Covid-19 infections are rising once again in Reading, as cases surge across Europe.
Prime Minister Johnson warned last week (November 15) that a ‘new wave’ of Covid sweeping through West Europe may wash up on British shores.
There were 147 new infections recorded on the same day in Reading and on Tuesday, in the most recent data available from Public Health England, 121 cases were recorded.
On November 7 there were just 49.
By comparison, Slough saw 107 new cases on November 16, Bracknell 102, and Wokingham spiked to 144.
Infections in Reading had peaked around this time last month, with 162 new cases recorded on October 19.
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Cases were dropping until November 5, when the seven-day average reversed course, rising from 62 per day to 96 by November 13 – an increase of more than a third.
There have been protests in a number of countries including Austria, Switzerland, Croatia, Italy and the Netherlands at new restrictions in response to sharp rises in cases.
Professor of public health at the University of Edinburgh, Linda Bauld, said while the picture remains “uncertain” in the UK, there are a number of factors which could help the UK avoid the situation seen in other countries.
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She told Sky’s Trevor Phillips On Sunday programme: “We dealt with our Delta wave in the summer and early autumn. We’re still in it of course but not those big rises.
“And then the other features are around, unfortunately, because we’ve had high infections in the past, we’ve probably a bit more natural immunity in the population – as in immunity post-infection, particularly for younger groups who’ve not been eligible for vaccines.”
The vaccine rollouts are also slightly different in that the dosing gap between first and second doses in many of the European countries was smaller than in the UK, she said.
“So they’re certainly seeing waning now and they’ve also got, in some parts of the population, some pockets of hesitancy, which are causing real concern, so we may not be the same, but you know, it’s very uncertain.”
But she added there is an element of “grave concern actually in trying to determine whether there are differences in the situation in Europe, or whether it’s just a matter of time until this faces us here”.
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