[Adder]

Two samples taken from the same patient are being recorded as two separate tests in the Governments official figures public health officials have admitted.

Diagnostic tests which involve taking saliva and nasal samples from the same patient are being counted as two tests, not one.

The Department of Health and Social Care and Public Health England each confirmed the double-counting.

This inflates the daily reported diagnostic test numbers by over 20 per cent, with that proportion being much higher earlier on in the crisis before home test kits were added to the daily totals.

Oh dear, if this is correct it's the latest example of abysmal transparency and almost taking us all for fools.

[leeiswba]

Isnt that obvious if there are 60,000 people being tested but 100,000+ tests being conducted?

Like I say as long as everyone who wants a test has one then where is the problem?

[kc56wba]

Isnt that obvious if there are 60,000 people being tested but 100,000+ tests being conducted?

Like I say as long as everyone who wants a test has one then where is the problem?

The problem is the government are not telling us the truth, that is a major problem in my eyes.

 

[leeiswba]

All the information I have seen when tests are announced is something like;

'110,000 tests have been completed and 65,000 people have been tested'

Where is the lie in that?

[boinging_along]

Isnt that obvious if there are 60,000 people being tested but 100,000+ tests being conducted?

Like I say as long as everyone who wants a test has one then where is the problem?

It was all a bit muddy (and still is).  Number of tests conducted also included tests that were posted out and the ones batch sent to care homes.  It also included people being tested multiple times.  This is the first time it's been mentioned that 2 swabs in the same test have been counted as 2. (I've not seen the confirmation of that myself).

[baggiejohn]

Isnt that obvious if there are 60,000 people being tested but 100,000+ tests being conducted?

Like I say as long as everyone who wants a test has one then where is the problem?

I'm with you Lee, I'm not sure how the tests work, but I believe it's something to do with cell count. If the cell count is borderline, they'll do another test from a different location.
Think this focus on number of tests is becoming hysterical.
I think it was Droitwich who put up a link to a series of charts which showed positive tests were pretty constant even though the number of tests were increasing. So the percentage of positive tests is falling.

[boinging_along]

I don't think it's about being hysterical - it's holding the government to account.  They promised "people" tested, then they've fudged the figures to make it look better than it is.

For the record, I think they've done a good job on the number of people tests and they should have just owned it rather than this attemp to avoid any criticism whatsoever.

The danger is that this becomes the norm - whichever government we have should be more honest and transparent about what they're doing. 

[kc56wba]

It was all a bit muddy (and still is).  Number of tests conducted also included tests that were posted out and the ones batch sent to care homes.  It also included people being tested multiple times.  This is the first time it's been mentioned that 2 swabs in the same test have been counted as 2. (I've not seen the confirmation of that myself).

On the radio this morning and in The Telegraph.

[BoingFlyer]

As anyone can now get a C-19 test, perhaps there is just not the demand there. I have not read any where about people wanting testing but can't have it.

I'm waiting for the antibody test as I fairly certain I have already had it, I had mild pneumonia in one of my lungs but at the time they were only testing people who had been to or contact with someone who had been to China/Italy.

[gazberg]

As anyone can now get a C-19 test, perhaps there is just not the demand there. I have not read any where about people wanting testing but can't have it.

I'm waiting for the antibody test as I fairly certain I have already had it, I had mild pneumonia in one of my lungs but at the time they were only testing people who had been to or contact with someone who had been to China/Italy.

You can buy the antibody test privately if you very keen to know, its aorund £65.

[kc56wba]

All the information I have seen when tests are announced is something like;

'110,000 tests have been completed and 65,000 people have been tested'

Where is the lie in that?

This what Matt Hancock said yesterday in the Downing Street Briefing

Turning to the daily figures…

We have now completed over 3 million tests for coronavirus. In total, 3,090,566 tests have been carried out in the UK, including 128,340 tests carried out yesterday.

250,908 people have tested positive, that’s an increase of 2,615 cases since yesterday.

9,543 people are currently in hospital with coronavirus. That is a 14% fall from the same time last week.

Sadly, of those who tested positive for coronavirus, across all settings, 36,042 people have now died. That’s an increase of 338 fatalities since yesterday.

No such mention of number of people tested apart from the rolling figure of 250,908.

[wbastrollers]

As anyone can now get a C-19 test, perhaps there is just not the demand there. I have not read any where about people wanting testing but can't have it.

I'm waiting for the antibody test as I fairly certain I have already had it, I had mild pneumonia in one of my lungs but at the time they were only testing people who had been to or contact with someone who had been to China/Italy.

Another “gotcha” that’s going nowhere - the hysterical lefties running down another cul-de-sac.

[tommcneill]

Seeing a lot of things about Hydroxychloroquine alongside zinc as being a good preventive measure

It’s been used to treat other Coronavirus’s

The studies conducted that have discarded the results were done without zinc as the transport into the cell which is apparently required for it to work.

Alongside Vit C and Vit D for immune system boosting I’d like to see more info on this and will be researching it more

Google Hydroxycholoroquine and zinc for COVID-19 and there are a lot of scientific sites and papers coming up

Many professors in immunology and virology are saying the same thing

[Adder]

Another “gotcha” that’s going nowhere - the hysterical lefties running down another cul-de-sac.

No-ones claiming any gotcha or victories, a lot of people just want a bit more honesty and transparency from this government.

[AlbionFan]

Professor Karol Sikora Twitter Account

"The virus is being tamed more successfully than many thought possible. How?

We have more cellular immunity (T cells) than estimated.

Lots of recovered people simply don’t have antibodies, but also many have residual immunity from old viruses (colds etc).

This is significant."

T Cell Definition:
A type of white blood cell that is of key importance to the immune system and is at the core of adaptive immunity, the system that tailors the body's immune response to specific pathogens. The T cells are like soldiers who search out and destroy the targeted invaders.

[baggiejohn]

Professor Karol Sikora Twitter Account

"The virus is being tamed more successfully than many thought possible. How?

We have more cellular immunity (T cells) than estimated.

Lots of recovered people simply don’t have antibodies, but also many have residual immunity from old viruses (colds etc).

This is significant."

T Cell Definition:
A type of white blood cell that is of key importance to the immune system and is at the core of adaptive immunity, the system that tailors the body's immune response to specific pathogens. The T cells are like soldiers who search out and destroy the targeted invaders.

Who is Professor Karol Sikora?

[TheJacko2000]

Who is Professor Karol Sikora?

https://twitter.com/ProfKarolSikora?s=09

[baggiejohn]

https://twitter.com/ProfKarolSikora?s=09

Is he a member of the advisory team?

[TheJacko2000]

Is he a member of the advisory team?

Unconfirmed.

Wikispooks seems to think he is though.

[timdon]

Another “gotcha” that’s going nowhere - the hysterical lefties running down another cul-de-sac.

What, you think it's all some sort of political points scoring exercise? Using a term like "hysterical" to describe someone who disagrees with you is just immature.

[wbastrollers]

What, you think it's all some sort of political points scoring exercise? Using a term like "hysterical" to describe someone who disagrees with you is just immature.

Oh dear - the cavalry are on my tail 

[TheJacko2000]

What, you think it's all some sort of political points scoring exercise? Using a term like "hysterical" to describe someone who disagrees with you is just immature.

Yes, that's all we've seen from the outset.

[baggiejohn]

What, you think it's all some sort of political points scoring exercise? Using a term like "hysterical" to describe someone who disagrees with you is just immature.

IMO, he got the word hysterical correct, it's a term I'd used previously.
It's linking hysterical with lefty that's slightly problematic.

Let's look at the function & outcome of the swab test which tests if a person has covid19 or not.
The swab test looks for traces of the virus in a nasal or saliva swab, I suspect some cases are borderline & therefore need more than one test before a diagnosis can be made.
The outcome of the test will determine if the patient has covid19 or not.

If you record the number of tests carried out & the number of positive tests cumulatively, & then divide one by another you will get a ratio of number of positive tests per number of tests carried out.
If the ratio is increasing then the urgency for tests increases, conversely, if the ratio is decreasing then the urgency decreases.
In addition, if you express the ratio as a percentage & compare todays' ratio against yesterdays' you will also arrive at your R number.

So if the infection rate is decreasing the urgency for tests becomes less, & as others have said, if the capacity is there but the demand isn't, it's difficult to see what the government can do.
A few days ago, the ONS suggested around 150,000 people in the country had the virus, which is an exceedingly small percentage of the total population.
I believe the task now is to find them, which is why the trace & isolate programme is set to go ahead.

So, going back to where we came in, the number of tests has become a hot political potato, & in my opinion there has been a lot of hysterical points scoring.

If the number of cases were increasing exponentially, as they were at the beginning of April, there might be a case for criticising the number of tests, but not now.

[baggiejohn]

Unconfirmed.

Wikispooks seems to think he is though.

Just looked him up.

Intrigued as to why a cancer specialist would be advising on a virology issue?

[kc56wba]

IMO, he got the word hysterical correct, it's a term I'd used previously.
It's linking hysterical with lefty that's slightly problematic.

Let's look at the function & outcome of the swab test which tests if a person has covid19 or not.
The swab test looks for traces of the virus in a nasal or saliva swab, I suspect some cases are borderline & therefore need more than one test before a diagnosis can be made.
The outcome of the test will determine if the patient has covid19 or not.

If you record the number of tests carried out & the number of positive tests cumulatively, & then divide one by another you will get a ratio of number of positive tests per number of tests carried out.
If the ratio is increasing then the urgency for tests increases, conversely, if the ratio is decreasing then the urgency decreases.
In addition, if you express the ratio as a percentage & compare todays' ratio against yesterdays' you will also arrive at your R number.

So if the infection rate is decreasing the urgency for tests becomes less, & as others have said, if the capacity is there but the demand isn't, it's difficult to see what the government can do.
A few days ago, the ONS suggested around 150,000 people in the country had the virus, which is an exceedingly small percentage of the total population.
I believe the task now is to find them, which is why the trace & isolate programme is set to go ahead.

So, going back to where we came in, the number of tests has become a hot political potato, & in my opinion there has been a lot of hysterical points scoring.

If the number of cases were increasing exponentially, as they were at the beginning of April, there might be a case for criticising the number of tests, but not now.

I am not criticising the number of tests John, I am criticising the government on not telling us how many people were tested. 250,908 people have tested positive out of how many people tested is what they should be telling us.