Thickos on BBC breakfast this morning getting Covid tests with no symptoms

[KnobChops]

“For peace of mind”
“I just fancied one”
Pretending they’re a key worker “to keep my family safe”

The government have done a shit job with testing.
These people are not helping.

*My nephew went for a test with no symptoms for the simple reason he had been in a pub where someone tested positive. Track and Trace said he didn’t need to self isolate.

He phoned work and they said they didn’t want him back for 2w unless he had a test. He doesn’t get paid when off work.

Can hardly blame him for having one in those circumstances.*

If Track and Trace said he didn't need to isolate I don't understand why he told his employer.

I tend to agree, FrameByFrame. I guarantee that, when I next speak to my parents, they’ll be insisting that the Government has done a flawless job on testing and it’s just the general public ruining things (just as they didn’t believe there were issues around PPE because they’d heard lots of anecdotal examples of NHS staff being “wasteful”, etc etc).

Well I'm not surprised there aren't any tests available if MN over the last few weeks is anything to go by.

OP "my child has a runny nose what should I do"
MN "get them tested it could be covid"

OP " I have had d&v for the last 24 hours"
MN "get a test it could be a symptom"

And so on and so forth. People have been scared into thinking every single ache, pain or sniffle is a sign. The amount of people on here that were being told to get tested for what was obvious hay fever symptoms was unbelievable.

I am self isolating due to a contact case at work and coincidentally DH has symptoms. DS cannot attend school now without a negative test and DH isn't allowed back into work without a negative test. The likelihood is DH has tonsillitis. What am I supposed to do though? Keep DS home for two weeks when there is nothing wrong with him? We got tested!

@BowlerHatPowerHat

*My nephew went for a test with no symptoms for the simple reason he had been in a pub where someone tested positive. Track and Trace said he didn’t need to self isolate.

He phoned work and they said they didn’t want him back for 2w unless he had a test. He doesn’t get paid when off work.

Can hardly blame him for having one in those circumstances.*

If Track and Trace said he didn't need to isolate I don't understand why he told his employer.

Gotta say I thought this too. The lack of common sense in this scenario is revealing. The government needs to accept that some people are incapable of good judgement. Factor it into the process and publicity.

The reality is that people who need tests can’t get them. This is causing households to lock down. Which is right but if we could get one person tested, 4 adults could go back to work. That includes frontline workers btw.

It’s also a reality that people are getting tests that don’t need them. That employers are being stupid. I know of people using the system to get out of holiday quarantine. They don’t have symptoms and the test is meaningless.

The system for getting a test is not fit for purpose. It relies on there being an excess of supply. Fines need to be imposed for abuse. Negative tests should not be certificates out of quarantine or back do or ways out of isolation if the contact is positive.

@FrameByFrame

Another example of the BBC peddling the Government's stance that testing is 'robust', and it's the general public that are causing the problem! Those examples were laughable! Did the job, though, as we are now discussing those idiots, rather than the fact that Bolton has no effective testing facility!

I'm listening to radio 5 and they are getting critised by listeners for being too negative about the testing system, sounds like they can't win whichever view they take

Personally, I think you’re all wrong. Testing everybody, frequently, is the way out of this mess. You need to be picking up asymptomatic cases as well as those with symptoms.

I’m in a country which has a brilliant testing system (we all have to get tested all the bloody time for various reasons!) and we have got a lid on this crisis. It’s the only way out of it to allow life to return to some sort of normality.

It’s the U.K. Government who have fucked you over massively, not the idiots on BBC Breakfast.

Thickos - love that word

@LizzieSiddal

Another example of the BBC peddling the Government's stance that testing is 'robust', and it's the general public that are causing the problem! Those examples were laughable! Did the job, though, as we are now discussing those idiots, rather than the fact that Bolton has no effective testing facility!

Hear hear! So ridiculous! Why aren’t the BBC talking to the thousands of people who need a test and can’t get one?

Completely agree with this.

The message is being spread that it’s all the public’s fault.

When you apply for a test, it asks if you have one of the three symptoms. If you don’t, then you should be directed to a page telling you you don’t need a test. This may happen already- my child had a temperature so I clicked yes.

The test is horrible.

I can almost guarantee that hardly anyone is getting a test just because they want to.

The problem is that children have gone back into normal not Covid secure schools and are, as expected, getting illnesses. And the government hadn’t planned properly for this.

My DD is off school with a cold, school want a negative test result or she has to have 2 weeks off for a 3 day cold. She's better now with no coughing, but we still have a 1.5 weeks to go. Schools should have a stockpile of tests (in an ideal world).

@feesh

Personally, I think you’re all wrong. Testing everybody, frequently, is the way out of this mess. You need to be picking up asymptomatic cases as well as those with symptoms.

I’m in a country which has a brilliant testing system (we all have to get tested all the bloody time for various reasons!) and we have got a lid on this crisis. It’s the only way out of it to allow life to return to some sort of normality.

It’s the U.K. Government who have fucked you over massively, not the idiots on BBC Breakfast.

Whilst you might be right in theory we are where we way and we need to start from there. Great that your country has unlinited tests but we don't yet so we have to work with our reality

If we have no option but to prioritise then someone needs to crack down on the so called thickos and keep the tests for those who need them.

@KnobChops

“For peace of mind” “I just fancied one” Pretending they’re a key worker “to keep my family safe”

The government have done a shit job with testing.
These people are not helping.

They've put the genuine fear of God into people, same as they did with Brexit votes. So now people are being told by overzealous bosses and schools to get tested when actually, common sense is best and a cold is still only a cold and not covid 19. Also, the amount of people on my local gossip group saying they've tried for a week to get a test and finally got one but 100 miles away- after 4 days there's no real point testing anyway but yet no one seems to be telling people that.

Ah, thanks @Flagsfiend. I've recently been diagnosed with ME so saw that and thought 'oop shit'

@chestergirl39

Completely agree, it’s the same with people at our school. Not a thought for people who really need them who can’t get them. Not to mention the ones who think they can get a test to avoid quarantine if they’ve returned from abroad or told to isolate. We’ve known that to happen with friends of ours too.

The same people who'd stock two trolleys full of bog roll during lockdown

'All in it together'

Well I'm not surprised there aren't any tests available if MN over the last few weeks is anything to go by

I was coming to say the same. The resounding message on here was, 'get a test! Why wouldn't you?' with a side helping of, 'I can't believe you have to ask! Of course you should get a test' and someone always pointing out that 'there are no supply issues with tests now, just get a test!'.

But sure. Now everyone is a thicko.

If a customer I serve at work tests positive I will need a test or be unable to work for two weeks. My employer has already lost all that lockdown income so I don't know if they could pay me to stay at home and do nothing.

@theotherfossilsister

If a customer I serve at work tests positive I will need a test or be unable to work for two weeks. My employer has already lost all that lockdown income so I don't know if they could pay me to stay at home and do nothing.

Why is that?

Are you saying your employer says you have to get a test without systems, is your workplace not covid secure, what type of customers are they and how would you know if one tests postive

So many question arising from your post

@Hedgehog44

I am self isolating due to a contact case at work and coincidentally DH has symptoms. DS cannot attend school now without a negative test and DH isn't allowed back into work without a negative test.

Your DS is not eligible for a test on the NHS unless he has symptoms or has been officially told he has to test (not by school) School cannot insist he is tested for Covid for no reason. Just tell them no.
Of course, he should now he isolating for 14 days or until your husband's test comes back negative.

@theotherfossilsister

If a customer I serve at work tests positive I will need a test or be unable to work for two weeks. My employer has already lost all that lockdown income so I don't know if they could pay me to stay at home and do nothing.

Not sure what kind of work you do, but you would only need to isolate if told to by Track and Trace, and only need tested if you develop symptoms.

The thing is, when I had it back in June my only symptom was a runny nose. That was literally it. If I'd not had a test I'd have been merrily at the supermarket and restaurants etc spreading it round all and sundry.

If you're serious about stopping the spread there has got to be mass testing, symptoms or not.

I agree, but if we wind back weeks ago there were plenty of people on here urging people to get tests for the least little thing. People saying there's plenty of tests available, the results come quick, civic duty yada yada yada. We could have foreseen this surely

They should not be pushing the narrative that the shortage of tests is down to people getting tests "for the bants"

I'm sure there are a few people who are being over the top but that is blatantly not the cause of the shortage.

Keep the scrutiny squarely on the government where it belongs.

I think it made me realise how utterly selfish some people are. I always think people are the same as me and seeing how awful they are I feel worried for this country.

People are panicking in the same way they did with toilet rolls. The majority of us don't need a test, stop being such idiots and think of others.
I agree the government need to up their game but it sounds like the general public also need to calm down. MSM is causing this.

People have been encouraged to get tests to be on the safe side. Now they're in the wrong for doing so. On the one hand, you've got people being told to isolate and missing work and school because a young child spiked a temperature for one day, yet they'd be called worse than shit for getting tested now to confirm their belief that it's not Covid.

Stop blaming normal people just trying to live their lives.

I took my child for a test last week with a continuous cough. Took a while to get the test but we did. I assume things are now even worse as it’s been the best part of another week of children being back at school. No idea whether we’ll be able to get a test the next time he gets a fever or a cough. Knowing how often he got ill at nursery, we’ve probably only got a few weeks to wait before we need another one.

When we were at the test centre the staff tried to give me a test too. I told them that the appointment was only for him as he’s the only one with symptoms. They asked if I was sure and said I might as well do one anyway, holding it out to me. I thought it was very strange! The test centre itself was almost empty so perhaps they thought there was no harm, but surely as they’re working in this right now they’d be aware of the massive problems with lab capacity and people being unable to access tests. I didn’t need one so why push it?