Editor’s Note, February 1, 2021: This article has been updated to include today’s daily data.
These are the stories of the British coronavirus that you need to know today.
Emergency inspection of South African variants
Testing of the South African version of SARS-CoV-2 will begin in the United Kingdom after a case with no known link to travel is found.
People in the areas of Sally, London, Kent, Hertfordshire, and Walsall are required to be tested, regardless of their symptoms.
Random checks were reported to identify 11 cases that could not be linked to travel from the UK or previous cases.
Enhanced test news was told that some households on the walk would expect the COVID-19 PCR test posted via letterbox to check for a variant known as VOC202012 / 02. Occasionally appeared.
Test kits will begin shipping today. Sally Regional Resilience Forum said..
He said the plan could be extended to Egham within the next few days.
Later, it became clear that certain zip code areas were subject to enhanced testing. These are:
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Eastern England (EN10)
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London (W7, N17, CR4)
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Northwest (PR9)
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Southeast (ME15, GU21)
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West Midlands (WS2)
Dr. Susan Hopkins, Director of Strategic Response for the United Kingdom National Health Service and Chief Medical Advisor of the NHS Test and Trace, said: “As part of proactive sequencing work, new variants of COVID-19, first detected in South Africa, have been identified in many parts of the UK. Only a few of these cases are associated with travel abroad. There is no suggestion that there are some cases in the community.
“Correspondingly, we are strengthening testing in the target area so that we can gather more information and effectively monitor further infections in the community.”
Jonathan Ball, a professor of molecular virology at the University of Nottingham, told the Science Media Center: [by] Although some of the existing vaccines, it is hoped that the level of immunity is sufficient to prevent serious illness. However, it is uncertain whether vaccine immunity will be adversely affected, especially after a single dose. Therefore, it is important to prevent the spread of these mutants. This means keeping an effective social distance and identifying where the variants are currently circulating. As a result, variants can be tracked through effective testing, tracking, tracking, and isolation of infected individuals. “
Dr. Simon Clark, an associate professor of cell microbiology at the University of Reading, said that even small clusters of mutants need to be “quickly under control.”
He commented: “Not only does this subspecies appear to be rapidly prevalent, but there is new evidence suggesting that it is less susceptible to the immunity induced by current vaccine crops. Not relevant to travel to Africa. The discovery of a small number of cases indicates that it may be more prevalent in the community than previously thought.
Care home vaccination
The government has announced that the COVID-19 vaccine is being provided to elderly people living in more than 10,000 long-term care facilities in the United Kingdom.
Care Minister Helen Whately told Sky News that “a few” care homes have not yet been visited to provide vaccines for the outbreak of COVID-19.
She said the NHS team would complete vaccinations for people in the rest of the home “as soon as possible.”
Ministry of Public Health Encouraged care homes in the UK to contact older people who had never visited.
Daily data
Today’s Daily data An additional 18,607 UK positive tests were reported, killing 406 people.
Another 2981 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized. Currently, there are 34,783 units in total, and 3832 ventilation beds are in use.
As of yesterday, 9.29 million people were receiving the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, and the second dose was 494,209.
UK secures early access to higher doses of Barneva vaccine
The UK government said it had secured an additional 40 million doses of access to the promising candidate COVID-19 vaccine. Made by French biotechnology company Valneva..
It brought the total number of secured doses of adjuvant vaccine inactivated for supply to 100 million in 2022.
Ministers said the decision was aimed at expanding Britain’s ability to secure a wide range of successful vaccines in a variety of technologies.
“It will also give the UK future flexibility if we need to re-vaccine any of the population, The government said in a statement..
Varneva’s VLA2001 candidate In combination with two adjuvants, alum and CpG1018, it is composed of all SARS-CoV-2 inactivated viral particles with high S protein density.
Phase 1/2 testing is currently underway.
Valneva began manufacturing vaccines last week at its site in Livingston, West Lothian. With the support of the British government..
According to the company, the UK had an additional 90 million supply options between 2023 and 2025.
Clive Dix, Interim Chair of the UK Government’s Vaccine Task Force, said: .. “
The government said the latest agreement means that the UK has secured early access to a total of more than 400 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
COVID protection for BAME healthcare professionals
Thousands of black, Asian, and other ethnic minority (BAME) doctors have expressed concern that they are only partially or completely unprotected from the risk of COVID-19 in the workplace. Did.
72% said they felt only partially or completely unprotected, compared to 28% who said they felt fully protected.
Survey by the British Medical Association (BMA) said this number contrasts with non-BAME respondents, who feel that 60% of them are only partially protected.
Dr. Chaand Nagpaul, Chair of the BMA Council, said: COVID has exacerbated existing racial and cultural inequality within healthcare services, which contributes to this disparity. “
A total of 7,776 doctors and medical students participated in the survey between December 14th and 17th.
Vaccine conspiracy
The low likelihood of accepting the coronavirus vaccine was associated with “suspected conspiracy.” Research..
According to a study by the University of Bristol and King’s College London, 15% of British citizens believe that reporters, scientists and government officials are involved in a plot to hide important information about COVID-19. However, this increased to 42%, among those who said they were unlikely or never vaccinated.
Twenty-seven percent of those who “hesitate the vaccine” believe that “the real truth about the coronavirus is not open to the public” and say they are unlikely or will never accept the vaccine. It rose to 64% of the people.
The findings are based on a survey of 4,860 UK adults in November and December 2020.
Research reveals pandemic concerns about physical and mental health
A Survey by the British Heart Foundation The (BHF) has highlighted some of the ancillary effects on national health since the onset of the pandemic.
It was suggested that 63% of people in the UK are concerned about their physical health and 56% are concerned about their mental health.
In a survey of 2031 people over the age of 16, 46% said they gained weight last year.
According to the BHF, more than half of people in the UK wanted to be more physically active.
Isle of Man ends blockade
The· Isle of Man has closed the blockade After 25 days of “circuit break”.
The island government said it had succeeded in stopping the spread of COVID-19 to the community.
The end of the blockade means that life on the island can return to near normal. Residents no longer had to follow the rules of social distance and the school was reopened.
Strict control over visitors to the island will continue to be enforced.
“The bright day is coming,” said Howard Quayle.
Captain Tom’s Hospitalized with COVID-19
World War II veteran Captain Tom Moore, who raised millions of dollars for the NHS during the blockade last year, is hospitalized with COVID-19.
Hannah, a 100-year-old daughter, was hospitalized on Sunday because of dyspnea. Said in a tweet..
She said he had not been treated intensively, but was being treated at Bedford Hospital because of pneumonia.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said his idea was in Captain Tom, who “inspired the whole country.”
Last April, Captain Tom’s began walking in the garden in support of the NHS Charity Together.By his 100th On his birthday, April 30, he raised £ 32.79 million in charitable donations.
He was invested as a Knight Bachelor at Windsor Castle last July.
See more global coronavirus updates in Medscape’s Coronavirus Resource Center.
