Hi everyone, I live in Central Europe and in the last few weeks, the rate of positive PCR tests (percentage of positive tests) for covid-19 has increased tremendously here. I recall in March and April ("first wave") we had around 3% positive test rate constantly and we were among the countries that had relatively little damage from covid. Same goes for many countries around here like Germany and Austria. On the other hand, Italy in March and April had a very high positive rate on PCR tests - I think it was around 25% - and as we all know, they also had the biggest damage due to covid. I was wondering already back then, why on Earth does Italy have such a high rate and us and say Germany such a low rate? How can the difference be so big in countries that are situated so close?
But now in the last weeks, positive rate in my country and it seems also many countries around here (Central & Eastern Europe) increased steeply towards 25% or even more. Suddenly many, many people are testing positive. What is going on?
People here explain it as just a bad "second wave", but it all seems very illogical to me. It is not the real cold and flu season yet (that comes after December), temperatures have been warm, we have many measures (masks even outside), people apart from some getting colds and flus don't seem very ill... however I try to fit everything together, it doesn't seem as if the official theories can explain this.
So I was wondering, is there a possibility that we received a different batch of tests (tests that show a much higher percentage as positive) this autumn as compared to the spring? And Italy already received these tests in the spring? Because I can't explain this in any other way. I read that tests can differ quite a bit even in what sequences they look for etc.
If anyone has any idea what could be going on, please let me know. I expect the countries around here might follow Italy's case and will be hit badly this winter if this will continue.
But now in the last weeks, positive rate in my country and it seems also many countries around here (Central & Eastern Europe) increased steeply towards 25% or even more. Suddenly many, many people are testing positive. What is going on?
People here explain it as just a bad "second wave", but it all seems very illogical to me. It is not the real cold and flu season yet (that comes after December), temperatures have been warm, we have many measures (masks even outside), people apart from some getting colds and flus don't seem very ill... however I try to fit everything together, it doesn't seem as if the official theories can explain this.
So I was wondering, is there a possibility that we received a different batch of tests (tests that show a much higher percentage as positive) this autumn as compared to the spring? And Italy already received these tests in the spring? Because I can't explain this in any other way. I read that tests can differ quite a bit even in what sequences they look for etc.
If anyone has any idea what could be going on, please let me know. I expect the countries around here might follow Italy's case and will be hit badly this winter if this will continue.