Here are the latest Covid developments from the last 24-hours:

  • A further 661 people who tested positive for coronavirus have died in hospital in England, bringing the total number of confirmed deaths reported in hospitals to 53,730, NHS England said on Thursday.
  • Covid-19 case rates are continuing to rise in all regions of England, according to the latest weekly surveillance report from Public Health England. Case rates are also rising among all age groups, Public Health England said.
  • Of the 269,886 people transferred to the Test and Trace system in the week to December 30, 84.9 per cent were reached and asked to provide details of recent close contacts. This is down from 86.4 per cent in the previous week and is the lowest percentage since the week to October 28. Some 13.9 per cent of people transferred to Test and Trace in the week to December 30 were not reached while a further 1.3 per cent did not provide any communication details.
  • Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the vaccine drive should be a national effort and called on more volunteers to come forward to help. He also said vaccination centres and GP surgeries needed better information about deliveries of the vaccine and how much to expect to arrive.
  • Health Secretary Matt Hancock faced questions about the supply of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine as he visited a doctors’ surgery which had not received a delivery. Mr Hancock was promoting the rollout of the vaccine to GPs but the London surgery he visited had not received the Oxford product. It was expecting the first batch of the Oxford vaccine this morning but that has now been pushed back by 24 hours, Sky News reported.
  • Vulnerable people are refusing to receive the US-developed Pfizer Covid vaccine, preferring to wait for the 'English one', according to a GP. Former Stockton Labour MP Dr Paul Williams, who is currently working in Covid clinics, believes that nationalism is responsible for people opting to wait for the UK-developed Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine instead of accepting the Pfizer vaccine currently being offered. Dr Williams says he has heard reports from GP practices who vaccinating the most Covid-vulnerable group - the over 80s - that when offered the Pfizer jab, some are turning it down to wait for the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab.
  • Boris Johnson has pledged an unprecedented national effort to roll out Covid-19 vaccines across the UK as GPs warned of “teething problems” in some areas with doctors getting supply. The Prime Minister said almost 1.5 million people have now been vaccinated against the disease and the Government intends to give everyone in care homes a jab by the end of January.
  • There have been 1,954 further positive coronavirus tests in the North-East and North Yorkshire. A breakdown of the number of cases in our region: Darlington: 4,901 was 4,859; County Durham: 26,880 was 26,651; Hartlepool: 6,207 was 6,122; Middlesbrough: 7,874 was 7,802; Redcar and Cleveland: 6,041 was 5,978; Stockton:10,448 was 10,342; North Yorkshire: 20,226 was 19,807; York: 8,522 was 8,323; Newcastle: 18,470 was 18,346; North Tyneside: 8,778 was 8,704; South Tyneside:  8,436 was 8,333; Sunderland: 15,035 was 14,856; Northumberland: 12,438 was 12,283; Gateshead: 10,239 was 10,135.