Member Info for ak_gabba

it's based on multispectral imaging analysis

https://www.intel.co.uk/content/www/uk/en/customer-spotlight/stories/iabra-virolens-story.html?linkId=100000015041503

TT electronics are assisting with the manufacturing. The test is being aimed at airports, university and sporting events. Its been mentioned that the test can be completed in 30 secs however the device itself has been reported as doing hundreds per day. i'm unsure why it's so low considering the test doesn't take as long

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/09/10/heathrow-boss-urges-government-back-20-second-coronavirus-test/

BBC News - Cambridge University to offer weekly Covid tests to students
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-54092327

Cambridge university to offer swab testing

https://www.bmj.com/content/370/bmj.m3520

The Whitehall briefing document says that success depends on scaling up polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing but also on emerging technologies, such as the “20 minute” saliva tests currently being piloted in Salford, Greater Manchester. The expansion will require “developing, validating, procuring, and operationalising testing technology that currently does not exist” and “creating significant new logistical and manufacturing infrastructure and capacity.”

Hanc0ck was asked in parliament how many PCR tests they have along with lots of other questions from the opposition but he side stepped the answer by not answering!

B2HS2L, i spotted that as well. we were initially contracted to supply 288,000 tests per week. i wonder what % share of the test we supply or will be supplying the lighthouse labs considering they are gearing up for 3,500,000 test per week

"We now have significant levels of stock in order to respond to emergency customer demands and we are able to provide our customers the confidence in supply continuity"

Not everything manufactured being sold. There appears to be some build to stock. This could however be to facilitate potential large orders in the future and as mentioned confidence in supply.

Thanks to morningsun for adding the information about cycles :)
I posted this earlier on in the week.
https://www.fda.gov/media/136309/download
Section 3
"During PCR cycling,
the probe anneals to a specific target sequence located between the forward and reverse primers.
The probe is cleaved by the 5’ nuclease activity of the Taq polymerase during the extension phase
of the PCR cycle, causing the reporter dye to separate from the quencher dye, generating a
fluorescent signal. With each PCR cycle, additional reporter dye molecules are released from the
probe, increasing the fluorescence intensity. Fluorescence intensity is recorded at each cycle of
the PCR by the Real-Time PCR machine."

EdDantes7 also contributed. I'm sure this has come up in conversation with the collaboration. one of the issues stems from the yes/no response but it appears the yes response may also be able to indicate at which cycle the test became positive. it's up to the scientists and test manufactures to agree what can be "assumed" as dead virus particles.

Yes troublesome, PCR cycle. I posted a link a couple of days ago about cycles perhaps being too high. Having a few tonight will check in tomorrow (afternoon!) And repost if someone hasn't already

B2HS2L, true it's clear the numbers aren't being revealed. it's certainly a glass half full or glass half empty way of thinking.

"option to expand" i'm unsure if the expansion would result in an RNS or not. I certainly like to think we have increased on our 288k per week

From https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-53990068
"The government says the network of labs used to process tests has capacity to process 250,000 tests a day at the moment.
Currently around 175,000 tests a day are being processed, which the government has said is more per head of population than many countries.
But the government said it has faced problems because demand is not smooth - at weekends it drops and on weekdays there can be surges.
Over the past month it has meant a backlog has developed, meaning the time taken to turnaround tests has been increasing.
To curb demand, the availability of slots at testing centres have been reduced"

What they are saying is they have national capacity of 250,000 per day but when it peaks through the week to 175,000 they aren't able to cope. Thats 75,000 spare capacity however that is across all pillars. Furthermore they have been trying to "curb demand" by reducing slots available as some sort of solution to deal with the demand. Sadly the politicians are incapable of fronting the logistical issue that they can't solve.

On the point of DHSC contracts i sadly have no idea how it works and the devil is always in the detail. Without the required numbers that we have all been waiting for we simply don't know if we are forward sold or manufacturing to stock.

a logistical nightmare which the incompetent government is responsible for

a test which differentiates between covid and flu is exactly what they need. if the media end up in a frenzy with reports of lots of people with a fever the governments need to be able to turn round and say x% is covid and y% is non-covid

you make me giggle sometimes sharehunter3. When an RNS drops, how long does it take before you are craving the next one?

reminder link of testing pillars

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-testing-data-methodology/covid-19-testing-data-methodology-note#:~:text=pillar%201%3A%20swab%20testing%20in,from%20having%20had%20COVID%2D19

link to testing stats from gov

https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/testing

some questions for open debate (add more if you like)

What % of the testing (excluding antibody) do you think ncyt have?
Will the winterplex phase out the original covid-19 test?
With more labs coming online across the country do you think this will increase the current contract to supply more tests?

Biocenter lab is part of the network of labs set up in April so they will have access to our kits

I'd think it's a regulatory compliance requirement to have this before use. It's a step towards future sales and use. still want those vital numbers though. manufactured X sold y profit=??

I wasn't aware of that exmex thanks for the heads up. Looks like risk assessment can be performed to allow the test outside CL2
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/wuhan-novel-coronavirus-guidance-for-clinical-diagnostic-laboratories/wuhan-novel-coronavirus-handling-and-processing-of-laboratory-specimens

That was an entertaining thread to read!

i didn't hear that specifically. my point being i'd be disappointed to hear tests on mass being purchased from outside the UK unless...... it turns out to be better and cheaper

i hear what you are saying allah4uk. it was a good statement however we don't have the exact mention that we are all looking for. he did mention later on that only tests that have results validated will be used. we are still joining the dots right now but it does sound very familiar.
the link that you posted. those tests are manufactured in Spain