Coronavirus testing

[asperity]

Is it me being stupid, are coronavirus tests a cure for the virus? To listen to the likes of the shadow health minister, the reason why so many old people are dying in care homes is that not enough of them are being tested. Anyone know whether or not these tests are indeed a miracle cure?

[Davy51]

I could understand the government wanting to understand the differing degrees of the virus throughout the different age groups in the UK or to find out how many people have come through the other side & possibly developed antibodies. Apart from that,the biggest yardstick is how many finish up in hospital. I don't know where GP involvement with Covid stands but they seem ,near us,to have developed a very safe distancing strategy.

[Observer II]

Testing should allow for the seperation of positives and negatives in respect of the virus;  alas in the case of many elderly who do test positive, it'll be tantamount to a death sentence, therefore certainly not a cure.   The problem with care homes was that they were not dealt with as "homes" and subject to the same isolation as family homes; they had daily visitors in the form of care staff, who could bring in the virus if not tested. I guess early on, a lock down with staff living in would have helped.       😷

[Evil Sid]

4 hours ago, Davy51 said:

Apart from that,the biggest yardstick is how many finish up in hospital

Or the cemetery....⚰️

[Confused52]

2 hours ago, Observer II said:

Testing should allow for the seperation of positives and negatives in respect of the virus;  alas in the case of many elderly who do test positive, it'll be tantamount to a death sentence, therefore certainly not a cure.   The problem with care homes was that they were not dealt with as "homes" and subject to the same isolation as family homes; they had daily visitors in the form of care staff, who could bring in the virus if not tested. I guess early on, a lock down with staff living in would have helped.       😷

The reason for the criticism about testing in regard to care homes is an assertion that the NHS cleared the decks by sending elderly patients to care homes but did not test them first. A sane policy might have been to test them and then send only those who tested negative to the homes. So the suggestion is that some of the elderly acquired the infection in hospital and took it to the care homes with them. The agency staff could then have passed it from home to home as well. I have no idea if this any of this is true or not by the way. 

[Davy51]

I should think an important influence is the availability of social distancing as opposed to a socially included environment. Most homes have maximised £takings by cramming as many guests in homes as possible over the years , probably rightly so, but this pandemic was never anticipated or expected. I would think most of the affected patients have been stuck with nowhere to go anyway & infection was unavoidable.

[Observer II]

Presumably ALL our previous social interactions will require re-calibrating on the basis of safe social distancing. So assuming the kids go back to school,  they may have split classes and have attendance on alternate days, in order to reduce class sizes and increases social distancing. Mind you, I can't imagine this happening when we now have the threat of child specific form of the disease, which needs to be sorted out; and I can't see a lot of parents allowing their kids to go or even themselves to return to work until they feel safe.      😷

[asperity]

I know a couple of parents who removed their children from school even before the government closed them because of existing health concerns, so I can't see them going back while there's still a risk.

[Davy51]

Perhaps reopening the schools during the summer holidays would help ,to a degree ,while still honouring holidays  that are already booked ,provided any holiday travel or accommodation is allowed by the middle of July.

[Observer II]

What "holidays"? - think you can forget about travel for the next year - at least.     😷 

[Davy51]

Hence the proviso . We don't know yet ,maybe camping or such like would be permitted if certain rules are followed , holidays involving self owned accommodation or touring caravans.

[Observer II]

I suspect with the first heat wave, the lemmings will break out of their homes and head for the beaches.   Perhaps the herd mentality will result in herd immunity ? !   😉   😷

[Davy51]

There was a representative of a pub chain on the news today talking about reopening measures which should suit that particular company because it has mostly big pubs. It sounds all very well but how long are  customers going to queue outside to get in when some people already in could be planning a few hours supping. An orderly fashion could soon give way to scuffles & fighting to get in.