Covid-19: Quarantine-free travel from France, and NHS waits could hit 14m

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

1. Quarantine-free travel from France to UK resumes

The latest changes to the UK's green, amber and red lists have come into force this morning. France is now fully back on the amber list - rather than "amber plus" - which means fully vaccinated travellers no longer need to self-isolate when they arrive back. Brittany Ferries said it had received a "surge" of bookings since the changes were announced on Thursday - but the company still only expects to carry a quarter of its usual number of passengers. "Let's be realistic, we would need tens of thousands of people booking to make up for the poor season," said the ferry firm's boss. Travel agents also said the change to France, one of the UK's most popular destinations, came "too late to save the summer". Read more: Which countries are on the green list?

image source Reuters
image caption Visitors to Paris no longer have to quarantine on their return, after UK fears over the Beta variant faded

2. NHS waiting lists could rise to 14 million in England

There's a stark warning about the state of hospital waiting lists in England. Currently, five million people are waiting for routine operations and procedures, but the Institute for Fiscal Studies has predicted that could rise to 14 million by next autumn. It said because of Covid, seven million fewer people joined the waiting list - but they are expected to soon seek treatment and cause a huge backlog. The government said it had given the NHS £9.6bn to help it recover from Covid - which includes £1bn to help get the lists down.

image source Getty Images
image caption Those waiting for more than a year for an operation has risen to almost 388,000 compared to 1,600 before the pandemic began, NHS statistics shows

3. Poorer suburbs in Sydney on edge as army deployed

Australia is facing its biggest Covid outbreak in a year, in Sydney. A citywide lockdown is in force, and soldiers have been sent out onto the streets to enforce the rules. But many people living in the poorer and more ethnically diverse suburbs of the city say they have been left frightened and "treated like second-class citizens". Local councillor Dai Le and others have accused authorities of double standards, arguing Sydney's affluent eastern suburbs such as Bondi - where the outbreak began - have been treated differently. Another resident says: "I have seen police every single time I've left my home. I have not been stopped, but I can honestly tell you I feel anxious leaving, almost practising what I'm going to say to a police officer when they stop me."

image source EPA
image caption Police Minister David Elliott (R) has defended the use of the army

4. Record number allowed flu jabs in Scotland

We're hearing a lot about the coronavirus jab rollout - including the pop-up vaccination centre at a Birmingham nightclub, or for Newcastle United fans at home games - but Scotland has expanded its offer of flu jabs to more people. Four million people will be offered the jabs in Scotland - including over-50s and all school-age children - making it the country's largest-ever winter vaccination programme. It's thought that immunity to flu may be diminished due to lower levels of the virus circulating last year because of the lockdowns, and research suggests risk of death from Covid was more than double for people who caught flu on top of coronavirus. More here, or we've also got details on England's , Wales's and Northern Ireland's flu jab plans.

image source PA
image caption Previously, the flu jab was limited to over-65s, those with certain health conditions, pregnant women, healthcare workers and carers

5. 'Will they take our Covid grades seriously?'

For students across the UK, this has been another year of uncertainty and disruption - exams cancelled and final grades based on teachers' assessments. This week, A-level, Scottish Higher and BTec results will be out, but how are students feeling? "I feel like it's been a rollercoaster," says Molly, 18, from Liverpool. "There have been times when I feel like it's better it happened this way, and there have been other times when I think, if I could, I would redo the whole two years. The anxiety comes in waves." Meanwhile, Fatima from south London says she just wanted to sit exams. "Especially because I live in a low-income neighbourhood. Are they going to assume I'm going to get bad grades because of the area I live in?" Read the full piece here.

image source Molly
image caption Molly worries employers won't think she sat "proper exams"

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And don't forget...

Find more information, advice and guides on our coronavirus page . As the changes to the UK's travel rules come into force, here's a guide to the traffic light system.

image source BBC

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