Two great papers out today on how to improve compliance with restrictions and thus make real, lasting inroads against viral transmission, getting us out of the tunnel faster.
Turns out the answer is not blunt instruments, slogans, threats and fines (who knew?)
Transmission risk is highest in poorer communities who face pressures *not* to isolate. Trials show: when offered support, people are more likely to report contacts & seek isolation
2) A large survey by @BaharTuncgenc and co finds that when encouraging people to follow Covid guidance, positive messages and social encouragement work better than threatening or negative messages theconversation.com/why-were-more-…
I particularly love this line:
Simple conclusions
• Positive messaging & role models = most effective way to get people to follow guidelines (not outdoor maskless shaming, who knew?)
• Where people’s circumstances put them at high risk of infection, support (and not just £$) works better than fines & threats
Test, trace & isolate can’t reduce transmission when people are not empowered to trace (report contacts) or isolate
Social distancing will be hampered if people are harangued rather than given positive examples
If we don’t learn this, we delay the return of crowds, hugs & jobs.
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And here's a pupdate from someone who's had a long day
Think that's actually my first paella since the food zone at Coachella 2019. Right now the world of music festivals seems like ancient history, but I have faith for a big comeback in 2022 🤞🤞🤞
NEW: white people in England aged 80+ are being vaccinated at twice the rate of black people, and rates in deprived neighbourhoods are lagging behind less deprived areas ft.com/content/a831fc…
The gaps are widening, suggesting fundamental challenges in ensuring equal protection
These inequalities are especially concerning given the disproportionate impact of Covid-19 on ethnic minority groups.
The very groups that are most at risk from the disease, are thus far the least likely to have received protection.
The findings come from a team of researchers including @bengoldacre, who analysed data from 23m people in England to explore patterns of vaccine coverage by demographics & socio-economics.
The analysis will be repeated weekly, and Ben explains more here
Somehow even 12 months into the pandemic, people are saying "yes but how many of those 100k UK deaths were due to Covid and how many were due to lockdowns?"
NEW: UK has now passed 100,000 Covid-19 deaths according to three different measures:
• Deaths within 28 days of positive test
• Deaths where C-19 mentioned on death certificate
• Excess deaths above historical average
Story @GeorgeWParker@ChrisGiles_: ft.com/675d737e-88a5-…
The inclusion of excess deaths puts to bed any idea that the towering death toll is due to people testing positive for Covid but dying primarily for other reasons.
There have been 100,000 more deaths than in a typical year, and this is despite fewer deaths from many other causes
Looking at the three measures across the year:
• Shortage of testing in spring meant "deaths within 28 days" were always an undercount
• Even death certs may have missed thousands of deaths, with spring peak in excess deaths thought to be the best metric for the overall toll
We have detailed contact tracing research showing that transmission is almost 20x lower outdoors than in medrxiv.org/content/10.110…
We have mobility data showing that individual behaviour and adherence to guidance remain very good on the whole, while it's workplaces where activity looks on the high side
NEW video from me & @tomhannen addressing more myths that have been used to play down Covid this winter.
Featuring:
• Why delays in death registration (& bad charts) wrongly led people to think there was minimal excess mortality
• "Excess winter deaths" are not "excess deaths"
For several weeks, some lockdown-sceptics have been sharing the EuroMOMO excess mortality charts which they say show we’re not seeing many more deaths than usual for the time of year.
A few days ago, EuroMOMO indeed showed deaths essentially back to normal in England. But...
Despite EuroMOMO stating that figures in recent weeks shaded in yellow have been "corrected for delays in [death] registration", this is clearly not the case.
Week after week, the line appears to be falling back to normal, but without fail it’s then revised upwards every time.