Your Coronavirus Test Is Positive. Maybe It Shouldn’t Be.

Created: 2020-09-06T20:34:00+00:00

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• Researchers calling for more widespread testing even if the tests are not accurate.
• Viral load should decide next steps not number of positive cases

• If you hear AJ screeching about "90% of cases are a fraud," he is probably talking about this article, which mentiones up to 90% of some cases checked were over-amplified and not detecting an infectious viral load

PCR testing

• Number of "amplification cycles" to find the virus determines severity of infection
• Amplification cycle count is not provided when claiming cases are present
• In Massachusetts, New York and Nevada, 90% of tested patients were carrying a minimal viral load
• Extreme amplification levels may only be detecting deitritus (ex. dead virus matter from cells the immune system shredded.)
• FDA does not set a standard level of amplification; every lab gets to decide its own criterion for a positive COVID case

The C.D.C.’s own calculations suggest that it is extremely difficult to detect any live virus in a sample above a threshold of 33 cycles. Officials at some state labs said the C.D.C. had not asked them to note threshold values or to share them with contact-tracing organizations.