That's all from us today - the updates have been written by Jennifer Meierhans, Victoria Lindrea and Jo Couzens and edited by James Clarke and Vanessa Barford.

We'll be back with more coronavirus news tomorrow.

We are going to bring our live page updates to a close soon so here's a recap of some of the coronavirus developments we've been reporting today:

• The UK furlough scheme has ended today amid calls from struggling sectors for the support to continue
• The government announces £500m of grants to help families struggling with the cost of living
• The UK economy grew by 5.5% from April to June after Covid restrictions were eased during spring, the Office for National Statistics says
• A total of 191,771 people tested positive for Covid in England in the week to 22 September, a rise of 18% on the week before, Test and Trace figures show
• Scotland's vaccine passport scheme starts tomorrow as planned after a judge refused a legal challenge from nightclubs seeking to delay it
• GCSE and A-level grades will be returned to pre-Covid levels over the next two years, the government says
• GPs saw just 58% patients face-to-face in August, only slightly higher than in January - before the pandemic it was 80%.

Just over 65,500 more Covid vaccine doses have been given in the UK. That's 31,539 first doses and 34,093 second jabs.

That means a total of 48,829,118 people have had a first jab and 44,867,373 people have had two doses of a vaccine.

Another 36,480 cases of coronavirus have been recorded in the UK, according to government statistics.

And 137 people have died within 28 days of a positive Covid test.

Image source, Getty Images

The temporary £20 increase to universal credit comes to an end in less than a week's time, on 6 October.

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has suggested it could mean many UK households face a "very difficult winter".

The government argues that as the economy opens up - and with a plethora of job vacancies currently available - the focus needs to shift to getting people back to work.

The charity Citizens Advice has warned a third of people on Universal Credit will end up in debt when the extra payment is removed.

Universal credit is claimed by more than 5.8 million people in England, Scotland and Wales - with almost 40% of them classed as being in employment.

Today the government has announced £500m of grants to help families struggling with the cost of living as other support schemes are withdrawn, as energy costs soar and inflation rises.

So how are people likely to affected by the cut - and what other benefits are available. Read on.

Kerry Allen
BBC Monitoring, Chinese Media Analyst

Image source, Reuters

Beijing, host city of the 2022 Winter Olympics in February, will not allow tickets to spectators other than those that reside on the Chinese mainland - and only residents that “meet the requirements of Covid-19 countermeasures”., external

The country's top medical specialists had previously expressed hope that China would reach the threshold for herd immunity by fully vaccinating 70-80% of its population “by the beginning of 2022, or even by the end of 2021”.

At present, China says it has fully vaccinated more than a billion people in its 1.4bn population.

However, Chinese media has well documented its concerns that other countries have not handled the virus as well as China.

At the beginning of the year, President Xi Jinping stressed “strict Covid-19 prevention measures”, external needed to be in place for the Olympic event. It comes after outlets in China repeatedly expressed concerns the delayed Tokyo Olympics - held in July - were being hosted prematurely.

It is possible that China is implementing these rules to avoid an outbreak among overseas visitors - however, China will also be conscious the Olympics could be an opportunity for spectators to make political statements that may be embarrassing to the country.

The country was given a warning by the IOC at this year’s Olympics after two of its cyclists wore badges with an image of former leader Mao Zedong on them.

As the furlough scheme closes, Abi is one of the lucky ones who is finally returning to work.

She says she feels "grateful" to have been on the scheme for the past 18 months as she was worried about losing her job.

Kevin Peachey
Personal finance reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Annual house price growth of 10% or more has been recorded for each of the past five months, according to data from the Nationwide.

The rapid rise in house prices continues despite the tax holiday on stamp duty rates, introduced in July 2020, coming to an end in England and Northern Ireland today.

Stamp duty is a tax paid on property purchases, external.

In July 2020, the government announced a cut to help buyers whose finances were affected by Covid.

Until 31 March 2021, home buyers didn't have to pay stamp duty on the first £500,000 of a purchase price. This meant a saving of up to £15,000.

The government later extended the tax holiday until 30 June, and then again until 30 September. During this period home buyers didn't have to pay stamp duty on the first £250,000.

From tomorrow, rates return to pre-Covid levels, which means the point at which buyers start paying stamp duty will be £125,001.

So what will happen next? Will prices continue to surge, or will demand waiver? And are soaring house prices down solely to the stamp duty cut?

Here is everything you need to know as the stamp duty holiday comes to an end.

Image source, Getty Images

As the government's furlough scheme ends, some employers may decide they can't afford to keep paying all their staff.

What are your rights if you're made redundant?

It's important to remember that being made redundant is not the same as getting the sack. If you are made redundant, you have a number of legal rights.

Rules of fairness apply - and most employees will be entitled to a period of notice and redundancy pay.

You may also be entitled to benefits while you are searching for a new job.

Read here to find out more.

Image source, Nicole Dove

Daniel Craig's final James Bond film is finally hitting UK cinemas today after being repeatedly postponed because of the pandemic.

The film was due for release in April 2020 but had its world premiere last night.

Naomie Harris, who is playing Moneypenny for the third time, says she is "really hoping that it does entice people back into into cinemas and they feel comfortable doing that because it's such a special movie."

Advance ticket sales in the UK have been at levels not seen since before cinemas shut at the start of the pandemic, according to the Odeon and Cineworld chains.

After seeing the film at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square cinema Henry Wheeler, 25, labelled the film as "fantastic". "It was the best Bond film for a while. I enjoyed it," he says.

"I haven't been to the cinema in more than a year and it was good to go back."

Read more: Why cinemas will bounce back from the Coronavirus crisis

The Scottish government's vaccine passport scheme could be undermined if people were able to show a negative coronavirus test result as an alternative, the Deputy First Minister says.

John Swinney says the focus of the scheme is to drive up vaccination rates as much as possible.

He also says he expects nightclubs and large events to start using the vaccine passport system this weekend but enforcement will not begin until 18 October.

Swinney made the comments as he addressed MSPs on Holyrood's Covid-19 Committee earlier.

A group of experts appearing before the committee noted that Scotland's vaccine passport scheme differs from those of other European countries in that it does not include a negative Covid test as an alternative.

Swinney, the Covid Recovery Secretary, says the government will continue to consider whether testing can also be included.

Here's more detail on Scotland's Covid vaccine passport scheme.

The Covid-19 vaccination programme in England is estimated to have prevented 261,500 hospital admissions among people aged 45 and over, according to new figures from Public Health England.

Previous estimates had put the number at 230,800 admissions.

Estimates for the number of deaths prevented by vaccinations in England have also increased to 127,500, from a previous figure of 123,100.

Image source, PA Media

In Wales, 16 and 17-year-olds are far more likely to take up the offer of a Covid vaccine in more affluent parts of the country than they are in more deprived areas.

Public Health Wales (PHW) figures show 61% had been given a first dose of a jab in the most deprived areas of Wales - compared to 78.3% in the least deprived areas.

Healthy 16 and 17-year-olds have been eligible for a jab for six weeks and up to Tuesday night, 71.2% had received a first dose.

When looking at the uptake among that age group by sex, girls are ahead at 70%, with boys at 66.4%.

We've got more on the breakdown of teenage uptake in terms of gender, economic background and ethnic group here.

Image source, EPA

Irish passport holders who live and were vaccinated in Northern Ireland can now access the EU Digital Covid Certificate.

The vaccine "passport", which allows international travel, came into effect in the Republic of Ireland in July.

Most Irish passport holders in NI were not able to access the certificate because they were vaccinated outside of the Republic.

People in Northern Ireland can now apply for the certificate online, external.

The Irish Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly, says he is "delighted" to expand the service.

Two men have denied breaching the public order act after BBC journalist Nicholas Watt was chased by protesters near Downing Street during an anti-lockdown protest.

Joseph Olswang, 38, and Alexander Peat, 34, appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court earlier, accused of using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour with intent to cause harassment, alarm or distress on 14 June.

Magistrates released Peat on unconditional bail to appear for trial on 29 November while Olswang is due to appear in the same court again later.

Crowds had gathered in Westminster in June to protest against the government's extension of coronavirus restrictions in England by four weeks.

Footage shared on social media showed demonstrators confronting the broadcaster near Richmond Terrace and Whitehall.

The journalist, who was wearing a BBC lanyard, was forced to run through the crowd beyond a line of police officers as people shouted at him.

Christopher Aitken, 62, from Brixton, and Martin Hockridge, 57, are also due to stand trial in November charged with the same offence. They were both released on bail until the trial date.

The furlough scheme, which comes to an end today, has been described as a "godsend" that kept businesses afloat.

It was set up in March 2020 and involved the government helping to pay the wages of people who could not work due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Seaneen Monaghan, a caterer, says furlough was a "blessing".

Image source, PA Media

We explained earlier how exams are going to work next year.

The aim is to get GCSE and A-level grades back to pre-pandemic levels.

Some measures are being introduced to deal with potential disruption Covid could cause in the coming months - but how else are pupils being helped?"

BBC News education reporter Hannah Richardson explains.

Image source, Getty Images

As we have been reporting, the furlough scheme comes to a close today - with an estimated one million workers still on the scheme.

Many of them will have relied on furlough for a significant part of their income during the pandemic.

The government stresses about half of those have been on "flexible furlough" at the end of the scheme, and have been working for part of the week and should have a job to return to now.

But some others may be made redundant once government support is removed.

So what happens next to those workers who may no longer have a job?

We've heard much about record number of job vacancies at present - but which sectors have vacancies, who is hiring - and how easy is it to transfer your skills from one field of employment to another?

Find out how to maximise your potential in the job market here.

At First Minister's Questions Edinburgh Labour MSP Daniel Johnson brings up the furlough scheme, which ends today, saying there are more than 100,000 people in Scotland who are still reliant on the payments.

He asks the FM if she thinks the Scottish government is doing enough to help those who find themselves out of work.

Nicola Sturgeon says she will continue to do everything she can and continue to consider this on an ongoing basis and help low income families and the unemployed.

She says it would be better if Scotland didn't have to go cap-in-hand to a UK government to ask for furlough to be continued. She says if Labour is serious about these issues they have to get into a position of giving the Scottish parliament the means to do what it wants to do.

"We are suffering the impact of decisions that are beyond the control of this government and this parliament and there will always be a limit to what we can do to mitigate the impact of those decisions," says Sturgeon.

Image source, Reuters

A man taking part in the Novavax Covid vaccine trial has accused the company of "washing their hands" of volunteers when it comes to booster jabs.

Derek Robson, 63, from Hartlepool, was vaccinated in November 2020 and is now due a booster jab but the trial site is not offering them and he is unable to access a deployed vaccine booster via the NHS.

"I now feel that I'm entering the winter months without any, or reduced, protection against Covid," says Derek.

Novavax says it "empathises" with the concerns of participants in its trial and is urgently seeking guidance.

Last year, volunteers, including two government ministers, signed up for trials of the Novavax vaccine being developed by the US-based company.

In January positive results for its UK trial were posted, but it has not yet filed for approval and the trial remains ongoing.

Participants in the trial have received letters saying Novavax "could not provide guidance on the safety of... a booster of an approved vaccine after having previously received two doses of the Novavax vaccine... because data to support such advice does not exist".

Derek says: "They appear to have abandoned the volunteers.

"My experience to date suggests Novavax trial volunteers cannot get any alternative vaccine as no-one wants to take any responsibility.

"It seems that both Novavax and the NHS have washed their hands of the trial volunteers."

In a statement, Novavax says it has sought "urgent guidance" from the NHS and the JCVI (Joint Committee on Vaccinations and Immunisations) regarding boosters, and will share any updates when available.

Read more.

Image source, Derek Robson