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Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) is a viral respiratory infection caused by Middle East respiratory syndrome–related coronavirus (MERS-CoV). Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe depending on age and risk level. Typical symptoms include fever, cough, diarrhea, and shortness of breath. The disease is typically more severe in those with other health problems.
Simon Laurence Stevens, Baron Stevens of Birmingham is Chair of the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency, Chair of Cancer Research UK, Chair-designate of King's College London, and an independent member of the House of Lords. Stevens previously served as the eighth Chief Executive of NHS England from 2014 to 2021. Earlier in his career he worked in the Prime Minister's Office at 10 Downing Street, as well as internationally, including Guyana, Malawi, and the United States. He was a visiting professor at the London School of Economics from 2004 to 2008.
Since 2012, an outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus has affected several countries, primarily in its namesake, the Middle East. The virus, which causes Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), is a novel coronavirus that was first identified in a patient from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on 6 June 2012.
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. Most scientists believe the SARS-CoV-2 virus entered into human populations through natural zoonosis, similar to the SARS-CoV-1 and MERS-CoV outbreaks, and consistent with other pandemics in human history. Social and environmental factors including climate change, natural ecosystem destruction and wildlife trade increased the likelihood of such zoonotic spillover. The disease quickly spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic.
The COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom is a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In the United Kingdom, it has resulted in 25,012,428 confirmed cases, and is associated with 232,112 deaths.
"Catch It, Bin It, Kill It" is a slogan used in several public health campaigns of the British government to promote good respiratory and hand hygiene by recommending carrying tissues, using them to catch a cough or sneeze, disposing of them immediately in a waste bin and then killing any remaining viruses by washing hands or using hand sanitiser. In 2007, following evidence that good respiratory and hand hygiene might reduce the spread of flu, the phrase appeared in a government campaign that publicised the directive "Catch it, Bin it, Kill it" throughout the NHS, on buses and trains and in libraries, shopping centres and police stations.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Scotland is part of the COVID-19 pandemic of coronavirus disease-2019, caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2. The first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in Scotland on 1 March 2020. Community transmission was first reported on 11 March 2020, and the first confirmed death was on 13 March 2020.
Maria DeJoseph Van Kerkhove is an American infectious disease epidemiologist. With a background in high-threat pathogens, Van Kerkhove specializes in emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases and is based in the Health Emergencies Program at the World Health Organization (WHO). She is the technical lead of COVID-19 response and the head of emerging diseases and zoonosis unit at WHO.
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Exercise Cygnus was a three-day simulation exercise carried out by the UK Government in October 2016 to estimate the impact of a hypothetical H2N2 influenza pandemic on the United Kingdom. It aimed to identify strengths and weaknesses within the United Kingdom health system and emergency response chain by putting it under significant strain, providing insight on the country's resilience and any future ameliorations required. It was conducted by Public Health England representing the Department of Health and Social Care, as part of a project led by the "Emergency Preparedness, Resilience and Response Partnership Group". Twelve government departments across Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, as well as local resilience forums (LRFs) participated. More than 950 workers from those organisations, prisons and local or central government were involved during the three-day simulation, and their ability to cope under situations of high medical stress was tested.
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Planning and preparing for pandemics has happened in countries and international organizations. The World Health Organization writes recommendations and guidelines, though there is no sustained mechanism to review countries' preparedness for epidemics and their rapid response abilities. National action depends on national governments. In 2005–2006, before the 2009 swine flu pandemic and during the decade following it, the governments in the United States, France, UK, and others managed strategic health equipment stocks, but they often reduced stocks after the 2009 pandemic in order to reduce costs.
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Gabriel John Scally FFPHM is an Irish public health physician and a former regional director of public health (RDPH) for the south west of England. He is a visiting professor of public health at the University of Bristol and is a member of the Independent SAGE group, formed during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. He has also been chair of the trustees of the Soil Association. Previously he was professor of public health and planning, and director of the World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre for Healthy Urban Environments, both at the University of the West of England (UWE). He was president of the Section of Epidemiology and Public Health of the Royal Society of Medicine, a position he took in 2017.
Operation Moonshot was a UK government programme to introduce same-day mass testing for COVID-19 in England as a way of enabling large gatherings of people to take place in that country while maintaining control over the virus. According to the British Medical Journal, the programme aimed to deliver 10 million tests per day by 2021.
The COVID-19 vaccination programme in the United Kingdom is an ongoing mass immunisation campaign for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom.
The UK Covid-19 Inquiry is an ongoing, independent public inquiry into the United Kingdom's response to, and the impact of, the COVID-19 pandemic, and to learn lessons for the future. Public hearings began in June 2023. Boris Johnson announced the inquiry in May 2021, to start in Spring 2022. In December 2021, Heather Hallett was announced as the chair of the inquiry.
The United Kingdom's response to the COVID-19 pandemic consists of various measures by the healthcare community, the British and devolved governments, the military and the research sector.
References
- ↑ "SCHEDULE 2 – THE SERVICES" (PDF). NHS England. p. 6. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
- 1 2 Dyer, Clare (11 June 2021). "Pandemic preparedness: UK government kept coronavirus modelling secret". The BMJ. 373: n1501. doi: 10.1136/bmj.n1501 . ISSN 1756-1833. PMID 34117008. S2CID 235396289 . Retrieved 7 October 2021.
- 1 2 Booth, Robert (7 October 2021). "Coronavirus report warned of impact on UK four years before pandemic". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
- ↑ Public Health England (15 February 2016). "Report: Exercise Alice" (PDF). DocumentCloud. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
- 1 2 Booth, Robert (10 June 2021). "Secret planning exercise in 2016 modelled impact of Mers outbreak in UK". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
- ↑ Hammond, Phil (12–25 November 2021). "Pandemic update: MD on a change in groupthink". Private Eye. No. 1560. p. 8.
- ↑ McKee, Martin (11 October 2021). "Exercise Alice: the UK government tested the response to a coronavirus, but why are we only discovering this now?". The BMJ. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
