Coronavirus latest: 'Not out of the woods' as new wave begins and hospitalizations rise....
In both 2020 and 2021 COVID-19 case numbers were observed to drop as the weather warmed and rose as the temperature cooled. As a result, many began to see Covid as a seasonal virus, one that flared up during the winter. However, new evidence suggests this might not be the case amid a rise in hospitalizations caused by two sub-variants of Omicron, BA.4 and BA.5. Experts are now warning Covid may pose a year-round, rather than seasonal threat.
ust as the UK and Europe enter a time when Covid cases have traditionally been at their lowest, they are instead starting to observe a rise.
Hospital admissions as a result of COVID-19 are on the rise; France, England, Germany, and Portugal are all reporting data suggestive of a new wave.
This has been driven in large part by Omicron sub-variants BA.4 and BA.5; two sub-variants known to hold more in common with the more dangerous Delta variant of COVID-19.
Virologist at the University of Warwick, Lawrence Young said: "We're not out of the woods with this at all. The biggest concern is we've let our guard down quite considerably."
Head of surveillance at the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said BA.4 and BA.5 did not necessarily lead to severe illness, but they did have a greater ability to infect people again.
Data shows even those who have had three vaccine doses are falling ill.
The impact, particularly of BA.5, is already starting to show in mainland Europe; in Portugal, the sub-variant accounts for around 84 percent of new infections.
The answer as to whether BA.4 and BA.5 will deprive the UK of another summer is an uncertain one.
While the growth of the virus is slowing, it shows COVID-19 is not a winter virus and is not like flu.
Furthermore, it is a reminder nations must be vigilant and think twice before letting their viral guard down.
What remains certain, at least among the scientific community, is the COVID-19 pandemic isn't over.
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Weekly COVID-related deaths up by nearly 40% in England and Wales...
The latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows some 400 deaths registered in the seven days to 7 October mentioned coronavirus on the death certificate.
The figure climbed 39% from 287 the week earlier, according to the figures.
Of those 400 deaths, 63.5% (254 deaths) had COVID recorded as the underlying cause of death, slightly higher than the week before when it was 63.1% (181 deaths).
It is the first signal the current wave of infections is likely to be driving an increase in deaths involving COVID-19 - though numbers have yet to match those seen during this year's summer wave.
Death registrations reached 810 in the week up to 29 July, following an increase in infections caused by the BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron variants.
But this is far below the level seen in January 2021, when the virus claimed the lives of almost 8,500 people every week.
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COVID-19 cases in UK leap by 25% with big rise among over-70s in England.....
Data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that in the week ending 26 September 1,327,900 people in the UK are estimated to have been infected with coronavirus.
That is an increase of 267,400 on the week before, a rise of 25%.
It is the highest UK total since the week to 16 August, but is still some way below the 3.8 million weekly infections in early July.
COVID-19 rates have been increasing since the start of September in the predicted autumn wave.
But while cases have risen in England and Northern Ireland, the trend in Scotland and Wales is described by the ONS as "uncertain".
There has also been a "marked" rise in infection among the over-70s in England, up from infections among one in 60 people to one in 40.
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COVID-19: Booster jab rollout moves to over-65s, carers and pregnant women
Bookings can be made online or over the phone as long as the person had their last jab at least three months ago.
People aged 65 and over in England can now book their COVID-19 booster jab online or via 111.
The NHS is also offering appointments to carers and pregnant women as the vaccine rollout continues ahead of the winter months.
People aged 75 and over, the severely immunosuppressed and frontline health and care workers have been able to book a booster since last week.
Around 26 million people in England will be eligible for an autumn booster in the comings weeks.
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Covid 'Centaurus' - symptoms of the new highly contagious Omicron sub-variant
Scientists around the world are carefully monitoring a new Covid sub-variant that has recently arrived in the UK.
Nicknamed Covid 'Centaurus', the official name of the new Omicron variant is BA.2.75. It is closely related to the BA.5 and BA.2 variants that have driven the recent rise in cases, although it’s thought that Centaurus could be even more contagious than previous strains.
Centaurus was first discovered in India and has since reached a number of other countries. While there is no concrete data on Centaurus so far, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control has marked it as a “variant under monitoring”,
The symptoms of Centaurus are thought to be similar to previous Omicron variants. Scientists behind the ZOE Covid Study warned people to look out for a sore throat, blocked nose and dry cough as the three most common symptoms reported earlier this month
Night sweats and headaches have also been reported in those who have contracted Omicron in recent weeks. Given that Centaurus is still being studied by scientists, people are being urged to familiarise themselves with all potential Covid symptoms to watch out for.
The full NHS list of symptoms in adults is as follows:
a high temperature or shivering (chills)
a new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or three or more coughing episodes in 24 hours
a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste
shortness of breath
feeling tired or exhausted
an aching body
a headache
a sore throat
a blocked or runny nose
loss of appetite
diarrhoea
feeling sick or being sick
Covid cases continue to rise in the UK, with inections surging by nearly 800,000 in a week earlier this month . The NHS advises people who have symptoms to stay at home and avoid contact with other people if they have a high temperature and/or don’t feel well enough to carry out their usual activities.
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Germany could bring back face masks indoors this autumn as Covid cases soar.
Marco Buschmann, the German justice minister, on Saturday said mask-wearing would be a part of the government’s strategy for dealing with the virus.
“The effectiveness of masks for individuals indoors is undisputed,” he told the Funke media group. “That’s why some form of indoor mask-wearing will certainly play a role in our plan.”
Germany is in the grip of a summer wave of infections, with more than 120,000 new cases reported on Friday, and health officials have warned of a difficult autumn and winter.
But Mr Buschmann, who is negotiating with Karl Lauterbach, the health minister, about what measures to put in place as Germany braces for a continuing rise in cases, said: “We agree in the coalition that there will be no more lockdowns, no blanket school closures and no curfews either.”
Covid cases jump by 800,000 in a week
Covid-19 infections in the UK have jumped by nearly 800,000 in a week, with some parts of the country nearing the record levels seen during the spring.
Hospital numbers are also continuing to increase, driven by the spread of the latest coronavirus sub-variants omicron BA.4 and BA.5.
A total of 3.5 million people in private households are estimated to have had Covid-19 last week, up 29 per cent from 2.7 million the previous week, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
This is the highest estimate for total infections since mid-April, but is still below the record of 4.9 million seen at the peak of the omicron BA.2 wave at the end of March.
The rapidly increasing case load in the current wave is causing a strain on the NHS as some people "still aren’t responding to vaccines properly", a health expert has warned.
Dr Stephen Griffin, a virologist at the University of Leeds, told the BBC that the NHS is "under stress" as immunity begins to wane from the initial vaccine drive and that omicron is also "extremely good" at avoiding immunity provided by antibodies.
"It’s a complicated picture and different variants have evolved their transmissibility and severity," he told the Today programme.
Omicron is extremely good at avoiding our antibody immunity. There are signs the virus can start to avoid our T-cells as well," he added.
"That’s quite troubling so we need to keep an eye on that. We can’t predict how this virus changes, we can get broad-sided by it quite easily.
"The other thing with omicron is the sub variants are just as marked and the changes between the variants of concern in the past are even more significant. So all these sub variants are of concern to the WHO so that is something we shouldn't ignore."
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@Happygirl @nabob and everyone else stay safe.
Hope your parents recover well nabob. My like button not working at the moment, hopefully it will get better soon as well.
KEEPING YOU ABREAST OF THINGS According to the latest data from the Office for National Statistics, an estimated 2.71 million people in the UK had Covid in the last week of June, an 18% rise on the week before. In England alone, the most recent figures suggest about one in 25 people had a Covid infection.
Hospitalisations with Covid are also rising, with data for 30 June revealing there were 11,316 people in hospital with Covid in the UK, up from 8,350 on 23 June. The number of people in hospital primarily due to Covid is also rising, with 3,749 such patients in England as of 5 July, up from 2,877 on the Tuesday before.
Dr David Strain, senior clinical lecturer at the University of Exeter medical school, said he had seen a rise in people coming to hospital because of Covid, with patients displaying respiratory problems or delirium as a result of the infection.
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COVID cases surge by more than 500,000 in a week.
The number of people in the UK with COVID has risen by 32% to almost 2.3 million, latest figures show.
Omicron variants BA.4 and BA.5 are likely behind the latest surge, the Office for National Statistics said.
They are thought to be the most dominant strains in the UK.
Rising UK infections come amid a warning from the World Health Organisation that the pandemic is far from over, as more than 100 countries report an increase in cases.
And the latest ONS figures will not take into account scores of cases reported among revellers who went to Glastonbury last week.
The virus continues to be most prevalent in Scotland, where 288,200 people were likely to test positive for COVID last week, or one in 18.
This is up week on week from 250,700, or one in 20.
In England, more than 1.8 million people were likely to have had the virus last week, the equivalent of around one in 30.
This is up from 1.4 million, or one in 40 people, the previous week.
Wales has seen infections rise sharply to 106,500 people, or one in 30, up from 68,500, or one in 45.
In Northern Ireland, infections rose to an estimated 71,000 people, or one in 25, up from 59,900, or one in 30.
Sarah Crofts, ONS head of analytical outputs for the COVID-19 infection survey, said: "Across the UK we've seen a continued increase of over half a million infections, likely caused by the growth of BA.4 and BA.5 variants.
"This rise is seen across all ages, countries, and regions of England.
"We will continue to monitor the data closely to see if this growth continues in the coming weeks."
The ONS's Infection Survey estimates the number of people in the community infected with COVID-19 by testing randomly selected people for COVID regardless of whether they are experiencing symptoms.
It is thought to be more accurate than NHS Test and Trace data which only includes reported test results.
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Yes, still being careful here. When I travelled up to visit my family last weekend I had to stop at the service station and out of the hundreds of people there I was the only person wearing a mask! I was shocked. @Happygirl @roz @Janet 💋🍰🍝🍹
@Happygirl @roz we went to Lidl this morning and I think it was only us in there that had face coverings on!
@Happygirl I wear a mask too although I've noticed that others rarely do.
I had my spring booster yesterday so I'm a bit achey today but not too bad.
We still always wear our masks in public and will forever continue to do so, I didn't lock myself away for two years to get blase about the whole thing as it will still likely kill me if I get it.
I have for the last 6 years always worn a mask anyway in the winter flu months as have been hospitalized many times just by catching the flu so to me it is and will remain a deadly virus and one to watch out for with the flu, people may say we have to learn to live with it BUT they do not understand that some of us CANNOT live with it as we will die by it.