So is everyone going to do twice weekly LFT?

[SonnetForSpring]

As Boris has requested. I am.

I do 4 a week (combination of LFT and PCR) because my work requires me to, and will continue to, at least until August. I’ve just had 8 days off and have done none though, because the amount of plastic waste they produce is sickening. I can’t believe plastic bags are banned in the country I live in, yet I’ve produced kilograms of plastic waste in the last couple of months and no one seems to care.

Scientists have obviously advised, try this.
The data will be useful as well as catching some cases would be.

The government has said okay, set it up, offered it to everyone for FREE.

British public...Nah...fuck off.
.
.
.
but I want my freedoms and I wanna go on holiday.
.
.
but...nah...fuck off Boris...you cunt.

Jresus wept, this cycle of nearly free and lock down is never going to bloody end

Much hyperbole concerning the tiny little bits of plastic involved.

My employer expects us to do them twice weekly. I confess I've been doing them slightly less often, but I have been doing them. (Why twice weekly, you ask? I think it's because there's supposed to be something like a five day window between becoming infectious and noticing symptoms.) They're not fun but so far they have always put my mind at rest - and if it turns out I do have it at some point, I'd really rather know so I didn't potter round to hug the DGC and spread the dreaded lurgi. But you know, I'd have to postpone my weekly shop or even order in, and that would be terrible

Btw I object purely to LFTs, PCRs are a tiny swab and tube that come sealed together and you don’t use any other plastic except the packaging for that. LFTs are made of the actual test, swab, reactive liquid, a ‘biological hazard’ disposal bag, instructions leaflet, all wrapped in plastic and put in a box that comes in another plastic package. I apologise for the incorrect terms in English because I’ve acquired this vocab in another country but honestly, it’s madness.

Oh and to add - we’ve had free testing where I live for 2-3 months now, and everyone uses it because it’s required everywhere. Wanna go into a shop that’s not a supermarket or a pharmacy? Negative test please. Zoo or museum? Test. Hairdresser’s appointment? Test. Sit in a beer garden or go into a restaurant? Test. So yeah, people are doing them because the alternative is staying at home and having picnics in the park (I wonder when those will require tests too).

@Neonprint

It's literally no hardship to do the tests though. So why are people so bothered about this?

Exactly!

Been doing them since March, 5 of us in house, 3 secondary school kids, I work in a school. I was getting dh to do twice weekly lft during January and February when he was the only one going out to work.

If it helps, then I can't see an issue, we haven't had any false positives. I had covid end of last year, suffering with long covid and I'll do anything to limit the risk.

I did them as I teach primary.
I tested twice a week. I caught Covid and had a very strong positive. It was in the evening so I couldn’t get a PCR. I was enough though to ensure that others tested and we didn’t spread it any more.

@GroovyClementine

Scientists have obviously advised, try this. The data will be useful as well as catching some cases would be.

The government has said okay, set it up, offered it to everyone for FREE.

British public...Nah...fuck off.
.
.
.
but I want my freedoms and I wanna go on holiday.
.
.
but...nah...fuck off Boris...you cunt.

Jresus wept, this cycle of nearly free and lock down is never going to bloody end

Yep, that sums it up for me too. What can you do. I wish I knew.

@EileenGC

Oh and to add - we’ve had free testing where I live for 2-3 months now, and everyone uses it because it’s required everywhere. Wanna go into a shop that’s not a supermarket or a pharmacy? Negative test please. Zoo or museum? Test. Hairdresser’s appointment? Test. Sit in a beer garden or go into a restaurant? Test. So yeah, people are doing them because the alternative is staying at home and having picnics in the park (I wonder when those will require tests too).

I wish we would do that here.

@Neonprint

It feels a bit rich for people who have chosen to have children complaining about single use plastic. How much single use plastic and non recyclable waste have you used in terms of nappies and food pouches etc? How much carbon will your children contribute to the world?

Then to complain about potentially life saving tests wasting plastic. Perhaps make a few sustainable swaps to compensate? Although as I say with all the waste generated by breeding I suspect the issue is not in fact the single use plastic. But it's a convenient excuse.

Having a child is difficult to undo. He's 15, what should I do with him? I prefer to focus on what I can do now.

No but I've had 2 vaccinations and covid and havent been leaving the house apart from going to the supermarket really as not well currently but I will do one if I'm going to mingle more with people.

@EileenGC

Oh and to add - we’ve had free testing where I live for 2-3 months now, and everyone uses it because it’s required everywhere. Wanna go into a shop that’s not a supermarket or a pharmacy? Negative test please. Zoo or museum? Test. Hairdresser’s appointment? Test. Sit in a beer garden or go into a restaurant? Test. So yeah, people are doing them because the alternative is staying at home and having picnics in the park (I wonder when those will require tests too).

What’s the vaccination rate in your country?

@EileenGC

Oh and to add - we’ve had free testing where I live for 2-3 months now, and everyone uses it because it’s required everywhere. Wanna go into a shop that’s not a supermarket or a pharmacy? Negative test please. Zoo or museum? Test. Hairdresser’s appointment? Test. Sit in a beer garden or go into a restaurant? Test. So yeah, people are doing them because the alternative is staying at home and having picnics in the park (I wonder when those will require tests too).

Which country is this out of interest?

@GroovyClementine

Scientists have obviously advised, try this. The data will be useful as well as catching some cases would be.

The government has said okay, set it up, offered it to everyone for FREE.

British public...Nah...fuck off.
.
.
.
but I want my freedoms and I wanna go on holiday.
.
.
but...nah...fuck off Boris...you cunt.

Jresus wept, this cycle of nearly free and lock down is never going to bloody end

Reminds me of the end of Worlds End.

@hamstersarse - you shouldn't do them if you have symptoms. That's a PCR.

@osbertthesyrianhamster we may have locked horns on a different post but I completely agree with you on this 😀

@Neonprint

It's not a new thing though? These tests have been available for a while. I've had both vaccines so I'm unlikely to catch covid. But will do if it would help.

I don’t mean to single you out @Neonprint as I agree with your other posts, but are you aware that even though you’ve had both vaccinations you can still catch Covid? It’s just that your symptoms should be milder.

And to answer the original question, dc are both at secondary school so we are all testing twice a week. I would hate to send the dc into school with Covid when there are still so many teachers unvaccinated. At least with all of us testing There is more chance of picking up an infection even if none of us have symptoms

Germany. 36% of the population has received at least one dose - UK is at around 50-55% from what I’ve just found online? This is population %, not just adults.

Last announcement said everyone should be offered the vaccine by the end of July. I am already signed up at work and I’m in my early 20s (non-essential industry), hopefully we get a date soon. At a state level they’re currently vaccinating early 60s plus supermarket workers, all school staff regardless of age, and other public workers who weren’t done before (police were group 2). Varies a bit from state to state so others are ahead of us (my state is one of the slower rollouts due to demographic).

Been doing it twice weekly for ages but then again it's a requirement for my job. It's really no great hardship not sure why the resistance tbh especially if you are working out the home or have dc in school

Nope. Will do a PCR test if I ever have symptoms but I mainly work from home, have the occasional whizz round the shops for food, have only met friends outside and don’t have children in school. My chances are being infected are probably near zero.

@hamstersarse

Nope...unless I get some symptoms

You could be symptom free but still have it and then pass it onto someone who does then suffer with it

No. It's utter nonsense.

I am as I work in a school and don’t want to be responsible for spreading it to the students and then they spread it to their parents which could either make them ill or mean they have to take time off work which they can’t afford.