tell us more about these plans to essentially treat a lateral flow tests as good as pcr tests. there are a few meetings tests as good as pcr tests. there are a few meetings in tests as good as pcr tests. there are a few meetings in whitehall. are a few meetings in whitehall today, the cabinet meeting, the covid operations committee meeting and there are discussions at various levels above various things but one of those discussions is about changing guidance when it comes to testing. at the moment of the rules are if you have symptoms you go and get a pcr test and then isolate if it is positive. lots of people are doing lateral flow tests when they don t have symptoms. the guidance for that is if you get a little red line for a positive lateral flow test then you should get that backed up test then you should get that backed up with a confirmatory pcr test and isolate if you are positive. it s the second part that will change. ministers will say you do not have to get a pcr test to
the scottish parliament will hold a special virtual session today, in response to the rise in omicron cases. a cabinet meeting before the session is expected to discuss whether to reduce the period that people are required to isolate after contact with someone who has the virus. with someone who s had the virus. it s not thought that the first minister will announce any further restrictions, but she may give more details on financial help to businesses affected by the measures already in place. the welsh government is providing schools and colleges with £103 million in funding as the new term begins. nearly half will be earmarked for capital repair and improvement work with a focus on health and safety measures, including improving ventilation. the bulk of the remainder will help schools deal with the impact of the pandemic. emmanuel macron has warned he intends to make life difficult for people in france who have not been vaccinated against covid i9. the french president said he want
to get through it as best as we possibly can. we will give the nhs all the support that we can. but in the meantime, the thing we ve got to do as responsible members of the public is follow the guidance, try to stop transmission as much as we can and get boosted. there is some evidence that cases in young adults might be flattening off, but the worry now is that older adults are becoming infected, adding even more to the strain in the nhs. that s why government advisers are warning that hospital admissions could be going up for quite some time. jon donnison, bbc news. our chief political correspondent adam fleming gave me this update. there are a few meetings in whitehall today, the cabinet are meeting,