Hancock says Covid tests are now having to be prioritised, with further restrictions possible

[JS87]

According to the Guardian, Matt Hancock is speaking in HoC and said:
We’ve seen a sharp rise in people coming forward for a test, including those who are not eligible.

And throughout this pandemic we have prioritised testing according to need. Over the summer, when demand was low, we were able to meet all requirements for testing, whether priorities or not.

But as demand has risen, so we are having to prioritise once again. And I do not shirk from decisions about prioritisation. They are not always comfortable, but they are important.

The top priority is, and always has been, acute clinical care.

The next priority is social care, where we’re now sending over 100,000 tests a day because we’ve all seen the risks this virus poses in care homes.

We’ll set out in full an updated prioritisation and I do not rule out further steps to make sure tests are used according to those priorities. It is a choice that we must make.

Unsurprising but depressing. How are we going to get through winter without adequate tests?

Another tory shitshow.

I think there needs to be a big push on publicising when a test is needed, especially for children, and preventing schools from requiring a test to be obtained where none of the 3 symptoms are present.

My DDs have both been ill since returning to school, but no cough, no temperature and no loss of taste. So we haven’t tested, or isolated, but I have heard of parents who have, some at the behest of school.

Having said that, the main symptoms don't always present in children, according to the Zoe Covid research.

https://covid.joinzoe.com/post/back-to-school?fbclid=IwAR3cFgCRpHoIY8HW0QE6vv_GFVPtuVRNh1xQ5z6WIcardDMpwauEy5E9tUY

The fact remains that we are testing the most people per capita of any country in Europe which means it is a problem of prioritisation rather than capacity. If the 100,000 per day figure being used in care homes is even close to true this is unsustainable considering the pressures in the wider community and relatively small numbers of cases being detected in such an environment.

Guidance where I live (not UK) is that GP should be consulted on symptoms and should decide whether or not a test is needed. Not sure how feasible that is in UK, but at least there is some attempt to prioritise. Of course, GPs can't always know for every case, but might be one way to avoid the uncertainty for some of whether or not to test. And of course, best way is to test everybody with any suspicion of symptoms but clearly that's not an option at present.

Fair enough imo. Our testing levels are high compared with Europe?

It would be interesting to know from those with children who have tested positive how long the symptoms have lasted? For example if a child starts with a cough or temp if the symptoms subside within 24/48hrs it's unlikely to be covid and they can return to school and not require a test

X post and also agree with Statistical on how it is prioritised. But agree that it should be.

They told us there would be tests for school children.

Happy to follow the rules - test for temp/cough/senses - but will be pretty if can't get a test with those symptoms.

Schoolno look never safe imo, as if tests can not be got, then come ntact tracing won't happen, meaning more asymptomatic cases in schools.

This is very very bad.

Depressing that we test for one of the narrowest range of options in the world, depressing we haven't ramped up priority a lot, depressing that testing could prevent so many chains of transmission, depressing that no official guidance on what to do with the other well known symptoms in absence of testing, a total shit show...

Our testing levels are high because how contact tracing is very very poor.

Everyone wants things to be ok but this is a massive failure and universities haven't even got going yet.

Testing not priority

@SlipperyLizard

I think there needs to be a big push on publicising when a test is needed, especially for children, and preventing schools from requiring a test to be obtained where none of the 3 symptoms are present.

My DDs have both been ill since returning to school, but no cough, no temperature and no loss of taste. So we haven’t tested, or isolated, but I have heard of parents who have, some at the behest of school.

Everyone I've seen posting asking for a test has a cough, or has a child with a cough.

I think there's some confusion over 'continuous cough'. This isn't clear.

I heard in Italy they ask everyone who is ill to stay at home (cold/cough whatever), then a need for a test is assessed by a doctor. That sounds sensible to me.

But fundamentally the government have messed up by shoving kids into massive classes again, asking people to get back to work, and not making sufficient testing available to account for this. And once again they're trying to blame the general public for this.

It concerns me that decisions are being made on what happened, ie care homes, rather than a moving situation and new need.

Apple for my typing!

@MarshaBradyo

It concerns me that decisions are being made on what happened, ie care homes, rather than a moving situation and new need.

Yes, agree with this!

This would be solved if they gave GPS more money so they could employ a person or people to gatekeep the tests and triage so the people most in need get the tests

@SeekingCoffee33

This would be solved if they gave GPS more money so they could employ a person or people to gatekeep the tests and triage so the people most in need get the tests

Money must only go to private sector, silly!

Please propose an alternative system using one of:

G4S
SERCO
Deloitte
etc...

This is government incompetence pure and simple. Rather than struggle to clear the backlog what they should be doing is pausing the care home testing programme for a couple of days (which would be sufficient) and then reintroducing it at about half of its current capacity.

Clearer definitions of a "coughing episode" may help. I suspect schools are sending children home for very minor coughs due to snot clearing (ie coughing once or twice at a time infrequently) which the government perhaps didn't mean to be included in the definition of a continuous cough. And if it is included in the definition then they are definitely going to need a much greater testing capacity!

"But fundamentally the government have messed up by shoving kids into massive classes again, asking people to get back to work, and not making sufficient testing available to account for this. And once again they're trying to blame the general public for this."
^ this x 1000. It would be good if regular figures were published to show how many care homes and schools are affected.

The ‘continuous’ cough is impossible to judge, it’s so subjective. I’ve managed to get a test for my son as I’m worried he’ll be excluded for 14 days if I don’t but I know he doesn’t have it. In part because we had confirmed infection back in March. I know the evidence isn’t complete yet but signs are vast vast majority only get in once.

@JS87

Clearer definitions of a "coughing episode" may help. I suspect schools are sending children home for very minor coughs due to snot clearing (ie coughing once or twice at a time infrequently) which the government perhaps didn't mean to be included in the definition of a continuous cough. And if it is included in the definition then they are definitely going to need a much greater testing capacity!

Yes would agree with this.

And with the fact that the government is trying to privatise healthcare by stealth. It's sickening (literally!).

Bloody buffoons the lot of them. No common sense or basic level of intelligence from our ‘supposed’ brightest people. There ought to be a test for common decency, common sense and intelligence before they are allowed to stand.

Something needs to change. Desperately.

Replace 'prioritise' with 'ration'.
They didn't ensure there was enough capacity in the testing system and now they have to ration the testing to key workers.
Parents are going to have to make a value judgement about whether their child has a simple cold. We are not medical experts but we have no choice now.