Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

‘Pandemic is not over’: ministers criticised for scrapping UK Covid surveillance

‘Pandemic is not over’: ministers criticised for scrapping UK Covid surveillance

Schemes coming to an end is ‘yet another example of short-term thinking’
Ministers have been accused of “turning off the headlights at the first sign of dawn” after scrapping nationwide Covid surveillance programmes, with scientists saying it will almost certainly end up costing more money in the long run.

Last week, scientists announced that the React study – which randomly tests about 150,000 people across England each month to see how many are infected with coronavirus – will be scrapped at the end of March, and no further data will be collected beyond that point.

Funding is also being withdrawn from the Zoe covid symptom study, the Siren and Vivaldi studies (which monitor infections in health workers and care homes) and the CoMix social contacts survey, while mass free testing is due to end on 1 April.

The Office for National Statistics’ Covid infection survey, which regularly samples the same 180,000 people to estimate what percentage of the UK populations is infected, will continue.

It comes as growing numbers of new infections in multiple countries led one expert to prompt speculation that Europe could be at the start of a sixth wave of Covid infections, partly driven by the “stealth” BA.2 Omicron variant.

Dr Stephen Griffin, a virologist at the University of Leeds, said the decisions on Covid surveillance would slow the country’s ability to respond and adjust to future waves or surges of infection, making the current reliance on emergency booster programmes progressively less viable, and were at best “shortsighted”.

Griffin said: “At worst, it is symptomatic of a policy-driven movement to ignore the fact that the pandemic is not over, and that we remain in a highly dynamic situation with respect to immunity versus infection and virus evolution. This is about as far from ‘following the science’ as you can get.

“Losing these programmes will almost certainly end up costing more in terms of disruption than saved. It is a false economy, and yet another example of short-term thinking.”

Stephen Reicher, a psychologist at the University of St Andrews, said the decisions made no sense on public safety or public health grounds. “It is like turning off the headlights at the first sign of dawn. You can’t see what’s coming and you don’t know when it makes sense to turn them on again,” he said.

Earlier this month, the government announced that its Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) would no longer regularly meet to discuss coronavirus. Reicher, who sat on the Sage behavioural science subcommittee, said the decision to stop funding these surveillance studies was “far more significant than standing down Sage”.

He said: “Those scientists are still working and can reconvene quickly. But how can they work – or know if they need to reconvene – if the data isn’t there?”

The ending of free mass testing on 1 April could make the situation even worse. “Johnson’s insistence that ‘tests will be available for anybody to buy’ completely misses the point,” said Dr Kit Yates, a mathematical biologist at the University of Bath. “Many people in the UK will not be in the position to spend a significant portion of their budget on testing each week. Others will simply be put off by the cost.

“The consequence will be that testing drops significantly, people become less aware when they are infectious, and consequently less able to take the ‘personal responsibility’ that the government has been highlighting so vociferously in the aftermath of their removal of other Covid mitigations.”

According to the latest ONS figures, the percentage of people estimated to have tested positive for coronavirus rose in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland in the week ending 5 March, while the percentage of infections compatible with the Omicron BA.2 variant also increased across all countries.

Austria, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany and many other European countries have also seen a sharp increase in daily confirmed cases since the start of March.

Dr Eric Topol, director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute in La Jolla, US, said the uptick could mark the beginning of a sixth wave of Covid infections in Europe, driven by a combination of the BA.1 and BA.2 Omicron variants and the relaxation of restrictions in many countries.

Topol said: “There are definitive signs of a new wave starting throughout many countries in Europe, some of which also are also showing increases in Covid hospitalisations. It is hard, at this point, to determine if the cause is reducing or eliminating restrictions, BA.2’s higher rate of transmission, or waning of immune protection from vaccines.

“Right now is the last time that countries like the UK and US should be cutting funding or abandoning any surveillance and testing measures. As much as we all would like it to be, the pandemic is far from over.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
New Eye Drops Show Promise in Replacing Reading Glasses for Presbyopia
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
Top AI Researchers Are Heading Back to China as U.S. Struggles to Keep Pace
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Did the Houthis disrupt the internet in the Middle East? Submarine cables cut in the Red Sea
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
×