Coronavirus UK update live: Latest vaccine news as British tourists ‘defy self-isolation order’

The new strain of coronavirus which is believed to have emerged in Britain has been detected in two people who travelled to Norway from the UK.

The Norwegian Institute of Public Health said on Sunday that travellers, who were not identified, came to Norway earlier in December. Health workers will follow up with their close contacts.

The Scandinavian country became one of many to impose travel restrictions on visitors from the UK earlier this month amid fears over the new variant, which is thought to be highly contagious.

Hundreds of British tourists who were meant to be in quarantine in the Swiss ski resort of Verbier have fled, with some reportedly re-emerging in France.

Jean-Marc Sandoz, spokesperson for the Bagnes Commune where Verbier is located, said on Sunday that some of the travellers have now contacted Swiss authorities from France.

Before Christmas, local authorities identified around 420 British tourists who had to be quarantined, according to local media. 50 travellers left the resort immediately, but of the remaining 370, only around a dozen guests remained in quarantine there as of today.

Mr Sandoz said he understood the tourists’ “anger” at being quarantined, and criticised the sudden quarantine requirements that were introduced for people arriving from the UK. Local authorities decided on 21 December that British tourists who had arrived in Switzerland after 14 December were to be quarantined.

He was quoted as saying by AFP: “Families with small children suddenly got stuck on 20 square metres. It was unbearable.”

Jordan has detected its first two cases of the new strain of coronavirus which has caused a rapid surge in infections in the UK, in travellers who recently arrived in the country from Britain.

The health minister confirmed the discovery on Sunday. Last week, Jordan banned flights to and from the UK until 3 January.

Several cities in Germany are experiencing delays in rolling out the country’s vaccination campaign, after temperature trackers showed that about 1,000 of the Pfizer/BioNTech jabs may not have been kept at right temperature during transit.

The district of Lichtenfels, in the north of Bavaria, said in a statement: “When reading the temperature loggers that were enclosed in the cool boxes, doubts arose about the compliance with the cold chain requirements.”

The vaccine must be stored a extremely low temperatures of about -70C before being shopped to distribution centres, and must be kept at 2C to 8C once out of their specially-designed cool boxes to remain effective for up to five days.

But medical staff found that the temperature in one transport cool box had risen to 15C, said a district spokesperson, higher than the maximum 8C stipulated by the manufacturers.

The spokesperson said Lichtenfels, and the districts of Coburg, Kronach, Kulmbach, Hof, Bayreuth and Wunsiedel in northern Bavaria were waiting to hear from BioNTech about whether the vaccines could still be used.

Oliver Baer, district administrator in Hof, said: “Vaccination against the coronavirus is not about who vaccinates the fastest or who does the most doses. Safety and conscientious work for the benefit of the population has the highest priority.”

Police have issued two £1,000 fixed penalty notices and arrested a man after responding to reports of a large gathering in the Shudehill area of Manchester.

Officers were called to an address on Hanover Street at around 4.20am this morning to reports of a large gathering and loud music.

Around 100 people were found in attendance and were dispersed by patrols. Music equipment was also seized by police.

One 17-year-old and one 18-year-old, both boys, were each issued a £1,000 FPN. A 27-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of racially-aggravated public order and remains in custody for questioning, said a spokesperson for the Greater Manchester Police.

Chief inspector Colin MacDiarmid said: “There is no denying the blatant breach of COVID legislation that took place here last night, and enquiries are ongoing to ensure the organisers of this gathering are held accountable for their unacceptable actions.

“The majority of people in Manchester have made tremendously difficult sacrifices over the Christmas period and have complied with the rules that we all have to follow; however, it is the minority of people who attend events such as this that risk undoing the hard work of everyone else.

“It is clear that the people at this gathering weren’t just people from Manchester but from across the North West, and it not only disregards the rules there to protect public health but also undermines the whole spirit of us all needing to be in this together to battle the ongoing risk of coronavirus.

“We have always, and continue to, operate by using the four Es of engaging, explaining, and encouraging the public to comply, but we will not hesitate to take enforcement action against those found to be responsible for blatant examples of flouting the rules such as this.”