Testing on Productions
The most basic control for any hazard is avoid, and sensible testing – not indiscriminate testing – can help keep the virus out of a production, or limit its spread within.
On January 1st 2024 The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Testing Requirements and Standards) (England) (Amendment and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2023 made several key amendments to The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Testing Requirements and Standards) (England) Regulations 2020.
There are some transitional provisions we won’t bore you with.
If you recall, the Government has been inventing new legislation to deal with imaginary issues with COVID testing for some time. The original legislation was framed to ensure that:
“…all private providers offering COVID19 testing services on a commercial basis in England provide services that are of a sufficiently high standard”
This had the effect of stopping private GPs, set medics and other qualified medical professionals conducting COVID tests outside the NHS which caused considerable consternation at the time, and had the effect of concentrating pretty much all commercial testing in the hands of a few large private providers – at a time when an awful lot of private testing for travel etc was mandated by law.
It’s claimed that these latest changes make compliance “less onerous” but the COVID testing space still has very high barriers to entry – and qualified medics are still barred from providing a simple diagnostic test as part of their private clinical practice.
Infection Timeline
THE TRAJECTORY OF A SARS-CoV-2 INFECTION HAS CHANGED DRAMATICALLY IN THE LAST FOUR YEARS.
WE’VE CHANGED. HIGH LEVELS OF IMMUNITY AT POPULATION LEVEL MEAN THAT WE WILL NOW TEND TO SHOW SYMPTOMS EARLIER – BECAUSE THE BODY RECOGNISES THE VIRUS MORE QUICKLY – AND BEFORE A TEST WILL RELIABLY SHOW A POSITIVE RESULT.
NEVER IGNORE SYMPTOMS AND DON’T BE FOOLED BY A NEGATIVE RESULT EARLY ON.
THE VIRUS IS DETECTABLE IN THE THROAT ~2 DAYS BEFORE THE NOSE BUT IT IS DETECTABLE FOR LONGER IN THE NOSE – AND AT HIGHER LEVELS.
28 DAYS FROM INFECTION 33% OF NASAL SWABS AND 11% OF THROAT SWABS WILL STILL TEST POSITIVE ON PCR.
VIABLE VIRUS CAN’T BE DETECTED AFTER 12 DAYS FROM INFECTION IN THE NOSE AND 11 IN THE THROAT – OR 10 DAYS FROM SYMPTOM ONSET.