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Original poster

Went to A&E to be safe, might catch COVID?

42 replies

Anxiouslikenoneother · 13/09/2022 00:35

I am just so terrified and angry with myself at the same time. I am sitting awaiting my turn at A&E and on the verge of tears. I am
pregnant and suffer from anxiety. I have had an incident that was fairly minor but I thought I’d be responsible and call 111 to check it out and to reassure myself. instead was sent to A&E. Whilst waiting there I spent good 30 minutes about 1,5-2m from a man who was coughing a bit from time to time but very small cough. But then after a while I saw a nurse taking a swab of his nose and what looked like was doing a lateral flow or pcr cover test. This completely terrified me.
they did not do it to me or other patients. And I am so besides myself as I perhaps overreacted and shouldn’t have been to A&E and now facing a prospect of getting covid close to the labour and the pregnancy had some bumps in it… I just can’t cope anymore.

OP posts:
MrsSkylerWhite · 13/09/2022 05:56

Are you vaccinated? If so, you are extremely unlikely to become unwell with Covid.
if you aren’t vaccinated, as you are pregnant, assume you’re relatively young so again, unlikely to become unwell.
it was announced yesterday that boosters are now available to pregnant women so maybe book yourself in now for reassurance.

(are you sure it was a Covid test? it seems a bit odd that it would be carried out in the waiting room)

Toria33 · 13/09/2022 06:05

I have staid in hospital and bring to a&e countless times since feb 2020 still not caught vivid it’s you keep your mask on and keep clean it’s pretty safe

LargeglassofRosePlease · 13/09/2022 06:09

1994girl · 13/09/2022 01:12

Chill out. I have a 2 month old and sat in hospital many times heavily pregnant in crowds with people coughing and I was fine. Covid is just a cold.

Not for everyone is it “ just a cold” hence the need for vaccines.

I am triple jabbed and caught Covid the same time as my two children. It is an utterly disgusting disease and made us all very poorly indeed and it was absolutely nothing like a cold.

We had it for three weeks.

op, I get your anxiety and I hope I haven’t alarmed you.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about these subjects:

Covid-19 Families General health
Toria33 · 13/09/2022 07:04

Colds don’t kill people, Covid does, high risk and pregnant so offended. It is still killing people

findingsomeone · 13/09/2022 07:37

FWIW I still have a cough and have been testing negative for 3.5 weeks. It isn't so bad now but was really bad the first couple of weeks of testing negative. It's possible people who are spluttery may have residual coughs from previous viruses be they covid or not.

Whiskers4 · 13/09/2022 07:45

If you're particularly concerned, I guess you kept your mask on and washed hands after taking it off. That would have given you some level of protection. Other thing to have done was to move away from

sidewayswalking · 13/09/2022 07:49

My Dad has COPD so coughs a lot. He would also have been swabbed because coughing is a symptom. He would have been coughing because of his illness, not covid though. Maybe this man also has an illness that causes him to cough? A swab is just procedure, he maybe doesn't even have covid.

Original poster
Anxiouslikenoneother · 13/09/2022 08:27

Thank you for everyone who replied. Yes, all
answers here are a possibility, so it is just wait and see and try not to get too crazy in between.

i thought it was a covid swab because the nurse pulled down the patient’s mask and swabbed two nostrils and then started swirling the stick in a little fluid pot like the one you get with LFTs. I will cling to the hope it was done for admitting them!

OP posts:
FrozenGhost · 13/09/2022 08:54

That's the problem with ringing 111 in this situation, they aren't there to reassure you. They ask what your symptoms are, and they have to believe you, they aren't allowed to question you and say "well that's your anxiety". Once you say the magic words (chest pain or shortness of breath) they have to recommend you go to ED.

Lindy2 · 13/09/2022 09:01

I think if he'd tested positive on a lateral flow it would have been quicker than 20 - 30 minutes to call him to move from the main waiting room. Almost all positive results are visible within a few minutes.

By waiting the full 20 minutes I'd assume the test got a negative result.

Original poster
Anxiouslikenoneother · 13/09/2022 09:01

@FrozenGhost exactly. Now I know it. It was hard to keep things in perspective because of my anxiety in pregnancy and worrying I harmed my baby. In a moment I thought I was doing the right thing. I should have replied no to symptoms as I knew it was due to my anxiety but I am pathologically honest and could not fit some reason make proper judgement then, I was spiralling out. Not the smart thing to do, but hindsight is so unforgiving.

OP posts:
iwishiwascountingsheep · 13/09/2022 09:49

I wasted a lot of my pregnancy being anxious about covid and I have never regretted anything more in my life.

Your body is a safe place for your baby.

That statistics for serious illness in pregnancy are so, so low, especially with no other risk factors. The government guidance has now changed and pregnant women are no longer in the vulnerable category in light of the milder Omicron.

No one is saying Omicron can't make you feel like crap, but you are safe and your baby is safe.

I ended up coming down with it 3 days before my due date. I felt crappy for two days, went in to labour and barely noticed it. Post-birth I had a very annoying phlegmy cough for two weeks.

The stress of worrying about it is far worse for you.

Your baby is safe in there!

Covidwoes · 13/09/2022 11:37

I caught covid when pregnant in Nov 2020 before vaccines were available. I felt ill with it, but nothing serious. I was fine, and baby was absolutely fine.

HilarityEnsues · 13/09/2022 11:41

I wear a proper FFP2 (?) mask when I am in A and E for this reason! So many people crammed in and coughing, I don't want any of their illnesses, let alone covid. It hasn't been a cold for me, I'm not afraid of catching it again and go out a lot, but it has affected me for months.

Definitely get a good mask next time you go, and for anxiety, I've found Claire Weeks' books very good as a starting point, although I'd also seek help from GP/midwife as well.

Original poster
Anxiouslikenoneother · 13/09/2022 13:10

@HilarityEnsues oh yes, FFP2 is a must for me, I wear it to any hospital setting and to a supermarket too. But it does have some air gaps and I was fairly close to that man for about 30 mins to an hour. I feel a bit of a scratchy throat already but this is probably from being in A&E till 3am and not getting enough sleep afterwards.

thank you for the book recommendation , I will definitely look into it, any extra support is helpful. And I am already getting support from mental health services but still struggling by the look of it.

@iwishiwascountingsheep i hope I will look back to it in the same way one day and totally get what you are saying, thanks for taking time
to reply. Must refocus and reset into a calmer mode. I was doing much better with my worries but yesterday was one of those relapse days that gone very wrong.

OP posts:
HilarityEnsues · 13/09/2022 14:28

If you wore a good mask, then your risk will be much much lower. You did all you could.

Definitely reach out to your MH team/GP/midwives for more support, pre-natal depression and anxiety is a thing, and you can be helped.

Original poster
Anxiouslikenoneother · 19/09/2022 10:32

Hi everyone, just wanted to update that it has been a week now, and I have done a lateral
flow today which was negative.

thank you for all of your support, it really helped me to get through last week’s drama!

OP posts:
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