Stop overusing lateral flow tests!

[musicalfrog]

How many posts on this forum say "ooh I tested twice yesterday", or "ooh I'm waiting for a pcr result but still taking a lateral flow every day"...

Have some fucking thought for the expense to the taxpayer of all these tests, and the poor folk who are struggling to get a supply of tests to keep their loved ones safe while you fritter them away without a second thought.

You DON'T need to take more than one test a day, you DON'T need to keep testing while waiting a pcr result (you should be isolating) and you DON'T need to be testing every day unless you're a close contact.

Over consumption is killing this planet, these are prime examples.

I’ve tested daily for the last 13 days mainly because in the last week of term I worked with 42 kids who the tested positive and I wanted to have a somewhat fairly normal Christmas and not put others at risk… I also have 13 boxes at home because my school gives me 2 a week, my husband is also in a public facing role so his work give him 1 a week and my kids school gives us 1 a week. I’ve seen people request boxes of LFT on local Facebook groups and they’ve come to ours to collect a box. Worth a shot?

I absolutely agree.

We have 4 boxes stashed away but certainly not over-testing.

as someone who has been vaccinated , iv never ever done a lateral flow test , neither has my 13 year old and my triple vaxxed 84 your old mum doesnt want to know doing them either , i think its absolutly pathetic the amount of muppets running out desperatly trying to get them just because the goverment has said we must all be testing at such and such times , i wonder if the goverment told all the lemmings in this country to jump off a cliff how many would do it .

the bloody things arent even reliable which is why if you get a positve or have symptoms of covid the lateral flow test isnt picking up , you are then meant to do a pcr test

i work in a store with a pharmacy , having to deal with desperate people standing there looking all fucking anguished when they are asking if we are still out of lateral flows is wearying to say the least , and the inevitable questions , always in a whingy voice , where else can i get one , when are they coming in , as if the bloody world will end bacause they cant get a lateral flow test , drives me insane and i do really really want to tell them to get a life

Isn't this the goal, isn't this 'moonshot'?
And lateral flow tests WILL give false negatives. They're being used for mass testing of asymptomatic people. Their benefit is to identify some (but not all) of the asymptomatic cases we'd otherwise have missed. They will also miss lots of true positives. Their false positive rate should be very very low.

@Blinkinname

You're not alone op. They will be paid for for decades (generations?) along with other Covid measures.

I know people who have BOXES stockpiled and aren't using them and others who need them who can't get them.

Useful for lots, waste for others. Totally agree on testing more than once a day and testing while awaiting PCR results.

Don't need to be the 'Covid police' to apply some common sense on usage.

But...but...they're magically free aren't they?

@chaosrabbitland

muppets running out desperatly trying to get them just because the goverment has said we must all be testing at such and such times , i wonder if the goverment told all the lemmings in this country to jump off a cliff how many would do it .

I’m not doing them
Because the Gov suggested it, I’m doing it to try and protect my loved ones who I see

@chaosrabbitland

as someone who has been vaccinated , iv never ever done a lateral flow test , neither has my 13 year old and my triple vaxxed 84 your old mum doesnt want to know doing them either , i think its absolutly pathetic the amount of muppets running out desperatly trying to get them just because the goverment has said we must all be testing at such and such times , i wonder if the goverment told all the lemmings in this country to jump off a cliff how many would do it .

the bloody things arent even reliable which is why if you get a positve or have symptoms of covid the lateral flow test isnt picking up , you are then meant to do a pcr test

i work in a store with a pharmacy , having to deal with desperate people standing there looking all fucking anguished when they are asking if we are still out of lateral flows is wearying to say the least , and the inevitable questions , always in a whingy voice , where else can i get one , when are they coming in , as if the bloody world will end bacause they cant get a lateral flow test , drives me insane and i do really really want to tell them to get a life

Because they can’t work without them? Because they have vulnerable relatives to care for?

Out of interest @musicalfrog are you and all your family triple vaccinated? Do you wear masks all the time and social distance? Are you or any of yours CEV?

I don't understand why you think people are wasting tests . People who are vulnerable who would need early intervention (like me) . My family who care for my vulnerable Father . My immediate family who live with me . All take regular tests . Why are they wasting tests ?
Y'know what you are just letting off steam , but you should be railing at Bozo who is lounging around at Chequers while people are struggling to get tests .

I’m sure no one is testing for fun, OP.
The gov advice is to test: daily if a contact, before visiting vulnerable people and before going to enclosed crowded spaces.
For many people, given it's the school Christmas holidays, that means testing everyday. It does for us as we’re either seeing elderly relatives or going to indoor places each day given it’s raining.
Once the schools go back, it’ll go back to normal in terms of supply of LFTs.

yes people that need them for work are the exception ,, but im seeing loads of people easily in retirement age wanting the bloody things like theres no tomorrow and as for protecting loved ones , the tests are unrealiable anyway thats whats so funny , a whole nation of healthy people running about to shove swabs up their noses and down their throats how many times a week because the goverment has said thats whats best ,
when i wake up with all the symtoms of covid i will order a pcr test and isolate , but in the meantime im not arsing about with lateral flow tests iv managed the last 2 years without them perfectly fine

@Boofay

Thanks to my bil who neglected to tell my DH he was a close contact, all six of my family (DH, four kids and I) are now incredibly close contacts. Spent all day with bil on Boxing Day and he tested positive the next day. According to gov guidelines we all need a LFD a day for seven days. That's six boxes of LFD tests. I have three and a half boxes here and another box on the way. I'm not apologising to anyone for that. I makes me sick all this plastic waste, but I'm trying to follow the advice set out by the government. No doubt one of us will test positive over the next few days and then we won't need as many lfds but until then, we like so many other families need several boxes of tests.

I get your pissed off but you've very much missed the point . Of course you test daily but some people are doing 3 and 4 test a day when 1 is needed. so use 6 boxes not 24 thats the point

Race to the bottom all OP is saying test once a day and if your waiting PCR result don't test it's irrelevant wait for you PCR result.
Nobody is saying don't test just once a day is enough.

Our council leisure centre is tell staff to do 3 LTF test before they come to work one after another . What a waste

I have to take 4 a week and I hate the amount of waste it produces. all that plastic

I do definitely disagree with the testing several times a day or while waiting for a PCR.
I'm currently needing to test daily as a close contact but I'm still only testing once each day and if I get symptoms or if one of those daily LFTs shows positive, I'll just order a PCR and wait it out. I do have a family member staying with me too at the moment but they won't be testing daily unless they also become close contacts (only likely if I become a positive case).
I don't really understand why people are testing the night before they see others and then again in the morning before going etc and I have seen that on here. Surely just test the once shortly before you're actually going.

In Scotland we've been told by the Scottish government to do a LFT every time before we go out.

Now obviously the idea is that we're not meant to be going out and instead putting ourselves into a self imposed lockdown, but most folk are ignoring that advice - me included. I test before we have people over and when going to visit my elderly DPs. When I felt unwell but didn't have specific Covid symptoms I did a LFT every day for a week until I felt better - if I'd gone for a PCR DS would have had to stay off school until it came back.

I get what you're saying OP, and I think an irony is all these tests are made in China who either deliberately or inadvertently caused this whole mess and are now making lots of money from the kits. However I don't think you're going to stop or change any behaviours by shouting and swearing at people who are trying to navigate their way round this and/or have been told to test frequently.

Someone testing daily leading up to an operation is fair enough, or if mixing with vulnerable people. But I know people who are testing daily, the whole family (all adults working from home). They are still living as if we're in lockdown, will only meet outside, have shopping delivered, quarantine mail. And test every day. They don't go anywhere or mix with anyone at all so how they think they could catch it or why they feel the need to test daily I don't know. They stockpiled tests so still have a stash. Meanwhile we can't get any locally, I've given one of our last ones to a friend who was really upset because she didn't want to visit her elderly Mum without testing.
I think we need to be sensible about the whole testing thing.

The nhs told us that you could test positive for up to 90 days after contracting covid so we haven't tested at all since we caught it last month

They shut ds year group , but the number of parents that continued to do lfts every single day between November and Xmas was concerning. These are very young primary aged children

The general public are becoming increasingly stupid, wish there was a vaccine for that .

A couple of weeks ago I was daily testing as was identified as a close contact. I usually tested when I had my breakfast. I got a negative in the morning and just after lunch was due to visit my FIL who is CEV and something told me to take another. I did and it was positive (very feint). I booked a PCR within an hour which also came back positive. If I hadn’t been testing as a close contact I’d just have tested before going to see FIL but I won’t hesitate to do more than 1 test in a day if I feel it is needed. I am barely doing any social activities but work in a school so am constantly around it.

DH has been told by work to do daily tests, and the general advice is to test before going anywhere risky, so I tested before taking the kids to soft play and before parkrun...

DH's work is providing most of our tests. I've had 3 boxes since September when my sport started up again, and will be doing pre arrival testing for any events I volunteer at.

If I've done a PCR test I don't do an LFT. I've done one LFT and that was to get into the fireworks, and then they didn't ask to see it anyway.

And don't get me started on the ignorance of " we tested negative so we are fine to do X Y Z " Newsflash the tests are not accurate. Covid us everywhere ,if catching it is catastrophic for you , please don't rely on a piece of plastic which is only accurate half the time .

I was a close contact last week and did 6 of the 7 daily LFTs (I missed the first one and as I was negative on the 7th didn’t see the point in an extra one) but with hindsight what a waste. Neither DH or I were going anywhere so surely it would have been better to only do them if we were. The only advantage would have been starting isolation earlier if I’d been positive

They are allowing Covid the run rife, our unvaccinated kids unfortunately are in Covid ridden schools so we keep testing for that reason.

Op turn on the government and suppliers not innocent people trying to see family and friends and testing and being sensible.
This happened early on in the pandemic when pcr tests were hard to get. People turned on each other for booking them.
Plenty do not test at all, plenty don't.
In the midst of a pandemic I can't get hot about people testing.