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have been working in hospitals (and those in schools, supermarkets etc), but the tests are in short supply, and are out of date as soon as you’ve had it!

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

Glad they amended the policy.

I also think our 14 days is too long. My friend near Hamburg said the kids have to quarantine for 7 days. She said her son was upset because his teacher had to have a test and if it had been positive he would have had had to isolate, but fortunately it wasn't positive. But she said it would have been 7 days. So why on earth are we sending kids home from school having sneezed or coughed once and saying they can't come back for a fortnight? Germany has a much lower rate of infection than we do so the 7 days thing can't be a problem.

My daughter was asked to have a test before she started her new job. People have only been doing what they were told to do.

Seems like the latest fashion accessory for some people, it's absolutely bonkers. How can you walk 6 miles with a young child to get a test like someone on last night's news if you are unwell.

How can you walk 6 miles with a young child to get a test like someone on last night's news if you are unwell

I saw that. They both looked remarkably well too.

Some schools, workplaces and hospitals are requiring a "negative" test, even from people with no symptoms. Eg some hospitals require a negative test before admitting a patient even for exploratory tests or day treatment. Some schools are requiring tests from staff/pupils who aren't allowed back into school because they may have come into contact with a covid person in their bubble. Etc Etc.

The woman looked incredibly well, her lovely blue eyes sparkling behind her mask, she just seemed so oddly proud of herself.

@Whenwillow

My daughter was asked to have a test before she started her new job. People have only been doing what they were told to do.

Exactly, workplaces, schools and hospitals are all telling people to get testing even without symptoms.

@Namenic

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

I wish they would do this so schools stop requesting tests when not needed.

Some schools are requiring tests from staff/pupils who aren't allowed back into school because they may have come into contact with a covid person in their bubble

Meanwhile if you not in school, and are contacted by contact tracers, you are just advised to self isolate, and only get tested if you have symptoms. We have to be consistent. We have to limit tests to those who have symptoms, everyone else in the world does, with less testing capacity they have to. Why the hell don't we?

The school is wrong in this case- if you come into contact with a confirmed positive case you need to isolate for 2 weeks. You don’t get a test unless you get symptoms, and getting a test does not allow you to go back early if it is negative as the virus could be incubating. Some hospitals and care homes are testing Asymptomatic staff regularly but this is a separate matter. As far as I know some patients are being asked to isolate for 2 weeks prior to routine surgery. How do asymptomatic people get tests anyway? Do they lie on the form?

It's going to continue to be a shitshow all winter unless a cheap patient side ELISA can be mass produced and distributed by the boxful to schools and workplaces so that anyone turning up with a cough can get a test result in 10 minutes and let in if negative. It would need to be as sensitive as the current testing but it wouldn't matter if it wasn't too specific as positives could just slot into the current system for confirmation.

My partner's place of work had an outbreak, but with it being a funeral home it's not as simple as everyone being able to isolate just in case. It must remain open. So when the outbreak began, all staff were asked to be tested while the branch was closed over the weekend to be deep cleaned, and then those who tested negative could return on Monday.

My partner did as he was told, with no symptoms. Yet he tested positive. He was told to go. He wasn't going for a laugh, but wouldn't have been able to return to work without a negative test. There are lots of places of work that have similar rules at the moment, meaning that a lot of tests are done for people with no symptoms.

In my partner's case, this test allowed him to avoid spreading the virus, as his symptoms only started to show several days after he took his test. He of course isolated until he got his results.

I know of entire families testing because one member has a temperature. The person with the temperature needs a test - no one else. Ditto people testing for non-Covid symptoms. Ditto nurseries insisting children are tested because they sneezed once. problem was there was little demand in summer following lockdown but as more and leisure venues open , schools open, universities go back - people mix more and demand rockets

And i don't really understand the need to test if no symptoms unless in very high risk environments ... the test is only accurate at the time you take it. That's why the advice is to self-isolate for 14 days if you've been a close contact of someone with Covid. Covid could develop at any time following exposure within a 14 day period - so as an example you could test negative on day 2 but get a positive result on day 7

@IwishIwasyoda

And i don't really understand the need to test if no symptoms unless in very high risk environments ... the test is only accurate at the time you take it. That's why the advice is to self-isolate for 14 days if you've been a close contact of someone with Covid. Covid could develop at any time following exposure within a 14 day period - so as an example you could test negative on day 2 but get a positive result on day 7

Exactly, and that could put people at greater risk if staff return to work too early with a false negative. I think some employers need educating. If the workplace is “Covid secure” with ppe and distancing etc I don’t think anyone else need to isolate unless they’ve had close contact without any of those measures.

People are sincerely forgetting that you can have no symptoms (asymptomatic) and still have covid. I would rather get a test knowing that I am not infecting others if the tests are available. At some point the govt said that whoever feels that they need a test, they should get one now once again they are telling people to not get a test if they don't have symptoms.

The thing is without a test you will not know whether the symptoms a person has is COVID and you won't know whether a person doesent have symptoms has covid.

With the amount of flip flopping, backtracking and misinformation plus the media inducing further anxiety about this disease is generating more fear which means that there will be more of a demand which outstrips the supply.
In addition to this, the eat out to help out scheme, telling workers to go back to the office and for kids to go back to school in the midst of a pandemic then means that more people mixing in different environments need to be tested in order to track the outbreak and understand the viruses genomes even better.

If the government doesn’t want people without the three symptoms getting tests, then they need to amend their website booking system.

Do you have any of these symptoms? And if you say no- you are directed to a different page that says tests are only if you have symptoms. Yes, people will still lie, but at the moment it appears that if you say no, you can still request a test.

For the occasional other people who need testing (ie having an operation) the hospital should be able to test them and analyse the results in their own lab.

But the blame lays with lack of tests and planning and not with the public. This is all diversion. The conspiracy theorist in me is wondering about all these people who are on the news happily admitting they are having tests without symptoms.

But the blame lays with lack of tests More than most other countries though.....

I don't think many people are having unnecessary tests- it's just the government blaming people, rather than taking responsibility again.

Maybe a few odd people are or a few sensible people who have been encouraged to by their town council but the overwhelming number of people requesting tests are genuinely ill and unable to get tested.

Why would anyone want to queue with other potentially infected people for no reason?

Also it's important that people are aware that kids can have Covid with just diarrhoea, lethargy and/or a sore throat so without classic Covid symptoms so they may need to be tested without a cough or fever.

Up to 2/3 people with Covid 19 have no symptoms. In this state they can pass it on to someone who could become very ill. If there is no wide spread testing ( including of people with no symptoms) and tracing available, then the only answer is for more vulnerable people to shield themselves if they can.

Children with Covid may present with gastric problems/diarrhoea rather than the listed symptoms. This Information has not been on the news.

@TooManyMiles

Up to 2/3 people with Covid 19 have no symptoms. In this state they can pass it on to someone who could become very ill. If there is no wide spread testing ( including of people with no symptoms) and tracing available, then the only answer is for more vulnerable people to shield themselves if they can.

Children with Covid may present with gastric problems/diarrhoea rather than the listed symptoms. This Information has not been on the news.

Yes that’s a worry and it would seem sensible to do that, but capacity doesn’t even seem good enough for those with symptoms yet, let alone those without. And how do you decide when to test those without symptoms? And how do you choose who to test?

I am curious as to why there is no national strategy to optimise who gets Covid tests.

I would have thought that the most sensible strategy would be for a medical professional to assess and if a person meets certain risk criteria, then refer for test. That’s what they do with other tests - eg you would only get a treadmill test or advanced heart scan if you meet certain criteria for risk.

Is it because they don’t have enough medical professionals? Just doesn’t seem to be much of a plan.

I've spoken to people who've had the test, I've seen the footage on TV of people having the test and I find the idea of people just doing it for the fun of it rather bizarre. I'm hoping I never need a test.

We are going and up bouncing in for multiple tests am.sure my youngest is Asthmatic and we get bouts of coughing every few weeks that his inhalers help with so know Asthma but due to rules he needs a negative test to go back to school