Health News

EXCLUSIVE: Workers at drive-through testing centres, who carry out PCR and lateral flow tests, routinely lean into cars to take swabs from people's throats and noses, and others do tests in Portakabins. They routinely lean into cars (left). The Government is aiming to vaccinate 15million Britons in the most vulnerable groups - over-70s, NHS staff, care home residents and the vulnerable - by mid-February, but the list doesn't appear to include those working in Covid testing centres. It comes after Covid jabs were offered to clerical staff at a Scottish hospital ahead of nurses, and to NHS office staff in parts of England ahead of doctors and nurses on wards handling patients suffering from the virus.

NHS England figures showed 5,176 critical care beds were occupied on January 17. For comparison, there were 3,066 patients in the beds at the same time last winter.Analysis of the most up-to-date NHS data also revealed a quarter of NHS hospital trusts - or 35 out of 132 - had no spare capacity in their intensive care units on January 17. Just 14 facilities were completely full on the same day last winter. MailOnline has designed an interactive tool to allow readers to check how busy their local hospital's intensive care unit was on January 17, compared to the last four years.

On Wednesday, the U.S. recorded its second deadliest day of the coronavirus pandemic with 4,229 deathsIt is second only to January 12 with 4,327 and marks the third time the daily death toll has surpassed 4,000. The grim milestone comes on the same day Joe Biden was inaugurated was the 46th President. Biden signed a federal order mandating masks on federal property and has pledged to vaccinate 100 million Americans in 100 days. Wednesday also marked one year to the day since the first case of the virus was recorded in Washington state with more than 24.4 million people since testing positive. Health experts said widespread vaccination could help curb the surge of cases, but rollout has been slow. A recent CDC projection shows that the national daily death toll could rise to between 465,000 and 508,000 fatalities by February 13.

NHS data published today show that almost 250,000 people in Cumbria and the North East have had a Covid vaccine, compared to just 25,000 in Shropshire and Telford. The most detailed breakdown of local vaccination rates released so far has laid bare the postcode lottery showing 10 per cent of the population in Gloucestershire have had a jab already, compared to just 3.6 per cent of East Londoners. Herefordshire and Worcestershire had also managed to immunise one in 10 of their residents by January 17, the figures show.

A star in the stage show of Magic Mike in Australia has shared the daily diet that keeps him looking and feeling his best, despite gruelling long hours on and off stage. Petr Fedorovskii (left and right), from Sydney, said while he has always been active and loved sports including surfing and outdoor training, he has tweaked his meals in the past few months in order to get 'show fit'. The Magic Mike stage show, currently showing in Sydney, is based on the 2012 American comedy film about the world of male stripping starring Channing Tatum.

Analysis from the UEA found the highly-virulent B.1.1.7 strain which evolved in Kent has made it impossible to ever achieve herd immunity with the current effectiveness of vaccines. The researcher say that even if every person in the UK, including children, gets the Oxford jab, this would only be enough to bring the R rate down to 1.325 when all restrictions are lifted. However, the Oxford vaccine is only approved for over-18s and if all adults - 79 per cent of the UK - got this vaccine, the R rate would be 1.98, they add. Pfizer's jab is approved for everyone over 16 - 81 per cent of the UK. The study found 81.9 per cent of the UK population, more than every single person over 16, would need to be vaccinated in order to achieve herd immunity.

Almost 13 times more over-60s have died from coronavirus in England's hospitals compared to those in younger age groups, official figures reveal. NHS England data shows 56,000 Covid deaths were recorded in over-60s by January 14 - but only 4,500 in the under-60s. The stark figures underline how the disease preys on the elderly, while for many younger people it triggers a mild infection that can clear in about a week.

California on Wednesday became the first state to record more than three million known coronavirus infections, according to state health department data. More than 34,000 Californians have died. Hospitalizations have declined in the state, however - an encouraging sign the 'surge on top of surge' will not materialize there. There are 20,986 people hospitalized for COVID-19, down from the January 8 peak of 22,836, but some ICUs still have precious little space for patients. California is now contending with the UK 'super-covid' variant, thought to be 70 percent more infectious. There are 40 cases there so far. The state also has its own variant, first seen in Denmark, which already accounts for about a quarter of Los Angeles cases and may be more infectious than typical coronavirus.

Boris Johnson (left) insisted the UK is still on schedule to inoculate 14million vulnerable people by mid-February . But the Prime Minister - who was grilled by MPs about the operation today - warned 'constraints on supply' were making the situation harder. Fears that the NHS scheme had stagnated were sparked yesterday after data revealed the number of doses dished out had fallen for three days in a row. But fresh statistics revealed 301,362 Covid vaccines were administered yesterday (bottom right), meaning 4.5million Britons have now had their first dose. One government insider told MailOnline they hoped it meant that the rollout was 'back on track'. Department of Health bosses will provide a UK-wide vaccine update later this afternoon. In order to meet the lockdown-easing target, the Government must average more than 350,000 doses a day from now until February 15, with the previous bullish tone from officials abruptly getting more anxious. Pfizer's supplies have been dented by a factory upgrade at its plant in Belgium (top right) which will continue into next month.

Nearly 150 Americans have contracted the highly contagious UK 'super-covid' variant as it continue to spread across the world. The new strain, B 1.1.7., is feared to be up to 70 percent more transmissible and to spread more easily among children. Since Monday, cases have more than doubled in Florida and 13 cases have been identified by a North Carolina laboratory.

Latest figures show the number of people who received a dose of either the Oxford University/AstraZeneca or Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine at the weekend was about a third lower than the number during the week. Almost 280,000 vulnerable Britons received their first dose on Saturday, followed by approximately 225,000 on Sunday. For comparison, the figure for both Thursday and Friday stood at around 320,000. Health Secretary Matt Hancock brushed off questions about the blip in uptake at a a Downing Street press conference last night, where he urged people to look at the weekly averages rather than data from an individual day. But think-tanks told MailOnline today that the weekend blip was 'both worrying and unwarranted in the face of the pandemic', and called on ministers to 'put money into it' if it turned out that staffing issues was behind the dip in performance.

Blood antibody testing by the Office for National Statistics shows that around 5.4million people in England had been infected with Covid by December, and at least a million more people have had it since. This was up from one in 14 people in October (shown left), showing a staggering five per cent of the population was infected even during the early parts of the second wave. A regional breakdown shows that the proportion of people to have had the virus already appears highest in Yorkshire and London, and lowest in the South West (shown right).

Some over-80s who are next in line for the jab are being contacted on their mobile phones because of the 'short notice of supply'. Dr Ollie Hart, a GP involved in the rollout in Sheffield, said he was concerned it was leading to many missing their jabs. He said: 'The difficulty for us has been the short notice of supply, which has meant we've had to contact most people by mobile phones and by telephone rather than sending letters and having a more staged and planned approach. So that has meant if people haven't been in or we haven't been able to get hold of them sometimes we might of missed people.' He urged over-80s still waiting to hear from their surgeries to give them a call to ensure they hadn't missed any calls or text messages.' The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine poses few problems for surgeries because it can be stored in standard fridges for months. But the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine - which was the first to be approved - must be used five days after it is defrosted. Dr Hart said once supplies of the jab are delivered there is usually only three-and-a-half days left, leading to frantic calls to the priority groups to ensure no supplies are wasted. The NHS says most invites are sent as letters - but GP practices can invite their own patients by text.

Normal breathing alone can produce thousands of virus-laden aerosols - the volumes are even larger if you shout, cough or sneeze. And if let undisturbed - for instance, in an unventilated space - aerosols can 'float in the air' for up to ten hours, says Valerie Edwards-Jones, a microbiologist and an emeritus professor at the School of Healthcare Science at Manchester Metropolitan University. Yet the team at LMS Wellness has remained at work - lockdowns permitting - with no more protection than the average person wears to a supermarket. Except for one thing - the face masks they use, set to be the next big thing in personal protection, are coated with a virucidal (virus-killing) agent, titanium dioxide, which has been shown by laboratory tests at the University of Cambridge to 'effectively inhibit infection by Covid-19 for up to 120 days'. This is according to tests carried out by virologist, Ravi Gupta, a professor of clinical microbiology at the university.

Anxiety and depression have been part of TV presenter Wendy Turner-Webster's life for just about as long as she can remember. Money, work and relationship problems have triggered periods of intense anxiety since her late teens, but she's learned to live with that. Her depression, however, which first hit during childhood, has only lately been eased by psychotherapy, after years of relying on medication. In those intervening years, there have been periods when 53-year-old Wendy, younger sister of TV presenter Anthea Turner, has felt so overwhelmed that she's contemplated taking her own life. She is pictured above with husband Gary, right and inset with sister Anthea.

More than one million Britons have a heart rhythm problem known as atrial fibrillation.  Diana Jackson, 68, a grandmother-of-five and retired local authority team leader from Arnside, Cumbria, underwent a new laser procedure to treat it. She says: 'Early one December morning, I was awoken by my heart beating rapidly and erratically, which left me gasping for breath. Sadly I was used to this, as it had happened many times over the previous 35 years - but doctors put it down to stress and couldn't find a cause. Two years ago, it worsened. It would occur three or four times a week and lasted longer, sometimes all day, leaving me exhausted'.

Emerging evidence suggests there is another way to improve your health that involves almost no formal exercise. The answer lies in shifting your focus from 'exercising' to 'active living'. Essentially, this means spending less time sitting down each day and more time moving. These short bursts of activity, even if the movements are low-intensity - doing housework, walking upstairs and moving heavy bags of shopping all count - could be as effective, or even more so, than a single formal workout. You may associate short bursts of activity with HIIT - high intensity interval training -which involves exercise conducted at maximum capacity for 30 seconds or so, then a minute of rest, for several rounds - similar to the online workouts by Joe Wicks.

Matt Hancock tonight revealed more than 4million Britons have now had a coronavirus vaccine, amid mounting claims that a 'postcode lottery' has left vulnerable people in certain areas unprotected. With the successful roll-out of a Covid vaccine the only hope ministers have of being able to ease the lockdown restrictions this spring, the Health Secretary told the nation: 'Don't blow it now, we're on the route out.' The Health Secretary also admitted supplies of the only two approved jabs, made by Pfizer and AstraZeneca, are being prioritised to areas lagging behind in the roll-out. It comes after another 7million Britons were sent invite letters to receive their coronavirus jabs from today - but only in areas where the 'majority' of over-80s have had it already. Discussing Britain's growing Covid vaccine postcode lottery, Mr Hancock praised Slough for ensuring all of their care home residents have had their first dose. Newcastle-upon-Tyne has also achieved the feat.

Department of Health figures show the coronavirus infection rate is dropping in each of the capital's 32 boroughs (top), showing the second wave may finally be running out of steam in the city. Separate data also reveals fatalities have tailed off in London (bottom left) and hospitalisations have peaked, in a further sign the outbreak is starting to flatten. Experts have suggested the change must be down to Tier 4 measures because it takes up to two weeks for someone that has been infected with the virus to suffer symptoms severe enough be admitted to hospital, and roughly three weeks to succumb to the disease. They say it is too early to say the lockdown is responsible for the drop, because it has only been in place for about a week. The capital was first into the measures alongside swathes of the East of England and the South East before Christmas. A similar drop is being recorded in the East but in the South East deaths are yet to plateau. Experts said they would be 'very surprised' if this did not happen by the end of the week.

Research by Leicester University and the Office for National Statistics (ONS) found that out of 47,780 people discharged from hospital in the first wave, 29.4 per cent returned to hospital within 140 days and 12.3 per cent died. The devastating long-term effects of coronavirus can cause many survivors to develop heart problems, diabetes and chronic liver and kidney conditions. Study author Kamlesh Khunti (right), professor of primary care diabetes and vascular medicine at Leicester University, told the Telegraph this was the 'largest study of people discharged from hospital after being admitted with Covid'. Left, paramedics transport a patient from the ambulance to the emergency department at the the Royal London Hospital.

North Dakota is flying through the vaccine doses sent to it (inset) by the federal government, using 78 percent of its allotted doses and vaccinating just shy of seven percent of its vaccine doses. The state has emerged as America's unlikely leader in the battle against COVID-19, leading the nation in the vaccine rollout and battling back from being the worst coronavirus hotspot in the nation with an 80 percent decline in active cases since mid-November. Only a little over 14 million Americans have been vaccinated against COVID-19 as of Monday morning, and only about 54 percent of vaccine doses distributed to states have been administered to people, according to data from Bloomberg. Meanwhile some states like California are floundering, using a meager 37 percent of doses distributed to it.

In 2020 the UK saw £1.3 billion invested into its digital health tech. So it's not surprising that at this year's CES technology trade show, health tech was a key component. The event, which took place online, unveiled a number of major gadgets designed to help us protect, monitor and manage our own health, without needing a doctor at all (pictured bottom left: the BioButton, which can give an early warning if the wearer has Covid). From the space-age face masks (right) that amplify the voice, to virus-killing robots, Covid was, of course, a major theme. Others are simply bizarre - for instance, a 'smart' toilet (top left) that can carry out urine and stool analysis. But as healthcare at home gets ever more high tech, could such innovations become commonplace in the near future?

When it comes to Covid, our lungs are 'ground zero'. They are one of the primary routes the virus uses to get into the body. But early on in the pandemic, chest X-ray scans revealed something else: where the images should be black, indicating healthy air-filled tissue, in many cases there was a white mist described as resembling 'ground glass' (file photo of a chest X-ray, pictured top inset). It's the telltale sign of pneumonitis - inflamed lungs as a result of the body's immune response to the virus. But in the case of Covid, the damage often seems to be far worse and more extensive than with similar illnesses such as flu. And X-rays are revealing something else - worrying signs that the illness leaves an indelible mark. The most common problem - in nearly one third - is scarring inside the lungs (left: Amy Durant, 31, who has constant chest pains and right: Sammie Mcfarland, who has lost 50 per cent of her lung capacity).

The COVID-19 Genomics UK Consortium (COG-UK) revealed the variant, known as P.2, had been picked up 11 times through routine testing in Britain. The first positive sample taken on November 14 at a Lighthouse Laboratory in Glasgow, MailOnline understands. Laboratories in Cheshire, Milton Keynes and Cambridge have also spotted the variant, it is believed. At least two nurses in Brazil have been infected with P.2 despite catching and beating Covid in the spring, which has raised fears the new variant can slip past vaccines and undo natural immunity. The variant is also thought to be more infectious than regular Covid after being linked to an explosion of cases this winter in Brazil. Sir Patrick Vallance said today even if a new variant is able to get around the current iteration of vaccines, it was going to be 'really quite easy' to tweak them to target the new versions. Offering hope that the variant wouldn't render the jabs completely useless, he said they should provide protection against the variants but the 'question is to what degree'.

SAGE said that the rate of spread of the virus appears to have started falling in regions of England that were pushed into Tier 4 before Christmas but it's still rising elsewhere. It adds to growing evidence that Britain's second major outbreak has peaked as an app monitoring the spread of coronavirus in the UK said cases fell by 23 per cent last week. The ZOE Covid-19 Symptom Study app estimates there were 54,000 daily infections in the seven days to January 10, below the almost 70,000 the week before. Its estimates are based on weekly reports from a million users, who tell the app whether they are suffering from symptoms of the virus.

Some 20 of 138 acute NHS trusts recorded a dip in beds occupied by Covid-19 patients in the seven days to January 12 compared to the previous week. OF these, four had seen a dip in their numbers of Covid-19 patients for two consecutive weeks. Five of these trusts were in London, and five in the South East.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan (pictured right) said he is 'hugely concerned' about the amount of Londoners who have been given the Covid vaccine. He claims only a tenth of vaccines across the UK have been distributed in the capital, despite the city making up 16% of the UK population. NHS and Public Health England data published today showed that the vaccine programme appears to be going most successfully in the Midlands and the North of England. One in every 20 people in the North East & Yorkshire have been immunised already (5% shown in graph, left), and more than two-thirds of over-80s in that region have had their jabs.

The NHS waiting list for routine operations has surged to record levels amid rising admissions of coronavirus patients, 'calamitous' figures reveal. NHS England data published today shows 4.46million people were waiting for routine ops like joint replacements or cataract surgery in England by December. Of them, almost 200,000 had been on the list for more than a year, the highest number since records began in 2007 and 140 times more than in 2019. For comparison, there were a total of 4.42million patients on the waiting in 2019, and 4.45million the year before. There were just 1,398 people waiting a year or longer last year.