new coronavirus outbreak China, Korea, USA - mod warnings in OP (updated 24/02/20)

SeaBreezes wrote: »

I don't think anything of the sort, I didn't say that at all.


I think the tests have proved very unreliable.
I think our excellent health care staff have people with suspected COVID19 tested for very valid reasons. This has happened in limerick, dublin and cork hospitals.
I think a clinical diagnosis maybe the closest you can get to an official diagnosis until the test accuracy improves.
I think it may take time but some of them will test positive eventually..

Do you not agree?

This time last year I was heading to Iceland. I had a cough (similar of which I have now) at the time and was advised to get a scan in A&E only if I was concerned because of my holidays(doctors didnt think it was serious). I got the scan because it was going on for weeks and I didnt want to be taking any risks in Iceland if I had anything more serious.

A&E looked at scan and said its all grand . . Great, went off to Iceland, had a great time and thought nothing of it. A week or so later I get a call from the hospital who must of reviewed my scan to say they spotted something on the scan (no indication of what) and they asked me to come back in. I went back into the hospital and nobody would tell me anything, suppose they couldnt say for certain what was going on.

They did another scan and eventually told me it looks like I had Pneumonia (after doctors and hospital told me it was nothing) but now it was gone. I didn't make a song and dance about it. But what that shows is how mistakes can happen even in a non crisis event. It also suggested to me that even when the authorities (doctors and hospital) are telling you its all grand, sometimes you instinct means its worth pursuing answers if you dont feel its right. I was convinced by the authorities that I was making too much out of it. Again, I am not angry with them as it was not intentional, but again it shows that sometimes the authorities get things wrong.

With regards to the testing of this illness, does anybody have any definitive evidence of how accurate these testing procedures are in Ireland ? You see different stats thrown about in terms of how much we know how to tell the difference between this virus and others. What about people who have shown no symptoms, have they been tested ? How would we know who to test ?

I am not overly concerned, I just find these questions really interesting. I know it worries some people to even think about it, but you never see answers to these questions. So we get something like "70 people have been tested negative in Ireland" with no indication of the test or its reliability and people think that means its not here. I was tested for Pneumonia last year and even though they know about what to look out for, they still struggled to diagnose it. Is it that simple to spot the coronavirus in comparison to pneumonia ? (I ask these questions out of interest)