American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer denied bail after being charged with killing Canadian couple
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer, one of two men charged in the killings of a Canadian couple in Dominica, has been denied bail.
A new study believed to be the largest of its kind found that antigen rapid tests were overall 81 per cent accurate when compared with PCR test results, and were more accurate the more symptomatic a person was, adding more support to the idea that these tests could be used more widely.
Between Dec 23, 2020 and Jan 11, 2021, more than 6,000 people came to the Baltimore Convention Center Field Hospital (BCCFH), where researchers gave them PCR tests as well as rapid antigen tests.
The results surprised researchers, with the antigen tests showing an overall sensitivity of 81 per cent. Sensitivity refers to how well a test can correctly identify if a person has the virus or not.
“We found that virus was accurately detected by the rapid antigen test in 87 per cent of patients with COVID-19 symptoms and in 71 per cent of those who were asymptomatic — rates that surprised us because they were so high,” Dr. Zishan Siddiqui, assistant professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and study lead author, said in a press release.
“This is a significant finding because the rapid test offers a number of advantages over the PCR test, including time savings, both in sampling and processing; cost savings; and most importantly, ease of distribution and application — basically anywhere — which can help overcome COVID testing disparities in medically underserved communities.”
Participants at BCCFH who received tests self-reported on their symptoms, and whether or not they believed they had been exposed to COVID-19. The majority of participants were asymptomatic, with 89 per cent not presenting with any symptoms.
Among those asymptomatic individuals, the reasons for desiring a COVID-19 test ranged from living with a person with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 and having been within six feet of someone with confirmed or suspected COVID-19, among other types of exposure.
For those with symptoms, 89 per cent were tested within a week of developing their first symptoms.
The rapid test was 99.8 per cent accurate at identifying when someone did not have COVID-19, which is called a test’s specificity.
In symptomatic patients, sensitivity was higher than among asymptomatic patients, while the specificity was very high regardless of symptoms.
For asymptomatic patients, the test sensitivity was 80 per cent for those who reported living with a person with COVID-19, and 73 per cent for those who had been within six feet of someone with COVID-19.
“Despite the high negative predictive value, patients with negative results represent a large proportion of total positive cases,” the study cautioned. “Hence, a negative result does not preclude infection from a clinical and public health perspective.”
Quality checks of a random assortment of the antigen tests performed found that only 0.5 per cent of tests were indeterminate.
The study specifically used the BinaxNOW rapid antigen COVID-19 test, a test available in the U.S. but not in Canada, according to Health Canada’s list of authorized testing products.
While PCR tests are still the gold standard in accuracy for testing for COVID-19, they require trained staff, more special equipment and have to be sent off to a laboratory for testing. The benefit of rapid testing is that they are easier to conduct, can be administered outside of clinical settings, and provide results in around 15 minutes — which could be a huge help in letting people know fast if they need to quarantine.
“What we determined was that while the PCR test may be a better test from a clinical perspective — as it’s basically 100 per cent accurate at detecting SARS-CoV-2 — the rapid antigen test appears to be better from a public health standpoint because of its ease of use, and the fact that it proved to have sufficient accuracy, specificity and reliability for detecting the coronavirus in a high-volume setting,” Dr. James Ficke, professor of orthopaedic surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and co-director of the BCCFH, said in a press release.
“The field hospital was the perfect place to determine this because we could see how well both tests worked for a large number of people in a short amount of time.”
The study noted that 81 per cent sensitivity is higher than the 80 per cent threshold that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has set for emergency use authorization, and that while the sensitivity is lower in asymptomatic patients, rapid testing could be considered for screening purposes.
The team is currently running tests comparing antigen testing with PCR testing in children, and have collected data on around 1,000 children so far. They hope to release that data in early 2022.
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer, one of two men charged in the killings of a Canadian couple in Dominica, has been denied bail.
Cabinet minister Dominic LeBlanc says he plans to run in the next election as a candidate under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's leadership, amid questions about his rumoured interest in succeeding his longtime friend for the top job.
A male columnist has apologized for a cringeworthy moment during former University of Iowa superstar and college basketball’s highest scorer Caitlin Clark’s first news conference as an Indiana Fever player.
The United States has vetoed a widely backed UN resolution that would have paved the way for full United Nations membership for the state of Palestine.
A group of suspects that allegedly defrauded seniors across Ontario and other parts of Canada using a so-called emergency grandparent scam appear to have ties to 'Italian traditional organized crime,' according to an investigator involved in the OPP-led probe.
Health Canada will change its longstanding policy restricting gay and bisexual men from donating to sperm banks in Canada, CTV News has learned. The federal health agency has adopted a revised directive removing the ban on gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, effective May 8.
Prince Harry, the son of King Charles III and fifth in line to the British throne, has formally confirmed he is now a U.S. resident.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.
Technology from the 19th century has been brought out of retirement at a Newfoundland gardening store, as staff look for all the help they can get to fill orders during a busy season.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.
Molly Knight, a grade four student in Nova Scotia, noticed her school library did not have many books on female athletes, so she started her own book drive in hopes of changing that.
Almost 7,000 bars of pure gold were stolen from Pearson International Airport exactly one year ago during an elaborate heist, but so far only a tiny fraction of that stolen loot has been found.
When Les Robertson was walking home from the gym in North Vancouver's Lower Lonsdale neighbourhood three weeks ago, he did a double take. Standing near a burrow it had dug in a vacant lot near East 1st Street and St. Georges Avenue was a yellow-bellied marmot.
A moulting seal who was relocated after drawing daily crowds of onlookers in Greater Victoria has made a surprise return, after what officials described as an 'astonishing' six-day journey.
Just steps from Parliament Hill is a barber shop that for the last 100 years has catered to everyone from prime ministers to tourists.
A high score on a Foo Fighters pinball machine has Edmonton player Dave Formenti on a high.
A compound used to treat sour gas that's been linked to fertility issues in cattle has been found throughout groundwater in the Prairies, according to a new study.
While many people choose to keep their medical appointments private, four longtime friends decided to undergo vasectomies as a group in B.C.'s Lower Mainland.