Seems like the 25,000 antigen tests per day target is going to be ditched or pushed back. If true you really couldn't make this up:

I thought it was interesting in the video posted by the prime minister he did not mention this 25,000 daily testing target we have heard from government ministers throughout the crisis. There is a sense, I think, it is beginning to slip as they find it increasingly difficult to get the necessary test.

It is clear the government’s hope of attacking the virus rests not with a current coronavirus test, but with the separate proposed antibody test which will establish if people have immunity from the virus.

It is not up and running, it is still in the development stage, but the government has ordered 3.5m of those tests and the hope is that it will help ministers establish if people have built up an immunity to the virus and can be released from the lockdown.

That is which the government believes could provide way out of this crisis and that is which they are looking to mass test.

It doesn't get us out of the current situation or help to identify people who have coronavirus. So that test is of no use now but down the road the government believes that could be the exit strategy.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-52130552

It's the fact that you (and others) obsess so much just about China that I find very disturbing. Traditional medicine of the kind you are so deeply critical about is practised all over the world. Many in the West have the view that it is no more than witchcraft. But in other countries it has been part of their culture for thousands of years. They are not going to give it up overnight just because people like you in the West find it abhorrent. As they develop these counties might start to do clinical trials on these treatments and wean their people of them if they genuinely don't work. But at the moment it's a case of supply and demand - a concept which I am sure you are familiar with. If the state did not support and regulate it - then it would just go underground.

I wonder if you are as critical about reports that the NHS still spends a large sum of money each year on homeopathic treatments which in clinical trials have been shown to have no benefit whatsoever. The heir to the throne is also a huge supporter of these "complementary therapies".

Except the spending controls and budget cuts enacted by people such as yourself who are ideologically opposed to public healthcare.

I really don't get this - you actually think the Chinese figures are credible? On what possible basis? Given that the virus was allowed to spread exponentially for several weeks before they started to institute control measures, given the size of their population and the housing density in the cities worst affected, their stats are simply not credible in any way. Why do you persist with the delusion that they might be?

The Chinese figures are purely indicative of the timeline of the outbreak and bringing it under control - no more and no less.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-01/china-concealed-extent-of-virus-outbreak-u-s-intelligence-says

We have the best royals in the world.

Please tell me you don’t actually believe we have had more deaths in London than they had in Wuhan at a similar point?  Given how the authorities did nothing for at least six weeks - in fact worse than nothing - that’s improbable.

The WHO report on China was written by 10 international experts (including some from the US) and it kept emphasising how open China was and that there was no reason to doubt their data. Can I be 100% of this? Of course not. But I am more inclined to take their word over your paranoia and nationalism.

We can agree on this Gandalf - Xioni's faith in Chinese stats is mystifying.

Ridiculous! Paranoia and nationalism don't come into it - not believing the output of a secretive dictatorship is not "paranoia".

The WHO were barred from the infected regions for weeks. What is the matter with you Xioni? On this topic, you have taken leave of your senses.

P.S. No doubt you also believe that North Korea has had no cases at all.

I had an inner ear infection in 2002, I lost by balance for months afterwards and it never came back properly. I still suffer occasional flare ups

Perhaps some will have permanent lung damage from Covid, but experience of smokers suggest lungs do recover very well over time

Fist of all, you are getting your numbers wrong. China implemented a strict lockdown of Wuhan 28 days after they identified their first official case. We implemented a much less strict lockdown 54 days after our first official case.

This is getting very tiring anyway, I cannot be very confident that China's numbers are accurate, however the WHO experts on the ground were and I can only go with this.

Anything else is paranoia and conspiracy theories.

Makes the lockdown in India looks like a massive overreaction 

We have a heatwave next week in this country which will kill it off or slow it down. We should be encouraging people to go sunbathing in parks!

I can't say anything more, you keep ridiculing yourself.

No - on this topic Xioni, you are the ridiculous one.

I really can't beat you, you are ridiculous on most topics.

How thorough were they or did they just parrot whatever China told them? https://twitter.com/who/status/1217043229427761152?lang=en

The odious Peston humiliated on live TV

A lesson for all journalists covering Covid-19. https://t.co/Jjy7ZjUgRG

— Andrew Neil (@afneil) April 2, 2020

That's exactly why I am saying I cannot be confident about their data. Just because though I don't like the Chinese regime or just because they initially messed up big time with this virus doesn't mean that I should start disputing everything that comes from China. Our own scientists have been very impressed with their Chinese colleagues and that has been very different from SARS I.

Absolutely brutal set of front pages #COVIDー19 #coronavirus - first the heavies. Even supportive media like @Telegraph piling in 1/2 pic.twitter.com/sM32vcFMKA

— Peter Foster (@pmdfoster) April 1, 2020

I don't question the ability of Chinese scientists. I question the regime and much of the communication coming out of it. I also question the relationship between the regime and the top levels of the WHO.

I've been doing the weekly flusurveys that Roger keeps mentioning and I just received from them 2 test kits for coronavirus.

​Rapid COVID-19 diagnostic test developed by Cambridge team to be deployed in hospitals

Quote

 

A new rapid diagnostic test for COVID-19, developed by a University of Cambridge spinout company and capable of diagnosing the infection in under 90 minutes, is being deployed at Cambridge hospitals, ahead of being launched in hospitals nationwide. The SAMBA II machines, developed by Diagnostics for the Real World, provide a simple and accurate system for the diagnosis of COVID-19 infection. They will be used by healthcare workers at point-of-care in order to rapidly diagnose patients, directing those who test positive for the infection to dedicated wards. They can also help identify which healthcare workers are infected, enabling those who test negative to return to the front line.

The machines will be made available to a number of hospitals across the country thanks to a US$3million donation from the businessman and philanthropist Sir Chris Hohn, which will enable the purchase of 100 machines. The donation has enabled Addenbrooke’s Hospital, part of Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, to obtain the first 10 SAMBA II machines this week for use in wards where suspected COVID-19 patients are brought in. The donation will be matched by the purchase of 10 additional machines by the Cambridge Trust.

SAMBA II looks for tiny traces of genetic material belonging to the virus, amplifies it billions of times chemically and is therefore extremely sensitive in the detection of active infections. Dr Helen Lee, CEO of Diagnostics for the Real World said: “Our goal has always been to make cutting-edge technology so simple and robust that the SAMBA machine can be placed literally anywhere and operated by anyone with minimum training.”

Patients will provide a nasal and throat swab. Once these have been loaded into the SAMBA machine, the remainder of the process is fully automated. At the moment, tests are sent for analysis in centralised laboratories and this, compounded by the sheer number of samples that are having to be analysed, means that diagnosis can take one to two days.

SAMBA II is able to deliver results while the patient waits, helping healthcare workers ensure that those infected can be quickly directed to specialised wards. Whereas current tests can take over 24 hours or longer to deliver their results, SAMBA is able to deliver a diagnosis in less than 90 minutes.

 

https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/rapid-covid-19-diagnostic-test-developed-by-cambridge-team-to-be-deployed-in-hospitals

​

This is not a case of whether or not we are impressed with Chinese medical scientists and healthcare workers on the ground - they clearly did a fantastic job. The issue is the overall stats, which the Chinese government cannot possibly be trusted on.

There is no way the official stats for China could be so out of line with experience of this everywhere else.

Even then Peston still seemed to suggest that he knew better. Sometimes I despair.