Mass testing in Liverpool

[MrsSiba]

www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/everyone-liverpool-tested-covid-19-19210041

Announced that from Thursday everyone working or living in Liverpool will be tested under a pilot scheme for mass testing.

No compulsory isolation for anyone refusing a test.

I can't comprehend how this government will sort out the logistics of testing half a million people judging by the fiasco that is track and trace.

Why have they reduced isolation to 7 days ?
Isn’t it still infectious then?

AFAIK it's not been reduced but reduction was under consideration.

As incubation period is 2-14 days, with most cases appearing about days 5-7, cutting quarantine/isolation to 7 days seems a bit too short (as so many people will do a bit less than told)

[quote Frazzled2207]@WitchesBritchesPumpkinPants
Of course not.
But the risk is enormously less after 7 days.
And if everyone could be persuaded to comply as opposed to, say, 60%, then the overall risk to the community is lower.[/quote]
Or we could, radical I know, enforce the law.

@Flaxmeadow, I think we felt connected to the miners, because it was a very public show of Thatcher using any means necessary to break unions and shut down industries in the North. At the same time the Merchant Navy (a big employer in Liverpool) was also being destroyed and our factories etc were being redirected to the South. We shared the same sense of hopelessness. The conduct of the Police was shameful and should still haunt them. A lot of Unions came out in support of them.

All my family live or work in Liverpool. We are going to get tested. There's a lot of support across work colleagues and on FB. I think what's hrlped is the news reports directly from the Liverpool/Aintree hospitals. People are realising that there isn't capacity for routine stuff. Our lock down wasn't influenced by infection rates but capacity.

We, as said don't understand why Knowsley isn't being included. There were handy mobile testing units across Knowsley, which could be used by Liverpool and Knowsley residents. The infection and death rate in St Helens has, been as high as any part of Liverpool and they had Hospital Staff deaths as well.

I think it’s risky to reduce to 7 days.

On the news it said they’d be rolling it out to LCR afterwards.

Does anyone know what David Icke said about this which caused him to be banned from Twitter?

I have no idea
Didn’t realise he was still vocal !

Are the army moving in place tomorrow?

I’m thinking I might go get tested if it’s accessible

I'm in Leicester, back in July when we went back into lockdown we had door to door testing by the council, they visited every street in the city and offered everyone tests who answered the door. This isn't a new concept.

That’s interesting
So home testing kits delivered to the door?
Any idea of take up and effectiveness?

Yes they had groups of 2 or 3 people with wheelie cases, they would drop the kits off, then double back when they got to the end of the road and pick up the completed kits.

Each street was visited on 2 different days and they announced on Twitter and Facebook a couple of days before they visited to let people know they were coming. I've never seen any stats on uptake but I know that most of the people on my street and people I know from school on neighbouring streets completed the test.

I also wonder if the home tests were reliable - swap test in nose and throat. As when Ive seen it on tv it looks like the swab goes in quite far and I imagine an element of user error.

@Rummikub all tests are done yourself though - I've been to drive through centres and they just pass you the kit and take it back when youre done. No difference to the home kit.

I’ve done 3 tests now - all myself. I have had a negative result each time. At the testing centre they said I wouldn’t have got a conclusive result if I hadn’t find it properly.

@Rummikub the swab really isn't hard to do, not the most comfortable feeling but not difficult to understand the process.

You just blow your nose, then use the swab on inside of nostril, far enough up to feel resistance but not pain, same swab also used to swab your tonsils while you're looking in a mirror to make sure you don't touch tongue or cheek.

For kids or people who can't tolerate the tonsil swab they tell you to just swab both nostrils.

Then put it in the vial, snap off the swab stick, do up the vial and place it in the plastic bag.

Put the plastic bag in the biohazard stamped plastic bag and make sure it has a barcode sticker on it. Then either hand it to the testing staff or put it in the provided posting box and post it.

@Flaxmeadow

*Its a pretty mixed bag of responses on the echo website, the people of Liverpool historically have a lack of trust in the government (Hillsborough, the miners strikes ect)

Miners strike? What did that have to do with Liverpool? There were no coal mines in Liverpool

Not aimed at you, but there is a middle class left wing fantasy that everyone in the north is stuck in the 1980s axe grinding. We are capable of leaving Thatcher and the past behind sometimes, understanding the nuance of crisis situations. That any Govt would struggle with a crisis of this magnitude

From what I've seen in local media most people in Liverpool are wanting to get on board with it and Anderson, the mayor, has again backed a (Tory) Govt initiative, by again putting aside his (Labour) party politcs and try something new.

If a Labour Govt had announced this I suspect mumsnet would saying what a great idea it is and how fantastic it will be for the people of Liverpool

Excellent post. Liverpool is a dynamic and cosmopolitan city and people here are keen to get tested and try to help. And those that can't for financial reasons have my sympathy.

@FatGirlShrinking
Thanks for that

@ShinyGreenElephant
Yes a friend went to the drive through test centre and it was as you described

My dd went to a test centre and they gave her the choice of them doing it

• I was surprised

Just a quick point about the mines. People do realise that it wasn't just the north.
Kent miners were hit hard in the 1980s.

I don’t know if anyone has already mentioned it but here in Liverpool I believe mass testing is now being rolled out to secondary schools. One school caused a bit of trouble for the council last week by sending a letter to parents slightly in haste I think:

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/nov/08/army-carry-out-mass-covid-19-tests-children-liverpool-pupils?fbclid=IwAR2eJ2QjdhPx5CVeKOQr1Mx0rsEl_9c4rasENg2T8CkiYkLT6nt7YrWRh8A