“It had nothing to do with it not longer being appropriate to test. You just didn’t have enough tests so you gave them all to the NHS. But there you have Jenny Harries telling us it wasn’t an appropriate mechanism. Now we know from @RobertBuckland that was a lie.” @piersmorgan /1

Contact tracing was halted on 12/3 due to a huge testing capacity shortage.

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

There are two crucial issues here:

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

On 6/5, @Keir_Starmer asked @BorisJohnson:
“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

In response to @Keir_Starmer’s simple question at #PMQs - “Why was community testing for #COVID19 stopped on 12 March?” - Boris Johnson does not say it was down to lack of test capacity.

His reply is somewhat garbled, but the PM does say “it was no longer useful or relevant.”
/5

When Chris Whitty announced the decision to “pivot” away from community testing on 12 March,
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/

Accurate mass testing is vital.

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/

The govt are now encouraging home testing (4 days ago, it seems 40,727 of the 74,487 tests “done” were home kits sent out).

But there are concerns these home tests aren’t being done properly & even the instructions on the govt’s website are incorrect.
8/

Unlike the video on the govt website, doing a #COVID19 swab test is not pleasant.

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

On 15/5, @thetimes reported that “the number of false negative results from #coronavirus swab tests could be as high as 30%” which would allow spread of #COVID19 & “compromise UK’s ability to exit lockdown safely”.

It may explain this graph:
TESTING = up
POSITIVE TESTS = same

The issue of home testing kits & whether they are being administered correctly is of vital importance.

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

So, tests are being sent out with a 30% false positive result

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://twitter.com/stefsimanowitz/status/1256985994609467392?s=21 https://twitter.com/StefSimanowitz/status/1256985994609467392

This sawtooth chart by one of the Dutch govt’s scientists leaders their #COVID19 strategy shows a series of “yoyo-lockdowns”.

Some claim this is a strategy to allow the infection to pass through the population in order to try and reach #HerdImmunity.
https://www.breekdegolf.nl/ 

A number of seroprevalence studies - that look for antibodies to #COVID19 & assess overall level of population exposure - have been done.

They suggest that outside of cities like NYC, overall infection rates & exposure remain relatively low.

We’re a LONG way from #HerdImmunity

New released SAGE evidence (from 23/3) recognise that “major import” of #COVID19 came from Europe “notably Italy”.

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.

Back late Feb/early March, people were asking why we were allowing flights to arrive from #COVID19 hotspots with no checks.

On 9/3, @OliverDowden repeatedly claimed cabin crew were checking passengers for COVID (!) & people arriving in UK were “tracked”.
https://twitter.com/stefsimanowitz/status/1252146558537273344?s=21 https://twitter.com/stefsimanowitz/status/1252146558537273344

Despite all that we knew about the disease in February, & despite the fact that the UK had a 3 week head start over Italy, people were allowed to go skiing in Italy & return without checks.

But DCMO says there’ve been quarantine measures since 30 February

Prof John Newton, leading the govt's testing programme, says "certainly more than half" of home test kits made it to labs for tests to be completed.

The govt counts tests when they are posted therefore a huge number were counted, but never carried out. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/coronavirus-home-testing-kits-covid-19-uk-boris-johnson-a9528136.html