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The role of the immune system is to prevent future infections by the same pathogen, and it works in the HUGE majority of cases, but there will always be the exceptions - like the HANDFUL of people who have repeated chickenpox infection into adulthood. Of course, that doesn't take account of when...

People ask "why is the UK so different from everywhere employing more drastic measures?". The answer to that may be "Why has the UK suffered MUCH less from the impacts of SARS, MERS-CoV, swine flu and avian flu than many other comparable countries?" - beacuse of the expert epidemiological...

The evidence from SARS is that viable virus is not detectable after drying onto an absorbent surface such as paper. There is no reason to suppose that this coronavirus will behave any differently.

Chief Medical Officer (Whitty) and Chief Scientific Adviser (Vallance), but a whole bunch of experts in epidemiological modelling also involved - as well as behavioural psychologists. I believe they are providing the right collective evidence to enable the government to act as best as the data...

You are utterly incorrect on this point, RoS. PHE, the Chief Medical Officers, Chief Scientific Advisers and the like have been observing and monitoring the situation on an hourly basis. They have planned for this type of eventuality for a decade, and the algorithms and mathematical modelling of...

Takes after his Uncle Andrew?

I mentioned it in passing yesterday. It's really interesting to see the distribution by local authority - generally well-to-do areas have higher incidence rates, which will probably decline when they have all come home from their skiing holidays in northern Italy. But it's probably also an...

I work from home on occasion, and get more done as there are fewer distractions (phone calls, office conversations, etc)

UEFA have told them they have to

The ridiculousness of this has now been exemplified by all the Olympiakos players being confirmed NEGATIVE for coronavirus. The likelihood of them having had prolonged close contact with their own club's owner is rather higher than a casual handshake or fleeting nod to the Arsenal players.

I think the main problem with the early SARS vaccines is that they were NASTY! But each coronavirus will have a slightly different make-up, so it's unlikely that the vaccines would cross-react, even if the symptoms are identical. It's been the perennial problem with generating a vaccine for the...

The Uni has been running a pilot of what they call "agile working", and i think the latest nastiness is likely to lead to an acceleration of the wider adoption of the programme. Essentially, if you are able to work from home (no meetings in your calendar, etc), then you may do so. It is part of...

FWIW, that individual is now confirmed NEGATIVE, and has been readmitted to the general population. The experience is helping us to formulate robust processes for how to manage future possible and confirmed cases. Take a look at Insite for the latest information, which generally follows PHE...

Even more reason for the barge-pole though!

This latest peak has been caused by well-off people coming back from their holidays in Italy (which is why Hertfordshire and Kensington & Chelsea have the highest incidence rates - 18x a city the size of Birmingham!), and when that stops, I think/hope the rates of new cases will decline. The...

Seriously? The best one i've seen is that the makers of Dettol wipes knew about the impending outbreak as early as October, because someone bought a pack that said they were effective against "coronaviruses"

I meant conspiracies about coronavirus in this context, but i agree with you! Never bought into them - and people who do get on my tits!

Best post i've seen on the subject, full stop!

WHERE is the evidence that it is "more deadly"? Absolute rubbish! You cannot calculate a headline case fatality rate on so few deaths when all those who have died are in an identified at-risk group.

How everyone appears to be an expert in viral epidemiology all of a sudden. And don't get me started on the conspiracy theorists ....