legal action. that essentially, virginia giuffre signed away her right to sue him or anyone else that she alleged sexual abuse by. they judge at one point said if the sultan of brunei had allegations against virginia giuffre, the settlement would protect him, and prince andrew's lawyers said he contends that it would. on the other hand, virginia giuffre's lawyers say prince andrew was never named as a party in this agreement, he never even knew that the agreement existed until this year. he was not subject to jurisdiction until this year. he was not subject tojurisdiction in florida and couldn't have been stood there and also that the claims are very different from that settlement. so it's really focused on claims of epstein and others trafficking and transporting underage girls for abuse. while they say the claims against prince andrew, which he strongly denied, or that he abused girls who were sexually... sexual abuse girls are trafficked, but he never engaged in any transporting of underage girls himself. so a lot of legal distinctions here, some prosecutors have said this agreement is too vague, that the judge will likely dismiss, reject this effort to dismiss this as lawsuit. i did speak to one federal prosecutor who thought that the judge seemed rather sceptical of a prince andrew's legal team's arguments today, but we will just have to wait and see what the judge's decision will ultimately be. we gather the proceedings have quite tense? . , �* ., we gather the proceedings have quite tense? . , 1, , , tense? that is right. both sides have a lot _ tense? that is right. both sides have a lot at — tense? that is right. both sides have a lot at stake, _ tense? that is right. both sides have a lot at stake, this - tense? that is right. both sides have a lot at stake, this is - tense? that is right. both sides have a lot at stake, this is a - have a lot at stake, this is a crucial moment, and this was really the key opportunity for prince andrew's lawyers to try and end the civil lawsuit against him. they are hoping if they do this, this will clear him of any legal trouble, certainly the issue of reputational damage is a separate one, but they are trying to shield him from any legal consequences in this new york court case so his lawyer strenuously argued in favour of the judge considering him a potential other defendant in this agreement. on the other side, virginia giuffre's lawyers argued just as hard on their perspective, and it is always interesting in these cases to hear what questions the judge will have, you try to look at which way he is leaning by the tone and nature of the questions. he presented difficult questions to both sides because a lot is at stake and both sides have to really come with clear and convincing arguments to win this one. h, and convincing arguments to win this one. ., one. the judge said that he appreciated _ one. the judge said that he appreciated the _ one. the judge said that he appreciated the arguments| one. the judge said that he - appreciated the arguments and the passion of the arguments and he said he will have a decision very soon. we don't know what that means, very soon, whether that is hours or days, difficult to tell?— difficult to tell? always difficult for us to tell _ difficult to tell? always difficult for us to tell and _ difficult to tell? always difficult for us to tell and there - difficult to tell? always difficult for us to tell and there was - difficult to tell? always difficult for us to tell and there was the | for us to tell and there was the option he would already have reached his decision because both sides have submitted their opinions in writing so thejudge has had time submitted their opinions in writing so the judge has had time to look through and i'm sure he does have a point of view at this point already but he will be issuing a decision, written decision, with his legal opinion written out to explain to both sides. in these cases, you look at past president and what other judges have decided in cases similar —— past president. it is just how long it takes the judge to write this up, and none of us know when that will be. so much ridini on us know when that will be. so much riding on this _ us know when that will be. so much riding on this hearing _ us know when that will be. so much riding on this hearing in _ riding on this hearing in particular, and both for the teams of prince andrew and virginia giuffre that is right. i of prince andrew and virginia giuffre that is right.— giuffre that is right. i have discussed _ giuffre that is right. i have discussed the _ giuffre that is right. i have discussed the key - giuffre that is right. i have discussed the key points i giuffre that is right. i have | discussed the key points in giuffre that is right. i have - discussed the key points in this case but we heard prince andrew's lawyers trying a number of different tactics to help their client, as they will as his legal team, they tried to argue to the judge that virginia giuffre's complaint was not detailed enough and that they wanted her to provide more information in terms of exact dates and exact allegations. thejudge disagreed terms of exact dates and exact allegations. the judge disagreed and he said that is a dog that won't hunt, meaning that he agreed with virginia giuffre's lawyers, that the complaint set out enough of her allegations at the moment and is the case proceeds and they get an exchange of evidence, they will be able to test the rest of her allegations. they denied a request from prince andrew's rights for her to provide more details at this point. again, it seemed as if both sides were putting everything into this hearing, hoping it could make a difference in this case. for this hearing, hoping it could make a difference in this case.— difference in this case. for now, thanks for— difference in this case. for now, thanks forjoining _ difference in this case. for now, thanks forjoining us. _ difference in this case. for now, thanks forjoining us. the - difference in this case. for now, | thanks forjoining us. the hearing closing there in new york and the judge saying that he will make his decision very soon but we don't know when that is. we will be talking shortly to our royal correspondent on the implications of all of this for prince andrew and his team. with only a month to go until the opening ceremony of the winter olympics, beijing is taking steps to restrict access to the games site because of the omicron outbreak.the high—speed train station to the venue, in the mountains outside the capital, is closed to the public. only special trains carrying those with olympic clearance can arrive. meanwhile, another chinese city has gone into a full lockdown in an attempt to stop the spread of the omicron variant. our china correspent robin brant has more on the new restrictions. the contrast of what life is like in a handful of cities across china today could not be more stark. in xian, home to 13 million people, they are two weeks into a lockdown. people cannot leave their homes. there are reports of bartering going on, people exchanging cigarettes for food, other things for sanitary products. and that's not going to change until the number of covid cases there reduces significantly. in the city of yuzhou, a bit closer to where i am, in the last 2a hours a similar lockdown. people can't leave their houses, almost all vehicles are not allowed on the streets. that's after they discovered just three asymptomatic cases. here in shanghai, it's a very different story. this is what most of china is like. it's business as usual. yes, you have to have a mask on when you go on the metro, you have your temperature taken, but the government says its zero—covid strategy has achieved this for the last 18 months. and that's a strategy that now includes things like this, a pop—up booster vaccination tent. you can win prizes as well. but it also includes very harsh measures that can be imposed on a city in a matter of hours, and that's what we're seeing in yuzhou. now, as the winter olympic games in beijing approach, and also chinese new year, the mass migration of millions of people here, there is absolutely no evidence that china's government is going to change its mind. it remains committed to this zero—covid strategy for the foreseeable future. as we've been reporting, china has been battling a fresh outbreak of covid cases — potentially throwing a shadow over the winter olympics — which beijing is due to host in exactly a month's time. china's solution is strict isolation bubbles for all those coming from omicron—affected areas. our correspondent stephen mcdonell went to see how they will work. when athletes arrive in beijing from overseas, if their events are in the mountains, they'll be able to take a high—speed train there. that's because some of these trains are operating completely within the bubble. tannoy: ladies and gentlemen, welcome to take this train. - and soon, they'll find themselves racing along at 350kph. zooming through beijing's arid north and taking in the views. though freezing cold, this is an area of low winter precipitation, meaning that mountains of artificial snow will be needed for the coming olympics. well, this is taizicheng, one of the main stations for the winter olympics. it's cold up here. from today, this entire station is closed to the public. the bubble walls are coming up. only those with olympic clearance on special trains can arrive or leave. on arrival, covid test results and travel histories are checked. well, here we are in the heart of chongli, one of the sites for the mountain events for the winter olympics. where are the people? well, the reason there are no people here is that the local ski resorts have already been closed in preparation for the games, which will start in just a month. over behind where that big green screen is, that's where the medals will be awarded for the events in this area. but there won't be any general admission tickets available, it seems. they haven't gone on sale yet — and they probably won't. so, the spectators in the stands are likely to be from government organisations or the army or something along those lines. the challenge for games organisers, though, will be to host an event which can overcome the controversy which has surrounded this olympics following the allegations made by former chinese olympian and tennis star peng shuai in relation to the relationship she had with a former chinese leader. there's been a lot of pressure on the beijing olympics because of these allegations, but the organisers will be hoping that once the sport starts that it will take over, and they can still host a successful games here. the authorities in the indian capital, delhi, have imposed a weekend curfew as covid cases continue to surge. staff have been told to work from home and businesses must operate at limited capacity. our correspondent yogita limaye gave us more details. so, what the delhi government has just announced is they are basically telling people in the city do not go out over the weekend unless it's for essential needs like buying food or medicines, or unless there is an emergency happening. at the moment, there isn't clarity about what this means for establishments that currently are open like restaurants, for example, or shops which are selling nonessential items. but what the minister said in his press conference was that it would be a curfew, people are being told do not go out unless it's for essential needs. they've also announced that people working in government should be working from home unless they are engaged in essential services and that's why they have to be at the office. as far as private offices are concerned, they said they have to operate at 50% capacity. this is an addition to restrictions that have already been in place in delhi. so, restaurants for example can only operate even now at 50% capacity, cinema halls have been closed, auditoriums, banquet halls, sports complexes, these have been closed for a few days now. here in mumbai, where i am, which is the worst affected city at the moment as well, we have a night curfew in place, restaurants again are only allowed to operate at 50% capacity. we had civic authorities here say that if they see the number of hospital admissions going up very rapidly they would also consider putting in further and more stringent restrictions. now the latest from new york and the important case where lawyers for prince andrew have tried to persuade an americanjudge to prince andrew have tried to persuade an american judge to throw out the sexual assault case against him brought by virginia giuffre. the judge has been telling both parties he will make a decision on whether to dismiss the case against the duke of york very soon, and he said he appreciates the arguments and the passion and that he will have a decision very soon. according to observers thejudge decision very soon. according to observers the judge appeared to be quite sceptical about the attempt by prince andrew's team to dismiss virginia giuffre's lawsuit based on a 2009 settlement betweenjeffrey epstein and virginia giuffre, a $500,000 settlement. i'm joined now by our royal correspondent, sean coughlan. this is a huge moment for prince andrew and his legal team. trier? andrew and his legal team. very much. andrew and his legal team. very much- we _ andrew and his legal team. very much. we are _ andrew and his legal team. very much. we are waiting _ andrew and his legal team. - much. we are waiting for a decision and we don't know if it will be today but both sides have put their cases and it has been a rather lawyerlyjousting match and i'm not sure any punches have been landed but much has been around the wording of the deal struck in 2009 between epstein and virginia giuffre, does this allow prince andrew's lawyers to say he has immunity because of this? the wording is about potential defendants, the document refers to people without saying who they are but prince andrew says it covers him, his team says it covers him, because he could have been sued at the time of this agreement. therefore he was a potential defendant. virginia giuffre's lawyers said that is not the case because his charges are different and so he could not have been charged at the same time. the 'udge said, this charged at the same time. the 'udge said. this may — charged at the same time. the 'udge said, this may not i charged at the same time. the 'udge said, this may not help, i charged at the same time. the 'udge said, this may not help, but h charged at the same time. the judge said, this may not help, but the - said, this may not help, but the judge said the real question is what virginia giuffre and jeffrey epstein intended in entering the settlement, we are talking about whether there are two or more reasonable interpretations and i don't know if that clears things up but he said he will make a decision very soon but we have no idea what that means. taste we have no idea what that means. we don't we have no idea what that means. - don't really know. the legal niceties are quite complex and he seemed to be probing both sides and he was quite sceptical about some of the things that were said from pins double prince andrew's lawyers but also those of virginia giuffre —— that was said from prince andrew's lawyers. i think it will come down to interpretation of law because the issues have not even been looked at. if prince andrew is successful, what would be the implications for him? is there a way for him to get back into public life, to go back to royal duties?— into public life, to go back to royal duties? that might be his asiration royal duties? that might be his aspiration but _ royal duties? that might be his aspiration but there _ royal duties? that might be his aspiration but there are - royal duties? that might be his aspiration but there are a - royal duties? that might be his. aspiration but there are a couple royal duties? that might be his - aspiration but there are a couple of parts to that, the question of if he is successful, and this case is stopped in its tracks and is not pursued, legally he would have had a considerable victory and this won't go any further but in the court of public opinion and reputation, to have avoided any proper investigation of these claims through what people might say is a technicality is a difficult position, and the issues will not have been aired and he won't have put his case forward. he won't had his day defending himself so that could be a long way off, the rehabilitation process. it could be a long way off, the rehabilitation process. it has been established _ rehabilitation process. it has been established that _ rehabilitation process. it has been established that he _ rehabilitation process. it has been established that he had _ rehabilitation process. it has been established that he had links - rehabilitation process. it has been established that he had links with| established that he had links with jeffrey epstein and with ghislaine maxwell? , ., , . maxwell? these are difficult connections _ maxwell? these are difficult connections for _ maxwell? these are difficult connections for him, - maxwell? these are difficult connections for him, and - maxwell? these are difficult - connections for him, and questions aboutjudgment will be raised. he has endlessly asserted his complete innocence and his lack of knowledge of any of their wrongdoing and his association with them it was not with knowledge of their activities but people will come to their own view and it is a difficult thing, the court case is part of a bigger array of difficulties facing him. for the moment, thanks forjoining us. you are watching bbc news. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news, building up to the latest downing street press conference, today led by the prime minister borisjohnson alongside the chief medical officer for england, professor sir chris whitty and chief scientific officer, sir patrick vallance. the uk has recorded it's highest number of daily coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic — topping 200,000 for the first time. it comes as the health secretary says there is nothing in the latest data to suggest the government would need to toughen up its response to coronavirus and that it was still too early to know how hospitals would cope. sajid javid called it an incredibly challenging time for the the nhs — and said that "around six hospital trusts" have declared a critical incident due to a shortage of workers. we'll hear more from him in a moment — but let's take a look at today's other developments — starting with today's figures. a further 218,724 have tested positive for the virus — a new record. also today — millions of pupils across england and northern ireland have gone back to school today, amid concerns about staff shortages caused by the omicron variant of covid. prof sir andrew pollard, who helped develop the oxford—astrazeneca vaccine has warned that vaccinating everyone on the planet against covid—i9 regularly is not sustainable or affordable. professor neil ferguson — a leading epidemiologist says he is "cautiously optimistic" omicron variant infection rates in london in the 18—50 age group may be plateauing. more on those stories in a moment — as we build up to today's downing street press conference — but first let's hear more from the health secretary sajid javid. sadly, we are seeing hospitalisations rise across the country, particularly in older age groups but, thankfully, those in intensive care, those numbers are broadly flat. but we do not know enough about omicron to know that the very best way to protect ourselves from hospitalisation, to protect our communities, is through vaccination and, in the last few weeks, we have all seen the big push on boosters because we know that two jabs are not enough but three jabs provide excellent protection and the nhs in the last few weeks, especially, has done an amazing job in rolling out those boosters. over 75% of eligible adults now boosted. but still much more to be done. millions of pupils across england and northern ireland have gone back to school today, amid concerns about staff shortages caused by the omicron variant of covid. in england, secondary school students will have to take tests on—site before they return to the classroom, and masks are being re—introduced until at least the end of the month. but teaching unions are warning it's likely some year groups will be sent home to learn remotely. our correspondent jayne mccubbin reports. bell rings this is bethany. this is kian. and this is what the start of a new term in england looks like. how was that for you, kian? disgusting and horrible. welcome back to school! no—one goes back to class without a negative test seen by barry. how many test results are you going to be analysing today? around about 1,000. that's a lot of kids. it is a lot of kids, yeah. ten minutes after the school bell rings, the first positive result is found by maureen. go and fetch this young lady out of the classroom, and she'll be sent home. she'll be sent home straight away? yes, straightaway. so, within minutes. that's the way it should be, isn't it? it is the impact of positive tests on staffing which is the biggest concern here. only three staff have called in with covid this morning, so we were able to manage the school normally with that, that's no problem at all. last term, though, very tricky? difficult last term, we had a number of illnesses, covid and non—covid related illnesses, about a third of the children were off with covid—related issues, so that was difficult. but we managed, we kept the school open, we kept all the children in lessons, and we aim to do the same thing again this term. this trust blew its supply teacher budget in the first term of this academic year. teaching unions say schools need more cash to cover the cost. but it's not the cost that worries this place, it's the chronic shortage of supply teachers. it's an ever—shrinking supply situation. we need to have high—quality, professional teachers in front of children to give them an excellent education, and they are not out there. they're not out there. in the devolved nations, the expectation is for secondary school kids to do these tests at home before coming back to class, and after that, twice a week from home in northern ireland and scotland, three times a week in wales. but for primary schools and early year settings, it is a different story. here at alexandra infants, there is no new testing, no new masks, but with four staff already off with covid, there are familiar concerns. particularly with the age of the children and the numbers of adults and ratios with children, for example in the early years where our ratio is one to 13, it's very much being able to manage that and making sure we have adequate staffing to provide the education we need. great news, you're good to go, you can go back to lessons with your negative result. this is exactly what today is all about. this is the first and so far only positive test result at this academy in stoke. this young lady has now been sent home. and the rest of the children who tested negative are back in class and the hope is they stay in class until the end of term. covid cases should start to drop across the uk from their current peak in the next one to three weeks, according to one of the country's top infectious disease experts. professor neil ferguson, who was one of the leading government advisors behind the first lockdown last year, said infection rates may already be plateauing in london and omicron numbers have been so high they cannot be sustained "forever". our health correspondent anna collinson reports. there was no rush to return to work for commuters in norwich this morning. the festive period brought generational mixing, destructive testing supply and patchy covid data which creates uncertainty about where heading. a leading infectious disease expert says while infections in the under 50s may be plateauing in london and the uk could see cases dropping, there's more to the story. this epidemic has spread so quickly in that group, it hasn't had time to really spread into the older age groups which are much greater risk of severe outcomes and hospitalisation. so, we might see a different pattern in hospitalisations. hospitalisations are still generally getting up across the country and we may see high levels for some weeks. following a rise in hospital admissions and high numbers of staff off sick, in the past week at least half a dozen nhs trusts have declared critical incidents. the alert isn't unusual in the winter but is raised when services are under acute pressure and may need staff redeployed. one trust affected is morecambe bay. it's good to see some glimmers of hope from london, that the cases may be flattening. but lancashire isn't london and many regions aren't well resourced like london, especially at a time when cases are getting up in the 60 plus age group. during a normal winter in england, the nhs would normally expect to see 1000 respiratory illness cases a day. 1000 respiratory illness latest figures show there were more than 1800 covid patients alone. even if you remove those admitted with covid rather than because of it, pressures are high, but are far below what we saw this time last year and that's largely down to the vaccine holding up. in scotland, restrictions like table service only in hospitality venues are in place. england has fewer measures compared to the rest of the uk but this will be reviewed tomorrow. the government is looking at the data all the time and putting in contingency measures. it would be wrong if we didn't, and if we didn't plan for more staff absences. we've also got to remember that as part of plan b people are asked to work from home and that will help to ease some of the pressures on the rail operators and the nhs. to help protect the nhs the bbc understands the government has prepared a plan for some key workers to be prioritised for covid testing if there is another shortage of tests. let's speak to our health correspondent nick triggle. we are expecting the press conference to start at five o'clock. one of the many reasons for him holding his press conference, the prime minister, it is coinciding with the new record number of infections today?— with the new record number of infections today? yes, 'ust over 218,000 infections today? yes, 'ust over zis,ooo new i infections today? yes, 'ust over 218,000 new cases h infections today? yes, just over 218,000 new cases announced. j infections today? yes, just over - 218,000 new cases announced. but i must say this is inflated by a back log in cases in northern ireland, including four days worth of data for northern ireland and also a couple of days for wales so if you take that into account it is probably not a record but it is the single biggest figure we have had. there is now on average 180,000 cases being detected each day, and just four weeks ago before omicron really took off, we were averaging around 50000 and we had been at that level largely since the summer, so it shows what impact the new variant has had on infection levels. what has had on infection levels. what are we seeing — has had on infection levels. what are we seeing in _ has had on infection levels. what are we seeing in terms _ has had on infection levels. what are we seeing in terms of- are we seeing in terms of hospitalisations because that is the worry? if you have a high number of cases it follows that you are likely to have a high number of hospitalisations?- to have a high number of hositalisations? ., , .,. , hospitalisations? that is exactly what has happened. _ hospitalisations? that is exactly what has happened. whilst - hospitalisations? that is exactly what has happened. whilst we | hospitalisations? that is exactly - what has happened. whilst we know the virus, this variant, is leading to milder illness largely because of the amount of immunity built up in the amount of immunity built up in the population by vaccination and also previous infection, we were always warned that would drive hospital numbers up. we have up—to—date figures for england and scotland, although there are still delays reporting because of the festive period, and in england 15,000, just over 15,000 patients in hospital, and the peak lastjanuary was 3a,000. on the current trajectory, in a couple of weeks, we will hit 34,000 trajectory, in a couple of weeks, we will hit 3a,000 patients, and clearly that is why there is concern and we know hospitals are under huge pressure. one of the problems that has contributed to this number going up has contributed to this number going up so steeply, lots of covid patients coming, but also problems hospitals are having with discharging patients who are ready to leave and medically fit but cannot be discharged because there isn't the case in the community and this is always a problem in the festive period so it will be important in the next week for those numbers might for those patients to be able to come out of hospital —— for those numbers, for those patients to come out of hospital, and in scotland, just over 1000 patients in hospital which has doubled in the space of a week. some hositals doubled in the space of a week. some hospitals have — doubled in the space of a week. some hospitals have declared _ doubled in the space of a week. some hospitals have declared major incidents, what does that mean? ihi, incidents, what does that mean? critical incident, we know of approaching ten hospitals have now announced a critical incident and a critical incident is an internal phrase used to warn the system that this hospital is on the brink of not being able to deliver priority and emergency care and what it does, it enables the local system to respond and it allows things like redeployment, it triggers that into that hospital to try and relieve those pressures. for that hospital to try and relieve those pressures.— that hospital to try and relieve those pressures. that hospital to try and relieve those ressures. ., ., ., ., those pressures. for now, thanks for 'oinin: us. those pressures. for now, thanks for joining us- a — those pressures. for now, thanks for joining us. a hospital _ those pressures. for now, thanks for joining us. a hospital in _ those pressures. for now, thanks for joining us. a hospital in plymouth . joining us. a hospital in plymouth in the last few minutes has declared a major incident after nearly 500 of their staff were absent because of covid, which has led to extremely high pressure on urgent care. we welcome viewers now. it will be led by borisjohnson alongside professor so chris whitty and the chief scientific officer for the uk, sir patrick vallance. let's speak to our little correspondent ione wells, who joins us now from westminster. what are the competing, conflicting demands on the government at this time, because clearly some people think there should be more restrictions, some people think there shouldn't be any? exactly and we are seeing _ there shouldn't be any? exactly and we are seeing different _ there shouldn't be any? exactly and we are seeing different parts - there shouldn't be any? exactly and we are seeing different parts of - there shouldn't be any? exactly and we are seeing different parts of the | we are seeing different parts of the uk responding differently at the moment to