jlend
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Post by jlend on Mar 11, 2020 11:13:12 GMT
As I understand it, if you have symptoms (fever, cough, difficulty breathing) you will not be tested for Covid-19 unless you have: - have been to an area with a serious outbreak
or...
- have been in contact with a confirmed case
Obviously, if you present to A&E with serious respiratory symptoms then they would test you.
I find this policy concerning because any deficiencies in contact tracing (e.g. public transport, that trip to Twickenham with >80k others, or Cheltenham with >250k) will lead to the virus spreading unchecked.
Given there is a finite number of tests that can be done each day the current approach seems reasonable. There are also random tests underway to assess the wider spread of the virus. Testing capacity has just been increased to 10k a day as the virus is expected to spread dramatically over the next few weeks.
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benaj
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Post by benaj on Mar 11, 2020 11:31:15 GMT
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Post by gravitykillz on Mar 11, 2020 11:38:52 GMT
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benaj
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Post by benaj on Mar 11, 2020 11:47:50 GMT
I suppose the parliament is trying to deliver the plan before it shuts, let's hope these guys have Covid 19 disaster plan to keep the country running and making decisions even if the all the MPs are self-isolation. www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-51827647 |
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corto
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one-syllabistic
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Post by corto on Mar 11, 2020 13:32:29 GMT
Had a fever a few days ago and can confirm that they wouldn't check for the virus unless there is also a cough and suspected contact with a confirmed case or travel to a high risk area.
Regarding checking everybody. It is not required (too expensive) under the assumption that the virus *will* spread and the main priority is to delay that. There are probably few in power or strategic positions that still believe it might not spread. A slower spread will buy time for developing treatments; that would be good enough for and justifiable by decision makers. It may also lead to less infected people if overall the duration of the epidemic would stay roughly the same. There will not be public money to do much more. They could prohibit gatherings above a certain size, I guess, as they do in other countries already. That decision has to be balanced against the likely panic (and more toilet role buying) it may cause.
Bye the way: donations to food banks are down by some 15-25% in some cases. If you have a spare tenner: Supermarkets often have a box for goods at the exit.
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Post by aidanw on Mar 11, 2020 13:40:47 GMT
As I understand it, if you have symptoms (fever, cough, difficulty breathing) you will not be tested for Covid-19 unless you have: - have been to an area with a serious outbreak
or...
- have been in contact with a confirmed case
Obviously, if you present to A&E with serious respiratory symptoms then they would test you.
I find this policy concerning because any deficiencies in contact tracing (e.g. public transport, that trip to Twickenham with >80k others, or Cheltenham with >250k) will lead to the virus spreading unchecked.
The virus is spreading around the world and it is impossible to stop it no matter how much testing, contact tracing or quarantining you do. The point of these actions is to work out where the hotspots are going to be and to slow the spread down so that the NHS isn't overwhelmed all at once; i.e. flatten the curve. I think the UK's position - which is evidence based and mathematically modelled - is the best way of dealing with this without draconian restrictions on day to day life for many months or knee jerk reactions which may intuitively seem like the right thing to do but could then make problems worse. Take for example closing football stadiums to spectators - more people would then watch the game down the local pub instead and would be at a similar infection risk than if they had gone to the stadium in the first place. You need to bar all outside social and commercial activity to effectively control this, Wuhan style and this simply isn't going to happen in a democracy. Plus of course you leave yourself wide open to a second wave of infections. Of course any mathematical model is only as good as its incorporated assumptions but we have already learned a lot about this virus thanks to China, South Korea, Italy and various cruise ships. The USA on the other hand have been way too complacent and have carried out hardly any tests considering a population 5x the size. When the army starts sterilising the streets of Manhattan in biohazard suits maybe they will wake up but it will be too late by then for them to do any preparation.
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Post by wiseclerk on Mar 11, 2020 14:11:03 GMT
It's long but some new (to me) facts. Risk factors other than age are smoking and obesity
Michael Osterholm is an internationally recognized expert in infectious disease epidemiology. He is Regents Professor, McKnight Presidential Endowed Chair in Public Health, the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP), Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, a professor in the Technological Leadership Institute, College of Science and Engineering, and an adjunct professor in the Medical School, all at the University of Minnesota.
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james100
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Post by james100 on Mar 11, 2020 14:12:32 GMT
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michaelc
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Post by michaelc on Mar 11, 2020 15:41:41 GMT
I hope they don't start mass testing. Video from David Abel in Japan seems to imply a tube going down the nose. Is that right ?
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Post by dan1 on Mar 11, 2020 15:43:15 GMT
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hazellend
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Post by hazellend on Mar 11, 2020 15:46:43 GMT
I hope they don't start mass testing. Video from David Abel in Japan seems to imply a tube going down the nose. Is that right ? No, just a swab
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Post by wildlife2 on Mar 11, 2020 15:47:55 GMT
I hope they don't start mass testing. Video from David Abel in Japan seems to imply a tube going down the nose. Is that right ? No, that can't be right!
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m2btj
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Post by m2btj on Mar 11, 2020 15:51:06 GMT
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jj
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Post by jj on Mar 11, 2020 16:45:46 GMT
World health organisation declares the coronvirus a pandemic. A bit slow off the mark but hey!
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michaelc
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Post by michaelc on Mar 11, 2020 16:56:02 GMT
Italian numbers late today. Bracing for another big rise.
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