Street Singer

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

1. Doctors call for England's Covid Plan B to start

There are no plans to introduce tougher measures, or Plan B , in England despite daily coronavirus cases staying above 40,000 and A Warning they could reach 100,000. This has been The British Medical Association, which describes the rate of Covid infections as " unacceptable" accuses ministers of being " wilfully negligent" for not re-imposing rules. Health Secretary Sajid Javid has rejected fresh restrictions right now and urged people to get booster vaccines and wear face coverings in crowded places, or Plan A.

Media caption, Sajid Javid encourages take up of Covid boosters: " We've got the jabs, we need the arms to put them in"2. Pandemic could drag into 2022, WHO warns

The slow supply of vaccines to poorer countries means In order to tackle this, Dr Bruce Aylward, senior leader at the organisation, appealed to wealthy countries To Let pharmaceutical companies prioritise the lowest-income countries over theirs. So Far fewer than 5% of Africa's population have been vaccinated, compared to 40% on most other continents. The UK is among those which have pledged vaccines to countries in need.

3. More funding needed to help pupils

More funding is needed to ensure pupils won't suffer lasting damage After School closures were imposed by the government to tackle coronavirus. A new report from the and suggests targeting disadvantaged pupils and certain regions. It calculates a minimum of £78bn in lifetime earnings could be lost by those who missed out On Education in England. The government has a £3bn catch-up plan, which includes a national tutoring scheme, to help millions of pupils by 2024.

4. The Covid-free remote island

It's probably known best as The Place where Napoleon was exiled and died, but St Helena - a remote British island in The Middle of The South Atlantic - is one of The Few places in The World that has not reported a single case of coronavirus. It welcomes tourists, like Alasdair and Gill Maclean who ended up staying for eight months while other countries were in lockdown, and hopes More will come to visit.

5. The Street Singer serenading shoppers

When 73-year-old John Fellows realised he missed singing during lockdown he headed to a Shopping Centre in South Gloucestershire and started serenading shoppers. He's on a mission to " brighten up everybody's life" and it appears to be working. " You've cheered up my whole pandemic, you have, " says one shopper.

Media caption, Yate Shopping Centre singer John on His Love for singing

And there's More . .

of what could be introduced across the UK to avoid a winter crisis.

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Source of news: bbc.com