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Original poster

Stop overusing lateral flow tests!

493 replies

musicalfrog · 29/12/2021 00:35

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.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
6
WouldBeGood · 29/12/2021 08:17

The poor won’t be testing madly anyway as people not on a nice safe salary can’t afford to be off work self isolating

Covidclaire · 29/12/2021 08:17

They don’t even seem to work well.

I really don’t get why this keeps being peddled. They detect up to 80% of cases, up to 90% when people are at their most infectious. I only knew I had covid because I did a LF, and thankfully I did and it prevented me from potentially infecting my vulnerable parents.

Yes they don’t pick up every single case but they pick up most.

Ovenaffray · 29/12/2021 08:17

Where I am in the uk we are supposed to take a lateral flow before meeting friends and family, before spending time in a busy public place or in a crowd (supermarket then), before attending any social gatherings or events, visiting someone elderly or vulnerable.

I’ve to go to the doc this morning so I’ve just taken one. If I followed that advice, I’m for the supermarket later and should take another (I won’t be).

I don’t know how you can be so angry with people when the problem is the advice they’re being given.

Covidclaire · 29/12/2021 08:18

Every person on the planet who has had covid was negative before they became positive

Exactly! Which is why it’s so important for people to test regularly at the moment if they are mixing more!

Remmy123 · 29/12/2021 08:18

I agree OP

Suffolkpunch345 · 29/12/2021 08:18

My work (NHS) have told anyone patient facing to do daily tests

Tableto · 29/12/2021 08:19

@Covidclaire

They don’t even seem to work well.

I really don’t get why this keeps being peddled. They detect up to 80% of cases, up to 90% when people are at their most infectious. I only knew I had covid because I did a LF, and thankfully I did and it prevented me from potentially infecting my vulnerable parents.

Yes they don’t pick up every single case but they pick up most.

Is there a source for this? That's good news if so, the last I read it was around 50% of asymptomatic cases (which is their purpose, they're not supposed to be for symptomatic people and many have had negatives just before a positive PCR). I wonder if people put too much faith in them though and use them instead of PCRs when they have symptoms, which does often give false results.
TheVampiresWife · 29/12/2021 08:19

Since Omicron has become a thing near me (it's only really hit us in the last week or so), I've been testing daily. Sometimes I take a test when I wake up at 6am and another before bed. So do DH and DD.

I'm on immunosuppressant drugs and need to be extremely vigilant - if I catch covid, or someone in my home does, I have to stop my drugs immediately and contact my medical team. You can test negative for Omicron then hours later test positive, so I need to keep on top of it.

If they start charging for them as someone upthread suggested, we're fucked - we get through six tests a day sometimes at the moment.

EvilPea · 29/12/2021 08:22

@gettingolderandgrumpy

Agreed you don’t need to take more than 1 test a day even daily is excessive imo . Twice a week should be enough imo .
Then why isn’t that the advice of twice a week is sufficient?
ihatefacemasks · 29/12/2021 08:23

[quote musicalfrog]@AllThingsServeTheBeam I have huge sympathy for your situation but testing every day with a lateral flow won't make any difference to whether you have your op or not. I do hope it all goes well for you Flowers[/quote]
This is true. I had a major op recently (for which I had waited a very, very long time) and didn't do a single LFT beforehand. The hospital did a PCR test and I had to isolate after that.

I agree with you, OP. I had a big argument with my DD about this very subject. We have a box of LFTs which she brought back from school. DD wants to test herself daily for no reason at all. I have said they need to be kept just in case we actually need them and can't get them anywhere, and that if she is constantly testing herself just for the fun of it, then other people who might actually need them won't be able to get any. Plus people (DD) think they are free, but they are absolutely not. We and our children will be paying for all this nonsense for many, many years to come.

HighlandCowbag · 29/12/2021 08:23

We have dh who tested positive 21st. So me and 2 dcs have to test daily. Semi isolating anyway but if we have caught it, then the earlier we catch the positive the less time the dcs will miss at school. So 3 tests for 2 weeks is a lot.

But I also know someone who tested positive and did 4 tests a day ffs.

BellaChagall · 29/12/2021 08:23

You've just reminded me to order some OP so I've just ordered a pack. Thanks!

It's none of your business why I am testing or how often. It's better than some friends I know who 'don't need to test as I'm triple vaccinated even though I've got a terrible cold and a violent headache'.

ihatefacemasks · 29/12/2021 08:23

@WouldBeGood

The poor won’t be testing madly anyway as people not on a nice safe salary can’t afford to be off work self isolating
This is also true.
MrsLargeEmbodied · 29/12/2021 08:24

i have to test every 3 or 4 days.
dont mind me

there is an issue with the supply, again , dont blame others

TractorAndHeadphones · 29/12/2021 08:25

@Sallydimebar

“ My other beef with this (sorry) is that people now seem to be treating lateral flows as if they are life or death reliable. They're not!”

Lost all faith in them in terms of safe to mix ! 3 people I know who felt a bit rough tested with lfts , took about 4 days for all 3 of them to turn positive but in that 4 days carried on as normal “it’s ok have done test so fine to meet up “ one person potentially has risked 4 other families over Christmas as lft neg so carried on with visits .

Yes - tests take a while to show up. So if you’ve JUST been to a large gathering for example it’s no use doing an LFT and being on your merry way.

I agree OP the tests give a false sense of security and people are wasting them.

Humans don’t value what they get for free. Even a small charge (50p per box say) would prevent hoarders and deter people from doing unnecessary tests.

bigbeachedwales · 29/12/2021 08:25

Literally just ordered a pack online now. Stop with the scaremongering

FlamingoQueen · 29/12/2021 08:27

There are currently no PCR testing sites available in the UK (as of about half an hour ago, anyway!).

AllThingsServeTheBeam · 29/12/2021 08:28

@Thatsplentyjack to stop you being confused, read my other comments.

gogohm · 29/12/2021 08:28

@Blinkinname

I have a small stash because with 4 of us here, all adults going places (dp and I work in places we actually go to) we would go through a packet in a week if identified as a close contact eg dsd used a packet on return from university because she got a call, dd got an email from her gp telling her to test daily for 7 days and order a pcr on the 6th day. You can only get one box at a time so just as well I was prepared

TractorAndHeadphones · 29/12/2021 08:29

@Siameasy

Agree. But it is the latest hobby for some people so don’t deprive them of their fun. When we are charged for tests the moralising will stop

May I then suggest a new way to moralise:

“Won’t someone please think of the poor who cannot afford to buy tests and are being condemned to death”

This also gives me the shudders - that people are so anxious they actually LIKE sticking things up their noses for the test.
SonicBroom · 29/12/2021 08:30

Tests now available, this is the first time I’ve seen them available since Christmas and I’ve tried most days (including about 2am this morning as was awake!).

AllThingsServeTheBeam · 29/12/2021 08:30

@NynaeveSedai again, read my other comments. The rest of the house hold don't need to isolate. In fact I don't need to isolate until the 29th, just socially distance. But I am. I would prefer to know if I or someone I lives with has it so that if I am the negative one I can isolate away from them.

Fredstheteds · 29/12/2021 08:31

Cant get them here- one pack left and literally doing a before we see family

WouldBeGood · 29/12/2021 08:31

I think it’s weird as well this selective slavish adherence to government advice.

SonicBroom · 29/12/2021 08:32

@bigbeachedwales they only became available within the last couple of hours. OP wasn’t scare mongering, they have been almost impossible to get.

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