The TTE Data Snapshot - up to 7 January 2024

Beyond a peak - now the panic

The latest Surveillance report is out for week 1 (between 1 January and 7 January 2024).  

This week, we’ve jumped straight to Figure 20 for self-reporting fever, cough or ILI symptoms. This shows that the peak reporting was during the Christmas period, with roughly one in five reporting some symptoms. Taking account of the weeks on either side of this peak shows that up to 50% of us may end up with an ILI in the winter period. 

However, if you resorted to the media, you might think there was only one or two pathogens in town. We have already commented on the attempted manipulation of microbes for political and commercial ends.

The Independent reports the “New Covid variant Juno surges as expert warns school return will fuel more cases”. The Guardian reported that “Spain makes face masks mandatory in hospitals as flu and Covid cases surge.” Note the F-word.  The New York Times thinks “We Are in a Big Covid Wave” and thinks that answering the question of Just How Big can be found in the w…