No longer testing for CV.

If there is a chance you have it self isolate, don't go on a flight or to Aldi and spread it to vulnerable people who might die, don't panic but use common sense, don't be selfish though

I do not envy our decision makers. The first role of government is to protect the population.and this means keeping the infrastructure running as well as trying to limit the spread of the virus. For example, if schools are closed down, people complain that parents then need to take time off work to care for their children. This in turn affects production, services etc. Grandparents are likely to be in the ‘at risk’ group so would be discouraged from taking over the child care,

If they are not closed down then the government is accused if not taking precautions to limit the spread of the virus.

The government is walking a tightrope trying to strike a balance to achieve the best outcome.

If there are no tests how do we know how many cases we have and what the survival rate is? How do we know when peak infection has been reached? Without testing surely planning becomes difficult. No wonder WHO has criticised the UK.

Surely they're ceasing indiscriminate testing because whether we're tested or not won't make any difference to the numbers affected which will probably be high.

I do wonder if, in addition to the balancing act referred to, HMG is trying to obscure quite how ill-prepared we are in the UK, and how unlikely to be able to cope longer term.

Did anyone watch the programme on Ch4 last evening on this topic, Coronavirus - have we got it right?

Worrying, I'd say.

My 12 yr old grandson has had what my daughter described as "a fluey thing". No cough. She could not get him tested. She didn't know whether she and her teenage daughter were supposed to quarantine themselves or not, so in the end grandson stayed off school, but my daughter and granddaughter carried on as usual. He recovered in 5 days and is off playing in a football match today.

Could they have been spreading it? Who knows? This is the problem when there is no testing.

I still maintain the government’s response is correct.

We would be talking about hundreds of thousands of people if everyone displaying symptoms expected to be tested most of whom probably wouldn’t have the virus.

There must be far more people with colds or flu at the moment and there just aren’t the staff or resources to test everyone.

Then you need to factor in the hypochondriacs and the‘worried well’ and we are talking about a huge number of people

It just wouldn’t be possible.

I think the UK's Medical Officers' response has been better than that of the WHO, quite frankly.

Blinko Yes, I watched that programme on Channel 4. when it finished, I cried because it was bleak, then pulled myself together and got on with it. I am pretty much self-isolating due to age and 8 different illnesses, including asthma, which make me high risk.

I watched part of a program on channel 4 last night and there was talk of a diy test now being available, but I can't find any info on it. It would help people in the nursing/caring sector as at the moment they should be staying at home with sore throats, coughs etc. At least if they could self test they would know if they were safe to resume working.
Has anyone heard about these?

Why do people think they know better than the experts? This wasn’t some random decision. What is the point of testing? There’s no cure, it’s a waste of time and resources. If you have the widely publicised symptoms you should self isolate which means stay indoors so that you are not a danger to those more vulnerable. For the vast majority it is a mild self limiting illness. You do not remain a risk to others for ever more!!

Farawaynanny
Well said.

Whether you've had CV or not, you can still pass on the virus when you've recovered. You don't have to be infectious yourself to pick it up on your hands and pass it on. SO if you think you've had the disease and recovered you still have to observe strict hygiene measures for the sake of others. I don't think the government have stressed this enough. It won't be all over until it's over. Goodness knows when that will be.

Agreed, it's become impossible to test everyone with symptoms.

On the subject of cost of testing, why can other countries afford it and not us? Surely if we have a cough and high temperature we should be tested simply so the decision makers have something to base their decisions on? It seems that runny noses don't count so no need to test if that is the symptom. I read that a new, cheaper and quicker testing kit came out a couple of days ago.

The PM told us not to call 111 if we have symptoms but to do it online which is fine for all of us on here but not everyone uses the Internet. I read that if you do go to online 111 it only asks 3 questions and if you haven't come from an infected country or been in contact with a known source you are told you are low risk. That seems rather out of date to me.

Seems to me that the government are losing credibility which is a very dangerous situation. Football has decided to mainly abandon matches, care homes are isolating themselves, people are staying away from work and taking children out of school canceling holidays etc. All against government advice.

Chestnut I agree with you totally. I am not working at the moment due to illness and very low immunity. (started in October) I have only just started to go out shopping which I am about to limit due to the risk of this virus. I had my temperature tested at the Hospital whilst having blood tests earlier this week as I was feeling awful and had tickly cough) and told to go home and rest as my temp wasnt up. Im with you on the fact that people should be tested if they have symptoms as if they do not have the virus they can try to behave normally. With the virus it is best to self isolate.

What do other countries do when reporting numbers? Are their figures extrapolated? Are they only counting people who need treatment! What do the 200 new cases on 13th March mean - of those we had enough kits to test or were seriously ill?

I agree with Chestnut that it would be good to be able to identify everyone who has had the virus and has recovered. Why? These people, while still observing strict hygiene, could safely go back to work, and keep society ticking over. Yes, I know, we don't have the resources, but it would be a good thing to be able to do. Unless you can get it twice. We don't know that yet, do we?

The WHO have said that Johnson could be making a deadly mistake in cutting back the testing. They advise that people should be tested and treated. Why are we ignoring them?

They have stopped testing as the 'experts' are saying that we are all likely to have it eventually - it;s a question of when and how severely! Hospitalization is only for those who struggle to breathe or develop pneumonia. Most people should only get a mild fever and cough. They are now relying on 'herd immunity', so need most of us to catch it, just not all at one time!

Each test costs about £30. Seems to me that now it’s pretty well out of control, that money is better spent treating those who are ill. There may be exceptions, of course.

How are we going to know how many people are positive for Coronavirus and have symptoms/don’t have symptoms, and how many have recovered and therefore probably immune so ok to work. All this would surely help with planning. BJ has gone very quiet about his ‘fantastic’ NHS which is being left to struggle on as best it can. I have heard that the UK is running out of test kits so nit much we can do except cross fingers and eat garlic.

annie

"Do this government know what they're doing?"

When did we last have a pandemic on this scale? I doubt if anyone knows exactly what they are doing.

The WHO are questioning the science behind the herd immunity theory. This is a new virus, they can't know how things are going to play out. If they are concerned then shouldn't we question?

Many people are scared. I am. As I said earlier I worked with a cold, hoping no one would notice but I would prefer to know. You are not supposed to ring 111 now with cold symptoms so how do we know, we are not medics. I've seen in some countries they do drive in testing. That would be a good idea for the UK.