‘What’s going on in Swale?’, asked a health journalist who I often speak to. This was back in November. I responded that I didn’t know where Swale is, let alone what its problem was, although I guessed it was most likely something to do with Covid-19. But now, we’re all looking at places like Swale — and much of Kent — and wondering what’s going on.
Back in the summer, the UK government would put countries on the quarantine list when their infections hit 20 per 100,000 residents. In Swale, at the last count, it was 2,600 per 100,000 residents. Kent’s MPs were furious that their constituencies were placed in Tier 3 when the November lockdown ended — but now, the area is one of the world’s Covid hotspots.
Whatever is causing this mutation, it appears to be substantial. Analysis by Nervtag, the government committee which monitors respiratory tract infections, suggests that the new strain is growing 71 per cent faster than other variants.
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