The COVID passport was used in Germany in theory since May (more or less) but in practice this was not used : each county set the incidence rate threshold for which it should be used, when the threshold was crossed, there was between zero check by establishments owner or very basic (you could shoyw any QR code or a test from a month ago). Between the months of June and November my QR code was read only once, despite eating out regularly and going to the gym. So for the doubters there was no incentive.
A month ago it became suddenly checked properly: reading the QR code with a reader app and double check via a personal ID).

There were two reasons for the red listing, slowing down case numbers so you can manage the situation better (and that clearly was of limited benefit given the variant's virulence); also the precautionary principle of when you're not sure, you try to prevent the situation getting worse, and we're probably getting past that stage now. I've never favoured hotel incarceration, we've have cases of infection which could only have happened in the hotels which would not have happened if there was home isolation. Home isolation with the reasonable fear of being checked and publicly shamed via prosecution would have been more effective, even if this was more perception than reality. But the obvious point is that you can't really stop UK and Irish citizens entering their own countries but you can make it so damn expensive that they seriously consider whether their journey is really necessary. However the way that then seeded through to Joe Public getting concerned that their annual jaunt to the Costa Brava could result in a similar outcome, has damaged the travel industry way out of proportion to the non-existent public health benefit.

So is the UK, btw, that's why some of us are here.

Back to Elland Road this morning. Moderna booster, am now triple moderna’d. There can’t be many of us around.

I think once I have come back for my sixth booster I can get enough stamps to complete my card and get a free coffee.

You are the 12,063rd such individual in England. So a little bit special. Mostly in Yorkshire incidentally.

After the three doses it auto-converts to a biannual subscription, I believe...:)

We are getting holiday greeting cards here "Happy holidays to our subscribers" from Pfizer, lol...joking...

With a personal interest in this, I had to cancel for the 4th time, my planned 9 Dec trip down to SA due to our excellent red list rearing its head again.

The red list served no purpose, except increase the angry ,and indeed quite often, now hostile, feelings of folk down in SA as it caused, yet again, no end of problems for their tourist industry, with many many cancellations - this was felt parrticularly for those in local guide/ranger jobs in the conservation/hospitality sector.

Mr Tulio de Oliveira, Director of CERI, and others, have been scathing in their comments about how the Brits rushed to return the red list again in an almost knee jerk reaction last month (the cynic in me suggests as a result of a political slow reaction to the India episode earlier in the year). Brits represent one of the largest group of visitors to SA, and their absence was very much felt, especially when other countries started permitting travel again, and we remained with our good ol' red list.

At the beginning, ok, I sort of understood, but SA remained on the list for most of the year. Utterly pointless. It wasn't even the red list per se, but the ridiculous hotel quarantine that was the killer for most everyone. An utter farce, that served no purpose other than to line the pockets of some business not fit to run a p*ss up in a brewery.

And if that makes me an 'irresponsible' and 'selfish'person for thinking this, then so be it. I have sat on my backside for 2 years now, doing everything asked of me. Just as folk enjoy going to the pub/theatre/football/shopping/*insert here, I enjoy the solitude of solo travel into the bush to observe wildlife. Just me and my camera. That's it, nothing more. So noone tell me that I am selfish for thinking this way. Life is for living, not existing. Am I angry at the pointlessness of hotel Q, the loss of livelihoods, the way the travel/aviation industry here has been affected? You 'betcha'.

Spare a thought for the folks travelling to/from Nigeria. The country was red-listed, what, December 5th? And then removed on the 14th. Talk about fact-based, science-led, clear and unambiguous information!

The whole UK covid travel rules have proven to be a total waste of time and money - first with delta variant and now with omicron. I cannot see any evidence they have slowed transmission as in both cases the UK lead or is leading the European wave for each variant.

Yep, with you on that too. All it's done is cause a lot of unnecessary anxiety and uncertainty for many travellers, esp those with family/friends in other countries, when there was no real need to. It's a damn shame for all concerned.

We live in such a global community now, that closing borders can have a real impact on folk. What I find concerning, is we, as a society, seem to have lost our ability to empathise with others when circumstances suddenly change through no fault of their own.

My symptoms are basically gone, just occasional runny nose. LFT was still positive yesterday, but I can't do any more until Saturday to see if I can get out of isolation early. Ordering more tests seems pretty much impossible atm.
Don't mean to belittle Covid or people who are in hospital, but for me it was like a bad manflu (not that there has ever been a recorded case of mild manflu), worst thing was numb joint ache, but painkillers worked for that. I haven't had the booster yet and my second AZ was in the beginning of July, but they did seem to work, considering I'm not really a poster boy for healthy lifestyle.
Luckily people I was in contact in days leading to my positive test haven't developed any symptoms and are testing negative.
NHS PCR that I ordered on Sunday evening arrived Tuesday lunchtime, I took the test immediately and dropped into Priority Post Box, Royal Mail made the delivery before midnight. Impressive. Got the result (positive as expected) yesterday 10pm. Before that NHS app said that I can use my Covid certificate again on 29th, now it has changed to 31st. Does every reported positive test restart the 10 day countdown?
About two mile roundtrip I took to post the test wore me out completely though, I felt like I just did a marathon or two. And before anyone says anything, it is allowed to go out to post the kit, I kept my mask on and stayed well away from other pedestrians.
Now... Test&Trace....
After reporting positive LFT I was surprised that I wasn't asked about my contacts, but naturally I notified anyone I had knowingly been in contact with.
Received an invitation to fill out a form today 8:15am. I reported positive test on Sunday around 10pm...
So I filled the form, bit of a PITA. Like providing details of your workplace, including address and what kind of business it is. And then later get asked did I go to workplace two days before positive test and have to fill out same details again.
Or getting asked names, phone numbers and email addresses of people I was nearer than 1 metre for more than 1 minute in Sainsbury's.. It's a b****y Sainsbury's, full of strangers climbing over each other.
Got a feedback from one of the close contacts, within minutes of me submitting the form she received a text saying she has to self isolate. I thought contact are not required to isolate unless they develop symptoms?
For those getting pinged after flights - they wanted to know any trips abroad I had taken between 7th and 19th. I took a flight on 11th and was asked which cabin I flew in and what was my actual seat number in case it differs from booked seat. Maybe they don't ping whole plane after all?

I'm sure this is not the entirely right place for this question, but given the level of knowledge here I thought I might ask. I am one of the lucky ones currently isolating with Covid - symptoms are mild and I had already had my booster so feeling very grateful for that. My isolation is due to end December 27th (and this is a generous estimate as both myself and my contact tracer are sure I have been sick since long before it was confirmed, and my first PCR test was lost and I waited nearly five days to finally receive my result). Currently still testing positive on lateral flows and have slight cold symptoms.

I would like to return home to my family in Germany as soon as it makes sense, but due to the latest travel restrictions I am now being asked to provide a negative PCR test. This is a worry for me because it is my understanding that those can come back positive for weeks after recovery and I am desperate to get out and get home ASAP. I would like to give the PCR test a try on the 28th/29th but am wondering what happens if I test positive again - another 10 day quarantine? Also, does anyone know how long I would have to wait to return negative if that one were to come back positive?

Positive for weeks might happen but is an exception. More than 90% of mild cases are negative after 10 days of symptom offset and around 98% at 14 days.

Yes. See CWS's rebuttal to my comment above about this. The risk seems small (and, I guess, might be smaller with Omicron).

Daily data:

Cases 119,789 (88,376 last Thursday)
Deaths 147 (146)
Patients admitted 1,004 (850 on the 12th)
Patients in hospital 8,216 (7,603 on the 15th)
Patients in ventilation beds 842 (886 on the 15th)
People vaccinated up to and including 22 December 2021:
First dose: 51,617,091
Second dose: 47,210,053
Booster: 31,684,926

The rolling seven day daily average for cases is now up 53.3% on the previous week and the same measure for deaths is down 2.4%. The rolling 7 day daily average for deaths is 112.0 today.