COVID-19 Coronavirus UK and World News Update 13th May 2022

UK COVID Statistics - we are missing updated figures for Northern Ireland, as they are delayed:
Cases last 7 days: 76,867 (average 10,981 per day - UP slightly on 10,829 a week earlier)
Admitted to hospital with COVID in the last 7 days: 6,020
In hospital yesterday: 9,619 (down from 10,763 a week earlier)
Using a ventilator yesterday: 203 (down from 253 a week earlier)
Losses of life last 7 days: 1,389 (average 198 a day - UP from 186 a week earlier)
Total losses of life within 28 days of a positive test: 176,708
Total losses of life with COVID listed as a cause: 193,713
Tests last 7 days: 1,821,189 (average 260,169 per day)
Vaccinations 1st dose: 53,264,512
Vaccinations 2nd dose: 49,780,389
Boosters / 3rd doses / Spring Boosters: 39,345,313

Rep. Of Ireland: 1,535,451 (+524) cases and 7,203 (+27) losses of life.

World: 519,990,677 reported cases and 6,285,251 losses of life.

"A fever whose cause couldn't be identified explosively spread nationwide from late April and more than 350 000 people got fever in a short span of time, and at least 162 200 out of them were healed completely. On May 12 alone, some 18 000 persons with fever occurred nationwide and as of now up to 187 800 people are being isolated and treated. Six persons died (one of them tested positive for the BA.2 sub-variant of Omicron.)"
North Korean official media KCNA.
I don't know about you, but by crikey I just want to give them a hug. 

This week is Mental Health Awareness Week and in case you weren't aware, I collect and share smiles because it helps my mental health. My monthly posts started off as a way to update everyone on how we were coping after the sudden loss of one of our teenage children. I began to realise that every smile was a win. It showed we could do it, life could have good bits, it could have joy. I shared the first few smiles I took and eventually The Brick Castle Smiles, or #TBCSmiles was born.

Since then you guys have shared with the community your most precious smiles. Birthdays, weddings, Christenings, anniversaries. You've shown Grandparents meeting brand new relations and baby's first smile. You've shown sports wins and educational achievements, graduations and first days at school. The ones that always make me smile the most are the ordinary moments (that's a different link up). Kids playing in fields with sticks, a toddler discovering the world, the love of a parent looking at their child, however old. A grown up who has forgotten all about the outside world and has let themselves live in the moment.

I'm grateful to everyone who joins in, you fill my month with smiles. I know that some people have reasons for joining in and sometimes smiles are hard-fought, and I know how much that makes them worth. Each and every one is a precious treasure.

I hope you take the time to check the hashtag too, it's worth it - it'll make you smile, I promise. Anyone can join in, and we have a lot of new people this month, so thank you for coming along. All you need to do is tag any photo on Instagram with a smile in it - the bigger the grin, the better.

Here are 9 of the brightest of this month's smiles, which was a fantastic crop. I think we have all enjoyed this glorious weather...


This month's 9 were provided by the following photographers and/or comedians:


We had our own smiles as well. We've been enjoying the sun too - as much as my pasty lot can manage anyway - and we had a lot to smile about, but I really didn't take many photos. I'm storing most of them in my head.



Until next month...


If you find yourself part of TBCSmiles by accident and wish to be removed then please let me know. It's not happened yet, but stranger things have happened...