To think if you can stand in a queue for 5 hours, you’re not ill

[TheMurk]

Five hour queue for Covid testing in Bury yesterday, as pictured in various newspapers.

Now, when I’ve been ill before with various Illnesses and viruses (flu, noro, mumps, bronchitis etc, remember them?) I’ve been in no position to go anywhere but my bed.

When I say ill, I mean suffering the generally expected effects of whatever virus it is, to such an extent that it disrupts my daily routine and requires rest, fluids and medications. Not so Ill that I’m in any danger, or need to go to hospital. But ill that is noticeable to those around me. Needed time off work, that sort of thing.

It’s by the by that in none of these instances I required any sort of test to establish what was making me ill - it was plainly obvious by the symptoms.

But supposing I had a virus so unique and potentially deadly that required a test and subsequent isolation measures, let me tell you now I would have been in no shape to drive, walk or bus it anywhere, stand in any sort of queue for even a short period, attend a test that is uncomfortable and then get myself home.

Especially if the virus is SO CONTAGIOUS that in the rest of the public domain you must wear a mask, stay 2 m away from everyone else and you can’t even touch so much as a library book for fear of being overwhelmed and struck down by this virus.

I mean, who are these people getting tested?

And if they’re well enough to stand in a five hour queue, they are far from a hospital admission - so why are all our lives on hold for this?

Bonkers.

"Surely if it’s deadly you know all about it. If you need to guess and then get tested in case - you don’t have it, or if you do it’s no worse than any other sniffle."

Surely you know that deadly illnesses can progress over time

It's a bit of an ignorant post with little to no information of how the disease progresses and the motivation for people having tests.

Some estimates put covid as 9 times more contagious than the flu. And much more deadlier.

Oh yes, as a previous poster said, Typhoid Mary!!

Not everyone getting tested has the virus, but they need to be tested to go back to work or school. The days when only the seriously ill were tested are long gone.

Some people have had Covid quite mildly. It's not like flu which seems to mostly floor people, although certainly some people have been very ill with Covid, but not everyone. Some of those people may be experiencing early mild symptoms but may become very ill later on.

For everyone standing in a queue, I'm sure there are people at home in bed only able to do a home test.

I live in Bury, people are queuing because they have no choice, the council opened drop in test centres because there is a big spike in the town.
Schools have had outbreaks, one school has 200 of its 300 pupils in isolation, people need to be tested before they can go back to work plus in our town we are still under stricter measures than other areas of the country.

This post demonstrates perfectly why infection rates are taking off again.

Some people are asymptomatic. Others die.

Is that really such a difficult concept for some to process?

Many people are forced to be there, maybe their child coughed on dust or cane in from the playground hot after not taking layers off- they can’t return to school unless they have a negative Covid test. Lots of them probably aren’t remotely worried they will have it. They just can’t afford two weeks off.

"In 2020 there was a 'deadly' virus Grandson"

I don't think anyone is claiming it is particularly deadly. The infection fatality rate at the start was estimated at max 1% across the whole population and it is thought to be only half that now.

The fact remains that the demographic profile of most developed nations meant that no health system would have coped without a lockdown.

Even so let's remember that people were panic buying, not sending kids to school weeks before lockdown ( when even back then it was known they were at almost no risk) cancelling sports events voluntarily before the lockdown kicked in.

Agree with you 100% LouiseNW

@pointythings calling me stupid again.

Really not the done thing in a healthy debate.

I haven’t said anywhere that I’m a “Covid denier”.

My belief is it’s nowhere near as contagious or deadly as was purported. Testing scheme such as the government has currently set up are completely ineffective. Continuing this disruptive charade in the name of a virus that is not spreading at a rate that warrants it is going to cause more harm than good in the long run.

@LouiseNW

This post demonstrates perfectly why infection rates are taking off again.

Some people are asymptomatic. Others die.

Is that really such a difficult concept for some to process?

Yes.

Viruses spread.

Some people get ill, some don’t.

This is not a revelation in 2020.

I thought you got time slots? Queuing up us just daft. If you have it you will just be passing it on. Surely there's a better system?

I wondered this - I was extremely ill with flu two years ago and I wasn't able to get out of bed, much less drive or stand in a queue!

There are two issues here as I see it.

The first is the government's woeful handling of this, from start to current day.

The second is people not believing the severity of this illness.

Some people (the ones that like calling people sheep and insinuating that's they are the only ones capable of independent thought whilst quoting dodgy conspiracy theorist websites), seem to conflate the two issues.

This virus is serious, it can be fatal, but it can also lead to life changing long term effects. Anyone who doesn't take that seriously is frankly an idiot.

Some people get it very mildly, they are incredibly lucky, but we don't know why it affects some people differently, we don't know if you can catch it more than once, we don't know anything about it. Those who don't give a shit about sharing it about are arrogant self obsessed arseholes.

Also, the medics I've been seeing over the last month have been great (for the most part), from GPs to surgeons - definitely not hiding but managing to see people who need to be seen in a safe way.

@LouiseNW it’s also a complete (media driven) fallacy to claim that “infection rates are taking off again”.

At the start, few people tested, huge numbers of infections.

Now, huge numbers tested, tiny percentage of infections.

I think you don’t understand the illness. You don’t go from being fine one day to in hospital the next . It gets progressively worse.

There has been a problem at the labs. The government apologised. Yes they need to ramp testing up again as the virus is getting worse again . This was not the situation everywhere in the country .

I would be more concerned about people who have symptoms and don’t test.

TheMurk

@LouiseNW it’s also a complete (media driven) fallacy to claim that “infection rates are taking off again”.

At the start, few people tested, huge numbers of infections.

Now, huge numbers tested, tiny percentage of infections..

Not according to More or Less this week, which crunches just about every number available. Epidemiologist clearly stated that infection rate is rapidly increasing, full stop, not explained away by increased testing. Tip of the Iceberg was referenced.

[quote TheMurk]@LouiseNW it’s also a complete (media driven) fallacy to claim that “infection rates are taking off again”.

At the start, few people tested, huge numbers of infections.

Now, huge numbers tested, tiny percentage of infections.[/quote]
How do you know these things you are stating as fact?

The reality is that no one knows because records are so unreliable because of the handling of the whole thing

“This is not a revelation in 2020“

Your OP appears to suggest otherwise.

@themurk

The figures that are increasing are not a percentage they are actual positives. If you remember last time we followed the pattern for France . They had 100000 positive tests on one day their week and it has been increasing every day. And the number of people hospitalised and on ventilators is going up.

I think to get people who are infected out of circulation we do need to test more . A lot of companies are doing private tests on their employees.

It could be that the virus is weakening . It does happen . But that won’t be known until we see what happens to hospital admissions. We are all , in every country really in the middle of a great experiment against an unknown enemy that does not act like any other virus .

The nhs is at the moment preparing for a winter surge . Let’s hope they are wrong but that is what they think is going to happen .

Typhoid Mary had no symptoms but killed people in at least 5 different homes before she was identified and tested as the link

When released from detainment she continued with her poor hygiene practices and caused more deaths

She was also forced to live out the last 20 odd years of her life in confinement so as not to infect anyone else because she was unfortunate enough to be one of the 'lucky' asymptomatic carriers.

If the vaccine everyone is pinning their hopes on doesn't materialise or isn't as effective as everyone hopes, how long before the new rule of 6 becomes the complete isolation of self? Where do we start drawing the line...

@LouiseNW

"Tip of the Iceberg was referenced"

I'm not convinced that this supports your argument. If an epidemologist said the current ruse was the tip of the iceberg it would be concerning not reassuring. The whole point is 90% of the iceberg is lurking under the surface unseen....

I took a test back in April because there had been a huge outbreak at my partner's company and he had tested positive. So did I. I did have symptoms but they were very mild. However, had I passed the virus to someone more vulnerable it would have been a different story, so it's important to know.

I found that symptoms got worse over a few days, so if people get tested when they first suspect, they're probably well enough to queue - even if they go on to develop severe symptoms down the line.

I trust the scientists more than I trust someone on mumsnet and they are getting worried.

The nhs is just starting to try and catch up on appointments and now we are threatened with another wave .

Its been regularly written on here that people can see that the rules are being broken all the time by a lot of people and yet they will soon be moaning if they can’t get treatment for other illnesses because the nhs is overwhelmed again.

Some people are so blinkered they can’t see the bigger picture or even worse IMO use the virus to prove their own political points .

TheMurk so you believe that the virus isn't as contagious or dangerous as actual epidemiologists think it is. I feel so reassured. Am off to burn all my masks now and organise a rave for 300 people.

FFS.