Less than a quarter of people in the UK with coronavirus symptoms request a test, while only half fully adhere to self-isolation guidance, a study has found.
The findings, based on surveys carried out by researchers from institutions such as King’s College London and Public Health England, were published in the BMJ on Wednesday.
The latest figures come from responses between 25 and 27 January, and are slightly higher than averages seen during previous waves.
“Levels of adherence to test, trace, and isolate are low, although some improvement has occurred over time. Practical support and financial reimbursement are likely to improve adherence,” the study’s authors wrote.
Elsewhere, Keir Starmer has told the Daily Telegraph that people in the UK could be against vaccine passports if the virus were under control.
The Labour leader said that if death rates came close to zero “the British instinct in those circumstances will be against vaccine passports”.
France to enter third national lockdown on Saturday
France will enter its third national lockdown on Saturday, president Emmanuel Macron announced in a televised address on Wednesday.
“We will lose control if we do not move now,” he told the public.
Measures will last for at least a month, with the French health minister Olivier Veran saying that the country could see the peak of the third wave in less than two weeks.
Rory Sullivan1 April 2021 08:20
Less than a quarter with symptoms request coronavirus test, study finds
Less than a quarter of people with coronavirus symptoms in the UK request a test, a study has found.
Published in the BMJ on Wednesday, the research also looked at the people’s adherence to the government’s self-isolation guidelines.
It discovered that only 22.2 per cent of those with symptoms asked for a test, while just 51.8 per cent of them fully self-isolated.
“Our results indicate that about half of people know the symptoms of Covid-19, and that adherence to each stage of test, trace, and isolate is low but improving slowly,” the authors said.
Rory Sullivan1 April 2021 08:04
Vaccine passports could be against ‘British instinct’, Starmer says
Keir Starmer has expressed scepticism at the idea of vaccine passports, suggesting people in the UK will not approve of them.
Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, the Labour leader said that if the number of Covid-19 deaths were low then “the British instinct in those circumstances will be against vaccine passports”.
Rory Sullivan1 April 2021 07:49
Morning, and welcome toThe Independent’s rolling coronavirus coverage.
Rory Sullivan1 April 2021 07:45
