UK govt confirms creation of science-led health unit to combat COVID-19

On August 18, the Government of the United Kingdom confirmed the creation of a brand new "rigorous" science-led health unit to battle the novel coronavirus and other diseases. According to reports by the National Institute for Health Protection, a single command structure will be established that will bring together existing units such as Public Health England (PHE), National Health Service (NHS) Test, and Trace and the Joint Biosecurity Centre. The United Kingdom has reported a total number of 319,197 cases with 41,369 casualties. 

Health unit to battle coronavirus in the United Kingdom 

According to reports by PTI, Matt Hancock who is the UK Health Secretary confirming new units said, “To give ourselves the best chance of beating this virus once and for all and of spotting and being ready to respond to other health threats, now and in the future, we are creating a brand new organisation to provide a new approach to public health protection and resilience”. He added, “The National Institute for Health Protection will bring together the expertise of PHE with the enormous response capabilities of NHS Test and Trace the Joint Biosecurity Centre to put us in the best possible position for the next stage of the fight against COVID-19 and for the long-term”. Reports by the government’s Department of Health and Social Care suggest that the new organisation will be fully operational from the first half of 2021. This will prevent disruption to the ongoing work dealing with the novel coronavirus.

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In charge of the NHS Test and Trace operation, Baroness Dido Harding said that “Combining the UK’s world-class public health talent and infrastructure with the new at-scale response capability of NHS Test and Trace into a single organisation puts us in the strongest position to stop the spread of the virus”. She added, “PHE has worked incredibly well with NHS Test and Trace and with winter ahead, the life-saving work we are doing is more important than ever. The changes announced today are designed to strengthen our response, and to radically ramp up our fight against this disease, whilst also protecting PHE’s essential work beyond COVID-19 that is so important for the nation’s health”. 

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According to reports, creating a new institute follows some concerns around the PHE’s handling of the coronavirus crisis. This includes the methodology of recording the death toll from the virus which has taken over the entire globe. As a part of the speech, Matt Hancock paid tribute to the public health experts for the “incredible work” that they have done in battling the virus. He also regarded PHE’s research as “some of the best that’s been done” into COVID-19.

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(Image Credits: PTI)

(with inputs from agencies)