Ice, Ice, Baby

A bitterly cold day today with a heavy frost this morning. More jobs done round the house today, I didn't fancy a walk in the wind given how cold it was. This was the ice on the mini pond. Djokovic was not allowed to enter Australia today, it seems the requirements for the State are less onerous than those to enter the country. He has appealed and will find out on Monday whether he can stay and defend his title or be deported - I can't say I'm surprised. 

Day 661 / Day 28 of Plan B (for my record only)
The number of new cases was down today to 179,756. Patients admitted to hospital has shot up by 64.7% in the last 7 days (2,078 reported admitted today, similar to early Feb) and deaths in the last 7 days are 1,074, up 56.1%. Italy reported 219,441 new cases today and has now made vaccination mandatory for everyone over 50. Yesterday France reported 332,252 new cases and the US 704,661 new cases. Unsurprisingly over 2.5m new cases were reported globally yesterday (over 2.5 times more that previous global highs), but with 7.551 deaths (less than half previous global highs). The latest update from the UKHSA shows the uptake of boosters slowing, and whilst c90% of over 70s have had the booster, only a quarter of under 30's have. The NW is now the epicentre for Covid hospital admissions. NHS England says that fewer than half of adults in some of the biggest cities have received a third dose. A steep rise in hospitalisations in the over 85s has been reported, with rates also up sharply in the 75-84s. Boris talked today of anti-vaxxers spreading 'mumbo jumbo'. No.10 says the definition of 'fully vaccinated' is under review. The ONS has reported that as of 6th Dec, c1.3m people in the UK were experiencing self-reported long Covid with 40% having been infected at least a year ago and 64% saying their symptoms affected their daily activities. PHE reports the UK's positivity rate on testing was 9.26% on 5th Jan - the WHO says that for a pandemic to be under control is should be below 5%.