There has been a significant downturn in avian influenza cases since the beginning of November. Case rates peaked at over six a day in mid-October, but are now running at less than one a day, the majority of those being backyard flocks: the housing order for kept birds in England and Wales is seen as a contributing factor. Epidemiologists still predict another peak and are genuinely perplexed as to why we have not seen one yet, as there is a sustained increase in winter cases in wild bird carcasses. Housing orders and good biosecurity by commercial flock owners no doubt continue to play their part. Thank God for His mercy and continue to pray for His protection as the upturn threat is still anticipated for our wild bird colonies.

Humanitarian workers Andrew Bagshaw and Christopher Parry were last seen on 6 January heading to Soledar, where fighting is intense. The Foreign Office is supporting their families. Christopher travelled to Ukraine to help people to evacuate Bakhmut, in the eastern Donbas region. He recently described having a ‘drive to help, as the people here are so lovely’. He spoke of continuous bombardment as he worked near the front line. Andrew wrote in his online crowdfunding page for vehicle repairs, fuel and equipment to help evacuate civilians. He also has been helping children and families to flee the front line, delivering food and medicines and assisting elderly people move away from the battlefront. On 13 January the Russian Wagner group said it had found the body of one of the two missing men in eastern Ukraine. The Foreign Office has not confirmed the claim and is in touch with Ukrainian authorities. See

One patient’s time in A & E: ‘I witnessed the devastation of thirteen years of government underfunding of emergency care. After I phoned 111 they told me to travel immediately to my local hospital’s emergency department. They booked me in for a 9pm arrival time. I imagined I would be seen then but there were sixteen ambulances waiting to offload their patients. The waiting room was a vision of hell. Every chair was occupied. Sick people looking dangerously unwell leaned against walls; the wait went on and on for all of us. I was seen by a doctor at 3am. During those six hours, I witnessed a man with what appeared to be cardiac symptoms collapsed onto the floor, possibly from a heart attack. A toddler was screaming “It hurts, it hurts!” for almost three hours without a break. It was devastating to hear. When I asked a nurse if this was an especially busy night, she said, “This is a quiet one”.’

Health secretary Steve Barclay will hold another round of talks with union leaders ahead of planned strikes by nurses. Whitehall said ministers were working on options for resolving the strikes, which could include a one-off payment to reflect cost of living pressures. They recognised that union leaders ‘have to get something for this year’ before they will consider calling off the current wave of industrial action. What level of payment might be offered, and how it could be funded, is not yet clear. There are also concerns that any payment to resolve the health dispute would set a precedent for other sectors facing industrial strife, including education and transport, potentially landing the taxpayer with a bill running into billions of pounds. The moves came as 25,000 ambulance workers staged a second day of walkouts and unions warned they could boycott talks on the next pay round in April.