People referring to covid as a cold

I think I had it last week as several ladies from work had it, in me it was a headache and slight sniffles, in them they were poorly. It really varies

Bayern's post is very sensible

COVID is not just a cold

It literally is. What we call "a cold" is typically a blanket term covering the symptoms we get with various rhinoviruses, adenoviruses, coronaviruses, RSV etc. Runny noses, coughs & respiratory symptoms, headaches, fevers. All of these but RSV and adenoviruses in particular can very severe - RSV lands many babies in hospital on ventilators every year, but you've probably had it a few times and classed it as a bad cough.

Coronavirus 19 was a new form, what made it so dangerous was its novelty. Over time, that danger/severity has reduced, just as it has with other cold viruses. If uncontacted peoples with limit immunity were exposed to many of the viruses we live with, they could be very poorly indeed which is one reason why they are so carefully protected in countries like Brazil.

The NHS website still says if you have COVID you should stay at home and away from other people.

There may not be a legal need to isolate but there is clearly still advice to reduce spread.

Anyone saying 'it's just a cold' is ignorant, and should listen to the experiences of those who have lost loved ones or are living with long COVID.

. Maybe some people have more exposure to exotic cold virus varieties and can brush it off but most people in the UK cannot.

You've got this the wrong way round. Post vaccination & most people having had it before, most people in the UK can and do brush it off with mild symptoms, it is the minority who are more poorly and the death rate due to covid is now low.

COVID is not just a cold and you were definitely doing the right thing. People are affected differently and these days we must make our own decisions. The best thing is to keep away from other people as much as possible.

The reality is we are all potentially exposed to COVID, colds, flu etc every time we go out into public. Plenty of people are asymptomatic. It is now part of the background of viruses that will be with us in perpetuity, as has happened for millennia. In future generations, kids will get it at school, probably repeatedly, they will build an immune response to it and then be unaffected or minimally affected as adults. It has to work it's way through to that point. We are at a stage in that progress where the onus of self-protection needs to be on those most at risk, same as they need to minimize their exposure to flu, because as said, plenty are asymptomatic.

I know that doesn't feel comfortable. I don't like it either. It is what our collective global inability to control it in the first place has created.

No way would I test or isolate ,as far as I am concerned all of that is over thank goodness
I wouldn't visit a vulnerable person if I had any illness

For some it will be similar to a cold for some similar to flu, you just treat it according to how bad you have it like any other illness. Most won't know it's Covid though so will then probably call it a cold or flu depending on severity.

Nigelharnansnewwife
You are correct, both the 1918 flu & the flu that killed many in the 50s, are still circulating today with far less impact.

Its their choice if they are happy seeing him with the risk of it. Its not fair of you to force him to isolate from family when its no longer required.

For children it largely is very mild, mine had no symptoms.

I'm sure I've read that the virus which caused the 1918 pandemic is now what we refer to as the common cold. Viruses change over time, typically weakening in their effects because viruses perpetuate by being passed on, not by killing those they infect. The human immune response increases as well. To some people what is "just a cold" to others can be much more difficult to fight off.

Covid is not like a cold for most in the same way that flu is not. Both cause significantly more problems for someone immunocompromised and Covid in particular has significant other risks beyond the immediate respiratory symptoms.

While some people don’t care anymore (helped by government messaging), it’s actually a bit shit to not be in some way responsible and minimise contact where you can if at all possible. I am lucky to work in healthcare in Australia where we have to take 5 days off and are expected to test with symptoms and am glad of that because most people are still sick enough not to come
to work for a couple of days and our roster would be wiped out, let alone the effects on the extremely sick patients we care for.

Just because it’s inconvenient to have to stay home for the government and businesses doesn’t mean you are doing the right thing

My friend is young but has asthma and was hospitalised last time she had it. So yes many people will just get cold symptoms but it annoys me when people assume it will just be a mild cold for everyone. I'm not saying everyone should isolate anymore, but there is often a lack of consideration with it these days.

Your situation is made more complex by the two homes situation. If you've made the situation clear and your ex still wants to go ahead with contact so be it. If they die of covid or get long covid then that's not on you.

Like any viral infection, it can be like a cold or feel like flu.

You've given the heads up, they're not bothered, take their lead. Vulnerable people can suffer much worse with any viral infection, not just Covid.

If a person is ‘vulnerable’ to covid, they’re also vulnerable to myriad other contagious diseases like flu, chicken pox etc. should they be kept locked away?

I have heart problems, heart failure, heart attack, a fucked valve, atrial fibrillation. It's now beating backwards, apparently. That in turn has caused kidney failure and liver failure because of the added pressure placed on them by the heart problems. One of the many drugs has triggered diabetes. My legs are full of water. My toes keep getting infected. And many more circulation problem based miseries.

I only had high blood pressure until I caught Covid for the second time. Couple of months later, I was telling this to a ECG tech in cardiology. She said she'd heard that from a lot of people she'd tested recently.

Don't go thinking that once it's over that it's absolutely over. There is potentially damage you don't feel YET.

The third time I caught it, the fucking thing nearly finished me. Coughing and sleeping. Sleeping and coughing. No energy to stay awake when not busy coughing up hundreds of lumps of suffocating gunge every day for nearly two weeks. I'd cough so hard my throat bled. Every cough would feel like a hammer blow in my head. I'd pick my head off the pillow long enough to expel whatever wanted out before falling back exhausted. I'd try to eat and cough till I threw it up. In the end I couldn't eat, couldn't drink without chucking. I was too weak to go for a shit for 5 days. My husband had to drag me to the toilet for a piss. The trying not to panic as I struggled to breathe was the most fun part.

Yes, just a cold. To you maybe. For me not necessarily.

But, hey, bring it near me. It's fine. My desire to not repeat that experience is obviously less important than your right to cough your viral spores where you want.

Why is your immune system crap? What are you doing to strengthen it?

So if the covid test was negative would you have went and been ok with infecting them with something else? 🤔

I tested positive mid last week. It was by first time that I know of being infected with Covid. I rarely get sick in general and while I recovered very quickly from the Covid and was back at work on Monday, it felt like the flu in the short time I was unwell. I was spaced out and exhausted. I have not had flu in a very long time - 25 years? But I remember what it felt like. Whereas having a cold is just annoying with having to blow your nose constantly. I didn’t even get a blocked or runny nose with the Covid but I would rather have a cold.

Last time I had a cold and tested out of curiosity, it was COVID though. I was fairly ill the first time (equivalent to a bout of flu, was in bed for a couple of days and then took a week or two to fully recover). Second time, it was a cold. I think it will be like that for most people now.

I'm aware there may be some people who struggle with the virus LT, but that's true of every virus to an extent.

There is actually some interesting evidence that one of our strains of "common cold" is the same virus that caused a pandemic back in around 1889. It mostly causes mild illness now, because everyone grows up with this virus so has a decent level of immunity to it. At some point, you have to move away from the "pandemic" mindset and accept that this is just one of the virus that goes around.

I am vulnerable as am on a waiting list for heart surgery. A woman in my office has recently had heart surgery. She still has a cardiac condition that leaves her vulnerable for life also. There is someone at work who has had a wet, hacking cough for weeks. They refuse to take time off, wear a mask, isolate, or be tested. Now I am sick - yes, it’s Covid. The other woman has it and so does half the staff. It’s fucking insane. Btw, I don’t think I have ever felt this unwell before.

Interesting. In Australia we're still strongly recommended to isolate for at least five days, though it's no longer mandatory and reporting isn't required. I've just been doing so - my mum's caught it in her nursing home and I tested positive the day after. Asymptomatic, so no more than a mild inconvenience for me, but it would be bloody selfish if I hadn't at least tried to avoid infecting others.

Why won't your DS allow you to test him, OP? Does he believe his father's "it's just a cold" nonsense? (People don't die from or have their health ruined by colds, stupid man.)

I don’t think we have a particularly good approach to illness in this country. And I mean even before COVID.

There seems to be some kind of stupid perception that you’re somehow a better person if you don’t take time off sick when you’re ill. It also seems to be completely acceptable to splutter germs around an office/train/shop etc.

COVID got us all thinking/acting in a healthier way - the notion that it wasn’t a good idea to spread germs around when you’re ill shouldn’t be controversial!

We still don’t know what COVID does to the body. It seems to be connected to long-term systemic issues in some. Long COVID has decimated the lives of people who were previously active. If you’ve only experienced it as a slight cold that’s great but a) there might be long-term effects that haven’t manifested yet and b) next time you might not be so lucky.

I’m not some doom-monger. I just think it’s sensible to stay away from others if you have a contagious illness of any kind, particularly if it’s one that has the potential to randomly cause really serious illness, or even death. And in the vulnerable, it still has that potential.

We’re just not very good at caring/thinking about other people in this country - COVID has proven that. And in addition, culturally we have unfair expectations that people will drag their arse into work even if they have a contagious cold/virus.

Weirdly though, we completely accept it for some illnesses such as chickenpox and norovirus. My DS had chickenpox a few weeks ago. He is 14. Other than being an bit itchy, he was totally fine. Could EASILY have gone to school. But we have a social agreement in this country to keep kids at home during the infectious part of chickenpox. No one questions it - we all agree that it’s a good idea not to pass it on. But a nasty cold? COViD? Yeah, no problem - sharing is caring….. 🤦🏻‍♀️

Good on you OP for checking - I’m sure all will be fine but if it isn’t, at least you tried to be considerate.