Health bosses say COVID is still very much present

As reported by the BBC, health bosses say an increase in reported cases of Covid is an important reminder that the virus has not gone away

Public Health Devon said data from the ZOE health app, external, from earlier in August, indicated there were between 931 and 1,628 new cases per million people, each day in the south-west of England, with a 30% rise overall in daily cases since the start of July.

But, Simon Chant, Public Health Devon’s data expert, said a 30% rise “sounds a lot, [but] it’s from a relatively low baseline at the start of July, and therefore we shouldn’t read too much into it at this point”.

Prof David Strain, from the University of Exeter’s Medical School, said poor weather in July had prompted people to gather in “enclosed spaces, without the natural ventilation needed to keep ourselves more safe”.

He said for many people the effects of a new variant were like a “bad summer cold”.

“It just so happens that the numbers have risen and therefore, the very low number of people in hospital has increased,” he said.

“It is causing people who’ve got other diseases for their conditions to get worse, and that’s really the reason that we’re starting to see a small increase in the number of patients coming to hospital,” he said.

“There’s no indication at the moment that this particular variant is more dangerous than variants that have gone before it.”

Booster jabs were “offering protection against severe illness from this particular variant”, he said.

“It doesn’t appear to stop you catching it. But if you do catch it, it turns into this summer cold that we’re all experiencing and it means our body can react really quickly.

“This is not a reason to panic but it’s just being aware that this is going around.

“So for the vast majority of us who are fully vaccinated, this is no more risky than a bad case of flu.”

Mr Chant added it was “an important reminder to us all that coronavirus hasn’t gone away, and that we need to keep an eye on it”.

Prof Strain advised anyone with symptoms to take a lateral flow test or stay inside for a few days as it is infectious for about five days “just to protect the people around you”.

The NHS website lists the current symptoms, external and has advice for people who may have them.

It also has advice for people who test positive, external, although you no longer required to do a Covid-19 rapid lateral flow test if you have symptoms.