Even frontline NHS staff & people in care homes weren’t able to get tested,
On 26/3, Jenny Harries said community testing was "not an appropriate mechanism as we go forward”. /2
1) Why were the public being not told the real reason for changing testing policy?
2) Why was there such a lack of capacity when the UK had had months to prepare?
On 13/3 #C4News showed how UK was EXPORTING tests!👇
/3
“We were told in mid-March contact tracing had been abandoned b/c it was ‘not an appropriate mechanism’, but ystdy DCMO said it was to do with testing capacity. Could the PM clarify the position?”
He couldn’t!
/4
His reply is somewhat garbled, but the PM does say “it was no longer useful or relevant.”
/5
it didn’t make sense.
Testing is crucial not only to contain COVID but also to give a clear picture of what’s going in on order to get out of lockdown safely.
6/
But is it being done?
We get figures of “tests done” each day but this includes home tests sent out.
When @MattHancock said we’d done 122,000 tests on 29/4, up to 40,000 were home kits.
On 24/2, govt advice said “Patients cannot self-test”.
7/
But there are concerns these home tests aren’t being done properly & even the instructions on the govt’s website are incorrect.
8/
It involves swabbing the tonsils & the back of throat (stimulating the gag reflex) & pushing the swab as far up your nose as it will go until it hits bone & swivelling.
/8
It may explain this graph:👇
TESTING = up
POSITIVE TESTS = same
Today, the govt announced that they “did” 177,216 #COVID19 tests yesterday.
Of those, a massive 80,478 were kits posted to people’s homes.
Only 60,744 people were tested.
/10
Community testing was halted
#COVID19 positive people were sent to care homes
Schools may open without tracing in place
“Be alert” messaging caused confusion
Masks aren’t mandatory
WHY?👇
https://t.co/CinHhO2TGL
Some claim this is a strategy to allow the infection to pass through the population in order to try and reach #HerdImmunity.
breekdegolf.nl
They suggest that outside of cities like NYC, overall infection rates & exposure remain relatively low.
We’re a LONG way from #HerdImmunity
Had there been proper screening at airports or any proper quarantine/tracking measures this might have been avoided.
UK is still has no COVID measures at airports.
On 9/3, @OliverDowden repeatedly claimed cabin crew were checking passengers for COVID (!) & people arriving in UK were “tracked”.
https://t.co/o8rCFxuurt
But DCMO says there’ve been quarantine measures since 30 February
The govt counts tests when they are posted therefore a huge number were counted, but never carried out. independent.co.uk/news/uk/politi…
It’s a straightforward question that we have been asking since mid-May.
Hancock is unable or unwilling to offer an intelligible answer. #COVID19