Coronavirus global report: Christmas curtailed as UK arrivals face tougher measures

Pope addresses fewer than 200 people in St Peter's; China and US take action against UK amid concerns about new variant; South Korea reports daily case record

• Staff at UK coronavirus testing lab hit by outbreak
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• Trump claims to be working tirelessly' but leaves Covid relief in disarray

The coronavirus pandemic cast a pall over Christmas celebrations worldwide, with the pope holding a reduced St Peter's mass, and further restrictions imposed on arrivals from the UK and South Africa amid concerns about potentially more transmissible variants of the virus.

China said it would halt UK flight arrivals indefinitely, deciding to follow the example of dozens of countries that introduced bans this week following the emergence of a new mutation in the virus. There are currently eight weekly flights between mainland China and Britain, including two by British Airways.