4 ms·
In Germany, the lead virologist in Berlin said that in the beginning they went after cases like yours, testing people who had weird symptoms in February, or eve
by jhrmnn 7y ago
In Germany, the lead virologist in Berlin said that in the beginning they went after cases like yours, testing people who had weird symptoms in February, or even late January, because the hypothesis that the virus had been circulating in Europe for quite some time seemed plausible at the time. None of these cases tested positive.
I'm not saying you didn't have COVID-19, just that it's very unreliable to draw any conclusions from anecdotal evidence like this.
- proportionate 7y agoNone of those cases tested positive, but what kind of test did they have? PCR only identifies an active infection. Need antibody testing if not currently infected.
- jhrmnn 7y agoI don’t know. I can only assume they took this into account. I don’t want to be condescending, but do you really think that you just thought of a rather trivial catch that a bunch of expert virologists didn’t think of?
- proportionate 7y agoI don't want to be condescending, but did you ever stop to think that the serum tests were not available then?
- jhrmnn 7y agoIf they did PCR tests, and didn’t consider that N days (I don’t know the number) after infection you don’t have virus RNA anymore, they’re stupid. Really stupid. If they did think of it and now the guy claims this proves there was no virus flying around, he’s simply lying. Until shown otherwise, I will assume that the leading virologist in Germany and a respected public figure is neither stupid nor lying.
- xenonite 7y agoThe question rather is if someone is able to pass on the virus, which is the relevant point today. And the PCR test is perfectly suited to check that.
- prox 7y agoAbsolutely, I also had a strange flu that could have been it in early to mid February. First I dismissed Covid,but later I did find a one hop link with someone who was tested positive. But until I can get tested (or my intermediary) its just guesswork.