Virus numbers in UK?

[OssieShowman]

Hi, I am in Aus. We have no coronavirus in Victoria. Most states are the same. Life has gone back to nearly normal. Social distancing, But no masks needed, unless visiting a nursing home.
Our lockdown were harsh. But well worth it.

I am interested in how things are in Uk at the moment. We don’t hear much about it.
Are the numbers dropping now that the vaccine is out.
The vaccine here has been very slow. And now delayed. Only health workers have been getting it.
Wishing everyone the best and hope we see an end to this.

Here's the dashboard. Yes numbers are down. The data thread has lots of other links.

coronavirus.data.gov.uk

Numbers are still very high from an Australian perspective, but massively lower than they were back in January, and far lower than almost all
of Europe which is undergoing a third wave.

This site is useful:

www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/#countries

Cases are coming down and down all the time which is promising. It’s been a very long, hard winter for all of us though! We’ve been incredibly jealous of our Australian friends who have been sharing all their fun in the sun on FB.

The situation in Australia is massively different to most of the world... We're looking at our numbers with relief, the having come down 30-fold... But had Australia had a fraction of the numbers we now have, you'd be in the strictest lockdown!

Cases are now the lowest in Europe bar only Iceland and Portugal. Deaths have fallen even faster thanks to the vaccine rollout. Schools have been back for a while without any major outbreaks as a result. Everything is slowly opening.

Cases are the lowest they have been for a while, they are probably high by Australia standards but from our point of view they are looking good. They are still falling slowly.

Schools reopened to all pupils here on 8th March and we are now allowed to meet in groups of 6 outdoors. Indoor mixing is still banned though. Everything non essential has been shut since December but from Monday non essential shops are allowed to open, along with gyms, hairdressers, pub gardens and outdoor attractions.

Most indoor activities are still not allowed. Dining indoors in restaurants, cinemas, hotels, meeting people indoors will not be permitted to happen until at least mid May. Large crowded events like festivals not until the end of June at the earliest. Foreign travel is banned and probably will be for a while, although this is still under consideration.

The vaccination programme is going well, officially we are still on the over 50s group but lots of people in their 40s are being called now. There is expected to be a bit of a delay over the coming weeks but we are aiming to have all adults over 18 vaccinated by the end of July.

We are just emerging now from a very harsh lockdown that started just after new year. It’s been a tough few months but everything is looking up now. Good vaccination rates and hospital numbers are vastly down from the peak. Hopefully we will have a really good summer while the scientists tweak the vaccine for the variants and boosters are due to be given in the autumn I think ready for next winter.

Since schools reopened 4 weeks ago, the fall in cases has slowed down, but not stopped altogether. The rate of deaths has continued to fall uninterrupted, 25-35% per week. The scientists are now saying that they are seeing the effects of the vaccine rollout. That gives me hope, because I really, really want to get back to normal things like seeing my family and going to concerts, but I also really really don’t want thousands more people to die.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-56663969

Cases, deaths and hospitalisations are down here, and we are beginning to open up. Vaccine program going very well and starting to take effect.

@OssieShowman I have a question for you. Australia has done very well at keeping out covid so far. Given that the majority of the world isn’t going for zero covid, and the vaccines aren’t 100% effective, what is Australia going to do about opening up again to the rest of the world? Surely once boarders are open covid will just race through the population who have no immunity?

Interesting question about borders.

Over the bow ... once travel starts again, it is likely to appear again. No one wants another lockdown. Australians are starting to return home, to a 2 week quarantine in hotels. This has failed terribly the last 2 times it was tried. 3rd time starting now. So hopefully all the issues have been dealt with.
The vaccine roll out has been very slow.

Happy to hear that cases and deaths are down. It’s been a long hard winter.
And population of 26 mill is far different to UK and Europe.

The media here is reporting we will be at herd immunity level by Monday. Whether that is true or not who knows but we have a good amount of the population vaccinated and with antibodies.

Cases are dropping and we’re heading in the summer.

Obviously Australia would have been preferable over the last year though. I guess over there you will have to be very cautious opening borders for many years to come? Or until you have vaccination levels high.