Author Archives: Science Media Centre
expert reaction to person with bird flu
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has confirmed a case of avian influenza in a person in the South West … read more
expert reaction to latest ONS data on prevalence of ongoing symptoms following COVID-19 infection in the UK: 6 January 2022
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) have released the latest estimates of the prevalence people with self-reported ‘long COVID’ using data from … read more
expert reaction to new government schemes for land-use change and habitat restoration
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has revealed new plans to restore 300,000 hectares of habitat across … read more
expert reaction to headline results from the ONS COVID-19 Infection Survey
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) have released the headline results from their COVID-19 Infection Survey. Prof Sheila Bird, formerly … read more
expert reaction to changes to the COVID testing rules meaning those who test positive on lateral flow tests will no longer need a confirmatory PCR test if they do not have symptoms
Several media reports suggested that changes to COVID-19 testing rules were to be announced by the government, which has now … read more
expert reaction to this evening’s Downing Street press conference
The Prime Minister updated the public on the government’s ongoing actions to tackle COVID-19 during the Downing Street press conference … read more
expert reaction to press release discussing early data from a phase 1 study (CORAL-BOOST) of a T cell-enhanced self-amplifying mRNA (samRNA) COVID-19 vaccine candidate (after two doses of AstraZeneca)
Press releases from the University of Manchester and Gritstone bio announce positive phase 1 clinical data from the first cohort … read more
expert reaction to UKHSA updated report on Omicron hospitalisation and vaccine effectiveness analysis
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has published the latest technical briefing looking at SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern and variants under investigation … read more
expert reaction to lab study looking at activity of convalescent and vaccine serum against the Omicron variant
A study published in Nature looks at the activity of convalescent and vaccine serum against the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 … read more
expert reaction to five studies of the effectiveness of vaccines and antibody treatments against Omicron
Five studies published in Nature look at the effectiveness of vaccines and antibody treatments against the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2. … read more
Latest results from the REACT-1 study on COVID-19 prevalence across England
The REACT-1 team from Imperial College London has now completed round 16 of their study looking at virus prevalence across … read more
expert reaction to latest results from the REACT-1 study on COVID-19 prevalence across England – round 16
A preprint, an unpublished non-peer reviewed study, reports on the latest data from the REACT-1 study on COVID-19 spread across … read more
expert reaction to preprint from Imperial College looking at hospitalisation risk for Omicron cases in England
A preprint, an unpublished non-peer reviewed study, from Imperial College London models hospitalisation risk for Omicron cases in England. This … read more
New modelling from Imperial: hospitalisation risk for Omicron cases in England
The new report (Report 50: https://www.imperial.ac.uk/mrc-global-infectious-disease-analysis/covid-19/report-50-severity-omicron/) from the Imperial College London COVID-19 response team estimates hospitalisation risk for Omicron cases … read more
expert reaction to preprint on the severity of the omicron variant and vaccine effectiveness against symptomatic infection in Scotland, from the EAVE II study
A preprint, unpublished non-peer reviewed data, from the EAVE II study, looks at severity of Omicron variant and vaccine effectiveness … read more
Data from Scotland on Omicron severity from the EAVE II Study
The EAVE II (Early Pandemic Evaluation and Enhanced Surveillance of COVID-19) project has been tracking the COVID-19 pandemic in near … read more
expert reaction to preprint looking at the Omicron variant and spike mediated immune escape, infectivity and cell-cell fusion
A preprint, an unpublished non-peer reviewed study, looks at SARS-CoV-2 Omicron spike mediated immune escape, infectivity and cell-cell fusion. … read more
expert reaction to self-isolation period for COVID-19 cases being reduced from 10 to 7 days following two negative LFDs on days 6 and 7
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has announced new guidance that allows the 10-day self-isolation period for COVID-19 cases to … read more
expert reaction to preprint looking at an early assessment of the clinical severity of the Omicron variant in South Africa
A preprint, an unpublished non-peer reviewed study, from South Africa provides an early assessment of the clinical severity of the … read more
expert reaction to Boris Johnson saying there will be no new measures in England before Christmas
The Prime Minister has announced via twitter that no new measures will be introduced before Christmas. Dr Simon Williams, … read more