Corby, Kettering and Wellingborough now have the lowest East Midlands Covid rates

Corby, Kettering and Wellingborough now have the lowest East Midlands Covid rates The three lowest Covid rates in the East Midlands are all in districts in the north of Northamptonshire, latest figures have revealed. Northamptonshire Telegraph

Northampton professor offers NHS workers 50 percent discount on 'game changer' mental health treatment

Northampton professor offers NHS workers 50 percent discount on 'game changer' mental health treatment A mental health clinic in Northampton is offering NHS workers a 50 percent discount on their first consultation for an alternative mental health treatment during July.

Professor Alex O’Neill Kerr, previously an NHS doctor, is offering the discount for transcranial magnetic stimulation treatment. Northampton Chronicle and Echo 

Will the NHS be on the table for a Pacific trade deal?

Will the NHS be on the table for a Pacific trade deal? Only six months since it left the EU single market, talks have begun for the UK to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. Mark Dayan and Martha McCarey look at the key ways in which joining the CPTPP could affect health in this country. Nuffield Trust 

Working well? How the pandemic change work for people with health conditions

Working well? How the pandemic change work for people with health conditions This research report, produced together with the Institute for Employment Studies, highlights the challenges faced by employees with long-term health conditions and warns that more support is needed to help people manage their conditions in the workplace if the state pension is to rise further. Centre for Ageing Better

Upgrading PPE for staff working on COVID-19 wards cut hospital-acquired infections dramatically

Upgrading PPE for staff working on COVID-19 wards cut hospital-acquired infections dramatically When Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge upgraded its face masks for staff working on COVID-19 wards to filtering face piece 3 (FFP3) respirators, it saw a dramatic fall – up to 100% – in hospital-acquired SARS-CoV-2 infections among these staff. University of Cambridge

See also:

• FFP3 respirators protect healthcare workers against infection  with SARS-CoV-2 (open access) Authorea
• Covid: Masks upgrade cuts infection risk, research finds BBC News

COVID-19 vaccines have prevented 7.2 million infections and 27,000 deaths

COVID-19 vaccines have prevented 7.2 million infections and 27,000 deaths New analysis suggests the vaccination programme has prevented between 6.4 and 7.9 million infections and 26,000 and 28,000 deaths in England alone. Public Health England

See also: 

• Speak up and help beat coronavirus (COVID-19) Department of Health and Social Care

Covid-19: England lockdown end still set for 19 July - Javid

Covid-19: England lockdown end still set for 19 July - Javid The final easing of lockdown measures in England is still set for 19 July, the new health secretary has said.

Sajid Javid told MPs that ministers "see no reason to go beyond" that "target date".

He said that while cases were rising, the number of deaths "remains mercifully low". BBC News

See also:

• Mixing Covid vaccines gives good protection, study suggests BBC News
• Covid: School isolation rules could end in autumn BBC News
• Police investigating after Chris Whitty accosted in park BBC News
• Sufferer of long-Covid describes one of its most debilitating symptoms The Daily Mail
• Covid UK: Daily cases more than double to 22,868 but deaths drop 40% The Daily Mail
• Fewer than one in 1,000 patients are dying from Covid now compared to one in 90 during second wave The Daily Mail
• Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines may provide protection against the virus for years, study finds The Daily Mail
• Covid-19: New research suggests when very first case happened The Independent

Health minister Helen Whately used private email for government work

Health minister Helen Whately used private email for government work Exclusive: social care minister’s use of Gmail will raise further questions after reports about Matt Hancock

A third health minister, Helen Whately, used a private email account for government business, the Guardian can reveal, as the UK’s information watchdog said it was considering launching an investigation into the use of Gmail by Matt Hancock and James Bethell.

The Guardian can also reveal a number of emails were copied into Lord Bethell’s private email account. His address was copied into at least four official exchanges relating to a businessman who was attempting to get government contracts during the pandemic.