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Those who hold up New Zealand as an example on how to tackle this virus don’t seem to recognise that the population of that country is less than half that of London, about the same as that of Scotland, spread over an area around the size of the U.K.

...and if Guildford was in New Zealand it would be the 5th largest city!!

... and people living cheek by jowl in towns and cities are also able to get tested because that's also where the medical centres are.

Making those comparisons is a mugs game played by self-appointed intelligentsia who are too dim to see that we see what they are up to. It's a shame that they aren't clever enough to stop being frightened.

Getting a test is not the problem, getting a test sample analysed is the issue. Roll out of automated analysis and capacity in labs is the limiting factor AIUI.

And now the government seems to be complaining that people are "needlessly" getting tested.......so, having terrified the population out of their wits over this bug, they are saying that you shouldn't get tested if you are worried? And plenty of schools, nurseries, employers are requiring that anyone feeling poorly needs a negative test before they can come back. You just can't win.

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Flyingfemme wrote:And now the government seems to be complaining that people are "needlessly" getting tested.......so, having terrified the population out of their wits over this bug, they are saying that you shouldn't get tested if you are worried? And plenty of schools, nurseries, employers are requiring that anyone feeling poorly needs a negative test before they can come back. You just can't win.

Yep. Project Fear strikes again and the mugs have fallen for it which is excusable in the early days (I did) but it's not excusable any more.

Everyone needs to stop talking about testing. It's a massive distraction from the main thing that should be happening - going back to work or hiding if you're vulnerable.

Flyingfemme wrote:And now the government seems to be complaining that people are "needlessly" getting tested.......so, having terrified the population out of their wits over this bug, they are saying that you shouldn't get tested if you are worried? And plenty of schools, nurseries, employers are requiring that anyone feeling poorly needs a negative test before they can come back. You just can't win.

Of course you shouldn't get tested if you are worried. You should get tested if you are exhibiting symptoms and have been for 1-4 days.

You can win, you can use the testing system in the way in which it is intended to be used. That way you win because your test results are as accurate as possible and the country wins because the testing system is used properly and is not stretched to the point that those who really need tests either can't get them or must wait days for results.

The guidance for schools is not helping

If a child is showing signs of illness, or complains of feeling ill they are sent home, to protect the rest of their bubble, this is often a whole year group of hundreds. Their siblings are sent home too.

None can return for 14 days, unless they get tested and show negative ( (itself having potential for false results).

Parents now cannot go to work. They need a test for all their children to satisfy the school, their employer needs them at work, their job is at risk, they need to pay the rent/mortgage/ utility bills. Of course they are going to push for tests Repeat this across the country and the system is overwhelmed by the sequlae of the increase in ordinary infections seen every year at this time. Did anyone think this through?

Jim Jones wrote:Did anyone think this through?

I think that it is fair to assume that no-one did. Operation Kneejerk is in full swing, we have learnt from our mistakes and are confident that we can not only go on making them but can now make them more quickly and disastrously.

Did anyone think this through?

None of this has been thought through since the failure of contingency plan testing in 2016.

That's why I put 2 words in capitals in an earlier post.

To be fair it's not easy when the pandemic of stupidity is raging alongside other diseases. It's also the case that basic knowledge seems to be lacking these days. My granddaughter returned from early exposure to nursery with a runny nose, but she had no temperature, was not miserable, so diagnosis is new term sniffles, carry on as normal.

JAFO wrote:

Jim Jones wrote:Did anyone think this through?

I think that it is fair to assume that no-one did. Operation Kneejerk is in full swing, we have learnt from our mistakes and are confident that we can not only go on making them but can now make them more quickly and disastrously.

No, no no no no no!! It's YOUR fault. https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/12697755/ ... ty-demand/

Look, Dido Harding is doing a great job of looking like a prize idiot but she has a point. People are treating tests like they treat A&E, as a bottomless pit of resource that can be called on for convenience rather than necessity.

The trouble is those resources have/will never been/be bottomless. HMG needs to just shut up about testing because if they don't people will naturally assume that it's there for them in their hour of need just like everything else in the "world beating NHS" religion we're all supposed to pray to in the streets these days.

The same goes for vaccines. God help us if we actually get a vaccine because we'll have yummie mummies rioting outside A&E when it turns out that the ninetybiliontygazillion doses that HMG has options on actually need to be manufactured instead of magicked out of thin air... and heaven forbid other nations might get some first! Oh the Humanity!

Track and Trace is SERCO, not NHS


Universities working with pharma are alreàdy large-scale manufacturing vaccines ‘under risk’ so they are ready to go when (if) they are approved. Thankfully this has little to do with government .

johnm wrote:That's why I put 2 words in capitals in an earlier post.

And here was me thinking you just decided to shout in the misunderstanding we hadn't heard you the previous sqizillion times you said the same thing.

Jim Jones wrote:Track and Trace is SERCO, not NHS


Universities working with pharma are alreàdy large-scale manufacturing vaccines ‘under risk’ so they are ready to go when (if) they are approved. Thankfully this has little to do with government .

It's all PHE, or whatever it's called next week. Joe Public doesn't really care which particular healthcare branch of government is ****ing up today. You're right though Jim, so maybe I'm tilting at the wrong windmill, it's the private sector and their academia partners who will sort it out, or not if HMG / PHE have screwed up expectations. HMG will just have to send the police to fine the yummie mummie anti-vaxxers.