No fall in COVID infections despite lockdown, finds UK study
London: A large number of people remain infected with the coronavirus in England and the rate of new infections was not dropping even 10 days into the latest stay-at-home lockdown, an ongoing government-backed study said on Thursday.
The Imperial College London and Ipsos MORI Real-time Assessment of Community Transmission (REACT) study into the country's COVID-19 infections, show that infections increased by 50 per cent from early December 2020, with 1 in 63 people infected.
Based on swab tests on over 142,900 volunteers in the community between January 6 and 15, the study has also picked up early signs that infections may have begun to rise at the national level.
The analysis, however, does not fully reflect the impact of the latest tough lockdown which came into force from January 5.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the figures showed the new variant of coronavirus was "much more contagious and urged people to strictly follow the lockdown restrictions.
"I think it's too early to say when we'll be able to lift some of the restrictions In the REACT survey, we're seeing the contagiousness of the new variant that we saw arrive just before Christmas there's no doubt it does spread very fast indeed. It's not more deadly but it is much more contagious and the numbers are very great," he said, during a visit to Didsbury in Manchester.
The REACT study found that prevalence of the virus was highest in London, with 1 in 36 people infected more than double compared to the previous REACT report in early December 2020. Infections had also more than doubled in the south east, east of England and West Midlands
"Our data are showing worrying suggestions of a recent uptick in infections which we will continue to monitor closely. To prevent our already stretched health system from becoming overwhelmed infections must be brought down; if prevalence continues at the high rate we are seeing then hospitals will continue to be put under immense pressure, and more and more lives will be lost, warned Professor Paul Elliott, director of the programme at Imperial College London.
"Infections across England are at very high levels and this will have a knock-on effect on the already significant pressures faced by our NHS (National Health Service) and hospitals. It is absolutely paramount that everyone plays their part to bring down infections," said UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock.
"This means staying at home and only going out where absolutely necessary, reducing contact with others and maintaining social distancing," he said.
The latest findings come as the UK hit another high daily coronavirus death toll figure of 1,820, with the government working on expanding its vaccination drive.
The NHS said a mosque in Birmingham and an Odeon cinema in Aylesbury are among dozens of new sites that have started to offer the service, adding to the thousands of hospitals, general practice (GP) and pharmacy sites in operation to administer the Pfizer/BioNTech and Oxford/AstraZeneca jabs to the highest priority groups.
"This virus is a lethal threat to us all and as we respond through this huge endeavour let's all take comfort in the fact we're giving 200 vaccinations every minute," Hancock told the House of Commons.
"Each week the NHS is making it easier for people to get a jab closer to home, in places at the heart of their community from the local pharmacy to the local mosque," added Nadhim Zahawi, UK Minister for Vaccine Deployment.
The initial priority groups of those aged 80 and care home residents and staff has been expanded to people 70 and over and the clinically vulnerable, besides frontline NHS workers. Those in the eligible categories are being invited to arrange an appointment at a pharmacy service or vaccination centre through the NHS national booking service.
England's Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, used his 79-year-old mother's vaccination as a means of pushing out the message of vaccine safety.
"Vaccines are the way out of this pandemic and I urge everyone to take up the offer as soon as they are called forward," he said.
The UK government is working in parallel to counter disinformation around COVID-19 vaccines, especially within ethnic minority communities who have shown some reluctance in its uptake.
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Bengal awaits May 4 results; TMC looks to retain power, BJP aims historic win after record turnout
Kolkata (PTI): West Bengal heads into verdict day on Monday after over a month of frenzied campaigning, as it waits with bated breath to see whether the TMC manages to hold on to power or the BJP makes a historic breakthrough and claims the state for the first time.
As the EVMs open at 8 am, the CPI(M) and the Congress will be watching with equal keenness, hoping to reclaim a foothold in the state's electoral map after five years in the wilderness, following their wipeout in the 2021 polls.
Counting of votes will take place across 77 centres in the state, with elaborate security arrangements and a charged political atmosphere setting the stage for the declaration of results in 293 of the 294-seat House.
The Election Commission countermanded polls in the entire Falta constituency in South 24 Parganas district, citing “severe electoral offences and subversion of democratic process during polling in a large number of polling stations”.
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The fresh poll in that seat and the counting will take place on May 21 and May 24, respectively.
The two-phase polls in the state ended on April 29, with what the election watchdog said was the state's highest-ever voter turnout of 92.47 per cent since Independence.
Repolling in 15 booths in South 24 Parganas concluded on Saturday, with around 87 per cent turnout recorded, officials said.
The state’s political climate bordered on the vicious, even after the conclusion of polls, leading to fervent anticipation ahead of the announcement of results, with both primary contenders TMC and BJP, claiming they were dead certain about their victory prospects.
Courtesy the tight security arrangements – with over 2.5 lakh central paramilitary personnel on the ground, besides the presence of a thoroughly reshuffled state police force – electoral violence remained at a minimum, and no deaths were reported for the first time in the state’s election history of recent decades.
This was also the first election held in the state in twenty years, conducted after an extensive, albeit controversial, SIR exercise that revised the electoral rolls, removing over 9 million voters.
The jury is out on the impact of the exercise on the electoral fortunes of all parties across the board, prompting pollsters to burn the midnight oil to make sense of the likely choice of voters and keeping the public greatly enthused about what verdict the result day would deliver.
The campaigns recorded the BJP unleashing its full might, with top leaders like Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh launching all-out attacks on the TMC over corruption, law and order, infiltration, women’s safety and unemployment, while promising welfare measures.
The TMC’s retaliation, with the CM and party MP Abhishek Banerjee leading the charge, focused on SIR harassment, Bengali persecution and ‘outsider’ plank, accusing the BJP of failing to deliver on its national commitments and upholding TMC’s development report card.
Polling for the elections was held on April 23 and April 29, with a total electorate of over 3.21 crores.
The poll body has scaled down the number of counting centres this year to 77 from 87 announced earlier, and 108 in 2021, while putting in place a multi-layered security grid.
“Comprehensive security arrangements have been made to ensure that counting is conducted in a peaceful, transparent and orderly manner,” a senior EC official said.
The run-up to counting, however, has been marked by high political drama, with TMC leaders, helmed by CM Mamata Banerjee, rushing to strongrooms in Kolkata, apprehending counting malpractice and alleging attempts to tamper with the sealed EVMs.
The EC rejected those allegations, maintaining that all electronic voting machines are kept under strict surveillance with round-the-clock security and CCTV monitoring.
“Strongrooms are secured under a three-tier security system, and candidates or their representatives are allowed to keep watch as per protocol. There is no scope for any tampering,” another poll panel official said.
Closer to the counting date, security outside strongrooms has been further tightened, with the EC deploying 165 additional counting observers and 77 police observers to oversee the process and ensure adherence to norms.
In Kolkata, counting for 11 assembly constituencies will be conducted across five locations - Ballygunge Government High School, Baba Saheb Ambedkar Education University, Shakhawat Memorial School, Netaji Indoor Stadium and St Thomas Boys’ School.
Counting for the Bhabanipur seat, arguably carrying the highest symbolic weight where Mamata Banerjee is taking on senior BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari in a prestige fight on her home turf, will be held at the Sakhawat Memorial centre.
The EC has introduced stringent access control measures, mandating entry only through QR code-based photo identity cards issued via its ECINet system. Mobile phones have been barred inside counting halls, except for returning officers and observers.
The counting exercise will be conducted under a framework upheld by the Supreme Court, which on Saturday declined to pass further directions on a TMC plea challenging the deployment of central government personnel.
The elections saw the TMC contesting in 291 seats and its ally Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM), led by Anit Thapa, fielding candidates in three seats in the Darjeeling hills.
The BJP, Congress and the Left Front are gunning for all 294 segments, with parties like Humayun Kabir’s AJUP and Asaduddin Owasi’s AIMIM also trying their luck in some crucial pockets.
BJP leaders like Dilip Ghosh, Agnimitra Paul, Roopa Ganguly and Nishit Pramanik are in the fray, while prominent TMC candidates include Firhad Hakim, Kunal Ghosh, Madan Mitra and Udayan Guha.
