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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to be pissed off with the Government lying repeatedly about testing numbers

14 replies

chomalungma · 16/09/2020 08:08

Again - a Government Minister talking about 350,000 tests available.

This is a LIE. Not misleading. A LIE.

Why?
a) Those are the numbers that are available in all labs.
b) But more importantly, 120,000 of those tests are for antibodies - to see if you have HAD the disease. Only about 1000 of those were done yesterday.

Yet the Government are including that in those figures. They could simply buy 200,000 antibody tests, not use them, and then say there are 500,000 tests available.

Link here

coronavirus.data.gov.uk/testing

And if any journalists or MPs are reading this - please ask a Minister about this.

OP posts:
Original poster
chomalungma · 16/09/2020 08:10

The graph

The top line is the capacity of antibody tests to see if you have HAD it.
The bottom is how many were done.

to be pissed off with the Government lying repeatedly about testing numbers
OP posts:
BarnardCastleSpecsavers · 16/09/2020 08:14

The government lies about everything. Why are you surprised?

SquishySquirmy · 16/09/2020 08:15

Yup.
They are like the shittest grocers in the world.
Customer: "you're running out of apples!"
Shit grocer looks at pile of oranges...
"No, we have hundreds of apples available. The lack of apples is due to people buying apples who dont really need one. I know we told you all to buy apples but stop now you idiots".
"Well can I have an orange instead then?"
Shit grocer: "No."

Original poster
chomalungma · 16/09/2020 08:19

It's more like counting the amount of fruit available when you just need apples and you need to be able get access to that apple.

An antibody test is not going to be very helpful if you want the test to see if you currently have Covid and you are swabbed for it.

OP posts:
rooty123 · 16/09/2020 08:23

Why isn't lying in office an offence like lying in court is? Understand a bit of spin, but how is outright, obvious lying by the government ok?

Original poster
chomalungma · 16/09/2020 08:25

I would just love someone who actually understands test numbers - and TBH, it's not that hard to understand the difference in the 4 Pillars to ask Matt Hancock or Johnson this directly.

OP posts:
loobyloo1234 · 16/09/2020 08:27

YANBU. The media are mainly right leaning so dont pull anyone up on this. Shameful

AlexaShutUp · 16/09/2020 08:27

Why isn't lying in office an offence like lying in court is?

Totally agree.

However, we knew that Boris was a pathological liar before he became PM, so it would seem that the British public aren't all that bothered by it.

Neolara · 16/09/2020 08:34

More or Less have run pretty regular features on how government figures about testing have routinely been incorrect. I suspect part of the problem around scaling up numbers of tests may have been that they had to make a much bigger jump in testing than the publicly stated figures suggested they would have to. For example, quadrupling numbers of tests not just doubling them.

Humphriescushion · 16/09/2020 08:40

Me too. I have long lost faith in most of the figures given by the government, they keep changing the narrative, making it so complicated, despite being pulled up by the statistics authority. They also continually compare themselves with .....( insert relevant latest country ) as some kind of macabre competition. During first wave data was poor especially at the beginning and we had no ideas of hospital admissions until much later on. Now this figure is going up I am expecting this figure to disappear mysteriously as well. Is very deja vu!

FaffingForEngland · 16/09/2020 08:59

I'm completely confused about our testing numbers, can someone explain what's going on? Commented on another thread that our figures show we have tested more than most people in Europe and I assumed that the current news about the difficulty of getting tests was based on children going back to school/families coming back from holiday. Someone responded that it was to do with lab capacity, not increased demand. So has lab capacity suddenly reduced now?

There does appear to be a real issues with getting tests now. One of our DC has had symptoms twice. The first time (maybe 6 weeks ago) a test was sent to her, collected and she received the results the next day (negative). This time, the symptoms are more clear cut and it's pretty likely to be covid. But she could not get a test anywhere. Three of us tried from Sunday until Monday evening. Nothing. She managed to get one eventually by booking through her essential worker flat mate, so they were both tested yesterday in the end.

At the walk though test centre, she said there were about 50 families in the queue, all insisting on being tested, none with an appointment. Things became very nasty and apparently the poor security guard was on the receiving end of some horrible abuse, to the extent where the testing centre had to lock the gate. There were emoty testing bays and staff the while time.

Does anyone know what's actually changed? Why is it suddenly so much more difficult to get a test?

Original poster
chomalungma · 16/09/2020 09:41

More or Less have been very good on this.

I just wish that every time a Minister says we have 350,000 tests, that they are pulled up on it.

We have the capacity to do 243,000 tests to see if you have Covid-19.
That's tests - which is more than the number of people that can be tested.
213,000 tests were carried out.

It's not bad - but it's not 350,000 tests

OP posts:
Original poster
chomalungma · 16/09/2020 09:44

More or Less are on it:

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000mksw

OP posts:
Happygirl79 · 16/09/2020 09:48

Boris and his cronies get more like Trump and friends everyday
Bare faced liers all of them

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