Thanks, hope you're feeling better soon!
I did the test at 16:30, had it in the post box for 17:00 (last post 18:00), tracking showed it made it to the local delivery office at 18:30, then over to Leeds, then delivered in Leeds at 20:30. So it doesn't seem like posting should add much overhead.

The law does require you to assist NHST&T in trying to reduce the extent of people infected. I would personally say it's ok to have say 2 calls with them and to give them details of people. There maybe someone out there who is immune suppressed for example. If they ring thereafter then perhaps they should have got themselves a bit better organised, so perhaps invite them to email you instead at that point. You cannot then be accused of not helping.

Fair enough. I've done it online (though they are still calling me).

Croak at them that you can't speak...

Just got back from Wales. Thankfully I was nowhere near Snowdonia and had to make do with Pembrokeshire. Oh well. But, this mask thing is rather odd in its implementation there. In pubs and restaurants/hospitality premises it is not mandated (but they can require them if they feel the need) but in all other indoor public places it is a requirement. All very odd I thought but when in Wales do as the Welsh. Where it became very odd was sitting in an absolutely rammed pub garden/pub with not a mask in sight, then seeing crowds gathering outside of a Tesco as the red light to stay out was on, then put their masks on as they went inside. It's just odd to see this in action (as it were). Anyway, as I say, their game, their rules, just a little odd as an observer.

the theory is that T&T inform your contacts, so that you don’t need to identify yourself. By being that helpful person who has done T&T work for them, you’ve broken the anonymity. No bad thing if you are comfortable with it, but I think some attitudes are different.

Daily data:

Cases 35,693 (35,847 last Wednesday)
Deaths 207 (149)
Patients admitted 842 (864 on the 21st)
Patients in hospital 7,598 (6,874 on the 24th)
Patients in ventilation beds 1,014 (957 on the 24th)
People vaccinated up to and including 31 August 2021:
First dose: 48,086,605
Second dose: 42,908,022

The rolling seven day daily average for cases is now down 0.2% on the previous week and the same measure for deaths is down 0.5%. The rolling 7 day daily average for deaths is 105.6 today. As expected the daily figure for deaths plays catchup today after the holiday. For the first time in a long time the rolling average for cases and deaths shows an improvement. The rise in cases in England has slowed over the last few days.

All very grim and depressing but I would guess the government finds it good enough at the moment. If any of you watch the John Campbell videos on Youtube, yesterday's was a little depressing, insightful and portends changes in thinking around the current thinking that we will all come into contact with Delta. Now looking forward to my booster and flu jabs.

I'm sorry to hear of your bad luck.

Your obligation is now to stay at home, not to talk to NHS track & trace, so if they annoy you, you're well within your rights to block their number. Might they come and visit you? I don't know, but you're at home so that's no problem.

Since we are on the subject, it seems despite all its flaws and its huge cost, NHS T&T works.
Due to a technical problem with Excel, 15 000 cases were lost (line numbers limitations). A group of researchers used this bug to evaluate the impact of track & trace by looking at the differential in cases and deaths between affected regions and non affected regions. And the results are quite clear: the regions that were affected by the bug had a significant difference in number of cases and deaths. Specifically:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E99PwOxW...name=4096x4096


https://www.pnas.org/content/118/33/e2100814118#sec-5

Technical problem indeed ! I think you are maybe being overly generous to the team who originally set up a database on Excel. It's surprising how long institutions have hung on to earlier versions of Excel with those 65K line limits.

I certainly fell foul of those limits. However, I've never taxed the capacity of the later editions Excel, but i'm aware of there are limits. For my work these might well be infinite, but I'd start to get worried if my data set ever exceeded one million rows.

I would argue the real problem is with then using a spreadsheet at all. Excel normally ships alongside a pretty awful database product called Access but that is at least a database of sorts and could have been used as an operational stop gap while they sorted out a proper solution. The real, real problem? I suspect an unforgivably poor level of basic tech literacy.

Apologies as I feel like I'm banging a drum here, but does anyone know? Or know if notifications go out at set times? Still nothing from my test on Tuesday and I'm getting a little anxious!
How much longer is it worth waiting before chasing and/or booking a test at a drive through centre.

Daily lateral flows have all been negative so far.

So, you did the test Tuesday, sent the test Tuesday which should have had it with the lab Wednesday. As long as they have your mobile number and email address I would say you should have been informed early today at the very latest. If nothing today then I think it safe to assume your specimen was lost in the post :(.

Interesting data point from my own infection: My sister, who spent quality time a couple of feet from me, as we talked and consumed a massive curry on her Saturday visit, got her PCR result today. Negative. She's a teacher and her management asked her to get a PCR as soon as she informed them of my result.