I hear over and over how we dont have actual tests kits. Then in the same gasping breath how new cases are being confirmed by the moment.

Which one is the lie?

Does anyone here know a single person personally that has actually taken a test and been confirmed?

"Presumptive" case? GTFOH with that noise. What are the real numbers?

The fake hysteria is going to do 10x the damage of the Corona flu. Tired of stupidity.

The tricky thing is, unless you have symptoms, you shouldn't be tested. It tends to throw off too many false positives, and then triggers care that's unnecessary.

Lots of people think the opposite, and think if they have no symptoms, but have been exposed and don't have a test, somebody is screwing up. Nope. Only in your mind.

I don't know anyone who personally has coronavirus nor people who might have been exposed to it. I don't know if that means much though since we're not in one of the epicenters for the disease. There have been a couple of cases reported that are close to where I live, so maybe it's only a matter of time.

Agree that no test needed if you suspect you were exposed to it and are not symptomatic for the disease. Self quarantining for 2 - 3 weeks would seem to be the prudent call. People probably think that getting good test result will excuse the need for quarantine I guess...so maybe that's where all the whining about not enough tests are coming from.

The President said earlier this week that we have a million of the tests available now with another four million available before the end of the week.

(03-12-2020 03:14 AM)TripleA Wrote:  The tricky thing is, unless you have symptoms, you shouldn't be tested. It tends to throw off too many false positives, and then triggers care that's unnecessary.

Lots of people think the opposite, and think if they have no symptoms, but have been exposed and don't have a test, somebody is screwing up. Nope. Only in your mind.

Yeah, heard some talking head complaining that you had to have a doctor's order to get a test. Duh!

(03-12-2020 08:23 AM)bullet Wrote:  

(03-12-2020 03:14 AM)TripleA Wrote:  The tricky thing is, unless you have symptoms, you shouldn't be tested. It tends to throw off too many false positives, and then triggers care that's unnecessary.

Lots of people think the opposite, and think if they have no symptoms, but have been exposed and don't have a test, somebody is screwing up. Nope. Only in your mind.

Yeah, heard some talking head complaining that you had to have a doctor's order to get a test. Duh!

Heard this morning they just developed a different testing protocol that minimizes that issue now. But still, doesn't make sense to test peeps who aren't showing symptoms. Better to quarantine those who came in contact with known infected peeps.

Doc Siegel (the foremost H1N1 expert in the country) just said that the supply of tests isn't the big issue now. It's getting test results back quickly enough. Taking 2 days. We need to get it down to hours.

He also was adamant that he disagrees with Dr. Fauci that things will get worse before they get better. His theory is this is out there already in much greater numbers than we realize, but the cases are mild enough that peeps don't know, or they aren't getting reported.

Bottom line, there is still just so much uncertainty, but I think we seem to be doing almost everything we can.

I know the EU is hopping mad at Trump for stopping all travel into the US from Europe (minus American citizens and the UK). They claim it will wreck their economy. Tough. They should have been more proactive with that themselves in the beginning.

(03-12-2020 08:34 AM)TripleA Wrote:  

(03-12-2020 08:23 AM)bullet Wrote:  

(03-12-2020 03:14 AM)TripleA Wrote:  The tricky thing is, unless you have symptoms, you shouldn't be tested. It tends to throw off too many false positives, and then triggers care that's unnecessary.

Lots of people think the opposite, and think if they have no symptoms, but have been exposed and don't have a test, somebody is screwing up. Nope. Only in your mind.

Yeah, heard some talking head complaining that you had to have a doctor's order to get a test. Duh!

Heard this morning they just developed a different testing protocol that minimizes that issue now. But still, doesn't make sense to test peeps who aren't showing symptoms. Better to quarantine those who came in contact with known infected peeps.

Doc Siegel (the foremost H1N1 expert in the country) just said that the supply of tests isn't the big issue now. It's getting test results back quickly enough. Taking 2 days. We need to get it down to hours.

He also was adamant that he disagrees with Dr. Fauci that things will get worse before they get better. His theory is this is out there already in much greater numbers than we realize, but the cases are mild enough that peeps don't know, or they aren't getting reported.

Bottom line, there is still just so much uncertainty, but I think we seem to be doing almost everything we can.

I know the EU is hopping mad at Trump for stopping all travel into the US from Europe (minus American citizens and the UK). They claim it will wreck their economy. Tough. They should have been more proactive with that themselves in the beginning.

It's a little hypocrtiical as well seeing as Spain has banned all flights from Italy. Not sure about other means of crossing the border.

(03-12-2020 08:34 AM)TripleA Wrote:  

(03-12-2020 08:23 AM)bullet Wrote:  

(03-12-2020 03:14 AM)TripleA Wrote:  The tricky thing is, unless you have symptoms, you shouldn't be tested. It tends to throw off too many false positives, and then triggers care that's unnecessary.

Lots of people think the opposite, and think if they have no symptoms, but have been exposed and don't have a test, somebody is screwing up. Nope. Only in your mind.

Yeah, heard some talking head complaining that you had to have a doctor's order to get a test. Duh!

Heard this morning they just developed a different testing protocol that minimizes that issue now. But still, doesn't make sense to test peeps who aren't showing symptoms. Better to quarantine those who came in contact with known infected peeps.

Doc Siegel (the foremost H1N1 expert in the country) just said that the supply of tests isn't the big issue now. It's getting test results back quickly enough. Taking 2 days. We need to get it down to hours.

He also was adamant that he disagrees with Dr. Fauci that things will get worse before they get better. His theory is this is out there already in much greater numbers than we realize, but the cases are mild enough that peeps don't know, or they aren't getting reported.

Bottom line, there is still just so much uncertainty, but I think we seem to be doing almost everything we can.

I know the EU is hopping mad at Trump for stopping all travel into the US from Europe (minus American citizens and the UK). They claim it will wreck their economy. Tough. They should have been more proactive with that themselves in the beginning.

Any side or group worrying about the economy over the safety of the general public can go right ahead and fu*k off, and when I say anyone I mean anyone.

(03-12-2020 08:34 AM)TripleA Wrote:  Doc Siegel (the foremost H1N1 expert in the country) just said that the supply of tests isn't the big issue now. It's getting test results back quickly enough. Taking 2 days. We need to get it down to hours.

Just as an aside...

Often times, it takes time for a culture to grow enough to be detected or some other time-based issue. It's most likely not a question of backlog or delay or anything, but the method that the test requires. Getting it from 2 days to hours involves somehow testing things differently.

As to the number of tests.... the number isn't the key... It's the efficacy.

False positives are bad in that they consume resources unnecessarily, but false negatives are vastly worse because they encourage people to go about their lives when they are an active carrier... which could explain why some relatively culturally closed places like S. Korea who went into 'test everyone' mode have been hit so hard while places like Seattle (Ground Zero for the US) declined the WHO test and developed their own.