Thread by @sunnshiiny

Amazing the messed up logic that Bergen purports to use.

The company is to be lauded for attempting to provide a quicker and less intrusive test for Covid.

But, and there is a big but...

They are advocating the process for approval be compromised to approve their product.

This isn’t so the test can help many. It’s so they can make a profit.

There is nothing that precludes a business from offering helpful technology it develops to address emergency needs. That’s capitalism.

But when regulations that keep Canadians safe are being asked to be removed? That’s a step too far.

And that is what Bergen is recommending. Make no mistake, that’s the intent of her screed about Health Canada’s COVid test approval process.

CPC used the unapproved tests to check infection status of several members of Conservative party. To demonstrate that the tests work. Completely bypassing Health Canada’s approval process. Ignoring the purview of Health Canada and federal jurisdiction for approval of tests.

Not only did the company supply CPC members with testing kits (free I suppose ~ isn’t that an in kind donation), the CPC relies on the outcome of those tests for assurance that they do not have the virus. That includes O’Toole and his staff, who have subsequently tested positive.

So the tests don’t protect anyone. But they do give users a false sense of protection. Every additional negative test emboldens the patient to throw caution to the wind. Fifty negative tests do not prove there is no COVid about. It just proves you haven’t been exposed yet.

The operative word being “YET.” Continuous networking of politicians will result in COVid transmission. The community is saturated with virus spores. Eventually one will make it through the masks we wear to protect others, not ourselves. It’s a crap shot. A gamble.

How long will it take?

Not wearing a mask around people that have used a saliva serologic based test to demonstrate they don’t have the virus is stupid behaviour beyond belief. You don’t have a positive test until you do.

Every test is a moment in time. It only reflects the moment you took the last test. What you’ve been exposed to since the last test isn’t reflected until the next test, with much lower accuracy of a nasal swab.

So a false negative is entirely possible.

It’s like if a woman trying to get pregnant continues drinking alcohol until her repeated pregnancy test turns out positive.

She becomes pregnant long before the hormones being tested provide a positive test. But in her mind she is safe until the test is positive.

Almost like the Schrödinger’s cat in a sewage’s box exercise made famous by Big Bang Theory sitcom.

Except that exercise is just that, a mental trick. It’s not reality. The cat can’t be alive and dead at the same time. Your mind can believe it’s both until proven otherwise.

But in reality it’s one or the other, not both.

Every serologic test has a bit of Schrödinger’s cat built into the test. Because the test is much less accurate than a blood test, the results are unreliable. You could produce a false negative.

Just like a pregnant woman counting on a pee test to determine if she can go drinking. The false negative provides reassurance that alcohol will not harm the foetus. Same with a serologic test will provide reassurance you aren’t COVid positive.

But you may not have progressed to the point of detection yet. That doesn’t make you any less contagious or any less pregnant because your false negative tells you otherwise.

So serologic tests can be useful, but should not be used exclusively to determine infection.

Something this company is lobbying against, because it sees $$$ as the priority, not public health.

Bergen, Kenney and several other conservatives have amplified trust in serologic tests. But they are not meant to replace the original clinical test.

Which is why every pregnant woman is tested again using either a blood test or physical exam for verification. Because false positives occur as well. Accuracy is not serologic tests strong point. It’s speed and ease of use.

Meaning the public may believe they only need a serologic test. And that is not true. Not even close. If you test for COVid infection, it’s the nasal swab that’s relied on as accurate. Not the serologic test.

Bergen is selling snake oil false security and hawking a product.

She’s selling false security and putting pressure on Health Canada to approve serologic tests to replace nasal swabs. That’s dangerous.

How dangerous? Take a look at the US. A lack of nasal swab tests has led to over reliance on serologic tests.

They have the worst outbreak globally in the US.

Is it any wonder why Health Canada hasn’t approved these tests?

How many premiers would immediately switch to serologic tests and forego the nasal swab tests, regardless of accuracy?

Bergen gives a perfect opportunity to explain why politicians should never be responsible for final decisions about public health. Because politics, not health becomes the focus.

Trust conservative politicians to make public health decisions at your own peril.

They’d put everyone at risk to help a donor make profits.

We already know that. Meat plants, back to school reopening, open bars and dining rooms clearly indicate who politicians are work for.

It’s not the public. It’s the people who donate big bucks to their campaigns.

sealed* box