Question about Covid

[Jonathan123]

My God!! No wonder we are all confused. In the UK we have had so many different opinions about covid, like the wearing of masks and how efficient vaccines are. Even experts admit they are sometimes baffled. That's been the problem all along. We are now told that wearing masks is compulsorily in England in shops and crowded places. So why was it allowed to not use them in the first place? We came off restrictions far too quickly, (Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland have their own devolved governments). In the other regions they still kept wearing masks compulsory.
The old saying about what is an expert comes to mind. 'X is an unknown factor, and a spurt is a drip under pressure'. None of this is any help at all to an anxious person. We have yet to see the mental fallout from all this.

 

[Iugrad91]

We are learning as we go here with a novel and very contagious virus. There are people who have Covid that never get tested, so that also skews the numbers. If someone is symptomatic and tests positive that is highly reliable. Those without symptoms getting tested repeatedly for work/school/travel are more likely to have a false result. While the exact numbers may not be 100% accurate, we can still see in my state the numbers increasing daily while the number tested remains relatively flat. It can still tell us if it is spreading within the community or not. We still have a mask mandate in place and that’s probably not going away anytime soon.

 

[Nano22]

Because you get false positives more then you get false negatives for one, for two hospitals get money the more cases there are, also when testing people think they got Covid again when it’s Just that they don’t understand they got tested for the antibodies. I mean I can go on and on but this is about anxiety not politics know what I mean .

It’s people like you that show your ignorance.

They’re developing a new test. PCR test does not differentiate between COVID and flu. Last year there were only a few thousand cases of flu documented. Usually it’s millions. Because PCR test reading positive was automatically documented as COVID. Read CDC website.

 

[Iugrad91]

That is false.

Fact check: CDC is withdrawing its PCR COVID-19 test, but not because it confuses viruses

The CDC's emergency use authorization for its PCR test will be withdrawn in January because the demand for diagnostic tests has been met.

www.google.com

Flu numbers were way down because people were locked down, wearing masks, washing hands etc…people weren’t traveling and the yearly flu strains originate from the southern continents.

 

[Nano22]

That is false.

Fact check: CDC is withdrawing its PCR COVID-19 test, but not because it confuses viruses

The CDC's emergency use authorization for its PCR test will be withdrawn in January because the demand for diagnostic tests has been met.

www.google.com

Flu numbers were way down because people were locked down, wearing masks, washing hands etc…people weren’t traveling and the yearly flu strains originate from the southern continents.

I think it was a combination of a lot of things.

 

[Iugrad91]

Yes it was but faulty testing is not one of them.

 

[Nano22]

Yes it was but faulty testing is not one of them.

CDC is discontinuing the PCR test as of today and replacing it with one that will differentiate between COVID and flu. Look on CDC website. I don’t want to argue. Research PCR test. Interesting stuff.

 

[Cuchculan]

Last year in a CDC statement they all but contradicted themselves about the flu and Covid. They did say that flu cases were down because of social distancing and mask wearing / washing hands and the likes. But in the same statement they said Covid numbers were up due to lack of mask wearing. You are there going ' make your mind up '. Here in Ireland they actually made a deal out of a person catching the flu this year. They claimed he was the first person to have the flu in over a year. As in first person in Ireland. Had to laugh at it. In the same claim they were actually saying we had zero flu cases last year in Ireland. They are putting that information out there. I am not saying everybody is believing it. I know a number of people that had colds and the likes. Nothing more. Not Covid. Week or so later they were fine. To say we had no reported flu cases in Ireland would be wrong. As nobody really rings them up if they have a cold or the flu. So might ring them thinking they have Covid. I do believe we had the normal amount of flu cases. Just not reported.

 

[Nano22]

Last year in a CDC statement they all but contradicted themselves about the flu and Covid. They did say that flu cases were down because of social distancing and mask wearing / washing hands and the likes. But in the same statement they said Covid numbers were up due to lack of mask wearing. You are there going ' make your mind up '. Here in Ireland they actually made a deal out of a person catching the flu this year. They claimed he was the first person to have the flu in over a year. As in first person in Ireland. Had to laugh at it. In the same claim they were actually saying we had zero flu cases last year in Ireland. They are putting that information out there. I am not saying everybody is believing it. I know a number of people that had colds and the likes. Nothing more. Not Covid. Week or so later they were fine. To say we had no reported flu cases in Ireland would be wrong. As nobody really rings them up if they have a cold or the flu. So might ring them thinking they have Covid. I do believe we had the normal amount of flu cases. Just not reported.

Exactly!

 

[Iugrad91]

The CDC website doesn’t say the PCR test doesn’t differentiate between cold and flu, what it does say is that there is a new test that will test and differentiate all three viruses. Meaning if you get swabbed for Covid they can run this test and see if you have Covid or influenza A or B.

I’m not arguing, but pointing out that your statements are based on false information. The fact is that the Covid test would not be positive if someone only had the flu.

From an article debunking the myth that the test isn’t Covid/specific:
In an August news release, the CDC wrote the PCR test was specifically designed only to detect the viral genetic material of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 – not influenza, which causes the flu.

"It does not detect influenza or differentiate between influenza and SARS-CoV-2," the website states.

In other words, it's not that the test can't tell the two apart, it's that the test was designed only to detect COVID-19. The CDC spelled this one by noting someone with the flu would not create a false positive for COVID-19 with this test.

Experts told USA TODAY in July it's "technically impossible" for the CDC's PCR test to confuse SARS-CoV-2 and the influenza virus.

QUOTE="Nano22, post: 84443, member: 9782"]
CDC is discontinuing the PCR test as of today and replacing it with one that will differentiate between COVID and flu. Look on CDC website. I don’t want to argue. Research PCR test. Interesting stuff.
[/QUOTE]