The Covid case numbers are falling because we were told not to get a PCR anymore, right?

[Habbyhadno]

Are the cases really falling off a cliff because we've been told to lateral flow and not go for a PCR and people aren't reporting the result?
Personally this weekend and today have been the worse I've experienced for Covid numbers, we all have it and 80% of our friends and their kids have it (not caught from each other as I haven't seen them for months). The school emailed today to say that it has been the worst day for Covid absences since the start of the pandemic.
Is this the case nationwide or are we just in a hot spot this week?

My suspicion is that they are unlikely to be more skewed than they ever were. So if you look at increases/decreases in positivity you are probably comparing like with like and it comes with the same caveats and unknowns as it always did.

@AuntTwacky

No it's because more people are getting the booster

Can't believe people still think this

There has always been massive under-reporting. The 'numbers' are the tip of the iceberg, but there are estimates of actual cases too. For instance, the Zoe app is estimating about 150k cases per day currently, which is hugely down from around new year. I can't remember what the number was then, but it was something like 600k per day.

France is currently running at 250k daily, down from 350k
So a similar pattern there of peak and fall.
I don't know how their cases are tested or counted. Be interesting to compare as they have similar size population.

ONS is more accurate though isn’t it?

4.3m down to 3.5m

So it’s not testing changes it’s an actual fall

South Africa saw the same huge rise followed by a steep decline. It's generally what happens.

Why are some of you so suspicious of cases falling?

@Blubells

South Africa saw the same huge rise followed by a steep decline. It's generally what happens.

Why are some of you so suspicious of cases falling?

I think some like me were suspicious that the fall was due to people not reporting positive lfts. I have been convinced by helpful posters on this thread that this is not the case.

@Blubells

South Africa saw the same huge rise followed by a steep decline. It's generally what happens.

Why are some of you so suspicious of cases falling?

I think it might be because the U.K. sustained a high and relatively stable since the summer, and we've become conditioned to that being like it forever. That's pretty unusual and only occurred because we hit a sweet spot in having just enough restrictions and measures (isolation etc.) to prevent a sharp peak whilst also not suppressing infections to low levels. People struggle to see that letting Covid pass through with minimal restrictions will lead to a period of low infection levels until new variants come along or immunity wanes as months move on.