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Covid

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Original poster

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

106 replies

chestergirl39 · 16/09/2020 15:43

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who have been working in hospitals (and those in schools, supermarkets etc), but the tests are in short supply, and are out of date as soon as you’ve had it!

OP posts:

mathanxiety · 16/09/2020 19:03

It's crazy to restrict tests.

You can have covid with no symptoms, and spread it.

What's needed is more tests and more testing.

HeresMe · 16/09/2020 19:06

All we are doing is slowing it may as well let it run its course.

Ineedtobecalm · 16/09/2020 19:51

Are people going for tests unless they have to? Where would you expect to encounter people with covid, hospitals yes, and oh yes a place that sick people go to when they think they've got covid? The hour round trip to the centre and the six hours spent hitting refresh on the website to get the test, seriously I have better ways to spend my time.

I've only taken the sick child with a sniffle because all my children are missing their education and I cannot work until we get a result.

ceeveebee · 16/09/2020 20:04

A local private school near us had a positive case and advised the whole bubble of 20 kids and their families to go for a test...

Something is going wrong, 220k tests a day and only 3k positive.

Mippi · 16/09/2020 20:09

@ceeveebee

A local private school near us had a positive case and advised the whole bubble of 20 kids and their families to go for a test...

Something is going wrong, 220k tests a day and only 3k positive.

250,000 people with coughs and/or fevers every day in September, going up to 400,000 in December, so those numbers seem about right. www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-54175451

The whole point of testing is to find out if people have covid or another virus.

OpheliasCrayon · 16/09/2020 20:18

My child's school told us that we need to test our children if they show signs of ANY illness at all. Any symptoms of anything.
I emailed straight back and said so...you want us to lie to get a test then? Because you can only get them for the three main symptoms....
We were emailed back shortly after with the policy ammended.....

Original poster

chestergirl39 · 16/09/2020 20:36

@ceeveebee

A local private school near us had a positive case and advised the whole bubble of 20 kids and their families to go for a test...

Something is going wrong, 220k tests a day and only 3k positive.

Completely irresponsible, guidelines are to isolate and test only if get symptoms.

OP posts:

Justgivemewine · 16/09/2020 20:46

They interviewed some people on the news earlier. One man said he’d only just realised the test centre was there (must be local) so was going to book a test, admitted he had no symptoms when pressed by the interviewer but he thought it would be nice to know whether he had got it or not.
Another woman admitted lying and saying she was a key worker to get one.

Some people are just fucking stupid and then just to prove it beyond doubt go on telly and let the whole country know that they are too.

Original poster

chestergirl39 · 16/09/2020 20:46

@LavaSpider

What on earth are you talking about OP?Who is having tests just because they fancy it? The people who are having tests are having them because they are ill in some way which might be Covid, and they need to get on with their lives, get back into work or their kids back into school. I haven't heard of anyone who thinks it might be a bit of a laugh to spend all day on the internet trying to get a test or driving for miles just to be part of something they've seen on the news. Stop it with your divisive shit. The only people to blame here are the Government who have failed to ensure that sufficient tests were available in what was obviously going to be a very busy time.

No honestly, I have no problem at all with people who have symptoms getting a test, even if they think they’re probably just due to a cold, as I understand the need to get back to school or work. But these test slots are partially being taken up by people with absolutely no symptoms. It was even on bbc breakfast today, and I personally know of several. On a separate note I am equally cross with the government for not preparing enough for this as it was pretty obvious this would happen. There’s no need to resort to being rude, we all have different experiences and opinions, which is why forums like this exist.

OP posts:

ceeveebee · 16/09/2020 20:59

“ 250,000 people with coughs and/or fevers every day in September, going up to 400,000 in December, so those numbers seem about right.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-54175451”

Well I’m no statistician but given that those estimates were based on a sample of 873 people answering a questionnaire in 2019 (when people didn’t wash their hands all the time, didn’t have to wear masks or wfh) I don’t think it’s the most reliable source..

Babyboomtastic · 16/09/2020 21:57

No one is going to spend 3 days solid pressing refresh, followed by a 5 hour round trip to get an uncomfortable test done, for fun.

Or at least they would be absolutely dwarfed by the hundreds of thousands of people that can't get a test.

It's a total red herring thrown by the government to try to mask their total incompetence over this.

teenagetantrums · 16/09/2020 22:20

I gave said it before. But l work in a care home so get tested every week. It's pointless as l could get virus day after test. No one has any symptoms yet once a week we kinda stuck a thing down our throats and up our nose. No one is doing it properly waste of lab time

StarCat2020 · 16/09/2020 23:49

Some people are just fucking stupid and then just to prove it beyond doubt go on telly and let the whole country know that they are too
I agree.

Popsicales · 16/09/2020 23:57

A mobile testing unit came to my town and on the local FB page a woman posted ‘just been for my Covid test and then nipped for some shopping, when I came back the queue was to my front door!!’ 🙈

Apparently lots of people were going for tests and then flocking to local cafes and the cafe owners were also posting about this.

StarCat2020 · 16/09/2020 23:58

But l work in a care home so get tested every week
Purely out of me being nosey, are care home staff being expected to avoid certain places to reduce their risk of COVID?

Sorry I have worded this badly so I will give an example of what I am trying to say.

If a member of care home staff was regularly going out to busy places and socialising (basically living a pre-COVID life) would anything happen in terms of "discipline" (sorry horrible word but I hope you get my meaning

alwayscrashinginthesamecar1 · 17/09/2020 00:46

Having followed the whole UK Covid thing from outside the country, I think its a bit bloody rich of the government to be throwing shade at people getting tested, after, err, six months of telling them to do just that. Guidelines are changed frequently, people are worried about their health and their future, the government aren't trustworthy, you can't start blaming people for being a bit over cautious! Someone upthread mentioned gaslighting, and I think that's not far wrong.

Torvean32 · 17/09/2020 01:28

@teenagetantrums

I think testing weekly is effective. You're likely to show symptoms 24-72 hours after infection. On which you would request a test. The weekly test may find somebody who is asymptomatic and prevent a spread through staff or residents.

wafflyversatile · 17/09/2020 01:40

Why are you lecturing people who want tests instead of the govt. The responsibility for this shitshow lies with them. Direct your ire at them. So many fuck ups, so many lies they only thing they're good at is deflecting blame.

GeorgiaGirl52 · 17/09/2020 04:16

Hiring employees with negative tests protects the restaurants from being sued. The state government has promised them protection if they open to eat-in customers. That's why all employees are tested when hired. If they get it later I guess they caught it from a customer? It is totally stupid, but he needs the job!

redcarbluecar · 17/09/2020 05:01

I suggest you direct your judgement elsewhere. We’ve been constantly told we could kill someone even if asymptomatic, and testing has been held up as the magic solution. Now that there isn’t enough testing, we’re encouraged to sneer at other people for wanting to check they’re not carrying the virus, at a time when thousands more people are going back to school and work and the risks have obviously increased. I doubt very much that a few TV vox pops or your so-called ‘numpty’ friends on Facebook represent large groups ignoring clear Government advice or abusing a system which would otherwise be working well.

mellongoose · 17/09/2020 06:04

@HeIenaDove

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

Nonsense. They interviewed a guy on BBC Breakfast yesterday who wanted one for him and his son. They were perfectly fine, but had just got back from Spain. 'For peace of mind'.

No need to go to Spain in the first place but that's another thread!!

mellongoose · 17/09/2020 06:08

@wafflyversatile

The uk is testing more people per day than any other European country. But I'm sure you would have done a much better job 🙄

wafflyversatile · 18/09/2020 00:53

My ingrown toenail would do a better job.

Even Laura keunssberg just described them as brutally incompetent.

Namenic · 18/09/2020 00:57

In a time where tests are scarce, public health should be publishing guidelines for Covid testing and also considering making it compulsory to be referred by medical professionals

wafflyversatile · 18/09/2020 13:58

In a time of global pandemic the government should be planning for capacity to meet the entirely predictable increase in demands for tests.

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