There should be a lot of reassurance provided by the number of Covid-19 Testing Centres around the County.

Unfortunately, it appears that many of these are not operating at anything like full capacity. Those over 60 are turning up for regular testing, but the key working age population, those in their 20's to 50's, are not.

The thinking appears to be that because the individual risk of severe illness or death is lower in those age groups, there is no need. Perhaps other members of a family, including children, are having regular tests and that gives a measure of false confidence. The problem with this is that at these ages, you can still get it but the likelihood is that there will only be mild or no symptoms. You might be safer, but it doesn't make you safer to others.

Viruses evolve to do these things: To survive, reproduce and spread further across their host population. That's us! They use our bodies, our cells to reproduce massively in a few cells, exploding into other cells in ever larger numbers. They can't reproduce for themselves. They need us to do it. That can have varying side effects as our bodies fight back. Many people will feel little or no effect. It doesn't really matter for the virus's purpose if it harms you or not. All that is needed is for you to spread the virus further to as many as possible. If you haven't noticed you have it, and carry on with your normal life and contacts, that's all to the virus' good. The process will repeat, and the odds are that somebody else will not only get it, but badly or fatally.

This is where the testing comes in. Testing in the UK has been something of a mixed bag until recently. The lateral flow tests now being widely used though are a real blessing. If you cannot work from home, whatever your age, a quick test taking only minutes can make sure you're not a carrier, doing the virus's work for it. False positives are rare, perhaps as low as one in a thousand. A confirming test can be done very soon, so inconvenience may be minimal.

This is likely to be part of what 'Living with the Virus' is going to be like. A high take up of the vaccine across all ages will reduce the number of places the virus can go. It needs to be high though, maybe over 80% of the population to provide that 'herd immunity'. There is nothing new in any of this. We've been carrying it out for 200 years and we're always getting better at it.

It's interesting to note that so far, the Oxford/Astra-Zeneca vaccine has been observed to be effective against the emerging variants. Viruses always mutate, it's part of evolution that they are particularly suited for. In time, it may be that modifications will need to be made to vaccines, so that like flu we can have an annual shot that takes account of new strains. The Oxford model is very well designed to do this since it can, in part, be 'tailored' for it.

For the moment though, the other line of defence for the whole country, and eventually world, will be easy testing. Please use it, not just for yourself, your family, and friends, but for everybody else as well. That way we can all get most of our lives back. Vaccination and Testing.

Check Covid testing times and booking details on our daily Breakfast Briefing

Other nearby test centres are at Hadleigh, Sudbury, Nayland, Ipswich, Martlesham, Woodbridge and Felixstowe