Roll up roll up Coronavirus Tests just £20

[drfchound]

Possibly but if I was going on national TV and all of the other news media I would be asking more than once of my advisors just how attainable the figures were. I would then say in my briefing that it was felt that X amount was a realistic figure. Why gauruntee a figure that you have no control over?
People will forgive to an extent if your figure is realistic and almost achieved. When it is unachievable and misses by a mile surely you expect ridicule and criticism?

Again, I agree with you idler but I have to wonder whether he did ask those questions.
I am not sure here but I think I might have heard over the last day or two that the capacity for 100,000 tests is in place but not been utilised.
(No doubt that someone will put me right on that if I am mistaken).
I have noticed for sure that Ministers are now not wanting to commit to figures and timescales now and in my opinion, rightly so.

[drfchound]

Idler, I agree with all of that.
Do you think that Hancock gave the 100,000 figure based on the advice he was given?

I've no idea. Do you think he gave that assurance to the QT audience that the Govt was liaising with supermarkets on getting food delivered to the vulnerable based on advice he was given?

Or that response to a journalist when he insisted that he hadn't promised we'd be at 25,000 tests per day by mid April? Do you think he based that answer on advice he'd been given? (Plot spoiler: He had. We didn't.)

Either the Dept of Health advisers give really, really bad advice which Hancock keeps taking, or Hancock is barely on nodding terms with the truth. Take your pick.

.....and I was having such a good conversation with idler.

So you have no idea whether he made the comment based on advice, thanks for being honest.

[idler]

Having the facility but asking people to travel a fair distance too take a test weakens that though.
We need as many local testing stations as possible which would not only make it easier but far quicker. The figures would leap up then.
I would agree with you about committing to targets that I couldn't deliver.
Honesty is the best policy.

[drfchound]

Having the facility but asking people to travel a fair distance too take a test weakens that though.
We need as many local testing stations as possible which would not only make it easier but far quicker. The figures would leap up then.
I would agree with you about committing to targets that I couldn't deliver.
Honesty is the best policy.

I was speaking to someone this morning about the testing station at Donny Airport.
I was saying that it would be better situated in the Racecourse car park next to the Whitby’s fish shop.
There is a park and ride car park there that the HNS staff use for transport to the DRI.
There is plenty of room there for testing and it would be much easier for NHS staff to use.

[idler]

My sentiments exactly.
There was a fireman from Liverpool who said that he was offered a spot at York,Doncaster and I think the third option was in the Birmingham area.
He said there was a testing station at Haydock, 15 miles away.
How does that work?

[drfchound]

Something wrong with the admin?

[IDM]

I think it’s done on a website so the computer probably generates results for where tests are available to be booked, so perhaps Haydock was full.?

[drfchound]

Could be IDM, I wonder if there is an option to change the appointment date until a local one becomes available.

[idler]

You don't want people driving more than necessary at a time like this though.

[BillyStubbsTears]

So if we have capacity for 100k tests per day but that requires folk taking a 200 mile round trip, we don't have capacity for 100k tests a day. We have PART of the capacity for 100k tests a day. Not that that really matters when assessing Hancock's credibility, because he assured us with his best stern face on that we would be DOING 100k tests a day by now, not that we'd have some things in place to have the capacity to do them.

On a practical level it doesn't matter if we've hit 100k tests today. What matters is that we expand the testing capacity as quickly as we can and all improvement is welcome.

But this is going to be a bloody long haul and we need to be able to have confidence in the honesty and credibility of official Govt policy. This past two months has not been good on that score.

[Donnywolf]

Rearrange the following words into an EXTREMELY well known phrase

daily for xyz address to ramping are we up (.....  insert whatever they are catching flack for)

[ravenrover]

It would be interesting to see how many individuals were tested as opposed to number of tests, as I've already said will the number of tests be based on the individuals tested or the number of swabs per individual?

[BillyStubbsTears]

The Health Depth publish the data every day of how many tests have been done and how many people tested.

The number of tests has risen dramatically which is good.

The number of people tested has risen less dramatically, which is...well, odd.

26 April
https://mobile.twitter.com/KatieG_81/status/1254471300820672513/photo/1


30 April
https://mobile.twitter.com/DHSCgovuk/status/1255919299555926016

[ravenrover]

Thanks BST, how strange more tests than people

[BillyStubbsTears]

Be interesting to see how the tests and tested people numbers stack up today. Last week, the difference was just a few percent. As you can see from that link, yesterday there were only 2 people tested for every 3 actual tests. Which sounds like a hell of a lot of re-tests.

It's great that we've got capacity now for 100k tests a day but I really do hope they are not just doubling up the tests on some people to hit the 100k actual tests a day target.

PS: In fact, the difference between number of tests and number of people tested yesterday might actually be even bigger than that. In the small print in that tweeted image it says:

"Due to technical issues in the number of [/i]people tested[/i] (my italics - note "people tested" not "tests") for Pillar 1 on 29 April, the daily total reported is larger than the daily total reported on previous days."

That seems to imply that fewer than 54.5k people were tested the day before yesterday.

[Donnywolf]

Bet they drag some figures forward from today but whether they make it or not it was a problem of their own making.

Johnson stated 25k and Han-cog trumped him and said they would be testing 100000 by the end of the Month and as a layman I would have expected that meant "and each day after" where reasonably practicable

They shouldnt concentrate on fixing this problem (of their own making) but doind something useful like perhaps building on the undoubted success they have presided over which is the envy of Trump sorry most of the World
Trump is too busy lying about how they have tested more than any other Country in the world - the world folks  - and lots of them added together !

[Donnywolf]

Well no surprise there. 100000 Tests a day reached by the end of April just as Han-cog predicted

Its was an audacious plan (he said) but we finally got there.

However yesterday was the first time they "did it" but the figure included 40000 kits posted out to people to test themselves at home - so hardly "tested" just they have the aility to test themselves and doubtless when they return their tests they will be counted for that day too

He said they would reach 100000 daily by the end of the Month (rather than just on one day) so how will they continue "creatively" reaching that figure.

By the way for those that know me I have been promising to get all 92 Grounds done since I was 18 and have finally done it. I have sent letters to each of the 11 Grounds I have not yet visited asking them to send a ticket for me for one of their upcoming games and sent a photo of me to put in the Seat they allocate - SORTED - I just love to keep my promises

[SydneyRover]

it's a shame they feel they have to do this, people arn't stupid Wolf in fact they could count how many kits they have available in the warehouse and use that number 

[Donnywolf]

What amazes and puzzles me is WHY ? Why do they have to lie - and commit such resource to making sure they meet an arbitary figure.

Its hard for me to explain something profound in writing which I can rationalise in my head easily - but surely if Han-cog had kept his trap shut and opted for "ramping up testing" they could have got on with doing it rather than (for PR purposes I guess) having to react to the 100000 when they could have got on with something that WOULD be helping us forwards

Nope I still failed but at least I now what I mean lol

[Donnywolf]

Just thought of the old New York murder joke and amended it to suit :

Every minute of the day a person gets tested. And they are now getting really fed up with it

[Donnywolf]

Well after Han-cog reached his Valhalla with 120000 tests (80000 done 40000 posted out) it then returned to 63000 tests today on 22 people

Well they are lying so I may as well start. Apparantly they now test everyone in their left cheek, right cheek, between the cheeks, right ear,  left ear. left nostril and of course right nostril

[BillyStubbsTears]

63,000 tests on 22 people?

Bloody hell, who did they get to volunteer to have that much stuff put up his nose?

(Enter punchline Cabinet Minister name here.)

------- ----?

[scawsby steve]

63,000 tests on 22 people?

Bloody hell, who did they get to volunteer to have that much stuff put up his nose?

(Enter punchline Cabinet Minister name here.)

------- ----?

Michael Gove?

[BillyStubbsTears]

You may very well think that. I could not possibly comment.

[selby]

  In Afghanistan they tested 500 people in Kabul and a third tested positive yet recorded deaths are very low, but lot's of workers have returned to the country from Iran.
  And in immigrant camp in Greece the problem is rife.
  In countries where reporting problems  and health systems are less than in the western countries  it looks like the problem is far worse than reported.