Offering Everyone in England Two Tests a Week Is a Waste of Resources
Everyone in England is to be offered two rapid COVID-19 tests per week as part of the Government’s plans to “ease” the lockdown. According to the BBC, these tests “are aimed at those without any Covid symptoms and can be taken at home”. The kits will be available through community and workplace testing schemes, as well as via local pharmacies and an online home-ordering service.
However, this seems like a huge waste of resources. Recall that the Government has already spent an eye-watering £22 billion on Test and Trace – a scheme that, at best, had only a marginal impact on transmission. The BBC quotes Allyson Pollock, Professor of Public Health at Newcastle University, as saying, “Mass testing is a scandalous waste of money.”
According to the ONS, around 50% of people in England now have COVID-19 antibodies, including more than 80% of those aged 65 and over:
This means that the vast majority of vulnerable people have at least some immunity to the virus. What would make more sense is focusing protection on those vulnerable people who have not yet had the virus or been vaccinated.
As the Great Barrington Declaration notes, this could be done via frequent testing of staff at care homes and hospitals, as well as by offering tests to those who want to visit elderly relatives living at home. (In a recent article for Lockdown Sceptics, I outlined what a focused protection strategy would have looked like.) At this stage of the pandemic, it’s difficult to see how mass testing of young, healthy people could possibly pass a cost-benefit test.
Stop Press: Matt Hancock has tweeted: “Reclaiming our lost freedoms & getting back to normal hinges on us all getting tested regularly.” Yet back in January, he said it was vaccinating the vulnerable that would let us “Cry freedom”. Here’s the relevant excerpt from his interview with The Spectator:
When Covid hospital cases fall and pressure on the NHS is lifted, he says, “That is the point at which we can look to lift the restrictions.” So what about herd immunity, vaccinating so many people that the virus dies out? “The goal is not to ensure that we vaccinate the whole population before that point, it is to vaccinate those who are vulnerable. Then that’s the moment at which we can carefully start to lift the restrictions.” But at that point the majority would remain unprotected. Would he – as Health Secretary – still say it’s time to abolish the restrictions? “Cry freedom,” he replies.
The goalposts keep shifting. First it was vaccinate the vulnerable; then vaccinate everyone; now weekly mass testing… Will we ever be allowed to get back to normal?
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At this stage of the pandemic, it’s difficult to see how mass testing of young, healthy people could possibly pass a cost-benefit test….
Well it couldnt, neither could anything else they’ve done in the last 12 months, but look on the bright side they’re still going ahead with HS2…
I do hope these 2 tests a week will be similar to the bowel cancer screening tests, because that’s where I’ll be taking the samples from.
Make sure that you have a persistent dry ‘cough’ from the same area when you see the doctor to get your results.
More to the point, the collapse of the real bowel cancer screening service could easily lead to real problems. Normally, it’s offered at ages of 60,65,70. I used it just before the panic started last year, and quite reassuring. Note that even then, the results come with get-out notes along the lines of “we couldn’t find any problems, but doesn’t prove you haven’t got any”. If they were honest, they’d have to say the same, more or less, which is meaningless, of course.
‘Being as there are not enough genuinely sick and deaths from Covid at the monent, we intend to target the worried well and people who are brainwashed and stupid enough to go along with this’ added the Government spokesperson. ‘We expect an almost 100% compliance with this’ the spokesperson added.
It’s a waste of resources if you’re trying to end restrictions. But that’s not what they’re doing. I predicted this. What they want to do is ease lockdowns then create another testdemic in order to “show” the public what a few weeks of freedom has created, with cases going through the roof. The previous scare campaign is beginning to wear off with the warm weather on its way, so they need a new one.
Yes, I agree the real intent behind this is to drive case numbers back up to continue the hysteria.
Drive ‘alleged‘ case numbers up – since we all know they are not cases at all.
They are definitely scraping the bottom of the barrel here in their sheer desperation for a casedemic indeed. That must mean actual cases are down at a very low level now then…
I don’t need a vaccine passport because all my covid test records are recorded digitally in a format that I can show to all and sundry on my phone.
Back in June the NHS rolled out ‘Mycare’.
This seems to be a mini me version of NHS Digital in that it is confined to individual NHS Trusts but involves everyone within healthcare having access to all your medical records from your GP, ambulance staff and paramedics to hospital triage staff, consultants and wotnot.
I accessed my ‘mycare.×××.nhs.uk’ this morning and after pressing a few buttons there was a list of the ten Covid tests I recently had in hospital with ‘Not Detected’ listed against each date.
This is not intended to be a recommendation, just for information.
I cannot tell if you are providing amusement or genuinely think this is an acceptable lifestyle.
I had no real choice about being tested while in ITU for three weeks, ‘acceptable’
really did not come into it.
The post was was to inform readers that the results are readily available on-screen for anyone I care to show them to, passport or not.
I haven’t got a record of any of the tests my employer forced me to have as a condition of coming into work. All I got was verbal phone calls telling me I could come on site on a given day. So – no evidence to show anybody, not that it is anybody else’s business anyway – and the tests are close to useless since they cannot indicate whether someone is sick and infectious or not.
Which is presumably why my tests are recorded as ‘not detected’ rather than ‘negative ‘. l might suggest that you try to log into ‘mycare.(your NHS trust).nhs.uk’ and see what they already have on you.
I just get ‘site cannot be reached’. They’ve rumbled you
Well my dear, pat yourself on the back.
You can delight in the fact that when the UK social credit score system rolls in, digitally tied into the NHS bio security app tagged to your good self…you’ll be ahead of us non-vaxxed by several hundred credit points.
Yippee-do!
Want to know what the system will look like?
Watch this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVkWokLqPOg
Thank you, I have been very well of CCPs Social Credit for over 12 months thanks to earlier posts at LS.
‘very well aware’
Interesting. Thank you for posting, Karen. I am sorry you were ill.
The healthy must resist testing to avoid what is coming, including, it seems from Israel, a requirement to use treatments which are profitable for companies, but may have unknown long term effects on children.
Do you think I could have vouchers to spend at the supermarket instead?
Freedom is taken, not given, Mr Handycock.
I think you’ll find that increasingly people will take it regardless of what the government says.
‘When all other rights are taken away, the right of rebellion is made perfect.’ – Thomas Paine
Assuming 30 million people take tests twice a week, 60 million tests a week. If the specificity of the test is between 99.7% and 99.9%, this means a maximum false positives of between 600,000 and 1,800,000 per week.
A quick search reveals a cost of £5 for one of these tests. x 60M x 52 = £15 billion per year. That’s more than 10% of the annual NHS budget on just the tests alone nevermind the cost of the lost productivity from all the false positives they’d generate.
They have admitted to spending £1.3 billion to purchase the initial 384 million test that at are ready to be sent out , with more in the pipeline. That is OUR money they are wasting. When are people going to wake up and say NO MORE?
I think that only the paranoid sheep will do it.
The problem is that there are at least 30 million of those paranoid sheep in the U.K. …
The latest report states “The UK has recorded a further 26 deaths within 28 days of a positive test, along with 2,762 new cases”.
If only 1.5 million people self test twice a week then this number of new cases will be exceeded.
A positive test isn’t a “case.”
WE know that, and I’m darn sure the government does too, but the media and the brainwashed don’t. The roll out of the real agenda however must go ahead without any interruptions or pauses, or Boris will have to answer to the directors at the WEF. He has after all committed in print no less, to take a lead roll in delivering the Great Reset. Can’t let his buddies down, can he?
I am aware of that but according to the WHO a positive test result for SARS-CoV-2 is sufficient to diagnose a case, no signs/symptoms/history required. My local paper keeps saying that people have confirmed diagnoses when in fact they simply have a positive test result.
… and, of course, the question is how many deaths would normally occur in a random sample of hospital in-patients in 28 days?
So how many of the 26 actually OF covid? 0 probably.
Another half-hearted rebuttal of a government scam with a mixture of the blindingly obvious and naive gullibility.
Of course mass testing of the non-symptomatic is a useless and massive waste of resources. It always was – as Alyson Pollock points out. The fact is not a recondite discovery. It’s the bleedin’ obvious.
But the wider point is that you don’t need to bang on about vaccinations and a remaining ‘vulnerable’ population to pick up on the fact that the virus is such a non-threat that (even if previous hysteria was partly justified), the current situation is what we would NORMALLY class as ‘NORMAL’ – really not a justified cause for wet underwear.
These tests are probably the same as those issued to teachers – you “take” the test (if you are so inclined – there is no compulsion) and then self report on to the NHS website / app (if you are so inclined). The tests are self contained, so they don’t require the materials to be sent to the lab for processing. You can just leave them in the box and ignore them or you can test your pet cat/dog/ferret and report those results. So many options …. but no need to shove anything up your nose or down your throat unless you really want to!
Yep same tests that everyone at my work FE college is doing dutifully every week.
My director did look a bit put out when I refused to take the tests. “Are you not taking part then?” he asked. Absolutely not I said.
But nothing work can do as it’s not a mandatory only strongly encouraged.
Congrats and kudos for not bending to the peer pressure. Funny how the enthralled try to make it sound like its a social event.
You should hear them all when they’ve had their jab, normally how ill its made them but they’re so glad they had it. Frankly the whole thing baffles me.
That’s me too – I am genuinely non-plussed why people would take the tests & then if they do, why they wouldn’t fake them? It’s the same with all this nonsense – masks, paint stripper, distancing etc. Just why?
There are no check-ups at my place of work to see if people are testing – the box of tests was left in my pigeon hole and that has been the end of it – it remains an unopened artifact on a pile of papers at home. I have also managed not to wear a face covering at any time throughout this debarcle – pupils in my classes have spotted that I don’t insist on face coverings, so many of my classes are now “normal”.
I’m back office staff and live in an office on my own so only use a mask normally dangling off my ear around the corridors.
Your pupils are very lucky people, thanks to you they get normality.
Yours is the way forward especially as, see next main ATL posting, bozo tries to say masks are ‘needed’ for the next twelve months.
Just as with Communism, towards its end more and more citizens refused to even pretend.
You have to ‘Hand’ it to him, he has learned from the master, now he’s really got into the stride of every other sentance is a lie.
Are you sure about that? Every other sentence eh? Not ‘every’ sentence?
Let’s see what answers I get from this one: During my research I came across this UK Government document and it covers all lateral flow devices and RT-PCR test by any manufacturer:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/how-tests-and-testing-kits-for-coronavirus-covid-19-work/target-product-profile-point-of-care-sars-cov-2-detection-testsIt says:Sample typeDesiredSputum, saliva or other method not using invasive swabAcceptableNasopharyngeal or oropharyngeal swabs, lower respiratory tract aspirates, bronchoalveolar lavage, nasopharyngeal wash/aspirate or nasal aspirateCommentMethods not using invasive swabs are desirable due to patient discomfort, pre-analytical errors and issues with supply chain.So any test that swabs deep into the nose and mouth is 2nd choice at best and has too many problems associated with it.The same document also states:Target userDesiredTrained healthcare professional (i.e. one of the 10 health and social care professional bodies that are overseen by the professional standards authority)AcceptableTrained healthcare professional (i.e. one of the 10 health and social care professional bodies that are overseen by the professional standards authority)CommentA healthcare professional will select the right test to use with the patient, perform the test and then interpret and communicate the results. There may be some scope for supervised self-sampling where the sample collection device is CE marked for this purpose (eg. saliva samples).Full training appropriate to the intended user is required.Here is the UK Government’s analysis of the Innova… Read more »
I wish I could give you an answer to even one of your questions. Since the chances of anyone, even those who wrote the original words from the government documents, being able to answer them is likely 0-1, I fear these and many other questions like your’s will be consigned to mysteries of life section in the annuls of history.
Matt Hancock is so out of his depth he needs a 40ft snorkel.
No Matty Handjob does NOT need a snorkel, best just to do us all a favor and let him drown.
Hancock et al could do with concrete boots instead of a snorkel!
He has risen..Beadles about..( apols)..
Behavoural psychologists just taking the piss now, seeing how far this can be pushed..Although, I suppose they have to keep this particular kettle boiling, a need to justify rolling out untried vaccines using dubious emergency power, if numbers continue dropping….
Oh what a tangled legal web they weave. Amen.
Now there’s an appropriate image – boiling the taken piss in a kettle 🙂
Oh for goodness sake…Only a complete cretin would fall for this obvious ploy to garner more positive test results (of which 80% will be false). Come on, don’t fall for it. This is the chance to really expose this government and its criminal agenda.
You can add to the criticism of this project the view of Professor John Deeks (see below). He says ‘quite shocking’, I would say ‘simply insane’.
A review of 64 studies into lateral flow tests, mostly in Europe and the US, found the diagnostic accuracy of different brands of tests “varies widely”.
Published on 25 March, the Cochrane Review said the Innova test used in the UK was 58% accurate at detecting COVID-19 in symptomatic people and worked best in the first week after symptom onset.
Lead author Jon Deeks, professor of biostatistics at the University of Birmingham, said: “These tests work a lot less well in people who are asymptomatic than symptomatic. The government has not been clear on this.
“The only data we have is based on the [Liverpool and Birmingham] studies, where a total of 78 people had COVID-19, when 40 million tests have been given out.
“I personally find it quite shocking that the government thinks this is an adequate evidence base on which to base such a large, expensive, and quite invasive policy.”
COVID-19: How do lateral flow tests work and how will England’s twice-weekly programme take place?
http://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-how-do-lateral-flow-tests-work-and-how-will-englands-twice-weekly-programme-take-place-12266517
It’s simply ‘ smoke and mirrors’. The fear factory keeps churning out this cr*p, blinding most of the population with “science”. I for one ain’t eating what they’re shovelling!
If I get sent one of the unwanted and virtually useless tests, I’m thinking of trying it out on my pet to see what the results are.
Please redirect all tests, tried on your pet or not used, to Matty Hancock c/o his London Whitehall address. He is eagerly looking forward to sticking one in every orifice.
Wouldn’t it be a hoot if we all re-directed the test kits to MH. Imagine van loads of boxes turning up at Whitehall twice a week. I think this suggestion needs to go viral 😂
Yes I placed a post on here last night when I first read the article. I try to insert the idea into as many posts as I can without going off subject as it were. It costs nothing to redirect wrongly delivered mail. Not at this address please forward to etc. I first thought to send to BoJo too but the one addressee one address approach is a far more strategic and chaos causing plan. And I have plan unlike our despot leaders. Please help spread the message.
Come on all you pet owners. Here’s a chance to get rid of all that messy pet poo. Just pop it in the box and send it back. You know it makes sense.
Trying it on your pet? that’s animal cruelty and here’s me thinking the UK is a nation of animal lovers.
Or you could try it on certain other substances, but without revealing where it came from – not that I’m recommending any illegal activity, but plenty of scope for that for certain crooks, if you remember the attempted assassination in Salisbury a while back. No need to travel from Russia, e.g.
I keep hearing people say that the goalposts have shifted again. I personally do not believe there are any goalposts. We are just living in a sea of shifting sand and the despots suffer from some crazed short term memory problem and so have no memory of what they said even 24 hours ago.
Wish I believed that too. Unfortunately I spent 2 whole days trawling through the WEF’s website so have a completely different viewpoint., confirmed when I discovered BJ had formally signed up the UK to be a lead WEF partner to deliver the WEF’s Great Reset plans (confirmed verbally and on on the Gov.Uk website) and all actions to date fit into their global GR delivery plans and schedule.
I trawled through the scary WEF playbook website too. There are people out there who deny its existence you know. But hey, can’t legislate for stupid. I think it is a cliff edge and people are being nudged nearer and nearer the edge. Some have jumped, some will jump, some have been pushed and some will be pushed. Some of us can see the cliff edge for the danger it is and will keep away. But the pushing will continue. And the likes of Bojo, Handcock, B(liar) and others with NWO agendas will try to recruit more drones to push the dissenters over the cliff edge. Sorry to sound so dramatic, but if people want to be afraid then forget Covid and look at the real dangers out there.
Basically in the end, horribly as it is, you can’t escape the conclusion that the reason they’re doing this is to control and reduce the population.
They shove them up their bottoms and go forth and multiply whilst doing so.
When I taught introduction to probability to undergraduates, medical testing was one of the first examples we looked at. It quickly becomes clear with just the basics that mass testing of non-symptomatic people with a low prevalence disease is dumber than a box of rocks. It makes zero scientific sense. I’m not exaggerating here.
Anyone who thinks mass testing will achieve anything in terms of a positive health benefit has all the scientific acumen of a mollusc. Even the monstrous prats we currently have in government are not quite this stupid, however.
Make no mistake about it – this is nothing to do with health or protection. I won’t speculate on what their agenda actually is, but I can tell you definitively there is no conceivable scientific or health benefit to doing this.
You do realise that the Government has bought 400 million of these tests, what a great wheeze to get shot of this vast amount, give them out free…
What it’s also going to do is to create a new ‘wave’ of cases, and provide justification for more lockdown. Here in Germany, all the discounter supermarkets started selling home testing kits a few weeks ago. Result? You guessed it.
Speaking of Matt H. Where the heck has he been? Test twice a week for everyone? Who is responsible for this decision? Anyone know. What studies show this to be an effective way to what? Continue the false narrative? Waste more money? This really is too bad.
Allow me to introduce you to my YouTube…and Bitchute…and Minds…and Daily Motion…friend, Styxhexenhammer666, who asks the same question that’s been perplexing me for over a year:
‘Whither the “antifascists” as the proverbial jackboot descends again and again?’
Be it two nasal/anal probes a week, or vaccine passports, or the forced closures of businesses, or the seizure/invasion & occupation of private property, this is the TEXTBOOK DEFINITION of fascism. Imposed globally.
Well, I’ll never use such junk, nor will ever recommend it’s use by others. Simple as that; a complete waste of resources.
Shame they could never test for cancer with such aplomb
No Masks, No Tests, No Vaccs, No Passports!
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