Deaths still under control
UK covid cases hit a four-month high of 16,705 yesterday and remained elevated at 15,810 today. They have steadily increased from 3200 on June as the delta variant circulates.
This is still a long ways off from the +60K numbers in January but headed in the wrong direction.
Hospitalizations are also rising with 1485 people in hospital. Deaths yesterday were 18 which is far from the approximately 1300 peak in January. I suspect that's what officials are focused on as younger people get the virus. Some require hospitalization but most can fight it off.
I still don't think this derails the reopening but nearly 44m of the 56m adults in the UK have gotten at least one dose of the (mostly) Astra-Zeneca vaccine. Percentages are lower in London though and that's worrisome. What mostly bothers me though is the potential for the delta variant to cause problems globally especially in places where MRNA vaccines aren't available and in schools.
In Israel, the town of Binyamina, became the country's first "red" location for several months, after the appearance of 122 active cases, reflecting a surge in lockdowns that has been identified around schools. A local report said that in two schools, there were nine fully-vaccinated teachers who contracted the virus.
