Study: PCR tests >33-34 cycles do not have viable virus, person therefore not contagious.

On March 31, 2020, Dr Didier Rault and collegues from France, published on a pre-print server the results of their PCR study, which showed any test greater than 33-34 cycles did not contain viable virus, and as such the patient would not be contagious. [1, 2]

“Correlation between successful isolation of virus in cell culture and Ct value of quantitative RT-PCR targeting E gene suggests that patients with Ct above 33–34 using our RT-PCR system are not contagious and thus can be discharged from hospital care or strict confinement for non-hospitalized patients.”

The Highwire drove home that PCR tests, amplified greater than 33 cycles, are a false positive result 80% of the time, meaning the test is only 20% accurated for “diagnosing” a potentially infectious person.  The presence of viral RNA does not make a person contagious, they could have cleared the virus, have “dead nucleotide” in the sample or their sample could have been contaminated.  How many “asymptomatic carriers” were falsely claimed to be a “superspreader”?