MawtheMerrier
Not making apologies for anybody but hindsight is a wonderful thing.
We did not know Covid could be asymptomatic and it made sense to “clear the decks” for the anticipated waves of Covid patients.
I remember my friend, whose husband had Alzheimer’s and was admitted to hospital for tests after a stomach problem, being delighted and relieved that he was “out of that place” and comfortable in his care home.
GNHQ really should have a rule on the Politics thread that says, like Parliament, people should have to come back and withdraw what they put forward as fact when it is shown not to be true.
As early as 28 January 2020 – three days before the first confirmed UK case of coronavirus – the SAGE committee of advisors warned: “There is limited evidence of asymptomatic transmission, but early indications imply some is occurring.”
A study published in the Lancet on 24 February 2020 described its own findings as “suggesting that infected individuals can be infectious before they become symptomatic”, so-called “pre-symptomatic transmission”.
NHS guidance for clinicians from 3 March recommended: “A person that is asymptomatic […] with a Coronavirus travel history or contact with a confirmed coronavirus case” should be “advised to stay indoors” and “avoid contact with other people”. The implication being that even those who do not currently display symptoms could have the virus and infect others.
Throughout March several other sources (including the European and US Centers for Disease Control) acknowledged evidence of pre-symptomatic and asymptomatic transmission.
On 26 March, Professor Yvonne Doyle of Public Health England was asked by MPs on the Health Select Committee whether “people could be spreading the virus to others for up to five days before they show any symptoms”. Professor Doyle replied: “Yes, that is correct.” She added: “we are still learning about that. It ranges over quite a long range, but in the majority of cases that we are analysing, about five days is the period.”
Nevertheless, on 2 April, the UK government issued guidance to care homes in England that said: “Residents may also be admitted to a care home from a home setting. Some of these patients may have COVID-19, whether symptomatic or asymptomatic.”
[Source: FactCheck]