Articles in Author: Ben Clark

The risk of meeting a Covid-infected person in England at New Year remains Moderately High. 1 in every 296 people were infected as of 29 December, a slight decrease over the last week. However, influenza cases are still rising, although less quickly than last week. If you don’t want to be ill for New Year, now is the time to be taking precautions.

Covid infection levels in England continue to remain roughly flat, and the risk of meeting an infected person in your everyday life remains Moderately High. There has been no significant change in Covid risk for five weeks now. 1 in every 259 people were infected as of 22 December. However, influenza cases continue to rise rapidly.

Although BuDS generally will be taking a break from 20 December 2024 to 5 January 2025, we will continue to publish our weekly Covid risk assessments over the holiday period.

Assuming that the official data that we use for our risk assessments is published on time, we expect to publish a Covid risk assessment on or near the following dates:

• 23 December 2024
• 30 December 2024
• 6 January 2025

If you are not using social media over the holidays, remember you can subscribe to our Substack and receive all our risk assessments direct to your inbox.

Covid infection levels in England have remained roughly flat for the fourth week in a row. 1 in every 256 people were infected as of 15 December, and the risk of meeting an infected person in your everyday life remains Moderately High. Influenza and RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) cases continue to rise rapidly – the 6^th week of their increase.

For the third week in a row, Covid infection levels in England have remained roughly flat. 1 in every 252 people were infected as of 8 December, and the risk of meeting an infected person in your everyday life remains Moderately High. However, cases of influenza and RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) are rising rapidly, and have been for the last 5 weeks.

Covid infection levels in England have remained roughly flat since last week. 1 in every 252 people were infected as of 1 December, and the risk of meeting an infected person in your everyday life remains Moderately High.

Covid infection levels in England have not yet started to rise to their winter peak. 1 in every 237 people were infected as of 24 November, and the risk of meeting an infected person in your everyday life remains Moderately High.

As a statistical example of the current risk of catching Covid, a typical busy supermarket will have 1 or 2 infected people breathing out virus for you to breathe in. A typical full single decker bus will have an infected person breathing out virus every 2 or 3 journeys. There will be an infected person beathing our virus in every two busy train carriages. If you work in a large, air-conditioned office or warehouse/factory without air purification, there will be around 2 infected people.

It is vital to understand that the current lower levels of Covid infection does NOT mean that Covid has ‘gone away’. Levels are only lower at the moment because everyone caught Covid in the last few months. The lower levels of Covid are a sign of public health failure, not public health success. We are still anticipating a rise over Christmas and New Year, although perhaps not to the very high levels seen in previous years.

This is BuDS’ 203^rd Covid risk assessment since the beginning of the pandemic. If you value our Covid information work, including these risk assessments, please consider making a donation to safeguard our work for the future. If you are able to contribute, please visit https://www.peoplesfundraising.com/fundraising/buds-covid-info.

We urge everyone who is entitled to a free Covid vaccination to get it immediately – you will only be able to book an appointment until 20 December. You may be able to get a vaccination through your GP after that date. If you are not entitled to a free vaccination, please consider whether paying for the jab would be a good investment (if you can afford it, of course). Remember to wear a close-fitting respiratory mask (FFP2 or FFP3) when you have the jab – doctors’ surgeries and pharmacies are extremely high risk for catching Covid.

Remember, Covid is airborne: the virus spreads mainly through the air. An infected person in an unventilated place creates a large invisible cloud of virus which hangs in the air like smoke, ready for you to breathe in. BuDS strongly recommends that disabled and clinically vulnerable people avoid public transport and indoor spaces unless they are wearing a filter mask (FFP2/3) or respirator. For more advice on how to avoid catching Covid, use this link.

Because the NHS has not improved the ventilation in its buildings, hospitals and GP practices are extremely dangerous places to catch Covid. NHS staff are now required to work even if they have Covid and there are no Covid precautions in place at most NHS buildings. Do avoid hospitals and GP practices unless your visit is essential and wear a tight-fitted filter mask (FFP2 or FFP3) or respirator all the time if you have to go there.

To understand more about our Covid risk levels and what they mean, use this link.

For more Covid information and help, please contact BuDS and we will be happy to help.

All available data suggests that Covid infection levels in England have fallen to the lowest level seen in the last 12 months. However, the risk of meeting an infected person in your everyday life has not gone away, and remains Moderately High. Covid infection levels in England have fallen to around 1 in every 254 people infected as of 17 November.