Member Info for RegulatorUK

"You sign up with LSE earlier this month. Your first post on here is claiming to have been sent an invite to a home antibody test. Sorry pal I am calling BS on that. If indeed it is true, which I highly doubt, then it cannot be the consortium test because it does not yet have the home use approval."

Wind your neck in! DHSC and Imperial are recruiting a wider cohort of people from across the country for an extended REACT antibody surveillance programme. The tests kits aren't being sent out at the moment - this is just the recruitment stage.

*things - not 'thigs'.

"... I meant obvs, vindication for the argument of the day- to lockdown or to implement an effective test and trace. ..."

The problem is it's not an either/or. As WHO says - and examples from around the world clearly demonstrate - if you want to get on top of Covid, you need to have significant restrictions *until* you have in place (amongst other thigs) a robust track, trace and isolate programme.

The problem is we have a failing track and trace system (they seem to have forgotten the 'isolate' bit) that is actually getting worse rather than better...

More could be done - and ODX could play a leading role in that - but the political will simply isn't there.

"Assuming no trade deal"

It's not dependent on a trade deal. Easy access to the EU for medicines and medical devices will cease from the 31 December 2020. It's creating a huge headache for both UK manufacturers and UK healthcare providers. The only ongoing supply that has been agreed to date (and the government is insisting the negotiations will finish this week) is in relation to radioactive particles.

Many of our drugs and devices are currently imported from the EU. There will inevitably be delays. The NHS and DHSC have agreed to procure a strategic stockpile - but many of the items for that still haven't been procured and time is running out to ensure they can be procured and actually delivered before 31 December.

Throw into the mix the international shortages of some drugs and devices, and the end of this year marks a period of real concern and risk for UK healthcare providers and - most importantly - patients. And that's without Covid...

The upside of it is, there should be state investment into domestic supply (this has been promised even if some of it has yet to materialise), including the diagnostics field...

"Vindication for Johnson on the cards."

You what? This would in no way vindicate Johnson's criminally incompetent handling of the pandemic and it won't prevent a further lockdown.

As the WHO says , targeted test, trace and isolate (which we haven't got) needs to be in place *before* we can think of lifting restrictions.

"Access to a market of 145 million people for faster regulatory approval of UK approved products and internationally recognised marketing. Ready to go January 2021."

Unfortunately, it won't replace the easy access to the current market of 445 million people we gain through the EU, which will cease on 31 December 2020.

Another one to add to the green bin... lynthip.

There were 4,105 Covid pats in hospitals across England as the last national bed count. Most in the NE and NW but definite increases in the south, particularly London and the South West.

"If you had any sense you'd buy some more instead of moaning. Most stocks are down today."

Yep - my Covid portfolio is red across the board today (although still up significantly across the board). AIM is down overall...

As I've always said, ODX is a share for long term holders, who understand the long term value of the portfolio, rather than for the 10%ers and day traders who are hanging everything on a single product line.

This is what the government web-site says: "Try to put used and unused lancets in a ‘sharps bin’ (a special bin for medical waste). But if you cannot, they can go in your household bin."

Frankly, this is p*ss poor advice. Most pharmacies will have sharps disposal facilities and if they don't that can easily be put in place.

Diabetics and other people regularly using sharps will be provided with sharps bins, that will be collected by their local authority/returned to a collection point for disposal.

Any wide scale testing based on blood will need to address the issue of disposal of sharps. Even retractable lancets pose a clinical risk.

"Isn’t the deal with government that odx supply a minimum of 25% of orders after that they sell where ever they want?"

No. ODX doesn't have a deal with the government.

The government contract is with Abingdon Healthcare, as the lead consortium partner. ODX has an agreement with the consortium (not the government) that it will produce 175,000 of the initial 1 million test order - and at least 25% of any other test orders, irrespective of buyer.

That may of course change in the latest negotiations within the consortium.

Ooh - that's interesting. At the hospital I worked at in Zaire/DRC we had a bilharzia/schistosomiasis ward. It was a huge problem in schools in particular... a rapid diagnostic would make surveillance and treatment much easier.

"I strongly get the sense RegulatorUK works in the public sector..........."

Hate to disappoint you but no...

"The no longer approved is more interesting than the approved

No longer approved - Manufacturer: Fortress Diagnostics"

They couldn't really keep that going, given how poor a test it was...

"RegulatorUK. You’re being a little disingenuous here."

Not at all.

"Number (2) No country can do that, apart from perhaps China. ‘Trace every contact’ - nope"

Actually, they can (to all intents and purposes). Vietnam and NZ are just two examples of very different countries that have highly functioning track, trace and isolate systems.

"Numbers (3), (4) and (5) - these are being done. To what degree are these measures successful, that may be in question. But, they are in place."

They're not. The measures in place are totally inadequate and not really intended to deliver.

"Number (6) - never going to happen in the U.K. and probably many other countries. Too many people know better and are more the expert ..."

Again, that's simply not the case. If you are open, honest and transparent you can take people with you. Again - NZ is a good example, with a PM who was open and honest. This led to huge public trust in the government and compliance with lockdown measures that were far stricter than here in the UK - and enforcement of the restrictions by the community itself. The same in Vietnam.

Both also had testing, tracking and tracing led by local teams, who know their areas and populations - rather than handed over to a national consortium of private companies who have repeatedly failed to deliver the basics...

If we were following WHO's recommendations, and the advice of both SAGE and iSAGE, one of the key actions would be testing...

... and who would be at the forefront of that? ODX.

Just to be clear, WHO's guidance in lifting restrictions remains the same.

In order to consider lifting restriction the following conditions should be met:

1. Disease transmission is under control (not the case in the UK)
2. Health systems are able to "detect, test, isolate and treat every case and trace every contact" (not the case in the UK)
3. Hot spot risks are minimized in vulnerable places, such as nursing homes (not the case in the UK)
4. Schools, workplaces and other essential places have established preventive measures (not the case in the UK)
5. The risk of importing new cases "can be managed" (still not the case in the UK)
6. Communities are fully educated, engaged and empowered to live under a new normal (not the case in the UK).

When you look at those countries that are successfully tackling Covid and able to lift restrictions, they're meeting those tests.

"Can anyone explain the uk scientific advice urging a lockdown and the WHO advice now against it?

No wonder people are confused."

WHO is *not* advising against lockdowns.

A WHO special envoy, David Nabarro, made some comments about the utility of lockdowns in specific circumstances. These were then spun and misinterpreted by the media and some Covidiots.

"...and I found myself thinking they know more stuff than they are prepared to let on.

Chris W was only there under sufference and is piqued that politicians aren't listening to him. Reading between the lines, Boris is backtracking on any chance of a vaccine. The words used throughout suggest to me that a full, if perhaps mercifully short, national lock-down is indeed coming, perhaps to coincide with half-term."

The government has failed to follow the advice of it's own scientific advisors - hence Whitty's comment that Level 3 will not be enough to address the issues. A national lockdown is necessary but Johnson doesn't want to do it as he has made promises to his party donors.

How will this impact ODX? Difficult to say - but any increase in infections will inevitably lead to greater demand for testing.