With the COVID-19 pandemic still lingering, a new health scare in the form of a rare viral infection of monkeypox has emerged in Europe and the US, putting health authorities on high alert.
through the contact identification and tracing. and as elizabeth jopoints out, it s not nearly as transmissible as something like covid-19. so it requires fairly intimate contact. but i think it is a wakeup call that reminds us that we are seeing more and more of these virus infections, which are transmitted from animals to humans and then we see human to human transmission. so this whole field of one health where we look at everything wholistically with animals and people and then the environment to understand the rise of the disease, this explains ebola, it explains covid-19, which came from bats and now we had monkeypox on the list. this is a new normal in these illnesses. also tonight, cdc vaccine advisers, as you probably heard, they have just voted to recommend a covid-19 vaccine booster dose for children ages 5
that was our political correspondents ben wright reporting. it comes as official figures show covid infections climbed to a record high in the uk during the first week of january, with an estimated a5 million cases. london was the only part of the country to see a fall in infections during that period. health officials are concerned about the slower take up of booster vaccines in some areas. here s our health editor, hugh pym. with restrictions in wales to be eased, six nations rugby fixtures with fans can go ahead in cardiff. there ll be no limit on spectators at outside events from january the 21st and, a week later, nightclubs reopen, as long as covid cases are falling. over the course of this week, we have seen some early positive signs of improvement and they suggest that the measures we have taken are working and they give us hope that we may be turning a corner. the latest move by the welsh government follows a similar easing by scottish ministers, with more confidence about the
over the course of this week, we have seen some early positive signs of improvement and they suggest that the measures we have taken are working and they give us hope that we may be turning a corner. the latest move by the welsh government follows a similar easing by scottish ministers, with more confidence about the weeks ahead, though virus infections remain high. the latest survey by the office for national statistics suggests that a5 million people in the uk had the virus last week, up 15% on the previous week, though that rate of increase was slower than during the week before. in england, it was one in 15 who had the virus. in scotland, wales and northern ireland, one in 20 people. there is a renewed push on boosterjabs, with take up much slower since the new year, including here in nottingham and across the east midlands, where the message sometimes hasn t been heard. a part of me questions whether
editor hugh pym. with restrictions in wales to be eased, six nations rugby fixtures with fans can go ahead in cardiff. there ll be no limits on spectators at outside events from 21 january and, a week later, nightclubs can reopen, as long as covid cases are falling. over the course of this week, we have seen some early positive signs of improvement and they suggest that the measures we have taken are working and they give us hope that we may be turning a corner. the latest move by the welsh government follows a similar easing by scottish ministers, with more confidence about the weeks ahead, though virus infections remain high. the latest survey by the office for national statistics suggests that 11.3 million people in the uk had the virus last week, up 15% on the previous week, though that rate of increase was slower than during the week before. in england, it was one in 15 who had the virus.