https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/arcturus-new-covid-variant-uk-symptoms-b2321577.html
Sir John Bell and Sir David King among leading scientists to argue UK is
no better prepared than it was in 2020, as new variant in India causes >concern
Rebecca Thomas
,
Thomas Kingsley
7 hours ago
Comments
Arcturus: What is the new Covid variant causing a surge in cases
IndyEat
Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on
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The UK is not ready for the next global pandemic because public services
are being dismantled and key research is being defunded, experts have >claimed.
More than three years after the global outbreak of coronavirus, top >scientists have warned that the UK is no better prepared for a pandemic
than it was in 2020.
They say another epidemic on the scale of Covid-19 is inevitable, but
that disinvestment in infection-monitoring services, dismantling of key >infrastructure, and the state of the NHS mean the country is losing
ground.
The warning comes as virologists told The Independent that the new
Covid-19 variant behind a surge of 10,000 new Covid cases a day in India
may turn more aggressive, and could become the dominant strain in the UK.
The variant, first identified in January and known as Arcturus, has been >found in 22 countries, including the UK and the US, and has prompted
India to resume its production of vaccines.
Recommended
Arcturus: What is the new Covid variant causing a surge in cases?
Arcturus: What is the new Covid variant causing a surge in cases?
Arcturus: How many cases of new variant are in UK?
Arcturus: How many cases of new variant are in UK?
Arcturus: Latest Covid variant sweeping India shows unique symptom in >children
Arcturus: Latest Covid variant sweeping India shows unique symptom in >children
Sitting ducks
Sir John Bell, a leading immunologist and a member of the UKs Covid
vaccine taskforce during the pandemic, said it was too easy to dismiss >Covid-19 as a once in a generation crisis.
Promoted stories
Your Blood Type Effects a Mosqutoes Appetite : Find Out if You Are at Risk >MOSQUITO JOE
by TaboolaSponsored Links
Writing in The Independent, he warned that it is a question of when,
not if, another pandemic strikes, adding that the nation needs to adopt
an always on approach that includes building a more resilient
healthcare system, carrying out better surveillance, and identifying
future threats.
Despite everything we have learned, we are not ready for the next
pandemic, he wrote. The next pandemic could be even more devastating
than the last. We must be in a constant state of readiness for the next
big health crisis if we do not act now, we will not be forgiven.
He referred to modelling that suggests there is a 38 per cent chance
that another pandemic will happen within our lifetime, which would have
the potential to cause even greater destruction.
Professor Teresa Lambe, one of the principal investigators leading the >Oxford-AstraZeneca programme, said the UK had failed to take on board
many hard-learned lessons from Covid. She warned that the public will
be sitting ducks in a new pandemic if there are no further efforts by
the government to invest in preparation.
She highlighted the governments decision to disband tracking systems
including its gold standard Covid survey, the last remaining system
used to monitor infections as a sign that the country would not be
fully prepared for another pandemic.
Writing in The Independent, she described such surveillance systems as >crucial for identifying new variants, tracking case numbers and
helping the UK to tackle any virus spread. She added: We have learnt
time and again that we need to track this virus carefully to distinguish
if the current vaccine recommendations are enough.
She added: Without more of a concerted effort to work together and
invest in pandemic preparedness, we are sitting ducks for the next virus.
Nothing has changed
Some experts also pointed to the issue of Covid-testing labs being >mothballed, and plans to sell off the UKs future vaccine manufacturing
and research laboratory the UK Vaccine Manufacturing and Innovation
Centre before it had even opened.
In addition, after a year of record A&E waits, ambulance delays and >escalating waiting lists, there are concerns that the NHS is now in a
worse position to tackle a pandemic than it was when Covid struck three
years ago.
Sir David King, a former chief scientific adviser to the government, who
led the 2006 research that closely predicted the Covid pandemic, said
the world is likely to see another virus outbreak on the same scale in
the next 15 years.
He told The Independent: Were in the same position as we were in 2020. >Nothing has changed... if anything it has got worse.
Sir David said the government had failed to invest in the NHS and he was
in no doubt that it was in a worse position than it was three years ago.
The former government adviser added that, by failing to fund the health >service or bolster Britains ability to respond to another pandemic, the >government is discounting the future.
Thats what the pandemic in 2020 proved: that we had jettisoned all of
the processes that would have managed the epidemic. I see no signs of
this being reversed at the moment, he said.
If you wait for the next epidemic, which I think is where the
government may be now if you wait until the next vaccine is developed,
for whatever disease that is, it will take months and months for that
vaccine to arrive. We cannot rely on that. We will have many, many
cases, itll get really out of hand again, and then well have hospitals >completely overwhelmed by an outbreak of this kind.
Losing ground
Professor Peter Horby, the lead for the groundbreaking Covid Recovery
trial and head of the Pandemic Sciences Institute, also warned that the
UK would be ill-prepared if a new pandemic were to hit in the coming years.
The Oxford professor said that, despite the government backing
scientific work during Covid, disinvestment since means that the UK is
now losing ground. He claimed that researchers on the Covid Recovery
trial which was launched in 2020 and has identified four treatments
for the disease are having to rely on philanthropic funds because
there is no sustained investment.
There were some good strategic moves by the UK government [in response
to the pandemic], but I have been disappointed by whats happened since >then, he said.
What weve seen is there has been the discontinuation of funding of
some of the jewels in the crown of the UK response, like the ONS survey,
like the Covid Geonomics Consortium, like the Recovery trial ... the >mothballing of the [Covid lab] facilities.
Instead of building on the successes, [the government has] been
dismantling the successes, and I find that a potential risk for the future.
He added: We may be back in the position that we saw ourselves in 2020, >where weve got a new threat and we dont have the diagnostics, the
drugs, the vaccine, or the surveillance capabilities that we would desire.
Recommended
Why the world is unprepared if new Covid variant Arcturus proves deadly
in graphs
Why the world is unprepared if new Covid variant Arcturus proves deadly
in graphs
A government spokesperson said: We have flexible pandemic response
plans which are kept under constant review and continuously updated to >reflect the latest scientific information, lessons learned from
exercises and our response to emergencies, including Covid, to ensure >preparedness.
The UK Health Security Agency was set-up to combat future health
threats and it continues to monitor the threat posed by Covid through >surveillance systems and genomic capabilities, while maintaining our >laboratory infrastructure and stock of lateral flow tests will ensure
testing can be scaled up swiftly if a Covid wave results in
significantly increased pressure on the NHS.
A record 14.1 billion of funding for health and social care over the
next two years will help the NHS to address the unprecedented impact of
Covid and cut waiting times.
Michael Ejercito wrote:I am wonderfully hungry!
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/arcturus-new-covid-variant-uk-symptoms-b2321577.html
Sir John Bell and Sir David King among leading scientists to argue UK is
no better prepared than it was in 2020, as new variant in India causes
concern
Rebecca Thomas
,
Thomas Kingsley
7 hours ago
Comments
Arcturus: What is the new Covid variant causing a surge in cases
IndyEat
Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on
the week in health
I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The
Independent. Read our privacy notice
The UK is not ready for the next global pandemic because public services
are being dismantled and key research is being defunded, experts have
claimed.
More than three years after the global outbreak of coronavirus, top
scientists have warned that the UK is no better prepared for a pandemic
than it was in 2020.
They say another epidemic on the scale of Covid-19 is inevitable, but
that disinvestment in infection-monitoring services, dismantling of key
infrastructure, and the state of the NHS mean the country is “losing
ground”.
The warning comes as virologists told The Independent that the new
Covid-19 variant behind a surge of 10,000 new Covid cases a day in India
may turn more aggressive, and could become the dominant strain in the UK.
The variant, first identified in January and known as Arcturus, has been
found in 22 countries, including the UK and the US, and has prompted
India to resume its production of vaccines.
Recommended
Arcturus: What is the new Covid variant causing a surge in cases?
Arcturus: What is the new Covid variant causing a surge in cases?
Arcturus: How many cases of new variant are in UK?
Arcturus: How many cases of new variant are in UK?
Arcturus: Latest Covid variant sweeping India shows unique symptom in
children
Arcturus: Latest Covid variant sweeping India shows unique symptom in
children
‘Sitting ducks’
Sir John Bell, a leading immunologist and a member of the UK’s Covid
vaccine taskforce during the pandemic, said it was too easy to dismiss
Covid-19 as a “once in a generation crisis”.
Promoted stories
Your Blood Type Effects a Mosqutoes Appetite : Find Out if You Are at Risk >> MOSQUITO JOE
by TaboolaSponsored Links
Writing in The Independent, he warned that it is “a question of when,
not if, another pandemic strikes”, adding that the nation needs to adopt >> an “always on” approach that includes building a more resilient
healthcare system, carrying out better surveillance, and identifying
future threats.
“Despite everything we have learned, we are not ready for the next
pandemic,” he wrote. “The next pandemic could be even more devastating >> than the last. We must be in a constant state of readiness for the next
big health crisis – if we do not act now, we will not be forgiven.”
He referred to modelling that suggests there is a 38 per cent chance
that another pandemic will happen within our lifetime, which would have
“the potential to cause even greater destruction”.
Professor Teresa Lambe, one of the principal investigators leading the
Oxford-AstraZeneca programme, said the UK had failed to take on board
many “hard-learned lessons” from Covid. She warned that the public will >> be “sitting ducks” in a new pandemic if there are no further efforts by >> the government to invest in preparation.
She highlighted the government’s decision to “disband” tracking systems
– including its “gold standard” Covid survey, the last remaining system
used to monitor infections – as a sign that the country would not be
fully prepared for another pandemic.
Writing in The Independent, she described such surveillance systems as
“crucial” for identifying new variants, tracking case numbers and
helping the UK to tackle any virus spread. She added: “We have learnt
time and again that we need to track this virus carefully to distinguish
if the current vaccine recommendations are enough.”
She added: “Without more of a concerted effort to work together and
invest in pandemic preparedness, we are sitting ducks for the next virus.” >>
‘Nothing has changed’
Some experts also pointed to the issue of Covid-testing labs being
mothballed, and plans to sell off the UK’s future vaccine manufacturing
and research laboratory – the UK Vaccine Manufacturing and Innovation
Centre – before it had even opened.
In addition, after a year of record A&E waits, ambulance delays and
escalating waiting lists, there are concerns that the NHS is now in a
worse position to tackle a pandemic than it was when Covid struck three
years ago.
Sir David King, a former chief scientific adviser to the government, who
led the 2006 research that closely predicted the Covid pandemic, said
the world is likely to see another virus outbreak on the same scale in
the next 15 years.
He told The Independent: “We’re in the same position as we were in 2020. >> Nothing has changed... if anything it has got worse.”
Sir David said the government had failed to invest in the NHS and he was
in “no doubt” that it was in “a worse position than it was three years ago”.
The former government adviser added that, by failing to fund the health
service or bolster Britain’s ability to respond to another pandemic, the >> government is “discounting the future”.
“That’s what the pandemic in 2020 proved: that we had jettisoned all of >> the processes that would have managed the epidemic. I see no signs of
this being reversed at the moment,” he said.
“If you wait for the next epidemic, which I think is where the
government may be now – if you wait until the next vaccine is developed, >> for whatever disease that is, it will take months and months for that
vaccine to arrive. We cannot rely on that. We will have many, many
cases, it’ll get really out of hand again, and then we’ll have hospitals >> completely overwhelmed by an outbreak of this kind.”
Losing ground
Professor Peter Horby, the lead for the groundbreaking Covid Recovery
trial and head of the Pandemic Sciences Institute, also warned that the
UK would be ill-prepared if a new pandemic were to hit in the coming years. >>
The Oxford professor said that, despite the government backing
scientific work during Covid, disinvestment since means that the UK is
now “losing ground”. He claimed that researchers on the Covid Recovery >> trial – which was launched in 2020 and has identified four treatments
for the disease – are having to rely on philanthropic funds because
there is no sustained investment.
“There were some good strategic moves by the UK government [in response
to the pandemic], but I have been disappointed by what’s happened since
then,” he said.
“What we’ve seen is there has been the discontinuation of funding of
some of the jewels in the crown of the UK response, like the ONS survey,
like the Covid Geonomics Consortium, like the Recovery trial ... the
mothballing of the [Covid lab] facilities.
“Instead of building on the successes, [the government has] been
dismantling the successes, and I find that a potential risk for the future.”
He added: “We may be back in the position that we saw ourselves in 2020, >> where we’ve got a new threat and we don’t have the diagnostics, the
drugs, the vaccine, or the surveillance capabilities that we would desire.”
Recommended
Why the world is unprepared if new Covid variant Arcturus proves deadly
– in graphs
Why the world is unprepared if new Covid variant Arcturus proves deadly
– in graphs
A government spokesperson said: “We have flexible pandemic response
plans which are kept under constant review and continuously updated to
reflect the latest scientific information, lessons learned from
exercises and our response to emergencies, including Covid, to ensure
preparedness.
“The UK Health Security Agency was set-up to combat future health
threats and it continues to monitor the threat posed by Covid through
surveillance systems and genomic capabilities, while maintaining our
laboratory infrastructure and stock of lateral flow tests will ensure
testing can be scaled up swiftly if a Covid wave results in
significantly increased pressure on the NHS.
“A record £14.1 billion of funding for health and social care over the
next two years will help the NHS to address the unprecedented impact of
Covid and cut waiting times.”
In the interim, we are 100% prepared/protected in the "full armor of
GOD" (Ephesians 6:11) which we put on as soon as we use
Apostle Paul's secret (http://bit.ly/Philippians4_12 ). Though masking
is less protective, it helps us avoid the appearance of doing the evil
of spreading airborne pathogens while there are people getting sick
because of not being 100% protected. It is written that we're to
"abstain from **all** appearance of doing evll" (1 Thessalonians 5:22 w/**emphasis**).
Source:
https://biblehub.com/1_thessalonians/5-22.htm
Meanwhile, the only *perfect* (Matt 5:47-8) way to eradicate the
COVID-19 virus, thereby saving lives, in the US & elsewhere is by
rapidly ( http://bit.ly/RapidTestCOVID-19 ) finding out at any given
moment, including even while on-line, who among us are unwittingly
contagious (i.e pre-symptomatic or asymptomatic) in order to http://WDJW.great-site.net/ConvinceItForward (John 15:12) for them to
call their doctor and self-quarantine per their doctor in hopes of
stopping this pandemic. Thus, we're hoping for the best while
preparing for the worse-case scenario of the Alpha lineage mutations
and others like the Omicron, Gamma, Beta, Epsilon, Iota, Lambda, Mu &
Delta lineage mutations combining via slip-RNA-replication to form
hybrids like http://tinyurl.com/Deltamicron that may render current
COVID vaccines/monoclonals/medicines/pills no longer effective.
Indeed, I am wonderfully hungry ( http://tinyurl.com/RapidOmicronTest
) and hope you, Michael, also have a healthy appetite too.
So how are you ?
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