Can’t get a test for 6 days - how is this system practical?

[QueenofmyPrinces]

Yesterday my eldest son (aged 6) went for a test, we booked it at 7.00am and whisked him straight off. Our local centre had no appointments for 5 days so instead my DH has to drive him to a centre over an hour away.

Last night my youngest son (aged 3) started showing symptoms and still has them this morning. Tried to book him a test and again, all local centres don’t have any appointments for 6 days and the next nearest available appointment is at a centre 150 miles away - and I haven’t even checked if that place has appointments available!!

I tried to order a home testing kit but was told there was none available?

So what now? My husband works and I’m at Uni so we need to know whether he has it or not, or are we just expected to stay at home for 6 days because there is no testing available?

It just seems ridiculous.

I can imagine that it is reasons like this that people won’t isolate because they will feel they can’t just put their lives on hold ‘just in case’ when it might not even be Covid but they can’t get tested.

I don’t know what the answer is but if the Government are so reliant on T&T surely this system needs to be better? Who knows how many cases may be missed because the individual can’t get a test, or his the numbers may be skewed because by the time someone actually gets a tests they’re symptoms have abated that it shows up negative.

I just saw on the Governmrnt website that tests needs to be done within 5 days of symptoms starting to get an accurate result, but how is this possible when the appointments just aren’t there.

I know we are going to have to drive really, really far to get him tested and it just seems madness.

@QueenofmyPrinces

The problem is though, that for children who have working parents, the child having to be kept at home for a few days because of a sore throat (when the child is otherwise well) will cause a lot problems. It’s just not practical. I think the schools need to realise that not all children have parents at home to accommodate keeping their child at home every time they show a minor sign of illness which is probably nothing.

Believe me they do.

All teaching staff with school age children are in exactly the same situation. They may have been woken in the night by a sick child and be worm fearing what to do at 6 am, knowing they have to call the head by 7:30 to inform if an absence.

Which may impact both teaching at school and provision of learning at home.

We feel incredibly stretched.

I think the schools need to realise that not all children have parents at home to accommodate keeping their child at home every time they show a minor sign of illness which is probably nothing

I imagine that the vast majority of schools do know that. Most of the teachers at DD’s school have school aged children themselves. Our headmistress has 3 primary aged children.
The testing criteria and lack of available tests isn’t their fault.

The system is really failing. I tried to get tested on Friday - nearest test centre was fifty miles away, so a hundred mile round trip so I requested at home tests instead. This was at 8.30am on Friday. I received the test on Saturday afternoon after the collection deadline and you can't send them on Sunday so we've had to do it this morning - that's three days missed. It needs to be running seven days a week with at home tests quickly available.

You will need to isolate for 14 days if you can't get him tested, not 6 days.

When I said “the schools need to realise...” I wasn’t referring to schools in general, just the one (and maybe others) who said that even if they have a sore throat they can’t come in and must be tested.

It was my understanding the Government’s guidelines were for the child to be tested only in they have either: a cough, fever and lack of sense of smell and taste.

I may be wrong though...

I belong to a Facebook group for my child’s intake and it’s full of messages from parents asking if they need to get tested for cold symptoms and nobody knows what to say. Everyone is panicked about sending their child in with what they consider to be a minor issue (like a runny nose, sore throat etc ) and the school just sending the child home and and requesting a negative result before they are allowed back.

It just seems like nobody knows when to test and when not to test.

I belong to a Facebook group for my child’s intake and it’s full of messages from parents asking if they need to get tested for cold symptoms and nobody knows what to say. Everyone is panicked about sending their child in with what they consider to be a minor issue (like a runny nose, sore throat etc ) and the school just sending the child home and and requesting a negative result before they are allowed back

Our school have been clear that tests are only needed for the three major symptoms. They have said that they expect children in school for minor colds. For heavy colds/bugs children may need a few days at home to recover.

@QueenofmyPrinces

When I said “the schools need to realise...” I wasn’t referring to schools in general, just the one (and maybe others) who said that even if they have a sore throat they can’t come in and must be tested.

It was my understanding the Government’s guidelines were for the child to be tested only in they have either: a cough, fever and lack of sense of smell and taste.

I may be wrong though...

I belong to a Facebook group for my child’s intake and it’s full of messages from parents asking if they need to get tested for cold symptoms and nobody knows what to say. Everyone is panicked about sending their child in with what they consider to be a minor issue (like a runny nose, sore throat etc ) and the school just sending the child home and and requesting a negative result before they are allowed back.

It just seems like nobody knows when to test and when not to test.

The problem is symptoms of "a cold" often do include a fever and/or a cough - certainly amongst primary age children.

OP, I agree the system doesn’t work. I tried to book a test this morning and the nearest testing centre is apparently 50 miles away. However I know there is one just 3 miles down the road, but perhaps it was fully booked.

My understanding is that symptoms of a cold including a fever and or a cough require testing. Symptoms of a cold without a fever or a cough do not require testing.

Mine have been back for a few days and already the youngest has bought home a snotty nose and shared it with the others. No other symptoms so they’ve all gone back in. I was really worried about getting judged for sending them and judged for not sending them though!

Well this is a shit show.

We run a farm with 6 employees. Most of them have kids. 2 employees with kids have gone off today as the kids have got a temperature and other cold symptoms. They've been lucky and been able to get tests but have been told it'll be 48 hrs.

We are all exhausted after harvest. If we have a winter of this we and our staff will be on our knees with the stress of coping with this.

I don't know how we'll cope.

My dh is moving into our caravan tonight so when our kids get the inevitable winter bugs he won't have to isolate from work. We had to do this in March and it was shit.

I’m not even being shown any appointments at all for anywhere on any date - just a message that says “sorry this service is unavailable please try later when more tests may become available”. No home testing available either

Same for me @ceeveebee my son has come home with a new persistent cough. And no tests to be found. So i will have to keep him off until we can get a test. I'm sure it's a cold but he can't go to school with this cough.

Working parents aren’t going to keep their DC’s off school with every cough or sneeze. Some I know wouldn’t get paid.

So I finally got past the “service unavailable” screen to be presented with test centres 20 miles away (fine) but no appointments showing until at least 7 days away!! Is this is deliberate ploy to keep confirmed cases down!!

It does seem very suspicious that suddenly there are no tests.

I have tried for 24 hours can't get anything don't know what will happen over winter !

I went to my local walk in one at Bedford today. No appointment, was there at 8am and done by 8:30. They need to have tests available if this test and trace will work

It's a shambles. Gateshead has had a massive surge in cases (after already being quite problematic) but now has no testing capacity left because it's all been diverted to the northwest.

@QueenofmyPrinces

When I said “the schools need to realise...” I wasn’t referring to schools in general, just the one (and maybe others) who said that even if they have a sore throat they can’t come in and must be tested.

It was my understanding the Government’s guidelines were for the child to be tested only in they have either: a cough, fever and lack of sense of smell and taste.

I may be wrong though...

I belong to a Facebook group for my child’s intake and it’s full of messages from parents asking if they need to get tested for cold symptoms and nobody knows what to say. Everyone is panicked about sending their child in with what they consider to be a minor issue (like a runny nose, sore throat etc ) and the school just sending the child home and and requesting a negative result before they are allowed back.

It just seems like nobody knows when to test and when not to test.

Yep, I kept my 2 off for a day each (high school) in the first week back, no Covid symptoms but a sore throat etc and I knew if they so much as cleared their throat I’d need to collect the two of them. They were both right as rain the next day - no Covid symptoms at all so didn’t get them tested. Hopefully schools are calming down a bit now

My 6 year old is running a high temperature tonight, and has had a headache plus fatigue this evening. Could be back to school normal germs, but we are all going to have to isolate now until I can get her tested. Except, I can't get a bloody test anywhere less than an hour away. I'll go the hour, but being in a car with one potentially sick child, plus two other well ones for two hours plus testing time (a friend had to wait 30 minutes before anyone have them the tests in an empty test centre), isn't filling me with joy and isn't a very good system. No home kits available. Oh, and I have a job interview tomorrow which I will now have to cancel and forfeit. (It's within my own team, but I can see from them team calendar that they are interviewing 5 external candidates as well, so they won't re-schedule my interview).

Two days at school and this is it. Every time a child has a temperature, having to pull them all out of school and try and get a test, drive to another county and then await results.

A more local test centre has been shut now, because playing football matches is more important.

This lack of testing is ridiculous. We need a test centre in every town, open 7 days a week and/or stocks of home tests readily available in local areas. None of this waiting 48 hours for a test kit to be sent from Glasgow to London, arriving too late for Saturday collection so delaying test until Monday and then having to wait for test to be posted back to Glasgow and then processed - utterly ridiculous when you've got a household off school or work awaiting results.

My friend and her son both have persistent coughs phoned 111 for advice and was told to self manage at home no test required.
Don't think testing roll out is all its cracked up to be.
Lots of people in my area have had to travel 60 miles+ to get a test ( if they can book one)

I'm another who has been trying since yesterday lunchtime to book a test. It switches between saying no sites available and no home tests to showing me a testing site 55 miles away (apparently my nearest option). I gave in yesterday evening and clicked to book a test there despite the fact I'll have to do the journey with a nearly 9 month old and it said there were no slots for 6 days!!! Seriously at this rate it will just be quicker to self isolate for 14 days.

i agree with trying your luck, i took dd but had not booked myself, i booked it there and then, elsewhere, but as long as they had the QR number they were able to give me the test equipment

Have any of you got the ZOE/King's College app? You can get sent a home test that way although agree re the crazy Sat afternoon/Sunday lack of posting ability is insane.

We live in Northern Ireland...8 year old back to school last week and 3 year old started nursery last week...on Sunday evening both had sore throats, runny noses and coughs...tried to get a test...only one available was in Stranraer, Scotland...only 62 miles...and one 2 hour ferry trip (!) away...eventually got sorted locally as I’m a doctor and managed through my work...it’s going to be a long winter!