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The 
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🇮🇪" title="Flag of Ireland" aria-label="Emoji: Flag of Ireland"> testing response to the Coronavirus pandemic has not been flawless.
This is not a complete surprise given the international scramble for the bits it takes to get a BIG testing system up & running overnight. 1/9
This is not a complete surprise given the international scramble for the bits it takes to get a BIG testing system up & running overnight. 1/9
However, examining the countries we& #39;re looking at on #COVIDWATCHIRL, and up to date (13-4-20) data, we can see how we& #39;re doing..
We& #39;re doing the most tests & have detected 2nd most cases [per million population]... 2/9
![However, examining the countries we& #39;re looking at on #COVIDWATCHIRL, and up to date (13-4-20) data, we can see how we& #39;re doing.. We& #39;re doing the most tests & have detected 2nd most cases [per million population]... 2/9](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EVqaEB3XsAEQAti.png "However, examining the countries we& #39;re looking at on #COVIDWATCHIRL, and up to date (13-4-20) data, we can see how we& #39;re doing.. We& #39;re doing the most tests & have detected 2nd most cases [per million population]... 2/9")
We& #39;re doing the most tests & have detected 2nd most cases [per million population]... 2/9
That mightn& #39;t sound great but better the devil you know.
This is another way of showing the same testing data.
A high propensity to testing (e.g. South Korea, where they do nearly 50 tests to find 1 positive case) has to lead to a better picture of where virus is active. 3/9
This is another way of showing the same testing data.
A high propensity to testing (e.g. South Korea, where they do nearly 50 tests to find 1 positive case) has to lead to a better picture of where virus is active. 3/9
You can see large variance here when it comes to case fatality rate (CFR = deaths/total cases, displayed in %).
We know it& #39;s the same virus, but remember it hurts older populations more and different countries have different healthcare systems with more/less ICU capacity 4/9
We know it& #39;s the same virus, but remember it hurts older populations more and different countries have different healthcare systems with more/less ICU capacity 4/9
But some of these differences in CFR must also be due to the fact some countries aren& #39;t testing that much in the community (see 1st graph). So their number of cases is falsely low, which makes the calculation (deaths/total cases) higher than it should be in reality... 5/9
We want a low CFR as:
i) we want less premature deaths from COVID-19
ii) CFR = deaths/total cases, so a bigger number on the bottom of the equation makes CFR lower. But having lots of cases detected also means you probably have a better handle on where the virus is active. 6/9
i) we want less premature deaths from COVID-19
ii) CFR = deaths/total cases, so a bigger number on the bottom of the equation makes CFR lower. But having lots of cases detected also means you probably have a better handle on where the virus is active. 6/9
And if we know about it, we have a chance to shut it down.
Thanks to all those working to get our testing system up to scratch, from GP colleagues to @HealthlinkIrl to testing centre staff to lab teams to public health teams and all the way back down again to the patient. 7/9
Thanks to all those working to get our testing system up to scratch, from GP colleagues to @HealthlinkIrl to testing centre staff to lab teams to public health teams and all the way back down again to the patient. 7/9
Getting tests done & reported back to patients quickly & contact tracing effectively clearly still needs some work, but we& #39;re making progress.
If we want to "Trace, Test, Treat" we& #39;ll need it all running smoothly. 8/9
If we want to "Trace, Test, Treat" we& #39;ll need it all running smoothly. 8/9
And thanks to all hospital staff giving patients their best shot with this nasty disease when things escalate.
Sincere condolences to those who& #39;ve lost loved ones already, hopefully as a country we can minimise the damage COVID-19 will do to other patients and families. 9/9
Sincere condolences to those who& #39;ve lost loved ones already, hopefully as a country we can minimise the damage COVID-19 will do to other patients and families. 9/9
