Testing capacity - this is not okay

[Drummonderry]

Had to book a PCR in the week for DS. Closest site was 7.5 miles away. We have no car - so we had to order a postal test which took 4 days in total from order to result.

Today had to book another. Apparently zero appointments available in all of England.

How can we be in this situation 18 months into this pandemic?

Like I said. Not my experience this weekend and the computer thing was simply a blip.

@walkoflifewoohoo

2 hours round trip is not the same as ‘not well enough to walk’ (!)

And in fact the person needed to be tested was a child - I was surprised school did not have any PCR tests to hand out to save this whole pallaver.

And that’s best case scenario.

Don’t be an apologist.

Surely you can see how this will reduce the number of people testing - and encourage people to make marginal calls in the direction of ‘I’m sure it’s just a sniffle’.

We took a test in Kent yesterday morning, with good availability at all test sites nearby, for all times of the day. Result was back early this morning. Very smooth experience.

mobile.twitter.com/chrischirp/status/1411753644404453380

I’ve got no skin in the game other than being shocked at how difficult testing has been this time around.

As a baseline - in my kids schools YR, Y2, Y4, Y8, Y9 and Y12 have had bubbles burst over the last 7 days. So I can see why we might have test shortages if this is reflected in the wider area - but it is precisely at times like this that we need spare capacity in the testing system to be able to absorb the surge and support people to make the right choice
to isolate/continue with their lives

www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/27/concerns-grow-as-uk-covid-testing-labs-scaled-back-before-even-opening

"Don’t be an apologist.

Surely you can see how this will reduce the number of people testing - and encourage people to make marginal calls in the direction of ‘I’m sure it’s just a sniffle’."

Give over. You're talking like your alleged experience is reality. Many others on this thread have confirmed that they've found the process smooth.

Your screen shots were dramatic to say the least since everyone knows that was a minor blip.

"I’ve got no skin in the game other than being shocked at how difficult testing has been this time around."

Sounds like it

If its a blip why did they change the recorded message to warn about this happening and warn about longer waits?

The professor lady’s tweet is based on comparing test date:report date and she found it’s getting longer overall. There will variability -

I hear people getting quick recent results on here. I have posted 6 tests since the weekend of which only one returned in 3 days after testing - the rest still outstanding - longest 4 days.

The actual numbers will average over the data - and on average its getting longer. This is a big problem given we are having a delta surge and are loosening restrictions.

It must be nice not to have to care about these things 🤷🏻‍♀️ .

My friend had the same experience this week - nothing available. I did a postal test last week which took two days to arrive then another 2.5 days to get a result. That's not acceptable for whole households to be isolating for 5 days waiting for results.

Who said I didn't care?

6 tests? You've obviously got a very poorly household, but starting threads screenshotting a blip with dramatic titles is simply designed to create drama.

And this..."The professor lady" does not require the word "lady". Just Professor will do.

Nice try.

Loads of availability when I booked yesterday (tested within 30min and result back in 25 hours). In an area with fairly high rates as well

2nd of the 6th has come back - this one a positive.

It was ordered on Saturday, arived/tested/returned on Sunday.

48 hours to process - and this starts the clock on contact tracing.

For this case it won’t matter - because he was already self-isolating - but in general this particular individual would normally have gone out on a Friday night.

4 days after symptom Track & Trace kicking off to tell people to isolate (or even warn them if burst bubbles are a thing of the past) is very different to 2 days when it comes to the balance of reducing spread vs unnecessarily disrupting people’s lives

@TheNarwhalBalloon it’s not acceptable.

It’s not respectful to people trying to get their lives back on track after the insane disruption of the last year.

It’s not respectful of vulnerable people
in our community who place their trust in
‘the system’ to allow them to participate in F2F society.

God people in urban areas don't know they are born! There is one test site within a twentyfive mile radius of me and it's 12 miles away.

Can't imagine how tricky it must be for you to have all those test centres around you

I ordered a batch of the 7 LFTs to be posted to me and it came with a 'free' postal PCR (unasked for).
So you might get a postal PCR sooner by requesting the 7 LFTs to be delivered to your home...

So folk without a car need to wait 3-6 days from onset of symptoms for the all-clear to go back to work or school (via postal tests) - while those with a private vehicle can get a same day drive-through testing appointment and (based on feedback here) results back next day - and get on with earning and learning.

@VariantL1130 - you think the social inequality here is entitled moaning urbanites ….?

6 days? Like I said, drama.

I think what has really set this thread off is the relaxing of restrictions isn't it?

@walkoflifewoohoo

What triggered this was daily contact from the school nurse since the middle of last week, asking for updates on my daughter’s tests because she had to know whether to burst the bubble.

I felt awful that I was not able to give her a response in reasonable time. Like it was my ‘fault’ for not having a car, and for the result just not arriving.

6 days = 1 days postage to me + 5 days postage return processing. I chased the test I sent on Friday this morning. I was told that at the moment they are not considered ‘late’ until 5 days from them being posted back.

You've had one positive test, that means ALL OF YOU are isolating and waiting an extra day or so for someone's results doesn't matter.

I don't have a car, so we used the walk-in a mile away one time, postal another, booked appointment at a different place another runs

"run" = time. It doesn't matter really, just pick what works for you and be patient for an hour when you're told there's a temporary issue.

Well now yes - but it doesn’t take away that us and the school nurse have had an unreasonably stressy time with how long the first one took.

1 mile would have been fine. Postal tests returned genuinely fast and/or available on demand from school/pharmacy would have been fine. How it’s been: really not fine.

In fact the first test was negative - but we chose to stay self isolating and re-test because the individual involved got more obviously ill.

We are a full week into this pallaver. That would have been a bitter pill to swallow if my ‘hunch’ about people feeling off had been wrong.

I wasn’t told it was a temporary issue.

The website was as per my screenshot second time around. First time around offered a centre 7.5 miles away. You guys and the recorded message if I chase on 119 suggests it’s worth being patient - but from what I was told when booking it was more rational to commit to the postal test.

In any case closest centre at any time is 3 miles - which is a long walk there and back if you are not feeling great.

It’s not that I’m telling the most tragic story of all time - but it shouldn’t be this hard.

The easier they make it - the more people will test. The harder they make it - the more people will ignore marginal symptoms to avoid the disruption.

When I booked back in December I remember needing to Rey around 4/5pm each day to get refreshed appointments? Could that be the issue?