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COVID-19 TTIS Zero COVID and Government Strategy

Our exit from lockdown must be safe and sustainable

The UK has been in lockdown since March 23rd 2020 in an attempt to slow down the spread of COVID-19. Six weeks on the number of new cases per day has begun to decrease and the government and businesses are clamouring to restart the UK economy. We believe that people’s health should come before profit […]

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COVID-19 Schools Staying safe Transmission TTIS

Schools must not reopen without clear evidence and widespread agreement that this is safe

As a paediatrician, I share the grave concerns of nurse Ian Wilson who has two children at school in Lewisham and experience of working with covid-19 infected patients. In an open letter to Health Secretary Matt Hancock last week, he pleaded that we were not enrolled against our will in a giant experiment that could […]

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COVID-19 Hospitals and IPC Masks PPE Staying safe Testing Transmission TTIS

Statement on key worker testing and contact tracing

Since the start of the lockdown we have called for contact tracing and widespread testing as the only means to establish the true prevalence of COVID-19. This is what the World Health Organisation urged all countries to do from the very beginning.  We welcome Matt Hancock’s announcement of testing for symptomatic key workers and their […]

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COVID-19 Podcasts Testing TTIS

Episode 2: Contact Tracing

This week, Dr Jack Czauderna joins the podcast to talk about contract tracing and his upcoming coronavirus pilot study in Sheffield.

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COVID-19 Defend the NHS Hospitals and IPC Privatisation TTIS

For-profit companies have no place administering retirees return to the NHS

We deplore the involvement of Capita in the administration of retired doctors’ return to the NHS workforce. Reported delays of over two weeks to inclusion back on the performers’ list, while NHS 111 remains overwhelmed, are unacceptable. Valuable, willing expertise is being underused at a time of national crisis. Inexperienced call handlers are being recruited […]

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COVID-19 Staying safe Testing Transmission TTIS

There is no exit from the COVID-19 lockdown without population testing

It is not possible to undertake any meaningful planning for an exit strategy from the current lockdown without an understanding of COVID-19’s prevalence and our current levels of immunity. On April 2nd Health Secretary Matt Hancock promised to test 100,000 people daily by the end of the month. On that same day the UK was testing ten times […]

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COVID-19 Government Guidelines Hospitals and IPC Masks PPE Staying safe Testing TTIS

Demands in response to COVID-19

The challenge of coronavirus requires a radical response. We will overcome this virus, but current legislation falls short – much more must be done. We demand: Full PPE This must include FFP3 masks, visors/protective spectacles, fluid resistant gowns with sleeves and gloves for all health and social care workers dealing with patients and service users […]

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COVID-19 Masks PPE Transmission TTIS

COVID-19: A GP’s Perspective

As I write we are at the beginning of the pandemic in the UK. We still have relatively small numbers of cases but they are steadily increasing along with, tragically, associated deaths. There is a very fine line between not fuelling mass panic, which is unhelpful, but also in taking sensible precautions. Public health messages […]