💚 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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
💚💚💚💚💚💚
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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…
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…
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.”
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.
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.
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.