to think they are going to fudge the tests again just so they hit the 200,000 a day target?

[chomalungma]

www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-information-for-the-public

The target is 200,000 tests a day by the end of May.
I guess this now includes capacity.
Tests sent out in the post - but maybe not actually done
It also includes now the antibody tests - as well as the RT-PCR tests. In other words, the tests to see if you have it as well as the tests to see if you have had it.

My biggest worry - and strong suspicion - is that they have set a publicised target and will 'game it' so they hit the target, even if it's not clinically useful. It's what people do when a measurable target is set - play the target rather than make it useful.

I know we will hit the target - just yesterday there were 134,000 tests carried out (106,000 swab tests, 28,000 antibody tests).

Maybe the target should have been more specific - as we may lose focus on the swab tests.

A target should be clinically useful, Not a scattergun approach just to hit a target.

Dr Judy Mikovits

Dr Rashid Buttar

Why have you put 2 names up - both of whom Google seems to come up with discredited

Turns out the Pillar 4 testing - whioh seems to have been ramped up - is a mixture of serological and swab testing.

Interesting there are no positives from the Pillar 4 tests.

Testing has to be clinically useful - not just testing to hit the numbers for a target

Completely agree OP.
And where is this contact tracing app? Surely that should be rolled out, had the inevitable problems and malfunctions ironed out and and have been in proper use for a least a couple of weeks before even considering any further changes to "lockdown".
The governments testing regime seems to have been no more than smokescreen so far and clinically pretty pointless no matter what the numbers are.

It was obvious that our esteemed leader pulled this figure from his backside without thinking it through, so yes, of course they will.

Goodhart's Law

Basically, if someone sets a target, people will do what they can to hit that target, even if what they do doesn't actually help the business etc.

See Grade C or above targets for GCSEs (although that has been resolved now) but that was an example.

Yes I agree Google is not a reliable search engine.

OP - do you need a test? If so, go online and request one.
There's an army mobile test centre near my house some days and they appear to have capacity - no large queues. Hopefully that's the situation in most areas.
What else are you hoping for?

OP - do you need a test? If so, go online and request one

No - I don't need a test.

The point is - when you set a target, there is demand to hit that target especially if there is accountability - such as media pressure in this case.

So who knows who they will test to hit that target - and if the people who they test are actually in need of testing or are just being tested so they can say at the end of May, we have hit that target.

My point is that if there is capacity for everyone who needs the test, then that is what's important, surely? Perhaps there are areas of the UK and sectors of workers trying to get hold of one, but can't. Those threads would be interesting.

There's capacity here too.

Which is good as it means they can open another, somewhere else and still have enough tests to stock it.

The point being that if people who need, not want, a test can get a test all is good. And the more tests available make this more and more likely to happen.

If course people will have to stop asking for one, just in case and we will have to accept that many people will need to be tested more than once.

And all sorts of other things that could be mentioned instead of rehashing an old complaint.

Oh, and of course the figure is high, close to being too high. In almost every other area or human endeavour people say something like aim high, aim for the trees at least you'll hit the bushes etc.

It isn't a real target if it is easy to achieve....

It isn't a real target if it is easy to achieve

True - and OTOH - if a target has been set, and there is accountability for that target, then the people who are accountable may well 'game the target' to ensure that is hit.

I would hope that the people who actually need a test are being tested, and we are making optimum use of our testing capacity, rather than testing for testing's sake.

Is hope so too however I know a few people who have tried / succeeded in getting a test because they were curious, thought bit might be a good idea, felt they deserved one! Basically they lied when applying, little lies that could have been true but we're not.

DH and I both could have one, but are asymptomatic and have no reason to suspect we have been expose to it. Apparently that makes us stupid!

I work in one of the NHS SARS CoV-2 testing labs - those figures are nothing like what we're seeing in the lab. So - yes!

Having has three of four elderlies in hospital in the last few weeks, they all got tests. One because she was in the extremely vulnerable category, but needed a hip operation, negative, one because he is just very, very ill, but needs to go back to his care home, negative, and one because he had a heart attack, needed a stent, then got a temp and a cough, so had to be tested twice, both negative. I think tests are going up, but for all the right reasons.

I've a friend who lives in Denmark, whose news said there was a test for anyone who asked - he has been having symptoms and was tested... 2.5 weeks ago and still no sign of a result. So even if the UK do test 100,000 or 200,00 people that does not mean they will get a result in any sort of timely fashion.

I agree that targets are unhelpful unless they are more specific and based on clear reason. It seems to me that what matters most at this moment is that we speed up testing so that results get back to people quickly, that we test people living and working in care homes as soon as anyone shows symptoms, and that tests are available in areas of the country where infection rates are highest. I’d prefer to see a focus on those, than one grand national number

2.5 weeks ago and still no sign of a result

Wow.

If a test is worth doing, it's worth doing properly. People need to know if they need to self isolate and if their family need to self isolate.

I have no doubt we will hit 200,000 tests. I just wonder how we will hit it, and whether we are making the best use of those resources.

d prefer to see a focus on those, than one grand national number

This.