Share this page!

Ewan Birney Profile picture
Twitter logo
29 Oct, 5 tweets, 1 min read
ONS and REACT surveys pretty concordant and show overall uptick. I’m particularly concerned about increase in old age range in Yorks+Humber. Overall clearly England (REACT England only) not in control of the virus
There are two glimmers of positivity in my amateur reading around this very very dark cloud - the north east changed trajectory ( also shown in ONS survey) - drop mainly in young people but slow growth other age groups
The other positive is how well East of England (and south east to some extent) has suppressed the virus so far. Incidence has gone up but nothing like North West.
Also worth noting concordance between REACT, ONS and case reports
I can’t believe these reports don’t imply more NPI action. I trust the SAFE advice into No10/DH/Devolved gov for decisions far more than most (both advice and decisions). I really don’t envy either role at all.

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
　

Keep Current with Ewan Birney

Ewan Birney Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @ewanbirney

Ewan Birney Profile picture
29 Oct
Done a genetics, statistics, CS, image analysis or physics PhD? Want to do a postdoc? Love biology and genetics? Want to understand the limit of genetics, using genetics? Want to work internationally in UK, Germany and Japan? This postdoc is for you: embl.de/jobs/searchjob…
You will be based @emblebi which is part of the international treaty organisation @embl. This is a European science organisation; you will live in the UK but can come from any country worldwide. We work in an @ERC_Research funded synergy grant with @WittbrodtLab on Medaka fish
Medaka fish are japanese rice paddy fish, and we work closely with @Naruse_kiyoshi from NIBB in Nagoya Japan. Medaka are unique in vertebrates in that there is a protocol to inbreed individuals from the wild which is successful in around 1 in 2 attempts.
Read 14 tweets
Ewan Birney Profile picture
25 Oct
To add to the left leaning commentators on COVID that hold water for me
Local action at public health is key. Funding and empowering local public health is a key part of the “trace” solution
The disadvantaged and poorer in society is a section of society one needs huge attention on; the economic hit is far bigger as a proportion; they often can’t “work from home” and other health complications are higher.
Read 4 tweets
Ewan Birney Profile picture
25 Oct
I should do a mirror one about left wing commentators on COVID, which I have to admit I find generally more palatable. Still, here goes
1. TTI is a complete waste of money. Simply no due to the testing capacity and reasonable (but could - should - have better turn around time). Can TTI work better? Hell yes! Do some parts work now? Absolutely yes.
2. Dido Harding is unsuited to chair a health agency. Somehow people forget her chair role in NHS improvement in 2017 and her part in the NHS ecosystem/ management since then
Read 5 tweets
Ewan Birney Profile picture
25 Oct
There are a variety of ultimately “don’t worry about the trajectory of COVID in the UK arguments” from mainly right wing commentators that are either plain wrong or missing the point for me. A list and key rebuttal arguments:
1. Observed cases are false positives due to higher testing levels. Plain wrong - false positives exist but they are at a low level and managed well by the system.
2. COVID as a disease has replaced influenza as the winter virus and should be handled in the same “tolerate elderly deaths” way. Wrong in that the death rate and other long term disease is far higher. Influenza levels have dropped due to the measures to stop infection generally
Read 12 tweets
Ewan Birney Profile picture
24 Oct
Taking stock of COVID in October - for followers, in particular journalists. My scope is broadly across Europe, with a particular focus in the UK.
Context: I am an expert in one area - human genetics; I have broad data science / data analysis skills; I know experts from virus genomics, testing, infectious epidemiology and clinical trials; I am someone who deals with uncertainty by aiming to gain more knowledge.
I have one major conflict of interest in that I am a long established consultant to a company (Oxford Nanopore) that makes a new SARS_CoV_2 test. It's not so relevant in this thread, but it's worth knowing if you are reading stuff from me for the first time.
Read 36 tweets
Ewan Birney Profile picture
23 Oct
For my American colleagues - I don't have a vote and I have enough respect for democracy to realise that reasonable people can disagree with my opinion - but I urge you to above all vote and, if I was American, my vote would be clearly for Joe Biden
I say this as someone who had exposure to American politics in a nicer time, when "bleeding heart Republicans" and "fiscally conservative Democrats" could hammer out compromises that pushed cities, states and the country forward.
America has flaws, some feel very deep and increasingly raw such as the long journey to a new America that respects all its people inside it, and can truly leave racism in the past. Just bridging that divide alone would mean if I was American, I would vote for Biden
Read 7 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

Like this author's thread?

Get email notifications when new thread is out from this Author!

Check out other threads from this Author!

Read all threads by @ewanbirney