Coronavirus - The Thread :(

[jrkitching]

I just spoke to my friend who was in quarantine and I think it might be exaggerated a bit.

It's not using an app and the technical documents I can find about it do state cell tower triangulation, with a mix of all the providers to make it more accurate.

I would have thought it wouldn't know if a phone is stationary or not then, as it's not going to be accurate enough for that - perhaps that part of the story isn't 100% right.

However they do definitely turn up at your house if you turn it off or don't respond to one of the messages in time - that has happened to quite a few people!

If you're using the phone to enforce a quarantine restriction, then network triangulation will suffice; you don't need a smartphone for that. They will know if the phone has moved more than a couple of hundred metres, and they can ensure you and the phone are still together with a random 'challenge-response'; either by text or voice call.

What the NHS are trialling on the IOW is more sophisticated, and (this is a simplified version) is a smartphone app that logs whenever two phones come closer than a specified distance apart. If the user of one of the phones goes on to develop symptoms, they report via the app, and an anonymised message is then sent to the users of all the other phones which have been logged by the app as having been closer than the specified distance for a specified time. There's more information about how this all works on the NHS website. Interestingly it doesn't use either network triangulation or GPS, rather it uses bluetooth to detect another phone in close proximity.

A phone running either Android 8 or iOS 11 (or better) is needed; this will rule out quite a few older smartphones. Also the app will need to run a background process, and you'll need to keep bluetooth turned on.

The app is open source; anyone can download the code, including potential hackers. With bluetooth permanently enabled, I'd have security concerns about this.

put your phone number in here see how accurate it is https://buddy-locator.com/?l=T8ZY

You almost caught me out with that fake website.

The first time I tried it, it told me I was in Edinburgh.

When I tried again a couple of minutes later, it said I was a few miles north of Watford.

 

[dave]

Watford.

strange it was custom made for jock it should always say Edinburgh

 

[PuntoHowTo]

If you're using the phone to enforce a quarantine restriction, then network triangulation will suffice; you don't need a smartphone for that. They will know if the phone has moved more than a couple of hundred metres, and they can ensure you and the phone are still together with a random 'challenge-response'; either by text or voice call.

So you’ve changed your mind then??

This is what we where talking about. We where not talking about the NHS and yet you spout all this then fall for daves dodgy website

 

[jrkitching]

This is what we where talking about. We where not talking about the NHS and yet you spout all this then fall for daves dodgy website

My bad. I thought we were talking about NHS contract tracing (and the proposed app actually uses bluetooth, not GPS, so I was wrong on both counts).

 

[varesecrazy]

This is the level of intelligence of the anti covid 19 legislation protesters have.
View attachment 209185

I hope thats a REAL OVEN GLOVE under her arm

a WHO approved one.. not those cheap fakes

 

[Rado77]

I believe I got Corona appr 6 weeks ago. I woke up in the morning and I felt all symptoms except fever. I was so tired that I slept few hours. And then I woke up...and it all was gone. My wife is working in nursery where Corona was identified between personal. She had some symptoms 3-5 days before me, but she was ok after 1 day too. Very strange feeling this Corona, I wasn't able to do anything...and I was so tired that my body shutted down to hibernation mode for 6 hours

 

[ben]

I believe I got Corona appr 6 weeks ago. I woke up in the morning and I felt all symptoms except fever. I was so tired that I slept few hours. And then I woke up...and it all was gone. My wife is working in nursery where Corona was identified between personal. She had some symptoms 3-5 days before me, but she was ok after 1 day too. Very strange feeling this Corona, I wasn't able to do anything...and I was so tired that my body shutted down to hibernation mode for 6 hours

Are they doing antibody testing where you are?

 

[Cinq999]

Just an update, I've had an antibody test done, and it's confirmed I've got the antibodies in my system.

After reviewing the results, my doctor is fairly certain that the "flu" I had in January was actually Coronavirus, I had all the symptoms including the latest one of loss of taste and smell.

He said there's still no guarantee I can't catch it again.....they still don't know enough about it yet.....but he's reported it as it was much earlier than the "official" first case....and I'm not the only one.....I think the truth is that it's been around for some time, but just passed off as the flu.

 

[ben]

He said there's still no guarantee I can't catch it again

But hopefully that is the case and you can relax a bit now

 

[dave]

Just an update, I've had an antibody test done, and it's confirmed I've got the antibodies in my system.

After reviewing the results, my doctor is fairly certain that the "flu" I had in January was actually Coronavirus, I had all the symptoms including the latest one of loss of taste and smell.

He said there's still no guarantee I can't catch it again.....they still don't know enough about it yet.....but he's reported it as it was much earlier than the "official" first case....and I'm not the only one.....I think the truth is that it's been around for some time, but just passed off as the flu.

how did you manage to get a test that is unavailable? https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coron...-for-a-test-to-check-if-you-have-coronavirus/

 

[varesecrazy]

Cinq999
Good to hear you are obviously over the worst..
I'm convinced it was here a lot earlier than we were led to believe.. shame the 'symptoms list' has changed so much over the months.
Which authority did your test ?
NHS England ?

 

[Cinq999]

I paid for it.....I know someone who works at one of the testing labs, and they're doing tests privately.

They said the NHS are intending on using the tests.....but as with everything, it'll take time.....and money.

 

[Crossingkeeper]

how did you manage to get a test that is unavailable? https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coron...-for-a-test-to-check-if-you-have-coronavirus/

https://vivoclinic.com/shop/product...MI7LGKiczC6QIVA-ztCh2q2w9nEAAYASAAEgIAJvD_BwE

 

[dave]

https://vivoclinic.com/shop/product...MI7LGKiczC6QIVA-ztCh2q2w9nEAAYASAAEgIAJvD_BwE

have you used that one? apparently there are a lot out there you can find through google that don't actually give an accurate result.

i'd be interested to know what one Cinq999 used if his doctor has looked over it and not raised any concerns. I too had a bad cold with loss of smell just before covid 19 was officialy in the UK. Its left me with a bit of trouble breathing ever since, Dr sent me for an xray that was clear as far as he could tell and referred me to a specialist, but obviously they are ultra busy atm so not had an appointment through. would be interesting to know if it was just a cold or not.

 

[jrkitching]

Superdrug are (were?) offering an antibody test for £69 but it's listed as 'not currently available' with an email link to join a waiting list.

 

[Crossingkeeper]

have you used that one? apparently there are a lot out there you can find through google that don't actually give an accurate result.

No personal experience, I'd heard that Superdrug were offering this test so googled and this was the link that came up. (the actual Superdrug site is currently showing the kit as N/A due to high demand)

I'd like to take the antibody test at some point as like yourself I had some unusual, although mild, symptoms a couple of months ago, but will probably wait until the NHS recommends a particular kit.

 

[Cinq999]

have you used that one? apparently there are a lot out there you can find through google that don't actually give an accurate result.

i'd be interested to know what one Cinq999 used if his doctor has looked over it and not raised any concerns. I too had a bad cold with loss of smell just before covid 19 was officialy in the UK. Its left me with a bit of trouble breathing ever since, Dr sent me for an xray that was clear as far as he could tell and referred me to a specialist, but obviously they are ultra busy atm so not had an appointment through. would be interesting to know if it was just a cold or not.

It wasn't that one.....I went direct through a lab that is using the approved Roache testing......plus it cost me £135.

My doctor took my blood sample for me.....I don't bleed easily, so those fingerprick tests don't work for me.....so I arranged for him to take a vial's worth, then when results came back I emailed them to him so he could look over the specifics.

He himself was fairly sure beforehand it was Covid19.......I've never experienced anything like it in my life..... stabbing pain in my throat, coughing every 30 seconds day and night for well over a week, fever, banging headache, pain in all my muscles, vomiting, diarrhea, loss of taste and smell, after a few days felt like I was breathing in 100% humidity air..... struggle to fill my lungs, then coughing up lots and lots of phlegm.

I'm obviously still going to follow all the social distancing guidance etc.....better to be safe than sorry.

The doctor is going to phone me tomorrow with some more info..... possibly look at doing another test in the coming weeks to see the affect on level of antibodies over time.

 

[dave]

It wasn't that one.....I went direct through a lab that is using the approved Roache testing......plus it cost me £135.

My doctor took my blood sample for me.....I don't bleed easily, so those fingerprick tests don't work for me.....so I arranged for him to take a vial's worth, then when results came back I emailed them to him so he could look over the specifics.

He himself was fairly sure beforehand it was Covid19.......I've never experienced anything like it in my life..... stabbing pain in my throat, coughing every 30 seconds day and night for well over a week, fever, banging headache, pain in all my muscles, vomiting, diarrhea, loss of taste and smell, after a few days felt like I was breathing in 100% humidity air..... struggle to fill my lungs, then coughing up lots and lots of phlegm.

I'm obviously still going to follow all the social distancing guidance etc.....better to be safe than sorry.

The doctor is going to phone me tomorrow with some more info..... possibly look at doing another test in the coming weeks to see the affect on level of antibodies over time.

thanks wish i hadn't read it whilst eating though :yuck: so if i google Roache testing, i should find one that works?

 

[Cinq999]

thanks wish i hadn't read it whilst eating though :yuck: so if i google Roache testing, i should find one that works?

I imagine so.....just checked, its Roche......the Roche test is the one that PHE and the NHS have approved as being up to standard, although the test by Abbott has also been approve.

From The Guardian newspaper this evening:

"Public Health England (PHE) validated two laboratory-based antibody tests from Swiss-based Roche and US-based Abbott last week, and another – from the Welsh firm Ortho Clinical Diagnostics – this week.

Meanwhile, a private testing bonanza looks set to take off, with private GP clinics and the high street chemist Superdrug offering antibody tests supplied by Abbott for sale to the public.

Ortho Clinical Diagnostics’ newly PHE-approved test outperformed the other two. Ortho, based in Cardiff for 40 years, says its test is 100% specific for Covid-19, which means it does not confuse the antibodies produced in response to the virus with those from other coronaviruses, including the common cold. Roche’s test has been validated by PHE as 99.8% specific and Abbott’s as 99.6% specific."

 

[dave]

How thick and hypocritical are them reporters and photographers hounding the adviser who broke the rules.I don't think the adviser was right but we will never know the truth as usual. but we can all see the others breaking the rules they should all be fined.