ARE COVID CASES REALLY DROPPING?

[Cannydc]

There's near-jubilation in certain Tory circles as they celebrate the perceived success of Freedom Day as it appears to coincide with a 30% drop in daily Covid cases over the last week.

We all hope a corner has been turned, and we can enjoy a late Summer as the threat of Covid infection fades.

On the positive side we can point to vaccinations providing a degree of herd immunity, and to the sense of many people who still wear masks and social distance, but is that why cases have dropped?

There are reasons to be cautious too. Schools, which have become Covid petri dishes as expected, have broken up. Cases from the Euros have also gone through the system. Finally, are we about to see the expected spike as clubs and pubs opened their doors eight days ago?

And what will happen when schools re-open, when workplaces fill after the Summer holidays and when we shut the windows and restrict ventilation due to cold weather?

[Guest]

There's near-jubilation in certain Tory circles as they celebrate the perceived success of Freedom Day as it appears to coincide with a 30% drop in daily Covid cases over the last week.

We all hope a corner has been turned, and we can enjoy a late Summer as the threat of Covid infection fades.

On the positive side we can point to vaccinations providing a degree of herd immunity, and to the sense of many people who still wear masks and social distance, but is that why cases have dropped?

There are reasons to be cautious too. Schools, which have become Covid petri dishes as expected, have broken up. Cases from the Euros have also gone through the system. Finally, are we about to see the expected spike as clubs and pubs opened their doors eight days ago?

And what will happen when schools re-open, when workplaces fill after the Summer holidays and when we shut the windows and restrict ventilation due to cold weather?

They probably are for now.

As you say the wew cases are levelling up between men and women which means the spike during the Euros is easing off.

However it wouldn't be until the end of this week that we would expect to see the numbers rise due to opening up and even they will be strongly mitigated by the week long heatwave and schools closing down for the summer. If we exceed 150 deaths per day during August alarm bell should start sounding very loudly.

[Guest]

Norway and Isreal have shown us what happens when we open up nightclubs etc. They have gone back into lockdown. It hasn't gone away. It won't truly go away. Mask will be back in the Autumn/Winter and we'll be relying on booster jabs for the foreseeable future. I doubt there will be another full lockdown possibly regional and/or specific organisations. Sadly vulnerable people will always be vulnerable where this beast is concerned

[Raggamuffin]

Is the number of tests down? Maybe someone can make more sense of this data but it looks to me like the number of tests has gone down.

I have read that people are deleting the tracing app because of being pinged too often. Maybe those who have been vaccinated are still catching the virus but the symptoms are so mild that they don't bother having a test. Apparently, it can feel like a cold, so maybe those who have symptoms just think they have a cold.

https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/testing

[Cannydc]

There's near-jubilation in certain Tory circles as they celebrate the perceived success of Freedom Day as it appears to coincide with a 30% drop in daily Covid cases over the last week.

We all hope a corner has been turned, and we can enjoy a late Summer as the threat of Covid infection fades.

On the positive side we can point to vaccinations providing a degree of herd immunity, and to the sense of many people who still wear masks and social distance, but is that why cases have dropped?

There are reasons to be cautious too. Schools, which have become Covid petri dishes as expected, have broken up. Cases from the Euros have also gone through the system. Finally, are we about to see the expected spike as clubs and pubs opened their doors eight days ago?

And what will happen when schools re-open, when workplaces fill after the Summer holidays and when we shut the windows and restrict ventilation due to cold weather?

They probably are for now.

As you say the wew cases are levelling up between men and women which means the spike during the Euros is easing off.

However it wouldn't be until the end of this week that we would expect to see the numbers rise due to opening up and even they will be strongly mitigated by the week long heatwave and schools closing down for the summer. If we exceed 150 deaths per day during August alarm bell should start sounding very loudly.

Good heavens, 131 deaths today, nearly 1,000 hospitalisations. Those alarm bells must be very close to ringing now, as you say Freedom Day cases won't have reached that point yet.

I'm viewing the release of restrictions even as cases of highly infectious Delta variant were rocketing with trepidation. We were a month from having almost everyone who wanted it vaccinated.

[Maddog]

Is the number of tests down? Maybe someone can make more sense of this data but it looks to me like the number of tests has gone down.

I have read that people are deleting the tracing app because of being pinged too often. Maybe those who have been vaccinated are still catching the virus but the symptoms are so mild that they don't bother having a test. Apparently, it can feel like a cold, so maybe those who have symptoms just think they have a cold.

https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/testing

I posted on the lateral test thread that our FDA has told the UK to stop an American made test and destroy any they have.

Maybe that's what us happening?

I don't understand how tests are done there. Are most of them self administered?

Do certqin people have to take the tests on a regular basis?

[Cactus Jack]

Is the number of tests down? Maybe someone can make more sense of this data but it looks to me like the number of tests has gone down.

I have read that people are deleting the tracing app because of being pinged too often. Maybe those who have been vaccinated are still catching the virus but the symptoms are so mild that they don't bother having a test. Apparently, it can feel like a cold, so maybe those who have symptoms just think they have a cold.

https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/testing

I posted on the lateral test thread that our FDA has told the UK to stop an American made test and destroy any they have.

Maybe that's what us happening?

I don't understand how tests are done there. Are most of them self administered?

Do certqin people have to take the tests on a regular basis?

It isn't.

LFTs alone are not recorded as covid cases in the UK. An LFT, if positive, is followed up with a PCR.

Only when the PCR returns positive is the case recorded.

LFTs are largely tools for indicative testing and they become important cumulatively not individually - the article you linked to said the problem was the US didn't have the healthcare infrastructure necessary to support LFTs and that Americans didn't understand the test weren't conclusive.

[Maddog]

Is the number of tests down? Maybe someone can make more sense of this data but it looks to me like the number of tests has gone down.

I have read that people are deleting the tracing app because of being pinged too often. Maybe those who have been vaccinated are still catching the virus but the symptoms are so mild that they don't bother having a test. Apparently, it can feel like a cold, so maybe those who have symptoms just think they have a cold.

https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/testing

I posted on the lateral test thread that our FDA has told the UK to stop an American made test and destroy any they have.

Maybe that's what us happening?

I don't understand how tests are done there. Are most of them self administered?

Do certqin people have to take the tests on a regular basis?

It isn't.

LFTs alone are not recorded as covid cases in the UK. An LFT, if positive, is followed up with a PCR.

Only when the PCR returns positive is the case recorded.

LFTs are largely tools for indicative testing and they become important cumulatively not individually - the article you linked to said the problem was the US didn't have the healthcare infrastructure necessary to support LFTs and that Americans didn't understand the test weren't conclusive.

If someone got a false negative from a LFT, they probably wouldn't get a PCR.

That's why the FDA said to destroy the tests made by Innova.

You're going to have infected people running around thinking they are negative.

[Cactus Jack]

Is the number of tests down? Maybe someone can make more sense of this data but it looks to me like the number of tests has gone down.

I have read that people are deleting the tracing app because of being pinged too often. Maybe those who have been vaccinated are still catching the virus but the symptoms are so mild that they don't bother having a test. Apparently, it can feel like a cold, so maybe those who have symptoms just think they have a cold.

https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/testing

I posted on the lateral test thread that our FDA has told the UK to stop an American made test and destroy any they have.

Maybe that's what us happening?

I don't understand how tests are done there. Are most of them self administered?

Do certqin people have to take the tests on a regular basis?

It isn't.

LFTs alone are not recorded as covid cases in the UK. An LFT, if positive, is followed up with a PCR.

Only when the PCR returns positive is the case recorded.

LFTs are largely tools for indicative testing and they become important cumulatively not individually - the article you linked to said the problem was the US didn't have the healthcare infrastructure necessary to support LFTs and that Americans didn't understand the test weren't conclusive.

If someone got a false negative from a LFT, they probably wouldn't get a PCR.

That's why the FDA said to destroy the tests made by Innova.

You're going to have infected people running around thinking they are negative.

Yes but there will be fewer of them.

The test are NOT to be used by people with symptoms.

The test are to be used by people without symptoms - people who would not be getting a PCR test anyway.

People who don't have symptoms but test positive should get a follow up PCR test but in the interim they should self-istolate and behave as if the test were conclusive ONLY if it is positive.

If the test is negative they should still follow CDC guidelines - not the regulations but the guidelines.

The LFT is a pre-screening test. Your own link told you the reason why they weren't useful in America, you don't have the healthcare IT infrastructure to make them useful.

[Maddog]

Is the number of tests down? Maybe someone can make more sense of this data but it looks to me like the number of tests has gone down.

I have read that people are deleting the tracing app because of being pinged too often. Maybe those who have been vaccinated are still catching the virus but the symptoms are so mild that they don't bother having a test. Apparently, it can feel like a cold, so maybe those who have symptoms just think they have a cold.

https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/testing

I posted on the lateral test thread that our FDA has told the UK to stop an American made test and destroy any they have.

Maybe that's what us happening?

I don't understand how tests are done there. Are most of them self administered?

Do certqin people have to take the tests on a regular basis?

It isn't.

LFTs alone are not recorded as covid cases in the UK. An LFT, if positive, is followed up with a PCR.

Only when the PCR returns positive is the case recorded.

LFTs are largely tools for indicative testing and they become important cumulatively not individually - the article you linked to said the problem was the US didn't have the healthcare infrastructure necessary to support LFTs and that Americans didn't understand the test weren't conclusive.

If someone got a false negative from a LFT, they probably wouldn't get a PCR.

That's why the FDA said to destroy the tests made by Innova.

You're going to have infected people running around thinking they are negative.

Yes but there will be fewer of them.

The test are NOT to be used by people with symptoms.

The test are to be used by people without symptoms - people who would not be getting a PCR test anyway.

People who don't have symptoms but test positive should get a follow up PCR test but in the interim they should self-istolate and behave as if the test were conclusive ONLY if it is positive.

If the test is negative they should still follow CDC guidelines - not the regulations but the guidelines.

The LFT is a pre-screening test. Your own link told you the reason why they weren't useful in America, you don't have the healthcare IT infrastructure to make them useful.

Sounds like they aren't useful anywhere.

Are you still using them?

[Maddog]

The Innova SARS-CoV-2 wasn't used here because our FDA never approved it, even for emergency use.

[Maddog]

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a safety communicationexternal icon warning test users and caregivers, health care providers, and testing program organizers to stop using the Innova SARS-CoV-2 Antigen Rapid Qualitative Test for diagnostic use. FDA has significant concerns that the performance of the test has not been adequately established, and its use could present a health risk.

Additionally, FDA has not authorized, cleared, or approved the test for commercial distribution or use in the United States, as required by law. The FDA has classified the recall of this test as a Class I recallexternal icon, the most serious type of recall.

[Stooo]

Get vaccinated people, please. Otherwise this will go on for a while

[Cactus Jack]

The Innova SARS-CoV-2 wasn't used here because our FDA never approved it, even for emergency use.

And yet you took one.

Go figure.

[Maddog]

The Innova SARS-CoV-2 wasn't used here because our FDA never approved it, even for emergency use.

And yet you took one.

Go figure.

No, I went to the doctor and would have had one of these, because it was approved...........


The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued the first emergency use authorization (EUA) for a COVID-19 antigen test, a new category of tests for use in the ongoing pandemic. These diagnostic tests quickly detect fragments of proteins found on or within the virus by testing samples collected from the nasal cavity using swabs. The EUA was issued late Friday to Quidel Corporation for the Sofia 2 SARS Antigen FIA. This test is authorized for use in high and moderate complexity laboratories certified by Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA), as well as for point-of-care testing by facilities operating under a CLIA Certificate of Waiver.