Tests, masks and contaminated shopping: DR ELLIE CANNON answers your questions on coronavirus

I’ve heard you can pay to have a corona test privately. Should I have one if I have symptoms? The short answer is: no. The reason so many people want a test is because we hate uncertainty. It’s understandable that people want to know if they’ve got or had Covid-19, even if we’ve had only … Read more

Why is it taking so long for health chiefs in Britain to approve antibody tests?

Coronavirus antibody tests which reveal exactly who has had the infection and is likely to be immune are said to be crucial for phasing countries out of lockdown. Germany, Italy, Finland and the US have all launched large-scale antibody testing programmes in recent weeks as they look to get society up and running again. South … Read more

Health bosses confront Matt Hancock over claims NHS workers aren’t coming forward for tests

Health chiefs today confronted Matt Hancock over his claims NHS staff are not coming forward for coronavirus tests as they told him sick nurses were driving two hours to testing centres only be told to come back another day.  Dame Donna Kinnair, the chief executive and general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, said … Read more

Oxford University to begin tests of its coronavirus vaccine on humans NEXT WEEK

Hopes of eliminating the coronavirus were raised today after leading British experts revealed trials of a vaccine would begin on humans next week. Oxford University scientists are confident they can get jab for the incurable disease rolled out for millions to use by autumn. Tests of the experimental jab on different animals have shown promise … Read more

State Department warns that China may be conducting secret nuclear bomb tests

China may have secretly set off low-level underground nuclear test explosions despite claiming to observe an international pact banning such blasts, the U.S. State Department said in a report on Wednesday that could further fray U.S.-Chinese relations. The finding may worsen ties already strained after President Donald Trump said the U.S. is investigating the possibility … Read more

Could coronavirus cause testicular pain? American man tests positive after a ‘stabbing’ sensation 

A 42-year-old man tested positive for the coronavirus – after going to hospital with testicular pain, doctors have revealed. He reported no cough or shortness of breath – the tell-tale symptoms of COVID-19 – but did have a fever which vanished after two days. His doctor urged him to seek emergency help because of the … Read more

Matt Hancock insists his 100,000 tests a day target by the end of the month IS still on

A British company offering a million coronavirus tests a week has not been taken up on their offer by Public Health England, it is claimed.  Apacor, based in Berkshire, has approval from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency for supplying coronavirus antigen tests and says they could ‘do 150,000 [tests] tomorrow’ but they’re just … Read more

False negative coronavirus tests could be due to how healthcare workers are collecting samples

The US has tested more than 1.2 million Americans for coronavirus, but some have received negative results despite being infected. The coronavirus is a disease that forms in the lungs, but it sometimes sits in a cavity between the nose and throat where a swab is unable to reach. Although the RT-polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) … Read more

Cold War bomb tests show shark’s age at time of death

Cold War atomic bomb testing from more than 50 years ago has helped scientists correctly determine the age of whale sharks for the first time. An international team of scientists measured levels of a carbon isotope in shark bone that permeated the oceans during atomic bomb tests in the 1950s and 1960s.   The presence of the … Read more

Fisher Island in Florida buys thousands of coronavirus tests for its 800 families

A luxury private island in Florida has purchased thousands of coronavirus tests for its private residents and workers – even though only one percent of the state has been tested for COVID-19.  Fisher Island, located off Miami, is the wealthiest zip code in the country, home to multimillion-dollar condos and about 800 families and is … Read more