Category Archives: Health

Covid test and trace: how does UK compare with other countries?

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Successful schemes in South Korea and Germany show speed and targeting are key

As chaos continues to engulf Britain’s test and trace system, attention has focused on how successful other countries have been in using testing and contact-tracing to suppress coronavirus transmission.

While many have embraced test/trace regimes, comparing the relative successes – and failures – is complicated by the fact that different countries count things even as basic as the number of daily tests using different methods.

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Covid-19: UK test and trace ‘barely functional’ as 11 million face lockdown

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With local lockdowns set to spread, report shows 90% of tests failing to hit turnaround target

The coronavirus test and trace system was condemned as “barely functional” today as its tsar admitted that demand was up to four times capacity, while 90% of tests were failing to hit the 24-hour turnaround target.

The Guardian has seen documents showing tracers taking up to two weeks to contact friends, relatives and workmates of people diagnosed with Covid-19 – the entire length of the self-isolation period.

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‘The battle is not over’: Hancock announces new Covid restrictions in north-east England – video

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Nearly 2 million people in north-east England will be banned from mixing with other families, under the strictest measures imposed since the country eased out of nationwide lockdown. The restrictions include a 10pm curfew on nightlife.

The health secretary, Matt Hancock, announced the measures following a sharp rise in coronavirus cases in the north-east and amid growing concern about a UK-wide rise in cases. 'With winter on the horizon, we must prepare, bolster our defences and come together once again against this common foe,' he said. 

The rules will apply to people in Newcastle, Northumberland, North Tyneside, South Tyneside, Gateshead, County Durham and Sunderland

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Boris Johnson not considering second national lockdown, says health minister – video

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Edward Argar denied the government is considering a two-week national lockdown, after a London-based former World Health Organization expert said the coronavirus infection rate could be nearing 38,000 a day. Argar said there was 'speculation in the press' that a new lockdown would be necessary to contain a rapid rise in infections, but said the prime minister did not want such tough measures to be reimposed nationally

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UK coronavirus live: minister dismisses claim PM preparing for new two-week national lockdown

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News updates: Edward Argar says Boris Johnson does not want a new national lockdown; Matt Hancock due to announce restrictions in north-east of England

Care providers in England will receive more than £500m extra funding to help reduce transmission of Covid-19 during the winter, the government has announced. As PA Media reports, the infection control fund will help pay staff full wages when they are self-isolating and ensure carers work in only one care home, reducing the risk of spreading the infection. The fund was set up in May but has now been extended until March 2021 and will offer the sector an extra £546m ahead of an anticipated second wave of the virus over the winter months.

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‘Face masks are our best defence,’ says CDC director Redfield – video

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Dr Robert Redfield, testifying before a Senate subcommittee, suggested face masks may be even more effective than a vaccine in limiting the spread of the coronavirus.

The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said face masks are 'the most important, powerful public health tool we have'

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Minorities much more likely than white people to test positive for Covid – study

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New study also finds that people of color are at higher risk than whites of hospitalizations and death from coronavirus

People of colour are significantly more likely than white people to test positive for Covid-19 – and are at higher risk of hospitalisation and death when they are diagnosed – according to a new study that lays bare the racial disparities among millions of coronavirus patients across America.

The research, published on Wednesday by Epic Health Research Network Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), analysed the health record data of about 50 million patients from 53 health systems across 21 states.

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Covid Australia live update: Victoria records eight deaths and 42 new coronavirus cases, with 10 in NSW – latest news

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South Australia opens up to ACT and Brett Sutton gives evidence at Victoria’s hotel quarantine inquiry. Follow all today’s developments

The Australian National University has announced a restructure that will involve the loss of 465 positions.

Some 230 staff have already accepted voluntary separations, with a further 20 to come, but the ANU announced on Wednesday that there will need to be a further reduction of 215 positions.

All these cuts to Australia’s universities are going to have ongoing impacts for years

BREAKING: ANU has announced 230 staff have taken voluntary redundancies, another 20 are expected to follow in the coming weeks. ANU says Another 215 positions need to go as well. That is almost 500 jobs that will be lost at ANU due to #COVID19 #auspol @conorduffynews @abccanberra

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Victoria records eight deaths and 42 new coronavirus cases, with 10 in NSW – as it happened

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South Australia opens up to ACT and Brett Sutton gives evidence at Victoria’s hotel quarantine inquiry. Follow all today’s developments

That’s it for our live coverage of coronavirus news and other developments in Australia. Thanks to Amy Remeikis for the earlier coverage. She’ll be back in the morning.

You can follow our global coverage here and there is a lot to follow. Outside Australia, the second wave is well and truly surging.

Australia’s cricket coach Justin Langer says he could “see the blood draining out of their faces” when his players were told about the quarantine periods in store for them in the coming months.

AAP reports the team was given the rundown ahead of tonight’s ODI series decider against England in Manchester.

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Stress, anxiety and depression levels soar under UK Covid-19 restrictions

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Researchers say mental health levels may worsen as infections rise and lockdowns are imposed

Restrictions to curb the spread of coronavirus in the UK has driven stress, anxiety and depression far above normal levels and may do again in coming months if widespread lockdowns are re-imposed, researchers say.

A major study into the mental health impact of the pandemic found that in the early stages of lockdown 57% of those who took part reported symptoms of anxiety, with 64% recording common signs of depression.

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UK coronavirus live: Covid testing shortage will take weeks to resolve, says Matt Hancock

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News updates: health secretary signals access to testing could be prioritised for those most in need; just 1% of deaths in England and Wales linked to Covid, ONS says

Almost nine in 10 pupils have attended schools in England since their full reopening this month, government figures show. Around 92% of state schools were fully open on Thursday September 10, and approximately 88% of students were back in class on the same day, the Department for Education analysis suggests.

There have been a further 110 cases of Covid-19 in Wales, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 19,681. Public Health Wales said no further deaths had been reported, with the total number of deaths since the beginning of the pandemic remaining at 1,597.

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Global report: Covid cases near 30m as China expects vaccine as soon as November

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Coronavirus deaths pass 925,000; biosafety head at Chinese CDC says vaccine progress ‘very smooth’; South Korea to secure early vaccines for 30 million

As global coronavirus cases neared 30 million on Tuesday, a senior health official in China said she expected a vaccine to be publicly available as early as November this year.

According to the Johns Hopkins University Covid-19 tracker, which relies on official government data, there are 29,190,588 confirmed infections worldwide. Deaths stand at 927,245 and are expected to pass 1 million by October.

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New antibody drug added to Oxford University trial of Covid-19 treatments

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Regeneron’s experimental drug REGN-COV2 to be added to UK’s Recovery trial

The Oxford-based Recovery trial which proved that steroids saved the lives of some Covid patients will now take on a promising but far more expensive new antibody combination treatment, it has been announced.

A cohort of patients joining the trial in most NHS acute hospitals will be randomly allocated to Regeneron’s experimental drug, called REGN-COV2. The drug is a combination of two human neutralising antibodies against the virus. The company previously developed a similar antibody drug against Ebola.

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Just $5 per person a year could prevent future pandemic, says ex-WHO head

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Cost would be billions, but represents a huge saving on $11tn response to Covid-19, estimates show

Spending $5 (£3.90) per person annually on global health security over the next five years could prevent a future “catastrophic” pandemic, according to a former head of the World Health Organization (WHO).

It would cost the world billions of dollars, but that amount would be a huge saving on the $11tn response to Covid-19, said Gro Harlem Brundtland, who, with other prominent international experts, sounded the alarm over the threat of a fast-spreading deadly pandemic last September.

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Coronavirus Australia live update: Daniel Andrews holds Covid press conference as Victoria reports 35 new cases and NSW four

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Victoria to turn roads and footpaths into dining spaces to help hospitality industry as Queensland border row deepens. Follow all today’s news

When will regional Victoria learn more about its restrictions being eased?

Daniel Andrews:

We will be here tomorrow and hopefully there will be no mystery cases in the data I report tomorrow and hopefully we can have more to say.

No doubt, there will be criticism that we haven’t been given any notice but this is nature of these things.

Professor Brett Sutton is then asked about some of the restrictions being eased today (very small easings).

They are baby steps. We all recognise that it is not an absolute sea change in terms of what is opening up.

That is what we’re trying to manage here. We are managing expectations and we’re being clear that outdoor activities are the low-risk activities.

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Coronavirus: 86% of doctors in England expect second wave in next six months

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BMA survey also found 90% thought test-and-trace failures were a risk factor

Almost 86% of doctors in England say they expect a second peak of coronavirus in the next six months, according to a new survey, as concern continues to grow over a recent rise in cases.

On Friday, new results from a population-based study suggested the R number for England is now at 1.7, with infections doubling every 7.7 days. While the prevalence of the disease remains lower than it was in the spring, an R value above 1 means cases could grow exponentially.

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Coronavirus: is this the start of a second wave and is the UK prepared?

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Cases are increasing here and across Europe as universities plan to reopen. What is the outlook for autumn?

Is this the start of a second wave, and if so will it be as bad as the first?
The number of Covid-19 infections has almost doubled in a week, with 3,497 cases announced yesterday. Admissions to hospital have also risen. We’ll find out soon if this is a second wave but there are some indicators of what is coming.

Cases are rising quickly…
Researchers at Imperial College London said on Friday that the number of cases had been doubling roughly every 7.7 days in England, and that the reproduction rate was as high as 1.7. If the virus continues to spread at that rate, the UK would see about 10,000 new cases a day in the next two weeks, with 300 to 400 hospital admissions a day.

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‘It’s world-leadingly bad, is what it is’: the week Covid surged again in UK

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Queues for tests are growing, Tory MPs are agitated and doctors are sceptical about the ‘moonshot’

For Alex, an NHS call centre worker, the signs that coronavirus was back in earnest came when his phone wouldn’t stop ringing.

Over the summer, Alex would log on at home to see 70 or 80 people in the queue for advice on booking an appointment for a Covid test. “You’d get answered in a few minutes,” he said. “Last week, that went up to about 100. By this week it was 1,500.”

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