COVID-19 News

New research shows 2 million people may have had long COV

Over a third of people report symptoms lasting at least 12 w

This amounts to 5.8% of the whole study population, with 2% reporting severe symptoms
Prevalence of long COVID increased with age and was higher among women
Professor Paul Elliott, director of the REACT programme at Imperial, said: “Our findings do paint a concerning picture of the longer-term health consequences of COVID-19, which need to be accounted for in policy and planning. Long COVID is still poorly understood but we hope through our research that we can contribute to better identification and management of this condition, which our data and others’ suggest may ultimately affect millions of people in the UK alone.”

Flexible Work Arrangements using Hybrid Model

Harvard Business Review from the Magazine (March–April 2021)

Since the pandemic, companies have adopted the technologies of virtual work remarkably quickly—and employees are seeing the advantages of more flexibility in where and when they work. As leaders recognize what is possible, they are embracing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reset work using a hybrid model.
To make this transition successfully, they’ll need to design hybrid work arrangements with individual human concerns in mind, not just institutional ones. That requires companies to approach the problem from four different perspectives: (1) jobs and tasks; (2) employee preferences; (3) projects and workflows; and (4) inclusion and fairness.
Leaders also need to conceptualize new work arrangements along two axes: place and time. Millions of workers around the world this year have made a sudden shift from being place-constrained (working in the office) to being place-unconstrained (working anywhere). Employees have also experienced a shift along the time axis, from working synchronously with others 9 to 5 to working asynchronously whenever they choose.
If leaders and managers can successfully make the transition to an anywhere, anytime model, the result will be work lives that are more purposeful and productive.

Designing the Hybrid Office from workplace to “culture space”

The natural experiment forced on the world by the coronavirus demonstrates that the academics and tech visionaries who have been talking since the 1980s about the possibilities of remote work were not exaggerating. After months of working remotely, we have all learned that most tasks are accomplished and most meetings go just fine without the office.
But that, the authors warn, doesn’t mean companies should suddenly abandon their workplaces. Going to the office, they argue, has never been just about work. And technology won’t make socializing less dependent on direct interpersonal contact anytime soon. In this article they describe the important social functions of an office: It’s where people build trust through personal interaction, learn the nuances of their job, and build and maintain organizational culture. And it’s through random in-person encounters between people from different functions and cultures that many of the most innovative business ideas are born. The authors conclude by showing how design, technology, and management practices can be used to make tomorrow’s offices more effective as social, learning, and innovation spaces.

26% of Britons are worried about airborne transmission

The importance of tackling air quality in offices

Technology firm Infogrid published its report Creating a Healthy Workplace, which surveyed 2,000 UK employees to understand how they feel about returning to the workplace as the next phase of lockdown easing begins.
It found that 50 per cent of employees are concerned about returning to the physical workplace. Yet, 48 per cent of those that expect to return to the office believe they will be back before July 2021. A further 16 per cent have already returned to the workplace in some capacity.
Of those who aren’t concerned, 60 per cent said it was because their employer had made their workplace safe. This factor was more important to employees than the vaccine rollout (54 per cent).

a new facility designed to allow Covid-safe meetings

The world’s first quarantine-free travel bubble for business

"We chatted amiably for an hour inside our cell, our voices picked up on internal microphones and broadcast as audio to the other side of the glass. Air-conditioning systems hummed gently in the background, recycling any pathogens away via separate “air handling” systems. Some rooms have document transfer boxes, small airlocks equipped with ultraviolet disinfection systems, through which papers can be passed. A monitor sat behind me in case I wanted to give an impromptu in-person PowerPoint presentation."

https://connectatchangi.sg/meetings

Government boost to rapid workplace testing

Around 1 in 3 people who have coronavirus have no symptoms

New government drive to increase workplace testing in sectors open during lockdown, to detect coronavirus (COVID-19) in people who are not showing symptoms
Government departments tasked with ensuring targeted, rapid testing is set up in all key workplaces to ensure vital public and economic services can continue
Criteria for joining the workplace testing programme is reduced to businesses with more than 50 employees, boosting the availability of rapid testing further.
Around one in three people who have coronavirus (COVID-19) have no symptoms and may be unknowingly spreading the virus. This expansion of testing will find more positive cases, keeping workers who cannot work from home unknowingly passing on the virus and protecting vital public services.

An unconventional partner

An endeavour that started with impeccable intentions

Oxford chose AstraZeneca because it was willing to pursue a moonshot: vaccinating the globe, while charging less than the price of a cup of coffee for each jab. But like a space mission, every small slip-up has been scrutinised by politicians and broadcast to billions.
The company may yet emerge as one of the heroes of the pandemic, responsible not only for preserving lives but allowing locked down economies to open faster. In that case, Soriot will be garlanded for his public spiritedness and foresight. But further missteps will bring more opprobrium. “It is the biggest vaccine supplier for the world,” said Topol of Scripps Research. “It just can’t mess it up.”

Management information: Coronavirus COVID-19 disease report

Made by employers to HSE and Local Authorities since 10 April 2020

Where a worker has been diagnosed as having COVID-19 and there is reasonable evidence to suggest that it was caused by occupational exposure, employers are required to report the case to the relevant enforcing authority under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR).

Latest published figures up to week ending 9 January show:

the number of occupational COVID-19 notifications made to enforcing authorities generally increased week-on-week between September and early November, back to the level seen at the height of the first peak in April, though has remained broadly level since.
over the period 10 April 2020 – 9 January 2021, 21,622 occupational disease notifications of COVID-19 in workers have been reported to enforcing authorities (HSE and LAs), including 254 death notifications. Of these reports, over half (58%) have been made since early September during the second wave of employer reporting of occupational cases of COVID-19.
the majority of reports received since 10 April were for workers in the Health and Social Work sector (including for example hospitals, residential homes and day care). Around two-thirds (65%) of reports were recorded by employers against these activities, although the actual percentage may be higher as it is known that many reports for this sector get mis-classified by employers, particularly to the accommodation sector and to other personal services.
the proportion of reports recorded against Health and Social Work activities was higher in the first wave of reporting (April through August) than the second wave (September to date) – 78% compared with 55% - in part reflecting the re-opening of the economy in July with more reports now coming through from other sectors. In particular, Education and Manufacturing combined accounted for less than 2% of all first wave reports, but around 15% of all reports made so far in the second wave. It should be noted though that the RIDDOR notification system suffers from widespread under-reporting which has the potential to give a distorted view of both the scale and spread of cases by important risk factors such as industry sector.
around 80% of all worker reported cases (fatal and non-fatal) since 10 April were in HSE enforced workplaces. This proportion was higher in the first wave of reporting (April through August) than the second wave (September to date) – 84% compared with 77% - largely reflecting the re-opening of the economy in July.
84% of worker COVID-19 reports received since 10 April were from workplaces in England, 8% in Wales and 8% in Scotland. This profile is broadly consistent in both the first and second wave of reporting.
All cases that are reported to HSE and Local Authorities are assessed and investigations initiated where incidents meet our published Incident Selection Criteria. We are unable to comment on individual investigations at this time.

Restarting your private sewage treatment plant

RPS, General binding rules and FOG

Environmental impacts must be minimised when operators restart their sewage treatment plants. Those who discharge poor quality effluent risk being in breach of their environmental permits or the General Binding Rules if their discharges cause pollution of surface water or groundwater.
As well as ensuring that their sewage treatment plant is ready to receive increased flows, operators must also check that any pre-treatment equipment such as fats, oils and grease (FOG) traps are ready to be used again. Operators should also avoid sending excessive amounts of chemicals and cleaning products to their sewage treatment plant as they can inhibit and harm biological treatment processes. They should also ensure any contaminated drainage from washing and cleaning does not drain to surface water sewers, water courses or groundwater or cause pollution.

research supports UK plan to delay second dose of vaccine?

UK Biobank COVID-19 antibody study: final results

Government Press Release
One of the most significant findings of the study is that 99% of participants who had tested positive for previous infection retained antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 for 3 months after being infected, and 88% did for the full 6 months of the study.
The 6-month results demonstrate the persistence of antibody levels after infection, which may be indicative of long-term protection.

Biobank UK

Professor Naomi Allen, UK Biobank Chief Scientist "This government-backed study provides further valuable insight into antibodies and increases our understanding of the virus, and I want to thank all of the talented researchers and everyone who volunteered to take part. While the findings offer some promise, now is not the time for complacency. We still do not fully understand how long protection from antibodies may last, and we know people with antibodies may still be able to pass the virus on to others. Right now, it remains vital for everyone to stay at home, even if you have had COVID-19 in the past, so we can stop the spread of the virus, protect the NHS and save lives."

British Society of Immunology

Why do immune systems forget?

Offices have had more outbreaks compared to other workplaces

Public Health England figures suggest

More than 60 suspected Covid outbreaks in offices were recorded in the first two weeks of the current lockdown in England, a BBC investigation has found.
Public Health England figures, obtained via a Freedom of Information request, suggests offices have had more outbreaks compared to other workplaces.
The data showed there were more than 500 outbreaks, or suspected outbreaks, in offices in the second half of 2020 - more than in supermarkets, construction sites, warehouses, restaurants and cafes combined.
Prof Cath Noakes, who sits on the government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) committee, said poorly ventilated offices could increase the chances of contracting Covid from tiny airborne particles by up to 70%.

Vaccines have been oversold as the pandemic exit strategy

Virus suppression is the right policy

One source of gloom emerged at a briefing last week. Academic researchers warned vaccination alone might not induce sufficient herd immunity to stamp out the virus. An unhappy combination of imperfect vaccine efficacy, suboptimal take-up and super-infectious variants could derail attempts to reach the herd immunity threshold, when R falls below one and the virus begins to dissipate. Modelling from the University of East Anglia corroborates this unpalatable possibility.
Another major worry is that countries with poorly controlled transmission might be acting as production lines for dangerous new variants.
Government Chief Scientific Adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance on the new variant of COVID-19 in the UK - it does appear that this variant has increased mortality compared to the old virus, as well as increased transmission.

long journey to full immunisation against COVID-19

The LANCET 27 October 2020

The first generation of vaccines is likely to be imperfect, and we should be prepared that they might not prevent infection but rather reduce symptoms, and, even then, might not work for everyone or for long.
An agreement with AstraZeneca to supply a neutralising antibody cocktail as a prophylactic treatment once clinical trials are completed and it is approved by regulators. This treatment will be provided in the short term for people who cannot receive a vaccine, such as people who are heavily immunosuppressed and cannot mount an immune response, or people who need immediate protection, such as health-care workers.
6 vaccination would be recommended for adults older than 50 years, health-care and social-care workers on the front line, and adults with underlying comorbidities.
Investigating whether annual or biannual revaccination booster shots might be required to maintain durable protection.
The COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access Facility, to which the UK has committed £548 million, will deliver vaccines for the UK population and provide access to vaccines for lower income countries.
“Long COVID” is a term being used to describe illness in people who have either recovered from COVID-19 but are still report lasting effects of the infection or have had the usual symptoms for far longer than would be expected. The author borrows this term to describe the potential long journey to full immunisation against COVID-19 judging from the article by Kate Bingham.

Effects of ventilation on the indoor spread of COVID-19

University of Cambridge, October 2020

In winter, there is little unwanted heat and the main requirement is to provide fresh air – the industry recommended rate is 10 litres per second per person (l.s.p.).
A simple balance of a person breathing out at a concentration of 45 000 p.p.m. at a rate of 10 l min−1 and supplied with the recommended 10 l.s.p., implies that a steady concentration above the background would be 750 p.p.m.
Note for comparison that background external CO2 concentrations are currently approximately 415 p.p.m.
Carbon dioxide concentrations above this value, especially at the breathing level, may indicate that the ventilation is inadequate and that remedial action should be taken.

President of the Royal Society urges everyone to wear a Mask

The Royal Society 07 July 2020

Everyone should have a face covering to help tackle the COVID-19 pandemic and they should not leave home without having one in their possession according to the President of the Royal Society.

Venki Ramakrishnan’s call comes as a new review of evidence reinforces the benefits of face coverings and even suggests they may protect the wearer as well as those around them. However, the British public remain much less likely to wear face coverings in public compared to other countries, including the United States.

Venki Ramakrishnan said: “The virus has not been eliminated, so as we lift lockdown and people increasingly interact with each other we need to use every tool we have to reduce the risk of a second wave of infection. There are no silver bullets but alongside hand washing and physical distancing, we also need everyone to start wearing face coverings, particularly indoors in enclosed public spaces where physical distancing is often not possible.

The UK is way behind many countries in terms of wearing masks and clear policies and guidelines about mask wearing for the public. The public have taken to handwashing and distancing but remain sceptical about face coverings. You only need to go on public transport, where they are supposed to be mandatory, to see how many people are ignoring this new rule based on the growing body of evidence that wearing a mask will help protect others – and might even protect you.

People may rightly ask why you have to wear a mask on a train but not in a shop. If guidance is inconsistent people will follow their own preferences.

There are multiple factors as to why the public have not taken to face coverings. The message has not been clear enough so perhaps people do not really understand the benefits or are not convinced of them. Whatever the reasons, we need to overcome our reservations and wear face coverings whenever we are around others in public.

It used to be quite normal to have quite a few drinks and drive home, and it also used to be normal to drive without seatbelts. Today both of those would be considered antisocial, and not wearing face coverings in public should be regarded in the same way. If all of us wear one, we protect each other and thereby ourselves, reducing transmission. We lower the chances of future surges and lockdowns which are economically and psychologically disruptive, and we increase the chance of eliminating the virus. Not doing so increases the risk for everyone, from NHS workers to your grandmother.

Wearing a mask did not bother our Italian, French or Spanish neighbours, none of whom were used to wearing one before the pandemic yet now do so routinely. So just treat it as another item of clothing that is part of the new normal and wear it whenever you cannot socially distance safely. It the right thing to do, and a small price to pay, to help keep infections down and the economy open in the pandemic.”

The comments come as two new reports are published on face coverings.

The first presents mounting evidence for the effectiveness of wearing face coverings in reducing the risk of transmission and presents new evidence suggesting that face coverings could also provide protection to the wearer. Authored by Paul Edelstein, Emeritus Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Perelman School of

Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, and Lalita Ramakrishan, Professor of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, University of Cambridge, it is an update on an earlier report from Data Evaluation and Learning for Viral Epidemics (DELVE), a multi-disciplinary group convened by the Royal Society.

The second report, by the Royal Society’s SET-C (Science in Emergencies Tasking – COVID-19) group and published jointly by the British Academy and the Royal Society, looks at the effectiveness of different face mask types and coverings and isolates behavioural factors that have limited adherence such as public understanding of the virus transmission, risk perception, trust, effectiveness of public messages and perceived barriers to wearing a mask.

Paul Edelstein, Emeritus Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, said: “The evidence for the benefit of wearing face coverings in protecting others from infection is becoming clearer all the time. In fact, we have now identified convincing decades-old and apparently forgotten evidence, from the time when surgical masks were made of cloth and were reusable, showing that they help to prevent transmission of airborne infectious agents. There is now even some evidence that masks might directly benefit the wearer. The basics are simple to understand. There are people without symptoms going about their daily business who are unknowingly breathing out droplets that are carrying the virus. If they had their faces covered the majority of those droplets would be caught before they can infect other people. Wearing face coverings can help save lives and prevent disabling illnesses.”

The DELVE report also looks at evidence for alternatives for those individuals and communities who/that cannot use masks, e.g. deaf people and individuals with breathing disorders.

The SET-C report highlights how far the UK is trailing behind other countries in terms of policy implementation and wearing face coverings. In late April uptake in the UK was around 25%, compared to 83.4% in Italy, 65.8% in the United States and 63.8% in Spain. All countries, that like the UK, do not have an established culture of face mask wearing, but did have clearly mandated policies.

Melinda Mills, Director of the Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science at the University of Oxford and lead author on the SET-C report said: “To understand why people don’t wear face coverings it is essential to examine behavioural factors such as the public’s understanding about masks and how to wear and re-use cloth coverings. What is clear is that it isn’t the public’s fault for not wearing masks in the UK. Rather, consistent policies and effective public messaging is vital, which have even differed across England, Scotland and Wales. We have seen that people in countries like Italy, the US and Spain, without a previous history of mask wearing, have rapidly adopted face coverings during the COVID-19 period largely because the authorities provided them with a consistent policy and clear guidelines to understand why they should wear them.”

In response to the use of nonmedical, homemade cloth masks, both reports take a closer look at their effectiveness in decreasing the risk of transmission of the virus and conclude they have an important role to play. The SET-C report takes a deeper look,

assessing the effectiveness of different types of fabrics over others in cloth masks, how face masks and coverings form part of interrelated policy packages and how the UK compares internationally in adoption of policies and mask wearing.

Last month both the World Health Organisation and The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States issued updated guidance recommending that everyone wear face masks in public areas where there is a risk of transmission of COVID-19, to help reduce the spread of the disease. Direct people to people spread is the most common way of getting COVID-19. Masks have an important role to play in preventing the spread of infection, along with physical distancing whenever possible, hand washing and cleaning of surfaces that will be touched by people.

Winter 2022

(COVID-19) Coronavirus restrictions: what you can and cannot do