Number of people tested positive reported on 21 August 2021
Daily 32,058
Last 7 days 221,888
A fall but remaining very high.
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This time last year, the UK was slowly taking its first small steps into what would become the second wave of Covid-19. That led to tighter local restrictions and, ultimately, lockdowns across all the nations, which didn’t start to unravel until late spring 2021.
Case numbers now are more than 30 times higher than at the same point last year and are showing signs of climbing again. So what does this all mean and where might we be heading?
Let’s compare 20 August with this time last year. Case numbers are much higher now, at 37,314 this year, compared with 1,182 a year ago but what really matters now is the number of people becoming so ill that they need hospital treatment.
“It wouldn’t matter a jot if Covid caused a million cases a month if it didn’t make anybody sick. It’s the actual illnesses which have to drive what we do next,” said Prof Paul Hunter, from the University of East Anglia.
At the start of summer, we were warned that the lifting of restrictions, particularly those in England on 19 July, could lead to an increase in cases. But that didn’t happen and that’s why some might be surprised by the figures we’re seeing at the moment.
Prof Hunter said: “Pretty much everybody was predicting that cases would rocket and they fell. They sort of levelled off but are drifting up again and they’re drifting up in summer when viruses spread less readily.”
There is concern about what will happen in the autumn. But might we be nearing the end?
Prof Hunter feels we are, finally, nearing the “endemic equilibrium” - the point where cases are neither increasing nor falling. That’s because a large proportion of the UK population has developed a degree of protection against the virus. Office of National Statistics figures show more than nine in 10 adults in the UK now have antibodies to coronavirus, either through vaccination or having been infected with the virus.
Prof Hunter said: “I’m very confident that we’re not going to see anything like the amount of disease we saw last time round [in the autumn]. But it doesn’t mean that if we went back to living how we did two years ago that we won’t see cases increasing.”
But there are still many variables at play here which could alter things. With something as infectious as the Delta variant, it’s really hard to know for certain what will happen next.
So, not bad news but not good news either … 
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Number of people tested positive reported on 22 August 2021
Daily 32,253
Last 7 days 227,391
Similar to yesterday.
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Patients admitted to hospital
Latest data provided on 17 August 2021
Daily 948 Last 7 days 5,869
Rising.
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Number of people tested positive reported on 23 August 2021
Daily 31,914
Last 7 days 230,867
Similar to yesterday.
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Ruth Goldstein, deputy director of public health for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, said:
“At the moment, there are currently about 4,700 which could be linked to Boardmasters. These are people who have noted when they have had a PCR test, they have been associated to Boardmasters. We don’t know whether they have been camping, or to events on the beach, or to parties in the town put on by Boardmasters. Of those people, three-quarters of them are aged between 16 and 21, which is exactly the profile of the people who we know attend the festival.”
Three parts of Newquay now have the three highest Covid infection rates in England for the seven days up to 18 August:
Newquay East - 1806.1 cases per 100,000 people
Newquay West - 1418.3
St Columb Minor and Porth - 1354
The national average of neighbourhood areas within English local authorities is 308.
Obviously, there are a lot of variables to be considered when assessing numbers but there’s no doubt that currently, if you put 50,000 people together, even in the open air and with “safety features” built in, many of them (up to 10% in this case) will become infected with COVID-19.
Number of people tested positive reported on 24 August 2021
Daily 30,838 (including Mr & Mrs Fox)
Last 7 days 234,853
Slight fall.
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Number of people tested positive reported on 25 August 2021
Daily 35,847
Last 7 days 236,796
Substantial rise …
Covid-19 cases in the south west of England are “by far” the highest among 15-24 year olds, according to Public Health England (PHE).
Prof Mike Wade, deputy regional director, said this age bracket had 1,700 cases per 100,000. He said there had also been an increase among those aged 60 and over.
The latest PHE figures show the South West has a rate of 461 cases per 100,000 - the highest rate across the English regions. The South West covers Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Avon, and Wiltshire.
Prof Wade said while there had been “small increases” in the number of people in hospital with Covid-19 in the South West, Covid-related deaths remained low. Speaking at a briefing on Wednesday afternoon, he said the latest figures showed just over 5,000 cases could possibly be linked to the Boardmasters festival held in Newquay - an increase from 4,700 on Monday.
Not good news …
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Reading Festival is returning after it and its sister event Leeds Festival were cancelled last year.
Headliners include Stormzy at the event from 27 to 29 August.
Festival Republic managing director Melvin Benn said he was thrilled to be able to put on the event after “the worst 18 months” for teenagers.
Reading Borough Council said more than 100,000 revellers are expected to attend the three-day event in Richfield Avenue.
Describing the pandemic, Mr Benn called it “the worst 18 months for that generation almost since the invention of the teenager in the late 50s when teenagers became a thing”.
“I think the festival will be a real emotional time for them all, and very pleased to be able to host it for them,” he said.
Ticket holders will have to demonstrate proof of full vaccination, proof of a negative NHS lateral flow test, or proof of natural immunity.
It comes after more than 1,000 people later tested positive at Latitude Festival in Suffolk - also organised by Festival Republic - according to government figures. About 150,000 attended the four-day event.
Speaking on the Covid figures, Mr Benn said Latitude went “really well” and he thought Reading “will be the same” in line with expected figures.
BIB Let’s hope so …
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Number of people tested positive reported on 26 August 2021
Daily 38,281
Last 7 days 238,505
Substantial rise …
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This is the third time this week a new record has been set.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the sharp rise was a “cause for concern” - but the Scottish government was not currently considering the introduction of a circuit breaker lockdown. However, she stressed the importance of everyone “playing their part” in halting the spread of the virus.
It could just be the schools re-starting but … 
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Coronavirus case rates rising in all UK nations
Summary
Coronavirus rates are increasing across all four UK nations, according to the latest estimates from the Office for National Statistics
- One in 80 people in the UK would have tested positive in the week up to 20 August - just over 860,000 people
- The rate of one in 40 people in Northern Ireland having the virus last week is the highest since the ONS began estimates last October
- In England the rate is one in 70, in Wales it’s one in 120 and the rate for Scotland is one person in 140 testing positive
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Number of people tested positive reported on 27 August 2021
Daily 38,046
Last 7 days 239,237
Remaining extremely high …
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A crowd of around 50,000 fans will be inside Ibrox for Sunday’s match between Rangers and Celtic.
The 3,000-capacity SEC Armadillo venue will also reopen for concerts for the first time since last March.
Health experts are warning fans and organisers to be extra vigilant after daily Covid cases hit a record high of 6,835 on Friday. That total was more than 1,800 above the previous highest figure.
Scotland’s national clinical director, Prof Jason Leitch, said he was “delighted” that people were once again going to football stadiums, music concerts and festivals. But he said there was an obligation on organisers and the public to make events as safe as possible.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said on Friday that the sharp rise in case numbers was a “cause for concern”. She insisted the Scottish government was not currently considering the introduction of a circuit breaker lockdown.
Well, there were 5,000 new cases from the 50,000 who attended the Newquay Boardmasters festival, but that was over several days and attendees were, effectively, living together … 
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Number of people tested positive reported on 28 August 2021
Daily 32,406
Last 7 days 239,585
Substantial drop but remaining high …
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Yes, still very high indeed. It feels that no progress has been made at all since last year. I was hoping for some improvement but it seems we are treading water. 
(Albeit limiting the numbers of deaths from Covid…)
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Let’s compare 20 August with this time last year.
Case numbers are much higher now, at 37,314 this year, compared with 1,182 a year ago.
The numbers admitted to hospital or dying are also both higher than last year. However, this still reflects how far we’ve come with vaccination - if there had been 37,000 cases a day last summer it would have had a severe impact on the NHS. Instead jabs are saving lives.
The number of reported cases also means something different today. Last year almost every positive case was a person with a cough, fever or loss of sense of smell or taste.
Now, because of increased testing for events and trips abroad, we’re picking up people without symptoms, too.
Sadly, although deaths and hospitalisations are relatively low, they are not insignificant:
Deaths
Deaths within 28 days of positive test
Last 7 days 785
Healthcare
Patients admitted
Latest data provided on 24 August 2021
Last 7 days 6,294
I hope that those attending events this weekend are fully vaccinated/tested … 
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Number of people tested positive reported on 29 August 2021
Daily 33,196
Last 7 days 240,528
Slight increase and remaining high …
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