> Right now in the UK, the basic testing infrastructure is more-or-less world class as far as I can tell, with a level of testing that's basically unprecedented

> Right now in the UK, the basic testing infrastructure is more-or-less world class as far as I can tell, with a level of testing that's basically unprecedented outside of the US I get tested every week (for months now) as part of the Oxford vaccine trial, so I have a lot of exposure to the UK government testing system. I'm also an immigrant from the US and I have very little UK political bias since I don't really even understand the political parties here yet and I can't vote here. Very early in the pandemic, testing was terrible and basically non-existent. By July, the system was great - efficient, easy-to-use and quick. Through July and most of August, it was getting better every week with very short turn-around times and it was very impressive overall. But in the last ~3 weeks, it's has kind of fallen apart. Instead of getting results the next day, I'm lucky to get them the same week. The vaccine trial used to hand out stacks of new tests like candy to take home. Now they are rationing them very closely and clearly feeling the pinch. I think there are a lot of hard challenges here, from expanding capacity in a country that didn't really have an existing lab infrastructure, to trying to figure out the right social incentives so that the right people are getting tested but we aren't wasting limited resources on lots of people who don't need tests until testing is either faster/easier or more available. And until about 3 weeks ago, I think the government had overcome the challenges. But now they are struggling again due to the uptick in cases and increased need for tests. In any case, it's unfortunate that the whole situation is so politicized, especially by the media. The media is mostly failing to contextualize the actual situation and just picking sides in a US-style 'my team vs. your team' battle where everyone loses.