After Saturday he becomes the wise old grandee dispensing svengali like wisdom from the backbenches and the protest rallies, to whom the Leader, initially at least, will need to pay appropriate homage.
If Starmer really wants to show that his leadership is a fresh start he should expel the malignant old fool from the party, along with his acolytes.
Latest Leicester/Leics figures 129 current inpatients 64 now recovered and discharged 26 total deaths
Overflow ICU now in use, but good to see numbers of recovered going up.
I think that criteria for discharge are inconsistent even within healthcare systems, maybe even more so between different countries. I'm struggling to find data for the UK (not just on world-o-meter). The differences in proportions active/resolved cases over time might be indicative of average severity. Do you have a source for that kind of numbers?
The Health Secretary stated (I think!) that there were 12,000 people in hospital in England at present. Since there are 28,000 people who have been tested positive in England and ~2700 deaths, that would suggest that 13,000 people have been either discharged or are recovering at home. Does that sound about right?
Out of interest, how did the Hodge describe those disastrous previous press conferences at the time?
He’s just a government shill !
Apparently significant progress in NHS testing is managing 5,000 out of half a million front line workers and they could have involved the private sector weeks ago .
At least we have a new slogan , no test is better than a bad test ! Zzzzzz
Has some reasons for hope and some for caution. I don't know enough biology to assess whether hope or caution is better placed!
Further down that link it says that the BCG vaccine may help blunt the Covid-19 virus.
"studies showing the BCG vaccine provided protection against not just tuberculosis bacteria but also other types of contagions. So his team put together the data on what countries had universal BCG vaccine policies and when they were put in place. They then compared the number of confirmed cases and deaths from Covid-19 to find a strong correlation."
In which case the oldies should be benefitting from that, but don't seem to be.
apparently the Uk only had universal BCG vaccination for kids from 1953. so the 70+ cohort likely never got it.
80plus because given at age 14 (so first cohort born 1939).
ah very true..... i've lost the ability to count...... i thought i got mine in 1st year at secondary but maybe my memory is failing.
Out of interest, how did the Hodge describe those disastrous previous press conferences at the time?
He’s just a government shill !
Apparently significant progress in NHS testing is managing 5,000 out of half a million front line workers and they could have involved the private sector weeks ago .
At least we have a new slogan , no test is better than a bad test ! Zzzzzz
Good to see Hancock back working. Let’s hope the reality lives up to the rhetoric of 100,000 tests a day by the end of the month. Will Hancock have a job if it doesn’t?
After Saturday he becomes the wise old grandee dispensing svengali like wisdom from the backbenches and the protest rallies, to whom the Leader, initially at least, will need to pay appropriate homage.
If Starmer really wants to show that his leadership is a fresh start he should expel the malignant old fool from the party, along with his acolytes.
Good to see Hancock back working. Let’s hope the reality lives up to the rhetoric of 100,000 tests a day by the end of the month. Will Hancock have a job if it doesn’t?
I have no doubt he will be in post in May and beyond
Latest Leicester/Leics figures 129 current inpatients 64 now recovered and discharged 26 total deaths
Overflow ICU now in use, but good to see numbers of recovered going up.
I think that criteria for discharge are inconsistent even within healthcare systems, maybe even more so between different countries. I'm struggling to find data for the UK (not just on world-o-meter). The differences in proportions active/resolved cases over time might be indicative of average severity. Do you have a source for that kind of numbers?
The Health Secretary stated (I think!) that there were 12,000 people in hospital in England at present. Since there are 28,000 people who have been tested positive in England and ~2700 deaths, that would suggest that 13,000 people have been either discharged or are recovering at home. Does that sound about right?
I don't have an answer to that question. World-o-meter shows the rate of recovered for other major European countries much lower at 10%-20%, but only a total of 135 cases for the UK. The 13,000 you mention will mostly be at home, but then probably not recovered yet?
Latest Leicester/Leics figures 129 current inpatients 64 now recovered and discharged 26 total deaths
Overflow ICU now in use, but good to see numbers of recovered going up.
I think that criteria for discharge are inconsistent even within healthcare systems, maybe even more so between different countries. I'm struggling to find data for the UK (not just on world-o-meter). The differences in proportions active/resolved cases over time might be indicative of average severity. Do you have a source for that kind of numbers?
The Health Secretary stated (I think!) that there were 12,000 people in hospital in England at present. Since there are 28,000 people who have been tested positive in England and ~2700 deaths, that would suggest that 13,000 people have been either discharged or are recovering at home. Does that sound about right?
I don't have an answer to that question. World-o-meter shows the rate of recovered for other major European countries much lower at 10%-20%, but only a total of 135 cases for the UK. The 13,000 you mention will mostly be at home, but then probably not recovered yet?
I think the 135 figure was last updated on 22 March. They just aren't publishing that information at the moment.
After Saturday he becomes the wise old grandee dispensing svengali like wisdom from the backbenches and the protest rallies, to whom the Leader, initially at least, will need to pay appropriate homage.
If Starmer really wants to show that his leadership is a fresh start he should expel the malignant old fool from the party, along with his acolytes.
Corbyn and his acolytes - some of whom belonged to other parties and fought against Labour - should never have been allowed into Labour. They are a nasty far left little groupuscule, whose disappearance back into the nasty dark shadows from which they came cannot come a moment too soon for me.
I don’t think a party should be a broad church if that means allowing in anti-semites, Communists and terrorist appeasers. It should have some standards.
Someone posted afterwards saying they were just topping up the salary of their higher paid staff. I had assumed that the government scheme was either/or.
Latest Leicester/Leics figures 129 current inpatients 64 now recovered and discharged 26 total deaths
Overflow ICU now in use, but good to see numbers of recovered going up.
I think that criteria for discharge are inconsistent even within healthcare systems, maybe even more so between different countries. I'm struggling to find data for the UK (not just on world-o-meter). The differences in proportions active/resolved cases over time might be indicative of average severity. Do you have a source for that kind of numbers?
The Health Secretary stated (I think!) that there were 12,000 people in hospital in England at present. Since there are 28,000 people who have been tested positive in England and ~2700 deaths, that would suggest that 13,000 people have been either discharged or are recovering at home. Does that sound about right?
I don't have an answer to that question. World-o-meter shows the rate of recovered for other major European countries much lower at 10%-20%, but only a total of 135 cases for the UK. The 13,000 you mention will mostly be at home, but then probably not recovered yet?
I think so... would be good if someone asked this in the press conference, since it's a very useful piece of information. Interestingly, there are more recovered individuals in Spain rather than in Italy. Given the timings of the epidemics, I suspect this might mean that Spain's figures refer to discharges than being negative on a subsequent test so would be broadly comparable to those in the UK. But it's supposition without harder data!
20 days after "We're massively increasing the testing to see whether you have it now and ramping up daily testing from 5,000 a day, to 10,000 to 25,000 and then up at 250,000," We have new more promises from Hancock not even describing it as a target now.
After Saturday he becomes the wise old grandee dispensing svengali like wisdom from the backbenches and the protest rallies, to whom the Leader, initially at least, will need to pay appropriate homage.
If Starmer really wants to show that his leadership is a fresh start he should expel the malignant old fool from the party, along with his acolytes.
How does Labour get to be a broad church, if it includes people who think it shouldn't be a broad church, and will go to absurd lengths to ensure that it isn't?
Latest figures log rate per million population. Italy definitely seems to be flattening off. Most countries still on an exponential line regardless of steps taken, but that's no surprise at all when you think about it (the deaths being recorded today were probably from infections around 7th-11th of March. Realistically, only Italy has had enough time since lockdowns for any real effect to be taken. (It would be good for journalists to point out the lag issue at some point)
We're still tracking extremely close to Italy + 15 days. Not sure exactly when our lockdown measures came into place vs theirs, though
It is interesting that Sweden's line is the same as other Countries
Thanks for producing this Andy_Cooke
I don't know how simple it would be, but, is there a way of indicating with a X when on that graph each nation implemented its Lock down?
I can have a crack. It looks rather busy and I'm not sure how easy it is to pick them out:
Bloody hell, you have to feel sorry for the Belgians. One of the earliest countries in relative terms to implement a lockdown and yet the worst numbers for death rates on that graph.
Yeah. Of course, the 16 days since the lockdown isn’t enough time yet to see any benefit, but I’d suspect that their status as effectively the crossroads of Europe has hurt them here - they get a LOT of foreign travel (especially businessmen and diplomats) which could have turbocharged their exponential growth in infections in the pre-shutdown days.
20 days after "We're massively increasing the testing to see whether you have it now and ramping up daily testing from 5,000 a day, to 10,000 to 25,000 and then up at 250,000," We have new more promises from Hancock not even describing it as a target now.
He didn't describe it as a target? Are we watching the same press conference?
Latest Leicester/Leics figures 129 current inpatients 64 now recovered and discharged 26 total deaths
Overflow ICU now in use, but good to see numbers of recovered going up.
I think that criteria for discharge are inconsistent even within healthcare systems, maybe even more so between different countries. I'm struggling to find data for the UK (not just on world-o-meter). The differences in proportions active/resolved cases over time might be indicative of average severity. Do you have a source for that kind of numbers?
The Health Secretary stated (I think!) that there were 12,000 people in hospital in England at present. Since there are 28,000 people who have been tested positive in England and ~2700 deaths, that would suggest that 13,000 people have been either discharged or are recovering at home. Does that sound about right?
I don't have an answer to that question. World-o-meter shows the rate of recovered for other major European countries much lower at 10%-20%, but only a total of 135 cases for the UK. The 13,000 you mention will mostly be at home, but then probably not recovered yet?
It's a figure the government aren't publishing. Very frustrating as it is a very key piece of insight on who is being tested.
Latest Leicester/Leics figures 129 current inpatients 64 now recovered and discharged 26 total deaths
Overflow ICU now in use, but good to see numbers of recovered going up.
I think that criteria for discharge are inconsistent even within healthcare systems, maybe even more so between different countries. I'm struggling to find data for the UK (not just on world-o-meter). The differences in proportions active/resolved cases over time might be indicative of average severity. Do you have a source for that kind of numbers?
The Health Secretary stated (I think!) that there were 12,000 people in hospital in England at present. Since there are 28,000 people who have been tested positive in England and ~2700 deaths, that would suggest that 13,000 people have been either discharged or are recovering at home. Does that sound about right?
I don't have an answer to that question. World-o-meter shows the rate of recovered for other major European countries much lower at 10%-20%, but only a total of 135 cases for the UK. The 13,000 you mention will mostly be at home, but then probably not recovered yet?
I think so... would be good if someone asked this in the press conference, since it's a very useful piece of information. Interestingly, there are more recovered individuals in Spain rather than in Italy. Given the timings of the epidemics, I suspect this might mean that Spain's figures refer to discharges than being negative on a subsequent test so would be broadly comparable to those in the UK. But it's supposition without harder data!
Agreed. The % of recovered might be a useful parameter when deciding when to loosen the lockdown.
Setting aside the stuff about the tests, they appear to be saying that hospital admissions are still rising, but not sharply, and may reduce.
If the lockdown was working, shouldn't it have reduced hospital admissions by now?
How does this end, unless we can reduce the spread? With a form of herd immunity, but just at a rather lower level that was first envisaged?
The incubation period means quite a few would have been infected before the lockdown and also some who get sick might still take another week to end up in hospital .
So effectively it could take around 3 weeks between lockdown and seeing a significant drop in new cases and new hospitalizations.
The Prof said that the antibody test was best done at 28 days.
Questioner translated that into ineffective before 28 days.
Thicko Journo.
Another one with an Oxford University Arts Degree, perhaps?
Most of the questioners appear to be political correspondents and well out of their depth. The question part of these press conferences is proving to be a waste of time.
That response about the tests in the field is one I'm very happy to hear. A well designed study can give you a really good idea of what's going on across the population. Will really tell the government what degree of asymptomatic infection is taking place.
After Saturday he becomes the wise old grandee dispensing svengali like wisdom from the backbenches and the protest rallies, to whom the Leader, initially at least, will need to pay appropriate homage.
If Starmer really wants to show that his leadership is a fresh start he should expel the malignant old fool from the party, along with his acolytes.
How does Labour get to be a broad church, if it includes people who think it shouldn't be a broad church, and will go to absurd lengths to ensure that it isn't?
There is a difference between a broad church and the zealots from a different sect who want to burn your church to the ground.
If elected then a sufficient number of the membership back him, the MPs backed him and sufficient Unions backed him.
He has all the authority he needs to purge the militants. He could start by purging his Cabinet.
Matt Hancock telling footballers to take a pay cut
Well done
Many lower league footballers will be out of contract on May 1st and do not earn mega bucks, the whole of the league structure from league one downwards, as a professional game, is in doubt. Coupled with the none playing staff already furloughed the impact on this part of the game is no different to many other industries.
Matt Hancock telling footballers to take a pay cut
Well done
Many lower league footballers will be out of contract on May 1st and do not earn mega bucks, the whole of the league structure from league one downwards, as a professional game, is in doubt. Coupled with the none playing staff already furloughed the impact on this part of the game is no different to many other industries.
Premier League players should make a contribution but taking a paycut that stays in the pockets of the owners helps no-one.
They could just pay their taxes, of course.
PL players will be on PAYE. They are employees of the clubs.
Marketing and endorsements will be handled separately. As will investments etc, much of which will be offshore. And I’m not sure the higher paid will be PAYE.
Sounds like there will be certificates of immunity with mass antibody testing.
But what does that mean? Anyone who hasn’t had it has to stay locked up indefinitely? Recipe for disaster.
Or that you get periodic swab tests, and if you have symptoms you immediately isolate yourself. I doubt they will go from full lockdown to no lockdown + certificate. It'd be some gradual process.
Premier League players should make a contribution but taking a paycut that stays in the pockets of the owners helps no-one.
They could just pay their taxes, of course.
PL players will be on PAYE. They are employees of the clubs.
Marketing and endorsements will be handled separately. As will investments etc, much of which will be offshore. And I’m not sure the higher paid will be PAYE.
Third party ownership is banned, so for their regular wages it should all be PAYE.
Premier League players should make a contribution but taking a paycut that stays in the pockets of the owners helps no-one.
They could just pay their taxes, of course.
PL players will be on PAYE. They are employees of the clubs.
Marketing and endorsements will be handled separately. As will investments etc, much of which will be offshore. And I’m not sure the higher paid will be PAYE.
There are a number of payslips that have been leaked so if you search for footballers' payslips or similar you can probably see (or the pb accountants will be able to do the sums to reverse engineer what rates are paid).
Latest Leicester/Leics figures 129 current inpatients 64 now recovered and discharged 26 total deaths
Overflow ICU now in use, but good to see numbers of recovered going up.
I think that criteria for discharge are inconsistent even within healthcare systems, maybe even more so between different countries. I'm struggling to find data for the UK (not just on world-o-meter). The differences in proportions active/resolved cases over time might be indicative of average severity. Do you have a source for that kind of numbers?
The Health Secretary stated (I think!) that there were 12,000 people in hospital in England at present. Since there are 28,000 people who have been tested positive in England and ~2700 deaths, that would suggest that 13,000 people have been either discharged or are recovering at home. Does that sound about right?
I don't have an answer to that question. World-o-meter shows the rate of recovered for other major European countries much lower at 10%-20%, but only a total of 135 cases for the UK. The 13,000 you mention will mostly be at home, but then probably not recovered yet?
It's a figure the government aren't publishing. Very frustrating as it is a very key piece of insight on who is being tested.
Previous updates of the dashboard included a number of patients recovered. This figure was the number of people discharged from NHS clinical services in England following a positive test result for COVID-19 and was provided by NHS services. This statistic has proved difficult to assemble and a replacement indicator is being developed.
Hopefully they manage to come up with something...
The dashboard itself is here and an Excel file of historic UK dashboard data is here.
Weren't even optimistic predictions of the peak expected to be around 12/4? Was anyone expecting plateauing before then at the earliest?
You are right, but I understand why people seeing what looks like a flat(tening) trend might jump on it and get hopeful. It's human nature. The same reason people see phantom trends in polling from one or two data points.
17.5 million tests purchased subject to them working
Yes, that's fairly fundamental I would have thought.
The Government response now is about providing light at the end of the tunnel, optimism life will return to normal and we will be able to move around again.
The cold hard truth is we're not even half way through the initial lockdown period and I suspect stresses and strains are starting to show.
Premier League players should make a contribution but taking a paycut that stays in the pockets of the owners helps no-one.
They could just pay their taxes, of course.
PL players will be on PAYE. They are employees of the clubs.
Marketing and endorsements will be handled separately. As will investments etc, much of which will be offshore. And I’m not sure the higher paid will be PAYE.
If they cut their wages then HMRC lose out, the club gain, the player doesn’t really notice. You need more than let’s cut PL player wages without then saying what you do with the money. Better to let HMRC get their cut and the players to support a range of charities. The next wave of problems are going to come from a range of charities across the board who could go under because income is dropping like a stone, are the designated key workers?
Very strange to be honest! The variation in positive tests over the past 3 days has been phenomenal (7578 to 4861 to 2116)! I'd guess the total number of tests performed must have varied very substantially since halving the number of new cases each day doesn't seem very likely...
The nanny state temperance lobby and its associated cranks never miss an opportunity to push their agenda.
Everyone should judge their own risks and their own circumstances. If you are young, female, reasonably fit with a BMI <25 and no underlying conditions like asthma or diabetes it would probably be an unnecessary precaution. If you tick 3/4 of those boxes likewise. If you don't, like me, you should really think about it.
Its not the nanny state, its common sense. </p>
You described me exactly there David so I can continue supping.
Never doubted it Malcolm. I trust you and your good lady wife are well?
Hello David, Holding on thanks, locked in the bunker. All hospital appointments cancelled.
Has Dr Hancock calmed the poor dears down for now?
Hancock has just written off £13bn NHS debt so the deficit and inflation hawks will be after him, and after all those thanks to PHE so will the PHS,W,NI mob.
I fear Covid-19 may be affecting the brains of Unionist politicians in Scotland. First Ruth "Next PM" Davidson doxxing the intelligence service, now the naming of the temp hospital in Glasgow apparently causing concern and consternation for Douglas Alexander.
I was pleased to hear about the diagnostic companies getting involved, OK, I was employed by Roche for 16 years in the drug safety laboratory (we changed it to that from the toxicology laboratory), so I might biased, But they're a highly professional company despite that.
I'm surprised Robert Peston had the brass neck to appear again, but these Oxford PPE graduates know everything, don't they?
I still get irritated when a question starts … "Can you guarantee …?" Just answer 'No' and move on.
Setting aside the stuff about the tests, they appear to be saying that hospital admissions are still rising, but not sharply, and may reduce.
If the lockdown was working, shouldn't it have reduced hospital admissions by now?
How does this end, unless we can reduce the spread? With a form of herd immunity, but just at a rather lower level that was first envisaged?
The incubation period means quite a few would have been infected before the lockdown and also some who get sick might still take another week to end up in hospital .
So effectively it could take around 3 weeks between lockdown and seeing a significant drop in new cases and new hospitalizations.
Hmm. I don't believe 3 weeks, considering the mean incubation period is only about 5 days. Maybe after 10 days we are still seeing some hospitalisations of people infected before the lockdown.
That seems very low in view of the media uproar over absent staff
The question would be whether that % includes the asymptomatic who were advised to self-isolate due to having had contact.
8% across the NHS across the country could mask great variations between regions and specialities; indeed you'd expect it would, just as it the number of patients varies.
I fear Covid-19 may be affecting the brains of Unionist politicians in Scotland. First Ruth "Next PM" Davidson doxxing the intelligence service, now the naming of the temp hospital in Glasgow apparently causing concern and consternation for Douglas Alexander.
Unionism - not even once.
And yet it's the might of the UK balance sheet that is allowing Scotland to write the necessary blank cheques for treatment.
That seems very low in view of the media uproar over absent staff
The question would be whether that % includes the asymptomatic who were advised to self-isolate due to having had contact.
8% across the NHS across the country could mask great variations between regions and specialities; indeed you'd expect it would, just as it the number of patients varies.
That too, but my point is that I think I heard him say "8% due to covid-related conditions". That would not included the group that I had described.
I fear Covid-19 may be affecting the brains of Unionist politicians in Scotland. First Ruth "Next PM" Davidson doxxing the intelligence service, now the naming of the temp hospital in Glasgow apparently causing concern and consternation for Douglas Alexander.
Unionism - not even once.
And yet it's the might of the UK balance sheet that is allowing Scotland to write the necessary blank cheques for treatment.
Away and bile your heid Max, you don't half talk some absolute bollox at times.
Hancock faced up to the problems to some extent (testing and shortages of PPE), and admitted our diagnostics generally come from abroad. He even admitted it was his decision to prioritise patients over NHS staff for testing. Very brave, as the civil service would say.
Not sure I'd agree - you test one day, they're negative but they start coughing the next day? What then? Still, it's the same for staff.
But the antibody test will be the important one. End of April? What happens if the antibody tests have too many false positive. A hostage to fortune.
But overall, a reasonable pass in the circumstances.
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/04/these-drugs-don-t-target-coronavirus-they-target-us# In another example of the blinding speed at which science is moving during the pandemic era, researchers at Aarhus University will start a clinical trial of a drug named camostat mesylate tomorrow—barely 1 month after a Cell paper showed the compound can prevent the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, from entering human cells. ...
After Saturday he becomes the wise old grandee dispensing svengali like wisdom from the backbenches and the protest rallies, to whom the Leader, initially at least, will need to pay appropriate homage.
If Starmer really wants to show that his leadership is a fresh start he should expel the malignant old fool from the party, along with his acolytes.
How does Labour get to be a broad church, if it includes people who think it shouldn't be a broad church, and will go to absurd lengths to ensure that it isn't?
For years Labour aimed to keep out the SWP and assorted Trots and marxists. Corbyn has allowed them to all stream into the party and take it over. If Labour wishes to seriously challenge for power it needs to return to where it was and boost out the entryists PDQ.
Comments
And they wonder why they are boycotted
Of course you draft everybody in when your in a crisis. Even unaccredited labs like some of those added today are needed and were needed weeks ago.
Apparently significant progress in NHS testing is managing 5,000 out of half a million front line workers and they could have involved the private sector weeks ago .
At least we have a new slogan , no test is better than a bad test ! Zzzzzz
https://twitter.com/lisaocarroll/status/1245751909476175873
https://twitter.com/BethRigby/status/1245757973412143105
i thought i got mine in 1st year at secondary but maybe my memory is failing.
A bit like some thinking...
Also centrists:
He said patients over NHS staff.
Which was not Hancock ...
World-o-meter shows the rate of recovered for other major European countries much lower at 10%-20%, but only a total of 135 cases for the UK.
The 13,000 you mention will mostly be at home, but then probably not recovered yet?
I don’t think a party should be a broad church if that means allowing in anti-semites, Communists and terrorist appeasers. It should have some standards.
The Prof said that the antibody test was best done at 28 days.
Questioner translated that into ineffective before 28 days.
Thicko Journo.
Another one with an Oxford University Arts Degree, perhaps?
Of course, the 16 days since the lockdown isn’t enough time yet to see any benefit, but I’d suspect that their status as effectively the crossroads of Europe has hurt them here - they get a LOT of foreign travel (especially businessmen and diplomats) which could have turbocharged their exponential growth in infections in the pre-shutdown days.
If the lockdown was working, shouldn't it have reduced hospital admissions by now?
How does this end, unless we can reduce the spread? With a form of herd immunity, but just at a rather lower level that was first envisaged?
Well done
So effectively it could take around 3 weeks between lockdown and seeing a significant drop in new cases and new hospitalizations.
If elected then a sufficient number of the membership back him, the MPs backed him and sufficient Unions backed him.
He has all the authority he needs to purge the militants. He could start by purging his Cabinet.
That seems very low in view of the media uproar over absent staff
Those are the choices until there is a vaccine.
Recovered patients data
Previous updates of the dashboard included a number of patients recovered. This figure was the number of people discharged from NHS clinical services in England following a positive test result for COVID-19 and was provided by NHS services. This statistic has proved difficult to assemble and a replacement indicator is being developed.
Hopefully they manage to come up with something...
The dashboard itself is here and an Excel file of historic UK dashboard data is here.
The Government response now is about providing light at the end of the tunnel, optimism life will return to normal and we will be able to move around again.
The cold hard truth is we're not even half way through the initial lockdown period and I suspect stresses and strains are starting to show.
Unionism - not even once.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/52134253
I'm surprised Robert Peston had the brass neck to appear again, but these Oxford PPE graduates know everything, don't they?
I still get irritated when a question starts … "Can you guarantee …?" Just answer 'No' and move on.
Just wondered if Hancock's presser might have gone some way to calming them down (I haven't been watching this afternoon) ?
https://www.ft.com/content/58ece0fb-d297-495e-8889-da216410f2c3
Hancock faced up to the problems to some extent (testing and shortages of PPE), and admitted our diagnostics generally come from abroad. He even admitted it was his decision to prioritise patients over NHS staff for testing. Very brave, as the civil service would say.
Not sure I'd agree - you test one day, they're negative but they start coughing the next day? What then? Still, it's the same for staff.
But the antibody test will be the important one. End of April? What happens if the antibody tests have too many false positive. A hostage to fortune.
But overall, a reasonable pass in the circumstances.
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/04/these-drugs-don-t-target-coronavirus-they-target-us#
In another example of the blinding speed at which science is moving during the pandemic era, researchers at Aarhus University will start a clinical trial of a drug named camostat mesylate tomorrow—barely 1 month after a Cell paper showed the compound can prevent the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, from entering human cells. ...