Things are getting worse. A more infectious strain of the virus has appeared in Britain, particularly in the South-east.
On Thursday the government announced parts of London and the Home Counties were to be elevated to Tier 3 from Saturday. On Saturday there was another announcement; London and many of the surrounding counties were placed in the newly created "tier 4". The restrictions in these areas are similar to the previous lockdown, non-essential services and shops must close. For the moment, Sussex is in Tier 2, but we are all but surrounded by areas in Tier 4.
The government reduced the relaxation on restrictions for Christmas, along with advice that we shouldn't relax at all. These relaxations were always a stupid idea anyway, we will stay away from our family for a while.
Many countries have banned people from entering from U.K. That has meant some Europeans currently in UK here can not get home.
They have begun to distribute the vaccine. We still don't know how long it will take to vaccinate enough of the population to make it effective.
Christmas is coming. There are a few areas with mass Christmas decorations put out to raise money for Food Banks. The number of people without enough food to eat is rising. We must not forget how lucky we are.
We went to the beach to watch the solstice sunrise this morning. It was predictably wet and overcast; no chance of seeing the sun. The date reminds me that restrictions started near the Spring equinox. We have been dealing with this for over 9 months.