Virus 22nd May 2020
New 20-minute test for virus now in trials. This means that people can get the results while they wait. Can tell right away if they have the virus. Hope it works.
Government Health Department has bought 10 million doses of an antibody test from a Swiss drug company. This will tell us if people have had the virus and may have resistance to it. They say that 1 in 6 of people in London have already had corona virus. This test will be given to NHS staff and care staff so that they could go back to work. The only problem is that we don’t know if you had the virus, whether you can still catch it again in future.
New discovery about T-cells. What are T-cells? These are the way the body fights diseases and protects us. In a tiny drop of blood, there should be 2 thousand to 4 thousand T-cells. People who are really ill from the virus have only 200 -800. Doctors can now use drug to increase the T-cells. Early days … but some hope to help seriously ill people.
Nicola Sturgeon, in Scotland, was in tears when she saw pictures of beach near Edinburgh, because it was crowded and so many people ignored lockdown rules. It puts lives at risk. “Please stick to the rules.”
Virus 21st May 2020
The Apple-Google app to trace virus is available to developers all over the world. This will allow tracking systems which are “de-centralised” meaning that the details are only on the phone not on a Government database. There will be updates on Android and i-phones to allow this. Big advantage is that the app will track people moving from one country to another. UK is not involved in this.
Donald Trump says 2 amazing things – more amazing than usual. He says it is a “badge of honour” that USA has so many case of Covid, it means they are testing more people. He also shocked his medical advisors as he said he was taking medicine for malaria, which he says protects against the virus. Everyone says this is really dangerous.
There are major concerns for the increases in virus in South Africa and in India. In very poor living conditions, it is just not possible for people to stay apart. However in most parts of Africa, the impact has been small … so far.