LONDON (Reuters) – England’s third national blockade COVID-19 is helping to reduce infections, a study found on Thursday, but the prevalence of cases remains high as Prime Minister Boris Johnson seeks a cautious way to reopen the economy .
Johnson is expected to establish a roadmap for the blockade, which began on January 5, Monday, and said it would be a cautious and prudent approach.
The study, known as REACT-1 and led by researchers at Imperial College London, found that national prevalence was two-thirds lower between February 4 and 13 than in the previous survey, which covered January 6 to 22.
“It is very encouraging news. We think the blockade is having an effect. We saw that decline quite fast now between January and this month, ”Paul Elliott, program director at Imperial, told reporters.
“But … the actual prevalence is still very high. We only returned to where we were in September ”.
The latest figures showed that 51 per 10,000 people were infected, down from 157 per 10,000 in the January survey, and that it takes 15 days for infections to halve.
Prevalence fell in all age groups, falling from 0.93% to 0.30% among people over 65, although the researchers said they had no evidence that this was being driven by the launch of the vaccine, which has target older groups.
REACT-1 is one of the largest and most observed prevalence surveys in England, and the researchers published the provisional results in a preliminary version that was not peer-reviewed.
Health Minister Matt Hancock said the findings are an encouraging sign that the blockade is working.
“While the trends we are seeing are good news, we need to work to keep infections low by adhering to the measures,” he said.
Reporting by Alistair Smout; Kirsten Donovan edition