Covid-19: Warning over false negatives and rapid tests allowed for half-term break

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

People who got a negative Covid test result from swabs taken at Newbury Showground between 3 and 12 October are being told to book another test, amid fears they were mistakenly given the all-clear. West Berkshire Council says some PCR tests resulted in false negatives. The BBC has been told the problems - now fixed - related to one specific lab, rather than the site, but the council says it's been informed "a number of sites nationally may have been affected".

New rules allowing travellers returning to England to take lateral flow tests instead of more expensive PCR tests will come into force on 24 October, in time for many families returning from half-term breaks. The government says NHS tests cannot be used for overseas travel but fully vaccinated passengers arriving in England from that date will be able to order tests from approved providers and upload photos of results for verification. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have previously aligned with policy in England.

With retail supplies suffering due to a lorry-driver shortage exacerbated by the pandemic and Brexit, ministers plan to ease rules limiting the number of deliveries EU hauliers can make after arriving in the UK. They say a six-month relaxation to allow unlimited pick-ups and drop-offs within a fortnight could mean thousands more deliveries each month. But the Road Haulage Association says its members will be frustrated at the plans.

More than 20% of women admitted to intensive care for Covid-19 since May were pregnant or had recently given birth, according to a study. A Scottish Intensive Care Audit Group report says 42 have been admitted since 18 May, compared with 25 in the first two waves of the pandemic, despite overall intensive care numbers reducing. None were reported to have died, up to 19 September 2021.

The UK has pledged to donate 80 million coronavirus vaccine doses to an alliance distributing them across poorer nations. But how do you get jabs into the arms of a people in a nation with hardly any roads? Anne Soy reports from South Sudan.

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Expecting a vaccine booster and wondering when you'll get it? Here's our guide.

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