Regular saliva covid tests at school

[SNutkin]

aw this petition online looks good. If we can test kids and staff weekly with a saliva test that would help keep it safer and maybe stop school being disrupted. The tests are approved in America and have been used successfully here too in long trials. Some private schools and universities are using now. I think it’s a good idea petition.parliament.uk/petitions/550053

Good in theory and I think it is the way things are going but a couple of issues. Firstly I don't think that the saliva tests are that accurate yet (though they will be soon) and there will be massive supply chain issues with rolling out enough tests. Quite rightly I think the priority needs to be getting them in hospitals and care homes before schools/workplaces.

Also, the cost is massive! DS had to have a one off saliva test before he returned to school (private), and it cost us £100. If the cost doesn't reduce drastically, where's the money going to come from?

@taradiddle, for that cost you could have had a proper blood test done!

Saliva tests currently mostly throw plenty of false positives and false negatives. But hey this is Boris's moonshot project after all. Let's see if he finds a saliva test that is good enough