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Original poster

Is testing being phased out now by stealth ?

171 replies

Twinklingstarface · 01/01/2022 19:49

Is the Gvt easing us out of this pandemic by testing less so positive case numbers appear to have dropped in a few weeks? I’m sure with the lack of tests employees and pupils will still need to attend work rather than assuming a positive result in absence of a test. All chemists here are out of stock so is this the beginning of the end of asymptomatic isolations?

OP posts:
SalveVagina · 01/01/2022 22:35

@AnyFucker

One can only hope
Amen to that.
lljkk · 01/01/2022 22:36

Lots of PCR test availability here.

tbf, you have to pay for it. But it's affordable for many, if you want it, if you are sure it's that important to know. PCR tests are very available.

We got our results back in < 12 hours.

Wizzbangfizz · 01/01/2022 22:37

@ThirdElephant I know which is why I can't understand the cries for more measures etc....

rrhuth · 01/01/2022 22:38

£55 is a very high price. Are those tests able to be added to NHS records?

A positive PCR is very important to access the right treatment, especially for long covid.

ThirdElephant · 01/01/2022 22:39

[quote Wizzbangfizz]@ThirdElephant I know which is why I can't understand the cries for more measures etc....[/quote]
I think it's people who suffer with anxiety.

luckylavender · 01/01/2022 22:40

@RoyalFamilyFan

More likely to be incompetence. It would be stupid and it saddens me to see some intelligent posters thinking this would be good news. Lots of people test before visiting vulnerable relatives. What are they supposed to do now? Not see vulnerable relatives at all?
Agree 100%
lljkk · 01/01/2022 22:40

I believe the private providers notify NHS automatically ; it was stated so in the disclaimers we signed.

£35 for the postal version from Randox. next day delivery.

rrhuth · 01/01/2022 22:43

I think it's people who suffer with anxiety.

You think the membership of SAGE, inlcuding Whitty, who suggested more measures were required due to Omicron, are suffering from 'anxiety'?

And you think that you have perfect judgement of what is required, in comparison to senior health advisers?

OK then.

RoyalFamilyFan · 01/01/2022 22:44

We dont pay for other medical tests.

rrhuth · 01/01/2022 22:45

@lljkk

I believe the private providers notify NHS automatically ; it was stated so in the disclaimers we signed.

£35 for the postal version from Randox. next day delivery.

This is at least a useful bit of info for me as if I could not get an NHS PCR I would want a private test - thank you!
flosnit · 01/01/2022 22:46

Look at Canadian provinces- Very covid conscious, now phasing out PCR testing unless you are vulnerable or a high-risk worker.

If you cannot keep up with capacity, data is
incomplete. If your only reliable data is hospitalisations, it's arguably a sensible move.

BUT the big caveat- If we are to phase out testing, we must support the most vulnerable, ie, those who cannot be vaccinated or vaccines fail on.

Doggosaurus · 01/01/2022 22:49

Not in the UK (Scandinaviaj) so have only read about the way testing seems to have worked, and it is just so alien and weird compared to what other countries do. The every day testing, it is just so over the top and a bit of a waste. No wonder you have run out of tests. Testing is good, don’t get me wrong, but you seem to have overdone it just a bit lately..?

lljkk · 01/01/2022 22:50

mmm... but we do pay for tests the NHS deems unnecessary. I paid to get my vitamin D levels checked a few yrs ago (I was curious, no clinical need). It's not unheard of.

Doggosaurus · 01/01/2022 22:52

The very vulnerable must be protected, of course, but healthy triple vaccinated do not need to test as soon as they go out.

RoyalFamilyFan · 01/01/2022 22:54

@lljkk

mmm... but we do pay for tests the NHS deems unnecessary. I paid to get my vitamin D levels checked a few yrs ago (I was curious, no clinical need). It's not unheard of.
Unless you were concerned, why would you do this? And my GP is happy to order tests to check things if you ask.
ThirdElephant · 01/01/2022 22:57

@rrhuth

I think it's people who suffer with anxiety.

You think the membership of SAGE, inlcuding Whitty, who suggested more measures were required due to Omicron, are suffering from 'anxiety'?

And you think that you have perfect judgement of what is required, in comparison to senior health advisers?

OK then.

Nah, I think they're covering their own backs and, much as I generally abhor a conspiracy theory, I do think some of it was an attempt to distract from the Tory Christmas party.
rrhuth · 01/01/2022 23:01

much as I generally abhor a conspiracy theory, I do think some of it was an attempt to distract from the Tory Christmas party

I have zero respect for this opinion, it is an unfounded consipracy theory and a slur on the profesionalism of Whitty and other members of SAGE who have devoted their entire lives to public health.

These kind of conspiracy theories are nonsense when you see that the UK government is doing less than other nations - I don't think the Netherlands were bothered about the Tory party when making their own decisions on restrictions.

Boosterquery · 01/01/2022 23:01

viruses generally don't mutate to become more deadly- it's not in their best interests to kill their hosts
Not this nonsense again! It's not in the virus's interests to kill the host before the host has had time to pass on the virus to othere. Provided there is a long enough incubation while the host is infectious, but not showing obvious symptoms, whether the virus kills the host is a neutral factor as far as the success of the virus is concerned. Have you not heard of the AIDS virus? HIV infection had almost a 100% fatality rate before treatments were developed. Didn't stop the virus spreading all over the world!

Wizzbangfizz · 01/01/2022 23:01

you don't pay for other tests

Well we don't routinely test for flu or tonsillitis or chicken pox do we? And now we have the vaccines and medicine to treat this version of a coronavirus we don't need to be obsessively testing for this either. It is feeding people anxiety.

HailAdrian · 01/01/2022 23:04

What will the covid-obsessed move on to when they're forced to let go of the pandemic?

HailAdrian · 01/01/2022 23:06

@Boosterquery

viruses generally don't mutate to become more deadly- it's not in their best interests to kill their hosts Not this nonsense again! It's not in the virus's interests to kill the host before the host has had time to pass on the virus to othere. Provided there is a long enough incubation while the host is infectious, but not showing obvious symptoms, whether the virus kills the host is a neutral factor as far as the success of the virus is concerned. Have you not heard of the AIDS virus? HIV infection had almost a 100% fatality rate before treatments were developed. Didn't stop the virus spreading all over the world!
Stuff like this always makes me wonder WHAT is the point of a virus, why does it want to do this? What is its purpose in the world?
ecceromani · 01/01/2022 23:14

Other countries starting to wind down testing.
Some areas of Canada stopping PCR tests for all unless in vulnerable group or hospital staff.
Ireland now advising under 40s not to have pcr unless positive on LFT

rrhuth · 01/01/2022 23:17

@HailAdrian

What will the covid-obsessed move on to when they're forced to let go of the pandemic?
By 'covid-obsessed' do you mean doctors, nurses, paramedics etc? The ones who are calling for measures?

I assume they will be happy to get back to treating everything else and the system not being completly clogged up with covid.

RoyalFamilyFan · 01/01/2022 23:18

Also analysis of pcrs allows labs to pick up new variants. Without that we wont have any idea of there is a new variant until it has already spread widely.

RoyalFamilyFan · 01/01/2022 23:20

@ecceromani

Other countries starting to wind down testing. Some areas of Canada stopping PCR tests for all unless in vulnerable group or hospital staff. Ireland now advising under 40s not to have pcr unless positive on LFT
That is a lie. Canada are stopping PCR tests for some travellers, that is all. Ireland are now just going to do what we have always done. No country is stopping testing.
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