A DIY Day

I did a lot of little tasks around the house today and also built the two cold frames that were delivered earlier this week. Just one dodgy bolt that needs replacing, perhaps my luck is turning!

Day 346 / Day 51 of Lockdown 3 (for my record only)
UK deaths up 323 to 122,070 (revised basis), with 9,985 new cases, 16,059 patients in hospital, 2,118 on ventilation and 1,142 new admissions. c18.7m have now received their first dose of the vaccine. Over 95% of over 70s have now had the jab in all regions of England except London (85%).  The NHS England says that 20% of adults have had a jab. The UK's 4 CMOs have said the Covid alert level should move down from Level 5 to Level 4, meaning the threat to the NHS and other health services being overwhelmed within 21 days has receded, but that transmission is still high. More surge testing is being deployed in Ealing and Redbridge in London after more cases of the South African variant are found. Case rates are falling in all age groups per PHE, with 30-39 year olds having the highest rate. Teachers will award exam grades to pupils in England based on a range of evidence. I was surprised that oversight by exam boards will not be per school but via random sampling, thus risking some credibility in the results. The Treasury says that 4.7M employees were furloughed at the end of Jan. 68,952 fines have been issued in England and Wales for breaching Covid lockdown rules, including 272 £10k fines for gatherings of more than 30 people and 402 fines for failing to self isolate after arriving from a country on the quarantine list. HMRC are sending 11,000 letters querying claims for self-employment support grants (24,000 sent last year) as they had previously told HMRC that they had stopped trading.