The Brick Castle: COVID-19 Coronavirus UK and World News weekend update 25 / 26 July 2020

COVID-19 Coronavirus UK and World News weekend update 25 / 26 July 2020

The UK added 747 cases today and now has reported a total of 299,426 positive cases of COVID-19. We completed 123,954 tests yesterday. 1,445 people were in hospital on Thursday 23rd, with 104 patients using a ventilator on Friday 24th.

In the 24 hours up until 5pm yesterday, we lost another 14 people who have tested positive to COVID-19. We now very sadly have a total of 45,752 losses of life in all settings.

England 257,859 / 41,156

Northern Ireland 5,891 / 556

Scotland 18,551 / 2,491

Wales 17,125 / 1,549

Rep. Of Ireland 25,872 (+12) cases and 1,763 losses of life.

There have now been a total of 16,321,464 reported cases worldwide. The number of people who have lost their lives worldwide to COVID-19 is 650,357. Already 9,983,208 people have recovered.

Health Workers look after yourselves WHO

At midnight last night the 'travel corridor' between England and Spain closed (It closes at midnight tonight in Scotland. Wales and Northern Ireland are also closing theirs.) This is not a "dramatic u-turn", it's a safety measure and exactly what they promised they'd do. Anyone returning from Spain will now have to undergo a 14 day quarantine. This is very bad luck for everyone who had raced out there for a holiday (including Grant Shapps, Transport Minister, and family), but Spain appears to have temporarily lost control of the virus, and it is a risk you'll be taking if you go anywhere abroad for a long while.

If you think suddenly closing a travel corridor is harsh, just imagine for one minute that we had imposed a 14 day quarantine on everyone returning from Italy in February half term. We knew by the Friday that they were having a disaster, and tens of thousands of people from all over the UK returned over the next two days alone. We'd have had such a different 5 months, and we'd have saved possibly tens of thousands of lives. There is no point waiting. Ask Jacinda.

North Korean state news agency KCNA is reporting that Kim Jong-Un has declared a state of emergency, and they have reported their first official case of COVID - apparently imported from South Korea. A lockdown has been imposed on border city Kaesong.

Elia Fontaine was a healthy 18 year old and one of the first 4 people to be diagnosed with COVID in Belgium. She had to be placed in an artificial coma for a month and part of one foot had to be amputated. She's now recovered and educating people on complacency:

"When I arrived at the hospital there were only 4 people affected by the virus and when I woke up there were 4,000."

The English government have agreed purchase of up to 20,000 'lab-free' hand-held devices which can give a Covid-19 result within an hour. They'll be used in hospitals for rapid testing.

I told someone on Saturday that I'd look into latest statistics on obesity for you. I didn't even need to, because the UK Government and Public Health England kindly supplied some fresh data yesterday:

- Patients living above a healthy weight (BMI of 18.5- 24.9), are at a progressively increased risk of being hospitalised compared with patients with a BMI less than 25.

- Patients living with overweight or obesity (BMI 25+), compared with

patients with a BMI under 25 are more likely to be admitted to

intensive/critical care and to require advanced treatment for severe COVID19 symptoms.

- There is potentially a higher risk of COVID-19 related death with increasing

BMI

- Where studies have adjusted for confounding factors such as age, sex,

measures of socio-economic status (SES), ethnicity and co-morbidities, the

relationship between excess weight and COVID-19 risk has persisted.

"One study found that for people with a BMI of 35 to 40, risk of death from COVID-19 increases by 40% and with a BMI over 40 by 90%, compared to those not living with obesity. Other data found that in intensive care units, 7.9% of critically ill patients with COVID-19 had a BMI over 40 compared with 2.9% of the general population."

"Almost two-thirds (63%) of adults in England are overweight or obese, with people aged 55 to 74, those living in deprived areas and certain black, Asian and minority ethnic groups more severely affected.

Excess fat can affect the respiratory system and is likely to affect inflammatory and immune function. This can impact people’s response to infection and increase vulnerability to severe symptoms of COVID-19."

Being obese also increases your chances of some other conditions which don't get on well with covid19, including heart conditions, diabetes and high blood pressure, and thrombosis - and we know COVID causes blood clots.

BMI hazard ratios for admission to hospital 260720

There's a link below to the NHS BMI Calculator to find out where you are in the weight range, and if there was ever a good time, it's now. Every pound above BMI 25 makes a difference, so no effort is wasted...

Republic of Ireland's COVID Tracker contact-tracing app is so good that other countries are asking to use it. It was release on July 7 and is based on the decentralised Google/Apple tracing technology, which stores all of your information on your own phone. It is also a real-time information sharing app, keeping Irish users updated on the situation in their area and around the country.

Tokyo has reported over 100 new cases on each of the last 6 days. Japan has done so well too, it would be a shame if they lost control of COVID now. Fingers crossed.

India has tried very hard for months and struggled to contain covid. Hard hit Delhi has finally reported a drop in the number of people in hospital. Fingers crossed for you guys too.

Some people. They look like numbers, but they're people:

Countries / Cases / Losses of life (in some larger states some states /provinces yet to report - I've given yesterday's totals for some, for comparison):

USA 4,339,950 (+24,241) 149,600 (+202)

(Reported final totals +67,413 / +908 yesterday)

Brazil 2,402,255 (+5,821) 86,591 (+95)

(Reported final totals +48,234 / +1,111 yesterday)

India 1,435,213 (+49,719) 32,809 (+713)

Russia 812,485 (+5,765) 13,269 (+77)

South Africa 434,200 not yet reported today 6,655

(Reported totals +12,204 / 312 yesterday)

Mexico 385,036 (+6,751) 43,374 (+729)

Peru 379,884 not yet reported today 18,030

(Reported totals +3,923 / +187 yesterday)

Chile 343,592 not yet reported today 9,020