how many symptomatic people not bothering to test are there out there??

[alladinisalive]

Just wondering how many people there are actually walking around with symptoms who are not testing??? I only ask because when I was in the queue at the supermarket today there was a lady behind me not social distancing from me at all talking very quietly on her phone (with no mask) which made me intrigued to try and hear what she was talking about, the quieter and more suspicious her talking the harder i tried to listen!!!!The words I particularly heard where "you must not say anything to anyone or half term will be ruined. If it comes back positive we will all be doomed. If you dose up on all this you will work through it!!! Therefore I had a quick g;lance at her shopping 2 boxes of paracetamol some cough mixture and a thermometer!!!!

Loads im sure.

And I can understand it as well - people need money which they may well not get if they isolate. It's not always financially possible to do what's required. The government haven't sorted out a way that people can do what they need to do and not lose out.

I’m told that there are a lot of students on my university campus who are not reporting symptoms or getting tested because they don’t want to be blamed if their whole block has to self-isolate for two weeks.

Yup, lot of people living paycheck to paycheck out there, so wouldn’t be surprised if it’s a not insignificant minority

Loads probably

I don't blame them. If you're living paycheck to paycheck and can't afford to isolate for 2 weeks then they're not going to bother.

Our half term plans are on hold because XH is in SI awaiting test results. 55 hours so far.

If we could get prompt results, then we could replan. Awkward limbo is hard to to deal with. Yes I know other scenarios could be even worse, but throwing people out for 3 days when it should be within 1 is also not helping

Most of my school I think. All encouraged to go in with cold+cough. Happy for coughs as long as its with a cold...

Well, hopefully then it means loads more people have had it than the official figures show, so we’re a bit closer to coming out the other side of it...

Loads probably.

I didn’t get tested last week for possible symptoms, because I didn’t meet the criteria:

1. I had hot and cold chills for a couple of days. But temp didn’t go above 37.5, so doesn’t count as a high temperature (I believe this is 37.8 and above)

2. horrible headaches - not a key symptom (despite many positive people reporting it) so i ignored

3. cough - not continuous and only max 2 coughing fits in 24 hour period - you need 3 for a nhs test

No doubt some will say I should have been tested though. But with results taking 5 days plus, I just can’t justify that disruption, unless symptoms meet the criteria exactly.

Massive numbers I would imagine.
If your biggest worry is how to feed your family, testing and isolating for an illness that will statistically do you no harm is going to be very low down on your list of priorities

loads because they cannot get a test or cannot afford the time off work.

The minute they linked a positive test to fines and possible police involvement they put people off testing.

I know I'd be looking for reasons not to test if I developed a symptom and would isolate but be very reluctant to test. Been through the whole isolate and test rigmarole too many times now and never had a positive result.

@Whoknowswhocares

Massive numbers I would imagine. If your biggest worry is how to feed your family, testing and isolating for an illness that will statistically do you no harm is going to be very low down on your list of priorities

This.

Loads I'm sure. Numerous people live paycheck to paycheck. Not working can push them into real poverty. The government needs to address this issue by offering a financial package.

I'm generally pretty compliant but now test results are taking so long to come back (often 3-4 days) I'd avoid testing for anything "borderline" and only do it if I really felt like the symptoms were glaringly obvious and we had no choice.

Unfortunately the system as it stands does not encourage compliance.

Loads but who can blame people?

It is hard to tell and loads of people have it without symptoms and the symptoms list is very narrow and weird and finally many people cannot get a test or it takes ages to come back anyway so it all becomes difficult for people in deciding to get one. never mind the many of us who don't get a single penny from the state!

regretting getting that test now because it means without a result i cannot go to work

that is why we should keep our distance

@Whoknowswhocares

Massive numbers I would imagine. If your biggest worry is how to feed your family, testing and isolating for an illness that will statistically do you no harm is going to be very low down on your list of priorities

Yep. This is so obvious I am growing suspicious that this is the government's ultimate intention.

Low testing = low numbers

I think there's circumstances where you could probably not test, for example if 1 person tested positive then into the isolation another member of the family started with obvious symptoms id probably not test the other person and just continue to isolate longer.

Acorns you're crediting them with havig a plan?!

My mother couldn't get a test the first dag when she became symptomatic, but she didn't keep trying IYSWIM. She decided that since even if the test was negative she would still have to isolate for the 10 days, she lives on her own, Working from home anyway, no recent close contacts (only supermarket shopping). It was fairly immaterial. She just waited the 10 days and then .... carried on working from home. Only thing that changed was that she could go and do a supermarket shop 🤷‍♀️

Distancing is really important.
Outdoors, or two metres apart and wearing a mask you are pretty safe.
It's inevitable people will get it and it will spread, so it's not the end of the world if we don't get full compliance. We just need it slower and away from the most vulnerable.

@StealthPolarBear

Acorns you're crediting them with havig a plan?!

good point!

The money issue is a huge factor in this. Luckily we've not been in the situation yet, but if one of us has symptoms my husband can't work and we have some serious decisions to make ie food or heat. His work has been decimated over the last six months and any buffer we had has gone. So I'd like to think we'd play by the rules, but when push comes to shove who knows?