Feed the Birds

I so enjoyed my walk along the nearly empty seafront at Sheringham on Sunday that I went back this morning (I wear my mask all the time when out now). This chap was feeding the birds, I suspect it's a daily event. I couldn't get right to the end of the promenade as it was cordoned off for the planning and removal of a dead 12m juvenile sperm whale that washed up on Monday. The poor thing is thought to be part of a pod stranded on the Yorkshire coast on xmas eve. Instead I went up the steps to the cliff top and walked along the coast path. (I have added a photo of the whale as an Extra looking down from the cliff top to show the size of it, but you may prefer not to look). [Sheringham is our next town, so I'm seeing that as 'local' given all NT properties are open which you generally drive to, but it's not defined anywhere]. 

Day 299 / Day 4 of Lockdown 3 (for my record only)
UK deaths up 1,325 (a new record, but partly attributed to late reporting) to 79,833 (revised basis) (now passing Italy again), with 68,053 new cases (a new record, yesterday's no. was clearly a low blip), 31,624 patients in hospital (a new record), 2,929 on ventilation (up 51% in 9 days) and 3,867 new admissions (a new record) - truly really awful numbers and trends, the worst daily numbers for any major country per capita at the moment. The R no. has risen to 1-1.4 with a daily growth rate of 0 to 6%. The press are reporting the ONS as saying there are as many as 150,000 new infections a day, during the first peak it was thought to be c100,000. The only positive is that we are 7th in the list of counties that have vaccinated the highest percentage of their population. Total deaths in Brazil pass 200,000, and 130,000 in Mexico. The London Mayor has declared a 'major incident' due to 'immense pressure on an already stretched NHS' with 1 in 30 people in London with the virus. Firefighters may be called in to drive ambulances. UK regulators approve the Moderna vaccine and we've ordered another 10m doses to the 7m already ordered, but these won't arrive until March.