This Autumn Hexbug have released a whole load of clever new sets, and they've sent us the Hexbug Nano Flash Playground to take a look at. We've looked at a couple of the new sets, and the Playground really is what it says - a playground for your Hexbugs to run safely around in.

Packaging is really getting much better, but still contains some single-use plastic. Inside the box are over 30 pieces, including: Hexagonal base board, 2 x ramps, 8 x jelly walls, 4 x mini wall corners, 8 x mini walls, 8 x joints, 2 x merry-go-rounds, plus 3 Hexbugs - 2 x Hexbug Nano, and 1 x Hexbug Flash Nano. 

The Hexbug Flasj nano is bigger, faster, and lights up. It isn't quite as pretty as the regular Hexbug nano, until it's running about. They move by vibrating, which moves the little legs and propels them along. 

Robots are one of my favourite things, and thankfully my children enjoy them too. We've been sent the Smart Robot Car Kit to review by Elegoo, and it's genuinely a great set for any young engineer who has some very basic experience with robotics and electronics, but who wants to expand their ability and practise their skills, and maybe get more involved in programming. 

The set is recommended for age 13+, and looked quite daunting, but it actually took my 12 year old just over 2 hours from in-the-box to bathroom floor line-following robot - with very little help. Genuinely pleasing...

The packaging has some minimal single-use plastic, which would be hard to avoid, especially the static-free bags for the electrical components. It's mainly card, and is a gorgeous arrangement in bright yellow, which really feels like opening presents. 

There was just enough cute to stop my son feeling it was beyond him, but clearly this isn't a set for little ones. There are a lot of small parts, wires and circuits, and they've included 3 small screwdrivers, which is always very welcome (and saves hours of searching). Batteries are also included, and the main robot is rechargeable. You don't need anything aside from what's in the box. 

 COVID-19 Coronavirus UK and World News weekend update 3rd and 4th October 2020.

The UK Coronavirus dashboard page has this message:
"Due to a technical issue, which has now been resolved, there has been a delay in publishing a number of COVID-19 cases to the dashboard in England. This means the total reported over the coming days will include some additional cases from the period between 24 September and 1 October, increasing the number of cases reported."

Today's report is incredibly late (9.25pm), and incredibly large, and includes the message: "An issue was identified overnight on Friday 2 October in the automated process that transfers positive cases data to PHE. It has now been resolved. The cases by publish date for 3 and 4 October include 15,841 additional cases with specimen dates between 25 September and 2 October — they are therefore artificially high for England and the UK."

The UK added 22,961 cases today (+12,872 yesterday) and now has reported a total of 502,978 positive cases of COVID-19. We completed 264,979 tests on Friday 2nd October. 

2,428 people were in hospital on Thursday 1st October, with 368 using a ventilator on Friday 2nd. 

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 (yesterday +49). We now very sadly have a total of 42,350 officially reported losses of life in all settings.

Rep. Of Ireland 38,032 (+364) cases and 1,810 losses of life.

There have now been a total of 35,327,777 reported cases worldwide. The number of people who have lost their lives worldwide to COVID-19 is 1,040,491. Already 26,294,462 people have recovered.

"We want people to behave fearlessly but with common sense."
Boris Johnson, UK Prime Minister and shower-time phrase-creator, on the Andrew Marr Show this morning.
For reference, fearlessness is appropriate when doing something risky, whereas common sense avoids risk. If you're being incredibly safe and sensible, you shouldn't need to be brave about it. Possibly the best example of a UK Govt. mixed message yet. 

Bonaire, St Eustatius and Saba, Poland and Turkey were removed from the England travel corridors list at 4am, Saturday 3 October 2020.

Donald Trump was taken to hospital on Friday night. He is at Walter Reed Medical Center Military Hospital, and he has a suite where he can work, so as of now he's still on duty. Different medical authorities have different policies regarding COVID, plus he's the President, so hospital admission doesn't imply serious illness. 

He's been reported to be experiencing mild symptoms, including lethargy. He's also been reported as being ill, with a critical 48 hours treatment-wise. It’s also been reported he may have had some oxygen back at The White House, and on 2 occasions his oxygen levels have dropped below 93%, but he definitely wasn't on oxygen during his transfer to hospital from The White House. Unsurprisingly US journalists are complaining about confusing messages.
Donald meanwhile has been tweeting away regardless, including a 4 minute "Thank you" where he referred to drugs to treat COVID as "a miracle from God", and said the country were very happy Melania is doing well. Glad to hear it. If he can still ramble for that long, it's looking like he's okay so far. Also....he didn't have his Wotsit face on, he almost looked pink, like a real human boy. 

 COVID-19 Coronavirus UK and World News update 2nd October 2020.

The UK added 6,968 cases today and now has reported a total of 467,146 positive cases of COVID-19. We completed 264,979 tests yesterday.

2,376 people were in hospital on Wednesday 30th Sept, with 341 using a ventilator yesterday. 

In the 24 hours up until 5pm yesterday, we officially reported the loss of another 66 people who have tested positive to COVID-19 within 28 days. We now very sadly have a total of 42,268 officially reported losses of life in all settings.

Rep. Of Ireland 36,597 cases and 1,806 losses of life. (Not yet reported today.) 

There have now been a total of 34,665,646 reported cases worldwide. The number of people who have lost their lives worldwide to COVID-19 is 1,030,027. Already 25,778,405 people have recovered.

"It's perfectly reasonable to make the argument that we should just let the virus rip. I just think that the hundreds of thousands of deaths that would follow is not a price that anyone should pay."
Matt Hancock, UK MP for Health and Social Care, and face of the UK COVID response. 

Well, where do we even start.... 

Trump Of The Day:
"Tonight, FLOTUS (Melania) and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!"
Obviously Donald liked the UK press briefing message of "togetherness". I genuinely wish both of them well - as I do any human being who is ill. Doesn't mean I won't be taking the pee though! 

UK University reopening is going astoundingly badly. Northumbria University in Newcastle Upon Tyne has just reported an eye-watering 770 students have tested positive. 78 students have symptoms (around 1 in every 10). 

 COVID-19 Coronavirus UK and World News update 30th Sept / 1st October 2020.

The UK added 6,914 cases today and now has reported a total of 460,178 positive cases of COVID-19. We completed 255,915 tests yesterday. 

2,276 people were in hospital on Tuesday 29th, with 332 using a ventilator on Wednesday 30th. 

In the 24 hours up until 5pm yesterday, we officially reported the loss of another 59 people who have tested positive to COVID-19 within 28 days. We now very sadly have a total of 42,202 officially reported losses of life in all settings.

Rep. Of Ireland 36,597 (+442) cases and 1,806 (+2) losses of life. 

There have now been a total of 34,330,504 reported cases worldwide. The number of people who have lost their lives worldwide to COVID-19 is 1,021,295. Already 25,543,210 people have recovered.

Matt Hancock has announced that Liverpool, Warrington, Hartlepool and Middlesbrough are the latest places in the UK which will face extra restrictions - from 10pm on Saturday:
"We will bring in regulations, as we have in the North East, to prevent in law social mixing between people in different households in all settings except outdoor public spaces like parks and outdoor hospitality.
"We also recommend that people should not attend professional or amateur sporting events as spectators in the areas that are affected.
"We recommend that people only visit care homes in exceptional circumstances and there will be guidance against all but essential travel. Essential travel, of course, includes going to work or school."

No real surprises that the UK's Coronavirus Act was renewed in parliament with an overwhelming majority of 330 for, and 24 against. They have said that discussions and even voting will take place in future, before important national measures are enforced. 

Time's Up! Party has been sent to us by Asmodee for review, and it's another game which is great for a party or larger group, but it still works for 4 of you. Suitable for 4-12 players aged around 12+, in 2-4 teams.

It is familiar as this is a party game which is far older than you or I, but it's a genuine classic reworked, and guaranteed to create more than a few laughs... 

The game is well packaged in a really sturdy box. It's not far off single-use-plastic-free, and a great size and shape for storage. Inside the box you have a sand timer, 220 cards, rulebook, biographies book and a pad of scorecards - and a drawstring cloth bag to keep everything in. 

 Coronavirus UK press conference 30 September 2020 (Next report as usual tomorrow) 

Boris Johnson, sometime UK Prime Minister held a Coronavirus press conference today, along with Prof Chris Whitty, England's Chief Medical Officer and Sir Patrick Vallance,  the UK Science Chief. 

Boris was all hunched up when he came out of the cupboard, like a Tortoise on 2 legs. He needs to stand up a bit straighter, that'll be awful on his back. 

He started by reassuring university students that plans are being put in place to ensure they can go home safely at Christmas. (Presumably not that you all catch it now and then you'll still be immune in December). 

He talked about a package of measures, and says it'll take a while to feed through. (That's true, but it's already been in place a while in some areas, and I'm not seeing a big improvement yet.)

The number of new reported cases today is 7,108.

The number of people who have been reported today as succumbed to COVID within 28 days of a positive test is 71. 

He says his plan is essential, and we have to stick to it together. He reminds us we are in a better position than in March. The 7 Nightingale Hospitals are in place, with 2,000 beds available instantly, and more as required. We are on target for 500,000 COVID tests a day by the end of October. We have in place an order for 48 billion items of PPE. The UK were only making 1% of our own PPE in March, by December we will be capable of manufacturing 70%. We now have 31,500 mechanical ventilators (again, lets hope they are never needed). 

The best protection is to follow the rules wherever we live. 

He says he will be providing regular updates through press conferences, and if necessary, they will impose heavier measures, but we can avoid that, with our behaviour. 

 COVID-19 Coronavirus UK and World News update 28th /29th September 2020.

The UK added 7,143 cases today and now has reported a total of 446,156 positive cases of COVID-19. We completed 198,402 tests yesterday. 

2,049 people were in hospital on Sunday 27th, with 297 using a ventilator yesterday (28th). 

(Yes, these figures are high, please remember we often have higher figures on a Tuesday because of reporting delays over the weekend - and that's true for a lot of the world, not just the UK.)

In the 24 hours up until 5pm yesterday, we officially reported the loss of another 71 people who have tested positive to COVID-19 within 28 days. We now very sadly have a total of 42,072 officially reported losses of life in all settings.

England 382,686 / 37,367
Northern Ireland 11,269 / 578
Scotland 28,604 / 2,512
Wales 23,597 / 1,615

Rep. Of Ireland 35,740 (+363) cases and 1,803 (+1) losses of life. 

There have now been a total of 33,685,747 reported cases worldwide. The number of people who have lost their lives worldwide to COVID-19 is 1,008,551. Already 24,989,538 people have recovered.

Tighter restrictions come into force at midnight across Northumberland, Newcastle, North and South Tyneside, Gateshead, Sunderland and County Durham. Different households will no longer be able to gather in any indoor setting. (Residents cannot visit each other's homes already). 

The #cancelthecurfew campaign is asking for a re-think on the UK's 10pm hospitality closing time. Photos on social media showed chaos as every pub in Manchester kicked out at the same time, and all the revellers tried to catch the same tram/bus home. That is if they went home. Feeling like your night is incomplete is definitely incentive for plenty of people to carry on drinking at someone's house, or, as I discovered on Saturday night, hang around in the streets yawping renditions of popular Kaiser Chiefs and Oasis tunes really badly whilst drinking take out. Thanks to our local choir for that one.
Most countries choose an actual curfew - e.g. home from anything non-essential by 10.00pm - but the backlash to that in the UK might be big. It's hard to call because we know over 2/3 of people think the government should impose harder restrictions, but around 1/6 aren't impressed with what we already have. 

 COVID-19 Coronavirus UK and World News weekend update 27th September 2020.

The UK added 5,693 cases today and now has reported a total of 434,969 positive cases of COVID-19. 1,727 people were in hospital on Thursday 24th, with 262 using a ventilator on Friday. 

The UK officially reported the loss of another 17 people who have tested positive to COVID-19 within 28 days. We now very sadly have a total of 41,988 officially reported losses of life in all settings.

England 373,719 / 37,286
Northern Ireland 10,729 / 578
Scotland 27,576 / 2,512
Wales 22945 / 1,612

Rep. Of Ireland 34,560 cases and 1,802 losses of life. (Not yet reported today.) 

There have now been a total of 33,183,342 reported cases worldwide. 

We pass a very grim milestone, as the number of people who have officially lost their lives worldwide to COVID-19 is now over 1 million - 1,000,360. More positively 24,507,503 people have already recovered.

“I don’t quite understand how you can scream for freedom at protests and then freedom means that you can infect others. That is a notion of freedom and a way of dealing with illness, that I react to with deep outrage.”
Joachim Huber, Head of Media at Tagesspiegel (German Berlin press), who spent 5 weeks in a coma after contracting covid19 in March. He suffered a heart attack, pulmonary embolism and kidney failure. 

"In the last 20 years, there have been eight outbreaks of a lethal virus, any of which could have escalated into a pandemic. Bill Gates sounded the alert in 2015, five years ago he gave that amazing prediction – almost every word of which has come true – and we responded as if to a persistent Microsoft error message by clicking “ok” and carrying on.
Humanity was caught napping. We have been scrabbling to catch up, and with agonising slowness we are making progress."
Boris Johnson, in his opening speech to the United Nations General Assembly. It was actually a very good speech, I liked it - especially his admission that UK Government could have moved a tadge faster. 

 COVID-19 Coronavirus UK and World News update 25th September 2020.

The UK added 6,874 cases today and now has reported a total of 423,236 positive cases of COVID-19. We completed 245,363 tests yesterday.

1,616 people were in hospital on Wednesday 23rd (up from 1,020 a week earlier), with 243 using a ventilator yesterday (up from 127 a week earlier).

(Today it's Scotland who have a technical problem, and are unable to report people lost to COVID). In the 24 hours up until 5pm yesterday, the UK (excluding Scotland) officially reported the loss of another 34 people who have tested positive to COVID-19 within 28 days. We now very sadly have a total of 41,936 officially reported losses of life in all settings.

Rep. Of Ireland +326) cases and 1,797 losses of life. 

There have now been a total of 32,564,743 reported cases worldwide. The number of people who have lost their lives worldwide to COVID-19 is 989,815. Already 24,048,380 people have recovered.

"Early next week the world will cross 1m reported COVID19 deaths.
If we continue at the current pace we will end up with 1.5m reported deaths by the end of the year.
It is those 500,000 lives that we can help to save with our actions in the next three months."
Dr Tedros, Head of WHO

The Independent SAGE Group briefing today wasn't as bad as you might think. Yes, cases are going up, but there's a possibility it's slowed slightly during September. UK data is really not the most helpful, so everything is a 'possible', but what we can see implies we've gone up to 7 days  doubling time, slowed a little over the past couple of weeks, and over the last couple of days it's speeding up again. Their estimates are pretty similar to the UK Gov, in that we have an average doubling time currently of around 8 days, and are heading towards 1,000 new hospital admissions per day by mid October. (This was the point that we were at when we locked down in March).
There's a massive number of new cases in the 17-24 age group, which correlates with reopening of Universities. It's particularly obvious in Scotland.
The Netherlands opened Universities on 2nd September. Almost 40% of their outbreaks are currently in education, mainly Universities.
Testing data suggests that care homes are being prioritised, but it's hard to really tell for certain. Although cases have spread from young people to older age groups, the over 70's aren't yet being really affected - a very good thing.
ONS data suggests only 10% of people are isolating properly after contact with an infected person. We need to get support systems in place to enable people to do this, and they need to have better understanding of why they should self-isolate, even if they feel well. 

Professor Gabriel Scally, Royal Society Of Medicine, talked about a paper he's recently released called "A Deliberate Population Immunity Strategy Before A Vaccine - Why It Wouldn't Work And Why It Shouldn't Be Tried." I think you get the gist already... It's not just about the thousands of people who would die. He mentions long-term effects and says we simply don't know what they will be, and it's even possible that people whose brain is affected now may suffer decades into the future. We have no idea. It's too risky. He's quite blunt. "We haven't really tried to suppress this virus." (Tell it like it is!) Then he talked about Sweden, which made me feel smug, because last night I wrote up the paragraphs about Sweden which you'll find below...