Please stop these numpties having tests with no symptoms!!!!

[chestergirl39]

Tests are in short supply. We need to save them for people who have symptoms and need to know if they have covid or are safe to return to work or school. And also for people who are feeling really poorly. I am so sick of people bragging on Facebook that they have no symptoms but have booked a test because they felt like it or want to protect their family. Reality check, we all want to protect our families. Especially those of us who have been working in hospitals (and those in schools, supermarkets etc), but the tests are in short supply, and are out of date as soon as you’ve had it!

In my town a few months ago they encouraged it , wouldn't surprise me if other towns did too.

@HeresMe

In my town a few months ago they encouraged it , wouldn't surprise me if other towns did too.

I had heard that, is that because it’s an area in local lockdown? I feel so sorry for people feelIng poorly, struggling to get tests. They must have predicted a huge upsurge in demand when schools returned?

I've not seen anything about people testing with no symptoms.

No the area wasnt in a lockdown the council just encouraged it.

The government have bragged about capacity now they haven't got it, blame the government not people having tests.

People being encouraged to get tests now being gaslighted and told they were wrong. Abusive Government

Our town was told to get tests even if had no symptoms - it's really annoying now people are being blamed for it.

You are going to be blamed whether you have a test or not

Many wont bother if they are going to be blamed anyway.

This has got Cummings written all over it!

No one I know has bragged about having a test just for kicks. I think part of the issue is schools and employers wanting negative tests to return after illnesses even if the symptoms are unlikely to be Covid. Having said this they are right to be cautious. The government have failed yet again to have the testing in place for the return to school and workplaces. It was clear that kids and teachers would need quick and regular testing as every cough and temperature is suspected Covid unless proven otherwise.

The entire school population is getting tests for colds. We haven’t had them for months and bam here they are. But one or two might be covid so everyone is panicking. No idea what the answer is

@HeIenaDove

People being encouraged to get tests now being gaslighted and told they were wrong. Abusive Government

What a load of bollocks. When have they ever said get yourself tested if you have no symptoms?!

Half of our school year has a common cold. Standard stuff for September, even more so this year when you consider these kids have been shut up inside since March and sanitised to high heaven. So many parents have panicked and got Covid tests - guess what, all negative. It’s really boiling my piss now.

I dont think anyone is testing with no symptoms but I think what is happening is because people are 50/50 between a cold and covid you've got half the population worried about any illness that could be covid related.
It comes down to is it worth taking the risk to not test and assume it's a cold or assume its covid and isolate. Which ever you do someone is going to tell you you are doing it wrong.
If testing is so important to reopening the schools and the economy the government should of made sure our testing was spot on. Instead theyve dicked about thrown money at everything other than what it should and are now trying to blame people for getting tested. This is not the people taking tests fault it's the government's for not providing enough/be able to process them fast enough.

I also think that we should stop sending people to anything other than their local test centre - it must be making it even harder and causing a lot of unecessary travel if for instance someone in Sheffield is being offered Newcastle, they take it, then the next minute someone in Newcastle needs a test and they refresh all day to be finally offered something in Sheffield. Just get a virtual queue going for each centre, and you get a text 1 hour before your slot.

My town is encouraging everyone to be tested, whether they have symptoms or not. We are in local special measures/lockdown though.

I haven’t seen anyone bragging about getting one without symptoms.

What I have seen is a lot of confusion around coughs - what constitutes a continuous cough, a coughing episode etc. A cold can cause an irritable throat and a slight cough - and the guidelines don’t address this. A lot of people with colds are (understandably) getting tests, because they’re just trying to follow the guidelines.

Meanwhile the government is blaming the public for it’s own failures once again

@ItsFunneh

My town is encouraging everyone to be tested, whether they have symptoms or not. We are in local special measures/lockdown though.

This isn’t right, as far as I know. I’m surprised by this. Do you mind saying where you are?

I had to take my son for a test at a drive through yesterday. He has a temp, sore throat, runny nose and a headache but I bet it is just the cold going round. When I got there, the guy was quite rude and said to another worker there "another kid with a slight sniffle here for a test". I was really cross.....i wouldnt be ramming a stick up my kids nose and making him gag of I didnt have to to get him back to school!

I don't think the major problem is people without symptoms getting a test because they feel like it. I think there is too much confusion over how to decide between a common cold/cough virus and Coronavirus and too much caution at play in schools and employers. My DD works in childcare. Had a slight occasional cough over the weekend. I'd developed a cough last week which was more significant, had a test which was negative. Pretty confident she has a milder version of mine. Coughed only a few times a day over the weekend. Got to work, coughed once (singular cough of the ahem ahem variety) and was promptly told to go home and not come back until she's tested negative. Madness.

In my area anyone applying for a job has to take the test and have a negative before they will be hired. My grandson got a job at a fast-food fried chicken restaurant and had to wait two weeks to start because he couldn't book a test slot sooner. My daughter, a nurse in a retirement home, has to have a negative test every three months whether she has any symptoms or not.

@NotAKaren

No one I know has bragged about having a test just for kicks. I think part of the issue is schools and employers wanting negative tests to return after illnesses even if the symptoms are unlikely to be Covid. Having said this they are right to be cautious. The government have failed yet again to have the testing in place for the return to school and workplaces. It was clear that kids and teachers would need quick and regular testing as every cough and temperature is suspected Covid unless proven otherwise.

I don’t mean people with symptoms, even if it turns out to be a cold, as I completely understand why they need testing. I mean people who have no symptoms at all, who just want a test. Maybe they’ve been on holiday, or they’re worried they’ve mixed with more people than they should? I’ve no idea. All I know is I have seen about 6 or 7 friends or acquaintances who have said that they’ve had tests with no symptoms to put their mind at rest.

@Jrobhatch29

I had to take my son for a test at a drive through yesterday. He has a temp, sore throat, runny nose and a headache but I bet it is just the cold going round. When I got there, the guy was quite rude and said to another worker there "another kid with a slight sniffle here for a test". I was really cross.....i wouldnt be ramming a stick up my kids nose and making him gag of I didnt have to to get him back to school!

Exactly. My DD is off with a high temperature, sore throat and general sniffles. I know it’s just the cold bug that is going around her class, but given her high temp we have been advised to test and actually need to, or else I can’t go back to work (teaching across bubbles in secondary school), because my school need her to test negative to allow me to resume teaching. And they aren’t being ridiculous or over-sensitive- if there’s a chance I am infected I could spread it to every bubble in the school and shut the place down.

It’s crackers. Do the right thing and get sneered at. Do the other thing and run the chance of spreading infection/enraging everyone by releasing a boiling hot, snot-ridden child into the community.

@ducklingyellowowl

I haven’t seen anyone bragging about getting one without symptoms.

What I have seen is a lot of confusion around coughs - what constitutes a continuous cough, a coughing episode etc. A cold can cause an irritable throat and a slight cough - and the guidelines don’t address this. A lot of people with colds are (understandably) getting tests, because they’re just trying to follow the guidelines.

Meanwhile the government is blaming the public for it’s own failures once again

I completely understand the confusion around coughs and colds and why you’d want to check, but honestly on our school Facebook page they are all coming out of the woodwork admitting one after the other that their kids are fine but they’ve had them tested as a precaution.

I had to take my son for a test at a drive through yesterday. He has a temp, sore throat, runny nose and a headache but I bet it is just the cold going round. When I got there, the guy was quite rude and said to another worker there "another kid with a slight sniffle here for a test". I was really cross.....i wouldnt be ramming a stick up my kids nose and making him gag of I didnt have to to get him back to school!

Oh that's really awful, I would have found it very hard to keep my temper, especially after the stress of actually getting the test booked. A high temp is one of the symptoms you have to self isolate for so you were absolutely right to get a test. People like him will put people off getting tested.

I really doubt people are getting tests done for shits and giggles, it's a horrible test for a start and very time consuming to book.

@GeorgiaGirl52

In my area anyone applying for a job has to take the test and have a negative before they will be hired. My grandson got a job at a fast-food fried chicken restaurant and had to wait two weeks to start because he couldn't book a test slot sooner. My daughter, a nurse in a retirement home, has to have a negative test every three months whether she has any symptoms or not.

I can understand the care home, as some staff at our hospital have them weekly to protect the patients. But can’t justify why you’d need it for a fast food place? He could have caught it the day after the test. How would anyone know?

Our area has just come out of local lockdown. The local council encouraged everyone to get tested if they could, and arranged pop-up test centres, manned by volunteers, to get as many done as possible. I understand that the tests were paid for and sourced by the county council, so separate from the NHS ones that are now in short supply and that this was to lower the % of tests that had positive results.