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Friday 3 April 2020

Hancock’s Half Hearted Quarantine

While some in our free and fearless press are taking the announcement from health secretary Matt Hancock that there might some day be 100,000 tests each day for the presence of the Coronavirus, or perhaps the Coronavirus antibody, or even a combination of the two, others are wondering how someone who is supposed to have been experiencing symptoms of the virus is suddenly up and about and in rude health.
The World Health Organisation is quite explicit on this matter: “People infected with Covid-19 can still infect others after they stop feeling sick, so these measures should continue for at least 2 weeks after symptoms disappear … Visitors should not be allowed until the end of this period”. Yet there was Hancock being allowed on BBC Question Time yesterday evening. So the questions were bound to be asked.
Colin Nickless was unimpressed with both Hancock and alleged Prime Minister Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson: “Too sick to attend a press conference but well enough to stand in a doorway clapping away whilst supposedly in lockdown. Both him and Hancock disregarding WHO recommendations like they have throughout this crisis”.
Christian DeFeo, who you can tell as he’s a doctor, added “My aunt and uncle are pharmaceutical scientists. I spoke to them yesterday: basically they don’t think that 7 days is sufficient self-isolation to prevent being contagious. Hancock being out there is a really bad idea”. Jon Worth asked “How many days was Hancock in confinement after his positive coronavirus test?” The Observer’s Carole Cadwalladr was on the same page.
Here’s a question: why is Matt Hancock out of isolation after 6 days? Why is UK advice (7 days) different from WHO’s (14 days)?” Who would care to proffer a lame excuse? Tim Shipman of the Murdoch Sunday Times would. “He went into isolation before it was publicised that he was. He has been in isolation longer than Boris”. But the Tweeter known as My Sweet Landlord was unconvinced. “Matt Hancock stated in his video on Thurs 27th March that he had been working from home for a couple of days. He didn't state that he had been self-isolating due to symptoms”. And WHO 14 day recommendation, remember.
Or, as James Felton put it, “‘At each step we have followed the scientific advice’ says Matt Hancock, no longer self-isolating 6 days through his 7 day isolation, which itself would be half way through the World Health Organisation recommended 14”. To which a cynical Mark Bayliss added "That's the scientific advice from those Nobel Laureates: Dominic ‘herd immunity’ Cummings and Nadine ‘just a bit of a cough’ Dorries”.
Seriously, though, this is bad not just for Hancock, who, it seems, should not have been back at work and certainly not touring the TV studios, but bad for all those who are going to have come into contact with him, and terrible as an example to put before an increasingly frightened and restless public. Someone in Government doesn’t get it.

We are supposed to be taking the Coronavirus pandemic seriously. That includes Tories.
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7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am actually shocked that no one in our brave and fearless media has pointed out that these are not new now permant hospitals but temporarily converted buildings and large sheds. Also how much is the NHS paying the owner/s of the excel centre (who idoes own it bythe way? Because were it to become a permanent fixture, they’d have to find somewhere else to hold the arms fairs), why a member of the royal family is being sent to open a temporary hospital as if it is permanent and something to be celebrated. I’m also increasingly angry about how the clap the NHS and Carters thing has now been media hijacked to the extent that those hellbent on destroying it are openly applauding the scene on tv and elsewhere. Don’t get me wrong the temp hospitals are great and very necessary, but Oh where are the questions as the governments spin machine works in overdrive.

Jaxster said...

Been trying to find what the "7 day" advice is based on Public health England directed me to:

https://coronavirusexplained.ukri.org/en/article/und0002/#ref3

reference 3 is a non peer reviewed study of hospitalised cases in Germany. in non severe cases viral load peak occurs ON AVERAGE day 5 after symptom first present. Day 7 Seroconversion occurs that's anti bodies detected in blood "immunity" but you continue to be able to spread virus. they were able to grow virus from a sample taken day 10. After that virus continued to be detected but these COULD have been dead virus components.

The 7th day is when you could be released from hospital isolation ward to continue recovery isolated at home.

This is one study at the start of March when the advice was first being written.

Based on the misinterpretation of a single report we're sending essential workers back in to frontline roles to infect their colleagues and others.

Shake Yurmunni, Upsan Downs said...

@11:05 According to Wiki, the Excel Centre is owned by the Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company.

Anonymous said...

Nobody is talking about this one IN MAINSTREAM.

ASIAN MEN AT SIGNIFICANT RISK.

HMMM.

I know you like facts Tim.

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.01.26.919985v1.full


Anonymous said...

Testing Testing

So much talk about testing - obviously the reality is politicians and media can and will continue to use false figures based on blind evidence. You could call it blind if they weren't being so deceptive. The problem is, many are self-isolating without testing - therefore true stats are elusive.
I won't even attempt at figures because it could be libelous and scaremongering – which the media seem to get away with on a grand scale all the time – they and government are all peas in a pod.
The chances of obtaining real figures are impossible. In my opinion, the real mortality rate is attained by taking the entire global population and then subtracting the death figures = reality.
I won't charge you for reading this or direct you to a website.
The media capitalise on the fact the majority never question anything. They just believe it.

Who will do the testing?
There are no longer any village nurses and GP's haven't been visiting homes for how long now? Village nurses are positive in so many ways and many would feel safer knowing they are on hand. Nurses are great at handling many ailments. Mind you, that doesn't mean they should attend households where people are likely to become violent or be at risk of kidnapping.
Things went full circle a long time ago. People are becoming nasty because GP appointments are so hard sought that people pile into A&E or outpatients or just don't bother. Not to mention privatising DWP assessments. All of the fall out from this on an already strained NHS with health tourism and senior citizens social care issues. Councils spend how much on childcare systems for adoptions/fostering whilst employing lying tactics using police forces to target families too? That's without the lies they use to try and snatch kids. If only you removed them from all of those who have failed to keep kids from risk since standards claiming to give a shit along with human rights - whilst working in it. Only now, it is in your face up close and personal do you choose to jump to attention.
Health and diet are only two main factors in this fiasco which will need focussing on. What's not exciting about food and trying something new on a daily basis?
The French don't call us Brits roast dinner for nothing.
No thanks to the USA, we don't need burgers and chips. We can look to other countries to open up food shop. Take your rap crap cultures with you too.
As parents we allow them to do so much of what is not suitable. Listening to a bad rap, eat McDonald's too much and have an iphone.
If we refuse, imagine the horror.
Whatever happened to British lionhearts? Did everything sell out to US corporatism Tim?

No we did not.

Andy McDonald said...

@18.07,

I'm not sure what you're driving at, but a cold shower couldn't hurt.

Sandwich Wellington said...

@18:07
"Oh, The Roast Beefs of Old England" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5lhjYzbfco
The song was sounded just before lunch on board RMS Titanic.