The Brick Castle: COVID-19 Coronavirus UK and World News weekend update 18/19 July 2020.

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

The UK added 726 cases today and now has reported a total of 294,792 positive cases of COVID-19. We completed 140,393 tests yesterday.

1,690 people were in hospital on Thursday 16th, down from 2,172 a week before. On Friday 17th, 143 patients were using a ventilator.

In the 24 hours up until 5pm yesterday, we reported the loss of another 27 people who have tested positive to COVID-19. We now very sadly have a total of 45,300 official losses of life in all settings.

England 253,585 / 40,706

Northern Ireland 5,834 / 556

Scotland 18,445 / 2,491

Wales 16,928 / 1,547

Rep. Of Ireland 25,750 (+10) cases and 1,753 losses of life.

There have now been a total of 14,530,599 reported cases worldwide. The number of people who have officially lost their lives worldwide to COVID-19 is 606,762. Already 8,670,395 people have recovered.

Children mental health WHO advice talk to them

Over the two days Friday and Saturday, almost 500,000 new cases of Covid-19 were reported to the World Health Organisation. Over those 2 days, the United States of America reported more than 138,000 new cases of COVID.

Since the beginning of the outbreak, Europe has in total reported over 3m cases and The Americas (North and South) over 7m.

England's Test And Trace continues to get a proper slating. Professor Dominic Harrison, the public health director of Blackburn with Darwen borough council (which has a significant outbreak) investigated, and found Track And Trace in the North West was so bad, it's actually hampering efforts to contain the outbreak. Andy Burnham, Manchester Mayor, put it incredibly succinctly:

"The local public health teams identify 99% of the contacts of those they test. But they don’t get data from those tested by Deloitte. And Serco have managed only 59000 contacts in 6 weeks ie <1 contact per tracer per fortnight. A £10 billion shambles."

Australia is finding more cases and the outbreak in Melbourne is causing them some bother. Millions of people are now under lockdown again, and they've capped overseas arrivals in Sydney to just 350 every 24 hours.

There are a subset of (mainly American) people who claim God doesn't want you to wear a mask because it suggests you don't have faith and trust in God.

I despair.

Spain has around 150 outbreaks of COVID, but one in Catalonia is the worst. 4m people in the Barcelona area have been asked to stay at home for 2 weeks, inessential leisure will also be closed.

Hopeful news from Israel. The catchily titled study 'SARS-CoV-2 Transcriptional Metabolic Signature in Lung Epithelium' has not-yet been peer-reviewed, but it's a study which was done by scientists looking at exactly how the virus which causes COVID behaves in the lungs. It requires lots of feeding, so it prevents the body from properly breaking down carbs, which actually also causes quantities of fats to build up. They used drugs to try and reverse this effect, and cholesterol-lowering drug Fenofibrate (Tricor) shows extremely promising results on lung tissue in the lab.

Local leaders including Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham have been complaining that they don't have the information needed to successfully track and trace. Matt Hancock took the pee a bit, suggesting he could send people to help. Seems the local leaders were very much in the right. Rumour is that tomorrow Matt Hancock will announce he's giving Local Authorities more useful data, such as real numbers, postcodes and even potentially names of people who tested positive - how on Earth any council or local health authority was meant to track and trace without this is entirely beyond me.

After the recent rise in new cases (they reported 127 yesterday, their highest ever daily figure), Hong Kong's Carrie Lam has announced new measures:

- Increased testing capability, 10,000 a day

- Testing taxi drivers

- All non-emergency civil servants work from home for 1 week

- Restaurant eat-in must close at 6pm until 26th July

- Masks must be worn in indoor public places

- They will turn convention centres and large facilities into 3,500 quarantine units ahead of Winter.

The world is awash with protests at the moment. Thailand's youth are campaigning for changes to their system of leadership and monarchy. Hong Kong's citizens are protesting China's new security laws. Americans (and others) are protesting having to wear face coverings. Israeli, Brazilian and many other citizens are protesting their government's handling of the crisis. Black Lives Matter has seen protests all around the world.

Being in a position where you have no control over what's happening amplifies your other frustrations. And it's creating change.

Local Government changes from 18th July 2020

Boris Johnson was in the Telegraph today for an exclusive. I didn't read it, but there's a photo of him with his partner, and their brand new 11 week old giant baby. He made his thoughts on the possibility of a second lockdown very clear, comparing it to a "nuclear deterrent". Not keen then.

In other news, now that local authorities have the power to ask you to behave how they see best, in order to control COVID, pay attention... I've already spotted the measures below:

Rochdale have asked people not to have more than 2 visitors at any time, and wear face coverings in shops and public places.

Blackburn with Darwen have asked people not to have more than 2 visitors at any time, and wear face coverings in public.

Be alert, control yourself, save the NHS.

Some numbers, all of them with family and friends who worried:

Countries / Cases / Losses of life (some states /provinces yet to report):

USA 3,860,586 (+27,315) 143,053 (+176)

Brazil 2,076,635 (+1,389) 78,871 (+54)

India 1,116,613 (+38,749) 27,502 (+674)

Russia 771,546 (+6,109) 12,342 (+95)

South Africa 350,879 not yet reported today 4,948

Peru 349,500 not yet reported today 12,998

Mexico 338,913 (+7,615) 38,888 (+578)