Read on Twitter
about my covid testing experience 
Overnight on Thursday both kids came down with something. By Friday morning, high temps (>40 for little one), not eating, coughing (big one), lethargic. Obvs kept them home from nursery (would have done that in the Before-times). Hmm. Better get tests! 2/10
It took me >4 HOURS on the #worldbeating http://gov.uk website to book tests and honestly I think I got really lucky. Booked for 4.30pm. Testing centre was completely deserted. We were there for about 20 minutes and saw ONE other car. 3/10
On arrival (drive-through), there are ACTUAL SECURITY turning people without bookings away. They were hostile. This is new - I was at the same testing centre 3 weeks ago (without a booking because website wanted to send me to Blackburn...) and still got a test for little one 4/10
Could we have some truth about testing please, @MattHancock ? Cases rapidly rising in #Liverpool. Deserted testing centres and almost impossible to book tests. Security not letting people in for tests even though nobody in test centre?! 5/10
A glance through twitter at #testingshambles hashtag demonstrates how bad this issue is. Obviously, it’s a disaster for #testandtrace if people with symptoms can’t get a fast test (or one at all), but there are other practical problems. 6/10
Every time a kid gets a cough, mild temp or sniffle this winter, they (and siblings) are sent home until they can get a -ve test (which happened to us 3 weeks ago). Parents can’t work, kids missing education. The knock-on impact is huge. 7/10
Test results finally arrive. One at 7am Sunday, one at 12pm. Negative, thankfully (we weren’t sure!) But if they had been +ve, that’s 3 days from symptom onset to test results. 3 days in which ppl exposed to my kids have been mixing, not knowing they’d been exposed. 8/10
I’m sick of platitudes from this government. We need a basic testing system that works. Why are people being turned away from deserted test centres? How, after months, do we have a test website that doesn’t work? Slow turnaround? Just the truth, please? @BorisJohnson 9/10
Surely, without a vaccine, #testandtrace is the whole ball game? The only way of slowing the spread and protecting vulnerable people? Why can’t we admit we’ve got it horribly wrong and maybe ask for advice from countries who are managing this so much better? #noroomforego 10/fin
