COVID-19 (Page 30)

Deman/Shutterstock When the UK was placed into its first COVID lockdown in March 2020, many of us may have been tempted to reach for a drink. The country was about to enter an extraordinary period, with no idea of what would happen next, how bad things might get or when it might end. It was unheard of. It was worrying. It was huge. And as part of that first lockdown, pubs, restaurants and bars closed completely, remaining closed until July. As a team of researchers, we were keen to find out what happened to UK drinking habits during that period. What impact did pub closures have on drinking and therefore our health? Did people drink more or less at homeContinue Reading

ORION PRODUCTION/Shutterstock As winter pressures have mounted on the NHS, both health staff and politicians have grown increasingly frustrated with the number of unvaccinated patients needing treatment for COVID. The risk of being hospitalised with COVID is substantially greater for those that haven’t had a vaccine. The latest data suggests that more than 60% of COVID patients requiring critical care in England haven’t been vaccinated. Nevertheless, despite debates over whether COVID vaccines should be mandatory – given that they clearly protect a person’s health and have wider social benefits – uptake has largely remained voluntary in England. Vaccines are obligatory only for those working in the care and (from April 2022) health sectors. Even with omicron sending cases surging, SajidContinue Reading

BRITS can finally go abroad again as restrictions are being eased across Europe. We’ve explained the latest travel rules for Italy, including the current Covid restrictions in place. Can I go on holiday to Italy? Italy has welcomed Brits back, welcoming both vaccinated and unvaccinated Brits. If double-jabbed, Brits just need proof of vaccination, as well as a completed Passenger Locator Form and a negative Covid test, which can be a PCR or an antigen. If unvaccinated, you will have to quarantine for five days on arrival, as well as complete the forms and required Covid tests. Kids aged 17 and under do not have to quarantine if they are traveling with a fully vaccinated parent and have a negativeContinue Reading

Photocarioca/Shutterstock No one would describe 2020 as normal. The coronavirus disrupted travel, employment and livelihoods. It pushed countries into lockdown, forcing people to change how they lived. And it infected millions of people, resulting in many getting severely ill and dying. The high number of deaths in 2020 was completely abnormal. “Excess mortality” is how this abnormality is measured. It’s the number of deaths – from all causes – that occur during a crisis that’s beyond what would be expected in typical times. When looking across a sample of 79 high-, middle- and low-income countries, overall there were 3.7 million more deaths in 2020 compared with the average for 2015-19 – an excess of 13%. This figure reflects not onlyContinue Reading

David Guzmán/Shutterstock Omicron is spreading rapidly throughout the world, with experts claiming that 40% of the global population will be infected within the next two months. This sounds quite startling, but we still don’t really know whether omicron causes more severe disease than other variants of concern. The signs so far are good, though. With the previous widespread variant, delta, there was a clear link from infection to hospitalisation and then, in some patients, ICU admission and death. This doesn’t seem to be as apparent with omicron. However, the director general of the World Health Organization, Tedros Ghebreyesus, said on January 6: “While omicron does appear to be less severe compared to delta, especially in those vaccinated, it does notContinue Reading

Kateryna Kon/Shutterstock With omicron having rapidly driven up COVID infections, attention is once again focusing on antibodies, and reasonably so. They play a critical role in fighting off viruses and are important for preventing the coronavirus infecting our cells. This is why some countries have mounted booster campaigns in response to recent COVID surges – to top antibody levels up. But there’s a problem. COVID antibodies don’t persist that well – hence the desire for boosters. Indeed, while these extra jabs maintain good protection against severe COVID, it’s estimated that people receiving a third dose of the Pfizer vaccine will see their protection against developing COVID symptoms (of any degree) drop from 75% to 45% over the ten weeks followingContinue Reading

Stock Footage Inc/Shutterstock Hydroxychloroquine, the anti-malaria drug controversially touted as a cure for COVID despite a lack of robust evidence, is creating renewed interest as a potential treatment for omicron. The discussion has been sparked by a new study from the University of Glasgow, which is yet to be published in a scientific journal, that looks at how antibodies from vaccines block omicron from entering cells. The researchers conclude, as many others have, that antibodies (the proteins that neutralise the virus) against previous variants or induced by vaccines are less effective against omicron. What’s interesting, though, is that the study finds that omicron may have changed the way it enters cells. SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID, is coated inContinue Reading

Basilico Studio Stock/Shutterstock One positive aspect of the pandemic has been increased public understanding of epidemiology and even virus biology. However, there still seems to be significant confusion when it comes to COVID tests – particularly when or why each type of test can or should be used. Recent changes to the UK’s testing rules have only added to this problem. As of early January, the UK government has reduced situations where it is necessary to take a PCR test in favour of greater reliance on lateral flow tests (LFTs). Without a clear explanation, such changes risk seeming rapid and arbitrary, with the suspicion that they are based on just saving money. However, when assessing the strengths of each typeContinue Reading