Britain's government is looking at how long those exposed to Covid-19 need to quarantine, Northern Ireland minister Brandon Lewis told Sky News on Sunday, commenting on reports that the self-isolation period could be reduced from 14 days.

Millions more people headed into coronavirus lockdowns in Britain on Friday, as the government boosted a jobs support package but acknowledged failures in a hugely expensive testing programme.

Britain's Covid-19 testing system, already struggling with a surge in new cases, was facing fresh disruption on Wednesday after Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche said problems at a new warehouse had delayed the dispatch of some products.

Britain and Canada imposed travel bans and asset freezes on Tuesday on Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, his son and other senior officials over accusations their government rigged an election and committed violence against protesters.

British university students will be able to return home for Christmas despite the impact of local Covid-19 lockdowns that are already impacting students in large parts of the country, Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said today.

Sri Lanka has shipped back to Britain container-loads of waste that the government said was brought into the island in violation of international laws governing the shipping of hazardous material.

Tesco will create 16,000 permanent UK jobs to meet a coronavirus-fuelled surge in online grocery demand, the supermarket giant said Monday in a boost for the country's embattled retail sector.

Britain will buy potential Covid-19 vaccines from US drugmakers Johnson & Johnson and Novavax Inc, the companies said on Friday, boosting the number of deals it has with drugmakers as the global vaccine race rages on.

Spain's hard-hit hotels offered on Monday to pay for foreign tourists to take coronavirus tests, in an effort to lure back visitors worried by a fresh wave of cases and put off by Britain's sudden imposition of a two-week quarantine.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson used his own struggle with weight on Monday to urge the British to get fitter and tackle widespread obesity that could heighten coronavirus risks.

Spain is safe for tourists and Spaniards, the government insisted on Sunday after Britain abruptly imposed a two-week coronavirus quarantine on travellers returning from there, a decision that filled holidaymakers with dismay.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to role out a £10 million anti-obesity campaign, including junk food advert bans, following his own brush with death that he partly blamed on his weight.