Thursday, 19 November 2020

COVID-19 Coronavirus UK and World News update 18 /19 November 2020.

 COVID-19 Coronavirus UK and World News update 18 /19 November 2020.

The UK added 22,195 cases today and now has reported a total of 1,453,256 positive cases of COVID-19. 

16,409 people were in hospital on Tuesday 17th, with 1,430 using a ventilator yesterday, 18th November. 

In the 24 hours up until 5pm yesterday, we officially reported the loss of another 501 people who have tested positive to COVID-19 within 28 days. We now very sadly have a total of 53,755 officially reported losses of life in all settings.

Rep. Of Ireland 69,473 (+415) cases and 2,010 (+4) losses of life. 

There have now been a total of 56,915,293 reported cases worldwide. The number of people who have lost their lives worldwide to COVID-19 is 1,360,685. Already 39,587,201 people have recovered.

International Mens Day Check on your mental health

I now have both of my younger children (from 2 different schools) self-isolating because classmates have had positive tests. Reportedly (admittedly by my pre-teen boy child) at least 1 child was sent home yesterday because a family member had symptoms and a positive test result. IF ANYONE IN YOUR HOUSEHOLD HAS SYMPTOMS, YOU ALL STAY HOME. IT'S THE RULES. It's also how we actually stop this thing... 

There was a UK Coronavirus Data Briefing yesterday with Prof Stephen Powis, Medical Director of NHS England, Prof Dame Angela McLean, the Deputy Chief Scientific Adviser and Dr Susan Hopkins, the Medical Advisor to the COVID-19 response. 
- Everyone seems to be behaving really sensibly - or at least they say they are. 98% of people say they wore a face covering outside the home. 
- Cases are still going up in England, it'll take a few more days before the effect of the English lockdown begins to show properly, but the increase in cases is definitely levelling off significantly or dropping everywhere except the North East, South West and South East. 
- Around 1 in every 85 people in England currently has COVID.  
- Daily UK hospital admissions are high, but levelling off in most places, rather than increasing day by day. The total number of people in hospital is still rising. 
-  The ONS reported 63,873 cumulative registered deaths from COVID-19 up to 6 November. This was 14,328 more than the 49,545 deaths within 28
days of a COVID-19 positive test (by date of death) published on the coronavirus dashboard for the same date.
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Tuesday, 17 November 2020

COVID-19 Coronavirus UK and World News update 16th / 17th November 2020.

 COVID-19 Coronavirus UK and World News update 16th / 17th November 2020.

The UK added 20,051 cases today and now has reported a total of 1,410,732 positive cases of COVID-19. We completed 234,189 tests yesterday. 

15,830 people were in hospital on Sunday 15th Nov, with 1,391 using a ventilator yesterday, 16th November. 

In the 24 hours up until 5pm yesterday, we officially reported the loss of another 598 people who have tested positive to COVID-19 within 28 days. We now very sadly have a total of 52,745 officially reported losses of life in all settings.

Rep. Of Ireland 68,356 cases and 1,984 losses of life. (Not yet reported today.) 

There have now been a total of 55,677,943 reported cases worldwide. The number of people who have lost their lives worldwide to COVID-19 is 1,338,087. Already 38,820,414 people have recovered.

Summary of scenarios SPIMO Advice to SAGE

"COVID19 is your challenge. Your time to lead. Invest in health. Invest in health systems. Invest in health and care workers."
HRH Princess Muna al-Hussein of Jordan, in her keynote address to the World Health Assembly last week. 

"NEW: Bad news I’m afraid. Covid hospital admissions in London and NW rising again. Had been tracking down in both regions since start of month."
Alistair McKellen, Editor HSJ.
Darn. 

There was a UK briefing yesterday, and there was quite a bit in it, so I covered that in it's own post yesterday.  
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Santa Goes On Strike by Jem Vanston. Children's Rhyming Picture Story Book Review (sent for review)

I've got a Christmassy book review today,  Santa Goes On Strike, which has been sent to us from the author Jem Vanston for review. Especially suitable for reading together, this is a rhyming book based on a poem which the author wrote several years ago... 

Santa Goes On Strike Rhyming Picture Book Review by Jem Vanston

Santa is beginning to get demoralised. He's fed up of delivering shiny new devices and modern toys that'll just be played with for 10 minutes and thrown into a corner. He is sad that we don't seem to realise our loved ones are the most important thing about Christmas, not all of the presents. (I think this year we'll all appreciate that one!) 

Santa decides he doesn't want to do it, and goes to bed. I think most adults at least know what it's like to just want to go to bed and forget about the world. Who can blame him really? Christmas can be hard work, especially for Santa. 
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Monday, 16 November 2020

UK COVID Briefing 16/11/20

UK COVID Briefing 16/11/20

Matt Hancock, the face of the UK COVID response led today's briefing in Boris' absence. Alongside were Prof Jon Van-Tam-Halen, Deputy Chief Medical Officer and Dr Susan Hopkins, Medical Advisor to COVID-19 response

Boris is self-isolating because of close contact with someone who later tested positive (MP Lee Anderson). I'm not convinced we'll spot a difference, and nor is it very special, a hell of a lot of people are self-isolating. He is however kind of special in that he's already had COVID and recovered. Astoundingly, that's already over 6 months ago (how time flies), and we really aren't sure how much immunity he'll have left. Where your health is concerned, it's pretty much always best to err on the side of caution. 

Average cases are now at 25,329 per day (22,443 last week).
14,529 people are in hospital (13,025 last week).
On average we are currently losing an average of 413 people a day.

Care home testing pilot has started

Matt talks about Long COVID and the fact that it can affect anyone. Hundreds of thousands of people are already affected, with fatigue, muscle pain, neurological problems etc
Long COVID clinics are open already, and we're building more - there will be 40 in place by the end of the month. 
He apologises for missed or different events - e.g.Diwali. Thank you for following the guidelines and staying at home. 
We have the  "largest COVID testing capacity in Europe" and we are creating 2 new megalabs. They will add another 600,000 tests a day to our capacity, so testing in spring should be really slick. The megalabs will create 4000 jobs and form a permanent diagnostics industry. They'll be there in case of future pandemics, and can also help with other diagnostic care - e.g Cancer. 
From this weekend, Royal Mail will open some post boxes on Sundays to speed up testing.
Over the last week, 3m NHS staff have been tested, and a pilot has started for testing care home visitors. 
83 authorities have signed up for Lateral Flow rapid tests. 
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Sunday, 15 November 2020

75 Months.... #TBCSmiles November 2020

It's been a funny month. In England we were told about lockdown on Halloween, and locked down on Firework Night. Ireland, Wales and Scotland had moved before us, so the whole UK were not quite doing it as we usually do. It worked though. 

We had a Halloween sweet hunt, and an online zoom pumpkin carving challenge with our big uni kids, and we'll never forget those moments. They wouldn't have happened without COVID. Yes it stops us from doing what we expected, but it doesn't have to stop us from 'doing'. We can still make memories, have fun, and create smiles. 

Collage of 4 images of pumpkins and smiling faces from a Zoom meeting

A huge thank you to everyone who shared their smiles with us on Instagram this month. Anyone is welcome to join in, just use the hashtag #tbcsmiles on any smile. Some of them are very hard won, and every one precious. 

It's lovely to see lots of adults, people carrying on with their lives. We also have lots of children with old and new traditions, and a socially-distanced mix of the two. We can all do this.... 

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COVID-19 Coronavirus UK and World News weekend update 14/15 November 2020.

 COVID-19 Coronavirus UK and World News weekend update 14/15 November 2020.

The UK added 24,962 cases today and now has reported a total of 1,344,356 positive cases of COVID-19.

14,915 people were in hospital on Thursday 12th, with 1,355 using a ventilator on Friday 13th November. 

In the 24 hours up until 5pm yesterday, we officially reported the loss of another 168 people who have tested positive to COVID-19 within 28 days. We now very sadly have a total of 51,934 officially reported losses of life in all settings.

Rep. Of Ireland 67,526 cases and 1,978 losses of life. (Not yet reported today.) 

There have now been a total of 54,611,015 reported cases worldwide. The number of people who have lost their lives worldwide to COVID-19 is 1,322,317. Already 38,052,515 people have recovered.

Just the flu? - get a jab

There was trouble in the USA last night. Trump supporters organised a 'Million MAGA March' in Washington DC, an area where Donald Trump only got 5.5% of the vote, and Biden got 92.9%. It was never going to end well, and it didn't.
Donald Trump has has well and truly returned to Twitter, and his messages were not helpful. He referred to counter-protesters as "Human Radical Left Garbage". At least 3 people were stabbed. Sadly I do not think this event is over. 

Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth told Sky News that he is hoping to work with the Government on an emergency ban on anti-vaccine posts on UK Social Media. He referred to "poison, garbage (and) conspiracy theories" which will affect public trust.
I try to bring you up to date information on what is happening out there, I've read more about vaccines than I ever thought possible, and I'm also a live human being person with loved ones - I have a vested interest in safe, effective vaccines. 
No-one did bow to Trump's request to bring anything out early, and the Oxford and BioNTech vaccine candidate studies are not cutting corners on numbers of participants or time actually studied. I'm looking forward to getting the next lot of safety information on the BioNTech candidate hopefully this week - then we'll know more. Most of the other candidates seem perfectly sound, but aren't as advanced, so we don't have the same useful data yet. COVID is a new virus, but virus aren't new. Coronavirus aren't new. Coronavirus vaccines aren't even new. The vaccine manufacturers didn't have to start from step 1, and we aren't trying out something that's had to be created from scratch. There was never any real worry a vaccine would be dangerous, there was far more worry that it wouldn't work, or would only work for a short period of time. 
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Saturday, 14 November 2020

Micro Machines Collectible Vehicles (great for stockings) Age 4+. Sent by Jazwares Toys for review

We have had LOADS of Micro Machines over the years, and they've been played with and added to by all of our children. They're back with new releases for Christmas 2020, and we've been sent a selection for review... 

Collage of 3 different Micro Machines play sets with cars and text title

Micro Machines are cute, collectible, mini vehicles which are really detailed and have excellent quality wheels and axles, so they go fast! They're absolutely perfect for creating miniature worlds, and I can vouch for longevity - they're really robust. 

Underside of Micro machines, showing chassis, wheels, axles
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Friday, 13 November 2020

COVID-19 Coronavirus UK and World News update Friday 13th November 2020.

 COVID-19 Coronavirus UK and World News update Friday 13th November 2020.

The UK added 27,301 cases today and now has reported a total of 1,317,496 positive cases of COVID-19. We completed 379,995 tests yesterday. 

14,714 people were in hospital on Wednesday 11th, with 1,275 using a ventilator yesterday, 12th November.
 
In the 24 hours up until 5pm yesterday, we officially reported the loss of another 376 people who have tested positive to COVID-19 within 28 days. We now very sadly have a total of 51,304 officially reported losses of life in all settings. 

Rep. Of Ireland 66,632 cases and 1,965 losses of life. (Not yet reported today.) 

There have now been a total of 53,492,275 reported cases worldwide. The number of people who have lost their lives worldwide to COVID-19 is 1,304,963. Already 37,392,847 people have recovered.

Disparities and predictors of COVID

Today's indieSAGE word of the day was "uncertain". 
UK cases are going down, but the trajectory isn't clear, it's a bit all over the place. It's hard to say whether the firebreak in Wales or the restrictions in Scotland will have had the desired effect, because cases haven't yet dropped dramatically, and areas which had a very low infection rate are creeping up. Areas with high infection rates definitely seem to have benefitted. 
UK hospitalisations have been going up steadily for such a long time, that we are now at around 2/3 of our peak levels, and some hospitals are beginning to approach capacity. Hospitalisations in England, and deaths in all of the UK, are still rising. 
They looked into the huge number of positive cases reported yesterday. They were almost all England, and tested on Monday 9th or Tuesday 10th. It takes around 5 days to show any symptoms on average, and a couple of extra days to get the test and results. You can see where this is going, can't you? We actually locked down in England on 5th November, but it was announced on 31st October. It could well be due to people's pre-lockdown socialising - or the return to school after half term? If it was socialising, phew, it's done. If it was schools, it will carry on. 
Cases in all age groups are going up on a steady slope, fastest in the over 80 age group. There's nothing to suggest schools are an issue. Places which had Tier 3 or greater restrictions do seem to have benefitted overall, but it was a very slow improvement and not consistent. Some places responded better than others.
The next 2 weeks will be crucial. We all want Christmas to be safe. For everyone. 
Public Health England (PHE) data shows that economically, the most deprived people are still the most likely to test positive for COVID, and ethnically, BAME people are most likely to test positive for COVID. People who live in multiple occupancy accommodation are most likely to test positive for COVID.
indieSAGE have published a report on the inequalities arising from COVID, and their recommendations to address this. It's likely that some of the poorest or lowest paid people will also be those who have now lost their jobs, may lose their home, get into debt, suffer long term mental health problems etc. They won't have access to private health care or counselling. The pandemic isn't a leveller, it's increasing the inequality. 
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5 Second Rule Spintensity Game Review And Giveaway (Age 12+) Sent for review.

Today's game review is the brand new 5 Second Rule Spintensity, and we've been sent a copy to review by Interplay. Suitable for 2 or more players aged around 12+, this is a fast-paced word game, and the electronic version is definitely even more pressured and frantic... 

5 Second Rule Spintensity Game box front with large text

The game is packaged in quite a small box, and it has a plastic insert to protect the spinner, but the smaller size means there's no wasted space and any plastic isn't single-use. You'll need 3 x AAA batteries and a small crosshead screwdriver, but then you can play straight away. 

Spintensity 5 Second Rule game box contents

The aim of the game is simple. Like all of the 5 Second Rule games (which you can also use with Spintensity), you have to name 3 things in a given category within the 5 second time limit. Categories are incredibly varied, you never know what it is going to be - or how hard you'll find it. 
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Thursday, 12 November 2020

(Ad|Review) Moonpig Gift Delivery - Christmas Across The Miles

Christmas is all a bit of an unknown at the moment, we are unlikely to be able to do all of those things we usually do. Any of us might have loved ones who we won't see in person, and Moonpig are ideal for our seasonal messages. They really don't just deliver cards and flowers, they sell a HUGE range of gifts, and they've sent me a selection to review, plus a voucher to do some shopping of my own... 

I've got 4 grown up children now at University, and the nearest relatives are 80 miles away, so online gifts delivered to their door are ideal for us. Moonpig wrap everything individually in really quite attractive, yet totally recyclable card. You get to open all of your presents, just the same as you would ordinarily. 

Two parcels Moonpig easy open cardboard packaging

The cardboard packaging has tear off strips, so it's easy to open, and any packing aside from card is also biodegradable. I love the message "Delivery for someone very special." Having these parcels to open DOES make me feel very special.  Who doesn't love presents through the post? And it's my birthday this week.... as chance would have it... 

Opened Moonpig packaging recyclable cardboard
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