Eris desends from Omicron and is now the second most prevalent Covid variant in the UK
  • C4d@lemmy.worldEnglish
    7·
    1 year ago

    What testing technology is currently being used to monitor this in the UK just now?

    I’m hoping that sewage water etc is still being checked.

    Presumably hospital-based testing is ongoing.

    I doubt anyone with flu-like or cold-like illnesses is getting themselves tested.

    My instinct is that we are continuing to fly blind.

    • ᴇᴍᴘᴇʀᴏʀ 帝@feddit.ukOPEnglish
      8·
      1 year ago

      Oh indeed. The government shut down all the testing stations and started charging for kits, then, all of a sudden, the numbers looked a lot better.

      I still have kits but haven’t used one in a while (think I had a bit of a cough) and a friend said she used one today because she was feeling off, but other than that…

  • binxscomet@feddit.ukEnglish
    2·
    1 year ago

    Important related point in the article, mort people are 18 months from their last vaccine. Most of the UK havent’t recieved the newer bivalent vaccine (which has completely replaced the original vaccines in the US) at all.

    • ᴇᴍᴘᴇʀᴏʀ 帝@feddit.ukOPEnglish
      6·
      1 year ago

      Ah yes, I meant to flag that up - our immunity is waning and we could get a surge when schools go back before any vaccine program is rolled out. I assume they’ll offer a yearly one round about the same time as the flu jabs but it’s not something I am aware of bring scheduled.

  • Bernie EcclestonedEnglish
    11·
    1 year ago

    But head of primary care and public health at Imperial College London, Professor Azeem Majeed downplayed the concerns about the Eris variant.

    “I don’t feel that people should be unduly worried by the recent increase in Covid-19 cases. Case numbers will fluctuate and there will be periods when the number of cases in the UK increases,”

    It’s not a variant of concern then

    • ᴇᴍᴘᴇʀᴏʀ 帝@feddit.ukOPEnglish
      61·
      1 year ago

      He isn’t concerned about this variant, which is a little different. However, it’s currently not officially a variant of concern:

      As of now, Eris is not currently listed as a variant of concern, with Dr Mary Ramsay, Head of Immunisation at the UK Health Security Agency stating: “We continue to see a rise in Covid-19 cases in this week’s report.

      “We have also seen a small rise in hospital admission rates in most age groups, particularly among the elderly. Overall levels of admission still remain extremely low and we are not currently seeing a similar increase in ICU admissions. We will continue to monitor these rates closely.”

      Source

      There is some concern that it’ll take off when schools go back.

      They buried the lede though:

      Speaking to the MailOnline, Professor Lawrence Young, a virologist at Warwick University said that the rise in cases could be down to the recent horrific weather, and a rise in people going to the cinema after the release of Barbie and Oppenheimer.

      So, it’s all Barbenheimer’s fault! It should have a health warning on it!

      I hear early rumours that Saw Patrol can give you Ebola. Or something.