Cat in the Hat 🐈‍⬛ 🎩 🇬🇧 Profile picture
Nov 28 20 tweets 9 min read Read on X
💚 The Green Party have published a new policy calling for urgent action to tackle the ongoing waves of Covid which are causing so much harm to the nation’s health & economy.

Huge thanks to everyone involved in making this happen.

@AdrianRamsay @carla_denyer @ZackPolanski
The Green Party are absolutely right.

We cannot continue to ignore Covid.

Covid has not gone away, nor has it settled into a seasonal pattern.

The endless waves continue to batter the nation throughout the year - and even in the dips, remains at a relatively high level. Image
Last Winter, the government briefly reinstated their ‘gold standard’ ONS Covid Infection Survey…

The data revealed that, at the peak of last Winter’s wave (Dec 2023), 1 in 24 people across England were infected with Covid.

Sadly, the survey has not been reinstated this winter. Image
All this additional illness, on top of the usual respiratory viruses like flu & RSV, is having a huge impact on economic productivity across the nation.

According to the IPPR, the cost of staff sickness soared by 41% to £103 BILLION in 2023 (compared to 2018). Image
You can read the full IPPR report at the link below.

This report clearly shows how the increased level of illness amongst employees is having a HUGE cost to businesses.

And the majority of this cost is caused by employees attempting to work when sick.

ippr-org.files.svdcdn.com/production/Dow…Image
One of the workplaces most affected by this is HEALTHCARE settings…

The chart below shows sickness absence rates for all NHS staff from Jan 2011 - May 2024.

It’s clear to see just how much more sickness absence there is since the start of the pandemic.

(Chart: @1goodtern) Image
SCHOOLS are feeling the impact too.

Nearly half of all pupil absences are due to illness…

…and pupil absences purely due to illness are still 40% higher than the pre-pandemic rate. Image
But short-term illness is only the tip of the iceberg.

The other big problem is long-term illness resulting from Covid infections.

The latest GP-Patient Survey (July 2024) shows that 4.6% of the population now have LONG COVID.

That equates to 3.1 MILLION people across the UK! Image
As explained in this superb article, Long Covid is a complex multi-systemic disease with sequelae across almost all organ systems.

It can affect people of all ages, and over 90% of LC cases occur in those who only had a mild initial infection.

science.org/doi/10.1126/sc… x.com/zalaly/status/…Image
According to the latest ONS Covid Infection Survey (March 2024), 29% of those currently suffering from Long Covid reported that their symptoms started within the last 12 months.

In other words, nearly A THIRD of people suffering from Long Covid are NEW cases since March 2023. Image
And, of those affected by Long Covid, data from both the UK and the US suggests that roughly 1 in 5 will be SEVERELY debilitated, with their ability to undertake basic day-to-day activities limited a LOT.

Tragically, many of these people end up bedridden for much of the time. Image
Now what happens if we combine this 1 in 5 estimate for those severely affected with the GP-Patient survey data which showed that 3.1M (4.6%) across the UK now have Long Covid…

20% of 3.1M = 620,000

That’s an estimate of the number of people SEVERELY impacted by Long Covid.
Now guess how many people are no longer able to work DUE TO LONG-TERM SICKNESS since the start of the pandemic?

Wow! Look at that… it’s almost exactly the same number!

630,000 more working age people are not working due to long-term sickness since the start of the pandemic. Image
This finding is further supported by the UK LOCOMOTION study which revealed that:

🚨28% of those suffering from Long Covid have been forced to stop working altogether.

🚨A further 23.5% of Ling Covid sufferers had had to reduce their working hours.

evidence.nihr.ac.uk/alert/how-much…Image
A recent Economist Impact analysis estimated that:

🚨More than 251.8 MILLION work hours may be lost due to long Covid in 2024.

🚨The economic cost resulting from this is estimated to be over US$15.5 BILLION - that’s equivalent to 0.5% of the UK’s GDP.

impact.economist.com/perspectives/h…Image
An IFS report published earlier this year showed that:

🚨Overall spending to support people with long-term health conditions had increased from £65 billion in 2020-21 to £78 billion in 2023-24.

That’s a 20% rise in just 3 years…

ifs.org.uk/publications/c…Image
And the official forecasts suggest that spending to support people with long-term health conditions will continue to grow by a further £22 BILLION (28%) over the next five years…

…reaching a staggering £100 BILLION by 2028-29. Image
The official forecast shows the rise in spending to support people with long-term health conditions levelling off over the next 5 years.

I hope that’s true, but I’m not so optimistic that this is going to happen, unless something major changes in terms of prevention…
An article in The Times recently summarised some of these shocking stats:

🚨By 2029, HALF of all Universal Credit claims will be for LONG-TERM HEALTH CONDITIONS (up from 31% in 2023).

Read the full article here:
thetimes.com/uk/politics/ar…

(Paywall free: archive.ph/GYeAM) Image
It is high time for the government to step up & start taking Long Covid seriously.

That’s why it’s such brilliant news that @TheGreenParty have put together this policy calling on the government to IMMEDIATELY introduce simple measures to protect us all from Covid.

💚💚💚💚💚💚 THE GREEN PARTY ACTION ON COVID AND LONG COVID We call on the Government to follow expert advice and immediately introduce simple measures to protect us all from Covid. Air quality improvements in public indoor spaces, e.g. schools, hospitals, public transport, workplaces • NHS that is safe for patients and staff • Free lateral flow tests • Sick pay for supported isolation • Research into improved vaccines and therapeutics • Post-viral chronic illness research task force for better understanding of and treatments for Long Covid, ME and Chronic Fatigue Syndromes • Comprehensive, safe, eviden...

• • •

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More from @_CatintheHat

Nov 24
COVID INQUIRY: X Megathread 🧵

As module 3 of the @covidinquiryuk draws to a close, I’ve been looking back at what we’ve learned about how it all went so wrong with infection control guidance for hospitals.

This is a long thread, so please grab a cuppa & make yourself comfy… Image
One thing that really stands out from the Inquiry testimonies is just how many professional bodies repeatedly raised the alarm about the inadequate infection control guidance in hospitals…

…and how their concerns were disregarded at every stage, with profound consequences.
The lady taking the stand in the clip above is Rosemary Gallagher, IPC Lead at the Royal College of Nursing.

She explains how, in November 2020, the government had just released a video to the public highlighting how coronavirus lingers in the air…

gov.uk/government/new…Image
Read 83 tweets
Nov 22
COVID INQUIRY CONTRADICTIONS

🔎Did supply of PPE influence the IPC guidance?

Matt Hancock testified that the Covid infection control guidance *had* factored in the available supply of PPE, rather than being based purely on what was required to adequately protect NHS staff…

🧵
A similar account had previously been given by Laura Imrie, a member of the IPC Cell (the group responsible for writing the guidance).

She explained how lack of supply & the need for fit testing meant they weren’t in a position to be able to recommend wider use of FFP3 masks.
However, we heard a very different story from Dr Lisa Ritchie, who chaired the IPC Cell.

She wrote in her witness statement:

“The supply of PPE did *not* influence the IPC advice provided by the UK IPC Cell.”

When asked under oath about this, she confirmed:

“That is correct.”
Read 6 tweets
Nov 18
A Canadian teen is currently critically ill with H5N1 bird flu.

The really concerning thing about this case is that sequencing has revealed several NEW mutations which improve the virus's ability to bind to human receptors & increases its potential to spread between humans…

🧵
You can read a more technical summary of the specific mutations in the H5N1 sequence in the thread below from @HNimanFC.

Lots of interesting (and concerning) comments on the thread also. Image
And also in the thread below posted by @SCOTTeHENSLEY ⬇️

bsky.app/profile/scotte…

Screengrabs below for those who aren’t on the other place. x.com/jbloom_lab/sta…Image
Read 13 tweets
Nov 15
MHRA have finally approved the updated Novavax (JN.1) formulation for use in the UK…

…HOWEVER…

…Novavax have confirmed that this vaccine will *NOT* be available in the private market for purchase or distribution for the autumn 2024 OR spring 2025 season in Great Britain. Image
And the government also confirmed this week that Novavax won’t be offered at all as part of the NHS booster campaign either…

…even though it is now authorised by MHRA.

theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2024…Image
The timing of all of this is quite interesting since the UK government has been in dispute with Novavax about historical £123.8 million payments.

This dispute was finally settled on the 5 November when Novavax agreed to refund $123.8 million to UKHSA…

reuters.com/business/healt…Image
Read 6 tweets
Nov 14
COVID VACCINE ELIGIBILITY 🇬🇧,
a thread🧵

JCVI have just advised that, going forwards, eligibility for Covid vaccination will be even more tightly restricted.

But the ‘bespoke cost-effectiveness assessment’ upon which this is based is heavily flawed…

gov.uk/government/pub…Image
Before I dive into the issues, let’s just recap where we are…

In the UK, if you’re under 65 and not ‘at risk’, the last time you were eligible for a Covid vaccination was 2 years ago (Autumn 2022).

For most under 50s, it’s been 3 years since you were eligible (Autumn 2021). Image
Meanwhile, in many other countries, the entire population is given A CHOICE.

Their governments recommend that certain risk groups should get vaccinated…

…but even outside these risk groups, ANYONE who wants to get vaccinated, can be as part of their national vax programme. Image
Read 30 tweets
Nov 3
.@lukethereporter, did you write this horrendous article?!

It’s packed full of misinformation. Please do better.

Read on and I’ll explain why… 🧵

dailymail.co.uk/health/article…Image
In the article, you cite the Cochrane review as proving that masks make “little to no difference” to someone's risk of catching Covid.

Were you aware that the Editor-in-Chief of Cochrane confirmed that this is an “inaccurate & misleading interpretation”?

cochrane.org/news/statement…Image
To help educate yourself for future articles, and to allow you to correct the erroneous content on your current article, please read the publication at the link below which gives a comprehensive breakdown of the limitations of the Cochrane Review.

ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/10.2105/AJ…Image
Read 6 tweets

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