Covid 19 Part XX-26,644 in ROI (1,772 deaths) 6,064 in NI (556 deaths) (08/08)Read OP

schmoo2k wrote: »

Bit of a stretch blaming any specific airline I would have thought?

I think it's more a problem of the airline being slow to cooperate with contact tracing thereby hindering identifying potential close contacts who shared the same flight so they can be followed up and tested.

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Why pick Tuesday?

I am well aware of the numbers and they all tally fairly well over the week, however what is clear is they have modified the process for turning positive test results into confirmed cases following a weekend. Likely for administrative reason, or maybe even the increase in testing of close contacts. They will always prioritise the hospital cases and symptomatic over close contacts with no symptoms, and a few weeks back they weren’t getting tested in any widespread manner. Now they are, and we have this Tuesday backlog all of a sudden, and also data telling us 50 % of cases are identified close contacts.

What is to be gained by having low numbers 6 days a week and a peak on a Tuesday if someone is trying to game the system?

If boards posters know the figures before the official released figures I know these figures today are incorrect. That's all now p off

Martina1991 wrote: »

Swabs from test centres are processed by the NVRL. Before the pandemic they weren't open for routine testing at weekends. Then they threw all resources they could to Covid testing.

Tests are still being processed 24/7 but maybe some administration supports have been rolled back until Mondays again. Cillian DeGascun would be the man to ask.

Not all tests being performed in NVRL. This was the case initially but many hospitals now have platforms set up for testing. There were tests being performed in 18 different laboratories by early April and 43 different laboratories by mid May. Turnaround time for test results now down to an hour for people requiring admission to hospitals in some places.

A number of factors contribute to Tuesday jump. Tuesday figures are comprised of notifications of new positive cases reported to HPSC of midnight on the Monday. Less people present for testing over weekends. There is a tendency to wait to see how one feels and make an appointment for Monday rather than see an unknown GP over weekend. GPs and hospital EDs are always far busier on Monday than they are on Saturday or Sunday. Even if case presents and is tested on a Saturday or Sunday, as you mention, that case may not be reported to NPSC over weekend. Although lab staff are working, the secretarial/admin side is limited so that case is not notified to NPSC until Monday and then only appears on Tuesday figures.

A person on Reddit is claiming to work in a hospital and have been antibody tested. They said the positive antibody tests are being added to confirmed case numbers, just like in Spain. Anyone know anything about this?

Deleted User wrote: »

They are posting the raw data. Positive tests one day minus the previous day. There may well have been some people tested multiple times. There have in fact been almost 4,000 more positive tests than cases. There is a poster on this site in the labs so may be able to ahead more light on it, but I would imagine there is a review process from when a positive result from a sample, likely only identified by a number, becomes a confirmed case. And it is also not surprising to see that some of these on a weekend slip until Monday.

I can only comment on what happens at our hospital.
-Swabs are checked individually that the details on the swab match the details on the form.
-Healthcare workers and hospital patients are processed in house.
-Swabs from the community are entered onto the hospital system, given a barcode an unique number, and then packaged up to be sent to the NVRL. A courier comes twice a day.
-Then there is some sample preparation. The swabs themselves aren't loaded onto an instrument. Any viral particles first have to be suspended in a liquid solution.
- Once all the automated analysis (PCR) is complete, the controls are checked. If the controls don't work you have to start the batch again.
- If the controls are ok, the results are valid. Each result is checked and double checked by a second person.
-The results are then released onto the hospital information system and that's it.

It's then up to the Dr in the hospital who requested the test to look up the result and treat the patient accordingly. Positive results are phoned.

I don't know what person in the hospital is responsible for reporting the daily figures to the HPSC or what time they report them.

After cases are reported to the HPSC the results go through the text/phone process. I don't know anything about how that works.

podgeandrodge wrote: »

With the numbers so ****ing huge I wouldn't leave the house if I were you. Stay safe out there!

Just don’t go to Portiuncla. The new hot zone tonight!

majcos wrote: »

Not all tests being performed in NVRL. This was the case initially but many hospitals now have platforms set up for testing. There were tests being performed in 18 different laboratories by early April and 43 different laboratories by mid May. Turnaround time for test results now down to an hour for people requiring admission to hospitals in some places.

A number of factors contribute to Tuesday jump. Tuesday figures are comprised of notifications of new positive cases reported to HPSC of midnight on the Monday. Less people present for testing over weekends. There is a tendency to wait to see how one feels and make an appointment for Monday rather than see an unknown GP over weekend. GPs and hospital EDs are always far busier on Monday than they are on Saturday or Sunday. Even if case presents and is tested on a Saturday or Sunday, as you mention, that case may not be reported to NPSC over weekend. Although lab staff are working, the secretarial/admin side is limited so that case is not notified to NPSC until Monday and then only appears on Tuesday figures.

Yes I know that. But there's a discrepancy that ACE and others have been pointing out that positive tests results are occuring at weekends but not being reported until 2 days later. Why not report them on the day they occur.

I mentioned that the NVRL may be the source for this discrepancy as they are not a routine lab. They are a reference lab. So they may not be reporting their cases like routine hospitals do on a daily basis.

majcos wrote: »

If not previously counted or PCR tested, I think that case is added to the total as a newly notified case to HPSC. The timing of the notification does not always correlate with the timing of the case as seen in the Tuesday blips. The wording of the publication of the daily statements from the NPHET does specify that the HPSC has been notified of X number of confirmed cases rather than stating that there are X number of new cases diagnosed.

Some of the antibody testing within hospitals gives both IgM (recent/active case) and IgG (previous/past case) results. If IgM within a hospital that would definitely be notified to HPSC.

I am not as sure what is happening with antibody testing from the research side as in the Dublin and Sligo study or with testing done through the TMB.

Do you know if/what hospitals are performing antibody tests routinely?

I didn't think they were available through the public system yet.

Gp's still not allowed to ask for antibody tests. This has to change asap.
Separately, turn around approx. 48 hrs in last week for pcr at home test for a very high risk person. Phoned in by Gp ...testor arrived same day within a couple of hours. Just to add test result rang back to individual as they are definetly not young and not mobile tech savy. fyi
Hope all counties just as fast.