COVID-19 Coronavirus UK and World News Update 16 / 17th October 2021

UK Daily Statistics:
Cases: 8,449,165 (+45,140 - the highest figure since June)
Losses of Life: 138,584 (+57)
Tests: 980,883
Vaccinations 1st Dose: 49,398,211 (85.9% UK aged 12+)
Vaccinations Fully Vaxxed: 45,358,472 (78.9%)

Rep. Of Ireland: 413,734 cases and 5,306 losses of life.

World: 241,410,075 reported cases and 4,913,151 losses of life.

I was pretty scathing about Matt Hancock's appointment as UN Special Envoy To Help Africa's COVID Recovery, and I wasn't the only one. The UN have withdrawn the offer, and it appears it may be due to political and public backlash.
I expect Matt is pretty devastated, but honestly, it wasn't the job for you - maybe you can retrain in cyber like that ballet dancer in the advert.

Hello! It is definitely time for some smiles. October is always our quietest month, and it's easy to see why. The night time is creeping into our day, the cold is forcing us into jumpers and coats. Everyone is back into the post-holiday routine of work and the Autumn school term, but not yet getting excited about Christmas. It's all a bit meh... 

It can make us all a bit gloomy, and when you feel gloomy, it's easy to forget it won't be for long. That's when the collection of smiles really helps. It reminds you of the sunshine, the sparkle, the fun times. It reminds you of the things you like to do, the things you said you'd do again. The things you can do right now. It reminds you of the plans you can make, the places you can go. Best of all, it reminds us that a smile has power. It has so much power that it can last far longer than that moment, and spread far further than the same room. And it shows us we can always do this. 

COVID-19 Coronavirus UK and World News Update 13th / 14th / 15th October 2021

UK Daily Statistics:
Cases: 8,361,651 (+44,932)
In Hospital Yesterday 14th Oct: 7,086
Using A Ventilator Yesterday 14th Oct: 783
Losses of Life: 138,379 (+145)
Up until Friday 1st October, 161,798 people had COVID listed as a cause on their death certificate.
Tests: 980,883
Vaccinations 1st Dose: 49,335,154 (85.8% of UK age 12+)
Vaccinations Fully Vaxxed: 45,297,231(78.8%)
(Those really are excellent vaccination percentages)

Cases by nation, last 7 days:
Area: Cases / Rate per 100,000 population
Wales; 17,051 / 538
Scotland: 17,282 / 316.2
Northern Ireland: 8,840 / 466.4
England: 217,023 / 383.8

Today:
Rep. Of Ireland: 411,554 (+1,907) cases and 5,306 losses of life.

World: 240,610,424 reported cases and 4,900,697 losses of life.

"Millions of people will be invited to get their flu vaccine from this week as part of the biggest annual flu drive in NHS history.
It's more vital than ever that all children and eligible adults take up the offer of the free vaccine ahead of winter."
It is. Flu can seriously harm you, COVID can seriously harm you, both can occasionally kill. Catching COVID AND Flu together doubles the chance you will not go home.

COVID-19 Coronavirus UK and World News Update 11th / 12th October 2021

UK Daily Statistics:
Cases: 8,231,437 (+38,520)
In Hospital yesterday 11th: 7,003
Using A Ventilator yesterday: 747
Losses of Life: 137,944 (+181)
Tests: 936,288
Vaccinations 1st Dose: 49,216,092 (85.6% of UK age 12+)
Vaccinations Fully Vaxxed: 45,212,813 (78.6%)

Rep. Of Ireland: 405,970 (+1,456) cases and 5,280 losses of life.

World: 239,261,170 reported cases and 4,876,704 losses of life.

6,000 people a week in the UK are being referred to Long COVID clinics, and papers are reporting that even Sajid Javid has finally noticed it might be a bit of a "huge" issue.
The ONS figures released last week show 1.1m people in the UK self-report symptoms lasting over 3 months, (including over 125,000 NHS staff). 405,000 people say symptoms have lasted over a year, and 211,000 people say it significantly reduces their ability to carry out daily activities. 

COVID-19 Coronavirus UK and World News Weekend Update 9th and 10th October 2021

There are no new cases or losses of life for Wales today, because they accidentally added the whole weekend's new cases and losses of life to Friday's numbers, but too late for it to be reported - which really makes a farce of the whole thing.

UK Random Daily Statistics:
Cases: 8,154,306 (+34,574)
In Hospital on Thursday 7th: 6,763
Using A Ventilator on Thursday 7th: 808
Losses of Life: 137,735 (+38)
Tests: 962,225
Vaccinations 1st Dose: 49,158,835 (85.5% of UK Population aged 12+)
Vaccinations 2 Doses: 45,168,344 (78.5%)

Rep. Of Ireland: 401,773 cases and 5,280 losses of life

World: 238,538,845 reported cases and 4,865,522 losses of life

"There has been no update to data from Wales today.
Cases and deaths within 28 days of positive test that would normally have been reported today were included in the update on Friday 8 October 2021, which was delayed because of network issues at Public Health Wales."
Wait, wait, what? You really typed that on the Government website? So, the 'daily stats' are at least 3 days out of date. Great, I can't wait to find out how many new cases we had last Friday.
To be fair we did always know the Government were a day or two ahead, but I wish they'd stop treating us like babies. Just give us the real figures each day. Go on.... if you can do it by accident, you can manage it by trying...
The Welsh 'interactive dashboard' hasn't been updated since 4th October. 

COVID-19 Coronavirus UK and World News Update 6th - 8th October 2021

There's no data for Wales today, so numbers are lower than they should be. Different data was missing last week, so I can't do a comparison.

UK Daily Statistics:
Cases: 8,081,300 (+36,060)
In Hospital yesterday 7th October: 6,765
Using A Ventilator yesterday 7th October: 808
Losses of Life: 137,541 (+127)
Tests: 962,225 (a fairly low level of tests, but higher number of new cases means we are catching less of the cases that are really out there)
Vaccinations 1st Dose: 49,101,734 (85.4% of population aged 12+)
Vaccinations 2 Doses: 45,107,185 (78.4%)

Rep. Of Ireland: 399,833 (2,002) cases and 5,280 losses of life

World: 237,771,320 reported cases and 4,852,690 losses of life.

“As some of you may know, I started my career as a malaria researcher, and I longed for the day that we would have an effective vaccine against this ancient and terrible disease. Today is that day, an historic day.”
Dr Tedros, Head of WHO.
Not COVID-related, but the World Health Organisation has recommended the world's first ever malaria vaccine for a broad rollout in Africa.
Malaria kills around 400,000 people each year, and half are children under 5. Hospitalisation doesn't bode well for survival, but vaccination reduces admissions by 1/3. This is huge news, and as climate change will affect temperatures, humidity and malaria-carrying mosquitos, it could be of even greater use in the future. 

Akedo - Ultimate Arcade Warriors are the brand new battling collectible from Moose Toys, and tie in with the animated series on Nickelodeon. We've been sent 3 of the new product range to review, and it's been a lot of fun all round! These little retro Arcade Warrior action figures have a built-in 'realistic battling action', at a micro collectible scale, and they're really easy to play with too, thanks to the clever, battery-free control system.

The packaging does have a lot of single-use plastic, but it's at least very easy to open (you'll find it easier with scissors for some of the ties) and there are no batteries required - so you can play straightaway. 

We've been sent:
Single Pack (£4.99) - 1x Akedo Warrior, 1x Trigger Controller
Versus Pack (£9.99) - 2x Akedo Warriors (one of which is an"Epic" Warrior), 2x Trigger Controllers
Starter Pack (£14.99) This special pack has everything you need to train warriors and play the official tournament rules of Akedo - 3x Akedo Warriors, 1x Joystick Controller, 1x Training Accessory
There are rules/instructions for play and a collectors guide inside each pack, so you can drool over your favourites, and work out which sets you'll find them in.

COVID-19 Coronavirus UK and World News Update 4th / 5th October 2021

UK Daily Statistics:
Cases: 7,967,985 (+33,869)
In Hospital yesterday 4th Oct: 6,747 (DOWN from 7,000 a week earlier)
Using A Ventilator yesterday 4th Oct: 769 (DOWN from 831 a week earlier)
Losses of Life: 137,152 (+166)
Tests: 940,981
Vaccinations 1st Dose: 48,994,530 (+37,671)
Vaccinations 2nd Dose: 45,021,381 (+29,337)
Up until Friday 24th September, 160,824 people have had COVID listed as a cause on their death certificate.

Rep. Of Ireland: 394,519 cases and 5,249 losses of life (not yet reported today).

World: 236,364,710 reported cases and 4,826,202 losses of life.

"The health advice has been that to date, we've managed to largely control the outbreak, but as you can see, with this outbreak - and with Delta - the return to zero is incredibly difficult. And our restrictions alone are not enough to achieve it quickly.
In fact, for this outbreak, it's clear that long periods of heavy restrictions has not got us to zero cases. But that is okay.
Elimination was important because we didn't have vaccines.
Now we do, so we can begin to change the way we do things.
We have more options, and there's good cause for us to feel optimistic about the future, but we cannot rush.
That's why we need to continue to contain and control the virus as much as possible while we make our transition from a place where we only use heavy restrictions, to a place where we use vaccines and everyday public health measures.
We need to keep using the tools we have.
We need to vaccinate. We need to test. We need to find cases.
We need to isolate them and actively control any outbreak now and in the future."
Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand Prime Minister. 

COVID-19 Coronavirus UK and World News Weekend Update 2nd / 3rd October 2021

UK Daily Statistics:
Cases: 7,900,680 (+30,439)
Losses of Life: 136,953 (+43)
Tests: 1,040,967
Vaccinations 1st Dose: 48,928,952
Vaccinations Fully Vaxxed: 44,969,396

Rep. Of Ireland: 392,575 cases and 5,249 losses of life.

World: 235,607,128 reported cases and 4,814,231 losses of life.

Daily first vaccine doses in the UK are around the 27,000 mark, which really is quite low, and the UK Government are keen to get more people to come forward. School vaccinations begin in earnest next week, which should make a big difference to those numbers - and hopefully give us the percentage protection we need to start reducing cases among the general population.

COVID-19 Coronavirus UK and World News Update Friday 1st October 2021

(Some UK data is delayed today)
UK Daily Statistics:
Cases: 7,842,613 (+35,577)
Losses of Life: 136,789 (+127)
Vaccinations 1st Dose: 48,863,490
Vaccinations Fully Vaxxed: 44,901,832

Rep. Of Ireland: 390,989 (+1,057) cases and 5,249 losses of life.

World: 234,772,640 reported cases and 4,801,177 losses of life.

"The world missed the target set by WHO of vaccinating 10% of all people in all countries by the end of September.
Vaccinating the Earth equitably is a moral, epidemiological, and economic necessity. #VaccinEquity"
The World Health Organisation.

German pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. have released interim data (the trial wasn't due to finish yet) from their antiviral pill study for Molnupiravir - and it's fabulous. It reduced hospitalisations and deaths by half in people who had mild to moderate illness (recently infected people, within 5 days of symptoms starting, when it could still go either way). This hasn't yet been peer-reviewed, but the world is all over it like a rash. If there are any flaws we'll soon know, but it's looking great so far.
Because the safety data is all there, and the efficacy findings are so positive, it starts to become unethical to give patients the placebo, and the trial doesn't need any more proof that it works.
"7.3% of patients who received molnupiravir were either hospitalized or died through Day 29 following randomization (28/385), compared with 14.1% of placebo-treated patients (53/377). Through Day 29, no deaths were reported in patients who received molnupiravir, as compared to 8 deaths in patients who received placebo. At the recommendation of an independent Data Monitoring Committee and in consultation with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), recruitment into the study is being stopped early due to these positive results. Merck plans to submit an application for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to the U.S. FDA as soon as possible based on these findings and plans to submit marketing applications to other regulatory bodies worldwide."
At Day 29 the reduction in risk of death was looking far better than 50%, but some patients are still in hospital, so we can't yet say what the final outcome will be. (Hopefully positive all round - fingers crossed for them all.)
If Molnupiravir is approved, it will be the first oral antiviral treatment for COVID-19. Nice.