New data from the REACT study find that the incidence of COVID is down by 60% within one month, but primary school children have the highest COVID infection levels
The Real-time Assessment of Community Transmission (REACT) program was commissioned by the Department of Health to officially track COVID-19 distribution.
At present, more than 127,000 individuals in the UK have died from the virus. There have been 4.37 million cases so far.
COVID rates drop by 60%
Compared to the last data drop in February, the observations for March show that the COVID prevalence is 60% lower. Scientists link this drop to social distance measures and the ongoing vaccination process.
The team further found that infections lead to fewer hospitalizations and deaths, indicating that the vaccine works.
However, primary school children aged 5-12 years are now the group with the highest COVID infection level, with 0.41%. School reopening is presumably the reason why children have become the infected group.
The lowest percentage of COVID infection is now in persons aged 65 and over, with 0.09%.
‘Keep adhering to the rules’
Professor Paul Elliott, director of the REACT program of the Imperial’s School of Public Health, said: ‘We have seen a gratifying decrease in infections since our last survey in February, with total infections around 60%. This is very encouraging and shows that we are heading in the right direction.
‘In our most recent data, however, there was a flattening of the infection rate with an R number that is now about one. This shows that we must continue to approach the situation with caution and abide by the rules. ”
Does the R decrease?
While the R has dropped dramatically, it is currently on a plateau. The third wave to exist in the EU is currently not in the UK, but the team warns that the R remains at 1.0. This means that the rate of infection is currently a delicate balance, which will fluctuate as the UK begins a long-awaited reopening of society.
In the last drop in data, vaccine hesitation was strongest in London.