As the nation fights back against the Covid-19 pandemic, people’s immune systems are likely to have weakened due to a lack of social contact over the past 12 months.

As such, our exposure to other respiratory viruses has been minimal, meaning we could see a surge in illnesses like the flu in winter, as well as the potential for increasing coronavirus cases.

Dr Hopkins told the BBC’s The Andrew Marr Show: “I think we have to prepare for a hard winter, not only with coronavirus, but we’ve had a year of almost no respiratory viruses of any other type. And that means, potentially the population immunity to that is less.

“So we could see surges in flu. We could see surges in other respiratory viruses and other respiratory pathogens.”

Dr Hopkins said she has to “prepare for worst-case scenarios” in her capacity as a government advisor, saying that the NHS needs to be ready for any potential surges, particularly in consideration of the dual-threat posed by catching the flu as well as Covid.

There is some evidence that a double infection can be more deadly than catching either alone, while a surge in both coronavirus and flu cases could result in the NHS becoming overwhelmed.

As well as combatting Covid-19, sanitiser and disinfectant products from Covid Safe UK contain Hypochlorous Acid (HOCL) to form an Electronically Activated Water which kills 99.99% of harmful germs, viruses and spores including flu, MRSA and Norovirus in less than one minute.

Get in touch with the Covid Safe UK team today to find out more.

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Mr Johnson laid out target dates on which different industries can reopen, provided that conditions around vaccination, testing and new COVID-19 variants are met.

Under his plans, non-essential retail shops, hairdressers, gyms and outdoor hospitality venues will be allowed to reopen on 12 April, as well as some public buildings such as libraries.

Two households could also be allowed to mix from 17 May, while pubs may be able to open with the ‘rule of six’.

The step-by-step lockdown easing process could then culminate in the lifting of all legal limits on social contact by 21 June in a bid to reopen the sectors of the economy which remain closed.

The PM called the plans ‘cautious, but irreversible’, and believes that we will have to learn to live with the virus, saying there was ‘no credible route to a zero-Covid Britain nor indeed a zero-Covid world.’

While there would be far fewer COVID-19 cases, as well as a greater proportion of the population vaccinated, in this scenario, the fact remains that the virus won’t have just gone away.

In order to meet these targets, it is important that we all take responsibility for the role we play in reducing transmission. In the case of businesses, we must ensure that the working environment is as safe as possible in order to protect employees and reduce the chances of coronavirus restrictions being reintroduced.

If you’d like to find out how you can create and maintain a Covid-safe working environment for your team, get in touch with Covid Safe UK today.

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The hospitality sector has been significantly hit by the pandemic, with many venues becoming on the verge of collapse during the past year. A recent survey of more than 100 nightclubs found that 88% were in rent arrears, while around four in five said they would struggle to survive beyond the end of February without further government support.

The lifting of lockdown measures around the summer of 2020 had allowed pubs and restaurants to reopen for a short period with the implementation of track and trace, social distancing and reduced capacities, while some have continued to offer takeaway services. Nightclubs, however, have been unable to operate for almost a year, while many theatres have struggled to make social distancing work.

Mr Johnson said rapid lateral flow tests could help ‘those parts of the economy we couldn’t get open last year.’

He stressed that it’s still early days, but rapid tests ‘will probably be the route forward, in combination with vaccination.’

While the vaccine rollout has been a beacon of hope for many of us, rapid testing is likely to play a key role as we endeavour to return to some form of normal life.

There is little evidence as yet regarding the ability of the COVID-19 vaccines to reduce transmission of the virus, while their efficacy against some of the new variants also remains clear.

As such, effective testing regimes are likely to be the best option in terms of business continuity for many months to come.

Healgen COVID-19 Antigen tests can provide users with a test result in just 15 minutes, and are being increasingly viewed by businesses as an efficient method of operating a Covid-safe workplace.

If you’d like to find out more about Covid-safe solutions for the workplace, get in touch with Covid Safe UK today.

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This is despite current government guidance, which says that people should work from home if they can, with data from Public Health England suggesting that offices have had greater numbers of outbreaks in comparison to other workplaces.

The figures show that there were more than 500 suspected COVID-19 outbreaks in offices in the second half of 2020. This is a greater number than supermarkets, construction sites, warehouses, restaurants and cafes combined.

Office work can be essential and unavoidable for certain organisations at times, and unions have called for tougher safety rules to protect office workers.

Any business which either cannot circumvent office working, or is looking to get back to the office as soon as possible after lockdown, should be proactive in their approach to creating a Covid-safe workplace and facilitating a safe return for their employees.

There are a number of ways this can be done, such as fitting your workplace with hand sanitising stations and safety screens, as well as providing face masks and sanitising foggers.

You could also introduce a coronavirus testing regime, which is highly effective at preventing the spread of the virus with rapid test kits. This can now be supplemented with the new Covid Safe Passport, which gives employers a real-time overview of the testing status of their entire team.

If you’d like to find out more, get in touch with Covid Safe UK today.

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The app is designed to give businesses peace of mind that their team of employees are Covid safe by giving them full visibility of COVID-19 testing across the organisation.

20 QR codes are supplied with each box of rapid test kits purchased from Covid Safe UK. Employees of organisations should be issued a QR code along with their test kit for each round of testing.

Once they have completed their test, they should then scan their QR code and test cartridge using the CSC Tests app. Following this, users will be prompted to take a photo of themselves in order to be verified.

In turn, a Covid Safe Passport will be generated for the employee. Using a traffic light system, each passport will be colour-coded to show the status of the test result, as well as how recently it was taken. This will allow employers and team leaders to be able to understand, in real-time, the safety of their staff in relation to the virus and their compliance with your testing program, thanks to a portal which gives them a total overview of the organisation.

As we wait eagerly for the vaccine rollout to reach scale in the UK, a regime of regular coronavirus testing is the key to enabling businesses to continue to operate through these testing times.

With the help of this Covid Safe app, organisations can continue comfortably in the knowledge that their testing programs are being delivered efficiently and effectively. If you’d like to find out more, get in touch with the Covid Safe UK team today.

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The rollout of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine commenced last week, with care home residents, workers as well as the elderly and most vulnerable first in line to be vaccinated. The government has procured more than 250 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines from a range of companies at a cost of nearly £3bn.

The news of an effective vaccine rollout has been a welcome sight for many of us, offering a light at the end of the tunnel. However, with the news that half of the population may have to wait until 2022 to be vaccinated, it’s essential we continue with preventative measures we have been using so far in the fight against Coronavirus.

This means that testing is still going to be a significant part in the management of the pandemic, as well as continuing with things like social distancing and face masks. While it is still unclear what restrictions will look like as more people receive the vaccine, we will still need to understand how the virus is spreading, and how the spread has been impacted by the vaccination programme. There are also many people who are reluctant to take the vaccine, meaning there will likely be a significant number of vulnerable people at risk of contracting COVID-19.

Alongside vaccines, rapid COVID-19 testing will play a huge part as we aim to get back to some form of normality, enabling people and businesses to identify positive cases much more easily and quickly, giving peace of mind that the chance of the virus spreading is significantly reduced.

As well as buying in bulk, you can now purchase individual rapid COVID-19 testing kits. If you’d like to find out more, get in touch with the team today.

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Transport secretary Grant Shapps is expected to announce a new policy that will take effect in the first half of December which will mean travellers will have to self-isolate for only five days if they return a negative result with a single rapid test.

As it stands, travellers from a majority of countries have self-isolate at home for 14 days, irrespective of whether or not they are showing symptoms. The move will come as a boost to the travel industry, which has been decimated in 2020 as a result of significantly reduced international travel.

With a Healgen COVID-19 antigen self-test kit, you can discover the result of your Coronavirus test in 15 minutes, as opposed to NHS COVID tests which can take a minimum of 24-48 hours to get a result and can require you to travel significant distances for a test.

As one of only three tests approved by the UK government, Healgen COVID-19 antigen tests have been used as part of Liverpool’s mass testing trial, in which more than 12,000 tests are carried out each day.

Rapid COVID-19 tests are a great way to compliment your business’ existing COVID-19 safety measures, minimising the risk of viral infection and giving staff, customers and suppliers peace of mind that you have a COVID-safe environment.

If you’d like to find out more, get in touch with COVID Safe UK today.

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The study was undertaken to test, in a laboratory environment, the hypothesis that graphene nanoplatelets doped with metal oxide nanoparticles, as produced by the Versarien group, UK, can inactivate the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus.

Two graphene nanoplatelet batches doped with different metal oxide nanoparticles, GNA-22 and GNA-24 were tested to determine the antiviral effect. Initial results showed a log 4 reduction of SARS-CoV-2 using GNA 22 (approximately 99.99% inhibition) and a log 2 reduction using GNA 24 (approximately 99% inhibition). These results were statistically highly significant with a p-value of less than 0.0001.

Versarien plans to move to rapid testing of these materials in real-world applications such as face masks, clothing and surface treatments.

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Academy players will be encouraged to walk through the tunnel which sprays them with a sanitising solution, disabling Covid-19 and other viruses.

In an exciting step towards increasing measures for players’ safety, West Ham United FC has become the first Premier League club to install a sanitisation tunnel for the benefit of their Academy players and staff.

The Academy players will be encouraged to walk through the PPT which has been installed at the Club’s Chadwell Heath Academy base, where the Club’s junior teams train. The tunnel has been approved by the Club’s medical experts as a critical tool in preventing the spread of Covid-19.

The tunnel works by sanitising people who walk through it – a little like an airport scanner – beginning with a thermo imaging camera to take an individual’s temperature and then using controlled, odourless, dry-misting of a treated water-based solution to disable bacteria and viruses. The process takes 3-5 seconds and is completely safe to use.

The measure provides an additional line of defence and helps to reduce transmission of Covid-19. It will complement existing safety measures implemented by the Club. The hope is that it will play a part in helping fans to return to stadiums to watch live games as safely as possible when restrictions are eased.

Ricky Martin, West Ham United Academy Manager, said:

“The health and safety of everyone at the Academy is our absolute priority during this uncertain time and we are pleased that this new initiative has been a great success in helping us to maintain the highest standards of hygiene and care.”

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