Watching the Euros could be why men are more likely to test positive for Covid
Infections are rising faster in men than in women
Last updated 8th Jul 2021
Gathering to watch England progress in Euro 2020 could be why more men than women are testing positive for coronavirus.
Experts say women were nearly a third less likely than men to test positive for coronavirus in their latest study.
Interim findings from Imperial College London and Ipsos Mori, covering June 24th - July 5th show infections have quadrupled since the last React-1 study, which took place from May 20th to June.
One in 170 people is infected and there is a recent doubling time of six days, the data suggests.
This round was the first time a notable difference was seen between the number of men and women testing positive for the virus, researchers say.
High transmissions could be down to 'social mixing'
Professor Paul Elliott, director of the React programme from Imperial's School of Public Health, said:
"We have noticed in the current round that the prevalence is higher in men than women - around 0.7% in men and around point 0.5% women.
"And women have therefore something like a 30% reduced odds of testing positive in our study, once we've adjusted for other variables."
Asked why this might be the case, Steven Riley, professor of infectious disease dynamics at Imperial said fluctuations in transmission are likely to be caused by changes in social mixing.
Prof Riley added:
"Different things could be affecting it. I think the degree to which men and women are socialising, is likely to be responsible.
"And then because of the timing of that, then it could be that watching football is resulting in men having more social activity than usual."
Vaccination lowers infection rates
The study also found that infection rates for double vaccinated under-65s are three times lower than in unvaccinated under-65s, demonstrating the impact of the vaccination rollout
Cases are expected to continue rising as restrictions are eased and people are urged to remain cautious and exercise personal responsibility.
The data indicates that infections have increased in all regions - with the largest increase in London, where prevalence has increased more than eightfold from 0.13% in round 12 to 1.08% in round 13.
However, prevalence is increasing to a lesser extent among those vaccinated, rising from 0.06% in people aged 65 and above who reported receiving two doses in round 12, to 0.24% in the same group in round 13.
Prof Elliott said:
"In spite of the successful rollout of the vaccination programme, we are still seeing rapid growth in infections, especially among younger people.
"However, it is encouraging to see lower infection prevalence in people who have had both doses of a vaccine.
"It is therefore essential that as many people as possible take up both vaccine doses when offered."