Party!

It was my friend T’s wedding reception / party today. As expected with T, she’d added a few twists, so there were Morris dancers, a piper, a close up magician and she’d had caricatures done of the guests that we were given (see Extras). Her husband D gave a great speech too. Just fabulous.

Day 508 / Day 19 of Step 4 of Roadmap Easing (for my record only)
In the rollercoaster we're on, daily cases have gone up for the last 3 days, up 47% on 4 days ago. The UK has recorded over 6m confirmed covid cases since the pandemic began. England's R no. has fallen to 0.8 to 1.1. To w/e 31/7, the ONS infection survey of private households shows 1 in 75 with the virus in England (down), 1 in 230 in Wales (down), 1 in 120 in Scotland (down), 1 in 55 in NI (up). The PM is not isolating despite taking a flight with a member of staff who's since tested positive as he says he was not in close contact. There's been a large rise in cases in the UK's armed forces. PHE say that initial findings show people who're vaccinated and get the delta variant have similar levels of virus to those unvaccinated, which may have an impact on transmission. Researchers say there's a clear link between the rise in Covid cases in men in Scotland and the Euros, then the decline when Scotland exited the competition.