So happy tests are to be axed

[Wizzbangfizz]

So according to reports they are going to stop handing out LFT and will be stopping mass testing - this is excellent news for both the tax payer and the environment and surely marks a clear path this whole thing becoming endemic

The article states 'in a few weeks' and they will still be available for places like care homes, schools .

At the moment I think they are really important in facilitating those who want to live life normally to be able to do so without passing the virus on to more vulnerable family members .

As a family we have been testing regularly over the Christmas period and this has enabled DS and his friends to visit bars and nightclubs, as a family to go out for a couple of nice meals and me to visit my mum in her care home . Lots of money to the economy but when DS caught the virus it was able to be contained and not spread to those who may have become far more unwell than he did .

I don't expect us to continue testing like this for ever though. When numbers were lower last summer I would have tested only before visiting mum - and would expect to go back to this again when current numbers go back down.

I do think that the tests are overused though - with some people reporting testing several times a day .

Covid has a death rate of average 1.61%

I'm pretty sure that figure would apply to the epidemic as a whole, not to a triple vaxxed population where omicron is dominant.

@TheSunIsStillShining assuming you are posting from the UK no vaccines are mandatory in the UK. Of note, mortality % from measles is much higher than Covid, markedly so with children. So not a good comparison tbh.

sorry for the many spelling mistakes

@TheSunIsStillShining
I don’t think covid has ever been thought to have an IFR of 1.61%. It was initially thought to be 0.5-1%. Vaccines lower that by around 90%, possibly more. So you are looking at an IFR of 0.1-0.2% post vaccination. For triple vaxed people IFR is likely similar to flu. Covid is more infectious though.

You can’t make a meaningful comparison between IFR for flu which we vaccinate against and covid before we had a vaccine now a vaccine is available.

and yet now the goverment has said the tests soon will not be free , but you can still pay to buy a pack ,this fucking bleating starts up about how hard done by the vulnerable and elderly are , even though they can still have the tests and pay what will probably a minimal sum for them

Ah, so it's not that you're annoyed because people are asking, you're annoyed because you don't think they should be handed out at all. Is that because you don't follow the recommendation to test twice per week anyway? How are we supposed to "use them carefully" when I have to test once per day as I'm considered a close contact?

Surely death rate isn't the full issue? Everyone's thinking 'oh it's fine, it's omicron'. How about when somebody goes for some form of a checkup in the future and they realise their heart or lungs were effected?

[quote rambleonplease]@TheSunIsStillShining assuming you are posting from the UK no vaccines are mandatory in the UK. Of note, mortality % from measles is much higher than Covid, markedly so with children. So not a good comparison tbh. [/quote]
Thanks for the clarification. Posting from UK, but not British. Eastern Europe has a mandatory range of vaccines for going into a community (nursery, kindergarden and then school). Unvaccinated kids cannot attend these settings as they are a public health hazard.
I thought these were mandatory here too.

Measles (according to wikipedia) CFR in developing countries is ~[1–3]% , so not that different.

Don't look up..!🤦‍♀️

@onanotherday

Don't look up..!🤦‍♀️

Yes quite!

@rambleonpleasei assume they were referring to vaccines for hospital staff, some of which are mandatory in the U.K.

We don't test for flu every day do we? There has to come a point where this testing needs to be scaled down. I know people that have got so paranoid they are requesting daily pcr tests and their children are now neurotic!

Anyone else remember the Ads a couple of years ago ;- 'coming down with flu symptoms? Take tablet and you can go about your day! Go on the bus, to work, into the supermarket on the way home, to a party that night...' NO ONE cared about transmission, or the vulnerable, or CV, or ECV, then.

I know Covid is not Flu, but flu is a killer. So is Noro. So is measles. So is a common cold if you are that vulnerable. These are not tested for, and never have been.

Covid might kill you. So might a car journey. So might falling down the stairs. I swear, people think that so long as they are Vaccinated and boosted, they will live for ever.

My NDN told me, at the start of all l this, that he was 'shielding' as he was 'vulnerable'. I raised an eyebrow and he said - yes, I'm overweight, and a smoker.

Guess what? 2 years later, he's still overweight, and still a smoker.
It makes a mockery of CV and ECV. The Gov could do worse than start getting people to take responsibility for their own health - lose weight, stop smoking, take vitamins D and K2, Vit C daily. Get fresh air and exercise daily. Eat properly.

Your body needs a Healthy Immune System just as much (if not more so) as a vaccination.

Covid has a death rate of average 1.61%, but depends on a lot of factors (more than in case of flu

No it doesn't.

@slashlover

and yet now the goverment has said the tests soon will not be free , but you can still pay to buy a pack ,this fucking bleating starts up about how hard done by the vulnerable and elderly are , even though they can still have the tests and pay what will probably a minimal sum for them

Ah, so it's not that you're annoyed because people are asking, you're annoyed because you don't think they should be handed out at all. Is that because you don't follow the recommendation to test twice per week anyway? How are we supposed to "use them carefully" when I have to test once per day as I'm considered a close contact?

its neither here nor there really if i believe they should be handed out at all , they are soon not going to be handed out for free , and i dont see what the issue is with that if you need them then they will be avaliable still to buy its that simple , the only problem seems to be people dont want to put their hands in their pockets as they think the goverment should be endlessly giving them out for nothing , despite the fact omicron is proving to be a mild varient , if you need them frequently you will have to pay like people in other countries do that charge for them

and no i dont test , and i never ever have , even my elderly 84 triple vaxxed mother has never tested , when i think i actually am ill with the virus i will do one then , until then im not shoving swabs down my throat and up my nose obssesively every day when i feel perfectly fine . and whats more i know many many other people who dont test either suprise surprise . we arent all covid obssesives

Well, I’m glad for the ocean that’s for sure.

We are one of the only countries handing these out like sweets for free. We are obsessed with testing. & what good is it doing? 200,000 cases a day. Hardly helping is it. What is helping is vaccines & anti-viral drugs which look incredibly promising in trails & in real life for those that have been approved.

Life has to move forwards. Omicron is mild thankfully. It doesn’t seem to be going to the lungs very easily so long term damage will be rare. Vaccines & drugs work. Proper long covid affects a tiny percentage of people in reality. Not those moaning on about feeling tired & headachey for a few weeks afterwards. Mumsnet has a massively disproportionate number of these people as people look for help & support online. Meanwhile 98% of the population are feeling fine post covid. A study out this week showed long covid in children is far less than previously reported.

I think there’s lots to be hopeful about & to move forwards with now.

@Xenia

it is what I have wanted since March 2020 - living with it. 600,000 die a year in the UK and a good few of those are old people who catch flu - what my doctor father used to call the Old person's friend (because it is quite a nice way to go and we all have to die of something). I wanted us to live with Covid from March 2020. I accept most people do not agree but we are now where I wanted us to be 2 years ago and I am not very happy to be paying much higher taxes (as most people in the UK will have to do) for something that I did not support in the first place. We have damaged the young for the sake of the old and sick and I am not sure that was in the greater good.

And you get to chose, why?

@CaptainMyCaptain

Anyway, Nadim Zahawi said this morning that LFTs will remain free.

And you believed him.

Flu doesn’t appear to have such a high death rate at Covid - because we’ve never tested as diligently for flu as we do for Covid. We’ve just become so programmed to test and reporting Covid. I think people severely underestimate what a killer influenza is to the old or vulnerable. Most elderly people die of something, not just old age - and it’s often just recorded as a lower respiratory tract infection - plus more fatalities are recorded in winter so I strongly suspect there are far more flu deaths than ever acknowledged as it’s not a notifiable disease.

I’ve had flu twice when I’ve been fit and healthy and it was genuinely awful. We’re not talking about a heavy cold, this was full on delirium, weakness and terrible joint pain. It took me several weeks to regain full stamina again. Also bear in mind that the advice in the past has been not to go to the doctors as they can’t do anything and you risk passing. It on to others soon doubt, millions of cases slipped ‘under the wire’

@TheKeatingFive

Covid has a death rate of average 1.61%

I'm pretty sure that figure would apply to the epidemic as a whole, not to a triple vaxxed population where omicron is dominant.

Indeed, and with the new anti-virals that target the most vulnerable, the figure should fall further. To quote from a recent BBC article:

"Interim data from clinical trials in 1,219 vulnerable patients who caught the virus found that 0.8% of those given Paxlovid were later hospitalised, compared with 7% of patients who were given a placebo or dummy pill."

That's an enormous improvement... So from a fatality rate for a unvaccinated population of 0.5-1% back in March 2020 (vulnerable and not vulnerable) to 0.8% of vulnerable people being hospitalised...

I don't think those testing before going to see elderly or vulnerable people, or before close interaction with people in closed indoor settings can fairly be described as "covid obsessives". It's just socially responsible behaviour.

I think on a number of threads @Xenia you have been quite ambivalent about people dying from COVID, even when asked how you would feel if one of your children were unlucky enough to die from it.

My hairdresser tests daily which I think is sensible. In any case, she also sees her elderly father daily and lives with someone who is in remission from cancer.

I think it makes sense. 6.4% of the staff where I work are currently isolating due to positive tests. Not one of them has reported being ill - they all have extremely mild cold symptoms. The impact on the service has been huge.

I agree with this. We're all triple vaccinated and omicron is intrinsically milder. The vast majority of the population will not be too ill to work.

We need to look at ALL costs and ALL benefits of any measures. And perhaps the time has come to stop testing everyone constantly?

its neither here nor there really if i believe they should be handed out at all , they are soon not going to be handed out for free , and i dont see what the issue is with that
if you need them then they will be avaliable still to buy its that simple , the only problem seems to be people dont want to put their hands in their pockets as they think the goverment should be endlessly giving them out for nothing , despite the fact omicron is proving to be a mild varient , if you need them frequently you will have to pay like people in other countries do that charge for them

You are aware that some people cannot afford to eat or heat their home? People therefore won't test and spread it around. Do you know how much PIP is? Still, as long as you're ok.

and no i dont test , and i never ever have , even my elderly 84 triple vaxxed mother has never tested , when i think i actually am ill with the virus i will do one then , until then im not shoving swabs down my throat and up my nose obssesively every day when i feel perfectly fine . and whats more i know many many other people who dont test either suprise surprise . we arent all covid obssesives

Do you understand what asymptomatic means? Am I a covid obsessive because I take a test twice a week which takes less than 5 minutes?