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have been working in hospitals (and those in schools, supermarkets etc), but the tests are in short supply, and are out of date as soon as you’ve had it!

Well they will stop having tests now, because if it’s positive they have to self isolate or be fined up to £10k. Perhaps that’s the real purpose of the fine - to deter people from getting tests?

I dont think anyone is testing with no symptoms

They are.

Apparently much of the demand is being blamed on parents getting tests for children with colds.
Of course - if schools are sending home anyone with a cold, then the parents are going to need to prove it is not Covid-19.
If schools would check the readily available symptom guides, they would see that sneezing, blocked noses, sore throat and mild occasional coughing are symptoms of a cold and not Covid-19.
Until some schools stop sending home children with colds, parents will still need a test to prove their children are safe to be in school.

@ProperlyPdOff

Yes I’m sure you’re right. The government should have foreseen this though. The trouble is schools are not medically trained, and colds can have coughs as symptoms. It can be difficult for parents too.

I didn’t aim this post at parents getting tests for children who may or may not have colds, because I completely understand that dilemma. You can be pretty poorly with a cold sometimes.

I aimed it at people getting tests for “peace of mind”, because they’d been on holiday abroad and wanted to get out of quarantining, because their kid had mixed socially with someone who had tested positive and they wanted to see if their kid had caught it (instead of isolating), because they have vulnerable relatives etc etc.

I personally know of 7 people who have done this with no symptoms. There must be many more. The system is not set up for this, and a false negative test could put more people at risk. People need educating.

Our local paper said that lots of people in the area have been going for tests without symptoms, some have been going every single week just for "peace of mind". They were urging people not to go if they didn't have symptoms or a good reason for needing a test.

Yes, I agree too. They should have massively increased the testing system prior to schools going back. Despite what Dido Harding says, it was widely predicted that the demand would increase.

They underestimated parents appreciation of education if they thought everyone would be happy to keep their DC off school for 2 weeks with any cold-like symptoms without a test to prove it was Covid-19. If that had happened, schools would be half empty now.

And as for holidays, they should have introduced mass testing of returning holiday-makers, even if it was paid-for. Most people would have been happy to pay for a test to get back to work and school without quarantining, or only 5-7 days' quarantine, which is what other countries do. After all, they have been able to afford a holiday abroad.

Failure by government to plan, prepare, and purchase (the latter being key for this government who refused to purchase extra PPE and testing at vital points in this pandemic).