To think I shouldn't have to pay to see my mum

[MrsBertBibby]

Just that. "Freedom" is no such thing for care home residents. Imprisoned and deprived of family and now, if we want to visit, we must shell out £20 for a test.

Is it unreasonable to call this government absolute sick psychopaths?

Stockpile the tests OP. I have been.
And there is no reason why they should be more than a £1 a test like pregnancy tests. The science is not any more complex.

After Thursday I’m not testing….nnooooo way, I’ve had enough. Why are care homes asking for this, haven’t the residents been vaccinated? They just want to keep this going through fear!

@Sandsnake
Agree wholeheartedly.
Everyone was happy to pay for endless asymptomatic often unnecessary testing and hoarding of LFTs.
Why wouldn’t you want to pay for those who want to see their parents?

The stockpilers on here are perfect examples of why we can’t keep financing this forever out of the public purse.

Agreed, it's a disgrace. The care homes should be at least providing the tests themselves. My grandma's current care home bill is almost £1000 a week for a dingy-roomed, depressing life, with a view of the bin yard and barely any different to prison.

Would you rather live 2 years like this with less visitors, or 3 months with unlimited visitors and die of covid at the end of it. I know which I'd choose and I don't even think that's a controversial opinion.

@katya yep 205 deaths today. Most people want to protect their elderly and vulnerable family.

@Somebodylikeyew

The stockpilers on here are perfect examples of why we can’t keep financing this forever out of the public purse.

No stockpiling is a rational response.

@alexandra2001 I'm sorry but the government simply cannot be expected to pay for absolutely everything that people cannot afford themselves. When I couldn't afford the train fare to my parents, I didn't go. I didn't expect the government to pay it.

@Thewindwhispers

France has capped the price of a covid test at £1.

Thanks for nothing, Boris. As your wife was once overheard saying to you, “You just don’t care about anything because you’re spoilt.”

There's no reason why the government can't cap the price here, but they aren't interested.

Of course the government can pay. They are choosing not to.

I think either the homes or the government should supply the test in the event of needing one to visit the care home. It is not fair that the visitor should be out of pocket. Some relatives need to visit every day (say, if that person is critically ill) or if the resident is particularly distressed (e.g. with dementia). For most of us, NHS care is barely available to the over 75s, they can at least give us something

Just stockpile. I am advising everyone still testing to do this.

@Momijin

The govt can easily afford to provide free tests for its population. Have you any idea how much money they wasted awarding contracts to their mates?

I completely agree. There is such a massive divide between those who can afford and those who can’t and I wouldn’t expect the majority of those who can afford to understand that £20 out of a weekly budget is a lot of money. The amount the government spend on keeping their mates business’ going would easily pay for each care home to have a supply of tests for visitor's to Do when they are visiting.

@BoredZelda

Yep. It is shit and Boris is a twat.

But, you won't get much sympathy from the "we just have to live with it" crowd on here. Generally they are people who have absolutely no concept of what it is like to be a vulnerable person or to care for one. It's all "I'm alright Jack"

Exactly. As a taxpayer there are lots of things I don't particularly want to fund as they're of no direct benefit to me but I accept the need to fund the quality of life for the vulnerable.

I have to test daily for work.

They make me.

I'm hoping this is dropped, but will see.

I don't test on the days I dont work. So for.now ive got to keep ordering the tests.

[quote Monopolyiscrap]@katya yep 205 deaths today. Most people want to protect their elderly and vulnerable family.[/quote]
But aren’t they vaccinated? I know so many elderly people that have had it recently, they said it was just a cold. What was the vaccinations for then?

Dad dad from hospital acquired covid in April 2020. I'm never going to visit him ever again. Get your a* to the chemist, Pay the £20 and go and see your dad!!!!

@Katya213 why do you think people are still dying of covid?

I worked on test and trace until November. The number of stockpiling idiots I would speak to who were doing multiple tests a day on themselves and their families were shocking.

@fairylightsandwaxmelts

But the government can't be expected to just hand out unlimited free tests forever.

Someone, somewhere has to pay for it.

We already are, through national insurance.

@DoingsSophie I read about that on MN but have never come across anyone doing multiple tests.
I honestly think this is the equivalent of - those on benefits with loads of money. i.e. bullshit.

The thing is they can't even have a "pay for tests unless xyz" etc. they certainly don't have the resource to check that every person ordering the free tests are doing so because they work in the NHS, visiting a cafe home etc etc.

It's shit but the testing has drained so much of the country's finances already.

I have absolutely no idea if they are right or wrong, I think that by stopping free tests it will in turn reduce positive reported cases and make UK look better "ooh look our numbers are going down" yet it still makes me nervous.

17Katya213 without vaccinations it would probably be more than "just a cold".

[quote Monopolyiscrap]@Katya213 why do you think people are still dying of covid?[/quote]
Wouldn’t those people die if they caught the flu though? We didn’t rely on test for flu a few years ago every time you visited your elderly relatives. I mean a general cold could end their life also.

It's £3 a pop, like a bus fare. Just a cost of life. Like paying for parking at the hospital, when you visit your dying dad. Shit. But not unreasonable.