Sunbathing

Another hot and sunny day, with the PHE extreme heat warning to last until Friday. I spent some time this morning sunbathing in the garden and listening to my audiobook. I took a few photos of the birds, including this Robin that popped out of the hedge and sat down on the fence in the sun - also see Extra. I watched a Zoom Arts Society talk this afternoon on jewellery from 1890 to 1929 by Andrew Prince who made the jewellery for Downton Abbey. A very enjoyable talk including explaining how the jewellery had to represent the time, character traits, their age and their status. He showed us photos of  wives of rich American men who would wear jewellery worth many millions of dollars in today's terms to show their wealth. In the background I had my tv on mute with billionaire Jeff Bezos going briefly 'into Space' in his own rocket, a week after billionaire Richard Branson went 'into Space' in his own rocket. Part impressive, and part obscene. My audiobook is Vaxxers by Prof Sarah Gilbert and Dr Catherine Green, telling the story of the development of the Oxford AZ vaccine. The heroes I'd rather celebrate. If you're interested, you can hear the abridged version on the BBC at  https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000xz33

Day 491 / Day 2 of Step 4 of Roadmap Easing (for my record only)
To be exempt from self isolation if in close contact with someone testing positive, employers will have to apply to the Govt to get critical workers approved for the exemption. Businesses say it's confusing and want clarification. A business minister told Times Radio that it's a decision for individuals and employers re whether to self isolate if pinged by the app - shortly after Downing St issued a statement saying 'it is crucial people isolate when they are told to do so, either by NHS Test and Trace or by the NHS Covid app' - unbelievably poor communication. Over 1m children in England were absent from school on 15/7 for coronavirus related reasons (most being asked to self isolate). A YouGov poll reports that 20% of people have switched off contract tracing or bluetooth on the NHS Covid-19 app and 10% set up then deleted the app. Research in India suggests that excess deaths could be as high as 4m, which is 10 times the official Covid figure.