I don’t get it either - today’s cases total is as bad as the worst day of the “second wave”, 10th November - 27,417 - and in a couple of weeks time it’s the end of lockdown … :shock:
12 people a day are still dying from the virus, 200 a day are being hospitalised and, while 23,270 people have formally logged “long Covid” with their GP, the recent React study estimated about 2,000,000 people may have had long-lasting symptoms after Covid.
I’m shaking my head in despair, at these figures, Omah…I have no words. 
Its just a really sad situation, with no apparent end to it.
Indeed it is … 
And HERE IS THE GOOD NEWS!
How jabs have tamed the third wave: Just one in 100 NHS beds now taken up by Covid patients in England compared to one in six at start of second surge in December
EXCLUSIVE: Fourteen times fewer beds are being taken up by Covid patients than in the middle of December
Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty told a cabinet briefing that the NHS can cope with hospitalisations now
The cautious expert said delaying Freedom Day any further than July 19 would result in a worse winter wave
Well there you go misery guts. 
Quoted by that nice Christopher Whitty…
How jabs have tamed the third wave: Just one in 100 NHS beds now taken up by Covid patients in England compared to one in six at start of second surge in December
EXCLUSIVE: Fourteen times fewer beds are being taken up by Covid patients than in the middle of December
Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty told a cabinet briefing that the NHS can cope with hospitalisations now
The cautious expert said delaying Freedom Day any further than July 19 would result in a worse winter wave
[CENTER]…[/CENTER]
So if all the beds are not been taken by covid patients, why are a lot of hospitals choc o block with patients? In the summer as well?
Barnsley hospital has actually closed due to the overwhelming influx of patients, several other Yorkshire hospitals are also reporting record numbers of patients, unprecedented at this time of year, and the Yorkshire air ambulance is stretched to the maximum…
Even down London way…My nextdoor neighbour took ill while visiting her sister in London yesterday and was taken to hospital, she was kept on a trolley in the corridor for over ten hours because there were no beds available…
The excuse given on the BBC news was because due to lockdown more people were doing DIY jobs at home and injuring themselves…How come the same thing didn’t happen last year when the country was shut down proper and there were a lot more people at home?
Maybe because of all those who had their treatment cancelled at the height of the pandemic.
A lot of operations and treatment of patients had to be cancelled to cope with the Covid patients, Bob.
Thanks to the folk having vaccinations to help control Covid, they are now able to catch up on some of the cancelled ops and treatments.
But why would they have needed the Yorkshire Air Ambulance to deliver them for routine surgery? And why is it A&E that is collapsing under the weight? If they are routine procedures somebody has screwed up by filling all the hospital beds throughout England, what if there are emergencies like my neighbour? Something not right here…
What aren’t they telling us?
Football in pubs link to Tamworth Covid outibreak
Football fans out watching Euro 2020 games are being linked to a town’s rapid rise in Covid-19 infections.
A sports bar in Tamworth has been asked to close after several cases amongst visitors and the council said most testing positive were aged 18-34.
Cases started to rise after the England versus Scotland match on 18 June.
Tamworth recorded the biggest increase in cases of any English local authority area between the week to 19 June and the week to 26 June.
Numbers testing positive increased five-fold, from 54 the previous week to 293. It recorded its highest number of cases on 28 June, when 93 were identified.
The area now has the 11th-highest infection rate in the country, with a rate of 382 cases per 100,000 people.
Dr Richard Harling, director for Health and Care at Staffordshire County Council, said: “The outbreak in Tamworth is mainly among the 18-34 age group, who are likely to go out and drink especially when there is an England game on. With the majority of cases being the Delta Variant, having lots of people mixing would give a good opportunity for the virus to spread.”
There’s many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip … :shock:
So young folk have tested positive, chances are they didn’t have a vaccine, but have any been hospitalised Omah? If the answer is no, why don’t we allow them to build natural immunity? It will last far longer, be more efficient with other variants than the immunity from the vaccines, won’t need topping up every few months and it’s natural…
With case numbers rising exponentially, particularly among the (mostly unvaccinated) young, “allowing them to build natural immunity” seems to be exactly what’s happening, whether it’s government policy or not … :!:
Only time will tell whether one type of immunity is “better” than another … 
A further 27,989 confirmed cases in the UK were announced by the government on Thursday … :shock:
That’s 146,360 in the last 7 days … :!:
The latest figures on hospitalisation are :
Patients admitted daily 259
Patients in hospital 1,795
Patients on ventilation 287
A further 27,125 confirmed cases in the UK were announced by the government on Friday … :shock:
That’s 157,675 in the last 7 days … :!:
Deaths and hospitalisations rates are increasing, too.
A further 24,885 confirmed cases in the UK were announced by the government on Saturday … :shock:
That’s 164,290 in the last 7 days … :!:
The hospitalisations rate is approaching 400 a day … :shock:
Bullish Boris Johnson to axe face mask laws
Boris Johnson has signed off on plans to end the compulsory wearing of face masks from July 19, The Telegraph understands, as the Prime Minister prepares to declare this week that the link between Covid-19 infections and hospitalisations has finally been broken.
Mr Johnson is expected to lay out a blueprint for how England will live with the virus, as ministers prepare to replace swathes of legal restrictions with a call for “common sense” and “personal responsibility”.
As part of the move, the Government is expected to ditch the compulsory wearing of masks, along with the one-metre-plus rule that pubs and restaurants have warned is crippling them.
The legal requirement for customers to sign in at bars, restaurants and other venues using QR codes or by handing over contact details is also due to be dropped.
Currently, there is a legal requirement for people to wear face coverings on public transport and in shops. That is expected to be dropped in favour of guidance suggesting the use of face coverings in enclosed spaces.
IIRC, the point of wearing a face “covering” for members of the public is to prevent them passing on the COVID-19 virus if they are infected. It is NOT intended to protect the wearer from infection, although that risk may be lowered.
So, BJ will be permitting all and sundry to mix maskless and in close proximity to unwary mask-wearers without let or hindrance … :!:
Of course, there will be infections, as BJ well knows, but he’s banking on the benefit for business against a few thousand in hospital and a million or more dealing with symptoms themselves …
Well, as is being discussed on another thread about whether masks are being ditched or not, I shall continue to wear mine, and if anyone comments about it, I can make faces at them with impunity! :twisted:
Good for you … 
Writing in the Mail on Sunday, Health Secretary Sajid Javid said there was a compelling argument that easing Covid restrictions was needed for the country’s health.
Mr Javid said: “The economic arguments for opening up are well known, but for me, the health arguments are equally compelling. Rules that we have had to put in place have caused a shocking rise in domestic violence and a terrible impact on so many people’s mental health,” he added. We also need to be clear that cases are going to rise significantly*. I know many people will be cautious about the easing of restrictions - that’s completely understandable. But no date we choose will ever come without risk, so we have to take a broad and balanced view. We are going to have to learn to accept the existence of Covid and find ways to cope with it - just as we already do with flu.
Mr Javid warned the backlog facing the NHS would get “far worse before it gets better”, as millions of people had avoided coming forward for healthcare during the pandemic. “We protected the NHS to make sure it was there for everyone who needed care. The steps we took saved countless lives but also led to the build-up of a vast ‘elective’ backlog - checks, appointments and treatments for all the less urgent, but often just as important, health issues.”
A further 24,248 confirmed cases in the UK were announced by the government on Saturday … :shock:
That’s 173,662 in the last 7 days … :!:
A further 27,334 confirmed cases in the UK were announced by the government on Monday … :shock:
That’s 178,128 in the last 7 days * … :!:
At an average seeming to settle at 25,000 that would extrapolate to 750,000 over the next month, a figure likely to be surpassed once masks are off and holidays begin … 
