Covid: Companies plan for office return, and Tonga’s contactless aidon January 20, 2022 at 5:14 pm

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

A number of firms have said their staff will be returning to offices after work-from-home guidance in England ended on Thursday. Big banks, advertising firms and insurers are among those announcing plans for a return to the workplace. But most said flexible working arrangements would remain. And some companies have questioned whether the move is premature – and could worsen already-high staff absences.

Vaccine passports will no longer be needed in hospitality settings in Northern Ireland from midday next Wednesday as part of an easing of Covid rules in the country. The change means an end to the legal requirement to show Covid status in pubs, restaurants and cinemas. But the system will remain in place for nightclubs, and indoor unseated and partially-seated events with 500 or more people.

The prime minister has said he has seen “no evidence” that MPs within his party deemed to be plotting to remove him as leader have been blackmailed. Senior Tory William Wragg, who is among those calling on Boris Johnson to resign over lockdown parties held in Downing Street, said rebels faced “pressures and intimidation” from ministers. Christian Wakeford, who defected from the Conservatives to Labour on Wednesday, said he was threatened over funding for a school.

When John Evans needed treatment for a rapidly-spreading skin infection on his face, he was told to go to A&E. Having had the condition before, the 59-year-old from Cardiff knew he needed treatment, including intravenous antibiotics. But he said he ended up spending four nights on a chair at Cardiff’s University Hospital of Wales waiting for a bed. “There was a sense of helplessness from the staff,” he says. Cardiff and Vale health board has “sincerely” apologised, saying its services were under “extreme pressure” due to factors that included staff shortages and other pandemic-related challenges.

Tonga is in need of aid following a massive volcanic eruption on Saturday, which triggered a tsunami that spread across the Pacific in a matter of hours. But humanitarian efforts are being complicated by the need to protect the country from coronavirus. The South Pacific island nation is effectively Covid-free, with just one case of infection reported, last October, and the government is determined to keep it that way. So the authorities have stressed the need for aid to be delivered in a contactless way to avoid bringing in the virus. Read more about how that is being done.

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Reported Covid cases in the UK remain high, but have fallen sharply since their early-January peak. See the data here. And you can find more information, advice and guides on our coronavirus page.

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