I see a lot of adverts for home test kits. I don’t see the need in my case, because I’m very seldom in “public”. Only time I’m around other people is when I go to the grocers or Walmart, and my bank I only go there once a month. Otherwise I’m outside away from people and trying to stay away from people as much as possible.
Do you self test?
Is it because you’re around others a lot?
I am just curious. If I start to feel sick I will self test at that point.
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I have got a home kit but not used it yet, as I don’t go out.
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Same here, never tested myself as I only go shopping & haven’t mixed with anyone who’s had it, so far anyway.
Daughter tested herself several times as her boss caught it from his kids & had to self isolate, luckily daughter was clear each time.
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I self-test before we meet up with anyone, which isn’t very often.
We tested before we went to my son’s for Christmas, I did one before going to the dentist and I’ll do one next week before my friend comes over for coffee.
I see it as a new part of “manners”. You try to make sure you don’t take it into anyone’s house, invite them in when you’ve got it, or infect people you interact with at close quarters, dentists, doctors, hairdressers etc.
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I can see that, and appreciate that point of view. One everyone should adopt.IMHO
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Before I stopped working (October) to look after Mum I was testing myself twice a week. Although I am not mixing with people as much I am still doing them, but now about every 5 days. Mum will be 90 in 2 weeks.
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No, I don’t think I could arrive at an unbiased conclusion if I did. 
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Your Mum and I nearly have the same birthday as mine is 3 days away. 90 God bless her, may she live to see many more. 
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Thank you Danny.
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I self test regularly, because although I try not to mix too much with other people, I do go shopping, and I have no way of knowing whether any of the other customers or staff are infected. I also see my daughter regularly, and she works in a school. So all in all it would be a bit foolhardy not to test on a regular basis I think.
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I didn’t self test regularly, maybe once every couple of weeks if I was in a busy shop or someone coughed/sneezed near me. I start work in a school next week and will have to self test every couple of days which is par for the course, but oh my poor nose!
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Very well put Maree 
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I work in a care home, we have an outbreak of the Omnicom variant atm, so we are in lockdown, all residents in their rooms for 28 days, no visitors allowed, staff have to take a lateral flow test everyday and a pcr test once a week, instead of a lateral flow twice a week and a pcr once,
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We have just had to increase to 3 times a week at school, from twice a week.
I also used them over Christmas before meeting up with 3 different sets of family members and friends in 3 different housholds.
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Tiff, if you go shopping, how do you know you haven’t mixed with anyone who’s had it?
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I do a LFT before visiting mum but, if I had symptoms I would book a PCR test.
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Mainly because I go to Tesco after 8 p.m. when there is hardly anyone in the store. I don’t mix in crowds of people & I think at my age if I did get it I would know. I always wear a mask where ever I go. Besides which this area & I haven’t ventured out of it, is one of the lowest for Covid in the country, if not the lowest. I would certainly not go to any of the large towns/cities in this area, in fact I am loath to go anywhere at all.
If I wanted or needed to go anywhere else, I would certainly take a test, before & after.
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The only place I ever go is Tesco, and I go early in the morning when it’s quiet. If I had any reason to think I might have Covid, I would take extra care to only go near people I didn’t like the look of.
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I work in the health sector and therefore am tested so regularly I feel like a lab rat at times.
So, no, I don’t test at home
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Same as you Danny, apart from a very early visit to the supermarket I rarely mix with other people and prefer the great outdoor spaces.
I would only test myself when visiting the hospital, which has been often just lately, but people must be mindful that in most cases an infected person will test negative the three days after infection and before the symptoms arrive. For this reason, I will generally only use the test if I am experiencing any symptoms. It has also been suggested that if there are no symptoms and a Lateral Flow test comes in negative there are no spores being produced and consequently can not be passed on to others at this stage.
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