Amy Winehouse is back on track, ready to hit the stage after two years. She has been booked to sing in Russia next month before a jaunt to Brazil in January for a six-day tour – pocketing around 300,000 dollars, reports The Sun. Winehouse got rave reviews for her two intimate performances last month. Her [...]
Posts Tagged ‘east London’
London transport – Soviet style
July 30th, 2010 |
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News that London’s roads will be partially closed during the Olympics in order that athletes and officials can get to the Games on time will leave residents distinctly underwhelmed.
It’s not as if it’s a breeze swanning around the nation’s capital at the best of times but a full 2.5% of roads will be dedicated to the grandiose-sounding ‘Olympic Route Network,’ in a bid to ease the path of those attending the east London jamboree.
This is nothing new of course. Back in the day, Soviet dignatories would glide through Moscow in their Zil limos in dedicated central lanes, while the ever-equal comrades – if they had cars at all – slummed it in whatever road was left.
But hang about. There’s been non-stop trumpeting about how green the London Olympics are going to be, sustainable this and environmental that.
There’s even a so-called British ‘bullet train’ – which to anyone who has meandered about the UK’s rail network will come as a somewhat startling concept – to whisk happy game-goers from St Pancras International rail station to the Olympic site in an eye-wateringly fast seven minutes.
So news of the Soviet-style Zil lanes comes as a bit of a surprise and you can bet anything London taxi drivers – not a breed known for sensitivity – will be fuming.
And anyway, why shouldn’t athletes and officials weasel in like the rest of us. I accept taking a pole vault or javelin on the train might pose a few problems, but it would enliven the journey considerably and bring the Games closer to the people.
Over to you Boris.
Outriders await their comeback
July 15th, 2010 |
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Having battled through a power failure of most of east London on Monday morning – it had to be a Monday – my mood not helped by commuters draped in Spanish flags (in east London?) after their World Cup win – I finally weaselled my way into Essex – my first ever visit – and Ford’s Dunton R&D plant.
The occasion was to celebrate the handing over of some rather large cheques from the UK government and the European Investment Bank (EIB) to Ford for more efficient engine research among other laudable aims.
A collection of Ford’s top brass – including Ford of Britain chairman Joe Greenwell, the Minister of State for Business Mark Prisk and EIB vice president Simon Brooks – assembled for the signing ceremony that saw the loan and guarantee formalised.
The lights were barely working however so Joe manfully went through his speech – a lone voice in the gloom – punctuated by the flash of a graph on the screen.
Clarity was restored for Prisk, who, it has to be said, appeared to take a genuine interest in the industry. It helps he was the business shadow for two years previously, but nonetheless he gave an impressive overview of the UK auto sector.
A quick tour of the Dunton plant later – complete with immersion into a -40 degree centigrade cold soak chamber – followed by a searingly hot air equivalent and we were back in the conference room now restored to blinding luminance.
The Minister of State departed – not in some enormous charabanc- but thanks to the new British Prime Minister’s Scrooge-like austerity drive – in a pool Prius.
Times is hard but shouldn’t someone who’s risen to Minister of State be given some sort of limo?
Incidentally, it appears that Cameron’s predecessor had insisted on dropping his police outriders in a similar display of Cromwellian rigour but soon reinsated them when he became late for almost every event.
Cameron has equally dropped the outriders but how long before he brings them back as he endures yet another traffic jam? More fun too.
Jude Law, Sienna Miller’s â€blazing row†in public
May 22nd, 2010 |
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Jude Law and Sienna Miller are back to their old routine after reuniting recently.
The Daily Mail reports that the couple was spotted having a ‘spectacular falling out” at a posh London bar.
Law and Miller reportedly got into a public shouting match following a game of snooker at East London’’s Shoreditch House.
“It was like old times,” [...]
On the trail in Camberwell and Peckham
May 6th, 2010 |
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Our correspondent finds plenty of hostility to Labour’s deputy leader in a supposedly safe seat
Saturday, May 1st
IT IS the final weekend of the election campaign in the inner south-east London electorate of Camberwell and Peckham. The tower blocks of Southwark Council’s Wyndham and Comber Estate, redolent of the opening credits of “Only Fools and Horses etch a rain-threatened sky as Andy Stranack, Tory candidate in these parts, lurches towards a shadowy red-brick facade. A St George’s Cross looms across the doorway ahead: a snarling Rottweiler approaches. …
ArcelorMittal becomes sponsor of London 2012 Olympics
April 1st, 2010 |
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ArcelorMittal has become a tier-two sponsor of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and will support the infrastructure for the Games.
The ArcelorMittal Orbit will be the iconic and permanent symbol of the 2012 Olympic and will embody both the artistic and functional versatility of steel as a construction material.
Speaking at the London’s City Hall, chairman [...]
Tendulkar’s knock against Knight Riders is his highest T20 score
March 23rd, 2010 |
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Mumbai Indians captain Sachin Tendulkar’s match winning knock of 71 against Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League (IPL) was his highest Twenty20 score.
Tendulkar’s unbeaten 71 off 48 balls at the Brabourne Stadium Monday is his second 50 in the third edition of IPL – his fifth IPL 50 overall.
Other statistical highlights of the [...]
Close Friends and Family Gathered at Anniversary Memorial of Jade Goody
March 23rd, 2010 |
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Family and friends of late reality TV star Jade Goody gathered on Sunday in order to pay her tribute as one year has passed since her death.
Jackiey Budden, the mother of Jade, her widower Jack Tweed and her personal trainer and also close friend Kevin Adams were seen during a service which was conducted [...]
Pete Doherty accused of supplying drugs that killed Robin Whitehead
March 22nd, 2010 |
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Rock star Pete Doherty has been charged for allegedly providing drugs to filmmaker Robin Whitehead who died of a suspected overdose in January.
The English musician was arrested but got bailed after police saw a footage Whitehead had filmed at a flat in Homerton, East London.
It showed Doherty, 31, and others taking heroin and crack.
He [...]
Pete Doherty Arrested For Supplying Drugs In Overdose Death
March 22nd, 2010 |
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Rock star Pete Doherty has been charged with allegedly providing the drugs that killed heiress filmmaker Robin Whitehead, who died of a suspected overdose in January.
Whitehead, 27, had been working on a documentary about the drug-addict singer’s decadent lifestyle and his relationship with supermodel Kate Moss. Robin — an heir to the Goldsmith dynasty — [...]
Alexander McQueen Death Confirmed As Suicide By Hanging, Coroner Says
February 17th, 2010 |
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Fashion designer Alexander McQueen hanged himself in a closet his home in central London after leaving a note at the scene, an inquest into his death heard on Wednesday revealed. This morning, a British medical examiner confirmed to Westminister Coroner Court that the designer died of asphyxiation and hanging due to suicide.
The fashion designer — [...]
Big Day Out | 01.22 & 01.23 | Australia
February 2nd, 2010 |
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Words and Images by: Alex Anastas
Big Day Out :: 01.22.10 – 01.23.10 :: Olympic Park Showgrounds :: Sydney, Australia
 Muse :: 01.22 :: Big Day Out :: Australia |
The Big Day Out traveling music and arts festival rolled into Sydney for its only two-day stand of the whole tour. Annually playing in six cities across Australia and New Zealand since 1992 (there wasn’t a festival in 1998), past BDOs have featured a veritable who’s who of the rock and alternative music scene in the vein of Lollapalooza, including but not limited to such headliners as Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Foo Fighters, Sonic Youth, Primus, Rage Against the Machine, Beastie Boys and The Chemical Brothers. The Big Day Out stage has also seen Australian acts exposed to a much larger audience and helped launch the now successful careers of bands like Silverchair, John Butler, Jet and Powderfinger. Loaded with great hard rock, 2010′s lineup of 70+ acts across eight stages was no different, with some experienced Big Day Outers like headliners Muse, The Mars Volta and Powderfinger, as well as a few true heavy metal gods to keep the headbangers happy, including Mastodon and fest closer Fear Factory.
Friday, January 22
Normally in Sydney if the old mercury pushed over 100-degrees on a long holiday weekend, rest assured most of the 53,000+ fans that turned up ready to party at the Olympic Park Showgrounds would have been pool or oceanside, Aussie beer clutched firm in hand. Being the Big Day Out, however, this was a party that would not be deterred even by the multitude of cops with sniffer dogs at the main gates. Infiltrating inner city bus and train stops from the early hours of Friday and Saturday, scantily clad hipsters and young music fans flocked in droves to the venue. Annually the host of Sydney’s Royal Easter Show, the animal habitat Showgrounds surround the state-of-the-art park built for the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.
 DJ MDX :: 01.22 :: Big Day Out :: Australia |
Entering these grounds at midday was like being thrown into an inner city back street blender without a map (they had already run out of those by this point). Having been to the previous three Sydney BDOs, I pretty much knew the drill of where to look for drinking wristbands and other key facets of the day such as free potable water stations, but I pitied the newbies. Signs were fairly non-existent and the rising temperatures definitely helped to play tricks on one’s mind. After meeting my friends at the outdoor Green Stage for the final shimmering melodies of British pop upstarts The Temper Trap, I decided we should heed the bannered message one fan was displaying high and proud to “soldier on” through the incredible heat. We instantly sought refuge in the spacious dance party Boiler Room venue for some tech savvy spinning by the prolific DJ MDX, otherwise known as Mark Dynamix. Armed with an assortment of breakbeat mixes, MDX and the four LED panels flanking the huge airline-hanger space really got the party going. Not in any rush to leave the comforting shadows of the indoor Ferris wheel, we stuck around the Boiler Room for Itch-E and Scratch E featuring MC Scribe on guest vocals. Playing 16 years after first debuting on the Big Day Out stage, DJs Paul Mac and Andy Rantzen threw out lusciously danceable techno beats while New Zealand’s Scribe rapped “Fresh” over the top, much to the delight of the now packed room. And packed in they were, awaiting the highly anticipated, often over-hyped spasmodic A.D.D. mash-up artist Girl Talk. The crowds surged towards the stage for a better look at the musician otherwise born as Gregg Gillis. As his (paid?) stage-riding freaks and geeks shot toilet paper and confetti out of leaf blowers, Girl Talk blended in a lot of Australian shout-outs, including Crowded House’s “Don’t Dream It’s Over” with Snoop Dogg’s “What’s My Name,” as well as AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck” with Rihanna’s “Umbrella.”
 Lily Allen :: 01.22 :: Big Day Out :: Australia |
Having had our fill of the start-stop Girl Talk work-out, we sought late afternoon refuge at the Hot Produce outdoor stage for a little plucking from folk outfit The Middle East. The mellow five-piece delighted with sparkling harmonies and several stories from the road providing a welcome juxtaposition to the frenetic dance party in the Boiler Room. This proved to be a quick stop-over on our way to the main stage for East-London “Rude Boy” Dizzee Rascal. With his gold-capped teeth glimmering in the hot Aussie summer sun, many a bikini-topped girl rode the shoulders of her respective fella while taking in some of Dizzee’s old-skool sounding hit singles, including “Dance Wiv Me,” “Dirtee Cash” and “Holiday.”
Both the outdoor main showground stages (titled Blue and Orange this year) as well as two of the other outdoor side stages (named Green and Essential) always had an act going, with stage hands frantically preparing the next stage for musicians to begin the second the previous act finished up. This aspect of the Big Day Out makes the experience extremely stimulating and action packed. Thus, as soon as Dizzee Rascal finished his performance at 6 p.m. on the nose, the infamous Lily Allen was ready to get going. The sunset arrived, much to the delight of the heat exhausted crowd, as Allen launched into her MySpace sensation “Smile.” Dancing wildly in bare feet around the stage in a gaudy silk dress, Allen sang her bubble-gum pop numbers like “Fuck You” in double time, taking the occasional break to sit coyly on the edge of the stage and tease the crowd with “Littlest Things,” proclaiming, “Us English are not used to this shit-hot heat.”
Forgoing the now intensely packed Boiler Room’s Calvin Harris show for The Mars Volta, I was not sorry at all. Playing to an intimate audience crowded right up to the main stage, the Volta played this first day a bit safe, perhaps still a bit woozy from their barn burner of a show at the Hordern Pavilion two nights before. However, the band did not disappoint at Saturday’s gig.
 The Mars Volta :: 01.22 :: Big Day Out :: Australia |
Escaping to some much-appreciated respite in the VIP air-conditioned bar high above the main stage in the venue’s skyboxes, I watched Powderfinger’s show from a distance. Even though the devoted fan base sang along to every track and drank up every sobering minute of the experienced band’s one-hour set, our crew just couldn’t get into it. Perhaps it was the long day’s sun finally catching up or my eager anticipation of the final main stage act.
Muse did not disappoint. Playing many tunes off of their recent award-winning fifth studio album, The Resistance, the world dominators also displayed proficient chops on fan-favorite tracks off hit Haarp. Offering far and away the most advanced light show of the night, Muse used the speaker stacks to their immediate left and right to project live video feeds from the stage as well as clips from their innovative music videos. Adding irresistible icing to the cake, the English trio also employed sharp green lasers. This visual eye candy, the very special tribute encore to Aussie legends AC/DC, combined with their revolutionary anthems like opener “Uprising” and “United States of Eurasia” provided an amazing soundtrack to march out of the festival grounds to.
Muse Setlist: Uprising, Supermassive Black Hole, New Born, Undisclosed Desires, Interlude, Hysteria, Nishe, United States Of Eurasia, Helsinki Jam, Resistance, Starlight, Time Is Running Out, Unnatural Selection
E: Back In Black (AC/DC cover with Nic Cester of JET), Plug In Baby, Knights of Cydonia
Continue reading for Saturday’s coverage of Big Day Out…
Saturday, January 23
 Big Day Out 2010 :: Australia |
Walking into the 100th Big Day Out on an even HOTTER 110-degree day, the Kill Bill inspired jump-suited Bluejuice had the audience trying their hardest to get down to their dirty blend of electro disco, hip hop and rock. The radio hit “Vitriol” closed their set, making way for a day packed with heavy metal and hard rock. Kicking off the heavy portion of the day with Perth veterans Karnivool, the prog-rock riffers utilized their technical proficiency, looping multiple organic, distorted sounds while former Birds of Tokyo frontman Ian Kenny led them through some Maynard Keenan inspired vocal takes – even their backdrop looked like something out of a Tool video. Truly a talented outfit, and definitely a band to watch.
Next on the main stage was Mastodon, a heavily praised progressive metal band from Atlanta, Georgia. Mastodon strings several of their groundbreaking concept albums together creating an ongoing backstory often used as the impetus for music videos and even video games. Their intricate composed sections and Zen-like concentration on tunes such as “Blood and Thunder” got the sweat drenched crowd ready for the day ahead.
Skipping British dance rockers Kasabian for a casual stroll around the grounds led us back to the Green/Essential Stage for a wonderfully blissful set closing cover of The Cranberries’ “Dreams” by electronic five-piece Passion Pit, leaving everyone around me grinning ear to ear. While the stage was being prepped, one of my favorite albums, Pink Floyd’s Meddle played softly in the background, setting the circus scene for The Decemberists. Assembling about 10 years ago in Portland, Oregon, frontman Colin Meloy and his merry band of multi-instrumentalists led the crowd on a storytelling wave featuring such epics as “16 Wives.” It appeared that many Aussies in attendance had never listened to them before, which only made it that much easier for The Decemberists to leave Sydney with some new fans.
 Fear Factory :: 01.23 :: Big Day Out :: Australia |
Not eager to wander elsewhere, we stuck around to see what all the fuss was about with the “future of British Rock,” The Horrors. Then, it began to rain. Back to back days of 100+ stickiness gave way to a chaotic but relieving downpour, forcing many revelers to search for cover. Our sanctuary was found in the often forgotten Lily World Stage, where a cabaret of sorts was playing out in the form of Clairy Baby Browne and the Bangin Rackettes. Dancing in 1950′s brassieres and corsets for the wearily saturated audience, this harmonizing quartet of female gospel crooners entertained while backed by a multitude of Dixieland players. Flamboyantly dressed Mariachi MCs wandered the crowd, strolling past wrestling crash mats and adding to the truly “happening” feeling of it all.
Although they played the same exact setlist as the previous day, Saturday’s performance by The Mars Volta was definitely something else. Perhaps the thunder overhead electrified the much larger main stage crowd, as well as the musicians themselves. Perhaps it was something in the water backstage making Omar Rodriguez Lopez‘s guitar runs that much more lightning quick. I’m not quite sure, but whatever it was, the whole band was on fire, especially the playful stage energy shared by Omar and vocalist Cedric Bixler Zavala.
The Mars Volta Setlist: Son et Lumiere, Inertiatic ESP, Cotopaxi, L’Via L’Viaquez, Goliath, Tiptoe Through The Tulips (Tiny Tim cover), Cicatriz ESP, Roulette Dares (The Haunt Of)
Muse‘s Saturday show was just the opposite of the Volta – very flat and not nearly as interesting as their Friday performance – leading to many of the throngs walking out early to hit the late night shows. Lucky for those who ventured onward, Fear Factory was an experience I’ll never forget. Ear-piercingly loud and fast, with very fast licks, it left me musically satiated as we headed back to the real world of a Saturday night in Sydney, 100 Big Days Out behind us.
Continue reading for more pics of Big Day Out in Sydney…
Friday, January 22:
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 Dizzee Rascal
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 The Middle East
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 Powderfinger
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 The Mars Volta
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 The Mars Volta
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 Muse
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 Muse
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 Muse
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Continue reading for more pics of Big Day Out in Sydney…
Saturday, January 23:
 Lily World Stage MC
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 Bluejuice
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 Clairy Baby Browne and the Bangin Rackettes
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 Chris Funk – The Decemberists
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 Karnivool
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 Kasabian
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 Mastodon
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 The Mars Volta
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 The Mars Volta
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 Muse
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JamBase | Down Under
Go See Live Music!
Singer who performed for Brad Pitt, George Clooney working as stripper
November 24th, 2009 |
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A waitress who achieved fame after being picked to sing for Brad Pitt and George Clooney is now working as a stripper.
Victoria Hart was signed by Decca records in a 1.5 million pound record deal in 2007 after being picked to perform for the stars at a party in Cannes, France.
The 20-year-old was spotted at [...]
Russell Brand spotted at London fetish club opening
November 24th, 2009 |
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Brit comedian Russell Brand was spotted attending the opening of a fetish club in East London called Porn Dwarf.
The dress code for the event on November 21 was leather, and it featured petite pole dancers, with a steamy X-rated video montage playing throughout the venue.
Brand, 34, was reportedly seen looking nervous as he kept dashing [...]
Leona Lewis Hides Out In Police Station After Being Followed By Paparazzi
October 20th, 2009 |
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Poor Leona Lewis just can’t catch a break….Leona was forced to flee to a police station Monday afternoon amid fears for her safety.
The X-Factor winner was leaving her East London home when her driver grew concerned their car was being tailed.
‘”She was being followed by about a dozen photographers and things were getting hairy,” [...]
Blake Fielder-Civil: How I Introduced Amy Winehouse To Drugs
July 28th, 2009 |
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Amy Winehouse’s former husband has revealed how he gave the award-winning songstress her first hit of heroin.
In an interview with British tabloid The Sun, Blake Fielder Civil has admitted he introduced Amy to the drug and say Amy tried heroin in late 2006 in East London.
The troubled star spent eight months in St. [...]
London marks 3-year countdown to 2012 Olympics
July 27th, 2009 |
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LONDON (AP) — The construction of venues is forging ahead, hundreds of millions in sponsorship money has been secured, and the project remains on time and on budget despite the recession.
With three years to go Monday until the opening ceremony, London organizers say they are firmly on track in preparations for the 2012 Olympics.
“If you [...]
Games tsar will ensure 2012 legacy
July 26th, 2009 |
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The government is to counter criticism that it is failing to deliver on the promises that helped win the 2012 Olympic Games for London by appointing a “sports legacy tsar”, to get more people participating in sport and help attract private sector investment.
Ministers are looking for a high-profile figure who could be a former Olympic athlete or an influential name who has experience of running a sporting body.
With the Olympic flame due to be lit in the new stadium in Stratford, east London, three years from tomorrow, there is increasing optimism that organisers will deliver the games on time and within the £9.3bn budget, despite the impact of the recession. But opposition MPs and senior sports figures have told the Guardian that there remain serious questions over the legacy of the 2012 Games. In particular, there are concerns over promises to use the Olympics to increase sporting activity and fight obesity.
Critics claim that “four years have been wasted” in devising a strategy to deliver on the promise of getting 1 million people taking part in more sport by 2012 and a broader pledge to get 1 million more participating in physical activity, including walking and gardening.
Organisations including the British Olympic Association and the CCPR (Central Council of Physical Recreation), which represents hundreds of governing bodies, have voiced concerns that plans to use the Olympics to make a “once in a lifetime” change in the population’s sporting habits are yet to have any impact at grassroots level. The shadow sports minister, Hugh Robertson, said: “The lack of a proper strategy for delivering our participation promises is the single biggest problem with the Olympics.”
The Liberal Democrat Olympic spokesman, Tom Brake, said “alarm bells must be ringing in government”, which “may have bitten off more than it can chew”. The CCPR chair, Brigid Simmonds, added: “We have been saying for some time that the Olympics will have a long sunrise and a very short sunset. If we don’t get it right, this huge opportunity will be lost. With three years to go, let’s grasp it and let’s get on with it.” In response, it is understood that the sports minister, Gerry Sutcliffe, who remains confident that the targets can be achieved, plans to convene a new team led by a “legacy tsar” to co-ordinate sport participation.
The government believes that it has put all the necessary building blocks in place, including getting the various agencies working harmoniously and doubling sports funding in the three years since 2005, but acknowledges that a more co-ordinated national approach is required.
“Some regions are getting on and doing it and others are sitting back and waiting for something to happen,” Sutcliffe said. “It’s got to be about inspiration as well. The athletes need to be out in their communities inspiring people.”
It will also co-ordinate a drive to get private backers involved in the legacy push. Adidas will announce that it is rolling out its “sportszone” concept around the country following a trial in London, and there are hopes that other Olympic sponsors will want to get involved with legacy projects. Figures released last week by Sport England, the body charged with delivering the 1 million participation increase and investing £480m of lottery and public funds in grassroots sport between 2009 and 2013, revealed that progress appeared to have stalled.
Quarterly figures showed that of 31 sports measured according to how many people played them at least once a week, only table tennis recorded an increase. Nine – including swimming, football, gymnastics and rowing – showed a decline and the rest showed no change.
In order to achieve its target, Sport England must boost the 6.8 million people playing sport for 30 minutes at least three times a week by 1 million. The other 1 million, to be delivered through other government agencies including the National Health Service, must be doing some form of physical activity for 30 minutes at least three times a week. Sport England argues that the quarterly survey is merely a guide and that the next annual survey, due in December, will give a clearer idea of progress under a plan launched earlier this year to invest the bulk of its lottery and public funds directly through sport governing bodies.
It was partly the bold legacy promises made by London Organising Committee chairman, Seb Coe, that the Olympics would transform the East End of London, inspire a generation of young people through sport and deliver health benefits for the entire nation that helped convince International Olympic Committee members to vote for the city in 2005.
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
New swine flu cases double in a week
July 24th, 2009 |
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About 100,000 people caught swine flu in England last week, the chief medical officer revealed today, as the government’s online diagnosis service crashed within minutes of launch when thousands of people tried to log on at the same time.
The rapid spread of the virus was confirmed as the National Pandemic Flu Service – dispensing advice and anti-viral prescriptions over the telephone and online – went live to relieve pressure on GPs.
The world’s first government-run swine flu diagnosis website could not cope with the volume of traffic when it opened for business at 3pm today. Designed to handle 1,200 hits a second, the service was suspended just four minutes later when 2,600 people tried to access it every second.
The service’s inauspicious launch came as new official figures on consultation rates with GPs showed that:
• the infection has spread broadly across the country from the hotspots where it was initially concentrated;
• under-14s are the most affected;
• 840 patients in England are receiving hospital treatment for illnesses associated with the H1N1 virus, of whom 63 are in intensive care. Comparable figures for the previous week were: 652 in hospital and 53 in intensive care.
In another development, a pregnant woman critically ill with swine flu was transferred to Sweden for specialised treatment after suffering a rare complication.
The 26-year-old Scot was flown out because all five beds were occupied at the national unit in Leicester that provides the highly specialised procedure known as extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), which involves circulating the patient’s blood outside the body and adding oxygen to it artificially.
Nationally, the Department of Health said there were hopeful signs, producing a revised death rate that showed lower than anticipated fatalities and suggesting there could be a lull in infections over the summer.
Following a rigorous investigation of reported fatalities, Sir Liam Donaldson, the chief medical officer, said there had been 26 “provisionally validated” swine flu deaths in England since the beginning of the outbreak. Combined with four deaths reported in Scotland, the UK total stood at 30.
Unlike normal seasonal flu, which is a threat primarily to the pneumonia-prone elderly, the H1N1 virus appears to affect the young more severely. Of those who have died in England, a third were under the age of 15 while only 17% of fatalities have been among pensioners.
Within the same sample of 26 deaths, two-thirds of the victims had what were described as pre-existing “severe conditions” such as leukaemia, and only 16% were described as fully “healthy”.
The infection rate has almost doubled from an estimated 55,000 new cases in the previous week to 100,000 fresh cases. A slight dip in daily consultation rates with GPs within the last few days has given some health officials hope that the first wave of infections may have peaked in Britain, Donaldson said. “You will see a suggestion of a downturn but I don’t think you can read too much into it at this stage,” he added.
A scenario anticipated by Department of Health officials and those from other departments who meet regularly in the Cabinet Office’s emergency planning committee, Cobra, is for a slowdown in the infection rate during the summer when schools are closed. The outbreak may pick up pace again in the autumn.
Donaldson said there was no evidence of the virus becoming more virulent and stressed that for most people it would be relatively mild. He denied there was a danger of a shortage of respirators for children in intensive care beds. “We can expand capacity somewhat in the event of an emergency by cancelling some routine operations,” he added.
The fact that rates of influenza-like illness are running at a far higher level than those normally observed during high summer remains a puzzle for scientists. In previously severe outbreaks activity dipped.
“This level in July and August is highly unusual,” Donaldson said.
Tower Hamlets in east London continues to be the primary care trust with the highest number of GP consultations for people with flu-like illness. It is seeing 792 consultations for every 100,000 people, followed by Islington in north London with 488 consultations for every 100,000 people.
Other parts of England that are severly affected include Greenwich, south-east London, Leicester, and Telford and Wrekin, Shropshire. In Wales, 3,075 people contacted their GPs in the past week with symptoms of the H1N1 virus.
Swine flu infection rates in Scotland appear to have reached record levels, with the virus spreading uniformly across the country, despite hopes the outbreak may have peaked.
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Mother-of-six among latest flu deaths
July 17th, 2009 |
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A woman who gave birth prematurely and a baby were revealed to be among the latest victims of swine flu as the number of UK deaths from the infection rose sharply.
Ruptara Miah, 39, had used a wheelchair for 15 years after a road accident but had brought up six daughters, relatives said. A statement from Whipps Cross hospital in east London, where she died said: “She was infected with pandemic H1N1. The trust can confirm that she had underlying health conditions.”
Her brother, Abdul Malik said she was admitted to hospital three weeks ago with a cough and chest infection, but her condition worsened and she died without regaining full consciousness. Her son, who was born prematurely, is being treated in an intensive care unit.
The baby who died on July 8 was less than six months old and was being treated at the Royal Free hospital, north London, on 8 July. A 70-year-old man also died at the Royal London hospital on Tuesday and an adult, whose age has not been revealed, died at the city’s St Thomas’ hospital earlier in the month. All the victims, the NHS said, “had serious underlying health conditions”. Tests are also being carried out on a seven-year-old Kent schoolboy who died on Tuesday to see if he had the virus. He suffered from other complications.
Professor Hugh Pennington, a leading microbiologist, yesterday questioned the Department of Health’s projection that as many as 65,000 people could die in the UK from swine flu. Pennington, chairman of an official inquiry into the Scottish E-coli outbreak of 1996, said: “There are all sorts of imponderables, which mean these figures are meaningless.”
He said the attack rate of 30% projected by the DoH was unlikely and he would be “very surprised” if the number of deaths came anywhere close to 65,000. “It would be a fantastically effective virus if it was doing that,” he said. “I’m surprised at the Department of Health putting out these figures in the way they have. I can understand them saying to emergency planners you have to be prepared but why are they going public in what seems like panic mode?”
Doubts over the government’s assertion that a vaccine would be available by the end of next month also surfaced yesterday. The government has ordered 132m doses, sufficient for everyone in the country. “If there is severe disease, countries will want to hang onto the vaccine for their own citizens,” said Michael Osterholm, director of the centre for infectious diseases research and policy at the University of Minnesota. About 70% of the world’s existing flu vaccines are made in Europe. The UK has ordered vaccines from GlaxoSmithKline and Baxter International , which have production plants in Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic.
“Pandemic vaccine will be a valuable and scarce resource, like oil or food during a famine,” said David Fidler, a professor of law at Indiana university who has consulted for the World Health Organisation.
“We’ve seen how countries behave in those situations, and it’s not encouraging.” The Department of Health insisted that its suppliers would honour their contracts.
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