Spain’s tourism minister has said the country is “desperate to welcome” British visitors this summer.

Fernando Valdes told Sky News: “I think we will be ready here in Spain. We also think that the vaccination scheme in the UK is going pretty well, so hopefully we’ll be seeing this summer the restart of holidays.”

He added that certificates enabling holidaymakers to prove they have either been vaccinated or recently tested are “going to help us”.

The Trussell Trust has said it distributed a record 2.5 million emergency food parcels across the UK during the coronavirus pandemic.

The charity said food bank use rose a third during the pandemic, and it handed out 2,537,198 parcels between April 2020 and March 2021.

Almost a million (980,082) parcels went to children, equivalent to more than one parcel every minute on average, said the charity.

It is the first time the total number of parcels has topped two million and is a rise of 33 per cent compared to 2019-20, which was itself a record year.

Trussell Trust chief executive, Emma Revie, said: “No one should face the indignity of needing emergency food.

“Yet our network of food banks has given out record numbers of food parcels as more and more people struggle without enough money for the essentials.

“This is not right but we know we can build a better future. This pandemic has shown the unexpected can hit suddenly, but we know when we push for change, united by our desire for justice and compassion, the Government has to listen and act.

“We are asking you, the public, to write to your local candidates standing for election on May 6, asking them to commit to working to end the need for food banks if elected. Together we can take action now to build a hunger-free future.”

The planned restart of international travel next month is in jeopardy with “vague and costly” proposals not enough to reboot the aviation and tourism sectors, MPs have warned.

The Transport Select Committee said that international travel has had its “wings clipped” by the “cautious” Government Global Travel Taskforce report.

The committee said the report gave “insufficient” detail to allow businesses and travellers to prepare for the safe resumption of international travel as planned on 17 May.

It also said that, where detail was provided, the costs could be “disproportionate to the risk” and could add £500 for a family of four travelling to the “safest” parts of the globe where vaccine rollout is comparable to the UK.

The lack of clarity does not offer confidence to industry or consumers to plan, invest or recover from the pandemic and puts the planned restart of international travel at risk, the committee added.

Its chair, Huw Merriman, said the Government had failed to provide the certainty the industry craved.

He added: “The aviation and travel sectors were crying out for a functional report, setting out clear rules and offering certainty. This is not it.

“For UK citizens seeking to travel to the parts of the globe where the vaccine has been delivered as rapidly as the UK, the cost to families from testing could be greater than the cost of the flights.”

The government aims to provide official proof of vaccination for millions of British holidaymakers this summer – starting as early as 17 May.

According to a report in the Telegraph, a government official told travel bosses on the Tourism Industry Emergency Response Group that it is aiming to “give people the ability to prove their vaccine status by the time international travel restarts”.

Our Travel Correspondent Simon Calder reports:

Around 300 passengers who arrived at the Silchar airport in India’s northeastern state of Assam skipped the mandatory Covid-19 testing and fled from the testing centre.

Authorities have assured strict action will be taken against the passengers.

The testing is being done at a hospital located near the airport. Passengers can either go to the centre in buses arranged by the administration or they can go on their own by giving an undertaking.

Pfizer has said it will supply its vaccine in India “only through government contracts based on agreements with respective government authorities,” according to The Indian Express.

This comes after the Indian government invited Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson to seek licences for their Covid-19 vaccines as soon as possible amid a surge in cases.

Maharashtra on Wednesday announced new restrictions which will come into effect on Thursday and stay in place till 1 May.

“Though we are not calling it a lockdown, it is a ‘break-the-chain’ initiative amid the rising Covid-19 cases in the state,” Maharashtra’s health minister Rajesh Tope said.

Use of private vehicles will only be allowed for essential services or for medical reasons. Only 25 guests will be allowed to attend weddings. Attendance at all government and private offices will be capped at 15 per cent.

The restrictions come as the state recorded over 67,000 new Covid-19 cases and 568 deaths on Wednesday.

The health ministry has said a very “small” number of those who got vaccinated have tested positive for Covid-19.

Only 0.04 per cent of those who received the first dose of homegrown Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin have tested positive. About 0.02 per cent of those who received the first dose of Covishield — Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine produced by Serum Institute of India — got infected.

Good morning and welcome to The Independent’s Covid live blog, where we start today focussing on the situation in India.

The country has this morning reported more than 314,000 new coronavirus cases, surpassing the previous global record set by the US in January of more than 297,000.

India has also set a daily deaths record of more than 2,100, as it grapples a devastating second wave that has pushed healthcare resources far beyond breaking point in several states and the capital Delhi.