Test and trace and tests for all - will everyone opt for testing?

[porktangle]

Just listening to the briefing and the whole thing rests on everyone going and getting a test sorted for themselves and their children etc so they know who to discuss the tracing with and then the tracing contacts all isolate. Will everyone come forward and get tested?

I've seen some people saying they wouldn't get their child tested or they didn't want a test in case it hurt or people (particularly in my hospital when covid was at its high and we were all knackered) a rest for 2 weeks was more preferable than a test and quick return!!

[user1497207191]

What if you got the message to self isolate on the morning of your long awaited hair appointment? I can imagine some people just ignoring it, or not start isolating until the next day.

That's exactly what happened with Cheltenham races and the Anfield football match. People with symptoms who should have been self-isolated thought "sod it" and went to enjoy themselves anyway - putting untold numbers of other people at risk. Any system that relies on people doing the right thing for the good of others is doomed to failure as some people just don't give a toss about anyone else!

[EasyLifer]

Exactly, some people will only self isolate if it doesn't personally inconvenience them.

[Inkpaperstars]

Yes Takeme, sorry I phrased that badly, I meant that if I tested positive for a current infection then afterwards I would know I had had it.

Oddly though, still wouldn't know if I had gone on to develop antibodies.

[LisaSimpsonsbff]

I am also pessimistic about compliance - I don't know a single working parent who hasn't fudged the 48 hours after vomiting rule (people on MN always say they stick to it religiously; they also always turn out to be SAHMs). People just aren't going to risk their jobs and shut their lives down for two weeks if everyone else doesn't have to - it's not like the current lockdown.

That said, I don't know what the alternative is, so I hope I'm wrong.

[AhGoGo]

I’d imagine many people would do it once.
Financially a hit for many but many people still want to work together to eradicate this virus.
But a second time?
A third time?

[Moondust001]

GDPR can be overruled by things that are in the ‘substantial public interest.’ They’ll have to produce a rock solid policy document describing exactly what they’re doing with the data. Not that they’ll necessarily stick to it...

Unfortunately they screwed up trust in that slight issue when they "accidentally" released the contact details of people who were recruited to the job! They kind of skirted past getting pulled on that one - it barely got more than a footnote in the news.

But to be honest I'm not that worried about data on me - they undoubtedly have a huge file anyway. People think their lives are a secret - you'd be amazed what the information society already has about you, and that's just the stuff they share. Not paranoid - I don't care much.

My worry is that it doesn't matter a damn what they say. If people have to isolate for 14 days and all they get is SSP, then many simply will not tell and won't isolate. And many who may already be sick won't tell for fear of bringing that down on people they know and family. Hundreds of thousands of people are already struggling because they lost a huge chunk of their wages for many weeks, and then there's many more who lost their jobs and are hanging on by the fingertips to any employment they might have found. Those people can't afford to sit at home on SSP for two weeks. And a great many of them will not.

That is what will bring down track and trace. Who needs to worry about them accidentally sharing your name and telephone number when you can worry about how you put food on the table instead?

[Branster]

So if I get a call and am told work colleague X tested positive and I need to isolate, why can’t I go and get a test done myself? If it comes up negative, wouldn’t I be able to get on with daily life without isolating?
If it comes up positive, shouldn’t my people in my household isolate as well for 14 days?
I know the tests are not 100% accurate but neither is the one saying work colleague tested positive.

[QueenofmyPrinces]

So if I get a call and am told work colleague X tested positive and I need to isolate, why can’t I go and get a test done myself? If it comes up negative, wouldn’t I be able to get on with daily life without isolating?

Because if it’s an early exposure then you may just not have enough of the virus in your system to be detected and so the result will come back negative when in fact you are harbouring the virus.

The tests generally are only reliable when used on people with symptoms, because if symptoms are showing it generally means there is enough of a viral load for a test to detect it.

[Smileyoriley]

Too many ifs buts and maybes. I will use my common and luckily don't use public transport; WFH etc. I honestly don't feel like complying with any scheme conjured up by this government who have acted too little and too late.

[whatshappeninginthisworld]

Too many ifs buts and maybes. I will use my common and luckily don't use public transport; WFH etc. I honestly don't feel like complying with any scheme conjured up by this government who have acted too little and too late.

👆🏻that!!

I will use my common sense. I don't use public transport either and will use ppe on my way to work.

[mondaynoon]

I work in a hospital so no idea what will happen when a positive case is diagnosed....the whole clinical environment will have to isolate???

I was wondering about this too. I work in social care so I'm not sure how it will work in that context.

[funmummy48]

I think pre- DomCum, most people would have gone along with this. Now, not so much. Also, those with health anxiety will be forever lining up for tests (that’s not a criticism of them, just a fact) and long term hay fever sufferers like me will be just thinking that’s all it is, especially with a mild dose.

[Lumene]

How do you get a test if you haven’t got a car?

[funmummy48]

@Lumene I think they post you one? I could be wrong though!

[Barnabyboyo]

It amazes me the amount of people who don’t want to help get rid of the virus just because it’s a Tory government. Yes, Cummings was wrong but then so was the 4 Labour MPs. Why are they never brought up? There’s a reason Starmer hasn’t spoke about Cummings.
It’s completely pathetic and shows how low the left have become

[Inoneminute]

Doesn't this completely scupper the reopening of schools too? A teacher tests positive how many staff and students have to take 14 days off?

[funmummy48]

@Inoneminute you’re right and not just schools, all sorts of businesses. You could come out if 14 days isolation and come into contact with someone else and be plunged back into it. I can’t see how it’s going to work.

[Howaboutanewname]

Hopefully people will do their civic duty and self isolate if told to do so, but I imagine many won't

I don’t think hope is good enough. It needs to be strict. I would like to see criminal prosecutions where a localised outbreak can be traced back to someone who didn’t test and continued to go to work when advised otherwise.

[Howaboutanewname]

Doesn't this completely scupper the reopening of schools too? A teacher tests positive how many staff and students have to take 14 days off?

Which is why they’re trying to put students into bubbles so the impact is minimal. Schools will not be normal for quite some time.

[Spikeyball]

Potentially the rest of the bubble but staff who don't work in that class shouldn't need to.
My son has been in school throughout and there haven't been any cases. I don't think any of his class would be able to be tested so if a child gets a temperature it could be everyone isolating for 14 days so I think he is more likely to be in and out of school for that reason when the cold season comes around again.

[Inoneminute]

Will there be any right of appeal. I mean, what happens if peope just make up who their contacts have been or a just make mistake about when or for how long they were in contact with someone.?

[Inoneminute]

Does anyone know a secondary school that is planning for bubbles? I don't and I've been at all the heads' meetings for the county

[TheAlphaandtheOmega]

I would get a postal test as I think nearest test centre is 25 miles away which I wouldn’t be driving to if I felt ill, I think postal ones take longer though and wouldn’t you have to go out to post it back or is it collected

[FourTeaFallOut]

You could come out if 14 days isolation and come into contact with someone else and be plunged back into it. I can’t see how it’s going to work

That scenario's highly unlikely unless we are in the midst of another wave. I do think there should be more financial support to be compliant - anything is cheaper than another full scale lock down.

[Spikeyball]

I think that is unlikely to happen unless you work in an environment with no social distancing and ppe and I think that is where local lockdowns would come in.