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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to think there are already people in the UK with coronavirus who think it’s just cold/flu?

82 replies

Dennisreynoldsduster · 10/02/2020 03:12

... because it doesn’t seem particularly easy to tell
It apart from a cold/flu if what we have read is true.

Not trying to start panic or anything, it just seems like people might have come into contact with the Brighton man, not realise it, and assume what they have is just cold/flu/usual winter viruses.
Seems like people can be quite mildly Unwell with it as well so could potentially recover and not even realise they have it?
Unless I am misunderstanding.
Not trying to propagate false news or anything, am just up late and was reading the news and it made me wonder.
I guess this is part of the reason why this is being taken so seriously because it could easily spread the way without people even knowing they have it

OP posts:
Dyingdragon87 · 10/02/2020 03:15

From what I know, coronavirus exhibits shortness of breath as well as other similar flu/cold symptoms. That's maybe what distinguishes it and if one is experiencing that along with other symptoms, they would call their doctor

WhoWants2Know · 10/02/2020 03:28

I think it's certainly possible. There are also people who carry the virus without displaying any symptoms.

On one of the other threads, a poster who had been to an affected area had been told by the NHS that she needed to self isolate, but that members of her family didn't. So they would potentially be exposed to the virus through her but happily spreading it around before anyone showed any symptoms.

Original poster
Dennisreynoldsduster · 10/02/2020 03:30

That’s bizarre @WhoWants2Know surely it would make sense for the family to self isolate as well?!

OP posts:
Bluerussian · 10/02/2020 03:59

Any sort of flu or uri can make someone short of breath.
You're not going to get coronovirus unless you've been in contact with someone contaminated. I accept you may not know but if you're basically strong and healthy, it will pass and you'll be OK.

ShanghaiDiva · 10/02/2020 04:01

Am sure there are, just as there were probably people in Wuhan who thought they had a cold, hence the spread (prior to Lockdown).
However, people are more aware of the symptoms now and presumably contact a doctor if experiencing shortness of breath etc.
I have two long haul flights later this week (via HK) and will definitely be monitoring my and dd’s health over the next week and minimising contact with other people. We don’t need to self quarantine as have been out of mainland China for two weeks, but do think it is wise for us to be sensible.

Mummyoflittledragon · 10/02/2020 04:23

I totally agree with you op. All I can think is que sera. My health is not great. My breathing is constantly under par over winter. Not bad enough to need to be on the ventolin inhaler. But just not right. I haven’t told my family. But I do think if I get it, I do think it could be fatal for me.

alltakingandnogiving · 10/02/2020 05:02

Researchers have already stated that the number of people who have caught the virus is likely to be far higher than reported because many cases will be milder or not identified.

This makes Coronavirus less fatal than believed.

Bluerussian · 10/02/2020 05:41

Hope you are all welll op.

TheClaws · 10/02/2020 06:06

alltaking That may be true. But it is also said that the Chinese government is under-reporting not only confirmed cases of coronavirus (and this includes people who haven’t been able/aren’t willing to present to a hospital) but are also grossly under-reporting deaths. I read an online account that stated if you added zero to any official numbers, that would be a more accurate result than the one we are currently given. Do that and it is truly sobering.

speakout · 10/02/2020 06:18

I agree OP.

The outbreak in Germany recently- two employees caught the virus, one ( unaware) took two days off work with a slight cold, recovered and went back to work. Only found out they had the virus because the visiting Chinese collegue later tested positive.

It isn't a serious illness for most people and unlikley to be reported

Calledyoulastnightfromglasgow · 10/02/2020 06:19

I have wondered this for weeks!

EnidBlyton · 10/02/2020 06:39

it is shocking there are so many deaths in China!

HRH2020 · 10/02/2020 06:47

I did read somewhere non official that the reason the China figures for infection are rising pretty uniformly (around 3k per day) is because that's roughly the amount of tests available per day. So likely to be far more cases.
In Singapore 6 cases out of 43 are in ICU that's quite a large percentage, should it be replicated here.
An attitude of "it's just a cold" isn't going to help vulnerable people avoid the potentially serious implications of Coronavirus when it gets here.

BobbinThreadbare123 · 10/02/2020 06:50

Colds and flu are corona viruses themselves anyway. It just means the shape of the virus. SARS was a corona virus as well. There's a lot of scaremongering going on. It's right the be cautious and limit the spread but I agree that some people with it will just have 'a cold', as they perceive.

CaptainMarvelDanvers · 10/02/2020 06:55

I read the NHS guidance on it and it said to not leave your home including don’t take your children to school, get a friend or a family member to take them......

I’m a bit Confused

WaterSheep · 10/02/2020 07:04

I agree OP. There are people who have tested positive, despite showing mild / very few symptoms. Whilst they may recover. They will have encountered many others who might not be in as good health as them, in the time between their diagnosis and quarantine.

SureTry · 10/02/2020 07:16

I agree too. The case of the man from Brighton who caught it on a business trip in Singapore. Now he would have been on a flight back to Gatwick more likely, all those people will have hopped on trains to London or south coast. So yes I think it's here and all you can do is carry on and follow NHS guidelines. Not my intention to frighten anyone, that's just my thinking on it.

KenAdams · 10/02/2020 07:16

@HRH2020 I have a friend from Wuhan who lives here but her family are back home and she said that the hospitals do 100 tests a day and if you aren't one of the first 100 in the queue you can't be tested. Then you go to another hospital and try there and then another then another so these people that have almost certainly got it are being forced to mix with and travel around different hospitals spreading it but only the official figures of the 100 tested her hospital can be reported as confirmed cases.

Crockof · 10/02/2020 07:19

I maybe stupid but I don't understand why it matters what flu virus I have, if it's Corona or big standard flu providing I don't have it too severely. Normal flu kills loads of people each year.

SureTry · 10/02/2020 07:20

Very true Crockof we have to keep it in perspective.

Deathgrip · 10/02/2020 07:23

I’m always a bit confused when they say they are tracking down people they’ve had contact with - how does one do that? Public transport, work, schools their kids go to, hospitals, doctors, supermarkets and airports... it seems very likely that there are others.

There’s another really nasty virus doing the rounds at the moment, we’ve all been really unwell, so people could easily think it’s that and not anything more serious.

Crockof · 10/02/2020 07:29

But why is it getting Corona virus more serious, for the majority of people it will just be flu if that.

AsAhDiSeh · 10/02/2020 07:32

@BobbinThreadbare123 @Crockof
This is a new strain for humans, so no one has built up immunity to it yet. This enables it to spread faster. It appears to have a long asymptomatic incubation period which means more people are spreading it before they even know they are ill.

China is locking down several cities, closing down all business, barricading people inside their homes, burning bodies without testing them because they don't have the resources to do so, and mass spraying disinfectant through the streets. It's not just "normal flu".

Oblomov20 · 10/02/2020 07:35

What are those with it, actually being treated with? Which medication?

I only ask because I wonder what Corona is being treated with? As opposed to normal flu, which you can't do that more for either, can you?

Lipz · 10/02/2020 07:37

Well with the new cases in the ski lodge it looks like the professionals are unsure now. For ages everyone was saying you practically had to lick someone's face to catch it. These new cases show that it is now very possible that it is caught through air. These people were not in direct contact with the man and his child and they have tested positive.