We all know cases of Covid-19 are on the rise, here and on the
continent. And yet no one, it appears, is very ill. Last week, Health
Secretary Matt Hancock claimed ‘a second wave was rolling across Europe’
and that ‘we must do everything in our power to protect the UK’.But, right now, not many people are ending up in hospital. Very few are dying, either here or in other European countries. During
the pandemic, social media was awash with people reporting that they
were horribly unwell and stuck at home. That’s all gone silent, too. Why
is this happening? Well, part of the reason is due to increased
testing. Last week this newspaper
revealed how screening programmes have been quietly rolled out across
the UK over the past few months, and thanks to this approach it was
highly likely that mild or even asymptomatic cases were being picked up
in large numbers. ....
And local outbreaks over the past couple of months have hit predominantly Asian communities – a group at higher risk of suffering severe Covid-19. Still, in these areas, serious illness and deaths continue to fall.Might it also be that the infection is being passed around, but at a low dose because we’re keeping our distance, washing our hands, wearing masks and all that stuff? So, in a similar way to that first child with chicken pox, the amount of virus inside people’s bodies could mean they suffer a very mild illness, or no symptoms at all, but still test positive."
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