How many more like this?

[MozFan]

My friend who is an NHS nurse on the frontline tested positive for coronavirus last week. Her only symptoms have been a loss of smell. She said under normal circumstances she wouldn’t have thought anything of it. She’s only been tested because she’s front line staff.
She’s now over a week on and her sense of smell is returning, she hasn’t had a fever or cough.

How many more are slipping under the net with just this symptom or another that wouldn’t even be noticed in ordinary times?

Also I don’t understand why some people are ending up in ICU unable to breathe and dying and others like my friend, even though she’s been exposed to a higher viral load, has got such a mild version.

Why oh why aren’t we using antibody tests in the UK? I am sure me my partner and my kids have all had it (my dp sat next to someone who tested positive for it in hospital at a dinner central London at start of March. Why do other countries have these tests ? Surely that’s the way out of this mess ?

I think there has been difficulty developing a reliable antibody test that can be a done on a mass scale, eg fingerprick at home test.

Also there is still much debate about whether everyone who has been infected develops antibodies at all, never mind whether those who have antibodies have any immunity.

I think, just based on anecdote and totally non scientific, there may have been a high number of very mild cases virtually unnoticed. Whether those cases will test positive for antibodies or will be immune is the big question.