Forced to test

[letsgo0920]

I'll try and keep this succinct! My DH has a cold - sore throat, headache, blocked nose and cough. No temperature.

He works in an open office and started coughing. Everyone got very nervous and double checked his temp again with no change. They have a temp check every day as they enter too.

His boss sent him home and hasn't let him return for the last two days unless he has a covid test. As we all know, these are scarce right now and regardless DH doesn't qualify to have one as doesn't have the symptoms.

DH works in sales and is losing money each day by not working. He has explained the above to his manager who replied "we will get you a test sorted"???

AIBU by thinking that if the NHS say he doesn't need one, his work should be happy for him to be back? We wouldn't want to take up a test anyway when other people need them more. Advice gratefully received!

Thank you for your responses and especially those with personal experiences.

We will continue to wait for a test.

It doesn’t have to be a continuous cough. Look at the nhs website

Wtf! He has a cough, government advice say if you have a cough to go home, isolate and get a test. You obviously have the right to refuse to be tested, but then you will need to isolate at home, not leaving your property for 14 days. Get a test And if it’s negative, you will able to get back to normal (hopefully) much quicker than that.

Can't you order one via post?

It really depends on the cough. I had Covid in March - sudden onset of a very dry cough and a temperature, literally over 15 minutes. Been off work yesterday with a cold - totally different. Snotty nose, bit of a phlegmy cough every so often, no temperature. In fact like every other cold I’ve had in my life. I am not getting a test. It’s not Covid. We are all going to get colds and need to use common sense. A continuous cough versus a cold cough are very different.

A continuous cough versus a cold cough are very different.

I am very interested to hear how.

Persistent dry cough and Persistent phleghmy of wet ough are not the same thing... if it is a dry one, then that is a symptom but not a wet cough

@Socksey

Persistent dry cough and Persistent phleghmy of wet ough are not the same thing... if it is a dry one, then that is a symptom but not a wet cough

The NHS doesn’t make that distinction. It a new continuous cough. That’s it.

Persistent dry cough and Persistent phleghmy of wet ough are not the same thing...

I understand that. However....

if it is a dry one, then that is a symptom but not a wet cough

I have never read this in our official advice and guidelines.

It's a continuous cough, no mention of wet or dry.

You can get a private one for under £150 , just google. Obviously you shouldn’t have to do this but if he’s losing money by not working it might be cheaper to pay?

Some people with COVID, including some on this thread, have a mild, non-persistent cough. That doesn't mean it is a sufficiently distinctive diagnostic sign for a test to be recommended though. Some people with COVID have no cough at all, and not having a cough isn't a reason for a test either!

I saw a report of research where people were quizzed on symptoms they'd experienced, then tested for antibodies. There was no difference in the proportions of COVID positive and negative people who reported having had coughs.

Some nhs pages explicitly state that Covid can cause a productive cough.

Sadly all common sense has gone out the window at the moment, and his workplace know that they will attract the attention of BUT YOU'RE KILLING PEOPLE brigade if he doesn't get tested, even for a symptom that clearly doesn't fit. It's more about perception than actual medical accuracy right now so they have to be seen to make him take a test even though it's not necessary. Stupid and contributing to the not enough tests problem of course; but as we all know common sense has no place in decision making at the moment.

PS deaths from (or rather with, which is important) in the UK are still in single figures. More women are dying from domestic violence than from Covid (women only). More people are dying falling down the stairs than they are from Coronavirus. We are living in crazy times

Just to add, as I have on other threads, my Covid symptoms were identical to a common cold for the first 4 days. Sore throat, mild headache, temp of 37.something low, runny nose and a bit of sneezing. On day 5 a dry cough started. I did not cough continuously for more than an hour but I did cough a little bit regularly.

How is the employer going to get a test sorted?

I'm interested in that statement, do they have a secret supply?

My dc covid symptoms are also like a cold

Very runny nose
Sneezing
Croaky hoarse voice
No temperature
Occasionally coughing - at first it was a but barky and now it’s a bit chesty/wet

My sister had confirmed covid during the first wave. She said it felt very much like when she had swine flu (hit by a truck that then reversed back over her is how she described it). She initially had a bit of a dry cough but it became very phlegmy and productive after a few days.

@PleasantVille

How is the employer going to get a test sorted?

I'm interested in that statement, do they have a secret supply?

Presumably pay for a private one. There are xare homes near my parents who are testing all staff on a weekly basis. This must be privately becasue they wouldn't warrant testing on the nhs (I'm a nurse in the NHS and we aren't getting regular testing).

People are getting very intense about it now (not that I blame them but it’s making day to day life very difficult) my 6 month old DS has reflux which means he coughs, he’s coughed with it since he was born, mainly after feeds but whenever he’s having a bit of an episode.

... the looks I have gotten
Honestly you’d think I’d killed someone!

It’s not even a bad cough, it’s more like throat clearing.

Presumably pay for a private one. There are xare homes near my parents who are testing all staff on a weekly basis. This must be privately becasue they wouldn't warrant testing on the nhs (I'm a nurse in the NHS and we aren't getting regular testing)

I assumed by the fact that the OP says she doesn't want to take a test from someone who needs one that the employer isn't talking about a private one but it would be interesting to have it confirmed.