I just heard of a local man who has been diagnosed with lymphoma. In order to commence treatment he was tested for covid. I think they did four tests, two were positive and two negative. I know of other instances where similar things have happened. Is the test so unreliable and if so why? People`s lives are being ruined by wrongly contrived information. If they test 500 students or factory workers and 150 test positive there is likely to be a major problem but on an individual basis a single test result has to be accurate.I have heard local lockdowns described as closing off the corner of a swimming pool when someone has peed in it which I thought was a fitting analogy.
The whole virus-control business based on testing to find cases is a self-licking lollipop which was inadvertently made clear by the director of public health for Peterborough and Cambridgeshire the other day on the radio. Throughout the plague Cambs has a pretty low level of recorded cases and the director started off with the official line that if you have symptoms you must get a test.
However on being probed by the presenter she admitted that getting a test in Cambs could be difficult and you'd have to be persistent because due to there being a low level of recorded cases there's not many test bobbins available - test bobbins perceived to be surplus are being sent north to areas with a higher case incidence. Of course that means people in Cambs are not getting tested which is keeping case numbers low.
Anyone with a functioning braincell can work out that therefore it's better not to get tested and life can carry on as normal as possible, although I'm pretty sure that wasn't her intended take-home message