COVID-19 Coronavirus UK and World News update 31st October / November 1st 2020.
The UK added 23,254 cases today and now has reported a total of 1,034,914 positive cases of COVID-19. (We passed 1m cases yesterday.) We completed 347,626 tests yesterday.
On Wednesday 28th October 1,442 people were admitted to hospital in the UK. 10,918 people were in hospital on Thursday 29th, with 978 using a ventilator on Friday 30th October. We now very sadly have a total of 46,717 officially reported losses of life in all settings.
Up until Friday 16th October, 58,925 people had COVID written on their death certificate,
Rep. Of Ireland 62,002 (+546) cases and 1,915 (+2) losses of life.
There have now been a total of 46,709,156 reported cases worldwide. The number of people who have lost their lives worldwide to COVID-19 is 1,203,771. Already 33,639,417 people have recovered.
Data presented to the UK Government on Friday showed that either the numbers people messed up, or they just underestimated COVID, which is also a bit of a mess up. Fresh projections are much worse than previous 'worst case scenarios', and growth of COVID cases is speeding up so rapidly that even areas with very low infection rates right now, will overwhelm their hospitals within weeks. (The people of Bolton, the NW, and the NE weren't all breaking the rules - they just never stood a chance.) The death toll would be big.
Major UK briefing yesterday... I covered Boris' announcement, which was preceded by a leak in the papers, yesterday - so I won't repeat it all today.
England will be going into national restrictions for a month, from a minute past midnight on Wednesday night/Thursday morning. The measures are due to end on December 2nd.
Parliament will debate and vote next week, but the government have published a detailed breakdown of what the measures will include. I'll add a link below.
Boris' briefing led to instant responses from Teaching Unions, asking for schools to be closed to all but key workers and vulnerable children only, while any national measures apply. Universities and Colleges have asked for remote tuition.
Much as my kids love being in school, I do feel for their teachers, especially those who are a little older or have had medical issues. It must be ridiculously stressful to have to choose between your own health, and best practice or support for the young person standing in front of you - 50 hundred million times a day.
West Yorkshire will no longer be going into Tier 3 Restrictions on Monday. That's been cancelled.
iSAGE have responded to the new England restrictions by practically begging for them to include schools in some way. 2% of secondary school pupils currently have COVID, and the effect of keeping schools open to all is as great as that of hospitality (it instantly raises the R by about 0.15), yet it has a much smaller effect on the economy. The majority of pupils (11+ especially), can work effectively from home.
Extra financial support IS available for any business who is forced to close - and that includes anyone in England now. Please consider saving some of your Christmas shopping for when these guys reopen. They'll really need the business.
NHS England are reporting that in several areas, daily numbers of COVID-19 patients being admitted to hospital are higher than on the day we locked down in the first wave. These areas include Greater Manchester, Liverpool, Lancashire and Nottinghamshire.
On Sky News Michael Gove has said that the "situation has been worse than any of us expected". Presumably he's just talking about whoever he had dinner with last night, because a couple of other folk may just have spotted it.
More sensibly, he refused to say restrictions will end on December 2nd. No-one can say now that it'll definitely be right to open up then, but it is the plan.
Remember it usually takes around 5 days after infection before symptoms start, and another 8-17 days before most people who will be very ill end up in hospital. You don't see any big effect on case numbers until around 2-3 weeks after a lockdown starts. You aren't likely to see a drop in mortality for around 3-4 weeks. Don't let the figures fool you into thinking it isn't working.
Austria has announced they will be joining the UK, France, Germany, half of Europe, in increased restrictions. From Tuesday until the end of November:
Night-time curfew 8pm-6am
Hospitality deliveries and take away only.
Overnight stays business only
Leisure venues will close, including indoor sports and gyms.
All 11+ education remote.
Best of luck.
Panic buying has commenced in England, enabling us to instantly locate the most selfish of our neighbours, and also the most scared. Don't judge until you know which they are. Online shopping is also available, shops will impose buying limits and no doubt will be full again by Tuesday. Remember, leaving your elderly neighbours without supplies, and then wearing a poppy next week, makes you an arse.
It is being pointed out that the talks between Manchester leaders and the government fell apart, when they were asking for furlough payments of 80% for employees of closed business, and the Government were offering 67%. 12 days later and the furlough scheme at 80% has been extended nationally. Andy Burnham has asked for it to be backdated to cover business asked to close under Tier 3 restrictions.
Meanwhile in America, a lot of people have very strong feelings about the outcome of the election. Genuinely it could all be very civil, or very civil war. Walmart have removed guns and ammo from storefronts in case of rioting and looting.
A candidate will need 270 votes to be declared the winner, and this is unlikely to be declared on polling night, Tuesday 3rd November, which for us is Wednesday morning.
Could there even be anything else that could go wrong with the English & Welsh Test and Trace app? Yes! Unbelievably they have yet another error. The Sunday Times are reporting that the settings "weren't sensitive enough" meaning it wasn't informing people they had been in contact with someone who tested positive and needed to isolate.
I have no comment.
Boris Johnson has agreed to fund Transport For London for the next 6 months, with no changes. Transport systems are vital for key workers to get to work, aside from anything else.
The trailer for Michael Bay’s pandemic-themed thriller ‘Songbird’ has been released. It has a big cast including Demi Moore and the girl out of the Percy Jackson movies, and is set in a dystopian 2024, where COVID has mutated and the world is in Year 4 of lockdown. The mutated COVID-23 kills 50% of people infected, so we all live in lockdown camps. It sounds like the sort of thing to terrify people! I like a good horror film, but it's real Marmite this one, a lot of people are saying it's definitely too early... (the science would say 'hahahaha', so don't let it scare you too much..)
There's a letter being shared which claims to show the Conservative Party guidelines on how Members should refer to the new restrictions. It says not to use words such as 'Lockdown' or Tier 4', instead use phrases such as "Advent Extra" or " National Inside Month". It looks official and has even been shared by some official people with 'blue ticks', but the first share that I can see is from someone who has a bit of a history for spoofs, so....
Australia has reported 0 cases of community transmission of COVID today, for the first time since June 9th, almost five months. Well done to you all. I'm sure there'll be bumps, but best of luck for a ZeroCOVID future.
Now isn't the time to give up. We WILL get there...
Some numbers. They all represent real people, with real families and real friends:
Countries / Cases / Losses of life (some states /provinces yet to report):
USA 9,433,060 (+30,470) 236,254 (+182)
India 8,222,231 (+39,350) 122,548 (+399)
Brazil 5,535,605 not yet reported today 159,902
Russia 1,636,781 (+18,665) 28,235 (+245)
France 1,413,915 (+46,290) 37,019 (+231)
Spain 1,264,517 not yet reported today 35,878
Argentina 1,166,924 not yet reported today 31,002
Colombia 1,074,184 not yet reported today 31,314
UK 1,034,914 (+23,254) 46,717 (+162)
Mexico 924,962 (+6,151) 91,753 (+464)
Austria 109,881 (+4,956) 1,130 (+21)
China 85,997 (+24) 4,634
Croatia 51,495 (+2,179) 562 (+16)
Australia 27,595 (+5) 907
Iceland 4,890 (+25) 15 (+2)
New Zealand 1,959 (+2) 25
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Sources:
New English restrictions:
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/
https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/health/coronavirus/west-yorkshire-will-not-enter-tier-3-restrictions-monday-3021360
https://twitter.com/CultureCrave/status/1321846941634895872
https://twitter.com/BBCHughPym/status/1322834159551844353?s=19
https://twitter.com/Andrew_Adonis/status/1322823385764737024?s=19
https://twitter.com/DavidCollinsST/status/1322648119411179521?s=19
https://twitter.com/MENnewsdesk/status/1322897353683197952?s=19
https://reut.rs/2TFoYHp
"A setting error meant the NHS COVID-19 app failed to send alerts telling people to self-isolate" https://twitter.com/i/events/1322903181890711553?s=09
https://twitter.com/JamesFrith/status/1322946552340664321
I hope not closing the schools will not hinder the lockdown. xx
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