Community Chat

[happycat]

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@Allegheny wrote:

This is my feeling.  I believe the Covid 19 virus entered the US and other countries weeks before experts realized.  People were probably getting ill and they and medical professionals thought it was the flu.

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I agree. 

[Mindy D]

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@Marp wrote:

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@KingstonsMom wrote:

On the other hand, 2 patients here in the US that had been in quarantine for a couple of weeks, tested negative and were released, then later showed symptoms and tested positive.

No hysteria here, but I have to question the validity of the 'testing'.

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I'm making a bit of a guess here about the testing based on limited knowledge and logic.

At the time of testing for covid-19, or any other disease, the test can only determine if antibodies are being produced to indicate infection.  Testing cannot determine exposure.  Therefore, the testing can only determine that at the moment the test was given the person either is or is not infected.  It cannot foretell the individual's status in 24 hours.

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@Marp Thank you for providing some scientific feedback on the testing. 

The current testing is not for antibodies. The first use of antibody testing is occurring right now in Singapore. We have not used antibody testing in the us yet for COVID-19. HERE'S the skinny:

Quoted From "Sciencemag.org:

"In what appears to be a first, disease trackers in Singapore have used an experimental antibody test for COVID-19 to confirm that a suspected patient was infected with the coronavirus. The patient was one of two people who together formed a missing link between two clusters of cases that each occurred in a Singaporean church.

Researchers around the world are racing to develop antibody tests, also called serological tests, that can confirm whether someone was infected even after their immune system has cleared the virus that causes COVID-19. The group that developed the test, at Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore, is among the front-runners, although its assay has to be validated before it is taken into production and deployed widely.

Current tests for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, look for genetic material of the virus, for instance in saliva or nasal, oral, or ****** swabs, using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). They have one huge drawback: They only give a positive result when the virus is still present. The tests can’t identify people who went through an infection, recovered, and cleared the virus from their bodies.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=2ahUKEwizsNy-0_znAhVQ-6wKHfnNABk...

[Marp]

@Mindy D,  thank you for the clarification that antibody testing is only being done in Singapore at this time.  Clearly I misread or misunderstood that it was [finally] being used here. 

[lovesrecess]

Is it a swab test like for strep?

[ROMARY]

I like the idea of drive-through testing.

There's another thread where I said that I wouldn't mind the test as long as I won't have to sit in a room filling with other people, waiting for the test.

Outdoor testing would be fine, too.  But drive-through is the best idea, imo.

[KarenQVC]

@lovesrecess The video I saw seemed to be one swab in the nose and one in the mouth.  Really fast.

[missy1]

Is there anything they put on that swab?

[Cakers3]

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@Allegheny wrote:

This is my feeling.  I believe the Covid 19 virus entered the US and other countries weeks before experts realized.  People were probably getting ill and they and medical professionals thought it was the flu.

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@Allegheny   I also agree.  I believe China tried to hide this outbreak and it became out of control.