UK spent $20 million on Corona Tests that didn’t work
 

Full story: https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.n...st-uk.amp.html

Omg :facepalm:

Yes bad luck

20 million is pocket change in terms of government budgets though. It sounds like a lot of money, but it really isn't.

It’s a new virus and a pandemic. Had they not taken the risk/opportunity the exact same people would say they were stupid/careless and endangering people’s lives by not acting

*UK spent $20 million on corona test that didn’t work.
*Trump halts WHO funding over handling of corona
*Figures now predict UK will pass Italy in total covid deaths
*Government DELIBERATELY did not take part in EU Coronavirus scheme
*Government ignored advice to set up emergency alert system

I'm going to guess that Smithy is a glass half empty kinda guy.

People are still moaning about the testing abilities.
It would be far worse if no risks were taken in finding them.

Yes just another bad day

He is Trying to stay sharp.

Is that the only response you have to such a mishandling of public funds?.. This is not pocket change, it's not their own private stash it's dedicated funding that has been wasted on snake oil.
How many ventilators would that have bought, how many peices of PPE?

Sorry to make an issue of your comment but excusing the govt of a gaffe like that is honestly Priti Patel level explanation.

I'm gonna guess that you haven't contributed anything to any of those threads that isn't a personal snipe.

As soon as we start getting some good news I’ll post it :pipe:

20 million would make a massive difference to some NHS services that don’t even have basic PPE...

It's not a mishandling though, they didn't know the tests were crap until after they had them, so it was a gamble that didn't pay off. A very small gamble that seems worth the risk.

Again, the problem with ventilators and PPE is not the cost, it's how quickly it can be produced and distributed. I know there are celebrities throwing money at it and expecting that to solve the problem, because people are used to money solving problems, but in this case it really isn't about how much is being spent.

I'm obviously not mr-defend-the-government... They should have had stockpiles of things like PPE ready to go in an emergency... But they didn't, and now the problem is not how much they're willing to spend on it. It isn't there to buy.

No it wouldn't.

It was not a small gamble it was a stupid misinformed, ill judged and incompetent mistake. All the advise surrounding these antigen tests at the time said they were not effective and we bought them anyway. In what universe is that worth the risk?
There is PPE to buy TS, i dont agree sorry how that detracts from the useless tests I don't know, it's like sending a kid to a shop for stock cubes for gran and they come back with durex!

It would, ask the carers in homes where there have been up to 15 deaths if they would appreciate a proportion of that to protect themselves.

I don’t think you’re in any position to say that, the people on the front line would definitely feel differently

So, would spending money paying for researching a vaccine also be a complete waste of money if it didn't pan out with a result?

We invested in several anti body tests, it turns out that none of them work. Every country around the world has been buying the same or similar tests, none of them work, so i guess they are all bad guys too

Its not like they spent 20 mil knowing they didn't work, they took a gamble which would have paid off if it did work...onwards and upwards

The point TS is making is that its not a lack of money, its a lack of the equipment, bit like you heading out for Toilet roll a few weeks ago, you had the cash but there was none to be found, hence the need to include companies like Burberry in the making of gowns and masks

Exactly Douglas,they cant do right for doing wrong.

I am in a position to say that; my wife works in the NHS. They have money to buy PPE, they have orders in for PPE, there is such a high demand for PPE that they can't supply it fast enough to meet demand. That is the current situation. There is nowhere that's going without PPE "because they can't afford it".

Cherie has given the best allegory really. A month ago you could have gone to Tesco with £1000 in your pocket - you still weren't leaving with a 9 pack of Andrex, because they didn't have any. You could have gone with a million pounds. The problem is supply.

Like I said I think people are just very used to being able to solve all sorts of things by throwing money at the problem... We're used to living in a world of abundant supply. We're not used to scarcity and what that means.

It sort of reminds me of the scene in Titanic where Cal tries to buy his way onto a lifeboat and can't understand when his money suddenly doesn't mean anything.

we did not buy it...

smithy

"Tories fail to buy important testing kit"

" :facepalm: it was only 20 million, ffs this government are WORSE than the Third Reich and are responsible for everyone who died in the world since Jesus"

:idc:

Not our Most Loved trying to escape TiBB on a life raft :oh:

people forget

every country in the whole world has the same shopping list