dixiegirl1035
I will do it, but I won't like it
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Part 2 of 2 of today's WHO presser
Q&A cont'd
Q. Doubts about the testing as so many negatives then positive. A. No dx test is foolproof, especially when the tests are so new. There are many programs and others around the world especially when test are new there is a chance of a false positive or false negative someone who’s told they are positive when they don’t have the virus or vice versa so it is an important consideration. That’s why it’s an important consideration and that’s why clinical suspicions and intention to the diagnosis is always very important e.g. if there’s an epidemiologic link with a previous case and if the person is extremely ill and you have a negative test you would always retest that patient. And there are reference labs. Especially where countries are testing for the first time we ask that the countries share the first 100 samples with a reference lab so that we can validate their testing protocols. So there are a lot of checks and balances in place. We rely on common sense, no test if foolproof.
Q. Reports of infected passengers on Diamond Princess, 100 more today, what can you do? A. What is clear is that the infection prevention and control measures are difficult to implement in a ship environment because there are a number of factors that are very difficult to put under control and we have seen this on many other occasions for other infections like norovirus. It’s not specific therefore for COVID-19. And that’s why we are working with Japanese folks and cruise ship doc to protect the passengers and STICK TO OUR PRIMARY OBJECTIVE WHICH IS CONTAINMENT OF THIS VIRUS. We need to focus on our primary health objective which is to contain the virus, and not the people making sure we have the right balance of protecting the population in not only Japan and other countries but also the health of the people on this boat. It’s very difficult as there are many unknowns for this virus. We learn more every day and every hour about this virus. Thanks to the owners of the Princess and the Westerdam for being so open
Q. WHO daily updates… should media be reporting lab or clinically confirmed cases A. We will report both numbers. We will be working with China to see if they will continue to report both numbers going forward on a daily basis.
Q. re video bloggers being arrested/quarantined.. are you prepared to address with China re this A. We always encourage openness, when we get misinformation our job is not to go after people who release that, our job is to put out good information and give people the best information. It’s not about going after the messenger. And we do encourage openness and transparency at all levels. It is the best way for public health to do it’s job and it doesn’t matter what country you are in or what level you represent. And as with the ships, we have to balance the public and common good against the rights of the individual and sometimes that’s a very difficult balance to strike. And that has been historical, and we’ve seen that in 1918 pandemic when the governments including your own (forgot which country was asking this question ?) and the US had to make some very difficult decisions about quarantine and information and that’s something that you can’t ignore. It’s important for all governments to balance the good of society and the community against the rights of individuals to openly communicate
Q. re protecting rights of individuals, too early to talk re travel ban on cruise ships? A. There is no zero risk , we need to manage risks. They are manageable risks and focus vast majority are in China. Even Attack rate in Hubei is 4/100,000 persons at this time. This is a very serious outbreak and has the potential to grow, yet we need to balance that. Outside Hubei, this is affecting a very very very very tiny amount. Where do we stop, we need to be based on principle. There is no zero risk. Measure should be proportional and the situation based on public health science and evidence and blanket measures may not help.
Q&A cont'd
Q. Doubts about the testing as so many negatives then positive. A. No dx test is foolproof, especially when the tests are so new. There are many programs and others around the world especially when test are new there is a chance of a false positive or false negative someone who’s told they are positive when they don’t have the virus or vice versa so it is an important consideration. That’s why it’s an important consideration and that’s why clinical suspicions and intention to the diagnosis is always very important e.g. if there’s an epidemiologic link with a previous case and if the person is extremely ill and you have a negative test you would always retest that patient. And there are reference labs. Especially where countries are testing for the first time we ask that the countries share the first 100 samples with a reference lab so that we can validate their testing protocols. So there are a lot of checks and balances in place. We rely on common sense, no test if foolproof.
Q. Reports of infected passengers on Diamond Princess, 100 more today, what can you do? A. What is clear is that the infection prevention and control measures are difficult to implement in a ship environment because there are a number of factors that are very difficult to put under control and we have seen this on many other occasions for other infections like norovirus. It’s not specific therefore for COVID-19. And that’s why we are working with Japanese folks and cruise ship doc to protect the passengers and STICK TO OUR PRIMARY OBJECTIVE WHICH IS CONTAINMENT OF THIS VIRUS. We need to focus on our primary health objective which is to contain the virus, and not the people making sure we have the right balance of protecting the population in not only Japan and other countries but also the health of the people on this boat. It’s very difficult as there are many unknowns for this virus. We learn more every day and every hour about this virus. Thanks to the owners of the Princess and the Westerdam for being so open
Q. WHO daily updates… should media be reporting lab or clinically confirmed cases A. We will report both numbers. We will be working with China to see if they will continue to report both numbers going forward on a daily basis.
Q. re video bloggers being arrested/quarantined.. are you prepared to address with China re this A. We always encourage openness, when we get misinformation our job is not to go after people who release that, our job is to put out good information and give people the best information. It’s not about going after the messenger. And we do encourage openness and transparency at all levels. It is the best way for public health to do it’s job and it doesn’t matter what country you are in or what level you represent. And as with the ships, we have to balance the public and common good against the rights of the individual and sometimes that’s a very difficult balance to strike. And that has been historical, and we’ve seen that in 1918 pandemic when the governments including your own (forgot which country was asking this question ?) and the US had to make some very difficult decisions about quarantine and information and that’s something that you can’t ignore. It’s important for all governments to balance the good of society and the community against the rights of individuals to openly communicate
Q. re protecting rights of individuals, too early to talk re travel ban on cruise ships? A. There is no zero risk , we need to manage risks. They are manageable risks and focus vast majority are in China. Even Attack rate in Hubei is 4/100,000 persons at this time. This is a very serious outbreak and has the potential to grow, yet we need to balance that. Outside Hubei, this is affecting a very very very very tiny amount. Where do we stop, we need to be based on principle. There is no zero risk. Measure should be proportional and the situation based on public health science and evidence and blanket measures may not help.
