COVID-19 (Page 61)

Loss of smell is a recognised symptom of COVID-19 in the UK. However, it was only added to the official list of symptoms on May 18, a full month after the World Health Organization recognised it as a symptom. Before this time, any member of NHS staff reporting a loss of smell – especially in the absence of other symptoms – would not have been advised to self-isolate. As the pandemic hit its peak in April, over 3,000 people were being admitted to UK hospitals a day. This meant many NHS staff were at risk, and given some of the problems that were faced with PPE (personal protective equipment), those who did develop symptoms needed to self-isolate. Survey of NHSContinue Reading

Living under lockdown and the uncertainty that COVID-19 has brought to our lives has been difficult for everyone. We have all welcomed the opportunity to return to a more normal way of life. But a resurgence in cases after the easing of lockdown in many countries shows us that this pandemic is by no means over. We need to remember that now is not the time to relax and take risks. Governments around the world have taken different approaches to responding to the pandemic, but social distancing measures have been a common factor for all. That’s because it’s one of the most powerful tools we have in preventing the transmission of this disease. The fewer people we interact with, theContinue Reading

Artazum/Shutterstock Over 200 scientists, including myself, signed a letter that was published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases on July 6 2020 saying that COVID is not only spread by touch and droplets sprayed from the mouth and nose but, importantly, via a third route too. The third infection pathway is in very tiny airborne particles of liquid and material, known as aerosols, that stay suspended in the air for a long time. If the virus attaches to these tiny particles, it can float on the air and spread much further. An effective way to reduce this spread is to purge the air containing those aerosols from rooms by simply opening the windows, as shown below. Clinical Infectious Diseases ThisContinue Reading

The pandemic is affecting everyone, but it has been particularly tough for visually impaired people. A report by the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) notes that two-thirds of visually impaired individuals feel they have become less independent since the start of lockdown. This could have a negative impact on their mental health. Visually impaired people already experience loneliness at higher levels than the general population. They’re also more likely to suffer from depression and more likely to experience detrimental health outcomes as a result of self-isolation. Getting out into the community is important for counteracting these issues. We should therefore consider what the barriers are to visually impaired people maintaining their independence during the pandemic – both physicalContinue Reading

sergio souza/Unsplash, FAL While the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic are still unclear, it is certain that they are a profound shock to the systems underpinning contemporary life. The World Bank estimates that global growth will contract by between 5% and 8% globally in 2020, and that COVID-19 will push between 71-100 million into extreme poverty. Sub-Saharan Africa is expected to be hit hardest. In developed countries health, leisure, commercial, educational and work practices are being reorganised – some say for good – in order to facilitate the forms of social distancing being advocated by experts and (sometimes reluctantly) promoted by governments. Each of us has been affected by the changes wrought by COVID-19 in different ways. For some, theContinue Reading

The rapid spread of COVID-19 across developing countries has led to a devastating loss of life and livelihoods. The pandemic is having both immediate economic effects and long-lasting consequences on development. This is because developing economies are less able to handle shocks than advanced ones. Around 80% of workers in developing countries are engaged in tasks that are unlikely to be performed from home, meaning lockdowns are preventing them from working. And 70% of workers make a living in informal markets, with the majority not being covered by any form of social protection. COVID-19 containment measures are leaving a large number of people without any income. Global poverty has fallen over the past three decades, but many of those liftedContinue Reading

Feline under the weather? Viacheslav Rubel/Shutterstock Since the outset of the coronavirus pandemic, the potential role of animals in catching and spreading the disease has been closely examined by scientists. This is because the virus that causes COVID-19 belongs to the family of coronaviruses that cause disease in a variety of mammals. The evidence suggests that this virus arose in bats and my colleagues at the University of Glasgow have recently determined that the sub-type of coronavirus to which the virus belongs has been circulating in the bat population since the 1940s. So it makes sense for researchers to ponder whether the virus can be transmitted to companion animals, whether these animals can show symptoms of infection, and whether theyContinue Reading

English physician and scientist, who was the pioneer of smallpox vaccine, Edward Jenner sees off the anti-vaccinators. Wikimedia/Wellcome Collection There is hope a coronavirus vaccine might be ready by the end of the year. But for it to eliminate COVID-19 a critical mass of people must be vaccinated. And if the protective benefits of a COVID-19 vaccine fall off rapidly (as seems to happen with naturally acquired antibodies) maintaining immunity will require multiple vaccinations. So unless people keep renewing their jabs, the critical mass will decline quickly. How will politicians ensure critical mass and renewal? For UK prime minister Boris Johnson (who labels those who oppose vaccination as “nuts”) and others, vaccination is a matter of duty. There is aContinue Reading

Daria Nipot/Shutterstock Lockdowns are seemingly vital for controlling COVID-19. Early evidence suggests they have a big effect on preventing deaths. But if we’re to keep using them, we also need to know their broader impacts. Many people are worried about lockdowns also having a negative effect on mental health. Indeed, most assessments have found that they do. But these studies usually can’t distinguish between the effects of the pandemic and of lockdowns specifically. This is because they often only compare people’s mental states from before the pandemic and after lockdowns were introduced. A decline in wellbeing might be a response to the overall pandemic. To better judge the impact of lockdowns on wellbeing, we need to isolate the critical periodContinue Reading

Any approach to controlling an infectious disease has one of three broad aims: suppressing, eliminating or eradicating it. The UK’s strategy so far has seemed to focus on suppressing the virus, trying to limit its spread, but we need to think about whether this is the best course of action. Independent SAGE, which produces advice on managing COVID-19 alongside the British government’s official scientific advisory group, has called for a national effort to work towards a “zero COVID UK”: that is, completely getting rid of the disease from the country. In other words, elimination. So is totally wiping out the disease actually possible, and if so, what would this entail? Could a less ambitious aim be the right way forwardContinue Reading