By There has been a “strong decline” in levels of coronavirus infections in England since January, say scientists tracking the epidemic.
Imperial College London’s React study found infections have dropped by two-thirds across England since lockdown began, with an 80% fall in London.
The research, which saw 85,437 swab tests carried out across the country between 4-13 February, showed that cases of Covid-19 had dropped to just one in 200 people testing positive.
Reacting to the results of the study, Imperial College’s Steven Riley, said: “This is good news. This is a better decline than many people would have hoped for, certainly when we were thinking about this at the end of December.”
The study’s author Prof Steven Riley described the fall in cases in London as “dramatic” and said there had been “a strong downward trend since January – better than many hoped for”, which is equivalent to a halving of infections every 15 days.
Boris Johnson is facing pressure to compensate key workers suffering from ‘long Covid’.
With 65 MPs and peers signing a letter to the prime minister calling for it to be recognised as an occupational disease.
Layla Moran, who chairs a committee of MPs looking into coronavirus, says ministers should not abandon “the true heroes of the pandemic”. The Department of Health says employers should “make full use” of existing support for staff.
