Rishi Sunak is facing calls from unions to give public sector workers a significant rise when a freeze on pay is lifted.

Read more.
'Inevitable' COP26 poses Covid risk - Sturgeon

Copyright: PA Media

COP26 will "inevitably" pose a risk of transmission of Covid-19, Nicola Sturgeon has told Scottish Politicians.

But the First Minister tells MSPs work has been done by the Scottish Government and United Nations to mitigate the effects of the climate conference.

Sturgeon says: "The hosting of COP26 would always have been a significant challenge for the UK and Scottish governments and Glasgow City Council.

"However, the fact it is happening amidst the global pandemic makes it even more so.

"It is inevitably the case that it poses a risk of increased Covid transmission."

Most delegates at the climate conference will be double vaccinated, those from outside the common travel area will have to show proof of a negative test and those on the travel red list will have to stay in managed quarantine.

Those in the conference's "blue zone" will have to carry out daily lateral flow testing and follow hygiene mitigations.
Kimmich vaccine hesitancy troubles experts

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Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy expressed by football star Joshua Kimmich has caused concern among German experts.

The Bayern Munich midfielder has confirmed reports he is yet to have a jab over worries about their long term safety.

However, he insists he is not a "Covid denier or an anti-vaxxer" and argues it's a personal decision.

"There is a very good chance that I will still get vaccinated," the 26-year-old adds.

Thomas Mertens, the head of Germany's expert panel on vaccine use, says several studies have shown long-term side effects "do not exist, or are an extreme rarity".

"Joshua Kimmich is certainly a recognised expert on football issues, but not an expert on vaccination," he says.

Bayern Munich has expressed support for vaccines and advised players and staff to get them, but CEO Oliver Kahn explained the club respects players who have a "different opinion".
Travellers arriving in Scotland will be allowed to use cheaper tests

Copyright: PA Media

International travellers coming to Scotland will be able to take a cheaper lateral flow test instead of a PCR test on the second day after their arrival, Nicola Sturgeon says.

Arrivals who are double vaccinated and travelling from countries not on the red list will be eligible to take a lateral flow test.

The first minister says the change will take effect from 17:00 BST on Friday and lateral flow tests are expected to cost between £20 and £30.

It will bring Scotland into line with England, which brought in the change on Sunday, while Wales will introduce the same changes from 31 October.
All 12 to 15-year-olds in Scotland given vaccine appointment

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All 12 to 15-year-olds in Scotland have had a Covid vaccination appointment scheduled, Nicola Sturgeon says.

The first minister tells MSPs 53% of this age group have had their first dose.

"I can confirm that everyone in that age group has now had an appointment scheduled and should have received a letter telling them about that," she says.

She encourages children and their parents to read the online information so they can make an informed decision about getting the vaccine.
Brazil politicians vote on critical Covid report

A committee in Brazil's senate is meeting to decide whether to approve a damning report into the government's handling of the pandemic.

It recommends President Jair Bolsonaro face nine criminal charges, including crimes against humanity, misusing public funds and peddling fake news.

Copyright: Getty Images

The report, presented in the Senate last week, follows a six-month inquiry into scandals and corruption in Brazil.

President Bolsonaro says he is "guilty of absolutely nothing" and his government "did the right thing from the first moment".

More than 600,000 people in Brazil have died from Covid - the second highest death toll worldwide, after the USA.

Read more here.
No changes to Scotland's pandemic rules

Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says no changes will be made to the Covid mitigations in place there - including rules around face masks.

She tells MSPs while Scotland's situation has "greatly improved" since August, it "remains fragile" heading into winter months and she cannot ignore that cases are "creeping up".

However, she points out that since August, cases have declined quickly without the need for further restrictions, which suggests that factors including the vaccination programme have been able to stem the Delta variant.

She adds that Scotland currently has the lowest case rate of the four UK nations.
Stop testing pupils without symptoms, vaccine expert says

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Earlier, we heard from Prof Lucy Chappell, chief scientific adviser to the Department of Health, who told MPs that officials were considering moving away from testing people without Covid symptoms - but said the government was committed to asymptomatic testing until at least January.

Prof Andrew Pollard, the head of the Oxford Vaccine Group, has also been asked about the issue when speaking to the Commons Science and Technology Committee.

He says widespread testing in schools is "very disruptive" due to individual children being forced to isolate after testing positive and families taking children out of school because of a positive case.

"I think probably we need to move in the pandemic, over this winter, maybe towards the end of the winter to a completely different system of clinically-driven testing," he says.

"In other words, testing people who are unwell rather than having regular testing of those people who are well."

Across the UK, all school staff and secondary school pupils are currently asked to do regular lateral flow tests.
Major long Covid study to launch in Scotland

A major study of long Covid plans to gather data from patients to forecast the people who might need treatment.

All adults in Scotland who have tested positive for the virus, as well as a small number who were negative, will be asked to take part by text message.

They will be encouraged to log their symptoms through an app.

Copyright: Getty Images

Long Covid has been described as symptoms continuing for more than 12 weeks after infection, which cannot be explained by other causes.

An estimated 79,000 people in Scotland are living with "self-reported" long Covid, according to Office for National Statistics figures.

Read more about the new study here.
China pledges 2bn vaccine doses by the end of the year

Kerry Allen

BBC Monitoring, Chinese Media Analyst

Copyright: EPA

Image caption: China has begun offering booster vaccines

A senior Chinese official has told media that by the end of the year, China aims to have provided two billion vaccine doses to the world.

Luo Zhaohui, the head of the China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA), was speaking at a press conference today hosted by China's State Council.

According to the national Global Times newspaper, he stated China has so far "provided more than 1.5bn Covid-19 vaccine doses to 106 countries and four international organisations since the beginning of this year". There are aims to reach 2bn by the end of the year, and also provide $100m to the international vaccine sharing scheme, Covax.

State media have repeatedly stressed that China has the capacity to produce 5bn vaccine doses annually. As the country has a population of 1.4bn, in theory it only needs half of those. However, booster jabs are currently being rolled out in many major cities.

China's National Health Commission provides daily updates on the number of vaccines given domestically. Today's says 2.24bn doses have been administered to date on the mainland.

It was reported in official media yesterday that 1.06bn people "have completed their vaccination against Covid-19" - meaning they have received two vaccine doses.

That means so far, at least 75% of China's population have been fully vaccinated against the virus.

Read more: Covid-19 vaccines: Has China made more than other countries combined?
Covid rates in Wales hit record high

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Covid rates in Wales have hit a record high, according to health officials.

Figures published today showed a rate of 719.9 cases for every 100,000 people over the last seven days.

The rate of cases in Wales remains the highest of all the UK nations but Dr Fu-Meng Khaw, national director of health protection at Public Health Wales, says rates appear to be "plateauing".

"I am confident that over the coming weeks we will start seeing a drop," he tells BBC Wales.

Read more.