Covid: Green and amber travel lists could go and Scotland surge 'slowing'

Here are five things you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic this Wednesday evening. We'll have another update for you tomorrow morning.

The government is planning to overhaul the UK's travel traffic light system, with changes set to be announced in weeks. Green and amber categories could be removed and replaced with a new scheme which would allow vaccinated travellers to go to countries with similarly high levels of vaccination as the UK without the need for quarantine, the BBC has been told. Sources say the red category - for countries the government says should not be visited - will remain. Here's a reminder of what the traffic light system means.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says the rate at which Covid-19 is spreading in Scotland may now be slowing down, although she said there continued to be a "very high" level of infection among the Scottish population. She told MSPs that average daily case numbers had gone up by 9% over the past week - but this was down significantly on the 70% increase seen the week before. She added that she was hopeful "we can turn the corner" without having to reintroduce any tighter restrictions.

Moving too quickly to give people Covid booster jabs would deprive scientists of data on how well the vaccines work, AstraZeneca bosses have said. "We do not yet know whether that third dose is clinically needed," they said in the Telegraph. It has already been announced that half a million of the most vulnerable in the UK will be offered a third dose. Health Secretary Sajid Javid said on Wednesday he was "confident" a booster programme could begin this month but was awaiting advice on who should be eligible. Find out more about who will get a booster jab here.

People in northern England were 17% more likely to die with Covid than the rest of the country, official figures have revealed. A report by the Northern Health Science Alliance also found northerners had a 26% higher mortality rate in care homes than elsewhere in England. Academics, who analysed government statistics, said the pandemic exacerbated inequalities in northern England, compared to the rest of the country in health and wealth.

The upcoming Ashes series between England and Australia's cricketers will "hopefully" be played in front of full crowds despite a rise in Covid-19 cases, Cricket Australia has said. Citing rising vaccination rates in Australia, chief executive Nick Hockley said he was optimistic the series would be played as scheduled and with fans present. The series is set to start in Brisbane on 8 December. The optimism comes despite parts of Australia currently being under lockdown, including Melbourne and Sydney, the venues for the third and fourth Tests in the five-match series.

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Vaccination rates around the world continue to differ vastly - head here to find out how progress is going in different parts of the globe.

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