Why don’t the UK do this?

[Alex50]

This makes far more sense, I also think all secondary school children should be tested once a week when they go back to school, so we’re not second guessing who has the virus.

www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/27/bavaria-rolls-out-coronavirus-mass-testing-for-returning-holidaymakers

I feel like I'm following you round raining on your parade but we don't have enough testing capacity.

Germany is a world leader in testing, they have Roche based there.

UK abandoned testing, then had a late rethink but we have nothing like capacity to do that.

Is it Roche? Anyway, big testing company.

The school pupil resting would be far too expensive surely? I think they're about $100 each. For the small number of positive results they'd catch by doing it, I think the financial impact would be too great. Especially as the child would have already had the opportunity to pass it on before test results came through.

Aren't we aiming to be able to test 500,000 people a day in the UK by October? There was 2.75 million secondary school pupils in the UK in 2017 according to Google, guessing it's still more or less the same, so to test all of them would take up 5 and half days of our testing capacity, leaving one a half days testing capacity for everyone else. Not going to happen.

Oh well I will have to accept this isn’t going to happen. Such a shame as the data would be so helpful to know exactly who and where the infections were coming from. I hope people stick to the 14 day quarantine rules but I can’t see it happening or even bothering to take people’s details properly.

From all I've read over the past 4 months (feels like 4 years !) I've inferred that teacher to teacher transmission is actually more likely to be an issue. Allowing teachers access to weekly tests might be an idea.

@AlrightTreacle

Aren't we aiming to be able to test 500,000 people a day in the UK by October? There was 2.75 million secondary school pupils in the UK in 2017 according to Google, guessing it's still more or less the same, so to test all of them would take up 5 and half days of our testing capacity, leaving one a half days testing capacity for everyone else. Not going to happen.

Just to clarify 500,000 TESTING CAPACITY is the target - the government has virtually never been hitting the 100,000 people tested level.

They count the test they post out as two (nose plus throat) and the figures are an enormous fudge

We have very poor testing in the UK.

Oh, and we'll over 3m secondary pupils now I believe (hence our overcrowded schools!)

It is a real shame that they can't test more people. We need people to make sure they are testing as soon as they have a small symptom.

Maybe I've misunderstood, but I thought that testing people on arrival wouldn't be a massive help because if they've picked it up on the plane (or just somewhere very recently), the test will be too early to pick it up? So people may be given a negative result but then develop it a few days later?

@Frazzled13

Maybe I've misunderstood, but I thought that testing people on arrival wouldn't be a massive help because if they've picked it up on the plane (or just somewhere very recently), the test will be too early to pick it up? So people may be given a negative result but then develop it a few days later?

Yes, the approach in countries taking it seriously (i.e. not the UK ) is test on arrival and a second test later. Look at NZ.

@labyrinthloafer ah ok, that makes sense.

I agree with you op

Trying not to get that our quarantine is totally meaningless and just for headlines.

Is that the up the nose & on the tonsils test? Many people say it's unpleasant. Are you going to take away the right for kids to consent or not?

I thought this was a consideration? My son is starting at a school in September which has been piloting testing all staff and pupils once a week. However they have only had a few year groups in and have said it takes a lot of time so unrealistic they could do it when at full capacity. I would imagine a large secondary school would take a couple of days.

The reason is because we have a weak leader and a shitshow of a Government.

And not only are some tests being counted as two as pp says, but they were outed as counting tests that had left the factory in their tests carried out . Don't know if that's still the case, or if they've had to come clean, but effectively doctors were saying some tests were counting as 3 instead of 1.