Here's all of the latest covid news from yesterday:

  • Experts have described the risk of getting severe blood clots from Covid as “much higher” than the “extremely small” chance of doing so after having the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine. Figures suggest the risk of developing such a clot is “about four people in a million who receive the vaccine”, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency said on Wednesday. Up to the end of March, the UK regulator had received 79 reports of blood clots accompanied by low blood platelet count, all in people who had had their first dose of the vaccine, out of around 20 million doses given. Of these, a total of 19 people have died, although the cause has not been established in every case.
  • Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine should protect against illness for at least six months after the second dose, new research suggests. The news comes as Wales became the first nation to roll out the US-made jab on Wednesday. The findings, published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), are based on 33 participants who were involved in the phase 1 study of the vaccine.
  • Analysis of blood samples showed that participants maintained high levels of infection-fighting antibodies six months after receiving their second jab.
  • A breakdown of cases in the North East and North Yorkshire is as follows: County Durham: 37,737, was 37,722; Darlington: 7,449, was 7,444; Gateshead: 13,693, was 13,688; Hartlepool: 8,835, was 8,825; Middlesbrough: 12,367; was 12,360; Newcastle: 23,319; was 23,305; North Tyneside: 12,391, was 12,380; North Yorkshire: 29,429, was 29,403; Redcar and Cleveland: 9,262, was 9,257; South Tyneside: 11,290, was 11,286; Stockton: 15,779, was 15,786; Sunderland: 21,971. was 21,952; York: 12,225, was 12,219.
  • A Covid memorial wall has “got to stay”, bereaved families have said, as volunteers completed the installation. Roughly 150,000 red and pink hearts have been painted along the Thames Embankment opposite the Houses of Parliament. The National Covid Memorial Wall, stretching almost 500 metres between Westminster and Lambeth bridges, will be added to as the Covid-19 death toll keeps climbing.
  • The coronavirus death toll in Scotland has now passed 10,000. Figures from the National Records of Scotland (NRS) show 38 deaths relating to Covid-19 were registered between March 29 and April 4, bringing the total number of fatalities up to Sunday to 9,997. Since then, six deaths have been recorded in the daily figures from Public Health Scotland. NRS also warned that with fewer registrations than usual this week due to the public holiday on Friday, the actual fatality figure may be even higher.
  • Britain’s rail services are being ramped up ahead of the further easing of lockdown restrictions. Industry body the Rail Delivery Group said more than 1,000 daily weekday services have been added to timetables since mid-February. The increase means nearly 18,000 services will run from Monday, when non-essential shops, pub beer gardens and outdoor visitor attractions are among premises allowed to reopen in England.
  • The prevalence of coronavirus cases in England dropped by around 60 per cent from February to March, with recent data suggesting the decline is “levelling off”, researchers have said. Experts found that the rate of infection fell in all age groups and regions across those two months, with figures also indicating that the vaccine rollout could be “breaking the link” between infections, deaths and hospital admissions. According to the latest round of the Real-Time Assessment of Community Transmission (React-1) study, one in 500 people on average was still carrying the virus in March.