Coronavirus testing has been a central part of many countries’ response to the pandemic. The UK government in particular has been prepared to spend up to £100 billion on testing (although this plan has since been abandoned) and recently announced plans to enable all citizens to perform up to two rapid tests per week.
Coronavirus tests can help to prevent the virus spreading by identifying infected people and their contacts, who can be asked – or told – to isolate. This means a positive test result can have severe effects, potentially closing schools or businesses and causing whole families or groups to go into legally enforced isolation.
By Katrina Krämer2021-04-15T08:30:00+01:00
‘A 7% drop – we’ve never seen this since world war two,’ says Corinne Le Quéré, professor of climate change science at the University of East Anglia, UK. Le Quéré is talking about an unprecedented global decrease in carbon emissions in modern times, the result of the coronavirus pandemic.
1 The data Le Quéré and other atmospheric scientists have gathered over the last year are both shocking and insightful. They show a world that was profoundly altered by a virus that has killed more than 2.5 million people to date, while giving a glimpse of what a future with cleaner air might look like – one that could save many lives.
Studies provide insights into characteristics and clinical effect of SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.7 variant
Two new studies, published in
The Lancet Infectious Diseases and
The Lancet Public Health, found no evidence that people with the B.1.1.7. variant experience worse symptoms or a heightened risk of developing long COVID compared with those infected with a different COVID-19 strain. However, viral load and R number were higher for B.1.1.7., adding to growing evidence that it is more transmissible than the first strain detected in Wuhan, China, in December 2019.
The emergence of variants has raised concerns that they could spread more easily and be more deadly, and that vaccines developed based on the original strain might be less effective against them. Preliminary data on B.1.1.7. indicates that it is more transmissible, with some evidence suggesting it could also be associated with increased hospitalisations and deaths. However, because the variant was identified only recently, these
B 1 1 7 variant more transmissible, does not increase severity, Lancet studies suggest eurekalert.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from eurekalert.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.