Late Sun at Weybourne

A really beautiful day here today. This morning I was in Sheringham early for a dental check up and had a few things to get from the shops. It was so lovely that after lunch I drove to Weybourne for a coastal walk. I have to remember not to leave it too late to start the walk at this time of year, the sun was disappearing behind the dunes at 2:45pm. After weeks of dull, cold and wet weather, it was so nice to see the nice, blue skies, nice temperature and calm blue seas. 

Day 639 / Day 6 of Plan B (for my record only)
The UK recorded the highest number of daily cases since the pandemic began - 78,610. Dr Jenny Harries (Head of the UKHSA) referred to the growth we will see in the next few days as 'staggering' compared to other variants and that the doubling time for Omicron in most areas is now under 2 days. She told a Govt committee that Omicron is the 'most significant threat to public health since the start of the pandemic', and that the NHS could be in 'serious peril'. There were 4,671 identified Omicron cases today, nearly double that of yesterday, and it's now dominant in London. Boris gave another briefing this afternoon with a new slogan (order?) - 'Get Boosted Now'. Over 18's can now book their booster online and 12-15 year olds can book their 2nd jab from Monday. Royal Mail is doubling the number of LFT kits it will deliver from Saturday. In the data update, the CMO said that 'records will be broken a lot over the next few weeks'. He also said we have 2 epidemics, one on top of the other (Delta and Omicron). He said that it's likely that most in hospital with Covid from xmas onwards will have Omicron. He warned about misinterpretation of data from South Africa as they have more people jabbed now than in previous waves, so their immunity has increased and infections will be milder and hospitalisations fewer because of that, also their age profile is different. He also stated what should be obvious, that with a very high peak, people will get ill simultaneously, including doctors and nurses, which will have an impact on providing care. Good news was that some extra protection from boosters kicks in within a week. There was also a call for volunteers to help the vaccination programme. The CMO in response to questions, said that this is a really serious threat and that he thought people were prioritising their social contacts, which is the right and sensible thing to do. It was clear that the medical representatives at the briefing gave sensible answers about socialising, xmas and parties, and gave us a realistic view of the next few weeks, whereas Boris was upbeat about boosters, refused to recommend reducing social contacts and not have parties, simply repeating the normal mantras about testing, masks, hand washing, ventilation. It looked like he was completely abdicating responsibility and the contrast with the others at the podium was striking. The CMO's best quote - 'you don't need a medical degree' to know it is sensible to avoid social contact when there is an infectious virus around. There was a rebellion of 99 Tory MPs over Covid passes in England last night - very bizarre in the context of the huge wave coming right now. The PM announced the Chair of the COVID-19 public inquiry will be Baroness Heather Hallett. Covid deaths in the US have now passed 800,000.