Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Since the onset of the pandemic scientists and researchers, aided and supported by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and DHSC, have mobilised to create surveillance systems that have infinitely improved our understanding of COVID-19. This blog looks at some of those systems.
The Government’s Living with COVID-19 plan set out how the UK would transition from managing COVID-19 as an emergency response to living with the virus, whilst ensuring we retain the resilience and contingency capabilities to deal with the uncertainty around …
Two years ago, we launched the SARS-CoV2- Immunity and Reinfection Evaluation Study, known as SIREN, the largest of its kind globally. The study set out to find answers to some of the most important questions about COVID-19. The SIREN study …
Changes to how we carry out and support COVID-19 testing mean that ‘Pillar 2’ testing data, which includes community LFD and PCR testing of both symptomatic and asymptomatic cases, will no longer provide the same volume of data; it will therefore not be the key component of our weekly reports, which will be dominated by ‘Pillar 1’ test results from the NHS.
Learning to live with COVID relies on us all taking sensible actions to help stop the spread of the virus and other respiratory infections, which in turn will help to protect those who are most vulnerable.
After more than two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, all corners of our lives have been impacted by the virus whether it’s our health, work, education, or social lives. But we learned very early on that some communities felt the consequences of COVID-19 harder than others, and although the picture has improved, that’s still as true today as it was two years ago.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions it has made necessary have had a significant impact on the education, health and social development of our children and young people.
We know the pandemic is not over, so it’s important we continue to take simple and effective actions that will protect our families and communities, particularly those at the greatest risk of severe illness.
*Data presented in this blog is accurate as of Thursday, February 10, but is subject to change over time. For the latest data on vaccine effectiveness, read the UKHSA’s Vaccine Surveillance Reports, published weekly. Since the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines …
To adapt to the changing picture on COVID-19 reinfections, UKHSA has changed the case definition for COVID-19. This blog explains how we have done this and why.