COVID-19 Coronavirus UK and World News Update and UK Briefing 19th / 20th April 2021.

The UK added 2,524 cases today and now has reported a total of 4,393,307 positive cases of COVID-19. We completed 1,041,368 tests yesterday.

The counter says 33,032,120 people had been given at least one dose of a vaccine in the UK by midnight last night. 10,425,790 people had received 2 doses and are fully vaccinated.

1,973 people were in hospital on Sunday 18th, with 318 using a ventilator yesterday, 19th April.

In the 24 hours up until 5pm yesterday, we officially reported the loss of another 33 people who have tested positive to COVID-19 within 28 days, making a total of 127,307 losses of life in all settings.

Up until Friday 9th April, 150,841 people in the UK had COVID listed as a cause on their death certificate.

Rep. Of Ireland 244,297 (+386) cases and 4,847 (+11) losses of life.

There have now been a total of 143,138,156 reported cases worldwide. The number of people who have lost their lives worldwide to COVID-19 is 3,049,130. Already 121,551,001 people have recovered.

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has announced details of further relaxation of restrictions. FROM MONDAY 26th April all parts of Scotland will move to Level 3:
- Hospitality venues such as cafés, pubs and restaurants can reopen, along with tourist accommodation.
- Non-essential retail outlets and close contact services such as beauty salons can also reopen, in addition to indoor attractions and public buildings such as galleries, museums and libraries.
- The remaining travel restrictions within Scotland will be lifted and travel within the UK will be permitted for any purpose.
- Shielding adults can return to the workplace, if they cannot work from home, while children who have been shielding can return to school
- Non-essential work inside people’s homes will be permitted, subject to mitigations
- Non-essential informal childcare will resume
- Driving lessons and tests can take place, while gyms and swimming pools can reopen for individual exercise
- The attendance limit for funerals and weddings (and related events such as receptions) will increase to 50
- Cafés, pubs and restaurants can resume full outdoor service, subject to local licensing, and serve food indoors without alcohol until 8pm
- Takeaways to resume normal service, with physical distancing and face masks in premises
It is expected that all of Scotland will move to Level 2 on Monday 17 May.
Rapid coronavirus (COVID-19) tests will be made available to anyone in Scotland and to those planning travel to the Scottish islands.

COVID-19 Coronavirus UK and World News Weekend Update 17th / 18th April 2021.

The UK added 1,882 cases today and now has reported a total of 4,387,820 positive cases of COVID-19. We completed 988,311 tests yesterday.

The counter says 32,849,223 people had been given at least one dose of a vaccine in the UK by midnight last night. 9,930,846 people had received 2 doses and are fully vaccinated. (It's been announced this afternoon that we have now vaccinated over 10 million people with their 2nd dose.)

2,186 people were in hospital on Thursday 15th, with 332 using a ventilator on Friday 16th.

In the 24 hours up until 5pm yesterday, we officially reported the loss of another 10 people who have tested positive to COVID-19 within 28 days, making a total of 127,270 losses of life in all settings.

Rep. Of Ireland 243,508 (+270) cases and 4,836 (+1) losses of life.

There have now been a total of 141,804,907 reported cases worldwide. The number of people who have lost their lives worldwide to COVID-19 is 3,029,133. Already 120,344,234 people have recovered.

COVID-19 Coronavirus UK and World News Update 16th April 2021.

The UK added 2,596 cases today and now has reported a total of 4,382,732 positive cases of COVID-19. We completed 988,311 tests yesterday.

The counter says 32,574,221 people had been given at least one dose of a vaccine in the UK by midnight last night. 8,931,547 people had received 2 doses and are fully vaccinated.

2,281 people were in hospital on Wednesday 14th, with 329 using a ventilator yesterday, 15th April.

In the 24 hours up until 5pm yesterday, we officially reported the loss of another 34 people who have tested positive to COVID-19 within 28 days, making a total of 127,225 losses of life in all settings.

The R range for England is 0.7 to 1.0 and the growth rate range for England is -6% to -1% per day as of 16 April 2021.(It's still going down on average.)

Rep. Of Ireland 242,402 cases and 4,820 losses of life. (Not yet reported today.)

There have now been a total of 140,216,387 reported cases worldwide. The number of people who have lost their lives worldwide to COVID-19 is 3,005,636. Already 119,114,668 people have recovered.

Lots of Government updates and actions have been held on pause while the UK is officially mourning. We've had no UK COVID briefings, and public appearances have mainly been in regard to statements about the death of Prince Philip. It turns out that potentially more urgent information isn't being updated too though, including alerts for pharmacists on medicine safety, and SAGE reports and COVID updates. Everything will be back to normal from Sunday, but questions are being asked as to whether it was really necessary or wise to go to some of the extremes, especially during a pandemic.

We're coming out of lockdown, our hospitals are back to more normal occupancy levels, the sun has been shining and it certainly feels a little easier from where I'm sitting. The pressure has lifted a bit, and everyone can take a bit of a breather. 

We might not have a bump-free path ahead, but I think we're all enjoying the respite, and it was definitely needed - as was Easter, a break and maybe a little chocolate...

Something else to make us smile are other people's smiles, and you haven't let us down. We had Easter and good weather, and it's great to see so many outdoor photos this month - barely anyone shared photos indoors. 

COVID-19 Coronavirus UK and World News Update 14th / 15th April 2021.

The UK added 2,672 cases today and now has reported a total of 4,380,976 positive cases of COVID-19. We completed 1,162,840 tests yesterday.

The counter says 32,444,439 people had been given at least one dose of a vaccine in the UK by midnight last night. 8,513,864 people had received 2 doses and are fully vaccinated.

2,393 people were in hospital on Tuesday 13th April, with 351 using a ventilator yesterday, 14th April.

In the 24 hours up until 5pm yesterday, we officially reported the loss of another 30 people who have tested positive to COVID-19 within 28 days, making a total of 127,191 losses of life in all settings.

Rep. Of Ireland 242,105 cases and 4,812 losses of life. (Not yet reported today.)

There have now been a total of 139,377,426 reported cases worldwide. The number of people who have lost their lives worldwide to COVID-19 is 2,992,053. Already 118,500,382 people have recovered.

As no-one worldwide seems to call the rare blood clotting exactly the same name, I've referred to it mainly as "rare blood clotting", but it also goes by VITT, Cerebral Venous Thrombosis, CVT, CVST, and other names. They'll decide on a standard name eventually.

Northern Ireland have JUST confirmed relaxation of some restrictions from 23rd April. I've not written them up, but there is a summary in the images below! 

We had an epic time when we first visited Simulator Adventures in Manchester, so we were delighted to be invited back to try out their Airbus A320 Flight Simulator now that they've added the hydraulics. It felt like you were actually moving before, and this really does add another dimension of reality to the experience. 

Our visit was actually 6 months ago, but COVID has kept leisure activities off the menu for a while. Simulator Adventures is used for pilot training, so has been in use during lockdown, but pretty soon (May 17th) they can reopen to the public and let anyone have a go... and bookings are being taken now. 

These guys keep changing their waiting room seating, so it wouldn't surprise me if they've upgraded again, but you get into the mood for flying as soon as you arrive. 

There's no age 'limit', but you need to be around 4ft6 / 10 years old before you are tall enough to actually use the flight simulator, and it's not a place for little ones. This is grown up playtime. 

COVID-19 Coronavirus UK and World News Update 12th / 13th April 2021.

The UK added 2,472 cases today and has now reported a total of 4,375,814 positive cases of COVID-19. We completed 874,399 tests yesterday.

The counter says 32,250,481 people had been given at least one dose of a vaccine in the UK by midnight last night. 7,857,396 people had received 2 doses and are fully vaccinated.

2,537 people were in hospital on Sunday 11th, with 377 using a ventilator yesterday, 12th April.

In the 24 hours up until 5pm yesterday, we officially reported the loss of another 23 people who have tested positive to COVID-19 within 28 days, making a total of 127,123 losses of life in all settings.

Up until Friday 2nd April, the ONS report that 150,419 people had COVID listed as a cause on their death certificate.

Rep. Of Ireland 241,684 (+354) cases and 4,803 (+18) losses of life.

There have now been a total of 137,730,943 reported cases worldwide. The number of people who have lost their lives worldwide to COVID-19 is 2,964,848. Already 110,767,414 people have recovered.

The UK government has confirmed that ALL over 50's have now been offered a vaccine, which means they met the 15th April target 3 days early.
Phase 2 begins. People in England aged 45-49 are now invited to book their vaccination.
The NHS website crashed within minutes of that announcement this morning, but was back up and running swiftly. My partner and I are both 49, so that's us. (I hope I get a sticker!)

There is an urgent message for anyone living in Lambeth or Wandsworth. Over 70 cases and suspected cases of the South African variant have recently been detected, which means it has escaped into general community. They are asking EVERYONE aged 11+ who lives, works, studies or travels in those areas to arrange a PCR test immediately, whether you have symptoms or not. Door-to-door testing will be taking place.
PCR tests are the ones sent to a lab - so they can check which variant any positive results are. All evidence so far suggests the South African variant B1351 is much more robust against current vaccines. We really don't want it spreading if we can help it. 

COVID-19 Coronavirus UK and World News Weekend Update 10th / 11th April 2021.

The UK added 1,730 cases today (DOWN from 2,297 last Sunday) and now has reported a total of 4,369,775 positive cases of COVID-19. We completed 931,579 tests yesterday.

The counter says 32,121,353 people had been given at least one dose of a vaccine in the UK by midnight last night. 7,466,540 people had received 2 doses and are fully vaccinated.

2,862 people were in hospital on Thursday 8th, with 406 using a ventilator yesterday, 9th April.

In the 24 hours up until 5pm yesterday, we officially reported the loss of another 7 people who have tested positive to COVID-19 within 28 days. This is lower than last Sunday's total of 10, and the first time we have lost so few people since September last year. We now have an official total of 127,087 losses of life in all settings.

Rep. Of Ireland 240,945 (+302) cases and 4,785 (+2) losses of life.

There have now been a total of 136,426,846 reported cases worldwide. The number of people who have lost their lives worldwide to COVID-19 is 2,945,571. Already 109,686,470 people have recovered.

Hot on the heels of Pfizer's 6 month results, we now have Moderna's - and their vaccine also shows excellent efficacy 6 months after immunisation. In the first 33 patients studied:
"Antibody activity remained high in all age groups at day 209."
(That's actually just under 7 months.)
Great news for the new technology mRNA vaccines. 

COVID-19 Coronavirus UK and World News Update 9th April 2021.

The UK is now removing any cases who tested positive by Lateral Flow test, which was then confirmed by PCR test, as they were counted twice. In future any positive Lateral Flow test won't be included, just the confirmatory PCR. Because the numbers have some adjustments, I won't do a week on week comparison today, I'll do one on Sunday when it'll be more realistic.

The UK added 3,150 cases today and now has reported a total of 4,365,461 positive cases of COVID-19. We completed 931,579 tests yesterday.

The counter says 31,903,366 people had been given at least one dose of a vaccine in the UK by midnight last night. 6,541,174 people had received 2 doses and are fully vaccinated.

3,005 people were in hospital on Wednesday 7th, with 421 using a ventilator yesterday, Thursday 8th.

In the 24 hours up until 5pm yesterday, we officially reported the loss of another 60 people who have tested positive to COVID-19 within 28 days, making a total of 127,040 losses of life in all settings.

The UK ONS figures show that up until Friday 26th March, 149,968 people had COVID listed as a cause on their death certificate.

Rep. Of Ireland 240,192 (+469) cases and 4,769 (+32) losses of life.

There have now been a total of 134,914,658 reported cases worldwide. The number of people who have lost their lives worldwide to COVID-19 is 2,920,789. Already 108,617,082 people have recovered.

The Queen's husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Phillip, has died aged 99. He had recently been unwell and spent a large amount of time in hospital, but had returned home, and Buckingham Palace have confirmed that he died peacefully in his sleep early this morning.
Whatever your views on The Royal Family, he was a husband, father and grandfather. He had some less favourable moments, but the Duke Of Edinburgh Award is a brilliant legacy that anyone could be proud of.

The UK will now enter an official period of Royal Mourning, which will last for 8 days, until the Prince's funeral. This mourning period would usually be extended to 30 days for the Queen and Royal Family.
Noteworthy for the country during a pandemic, while she is not dealing with matters of the state, the Queen cannot sign off any new laws. This may become important later.

The public are asked not to congregate or attend royal residences, and not to leave flowers at this time.

Backstories is a brand new book from Simon Van Der Velde, and he's sent me a copy for review. Subtitled "Intimate Stories About People You Think You Know", this is imagination and poetic licence, coupled with what we know to be factual biography, and intertwined with a bit of puzzle.

Definitely a book for the grown ups, Backstories is a collection of short stories, each detailing an event or time in a well-known person's life. The twist is that you aren't told who it is, although you get enough hints to work it out at some point before the end....

Each story is very well written, and paints a scene which is usually normal and everyday at first, leading into the actions and outcomes which have shaped a very important part of who that person is. Their backstory. The author takes known facts, and relates 'as it may have happened'.