Impact of the recently identified 'false negative' PCR Tests from the Wolverhampton laboratory

MidgePhoto said

mph

1. unlikely to be in ICU with appendicitis.

2. Appendicitis admissions are, AFAIK, neither reduced nor increased by the pandemic. They may be delayed, but even then, point 1 above applies.

3. The counts of people in ICU being treated for COVID, and people in hospital on a particular day whose chief diagnosis is COVID are direct counts, not inferred from positive tests in the preceding 27 days.

He is merely stating that direct comparisons are largely meaningless, something I was also saying last year. There aren't any like for like comparisons and there are too many variables to compare hospitalisation data. I don't think any medical or biomedical professional would seriously think there was any sort of link between appendicitis hospitalisation and COVID hospitalisation. it is just an example of different reasons. However, there is a risk of sepsis after surgery or during appendicitis if not treated early enough, which could require ITU admission.

MidgePhoto said

mph

1. unlikely to be in ICU with appendicitis.

2. Appendicitis admissions are, AFAIK, neither reduced nor increased by the pandemic. They may be delayed, but even then, point 1 above applies.

3. The counts of people in ICU being treated for COVID, and people in hospital on a particular day whose chief diagnosis is COVID are direct counts, not inferred from positive tests in the preceding 27 days.

I didn’t see him comment about ICU figures. He actually said that such admissions would appear in the daily figures. The daily figures quoted in the BBC each evening are not ICU related.

I’m not sure why you are discussing ICU figures - which he wasn’t. He was discussing the general hospital admission figures and deaths.