Head of test and trace says rise in demand for COVID tests wasn't expected!!!

[mosscarpet]

news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-head-of-test-and-trace-says-rise-in-demand-for-covid-tests-wasnt-expected-12074297

The head of Test and Trace has said she doesn't believe "anybody was expecting to see the really sizeable increase in demand" for coronavirus tests.

hmm, sure of course. No one was expecting this . Oh, possibly except every parent of school aged children and teachers and school staff all across the country, and basically anyone at all with any awareness of back to school, who have known all along that exactly this will happen.

To be fair i didn't expect idiotic people to be requesting tests for their kids just because of a cold, which is what has been happening in my area!

This statement is astonishing. Millions of school children returning to school and they did not expect a rise in demand.

Schools were reported to be safe to open based on track and trace. Without testing capacity for school children, staff and families, track and trace in schools fails. School children are not even on the priority list for tests. Therefore, children with symptoms who can't be tested are going to be off school for the duration of the isolation period.

This is beyond outrageous. The mind boggles, it's scary. Incompetence barely covers it.

If schools were vivid secure this would not have happened though. ..
The take away is not parents worrying over runny nose. It's why has everyone got a runny nose if hand washing worked.
Has this happened in countries with the class wearing masks?
It is also obviously certainly other bugs rip through a family via children so that's not just the kid needing a test its potentially 4+ people

Test and trace was supposed to be a pre-requisite of schools re-opening, so go figure, Dido.

She stated it was based on Sage’s modelling? I think! Added to the fact of huge amounts of people rolling up without symptoms!

It is actually very stupid this g to do we have now exploded loads of bugs and now can't tel if say dc1 coughing is that the same as dc2?
But also all the bubbles of positives continuing.
It rather suggests too that it's not that certain areas are amazing at SD though perhaps better. As we all got the cold.
Some people who have caught the cold while our socialising maybe need to look at their behaviour as increasing the risk to the whole school.
Dc1 100% caught this at school.

If they'd taken any notice of what happened when schools went back in Scotland they'd have planned for it.

But then she doesn't give a fuck; she's failed upwards her whole life and probably never needs to earn another penny. Being involved in public life has filled her bank account very nicely without her having to actually achieve anything.

He just read a BBC article. Saying parent looking for a test when kid only had a sore throat couldn't find one . The kid did then get a temp.
I've read on fb a contact saying they went for a test with no symptoms. Probably to get out of the A I but it doesn't work like that.
I hope they get going on saliva group testing as they could do the whole of a class.
I mean if it's likely the positive caught it at school there may be another infectious one there

My daughter has had a sore throat for a couple of days. Regularly checking her temp which had been fine. She just complaining of feeling very cold. Our flat is very warm so instantly knew something was wrong. Just done her temp which is now high. Just tried to order test, no tests available. I'm not surprised. I'll keep trying tonight and until I can get one.

Unbelievable. I think the system is fundamentally flawed, though:

1. DD2 caught the school cold. We got her a test when she started coughing 'continuously' (instructed by 111 clinician). But no tests for anyone else, as we didn't have symptoms. That was Tuesday. 2

2.Yesterday, DD3 starts coughing with a fever (how surprising that someone in her family might get it). So we arrange a test at the drive through for her (40 miles away). No tests for anyone else, as we didn't have symptoms.

3.Tonight, I feel like I've been hit by a train. Throat getting more and more sore as time goes on, nose feeling stuffy and 'hot'. Likely, tomorrow I'll start the fever/coughing, if the pattern holds true. I'll then need to book a test and potentially drive 40 miles again.

Wouldn't it be much better if, when person 1 gets symptoms, they give you enough home tests for the family and say 'Only use them if you get symptoms'. Then, people would be able to quickly administer the test, send it off, get results, without holding up the system.

Instead of potentially 5 processes of entering details, sending for a kit/slot, etc., our family would have 1 process, but up to 5 tests if necessary. Man power greatly reduced, anxiety gone (no need to worry about availability) and no extra load on the labs.

@Lougle

Unbelievable. I think the system is fundamentally flawed, though:

1. DD2 caught the school cold. We got her a test when she started coughing 'continuously' (instructed by 111 clinician). But no tests for anyone else, as we didn't have symptoms. That was Tuesday. 2

2.Yesterday, DD3 starts coughing with a fever (how surprising that someone in her family might get it). So we arrange a test at the drive through for her (40 miles away). No tests for anyone else, as we didn't have symptoms.

3.Tonight, I feel like I've been hit by a train. Throat getting more and more sore as time goes on, nose feeling stuffy and 'hot'. Likely, tomorrow I'll start the fever/coughing, if the pattern holds true. I'll then need to book a test and potentially drive 40 miles again.

Wouldn't it be much better if, when person 1 gets symptoms, they give you enough home tests for the family and say 'Only use them if you get symptoms'. Then, people would be able to quickly administer the test, send it off, get results, without holding up the system.

Instead of potentially 5 processes of entering details, sending for a kit/slot, etc., our family would have 1 process, but up to 5 tests if necessary. Man power greatly reduced, anxiety gone (no need to worry about availability) and no extra load on the labs.

The problem is that’s far too sensible and thought out for this government...

@Letshavesometea

To be fair i didn't expect idiotic people to be requesting tests for their kids just because of a cold, which is what has been happening in my area!

Its hardly idiotic when a cold commonly presents with eithr a cough or fever, especially in children.

FFS. We really are ruled by fuckwits.

@Letshavesometea

To be fair i didn't expect idiotic people to be requesting tests for their kids just because of a cold, which is what has been happening in my area!

What would you have us do? Schools are quite firm on what they expect.

@Letshavesometea

To be fair i didn't expect idiotic people to be requesting tests for their kids just because of a cold, which is what has been happening in my area!

but surely you cant know it's just a cold until you get the test?

Agree the govt and testing have been complete shambles but I think schools need to Readjust their expectations too and stop sending home every kid with a cold until they get a test.

Our school is firm on testing when Covid symptoms are apparent! Not a silly cold!

We had an email sent!

@Lougle I must be missing something but could you not just wait for the first child's test to come back as you were isolating each person with symptoms anyway? Then if that one was positive you would know everyone with symptoms had it?

Thing is i Know mine have just a cold and have done for over a week. No Temp ect usual cold symptoms.

They have been sent home from school until a test shows its not covid - except i cannot get a test for them. I have been trying for 2 days now and school wont have them back until results are in 1 in GCSE year other in A Level year- i dont want them missing out on school time.

Surely most people get a cough with a cold though

OP I thought exactly the same watching this today. What a bloody stupid thing to say!! Yeah, completely impossible to predict!!

Of course people will get tested if they/their DC have any of the listed symptoms, and so they bloody should. Never mind all the people whose DC have been found to be positive when their only symptoms were D&V!! Or a sore throat. Our list of symptoms to test for is very narrow indeed compared to the WHO list. Nobody knows they "just have a cold" without a test.

They are obviously gearing up for a shit autumn/winter. She said they would have 500k test available by end of October, but that NHS accepts they will need *more than 500k tests a day available from Nov onwards.

@Letshavesometea

To be fair i didn't expect idiotic people to be requesting tests for their kids just because of a cold, which is what has been happening in my area!

Maybe some have been testing innappropriately but many are just following guidance.in children, especially younger children , a cold very, very often comes with a cough. And a child can also get a temp, quite easily with a cold or any number of bugs. There are always back to school bugs. It was obvious this year would be worse. Therefor it is not rocket science to know there will be loads of kids with a temp and/or a cough. And current government guidance is to isolate and get a test with these symptoms. Threfor there was always going to be a massive increase in demand for testing. It's not exactly rocket science is it!!

Any poster who has the power to diagnose whether someone has Covd-19 or not just by looking at them is missing a trick - you could be making a fortune right now

Scotland here - had been hoping the UK/England government might have seen the Scottish school return throwing up all the cold bugs and thought "oh, that might happen here".

Probably 50% of cold bugs in my kids seem to give one of them a temperature. DC2 had a test because he had a temp of 40... no cough, turned out to be negative but wasn't an obvious cold, never snuffly.

DC1 had a test for a more marginal temp (38.2) which DC2 managed to dodge. Both now have slight snotty noses, so no temp and no "continuous" cough, just some throat clearing first thing... Haven't tested.

My theory is that temps are more likely for the first challenge to the immune system after a long break... So lots of minor colds causing random temperatures shouldn't be that much of a shock.

Combining school return with pushing people back into the office was frankly insane as both would predictably lead to an increase in general bug transmission and thus demand for the testing system!