At least about a third of the population in most places wouldn't have had it...

As far as I am aware. So's my wife and she works in a school.

My wife has avoided it while living with me and taking no particular precautions when I have had it twice.

I've avoided ever having a PCR test.

I was only required to do a lateral flow test once, after my international travel in Oct 2021. But that was not actually enforced and a photo of a test kit was the only "proof" required.

The only other times I've done lateral flows were because my wife thought we should before visiting her mum.

As I mentioned before I probably had it in Feb 2020. I don't believe I've had it since then although when reading the symptoms of Long Covid I find most of them apply to me. I get tired more easily and it takes longer to recover after exertion, also my taste has changed as I'm now able to eat things that used to disgust me completely (like mayonnaise and excessively creamy soups / pasta sauces, though I still don't prefer such things). But these could just be symptoms of getting old.

Are you also noticing that the police are looking younger? I think we can nail this one if you are! :)

Many of my colleagues work in hospital cliniques and have been exposed multiple times , a few have them have not got it (even when the whole of the rest of the family have).

It does seem currently that it's luck of the draw, more than anything else, which leads to an infection, or avoiding an infection. I suppose I'm fatalistic about it, but my principal concern is not getting it ahead of something I really want to do.

Yes I have. I am amazed I have actually to be honest traveling since covid started full time March 2020 all over.

Yeah, it sucks when that happens. 2 years or so wife and I never had gotten it, then tested before we were going to fly for a long vacation/cruise and wife tested positive - and it was a strong positive, line appearing immediately. Hadn't really had any symptoms that would make you think covid. Two days later I tested positive and basically had the same symptoms I'd have for any cold I normally get in the winter every year. I actually started testing clear 3 days after the positive, although I'm still not feeling 100% (mainly easily fatigued), wife took a while to test clear.

Guess that was the vacation that was just not intended to be. Originally started out as 30 day baltic/iceland cruise, we canceled that a while back because we were concerned about how open things were going to be still, and then shortly after that ukraine happened. So we switched to an 11 day alaska cruise with some stuff before and after, and didn't get to do that, but realistically, some of the places we were going to visit on the after turned out they still weren't going to be open for hte season yet and/or had gotten flooded out. Someone was just telling us we weren't getting a vacation this yet.

Some England data, which is now only updated weekly on Wednesdays. There is not much to be happy about here. The number of people in mechanical ventilation beds is still quite low compared with the peaks of the last few years.

England cases 28,028 (21,772 last Monday)
England deaths up 13.2% week on week
Patients admitted in England 1,911 (1,438 on the 27th)
Patients in hospital in England 11,465 (8,587 on the 29th)
Patients in ventilation beds 217 (200 on the 29th)
Vaccinated up to and including 5 July 2022:
First dose: 45,095,923
Second dose: 42,216,234
Booster: 33,242,682

Some of the worse affected parts of the UK, principally Scotland are showing signs of improvement. The situation in Wales is unknown and will have to wait for the ONS on Friday. The Isle of Wight may now be the worst affected area of the UK.

Catching up on this thread, I thought my second bout of Covid and the resultant LFTs in April might be of interest as a comparison to that described by @corporate-wage-slave.

My LFTs by comparison:
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...dcf86d29c9.png

My partner tested positive on Sat 2nd (99% sure contracted on Thursday 31st after eating in a confined space near someone who then was positive on Friday - it's fine wearing well fitted FFP2 masks as a medical professional but at some point in a 12-13 hour shift you need to eat, and it isn't always possible to go outside. There should to be far more attention paid to ventilation IMO, especially in spaces like that in hospitals).

All images were taken shortly after the requisite time advised by the test kit, so I had to stitch them together later - apologies for the slightly different lighting!

I was clear on Sunday 3rd (a German LFT that I had with me; it is possible that the sensitivity is different - I think it used a smaller swab and didn't say anything about tonsil-swabbing, though I generally tried to do that anyhow), then tested positive on the Monday morning - the undated one in the image above. On Thursday 7th it looked like the line was marginally less strong, and although I had quite a nasty cough and a bit of a headache I thought perhaps it would be the turning point.

However, the line came back with a vengeance the following day, and I had 4 days (Fri 8th - Mon 11th) where it was very considerably thicker/darker than the control. The cough eased off after a couple of days, though the sore throat and headache remained. And then overnight, it almost vanished on Tuesday 12th and was completely gone by 13th. I tested again the following day before I met someone outside - they are a carer for someone who is CEV - and I gave it a couple more days before family members who by virtue of age/health conditions are also more at risk.

So all told, 9 days of testing positive. I would not have been comfortable meeting people between days 5 and 10 when the line was pretty much the strongest. IIRC at the time the advice was to isolate for 5 days.

Many UK universities have their graduation ceremonies at the moment, and you tend to have lots of proud parents and other older relatives attending them - often in very stuffy halls and reception venues - before going out for celebratory meals etc. There are, as far as I can tell, no ventilation-type mitigations in place at any of the organisations I have links to.

Today's weekly data from the ONS survey. In the week ending 29-30th June 2022:

One in 25 people in England had Covid (last week one in 30)
One in 20 in Wales had Covid (last week one in 30)
One in 19 in Northern Ireland had Covid (last week one in 25)
One in 17 in Scotland had Covid (last week one in 18)

Anecdotal. Colleague’s wife works as a nurse at a major hospital. Positive at the moment. The hospital? Lots of positive patients; one in ICU specifically for COVID. We can’t say a worse strain will not come along. I think we can say that for most of us, it’s over. For the time being.

Would also appreciate predictions on when to expect the all clear. This is my first time, triple vax (actually five times, but ...), old, and negative on the day before (not shown). I think I picked it up standing in the massively overcrowded immigration arrivals hall at LHR Weds morning 6Jul for an hour. The 14 hours prior, I was on a long transatlantic in a pod seat, and immediately after I went home by car and saw no one else apart from my partner who has tested negative every day since. I would guess that about 30% of people in the arrivals queue around me were masked (I amused myself by counting the 50 people ahead and 50 people behind in the snaking line).

It's been pretty terrible for me, cycling through a variety of symptoms that seem to randomly come and go for several hours, chills, running nose, blocked nose, tachycardia, massive headaches, body ache, wet coughs, dry coughs, nausea, wobbliness. However, never a fever and saturation 98+, I know that's classed as mild since I didn't go to ER, but far worse than any cold I've ever had, and probably worse than flu, although I can't remember the last time I had flu. The coughing is violent and keeps me from sleeping - it reminds me of the whopping cough I had several years ago which was also very unpleasant.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...1ff3b6fc4a.jpg
test

Some mid weed data from today's release:

England cases 24,229 (30,254 last Monday)
England deaths 31 (102) (up 32.6% week on week)
Patients admitted in England 2,005 (1,911 on the 4th)
Patients in hospital in England 13,741 (11,465 on the 6th)
Patients in ventilation beds 274 (217 on the 6th)
Vaccinated up to and including 12 July 2022:
First dose: 45,116,682
Second dose: 42,283,095
Booster: 33,288,143

There is some sign in the figures that we are at the peak of the current wave.