Coronavirus live news: UK in ‘last lap’ of Covid fight; India sees record number of deaths

Latest updates: foreign secretary urges patience amid calls for faster loosening of restrictions; deaths in India jump by 3,689 on Sunday

• NHS England draws up plans for Covid jabs for over-12s
• Act now to prevent oxygen shortage in Covid-hit countries, say campaigners
• UK: government taskforce urges permanent job flexibility for all workers
• US decline in Covid vaccinations presents new problem: how to shrink operations
• Poor countries need billions in aid to avert Covid catastrophe, say experts

12.56pm BST

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has approved a new legislative programme of more than 25 bills that will implement planning reform and a new state aid regime, as he seeks to flesh out his post-pandemic economic recovery plan, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.

Johnson wants the programme, to be outlined in the Queen’s Speech on May 11, to deliver the meat of the Conservative Party’s 2019 election manifesto and signal the start of a return to “normality” after COVID-19, the newspaper reported, citing people briefed on the plans.

Among the measures will be legislation intended to boost economic growth and narrow regional inequalities — Johnson’s “levelling up” agenda — including a planning bill to clear obstacles to housebuilding and broader development. Under the bill, all councils in England will have to designate land either for development or preservation, as the government aims to hit a national target of building more than 300,000 homes a year. A post-Brexit state aid regime is meant to enable the government to be more “nimble” in supporting jobs.

12.28pm BST

Nigeria will ban travellers coming from India, Brazil and Turkey over concerns about high coronavirus infection rates, a presidential committee said on Sunday.

Reuters reports:

Non-Nigerian passport holders and non-residents who visited Brazil, India or Turkey within Fourteen (14) days preceding travel to Nigeria, shall be denied entry into Nigeria.

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