COVID-19 Coronavirus UK and World News Update 21st / 22nd April 2021.

The UK added 2,729 cases today and now has reported a total of 4,398,431 positive cases of COVID-19. We completed 1,371,393 tests yesterday. (That's a higher number of positives, but a much higher number of tests, than we have been used to, so hopefully it's due to increased testing catching asymptomatic cases).

The counter says 33,257,651 people had been given at least one dose of a vaccine in the UK by midnight last night. 11,192,601 people had received 2 doses and are fully vaccinated.

1,915 people were in hospital on Tuesday 20th (down from 2,393 a week earlier), with 276 people using a ventilator yesterday, 21st April (down from 351 a week earlier).

In the 24 hours up until 5pm yesterday, we officially reported the loss of another 18 people who have tested positive to COVID-19 within 28 days, making a total of 127,345 losses of life in all settings.

Rep. Of Ireland 244,695 cases and 4,856 losses of life. (Not yet reported today.)

There have now been a total of 145,015,191 reported cases worldwide. The number of people who have lost their lives worldwide to COVID-19 is 3,078,535. Already 123,095,371 people have recovered.

UK Data briefing chart 22 April 2021

"This Earth Day, I’m proud to say science is back."
US President Joe Biden

After employing Ms Allegra Stratton on 150k a year, and doing up their new briefing room to the tune of £2.6m (flags must be super expensive), the UK Government have decided they don't want US style briefings, and have scrapped the plan.
Honestly the money these people waste is truly beyond belief. 2.6m for a slightly more fancy corridor is an absolute joke. I don't believe they can have even got 3 quotes on that... 

EnChroma specialise in colour enhancing glasses for people with colour vision deficiency. I have 3 colour blind sons, and first discovered EnChroma's glasses a few years ago. I'm delighted to say they are now selling in the UK, and asked if we wanted to work with them on a review, and because I am very happy to endorse the glasses, I also have an affiliate link and a 10% Discount Code ... 

If you know nothing about colour blindness, then a few years ago I wrote a post explaining what causes red-green colour vision deficiency, who it's likely to affect, and why my sons' colour blindness is my fault genetically (sorry boys). I also covered some of the early signs I spotted, and pretty much everything else you might want to know about having a child who is colour blind. 

Being colour blind is incredibly common. It affects around 1 in 12 men (8%) and one 1 in 200 women (0.5%). That’s about 350 million people in the world right now. 

EnChroma are very clear. Their glasses don't offer a cure, they offer a specific type of colour enhancement, which will not work for everyone. Unfortunately they don't create glasses for people with the much rarer blue colour vision deficiency, this is only for red/green colour blind people. Of those, around 9 out of 10 people will be able to see a far larger range of colour. The switch may be instant, and a real "wow" moment, or it may take a little while for the wearer to get used to the glasses. 

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.