[ad_1]
The first national snapshot of Covid-19 rates has revealed that 148,000 people in England have been infected with the virus in the past two weeks.
The study, conducted by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), evaluated 10,705 people in more than 5,000 households and estimated that 0.27% of the population in England was currently positive for Covid-19. That translates to approximately 10,000 people per day in the entire population, between April 27 and May 10, 2020.
The findings will inform the government’s next steps in considering whether it’s safe enough to further ease restrictions on socialization, business, and schools in the coming weeks. Experts suggest that current infection rates remain “somewhat far” from what it would take to lift the block.
The results are likely to fuel concerns about the potential to open elementary schools on June 1 to fuel transmission in the community, as no evidence of differences in positive proportions was found between categories 2 to 19, 20 to 49. , 50 to 69 and 70 years and over.
The study also reveals much higher infection rates among those who work with patients in health care and those in social care roles, with 1.33% of these participants with positive results.
The figures do not include people in hospitals or nursing homes where rates of Covid-19 infection, and possibly transmission, are likely to be higher.
The guidance of the World Health Organization (WHO) on facial masks has remained constant during the coronavirus pandemic. It has stuck to the line that masks are for healthcare workers, not the public.
“Wearing a medical mask is one of the preventive measures that can limit the spread of certain viral respiratory diseases, including Covid-19. However, the use of a mask alone is not sufficient to provide an adequate level of protection, and other measures must also be taken, “said the WHO.
However, as some countries have eased closing conditions, they have made the use of face-off covers mandatory as a way of trying to inhibit the spread of the virus. This is in the belief that covering the face will prevent coughing and sneezing from expelling the virus from a great distance.
There is no strong scientific evidence, in the form of trials, that common masks prevent the virus from infecting people who wear them. There is also a concern that the public does not understand how to wear a mask correctly, and can become infected if they come in contact with the virus when they remove it and then touch their faces.
Underlying WHO concerns are the shortage of high-quality protective masks for front-line healthcare workers.
However, masks play a role when worn by people who are already infected. It is accepted that they can block transmission to other people. Since many people with Covid-19 show no symptoms in the first few days after becoming infected, the masks clearly have a potential role to play, especially on crowded public transportation when people return to work.
Sarah Boseley Health editor
The results are the national snapshot of what will be a weekly exercise, designed to provide a continuous estimate of current infection levels and transmission rates in the community. Future updates are also expected to provide regional breakdowns and antibody test results, showing how many people have been infected in the past.
The result does not provide a direct measurement of R, the effective number of reproduction of the virus, which tells us if the country is on an exponentially increasing trajectory or if the infection numbers are decreasing. The current number is a snapshot, while R is the gradient of the curve and is calculated using current infection rates and other data such as hospital admissions, past infection serology surveys, and behavioral contact surveys.
