To think I’ve had COVID 19, and it’s been here a while?

[VivienScott]

After Xmas I came down with what I thought was a terrible cold. Dry persistent cough, terrible fever, worse than I’ve ever had to the point I was delirious, difficulty breathing, though not pneumonia. Saw out of hours and they check oxygen levels, chest etc, said I was ok to be home, but I was not first case they’d seen like this and there was “something really awful going round this year”. Consequently had to see GP who said he’d had to hospitalise a lot more people than normal for breathing difficulties.
It all sounds exactly like coronavirus, it really felt like something dreadful to the extent I deliberately kept myself from others more than I would with a cold. I honestly believe it was, but it’s way before it was supposed to be in Europe let alone here in UK. What do you think, AIBU to think it’s been here longer than we’re aware?

And persistent headache

Plenty of dry coughs caused by other viruses too. It's simply not credible that it could have been circulating globally for that period of time with noone noticing it. Even now if you have the symptoms it may well be another virus.

People had noticed it when I got ill. It had started spreading but they said it hadn’t reached the Uk yet. I got ill on 25 Jan and was very unwell for 2 weeks and 2 weeks of further fatigue/brain fog.

Ok, but doctors and scientists in this country aren't idiots, so statistically it's extremely unlikely that you had COVID-19. There are lots of viruses which cause these symptoms. Transmission of those viruses tends to peak December to February. I don't understand why everyone is so convinced they've had it when it is so incredibly unlikely.

I don’t think anyone is saying they’re idiots. But sometimes they could trying being open minded.
I phoned the NHS three times about returning from Austria with a child with COVID 19 symptoms and got short shrift - now it turns out there were cases in Austria at that time. There were plenty of Europeans on holiday same week as us - and it would be easy to pass on the virus.

Looking at the most recent testing statistics, 120,776 people have been tested. 103,687 of those were negative - and to have been tested those people must either have been in hospital with symptoms or (in the earliest phases of testing) come into contact with someone who had tested positive. So around 85% of people who have been tested, tested negative. If you have the symptoms, even now, it could well be a completely different virus.

These are quite interesting:

www.gov.uk/government/statistics/weekly-all-cause-mortality-surveillance-2019-to-2020

I know someone who is in hospital who has tested negative but has been told by the medical staff that they still believe he has it (is on oxygen). Someone else who tested negative but in a home where 2 people died confirmed cases (but probably not in the death stats as didn’t die in hospital). And 4 people who have been very unwell with assumed symptoms but won’t get a test as they aren’t ill enough for hospital. Another child who was taken ill, sent to hospital, told to assume covid but won’t be tested. How any scientist draws any conclusions from this I don’t know!

My mum was very ill with a flu like bug over Christmas and ended up in hospital with pneumonia. She always has her flu jab. She's terrified of catching it but i think she's had it already. Child 2 was ill in half term with a lot of the symptoms and very lethargic. She is never ill and definitely never lethargic. It might be a coincidence but it makes you wonder. I will be interested to see test results. I think it's highly likely it was around a while and had spread before China flagged it.

The death rate would be far higher by this point if that was he case, we'd have been ahead of Chiba, Italy and Spain by now, which we aren't, we are a couple of weeks behind Italy.

But we wouldn't be, as we're comparing recorded covid 19 deaths. No one who died before it was officially recognised as being in the uk would have been recorded as dying from covid here. Even now it is questionable whether covid deaths are being recorded as such because of lack of testing.

Are there any figures for pneumonia deaths or the death rate in general this year to compare with previous years? I think these could be useful

I know someone who is in hosp with pneumonia, being treated as if he has Covid-19 and has been told to assume he has, returned ill from hol in Northern Italy. But he hasn't been tested. So he isnt a confirmed case. The stats are so confusing.

This year was a particularly bad year for flu in Australia so it's very likely more people than normal in this country also suffered from flu over the winter.

I'm curious about Corona in Africa. According to reports it's not really gained traction and they're a couple of weeks behind Europe. More likely, I think, it's already there and they have underdeveloped health care systems and so it just blends in.

They're 'getting ready' for it at the direction of the WHO. I'm guessing a lot of African states are thinking they've got bigger fish to fry.

Re covid in Africa.

The population is much younger in many countries. Its possible it means you are less likely to notice it as its primarily being noticed in Western countries with highly monitored elderly patients dying.

The big issue in the UK is overwhelming hospitals rather than actual deaths too.

In Africa if you get ill do you go to hospital in the same way? In Europe we have universal health care AND an expectation of longevity. Its something we take largely for granted.

In many countries, if you get ill then if you don't have access to health care you just die. And there isn't a lot of investigation if it's not violent. Where life expectancy is lower or the population younger it's going to manifest in a different way, possibly going unnoticed for a lot longer and only will be apparent if its too late and there is an abnormally large number of people dying all at the same time.

The big issue in the UK is overwhelming hospitals rather than actual deaths too.

Well, sure. We've sleep-walked into trading our freedom to preserve the short-term viability of the NHS with no discussion.

The problem is that in times of pandemic, leaders will never been taken to task for taking too-drastic action, only not drastic enough so there's an incentive to act disproportionately.

We're all fucked as a result.

We've sleep-walked into trading our freedom to preserve the short-term viability of the NHS with no discussion.

Well I prefer to look at it that I have had some short term inconvenience but may have helped extend the life of my parents and many other people I know with underlying health issues. What a bizarre take on it.

The infection rate for this virus doubles every 3 to 4 days and the death rate is estimated to be 0.5%.
If we ignore everyone that thinks they had the virus before New Years Day and say that 10 people had the virus on New Years Day and then do the maths.
There have bern 87 days this year, meaning that the number of people infected would have doubled 22 time meaning 41,943,040 will have been infected. Using a death rate of 0.1% to be on the safe side, that means 41,943 extra deaths this year. Don't you think the hospitals would have been asking for help befor now?
You have not had Covid19.

How have you derived the infection rate? You are basing your calculations on published infection rates, which we know are incorrect because there hasn't been nearly enough testing. How can you state something as fact when one of the variables isn't proven?

Anathemadevice1

For god's sake don't use logic and science

I thought scientists would be more rigorous in confirming their assumptions tbh.

The irony is strong here.

I was exactly the same OP.
Two days before Christmas, until New Year's. It was horrific. All the symptoms all accounted for. Many of my village had the same in different degrees
I think it has been around for a hell of a lot longer than was admitted.
Ken Morley from Coronation Street was in the press last week saying he had all the symptoms whilst in pantomime in York in 2018, he was hospitalised and near death at one point. When he recovered, the consultant looking after him said he had seen a number of cases, mostly "Chinese students" and it was like nothing they had ever seen before.

Over Christmas I was knocked off my feet for about a month, other family members had similar symptoms and were all really unwell. My 12 yr old was fine... may not be related but it's really strange!

I just remember thinking at the time that as I'm a carer I've had nearly everything going around in the past, but nothing quite like that.

No sore throat but the not being able to breath and endlessly runny nose, muscle pain and exhaustion, confusion but no other cold like symptoms. Would love to know as well what exactly it was that was doing the rounds in December.

This is just conspiracy theory nonsense. Who to believe... Ken Morley off Coronation Street plus assorted people who have had an undiagnosed respiratory illness or epidemiological experts the world over?

Tough one

Ken Morley from Coronation Street was in the press last week saying he had all the symptoms whilst in pantomime in York in 2018

Yep, that was definitely it. Covid - 19. No idea why it didn't spread and wipe out millions when we were all moving about unrestricted and flying all over the world, kissing babies, not washing our hand etc etc.

Maybe Ken is an absolute hero and managed to repress and contain it for 2 years, all by himself? I vote we raise a statue to this new world hero. Who is with me?