why are we not being tested

[eastie]

Lots of Carers and Frontline workers are getting twice weekly Covid testing.
Why can't Royal Mail do the same for their employees especially after all the extra profits from Parcel deliveries?

[dazer0070]

Quite simple really......because they couldn’t give a flying f#%k!

[biggiehud]

Simple really Because the company will go bust with all the false positives

[Ali831]

They are tested because as you say they are carers and frontline nhs staff dealing with the most vulnerable in our society and they can't risk those staff taking covid into a care home for example. Those tests are provide by the NHS. Posties albeit keyworkers do not come into contact with such high risk groups for extended periods of time. Yes, royal mail could fork out for staff to be tested outside of the NHS free testing system but the financial cost would be immense. Private firms charge upwards of £100 per test even if RM got a bulk discount that's massive bill to pay.

[GRS]

Why would you test people when 75% of those people can’t be arsed to wear a mask in the office!

[Ali831]

Today's news says they are going to start offering rapid tests for staff that cant work from home even without symptoms

[bogues2009]

The true reason is that RM and NHS/Government know that testing asymptomatic people give so many false positives that no employer would be able to survive, especially the big business who cannot rely on any Government support really. The Union is more than happy for this company going bust as it would be taken over by the State then and run as a public service again. The false positive spike will enable the Union to claim measures to ‘keep us safe’ which would be very costly and therefore further push RM into the red and speed up process of renationalisation.

[hans solo]

government to extend testing to all workplaces lets see if rm are going to apply this and claim they were 1st to act on this as their priority is their workforce

[A2B]

Can this rapid test tell if you have had COVID in the past?

I guess from swab to results the rest will take roughly 45mins, that's a lot of lost time for RM but may be worth it in the long run

[SpacePhoenix]

Can this rapid test tell if you have had COVID in the past?

I guess from swab to results the rest will take roughly 45mins, that's a lot of lost time for RM but may be worth it in the long run

It could potentially result in some sites having to close for a few days as contact tracing might ping up for everyone else on the same shift as an infected person

[Woody Guthrie]

A positive test may be helpful to us in protecting ourselves and others but it's obviously not what the business wants to see.

A negative test tells you nothing.
Half an hour after testing you may be infected and infectious.

[nutcracker]

A negative test tells you nothing.
Half an hour after testing you may be infected and infectious.

Not to our self serving screws & some colleagues...

“Can you sort those packets with Tom...but you both just had your tests?”

“Can you can van share with Dick...but you just had your test?”

“Come back to work Harry from shielding we’ve all had our tests last week?”

All said on the sly or in front of the office kiss arse.

Hopefully it should break some asymptomatic transmission but horse and bolted comes to mind.

[A2B]

Can this rapid test tell if you have had COVID in the past?

I guess from swab to results the rest will take roughly 45mins, that's a lot of lost time for RM but may be worth it in the long run

It could potentially result in some sites having to close for a few days as contact tracing might ping up for everyone else on the same shift as an infected person

That is already happening with Track & Trace but yes it could add further problems

[Zicomurphy]

My local council are offering the rapid tests for those without symptoms from tomorrow. You can book an appointment online to have it done at the civic centre. Results sent by text/email within 30 minutes. With up to 1 in 3 cases asymptotic the bigger the take up the better.

[A2B]

My local council are offering the rapid tests for those without symptoms from tomorrow. You can book an appointment online to have it done at the civic centre. Results sent by text/email within 30 minutes. With up to 1 in 3 cases asymptotic the bigger the take up the better.

Good that your Council are getting the testing available but as been pointed out time and time again there's nothing stopping you becoming infected within minutes of testing negative. Unless there's capacity to test daily before coming into work you still have to think you're a potential carrier and social distance accordingly