Experts just want what’s best for you.
One of the brilliant ideas of the brilliant experts who brilliantly pushed governments to collapse the economy in a feeble attempt to keep old people safe from the flu is that maybe people who have immunity to coronavirus should have some kind of document that allows them to work and to do normal people stuff.
Now, more brilliant experts are saying that maybe doing that would result in people trying to catch the virus on purpose because people want to work.
As you can see, experts are very competent and capable of coming up with great ideas.
You are in good hands.
Employers could shun workers who have not had coronavirus after lockdown, prompting people to actively try to catch the disease, the government’s science experts warned ministers.
Secret documents prepared by the independent Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Behaviours (SPI-B) last month outlined the potential drawbacks of introducing widespread antibody testing and so-called ‘immunity certificates’.
Such tests would show if someone has had the disease and if they have some degree of immunity with accompanying digital certificates then showing employers the health status of staff.
Notice how they’re now saying “digital” certificates.
Digital certificates are convenient for a number of reasons, like being able to be handled by a microchip that could be conveniently injected under the skin so that people never forget to carry them around everywhere they go.
Antibody tests are viewed as one of the key pieces in the puzzle when it comes to getting the UK back to work.
But SPI-B, a sub-committee of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), said introducing the tests could result in people trying to ‘game’ the system.
The documents suggest workers who do not have antibodies could be discriminated against, effectively creating two classes of employee, with those who have had the disease prized because of a belief that they will not get ill again.
Those who are antibody negative could then turn to trying to obtain fake test results or even trying to get ill on purpose to boost their chances of returning to work.
Meanwhile, the documents also warned positive tests could result in people wrongly thinking they no longer need to wash their hands, risking an increase in the transmission of the disease.
Those who are antibody negative could also be too afraid to leave home and could refuse to return to work, the group said.
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Ministers are in talks with tech firms about developing an ‘immunity certificate’ app which would show if someone has been tested and if they have coronavirus antibodies.
The SPI-B committee was tasked with examining the potential negative outcomes of introducing antibody testing.
They can work around the “workers will try to catch the virus on purpose” problem by extending the lockdown lifestyle until they present a vaccine, and basing the immunity certificate on vaccinations.
That “immunity certificate” app idea will stop being about a smartphone app and start being about some other kind of digital certificate soon.
Experts already warned that the smartphone app path for a contact tracing program would leave out about 2 billion people who are too poor to buy new phones and whose current phones don’t have the technology needed to run the app.
Other experts warned that smartphone-based apps in general may not work in environments where mobile phones are prohibited, like schools and prisons.
It is only a matter of time before they put two and two together and start saying that the only way to make digital certificates work is to leave phones out of the equation and use some other kind of device.
The kind of device that is cheap and easy to carry.
The kind of device that is impossible to leave at home.