Told to lie, to get a free Covid test

givememoney

MarkN88 said:

givememoney said:

I live in London and no charge for test here, infact they encourage you to go for a test, symptoms or not

Whoever is telling you that shouldn’t be if there are no symptoms. 

It is our council actually

[Deleted User]

givememoney said:

MarkN88 said:

givememoney said:

I live in London and no charge for test here, infact they encourage you to go for a test, symptoms or not

Whoever is telling you that shouldn’t be if there are no symptoms. 

It is our council actually

If your in tier 3 than fair enough. 

Hootie19

Thank you all. She's booked an NHS one anyway (we are in a Tier 4 area) and hopefully she will be eligible for it. It's all a bit confusing. 

givememoney

MarkN88 said:

givememoney said:

MarkN88 said:

givememoney said:

I live in London and no charge for test here, infact they encourage you to go for a test, symptoms or not

Whoever is telling you that shouldn’t be if there are no symptoms. 

It is our council actually

If your in tier 3 than fair enough. 

Tier 4 sadly

Jeremy535897

Who can get a free test

You can only get a free NHS test if at least one of the following applies:

• you have a high temperature
• you have a new, continuous cough
• you’ve lost your sense of smell or taste or it’s changed
• you’ve been asked to get a test by a local council
• you’re taking part in a government pilot project
• you’ve been asked to get a test to confirm a positive result

Per an earlier post.

powerful_Rogue

Hootie19 said:

Thank you all. She's booked an NHS one anyway (we are in a Tier 4 area) and hopefully she will be eligible for it. It's all a bit confusing. 

Not really confusing at all looking at the guidance posted above and on the first page.

I'm presuming she said she had symptoms when she filled out the form?

warby68

Hootie19 said:

Thank you all. She's booked an NHS one anyway (we are in a Tier 4 area) and hopefully she will be eligible for it. It's all a bit confusing. 

I don't think you can book without first declaring your eligibility at least not on the gov.uk website. 

Mrsn

powerful_Rogue said:

Hootie19 said:

Thank you all. She's booked an NHS one anyway (we are in a Tier 4 area) and hopefully she will be eligible for it. It's all a bit confusing. 

Not really confusing at all looking at the guidance posted above and on the first page.

I'm presuming she said she had symptoms when she filled out the form?

I would assume so although I was asked to get a test by dr back in August and had to check the “other” option on the form to apply for it as I didn’t have the classic symptoms but dr was being cautious. Test booking site and drive through centre accepted it no problems.

onashoestring

Symptom-free coronavirus testing or ( Community testing / Mass testing ) is being “rolled out “ in many areas with high infection rates.

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/mass-covid-testing-london-boroughs-rapid-b321765.html

Matt Hancock announced all London Boroughs will get mass testing since 11Dec these 7 boroughs have it Barking and Dagenham, Hackney and the City, Havering, Newham, Redbridge, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest .

Also in Medway key workers and residents living in areas with high infection rates can now book a symptom-free coronavirus test.

 Key workers includes those working in early years (including private nurseries and registered childminders) all their household are eligible for testing too. 

https://www.medway.gov.uk/info/200139/social_care_and_health/1254/coronavirus_covid-19_symptom-free_testing/2

Essex too has additional testing capacity available to the whole community.

https://www.essex.gov.uk/news/increase-in-community-covid-19-testing-to-focus-on-secondary-school-age

The best way to find out what’s available in your local community is to check your council website or the council website for the area where you work.

If you live or work in an area with mass testing you won’t need to lie to get a test and an employer should not be pressuring their employees to lie.

2childmum2

There are two types of test available.
The PCR test is the one you can only get for free if you have symptoms - it takes 24 + hours to get the results.
Some areas have the lateral flow test available for free, where you get  the results back in 30 mins, and you don't need symptoms to  be able to access these.  They have been, or are being, set up in areas with high infection rates.  My London borough is offering them. There is some concern that they don't pick up all the positive cases, but for someone in the ops positions then they should be acceptable to the employer (leaving aside the issues as to whether the employer is in the right to ask for a negative test).  Using them for mass testing to pick up asymptomatic cases, so that those people can isolate, will help bring the case rate down, even if not all the positive cases are found.  Using them to 'prove' an individual  is negative so that they can e.g. visit someone in a care home, is probably not so helpful.