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Hello, is it too late to wish you a happy new year?

Up in a way, so it seems okay, I hope it's not too presumptuous.

More or less, here's of course your guide to the numbers all around us in the news and in life.

And coming up in the first episode of a brand new series,

a gentleman on Fox News tells us that many more athletes are suffering cardiac arrests

since the COVID vaccine became widespread.

Hmm, we'll get to that.

The censors in Northern Ireland has grabbed the headlines with the news that Catholics now outnumber Protestants

will explore the story.

And more or less has shaken the world of very, very big numbers.

But first, in recent years we seem to have themes for our seasons of more or less.

That was the financial crisis, there was Brexit,

for all too long that theme was COVID.

Last series, it was energy.

This series, it seems like the theme will be the NHS.

And if you've been watching the news, or indeed been in an accident in emergency department,

you probably know why.

This is a big story, but it's possible that it's part of an even bigger one.

Since the middle of the year, we've seen the return of a large number of excess deaths.

In other words, we've recorded more deaths in the last half of this year

than we would expect to in the second half of a normal year.

...