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BBC Inside Science

Coronavirus - Lockdown efficacy; viral testing; surface survival; dog walking safety

BBC Inside Science

BBC

Technology, Science

4.51.3K Ratings

🗓️ 26 March 2020

⏱️ 44 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Last week, we promised we’d tackle your coronavirus and associated Covid 19 questions and you came up trumps. So this week we’re be talking about the latest from the lockdown, why there are bottlenecks in the testing system, how long the virus lives on your door handles and whether your dog can spread coronavirus. Joining us to answer your questions are Jonathan Ball, Professor of Virology at the University of Nottingham, and BBC Radio Science presenter and reporter Roland Pease. On Monday evening, Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the British people to ‘stay at home’. How stringent is the UK’s lockdown compared to other countries, and is it likely to be effective? The only real way we can know about the incidence and prevalence of the coronavirus is to test. Listener Andrew in Didcot wants to know more about testing and when antibodies appear in us. We discuss how the current testing system works, and why there are limitations on testing. One question that lots of scientists have been asking is: can people with mild or no symptoms spread the coronavirus? And so we delve into the evidence for asymptomatic spreading. Listeners Eleanor and Andy have been wondering about passing the virus from person to surface to person. Roland Pease looks into the virus’ survival on surfaces and elsewhere, and asks how that might be affecting spread. Finally, reporter Geoff Marsh tackles a quandary facing dog owners: Is it safe to walk your pet? Can dogs spread the virus? Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Producers: Fiona Roberts and Jennifer Whyntie

Transcript

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0:00.0

You're about to listen to a BBC podcast and trust me you'll get there in a moment but if you're a comedy fan

0:05.2

I'd really like to tell you a bit about what we do. I'm Julie Mackenzie and I commission comedy

0:10.2

podcast at the BBC. It's a bit of a dream job really.

0:13.0

Comedy is a fantastic joyous thing to do because really you're making people laugh,

0:18.0

making people's days a bit better, helping them process, all manner of things.

0:22.0

But you know I also know that comedy is really

0:24.4

subjective and everyone has different tastes so we've got a huge range of comedy on offer

0:29.6

from satire to silly shocking to soothing profound to just general pratting about. So if you

0:36.2

fancy a laugh, find your next comedy at BBC Sounds.

0:41.1

BBC Sounds, music radio podcasts.

0:45.0

Hello, welcome and remain indoors.

0:49.0

This is the podcast version of Inside Science from BBC Radio 4, first broadcast on the 26th of March

0:56.2

2020.

0:58.6

This is the lockdown version.

1:00.4

Regular host Adam Rutherford is still ill and the rest of us are making this

1:04.6

edition from various rooms around the country. Last week I promised we'd tackle

1:09.7

your virus questions and you came up trumps. Which means this week we'll be

1:15.0

talking about the latest from the lockdown, how long the virus lives on your door

1:19.3

handles and whether your dog can spread coronavirus.

1:23.2

Joining me today, our professor of virology,

1:25.3

Jonathan Ball at Nottingham University.

1:27.5

Jonathan, are you still working as a virologist?

...

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