The “false-positive PCR” problem is not a problem
If you haven’t seen all the chatter that states PCRs using more than thirty-something (someone even suggested 25 to me!) cycles will suffer from false positives and so is useless, Read More …
Category: SARS-CoV-2
More testing shows more iceberg
COVID-19 case numbers are rising quickly in many parts of the northern hemisphere. Already some totals have outstripped the peaks seen in the first wave of the pandemic. Europe and Read More …
Yes, PCR tests can detect “the COVID virus”
I was asked to write some comments for a fact check article about some of the myths going around about PCR-based testing and whether PCR tests can detect “the COVID Read More …
We don’t yet know the origin story for SARS-CoV-2
By Katherine E Arden, PhD & Ian M Mackay, PhD The existence of a coronavirus related to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) was first hinted at by a researcher Read More …
Kits and reagents and viruses
The COVID-19 pandemic has driven use of the words “kit” and “reagent”. I completely feel for you if you still have no real idea of what is meant by these Read More …
COVID-19 in Australia
As the cases begin to build up – but are still pretty low with limited community spread having been detected – now is a good time to start watching where Read More …
Past Time to Tell the Public: “It Will Probably Go Pandemic, and We Should All Prepare Now”
by Jody Lanard and Peter M. Sandman NOTE FROM IAN: The expert risk communication team of Lanard and Sandman has given me permission to post their very well-considered reply to Read More …
Not so novel: numbers: around COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2
A mammoth overview was just released by researchers from the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention (their website is a bit slow right now so have patience).[1] It broke Read More …