Christmas morning Covid test being demanded

[Quarks69]

Is everyone else having these? My sister in law has demanded this from my side of the family as her elderly parents are going to be at the dinner. With a family of five and three are my busy teens I am worried that we could end up with no xmas day if one of us is asymptomatic (for the second year running obvs).

I do get that we are in bonkers times, but Was so looking Forward to seeing everyone, including my parents, that this is making me cross...isn’t this the point of the jabs!?

"Oh, but they aren't always reliable! Whine whinge whine..."

They are far more reliable than not testing at all.

@elliejjtiny

We do. I'm struggling to get hold of lft's now though and it doesn't help that we are a family of 7 so we need a lot.

After 3 days of not being able to order any, the government site has let me order today. Might be worth a try.

I am amazed people place so much faith in the LFTs. It's good if it affords people some peace of mind, but bad if they are claiming to be less contagious than thou.

Last December, before lateral flow tests were about, my niece had asymptomatic Covid and gave it to my mum who was vulnerable.
Mum caught it, and died alone in hospital, with none of us allowed near her, on Christmas Day. We will never mentally recover from the trauma of knowing she was alone and scared right up until an hour before her death.

That’s a ruined Christmas Day, not being asked to do an LFT to keep elderly relatives safe.

So, your "busy teens" are entitled to continue with their normal, 'busy' activities before Christmas, but you don't want to test, to protect elderly relatives, in case you end up having to miss going to SiLs on Christmas Day?
YABU.
I suggest maybe having a back up meat joint in your own fridge just in case. Best case scenario, you can go to SiLs, all have a fantastic Christmas, and then cook your own food on Boxing Day/one of the Bank Holidays.
Worst case scenario, one of you is asymptomatic, and you miss going to your SiLs in order to protect the elderly guests/everyone else. You then book some PCRs, cook the back up food, and enjoy the day with your immediate family.

To answer your question - we are also all testing before we visit family over Christmas. My MiL insisted on it, as I am CEV, and her own mother is elderly. Noone has objected (I regularly test twice a week anyway).

So you would rather take covid to Christmas Dinner and potentially put family members at risk, than not go to protect others? Seems rather selfish to me.

@Mittenmob

I'd be buying Xmas dinner and doing it at home, save all the stress of tests and potential positives.

Oh come on, it's hardly stressful. It's part of routine for many, like cleaning your teeth and chances are it will be negative, but obviously there's a small risk that it won't be.

We have a mild variant and assuming vaccinated Contacts little chance of serious illness

If that's a valid assumption, how come it's making nearly a thousand people a day ill enough to need hospital treatment?

We are testing Xmas Eve and Xmas morning and so are our families. Too much risk not to.

I would say with busy teens in the house it would be more important to test.

Maybe cut down their socialising pre-Christmas to help your chances but you should test too.

Also buy back-up Christmas Day food

Wow how selfish, I can’t believe that you’re happy to possibly spread covid to vulnerable elderly so as long as you get your Christmas. Have you done any tests OP? Or are you just happy ignoring all so you don’t ever have to isolate as it’s a massive inconvenience to you and your families life, unbelievable!!

@egglette

You say she's "demanded" it from your side of the family but I doubt she's doing/has singled you out to spite you. Yes it would be crap to miss out on Christmas again this year but if your plan involves seeing elderly/vulnerable people I think you just have to take the hit and be prepared to do something separate if you test positive.

Yup...

We're all testing on the morning... No wish to infect/be infected...

We have standby yummy frozen stuff and will make our chirstmas dinner on boxing day.

@Staryflight445

I was looking forward to Xmas too but can’t enjoy now thanks to people like you.

People like me have been putting themselves at risk daily, to teach your children. I am fully jabbed, wear a mask and take lfts bi-weekly.

But feel free to get on your high horse.

@Iwonder08

No, I wouldn't ask my guests to test. Vulnerable people should assess their own risk and don't join any gatherings if they are worried.

One of the ways a vulnerable person (which also includes all elderly people) can reduce their risk is if everyone around them, including themselves, take a LFT before they meet up in close contact.

At Christmas most people spend time with loved ones. Who wouldn't want to do anything they can to reduce the risk to one of their loved ones 🤷‍♀️

You sound selfish

No, I actually don't think elderly should stay at home. I think they should assess their own risks and make their own decisions. The risks of people around them not being vaccinated, refusing to do tests, doing the tests wrong, lying about the tests etc. If they are vulnerable to the extend that they are avoiding public places altogether, including transport, supermarkets, restaurants then absolutely, nobody who is not jabbed and tested should be near them. In all the other cases I would accept the fact they will eventually encounter someone covid positive.

I'm doing an LFT every day this week. I don't want to ruin Christmas if I have caught it, but I would feel even worse if I had it and transmitted it to the 10 people coming over on Xmas Day. Three are in their 70s and one is severely immunocompromised so even with three full jabs (not even a booster) catching Covid could still kill her.

What is the harm in doing a test?! Should my relative stay at home, wrapped in cotton wool permanently because she's got a compromised immune system, or should we, as her family, do what we can to make her feel comfortable enough to be involved with Christmas? She's had a shit 2 years as it is, with practically becoming a hermit because of Covid. The least we can all do is stick a swab up our nose.

@Newjobnewstart

Just say you tested and it's negative. I'm not testing unless I have symptoms. Lfts are the most reliable anyway so u could still be positive even with a lat flow.

This is exactly the attitude that I fear some of my family members have taken. Ignorant, dangerous, selfish, the list goes on. OP, YABU

[quote icedcoffees]@SilverRingahBells my apologies, I didn't realise you were the thread police

Vulnerable elderly relatives are also perfectly capable of deciding whether they want people to test or not before visiting, so I don't see that my comment is irrelevant.

My in-laws actually are vulnerable and although we won't be seeing them on Christmas Day, I have seen them 4-5 days a week, every week since this whole thing started and none of us have ever taken a test before doing so 🤷🏻‍♀️[/quote]
That's pretty reckless considering the virulence of omicron.

People like me have been putting themselves at risk daily, to teach your children. I am fully jabbed, wear a mask and take lfts bi-weekly.

But this doesn't make sense though.

You are happy to take bi weekly LFTs to reduce risk at school, to your colleagues and pupils.

But you are aghast at the idea of taking a LFT to reduce the risk to your own family.

Why are your colleagues and pupils a higher priority to you than your family at Christmas?

@icedcoffees

I wouldn't test nor would I ask anyone else to take one.

I've been flamed for that on here before but I don't mix with anyone vulnerable and I think we're all adults and capable of deciding whether to socialise or not. If someone had symptoms I would expect them to isolate but I wouldn't ask someone who was asymptomatic and healthy to take a test. The plastic waste is insane for one thing, and they're always accurate either.

How do you know who is vulnerable? I don't 'look' vulnerable, and IRL I don't go on about my underlying conditions which make me very vulnerable. Other peoples vulnerability isn't for you to assess.

There's a FUCKTON more plastic waste when people get very I'll with covid, so stop your daft virtual signalling.

People testing positive, even without obvious symptoms have enough viral load to pass it on to others.

Stop digging your heals in & being so selfish & careless with other peoples health.

It’s an absolute joke isn’t it @CrapDrawer
We’re down with it over Xmas thanks to parents relying on LFTs for actual symptoms (and admitting this, sending their kid into school with a headache and sore throat just because their lft was negative and they didn’t want to be inconvenienced by doing a PCR because you know, that last week at school is really exciting).

If people just stop leaving the house when unwell with symptoms/ taking LFTs and relying on the results when they have symptoms and people start to utilise the accessibility of getting a PCR done, we’d be much better off.
Don’t go to someone’s house at Xmas without doing an LFT first. Especially not if anyone has symptoms that could be COVID.
Ignorance is not bliss.
LFTS are to catch symptomless covid, they’re not 100% but don’t be a twat. It takes 15 minutes out of your day to ensure you’re protecting vulnerable people.

She can ask, not demand.

Are you joking? It's her house! She's perfectly entitled to set the rules about what happens in her home and if OP doesn't like it she's free to decline the invitation and cook her own Christmas dinner.

Those saying just lie and say you've tested negative should be ashamed of themselves. Yes, OP by all means lie to your family safe in the knowledge that if one of your "busy teens" passes covid onto an elderly relative and they end up on a ventilator or worse it was worth it so you didn't have to endure the hardship of cooking your own turkey and roast potatoes

I think the jabs being like a seatbelt analogy is a good one.

I trust that I'm better protected if I crash with a seat belt than without, and that a seat belt will mean that most crashes are fairly mild health wise. However I also accept that some crashes result in death or serious ill health even if I'm wearing one.

Wearing a seat belt doesn't mean I suddenly take more risks, don't bother breaking, or deliberately crash because I know the seat belt will look after me. I'd also drive more carefully with a baby in the car or with vulnerable people!

I have the jab because I feel it offers some protection, not 100% but a good amount. However I also aknowledge that I still have to do other things to keep safe, and that it doesn't make me immune

OP, you are very disillusioned about the effectiveness of the vaccines. Yes, they seem to prevent serious disease for most, but serious disease is classed as needing hospitalisation. People are still catching Covid, it doesn't prevent the spread, and people are still being very unwell with covid. It's not just like a common cold.

How is it such a hassle to just get the whole family to do a lateral flow? It's a 2 minute job. And as for 'busy teens' On Christmas day? Pah!

I don’t think it’s a big deal doing LFTs in this situation. I think lots are doing it. At least that’s all you have to do. My parents have refused to come for the planned Christmas dinner even if we have negative LFTs, as they feel the children are too high risk 🙁