Friday newspaper round-up: Johnson & Johnson, home workers, London population

Johnson & Johnson has asked US regulators to approve the world’s first single-dose Covid-19 vaccine, an easier-to-use option that could boost scarce supplies. The drugmaker’s application to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) follows its 29 January report in which it said the vaccine had a 66% rate of preventing infections in its large global trial. - Guardian

Employees who work from home are spending longer at their desks and facing a bigger workload than before the Covid pandemic hit, two sets of research have suggested. The average length of time an employee working from home in the UK, Austria, Canada and the US is logged on at their computer has increased by more than two hours a day since the coronavirus crisis, according to data from the business support company NordVPN Teams. - Guardian

Directors could be hit with bans or big fines for errors in their companies’ accounts under government proposals to shake up the UK’s audit industry. The proposals to make directors personally liable for the accuracy of financial statements are expected to be included in a government consultation to be published in the coming weeks. It follows three independent reviews and growing calls for an overhaul after a string of financial scandals at the likes of Patisserie Valerie and Carillion. - Telegraph

Even when the last Covid restrictions are lifted from London, there may be a little less bustle on its streets and elbow-jostling at its drinking dens. One startling estimate that has caught the eye of economists warned the capital’s population may have plunged by 700,000 during the pandemic. That would equate to an 8pc drop and be the first slump in London’s population in more than 30 years. - Telegraph

A shopping centre in Coventry that eight years ago was valued at £37 million was sold this week for only £4.9 million, setting alarm bells ringing among lenders, landlords and local authorities nationwide. West Orchards’ importance as the city’s primary shopping destination cannot be underestimated — “It’s almost our Galeries Lafayette,” Trish Willetts, director of Coventry’s business improvement district, said, comparing it with the landmark Paris department store — but now interest in the centre is spreading far beyond the West Midlands and what, from May 1, will be the UK’s “City of Culture”. - The Times