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.

Are they high? Or stupid? One or the other

[quote Faraway20]@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?[/quote]
But if the first child is negative there’s no guarantee that the second child has the same virus as the first and they could in fact be positive. That’s why anyone with symptoms needs a test.

[quote Faraway20]@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?[/quote]
No, because DD3 and DD2 are in separate bubbles at school, 300 per bubble. So there is no certainty (although likely) that they have exactly the same virus. The school is very clear with us (I have double checked) that even if DD2 gets a negative test result, she can't return to school until/unless DD3 gets a negative test result. Additionally, they (and DD1's school) have said that if DD1 goes on to develop the same symptoms, we will have to re-isolate until she has a negative test.

Maybe the government really believed their own promises about how viruses don't spread between children?

Or genuinely thought that 30 children crammed together in poorly ventilated rooms counted as social distancing?

Or having 60 children washing their hands at 2 sinks every hour was a workable way to prevent infections?

I'm embarassed for her, honestly what a shitshow.

For example, I've been told today that a child in a primary school has tested positive for CV. Her year group has been sent home from school, but many of that year group have siblings in DD3's year at Secondary School, and they are still expected to go to school. So, if the children who are in the year group of the primary school child have contracted CV, it is possible that they can pass it on to the children in DD3's year, as they are still circulating freely.

Of course, you can't isolate everyone who has had contact with someone who has had contact, etc., but it shows how the possibility is there for bubbles to explode and that two children from the same family can have different viruses at the same time.

As for being able to tell if a child has covid or a different virus just by looking at them - no you can't.

Most children with covid don't have the typical symptoms.
Less than half get fevers, less than that have a cough!
Lots have headaches, sore throats and tiredness, many have runny noses and upset stomachs.
A third of children who test positive have no symptoms at all.

So knowing all that, how can anyone be completely sure they know which virus a child does or doesn't have with no test?

I think a lot of people commenting here seem to be failing to recognise that covid is usually an extremely mild illness for children (and many adults) - it could well be fairly indistinguishable from a cold, I really don't know why people are expecting a really obvious, severe illness - 2 of the 3 recognised symptoms are extremely common in primary school children.

However, bit of sympathy for the scientists, the sudden explosion of viruses in children is not something I've seen before, and must be some weird immune system quirk after so long without exposure to viruses for most children. Virtually every child I know had at least a sniffle last week, it's not something we've ever experienced in September before.

Truly amazing. It was entirely predictable, not just re schools, but also after 2 months of pubs being open, people holidaying, etc. Infections were already rising towards the end of August, so it's not just schools causing this.

Playing people off against each other and blaming the public for testing is a deflection of an almighty fuck-up.

There is nobody who has contact with children who couldn't have predicted this. We need to keep blame with the correct people, it's not our job to diagnose the specific type of cough someone has without a test. That's the whole point of testing!

This kind of guidance should be given by public health bodies. NICE gives guidance about the criteria that should be met for other tests - but they usually take a long time to develop guidelines. Public health should be able to look at the incidence in different areas and set the threshold for tests based on this (especially if tests are scarce).

@Tfoot75

I think a lot of people commenting here seem to be failing to recognise that covid is usually an extremely mild illness for children (and many adults) - it could well be fairly indistinguishable from a cold, I really don't know why people are expecting a really obvious, severe illness - 2 of the 3 recognised symptoms are extremely common in primary school children.

However, bit of sympathy for the scientists, the sudden explosion of viruses in children is not something I've seen before, and must be some weird immune system quirk after so long without exposure to viruses for most children. Virtually every child I know had at least a sniffle last week, it's not something we've ever experienced in September before.

It's very well known that children starting school for the first time come down with every bug going, and teachers and children returning to school all catch every bug going in September onwards. Not every child, not every teacher, but many.

It was entirely predictable that if you put 300 children in one school block, they will spread viruses easily. It is absolutely known that the symptoms of the common cold, flu, pneumonia and Covid-19 have a degree of overlap that makes it hard to distinguish between them without a test.

BJ has gone from saying 'Children don't spread CV' in one breath, to 'Children are included in the rule of 6 because they spread CV'.

@lunar1

Playing people off against each other and blaming the public for testing is a deflection of an almighty fuck-up.

There is nobody who has contact with children who couldn't have predicted this. We need to keep blame with the correct people, it's not our job to diagnose the specific type of cough someone has without a test. That's the whole point of testing!

You just need to have seen a child between September and say...April to know that they have a permanent candle of snot out of each nostril.....

Playing people off against each other and blaming the public
and straight out of trump's playbook, do they really think the british people will swallow that shit

My DDs generally have a cough on and off throughout winter. That would be manageable if tests were readily available, but they’re not, they’re really difficult to get where I am - which potentially means lots missed school.

If coughing is one of the symptoms then it was entirely predictable to anyone with a brain that kids back in school = lots of tests needed.

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 again? Sure, if it's a runny nose only then it's foolish. But my sister was absolutely sure she just had a mild cold and cough, and kept working out of the home until her WFH DH caught it from her, got very ill and tested positive in hospital.

Most children get covid mildly if at all, I don't see how so many people have suddenly been given the miraculous ability to determine a 'covid cough' when doctors and epidemiologists have not.

@CactusForever

I'm embarassed for her, honestly what a shitshow.

I imagine they are all utterly brazen and don't give a shit how poor their performance is. After all, it doesn't stop them going on to other high level jobs,does it?

@user1471588124 I did mention when presented with a cough or fever. It has been widely documented in my country that children have been getting sent home from school and being tested for a runny nose only.

@fannybawz yes the schools agree and have since sent guidance that we are only to get children tested if they present with the main symptoms, which a cold / runny nose is not.

@heffalooomia as above we have been told in my country not to get a test if you only have basic cold symptoms. Obviously if you have one of the main symptoms that's different.

@mosscarpet for what it's worth I actually agree that they should have obviously expected a rise in demand. I simply meant that its not helping the situation when people are getting tests when they are not advised to do so.

**I didn't mention, the above post should say

Unbelievable, we have kids out of school all over here.
Still waiting for those elusive testing buses they promised when there was an outbreak in schools.
Anyone with half an idea expected this when schools returned and it should be sufficient to keep schools open but they would rather us blame each other for having tests.
It’s a complete and utter shambles and our kids are being massively let down x

Goodness me. We really do reward mediocrity in this country don't we? Same as that shambles of a cabinet. We're being ruled by idiots who don't appear to live in the real world. It's mind boggling, truly!

Dido Harding is a puppet muppet and jockeying along on the gravy train.

Par for the course. Bozo's mate gets job. Knows sod all about it. Paid sacks full of sponduliks to screw up. Everyone shrugs. FFS.

A bit like the PM and his goons being totally baffled after watching Italy and Europe in February when CV spread in the UK. I mean, who could have predicted that? (Just about every other person not in Whitehall).

A friend ended up getting her son tested because the school said he couldn't come back without a negative test

She was 99.9% sure it was a cold - he had a blocked, snotty nose. NO temperature NO cough - but when the teacher asked him if he could smell he said no (which he can't because his nose is blocked - taste still there)