London's ultra-Orthodox Jewish community does NOT have herd immunity

London’s ultra-Orthodox Jewish community is still at risk from coronavirus and has not achieved herd immunity, scientists warned today after a study showed two-thirds were infected by the disease last year.

London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine researchers found 64 per cent had Covid-19 antibodies after testing the blood of 1,750 members of the community.

That is one of the highest infection rates found in the world, and is comparable to the Brazilian city of Manaus where 76 per cent of the population were estimated to have antibodies.

It follows criticism of ultra-orthodox communities by Jewish leaders in the UK, Israel and New York for holding large-scale weddings and funerals that break social distancing rules.

In Israel there is anger that the community could be delaying the effects of the country’s world-beating vaccine drive with the ultra-Orthodox making up 12 per cent of the country’s population but two-thirds of infections.

However, experts warned today that the high infection rate in London would not protect members of the ultra-Orthodox community from the coronavirus pandemic through ‘herd immunity’ – when a virus stops spreading because enough people are immune

Scientists warned a prevalence of at least 85 per cent must be achieved to reach herd immunity, especially with the super-infectious Kent variant of coronavirus.

And because London’s ultra-Orthodox community is not isolated within the city, individuals are still at risk of catching the disease from the capital’s wider population and can spread infection outside their own community.

The results also showed lower antibody levels in older ultra-Orthodox Jews, with a prevalence of 54 per cent among the over-67s, who are most at risk of death or hospitalisation if they catch the virus.

The median age of the ultra-Orthodox community in London is 14 – much lower than in the rest of the UK where it is 40. This could also explain the low case fatality ratio of 0.3 per cent in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community.

And scientists also warn that the possibility of reinfection with a mutant antibody-defeating variant of coronavirus also poses a risk to ultra-Orthodox Jews, and that there is no firm evidence antibodies last beyond six months.

Members of the ultra-Orthodox community in London ignore social distancing rules in May at a gathering to celebrate a religious festival. The UK’s Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis has condemned gatherings like this as a ‘most shameful desecration of all that we hold dear’.

Hundreds of ultra-Orthodox Jews packed into a synagogue in New York last month for a wedding, despite warnings from authorities to stick to social distancing rules

Thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews attended a funeral in Jerusalem, Israel, on January 31 despite lockdown rules in Israel. One politician decried the event as an example of ‘unequal’ enforcement rules’, as most families were at home following lockdown rules

Jewish men and women suffered the highest death rates in the first wave of the pandemic in Britain

Researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine found the rate of past infection in London’s ultra-Orthodox Jewish community was 64 per cent

Scientists said as London’s infection rate remains high the Jewish community there haven’t achieved herd immunity, because they could still catch the virus from the wider population

MORE THAN FIFTY ORTHODOX JEWISH WITH UP TO 300 GUESTS ILLEGALLY HELD IN LONDON

Dozens of illegal Jewish Orthodox weddings with up to 300 guests have taken place in London during England’s third national lockdown, whistleblowers claimed today.

More than 50 ceremonies have allegedly taken place in the capital during lockdown with lookouts used to raise the alarm and money put aside for potential fines.

Sources told Jewish News the weddings were ‘happening all over’ with the bride at one in Stamford Hill, North London, said to have been positive for Covid-19.

It comes after a school being used as a Covid testing centre was revealed to have hosted a secret wedding for 150 guests which had to be broken up by police.

Yesodey Hatorah Girls’ Senior School in Stamford Hill was raided by officers following a tip-off that around 150 guests had gathered last Thursday night.

Professor Stephen Evans, an epidemiologist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine who was not involved in the study, warned it would be ‘very dangerous’ for the UK’s 60,000-strong ultra-Orthodox community to shrug off Covid-19 restrictions such as wearing face masks and social distancing.

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London’s ultra-Orthodox Jewish community does NOT have herd immunity

MORE THAN FIFTY ORTHODOX JEWISH WITH UP TO 300 GUESTS ILLEGALLY HELD IN LONDON

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