I had to lie to have ds tested

[DaanSaaf]

I feel unreasonable which is why I'm asking, but couldn't think of what else to do. I'm a key worker and work with elderly, vulnerable people. Ds attends school.

He was sent home as his bubble burst and told to isolate. Now, the rules are he has to isolate for 10 days but the household don't, and unless he has symptoms he can't have a test. Lateral flow tests cant be used if you've been in contact with a positive person. I was worried he might be positive yet asymptomatic and I would carry it into work so booked him in one saying he had symptoms.

WIU? And what would you have done?

What was the point though, if it has a 10 day incubation period?

I think everyone has been doing this for ages now. Everyone knows the 3 main symptoms aren’t always the ones people present with.

Loads have people have tested during isolation but it’s pointless imo. It can take up to ten days so if your son tested negative he could still be incubating the virus. Your choice though. No one will know.

Actually, wouldn't it have been better to get yourself a lateral flow test if you're worried about carrying it into work?

I think it’s good to test after 5-6 days to know but I would test to replace the 10 days isolation.

Our nursery is asking us to test on day 8 of a bubble bursting before we go back.. but we are in an area where you can test without symptoms and it’s encouraged

I’ve lied to get a test too when one dc had a main symptom but the other was just unwell in a non specific way, to get them both tested at the same time.

But all the test tells you is about the point the test is taken. Are you going to get him tested every day?

I was told day 5 is most accurate so did it then, as well as having regular lateral flow tests myself.

Absolutely NBU. We had the same situation with DH going into work as a KW with over 1000 people on site and other DC at school. One of the other DC was positive so his class bubble burst too but luckily because we caught it quickly it didn’t spread.

I was flamed on here of course for wasting NHS resources when none of us had symptoms but would have taken more resources had my younger DC continued attending school and spread it into the wider community!

YABU from a practical POV as PPs mentioned, he could still develop Covid after testing negative due to the 10 day period.

But YANBU from a moral perspective imo. You'll no doubt have people tell you off for wasting NHS resources and so on. But I can't get worked up about this. There are plenty of people with symptoms that don't fit the 3 main ones required for a test, we should have been testing more people for a bigger variety of symptoms a long time ago.

To be honest I think the government needs to get its act together and allow for more testing, we have more capacity at this point. I’m not sure if you were unreasonable or not tbh, he had no symptoms which would’ve made him unlikely to test positive and so early as well.

If I was you I would contact your employer and ask for advice. As PP have said above its pointless testing early as the test won't necessarily show a positive until the end of the incubation period. If you ask your employer for advice they may tell you to stay a way from work due to the nature of your role, or they may tell you to come in, in which case they have made the decision not you. Or you could tell them you have to stay at home to look after DC while they isolate.

Most places have asymptomatic testing anyway. Round here they are encouraging everyone to test whenever they like.

I lied to get a test. My household member had a temperature and new cough (it was chesty rather than dry) but refused to isolate or get tested. I then had diarrhoea, which I have read can occur with coronavirus but obviously isn't one of the main three symptoms that they ask for. My test came back negative but I am glad I had it done in the circumstances.

I tested positive on day 10 of isolation, after being in contact with a positive person. So you are not out the woods yet.

I feel like most people are doing this.

Lateral flow tests are useless, please dont rely on them. When used by the general public they only have a 58% success rate at picking up a positive case. I know several people who have tested positive with a proper test and negative with lateral flow, including a parent who has caught it from nursery staff who were symptomatic but attended work having had negative lateral flow tests.

YANBU
There seems to be capacity atm. I stretched the truth get testing. I came back negative. But I’d seen someone on Xmas day, who subsequently tested positive. As I’d seen an an elderly friend a few days after Xmas for a socially distanced walk, I wanted to make sure I hadn’t passed anything on. As is, it looks as though I didn’t catch it through luck or because the infectious person had only just caught the virus from hospital a couple of days earlier and wasn’t yet shedding.

YABU if you are using NHS resources unnecessarily. He still has to stay at home for the full 10 days so I am not sure what testing him achieved unless you were genuinely scared he was ill but this seems not to be the case as you said he had no symptoms.

@Thehawki

To be honest I think the government needs to get its act together and allow for more testing, we have more capacity at this point. I’m not sure if you were unreasonable or not tbh, he had no symptoms which would’ve made him unlikely to test positive and so early as well.

Government needs to get its act together with regard to testing???

The government are an utter shit show, but testing is NOT one of the ongoing failures.

The UK is testing, and has tested, more per head of population than any other major country on the planet.

I think you might have misunderstood me, I mean that they need to allow more people to be using the tests. As in we have plenty of capacity. My dad has been working on the software end of testing capacity since February, I know for a fact that we have plenty of tests and can allow for more people to take them. We have done an impressive and great thing with regards to testing and should therefore let people with more mild symptoms be tested.

Now that you've said he has symptoms... won't you need to isolate too, until he gets a negative result?

I mean, compared to some of the reasons I have seen people justifying why they have lied to get a test, I actually think your reason is fair enough and is for a just cause.

@SeasonFinale

YABU if you are using NHS resources unnecessarily. He still has to stay at home for the full 10 days so I am not sure what testing him achieved unless you were genuinely scared he was ill but this seems not to be the case as you said he had no symptoms.

She stated quite clearly she is concerned he has it, is asymptomatic and she might catch it from him.

I don't know why they don't just quietly drop the "do you have symptoms" thing. Surely the more testing the better. I've had several tests and none of the test centres have been busy.

@CloudPop - but he could have been asymptomatic at any point in time since covid began. so it is still unreasonable to waste NHS money in this way. What would she have done differently if he had tested positive? Nothing I guess.