COVID-19 Coronavirus UK and World News Update 29th / 30th / 31st December 2021

COVID-19 Coronavirus UK and World News Update 29th / 30th / 31st December 2021

UK Daily Statistics:
Cases: 12,937,886 (+189,846)
In Hospital on Wednesday 29th Dec: 11,918
Using A Ventilator on Wednesday: 868
Losses of Life: 148,624 (+203)
Tests: 1,507,040
Vaccinations 1st Dose: 51,771,384 (90% of UK aged 12+)
Vaccinations 2nd Dose: 47,412,181 (82.4%)
Boosted: 33,924,738 (59%)

Area: Cases last 7 days / Rate per 100,000 population
Wales: 40,266 / 1,270.4
Scotland: 60,071 / 1,099
Northern Ireland: 26,014 / 1,372.4
England: 714,700 / 1,263.8

Rep. Of Ireland: 788,559 (+20,110) cases and 5,912 losses of life.

World: 287,555,450 reported cases and 5,449,799 losses of life.

"As expected, T cell immunity holding up better against Omicron. This will protect us against severe disease. Please get vaccinated if you haven't!"
Dr Soumya Swaminathan, Chief Scientist at the World Health Organisation. 

COVID-19 Coronavirus UK and World News Update 29th December 2020.

COVID-19 Coronavirus UK and World News Update 29th December 2020.

The UK added 53,135 new cases today and now has reported a total of 2,382,865 positive cases of COVID-19. We completed 357,238 tests yesterday. 

People in hospital with COVID on the UK Government dashboard hasn't been updated since 22,286 on 22nd December.
PHE reported 20,426 yesterday in England alone, up from 15,053 a fortnight earlier. 

In the 24 hours up until 5pm yesterday, we officially reported the loss of another 414 people who have tested positive to COVID-19 within 28 days. We now very sadly have a total of 71,567 officially reported losses of life in all settings. 

Rep. Of Ireland 86,894 cases and 2,205 losses of life. (Not yet reported today.) 

There have now been a total of 81,994,887 reported cases worldwide. The number of people who have lost their lives worldwide to COVID-19 is 1,787,952. Already 58,039,145 people have recovered.

Yes. Whatever words you exclaimed when you saw 53,000 new UK cases today, I agree. Totally. I wish I could offer some comfort, but the UK reported 41,000 new cases yesterday. Although there will be some Christmas 'catch up', it doesn't cover it. We knew this was coming. Straighten your skirt, look straight ahead, deep breath, and let's keep going. We can do this.

The UK now has more people hospitalised due to COVID than during the first peak in Spring 2020. The hospital situation in London is under pressure and getting an increasing amount of press this afternoon, as hospital staff speak out. They are shattered and demoralised, and they have already been asked to take on extra shifts to cover workload over Christmas and New Year. 

An Oxford Paramedic has appeared on Sky News this afternoon stating that 'Ambulances are queuing outside of hospitals, patients are being cared for in the ambulances and there are patients out in the community that don't get an ambulance response because there's simply none left to send.' 
There have been mention of triage tents being set up temporarily outside some hospitals. 

January #TBCSmiles

It's January, yeeay! All of my family are finally back at school and work - we are better! Yeeay! I've taken it easy getting back to writing, partly because I was so blooming tired after the flu, partly because my kids were off school, and partly because it made me too ill to take anything for my high blood pressure for 2 weeks, so my eyesight has suffered. The ripple effect is massive.

We are now playing catch up with just about everything. The boxes from all the deliveries before Christmas still fill my hallway and we owe one of the big kids their main Christmas present. The van didn't go to the garage and is now off-the-road waiting for it's brakes to be fixed. We still have Christmas goodies that need to be eaten and best before dates are getting incredibly close. As a bonus the LEGO Winter Village is still all out, something none of us are actually upset about (it definitely doesn't count as a Christmas decoration really).... and we are all well and that's the main thing.

Disappointingly we've had no snow to fill this month's photos. It's cold and slippy, but it forces changes to mundane routine and gets everyone's adrenaline pumping. It excites us and as nature shows it's power, it takes our mind off everything smaller. Instead the weather has reflected the mood of the nation in many ways. Dismal, poor and a bit blustery at times. Boring.

The Top 7 Tag: 2018/2019

2019 is here with a bit of a blur for me. I seem to have fallen into it rather than the usual meandering approach through Christmas, possibly because I've slept more in the last 3 weeks than I did in the previous 3 months. Back to Earth with a bang, and a little reflection on the year just gone.

I've been invited to join in with the Top 7 tag by Laura from Tired Mummy Of Two. It was started by One Frazzled Mum and asks me to look back at 2018. To share my favourite 7 blog posts, 7 things I loved about 2018 and 7 things I'm looking forward to in 2019. Then I get to tag 7 other bloggers to take part.

Goodbye 2017

Goodbye 2017 and do you know what, you weren't too hard on us. When I started this blog (5 years and 1 day ago - Happy Birthday The Brick Castle) I had no idea that it would record the hardest, most stressful and saddest years of my life. The time when I really grew up. We are still here and fighting fit, and I hope your Christmas was as good as ours.

Five years ago we had a bunch of teenagers and 2 little kids. Now we have 4 adult children (3 of whom have moved out), a 7 year old and a 9 year old almost as tall as I am. Our family has evolved rapidly, as we always knew it would, and the blog has gone from Orchard Toys and picture books to drones and chapter books - but the LEGO remains.

Losing Elspeth will always be one of the biggest influences in our children's lives. They will always have a sister who isn't there, experiences they'll never have, jokes they should have been able to share. They'll always see that empty chair, but they are all learning to live with that.

Our children's lives are spread out ahead of them and they can all see a way forward. There is more value in that than I could ever express in words. They are all reaching out for the possibilities ahead and my heart bursts with pride at how strong they've become. It is always worth carrying on, you have the potential to be a great person.

Goodbye 2016...

Another year over and sadly I won't really miss that one either.

2016 was the year the world turned inside out. We prematurely lost David Bowie to Cancer on January 10th and, as predicted, the fabric of the universe silently and steadily began to unravel.

While the over 25's were still in shock, Cancer came for Alan Rickman, Hogwart's Professor Snape, so that the under 25's could also wander around stunned and at a loss. Just in case any UK demographic felt left out, before January was ended, long-standing Radio DJ and presenter of Children in Need for 36 years, Sir Terry Wogan was also taken. And it all pretty much carried on that way all year...

Goodbye 2015...

I can't say I'll miss you either. Hello to 2016...

I'm really hoping that this year will be the turn around. Not for a moment 3 years ago did I expect my personal posts to end up making so many people cry. I didn't think I'd be documenting the hardest 3 years of my life, and that of my partner and children.

I guess that you can only keep wading through the mud for so long, and during the second half of 2015 we tripped over quite spectacularly.

Lost My Name Book Giveaway and Free Children's Newspaper!

Lost My Name are a company I first worked with nearly 2 years ago. Since then they've gone from strength to strength, with over a million copies of their first book now sold and a second book also topping the tables.

The Lost My Name books are different enough to really stand out as special, even before you consider the amazing artwork. Lost My Name take personalised gift books to a whole new level.