Insect Day

It really hotted up this afternoon and all the insects decided to make an appearance in my garden, including a lot of flying ants. The collage is of two of the insects I got a photo of, a grasshopper (I think) and a dragonfly. Having got a towel wash dry in less than an hour, I managed to sit out for a couple of half hours before my Sainsbury's delivery arrived. I'm reading a book on my kindle about building a wildlife pond and have started listening to the last of the Wolf Hall trilogy on Audible. 

Day 137 / Full Day 129 of Lockdown / Day 27 of Step 3 (for my record only)
UK deaths up 38 to 45,999 with new daily cases up by 846 (the rolling no. of new cases is going up). Deaths in Brazil passed 90k yesterday with new daily deaths in Brazil & the US of c1,500. Boris warns of the virus 'bubbling up' in up to 30 areas and the self-isolation period across the UK is extended from 7 to 10 days (goodness knows why it was ever 7 - we should always follow WHO advice as a minimum). England is the country with the highest number of excess deaths in Europe in H1 (18 countries provided data), with Scotland third, Wales 5th & NI 8th - maps show the virus seeded across the UK more than it did in other countries. Travellers returning to England and Scotland from Luxembourg will have to quarantine for 14 days. Jet2 tells travellers in Spain to return early as they can't keep sending out empty planes. 

A letter leaked to Sky News reveals that the largest independent provider of social care won't have access to another round of testing for most of its homes in England for 5 weeks due to issues with a test from one supplier. Sandwell has the 7th highest case rate in England and has introduced its own contract tracing system in frustration with the Govt scheme. A new law has been introduced to ensure workers made redundant have redundancy pay based on their normal wage, not furlough wage. Tui is to close 166 stores in the UK & Ireland.