England’s Covid cases dipped 10 per cent last week, mass surveillance figures suggest — but there are mounting fears the outbreak is growing again.
According to the Office for National Statistics, there were 824900 Covid cases in week ending November 13. This is equivalent to 1 in 65 persons. This is slightly less than the 925,000.400 reported previously.
But there are early hints cases in parts of the country — including the North East, London and the South West — may be beginnging to rise again.
Yesterday’s studies showed that Covid cases have been increasing in the younger age group after half-term ended. The incidence of daily infections is also rising.
The move comes amid the growing Covid crisis in Europe. Austria was the first to put another lockdown into place today, telling citizens that they had received at least two doses of the jab before February.
Boris Johnson warned Britain that Covid waves from the continent could reach Britain. However, infectious disease experts believe this unlikely as the UK experienced its wave during the summer.
According to the Office for National Statistics, there were approximately one in 65 Covid cases across England during Week 13 of November 13. It was slightly lower than the previous figure of 925,400
https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/conditionsanddiseases/bulletins/coronaviruscovid19infectionsurveypilot/latest
Austria is the nation most affected by Covid. The new wave has seen infections rise rapidly in Europe, even though there are more cases than ever. The hardest are generally those who have the lowest rates of vaccination.
While the number of deaths from covids is still low compared to the first and second wave pandemics are, it has started to increase rapidly since then.
To estimate the spread of the virus in the country, ONS surveillance uses random sampling of over 100,000 Britons each week.
It is seen as the gold-standard for tracking the outbreak by ministers because it is not affected by asymptomatic infections when there are no symptoms — thought to make up a third of cases.
The highest number of people with the virus in Britain was likely to be in Wales, where one in 55 were infected last week according to statistics. England and Northern Ireland followed closely at 1 in 65 and 1 in 95, respectively.
Figures showed that only the 11-16-year-olds experienced a decline in infections last week when cases were divided by age. All other age groups saw no change in infection rates.
This comes as two surveillance reports from yesterday indicated that Covid cases were increasing in younger age brackets.
King’s College London scientists estimated that infections dropped 10% overall, however they noted that cases seemed to trend upwards for the under-18s. While there was a slight drop for the over-75s and a flatline in other age groups, cases declined overall.
The UK Health Security Agency Weekly Surveillance estimated that cases increased sharply among over-18s last Wednesday. The UK Health Security Agency weekly surveillance indicated that cases rose slightly in the under-70s but declined among older people.
The daily Covid case numbers in Britain are also trending up, with increases among younger people and those aged 50-65. Half-term ended on November 1 and the children were back in school.
Prof. Tim Spector is the King’s College researcher and eminent scientist. He said that this Christmas he felt ‘cautiously hopeful’.
He said: ‘In terms of what it means for Christmas, I’m cautiously optimistic for the remainder of the year. It’s becoming clear that children and the school holidays play a key role in the waves of infection.
‘I think it’s safe to say that we can expect to see another rise in the new year after the holidays.’
However, he urged all Britons not to forget about their booster doses and to remain fully vaccinated. He also urged people to use face masks when they are in crowd spaces, such as on public transport.
This was a softening in his tone from last month when he joined a chorus of experts calling on ministers to switch to Plan B — bringing back hated face masks, social distancing and work from home guidance.
At a Downing Street press conference, Boris Johnson acknowledged that the extreme action wasn’t completely out of the question and sparked fears about another Christmas lockdown. However, the Prime Minister said that there were still no indications England should increase its Covid restrictions.
He told a Downing Street press conference: ‘Clearly we cannot rule anything out and the most important thing people can do to prevent further NPIs from being taken is to — non-pharmaceutical interventions that is, further restrictions — get the boosters.’
Austria made today the compulsory vaccination of all citizens with Covid and placed a nationwide lockdown.
Alexander Schallenberg, Chancellor of Germany, stated that 8.9 million people will have to have had both doses. Otherwise they could face “penalties” by February 1. The requirement is not applicable to children younger than 12, as the government does not offer jabs for them.
The country’s lockdown will prevent everyone from leaving their houses starting Monday. Most shops, schools and workplaces are also closed.
Unvaccinated people were previously prohibited from going to work or leaving the house.
66% of Austrians are currently vaccinated for the disease. It is slightly lower than the EU average of 67% and the UK, where 68% are double-jabbed.
This isn’t the first country that has made vaccines mandatory. All adults in Indonesia were required to have their jabs done in February. In July, the Tajikistan and Turkmenistan dictatorships followed suit. Dozens of other countries, including many western nations, require specific groups — such as healthcare workers — to be fully inoculated.
Schallenberg stated today that there has been a consensus within the country for a while not to make vaccinations compulsory.
“For long periods, maybe even too long it was believed it was possible to attain a high level of vaccination without any obligation. We now have to confront the facts.
“Whipped up radical anti-vaxxers and by fake news too many of us didn’t get vaccinated. He said that the results were overcrowded ICUs and immense suffering.
Ireland has placed its hospitals under a “war footing” today. Routine operations were cancelled in order to accommodate Covid patients. The warning came from Ireland’s top physician that the intensive care doctors will have to make ‘unthinkable choices’ about who they care for.
Germany’s new Chancellor Olaf Scholz stated that almost 30,000,000 vaccines must be given before the end the year in order to prevent the worst effects from the winter wave. This would mean the country has to give more than twice the amount of shots it gives per day.
The German government had just issued new regulations that restrict movement of non-vaccinated persons in areas with high hospital admissions.
A new three-tier system will require that people show proof of previous infections or vaccinations to be allowed into public buildings and businesses. This is based upon a seven-day-average. It will currently affect 9 out of 16 German states.