World-beating test and trace system!

On our local radio station today we were told that our local testing station was underused yet people have been sent from here (East Anglia) to as far away as Wales! Madness.

Helenlouise3

The amount of travelling involved for some people is ridiculous. However, there are far too many people looking for tests when they're not really needed. Working in a school, I've seen how many children have been sent for tests when there really is no need. A runny nose or sickness is not a reason to need a test. Most parents surely know how their child reacts to a common cold, so unless they are completely different, it's just a waste of time. Two of my grandchildren always have a touch of croup when the weather starts to change as it did last week. They had a couple of days with a cough, which is normal for them, so testing wasn't needed.

As you work in a school, you must know that parental judgement and skills are sometimes sadly lacking. Some parents keep their children off school for the slightest sniffle, but there others who send their children with quite severe symptoms when they are infectious. I'm never sure whether think it will toughen them up or whether it's more convenient to send sick children to school.

Barmyoldbat my DS was tested at his local surgery. He was sure it would be difficult to get a test organised and was pleasantly surprised to be allocated a test at his own local surgery. It's not all bad out there!

I understand that the story about people shortage in labs is false news. Again the government has to blame someone else i for the abject failure of the Serco test and Trace. Honesty is desperately lacking in everything they say.
I don't think I have heard so many of my friends say how despondent they feel at this present time , absolutely fed up with an apology for a government.

And where is Dido Harding, the minister responsible for organising our “world beating” test track and trace system? Disappeared!!! How could she be tasked with organising this given her disasterous history at TalkTalk? One could predict it would be a catastrophe.
Show your face Dame Dido!!!!

This is due to the fact most cases are the younger generation well at the moment anyway!

Shambles from an incompetent government who give jobs to their friends. Can't understand why we don't have the Dr's surgeries as testing centres, you then put in the extra staff at these points and you go to your local surgery for testing.

DS said the test wasn't very pleasant involving a cotton bud stuck far enough up to 'tickle his brain' as he put it. It must be horrible for small children to have that.

This might help when trying to book a test on line. Apparently the appointments get loaded on at 8pm for tomorrow morning slots and 10am for the same day afternoon slots. You have to keep refreshing your browser as the appointments come up.

Helenlouise, I agree that with the on-set of the winter colds and coughs season, there are many,normal conditions, which have symptoms like cough, sore throat, even loss of smell.

However, schools are so scared of actually missing a real case, that they are just insisting on anyone pupil or staff, who have any of these conditions get tested.

My daughter was 99% that her cough & sore throat, was just that, but she was not permitted to return to work until she got a negative test - which she now has.

As winter progresses, this is going to happen time and time again. Every school needs to have testing facilities for their staff and pupils if they have any real hope of staying open and providing proper education.

The amount of travelling involved for some people is ridiculous. However, there are far too many people looking for tests when they're not really needed. Working in a school, I've seen how many children have been sent for tests when there really is no need. A runny nose or sickness is not a reason to need a test. Most parents surely know how their child reacts to a common cold, so unless they are completely different, it's just a waste of time. Two of my grandchildren always have a touch of croup when the weather starts to change as it did last week. They had a couple of days with a cough, which is normal for them, so testing wasn't needed.

There is a testing centre at the bottom of the road in which my daughter lives. Nearly always empty. However, when her school said she needed a negative test in order to be permitted to return to school (She had a cough and sore throat), it took her and her husband (they took turns to stay one line) nearly thirty hours to get a test - not there close by, but requiring an hours drive.
She did ask in there, but was told they were not permitted to test anyone who did not have an appointment, even though for most of the time they were standing around doing nothing.
NO postal tests were available at all.
As has been said, it it not the most pleasant of tests, and definitely not something that people wold wish to have if they have no symptoms and have not been in contact with anyone who has had it.
Is the comment about them 'beking abused, because they are free' preparing us to be charged for these?

My DS just phoned. His restaurant is now closed after a customer was found to have the virus. They were informed. DS and staff advised to be tested. He applied for a test, was sent to his local surgery for it and says he'll be texted in the next 48 hours with the result. He was quite happy with the efficiency of it all. Just have to wait for result.
Meanwhile restaurant closed until staff tested. If any found infected it'll be shut for 14 days. Not good news for cash flow or jobs ?

There was a young guy interviewed on BBC Breakfast this morning who had just returned from a holiday in Spain. He thought he ought to get tested. He was asked if he had any symptoms and he said no. He was asked if he thought he should therefore have a test when he didn't qualify for one, and he said Why not?

Where is Dido Harding in all this complete shambles.?
In spite of Johnson calling it NHS test and trace it was given to Serco under her management. Surely she should be resigning after such a complete mess.

I've had two covid tests whilst in hospital and they are not pleasant. I can't imagine anyone putting their whole family through it out of curiosity.
Matt Hancock is blaming the public again. Dido Harding is running this Serco shambles and she is chums with Boris. NOT appointed for her expertise her record is also a shambles, just look at Talk Talk when she was CEO. Her hubby is an mp who advocates for the privatisation of the NHS. Join the dots.

nipsmum we do have similar problems in Scotland unfortunately. No home tests available.
Sadly I know of a household in England who ordered home testing kits 'just in case '!!
It made me very angry.
The whole debacle is a joke in very poor taste.
The government will definitely have known more testing kits were required and should not be wasting them on random sampling and questionnaires!

Not daft at all chicken but vital fact finding to determine how much asymptomatic Covid is circulating.

Is there no way of removing this totally incompetent shower. They have ignored all the obvious signs and driven us into this test and trace chaos. We are the laughing stock of the world. God help us.

My sister lives in what the 'Rule Britannia Brigade' would firmly regard as a third world country. She is horrified at the situation here and is begging me to seriously consider emigrating to join her where the health facilities are not necessariy "world beating" but simply effective and available to all.

Being a laughing stock is one thing but being put at risk of the effects of a serious infectious disease is something that can be managed by a better government. To think that those clowns are in power as a result of a democratic vote!

I can completely understand the difficulties and chaos at the start of the pandemic, but 6 months in, I really don’t understand why they haven’t increased laboratory capacity, if that is the ‘pinch point’.

They always warned of higher cases in the winter - did no-one expect that to need more tests? Never mind it being rather obvious that once people started mixing more at work, school, Uni etc there would be higher demand.

It might be an unprecedented event, but needing an increasingly large test capability is hardly unexpected.

Not only that, but you get blamed if you're negative for not needing a test, despite being told just two weeks ago to get a test if you're worried and have just one symptom.

Obviously 4allweknow knows an exception, but I honestly don't believe there are many people who want to drive miles to have swabs stuck up their nose and down their throat for fun.

Well....
We all quite rightly lambasted Dominic Cummings for driving a long distance when apparently his family had symptoms, and now we are being told to travel even greater distances with possibly a sick child( who would very probably need a toilet stop) You couldn’t make it up!!!!!!!

Caramac

I agree with Nannapat, there will be a lot of anxiety and missed school/work over non-Covid illnesses as the year progresses.
Also, I understand that at least one university lab has offered to process Covid tests but no one in authority has engaged with them. I wonder what excuse the government have for that? Oh! I know, it’s not a private company run by a relative or mate at a huge profit.

NHS labs also have spare capacity, but Serco (who are doing most of the tests) prefer to use Lighthouse Labs.

4allweknow

I know of people who have requested a test just out of curiosity. Whole families with none have temp, cough or change in taste/smell. There are people abusing the system. Very difficult to gauge if children have symptoms or another type of virus/bug especially with schools back and the usual coughs and colds no doubt around. Don't be naive, there is abuse going on when there is no charge.

Did they actually tell you that they had a test out of curiosity? Did their test involve a long drive? To Barnard Castle, by any chance?