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[News] The Coronavirus Good News thread







crodonilson

crodonilson

He/Him
Jan 17, 2005
14,062
Lyme Regis










peterward

peterward

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Nov 11, 2009
12,273
Lyndhurst 14 said:
Merck announce it has produced the first anti viral pill for Covid and will be seeking approval for its use

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/01/us/merck-antiviral-pill-covid.html?campaign_id=60&emc=edit_na_20211001&instance_id=0&nl=breaking-news&ref=cta&regi_id=56564702&segment_id=70384&user_id=4180feebac29b9e10fe3e6db6d77bd2c
Click to expand...

On BBC now too, this looks like a massive breakthrough.

A pill that can halve the chance of serious disease and death will be another game changer if Merck dont get greedy.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-58764440
 


Weststander

Weststander

Well-known member
Aug 25, 2011
69,271
Withdean area
Taking a moment to look at the big picture, this illustrates the huge success of vaccination programmes across Europe.

EE97B348-F61F-4E88-92C4-A16C53849FFA.png

This time last year there was exponential growth across all 5 major nations.
 


Bozza

Bozza

You can change this
Helpful Moderator
Jul 4, 2003
57,286
Back in Sussex
Two great bits of news yesterday...

1. Pre-print paper looking at the Israeli third-shot booster programme >>> https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.10.07.21264626v1

Summary:
- Infection rates between two-dose and three-doses drop by c.10x
- Serious illness (hospitalisation levels) drop by c.20x

This is an increase from double-vaxxed levels. Not just from unvaxxed, so an incredible boosting of protection.

2. The trial of anti-viral molnupiravir has proven to be so successful in protecting those infected with Covid, that the trial has been halted, as it's been deemed to be unethical to treat some ill people with the placebo, given the drug itself may save their lives. Emergency use has been requested in the US.

More >>> https://edition.cnn.com/2021/10/11/health/molnupiravir-covid-19-antiviral-merck-request/index.html
 








B

Billy the Fish

Technocrat
Oct 18, 2005
17,594
Haywards Heath
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/10/24/coronavirus-cases-slump-winter-say-scientists/

Very interesting stuff. Will post on the main thread as well.

Ministers are thought to be holding back from introducing restrictions such as compulsory face masks, working from home and vaccine passports, after seeing projections from several groups which show infections declining rapidly within weeks.

One model, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, suggests that cases will soon peak before falling steeply in the winter months, even without Plan B.
The Telegraph understands that other unpublished models seen by the Government have also shown similar imminent drops, with experts indicating that cases could fall to around 5,000 cases a day before Christmas.

John Edmunds, Professor in the Centre for the Mathematical Modelling of Infectious Diseases at the school, a member of Sage and the sub-group SPI-M, said: “When we were doing the work about two weeks ago, the Health Secretary had made it very clear that the government was not planning to introduce Plan B in the near future.
“Our model was projecting that cases would start to decline some time in the autumn.

“However, the model also suggests that cases may start to climb again in the spring, due to a combination of waning immunity and increased contacts.”
Click to expand...
 






Weststander

Weststander

Well-known member
Aug 25, 2011
69,271
Withdean area
dazzer6666 said:
Interesting to note cases reported yesterday and today are significantly lower than Sunday/Monday last week, and today’s number is the lowest for 2 weeks.
Click to expand...

Tonight’s BBC SE news table of every local authority in the region, included some green ‘cases down’ arrows for the first time in weeks.
 










dazzer6666

dazzer6666

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Mar 27, 2013
55,530
Burgess Hill
DT extract……encouraging stuff.

Three-quarters of children aged between five and 14 in England have been infected with Covid, experts estimate, amid signs the epidemic in young people is falling.

Real-time data from the MRC Biostatistics Unit (BSU), at the University of Cambridge, suggested that nearly half of school-age youngsters under the age of 15 caught the virus between the beginning of September and October 20 - taking the total infected to 76 per cent.

The huge number of infections in school-age children has been largely behind the steep rises in cases over the past month, but scientists now believe that many youngsters susceptible to the illness have already been infected.

Latest data from the Government’s coronavirus dashboard shows that positive tests are now falling in line with modelling from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, which has forecast a sharp drop around the start of November.

The BSU data also shows that around 55 per cent of one to four-year-olds have been infected, as well as 71 per cent of 15 to 24-year-olds.


Separate analysis by The Telegraph shows that cases have now peaked for the under-20s and have started to fall. The rolling daily average hit 134.4 cases per 100,000 on October 19, and has since dropped 2.5 per cent to 131.1 per 100,000.

Children aged between 10 and 14 have seen the biggest decrease in the same period, with a fall of nearly three per cent.

Meaghan Kall, an epidemiologist at the UK Health Security Agency, cautioned that the October half term could be driving some of the decline, but said that the high numbers infected may suggest the children’s epidemic was waning.

“I am prepared to bet that England has seen the peak of cases in children,” she wrote on social media.

Older people ‘greatest priority’ for vaccine

The high protection rates in children and young people has led experts to call on the Government to prioritise older groups for booster vaccination, rather than children and young people.

Figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Wednesday showed that although 99 per cent of the 70 to 79-year-olds are fully vaccinated, only 86 per cent still have antibodies, demonstrating a worrying waning of immunity over time. Similar falls are seen in those aged 60 to 69, as well as the over-80s.

Many of the people in the sample who tested negative for antibodies in the most recent week had received their vaccinations in the early stages of the rollout, the ONS said.

In contrast, 92 per cent of 16 to 24-year-olds have antibodies, even though just 81 per cent have been double jabbed.

Duncan Cook, head of analysis for the Covid-19 Infection Survey said: “Antibody positivity remains high across the UK population. It is increasing in younger adults, though we have seen a small decline, since June, in older age groups.”


Case rates are beginning to fall in the over-80s, suggesting that the booster programme is starting to have an impact. However, around two million people are becoming eligible for a third jab each week, as they hit the six-month mark from their second dose.

Experts said that the high infection levels and antibody levels in youngsters made them less of a priority for jabs.

Paul Hunter, professor in medicine at The Norwich School of Medicine, University of East Anglia, said: “In terms of vaccine policy, these observations would argue that more priority be given to boosting older and more vulnerable individuals than on improving take up in the 16 to 24 age group.

“However, the greatest priority remains persuading those older and more vulnerable individuals who have so far not come forward for their primary course to do so.”

Overall, around nine in 10 adults in all parts of the UK continue to have Covid-19 antibodies, the ONS data suggests.

The estimates range from 90 per cent in Wales to 92 per cent in England, with 90 per cent for Northern Ireland and 91 per cent for Scotland.
 










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