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Original poster

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

121 replies

QueenofmyPrinces · 06/09/2020 07:08

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.

OP posts:
ceeveebee · 08/09/2020 09:39

I managed to get an appointment eventually- they seem to release them around 8pm - suddenly there were hundreds of test slots available at the drive in centre 2 miles away - so worth trying shortly after 8pm each night.
Also it was deserted....
Now whether I did the test right is another matter, DD was crying and gagging and I fully expecting an inconclusive result...

Augustbreeze · 08/09/2020 10:02

Try just turning up at a test site if that's practical for you - we've just done that, otherwise we'd have been doing a 130 mile round trip to the one suggested online!

TinySleepThief · 08/09/2020 10:11

@Augustbreeze

Try just turning up at a test site if that's practical for you - we've just done that, otherwise we'd have been doing a 130 mile round trip to the one suggested online!
I posted the same qon another thread a short whole ago but where I am there are a few 49+ miles away that say no referral needed, these all seem to be walk through centres. However all the ones closest to me are drive through centres and say appointment only, so surely I can't just turn up? Was yours a walk through or a drive through centre?

I will go if it's allowed but I really dont want to drag the also coughing almost 9 month old with me if I'm just going to be turned away because I don't have an appointment.

Augustbreeze · 08/09/2020 10:29

This was a walk in, although I have a feeling I've seen someone (maybe on MN) talking about turning up at a drive thru. Maybe ring 119 and ask?

TinySleepThief · 08/09/2020 10:30

@Augustbreeze

This was a walk in, although I have a feeling I've seen someone (maybe on MN) talking about turning up at a drive thru. Maybe ring 119 and ask?
I tried that 119 just diverted to an automated message and then cut me off Hmm
DominaShantotto · 08/09/2020 10:39

The posters on here insisting you HAVE to have a covid test or you'll kill your granny for people who've stubbed their toes aren't helping.

Our school have obviously had so many parents ringing up asking if their kids can come in with snotty noses that we got a very frazzled "these are the guidelines PLEASE STOP RINGING!" email last night!

SoCrimeaRiver · 08/09/2020 10:43

@QueenofmyPrinces we tested in Birstall park and ride testing station on Saturday. We're still waiting on the results, mind, so don't expect them any time soon, but they said you could just drive up. I know it's the top end of Leicester but it's got to be closer than the other places you're looking at. We were the only car there at our allotted time.

Kaktus · 08/09/2020 11:30

@DominaShantotto

The posters on here insisting you HAVE to have a covid test or you'll kill your granny for people who've stubbed their toes aren't helping.

Our school have obviously had so many parents ringing up asking if their kids can come in with snotty noses that we got a very frazzled "these are the guidelines PLEASE STOP RINGING!" email last night!

So did we. It clarified that people should only be testing for a high temperature, a new continuous cough or loss of smell or taste. Students with mild colds are expected in school, and (as per normal times) children with a heavier cold may need a couple of days at home to recover.
EDSGFC · 08/09/2020 11:48

Problem is that a cold tends to present with a cough and/or fever so how can you dismiss these symptoms as "just a cold"?

Kaktus · 08/09/2020 11:59

@EDSGFC

Problem is that a cold tends to present with a cough and/or fever so how can you dismiss these symptoms as "just a cold"?
If it presents with a cough and/or a fever then you get a test... I thought that was clear. If it is a cold without a cough or fever then they go to school. I have 3 children who have never had a fever with a cold. One gets a cough, one doesn’t, one too young to tell really as he’s spent most of his life in lockdown.
EvilPea · 08/09/2020 12:08

We had this. We couldn’t get a local test, we knew it was just a cold (probably).
So off we drove for 150 mile each way test.

When the bodies first response to infection is a high temperature, even a cold ticks one of the symptom boxes.

EDSGFC · 08/09/2020 12:10

Kaktus

Yes, it is clear.

My point was how much pressure is going to be taken off of the testing system by telling people to not test if they just have a cold? I'd imagine most people, especially children, will have either a cough or fever with a cold and so will need testing

Kaktus · 08/09/2020 12:23

@EDSGFC

Kaktus

Yes, it is clear.

My point was how much pressure is going to be taken off of the testing system by telling people to not test if they just have a cold? I'd imagine most people, especially children, will have either a cough or fever with a cold and so will need testing

Then they need to increase testing capacity. If they want children to test when they have a high temperature and a cough, the testing capacity has to be there to accommodate it.
EDSGFC · 08/09/2020 12:35

Then they need to increase testing capacity. If they want children to test when they have a high temperature and a cough, the testing capacity has to be there to accommodate it.

Well, exactly, that's what many of us are saying and have been saying. It was clear as anything that schools going back with no provision in place for the practicalities was going to be a disaster. How soon until the teachers pick up these "colds" and need testing but won't be able to and so have to isolate instead? Then what?

Frazzled2207 · 08/09/2020 13:27

agree OP you can't blame the schools.
Testing availability is going to be absolutely critical these next few weeks and months.
Anyway pleased you got sorted - hopefully you'll have two negative results soon
PS I would def not drive 4 hrs for a test.

EvilPea · 08/09/2020 13:38

Just seen on the news, its not the test centres (so presumably turning up is no use) its the lab capacity which is the issue.

YippieKayakOtherBuckets · 08/09/2020 13:40

OP, I am glad that you are sorted but for future reference if your husband is a key worker then his employer can refer any member of the household with symptoms for testing. It has to be done via a secure portal and it doesn’t seem to have been widely publicised.

Can’t get a test for 6 days - how is this system practical?
Mischance · 08/09/2020 13:44

It is complete madness - a friend is a chiropodist and has to attend care homes, none of whom, quite rightly, will have her there without a current negative test. Can she get a test without travelling for miles? - No. And she has to keep repeating the test so it is current. So she will be travelling around the country (potentially spreading the virus if she has it) repeatedly. It is nuts.

marriednotdead · 08/09/2020 14:16

The system is a complete failure right now.
My sister has had definite symptoms since Sunday but cannot get a test anywhere, she doesn’t drive. On hold to 119 for 30 minutes again this morning but they couldn’t offer anything.
Works in a local bar and was there on Saturday evening so presumably there is risk of transmission to both staff and customers, no idea what else she can do- she’s told the boss.
They’ve only been open a few weeks and no doubt she caught it from there in the first place, she doesn’t go anywhere else!

Theradioison · 08/09/2020 14:53

ZOE/King's College app, I mentioned on previous page, you can get a postal test any time, they literally throw them at you

marriednotdead · 08/09/2020 14:59

I suggested that app to her but you need an iPhone to get it, she tried... they send me offers to take a test every time I have reported so much as a headache but I’d already recovered from it by the time I joined.

Kaktus · 08/09/2020 15:00

@Theradioison

ZOE/King's College app, I mentioned on previous page, you can get a postal test any time, they literally throw them at you
Zoe asked me to get a test last week but I was directed to the same gov.uk website where all tests are booked. There were none available. I emailed to let them know.
EDSGFC · 08/09/2020 15:01

@Theradioison

ZOE/King's College app, I mentioned on previous page, you can get a postal test any time, they literally throw them at you
This isn't true. I was asked to test via Zoe app due to symptoms but was directed to the same NHS site that everyone else is struggling with. Yes, I got at home tests but they were delayed and there's been a delay in their return to the lab
Roomba · 08/09/2020 15:06

There appears to be a massive issue at the moment. The Guardian was reporting people in London being directed to Inverness to be tested as no nearer appointments were available. And home testing kits (for those without transport) being unavailable.

www.theguardian.com/society/2020/sep/08/englands-covid-testing-troubles-something-is-clearly-going-wrong

Oblomov20 · 08/09/2020 15:41

This is all so ridiculous.