@i_petersen Thanks Irene. See image, sorry for bad labelling! Essentially the major pattern is that it doesn't seem to have spread into 80+ quite as quickly. Over November, 0-19s were slightly overrepresented but that seems to have somewhat settled out now. (1/2)
@i_petersen UK scientists originally interpreted this as the variant spreading (slightly) more easily among children than preexisting variants. But with newer data now in, this may have just been a transient effect related to schools being open during the November lockdown. 2/2
@i_petersen I tried to fit way too much into one tweet here. Let me be a bit of a nerd and expand massively on this. First, by UK scientists I mean the scientists on SPI-M who I have been talking to about this, obviously I don't know what the general "UK scientist view" is. a/
@i_petersen Second, those scientists didn't all agree that there was definitely more transmission in children with VOC, then see this unexpected new data and change our minds. That happens sometimes, but there was disagreement from the start on how to interpret the November data. b/
@i_petersen Third, when I say disagreement I don't mean some people argue X and others argue Y. People may lean to one side or another, but I think most of us would say that at this point the data are a bit unclear and it could go either way. c/
@i_petersen So when we discuss uncertainties it's not always opposing camps, or strong beliefs falling down with new data. It's often discussing different hypotheses and what new data would be needed to clarify the answer, and in the meantime emphasizing that we're not sure. d/
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I can present a brief update to our analyses of VOC 202012/01 from last week. VOC 202012/01 continues to spread in England, as shown in both sequencing data from COG-UK and Pillar 2 testing data provided by Public Health England. NOT PEER REVIEWED 1/7
While the sequencing data above are definitively VOC 202012/01, S-gene target failure (SGTF) is also associated with some other lineages. However, PHE estimates some 98% of SGTF are now VOC 202012/01 (assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/upl…). NOT PEER REVIEWED 2/7
Fitting a purely statistical model (logistic growth with a false positive rate representing non-VOC SGTF), we find that the spread of SGTF is consistent with a single increased growth rate for VOC 202012/01 across all NHS regions (grey ribbons). NOT PEER REVIEWED 3/7
Just to comment on a few points that have come up in relation to the preprint we put out yesterday on VOC 202012/01, the new variant of SARS-CoV-2 in the UK. (
Is the apparent spread of VOC due to increased testing? This comes up often when cases rise & indeed case data is subject to biases. But we don't fit to case data in the model. Hospitalisations, deaths, and relative frequency (not abs. number) of the new variant define the trend.
There are other ways of measuring community prevalence besides case data. For example, the ONS just released a new round of estimates based on swabbing random people in England. Also shows increases in prevalence in the 3 regions we highlight to Dec 18. ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulati…
Late last week, it was announced that a new variant of SARS-CoV-2 (VOC 202012/01) was detected and appeared to be spreading rapidly in the south east of England. We analysed the transmissibility and severity of this new variant. [cmmid.github.io/topics/covid19…] NOT PEER REVIEWED 1/9
We fitted a mathematical model to the growth of VOC 202012/01 in these three regions of England. If current trends continue, the new variant could represent 90% of cases by mid-January. NOT PEER REVIEWED 2/9
We estimate the transmission rate of this variant is 50–74% higher than existing variants; no clear evidence it leads to higher rates of hospitalisation or death. Although rates of both appear slightly higher in the SE, this could easily be noise in the data. NOT PEER REVIEWED 3/