Coronavirus live news: US deaths pass 350,000 as India authorises two vaccines
UK Labour leader calls for lockdown as daily cases near 60,000; India approves Oxford/AstraZeneca and Bharat Biotech vaccines
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New Zealand has further tightened border controls amid mounting anxiety about the new strain of coronavirus driving up infections overseas.
Six cases of the new variant of the virus – five in arrivals from the UK and one from South Africa – were recorded in managed isolation facilities in the two weeks leading up to Christmas.
Related: New Zealand tightens border again amid fears over new Covid strain
Hello blog readers – Helen Sullivan with you again for what will hopefully not be another almost year of coronavirus blogging.
It is good to be back, though would of course be better if the news weren’t so dire.