HERE'S everything you need to know about the pandemic as lockdown restrictions are set to ease again:

  • A further 94 cases of Covid have been reported across the North-East and North Yorkshire in the 24-hours to Monday. Nationally, the Government said a further four people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 as of Monday, bringing the UK total to 127,609. 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 Monday, there had been a further 2,357 lab-confirmed cases in the UK. It brings the total to 4,437,217.
  • The Prime Minister has announced that the next phase of lockdown easing can go ahead in England on May 17, after the Covid-19 alert level in the UK was downgraded to a “level 3” threat. People are free to meet friends and family in parks, gardens and other outdoor areas, as the legal limit on outdoor gatherings is raised to 30 people. Outdoor arenas will be able to host live events with a maximum number of 4,000 attendees, or for large outdoor seated venues where crowds can be spread out, up to 10,000. Gatherings inside homes are likely to be allowed once again, with a limit of up to six people or groups from a maximum of two households. Indoor recreation will return too, with the reopening of cinemas, sports and indoor seating at pubs and restaurants.
  • A single dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine reduces the risk of death with Covid-19 by approximately 80 per cent – and two doses of Pfizer cut it by 97 per cent, the latest data suggests. Health Secretary Matt Hancock described the news as “life-changing” for people across the country as he urged everyone to take up their offer of a jab. The latest data shows for the first time protection against mortality from the AstraZeneca vaccine and the additional protection provided by two doses of the Pfizer vaccine.
  • The Covid-19 alert level in the UK has been downgraded after a “consistent” fall in cases, hospital admissions and deaths. The four chief medical officers of the UK have said the threat level should be lowered from “level 4” to “level 3”, thanks to the success of the vaccination programme and social distancing restrictions. This means that the epidemic is in general circulation, but transmission of the virus is no longer deemed to be high or rising exponentially.
  • There is no evidence the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine against Covid-19 needs updating to protect against variants, BioNTech has said. In its financial and company update report, the German firm said: “To date, there is no evidence that an adaptation of BioNTech’s current Covid-19 vaccine against key identified emerging variants is necessary.” However, the company said it had developed a “comprehensive strategy” to address any coronavirus variants in the future should the need arise. It comes after laboratory results and real-life data suggested the vaccine can protect against catching the Covid variants currently in circulation, although less effectively when it comes to some, such as the South African variant.