Celebrities like Idris Elba are diagnosed with Coronavirus how to stop its spread

We enter the eye of the storm. With the British death toll from the Covid-19 pandemic getting closer to 200 and the number above 4,000, the country is poised to become a ghost nation.

Transport is being scaled back and schools, pubs, restaurants and cinemas are closed.

The past seven days have led to a significant escalation in the government’s response to the worst health crisis in a century as ministers push for unprecedented social distance measures to curb infections.

But some of the world’s foremost experts urgently warn that the UK acted too little, too late. At the heart of their criticism is the government’s failure to test people with symptoms of the virus.

The World Health Organization was at the forefront of this backlash and urged countries like the UK to “test, test, test” and insist “not to fight blindfolded.” Still, our strategy is that only the most severe hospitalizations with respiratory problems be screened for Covid-19, primarily to avoid spreading to vulnerable wards.

Meanwhile, doctors and nurses who risk their lives on the front lines of the NHS are also struggling to get tested. Boris Johnson and his senior advisors have been largely praised for “following the science,” but it appears that confidence is now declining in their approach as the number of cases increases.

Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt told the Today program yesterday morning that it took “a massive national effort” to conduct more tests, arguing that the UK should “do much more” to save lives.

Dr. Bharat Pankhania, an infectious disease expert at Exeter University, says, “This is the most serious situation the government has faced regarding the health and well-being of its people, and they must let go of everything to control. “

Social media is flooded with people who claim they have symptoms but cannot know if they are infected or if it is a little less benign, such as the common cold.

Meanwhile, celebrities and sports stars, including Luther actor Idris Elba, confirm that they have tested positive. And thousands who can afford it pay £ 375 for a private test from a Harley Street clinic.

Positive steps are now being taken. On Wednesday, the government announced plans to increase the number of tests it is conducting this week to 10,000 a day and then to 25,000 in the next four weeks. But Sir Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust, said an “enormous rollout” of tests – over 25,000 a day – was “critical” for NHS staff and the community.

There will likely be other new tests available in the coming weeks that can reveal not only the infected, but whether you’ve ever had the infection – and are now immune. But what does all this mean – and are you eligible for the tests? And, crucially, is it enough?

When the first cases of Covid-19 appeared on British soil in January, people with symptoms were urged to contact 111, the NHS non-helpline.

Tests, initially less than 100 a day, were only offered to those who had returned from an affected country or had come into contact with a known case. The test itself, known as rt-PCR, involves smearing from the nostrils or throat. Each costs a few pounds.

Genetic material from the swabs is examined for ‘signatures’ of the coronavirus – small pieces of the DNA of the virus.

Results take several days and are very accurate.

It was developed by government scientists after the SARS pandemic in 2004 and was ready to test for Covid-19 – essentially a new form of SARS virus – as soon as China published the gene sequence of the new infection.

The main test point during a pandemic is two-fold: to diagnose people, but also to understand how far the virus has spread, which is known as surveillance tests.

This may include testing people without symptoms that may still be infected.

But on March 12, the government said it was “no longer necessary to identify every case.” It went from “containing” the virus to “slowing down” its spread, meaning that only those with the most severe symptoms should be tested.

Teams trained to provide drive-through testing facilities at locations across the country were disbanded. Some tests are still conducted in residential communities such as care homes and prisons to protect those small populations. And there are about 100 major GP practices involved in “sentinel” screening – where patients are randomly tested so that the government can build a picture of how the virus has spread. But otherwise the true picture of the infection rate is unknown.

Anyone with the main symptoms – a new and persistent cough and fever – is urged to isolate themselves for seven days. Those living with an infected person are told to isolate themselves for 14 days, in case the virus is transmitted.

Professor Jonathan Ball, a molecular virologist at Nottingham University, said that this advice does not go far enough. “To have any impact on the spread of this virus, more testing needs to be done in the community,” he says. “There is increasing evidence that the infection shows symptoms similar to a cold in as many as 70 percent of cases.

“This is serious, because it means that most people who may be able to broadcast are unaware of the risk they pose to others and do not isolate themselves.”

The government’s last goal, announced last week, is to run 25,000 tests a day within a month, and it seems to be an attempt to address these concerns.

Dr. Rupert Beale, group leader in the Cell Biology of Infection Laboratory at the Francis Crick Institute, says it is “a critical part of an effective response to the pandemic.”

Dr. Pankhania says there is “no shortage” of test kits, and experts were told in government briefings earlier this month that there was capacity to perform 30,000 a day.

“Then, suddenly, there was a turn-on on community tests – I don’t know why,” he adds. “I don’t think it’s about capacity.”

On Thursday, the UK’s chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, urged MPs that ‘we don’t have mass tests available now’ and that ‘when you can only do a certain number of tests’ you should prioritize the most vulnerable. Officials say new machines should be brought to NHS labs to increase the number of tests, and the government would also consider using university and private sites to expand capacity. It is still unclear who will get access to the additional tests when they are finally offered.

Johnson said health workers will be a priority so they can keep working and not unnecessarily isolate themselves. But there are no official plans yet detailing how this will be done. Meanwhile, doctors have complained via social media about the risks they face, while some hospitals act unilaterally and order their own tests to avoid staff shortages.

Dr. Pankhania says key workers – such as those involved in providing essential services, including food, electricity and gas – should also be tested. Proof of how important testing is can be seen by looking abroad. South Korea has conducted more tests than any other country – 4,000 per million inhabitants, four times the number in Italy. 20,000 are performed daily and anyone who wants a test can visit one of 50 drive-through test stations.

South Korea has registered nearly 8,800 cases – more than double the UK total – but far fewer deaths. Like the UK, Italy has only conducted limited tests – and the country has surpassed China in terms of deaths. But in the Veneto region, there was a large-scale test campaign. Italian biologist and disease expert Andrea Crisanti, who led the campaign, says, “As soon as we find a patient, we test all their friends, relatives and neighborhood.”

This has proven to be crucial because – as evidenced by the evidence – many infected people may show only mild symptoms or even no symptoms at all.

In one city, Vo ‘Euganeo, Prof Crisanti tested all 3,300 inhabitants and of the 89 who were positive and quarantined, half had no symptoms. Within a few days, the city had no new cases. Prof Cristanti says: “It is the invisible positives without symptoms that are of most concern.

“For the UK, I recommend systematic testing and targeted lockdowns where clusters are found.”

It means that the government is under increasing pressure to conduct a do-it-yourself test to help experts more accurately map the spread of the virus. Known as antibody or serological tests, they have been used in China, South Korea, and Italy.

Johnson announced last week that the government was negotiating to purchase a game-changing test as simple as a pregnancy test. “If it works as the proponents claim, we’ll buy hundreds of thousands,” he said.

These finger prick tests include taking a blood sample and identifying antibodies that the body develops in response to the infection. They can deliver a much faster result – possibly within minutes – and at a comparable cost.

But while it was widely welcomed, there is skepticism about its accuracy and how useful the tests could be. Sir Patrick admitted that it could take “weeks or months” before they were ready, warning that it might not be “reliable enough”.

Another antibody test is being developed by Public Health England (PHE) to monitor the virus in the community. It can see who has had the virus before and can help the government figure out to what extent the outbreak can still spread. PHE said it would start using the test “soon” with initially 1,500 tests per week. Dr. Pankhania says, “The antibody test is useful, but not with an active outbreak, while we have to control infection rates. Some may not have produced enough antibodies to prove they are infected. It is not precise enough. ”

The other way to get tested is private – if you can afford it. The Private Harley Street Clinic in London offers a £ 375 test that can be delivered to your home – and Director Dr. Mark Ali says he has sold thousands. Customers are celebrities and executives.

The tests included taking smears from the nostrils and throat and sending them to a British laboratory, which returns the results within three working days.

Dr. Pankhania says the test, which looks for genetic material produced by the virus, is similar to the NHS test. But the clinic did not respond to questions about this.

A team from the Department of Technical Sciences at Oxford University is developing a faster test that can produce a result within 30 minutes. But this, and the government’s latest pledge to increase testing, may all be late, Dr. Warns. Pankhania. “We need to test now – we need to know where the threats are coming from. Think of a tsunami coming up. What can you do about it after the wave has disappeared and everything has been destroyed? ‘