The Brick Castle: COVID-19 Coronavirus UK and World News Update 17th / 18th July 2021

COVID-19 Coronavirus UK and World News Weekend Update 17th / 18th July 2021

The UK added 48,161 cases today and now has reported a total of 5,433,939 positive cases of COVID-19. We completed 1,177,716 tests yesterday.

The counter says 46,295,853 people (87.9% of UK adults) had been given at least one dose of a vaccine in the UK by midnight last night. 35,970,849 people (68.3%) had received 2 doses and are fully vaccinated.

People in hospital hasn't been updated since Thursday, when it was 3,964, with 551 using a ventilator.

In the 24 hours up until 5pm yesterday, we officially reported the loss of another 25 people who have tested positive to COVID-19 within 28 days, making a total of 128,708 losses of life in all settings. (There is an error in the data for Scotland, which will be resolved in the next UK Gov update tomorrow.)

Rep. Of Ireland 284,510 (+1,179) cases and 5,018 losses of life.

There have now been a total of 191,070,294 reported cases worldwide. The number of people who have lost their lives worldwide to COVID-19 is 4,103,007. Already 174,015,889 people have recovered.

from 19th July in England please still be sensible - 2 ladies sitting opposite at a table chatting

"Every adult in the UK has now been offered their first dose of the vaccine. A phenomenal national effort.
Please come forward for your jab if you haven’t already - it protects you and your loved ones."
Sajid "very glad I got my vaccinations" Javid.

"At this point, you are either vaccinated or you are going to catch Delta.
And whether you are young adult or old, when you catch Delta unvaccinated, you will have the highest chance of being hospitalized compared to almost any disease you have caught in your life."
Professor Shane Crotty, La Jolla Institute for Immunology

The UK version of the AstraZeneca vaccine will now be known as Vaxzevria in order to avoid confusion with the Indian version, Covishield.
Theirs is much easier to pronounce.

The UK made some late travel announcements on Friday.
Quarantine WILL REMAIN for vaccinated UK travellers returning from FRANCE - because they are concerned about the number of Beta Variant cases. The UK has had a few, but it's never managed to really break out into the community, and it is considered to be less responsive to vaccinations. Beta is the variant which has been plaguing South Africa for several months now.
(Anyone who is fully inoculated arriving from France – or who has been in the country for the past 10 days – after 19 July will still be able to leave quarantine after day five by using the “test to release” system.)
Despite this France will remain on the Amber List for now - and that is against scientific advice, it is a move that's been taken to try and keep people happy.

In other travel news:
- For all other Amber List countries, after Monday you won't have to quarantine on your return. You will still have to take a booked Day 2 Test.

France are actually quite unhappy about the UK decision to invent a new Travel List category for them. They say that although around 1/10 of their cases are Beta Variant, they're almost all on Reunion Island, and NOT mainland France.

The Telegraph is reporting that UK ministers have decided against vaccinating teenagers unless they are vulnerable or close to turning 18. As the UK Government usually drip information via this route if they want to gauge public opinion, I'd say they're trying to gauge public opinion. If you have an opinion, go and reply on their social media.

LOADS of people who attended the EURO 2020 football final have tested positive - and jokingly they've all been dubbed as having the "Wembley Variant". As one bloke pointed out on iNews, if you had tested positive a day or two before the final, would you really stay home? (I know people who wouldn't have stayed home if they were in hospital on oxygen.)
This was part of the government's trials for mass events, so the results should really be very exciting.

Famous People With COVID:
Sajid Javid - the shiny new UK Health Minister (I hope this isn't a human challenge trial for some Government propaganda purpose...)

Downing Street initially said that Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak wouldn't be self-isolating after being close contacts of Sajid, because they're 'taking part in a daily testing study'. The backlash on social media was pretty intense (ooooh yes it was), and before lunchtime today we were informed they will be isolating like normal people. By 2pm Boris had never even contemplated the idea.

Professor Neil Ferguson of the UK Government SAGE (Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies) was on the telly this morning. When he was asked about the potential for 100,000 cases a day, he replied:
"The real question is, do we get to double that or even higher?
And that’s where the crystal ball starts to fail. We could get to 2,000 hospitalisations a day, 200,000 cases a day, but it’s much less certain."
He also warned that we could end up with another half a million people with Long COVID.

Olympic Hopefuls:
Disaster. Only 4 days to go and 16 more cases have been reported that are linked to the Olympic Games. They include two media, seven contractors, five Olympics personnel, and of most concern, there are two cases at the athletes' village itself. This is where most of the 11,000 competitors will be staying. Both athletes are unnamed, but from the same event, same country, and an official for that event tested positive last Saturday.
8 members of Team GB, including 6 athletes, are self-isolating after someone who travelled on their plane tested positive. That person is an athlete from another team.
They are all being super cautious, but really struggling to keep the event COVID-free.

smallpox and the anti-vaxxers cartoon from the 1930's shows people walking off a cliff

To me 'Freedom Day' implies the removal of a dictatorship or a release from imprisonment. To a lot of people in England, being able to get up and walk to the bar to order a drink rather than use an app. feels like the same thing. There are a bazillion "Freedom Day" parties from midnight tonight, and several clubs and bars in Manchester alone intend to celebrate with a week of partying. If you've accepted your own chances of getting COVID and are ready to get back out there regardless, please at least be more careful with others who don't want to risk it. And if one of your mates doesn't want to join in, don't force them, because it could be the biggest regret you ever have.

I think the majority of UK schools have now closed for Summer, but some have a week left. Some pupils finished last week, private pupils finished a couple of weeks ago, and a significant proportion of remaining schools are closing early due to COVID. Personally with a year 6 and a year 7 at 2 different schools, and so many cases round here, I feel like we're in an Indiana Jones movie. The COVID ball is gaining speed and we have to reach the end of term before it splats us.
There can be literally no point removing the ruling about English secondary school pupils wearing masks at midnight tonight, unless you want to give COVID a last minute shove - which won't affect more than a couple of the Government minister's children. (It's a cull, I'm telling you.)
Many schools will not be ditching masks for the last week of term - and they have been given the authority to make that decision.

Tomorrow is the day the English Government truly are about to make history and shock the world. They're all watching, we're all living it.
COVID doesn't change at midnight.
I'm not particularly young or healthy, and I just don't fancy being ill - even if the likelihood is I would just feel rough for a few days. I'm not up for it right now. More than that, I don't want to pass it on, and risk making someone else very ill. I'll still sit in the garden when my mate visits, I'll still wear a mask in all shops, and I'll still be super careful not to stand too close to anyone I feel is more vulnerable to COVID.
And, as we KNOW this is going to happen, I shall watch those numbers climb without panic... quite a lot of disappointment and incredulity, but no panic.

No running on the stairs with scissors. Back Tuesday...

Some numbers. All know what it means to feel scared:

Countries / Cases / Losses of life (since midnight GMT. In larger countries some states /provinces have yet to report today):

UK 5,433,939 (+48,161) 128,708 (+25)

Indonesia 2,877,476 (+44,721) 73,582 (+1,093)

India 31,143,563 (+38,293) 414,126 (+486)

Russia 5,958,133 (+25,018) 148,419 (+764)

Iran 3,523,263 (+22,184) 87,161 (+195)

Mexico 2,654,699 (+12,631) 236,240 (+225)

Bangladesh 1,103,989 (+11,578) 17,894 (+225)

Thailand 403,386 (+11,397) 3,341 (+101)

Malaysia 916,561 (+10,710) 7,019 (+153)

Netherlands 1,798,570 (+10,135) 17,776 (+1)

Iraq 1,491,712 (+8,698) 17,830 (+41)

Cuba 281,887 (+6,279) 1,905 (+62)

Kazakhstan 488,905 (+5,493) 4,956 (+47)