LONDON (UK) – In what is generally perceived as the impact of a new lockdown, the number of new coronavirus cases in England is witnessing a slump. However, cases are not dropping quickly enough and the prevalence is still pretty much high, according to a study on Thursday.
On Wednesday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson hinted that the lockdown in England would go on until March 8, bringing to an end hopes of schools fully reopening in February.
According to the study by the Imperial College London, the numbers infected are at their highest level since the study began in May last year.
Those who led the study titled REACT-1 said they found that the effect of the lockdown in England had been slow in bringing down number of infections.
“It seems to be coming down in the last few days so we are heartened by that,” said Professor Paul Elliott, director of the programme at Imperial, after the interim results were revealed last week.
“But … we really need to get prevalence down more quickly, because the pressure on the NHS (National Health Service) is very extreme right now.”
During the period of the study between Jan. 6 and 22, national prevalence stood at 1.57%, or 157 per 10,000 people infected, and the prevalence is at its highest in London at 2.83%.