My feed
Premium

Please
or
to access all these features

Mumsnet doesn't verify the qualifications of users. If you have medical concerns, please consult a healthcare professional.

Covid

Dd had negative covid test yesterday, now has a cough.

33 replies

TeddyIsaHe · 27/10/2020 06:41

Ffs this is getting ridiculous!!

Dd had a temp on Friday morning, wouldn’t come down with calpol, so I booked a covid test. Got the results on Monday morning at 3am and it was negative.

She’s not got a snotty nose and a bit of a chesty cough (new and continuous) do I need to retest?! And keep her off nursery?

OP posts:
Report
TeddyIsaHe · 27/10/2020 06:41

*shes now

OP posts:
Report
fluckityfluckfluck · 27/10/2020 06:43

Yes and yes

Report
Completmentfille · 27/10/2020 06:44

I wouldn't - she's already tested negative!

Report
TeddyIsaHe · 27/10/2020 06:46

Bloody hellfire.

Surely she cannot have contracted covid since Friday as we’ve been isolating until the result!

OP posts:
Report
newmummy8789 · 27/10/2020 06:48

I wouldn't either

Report
Thegirlhasnoname · 27/10/2020 06:56

If she has been isolating since getting her test and the temperature came from nowhere, rather than exposure to a confirmed positive case, I wouldn’t get her tested again. You could always send an email to nursery with a screenshot of her negative result and explain it to them too

Report
Zampa · 27/10/2020 06:56

A colleague had a negative test followed by a positive test within about 3 days of each other. You might want to get another test to be on the safe side if she's still poorly and has developed new symptoms.

Report
Branleuse · 27/10/2020 06:59

Not every cough is covid. She tested negative.

Report
SkittyKat · 27/10/2020 07:11

She was negative at that snapshot in time. There was not a sufficient amount of virus present at that point in time in her nasal cavity to trigger the test to be positive. It doesn't mean she wasn't incubating the virus, and the fact that you isolated for a few days before you got the first result back still doesn't mean she wasn't incubating it from picking it up previously - the incubation period can be up to 14 days.

Given the presence of a new symptom I would probably test again, or at least you would have to isolate again as you don't know for sure that it's not covid.

Report
Hugosmugo · 27/10/2020 07:15

I wouldn't get her retested that close.

Report
Thefaceofboe · 27/10/2020 07:22

I personally wouldn’t but the nursery might ask you to anyway, especially because she didn’t have the cough at the time of the test.

Report
SniffyMiffy · 27/10/2020 07:25

@SkittyKat

She was negative at that snapshot in time. There was not a sufficient amount of virus present at that point in time in her nasal cavity to trigger the test to be positive. It doesn't mean she wasn't incubating the virus, and the fact that you isolated for a few days before you got the first result back still doesn't mean she wasn't incubating it from picking it up previously - the incubation period can be up to 14 days.

Given the presence of a new symptom I would probably test again, or at least you would have to isolate again as you don't know for sure that it's not covid.

Skittycat is right. A Covid test is not a definitive answer as you whether you have picked up the virus or not; it just means that you didn't have an active case at the time. But you might be incubating one.
A bit like a pregnancy test I suppose; you could be a few days pregnant and still get a negative result from a test if you weren't far enough along to have the hormones in your urine.
Report
user1471428628 · 27/10/2020 07:26

We’ve had this too. Temperature (and negative test) and then a couple of days later a cough. Both the childminder and I have assumed this is part of the same viral infection that is not covid. Which 2 year olds get all the time! Checked with my friendly microbiologist and he agreed so we have not re-swabbed and the family aren’t isolating.

Report
PolarBearStrength · 27/10/2020 07:27

If she’s not been anywhere, it sounds like she just has a generic winter virus that has now developed into a cough. I wouldn’t re-test.

Report
Hardbackwriter · 27/10/2020 07:34

If it were an adult I might get another test to be on the safe side. If she found the test as upsetting as my toddler did then I wouldn't be doing it twice in a week unless I really had to.

Report
Beautiful3 · 27/10/2020 07:51

No I wouldn't. I'd just assume it's part of this virus she has.

Report
Toontown · 27/10/2020 07:55

Just a point but if you have isolated since Friday there is still time for her to have got it as the gestation period is much longer than 4 days. It's fucking annoying though DH tested negative last week. How to do a retest as his partner at work tested positive he is now positive with a bit of sore throat and snotty nose (not a symptom associated).

Report
30not13 · 27/10/2020 08:14

Jesus how hard is it to understand the guidelines. Shocking.

Of course get her tested!!!

And yes pregnancy test is a good comparison. I shall use that with other people who try to make excuses why they shouldnt test again with the onset of a symptom.

Good grief Hmm

Report
TeddyIsaHe · 27/10/2020 08:16

@30not13

I’m sorry, would you like to show me the exact guidelines about getting a test 24 hours after a negative result?

Why don’t you try not to be so fucking patronising for a day?

OP posts:
Report
Sorehandsandfeet · 27/10/2020 08:19

I tested negative on Saturday, positive on Wednesday. Smell was down at first test, cough started on the Monday. (My husband had tested positive at the time) I would do another test to be safe.

Report
BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz · 27/10/2020 08:21

The thing is, OP, it's not 24 hours since her last test. Ok so it's 24 hours since her result, but that result could have been based on testing they did on Friday. They don't necessarily test the sample the same day as the result is sent to you.

On Friday (4 days ago) she was negative. It can take up to 10 days for symptoms to develop.

She may now be positive.

Report
TabbyStar · 27/10/2020 08:25

I’m sorry, would you like to show me the exact guidelines about getting a test 24 hours after a negative result?

We were in a similar situation too OP and I found it difficult to understand the retest guidelines.

Report

Don’t want to miss threads like this?

Weekly

Sign up to our weekly round up and get all the best threads sent straight to your inbox!

Log in to update your newsletter preferences.

You've subscribed!

TeddyIsaHe · 27/10/2020 08:44

Yes totally get symptoms take time to develop, but she HAD symptoms at the time of the test.

OP posts:
Report
BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz · 27/10/2020 08:53

But those symptoms were obviously a symptom of something else.

This symptom could be a symptom of covid. Or something else.

The only way to know is to test. Unless you all want to stay indoors for 14days?

Report
Sweetchillijam · 27/10/2020 09:13

Considering the symptoms she’s had and still got it sounds more like the test result was likely to be a false negative i.e. she was positive but the test result may have been incorrect.

Please note my best friend is still testing positive for covid at the moment. This is just over three weeks since her symptoms first started.

Report
Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.