Scientists believe huge number of cases not recognised because official guidance was not updated
The UK government has finally updated its official list of coronavirus symptoms to include a loss of the sense of smell, known by the medical term ‘anosmia’.
This loss of smell has been recognised as one of the frequent symptoms of the coronavirus, often present even in those who are otherwise asymptomatic. But the government has steadfastly failed to add anosmia to its official guidance of symptoms to look out for.
As a result, scientists believe that 100-200,000 cases of infection have been missed, allowing each of those people to come into contact with potentially hundreds of thousands of others, not realising they were infected – exposing millions more people to infection, with inevitable loss of life.
A study in Italy showed that at any given moment 50-75% of those infected did not realise they were infected – but they were still capable of infecting others.
Loss of taste has also now been added to the UK government’s list, having also been medically recognised months ago. The French government officially warned its people in March that these two symptoms were key identifiers of infection by the virus.
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If you only count deaths from the virus on the back of a positive test the obvious solution to high rates is not to do ‘too much’ testing. In that respect they are doing well.
All sounds a bit of a muddle with the blind leading the blind?.ITs not the loss of smell,its the stink of corruption and murder coming from this “Stinking foul government and the enemy within the knight led Labour party.
Logical implication is a lot more of us are infected therefore the virus is a lot less lethal in society. Therefore as the Swedes, Keralans etc have discovered (ie those who can test and trace because they haven’t got a Bojo the clown to fuck it up), we may not have needed a lockdown after all. Just the supply of proper ppe and the virus could slowly make it through the population and be no more worrying than Flu. Specifically HK flu of 1968/69. No drama, no deaths from poverty , undiagnosed heart attack, cancer etc etc.
You’ve not mentioned the worldwide death count!
Boris was probably incapable of detecting whether covid19 suppressed his own sense of smell because long before he contracted the illness, Bojo the Clown, voluntarily suppressed his own olfactory skills, so putrid and disgusting is the corrupt cause and the odours which accompany it of serving the billionaire class in their putrification of all that is good and that which does not afford them a profit motive.
The stink of rotten corruption pervades everything that Boris Johnson handles and everywhere he goes. He’d be in seventh heaven if he lost his sense of smell.
The addition of symptoms to the Covid catalogue inevitably increases the numbers of those that died, un-diagnosed with the disease. The government has continually avoided including ‘other’ symptoms, for the past two months and more.
It’s interesting to read so much confident simplified nonsense driven by sheer imagination.
Better to read something intelligent about the complexities of diagnosing the symptoms of Covid-19 illness :
https://www.cebm.net/covid-19/a-composite-reference-standard-for-covid-19-diagnostic-accuracy-studies-a-roadmap/
The academic and medical professions aren’t in the pocket of the government : the dodgy dealing is elsewhere.
Academics and medical professionals pretty much are in the pockets of vested interests if they ever want to see any grant funding again and their careers to progress.
Suggesting governments can’t or don’t apply pressure with the same casual self-interest as big pharma and other actors is as naïve as believing that “spenders with agendas” don’t take into account their “openness to fresh thinking” when choosing their preferred experts.
What are party whips and security services for if not to discover the vulnerabilities of such people?
Johnson last night when announcing a Knighthood for Col Tom went out of his way to remind all those ‘working hard’ that there would be plenty of gongs around. It’s a Peerage the Scientists are after, it’s a lifelong sinecure and gives professional status – and their wives or husbands are thrilled. It’s well worth watching what you say on TV.