Sun 04 July 2021:
Students in the United Kingdom are using TikTok to learn and share tips for faking positive Covid-19 tests as hundreds of thousands of pupils in “bubbles” are already being forced to miss school, The Guardian reported on Saturday.
One UK science teacher told the publication students “say it’s a great way to get two weeks off school.”
Videos uploaded under the search term #fakecovidtest have been viewed more than 6.5 million times, with the dedicated account @.fakecovidtests gaining more than 20,000 followers.
A professor of biostatistics at the University of Birmingham criticized the practice, according to The Guardian.
“False positives affect not just that child but their family and their bubble at school, so [it is a] pretty selfish thing to do. There are less harmful ways to fake a day off school,” Jon Deeks was quoted as saying.
Geoff Barton, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, urged parents to ensure tests are being used properly, adding, the best place for students who are interested in learning more about chemical reactions is in schools.
Education leaders have warned that the practice is “massively unhelpful” as schools already battle to keep education going amid outbreaks.
“We are sure this involves a very small minority of pupils, and that for the most part the tests are used correctly,” Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, according to I newspaper.
“However, we would urge parents to ensure that tests are not being misused, and we would suggest to pupils who are interested in chemical reactions that the best place to learn about them is in chemistry lessons in school.”
The experiment, which requires using a COVID lateral flow test, “is not a result of the juice containing the virus. Rather it appears to be linked to its acidity, which essentially breaks the test.”
A rapid flow test is usually self-administered and shows results after 30 minutes. A sample is taken inside the mouth and nose using a swab which is then soaked in a liquid then squeezed onto a test strip.
The same positive results have reportedly been seen by using other foods and drinks including ketchup and Coca-Cola, according to the report.
