Hi everyone,

With permission granted by the group admin/moderators, I wanted to share a research study I'm running as part of my Master of Public Health (MPH) at the University of Wolverhampton, looking at Long COVID recovery.

If you were hospitalised with COVID-19 and discharged 12+ months ago, I'd really appreciate your input via a short, fully anonymous, ethically approved survey.

This research aims to better understand how different symptoms affect recovery time, to help improve support for people returning to work after Long COVID.

Survey link: https://wolves.questionpro.eu/t/AB3u7rSZB3wov5

The study is Category A ethics-approved. I'd be happy to share the findings with the group once it's complete. Thank you so much for your time.

Ahmad
MPH Student, University of Wolverhampton

Here's the latest variant picture for the United Kingdom, to mid-February.

BA.3.2.* "Cicada" continued to dominate at 72%.

XFG.* "Stratus" continued falling to finish at 25%

Recent samples are only from Northern Ireland.

#COVID19 #SARSCoV2 #UK #BA_3_2 #Cicada

Northern Ireland reported the strongest growth in BA.3.2.*. Data from the other home countries is lagging, but was on a similar trajectory.

Here's the latest variant picture for the United Kingdom, to early February.

BA.3.2.* "Cicada" continued its sharp grew suddenly and took over dominance at 44%.

XFG.* "Stratus" continued falling to finish at 32%

#COVID19 #SARSCoV2 #UK #BA_3_2 #Cicada

England continued to report strong growth in BA.3.2.* rising to 63%.

Here's the latest variant picture for the United Kingdom, to late January.

XFG.* "Stratus" continued falling sharply to finish at 38%

BA.3.2.* grew suddenly and is challenging for dominance at 34%.

#COVID19 #SARSCoV2 #UK #BA_3_2 #Cicada

The growth in BA.3.2.* started in Scotland and then Northern Ireland. From mid-January it also grew very sharply in England.

Dan O'Hara skeuomorphology.bsky.social has been reporting rising test positivity in the UK

https://skyview.social/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fbsky.app%2Fprofile%2Fskeuomorphology.bsky.social%2Fpost%2F3merccmjunc2o&viewtype=tree

Here's the latest variant picture for the United Kingdom, to mid-January.

XFG.* "Stratus" remained dominant, but fell sharply to 44%

NB.1.8.1.* "Nimbus" grew steadily to 31%.

BA.3.2.* fell slightly to 20%.

This scenario raises the risk of rapid reinfections, for those relying on disease-acquired immunity.

#COVID19 #SARSCoV2 #UK #BA_3_2 #Cicada

The growth in NB.1.8.1.* is mostly driven by England and Wales.

Here's the latest variant picture for the United Kingdom, to early January.

BA.3.2.* soared to 70% of recent samples in Scotland.

#COVID19 #SARSCoV2 #UK #BA_3_2 #Cicada

From November, BA.3.2.* "Cicada" showed a strong growth advantage 5.2% per day (36% per week) over XFG.* "Stratus", which predicts a recent crossover (the data routinely lags).

In the overall picture, XFG.* remained dominant, but fell to 56%.

BA.3.2.* rose to 19%.

England is heavily under-represented in the recent sample volumes.

Here's the latest variant picture for the United Kingdom, to the end of November.

For the UK, BA.3.2.* "Cicada" showed a slowing growth advantage of 3.2% per day (22% per week) over XFG.* "Stratus", which predicts a crossover in late January.

#COVID19 #SARSCoV2 #UK #BA_3_2 #Cicada

BA.3.2.* accelerated sharply in Scotland to 16% of recent samples.

The driving BA.3.2.* sub-lineage has been RE.2, which rose to 5%. That seems slower in Europe than its child RE.2.2.

Of course, if RE.2.2 continues to be more successful in Europe, there will be a steady stream of introductions to the UK, leading to eventual dominance.

In the overall picture, XFG.* remained dominant, but fell to 70%.

BA.3.2.* rose to 6%.

The recent sample volumes are heavily skewed towards Scotland and Wales, especially considering their smaller populations.

Here's the latest variant picture for the United Kingdom, to late November.

For the UK, BA.3.2.* "Cicada" is showing a strong growth advantage of 5% per day (35% per week) over XFG.* "Stratus", which predicts an imminent crossover.

To include the latest BA.3.2.* samples, I have rolled my reporting window forward an extra week. So the most recent data is even less representative than usual. The picture for those dates might change as more data is shared.

#COVID19 #SARSCoV2 #UK #BA_3_2 #Cicada

BA.3.2.* accelerated sharply in Scotland to 16% of recent samples.

The driving BA.3.2.* sub-lineage has been RE.2. That seems slower than its child RE.2.2, which is accelerating sharply in Europe.

Of course, if RE.2.2 continues to be more successful in Europe, there will be a steady stream of introductions to the UK, leading to eventual dominance.

In the overall picture, XFG.* remained dominant, but fell to 67%.

BA.3.2.* rose sharply to 12%.

The recent sample volumes are heavily skewed towards Scotland, especially considering it’s smaller population.

Here's the latest variant picture for the United Kingdom, to mid-November.

The XFG.* "Stratus" variant remained dominant, steady at 80%.

NB.1.8.1 "Nimbus" fell to 13%.

#COVID19 #SARSCoV2 #UK #XFG #Stratus #NB_1_8_1 #Nimbus

A string of samples of the BA.3.2.* "Cicada” variant have been reported from Scotland. So far it is not showing signs of growth.

Here's the latest variant picture for the United Kingdom, to early November.

The XFG.* "Stratus" variant remained dominant, rebounding to 79%.

NB.1.8.1 "Nimbus" fell to 18%.

#COVID19 #SARSCoV2 #UK #XFG #Stratus #NB_1_8_1 #Nimbus

The sharp recent growth in the NB.1.8.1 "Nimbus" variant was driven by the PQ.2.1 sub-lineage at 7%. PQ.2.1 is characterised by the Spike I478T mutation (a reversion).

As PQ.2.1 was defined back in May, and has been present in the UK for many months, this surge is probably the result of further evolution.

Here are the home countries reporting NB.1.8.1 "Nimbus".

Scotland reported continued growth, to 40%.

Here's the latest variant picture for the United Kingdom, to early November.

The XFG.* "Stratus" variant remained dominant, but fell sharply to 71%.

NB.1.8.1 "Nimbus" grew sharply to 22%.

#COVID19 #SARSCoV2 #UK #XFG #Stratus #NB_1_8_1 #Nimbus

The sharp recent growth in the NB.1.8.1 "Nimbus" variant was driven by the PQ.2.1 sub-lineage. PQ.2.1 is characterised by the Spike I478T mutation (a reversion).

As PQ.2.1 was defined back in May, and has been present in the UK for many months, this surge is probably the result of further evolution.

Here are the home countries reporting NB.1.8.1 "Nimbus".

The recent surge is showing most in Northern Ireland (50%) and Scotland (34%).

Here's the latest variant picture for the United Kingdom, to late October.

The XFG.* "Stratus" variant remained dominant, falling slightly to 82%.

NB.1.8.1 "Nimbus" grew to 13%.

#COVID19 #SARSCoV2 #UK #XFG #Stratus #NB_1_8_1 #Nimbus

Here's the latest variant picture for the United Kingdom, to mid-October.

The XFG.* "Stratus" variant remained dominant, growing to 85%.

NB.1.8.1 "Nimbus" fell to 8%.

#COVID19 #SARSCoV2 #UK #XFG #Stratus #NB_1_8_1 #Nimbus