Do normal people not bother testing now?

There are lots of other nasty bugs around. I am just about fully recovered from what the doctor diagnosed as a severe bacterial infection. The kind that can turn into sepsis.

I was ill for six weeks from start to finish, including a couple of days in hospital and I am now building my stamina up again. Six weeks unable to do much other than lie around and feel sorry for myself is really bad for fitness and exercise routines and I reckon it will be another month before those is back to normal. In my late 70s, it really is use it or lose it.

In fact during the COVID saga, both DH and DD were critically ill for months and came close to death, but none of us have had COVID

We are still testing about once a week and generally before we are in close contact with anyone. We tested before we went to the dentist, I test before I go for massage and beauty treatments and we are still asked to test before we go to our choir session. We haven’t had COVID and I’m happy to keep testing to protect myself and others. My choir leader who is in his early 30s had covid in the year and it has left him with a limited vocal range and another friend who had it recently had more than a month with no voice and is still struggling with her voice. It def hasn’t gone a way.

When we test it’s to protect others, not ourselves, because we test to find out if we’re positive or not. We cannot necessarily stop ourselves from getting Covid despite all the precautions we may take, but we can stop ourselves from passing Covid on if we’re unfortunate enough to get it. So testing an altruistic action, designed to protect others. That’s why we should do it, and that’s why it’s selfish to refuse.