So quite a large jump in reported cases this week, across most age groups and council areas.
The number of new tests reported also increased again. I wasn't sure if we'd see many more increases like this at this point, with testing access so limited.
Deaths from the virus were thankfully down a little bit this week.
Although excess deaths were unfortunately up, and were 12% above average for this time of the year. That is the highest they've been since the middle of January.
And lastly, the hospital figures are unfortunately still increasing too.
Both sets of figures (current inpatients and new admissions) are nearing the peaks they reached back at the beginning of January.
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So a pretty big fall in Scotland, but not too much change in England/Wales/Northern Ireland.
Within England, rates are only currently rising in the North West and Yorkshire & The Humber regions. They're highest in the North East, but rates there have stopped increasing now.
And looking at age groups within England, it is a bit up and down again. It is only the 70+ group that has consistently stayed on the same trend, and rates there are currently the highest by quite a distance, sadly.
Yesterday I had the honour of attending Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II's funeral at Westminster Abbey.
It is hard to put the experience into words. At times it felt like a momentous celebration of her life, and at other times it was just a really somber goodbye.
I was invited along with 182 others because I was a recipient of an MBE in this year's Queens Birthday Honours.
I will forever be grateful to the Royal Family for inviting me to be a part of such an important occasion, and allowing me to pay my respects to such a special person.
Like most, I had never met the Queen. But she was always there as a constant, calm presence in my life.
Whether speaking to us through her annual Christmas messages, or in times of crisis, she was always there to provide comfort, soothe our minds, and help guide us forward.
Having a lazy day today, so I thought I would share a thread discussing some of the data still being released, and what I think is the most useful to look at when trying to assess risk the current situation (primarily focusing on Scotland)! 🧵
So obviously testing is waaaay down. We're currently averaging about 22,000 tests a day, down from about 150,000 a day at the start of the year.
Most people aren't eligible for free tests anymore (just the groups shown below), and private tests aren't included in the figures.
Meaning the tests (and cases) still being reported are from people using up their stockpile of LFTs, and those in the previously shown tweet.
Once the stockpiles are used up, I'm hoping the testing numbers will level out, and from there case figures will become more useful again
As of today, Northern Ireland will no longer be releasing any case or death data, so going forward those figures on the page will just be for England / Scotland / Wales.
When I started this page, I was 24... and now I'm 27 😮
Can't believe it has been going on that long! 😅
But as it has been a while, I thought I would share a thread about the page and where it is going... 🧵
Back in February, I was hoping to switch to weekly updates in March and then scale back further in May. Evidently, that didn't happen..
With case rates spiking so much, and the general anxiety surrounding the lifting of restrictions, I didn't think it was appropriate to do that.
For most people (especially after the vaccination rollout), the virus isn't as much of a concern anymore, and checking the figures every day isn't all that useful.
That is reflected when I look at the page traffic, which is at its lowest level since 2020! 📉