Our covid cases have peaked. Endemic?

Unfortunately, no. That's not the way that natural selection in viruses works, especially not a virus of zoonotic origin like this one that can potentially bounce between animal and human hosts. It's really just a crap shoot.

Hope is a fabulous thing to have at this point in the pandemic, so I hate to shoot you down, but viruses are gonna virus and keep mutating as long as they have hosts that they can infect. I see a lot of people spreading this idea, but it really doesn't follow the science.

The no more testing isn't true. Not sure where you got that info from. We are still testing and are encouraged to still do so.
It's true that mask mandates in schools for the 11 year olds and over have been lifted as of today. 
Other mandatory mask-wearing  ( in indoor venues such as shops, cinemas, theatres etc and public transport ) and COVID certification needed for theatres and football games and such like,  will also end from Thursday of next week
They've lifted the request to work from home if it was possible so now everyone can return to offices.

Self isolation rules are still in place but will end before March 24th ( the date the mandate originally lasted until) Our rules have to be approved by parliament and have to have an end day to them, either  for reconsideration/renewal or to end them altogether depending on the science and data they have at the time.

The above decisions have been taken as things are here in the UK at the moment and should a new more severe mutation appear then things could very well be totally different.
We do have a very high level of vaccination uptake in the UK and more importantly a very high uptake of the booster ( 63.7% of the population) especially by the older age groups and the more vulnerable and it seems as if it's worked. This is reflected in the low number of hospital admissions. Most of them unvaccinated.

It isn't prudent to compare one country with another though as every country is at a different stage of this pandemic.

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 The situation is bad in the UK - 

I hate quoting statistics like this , it is so sad , each number is a life lost leaving a grieving family.
 
below is a quote from this news article -

www.itv.com/news/2022-01-17/almost-85000-daily-covid-cases-and-85-deaths-reported-in-uk

“ A further 84,429 people in the UK have tested positive for Covid in the last 24-hour reporting period.

The latest government data represents a 42% drop in positive cases over the past seven days.
However, the number of deaths within 28 days of testing positive from the virus have increased by 39%, likely due to a lag between a Covid infection and death. 85 people died as of Thursday, which brings the UK's total death toll to 150,075.

Separate figures published by the Office for National Statistics show there have been 176,000 deaths registered in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate”


 

How much do Boris Johnson’s troubles have to do with the lifting of restrictions in the UK?

Non, they were due to be reviewed anyhow yesterday. We knew that from when they announced plan B  weeks ago. Same as the March 24th date for isolations.
All restrictions that have been put in place at various stages of the pandemic has to be approved by parliament and they have to have an "end" date for reviewing them and in turn either extend them until a further date depending on the data or let them end on that " end" date.

Just to clarify - Boris doesn't have executive powers in the same way as your President does so he couldn't make or removed conditions without the agreement of parliament. And to be fair both sides have been in agreement for most of the restrictions we've had to endure throughout this pandemic. They might argue about other policies but they have worked together in so far as the health of the nations is concerned.

You are correct, there is still a lot of useful info to be gained from testing, including quick identification of any potential new variants.


I hope so too. She was vaxxed and boostered, too. And she still got really sick, so I’m grateful she had them. They suspect residual pulmonary embolism, but won’t know until the CT scan is done, and with hospitals being busy there, she couldn’t get that till next Monday. They sent her home with injectable blood thinners and antibiotics for her bronchitis till then.

Actually, the number of people whose Covid is incidental (like, they went in for a broken arm and found they had covid) is very, very small. Even if people are “dying with” covid, it is often because the covid has made their other condition worse. Don’t be sucked in to that particular lie.

It is sad that people admitted to Hospital for non-covid reasons caught it during their stay.

This link is 9 months old but states over 40,000 people have had hospital-acquired Covid. Some of whom sadly lost their lives.

 www.theguardian.com/society/2021/mar/26/40600-people-likely-caught-covid-while-hospital-inpatients-in-england

The numbers of current hospital admissions are much higher than previous years before the pandemic by comparison.

Our Hospital is on black alert for the very first time in it’s history.

Ambulances are being replaced by the military as they can no longer cope.

People with heart attacks are told to get family members to drive them to hospital instead of calling an ambulance.

We aren’t, either. 22% positivity rate and 📈and 3,000 new cases a day - which we weren’t even close to doing during our Nov 2020 surge. 😕

There was an article in the Independent recently that covered a leaked e-mail from the NHS National Health Service in England . The email in question was warning regional Hospitals to underplay the Covid crisis and not to declare critical incidents . Fortunately some Hospitals have chosen to be truthful and not given into bullying.


This is a link to that article via msn.

 www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/nhs-accused-of-bullying-hospitals-into-silence-over-scale-of-crisis/ar-AASyT61

quotes 


“NHS leaders accused of ‘bullying’ hospitals into silence over scale of Covid crisis

 NHS leaders have been accused of downplaying the impact of the Covid crisis and putting hospitals under scrutiny for declaring critical incidents and postponing surgeries.

A leaked email urges hospitals to use the “correct terminology” and make NHS leaders aware when declaring their status.

Sources said the message was a “thinly veiled threat” and that there was “subtle pressure” amid the rapid spread of Omicron.

At least 24 trusts have declared critical incidents this week, including one in Northamptonshire on Friday afternoon, while new figures show a 59 per cent rise in staff absences in just seven days.

Trusts in London were told hospitals will be scrutinised for declaring a critical incident if there is “doubt” over the decision, according to an internal email sent from NHS England on Wednesday”