The Bees are Back

The heather is out and the bees are back. I was doing some things in the (very cold) garden this morning and I could also hear a woodpecker nearby, and at one point got a very fleeting glimpse. I had a nice phone catch up with G this afternoon. 

Day 354 / Day 59 of Lockdown 3 (for my record only)
UK deaths up 236 to 124,261 (revised basis), with 5,947 new cases,11,492 patients in hospital, 1,590 on ventilation and 811 new admissions. The UK R rate is now 0.7 - 0.9, but 0.7-1.0 in NE and Yorkshire. The UK growth rate is -5% to -3%, slightly worse than last week. Hospitalisations are down 29% in the last week and new cases are down 34%, the largest falls since the pandemic started and clearly the impact of the vaccination programme. The weekly ONS infection survey for w/e 27/2 shows big falls, with rates in private households now 1 in 220 in England, 1 in 285 in Wales, 1 in 325 in NI and 1 in 335 in Scotland.  21.4m have now received their first dose of the vaccine and 1m have had their second dose, meaning 40% of the UK adult population have now had a vaccine dose. The missing person with the Brazil variant has now been found in Croydon, and the 'best evidence' is that the person stayed at home and there is no evidence of onward transmission, but to be safe more testing will be undertaken in Croydon. Last night a recommended 1% pay rise for NHS staff in England was announced, which understandably has gone down extremely badly in the circumstances (I wonder if a 1 year only 5 days extra annual leave would be a compromise as the Govt says 1% is all that can be afforded and it is the only public sector area to get a pay rise). From Monday, Britons travelling abroad will have to carry a form setting out why they are travelling under lockdown rules, or face a £200 fine - about time! A study by Which found prices have gone up in 10 of the UK's most visited beach destinations by an average of 35% due to the demand for staycations.