Warming Up

No it's not a vintage Apple computer, but my steam cleaner warming up. Today was a day of small DIY projects and cleaning, plus I managed to book my xmas grocery delivery slot from Sainsbury's for 22nd Dec. Good to hear Joe Biden putting environmental issues high up on his agenda. 

Day 254 / Day 20 of Lockdown 2 (for my record only)
UK deaths up 608 to 55,838 (revised basis), with 11,299 new cases, 16,158 patients in hospital and 1,487 on ventilation (deaths higher on a Tues). Really good to see daily new cases down nearly 29% from a week ago and down 55% from the last day before lockdown 2. Total UK deaths with COVID on the death certificate is now over 71k. France is to ease lockdown restrictions at the weekend. The UK nations have agreed to common restrictions over xmas. Up to 3 households can form a 'xmas bubble' for 5 days between 23rd and 27th Dec and meet in a private home, a place of worship or outdoor public space. All travel restrictions across the UK will be lifted during this period. It's important to understand that the bubble cannot be changed, it's fixed and you can only be in the one bubble. If allowed under their local tier restrictions, people can meet others outside their bubble outdoors. As Nicola Sturgeon said though, despite these rules the overall aim is 'to limit your interaction' as the 'virus is not taking Christmas off'. The DoE reports that last Thurs, c876,000 children were absent from school due to COVID related reasons, that's 9-11%. From 15th Dec passengers arriving in England from high risk countries will only have to self-isolate for 5 days if they pay for a test at that time and it's negative - likely cost is between £65 and £120. Research by the BoE shows the risk of catching the virus through handling banknotes is low, you're more likely to catch it from handling a shopping trolley, PIN keypad, products or self service checkout terminals (on a £10 note the virus reduced to 5% after 6 hours and trace levels after 5 days).