June 21 2021

Do you think Boris Johnson really is a super spreader of confusion ? He stands accused of this again today even though he is in self Isolation following his long meeting with the Health Secretary who is now languishing in his home with Covid. The PM does seem to get somewhat flustered when answering questions and is often hesitant and vague. One of the clearest and most articulate at answering questions is our local man, Jonathan Van Tan. Or JVT as he is better known. He was here in Boston cheering on his favourite football team this week . As Deputy Chief Medical Officer we have not seen so much of him recently and his clear concise answers are missed.

Looking at the pattern of the daily statistics we do not seem to have seen a sudden rush of new infections after the Europa cup final that people were expecting. There is a slow steady overall rise but in the last few days even the numbers of new cases seem to be levelling off. Perhaps, just perhaps this peak is not going to be so large.

Yesterday there were 46k of new cases compared with 44k today. There were 54,000 new cases on Saturday and 48k on sunday and I suggested on Monday that this could just be the beginning of a downward trend.

Less than a million tests were processed today with just over a million yesterday. These figures have not really risen in the last five days.The number of deaths is more difficult to interpret. The figures at Weekends and Mondays are always low and Tuesdays usually the highest of the week. This has been exactly what has happened this week with 96 deaths yesterday falling to 73 today. The death rate is now 0.4/100k with 366 reported in the last 7days.

Hospital data is creeping up. There were 747 patients admitted in a single day on 14th July. With 4.5k admitted in the last week. The total number of Covid patients in hospital is 4,658 on 20th July. 618 were on a ventilator compared with 572 a week earlier.

Immunisation rates are rising a little, but the majority who want them, have now had at least one dose. 88.1% of the adult population have now had a first jab and 69.1% have had a second. We can and must keep going even if these percentages are only increasing 0.1% per day. Breaking news this afternoon is that Sir Keir Starmer is also now having to self-isolate after his son has tested positive for Covid. I wish him a rapid recovery.

In the USA they are seeing less new cases per day, currently 32,000 per day. However, 83% are due to the Delta variant.

5 million doses of Moderna vaccine which were offered to India have not been taken up because of a failure to fulfil the usual agreement to provide indemnity to vaccine manufacturers.

The latest rows in the UK centre around the Test and Trace application requiring people to self=isolate as a contact even though they are double vaccinated. Far too many people are being taken out of circulation unnecessarily. It is widely believed if they did daily lateral flow tests they could remain at work instead of going home.

Croatia has been added to the green list, the country does however require visitors from Britain to be fully vaccinated and to have a negative lateral flow test on arrival. The Balearic islands are now on the amber list. The BBC Proms are to open at full capacity this year but will require proof of double vaccine or a positive PCR in the last 180 days showing they have had the disease and a lateral flow test within 48 hours to show no current infection. This is a sensible way to use the so called Covid passports.

We can proceed with caution. It would seem the football did not have that great effect, hopefully the same will be true of the Grand Prix at Silverstone. We will know in a few more days.

Take as many precautions as you want to. There is no pressure to conform. My barber managed to cut my beard this week. He is extremely vulnerable and taking immunosuppressants. He was wearing both a mask and face shield. I wore a mask when not cutting under it. All went well until a middle aged man came into the shop maskless, and asked for a haircut. It was explained the barber was extremely vulnerable and he would cut his hair for him but he must wear a mask. They could provide one for the customer if required. The customer refused and said he would never wear a mask again and stormed out. A customer they could do without I think.

I am cautiously optimistic we may be approaching the peak of this wave a bit earlier then expected. It is still too early to say. Stick with the rules you are comfortable with respect others with their confusion and uncertainty. Let me know just how confused you are, how you are coping and what you make of all the claims and counter claims.?

I suggest keep your head down, stay out of trouble and stay safe.