As the UK Health Secretary has recently announced we are 'properly post-pandemic', it begs the question, 'Has the uk began to live with covid-19?'

The week ending June 2nd 2022, we saw an increase in covid-19 cases from 953,900 to 989,800. This figure equates to approximately 1.5% of the uk population or 1 in 65 people.This is the first time covid cases have risen in the last two months in the uk. As we begin to experience normality, we have seen an increase in symptoms and covid cases. This is all whilst free testing services have been halted and there is less testing occurring. Although the Health Secretary, Said Javid, has said covid-19 'is no longer a pandemic' and advised 'we should be proud as a country of how we tackled it'.

Unfortunately to many people, this may sound slightly underwhelming as the total number of cases since the start of the pandemic in the UK has reached 22.5 million cases. The total number of deaths from covid-19 are 180 thousand deaths. In comparison to the world statistics, this accounts to 2.9% of the overall deaths in the world. 

Although the mortality rate for Covid-19 infections has reduced substantially, due to effective lockdowns and an excellent vaccination programme, there are many scientists who believe restrictions and testing programmes were eased too easily. One of the main concerns is, not being able to identify the presence of new variants. Although currently the variant of blame is the BA.2, there have also been reports of newer strains such as BA.4 and BA.5 which can affect lung tissue much easier. 

The reintroduction of Covid-19 testing may seem counter-intuitive, however to prevent the resurgence of new covid variants covid testing for larger gatherings may become necessary. 

At Thechemistlive we have provided Same day and next day pcr tests and same day rapid antigen tests from our Whitefield branch since September 2020. We have been at the forefront of the testing services throughout the pandemic. You can continue to book your tests by visiting the following link Covid-19 Tests