Update about Coronavirus: 530 confirmed cases in Newham and help track Covid-19 by becoming a citizen scientist and downloading King's College tracking app - From Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz
Dear Newham Resident.
Today marks week three of ‘Lockdown Britain’. In the past 24-hours, 24 million people tuned in to listen to The Queen reassure us that we’ll meet again. As she addressed the nation, the Prime Minister was taken to hospital because of persistent coronavirus symptoms. Tonight he’s been moved into intensive care as a precaution, which is an unprecedented development.
As we adjust to the changes that have turned our lives outside in, I know it’s difficult. But if we don’t stick to the #StayAtHome instructions, the prospects of getting through this any time soon will simply remain a distant dream.
As it is, earlier today the Government said it is too early to consider an exit strategy for the lockdown as shifting the focus from social distancing measures will just delay us getting to the expected ‘peak’ coming soon. Peak is code for the increase in those testing positive for the virus. And those that will die.
Today, deaths from Covid-19 in the UK have reached 5,373 people, with 51,608 people testing positive for the virus. In Newham, we now have 530 confirmed cases of Coronavirus which is an increase of 118 cases since I last wrote to you on Saturday night. That is quite an increase in our borough, and we are all going to need to brace ourselves for further increases in the coming weeks.
My condolences to the families devastated by the loss of loved ones, and I hope that all those infected a speedy recovery.
In the midst of this emergency, there are extraordinary efforts to develop tools to track the spread of Covid-19 so that high-risk regions can be identified as can those individuals most at risk of contracting the virus.
Researchers from King’s College London have launched a mobile app, which has been developed in association with the Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, and a healthcare start-up ZOE Global Ltd, which asks users to log their symptoms (or lack thereof) daily.
Already 2,161,843 ‘citizen scientists’ have downloaded the app, and are logging their symptoms every day; with 5,608 contributors in Newham, including me!
The aim of the app and the data it captures is to help researchers understand the spread and progression of COVID-19. Lead researcher Professor Tim Spector has already identified new symptoms of Covid-19, such as, according to their data, those who have experienced loss of smell and taste are 3 times more likely to have contracted COVID-19 according, and should therefore self-isolate for seven days to reduce the spread of the disease.
If you want to be part of the Covid-19 tracker you can download the app
In the meantime, stay at home, support the NHS and help save lives.