An interim report from the largest community COVID-19 testing programme has found a high infection prevalence and that cases have continued to rise.
www.imperial.ac.uk
''The REACT 1 study is tracking current cases of COVID-19 in the community by testing more than 150,000 randomly-selected people each month over a two-week period. Volunteers take nose and throat swabs at home, which are then analysed in a laboratory by a technique called RT-PCR.
Out of 84,610 swabs analysed so far for this latest round of testing, 363 tested positive, giving an estimated prevalence of 0.55%. This means that across the entire population, an estimated 411,000 people have the virus that causes COVID-19.
"Our ongoing community testing programme is helping to ensure that the UK response is based on current, robust evidence.”
Prof Steven Riley
School of Public Health, Imperial
Prevalence was highest in those aged 18-24 at 0.96%. In those aged 65 and above, prevalence increased 7-fold from 0.04% to 0.29% compared to the last report.
Prevalence increased in all parts of the country, with the North West remaining the highest at 0.86%. Cases also increased substantially in London, rising 5-fold from 0.10% to 0.49%. Similar to the previous report, Black and Asian people were found to be twice as likely to be infected compared to white people.
Professor Steven Riley, study author and Professor of Infectious Disease Dynamics at Imperial, said: “These findings highlight that the situation in England is fast-moving, and demonstrate the need for continued engagement from the public to prevent unnecessary hospitalisations and deaths. Our ongoing community testing programme is helping to ensure that the UK response is based on current, robust evidence.”
The final report and findings of all 150,000 volunteers tested between 18th September and 5th October will be published next week.''
Some very interesting numbers there, over 400,000 people currently have the virus!
