Here are the latest updates from the region and around the country on the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic

  • A FURTHER 13 people who tested positive for coronavirus have died in hospital in England, bringing the total number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals to 29,444, NHS England said on Thursday. The patients were aged between 49 and 90 and one patient, aged 86, had no known underlying health conditions. Another four deaths were reported with no positive Covid-19 test result.
  • A HEALTH expert has warned there is not enough immunity within the population to prevent a second wave of infection. Dr Lilith Whittles, postdoctoral researcher in infectious disease epidemiology at Imperial College London, said calculating the infection rate – known as R – on a regional level is going to be “our best signifier that we have entered a second wave”. At a Covid-19 webinar hosted by the Royal Society of Medicine on Thursday, she agreed that if local outbreaks were not managed correctly they could potentially lead to a second wave. Speaking on the results of the largest study on home coronavirus antibody testing, led by Imperial College London, Dr Whittles said: “We’re nowhere near the level of population immunity that we would need to prevent the occurrence of a second wave. In a worst-case scenario of a second wave we could see a peak of a similar size to the first.”
  • AROUND two-thirds of people who were tested for Covid-19 in the week ending August 5 at a regional site or mobile testing unit – a so-called “in-person” test – received their result within 24 hours. This is down from 76.9 per cent in the previous week and 90.7 per cent in the week to July 1.
  • THE UK is not at the beginning of a second coronavirus wave, and is still trying to end the first, new data suggests. There were 1,434 daily new cases in the UK on average over the two weeks up to August 8, excluding care homes, according to the latest Covid Symptom Study app figures. The latest figures are based on the data from 10,988 swab tests taken between July 26 and August 8.
  • FIGURES estimate that 24,131 people in the UK currently have symptomatic Covid-19. According to the data, the amount of symptomatic coronavirus nationally has remained stable. The numbers are still higher in the North of England but have slightly decreased since last week. The figure does not include long-term Covid-19 sufferers.
  • TIM Spector, professor of genetic epidemiology at King's College London, said: "It's encouraging to see that the numbers are coming down slightly across the UK and that the isolated outbreaks in the North of England appear to be well contained so far. This is further confirmation that we aren't at the beginning of a second wave and rather, still trying to end the first. The figures also suggest that the outbreaks we are seeing in other countries such as Belgium, France and Spain aren't having an effect here in the UK yet.On top of this, the hot weather which caused concern by making many flock to crowded beaches and parks doesn't seem to be having the predicted negative impact. Overall, we are pleasantly surprised by the figures this week, which are back down to the early July levels and hope that the good news continues."
  • THE Covid Symptom Study app's Watch List highlights key areas of concern so they can be focused on. This week a number of new locations have made the list, including the first area in Scotland, Dumfries and Galloway, Thurrock in Essex, and more regions in the North of England, St Helens, Middlesbrough, Blackpool and Lancashire. Blackburn with Darwen has fallen from the top spot to sixth in the table, while Halton in Merseyside has moved to the top slot, making it the one to watch. When an area of concern is highlighted, it means enhanced testing can take place to help confirm if the situation needs further action such as a localised lockdown.
  • A TOTAL of 292 people have tested positive for Covid-19 after an outbreak at a sandwich factory in Northampton. Greencore said some of its staff are self-isolating after a significant number tested positive for coronavirus. A spokeswoman for Northamptonshire County Council said 79 people returned positive NHS tests and a further 213 tested positive through Greencore's private testing. The company took the decision to proactively test workers as a result of a rise in cases in the town.
  • THE United Nations has said some 43 per cent of schools worldwide entered the Covid-19 pandemic lacking basic soap-and-water hand-washing facilities, deeming it a key condition for schools to reopen safely. The World Health Organization and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said that 818 million children were affected, putting them at increased risk of being infected with Covid-19 and other transmittable diseases. Of those, 355 million went to schools which had facilities with water but no soap, while the rest had no facilities or water available for hand-washing at all, the UN agencies said in a joint report.
  • FRANCE, The Netherlands and Malta are set to be removed from England’s travel corridor list. Transport secretary Grant Shapps and minsters and have agreed that the British overseas territory Turks and Caicos Islands, and the island of Aruba, a Dutch constituent country in the Caribbean, should all be listed for removal.