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

@RoyalFamilyFan

Australia has so few cases that tests are really not an issue. In the UK we have sky high cases. This is simply a way of massaging the numbers.

Australia had 116,000 cases yesterday.

amp.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2022/jan/08/australia-news-live-update-tennis-australia-denies-misleading-players-on-vaccination-rules-nsw-covid-restrictions-take-effect-novak-djokovic-craig-tiley-scott-morrison-vaccine-booster-nsw-victoria-coronavirus-case-numbers

This is another way to fuck the hospitality and entertainment industries, though. They are required to ask for proof of negative LFT to go to events, but now there are no LFTs... There is someone, or some group of someones, with a degree of clout, who genuinely wants to wreck these industries (perhaps because they want to buy up all those closed entertainment venues and turn them into yet more nasty student flats, or because they are set to make money from online films etc - and they have bought up the rights to vast amounts of material for small change - and there will be some who genuinely believe that ordinary people shouldn't have leisure time or entertainment, or leave their cages for any purpose other than servicing their betters)...

It's also enormously stupid if the idea is to stop people staying home on full pay (not that very many keyworkers can do that anyway) to the extent that services are disrupted. One of the great things about LFTs is that you can take one if you have a spell of 'sneezles & wheezles' but desperately need to keep going with your life, and find out that you have a bit of a cold and therefore can go to work/a gig/to see your friends and relatives WITHOUT having to fret that you're putting them at risk.

Never had any bother here booking a PCR test. What's the obsession with bloody Australia.

@Tilltheend99

This thread!!!

Wouldn’t it be nice if we lived in a society, one where people cared about each other’s welfare or had basic levels of empathy.

Wouldn't it just?

[quote Thingstodotoday]@chaosrabbitland you talk about the “stupidity of people” but then you ask “why is it necessary for double and triple vaxxed people to constantly test themselves?”
Have you any idea how many double/triple vaxxed people are still testing positive at the moment”?
I can’t cope with the irony 🤦🏽‍♀️.[/quote]
yes and its for a mild varient , not much worse than a cold for most people ,

yes and its for a mild varient , not much worse than a cold for most people ,

For most people, not for everyone. Why shouldn't people want to be cautious around vulnerable people without a pharmacist sneering at them for doing so?

@MissPeregrine

I suppose it will help the numbers to go down….

Exactly

@chaosrabbitland I think you might be in the wrong job, you don’t seem to have much empathy for your customers

I would feel happier if our govt would follow a vaccines-plus action as detailed here www.bmj.com/content/376/bmj.o1

A good Twitter thread here by an epidemiologist on what endemic actually means: twitter.com/epiellie/status/1444088804961304581?s=21

Hopefully this isn't true.

On Monday we were about to visit a friend. She works in a hospital. If we hadn't tested before we left, we genuinely would have had no idea we could have passed on covid but 2 of us had positive lft results so we stayed home.

If my friend had passed it onto other hospital staff, it would have been rubbish for many people including their patients.
It would have impacted on her studies too.
And her children's ability to attend school.

I dont get why that would be phased out.
If someone doesn't want to take part, nobody can make them.
But it's hard to make people pay for things that are for the common good rather than for their own direct benefit.

[quote toomuchlaundry]@chaosrabbitland I think you might be in the wrong job, you don’t seem to have much empathy for your customers[/quote]
not when it comes to lateral flows no , we are just there to dish the blasted things out , not get moaned and complained at for the how many days it takes for them to come in , its very wearying to have to keep answering the same questions over and over again which are
i see the sign up your out of them , but have you got then in yet ?
when are you getting them in again ?
where else can i get them then ?
and finally oh but i ordered them i got a code , because they think its like click and collect , just because they got a code it means we put them aside ,
the bottom line is no we dont know when they are coming in again , could be a few days , could be a week , how on earth are we meant to know who else has them in ,
it really is enough to try the patience of a saint even if you like working with the public

I test before I meet clients for work and before meeting up with people in indoor settings. That seems only sensible. I really don't get the persistent line @chaosrabbitland takes on this.

@slashlover

yes and its for a mild varient , not much worse than a cold for most people ,

For most people, not for everyone. Why shouldn't people want to be cautious around vulnerable people without a pharmacist sneering at them for doing so?

im not a pharmacist , i said i work in a store that has a pharmacy , never said i worked actually in the pharmacy

So @chaosrabbitland, don't you have to test to work in a customer facing role?

@ilovesooty

I test before I meet clients for work and before meeting up with people in indoor settings. That seems only sensible. I really don't get the persistent line *@chaosrabbitland* takes on this.

i said what i thought and iv only replied to posters that quoted me , try reading through the thread and you might see that theres quite a few that are more than happy about it .

and the bottom line is they will be avaliable , people will have to pay if they want them , its hardly a big deal

@ilovesooty

So *@chaosrabbitland*, don't you have to test to work in a customer facing role?

err no , why would we ? got screens up anyway , do you reckon supermarket workers and all retail staff are required to seriously shop work is not exactly working in a hospital i should think its a pretty good bet that most stores in high streets have staff that not only arent required to test , but dont anyway

@MaryAndHerNet

The only reason the government are doing this is to stop the negative headlines now theres 200k new cases a day.

What negative headlines? On reading your post I've just popped over to the Daily Mail's site (as they love a health-related panic more than anyone) and they're reporting cases dropping by 20%, and calling "gloomsters" wrong in predicting 75k Omnicron deaths. The Guardian is likewise talking of a "ray of light".

All seems pretty positive to me. Plus all of the papers are reporting that a member of the vaccine taskforce is saying that it is time to move on.

For those of you moaning about how difficult it is to get hold of tests, don't you see that they'll be easier to get hold of once the start charging for them?

It worries me a little bit for personal reasons - my friend tests before he comes to see me and if he isn't able to do that...

@chaosrabbitland, I have read through the thread, as I'm in the habit of doing. I'm fully aware that others have welcomed this development, so there is no need to be rude. I've also noticed that you were particularly welcoming of it and have commented before giving your opinion on testing.

We don't agree so perhaps we should leave it there in the interests of civility.

Great I will have to self isolate rather than lateral flow test before seeing my friend undergoing cancer treatment. She will have less visitors as well as many wont be prepared to do this.

That's sad but true.

It maybe a good thing for the majority/environment but for my CEV husband and I it will mean our layer of protection (from a negative test) before inviting people into our home will be gone. And therefore to protect him, it will mean a return to partial shielding again.

if people that dont need them for work are still that desperate to get them , then im sure they will be happy to pay

@chaosrabbitland

Ah yes, workers are once again above all else.
Can't you even imagine, that some of those more likely to test because of vulnerability are the ones who might be least likely to have the money for tests, due to unemployment for health reasons.

Or we can just kill them off, wastes of space.
"Plan B - who do we not save"

I'm pregnant and currently my husband & I are only able to attend our hospital for scans etc if we have evidence of negative LFTs. How are we supposed to do that if tests are phased out? Hospitals etc will have to change their entry criteria surely?

Well, I'll have to kiss goodbye to seeing my mother, my dad, my ECV friends - unless I can get hold of some LFTs and pay for them. There are some seriously selfish feckers on here. hmm Because it hasn't had a direct effect on you and yours, you're happy to ditch the last bloody defence most of us have at our disposal where we can continue to live life but with some caution? FFS this is a pandemic, they do not last forever. It's on its way out but we still need to be careful. The patience and entitlement of some people in this country is on a par with preschool level.

Thank you GlomofNitI for explaining so well how what it is like to be ECV, or friends or family of them. And how scary it will be for us without the reassurance of having a negative test before any meeting. Without the ability to test it will be far riskier for us to see our children and grandchildren. It sometimes seems as the rest of the world are celebrating a step forward towards more freedom, for those of us who are vulnerable it means a step back to protect ourselves. I realised that some time ago when government decided to forget us, it would only be a matter of time before the public (not all of course) did too.