More on this - lateral flow tests being used on Students returning from Uni - the 'innova' test, shown in Liverpool to be missing 50% of cases generally and 30% of those with high viral load. Prof. Jon Deeks (BioStatistics) about 16 minutes into 'The World Tonight'. The Govt. apparently aware of this but not highlighting it - declared 'covid free' in effect, Students go back to their wider Families for Christmas.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-55175162And in the DT too :-
"Mass coronavirus testing in Liverpool has missed half of positive cases, Government figures show, as scientists warned that plans for 'moonshot' testing could lead to many infected people believing they do not have the disease. Community testing will soon be available for all local authorities in Tier 3 and the Government has suggested people could be allowed to visit pubs and meet friends if they test negative twice.
The mass testing programme, known as ‘Operation Moonshot’, uses lateral flow devices (LFDs). These are similar to pregnancy tests and give quick results, unlike usual polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests which are sent to a laboratory. However, results published by the Government this week from a pilot scheme in Liverpool show that compared to PCR tests, LFDs picked up just five out of 10 positive cases. It means half of people who had coronavirus would wrongly believe they did not have the disease – and would be allowed to mingle in the community.
Jon Deeks, Professor of biostatistics at the University of Birmingham, called for an immediate halt to the 'moonshot' plan saying it put people at risk and was not fit for purpose. “It is totally unsafe to use these tests to decide somebody does not have Covid nor ‘infectious’ he said, and sent a direct Tweet to the Health Secretary Matt Hancock and to Prime Minister Boris Johnson calling for lateral flow testing to be halted.
He added:
“If it were a drug, surely this would warrant an immediate withdrawal from use.”"
http://htTps://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/12/03/mass-coronavirus-testing-liverpool-has-missed-half-positive/Confusingly, the 'lateral flow' tests are being measured with the PCR tests, which may hardly meet, the 'gold standard', as KC raised yesterday. Fair to conclude the testing regimes are just an aid, not the hoped for fix in controlling the spread of CV-19. Vaccines please !