Link between population age and virus identified

Research by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine has found a connection between the age of a population and its susceptibility to COVID-19.

The study simulated outbreaks in 146 capital cities, and data published in the journal Nature Medicine found a connection between median age and the number of cases.

"The age structure of a population can have a significant impact," said Nicholas Davies, a member of the research team. "Countries with more young people may experience a lower burden of COVID-19."

The same study also found evidence that people under the age of 20 are only half as susceptible to COVID-19 as those above 20, with symptoms showing in just one-fifth of infections among children and teenagers.

They simulated outbreaks of flu, which is known to be widely transmitted by school children, and COVID-19, and the results raise questions over the effectiveness of school closures as a control method. "For COVID-19, there was much less of an effect of school closures," said Rosalind Eggo, co-leader of the study.

At Wednesday's Downing Street media briefing, Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden announced a further 184 deaths from the novel coronavirus had taken the United Kingdom's overall death toll to 42,153.

He spoke of the morale boost of live English Premier League soccer returning after 100 days, and said he continued to have discussions across government to help support theaters.

That announcement came on the same day one of the West End's biggest theater producers, Cameron Mackintosh, announced that his venues, hosting such popular shows as Les Miserables, Hamilton and The Phantom of the Opera, would remain dark until next year.

"I have no investors or venture capital backing, everything is funded by me personally," he wrote. "Commercial theater provides billions of pounds of revenue to the Exchequer. It is time this is recognized and the government takes action to ensure this priceless resource at which the British people excel is helped to survive."

Earlier in the day, Britain's creative industries warned of a potential "cultural catastrophe" because of the economic impact of the novel coronavirus.

A report commissioned by the Creative Industries Federation, or CIF, warns the arts could face a drop in income this year of 74 billion pounds ($92 billion), resulting in 406,000 job losses.

The report said the museum sector, which had been widely predicted to be particularly vulnerable, would escape relatively lightly compared to others, with the performing and visual arts and music especially at risk. Social distancing will reduce venue capacity for theaters, concerts and exhibitions.

Caroline Norbury, chief executive officer of the CIF, said the impact could be "devastating and irreversible."

"Our creative industries have been one of the UK's biggest success stories but what today's report makes clear is that, without additional government support, we are heading for a cultural catastrophe," she said.

"If nothing is done, thousands of world-leading creative businesses are set to close their doors, hundreds of thousands of jobs will be lost and billions will be lost to our economy."

Britons hoping to visit Spain this summer could face two weeks in quarantine. From this weekend Spain will welcome overseas visitors, but the UK's own quarantine rules could see travellers from the country treated the same in Spain.

"We will be in dialogue with the UK to see whether or not we should be introducing reciprocity as they have different measures than the rest of the European Union," Spain's Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya told the BBC.