THE POSITIVE PROFESSOR
SOCIAL media’s voice of calm Karol Sikora has been signed up by the Daily Express. Readers can now enjoy his soothing advice in these troubled times that has won him hundreds of thousands of followers on Twitter. If you need reassuring everything’s going to be all right read Professor Positivity.
THE reaction to the Prime Minister’s roadmap out of lockdown was exactly as many of us predicted. Fury from many. For some, it is not quick enough, but for others, it is moving with reckless pace.
For most, it is probably somewhere in between. Perhaps there are parts we would like to see move faster, but on the whole I’m just pleased to see that we are taking steps in the right direction. It’s easy to pick apart the rules for inconsistencies, but let’s just focus on the positives.
One piece of really encouraging news comes from Public Health England on how well the vaccines are working in the country. The results have been described as “spectacular” and that is extremely positive language from any scientist.
The risk of hospitalisation was drastically cut in the over-80s group, by around three quarters. It also reduced the risk of symptomatic infection by a significant margin and one dose in healthcare staff reduced the risk of catching the infection by 70 per cent.
To describe those findings as spectacular may actually be an understatement! It’s clear that the vaccine programme is working.
It was also good to hear that the number of new and concerning variants was actually falling in the UK, according to the Health Secretary, Matt Hancock. More good news.
With well over 18 million people having now received the first dose of the vaccine, that is a significant number of vulnerable people who have some protection – this is now showing up in hospitalisation numbers, with levels not seen since the end of October. It has dipped below 1,000 a day in England, which is really welcome news.
Still, we’re not there yet, so please continue to follow the basics and, in a few weeks, hopefully our progress will be even more positive.