GTR Using a 313 for Staff Testing

[Steddenm]

From Sky News:

COVID-19: Train transformed into coronavirus testing centre for staff

A passenger train has been converted into a rapid lateral flow COVID-19 testing station for railway staff.

news.sky.com

A passenger train has been converted into a rapid lateral flow COVID-19 testing station for railway staff.

The Southern Class 313 Coastway train stationed at platform 8 of Brighton station will be used with two other bases to test up to 1,250 workers for Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) - which operates Southern, Thameslink, Great Northern and Gatwick Express.

The rapid lateral flow tests take less than four minutes and provide results via SMS in under an hour.

Mark Whitley, GTR head of safety and health, said: "One in three people with COVID show no symptoms. These tests are the latest in a long line of measures we've been taking to protect our colleagues and will help identify carriers before they have the potential to infect others.

Full story in the above link.

 

[prod_pep]

313207 is the unit for any fellow number-crunchers out there.

 

[Mikey C]

Geoff Marshall has a video about it, as he was invited down to visit the train and had a test. I won't reveal the result of the test here, spoilers

 

[johnnychips]

Well seeming that he produces innumerable videos, if the next one doesn’t appear for at least ten days... only joking, I like them

 

[90034]

At Brighton today 313207 was not in platform 8, does anyone know if it has finished its covid testing "duties" and if so is it likely to return to service?

 

[43066]

Yet more Covid silliness.

I do hope no pressure was put on staff to submit to a test. Personally I’d rather go about my working day without medical prodding and poking.

 

[Skimpot flyer]

At Brighton today 313207 was not in platform 8, does anyone know if it has finished its covid testing "duties" and if so is it likely to return to service?

It will surely by now have been converted to administer COVID-19 jabs whilst carrying passengers to their destinations?
This would allow Sajid Javid to correctly claim ‘the vaccine rollout continues, at pace’

 

[Luckyflames]

Yet more Covid silliness.

I do hope no pressure was put on staff to submit to a test. Personally I’d rather go about my working day without medical prodding and poking.

How very kind of you.

 

[LancasterRed]

Yet more Covid silliness.

I do hope no pressure was put on staff to submit to a test. Personally I’d rather go about my working day without medical prodding and poking.

I'm sure taking 5 minutes out of your day to make sure that you're not carrying a virus won't hurt.

It's barely even prodding or poking when done by someone who has received sufficient levels of training.

 

[43066]

I'm sure taking 5 minutes out of your day to make sure that you're not carrying a virus won't hurt.

It's barely even prodding or poking when done by someone who has received sufficient levels of training.

Not going to happen. In just the same way as I don’t take five minutes out of my day to make sure I’m not carrying the flu virus, or the cold virus, or any other mild respiratory disease.

Covid testing is highly unpleasant and I have no intention of ever doing a test again.

How very kind of you.

Oh that’s quite alright.

 

[Bantamzen]

I'm sure taking 5 minutes out of your day to make sure that you're not carrying a virus won't hurt.

It's barely even prodding or poking when done by someone who has received sufficient levels of training.

5 minutes every day to be given permission to go about your daily business? For a virus that will almost certainly not kill you? What about other illnesses? Should we be checked every day for pathogens that might be passed on to others, and that might have a very small chance of killing them? Where does all this stop, and more importantly who pays for it all in the end?

T&T has cost tens of billions, tens of billions of pounds that could have been purposed elsewhere, say enhanced vaccine rollout, building more permanent capacity, pay staff more.....

 

[big_rig]

Not going to happen. In just the same way as I don’t take five minutes out of my day to make sure I’m not carrying the flu virus, or the cold virus, or any other mild respiratory disease.

Covid testing is highly unpleasant and I have no intention of ever doing a test again.



Oh that’s quite alright.

My view as well. Anybody remotely at any risk from this virus has been double vaccinated for months. I have colleagues who insist on doing home tests multiple times a week and I genuinely have no idea why. I think the intractable thing about so much of this has been the idea that ‘doing something’ will help in some way. ‘Doing something’ useless will do…nothing. Viruses don’t have feelings!

 

[YorkshireBear]

My view as well. Anybody remotely at any risk from this virus has been double vaccinated for months. I have colleagues who insist on doing home tests multiple times a week and I genuinely have no idea why. I think the intractable thing about so much of this has been the idea that ‘doing something’ will help in some way. ‘Doing something’ useless will do…nothing. Viruses don’t have feelings!

Because I am see a large number of people in my social life, having seen how ill it made my 24 year old brother with no underlying health conditions if taking a simple home test reduces the chances of me accidentally giving it to a friend then I am happy with that. It also reduces the chances of me accidentally making loads of people need to self isolate, which actually is a right pain so reducing the chances of that is also worthwhile to me.

Once there isn't the same level of self isolation requirements when you have it, I will stop testing. But until then, the testing is helping me keep some certainty in my planning and also not leading to large numbers of friends having to self isolate.

I don't judge anyone for not taking tests, I don't judge anyone who does.

 

[43066]

Because I am see a large number of people in my social life, having seen how ill it made my 24 year old brother with no underlying health conditions if taking a simple home test reduces the chances of me accidentally giving it to a friend then I am happy with that.

Young healthy people with no underlying conditions can get very ill from flu and sometimes die of it. We don’t test ourselves endlessly for flu, and neither should we. At some point we need to accept Covid is here to stay, and people will continue to die of it.

I’m not going to go through life pandering to the terrified, and I’ll be damned if I’ll be prodded and poked at work, thank you very much.

Once there isn't the same level of self isolation requirements when you have it, I will stop testing. But until then, the testing is helping me keep some certainty in my planning and also not leading to large numbers of friends having to self isolate.

Logically, if you don’t want to self isolate, not being tested is a sensible approach.

 

[YorkshireBear]

Young healthy people with no underlying conditions can get very ill from flu and sometimes die of it. We don’t test ourselves endlessly for flu, and neither should we. At some point we need to accept Covid is here to stay, and people will continue to die of it.

I’m not going to go through life pandering to the terrified, and I’ll be damned if I’ll be prodded and poked at work, thank you very much.



Logically, if you don’t want to self isolate, not being tested is a sensible approach.

I have accepted it's here to stay... I also think all restrictions should be lifted for what it is worth. I also accept the deaths. None of which is relevant to the point. I choose to test because of the current inconveniences of getting it, with self isolation etc. I accept that maybe that will make me have to isolate asymptomatically, but I also accept it reduces the likelihood of my friends and family having the inconvenience. And for me that is worth once or twice per week having a simple test. It is them I am protecting from the inconvenience not myself as not all of them have a job where they can work from home like I can and also have childcare etc. Which I don't. I am doing it to protect my friends. Not protect my friends from death as you seem to assume, but protect them from the current self isolation rules.

That is my choice and is perfectly logical thank you very much.

To repeat, I accept covid is here to stay, accept some deaths are inevitable, I want lockdown over and life to return to normal, I trust the vaccines but I have taken a personal choice to test myself ONLY, and not force any tests on other people, to reduce the chance of my causing friends and family to self isolate. I have seen the damage self isolation can do and so reducing the risk of that for others feels worth it to me.

I never asked you to pander to me, I am not terrified. I do not judge you at all for not taking the same view as me I don't encourage others to take tests I just go about my business. I was simply pointing out a reason for testing that had not been mentioned.

This doesn't need to be an us and them topic!

 

[43066]

I have accepted it's here to stay... I also think all restrictions should be lifted for what it is worth.

Well, at least we agree on that much. Let’s just leave it there!

 

[317 forever]

313207 is the unit for any fellow number-crunchers out there.

I wonder whether the number of people who had Covid in this country on any given day was ever 313,207?

 

[VauxhallandI]

I'm sure taking 5 minutes out of your day to make sure that you're not carrying a virus won't hurt.

It's barely even prodding or poking when done by someone who has received sufficient levels of training.

I’ve had one of these tests and it was horrible. I was left in a rather uncomfortable state after gagging and retching, my eyes were streaming.

I can’t begin to think about doing that everyday, I for one will not be having another one.

 

[WelshBluebird]

I’ve had one of these tests and it was horrible. I was left in a rather uncomfortable state after gagging and retching, my eyes were streaming.

I can’t begin to think about doing that everyday, I for one will not be having another one.

Just because it was so bad for you, it doesn't mean it is that bad for everyone. For most people I know, including myself and my partner, it really wasn't that bad. A bit uncomfortable? Yes. But not lasting more than a minute or two afterwards.

And for my partner more than me (as they work in a kitchen), it is useful because it means they reduce the risk of forcing their colleagues into self isolation (either because they can know they are positive earlier and so reduce the number of people they've been in close proximity too, or because they reduce the risk of passing COVID onto colleagues and those colleagues then testing positive and needing to self isolate).

 

[Jan Mayen]

I have to show a negative test result to gain access to my (non-railway) workplace. Does anyone else have to do this?

 

[The exile]

I have to show a negative test result to gain access to my (non-railway) workplace. Does anyone else have to do this?

I would have to if I needed to go into the office

 

[Bantamzen]

I have to show a negative test result to gain access to my (non-railway) workplace. Does anyone else have to do this?

Nope, and I work at a public sector hub.

 

[VauxhallandI]

Nope and I work in a public-is establishment

We could go in since last Summer if we really wanted to and asked first.

 

[43066]

I have to show a negative test result to gain access to my (non-railway) workplace. Does anyone else have to do this?

No, I don't thankfully. I’m at the point with all this where, if I was asked to, I’d just insert the swab back into the kit unused.

the fact people are asked to do this is a very worrying. It’s yet another gross invasion of privacy of the type that seems to be becoming increasingly normalised. It’s also not foolproof, of course, because you could take a test and still have been infected/contagious in the time it takes the results to come back.

The only benefit from the obsession with testing is for those who manufacture the kits!

 

[317 forever]

No, I don't thankfully. I’m at the point with all this where, if I was asked to, I’d just insert the swab back into the kit unused.

the fact people are asked to do this is a very worrying. It’s yet another gross invasion of privacy of the type that seems to be becoming increasingly normalised. It’s also not foolproof, of course, because you could take a test and still have been infected/contagious in the time it takes the results to come back.

The only benefit from the obsession with testing is for those who manufacture the kits!

Furthermore, once we have had our 2nd jab and are unlikely to get Covid, I feel we should be excused from being told to take a test. Better to use the text kit on people who stand a greater chance of testing positive.

 

[Steddenm]

No, I don't thankfully. I’m at the point with all this where, if I was asked to, I’d just insert the swab back into the kit unused.

the fact people are asked to do this is a very worrying. It’s yet another gross invasion of privacy of the type that seems to be becoming increasingly normalised. It’s also not foolproof, of course, because you could take a test and still have been infected/contagious in the time it takes the results to come back.

The only benefit from the obsession with testing is for those who manufacture the kits!

All the testing kits and vaccines are currently being provided free to the NHS for a set period of time from the manufacturer.

 

[Domh245]

All the testing kits and vaccines are currently being provided free to the NHS for a set period of time from the manufacturer.

Er? The NHS is paying (through the nose!) for vaccines & test kits. They are being provided to the public for free but that is rather different!

 

[D365]

Covid testing is highly unpleasant and I have no intention of ever doing a test again.

Covid is highly unpleasant.

Not saying that two tests a week are necessary for the majority of people, but the idea that it’s an ”invasion of privacy” is ridiculous.

 

[Yew]

Covid is highly unpleasant.

Not saying that two tests a week are necessary for the majority of people, but the idea that it’s an ”invasion of privacy” is ridiculous.

It's a fairly mild respiratory illness.

What right do you have to the medical information of another individual. Why does your delusional, media driven fear justify breaking the principle of doctor-patient confidentiality?

 

[43066]

Covid is highly unpleasant.

In a tiny minority of cases it can be, just as with the other diseases mentioned upthread. What seems to be forgotten in all the hysteria is that a high % of those who contract Covid have symptoms no worse than a cold, or even no symptoms at all.

Not saying that two tests a week are necessary for the majority of people, but the idea that it’s an ”invasion of privacy” is ridiculous.

But we are talking here about employers making negative test results a requirement in order to enter workplaces. Do you honestly not believe that is an invasion of privacy?

The fact that is now apparently considered normal and acceptable by a % of the population is deeply shocking and makes me worry for the future.