4 ms·

Are there requirements somewhere for people to do at home tests?

treeman79 5y ago
Kid complains stomach or anything hurts at school. We are required to get a test. Kids are also required to be tested weekly.
unfocussed_mike 5y ago
Don't know about the USA, but yeah, in the UK parents were routinely asked to administer tests for their kids; there's a specific page in the instructions for it. I've done only six of these (on myself) but I know parents who've administered more than a dozen to each child. I would rather receive vaccines via a harpoon than do the test on myself -- it's uncomfortable. Most kids are braver than I am though.
- mrguyorama 5y ago
  I took one of the tests from the article and it merely required you to swab the inside of the nostril, NOT the thing where you shove a Q-tip into your brain stem. It was less uncomfortable than picking your nose. As a huge nerd, it was also really cool to watch the reagent wick up the test strip and react.
- dpark 5y ago
  Are you talking about the nasopharyngeal swabbing? I’m not aware of anyone doing that anymore for COVID. And for kids they stopped doing it pretty early on because, yeah, it’s fucking awful. I’d wait out the 10 day quarantine rather than jam a 4” swab into the back of my kid’s nose. But I’ve given my kids tests a half dozen times each now and it’s a nonevent. Just swirl the swirl around the nostril about half an inch inside.
  - unfocussed_mike 5y ago
    > Are you talking about the nasopharyngeal swabbing? I’m not aware of anyone doing that anymore for COVID. And for kids they stopped doing it pretty early on because, yeah, it’s fucking awful. The test in the UK says you have to insert the thing and push it up the nose until it meets resistance. And then twirl it around like ten times or something. By the third or fourth twirl, I personally want to tear my nose off my face, and my sensitivity issues have reduced over time. As a kid I would not have been able to tolerate that, and I do not have special needs, or a known hypersensitivity disorder. It's just shockingly unpleasant for me. For kids they have at various times recommended doing this in both nostrils so as not to need to swab the throat. Ain't no way you'd have got it up my second nostril as a kid.
    - dpark 5y ago
      What is wrong with the kits in the UK? US kits don’t say anything like that. The swab only goes in about half an inch now. Yeah, that sounds really shitty.
      - unfocussed_mike 5y ago
        To clarify -- I looked at the leaflet again -- it says "meets slight resistance" and "about 2.5cm". The leaflet -- includes the instructions for swabbing children: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1045088/COVID-19-self-test-throat-and-nose-instructions.pdf https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/... This one is slightly different to mine. It's obviously been revised somewhat since I got my kit; mine dates to the 15th of January last year, whereas the PDF dates from December. Mine says, for example, "firm contact" instead of "good contact" for the throat swab. And "roll the swab firmly around the inside of the nostril", and definitely not "no force is needed". No "gently" in it. The "firm" wording is there for the "testing a child" section, too. So it's not quite brain-ticklingly bad (the PCR tests used to be apparently) but for me at least, the discomfort is intense once the swab is twirled... it just gets worse and worse. By the time of the tenth (!) rotation I am ready to murder. If it said half an inch, it'd be totally another matter. And this is after you've swabbed your tonsils (or where your tonsils were if they were removed!) several times, so, you know... your senses are already on full alert. I am definitely over-sensitive on these things, to be sure (and that fits with the sort of person I am on other levels -- sensitive skin, anxiety, etc.; like generalised sensitivity). And maybe you do get used to them. And I have never tested positive despite symptoms. But the tests themselves seem to be very accurate judging by what I have read. Still, I'd rather be hit with a spear gun than do this more than absolutely necessary. I'm not convinced they were any use against Omicron mind you, and I think the jury is still out on that.
xyzzy123 5y ago
I'm in Australia. Here if your child is a "close contact" (say someone in class is +ve) you have to do RATs for 5-7 days to keep sending them to school or care. It happened a lot for a while but is quieter now. Any slight symptom (spend a lot of time judging how runny noses are) also = take a RAT. The rules change a lot and are slightly different in every state. The worst part was the rules started while RATs were very hard to get, people were paying $10 - $30 a test because the alternative was take a day of carer's leave. The costs added up very quickly with x kids by y days.

Kid complains stomach or anything hurts at school. We are required to get a test. Kids are also required to be tested weekly.

unfocussed_mike 5y ago

Don't know about the USA, but yeah, in the UK parents were routinely asked to administer tests for their kids; there's a specific page in the instructions for it. I've done only six of these (on myself) but I know parents who've administered more than a dozen to each child. I would rather receive vaccines via a harpoon than do the test on myself -- it's uncomfortable. Most kids are braver than I am though.

mrguyorama 5y ago
I took one of the tests from the article and it merely required you to swab the inside of the nostril, NOT the thing where you shove a Q-tip into your brain stem. It was less uncomfortable than picking your nose. As a huge nerd, it was also really cool to watch the reagent wick up the test strip and react.
dpark 5y ago
Are you talking about the nasopharyngeal swabbing? I’m not aware of anyone doing that anymore for COVID. And for kids they stopped doing it pretty early on because, yeah, it’s fucking awful. I’d wait out the 10 day quarantine rather than jam a 4” swab into the back of my kid’s nose. But I’ve given my kids tests a half dozen times each now and it’s a nonevent. Just swirl the swirl around the nostril about half an inch inside.
- unfocussed_mike 5y ago
  > Are you talking about the nasopharyngeal swabbing? I’m not aware of anyone doing that anymore for COVID. And for kids they stopped doing it pretty early on because, yeah, it’s fucking awful. The test in the UK says you have to insert the thing and push it up the nose until it meets resistance. And then twirl it around like ten times or something. By the third or fourth twirl, I personally want to tear my nose off my face, and my sensitivity issues have reduced over time. As a kid I would not have been able to tolerate that, and I do not have special needs, or a known hypersensitivity disorder. It's just shockingly unpleasant for me. For kids they have at various times recommended doing this in both nostrils so as not to need to swab the throat. Ain't no way you'd have got it up my second nostril as a kid.
  - dpark 5y ago
    What is wrong with the kits in the UK? US kits don’t say anything like that. The swab only goes in about half an inch now. Yeah, that sounds really shitty.
    - unfocussed_mike 5y ago
      To clarify -- I looked at the leaflet again -- it says "meets slight resistance" and "about 2.5cm". The leaflet -- includes the instructions for swabbing children: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1045088/COVID-19-self-test-throat-and-nose-instructions.pdf https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/... This one is slightly different to mine. It's obviously been revised somewhat since I got my kit; mine dates to the 15th of January last year, whereas the PDF dates from December. Mine says, for example, "firm contact" instead of "good contact" for the throat swab. And "roll the swab firmly around the inside of the nostril", and definitely not "no force is needed". No "gently" in it. The "firm" wording is there for the "testing a child" section, too. So it's not quite brain-ticklingly bad (the PCR tests used to be apparently) but for me at least, the discomfort is intense once the swab is twirled... it just gets worse and worse. By the time of the tenth (!) rotation I am ready to murder. If it said half an inch, it'd be totally another matter. And this is after you've swabbed your tonsils (or where your tonsils were if they were removed!) several times, so, you know... your senses are already on full alert. I am definitely over-sensitive on these things, to be sure (and that fits with the sort of person I am on other levels -- sensitive skin, anxiety, etc.; like generalised sensitivity). And maybe you do get used to them. And I have never tested positive despite symptoms. But the tests themselves seem to be very accurate judging by what I have read. Still, I'd rather be hit with a spear gun than do this more than absolutely necessary. I'm not convinced they were any use against Omicron mind you, and I think the jury is still out on that.

xyzzy123 5y ago

I'm in Australia. Here if your child is a "close contact" (say someone in class is +ve) you have to do RATs for 5-7 days to keep sending them to school or care. It happened a lot for a while but is quieter now. Any slight symptom (spend a lot of time judging how runny noses are) also = take a RAT. The rules change a lot and are slightly different in every state. The worst part was the rules started while RATs were very hard to get, people were paying $10 - $30 a test because the alternative was take a day of carer's leave. The costs added up very quickly with x kids by y days.