Amid the reverberations of a global pandemic, a silver lining has appeared: a London-based health clinic has found that the rate of new HIV infections has dropped significantly as a result of social distancing.
“Fewer hook-ups since lockdown has resulted in a huge reduction of HIV and other STIs. The chain is broken,” the clinic 56 Dean Street wrote on its website. The group went on to declare the coronavirus pandemic as a “once-in-a-generation opportunity in the fight against HIV.”
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“What’s more,” the group adds, “when someone first catches the virus, they are super infectious and more likely to pass on HIV than normal. But because there aren’t many super infectious people around, this has reduced transmission even further.”
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Fewer hook-ups during lockdown means much less chance of a recent HIV infection that could be missed when you test
So there’s NEVER been a better #timetotest
We might not get this opportunity again – so order a home kit now. And tell your friends!https://t.co/XohP9lzm6p pic.twitter.com/45zwLEpIgw
— 56 Dean Street (@56deanstreet) April 30, 2020
56 Dean Street further encourages sexually active people to get tested for STDs as the lockdown continues, as cutting down on infections now means less spread later.
“We might never get this opportunity again,” the clinic said on Twitter.
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Chrisk
I’d say to look deeper. No more bars and clubs around getting people f*cked up. How many infections happened when someone was not in their right mind after a night of all night drinking and/or binging on drugs?
Kangol2
Pair testing with HIV and other STIs with a test for Covid-19, and it’s a win-win. Either way, you know what you do or don’t have to deal with and can proceed to protect yourself and others accordingly.
hansniemeijer
Goods news. Sad though that you can get a test to see if you are hiv positive but covid-19 testing is restricted since there are not enough tests!!!!
Mr-DJ
Should be a more drastic drop in all STI’s – as well as flus and colds.
iron
A very hard wanker call. oops. but a wake-up none the less