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Original poster

To be desperate for government to start charging for LFTs

293 replies

CautiousOptimist11 · 21/01/2022 07:32

I'm not sure I can take it any more. The absolute dependency on these tests, the fact that a positive or negative means that all critical thought and common sense fly out the window. Even as the omicron cases get milder, people are still clinging onto these tests and cite their results as a means of explaining their behaviour. A positive test is a dramatic thing to be waved around like you have the plague. A negative absolves you of keeping away from the vulnerable even if circumstances suggest you'd be better off doing so. It's like a religious cult of people who do not understand science medicine or statistics, but believe they have all the knowledge. Dangerous. Just get on with it now people, please. Get on with your lives.

Not even going to get into the hideous, hideous amount of plastic waste created in all of this ....

So, let's start charging and see whether the LFT dependents still shove a stick up their noses at every opportunity

OP posts:
worriedatthemoment · 21/01/2022 22:19

@Wizzbangfizz my ds tested positive with no symptoms at all so he would never of stayed home if he followed that advice as he was well
My other ds just tested positive today ( 3 months after 1st ds so not related) his only symptom is a headache so far , so should he of stayed home too with a headache

Aimeehedge · 21/01/2022 22:22

You’re being unreasonable to call other people dramatic whilst posting this hyperbolic nonsense. Wink

Biscuit
Wizzbangfizz · 21/01/2022 22:48

Non neither of them should have stayed at home with no symptoms 🤷‍♀️ even if they have it.

Blubells · 21/01/2022 22:51

At least if I have a cold, noro or anything else I know and stay away. The problem with covid is you can be completely asymptomatic but infectious.

Not true: Published studies have reported that around 30% of norovirus infection remains asymptomatic,7 while such asymptomatically infected individuals are known to excrete substantial volume of viruses.

Blubells · 21/01/2022 22:55

At least if I have a cold, noro or anything else I know and stay away. The problem with covid is you can be completely asymptomatic but infectious.

Also not try for a cold: The common cold virus may be more common than previously thought in university students not reporting any symptoms. Rhinovirus, the virus responsible for the common cold was found at some point during an 8-week study period in an estimated 60% of university students that were asymptomatic.

Curiousmouse · 21/01/2022 23:02

OP your post is ridiculous and intended to be inflammatory.

Covidworries · 21/01/2022 23:11

While were at it we should stop lookingnfor cancer, its endemic and some will die even if the cancer is found. Some will live if the cancer is slow going we just need to accept that cancer is here to stay.
No one lives forever. Hardly any children get cancer andthose who get ill would have done anyway.
If we dont look for cancer there isnt cancer. We only find so many cases because we look for it.
If hospitals arent treating cancer pateints they wont get so busy.

Sounds awful right?

CallMeNutribullet · 21/01/2022 23:24

Op is the most qualified person to talk about this. So qualified it would take too long to list her credentials.

She has the best credentials.

MargaretThursday · 22/01/2022 00:04

@CallMeNutribullet

Op is the most qualified person to talk about this. So qualified it would take too long to list her credentials.

She has the best credentials.

I didn't know Trump was on Mumsnet.
BluebellsGreenbells · 22/01/2022 00:10

If the government follows the path of stopping isolation, and I believe very few are actually isolating property if at all, then there won’t be much difference to case numbers. PCRs will stop for all apart from required travel or hospital testing. LFT appear to be some sort of security blanket.

We already have a lot of parents who can’t afford not to go to work not testing their children and sending them into school.

Where we are there has been no requirement to social distance or wear masks for months. LFT only since before Christmas, no PCR unless you pay to travel or hospital tests.
Isolation only for those infected, there is no isolation for close contact regardless of vaccination status. Large gathering, parties, nightclubs, music venues are all open and haven’t closed for months other than those rife with staff isolating and no one to open up.

I have Covid October - DD had it in December no one else in the family has had it, despite no real precautions and all of us going to work - shops, school, public transport etc. neither of us was ill. Case numbers are steady very few in hospital no one in ICU.

I think it’s clearly over and people need to let go of the tests and live normally.

SmashingBIouse · 22/01/2022 07:19

I think it’s clearly over and people need to let go of the tests and live normally

For a sizeable chunk of people tests are absolutely key to living normally though

nether · 22/01/2022 07:33

@SmashingBIouse

I think it’s clearly over and people need to let go of the tests and live normally

For a sizeable chunk of people tests are absolutely key to living normally though

Exactly.

And between 1-in-2 and 1-is-3 of us will get cancer at some point, plus there's the incidence of other CEV conditions, so it's in self-interest to think about what life is like for the exceptionally vulnerable (many of whom have full and normal life when there is not high incidence of infectious disease)

Stuffin · 22/01/2022 07:36

If you are CEV then moving to a paid for prescription model should allow those to obtain tests.

For the rest of us I do think we need to pay. And before anyone says but what about those that can't afford it then again a prescription type model would help.

nether · 22/01/2022 07:46

@Stuffin

If you are CEV then moving to a paid for prescription model should allow those to obtain tests.

For the rest of us I do think we need to pay. And before anyone says but what about those that can't afford it then again a prescription type model would help.

It's not the CEV person who needs the tests, it's the people around them. So perhaps the model needs to be that they can order them to be sent to other people in time for them to test before they meet.

Care staff and NHS staff in certain roles would need to continue regular testing as contact with highly vulnerable people is a daily part of the role

LemonViolet · 22/01/2022 08:04

A and I think all of these prescription eligibility models sound complex to administer, so probably more expensive overall than just having the tests free on request.

LemonViolet · 22/01/2022 08:26

Sorry don’t know who A and I is! Just I think!

Watapalava · 22/01/2022 10:26

CEV people have had 3/4 vaccines!!!! They are not bloody vulnerable anymore why can’t people get that!

Covidworries · 22/01/2022 10:29

@watapalava

CEV under 12 havent been vaccinated yet. what aren't people getting that!

Tigerstigers · 22/01/2022 10:33

I don't like using LFTs but in the last week alone we've got through three boxes as an outbreak at the school means we are having to test the children each morning before they go in. I also don't have the option of working from home, and my job requires me to test before each shift. Again, not my choice, but to keep my children in school, and be able to do my job, we are getting through boxes and boxes of them. I hate it, but until the rules change, alot of people have no other option.

Tigerstigers · 22/01/2022 10:34

And you want me to pay what amount exactly, to be allowed to go to work and send my children to school? Ridiculous

BluebellsGreenbells · 22/01/2022 10:38

Your work require tests - they should pay for them.

If government want school children tested they should pay for them.

DD has to test prior to work everyday - it’s not health care - there’s no guidelines to say she needs too, but her boss insists she does - they’ve all have Covid.

SmashingBIouse · 22/01/2022 10:55

@Watapalava

CEV people have had 3/4 vaccines!!!! They are not bloody vulnerable anymore why can’t people get that!
CEV immunosuppressed people have had 3/4 vaccines but because they're immunosuppressed they don't achieve a good immune response so are still incredibly vulnerable.

Why can't people get that!

SmashingBIouse · 22/01/2022 10:57

And no, I'm not suggesting for a second restrictions need to stay in place because fuck that.

I'm saying that for the sake of CEV people testing needs to remain free and easily accessible to all who require it. It's a small price to pay for everyone to return to normality.

BluebellsGreenbells · 22/01/2022 11:10

I'm saying that for the sake of CEV people testing needs to remain free and easily accessible to all who require it. It's a small price to pay for everyone to return to normality

Ok let’s say CEV person is at work and I test positive - I’m allowed to work - does that mean CEV person needs to isolate? Or would it be too late?
Does it mean all colleague testing daily to keep that person safe at work? What about customers coming into the building? Does the CEV person not shop or go for meals out?

Not ever CEV person is at home or I’ll in hospital.

SmashingBIouse · 22/01/2022 11:18

@BluebellsGreenbells

I'm saying that for the sake of CEV people testing needs to remain free and easily accessible to all who require it. It's a small price to pay for everyone to return to normality

Ok let’s say CEV person is at work and I test positive - I’m allowed to work - does that mean CEV person needs to isolate? Or would it be too late?
Does it mean all colleague testing daily to keep that person safe at work? What about customers coming into the building? Does the CEV person not shop or go for meals out?

Not ever CEV person is at home or I’ll in hospital.

If you've tested positive before you go to work then at the moment at least you would be isolating. Ideally yes, close colleagues would test regularly but of course I can understand why they might not wish to.

I test daily so I know if I've got covid and can start antivirals immediately if I do. I also have to be as sure as I can that I don't have it before I take my medication. Testing also means I can meet with people knowing they won't pass it on to me.

Of course CEV people go out for meals/shopping. Currently the majority of people who test positive are isolating, which won't happen if LFTs aren't free, so there's that bit of reassurance.

But the main issue is keeping track of my own infection status.