Relevant sites claim that the WHO changed the COVID-19 PCR test procedure on the day of Biden's inauguration - the pandemic would therefore be practically over.
Various relevant sites and sharepics are spreading the claim that the WHO has now suddenly changed the PCR test procedure for COVID-19. It is also highlighted that this happened on the day of Joe Biden's inauguration as US President.
Of course, this immediately gives rise to conspiracy theories:
The WHO did this so that with Biden as president, the number of corona cases in the USA would suddenly fall and he would then be celebrated as the conqueror of the pandemic. However, this would require that the WHO actually changed the testing procedure...
Those sites agree that the WHO confirmed in an information dated January 20th, which was even linked by most sites, that the testing procedure was changed and therefore automatically fewer people tested positive for COVID-19.
What the WHO actually announced
The WHO published the information in question on January 20, 2021 ( see HERE ). It refers to nucleic acid testing (NAT) technologies that use polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to detect SARS-CoV-2.
the WHO published information on the same topic on December 14th ( see HERE The new information, which replaces the old one, specifies it again - so those sites could actually have made the claim in December.
But let's get to the important point: What exactly does it say?
For those who are impatient, here is the ultimate summary of what the WHO information says:
Of course the WHO formulates this more solidly. The description of the problem is:
“WHO asks users to refer to the Instructions for Use (IFU) when interpreting results for samples tested using the PCR method.”
They point out that the cycle threshold, the so-called Ct value, which is required for virus detection, is inversely proportional to a patient's viral load.
In other words: the higher the cycle threshold for detection, the fewer viruses are still present.
However, since too many positive PCR tests would occur with a sufficiently high cycle, patients whose clinical picture does not match the test result should be tested again and the results re-evaluated.
The WHO also recommends that laboratories check whether the manufacturer of a test device recommends manually adjusting the PCR positivity threshold.
Why is the WHO reminding us of this?
There must be a reason for such information. So AFP asked the WHO directly ( see HERE ) why it was necessary to refer to the instructions for use of the PCR devices.
The WHO answer is:
“Since the beginning of 2020, WHO has received 10 reports of problems related to PCR tests for the detection of SARS-CoV-2... The reports involved misdiagnosis, both false positives and false negatives.
After a thorough investigation, the WHO confirmed that the tests were not always used appropriately and in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions.
In particular, users in laboratories encountered problems with these tests when they did not apply the recommended positivity threshold - this can lead to either false negative results (if the applied threshold is lower) or false positive results (if the threshold is higher).
On December 14, 2020, WHO issued an information notice to explain what had happened and recommended the correct use of instructions. The notice containing the same recommendations was reissued on January 20, 2020 with some language changes to ensure greater clarity.”
So the WHO was notified of 10 (in words: ten!) reports of false-positive or false-negative results. Not that many, considering that the WHO has already recorded almost 297 million test results ( see HERE ).
But of course we don't know the number of unreported cases, i.e. incorrect PCR results that were not communicated to the WHO, which is why it is of course advisable to point out the fine adjustments of the devices again.
Conclusion
With the published information, which was also dutifully linked in most articles about it, the WHO did not change the PCR test procedure, but rather pointed out that the instructions for use of the many different devices must also be followed.
For this reason too, there is no uniformly defined Ct value (as is often claimed). The WHO couldn't even determine this because the PCR test devices are far too different: for one device to produce a result with a Ct value of 20, another device might need 35 cycles.
The headlines that the WHO suddenly changed the PCR test procedure and that the pandemic was effectively over are therefore purely false claims .
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Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )