COVID-19 infections have fallen significantly across UK since January – World News

London: Interim findings from a new UK government-backed study released Thursday show that COVID-19 Infections in England have “declined significantly” since January, reflecting the impact of the strict lockdown measures.

Imperial College London, led by a research swab on the Real-Time Assessment of Community Transmission (REACT-1), screened more than 85,400 volunteers in England between February 4-13 to examine infection levels. in the general population and found that infections have dropped by two-thirds since the lockdown began and London showed an 80 percent drop.

“The findings show that infections in England have declined significantly since the last report in January,” the latest report noted.

But the findings indicated coronavirus levels remain high, with one in 200 testings positive during that same period. “These findings show encouraging signs that infections are moving in the right direction across the country, but we must not lower our guard,” said Health Secretary Matt Hancock.

“Cases and hospital admissions remain high above 20,000 COVID-19 the patients are in the hospital, so it is vital that we all remain vigilant and follow the rules as our vaccination rollout continues to pace, “he said, reiterating the current blocking message of staying home and maintaining social distance.

The figures offer some hope for Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is preparing to present a roadmap on Monday to gradually lift the strict lockdown restrictions in place early last month. He has repeatedly warned that any unlocking will be “cautious” and has refrained from setting firm dates for when specific sectors of the economy can reopen.

The main findings of the REACT study, the ninth since the pandemic began last year along with Ipsos MORI, show that the prevalence of the infection dropped from 1.57 percent to 0.51 percent, or 51 per 10,000 infected. The R number, or the rate at which the infection spreads, remains below one at around 0.72 and the regional prevalence is down in all areas and in almost all age groups compared to the latest report.

These encouraging results show that blocking measures are effectively reducing infections. It is reassuring that the reduction in the number of infections has occurred across all ages and in most regions of the country, said Professor Paul Elliott, program director at Imperial College London.

While the trends we have seen are good news, we must all work to reduce infections by complying with measures designed to protect ourselves and our healthcare system, he said. The reduction in prevalence from our last REACT round is very welcome, particularly the large reduction in London.

But it is important that we continue to follow all the measures that the government has put in place so that we can continue to see further reductions and advance the fight against the pandemic, added Kelly Beaver, general director of Public Affairs for Ipsos MORI.

With more than 15 million of the most vulnerable categories of people vaccinated, the government now wants to wait for additional data to confirm whether vaccination prevents someone from transmitting the virus to others and warns that it will also be some time before the impact of vaccination. The vaccination program reduces pressures on hospitals.