Why aren't people pcr testing?

[Acer82]

Spoken to two friends with dc in my child's year last few days. One child has had a temp, sore throat etc...and they have just been doing lft tests, the other child was off last week with a cold and bad cough and I said did they have a pcr and they said no, we just kept isn't the lfts. My dc from the same year has been off today, woke up with sore throat, achy, cold but no temp/cough/loss of taste/smell. I'm probably thinking ill get him a pcr anyway. I don't understand why people aren't getting the pcr tests especially when they have a cough and temp? Have people just given up on them?

@Covidworries

No he needs a pcr test. Looks like your school is incapable of comprhending this too. Worry when teachers dont have good reading comprehension

Actually I'm extremely glad they have taken such a common sense approach. Children have missed enough education. Time to get on with life now.

I imagine the scenario in households now:

You wake up feeling a bit shit, sniffy, sore throat, headache, slight cough. Do you:

A go online to book PCR, dither over whether to drive to far away test centre or get home test. Tell boss you will be off work for 2-3 days or 10 days if positive. Boss fuming. Start frantically calling friends and family to take dc to school and back.

B grab an LFT from the pack gathering dust in the kitchen. Half heartedly waft the swab just inside your nose whilst loading the washing machine and filling the kettle. LFT is negative, hurrah, take 2 paracetamol and get on with your day.

I imagine many people would/are doing B.

I do. The moment one of mine has any respiratory symptoms I book a PCR because that way we can just do one test rather than two. When the PCR is negative we can get on with things even if a cough develops a few days later. Being in posession of a negative test also means it's easier to get an appointment with the nurse or GP about the cough without it causing a panic for everyone at the surgery.

@greeneggsandhamplease

Do you really think letting the virus spread out of contol is goingnto lead to less distuptions?
What happens with teachers off school as too ill? What happens if your child falls and breaks a leg and is left waitingnin pain for hrs because the NHS cant cope with out of control covid.

Just make sure you dont winge if things get worse

[quote Covidworries]@greeneggsandhamplease

Do you really think letting the virus spread out of contol is goingnto lead to less distuptions?
What happens with teachers off school as too ill? What happens if your child falls and breaks a leg and is left waitingnin pain for hrs because the NHS cant cope with out of control covid.

Just make sure you dont winge if things get worse[/quote]
The NHS will never treat a child's broken leg as anything less than urgent. Don't post such scaremongering nonsense.

So 1 doctor available who should they treat if your child breaks their leg or my child is having breathing difficulties.

[quote Covidworries]@greeneggsandhamplease

Do you really think letting the virus spread out of contol is goingnto lead to less distuptions?
What happens with teachers off school as too ill? What happens if your child falls and breaks a leg and is left waitingnin pain for hrs because the NHS cant cope with out of control covid.

Just make sure you dont winge if things get worse[/quote]
No whinging from me. Quite happy with moving forward this way thanks.

@Covidworries

So 1 doctor available who should they treat if your child breaks their leg or my child is having breathing difficulties.

Fractures and respiratory distress are treated by different doctors.

[quote Covidworries]@greeneggsandhamplease

Do you really think letting the virus spread out of contol is goingnto lead to less distuptions?
What happens with teachers off school as too ill? What happens if your child falls and breaks a leg and is left waitingnin pain for hrs because the NHS cant cope with out of control covid.

Just make sure you dont winge if things get worse[/quote]
Alot of the disruptions are caused by the testing rather than illness now that the vaccines been rolled out. But yeah, we should keep asymptomatic people locked up !

@GreenEggsAndHamPlease

Has your primary school got any spaces for a year one? Asking for a friend.

People not testing and sending kids into school with symptoms are utterly selfish. Can't believe some of the responses here - why would I get a PCR if it's "inconvenient for me?" Awful. DS and DF both have Covid & it's a lot worse than a common cold, even for my double vaccinated DF. We have done PCRs as close contacts and waiting on results. My DS had a negative LFT before a positive PCR and so have quite a few others I've spoken to. LFTs were only ever intended to try to pick up at least some of the asymptomatic cases (50% is better than none) to reduce transmission. Anyone with symptoms OR who is a close contact of a confirmed case should be doing a PCR. People saying they wouldn't know how - FGS, Google it. It's not bloody hard. I do sympathise with having to take time off to look after DC with confirmed or suspected Covid but the alternative is grossly selfish.

[quote Covidworries]@londonwriter.

You have a choice through. If you child has symptoms you can get a PCR test or you can isolate them for 10 days.

What you shouldnt do is send them out if they have had a symptom and not been tested.[/quote]
Okay. Let me get this clear.

You believe 'a symptom' includes multiple symptoms, which include - but are not limited to - headache, runny nose, cough (any type), diarrhoea (presumably... it's common in kids with COVID), nausea, loss of sense of taste and smell, aches and pains (common with COVID), fever, fatigue and sore throat.

So, if my four year old displays any of these symptoms, at all, ever, I should either keep him off school for 10 days or give him a PCR test. As I can't give him a PCR test without literally pinning him down on the floor, he has to stay off for 10 days.

Do you know how many minor viral infections small children get in an average month? So, my four year old has been at school for three weeks so far and, of that time, he's been off for a week with chicken pox... and now he's got a cold (as does everyone in his class, apparently).

What you're actually saying, in practice, is that you'd like to close primary schools until children under 11 have been vaccinated? I mean, that's okay, but you need to actually argue that - rather than pretending kids aren't coughing and sneezing pretty much all the time.

I mean, you could argue that my son, specifically, doesn't deserve to be educated - because he's hard to PCR test. But, that would make you deeply ableist... so, maybe you don't want to go there.

Alternatively, you can acknowledge that the actual problem in schools is that kids pick up COVID from community transmission, and the best way to reduce community transmission, so we don't need to routinely shove a swab up the nose of a hysterical four year old, is to... get vaccinated, wear masks indoors and avoid very very large events.

People aren't testing because they want to actually go out and enjoy life. Did you isolate for 10 days when you got the flu or a cold pre covid? No you didnt, you just got on with it. That's what we need to do now. I can't believe people want to keep these draconian measures in place forever. We have to live with it because it isn't going away, or would you rather live in fear forever ?

Either lateral flows are good enough.

Or they aren't.

So either we shouldn't be using them. Or we should use them and thats just fine.

School staff should either be only using PCRs or they shouldn't.
Travellers should either be only using PCRs or they should't.

Since the government has decided that in these situations lateral flows are good enough, what the fuck do people expect??

You might have a lateral flow at home ready to go. If its traumatic getting your young child to do a lateral flow and its negative, why would you put them and yourself through doing a PCR, having to take time off work looking after your child in the process whilst they test and you await a probable negative result. Or you could just do a lateral flow, then bung em back in school.

Why does anyone think no one is bothering with PCRs anymore????

There is absoluetely no incentitive or tangible benefit on a personal level to do a PCR rather than a lateral flow. Unless you work in healthcare.

DS won't because his symptoms don't match the website.

@RedToothBrush

Either lateral flows are good enough.

Or they aren't.

So either we shouldn't be using them. Or we should use them and thats just fine.

School staff should either be only using PCRs or they shouldn't.
Travellers should either be only using PCRs or they should't.

Since the government has decided that in these situations lateral flows are good enough, what the fuck do people expect??

You might have a lateral flow at home ready to go. If its traumatic getting your young child to do a lateral flow and its negative, why would you put them and yourself through doing a PCR, having to take time off work looking after your child in the process whilst they test and you await a probable negative result. Or you could just do a lateral flow, then bung em back in school.

Why does anyone think no one is bothering with PCRs anymore????

There is absoluetely no incentitive or tangible benefit on a personal level to do a PCR rather than a lateral flow. Unless you work in healthcare.

Thank god someone with the same logic as me!

LFTs were never intended for symptomatic infection testing. They will miss w large proportion of positive cases. They are there for asymptomatic people to test routinely to try to reduce the number of asymptomatic people unknowingly transmitting the virus. They are not for symptomatic people who need to send for or book a PCR, which is a far more accurate test. School staff and health workers take these routinely to try to pick up at least some asymptomatic carriers. School staff, health workers and anyone else with symptoms should take a PCR.

It isn't hard.

@Londonwriter

A cough is one of the god damn symptoms you are meant to test for. You have a choice test or isolate.

Deeply ablest - get off your high horse and get back in reality.
My child has missed 3/4 of their school life because they have health problems. Why is your child education more important than my childs? I think its clear your the one who only cares about the able!!!

I accept there are risks I can do nothing about, what I don't accept is that plonkers like you feel that it is perfectly acceptable to put other childrens lives at risk so your child doesn't have to test or isolate.

Testing isnt perfect but it does reduce risk for others.

Do you drive around with your kids not wearing seatbelts? Or do you make sure they wear them as it reduces risks? what if your child didnt want to wear a seat belt? would you just go ok little one I wont distress you with the naughty seatbelt. after the risk of being in a RTC is very small and there is no guarantee the seat belt would actually help

It isn't hard.

What a load of sanctimonious crap.

If you're losing two or three days' pay for the third or fourth time this month and your boss is not best pleased so your job's on the line, of course it's hard.

Have a thought for what difficulties others may be going through, and the awful dilemma they face in terms of doing the right thing or being able to pay the rent.

It isn't hard.

@Covidworries what will be different when testing isn't mandatory anymore, say in the spring? Covid will still be around in similar case numbers to now, but hardly anyone will be tested.

We can't keep testing like this forever, it does put a strain on people's jobs, education and general life it's no wonder people are testing less. It's all well to say people are selfish when it's you that is advantaged by the testing, when you are disadvantaged it's a very different story.

[quote Overthebow]@Covidworries what will be different when testing isn't mandatory anymore, say in the spring? Covid will still be around in similar case numbers to now, but hardly anyone will be tested.

We can't keep testing like this forever, it does put a strain on people's jobs, education and general life it's no wonder people are testing less. It's all well to say people are selfish when it's you that is advantaged by the testing, when you are disadvantaged it's a very different story.[/quote]
That’s a different question. The situation now is that there is testing, is easily available and is required in certain situations.

When things change and it lifts, then there is no need to test - so I’m not sure why you’re benchmarking a future scenario with the current one.

You can not possibly know that your cough isnt covid, you are choosing to ignore the requirement to test. Do you routinly choose to ignore things like the requirement to wear seatbelts?

In the spring testing prob wint be a requirement but that isnt relevent to now when IT IS A requirement.

Ive not lost the plot im annoyed with people thinking the rules dont apply to them . Do you think CEV families dont have money worries.

Not testing and ignoring symptoms(Yes there are more symptoms than the 3 required to test but there are 3 that require testing and people cant even follow that. )

Is going to result in cases rising quicker than NHS can cope with.

This means more opperations will be cancelled, this means more people wont get cancer diagnosis quick enough. This means that more people will die or become very ill both of covid and other illness that could be treated in normal times.

Someone i know well is currently ill in hospital the staff are over run, they could note update the next of kin for over 24 hrs because they dont have time. This is the start of october covid cases are growing, postponed treatments are becoming life threatening and winter illness are also going to happen. You can pretend we can get back to normal but you are only fooling yourself....

Yes the government are responsible but what can they do when people wont even comply with the tiny regulations in place now.

I don’t know anyone who has done a PCR test or is doing them. I don’t know if anyone of my children’s friends who have tested positive for Covid. I don’t know anyone in my network who has tested positive. I know plenty of people with the cold that is doing the rounds. They’ve done lft’s and where possible are wfh to avoid the risk of transmitting germs (even if just the cold that’s doing the rounds).

People are not PCR testing

1. because we need to pick the test. Lateral flow or pcr? Don’t hammer the lateral flows. Withdraw them. If they’re not fit for purpose why are they even an option?
2. Lives have been disrupted enough - people are fearful of another lockdown over winter and bluntly, self isolating when a test says negative is not something anyone wants to rush into anymore.
3. At some point we have to live with this. The last data set I saw, deaths are dropping. The interventions being given to covid sufferers are working. A huge portion of the population are vaccinated.

That’s why people aren’t rushing to get a PCR.