2024-07-09 15:50:42
A new wave of the Corona epidemic has begun to sweep Britain, while the finger is being pointed at the European Football Championship “Euro 24” which will contribute to the increase in infections.
According to the latest figures from the UK Health Security Agency, cases of infection rose by 33% up to June 19, compared with the previous week, while hospital admissions recorded a slight increase.
It is known that comprehensive testing for Covid-19 has been suspended during 2023, which means that routine surveillance will not adequately reveal the extent of infections in the community.
According to the Health Security Agency, hospital admissions due to Covid increased by 24 per cent in the week to Sunday 23 June, with the infection rate at 3.31 per 100,000 people, compared to 2.67 per 100,000 the week before.
These reports come as a new strain of Covid variants, collectively referred to as “FLiRT,” emerges.
According to the Health Security Agency, the term FLiRT was chosen based on the names of the mutations in the genetic makeup of the variants, which descend from JN.1, and the BA.2.86 variant is the origin of it.
The agency said the three strains – KP.1.1, KP.2 and KP.3 – of the FLiRT variant were responsible for 40 per cent of all Covid cases in the UK in April.
“Covid surveillance in the UK is less intensive than it used to be, so it is difficult to track the rise and fall of waves of infection, assess the severity of different variants, or know how effective vaccines are against them,” said Professor Woolhouse, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Edinburgh. “However, there is a widespread impression of a surge in the summer of 2024, as we saw in 2021 when – perhaps coincidentally – the European Football Championship was also taking place, and there is evidence that this contributed significantly to the spread of infection.”
Euro 2020 was postponed until 2021, with England fans gathering in packed pubs to watch their team reach the final, where they lost to Italy. Wembley Stadium hosted the final and semi-final.
“Covid waves are continuing as a result of new variants and the ‘gradual waning of immunity to infection’,” Professor Woolhouse explained. “At the moment, we should expect this pattern to continue… Over the coming decades, we will move to a situation where most people will be exposed to coronavirus – possibly multiple times, at a young age.”
“This will not be a major public health problem,” he added. “Young, healthy people have not been affected much by Covid, so this will boost their immunity, making them less susceptible to infection when they get older or their health declines.”
He stressed that “Covid-19 will eventually become like the common cold, but we are not there yet.”
Suggest a correction
2024-07-09 15:50:42