Coronavirus news — live: India peak weeks away, scientists say as Hancock to lead press conference

The government said a further 29 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 as of Wednesday, bringing the UK total to 127,480.

Separate figures published by the UK’s statistics agencies show there have been 152,000 deaths registered in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.

The government also said that, as of 9am on Wednesday, there had been a further 2,166 lab-confirmed cases in the UK.

It brings the total to 4,411,797.

The UK has secured 60m more Pfizer/BionTech vaccine doses, Matt Hancock has said.

The health secretary said the additional shots would be used as part of the UK’s booster programme during the winter months.

Our science correspondent Samuel Lovett has more details:

UK health secretary Matt Hancock will lead today’s Covid-19 press conference from Downing Street.

Mr Hancock will address the nation shortly.

Turkey has signed a deal for 50 million doses of Russia’s Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine to be delivered within six months, health minister Fahrettin Koca said on Wednesday.

The first shipments of Sputnik V vaccine, which is at the final stage of testing for authorisation for emergency use in Turkey, will be made in May, Koca said.

Vaccine passports may be necessary for the long term and more neutral language needs to be used when discussing them, an expert has said.

Professor Christopher Dye, professor of epidemiology at the University of Oxford, told the Science and Technology Committee: “I think vaccine passports, or certificates, passes, whatever you want to call them, are going to be a very helpful short-term measure – I think they’re going to be in place for the long term as well.”

He added: “I think we need to discuss this in terms of neutral language and the term passport and certificate has been difficult.

“So, a word like ‘pass’ is more neutral, but we should try to have a conversation in neutral terms.”

He added: “I think the question about using passes is a question of whether we now have the option to explore those greater freedoms that vaccination gives us and that there isn’t too much of a downside, in terms of discrimination – let’s use that word as others have used.”

Northern Ireland is to provide three oxygen generation units to India, Stormont’s health minister has announced.

The units are being transported to India as part of the UK-wide response to the escalating Covid crisis in the country.

The units were procured as part of the region’s own response to the Covid emergency.

They were not ultimately required in Northern Ireland hospitals.

Announcing the decision to send the units to India, health minister Robin Swann said he hoped they would help save lives.

“A humanitarian crisis is unfolding and providing support is undoubtedly the right thing to do,” he said.

“Oxygen supply is under severe stress in India’s health system.

“The oxygen generation units are each capable of providing 500 litres of oxygen per minute and I sincerely hope these units can help save lives.”

Engelbert Humperdinck has urged people to take up the offer of a coronavirus jab in a message shared with fans from a vaccination centre.

The 84-year-old pop star said he had been suffering from long Covid as he thanked the “lovely people” involved with the vaccination programme for “all the wonderful things they do to keep us going”.

Chile has granted vaccine priority to pregnant women and has begun giving jabs to those with underlying health issues in their second or third trimesters.

Paula Daza, the coastal nation’s top public health official, said women were being given the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine since there was more information about its safety for pregnant women.

An estimated 230,000 women will be offered vaccines, with those working in high-risk jobs such as the health and education sectors to follow those with health issues.

More than 52 per cent of the 15.2 million people the Chilean government aims to vaccinate by July have received one dose of a vaccine, and 41.6 per cent have received two.

The country is one of the first to roll out vaccinations for pregnant women. The UK updated its guidance on vaccines earlier this month to include pregnant women, and the United States last weekend.

Brazilian authorities said on Tuesday that pregnant women would be included among priority groups for vaccination, though they also recently said women should delay their pregnancies if they can, due to fears the virus may hit them harder and overcrowding in hospitals.

A criminal case has been opened against a man in India’s Uttar Pradesh after he appealed on Twitter for an oxygen cylinder for his ailing grandfather, in a controversial case related to the state government’s crackdown on people for allegedly spreading rumours over the oxygen crisis, writes Shweta Sharma.

Shashank Yadav, 26, was held by Uttar Pradesh police for allegedly spreading “false information” and spreading misleading information to create panic among the people, the police said.

Northern Ireland has recorded 98 new cases of coronavirus, according to the region’s health ministry.

There was one death of a patient who had previously tested positive for the virus recorded in the last 24-hour reporting period, the Department of Health said.