The Week in Numbers (to October 3rd)

Asleep at the wheel

8.4%

As of 25 September, syndromic surveillance reported a slight increase in SARS-CoV-2 positivity to 8.4%, compared with 7.6% in the previous week.

With the arrival of Nimbus and Stratus variants, watch out for full-on scare tactics over the next few months. The TTE office thinks it would be better to name these variants Laurel and Hardy: at least that way, we know someone is having a laugh.

Increasing:

If you’ve been out about recently, you’re probably aware of the rising number of coughs and colds out there.

During week 39, GP out-of-hours daily contacts for acute respiratory infections, including influenza-like illness and acute bronchitis/bronchiolitis, continued to increase, but broadly in line with seasonal expectations.

Rest assured, though, around the corner is advice to get your “shots” to prevent the winter onslaught of “flu,” whatever that means.

£840 million

The amount the UK government had spent on stockpiling Tamiflu by 2023. It seems, though, if you look at open prescribing d…