A minister has said that community leaders are being asked to help stem the spread of vaccine misinformation among ethnic minority groups in Scotland.

According to the Edinburgh and Lothian Regional Equality Council (Elrec), South Asian people may encounter “foreign messages” that spread false claims about the Covid vaccine in family networks.

Equalities minister Christina McKelvie said there is an overlap between groups who are most hesitant about the vaccine and those most affected by Covid-19.

She has written to community leaders “asking for their help in developing and delivering targeted messages to communities, to address specific barriers they may have to taking up the vaccination”.

“We are keen to explore how local community leaders, or people who are visible and well known in those communities, can help encourage people to take up the vaccine, and that’s why we’ve written to over 100 representative organisations including Elrec, providing ideas and support to make that happen,” she said.

“We also know that there is a significant overlap between the groups disproportionately affected by Covid-19 – which include minority ethnic people – and those most likely to be vaccine hesitant.”

She said an expert group had been set up earlier in the pandemic to advise the Government on how to meet the needs of minority communities.

Thousands of Hong Kongers have been placed under lockdown on Saturday as authorities struggle to contain an outbreak in the city.

Hong Kong has recorded more than 4,300 coronavirus cases in the last two months, making up nearly 40 per cent of the city’s total. Around half of infections have been detected in the Yau Tsim Mong district.

Authorities said in a statement on Saturday that an area covering 16 buildings in the district will be locked down until all residents have been tested.

“Persons subject to compulsory testing are required to stay in their premises until all such persons identified in the area have undergone testing and the test results are mostly ascertained,” it said.

Around 3,000 people in the district have been tested so far, according to the Hong Kind government.

The health secretary has thanked the British public for their efforts in looking out for one another “in what are really difficult times”.

In a video posted to his Twitter account, Matt Hancock said: “I’ve been really inspired by some of the stories that I’ve seen, the people I’ve talked to, who are helping out locally, whether it’s helping elderly people to get to a vaccination centre, or making sure people have got food and access to things that they need.

“I know that communities right across the country are coming together, and people are helping their neighbour. It’s so important in this time.”

Today marks one year since the city of Wuhan went into lockdown, making it the first city in the world to be devastated by the new coronavirus.

Now, it had become a post-pandemic world where people do not have to wear face masks, can have get-togethers and make daily commutes.

My colleagues Christopher Buckley, Keith Bradsher, Vivian Wang and Amy Qin take a closer look at how Wuhan dealt with the crisis and where it stands now:

Professor Susan Michie, a scientist advising the government on coronavirus and director of the Centre for Behaviour Chance at UCL, has called for tighter lockdown restrictions.

Responding to the government’s new advert, which asks people to “look in the eyes” of frontline medical workers and Covid-19 patients, she told Times Radio: “The advert, the Government messages and Priti Patel talking about fines is all on the basis that the main problem is that people aren’t adhering to the rules that exist.

“But actually all the data show that the overwhelming number of people are sticking to the rules with one exception which is self-isolation.

“In fact I would say that it’s not so much people not sticking to the rules, but it’s the rules themselves that are the problem,” she added.

Prof Richie said current rules were not enough to tackle the more infectious variant of Covid-19, and said there were twice as many people going to work and using public transport compared to the first lockdown last March.

She also said more children were going to school after the government “widened the definition of who’s a key worker”.

Prof Michie said: “Do what we did in March but consider are there other things we could tighten? The better the lockdown is now the shorter it will be.

“I think we should throw everything we can at really driving transmission down to a low level.

“Make a really effective test, trace and isolate system so when inevitable outbreaks occur there’s a system there that can manage it and prevent it getting out of control again.”

The increase in wealth of the world’s top 10 billionaires during the coronavirus pandemic is more than enough to both pay for a Covid-19 vaccine for everyone on the planet and to reverse the rise in poverty caused by the crisis, claims Oxfam.

The charity is calling for higher taxes on the very richest, reports my colleague Jane Dalton.

Read more on the story here:

Boris Johnson warned the nation that the new variant of Covid-19 spreading rapidly in the UK could be up to 30 per cent deadlier than the original virus.

My colleague Samuel Lovett reports on what the government has said about the new variant so far:

Professor Peter Horby, chairman of government advice group Nervtag, has warned that it is “almost impossible” to have complete control over the spread of other coronavirus variants, but certain measures would slow them down.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast, he said: “The variants are a concern… I think complete control of variants moving around the world is going to be almost impossible but we know that certain measures can slow the movement of these viruses around the world.

“Certainly measures like stricter quarantines and putting people in hotels for long periods will have an impact and it’s up to the Government to decide whether they think the imposition of those is worth the benefits they’re likely to see.”

Prof Horby agreed that the UK would be safer “from a scientific point of view” if more measures were put in place.

He also defended the government’s decision to announce that the new variant that emerged in the UK may be deadlier than the original version, saying: “I think a very important principle is transparency. Scientists are looking at the possibility that there is increased severity… and after a week of looking at the data we came to the conclusion that it was a realistic possibility.

“We need to be transparent about that. If we were not telling people about this we would be accused of covering it up.

“What we need to do is get that message out and put it in context so instead of headlines saying 30 per cent increase in risk we need to explain this in terms of the absolute risk we may be seeing and also explain the uncertainties.”

On Monday, ministers are set to discuss whether to introduce tighter restrictions at the UK borders to avoid the spread of new coronavirus variants.

This could include the possibility of hotel quarantines for travellers, the BBC reports.

Currently, all international arrivals, including UK nationals, must present a negative coronavirus test taken in the 72 hours before departing for the UK, as well their passenger locator form. If they fail to do so, they face a fine of up to £500.

All passengers must also quarantine for 10 days upon arrival, but this can be shortened if they test negative for the virus after five days.

It comes after the prime minister hinted during yesterday’s Downing Street press conference that the government may have to introduce more border restrictions.

Read what Boris Johnson had to say about possible new restrictions in Jon Stone’s report below: