Quote wrencat1873="wrencat1873"Maybe it was just who they were testing ?
The point that I was making is that, the UK said the test wasn't good enough but, it does seem that Germany has a test that it is happy to use and that does appear to have been successful in helping.
Meanwhile, in the UK we seem to go for over promising tests, PPE, number of deaths and have failed to hit any of its own targets.
We also have a daily roll call for deaths in hospitals, which although possibly accurate, is utterly meaningless if it only includes around half of the total deaths caused by the virus.'"
Germany has a vast network of decentralised private laboratories which has certainly helped. We simply don't have that capacity or flexibility. According to Speigel International [url=https://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/corona-challenge-germany-reaching-the-upper-limit-of-testing-capacity-a-4d75e7bd-dd0e-41e3-9f09-eb4364c43f2e
it hasn't been all plain sailing[/url, but they've done a great job.
Quote wrencat1873="Speigel"Those who try in vain to get tested for the coronavirus these days can count on little more than the sympathy of German Health Minister Jens Spahn. It's a "deeply relatable feeling" that people want to know whether they're infected. However, in view of the "limited capacities," public health officials must decide "together" who gets to be tested and who doesn't.
Not even Spahn knows just how big Germany's testing capacity is. There are hundreds of private laboratories distributed throughout the country, and that's in addition to university clinics and hospitals overseen by state governments.'"
I've mentioned this before, but they also have a far more disciplined and compliant society. They follow government instruction and don't have house parties or flock to parks and have mates round for bbqs just because it's sunny. There have been some small protests against their lockdown but the vast majority are sensible and compliant.
Also - and this is key - it seems Germany records the cause of death as any underlying condition even if the patient is confirmed with CV19, and testing for CV19 after death is not all that common. In the UK doctors can record CV19 as the direct or underlying cause of death regardless of underlying condition, and without the need for a positive CV19 test result, or the need for a coroner. Another reason why comparing different countries is never accurate.
We'll see a better picture when Germany publishes their number of total deaths for March, on 30th April.
Either way, this isn't going away. If someone tests positive and everyone around them is placed in quarantine, what happens next? They're back in society within about 2 weeks. Then - as we're seeing in Asia - it just comes back. Until there's a vaccine it'll just keep moving among the population and we simply cannot stay in lockdown in perpetuity, so we'll likely see a gradual easing of restrictions, maintaining social distancing, recommending masks, working from home where possible, perhaps changing how schools operate, continue to isolate those most at risk, continue to restrict mass gatherings, etc.
Testing capacity here is increasing rapidly and we'll soon see it rolled out nationwide, which will help enormously.
