Blockade experts state what they need to do next to fight Covid

Experts warn that schools and universities may need additional restrictions, such as closing bars and restaurants, to control the coronavirus while it remains open.

Professor Neil Ferguson of Imperial College London said the most important measure was to reduce contact between households.

Regarding the BBC Radio 4 Today program, he said schools and colleges need to find open ways to reduce contact in other areas, such as “half-year extension” and closure of hospitality facilities.

Professor Ferguson added: “So we are in a more difficult position. If we want to keep the school open, we need to further reduce contact with other areas of society.

“You may have heard of measures being discussed throughout society, such as a half-year extension in which we work together to reduce infections.

“I think we need to consider these measures.”

Professor Ferguson said the modeling led to the original national blockade, and contact tracing data showed that going to bars and restaurants was a risk factor for getting the virus.

He added that closed venues should be considered in “hotspots” areas where the number of cases is increasing but the risk of infection from encounters with outsiders is low.

Professor Ferguson said: “If people meet wisely outdoors, the risk is very low.

“I think the risk really comes from meeting indoors in a closed environment.

“Of course, as the weather gets colder, outdoor meetings become less attractive. People obviously want indoor meetings, but unfortunately the transmissions take place there.”

Professor Ferguson also said the NHS was at risk of dying, hospitalization, and overwhelming doubling the number of beds in Covid-19 patients every two weeks.

He added: “But hospitalizations, beds occupied by Covid patients, and deaths are all follow-up cases, and although they are at low levels, they are basically doubling every two weeks and cannot be continued indefinitely. . NHS is overwhelmed. Again. “

His comment comes after it became clear that nearly half of the thousands of positive coronavirus cases that were not first recorded in the UK due to technical glitches need to be reached.

Following weekend data issues, as of Monday morning, about 49% of nearly 16,000 cases had yet to be reached for contact tracing purposes.

Health Minister Matt Hancock, who spoke at the House of Commons, said the technical problems with the system of “combining” data from NHS test sites and tests processed by commercial companies “should never have happened.” The team claimed that they “acted swiftly to minimize it.” The effect. “

Shadow Health Secretary Jonathan Ashworth said the problem with the test was “at risk of life,” and glitches could have left as many as 48,000 contacts untracked.

The Ministry of Health has rejected reports of telephone line issues that interfere with the contact tracer’s efforts.

Sir Paul Nurse, CEO of the Francis Crick Institute, said today that more needs to be done to encourage smaller laboratories to help improve testing capabilities. It was.

He added: “Of course, especially for community testing, we need a large laboratory.

“But I think the small lab that was launched can provide up to 100,000 tests with a much more efficient turnaround.

“But they need to be encouraged and supported.”

Manchester’s prevalence has skyrocketed, with 2,927 new cases recorded in the seven days leading up to October 2, with an increasing number of cases across the UK. This is equivalent to 529.4 cases per 100,000 people.

Knowsley and Liverpool have the second and third highest rates at 498.5 and 487.1, respectively.

Other regions that have recorded significant increases in 7-day rates include Newcastle upon Tyne, Nottingham and Leeds.

Sheffield’s rate jumped from 100.9 to 286.6, and figures on the University of Sheffield’s Covid-19 statistics web page show that nearly 500 students and staff have been positive since the start of the fall semester last week.

Meanwhile, the MP will vote on Tuesday for a rule that enforces the six-man rule in England.

Boris Johnson urged the MPs to uphold the rules, and his official spokesman described the ban on mixing more than six people as a “wise and helpful” measure.