More Lies From Matt Hancock

[teacake44]

For every (one) person they now test, they are counting it as two, one swob up the nose, and one too the back of the mouth =two tests, this is so they can say they have reached the 200.000 tests per day, what the hell is this government playing at? Should they continue to lie to the public in this way you will see breakdown in law and order sooner or later. So the US rioting started off with a murder, but the real issue is their government handling of the virus and the loss of thousands of jobs and a spineless Trump who's not got a clue, very much like Boris. The virus is winning with global breakdown of law and order. 81% of the public now say Cummings broke the rules so if Boris tries another lockdown it won't work, and that is when the problems will start in the UK.

[fiction-factory]

Are we able to test everyone who needs to be tested. If so then what's the issue.
The whole testing targets debate though has been an example of where targets lose their meaning- by hook or by crook artificial targets are met. I don't just blame Hancock- I also blame all those pressing him for a figure on the hope he'd fail

[sunny-dave]

Agreed, ellipsis.

I think to "The (wo)man on the AnswerBank Omnibus" - and to most of the general public as well - one test was precisely understood to equate to one testing session on one person.

We now know that to be (at best) an omission of detail in the briefings or (more likely) a deliberate act of 'hoping that no-one spots what we're up to'.

[ladybirder]

Margie I can't answer your question except to say that one of my sons had a test on Sunday. This was because he is a classed as a Key Worker and his boss sent the whole team to be tested. He was told he'll get the result on Tuesday.

[Ellipsis]

> Are we able to test everyone who needs to be tested. If so then what's the issue.

Here's an example problem. There are 1.5 million workers in the NHS. Our test capacity is 200,000 per day. How many days will it take to test all the workers in the NHS?

[naomi24]

//One session, two swabs, one result should equal one test - not two. //

They're counting the number of test packs used. The number of people tested is a different issue.

[iluvmargie]

Is my question invisible?

[iluvmargie]

Ooops sorry lb, only just seen your answer - must be more patient!! Thank you for answering.

[jim360]

// Are we able to test everyone who needs to be tested? //

The Government is reporting at the moment around 2,000 new cases per day. It's estimated, though, that there are around 8,000 actual new cases per day*, of which 6,000 are being missed. It seems likely, therefore, that we aren't able to test enough people yet.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-52837593

[Ellipsis]

Also answered by woofgang at 12:14

[naomi24]

Margie,

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/testing-for-coronavirus/ask-for-a-test-to-check-if-you-have-coronavirus/

[teacake44]

Let me just finish off by saying that I believe and many others that the government are, and have been for a long time misleading and lying to the people from the very start of this virus hitting the UK, they are now spending more time covering up their lies than getting to grips with what they should be. And I also believe the s*** will hit the fan very soon if they don't get their act together, they are.asking for trouble, and its just round the corner. Have a good day all.

[gulliver1]

12.11 , Teacake didn't misunderstand what was said ,but you did @ 12.06.
So why should T/C have to apologise.

[iluvmargie]

Thank you naomi.

[jim360]

I've explained why I don't believe this is a "lie". Far too strong a word if the information is out there. Sleight-of-hand, maybe, by presenting all data but only emphasising the more favourable-looking stuff where possible. But how tests are counted is at most a minor issue, when the more important numbers are daily new cases and daily deaths. Moreover I don't believe the Government can be said to know enough about what's going on to lie about it -- not a criticism, per se, as all knowledge about the disease is subject to natural lags anyway; we'd only have complete knowledge if we were able to test everybody in the country every hour or so, which is clearly impossible.

I'm far more concerned about the decision to re-open schools *and* relax social distancing measures *and* allow medium-sized gatherings *and* release the approximately 2.2 million vulnerable people from a total lockdown all on the same day. At best this is an uncontrolled experiment -- you simply shouldn't be changing so many features of daily life all at once if you want to measure their effects. I personally would have stuck to re-opening schools without relaxing elsewhere. We will find out in two-three weeks if this gamble has paid off or not.

[jakep]

iluvmargie, my contribution certainly is...

[Prudie]

You speak as though people are being called up for tests and they haven't reached their targets but anyone can ask for a test, maybe they're not asking. I haven't for example. And there's no point saying they haven't got through the entire NHS yet. What's the point, a negative test one week doesn't mean it won't be positive the next. you get tested when you have symptoms are have been in close contact with someone who has.

[iluvmargie]

Also, thank you woofgang.

jakep - don't worry, I often comment on threads too and get ignored, it's just the way it is sometimes.

[teacake44]

12.28 I voted for Boris, and I also realise this is a massive problem for any government to solve or get all decisions right, and when Boris was ill, I clung on in the hope of him returning and trying to gain some ground. Sadly now I honestly believe he is totally confused as what to do, the decisions he's making are crackers, and I really don't think he is up to this job, some may ask me what would I do, the true answer is I don't know, I have to put my faith in politicians, as we, or me, see them has a lot more educated to be able to deal with difficult problems, but you don't have to be very educated to see the lies coming out and the stupid decisions being made.

[dannyk13]

TC. you are just seeing what you want to see, as usual.