Under pressure, Johnson vows 'massive' coronavirus tests increase

[snoop1130]

Under pressure, Johnson vows 'massive' coronavirus tests increase

By Guy Faulconbridge, Kate Holton

 

FILE PHOTO: Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson waves as he leaves Downing Street, as the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues. London, Britain, March 25, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah Mckay

 

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised to ramp up testing for coronavirus after his government faced criticism for being slower than some European peers to roll out mass checks for front-line health workers and the population.

 

Britain initially took a restrained approach to the outbreak but changed tack after modelling showed a quarter of a million people in the country could perish.

 

Johnson imposed more stringent measures, effectively shuttering the world’s fifth largest economy, but the government has faced widespread criticism for having too few ventilators and too little testing.

 

“We’re also massively increasing testing,” Johnson said in a video message from a flat in Downing Street where he is self-isolating after testing positive himself.

 

“I want to say a special word about testing because it is so important. As I have said for weeks and weeks, this is the way through: this is how we will unlock the coronavirus puzzle, this is how we will defeat it in the end.”

 

Johnson’s message, posted on Twitter on Wednesday evening, followed pledges from his ministers to accelerate both antibody and antigen testing in the days ahead after a slew of sometimes contradictory statements on numbers already checked.

 

Antibody tests detect signs of an immune response while antigen tests detect whether the coronavirus is present.

 

While Germany has been testing about 500,000 people a week, Britain’s current capacity is about 13,000 a day, a figure the government said it was aiming to double by mid-April.

 

As of 0800 GMT on April 1, 152,979 people in the United Kingdom have been tested, of which 29,474 were confirmed positive. Deaths rose 31% to 2,352 as of 1600 GMT on March 31.

 

‘DEFEATING THE VIRUS’

 

Tests are essential for both fighting the virus and nursing the economy back to health after what is expected to be the worst quarter in around a century.

 

Testing frontline health staff allows those with immunity to return to work while broader testing of the population would allow tens of millions of idled workers back to work.

 

Showing just how bad coronavirus could be for the economy, British Airways said it was in talks about suspending 32,000 employees, while a survey showed that more than a quarter of British companies reduced staff levels.

 

So far, tests have been focused on those suspected to have the virus and admitted to hospital, but the government plans to increase testing of frontline healthcare staff to hundreds of thousands in coming weeks.

 

Ministers have suggested shortages of necessary chemicals were a factor, though the industry has said the necessary reagents are being manufactured and delivered to the National Health Service (NHS).

 

While the government has been forced on the defensive over mass testing, some scientists have questioned if testing the entire 1.1 million full-time NHS staff is the best use of resources.

 

Paul Nurse, chief executive of the Francis Crick Institute, a biomedical discovery institute researching the biology underlying human health, said Britain was not ready for the outbreak and for mass testing in particular.

 

“We weren’t sufficiently prepared, I think that’s clear but now the time is to get our shoulder behind the wheel and do as much as we can to help everybody in this country,” he told BBC radio.

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-04-02

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[Jonnapat]

Much too late, same as the US. 

Could both learn a lot from the way the German government has reacted from the outset. 

[natway09]

Did he not say this last week ?

[Baerboxer]

2 hours ago, Jonnapat said:

Much too late, same as the US. 

Could both learn a lot from the way the German government has reacted from the outset. 

 

Germany has done great, so let's not pretend otherwise. 

 

Singapore, HK, Taiwan and South Korea (after it's initial shock) have. 

 

So is Sweden. Have a look at how they're coping.

[vogie]

24 minutes ago, Baerboxer said:

 

Germany has done great, so let's not pretend otherwise. 

 

Singapore, HK, Taiwan and South Korea (after it's initial shock) have. 

 

So is Sweden. Have a look at how they're coping.

Germany are 5 days behind the UK, let's see where they are in 5 days time, to quote Andrew Neil, "Despite all the praise for Germany’s testing regime it doesn’t have a lower death toll than UK at equivalent points in the post-100 deaths cycle."

 

 

[bristolboy]

28 minutes ago, Baerboxer said:

 

Germany has done great, so let's not pretend otherwise. 

 

Singapore, HK, Taiwan and South Korea (after it's initial shock) have. 

 

So is Sweden. Have a look at how they're coping.

Actually Singapore, HK, and Taiwan performed a lot better than Germany or Sweden. In fact their performance is remarkable given their proximity and/or level of travel between these nations and China.

[Krataiboy]

It's swings and roundabouts. Mass testing will reveal lots more people have the virus. But the  deaths-to-infections ratio should plummet.

 

[Logosone]

19 hours ago, vogie said:

Germany are 5 days behind the UK, let's see where they are in 5 days time, to quote Andrew Neil, "Despite all the praise for Germany’s testing regime it doesn’t have a lower death toll than UK at equivalent points in the post-100 deaths cycle."

Lol, I don't think you understood what Andrew Neil was saying, Germany's outbreak started earlier they are of course not 5 days behind the UK.

 

Andrew Neil  has a long history of Germanophobia, like Rees Mogg Sr his old colleague, so he is basically grasping at straws to try and attack his old hated Germany. He is taking a snapshot at a time when deaths are at their highest in Germany and looking at the UK saying 'oh look there's no difference'. 

 

Neil published this on his twitter page. The responses are worth reading:

 

"German's outbreak began earlier than ours. They have more frequent travel to and from Italy. They are doing far better than the British government in handling this."

 

The numbers below obviously show how absurd Neil's argument is:

 

 

Edited April 4, 2020 by Logosone

[Logosone]

19 hours ago, bristolboy said:

Actually Singapore, HK, and Taiwan performed a lot better than Germany or Sweden. In fact their performance is remarkable given their proximity and/or level of travel between these nations and China.

Totally false and misrepresenting reality.

 

As of today, 4th April, using John Hopkins figures with deaths as a percentage of cases:

 

Taiwan: 1.43

Germany : 1.39

 

Sorry to say Germany still has a lower mortality rate than Taiwan.

 

I won't bother to check Singapore or HK, since comparing tiny city-states with real countries with a population over 80,000,000 is of course idiotic.

[steven100]

https://www.9news.com.au/health/anti-parasitic-drug-kills-covid-19-in-lab/9d667536-bffe-4c5e-b25c-054627309c4e