Coronavirus Pandemic

[Letters]

Banks

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52043896

[Ollie the Optimist]

Half the UK population could already be infected https://www.cityam.com/coronavirus-m...ng-to-experts/

Johnson

lockdown

taking control

If this was the case then surely the tests that have been carried out would support this theory? Given there have been around 90,000 tests and only 7,000 are positive, if 50% of the population had it then wouldn’t the number of cases be higher in the official tests?

[Mac76]

If this was the case then surely the tests that have been carried out would support this theory? Given there have been around 90,000 tests and only 7,000 are positive, if 50% of the population had it then wouldn’t the number of cases be higher in the official tests?

not necessarily

how do they select those who are tested - i suspect it's at least partly self-selecting which means those being tested are probably the most cautious and are avoiding all contact etc.

[Ollie the Optimist]

not necessarily

how do they select those who are tested - i suspect it's at least partly self-selecting which means those being tested are probably the most cautious and are avoiding all contact etc.

Perhaps. I dont know how they select those for testing but surely it 50% of us had, then the there would be a higher % of cases in the official testing results rather than the 8% or so currently

[Letters]

not necessarily

how do they select those who are tested - i suspect it's at least partly self-selecting which means those being tested are probably the most cautious and are avoiding all contact etc.

Hmm. But aren’t they more likely to test people who have symptoms?
I’m with Ollie, if the infection rate was that high then you’d expect the test results to show more positive results.

[WMUG]

My doctor mate was telling me the tests are only 70% accurate, apparently if you aren't showing symptoms your viral load will likely be too low to register.

Or something

[Niall_Quinn]

Us toffs stick together !

Although they aren’t my dogs but my parents. Sadly the flat we were going to buy fell through so we escaped london to the farm so at least we get fresh air

Yep, it's always worth keeping a country estate handy for emergencies.

[Mac76]

Although they aren’t my dogs but my parents.

Do your parents often get mistaken for dogs...?

[Letters]

[Niall_Quinn]

Hmm. But aren’t they more likely to test people who have symptoms?
I’m with Ollie, if the infection rate was that high then you’d expect the test results to show more positive results.

That's exactly the problem. People with common colds and broken fingernails, exceeded overdrafts, aversion to Jimmy Carr, they're all turning up with "Coronavirus". And at least half the number of tests conducted will be on medical staff, I would guess. And hopefully none of them have it. A more representative sample will come from New York where they are testing the general population. Of course they are probably getting them infected while they wait to be tested, so who knows?