Wuhan

You are spot on. As soon as any new cases appear, track, trace, test and quarantine.

About this testing.... someone I was talking to said a hairdresser they know is planning to work as she’s going to be tested . I’m afraid I said I thought that sounded unlikely. How would that happen and why ?

Hearsay perhaps?

I understood that the testing tells you that you are not infected at that moment. After few clients she may be.
Am I Misinformed?

Ok, so she tests negative, nothing to say that she won't be infected by the next person that she sees? I don't think that is the purpose of testing. Rather to identify infection and isolate

Well that’s what I thought. And how/why would she get a test?

I’ve heard that there are quite a few false negative tests showing up. All the symptoms, but the test says negative - the report I heard said up to 20%! This is quite worrying.

I think I heard on the radio that hairdressers will be able to be tested when they’re permitted to re-open, but by then anyone who thinks they have the virus will be able to. But by then the numbers should be so low as to be negligible. (Hopefully!)

I think that applies to everyone who’s tested Daisymae. A nurse could test clear but be infected on her way into the hospital.

My son’s friend who is a GP said testing is currently has a false negative rate of 30%.

My thick head struggles to figure out how they know that? Does it mean the person continues to have symptoms and a second test is done and produces a positive result?

If so then those with minor symptoms wouldn’t be retested and go about their business spreading the virus.

Exactly, Nannywanny.

I don't know if I'm missing something, but for me, testing seems to be as useful as the MOT test for cars. It only shows the status on the day the test is carried out.

Surely unless you are tested every day, then they just lull you into a false sense of security. As has been pointed out further up the thread, as soon as you walk out of the testing centre, you could pick up the virus. Especially if someone who is also at/around the test centre, is positive, and their droplets are still in the air, even if they are not right next to you.

It depends which test you are talking about.

There’s the test to see if a person has the virus, and then there is an antibody test to see if they have had it.

I believe there is also work going on to develop a test to try to establish whether a positive antibody test means the individual is definitely immune to catching the virus again.

Only time will tell if immunity is transient or lifelong JE

Interesting work going on with medical detection dog - sniffing out diseases.

This testing is hit and miss as this week you could have a negative result but that's not to say that you won't test positive next week as the virus " hides " for at least 2 weeks so two tests per person is required in the space of 2 weeks or thereabouts.

I'd like the antibody test personally.

I'd like the antibody test too. I'd feel a lot more secure about meeting people (just on case it's the one in four hundred who're in infectious) if I knew I had antibodies.

On news tonight it was showing training the Covid dogs. They could well detect the virus even before symptoms show, or if asymptotic.

I can envisage hospital staff, or carers or children being screened by just a sniff before the start work or school. Apparently they could identify 250 an hour.