How to get a Covid ...
 

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[Closed] How to get a Covid test?

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Just heard Lady Harding on the radio saying that anyone who wants a test can get one.

Can someone tell me how?

I'm self isolating as a guy I was working with last week has tested positive. Work want me to get tested so I can get back to work but I don't have any symptoms currently.

If I tick the no symptoms box and the key worker box (which are both honest answers) it says I can't get a test. However, this contradicts the claim by Harding. Am I doing something wrong? If so, what?


 
Posted : 10/11/2020 1:13 pm
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Listening to Harding?


 
Posted : 10/11/2020 1:15 pm
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I appreciate that the Harding aspect is the weak link in this. So, does this count as a blatant blue from her?


 
Posted : 10/11/2020 1:17 pm
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Yes, unless you live in Liverpool in which case they're rolling out tests for all


 
Posted : 10/11/2020 1:29 pm
 mos
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If you fib about your symptoms & get through to selecting your test centre, then notice that your nearest one is has 150 free appointments today & one of them is available in the next half hour, I would say that you're not overstretching the testing system.
However, I don't think it's appropriate for your employer to put pressure on you to get a test.


 
Posted : 10/11/2020 1:29 pm
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Phone 119 and get a test booked. Fib about your symptoms and say you have a temperature.
I have done this twice, both times after being instructed to by NHS doctors/nurses.


 
Posted : 10/11/2020 1:33 pm
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I've already told them I'm not lying to get a test. If I claim to have symptoms, my wife is instantly locked down.

They turned a deaf ear to my suggestion that they could pay for a private test of they are that keen.


 
Posted : 10/11/2020 1:34 pm
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well then no, you can't, as there's no indication that you need one*

*according to the somewhat illogical logic of the testing system.


 
Posted : 10/11/2020 1:38 pm
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But Dildo just said on national radio that anyone could have a test if they wanted.


 
Posted : 10/11/2020 1:42 pm
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You can get tests done privately at some travel clinics, private GPs etc. I assume your company will cough up if they are that desperate to get you back to work.


 
Posted : 10/11/2020 1:44 pm
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By the time someone has actually made a decision about paying for a private test, isolation will be over. It's only 14 days!


 
Posted : 10/11/2020 1:51 pm
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singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/how-to-get-a-covid-test/#post-11472311

I took a test earlier in the year as had some wider symptoms, but not the ones listed to get a test. I got one 3hours after filling in the form and and the results back in less than 24 hours. This despite the city being in 2nd lockdown. The test centre was deserted. If you’ve been in contact and are concerned, get a test. Your wife is only locked down until you get the results, if it’s negative and she has no symptoms then she’s free to move about. If you come back positive, she has to isolates too, but then it’s probably better to know sooner rather than go about potentially infecting people!


 
Posted : 10/11/2020 1:52 pm
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But Dildo just said on national radio that anyone could have a test if they wanted.

Probably assumes everyone just has a mate who can sort you out with one with a word in their ear?


 
Posted : 10/11/2020 1:54 pm
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Why create a system that encourages people to lie about symptoms?

If the capacity for testing is there, why not open it up to those who have been told to isolate?


 
Posted : 10/11/2020 1:55 pm
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Not just Liverpool now although it's not clear when this starts from


 
Posted : 10/11/2020 1:56 pm
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Your wife is only locked down until you get the results, if it’s negative and she has no symptoms then she’s free to move about. If you come back positive, she has to isolates too, but then it’s probably better to know sooner rather than go about potentially infecting people!

This is exactly the logic I used to convince my girlfriend to get a test when one of her patients had tested positive. She's a healthcare professional working in a hospital. HR had told her not to get a test 🤨


 
Posted : 10/11/2020 1:56 pm
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Who told you to self-isolate? If it's anyone who actually has the expertise and/or authority to make that call, then it wouldn't be overridden by a negative test anyway.


 
Posted : 10/11/2020 1:58 pm
 bruk
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Depends why you want a test. If you test negative it doesn't mean you can stop self isolating if you have been a close contact with someone who has tested positive anyway. This is of course assuming that our work beating test and trace system works and has actually contacted you.


 
Posted : 10/11/2020 1:59 pm
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Got a call on Sunday from a guy I was working with on Friday. He'd felt unwell Saturday and got tested and got the positive result Sunday. Rang 119 to describe the contact we'd had and was told to self-isolate by them. HR agreed when I called them on Monday.

However, NHS call line would default to being cautious I'd imagine and HR had to agree as they can't really over ride that instruction from NHS anyway.


 
Posted : 10/11/2020 2:04 pm
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In france ;
my wife tested positive saturday, and the kids and I had to get a test yesterday, results today and we need to do another test saturday . we all need to isolate for 7 days . We can go back to work /school on monday if all negative .
We got a call on saturday night to tell us about the wife results and then health agency rang on sunday to explain the procedure to follow .


 
Posted : 10/11/2020 2:05 pm
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@Murray
Thanks for the link. In that list is the area we were working, but not the area I'm currently living and isolating in.


 
Posted : 10/11/2020 2:07 pm
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They turned a deaf ear to my suggestion that they could pay for a private test of they are that keen.

In which case I would tell your employer to swivel. If they want you to take a test, and you don't qualify for the NHS testing regime, they should pay for it.


 
Posted : 10/11/2020 2:07 pm
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This is the entire fiasco in a nutshell.
It's not just that lying (albeit a small one) is the only the way for some people to get the test they're required to get, but that the lying part is pretty much state sanctioned to make up for a massive gap in the system.

The fact that the test centre is then empty when you get there is why conspiracy theories start.


 
Posted : 10/11/2020 2:08 pm
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Why create a system that encourages people to lie about symptoms?

If the capacity for testing is there, why not open it up to those who have been told to isolate?

Exactly, total incompetence from the top. IMHO, the amount of people humming and ahhing about whether or not they have it given the massive variation in types and severity of symptoms, and the hoops you have to jump through to get a test, is probably part of the reason we're back in lockdown after 9months. lots of people walking about with it infecting other, probably unbeknown to them, or thinking they've got a mild cold as they don't have a continuous cough or fever and so haven't been tested. If you've been in close proximity to someone confirmed positive, there's a strong chance you have it, symptomatic or not, and likewise a strong chance your household therefore has it too.


 
Posted : 10/11/2020 2:14 pm
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I'm self isolating currently, despite having had a negative test result. The reason it's a 14 day isolation is because symptoms can appear (it seems) up to 14 days after contact. As such, even if you test negative a week after contact, you still need to isolate.

If you workplace is pressuring you back, they're arseholes, however really, you should be isolating regardless until the 14 days is up, especially if you've had contact from Test and Trace (I have).

Yes, it's a PITA. I found out the day before I was due to bubble with my GF. sadly, we're both having to live alone during this lockdown now and it's fairly shit. But, them's the rules.


 
Posted : 10/11/2020 2:29 pm
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I had to lie to get mine.

Told the truth on the system (I had symptoms) and it told me no tests.
So I told it that I had symptoms AND had been in touch with a confirmed positive and miraculously, dozens of test spaces popped up at a drive through centre 5 miles away.

Went down there, there were maybe 3 cars in a big car park on an industrial estate and some bored (and very wet) staff hanging around in the rain. Got tested, all very efficient, registered the bar code number. This was about 2.15pm and the woman there said they were all off home at 2.30pm as I was one of the last. Credit to the staff working there, they were excellent.

I appreciate that there may be backlogs in the actual analysis of the tests but there certainly didn't seem to be a bottleneck in the access to the tests...

Anyway, mine came back a day later as negative. But yeah, you have to lie to get to that point.


 
Posted : 10/11/2020 2:37 pm
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Why create a system that encourages people to lie about symptoms?

Well, lying is second nature to (Tory) politicians, so hardly surprising that when they create a system that becomes the bedrock of how it works....


 
Posted : 10/11/2020 3:15 pm
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If you're told to self isolate for 14days due to close contact with a positive person, getting a (negative) test does not allow you to "un isolate". It appears to be a common misunderstanding.


 
Posted : 10/11/2020 3:40 pm
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If you’re told to self isolate for 14days due to close contact with a positive person, getting a (negative) test does not allow you to “un isolate”

this - your employer is basically asking you to break the law - I assume its law this time as it got voted on??


 
Posted : 10/11/2020 4:11 pm
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Glad I started this thread. I can see the logic of what you're saying though. The reality is that I, and more importantly, my boss, just need to suck it up and hope I don't get symptoms towards the end of isolation as that will just add ten days to the sentence.


 
Posted : 10/11/2020 4:18 pm

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