‘Virus tests have not been double-counted’
SOCIAL MEDIA CLAIMS ARE RUBBISHED BY GOVERNMENT
THE government has stressed it has not double-counted the number of positive coronavirus tests in Leicester that led to the city being put in a localised lockdown.
The Mercury has been contacted by numerous people who have seen posts on Facebook and other social media platforms suggesting the case for lockdown was based on false data.
There have been suggestions that swabs taken from both nostrils of people in the city who had the virus were counted, doubling the figures.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has told the Mercury positive test results are not double-counted.
Explaining how results are counted, the DHSC outlined in a statement the four types, or pillars, of testing being carried out.
■ Pillar 1: Swab testing in Public Health England (PHE) labs and NHS hospitals for those with a clinical need, and health and care workers.
■ Pillar 2: Swab testing for the wider population.
■ Pillar 3: Serology testing to show if people have antibodies from having had Covid-19.
■ Pillar 4: Blood and swab testing for national surveillance supported by PHE, the Office for National Statistics (ONS), and research, academic, and scientific partners to learn more about the prevalence and spread of the virus and for other testing research purposes, such as the accuracy and ease of use of home testing.
The DHSC said: “All tests in Pillar 1 and Pillar 4 are counted at the point are processed by a lab. Nose and throat swabs are counted together as one sample.
“Tests in Pillars 2 – wider community testing such as home tests and testing stations – are administered in two different ways and therefore fall into two categories: those that are counted when they are dispatched; and those that are counted when they are processed by a lab;
“As in Pillar 1, Pillar 2 nose and throat swabs are counted together as one sample.
“Pillar 4 tests, depending on the study, either counts swabs or blood samples.
“Tests in Pillar 3 are counted at the point when they are processed by a lab. Blood samples are taken and processed in laboratories.
The DHSC said tests processed through laboratories “are counted at the time of processing in the laboratory and not when they are issued to people”.
It added: “Tests are never doublecounted.”
Health Secretary Matt Hancock told the House of Commons on Tuesday that the infection rate in Leicester was falling, and the data was “moving in the right direction”.
He said that the seven-day infecthey tion rate in the city had dropped, but reiterated the fact that local lockdown measures would not be lifted until July 18 at the earliest.
Mr Hancock said: “Last week we took difficult but vital decisions about Leicester. Since then, we’ve been working with Leicester and Leicestershire and I’m pleased to say that we have brought down the seven-day infection rate from 135 (cases per 100,000 people) to 117.”
He said, however, that despite some restrictions being relaxed, people must still stick to the guidance because “the virus exists only to spread”.