Former WHO director Anthony Costello said only 'a total clampdown' would succeed in stopping the mutant strain of coronavirus ripping through the country.

Ferguson, whose grim predictions of 500,000 deaths in the UK convinced the government to implement the first lockdown, now says he is 'optimistic' about the country's future in 2021.

Across the events and hospitality industry, there are thousands of businesses who are falling through the gaps - and missing out on the Government loans and grants.

Most independent schools and top-performing state schools in the UK have rolled out full days of live lessons via Zoom and other video platforms since the new national lockdown came into force.

There is no convincing evidence that closing schools reduces the spread of coronavirus, a group of leading British scientists has found.

The partner of missing British backpacker Esther Dingley has made a fresh plea for answers to the mystery surrounding her whereabouts, and revealed their final texts before she vanished.

The police force in Bristol also 'stood by and watched' when Edward Colston's statue was torn down, a Home Office source said while Mr Burnham was criticised.

Since the start of the pandemic, home births have provided a solution for women whose hospitals banned them from having their partner at their side during labour.

Backbenchers rounded on the NEU in a call with Gavin Williamson last week, with one saying the 'NEU is about to become the National Union of Mineworkers of this generation'.

Officers in England will 'move through the gears' and charge people £200 if they think a person is flouting the restrictions and they will not go home when asked once.

As the PM announced a 'test and jabs' blitz to combat the virus, Her Majesty, 94, and the Duke of Edinburgh, 99, received their injections at Windsor Castle from a doctor in the Royal Household.

On 17 November 2019, the Mail on Sunday published an article headlined "'Holocaust deniers' given secret advice by a would-be Labour MP".

According to new reports, the Gogglebox star, 30, was left 'betrayed and confused' after her mother allegedly took 'tens of thousands of pounds' from her account.

'Super-vax' centres capable of inoculating 3,000 people a day to open tomorrow. And up to 50 Morrisons supermarket car parks could also be used to host vaccination sites.

MAIL ON SUNDAY COMMENT: So much has been achieved over the past nine months, with NHS staff and scientists going above and beyond the call of duty and they should be honoured.

The British Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised MPs 'all such obstacles and all such pointless pettifoggery has been removed' on Wednesday.

The group of around 25 men were spotted playing a match in Valentine's Park, Ilford, in the London Borough of Redbridge on Saturday morning.

MATT HANCOCK: We begin 2021 knowing that vaccines are our way out of this pandemic. Human ingenuity and phenomenal scientific advances make it a case of when, not if, we will return to normal life.

The Chase star Bradley Walsh is at the centre of a bidding war between ITV and BBC as both broadcasters want to sign the 60-year-old presenter on a 'golden handcuffs deal'.

The UK's first 'super-vax' centres will open their doors to the public tomorrow marking the start of a fightback to suppress Covid-19. Already 1.5million people have been vaccinated.

Nicky and Mark Webster were wrongly accused of abusing their children in 2005 and they were forcibly adopted. Now they attempt to trace daughter as she turns 21 - and urge her to get in touch.

Gentleman Jack star Sophie Rundle, pictured, ended a tumultuous year in a hospital bed suffering from Covid-19, but know the 32-year-old style is back on her feet

Britons not taking the coronavirus lockdown seriously could soon cause 'avoidable deaths' when critically ill patients are turned away at the hospital door, Professor Chris Whitty warned.

A huge rise in heartless dog thefts has been blamed on the coronavirus pandemic. The number of dogs stolen during the past year in Britain has doubled, making it the worst year ever.

Antonio Sabato Sr. has passed away at the age of 77 due to COVID-19 complications, after testing positive for the virus earlier this month.

The Sriwijaya Air plane took off from Jakarta earlier today for Pontianak, West Kalimantan province, when it lost contact with the control room. Witnesses claim the plane hit the sea and exploded.

As the mutant Covid strain sweeps the nation, a JUNIOR NHS DOCTOR at a hospital in the north of England shares their diary dealing with the nightmare.

SARAH VINE: Day and night, online and in print, on television and radio, the message is simple and inescapable: do as you're told, or we're all going to die.

Coronavirus could have been rampant in Wuhan at least three months before the Chinese government has acknowledged, according to leaked hospital files.

The shocking evidence that convinced a High Court judge to effectively ban an NHS gender clinic from giving puberty-blocking drugs to children can be revealed for the first time today.

PROFESSOR ROBERT DINGWALL: Remember this, too - many groups are doing well out of the controls and will want to see them maintained for as long as possible.

British holidaymakers may end up trapped in hotel rooms abroad for two weeks under new laws that will force travellers to produce negative test 72 hours before entering UK.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock today announces plans for the mass rollout of rapid Covid-19 testing for people who cannot work at home during the lockdown.

Carrie Symonds' mother Josephine McAffee has reportedly formed a 'household bubble' with her daughter and Prime Minister Boris Johnson to provide childcare for their eight-month-old baby.

The 'restaurant-style' range can be ready in as little as 30 seconds. Such products have long been sold to restaurants, but new British company Beroni will now market it directly to customers.

The TV commercial, released for the British chocolate's 50th anniversay, included a real-life same sex couple sharing the treat.

The Royal College of Psychiatrists warned that the Covid-19 pandemic could create a 'lost' generation who will be affected by 'lifelong' mental illnesses.

British scientist Peter Daszak's organisation channelled cash to Wuhan scientists at the centre of growing concerns over a cover-up.

BEATRICE GOVE: What was meant to be our coming-of-age time, the period of partying, young love and learning, has been turned into a year of heartbreak, loss and - most of all - loneliness.

FLORA WATKINS: An Ipsos MORI poll has found that working mothers were 45% more likely than the general population to have suffered mental health problems during the spring and autumn lockdowns.

The Mail on Sunday can reveal that hundreds of pages of information relating to studies carried out by the top-secret Wuhan Institute of Virology have been wiped.

PETER HITCHENS: Covid exists. I wouldn't and don't deny it. But the phrase is a dog whistle, designed to make hearers think sceptics are like Holocaust deniers, a straightforward lie and smear.

Brexiteer Mark Francois MP, chairman of the European Research Group, is set to publish a book on how his band of Tories 'saved' Brexit in a four-year fight to fulfil the 2016 referendum.

TOM TUGENDHAT: The past decade has been kind to China's princes, but its people have paid the price. Rise in forced labour and mass surveillance has turned the nation into a prison for many.

An alliance of Tories will step up pressure on the Government over how it deals with the Chinese regime. It comes after Tory Party report condemns 'brutality, inhumanity, and criminality' in Beijing.

Brian Jennings, 44, regularly walks past the cafe, near the Greenwich Patrol Base in south east London for exercise and saw them sitting inside eating.

No warning was posted ahead of use of the word, which is offensive to Asian people, despite the British broadcaster's strict rules around racist vocabulary.

Harry and Meghan had more than 10 million Instagram followers on their SussexRoyal account, but stopped posting to it in March last year.

Pope Francis, 84, is set to receive Covid-19 vaccine in Vatican City next week as he follows the example set by The Queen, 94. He also slammed those opposed to the jab as in 'suicidal denial.'

The presenter, 41, took to Instagram on Saturday to announce the happy news that she and husband Frank, 42, are set to welcome their new arrival in 2021.

The protest, organised by group StandupX, was attended by a few dozen people who marched from Clapham Common, in south London, and then down the high street.

AMANDA PLATELL: Dressed in military fatigues, towering over the PM with a true-grit, can-do attitude . . . what a heartening presence of booming no-nonsense Brigadier Phil Prosser.

A further 1,035 have died today in the deadliest Saturday since April 18, as the total Covid death toll since the pandemic began hit 80,000. A further 59,937 people tested positive.

London hospitals overwhelmed with Covid patients have begun triaging patients, it has been claimed. Doctors say a critical lack of beds means they are using emergency guidelines.

Two Brits have been arrested over the murder of an ex-worker of slain crime boss John 'Goldfinger' Palmer.

Intensive care consultant Professor Rupert Pearse - who works at the Royal London Hospital - warned that he and his colleagues are 'extremely worried' that case totals will keep increasing.

The London based property firm called The Hacking Trust have apologised after it sent an email to NHS surgeries on Friday offering a 'reward' for vaccinating its 'frontline staff'.

JANET STREET-PORTER: What I don't wish to encounter on my restorative stroll is a pompous member of the police force wasting their time (and mine).

Boris Johnson begged families to stay at home as he warned new infections were rising at an alarming rate. Meanwhile, the NHS has launched a campaign to urge people to stay at home

After criticism that the Department for Education's definition of key workers is too broad, parents have been urged by the department to 'honour the spirit' of England's lockdown.

About 15,000 students at more than 40 universities including Bristol, Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield are pledging to withhold rent, according to the Rent Strike Now campaign.

Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu phoned the boss of vaccine firm Pfizer 17 times in just days to secure more supplies of the Covid jab.

Marks and Spencer's Percy Pigs are among the first victims of Brexit red tape and tariffs. Exports of the sweets have been hit by new paperwork .

The BBC has revealed its schedule for the first week of Lockdown Learning as the corporation steps in to help children who are stuck at home. Celebrity Supply Teacher will return as part of programming.

The nurse, who has been working for the Hywel Dda University Health Board area, said that she contracted Covid-19 while waiting for the second dose of the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine.

British couple Andrew Luker and Julia Knightley decided to spice up their sex life while on holiday in Barbados by inviting Jamaican prostitute Mikaela Jacas back to their luxury hotel for sex.

Jaguar halted production of the XJ Sentinel after demand fell during the pandemic. The Prime Minister's fleet of Jaguars has been depleted by crashes and breakdowns since 2010.

Britons who stop following lockdown rules after receiving their jabs risk sabotaging the vaccination programme, experts have warned.

Facewatch, based in the UK, operates in some Southern Co-op stores, Budgens, garden centres and petrol stations and plans to expand, despite criticisms from privacy campaigners.

House prices soared at a rate of £275 a week to hit a record high by the end of last year, despite the pandemic. Property values rose 6 per cent in 2020 to reach an average of £253,374.

Princess Diana's former lover Hasnat Khan said Martin Bashir 'filled her head with rubbish' until Prince William, then a teenager, warned her: 'Mummy, he's not a good person.'

The jar size of Nutella has been slashed from 400g to 350g despite the price remaining unchanged in a tactic known as shrinkflation. The company says rising product costs is behind the change

Hospitals across London must now open up more and more beds for patients, but shortages in staff still remain a major concern. Pictured: Daily coronavirus hospitalisations in the UK.

The West Ham midfielder has pledged to make a donation to an east London foodbank to make up for him breaking coronavirus restrictions over Christmas with three Tottenham players.

The NHS has confirmed patients given the Oxford vaccine will not be monitored for 15 minutes after getting the jab in case of allergic reaction. Experts say the risk was one in a million.

Louise Kyle, a nursing leader in a large inner-city UK practice, gives an insight into the gargantuan effort required for just one vaccine 'hub' to play its part.

Apple Mobility Trends for London (pictured, the Tube this morning) shows driving down by 44 per cent, walking down by 62 per cent and transit down by 68 per cent.

Tommy and Maryanne Pilling were the trailblazing Down's Syndrome couple who defied sceptics to marry in 1995, in Essex. As Tommy sadly dies, his widow's family tells of her heartache after 25 years.

JOHN HUMPHRYS: We are the most spied upon, pried into, scrutinised, surveyed, secretly observed beings in the nation's history, and it's happening because knowledge is power.

The image is heart-rending. A mother and daughter struck down by Covid, side-by-side in their intensive care beds, holding hands for what would be their final photograph together.

Floyd Langridge (pictured), 44, was holding his cigarette as he walked home with supplies when he says he was approached by a Covid marshal in Tonbridge, Kent.

The crisis began between Christmas and New Year when Bonnie Saunders, a nurse at Glangwili Hospital in Carmarthen, Wales, developed coronavirus symptoms.

Mr Love, 30, wore tan chinos,a dark blue shirt and a blue surgical mask as he arrived at court in Barbados today where he was fined £3,000, £1,400 less than his Love Island star girlfriend was given.

A top SAGE expert said today there was 'no evidence' of widespread community transmission of the South African variant - called 501.V2 - in the UK.

The SAGE sub-group SPI-B said that as the UK scales up its vaccination programme it must be clear that people have to keep following the rules until there is a 'high degree of coverage'.

Some 97 per cent of those polled by the FDA union wanted the option to do their job from home sometime. Almost a third (32 per cent) said they wanted to only come into the office two days a week

The Chancellor is looking at proposals for a Directors Income Support Scheme that would pay sole directors up to 80 per cent of lost profits for three months, up to a ceiling of £7,500.

Trump released a short video after being allowed back on Twitter where he blasted the 'heinous' attack and claimed that he had called in the National Guard - a claim disputed by Fox and other outlets.

The horrific killings took place in Bayramozu Village in the district of Kaman in the central Turkish city of Kirsehir where the young woman Vildan Ince, 24, was forced to marry her cousin

Incredible images have captured the indigenous tribes of Brazil who act as guardians of the quickly diminishing Amazon rainforest and fight off outsiders intent on destroying it.

A 1960s tractor manufactured by Lamborghini was put up for auction for £15K after a garage in Italy took the rusty machine and lovingly restored it to its former glory.

A major shopping centre and supermarket in Sydney have been exposed to coronavirus, forcing thousands into isolation. 

Steve 'Nipper' Ellis, 55, claims his father Sid gunned down drug dealers Pat Tate, Tony Tucker and Craig Rolfe in Rettendon, Essex, in 1995. Michael Steele and Jack Whomes were jailed for life in 1998.

Almost 40million people are entitled to vote in the upcoming elections across England - which No10 hope will only be pushed back by one month.

All Souls College reviewed its link to Christopher Codrington, a Barbados-born colonial governor, in the wake of last year's Black Lives Matter movement, but have decided to keep his statue.

Extreme heatwaves are set to sweep across Melbourne, Adelaide and parts of Western Australia for at least three days, as severe fire dangers are expected for Tasmania and Victoria.

Medical staff and key workers were among the first to receive coronavirus jabs at a mass vaccination hub in Newcastle on Saturday, one of seven that will open to the elderly and vulnerable on Monday.

The 'smart little cookie', as her grandparents Lloyd and Sue Clarke affectionately remember her, spent hours staring at the dolphins and playing with stingrays at Sea World on the Gold Coast.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has sparked a new skirmish with Victoria after pointed comments on Sunday about 'other states' shutting borders without asking. 

Pro volleyball player Morgan Miller, 33, made the revelations about how she got back into her usual athletic shape in a series of Instagram Stories posts which she shared on Saturday.

John 'Blue' Kirkwood was widely known as a larrikin around Bondi in the 1950s but even his surviving family didn't know the fully story behind the man in this classic black and white pub photograph.

Suburbs north of the Narrabeen Bridge, known as the northern zone, have been under stay-at-home orders and allowed out only for one of four essential reasons since December 19.

North Queensland resident Jeff Geaney bought the domain magicmillions.com from a US company for $2,500 two-and-a-half years ago.

Milli Lucas, the 'miracle girl' operated on by renowned neurosurgeon Dr Charlie Teo,  fulfilled her bucket list wish of skydiving just two weeks before she passed away.  

While the brand was forced to close shopfronts at the height of the pandemic, a unique 'private appointment' system kept customers coming back as online sales soared.

The thousands of Trump supporters who rioted at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday carried with them flags sporting extremist and far-right symbols.

The CEO of Sunshine Coast-based food technology company Naturo said the project to elongate the shelf-life of milk is in its final stages thanks to a $1million boost from the government.

The phrase was trending in the early hours of Saturday hours after Twitter permanently banned Trump citing risks of 'further incitement to violence'.

The man was stopped by police on several occasions because he was not correctly wearing his face mask, which is mandatory to attend the event.

Researchers posted profiles on dating apps featuring photographs of men and women with different breeds of dog and counted the number of likes and swipes they attracted.

Rep. Brooks of Alabama stood by his fiery words Friday claiming he was talking about a donkey when he told Wednesday's crowd to 'kick ass'.

According to one of its former stars, it is the O'Carroll clan's domination of the show that he claims is causing a toxic atmosphere behind the scenes.

Surprisingly, Premier League minnows Burnley has the highest percentage of fakers at 36 per cent - accounting for 124,959 of the club's 345,000 online supporters.

Britain's Got Talent judge David Walliams has narrated an animated film that highlights the plight of children living in poverty and the help available from the campaign.

Two sources told CNN Giuliani is expected to represent Trump if the unprecedented event of a second impeachment trial materializes.

33-year-old Jacob Angeli Chansley is one of the MAGA rioters wanted by DC police for his part in storming the Capitol building on Wednesday.

At the Sovereign Harbour in Eastbourne, East Sussex, 35 migrants - including children and 5 people who were reportedly injured - were brought ashore by lifeboats.

The man said he wanted to give recognition to the hardworking individuals who look after testing clinics across Australia, helping keep up the fight against coronavirus.

The United States broke a new record for COVID-19 weekly deaths in the first week of 2021, reporting 21,752 fatalities, as the death toll grows in every single region across the country.

The Vice President is keeping the move to invoke the 25th Amendment on the table for if or when Trump becomes more unstable in the coming days, said a source.

Following President Trump's ban, his Twitter account was deleted, much to his outrage, but to Hillary Clinton's apparently delight, as she posted a snarky tweet about it on Friday.

Sriwijaya Air Flight 182, with 62 people on board, took off from Soekarno-Hatta international airport for a 90-minute flight over the Java Sea between Jakarta and Pofntianak in West Kalimantan.

One rioter was spotted wearing an FDNY jacket - which read FDNY Squad 252 -outside the Capitol on Wednesday. Squad 252 is based out of Brooklyn.

On Saturday, Sen. Mark Warner, the incoming Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, tweeted out a letter he'd sent Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg following the Capitol riot.

The 22-year-old had been extradited from California to attend the hearing at Red Hook Justice Center in Brooklyn on Saturday,.

Donald Trump was raging as the mob attacked the US Capitol, but not because of the scenes of destruction. He was upset the 'white trash mob' made him look bad, writes CAROLINE GRHAM.

There were 310,080 new COVID-19 cases reported in the United States on Friday, a new record, as California registered 50k cases alone and New Jersey reported 20k.

An Australian country music singer has lashed out at fake scammers pretending to be him to rip off wellwishers donating to the families devastated by the Wellington horror crash.

Two men, aged 45 and 42, have been charged over the sexual assault of a pair of teenage girls in Perth on New Year's Eve.

Six fans have been escorted out of the SCG after being accused of racially abusing Indian cricket players during the Sydney Test match.

A woman, 68, was kayaking with friends in Tooloom National Park, in New South Wales' Northern Rivers region on Saturday when her kayak capsized after hitting a log.

A 37-year-old Vietnamese national has been charged for breaching quarantine directives after he allegedly jumped from cargo ship docked at Albany Port, in Western Australia, to swim to shore.

In a tweet on Saturday night, actress Kirstie Alley, 69, claimed that big tech was guilty of 'slavery' for its censorship after President Trump received a permanent suspension from Twitter on Friday.

The 17-year-old boy and his friend were walking from Casula train station, in south-west Sydney, at 12.40 pm on Thursday.

Emergency crews rushed to the townhouse on Tulloch Grove in Glen Waverley in Melbourne's eastern suburbs about 1.40am after the property's garage was set alight.

Soho Karen Miya Ponsetto was seen leaving the first police precinct in New York City ahead of her arraignment on felony charges for assaulting a black teen at a Manhattan hotel last month.

To the dismay of its citizens, France was lamentably slow over the New Year to roll out its Covid vaccination programme.

Abu Bakar Bashir, 82, was given his first taste of freedom on Friday after serving three-quarters of a 15-year sentence in a Bogor prison in West Java, in Indonesia.

A Melbourne woman was saved from a deadly fate after strange hair began growing all over her face, prompting her to go to the doctor.

Republican Sen. Pat Toomey told Fox News on Saturday that he was unsure if the Senate would impeach Trump even though he believes the president 'committed impeachable offenses'.

Underworld figure Amar Kettule, 34, died at the scene despite the efforts of paramedics after being hit with a spray of bullets near William Street in Fairfield about 2.40am on Sunday morning.

Coronavirus has escaped quarantine across Australia, but there is heightened concern as travellers are increasingly returning with the new UK strain which is up to 70 times more contagious.

Cinema Nova, in Melbourne, has scrapped a pre-movie Australia Day advert after an indigenous activist complained the content was 'propaganda'.

Ashli Babbitt's friend Jack Feeley called her death an 'execution' and said she would have been 'furious' about 'going down without a fight. Babbitt was among four Trump supporters killed in Wednesday's riot.

Rachel Uchitel said that new boyfriend Ed Batts had been separated from wife Robyn 'for quite awhile,' after Robyn went public saying that she didn't know he was leaving her until December 19.

Sir Keir Starmer ditched plans to give a peerage to a leading Sikh independence supporter amid concerns over his alleged 'extremist' links, it was claimed last night.

Beckhams shared intimate snaps with their followers on social media, showing a cosy family Christmas spent in the chilly Cotswolds but they were actually more than 4,000 miles away in Florida.

Barry Gibb, the last remaining Bee Gee, admitted that he feels 'survivor's guilt'. In an interview, the 74-year-old said: 'I'm the eldest, so it should have been me first.'

Donald Trump's closest political allies have closed ranks to 'shut down' the US President during his final ten days in office, it has emerged, amid fears he is going 'rogue'.

My Aunt Peggy helped find Britain's biggest haul of buried treasure and now she is being portrayed by Lily James, WRITES BEST-SELLING AUTHOR JOHN PRESTON. Joyously unlikely casting.