Oh indeed. The government shut down all the testing stations and started charging for kits, then, all of a sudden, the numbers looked a lot better.

I still have kits but haven't used one in a while (think I had a bit of a cough) and a friend said she used one today because she was feeling off, but other than that...

Is this a SubGenius reference?

Ah yes, I meant to flag that up - our immunity is waning and we could get a surge when schools go back before any vaccine program is rolled out. I assume they'll offer a yearly one round about the same time as the flu jabs but it's not something I am aware of bring scheduled.

He isn't concerned about this variant, which is a little different. However, it's currently not officially a variant of concern:

As of now, Eris is not currently listed as a variant of concern, with Dr Mary Ramsay, Head of Immunisation at the UK Health Security Agency stating: “We continue to see a rise in Covid-19 cases in this week’s report.

“We have also seen a small rise in hospital admission rates in most age groups, particularly among the elderly. Overall levels of admission still remain extremely low and we are not currently seeing a similar increase in ICU admissions. We will continue to monitor these rates closely.”

Source

There is some concern that it'll take off when schools go back.

They buried the lede though:

Speaking to the MailOnline, Professor Lawrence Young, a virologist at Warwick University said that the rise in cases could be down to the recent horrific weather, and a rise in people going to the cinema after the release of Barbie and Oppenheimer.

So, it's all Barbenheimer's fault! It should have a health warning on it!

I hear early rumours that Saw Patrol can give you Ebola. Or something.