What a waste of Rapid Antigen Tests

when someone is forced to have two in one day!

We are short of RATs - or so those who love to hate the government would have us believe. If we are actually short of them then I think I know why. The use of them is being abused.

Yesterday morning first thing I had to take some things to an elderly woman in an aged care residence. When I arrived the staff were trying to get someone else on the same wing to take a RAT. There was a good reason for this. The person in question was feeling unwell. She did not want to take the test. If it was positive she would be isolated. If it was negative she could at least sit in the garden outside her room for a bit.

Now I know her. I don't know her well but in going to see the other woman I have chatted to her on occasion. One of the staff, no doubt desperate by then, asked if she trusted me. Yes, apparently she does - although goodness' knows why. So, if Cat had a test, would she have one? We finally got her to agree. I had the test. It was negative - as I had known it would be. We had let her observe the process. We showed her the results. She gave in and had the test. Thankfully it was negative - but they will observe her closely.

Later in the morning Middle Cat picked me up and took me over to see the Senior Cat. I was greeted with a table outside and the news that "everyone has to have a RAT". I explained I had just had one - and that I was happy to have them talk to the person who had administered it. No, not good enough. I had to have one there and then.

Now, that in itself is silly is it not? What was even sillier was that I was told, "You can do it yourself or we can do it."

I looked at the very young girl who didn't even know how to do it properly - although she must surely have been instructed? I made the decision that she needed to know how to do it and do it properly. I told her, "No, you have to learn how to do it because there will be people coming in who have no idea how to do it and you are, at very least, going to have to help."

She agreed that this was probably the case. I talked her through it. All I can say of all this is that the second test on this occasion was not perhaps completely wasted because at least there was some teaching/learning involved.

Test over I still had to go through the further rigmarole of filling out the electronic form with my details, the details of the person I was visiting, answering the questions about vaccinations, where I had been in the past week and much more. I still had to take my temperature and nod at the QR code too.

As I prowled off to see the Senior Cat though I heard one of the delivery men saying, "But I just had a test at the other place."

I know this is all designed to try and keep people safe but surely they can work something out so that people don't need to have multiple tests in one day!