I hope you are fully recovered soon.

Today's weekly data from the ONS survey. In the week ending 31 January 2023:

One in 65 people in England had Covid (last week one in 70)
One in 85 in Wales had Covid (last week one in 80)
One in 70 in Northern Ireland had Covid (last week one in 65)
One in 65 in Scotland had Covid (last week one in 70)

Weekly data:

England cases 3,976 (3,596 last Monday) - up 5% week on week
England deaths down 16.9% week on week
Patients admitted in England 949 (825 on the 6th)
Patients in hospital in England 7,209 (6,382 on the 8th)
Patients in ventilation beds 137 (117 on the 8th)
Autumn booster total by 8th February: 64.9% of those aged 50+

On the 22nd January BA.5 accounted for 4.8% of cases, BQ.1 37.5%, BA2.75 4.8% BA.2 1.9%, CH.1.1.1 30.6% and others 21.2%.

Today's weekly data from the ONS survey. In the week ending 7 February 2023:

One in 55 people in England had Covid (last week one in 65)
One in 65 in Wales had Covid (last week one in 85)
One in 80 in Northern Ireland had Covid (last week one in 70)
One in 55 in Scotland had Covid (last week one in 65)

Weekly data:

England cases 3,951 (4,503 last Monday) - up 20.9% week on week
England deaths down 19.5% week on week
Patients admitted in England 983 (949 on the 13th)
Patients in hospital in England 8,015 (7,209 on the 15th)
Patients in ventilation beds 164 (137 on the 15th)
Autumn booster total by 22nd February: 64.8% of those aged 50+

On the 22nd January BA.5 accounted for 3.3% of cases, BQ.1 34.7%, BA2.75 3.1% BA.2 1.7%, CH.1.1.1 26.4%, XBB.1.5 24.1% and others 6.8%.

Today's weekly data from the ONS survey. In the week ending 14 February 2023:

One in 45 people in England had Covid (last week one in 55)
One in 55 in Wales had Covid (last week one in 65)
One in 60 in Northern Ireland had Covid (last week one in 80)
One in 45 in Scotland had Covid (last week one in 55)

Weekly data:

England cases 3,758 (4,479 last Monday) - down 6.1% week on week
England deaths down 7.3% week on week
Patients admitted in England 933 (983 on the 20th)
Patients in hospital in England 7,507 (8,105 on the 22nd)
Patients in ventilation beds 175 (164 on the 22nd)
Autumn booster total by 1March: 64.8% of those aged 50+

On the 1st February BA.5 accounted for 2.3% of cases, BQ.1 21.9%, BA2.75 2.9% BA.2 1.9%, CH.1.1.1 27.3%, XBB.1.5 32.6% and others 11%.

Today's weekly data from the ONS survey. In the week ending 21 February 2023:

One in 45 people in England had Covid (last week one in 45)
One in 45 in Wales had Covid (last week one in 55)
One in 90 in Northern Ireland had Covid (last week one in 60)
One in 45 in Scotland had Covid (last week one in 45)

Weekly data:

England cases 4,133 (4,255 last Monday) - down 2.8% week on week
England deaths down 5.2% week on week
Patients admitted in England 1,039 (942 on the 28th)
Patients in hospital in England 7,655 (7,507 on the 1st)
Patients in ventilation beds 166 (175 on the 1st)
Autumn booster total by 8 March: 64.8% of those aged 50+

On the 12th February BA.5 accounted for 1.6% of cases, BQ.1 22.7%, BA2.75 2.7% BA.2 1.3%, CH.1.1 23.6%, XBB.1.5 36.8% and others 11.2%.

Today's weekly data from the ONS survey. In the week ending 28 February 2023:

One in 40 people in England had Covid (last week one in 45)
One in 45 in Wales had Covid (last week one in 45)
One in 75 in Northern Ireland had Covid (last week one in 90)
One in 40 in Scotland had Covid (last week one in 45)

Weekly data:

England cases 4,665 (4,509 last Monday) - up 6.5% week on week
England deaths up 1.8% week on week
Patients admitted in England 1,189 (1,045 on the 7th)
Patients in hospital in England 8,434 (7,655 on the 8th)
Patients in ventilation beds 184 (166 on the 8th)
Autumn booster total by 8 March: 64.7% of those aged 50+

On the 19th February BA.5 accounted for 1.1% of cases, BQ.1 16%, BA2.75 1.7% BA.2 1.9%, CH.1.1 22.2%, XBB.1.5 43.3% and others 13.9%.

Today's weekly data from the ONS survey. In the week ending 7 March 2023:

One in 40 people in England had Covid (last week one in 40)
One in 45 in Wales had Covid (last week one in 45)
One in 70 in Northern Ireland had Covid (last week one in 75)
One in 50 in Scotland had Covid (last week one in 40)

my partner in spain hospitalized this week with covid. he caught it six months ago from a work trip and is vaccinated but still it got him. hes ok now and super fit and healthy but its an unfortunate reminder that it can still get you!

I'm sure you are relieved that he is now OK. One of the things we are trying to do in England is to identify who is vulnerable, so we can target boosters and anti-virals more effectively. Some anti-virals have side effects worse than a modest infection but COVID-19 is a great one for springing surprises. For the elderly this isn't too problematic - at a given point most people's immune system starts to decline and so date of birth is as good a screening as anything to identify this. For those younger it can get a great deal more complicated, they may regard themselves as healthy - and in a way they are - but they may still have some vulnerabilities which wouldn't be much of an issue normally, but COVID and things like Pneumonia could result in them getting clobbered. We probably could do with getting a bit sharper on doing standard health checks and more detailed medical records on those over 40 years old. As it stands, for those basically healthy, their first wake up call is 2 days after their 58th or 60th birthday when the NHS sends a letter telling them about their bowel cancer screening kit en route to them.

Australia starts this at 50. Repeated every 2 years until 74.

We are also moving to 50, but it will take a few years to ramp up the testing infrastructure. It's 56 in the North East at the moment, we have the worst stats, and SW I think is still 60. And it's every 2 years after starting (hence the testing infrastructure is for an extra 5 tests per citizen).