Immunologists push for increase in testing and more widespread vaccine booster rollout as new variant, XEC, emerges
Covid is on the rise in England, and experts have warned that more must be done to prevent and control infections after a “capitulation to the virus”.
Prof Danny Altmann, an immunologist at Imperial College London, said those working in the field were perplexed by the current attitude to the battle against Covid, as the latest figures showed an increase in hospital admissions.
The latest data for England from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) showed that hospital admissions increased to 3.71 per 100,000 population for the week between 16 and 22 September 2024, compared with 2.56 per 100,000 the previous week.
The percentage of people with symptoms who have tested positive for Covid, based on tests at sentinel “spotter” laboratories, has also risen in the last week to 11.8% compared with 9.1% in the previous week.
I don’t know about other countries’ tests, but some in the UK are just nasal swabs, others are both tonsils and nose. The earlier tests - in my area, at least - were tonsil and nose swabs.
Those early tests were hell.
I shook like a little bitch after mine.
People don’t understand how good they have it now
Tonsil swabs? You have got to be kidding me. Don’t people puke all the time?
It wasn’t fun, that’s for sure.