PublicHealthMatters 
Liverpool waterfront seen across the river Mersey. Our fight against COVID-19 continues. We can see the evidence across the country that the lockdown has been successful in bringing down rates of infection. In the North West of England however, we still have areas with rates coming down slower than others. We know that we have … Read more
It’s been over a year since the first cases of COVID-19 were detected in the UK, and all of us have been living with some form of restrictions for a very long time now. Along with these restrictions, people have been asked to take many extra steps to protect themselves and other people. Our lives … Read more
We know that schools are a vital environment for children and young people’s wellbeing and mental health, as well as their learning. Schools have remained open to children of key workers and vulnerable children throughout the pandemic, and this has played a major role in keeping essential services like hospitals running. Children and young people … Read more
On 8 December 2020, the UK became the first country to rollout a COVID-19 vaccination programme, initially using the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Following advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), care home residents and staff, people over the age of 80 and health and social care workers were the first to receive the … Read more
The evidence is clear, Cardiovascular disease (CVD) and COVID-19 share common underlying risk factors. People with pre-existing CVD, diabetes, obesity and high blood pressure are not only at greater risk of having a heart attack, stroke or developing some forms of dementia, but are known to experience more severe outcomes from COVID-19, including hospitalisation, ventilation … Read more
Madison Exter joined UK Biocentre at the Milton Keynes Lighthouse lab as a temporary lab technician, after studying Human Biology. When testing capacity was rapidly increasing to help halt the spread of COVID-19, she became a Laboratory Supervisor, supporting the team to process tens of thousands of swab samples every day as part of the … Read more
We are fast approaching February half term (15th – 19th February for most parts of the country). After a very tough winter we are all looking forward to nicer weather and brighter days, but right now we are in a very important moment of the pandemic. We are seeing the vaccine roll out happen at … Read more
Coloured transmission electron micrograph (TEM) of a SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus particle isolated from a UK case of the disease Covid-19. Counting how many people have sadly died with COVID-19 is not straightforward. Public Health England publishes daily figures for deaths in people with a laboratory-confirmed test for COVID-19. The Office for National Statistics reports deaths where … Read more
Coloured transmission electron micrograph (TEM) of a SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus particle isolated from a UK case of the disease Covid-19. All viruses mutate over time. For this reason, very early on in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a genome sequencing capability was established in the UK to monitor changes in the genome of the virus … Read more
Right now, COVID-19 vaccines are being rolled out at pace across the UK. People from priority groups are being vaccinated every day and the aim is to vaccinate 14 million of the most vulnerable people by the end of February. In this blog we answer some of the most common questions about the COVID-19 vaccines. … Read more