Boom time coming19 Jul 2020 10:25
The first problem will be figuring out which virus a patient has. Flu, Covid-19 and other seasonal respiratory diseases are virtually indistinguishable on the basis of symptoms, warns Barbara Rath of the University of Nottingham: even the loss of taste and smell many people get with Covid-19 is not unique. We need more and better diagnostic tests, she says, because the difference matters: medical staff need full protective gear to manage a Covid patient, but they can be vaccinated for flu.