{"id":213416,"date":"2020-09-12T06:09:13","date_gmt":"2020-09-12T06:09:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=213416"},"modified":"2020-09-14T06:28:57","modified_gmt":"2020-09-14T06:28:57","slug":"scottish-health-minister-admits-the-covid-19-test-is-rubbish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=213416","title":{"rendered":"Scottish Health Minister Admits the Covid-19 Test is \u201cRubbish\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chris Musson \u2013 The Sun Sept 10, 2020<\/strong><\/h1>\n

SCOTTISH Government health chief Jason Leitch admitted the tests used to detect Covid cases are \u201ca bit rubbish\u201d, it emerged today.<\/span><\/p>\n

The national clinical director suggested the \u201cantigen\u201d tests – the results from which are driving ministers\u2019 policy – are not fully reliable as they can give positive results to people who are not infectious.<\/span><\/p>\n

Speaking in a web Q&A for members of the business body FSB Scotland, he was asked about the different kinds of coronavirus tests available, and if businesses might be able to rapidly test workers to check if they\u2019ve got Covid.<\/span><\/p>\n

He replied: \u201cYes, I think that will come. The science is not ready for that yet. I think a number of things will happen.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cRemember, the first, the most important test we’re doing just now is the antigen test – looking for virus.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNow, the test just now is bit rubbish.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is positive if it finds live virus or remnants of dead virus. It can’t tell the difference.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSo you could still be shedding virus six weeks after you’ve had the infection and still get a positive test, and you’re not infectious.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSo the test we have just now is a bit rubbish, and the science is trying to improve that test all the time.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr Leitch\u2019s comments come amid debate in the scientific community about the \u201cfalse positive\u201d and \u201cfalse negative\u201d rates for the antigen or PCR testing.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the web Q&A, he said of the flaw in test: \u201cThat’s why you hear us talk about testing a lot. It’s very important, but it’s not the only important thing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Experts have since blasted the “astonishing” admission.<\/span><\/p>\n

Professor Carl Heneghan, director of Oxford University\u2019s Centre For Evidence-Based Medicine, said: \u201cI think it\u2019s an astonishing admission for the National Clinical Director to say the test they are using to direct national policy is \u2018a bit rubbish\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI guess he\u2019s reflecting on and questioning the whole system, because the test as it currently reports – in the context of \u2018are you infectious\u2019 or \u2018have you the live virus\u2019 – is not helpful whatsoever.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Prof Heneghan said that \u201cwhat we really need to know\u201d is how many people are \u201cweak positives versus actually potential infectious\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

He said: \u201cThen the test and trace system should focus on those that are most likely to be infectious.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

An analysis by the Oxford academic and his colleagues last week suggested hospital patients with Covid could be being overcounted in Scotland<\/span><\/p>\n

They pointed out the number of cases on wards revealed by Nicola Sturgeon at her daily briefings was at a rate nearly nine times higher than down south, and could include people who have recovered from the virus and have other illnesses.<\/span><\/p>\n

The report prompted Ms Sturgeon to say a review of the counting system was underway.<\/span><\/p>\n

Last week, the Centre For Evidence-Based Medicine also produced a review showing Covid PCR tests could be picking up dead cells from old infections – the issue referred to by Prof Leitch – and creating \u201cfalse positives\u201d which exaggerate the extent of the pandemic.<\/span><\/p>\n

Prof Heneghan suggested a cut-off point so that low doses of the virus do not produce a false positive result.<\/span><\/p>\n

Today, Prof Heneghan said: \u201cPolicy is not being driven by hospital admissions, symptomatic cases, ICU admissions, deaths.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s being driven by a binary PCR Yes\/No result for which your national director has just said is a \u2018a bit rubbish\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat they are doing is reflecting their policies are based on opinions and not based on the actual evidence.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s incredibly important – even in an individual case – if you\u2019re going to make the decision to treat somebody or not, that you have an accurate test that helps you understand what actually is happening in this individual.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOtherwise you are treating people at random for all sorts of diseases when you\u2019re not clear if they have them.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Labour health spokesperson Monica Lennon said: \u201cThis outburst is irresponsible and the Scottish Government should withdraw these remarks.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTesting plays a crucial role and to dismiss this as \u2018rubbish\u2019 will undermine public confidence in the Test and Protect strategy.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSNP Ministers should act on the advice of experts like Professor Linda Bauld who just yesterday told Parliament we need more testing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Scottish Conservative health spokesperson Donald Cameron said: \u201cGiven that testing is absolutely vital in stopping the spread of coronavirus, this off the cuff remark from Jason Leitch may cause some alarm.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPeople need to have confidence in the testing process and be reassured that it is accurate and reliable \u2013 especially with the recent increases in people testing positive.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Source <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Scottish Health Minister Jason Leitch admits the test being used to direct national policy on Covid-19 is \u201ca bit rubbish\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39262,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[61,105],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-213416","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-Commentary","category-coronavirus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213416","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/39262"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=213416"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213416\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":213534,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213416\/revisions\/213534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=213416"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=213416"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=213416"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}