Have I got this correct

[Jenasaurus]

Are the UK no longer testing mild cases so all the numbers we get of test results will be the severe cases that are hospitilised?

In that case as we only have 20 severe cases at the moment in hospital, we will have much lower numbers. My concern is if the numbers are still high that implies more serious cases.

I was taking some comfort in the figures assuming a lot would be mild cases but this will throw a different light on things if the numbers still go up rapidly

That is my understanding.

So, expect figures to go down and the government to say this was because their plan is so fab and working really well

The thing is letseatgrandma as we are not stupid we have already worked out his plan to pretend its working by reducing the number of tests. This messes up other things too though, the CFR will be very high if they are only testing seiously ill people which isnt a result they will want to share.

It’s an appalling strategy to suppress accurate numbers. I still believe community testing should be made available

I've been thinking the same this. It's really worrying and doesn't follow WHO guidance.

Surely it's because of the cost and logistics of testing that many people.

as we are not stupid we have already worked out his plan to pretend its working by reducing the number of tests.

Lots of people posting on here are pretty aware of the situation and not stupid.

Plenty of others just read the snippets the BBC tell them though and the BBC only print what the government are happy with.

The issue is whilst this will look like we have less cases it will make our death rate look massive as if you only test the sickest they are going to be more likely to die than the people who are well enough to stay at home

I would be prepared to pay for a test for myself if need be and donate money to others that couldnt afford the test. Its important that the numbers are correct and not artificially reduced. It also means those that have had the virus and recovered could support others by stepping into roles that society needs to care for more vulnerable people.

We are publishing numbers daily that are pointless otherwise.

Basically we will never know if we are 100% safe as we could get reinfected if some of the reports are true. The whole point of statistics is to ensure accuracy otherwise they are meaningless

This government are so lawless it's unbelievable. Im flabbergasted they can be allowed to get away with this and as usual us sheep follow along merrily

We are publishing numbers daily that are pointless otherwise

Agreed.

It’s also directly going against the WHO advice to ‘detect, protect and treat’.

While typing my post I am very aware of a neighbour coughing away, he has always coughed so probably not the virus, but how would someone with say a smokers cough no the difference if they got it

Know not no

I have a huge problem with them NOT testing people.

The US has also got a terrible rate of testing so far. Yet in Vietnam they can test 100,000 people a day!

Schools open with no one knowing if they have it or not!

They have washed their hands of it (pardon the expression)

In a years time the statistics won't be worth the paper they're written on

And for us living it now it feels like survival of the fittest

Honestly how I feel. I hope the vulnerable get help and I pray that this isn't the last nail in the coffin for the NHS

We will be Italy and Spain in 2/3 weeks possibly worse as we are told to carry on get it and wait!

A smokers cough would not be new. So if they have always coughed and the cough hasn't changed then it's unlikely to be a concern.

It feels like an experiment with an economic agenda.

Work places who have new guidance saying they are supportive of and will give full pay to employees who test positive of Covid19 are just talking the talk if they know the likelihood is they won’t actually ever be tested!!

It’s not ideal, but I’d rather the money and man power was allocated to treating the ill, rather than testing all those with a cough who don’t have it. Surely it’s a better allocation of resources.

embarassingMama I understand your thinking, but then surely we may as well not hear the infected numbers as these will only be from those in hospital that we are not likely to be infected by. There is basically no point in publishing data that means nothing and they could save the expense of reporting and use the money save for better use.

Its frustrating because we think DD has it but because we don't know we're all stuck inside, she'll miss a week of school (plus any time it is shut) and it could all be a waste of time.

I think the issue is risk. Now some people are happy with only a 6% chance of death. Others concerned about 1% or 15%.
Within society and families and kids at school we are not able to make choices to lower our risk.
During swine flu etc I had no kids so only dp and me increasing each other's risk.
Now kids you are subject to all the other kids at school patents risk assessments.
Some still going on holiday or to Cheltenham or cinema and soft play. Or swimming.
This magnifies you and your family risk to probably making infection of children a certainty and parents.
People are not thinking of community they are fascinating off everywhere and because of that my kids are not safest school.

*galavanting

There simply isn't the capacity to test everyone who may have it though. They aren't restricting testing for the fun of it, they are rationing limited resources to where they can do the most good.

They can extrapolate from the number of serious cases to the likely number of milder infections anyway.

I think as long as they're publishing number of deaths, we can work out an estimate for the number of cases in the community. But we definitely can't compare uk date with any other as we've basically just stopped bothering to test.

How are they supposed to test everyone when they don’t have enough testing kits though?

There’s a global shortage of testing kits due to a low supply of a certain chemical that is needed.

It’s an appalling strategy to suppress accurate numbers. I still believe community testing should be made available

FFS No it isn't. The U.K. has been testing sample groups of apparently uninfected people for nearly a month, and has tested about 30,000.

We are limiting testing to avoid overwhelming labs.