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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Aibu to refuse this Covid test?

147 replies

Teacher12345 · 17/08/2020 11:16

Last weekend (not the one just gone) me and Dd woke feeling rough with sore throats. Felt like a cold but DH has been suffering from anxiety, (the worst of it, he only disclosed yesterday and has booked an appt with GP,) so the whole house got Covid tested for his peace of mind.
I'll point out that this is not a small thing as kids are 7 and 4 and it was not a pleasant experience for them.
Ds since then has caught this cold and has had a constant stream of snot running down his face since Tuesday.
DH has said today he wants us all to do the tests again and I have said no.
No one in the house has any symptoms at all so it would be purely for his piece of mind, but I don't think it is fair to keep asking them to do it, just to assure him. At this rate, we will be doing them weekly until Xmas and beyond!
Is it unreasonable of me to say no? I am not saying he cannot do it just that I won't, and I won't ask the kids to either. Our DS was really anxious whilst waiting for results and took a few days to be convinced he didn't have it, even when they came back negative.

OP posts:
FelicityBob · 17/08/2020 14:33

People should have to pay for private testing if they want a test outside the guidelines. This is getting ridiculous, what a waste of NHS resources. You should not be able to order a free test to ease someones anxiety, or if someone has a runny nose ffs Angry

DumplingsAndStew · 17/08/2020 14:40

@Teacher12345

Are you testing on the NHS or privately? If NHS, under what criteria

IwishIwasyoda · 17/08/2020 14:40

NRFT but YANBU as snotty nose is not a symptom of COVID. The symptoms are high temp (over 37.8 C), loss of taste / smell, and persistent cough. On this basis alone there is no need for a test

Teacher12345 · 17/08/2020 14:47

[quote DumplingsAndStew]@Teacher12345

Are you testing on the NHS or privately? If NHS, under what criteria[/quote]
I don't know what the criteria was. DH booked a slot for us to go. It wasn't exactly a stringent process. Do you have a main symptom yes or no? Doesn't take much to tick yes and get a test. It's one of the reasons I won't be doing it again. If I have to lie to get a test, I clearly don't need one!

OP posts:
Beautiful3 · 17/08/2020 14:57

No I wouldnt do it again! It was negative and you're all self isolating anyway.

MindyStClaire · 17/08/2020 15:36

Do people really think that this winter they will be able to turn up to work, or send kids to school, with runny noses and sniffles that they have self-diagnosed as "just a cold"?

Yes. We are right now - toddler DD brought home a cold from nursery. She had a snotty nose, no temp (both no sign of a temp in her mood, or on the thermometer), no cough. DH and I now have it and feel the same as we have with every other cold. First sign of a temperature or cough (likely for me, I have asthma and get a cough with every cold) and we'll isolate and test. Just like we did when I had a fever due to mastitis and no other symptoms. But for now, life continues, just like it has for every other family at nursery who have the same cold - no isolations, no positive tests.

I figure we have maybe one decent shot of accurately testing a two year old. Aside from not wanting to waste resources, I'm not going to waste that chance of testing unnecessarily.

I've had the test three times. Two extremely uncomfortable, especially the nose swab. One ok, but it was the one I administered myself and it was the one that was inconclusive, presumably because I didn't do it properly.

OP, I wouldn't even consider testing your circumstances.

People are forgetting here that it's not just a snotty nose out of any context! The OP said she had her DD had a sore throat first. THAT is a symptom even if it's mild.

And a symptom of every cold I've ever had.

chipshopswearsheselvis · 17/08/2020 17:45

It's going to be a pretty bleak winter for a lot of people on here who will be isolating with every cold symptom.
It's also pretty concerning that there are lots of people who have tested but have no idea how to have done it properly. I hope they all got tested at a centre rather than at home by just tickling their nostrils for five seconds Hmm

OP you're right. Don't feed his anxiety. Good luck!

BikeTyson · 17/08/2020 17:57

I wouldn’t do a test or isolate on the basis of those symptoms.

Polly111 · 17/08/2020 18:16

YANBU, a sore throat and runny nose are not symptoms that you need to get tested or self isolate for www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/symptoms/

Your oh needs to manage his anxiety.

Aridane · 17/08/2020 18:34

Dreading this winter the neurotic are going to be flooding the NHS for tests

I will get a test if my symptoms are such that the guidance directs me to. Nothing to do with being neurotic, just good citizenship

Aridane · 17/08/2020 18:35

Do people really think that this winter they will be able to turn up to work, or send kids to school, with runny noses and sniffles that they have self-diagnosed as "just a cold"?
Yes, that is a bit unrealistic, isn’t it?

HeyBlaby · 17/08/2020 18:39

'Do people really think that this winter they will be able to turn up to work, or send kids to school, with runny noses and sniffles that they have self-diagnosed as "just a cold"?'

Yes, and I'm employed in the NHS as a nurse.

If I had a high temperature, loss or change in taste/sense of smell or a new continous cough, then no pending a negative result.

HeyBlaby · 17/08/2020 18:40

*continuous Hmm

Aridane · 17/08/2020 18:47

Nope - won’t be happening where I work which has an approach so cautious it makes the hard lockdowns of Italy, Greece, Wuhan etc look wantonly liberal and permissive

Aridane · 17/08/2020 18:48

Imagine the looks you would get on the tube travelling with a full blown cold Shock

GwendolineMarysLaces · 17/08/2020 18:50

@Tolleshunt

It’s important for resolving his anxiety that he stops engaging in seeking reassurance every time he feels anxious. This just maintains anxiety. And also, he is not reasonable to expect family members to suffer to reassure him. Taking the test should rest ONLY on if the objective criteria are met. NOT his thoughts and feelings. What help is he getting for his anxiety?
This. Constantly seeking reassurance does nothing to help anxiety
FelicityBob · 17/08/2020 20:11

@HeyBlaby

'Do people really think that this winter they will be able to turn up to work, or send kids to school, with runny noses and sniffles that they have self-diagnosed as "just a cold"?'

Yes, and I'm employed in the NHS as a nurse.

If I had a high temperature, loss or change in taste/sense of smell or a new continous cough, then no pending a negative result.

I’m with you on that one. Can you imagine calling in sick leaving the shift short because you’ve got a runny nose?? Ridiculous idea and I had no idea people were thinking like that til reading mumsnet recently. Will people just follow the guidelines please!!
BikeTyson · 17/08/2020 20:22

Do people really think that this winter they will be able to turn up to work, or send kids to school, with runny noses and sniffles that they have self-diagnosed as "just a cold"?

Yes. Yes I do. Because the actual rules don’t suggest anything different for runny noses and sniffles.

Temperature, cough, loss of smell or taste. Those are the actual requirements. If you think that’s not sufficient, feel free to stay at home all you like but other people shouldn’t be criticised for following the actual regulations rather than the imagined ones.

IwishIwasyoda · 17/08/2020 23:41

I'm afraid the test is very invasive and upsetting for lots of children. It is not something I relish doing for myself let alone DS but I will if there is any of the actual symptoms present.

VivaMiltonKeynes · 18/08/2020 07:50

@vodkaredbullgirl

here
This definitely didn't happen to me and no way was it 10 seconds in each nostril . I was tested at a private hospital as part of an admission.
KarlKennedysDurianFruit · 18/08/2020 08:08

We had tests at a test centre a couple of weeks ago, I had a fever (39.3) sore throat, headache, generally felt unwell, DS had a runny nose and a cough. The swab was right at the back of the throat both sides and far back enough in the nose to feel moderate resistance. Pinning a twenty month old so this could happen was traumatic, he doesn't understand Covid. I would test again if we had fevers, coughs or loss of taste or smell, not just for a runny nose. DM gets hayfever quite badly, itchy eyes, runny nose etc she would've had to be tested every few days for the whole summer

InDeoEstMeaFiducia · 18/08/2020 09:27

@KarlKennedysDurianFruit

We had tests at a test centre a couple of weeks ago, I had a fever (39.3) sore throat, headache, generally felt unwell, DS had a runny nose and a cough. The swab was right at the back of the throat both sides and far back enough in the nose to feel moderate resistance. Pinning a twenty month old so this could happen was traumatic, he doesn't understand Covid. I would test again if we had fevers, coughs or loss of taste or smell, not just for a runny nose. DM gets hayfever quite badly, itchy eyes, runny nose etc she would've had to be tested every few days for the whole summer
A lot of people had hayfever for the first time this year and/or their hayfever became more severe. It did for me, I had to get fexofenidine for the first time ever. It was dire. It was NOT Covid.
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