FlyTheNest

Labour has demanded an investigation into how the outsourcing firm Serco revealed the details of 300 contract tracers.

Rachel Reeves, shadow chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, said:

It has never been clear what expertise or specialist knowledge Serco can bring to contact tracing. (Politics Live, Guardian)

A group of senior scientists has warned that 1 June is too soon for schools to reopen safely in England and that more time is needed to set up an effective track and trace system to contain future outbreaks.

The independent Sage committee, chaired by the former government chief scientist Sir David King, says new modelling of coronavirus shows the risk to children will be halved if they return to school two weeks later than ministers propose. Delaying until September would further reduce the risk.

The extra two weeks would allow more time for infections to fall in the community and for crucial track and trace capacity to be built up so new cases are found and isolated fast.

Good morfternoon.



Or anything else, for that matter.

" A number of the government’s regional drive-through testing facilities, which are run by private contractors, require people to carry out the swab on themselves with the aid of a nine-page, 20-step instruction manual.

Matt Hancock, the health secretary, told the Commons this week that the efficacy of self-administered tests was “not significantly different” from tests administered by specially trained NHS staff. ((Bet he's lying ? ))

His claim has been met with scepticism by some in the scientific community, while health bosses in Greater Manchester have asked to see the research. “We’ve no idea how many [tests there are], are they statistically significant? I’d love to see those data,” said Beales, director of the Centre for Translational Genomics.

The fallibility of the nasal swabs has led some GPs to advise patients to disregard negative results if they still have symptoms.

Dr Richard Vautrey, the chair of the British Medical Association’s general practitioners committee, said he had seen patients with coronavirus symptoms but repeated negative tests.

“No test is perfect, particularly when tests are self-administered and this is a particularly difficult test to do [so] there will be some false negatives,” he said. “Going on the symptoms is as good a guide as any as to what condition a patient has.”

The UK government turned down an opportunity to buy tens of thousands of potentially “game-changing” coronavirus tests from an award-winning British scientist just days after Matt Hancock pledged to hit 100,000 tests a day by the end of April.

Morning all.
Well.
Scientists warn 1 June is too early for schools to reopen in England

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2 ... rack-trace

Morning all.

Well.

Scientists warn 1 June is too early for schools to reopen in England

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2 ... rack-trace

"" The Department of Health and Social Care is remaining tight-lipped about its decision to award a contract to the UK subsidiary of a multi-billion dollar US credit reporting agency that checks patient data when attempting to book a Coronavirus home test online.

Tens of thousands of people have already visited the Government website to book their test. Users are told that, in order to confirm their identity, they need to share their information with TransUnion. It is the smallest of the three largest credit agencies, along with Experian and Equifax.

Individuals unwilling to share their credit data are asked to start the process again and advised to choose the drive-through test option. It is unclear what possible COVID-19-related reason there would be for the Government to grant the company access to UK citizens’ information.

Privacy and civil liberties campaigners have already warned about tech firms getting their hands on patient data in the battle against the Coroanvirus. ""

Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report
Early Release / Vol. 69 May 22, 2020

Universal and Serial Laboratory Testing for SARS-CoV-2 at a Long-Term Care Skilled Nursing Facility for Veterans — Los Angeles, California, 2020

During March 26–April 23, a total of 19 cases of COVID-19 were diagnosed among 99 long-term care skilled nursing facilities residents (19.2%).
At the time of diagnosis, 14 of 19 residents were asymptomatic, eight of whom were presymptomatic; one patient died.
One half of the eight staff members with a diagnosis of COVID-19 were initially asymptomatic.
This report demonstrates the high prevalence of asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection that can occur in skilled nursing facilities, highlighting the potential for widespread transmission among residents and staff members before illness is recognized... .
---
Limited testing and delayed recognition of symptomatic cases in congregate living settings can result in large and protracted outbreaks.
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/ ... 21e1-H.pdf

People don't know they've got COVID-19 for awhile.

It's the 21st century. We can frequently test people for COVID-19. We can safely isolate those with COVID-19.

Mr Johnson has never appeared before the committee since becoming Prime Minister, having cancelled three scheduled appearances under different chairs.

Opposition MPs and Tory rebels failed in a bid to block Sir Bernard's appointment on Wednesday, branding the appointment "shameful" and "autocratic".

Previously the Liaison Committee has been made up of chairs of other parliamentary committees - and they have chosen who leads it between them.

Sir Bernard does not sit on a committee.

He's not even hiding how this looks is he?

Boris Johnson agrees to 90 minute grilling after installing ally as committee chair

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/ ... h-22069166



So not even on a committee let alone having been elected as a chair.

Laura Kuenssberg
@bbclaurak
Level 1:
PM's chief adviser did travel from London to County Durham during lockdown when he and his wife had coronavirus to stay in a separate building at his family's farm, a source close to him confirms - source says it is not true that he was spoken to by police

Paul Bernal
@PaulbernalUK
Level 1:
So when Dom’s in trouble, he gets ‘his people’ to call up
@bbclaurak
to act as firefighter. She does the job. Not the job she’s supposed to, but the job for him.

James Doleman
@jamesdoleman
Level 3:
Replying to
@jamesdoleman
and
@bbclaurak
The police say they spoke to "the family.'