Articles in Accessibility

1 in 53 people in England now infected. 6 infected people in a busy supermarket. Risk of meeting someone with Covid rising, remaining Very High.

Covid-19 Risk Assessment: Week Ending 14 August 2023

The risk of meeting a Covid-infected person in your everyday life continues to rise. With around 1 in every 53 people in England now infected with Covid, the risk remains Very High. (This is also the rate and risk for Bucks). There also has been a sharp increase in the number of hospital patients infected with Covid.

As an example of the risk of catching Covid, a typical busy supermarket will have between 4 and 8 infected people breathing out virus which you could catch.

Hospitals and GP practices remain the most dangerous places to catch Covid. NHS staff are now required to work even if they have Covid and there are no Covid precautions in place at most NHS buildings. Do avoid hospitals and GP practices unless your visit is essential and wear a tight-fitted filter mask (FFP2 or FFP3) all the time if you have to go there.

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1 in 57 people in England now infected. 5 infected people in a busy supermarket. Risk of meeting someone with Covid rising, remaining Very High.

Covid-19 Risk Assessment: Week Ending 7 August 2023

The risk of meeting a Covid-infected person in your everyday life is continuing to increase. With around 1 in every 57 people in England infected with Covid, the risk remains Very High. (This is also the rate and risk for Bucks).

As an example of the risk of catching Covid, a typical busy supermarket will have between 4 and 7 infected people breathing out virus which you could catch.

This increase in Covid infections marks the end of the “summer lull”. Risk levels have now returned to the level seen in the spring of this year. It is likely that Covid infections will now continue to increase over the rest of the summer and into the autumn. While it is too early to tell, we may be about to see a rapid increase caused by the spread of a new variant, EG.5.1, to which most people will not have immunity.

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Volunteer at the Towersey Festival

Do you want to help support disabled people and get to attend an amazing event? BuDS is looking for event volunteers for the Towersey Festival on the Claydon Estate, north Bucks, from 23rd – 29th August.


Towersey Festival is the UK’s longest-running independent festival, devoted to creating a ‘true community of music, creativity, friendship, and fun’. Established in 1965, the festival has grown to become one of the major arts and music festivals of the year.


We are excited to support Towersey Festival 2023 to be more inclusive and accessible for all disabled people by staffing disabled and Covid-safer viewing areas, providing access information and support, an emergency quiet space, as well as help in the accessible campsite.


Volunteers will get free time to enjoy the festival and will be able to watch most of the acts and also take part in all the other festival activities, or just chill out.


If you’d like to be part of the volunteer team for this amazing event, please fill in the expression of interest form here, and we will be in touch! Disabled people are very welcome to volunteer, and we have a wide range of roles to suit everyone.


We are looking for volunteers who can ideally commit to at least 8 hours spread over the event, or more if possible. Volunteering is organised in shifts, so you can choose the ones which suit your availability.

More information is provided in the above expression of interest form. If you have any further questions, please contact us on volunteering@buds.org.uk, 01494 211179 (voicemail), or on any of our social medias.

1 in 60 people in England now infected. 5 infected people in a busy supermarket. Risk of meeting someone with Covid remains Very High.

Covid-19 Risk Assessment: Week Ending 24 July 2023

The risk of meeting a Covid-infected person in your everyday life this week is again higher than it was last week, and remains Very High. Around 1 in every 60 people in England have Covid – this is also the rate for Bucks.

As an example of the risk of catching Covid, a typical busy supermarket will have between 4 and 7 infected people breathing out virus which you could catch.

This increase in Covid infections may mean the end of the “summer lull”, or it may just be a temporary uptick and rates will go down again. We do not have enough data to tell at this stage. However, it is probably most likely that Covid infections will now continue to increase over the rest of the summer and into the autumn. We will keep you updated weekly, as we have done for the last 3 years.

BuDS continues to recommend that disabled and clinically vulnerable people avoid indoor spaces unless they are wearing a filter mask (FFP2/3). For more advice on how to avoid catching Covid, use this link.

This data is based on the Zoe Health Study for Covid-19, adjusted to take account of its limited coverage. To learn more about this, use this link.

To understand more about our Covid risk levels and what they mean, use this link.

For more Covid information and help, please contact BuDS and we will be happy to help.

1 in 71 people in England now infected. 4 infected people in a busy supermarket. Risk of meeting someone with Covid remains Very High.

Covid-19 Risk Assessment: Week Ending 17 July 2023

The risk of meeting a Covid-infected person in your everyday life this week is slightly higher than it was last week, and remains Very High. Around 1 in every 71 people in England have Covid – this is also the rate for Bucks.

As an example of the risk of catching Covid, a typical busy supermarket will have between 3 and 6 infected people breathing out virus which you could catch.

Bucks and England appear to be still in a “summer lull”, similar to 2022. We have not yet found any firm evidence of a major increase in infection rates.

There are two main reasons for this lull. Most of the population have now already caught a variant of Covid in the last few months, and a new variant has not yet come along. This means that the temporary immunity that you get from catching Covid is protecting most people from a fresh infection. That will change, of course, when the next new variant arrives which can avoid the temporary immunity given by past variants.

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