How good a job has Bojo and his team done so far

They did a blood test as well as the nasal swab.

Yes I realise that - I’m ignoring it though because new cases have been almost flat for 2 weeks or more.

True - I don’t think France is doing any screening though to give any idea of true incidence in France so, as ever, difficult to make meaningful comparisons - I think you could take it as far as “similar” but not much further.

I’d expect blood tests as part of the general work up - “full blood count”, inflammatory markers, liver and kidney tests. Just the fact that they drew blood does not equate to an antibody test.

It was definitely an antibody test. Although I’ve not been involved in clinical/pre-clinical research for nearly 20 years, I can still remember the terminology and know what the results mean.:wink:

Fair enough - I remain surprised that it was done.

We are doing both antigen (swab) & antibody (blood) tests on every patient that is admitted. The antibody test isn’t that useful diagnostically except for a positive test ruling out COVID-19 as the cause of their presenting illness.

As I pointed out earlier in the thread unless there are some other factors at play then none of the westernmost countries in Europe ( UK (68,367 projected deaths), Spain (34,174 projected deaths), Italy (39,703 projected deaths) or France (34,805 projected deaths) has handled the pandemic well in comparison with other countries in Europe. Projected deaths for Germany with a population of 83 million (over 20% higher than either UK or France) is 12,409 while Poland with a population of 38 million has only 3,065 projected deaths.

OK; as far as I know we’re still just doing PCR.

Spain and Italy at least have the excuse that rates there started climbing early. Perhaps both also have populations which are more top-heavy with the elderly.

The UK has few excuses, it had the warnings and it had the scientific advice; it should have had the feedback from Cygnus and one way or another ignored or bungled everything.

Not sure about France.

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It is the asymptomatic people who are the greatest danger and those who, having had Covid , who will not wear masks, when no one really knows for how long they remain safe from the possibility of reinfection.

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…and a study at Kings College London says that the immunity of people who recover may only last 3months.

Quatorze médecins de renom ont réclamé samedi « le port du masque obligatoire dans tous les lieux publics clos » pour éviter que l’épidémie de Covid-19 ne reparte, constatant un relâchement dans le respect des gestes barrières. « Il serait vraiment très regrettable de ne pas utiliser ces moyens efficaces et accessibles » pour freiner l’épidémie « que sont: le port du masque obligatoire dans tous les lieux publics clos, la distanciation physique autant que possible et le lavage des mains », plaident-ils dans une tribune publiée par Le Parisien-Aujourd’hui en France.

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No brainer IMO. Anyone who would argue against is an fffing idiot. No downside and potentially enormous upside. That has been true since day one.

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Interesting debate. I guess one thing we can all agree on is that Johnson, Hancock and the SAGE acolytes screwed it up. A bunch of Heath Robinson/ Barnes Wallis wannabes convinced of British exceptionalism, just like their Führer. Be that Bojo or Cummings.

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If true, this really puts the tin hat on the herd immunity theory and vaccinations will have to be ongoing.

“Pandora opened a jar left in her care containing sickness, death and many other unspecified evils which were then released into the world”

Meanwhile, back in china…

And of course, there’s Nipah lurking in the wings…

Such a mild inconsequential illness

We are not the not only ones with that opinion.

Fibrosis of the lungs and other organs.

Bringing the thread back on track…
A good read here:

“He strikes me as the sort of personality that tries to get out of trouble by playing double-or-nothing. He is a small man, obsessed with projecting size. And the more he shrinks, the more audacious the stunt that will finally prove his greatness must be.”