Boots testing

Will this be the sort needed for travel? Some countries are apparently expecting people to be tested.

It is profiteering, but frankly, if I was desperate, I would pay it. When my daughter was ill a month ago I would have paid for it if she could have had a test, even an expensive one, at her local Boots, given that there were NO free tests available anywhere.

That is an awful lot of money-who is taking the swab and more importantly who is doing the testing?

I would not pay that money.

Wow! What a price. Maybe it's to make people appreciate the free ones (if available)

Medically, you should only be tested if you're showing symptoms - and if you have symptoms surely you shouldn't be heading out to Boots.

I expect it will be used either for plane travel, or by the worried-well. Any test will only confirm that you don't have the virus on that given day - so for anyone asymptomatic and not been in contact, it would be a waste of money.

How do we know this is profiteering?
What is Boots charged for the kit?
What sort of test is it?
What is the a accuracy?

Doesn't 'asymptomatic' mean that you are carrying the virus and capable of infecting others but not showing any symptoms?

What is needed are the quick and cheap saliva tests which are said to be in development. They would be a game changer. I can't see many people going for a £120 test at Boots.

Ok, so have googled this. It seems to be an American test:

www.lumiradx.com/us-en/recent-news/lumiradx-launches-first-of-its-kind-smart-diagnostic-platform

This might explain the cost. £150 is nothing in America in testing terms.

Oops, sorry. 120 not 150.

For people who need to travel for work, who need to travel for a family emergency it will be very useful.

Riverwalk, the nearest Walk-In centre to my daughter is 4.8 miles away. For those who don't drive they have no option other than to use public transport to be tested.

Going to the local Boots would involve contact with a LOT less people.

You could have the test one week and then catch covid the next week, what is the point unless you have been in touch with someone with it, at which point I would isolate anyway.
I suppose its good if you have to visit elderly suddenly but then would you rely on it? £120 lots of people couldn't afford this. Am I missing something?

The price will come down when (if) demand increases.

I suspect that very soon much cheaper, and equally accurate tests will be available. The hope in our house is this will help us spend some relatively safe time together over Christmas and at other special times.

If you can afford to travel to say Cyprus, where you need to produce a negative covid test before you can fly, I think its reasonable to ask the tourist to pay rather than get a free NHS test.

I was listening to dr Hillary this morning about these tests.
I think he said they are 97 percent accurate, and he thinks they're a good idea for people who want to be fairly sure they're healthy before visiting someone, and that kind of thing.
Basically, for a person's own peace of mind.

I would only use this service if it gave me a certificate valid for air travel and I needed one. Otherwise I can’t see the point at all.

We paid £140 for our son's 5 day test when he had Covid because he couldn't book an NHS one for love nor money.

No it is not profiteering. The diverse reasons given by other posters explains why. I love it that all the hypochondriacs will use it and free up any necessary space. What curmudgeons there are.

When Heathrow Airport were talking about having tests available at the airport, their charge was going t be £150 per test. But the government then wasn't interested so Heathrow didn't go ahead with the plans. That was quite a few weeks/months ago. Now I see that tests might be going ahead? Presumably Boots or Heathrow, etc, have to pay out some money to set these test facilities up?

It's only (at best) going to determine whether you were infected on the test day. That's really not much help - unless you live in complete isolation - with any plans for after the result.

I think this is a british company

LUMIRADX UK LTD (09206123)
Company status
Active
Correspondence address
3 More London Riverside, London, SE1 2AQ
Role ACTIVE
Director
Appointed on
5 September 2014
Nationality
British
Country of residence
United States
Occupation
Business Executive

If its for peoplenwho need a clear test to travel abroad somewhere then absolutely they should pay. Leave the free NHS tests for those who need them because they have symptoms

My son flew to Italy yesterday.. fairly last minute trip. He didn’t have time to get a private covid test but discovered he could be tested there. So he flew into Rome, was tested straight away and had a negative result within half an hour! Why can’t we do this?
And also, as my children have it rammed into them that they travel nowhere without insurance because I don’t want to pay to have them medivacced home, he did find insurance for Italy - a country not on the FDCO safe travel list - for less than £20.
I just want an antibody test as one daughter discover last week that she’s had the virus but was asymptomatic. She had a horrible streaming cold (no covid symptoms) which she kindly gave to me so I’d like to know if she gave me covid too!

I’d pay for a private test at Boots for air travel. Tests for travelling should not be funded by the NHS.