And from the BBC of all people. This is what myself and others have been saying for months. The test is rubbish! This whole cases thing is a scam!
The BBC article is much bigger than this if you want to read it, but this is the bare bones of it.
'The main PCR test used to diagnose coronavirus is so sensitive it could be picking up fragments of dead virus from old infections, scientists say.
Most people are infectious only for about a week, but could test positive weeks afterwards. Researchers say this could be leading to an over-estimate of the current scale of the pandemic. When you take a coronavirus test, you get a "yes" or "no" answer. There is no indication of how much virus was in the sample, or how likely it is to be an active infection. A person shedding a large amount of active virus, and a person with leftover fragments from an infection that's already been cleared, would receive the same - positive - test result. In Italy, which had its peak earlier than the UK, "for several weeks we were over-estimating cases" because of people who acquired the infection several weeks before they were identified as positive.'
Think of all those people who died 'tested positive'to Covid19!
nickymb123 - Absolutely - Every bit of input helps. Got to keep banging at the door. I'm Matt Hancock's nemesis. However, looking at today's news, I don't think the restrictions will be lifted any time soon. In fact they are tightening the noose, by the sound of it.
I have just written to Theresa May (my MP), Boris Johnson and Matt Hancock quoting the following which are relevant to your discussion about testing and cases...
RT/PCR Test
1. Dr Andrew R. Kaufman BS, MD has demonstrated that the RT/PCR test being widely used in the UK to identify “cases” of “COVID-19 infection”:
“Does not test for a virus at all…it tests for a sequence of RNA which is genetic material…that’s why there are so many positive results because they are essentially testing for our own genetic sequences.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvkUrfeykts
2. The Laboratory Corporation of America, COVID-19 RT/PCR Test (LabCorp Laboratory Test No. 139900) states that:
“Positive results do not rule out bacterial infection or co-infection with other viruses. The agent detected may not be the definite cause of the disease.”
https://1drv.ms/b/s!Amlf7KwCVlcohbc1jkI-xm7YHvr_gQ
I hope that helps.
Nicky
LondonTokyo - Thank you for your valuable input.
Just as a side note, the reason I know something about this is because I used to work for the NHS (medical Informatics). No doubt the New World Order twits will suspect I am working for the enemy. Haha.
The problem is, Grumpy, such a test cannot be taken as a 0 or 1, even with + PCR and all relevant symptoms . Another example is fibromyalgia where someone could have all the symptoms but not the condition, and it might even depend on which doctor is giving the diagnosis!
All the early days 'patients' data or lack therefore is just going to lost in the clouds. You can see that as scandalous, or incompetent (I do), but it is partly a new situation the idiots utterly mishandled. Despite numerous warnings over decades that pandemics are a thing and we need to be prepared. I have been one of the uNusual generations in human history not to be affected by such things. Viruses are normal, locking people in is not. People live and people die. Nothing new. But their imprisonment of healthy people with their random rules is unforgivable!
This virus is particularly lame, and if they can't deal with that , it's a sad state of affairs. If you want an eye opener, look how many Tuberculosis kills per day.
So is no table of results that the NHS or anyone else could produce that would be particularly reliable. In Japan, for example, public data on this is particularly unreliable, because they know the tests are iffy at best. I think the PM here even said (I think) there was no point in wasting money on tests. So they didn't. Here has one of the lowest rates of death rates in the world.
New tests will be made that will be more accurate, but not yet. But why bother, quite frankly? Such viruses have always been and always will be, and new ones could appear next week.
As much as I despise the government's handling of this. (I would see them all convicted of mass murder), the most likely outcome is they really had little choice, as they had no other to use. It is only partly reliable, as ny lab will tell you , this is nothing new. Many tests are like this. But to announce the tests as being reliable is wrong wrong wrong.
Some dead people have even died of covid-1984! It's a remarkably virus: