20—year old daunte wright. as people head home for christmas, industrial action and staff sickness causes disruption on the railways. and coming up — the student with cerebral palsy who gets his very own voice for christmas. hello and welcome. "a glimmer of christmas hope" may be on offer from new cononavirus data, suggesting that the omicron variant may be less likely to lead to serious illness than the delta variant. that's according to a uk senior health official. but drjenny harries from the uk health security agency warned it "definitely isn't yet at the point where we could downgrade the serious threat" of omicron and that more data is needed, particularly about the impact on elderly and more vulnerable patients. it comes as 200,000 first, second or booster appointments are being made available over the festive period across england as people are urged to getjabbed. in his christmas message, borisjohnson describes the jab as a "wonderful gift" that people can give to keep their families safe as omicron continues to spread rapidly across the country. but although record numbers of rapid lateral flow tests are being sent to people's homes every day, the uk health security agency acknowledges there are issues with deliveries to some pharmacies. the uk set another daily covid record yesterday with nearly 120,000 confirmed cases. here's our political correspondent, helen catt. the prime minister has said for a while that he believes this christmas would be better than last, and he said he won't flip the switch on any new restrictions in england before tomorrow. he's used his annual christmas message to urge us to take extra caution, though, and suggested getting a vaccine is in the christian spirit of the season. getting jabbed not just for themselves, for ourselves, but for friends and family and everyone we meet. that, after all, is the teaching ofjesus christ, whose birth is at the heart of this enormous festival, that we should love our neighbours as we love ourselves. and so let's think of all those who are being good neighbours and thinking of others. in the 2a hours to yesterday, almost 120,000 new infections were recorded, a record high. and there were 147 deaths within 28 days of a positive test. in his christmas message, the labour leader said this year had been incredibly difficult for the country. in the darkest of times, christian values of kindness, of compassion and hope have shone through. communities have come together to help one another. key workers have saved countless lives. there is some positive news. the uk health security agency says that someone with omicron is between 30% and 45% less likely to visit a&e than if they had delta and between 50% and 70% less likely to be admitted to hospital. but it warned that higher transmission could still mean significant numbers of people end up there. and it also suggested boosterjab protection wanes faster against omicron than delta — 15% to 25% lower after ten weeks. there is a glimmer of christmas hope in the findings we published yesterday but it is not yet at the point where we could download that serious threat. what we are seeing is omicron largely in young people and it is only just now the cases are starting to dip into the older population, particularly the 60 and 70 plus —year—olds. some vaccination centres will stay open throughout christmas. 200,000 slots are available between now and boxing day, according to nhs england, in what it's calling its jingle jabs campaign. scotland, wales and northern ireland have already announced that further restrictions will come into force from boxing day to tackle omicron. so far, number ten has not followed suit, saying it continues to monitor the data, but it has not ruled out further measures after christmas. helen catt, bbc news, westminster. we can speak now to professor ravi gupta from the university of cambridge. he advises the government, as a member of nervtag — the new and emerging respiratory virus threats advisory group. he's speaking to us today in a personal capacity. thank in a personal capacity. you very much forjoining us omicron, thank you very much forjoining us. omicron, tell us what you know that encourages year and in what is your budget. the encourages year and in what is your budaet. , ., ., ., budget. the things that are worried at -- worrying. _ budget. the things that are worried at -- worrying, when _ budget. the things that are worried at -- worrying, when it _ budget. the things that are worried at -- worrying, when it was - budget. the things that are worried at -- worrying, when it was first . at —— worrying, when it was first detected there the serious concern because of the fact that it was exhibiting mutations that we had known were associated with registered vaccine efficacy and indeed that has been borne out and of course the other side that we saw that worried us was the fact that it was growing very quickly in south africa and done the same thing here as in the us. so it is highly transmissible, so those are the things that worry does and that is why being precautionary is completely appropriate given that we have a vaccination programme that is incomplete although we are doing very well and the fact we have large numbers of vulnerable people and we are in winter season. the precautions have been very appropriate. the things that we can be more let's say sort of positive about our the fact that the virus does appear to be less severe, although again the caveat is that it has been spreading in younger populations and we are not sure what it is going to do in the elderly and vulnerable so we have to watch that. but there are biological signs the virus is behaving differently. what virus is behaving differently. what about the symptoms _ virus is behaving differently. what about the symptoms you are likely to get? how different are they? does it matter whether you know you have omicron as opposed to delta? the omicron as opposed to delta? tue: symptomatology omicron as opposed to delta? tte: symptomatology does change depending on the underlying immunity of the population and maybe upon the virus as well. given we are a much more highly vaccinated population and many have had dealt are already it is hard on my mind to properly compare symptoms because we are not a so—called naive population. many of us have seen the virus already had many of us have been vaccinated so symptoms during his not a useful indicator and the reports we are seeing out that the symptoms are very much like a common cold. you talk about the _ very much like a common cold. you talk about the concerns there may be for older people, vulnerable people, even those who have been vaccinated. why do you think that omicron might pose a threat to them? obviously we do not have the data yet. we are being told the vaccines are the things that will keep us safe yet there is a question over that. vaccines protect individuals from severe disease and death but as you get all digger immune system does not work in the way that it does when you are younger and that is obviously the concern. the levels of antibodies follows after the third dose from delta in israel and they are considering a fourth dose because of the fact if you are elderly and vulnerable but drop in antibody level levels may tip you into a risk category of being admitted to hospital but in general in younger individuals it is good news because they vaccines are doing incredibly well and tens of thousands of lives have been saved. when do we decide whether we need a fourth vaccine? a lot of people are feeling rather wary about it all at the moment. even those who have willingly taken the first two doses and gone along for their booster and tried to get an appointment for whatever they are entitled to it feels like it is never going to end. yes, i can sympathise with that but also the need to look at the fact that we are talking about fourth doses when many people in the world have not had one or even two so there is that element and that we are trying to protect ourselves by increasing vaccination doses while the third from the variants and circulation exists in other parts of the world that are not vaccinated. the second thing, there could be some fatigue in terms of vaccination and loss of motivation and that needs to be seriously considered, so i think that fourth doses, while in discussion or on the horizon, are not a real possibility at the moment in my fear and we should watch more carefully at how immune responses are changing and what they perceived thatis are changing and what they perceived that is going to be as we go forward. ~ ., ., _, . that is going to be as we go forward. ~ ., ., . forward. what would convince you that a fourth _ forward. what would convince you that a fourth doses _ forward. what would convince you that a fourth doses required - forward. what would convince you that a fourth doses required for i that a fourth doses required for those who are not suffering from autoimmune problems? t those who are not suffering from autoimmune problems?- those who are not suffering from autoimmune problems? i think fourth doses would — autoimmune problems? i think fourth doses would be _ autoimmune problems? i think fourth doses would be considered _ autoimmune problems? i think fourth doses would be considered if- autoimmune problems? i think fourth doses would be considered if we - doses would be considered if we started seeing severe disease and those whose antibody levels are immunity levels are falling after the third dose. a little bit like we did for delta earlier this year when we could see breakthrough infections in individuals whose levels had fallen and many of them got admitted and we sell signals of increased mortality in risk groups, so i think if we were starting to see those signals we would be seriously considering fourth doses for certain groups. but i do not think people should be worried. three doses is very good and it offers you excellent protection and with omicron we do not think this is a more virulent disease and therefore we should in my view have good protection throughout this particular variant. t protection throughout this particular variant.- protection throughout this particular variant. protection throughout this articular variant. . , , particular variant. i have been sent to the office _ particular variant. i have been sent to the office for _ particular variant. i have been sent to the office for national _ to the office for national statistics most up—to—date estimates of how many people will have tested positive for covid across the uk. it is broken down by nation. it suggests up to december the 19th one and 35 people in england would have had covid, up from one and a5, one and a5 people in wales, up from one and a5 people in wales, up from one and 55, one and 65 people in scotland, up from one in 70 and one and a0 people in northern ireland, up and a0 people in northern ireland, up from one in 50. in each of the four nations of the uk we are seeing an increase in the number of people per capita. the highest rate still seenin per capita. the highest rate still seen in london and in england infections have increased in all age groups across most regions and omicron is thought to be driving the rise. what does that mean in terms of the restrictions that you think we might have to see after christmas in england? we know other parts of the uk have already introduced them. yes, so i think that of course the number of infections is remarkably high and it is probably due to the virus being highly infectious and replicating really well in the upper airways and the nose and that is why it is spreading so quickly. we think it is spreading so quickly. we think it has taken a potential hitting other parts of its profile and it may be less prone to infecting the lower airways and causing severe lung disease so although the numbers of cases is incredibly high it may not translate into more severe disease, as we were discussing earlier, because of this change in biology, but also potentially because of more underlying immunity. that has bid to be taken into account when we think what we are going to do about it because of course we are hoping for a relatively light say positive profile in terms of the numbers of deaths attributable to omicron and at the moment the signs are positive. on the other hand disruption to services and pressure on hospitals and medical services needs to be taken into account and those are the things that may tip things into further restrictions, although again we have reason to be optimistic at the moment. we have seen picks in south africa and falls in infection rates in recent days. we are also seeing a couple of antiviral drugs coming to the market certainly in the united states which can tackle some of the symptoms which you know you have got covid. at what point do we say we have to live with us? we have to try to get back to normal. we cannot keep having these lockdowns which we know are damaging to mental health, they stop people socialising, which is hugely important to people's health, they stop people going to work, which is economically damaging for the country. there are probably going to be other variants from other parts of the world particularly in those places that have not seen vaccine roll—out. when are we going to get back to normal? people are tiring of this. that are we going to get back to normal? people are tiring of this.— people are tiring of this. that is the question — people are tiring of this. that is the question and _ people are tiring of this. that is the question and i _ people are tiring of this. that is the question and i am _ people are tiring of this. that is the question and i am not - people are tiring of this. that isi the question and i am not going people are tiring of this. that is i the question and i am not going to be able to answer it. what i can say is that we have antiviral drugs. we will have to see how well deployed they are and how well used they are. you need to take then early in disease process and of course there is the threat of assistance if we do not use them in the right way although we have data to inform how we are going to use them optimally. yes, we probably cannot go on like this forever, and that is why i think appropriate use of restrictions is really important, and that is why i support on a personal level the current state of restrictions because in my mind there could be another variant coming next year that is more virulent, more pathogenic and harder to control the vaccines, and we may need to bring those restrictions in the future for a variant that does cause more illness and death. so i think we need to be careful. we need to go science and he is the understanding we have, invest more in understanding the biology of this virus, because we can see from omicron that is very different variants we have seen before. if we do that we can learn to live with the virus by having appropriate measures when needed. professor from the university — measures when needed. professor from the university of — measures when needed. professor from the university of cambridge, _ measures when needed. professor from the university of cambridge, thank - the university of cambridge, thank you very much for talking to us. pre—christmas journeys at home and abroad are surging today — but rail travellers face disruption caused by a combination of omicron and industrial action, and heavy traffic is predicted on the roads. meanwhile, people heading abroad are having to deal with a tangle of travel restrictions. simon calder, travel editor of the independent, outlined how the railstrikes will impact travellers in the uk. cross country trains run a really important network from scotland and the north—east of england through the midlands to south west england. on top of that they have a service from manchester to the south coast of bournemouth and they run across from birmingham and leicester across to stansted airport. those trains are not running. one crucial aspect is that rutland is now cut off from the rest of the uk by rail. it will be at least until monday. quite serious if you are trying to get long distance. a skeleton service operating between edinburgh and plymouth and between manchester and reading and otherwise you will be put on the other train operators. then your problems can only be just beginning because they have got lots of issues with staff suffering from omicron or isolating because they have got close partners who are isolating and that is causing mayhem. we have seen pre—planned cuts on for example lner on the east coast main line and great western railway particularly from cardiff to penzance. and avanti west coast are warning of short notice cancellation so it is very messy. the good news is even though it is a working day for you and i an awful lot of people do not seem to be commuting so if you are travelling in and out of the big cities that should be ok. bear in mind things shut down mid—evening generally. they will not be any trains running anywhere in the uk tomorrow. a few services on boxing day and then when things should resume on monday we will find the usual seasonal engineering works which will mean that for example if you are in the bristol parkway area between manchester and stalybridge, around leeds, there will be quite a lot of disruption as they are doing all that essential engineering work. simon coulterfrom the simon coulter from the independent. we start with some breaking news in the last hour — as another game in the premier league has been postponed because of coronavirus. everton's match at burnley is off — due to the number of positive cases and injuries in rafa benitez�*s squad. the everton manager said yesterday that he only had nine outfield players fit. it's the third premier league fixture to be called off on boxing day. and the reasons for that postponement only adds more pressure on the premier league — who continue to try to fulfil a busy festive fixture list — a decision that has left tottenham's head coach, antonio conte, perplexed. he was one of the managers who met with the premier league yesterday to voice concerns about players' welfare and the impact of rising coronavirus cases — but was left unimpressed by the meetings outcome. some coaches are trying to speak and to ask about solutions but i think everything was decided and i think yesterday it was a wall. a waste of time? i think so. england's test captainjoe root has called on his teammates to be brave and show trust in themselves as they aim to fight back in the ashes. england go into the must—win boxing day test 2—0 down and, with the third test at the mcg in front of an expected capacity of around 70,000, root has urged the squad to enjoy the occasion. it is a brilliant event to be involved in. just an ashes series out here is something every player wants to be part of but to get a chance to play on boxing day is very special. and with where the series is currently it is a really exciting opportunity. clearly we are going to have to play a lot better than we have done so far in the first two games but i expect us to do just that. good news for england rugby fans today — as billy and mako vunipola have signed new deals with saracens — meaning they're still available for england selection. the brothers were both being chased by clubs in france — and had they moved there that would have ended their international opportunities as england have a policy to not select overseas players. female professional golfers could be in line for a big pay day next year — as the ladies european tour is set to offer players a record prize fund of more than £20 million for 2022. that's after the let announced its schedule for next year, with 31 events across 21 countries — the biggest number of tournaments in its aa—year history. the new season gets underway in early february. and we'll finish with a bit of christmas cheer — the brazilian football legend pele has been discharged from hospital. the 81—year—old — who'd been having treatment for a colon tumour — posted this photo on instagram saying "this smiling photo is not for nothing. i will spend christmas with my family, i'm coming back home." so wonderful to see. i hope his health improves. that's all the sport for now. the queen is expected to give a very personal christmas message tomorrow — her first since the death of her husband, prince philip. she will speak beside a framed photograph of the couple taken during their diamond wedding anniversary in 2007 — and will wear the same sapphire brooch that she wore on her honeymoon. the queen will spend christmas day at windsor castle with members of herfamily, including prince charles and camilla, the duchess of cornwall. in the us, a former police officer has been found guilty of manslaughter for the fatal shooting of a black motorist. kimberly potter killed daunte wright in the state of minnesota earlier this year. our north america correspondent, david willis, reports. it was a routine traffic stop on a sunday afternoon in april. police in a minneapolis suburb ordered 20—year—old daunte wright from his car and were attempting to arrest him when things went terribly wrong. as daunte wright tried to escape, the officer wearing the body camera, threatened to taser him. taser, taser, taser! but only once she pulled the trigger did she realise she'd mistaken her gun for a taser. kimberly potter was arrested three days after daunte wright died of a single gunshot wound to the chest. giving evidence in her own defence, potter told the court the killing of daunte wright was an innocent mistake. i remember yelling, "taser, taser, taser." and nothing happened. and then he told me i shot him. whilst neither side disputed she did not intend to kill daunte wright, the jury decided she acted recklessly on the day in question. we, the jury, on the charge of manslaughter in the first degree, while committing a misdemeanour on or about april 11 2021 in the state of minnesota, find the defendant guilty. they found kimberley potter guilty of charges of manslaughter. cheering. to the delight of demonstrators outside the court, many of whom feel such verdicts also speak for the many others, african americans in particular, who have suffered racism and brutality at the hands of the police. i kind of let out a yelp because it was built up in the anticipation of what was to come and while we were waiting for the last few days. now, we have been able to process it. a request by the lawyers for kimberly potter for her to be granted bail over christmas was denied by the judge. she is due to be sentenced in february and faces the possibility of up to 15 years behind bars. david willis, bbc news, los angeles. a student with cerebral palsy, who requires a communication device to help him speak, has finally been given a voice of his own, thanks to a generous donor. 20—year—old leo carstensen has been speaking with our reporter rachel stonehouse. we can grow our own fruit. how old does this voice sound? it is a nice relaxing... a0, 50, maybe even 60. it actually belonged to 20—year—old leo, who has cerebral palsy and uses a communication device to help him speak. this is a bigger bathroom... for years, leo has been desperate for a voice that sounds a bit more like him. which is where 2a—year—old dan comes in, who heard about voice donation through a friend. i think i did just over 1200 phrases and i was holed up in a recording studio in high wycombe and ijust had to say it as clearly as possible. it was a bit nerve wracking at first. i didn't think i would be picked. i thought there'll be a few other voices. leo chose dan's voice with the help of his speech and language therapist. we send out a search for the ideal voice. i we got back a sample of six, - so we sat down, myself and leo sat down with the voice clips. and then we got to dan's, which was number three, i and his face just changed. and from that i was, no, no, no, he wanted dan's. - so thanks to dan and funding through the national star college, which leo goes to, he's getting the best christmas present of all this year. today, dan's come to meet leo at his college in gloucestershire. hi, leo. it's a pleasure to meet you. i'm 24 years old. how old are you? i'm 20. 20? thatjust sounded a lot like me. that was like, really, wow. do you have any brothers and sisters? yes, i have two older brothers. how did you feel when you heard your voice for the first time? _ i was surprised and excited for my new voice. i am a young man from high wycombe. my new voice makes me feel happy because it shows my kind and caring personality. i sound like my family now. so what was it like for dan hearing leo using his voice? it was a bit weird, but it was also quite extraordinary, especially with those longer sentences. it was practically crystal clear. let's leave the final word to leo and his new voice. thank you, dan, for your voice. merry christmas and happy new year to you all. rachel stonehouse, bbc news. have you got something in your eye as well? last christmas, many care home residents spent the festive season alone, separated from loved ones and isolated in their rooms. for one home in bristol, reflecting on the past year brings back painful memories — they lost ten residents to covid. fiona lamdin has been to catch up with them. we lost peggy on christmas day, then we lost michael, nigel, roger, anne, pat, trudy, john, joyce and, lastly, jean. the covid outbreak at linden house in somerset last christmas claimed the lives of ten elderly residents in less than three weeks. we were clear for so long and then itjust hit us and with that, one by one, all of our staff were going, it was long, it was tiring. it was scary. head chef nick has worked here for three decades. she and her team did 12—hour shifts in the kitchen, sending meals on trays as the residents isolated alone in their rooms. we would facetime residents or sometimes you would run past their windows and just wave at them. and just sort of, like, let them know, you know, we are still here. i have made gingerbread men and i have put little blue mouths on and dickie bowties... but a year on, nick hasjust finished icing the christmas cake, determined this year will be very different. are you more hopeful about this christmas? let's just get to christmas day, let's just have the day for our residents, because they missed out so much last year. and ijust hope that we make christmas day special and we have our big dinner and singing and, you know, everybody enjoying themselves with presents and that, but at the moment ijust go day by day. # jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way.# - and many of these residents weren't here last year, and are, thankfully, unaware of the trauma this home and its staff went through. they are all so kind and good to me. well, they are to me! no, they are, really. we get good food and all that. i have no doubt they will lay on a splendid christmas lunch. that'll be nice, we'll enjoy it. a year on, residents and staff are fully vaccinated and boosted but are worried about the new omicron variant. the threat of bringing it in here is like, yeah, it gives me quite a lot of anxiety. i don't mix with anybody outside of work. i meet one friend outside for a dog walk a couple times a week and that is it. but it's notjust covid. they have also had to deal with a staffing crisis. they are operating at half capacity — over 12 of their rooms are empty. despite a local recruitment drive, sandra has been unable to find staff. she has had to bring carers from abroad. i actually made the decision to remortgage my own home and buy a four bedroomed property so that i knew that when recruits came from abroad i would have somewhere for them to live.