<
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/sep/26/covid-on-the-rise-as-experts-say-england-has-capitulated-to-the-virus>
"Covid is on the rise in England, and experts have warned that more must be
done to prevent and control infections after a “capitulation to the virus”.
Prof Danny Altmann, an immunologist at Imperial College London, said those
working in the field were perplexed by the current attitude to the battle
against Covid, as the latest figures showed an increase in hospital admissions.
The latest data for England from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) showed
that hospital admissions increased to 3.71 per 100,000 population for the week
between 16 and 22 September 2024, compared with 2.56 per 100,000 the previous
week.
The percentage of people with symptoms who have tested positive for Covid,
based on tests at sentinel “spotter” laboratories, has also risen in the last
week to 11.8% compared with 9.1% in the previous week.
Altmann described the prevailing stance on the virus as a “capitulation”. “To
those who work in this field, the current attitude of acceptance to losing this
war of attrition against Covid is puzzling and a little desperate,” he said.
“The data, both in the UK and US, show that the current Omicron subvariants are
hugely successful at punching through any dwindling population immunity, so
that we tolerate huge prevalence of around 12%. Our capitulation to the virus
is a combination of a population where most are now many months or years from
their last vaccine dose, and that vaccine dose was in any case poorly
cross-protective for the very distinct current variants.
“Clearly, there is behavioural polarisation between those who are worried by
this and look for mitigation, and those who think we must learn live with it
and paid too high a price for our earlier measures,” he said.
Dr Simon Williams, from Swansea University, added that surveys suggest there is
also a large group of people who are not thinking much about Covid at all.
“Part of this is psychological – for two to three years it was something people
had to think about all the time and is something that for many had many
negative memories and feelings attached to it,” he said.
While Altmann said debate around measures needed to be properly informed and
data-driven and to avoid extreme stances, it was important not to trivialise
the impact of the virus."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
