Published 21:06 IST, August 4th 2020
COVID-19: UK might face much bigger second wave if schools reopened without proper testing
The UK would face a second wave of coronavirus this winter which would be twice as big as the initial wave if it reopens schools without proper testing.
The UK would face a second wave of coronavirus this winter which would be twice as big as the initial wave if it reopens schools without proper testing and tracking, a study published on Aug 4 revealed. Britain has reported a total of 3,07,252 cases till now, the latest tally by John Hopkins University stated. Schools in the UK closed earlier in March, except for those children of key workers. However, they have now opened to a small number of children.
For the purpose of study, researchers from University College London and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine modelled the impact of reopening of schools and workplaces on potential spread f coronavirus. As a result, they found that in absence of “sufficiently broad test-trace-isolate” coverage, a second wave, twice as large, might be induced.
In the study, which was published in The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health, they also suggested that second wave could be prevented if 75% of those with symptoms were found and tested and 68% of their contacts were traced, or if 87% of people with symptoms were found and 40% of their contacts tested.
“Our modelling results suggest that full school reopening in September 2020 without an effective test-trace-isolate strategy would result in R rising above 1 and a resulting second wave of infections that would peak in December 2020 and be 2.0-2·3 times the size of the original COVID-19 wave,” they warned.
Vaccine deal signed
Meanwhile, a Mumbai-based pharmaceutical and biotechnology firm Wockhardt has signed a deal with the United Kingdom government to supply a million doses of COVID-19 vaccine. Responding to the development, the UK government on Tuesday said that its new manufacturing pact with the Indian company will guarantee the supply of millions of more doses of a COVID-19 vaccine whenever it is ready.
Image credits: AP
Updated 21:06 IST, August 4th 2020