Good morning. Caroline Davies in London here. Welcome to the coronavirus liveblog. I will be steering you through developments over the next few hours. You can contact me on caroline.davies@theguardian.com.
As England sees a significant easing of restrictions from Monday, UK prime minister Boris Johnson is under mounting pressure to reconsider the relaxation of Covid rules because of the threat posed by the India variant. His own advisers and independent health experts raised fears that it could lead to a surge in hospital admissions, especially among young adults, the Observer reports.
Meanwhile thousands of UK holidaymakers are preparing to head overseas with the ban on foreign leisure travel lifting in England and Wales on Monday.
Travel firms have reported a surge in demand for trips to Portugal, after the government put the country on its green list for travel, PA Media reports. That means returning travellers will not need to self-isolate on their return, and are…
