AOG: Toad Cross Country Race

It's very hot and humid for Day 6 of the toad cross country race. You join us half way through the long distance event, with two toads ahead of the main field. The older and more experienced Toni is on the left, in the lead at the moment but looking a bit daunted at the upcoming hill. Terri is beginning to close the gap and copes easily with the debris field. A thrilling race and we are yet to find out who triumphs in the end, youth or experience.

Day 144 / Full Day 136 of Lockdown / Day 34 of Step 3 (for my record only)
UK deaths up 49 to 46,413 with new daily cases up by 950. Globally cases to date pass 19m, again up 1m in 4 days. India passes 2m cases to date and the US 5m, and India had a huge 62,170 new cases today. In Germany people returning from places with high rates of the virus will be tested on arrival unless they have evidence of a negative test less than 2 days old. Research from 150,000 volunteers tested in England between 19/6 & 8/7 showed av no.s infected fell from 74k to 39k despite some lockdown easing (other info says rates have risen since). R rate in NI up to 0.8-1.8, although this could be disproportionately affected by small local clusters. Another appeal for those who've recovered from Covid to donate plasma for transfusion trials, particularly those who've been ill enough to require hospital treatment as they have more antibodies. BoE predicts that the economy will now shrink by 9.5% this year rather than the 14% forecast in May, but that it will take longer to recover. A Govt purchase of 50m FFP2 masks will not now be used by the NHS over concerns that they don't fit tightly enough. Unsurprisingly contract tracing by local health teams is more effective than by call centres (98% of close contacts reached vs 56%).