Facilitators to getting tested
For those motivated to get tested, key drivers were: a desire to protect the community; a belief that mass testing could help the city return to normality; and a belief that testing would be (or experience that testing was) convenient and efficient.
Protecting the community
Wanting to protect their community was a key motivator for those who engaged with the testing programme. This included a motivation to protect their loved ones, which in turn would have wider implications for public health.
Twitter 7.11.20
I will be taking part it #MassTesting #Liverpool to break the chain of transmission and protect the people I love.
There was also a wider understanding of community, beyond immediate family and friends. For example, people wanted to protect vulnerable people, both within their family and elsewhere. Within this, they fulfilled a sense of duty and felt by engaging with the asymptomatic testing they were contributing to saving lives.
Facebook 5.11.20
Protecting or vulnerable is most important. With regular testing, we can get tested on a Friday after work, if negative go see, spend time with vulnerable loved ones, and then return to work and school etc, repeat until necessary.
Facebook 7.11.20
I actually got tested so I can be sure I’m not a carrier infecting others! It’s a bit insulting to assume every person from Liverpool is just getting tested so they don’t have to work.
Return to normality
Tied in with wanting to protect the community was the anticipation of being able to return to “normal”. There was an understanding that pulling together as a community would not only help protect others and save lives, but would also help the city recover quicker, specifically reducing the number of cases and entering a lower tier following the national lockdown.
Facebook 6.11.20
It's important we get this testing and tracing working effectively so that we can go back to "normal" life. People need to recognise their own responsibility though and self-isolate when appropriate.
Twitter 2.11.20
Just get yourself tested, and then we can all start to think about getting back to normal. You can’t be anti-lockdown and anti-testing.
Online newspaper 3.11.20
If it saves lives and gets this city back to some semblance of normality then I am all for it.
Positive experience
Among commenters who did get tested, some discussed positive experiences of the testing process itself. These positive experiences were noted throughout the testing process, including ordering tests or booking test slots:
Facebook 6.11.20
Booked online last night, all done by 8.32 this morning.
Online newspaper 7.11.20
Ordered home delivery so I don't have to wait in long lines. Very convenient. Entire family being tested.
Positive experiences were also shared for the time spent at the test site, specifically how organised the process was:
Twitter 7.11.20
Arrived at the test centre, got tested, and received results through all within one hour. Well done to all the Army and NHS staff involved.
In addition, the kindness of the staff working at the test centres was noted as part of their positive experience of the end-to-end test experience:
Twitter 7.11.20
Superb organisation at Liverpool Airport #COVID19 #Liverpooltesting centre ... took my parents too. Staff extremely kind & considerate with them both. Good job everyone
Shared social identity with others in Liverpool and with authorities
There is a strong sense of social identity associated with the city of Liverpool; the city is who people are and where they belong. Where people identified with others in the city, as well as with authorities managing the response, shared identity operated not only as an individual motivator to get tested, but also to encourage others to do the same. There was a sense of wanting to come together as a community, not only to help the city but also the rest of the country. Rather than seeing this as a sacrifice on behalf of the rest of the country, it was seen as an opportunity to demonstrate that Liverpool can successfully manage the virus, setting an example for everyone else.
Online newspaper 3.11.20
Let's support them. What I have always loved about Liverpool is the community spirit, warmth and the way we pull together in a crisis. Labour voter here. If it works it will have positive effects not just in Liverpool but across the whole country. All eyes are on us. Let's show the country that Liverpool can beat covid 19, and they can too.
Facebook 6.11.20
Really great to see such a huge positive response to this - together we will do this. Well done Liverpool [thumbs up emoji].
Rather than viewing being chosen as the city to pilot testing as negative, the feeling of social identity and an emotional connection with the city helped people understand the pilot as an opportunity and privilege for the city, for example being the first place out of lockdown or into a lower tier following the end of the national lockdown.
Online newspaper 3.11.20
We are the test bunnies, but this isn’t a negative thing, in fact, if we get this sorted, we’ll be the first back to normal.
Barriers To Getting Tested
Analysis of the data highlighted several barriers to people getting tested. The key barriers identified were confusion about the overall pilot; practical barriers to testing; concern over the risk of transmission; and lack of trust in the mass testing programme, and in government response generally.
Practical barriers
A key practical barrier to getting tested was inconvenience associated with attending testing sites. Various factors associated with inconvenience were identified, including long queues at testing sites, and poor organisation of the testing process.
Facebook 6.11.20
3 1/2 hour wait at Wavertree even though I booked! Didn’t bother waiting, won’t bother again! [angry face emoji].
In addition, there was frustration that the booking system did not help to reduce queue length on attending the testing site – those who experienced long queues despite advanced booking were less motivated to try again. In some cases, people shared their negative experiences on social media, for example around queues, disorganisation or delays in getting results; this may have influenced others’ decisions in regards to getting a test.
Facebook 6.11.20
I wouldn't bother booking, having a time slot doesn't make any difference, you have to queue up with everyone else, it’s a joke.
[In response] Might not bother at all then if it’s not organised.
Another practical barrier to getting tested related to concerns about the consequences of someone testing positive. For example, some individuals raised lack of compensation if required to self-isolate as the result of a positive test as a reason for not getting tested.
Facebook 4.11.20
…they will never help us all. I won't be getting tested unless I'm unwell as I don't get paid for being off and not entitled to those payments. I am sure lots won't.
Risk of transmission
As well as long queues being a barrier to accessing testing because of the inconvenience, they also contributed to concerns over the risk of transmission. For some, the risk of catching Covid while queuing resulted in them not wanting to get tested.
Facebook 6.11.20
I just wouldn't do that wait in a queue like that it's pathetic and more to the point riskier.
In some cases, commenters who had participated in testing reported lack of distancing at test sites, with symptomatic people having to queue alongside asymptomatic people.
Twitter 6.11.20
Being at the testing site today it would seem that there are two 'sites' in the same car park (one for invited people with symptoms and one for asymptomatic people who booked a test) and I was in a single queue of both groups mixed because of no direction from staff or signs.
Uncertainty around accessing testing
The uncertainty surrounding the pilot, particularly in the first few days of launch, led to questions being raised in local narratives. These were predominantly related to access to testing, how to book, where the test sites were, whether there were separate sites for asymptomatic testing and who would be conducting the tests.
Facebook 7.11.20
Are there drive through ones for people with no symptoms?
Facebook 7.11.20
Will the army be doing the tests?
Uncertainty around how to access testing sometimes resulted in people attending the wrong test centres and having the wrong test, or being unable to book tests at all.
Facebook 7.11.20
I'm confused...I can't get a test because I am not showing symptoms and I haven't been asked to get tested. I thought the idea was that you were testing EVERYONE in Liverpool, regardless of whether they have symptoms or not...
Facebook 6.11.20
Well I went wrong one. Still had test but the normal one. I have to make sure I do the right one next time [eye roll, laughing face emoji].
Uncertainty around purpose of testing
There was also confusion surrounding the purpose of mass testing and how it would help the overall Covid response.
Online newspaper 6.11.20
Don’t see the point you could get tested today and all clear and then catch it tomorrow.
Online newspaper 6.11.20
How does a Covid test help you get better from the virus? We are in Lockdown so we are all isolating anyway.
Other drivers for not getting tested were concern about the use of mass testing for surveillance or DNA gathering;
Facebook 7.11.20
Can Liverpool City Council explain why they are taking peoples DNA. That's what the test is isn't it?
In addition, there was the perception that there was no practical purpose for getting tested because there would be no individual benefit to knowing your disease status, particularly if asymptomatic:
Online newspaper 3.11.20
What’s the point? They can’t cure it!!!
Trust
In addition to the more passive barriers outlined above, there was a motivation to actively avoid participation in mass testing, sometimes expressed alongside a discouragement to others or criticism of fellow residents who had been or were planning to get tested. A key factor motivating people to not get tested was lack of trust. This included lack of trust in the accuracy of the test and lack of trust in stakeholders involved in the delivery of mass testing, such as national and local government, scientists and Test and Trace.
Online newspaper 6.11.20
The tests are not accurate & not fit for purpose, giving up to 85% false positives, they do not isolate Covid, so what's the point in getting tested, just doesn't make sense to me?
Twitter 2.11.20
I won’t be getting tested or using the so-called NHS app whilst Serco are involved.
Twitter 2.11.20
Forced tests today, forced vaccines tomorrow.
Those who displayed low trust in the mass testing process, and in government response generally, highlighted potential adverse consequences of mass testing for Liverpool. These potential consequences focused on two main concerns; coercion by the state during mass testing and further restrictions following mass testing due to the rise in the number of known cases. The latter concern was related to the aforementioned lack of trust in the accuracy of the test, with commentators predicting an anticipated high number of false positive cases (sometimes referred to as a "casedemic") that would lead to further restrictions in Liverpool only, including a prolonged lockdown.\
Twitter 3.11.20
More tests = More False Positives
More false positives = More False ‘cases’
More cases = More lockdown restrictions
More lockdowns = More power to the government
More government power = Less rights & less liberty for the UK people
STOP GETTING TESTED
Shared social identity with others in Liverpool, but not with authorities
Analysis highlighted how social identity can have a dual role in understanding responses to testing. For those who identified with authorities managing the response, as well as with others in the city, this operated as a facilitator to getting tested (as described above). However, for those who did not trust the government response, and for whom there was no shared identity with authorities, shared identity with others in the city contributed to motivations not to get tested. In this instance, people felt that mass testing was something being imposed on them, rather than something they could engage with as a community.
Online newspaper 7.11.20
Surprise Surprise, we are just one big test case.
This led to a sense of marginalisation; local communities felt disconnected from those making the decisions, particularly central government. Feeling disenfranchised from local and central government resulted in discussions around ulterior motives, highlighting a breakdown in trust between the local community in Liverpool and those in power.
Facebook 6.11.20
Do you really think they want Liverpool out of tier 3?? If they wanted anyone out of tier 3 Liverpool would be bottom of the pile.
In addition, the role of social identity in local narratives around testing resulted in some members of the community not wanting to conform with what others were doing. For this group, people who were participating in testing were viewed negatively; they had lost their identity and become “other” and therefore outsiders in the local community, which resulted in criticism for “conforming”.
Online newspaper 6.11.20
'Obedient biodrones’ couldn't agree more. Same as the police.
Social identity also played a part in concern over “outsiders” coming to the city to deliver the testing programme and highlighted a lack of trust in central government.
Online newspaper 5.11.20
The Army are here for two reasons. 1. So the government won't have to pay health workers, and 2. To intimidate people, esp [sic] if they go door to door like they did in Birmingham recently. A lot of people would be less likely to refuse a soldier in uniform.