It occurs to me as a person with zero medical knowledge that an antibody test has to be much more efficient than a test for the virus which only proves that the person didn't have the virus when the test was administered. They could become infected within minutes of being tested, rendering the test results meaningless.
If you read the reports from @mrmhf and @Omori one seems to be backing the other. It seems sensible that the more virus you get initially the harder it will be for the immune system to catch up. Its easier to fight an opponent than an army.🤔
My thoughts go out to those who are stranded away from home.. I have a friend who is stuck on a cruise ship in Sydney harbour with no way home and not able to leave. The ship is not being aloud to dock anywhere. I know there are many other people in situations like this, must be awefull not knowing if any one on board is infected
A pregnant lady spoke on the radio yesterday she is locked down with her husband in Italy where he has just finished his work contract, she was saying that she didn't know what to do for the best should she stay in Italy or return home to the UK as she had planned to do, Evan Davis was asking her if she could get a Taxi to the airport, considering that Italy is supposed to be locked down like a drum I thought that was a very dodgy thing to suggest.
It occurs to me as a person with zero medical knowledge that an antibody test has to be much more efficient than a test for the virus which only proves that the person didn't have the virus when the test was administered. They could become infected within minutes of being tested, rendering the test results meaningless.
I think the problem is that if you tell someone they've had the virus, recovered and now have the antibodies then they might start acting like they're immune and ignoring the fact that they could still be spreading it around. Or even that people will start saying they're immune even though they migth not be just so they can get back to work faster.
I'm still wondering if we've already had the virus. The in-laws caught something off their next door neighbour when she came back from holiday just before Xmas. My FIL had all the symptoms including a really bad fever and cough. He went to the doctor who said it was just a chest infection and he wasn't contagious. He then passed it on to us and my wife had the fever and a cough that she couldn't shift for a couple of weeks. I had a permanent headache for a week but not much else. My sister, who's a nurse, was very ill with similar symptoms (even though we hadn't seen her) and her husband ended up with suspected bronchitis from it. Their GP said that they (husband and wife GP) suspected they'd personally had it as well and had seen lots of patients with symptoms that fit as well. All this was weeks before testing started in the UK and the first case was confirmed. All speculation of course...
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
And a bit more speculation here ... we're wondering whether we've both had a mild version of 'it'.
The first Monday in Dec. I met up with someone who travels a lot in the Far East and who has a lot of friends who do the same. On the Wednesday I was all ready to go to tennis when my chest suddenly felt a bit tight (not heart, it was more as if I'd got bad bronchitis)and I felt a bit feverish and totally exhausted with a really congested head. I stayed like that for about ten days ... was OK but tired over Christmas but in January I developed a bad cough ... rattly but not productive ... like nothing I'd ever had before ... my chest was so squeaky OH could hear it, but this time I didn't have a temperature ... I coughed and coughed for a fortnight and was off my food (never been off my food like that before ... no sense of smell or taste really) ... by the end of Jan I was well enough to go away for a night on the Suffolk coast for my birthday treat, but I still felt very lethargic all the time. At the beginning of March I had to have my BP checkup and the nurse was concerned that I was still coughing (still unproductive) and got her stethoscope out but said my chest sounded clear. I still have a bit of a cough.
While he was looking after me OH went down with a lurgy ... a really high temperature so that he was shivering, and he looked like a corpse, his face was sunken and grey ... he's never ill ... he hadn't had a day off work for ten years ... but he was awful ... he just lay there for nearly 48 hours ... much more shivering and teeth chattering and I'd have called a paramedic ... he recovered after a few days.
A few days after visiting us at that time my son went down with something strange ... a very congested head and very high fever for about three days ... he is prone to bad ear infections so when he phoned his GP she asked if his ear was bad and of course it was, so the fever was put down to that ........... but he's never had a temperature like that ... pouring with sweat, soaking the sheets ... he said he's never felt so ill .......
Don't suppose we'll know unless we have the antibody test.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I also was ill in December with cough, fever and exhaustion. I'd had two work trips to London using very crowded trains and underground. It took a few weeks to fully shake it off and then I though no more of it.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
I think an antibody test will be as hit and miss as a viral presence test. All depends on when the test is done.
I have just been told by a patcher with contacts in the teaching profession that the French school system is being warned to gear up for a possible return to class on May 4th. Seems a bit optimistic to me as the virus has still a way to go here.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
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The first Monday in Dec. I met up with someone who travels a lot in the Far East and who has a lot of friends who do the same. On the Wednesday I was all ready to go to tennis when my chest suddenly felt a bit tight (not heart, it was more as if I'd got bad bronchitis)and I felt a bit feverish and totally exhausted with a really congested head. I stayed like that for about ten days ... was OK but tired over Christmas but in January I developed a bad cough ... rattly but not productive ... like nothing I'd ever had before ... my chest was so squeaky OH could hear it, but this time I didn't have a temperature ... I coughed and coughed for a fortnight and was off my food (never been off my food like that before ... no sense of smell or taste really) ... by the end of Jan I was well enough to go away for a night on the Suffolk coast for my birthday treat, but I still felt very lethargic all the time. At the beginning of March I had to have my BP checkup and the nurse was concerned that I was still coughing (still unproductive) and got her stethoscope out but said my chest sounded clear. I still have a bit of a cough.
While he was looking after me OH went down with a lurgy ... a really high temperature so that he was shivering, and he looked like a corpse, his face was sunken and grey ... he's never ill ... he hadn't had a day off work for ten years ... but he was awful ... he just lay there for nearly 48 hours ... much more shivering and teeth chattering and I'd have called a paramedic ... he recovered after a few days.
A few days after visiting us at that time my son went down with something strange ... a very congested head and very high fever for about three days ... he is prone to bad ear infections so when he phoned his GP she asked if his ear was bad and of course it was, so the fever was put down to that ........... but he's never had a temperature like that ... pouring with sweat, soaking the sheets ... he said he's never felt so ill .......
Don't suppose we'll know unless we have the antibody test.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I have just been told by a patcher with contacts in the teaching profession that the French school system is being warned to gear up for a possible return to class on May 4th. Seems a bit optimistic to me as the virus has still a way to go here.
checking with the dictionaries it's been in use at least since 1934
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/contextualize and in common parlance since the 70s at least.
Don't fall down the Trump trap of 'I've never heard of it so it doesn't exist'. 🙄
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.