Retention of DNA from covid 19 swab tests???

[1949threepence]

Take a look at this link

The impression given is that the swabs are retained for DNA purposes. Doing the rounds on facebook as a conspiracy theory.

But it's not true - further link  - although I think they've been a bit careless with the wording. 

 

Edited October 5, 2020 by 1949threepence

[copper123]

Police still keep dna swabs from people even if they are not charged with an offence , so whatever is happening with covid swabs , its not news. , or not new news

[secret santa]

Not directly related, but may be of interest.

Last Friday, my doctor told me to get a Covid test. I got online and was able to book a test  at our local rugby club, just over 4 miles away. Perfect.

It was a drive through test which means everyone there is in full PPE and they don't let you open your car window other than to throw in the test kit.

They then give you instructions from behind their shields and through a closed car window. Not surprisingly, I couldn't hear properly and ended up not swabbing my mouth in the right place (I swabbed the inside of my cheeks towards the back as you see people do it on crime thrillers whereas they want you to sway the back of your throat next to your tonsils as I found out when I got home and read the instructions which they did not ask me to read on site).

I received a Negative result but was worried that it have compromised by incorrect swabbing so I checked with my GP who told me to get another test. I tried to book another test on Monday and was offered the middle of Oxford. I tried again on Tuesday and was offered the middle of Coventry (67 miles away). Needless to say I have given up and today, after 9 days, my temperature has actually returned to zero.

It seems that you are offered a different test site every time you get online - surely this can't be right ? Do these sites exist for 1 day only ?

I never had classic Covid symptoms and I'm pretty sure I didn't have Covid but I did have a nasty flu-like bug. I am loathe to criticise the NHS but this testing regime is bizarre.

[copper123]

4 hours ago, secret santa said:

my temperature has actually returned to zero.

It seems that you are offered a different test

You were dead then?

[secret santa]

For zero, read normal though it felt like zero.

[1949threepence]

8 hours ago, secret santa said:

Not directly related, but may be of interest.

Last Friday, my doctor told me to get a Covid test. I got online and was able to book a test  at our local rugby club, just over 4 miles away. Perfect.

It was a drive through test which means everyone there is in full PPE and they don't let you open your car window other than to throw in the test kit.

They then give you instructions from behind their shields and through a closed car window. Not surprisingly, I couldn't hear properly and ended up not swabbing my mouth in the right place (I swabbed the inside of my cheeks towards the back as you see people do it on crime thrillers whereas they want you to sway the back of your throat next to your tonsils as I found out when I got home and read the instructions which they did not ask me to read on site).

I received a Negative result but was worried that it have compromised by incorrect swabbing so I checked with my GP who told me to get another test. I tried to book another test on Monday and was offered the middle of Oxford. I tried again on Tuesday and was offered the middle of Coventry (67 miles away). Needless to say I have given up and today, after 9 days, my temperature has actually returned to zero.

It seems that you are offered a different test site every time you get online - surely this can't be right ? Do these sites exist for 1 day only ?

I never had classic Covid symptoms and I'm pretty sure I didn't have Covid but I did have a nasty flu-like bug. I am loathe to criticise the NHS but this testing regime is bizarre.

A colleague had very similar symptoms to you Richard (high temperature and felt lousy, also tested negative). Her test was at the Coventry test centre (near the Ricoh arena where WASPS rugby club play their home matches). Apparently the place was deserted, apart from a few testers. Nobody else was there, and I've heard similar reports about the place.     

[copper123]

By back of the throat I think it might have helped to remember that Linda Lovelace film

[copper123]

What about those medical students in the midlands that got given used covid tests and told to use them.

In my day that was the equivelent of being told to play ball in the middle of a motorway...

[1949threepence]

8 hours ago, copper123 said:

What about those medical students in the midlands that got given used covid tests and told to use them.

In my day that was the equivelent of being told to play ball in the middle of a motorway...

Some did use them.....surely it would have been obvious that they'd already been used.

[copper123]

20 hours ago, 1949threepence said:

Some did use them.....surely it would have been obvious that they'd already been used.

 

20 hours ago, 1949threepence said:

Some did use them.....surely it would have been obvious that they'd already been used.

"The NHS is safe in our hands" Boris johnson  we hands yes NOT throats

[1949threepence]

19 minutes ago, copper123 said:

 

"The NHS is safe in our hands" Boris johnson  we hands yes NOT throats

Although it would be ludicrous to blame Boris Johnson personally for what was obviously a low level, local cock up. 

Hopefully these rapid test kits will be rolled out nationally soon, so that anyone can get a test as and when they choose. Might even be stocked in workplaces. 

They will undoubtedly be a game changer as they will help root out asymptomatic positive cases for 2 weeks self isolation.  

Edited October 16, 2020 by 1949threepence

[copper123]

19 minutes ago, 1949threepence said:

Although it would be ludicrous to blame Boris Johnson personally for what was obviously a low level, local cock up. 

Hopefully these rapid test kits will be rolled out nationally soon, so that anyone can get a test as and when they choose. Might even be stocked in workplaces. 

They will undoubtedly be a game changer as they will help root out asymptomatic positive cases for 2 weeks self isolation.  

I honestly think many cases from March and April and May were asymptomatic  that was one of the main reasons it entered old folks homes and did its nasty business - it is now moving into the general population , herd immunity is now looking more  like the solution with the goverment still trying to help keep the NHS stable with their various methods (that just  don't seem to be working.)

 

Edited October 16, 2020 by copper123

[secret santa]

14 minutes ago, copper123 said:

the goverment still trying to help keep the NHS stable with their various methods (that just  don't seem to be working.)

They'll only work if people follow basic rules of common sense, and we've seen and heard enough to know that there's too many of the population who will ignore them.

[1949threepence]

1 hour ago, copper123 said:

I honestly think many cases from March and April and May were asymptomatic  that was one of the main reasons it entered old folks homes and did its nasty business - it is now moving into the general population , herd immunity is now looking more  like the solution with the goverment still trying to help keep the NHS stable with their various methods (that just  don't seem to be working.)

 

The disease is also affecting a much younger cohort - in fact many of the hospital admissions now are in their 20's and 30's. So there is no free pass if you are in that younger age bracket link

Yet some are obviously totally unaffected and don't know they've even contracted it. I'm convinced there is some genetic susceptibility aspect to it.    

[copper123]

I am pretty sure that the news that the police may use the track and trace system in order to find non participating law breakers will send the use of the track and trace system into a tailspin - after all why bother with it in the first place if you are going to ignore it

[secret santa]

On 10/16/2020 at 8:47 PM, 1949threepence said:

I'm convinced there is some genetic susceptibility aspect to it. 

I've always felt that this must be the case given the way that different nations/races get affected. There must be a reason why some apparently "healthy" people under 50 in this country were so badly affected.

[1949threepence]

4 hours ago, copper123 said:

I am pretty sure that the news that the police may use the track and trace system in order to find non participating law breakers will send the use of the track and trace system into a tailspin - after all why bother with it in the first place if you are going to ignore it

Yes, specifically the track and trace, which works for known contacts of the positive case, but not the Covid-19 app which obviously can work for those you know, but is intended to be an alert due to being <2 metres from a given positive individual in the previous 14 days (usually someone you don't know) for more than 15 minutes. Due to privacy laws you could quite legally choose to ignore such an alert (known as a "ping", apparently), as downloading of the app is at the smartphone owner's discretion.

Yet the danger is much the same in both circumstances. A positive case is a positive case. How you are notified of a contact is totally irrelevant to whether or not you might contract it yourself.    

2 hours ago, secret santa said:

I've always felt that this must be the case given the way that different nations/races get affected. There must be a reason why some apparently "healthy" people under 50 in this country were so badly affected.

It was stated that many of the old people who succumbed in the first wave, were already very frail and would most likely have died from other causes anyway, within a short time. Hence (I assume) why all cause death rates in June, July and August 2020, were lower than they normally are at that time of year.

I'd certainly agree that obesity, diabetes and pre-existing lung conditions will contribute to a poorer prognosis, but other than that it's difficult to give a precise reason why symptoms vary from mild to severe in otherwise healthy individuals who contract it, and why some display no symptoms at all. 

I'm not entirely convinced about the disease badly affecting BAME individuals per se, given that the disease has never gained a foothold in equatorial Africa. So I think it adversely affects Asian people. Black people not nearly so much. 

So much we don't know, but can only conclude there are significant genetic differences between people, rendering some - of whatever age - much more vulnerable than others.    

Vitamin D supplements may help according to some. Why not? they're cheap enough.

[1949threepence]

Great news today about the MHRA approving rollout of the Pfizer BionTech vaccine. Just fed up with hearing conspiracy theories from various people, including some I know, like "it's a mind control measure", "all part of the Great reset" (whatever that is when it's at home) and "same company that issued thalidomide, and look what happened with that". Just a constant depressing joyless moan. 

Personally I'll be glad to get the vaccine, whichever one it is. Although I'll probably be well down in the queue.      

[copper123]

57 minutes ago, 1949threepence said:

Great news today about the MHRA approving rollout of the Pfizer BionTech vaccine. Just fed up with hearing conspiracy theories from various people, including some I know, like "it's a mind control measure", "all part of the Great reset" (whatever that is when it's at home) and "same company that issued thalidomide, and look what happened with that". Just a constant depressing joyless moan. 

Personally I'll be glad to get the vaccine, whichever one it is. Although I'll probably be well down in the queue.      

I suspect i had the virus in a very mild form in late march - I am probably still immune , it really affected me very little - I was lucky .

[1949threepence]

23 minutes ago, copper123 said:

I suspect i had the virus in a very mild form in late march - I am probably still immune , it really affected me very little - I was lucky .

A fair number had an infection back in January, supposedly before Covid was in the UK. It wasn't very severe, but I did have a sore throat and a cough. Problem is, we'll never know. Also, given that the symptoms are so variable from person to person, it's quite plausible we did have it. Or it could have just been an ordinary cold. 

[Peckris 2]

3 hours ago, 1949threepence said:

Personally I'll be glad to get the vaccine, whichever one it is. Although I'll probably be well down in the queue.      

I think I'd probably be quite high, having advanced MS ... but there's a theory that people with damaged immune systems would have to have the antibody injection and I don't think that's ready?

[1949threepence]

39 minutes ago, Peckris 2 said:

I think I'd probably be quite high, having advanced MS ... but there's a theory that people with damaged immune systems would have to have the antibody injection and I don't think that's ready?

Chris, that might be worth sending an e mail to yourquestions@bbc.co.uk to possibly look at. They've got a special "your questions answered" programme at 9am tomorrow morning on the BBC news channel, with no less a person than Jonathan Van Tam addressing the points. It's something I'd be interested in too, as my partner has rheumatoid arthritis and takes innuno suppressive medication, so that might be relevant to her.

It's totally anonymous, they only read out your first name. 

[Peckris 2]

1 minute ago, 1949threepence said:

Chris, that might be worth sending an e mail to yourquestions@bbc.co.uk to possibly look at. They've got a special "your questions answered" programme at 9am tomorrow morning on the BBC news channel, with no less a person than Jonathan Van Tam addressing the points. It's something I'd be interested in too, as my partner has rheumatoid arthritis and takes innuno suppressive medication, so that might be relevant to her.

It's totally anonymous, they only read out your first name. 

Thanks, but I'm off to bed, very tired! I might listen though see if anyone else asked.

[1949threepence]

10 hours ago, Peckris 2 said:

Thanks, but I'm off to bed, very tired! I might listen though see if anyone else asked.

Not sure whether you watched/listened to it. I was a bit disappointed to be honest - not with Van Tam, but with the overall choice of questions. It was too geared towards "can I hug my Mum?" type stuff. There was even a question about Father Christmas. Not really scientific/quantitative enough for me, but I guess that's the general reflection of what viewers want, so fair enough.

Predictably the question of how long will the vaccine confer immunity was asked, to which the by now blindingly obvious answer of "we don't know" was given. I think most people are already aware of that.

The one question I did find totally relevant was whether certificates would be issued with the shots, as I know many places will be insisting on some proof of inoculation before they will let you through the door, in the future. But again he was somewhat ambivalent on the point. There would be a strict medical record kept, but he wasn't really sure on actual certification which could be carried around. Which again is an understandable response as he's not a government minister.        

[secret santa]

How long before forged "vaccination passports" are available on Ebay ?