Boxing Among the Asters

A beautiful day today, so I took the opportunity to do two lots of washing and line dry it and finish off the jobs in the back garden. I also sent a parcel and got some rock salt in for Winter from the builders merchant. I've done most of the job outside now. 

Day 599 / Day 110 of Step 4 of Roadmap Easing (for my record only)
The R rate in England has dropped to 0.9 - 1.1, with a reduced daily infection rate of -1% to 2%. The ONS weekly infection survey of private households to 30th Oct shows 1 in 50 with the virus in England (unchanged), the SW remains the hotspot; 1 in 80 in Scotland (a tad down); 1 in 40 in Wales (unchanged); and 1 in 65 in NI (up). Europe is now experiencing a surge in Covid cases, with Germany reporting a daily record for new cases. The WHO says that Europe has seen over a 50% rise in cases in the last month and is 'back at the epicentre' of the pandemic. A trial of Pfizer's Covid antiviral pill was stopped early as it was found to cut the risk of hospitalisation by an amazing 89% as well as reducing death for adults at risk of developing severe disease. This appears better than molnupiravir, approved for use in the UK yesterday. The ONS report that 70% of people reported travelling to work in the past 7 days, and 33% reported working from home in the same period - sounds like the hybrid model is here to stay. The ONS also report that only 39% of adults always or often maintained social distancing when outside their home (91% in Feb 2021). I was surprised at the 80% of adults who reported wearing a face mask outside their home in the last 7 days - that's certainly not all the times the Govt recommends they do!!! A new public health campaign is encouraging us to 'stop Covid-19 hanging around' by opening windows for 10 mins each hour to ventilate the room (I just don't have people in my house!)