Covid-19: Call for surgery hubs to tackle backlog and Glasgow waits on announcement

Here are five things you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic this Friday morning. We’ll have another update for you this evening.

The Royal College of Surgeons is calling for the creation of a network of 40 specialist hubs in hospitals to help clear a “colossal backlog” of five million non-urgent operations that built up in England during the pandemic. The government says it’s providing £1bn to tackle backlogs, including £160m to help hospitals “find innovative ways to carry out even more operations”.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will announce later whether Glasgow will remain subject to Scotland’s level three restrictions, having said there are “reasons to be optimistic”, as business owners demand clarity on reopening. While the rest of the country has seen restrictions ease, Glasgow residents have endured strict curbs for 270 days. Here’s how it affected them.

Live music events in Wales can resume immediately, says the Welsh government, although nightclubs face a continued wait to reopen. Gig venues will need risk assessments in line with hospitality and performing guidance, , use one-way systems and follow ventilation guidelines. No more than six people from six households will be able to attend together in a single group.

High Street banks have told MPs they are opening accounts for small businesses as normal after pressures amid the pandemic caused problems. In October, start-ups told BBC News how they were being “stifled” at birth owing to difficulties in opening a business bank account.

When the pandemic put his business at risk, a British hotel owner in the Canary Islands accepted Spanish government funding to take in migrants and asylum seekers from Africa. Three months after the paid scheme ended, Calvin Lucock tells us why he’s continuing to house dozens of young migrants.

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Worried about the blood clots that have been reported as a rare side effect of the Oxford-AstraZeneca and the Johnson and Johnson coronavirus vaccines? Here’s what we know about them.

You can find more information, advice and guides on our coronavirus page.

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