Coronavirus - Taiwan 2021

Okay, so they still call this treating a patient?

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This relatively high number indicates a relatively low viral load or an older infection. I don’t know how this case will play out, but I suspect this Danish guy may not have been a high risk to infect others, especially if he followed proper protocols including wearing a mask.

Some extra details on interpreting PCR results:

A Ct value under 40 is considered a positive test, the lower the Ct ​value the higher the viral load. In their population, patients with a Ct ​value of 34 or higher did not produce infectious virus. Some patients in this study tested positive but did not appear to be infectious. So there might be a Ct value at which patients are no longer infectious even though they still shed the viral RNA.

Source: https://www.medmastery.com/guide/covid-19-clinical-guide/how-do-i-interpret-rt-pcr-results

Guy

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Yes but it’s not above 35 or even 40. If they test 40-45 they would be positive likely 5-6 weeks after infection. At least that’s what happened in Northern Italy often where people were only allowed to leave Quarantine after 2 negative test, and some got stuck for 6-8 weeks.

3 staff from Taoyuan Health Bureau have symptoms one after another.
Thing does not look good for today! I’m waiting for the press at 2PM.

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But tested negative.

Everyone has COVID symptoms at least once a week by my reckoning. :thinking:

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I’m having now some running nose, but someone just farted in the office and I could smell it. I guess I’m alright. :upside_down_face:

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Yeah, I just saw the signs this morning.

Kind of sucks because I hang out at convenience stores when I have an hour to kill between tutoring sessions. Oh well, the weather is nice enough for now to just hang out at the park.

These new cases in Taoyuan, ugh. As if my city’s reputation wasn’t already in the toilet, now this.

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It’s a tad unfair because Taoyuan is right next to the airport.

I’m having many symptoms too.

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And care for over a quarter of all incoming cases.

I blame the central government for not closing the border and allowing the doctors and nurses to leave the hospital.

We know.

Guy

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In a liberal democracy it’s not possible to do what you want.

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They took decades of work to get right and are still being field tested as we speak.
It’s like saying a computer chip isn’t complicated after you create a computer chip lol.
Also RNA vaccines have been a small niche part of vaccine tech previously, they were not predestined to work on coronavirus. There’s no way to know the outcome until hundreds of millions…Even billions of USD were sunk into it by the innovators and pharma and govts and charities.

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I blame you for having a good old whinge.

Don’t you have a vaccine to invent?

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Most of the stores in taoyuan and nankan have closed off the seating areas. Many all of them. Even outside seats cordoned off. Coffeeshops and restaurants open as per usual mask usage has dramatically shot up.

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I blame you for blaming the blame. :sunglasses:

The fact that the guy is asymptomatic means we’re probably not talking about high risk here, but a Ct value of 30 could mean a bunch of things. It’s not considered very low.

https://medicine.yale.edu/labmed/sections/virology/COVID-19%20Ct%20values_YNHH%20Aug.%202020%20_395430_36854_v1.pdf

Sure, it’s a US law, but it has never been challenged in court or enforced. Unconstitutional laws often get made and then are torn down by the top court.

One negative test is not dispositive. Treating it as such is why we’re in a bit of a sticky wicket now.

We’ve seen for almost a year all over the world a pattern where people can test negative multiple times before testing positive, and test positive and then negative the next day. There are numerous factors, including sample collection, the location of the infection (upper versus lower respiratory tract, etc.) and stage of infection/viral load that explain why this is.

If you have someone who has symptoms like fever, and they had a known exposure or spent time in a place where there was an outbreak, a single negative test doesn’t mean they should go the nearest bar.

On the other hand, if you had somebody who tested positive but never had an exposure and had no symptoms, you’d rerun the test to make sure it wasn’t a false positive.

The problem we have now is that there were multiple people who were out and about in public (including a fast food worker) and likely contagious when they were out and about. So for the next few weeks, nobody in Taiwan can be 100% sure that someone with a runny nose, cough, fever, etc. isn’t infected.

She’s asking to completely seal the border. That is an extreme in my opinion, I’d associate with panic.

They have done well and they continue to do well. Nothing or nobody is perfect, but we’re doing well and we’re on track for a second defeat.

Taiwan 2
Coronavirus 0.