How can people not know how rules

[Desmondo2021]

Am gobsmacked by how many people (including 2 intelligent, educated members of my team of professionals at work) think that if you are symptomatic but getting negative LFTs then you don't need a PCR. I now know 4 people recently with negative LFTs then tested positive after I made them go and get a PCR. No real point to this whinge but just scary how many people are walking about spreading covid and complete ignorance about their responsibilities.

I'd test more if it was a quicker process. My last pcr took 3 days (after waiting a full day to be able to go take the test, so 4 days in total) only to tell me it was negative. Thankfully I could wfh, but I still had to take my daughter to childcare, otherwise I'd have had to take the 3 days off unpaid.
I can't blame people, if the process was quicker and easier then I bet more people would pcr.

The messages are such bollocks though. There was a positive in DC’s class so they were all told to get a PCR, which they did - but were told to still attend school until the result was in. Madness.

DBs colleague tested positive, they had shared a meeting space. DP has no symptoms and has carried on as normal.

And finally DC2 has a temp, sore throat but no cough. As his mum I know it’s his tonsils, they’re red and sore and he has a history of tonsillitis. Relative is saying that we should PCR him despite negative LFT.

@Sunsetsupernova

That may well be the case but we’re in London where it feels like everyone has Omicrom right now and the main symptom I’m hearing from everyone we know with it is a headache so if someone you share a bed with is positive and you have a headache it’s probably advisable to assume you may have Covid as well and not visit other people’s houses!

10 days of not being paid over a headache though, I wouldn't want to tell anyone if that was me.

The guidance is wooly. The symptom list is still the three symptoms first identified. Many people gave up watching news and reading stories about covid a long time ago so won't be aware of the symptoms of the new variant.

There is real mixed messaging over lft. That's on the government not the general public.

Also not all employers are sympathetic. And even if they are, not everyone gets paid time off and can't afford to be off so unless they are really poorly won't test.

I couldn’t tell you what the rules are. They’re constantly changing and I don’t really give a shit tbh. The people making them aren’t even following them

@Shuffleuplove

And finally DC2 has a temp, sore throat but no cough. As his mum I know it’s his tonsils, they’re red and sore and he has a history of tonsillitis. Relative is saying that we should PCR him despite negative LFT.

You should. Temperature and sore throat are symptoms of Covid. You don’t know it’s his tonsils unless you test. It’s only the Gov that are sticking to the ‘Cough, temperature or loss of taste/smell’ symptoms.

10 days of not being paid over a headache though, I wouldn't want to tell anyone if that was me

So because you don’t get sick pay, or have illness cover, you would happily put my CEV loved one at risk?
Nice.

The message about LFTs only for asymptomatic cases has got muddied by recent news reports saying that they are much more accurate than first thought and very good at picking up people when they are at their most infectious.

Also, the fact that the initial 3 symptoms listed in order to get a PCR are unchanged means that people have to lie to get one if they have any of the symptoms which seem most common for the omicron variant.
Most of the NHS guidance notes haven't been updated. I was in contact with someone who tested positive and received the Test & trace alert to self-isolate for 10 days. It doesn't say anywhere that I don't need to if I've been fully vaccinated (which is now the case).

@SoSickOfItNow

10 days of not being paid over a headache though, I wouldn't want to tell anyone if that was me

So because you don’t get sick pay, or have illness cover, you would happily put my CEV loved one at risk?
Nice.

Whilst I do understand the worry if you have a cev relative, worrying about not being paid is valid.

Not being paid for a week can mean not paying rent or being able to put food on the table. And that's if you have an understanding employer. In some cases it could mean the loss of a job.

I know someone who had 30 days isolation in a 6 week period. If you are not getting any pay in that time that's just not affordable.

If the government want high compliance re testing then they need to ensure people are not losing wages.

@SoSickOfItNow

10 days of not being paid over a headache though, I wouldn't want to tell anyone if that was me

So because you don’t get sick pay, or have illness cover, you would happily put my CEV loved one at risk?
Nice.

Sadly this is the reality of the choices people are facing, for some no work = no pay = no money for rent, food, heat.

@LetItGoToRuin

We all have Covid. I was rueing the fact that I hadn't got the Christmas cards posted, and a friend said I could post them myself whilst I'm out for exercise! Err... do you know what isolation actually is?

@LetItGoToRuin

Like @Svara said, I'm in the Channel Islands and isolating positive cases are allowed out for air and exercise for 2 hours a day here (obviously strictly outside and avoiding others). A balance has been struck between protecting others and protecting the mental health of people who feel well but are isolating.

Back to the thread though, I don't think there's nearly enough education around the fact that LFTs are to highlight asymptomatic cases, and aren't as effective where symptoms exist.

@SoSickOfItNow

10 days of not being paid over a headache though, I wouldn't want to tell anyone if that was me

So because you don’t get sick pay, or have illness cover, you would happily put my CEV loved one at risk?
Nice.

I volunteer at a local food bank, and the amount of people who requested help because they were being forced to isolate, and so not getting paid, was shockingly high. It’s not that they don’t care about the vulnerable/cev etc. It’s that it’s hard to prioritise a stranger when it means you can’t feed or house your child.

@SoSickOfItNow

10 days of not being paid over a headache though, I wouldn't want to tell anyone if that was me

So because you don’t get sick pay, or have illness cover, you would happily put my CEV loved one at risk?
Nice.

But this could happen with lots of illnesses, CEV people could be put at risk by loads of things? Should people who get no sick pay isolate themselves everytime they get ill, but could carry on working, so as not to put others at risk? Even though they won't get paid?

@SoSickOfItNow

10 days of not being paid over a headache though, I wouldn't want to tell anyone if that was me

So because you don’t get sick pay, or have illness cover, you would happily put my CEV loved one at risk?
Nice.

You have no idea what the impact on this person and anyone they support might be if they lose two weeks of wages. That you imagine yourself qualified to moralise is contemptuous.

@ImInStealthMode

Back to the thread though, I don't think there's nearly enough education around the fact that LFTs are to highlight asymptomatic cases, and aren't as effective where symptoms exist.

But the advice and news on that has now shifted. This BBC report tells how LFTs are more accurate than first thought:
www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-58899612

"When the researchers used a new formula for calculating the rapid test's accuracy, they found LFTs were more than 80% effective at detecting any level of Covid-19 infection and likely to be more than 90% effective at detecting who is most infectious when they use the test."

With PCR tests sometimes hard to get, and the delay in getting results, it's no wonder people are turning to LFTs.