covid - shoud I get tested?

[Lee T]

I think you're being a bit harsh. I feel the OP is only seeking some reassurance but I agree they should know what to do.

After 6 months everyone should be fully versed in how to react to symptoms of Covid. Especially someone in a position of power. Sometimes harsh is needed as the op should not be on a social media site asking such questions IMO, albeit one of such high standards as pfm holds.

 

[Woodface]

10 kits per school? is this serious?

While Germany still suffers from the good prevention syndrome one can at least understand the lack of their experience with the disaster in the same way - while we in Britain are about to demonstrate that we’ve learned absolutely nothing - I have conservative views but this does not blind me to realise that what’s about to happen is a second crime against the nation in the same year.

I think they are for the staff rather than the kids, obviously they can get more.

I think we have leaned lots, the Govt probably less so. I think most developed nations have developed more effective forms of treatment over the year.

 

[Seanm]

Schools actually have a number of testing kits, not many though. Probably around 10 per school.

Kids really need to be in school, until there is a vaccine we will have some spikes in infection. There are lots of other factors which will do more harm than CV & these have been discussed at length.

I don’t really find the current advice confusing, some of it can be views as contradictory but it is just about limiting movement & contact. The only way to end contradiction is to either go full lock down or full liberty; neither is an attractive option.

Nonsense.

 

[Bob McC]

I think they are for the staff rather than the kids, obviously they can get more.

I think we have leaned lots, the Govt probably less so. I think most developed nations have developed more effective forms of treatment over the year.

They can’t get more according to today’s Times report on the utter chaos that is testing.

 

[mandryka]

Nonsense.

Now now, calm down!

Schools actually have a number of testing kits, not many though. Probably around 10 per school.

This isn't nonsense, it may not be true, I haven't explored it. But it isn't nonsense.

Kids really need to be in school, until there is a vaccine we will have some spikes in infection.

This isn't nonsense either

There are lots of other factors which will do more harm than CV & these have been discussed at length.

More harm to the kids, you're probably right about that, at least younger ones. More harm to the wider community is more debatable. You may well be right, I don't know. It's certainly not nonsense..

I don’t really find the current advice confusing, some of it can be views as contradictory but it is just about limiting movement & contact. The only way to end contradiction is to either go full lock down or full liberty; neither is an attractive option.

I don't know about contradictory -- that would make it nonsense! But there are probably grey areas and places where there's room for judgement and discretion. I think you're probably right to suggest that this is unavoidable at least without taking one of your two extreme positions, but I haven't maybe thought about it very hard. See what others say.

 

[mandryka]

I think they are for the staff rather than the kids, obviously they can get more.

.

It looks to me, though I can't be sure, that testing still needs to be rationed. So they may be able to get more, they may not. I suspect it depends on where they are, whether they're in an area which looks worrying.

 

[Woodface]

Now now, calm down!



This isn't nonsense, it may not be true, I haven't explored it. But it isn't nonsense.



This isn't nonsense either



More harm to the kids, you're probably right about that, at least younger ones. More harm to the wider community is more debatable. You may well be right, I don't know. It's certainly not nonsense..



I don't know about contradictory -- that would make it nonsense! But there are probably grey areas and places where there's room for judgement and discretion. I think you're probably right to suggest that this is unavoidable at least without taking one of your two extreme positions, but I haven't maybe thought about it very hard. See what others say.

The number of testing kits per school is probably related to how many staff they have. I can only comment on a sample size of one but it isn’t nonsense, it is an actual fact.

Contradictory is probably the wrong word but, for example, some would have preferred gyms to open before pubs.

As I’ve stated many times, it is a balance of risk & it is in some ways up to the individual how much risk they are prepared to take. I feel for people with less choice who, say, work in a factory.

I recently had hip surgery, this has a 0.3% risk of death. CV-19 is not massively higher than this, certainly less than 1% for most groups.

I honestly don’t think it is possible to make schools 100% safe but nothing we do is without risk.

 

[Woodface]

It looks to me, though I can't be sure, that testing still needs to be rationed. So they may be able to get more, they may not. I suspect it depends on where they are, whether they're in an area which looks worrying.

I don’t think there is a massive problem where we live, I know a few people who have been tested & it didn’t require a drive outside the locality.

 

[mandryka]

I recently had hip surgery, this has a 0.3% risk of death. CV-19 is not massively higher than this, certainly less than 1% for most groups.

My crystal ball tells me that, if moonshot fails, we'll move to a position where people will be informed about their risks and advised about how to proceed PDQ. In other words, one level of de facto lockdown for vulnerable groups, more freedom for others.

 

[mandryka]

I honestly don’t think it is possible to make schools 100% safe but nothing we do is without risk.

Sure, but given that we know that adults bring COVID into schools, it would be a good thing to test all adult staff very often. But it just may not be feasible with swab tests, we may not have the capacity to process enough of them quickly, and maybe we never will.

 

[mansr]

Schools, work and the means of getting to such places should be the last things to shut.

Meeting up with friends in town for brunch is a relative luxury compared with education and making a living.

What about those who make their living serving brunch?

 

[Monitor Gold 10]

What about those who make their living serving brunch?

Good point; also; my mental wellbeing took a massive hit during Lockdown; all work and no play; so to speak.

Much longer hours. And upon finishing work, often nothing on the shelves. And despite suddenly being called a "Key Worker" I wasn't "Key" enough to be able to get to the front of a queue on a break to grab food for my break.

Not helped by Dominic Cummings decision to break the rules and then get away with it.

The whole thing is utterly shitty.

 

[Arkless Electronics]

With the reactionary holier than thou conservative with small c types on here you'll be typhoid Mary herself if you admit to having sneezed once and then gone shopping!

 

[Monitor Gold 10]

With the reactionary holier than thou conservative with small c types on here you'll be typhoid Mary herself if you admit to having sneezed once and then gone shopping!

I chose to distance myself from an acquaintance who appeared to suggest I might be a modern day Typhoid Mary:

"Do you get tested?...oh...you don't... I'd better keep my distance and wear a mask... You might have it... I don't want to spend an extra £200 getting tested before taking a 'plane to Hungary"

We were on our way to meet outside and have a Socially Distanced chat...

Hmmm.

 

[gavreid]

10 kits per school? is this serious?

While Germany still suffers from the good prevention syndrome one can at least understand the lack of their experience with the disaster in the same way - while we in Britain are about to demonstrate that we’ve learned absolutely nothing - I have conservative views but this does not blind me to realise that what’s about to happen is a second crime against the nation in the same year.

Yes, 10 or 12 is the figure that I heard before term started. I've not heard any suggestion since that there's been a second round of deliveries. It's a mess EPear

 

[gavreid]

Sure, but given that we know that adults bring COVID into schools,...

Do they sneak it in in their pockets? Far more likely that kids caught it on holiday and are now passing it on to other kids and to adults in the school environment just by weight of numbers

 

[mandryka]

Do they sneak it in in their pockets? Far more likely that kids caught it on holiday and are now passing it on to other kids and to adults in the school environment just by weight of numbers

Yes that must be a bit of a worry in universities and 6th form colleges especially.

 

[Sue Pertwee-Tyr]

Yes that must be a bit of a worry in universities and 6th form colleges especially.

ISTR that glandular fever is not uncommon in first year undergraduates, because it is easily transmitted by the things that first year undergraduates do with each other. I fear that Covid will similarly take advantage of these opportunities.

 

[gintonic]

ISTR that glandular fever is not uncommon in first year undergraduates

I can only speak for my employer, but I would expect most HEIs to be the same, and outbreaks of glandular fever are reasonably rare now, and we have good protocols for preventing spread. We haven't seen a case for 3 years.

we also run a mass vaccination programme for new students with the MenACWY vaccine which protects against 4 strains of the meningococcal bacteria which cause meningococcal disease.

 

[jackbarron]

I've just spoken to a builder mate. He's been tested every week in different places. He hasn't been using the gov.uk website, which is often knackered. He has simply finds a test centre, walks in and says he has Covid-19 symptoms. It doesn't matter if you don't have an appointment, they'll test you anyway.

I might try and get a test via gov.uk to begin with. I've had a stuffed nose and an often dry cough for over two months, which isn't normal. I also had a temperature for a day just before the cough and stuffed nose started.

The test centre might be able to tell me where I can get an antibodies one as well.

Jack