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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Do we now have to self isolate with cold symptoms?

169 replies

Coconut49 · 26/05/2021 22:00

DH has a cold and slight cough. I thought I’d get him a lateral flow test just to double check not Covid despite no other symptoms and seems just like a cold (runny nose etc.). Went to pharmacy to get LF test - told assistant scenario and she nearly had an apoplectic fit. Apparently DH would be classed as symptomatic and we should all be isolating and get PCR test. She shouted at me saying ‘you should not even be here, you should be isolating!’. I tried to explain DH was just trying to ‘do the right thing’ and double check. But she was having none of it and banished me from the pharmacy. AIBU to think the assistant was over-reacting? Do we have to self-isolate for cold symptoms now? In the end I got some tests from a different pharmacy and DH tested negative. TBH I don’t think I will bother in the future after that reaction as we have had both vaccines now.

OP posts:
Carycy · 26/05/2021 23:20

Trying to imagine my nhs bosses reaction if I said I can’t come into work because my husband has a bit of a cold and a cough.

NoIDontWatchLoveIsland · 26/05/2021 23:21

Today 23:00LibrariesGiveUsPower45321

baldafrique

This is going to be an issue with vaccines reducing COVID symptoms to mild...it will be hard to distinguish from common colds

And the whole point is is covid is reduced to the potency of common cold then we can all return to life as normal.

libraries, thank goodness someone else understands that it is not cases that matter it is hospitalisations.

baldafrique · 26/05/2021 23:32

@NoIDontWatchLoveIsland Surely that goes without saying?

MissyGez · 26/05/2021 23:50

@Carycy

Trying to imagine my nhs bosses reaction if I said I can’t come into work because my husband has a bit of a cold and a cough.
If anything like my NHS boss, self isolate until a negative PCR result Hmm
PickAChew · 26/05/2021 23:58

Wait... Since when have pharmacies been fishing out lfts?

DarcyLewis · 27/05/2021 00:00

@Carycy

Trying to imagine my nhs bosses reaction if I said I can’t come into work because my husband has a bit of a cold and a cough.
Their reaction would be, isolate until he gets his results Confused

Covid symptoms are the same as cold symptoms and you can only diagnose with a test.
The people I know who have had covid have had mild coughs & runny noses.

CirqueDeMorgue · 27/05/2021 00:06

@Carycy

Trying to imagine my nhs bosses reaction if I said I can’t come into work because my husband has a bit of a cold and a cough.
Exactly! Some people are deluded if they think everyone has the luxury of taking time off work for a fucking cold.
Volhhg · 27/05/2021 00:07

It all hangs on the cough. Is it like this ;

a new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours (if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual)

If it isn't then no he doesn't need to test. You could go one step further and get a test anyway if you want but you have no moral obligation.

Volhhg · 27/05/2021 00:10

Whether or not the responders on here agree with the government guidance we are supposed to adhere to is a different question

Wheresmybiscuit3 · 27/05/2021 00:21

Unfortunately you can’t do a lateral test if you have any of the Covid symptoms... you have to do the proper one. My child developed a cough today at school and was sent home. Sibling also sent home. Can’t blame them but everyone at the school seems to be coughing. We’ve had to get a proper test and isolate.

Better to be safe than sorry even if cases in our area are the lowest they’ve been for months. Think we are at 10 in 100,000.

Wheresmybiscuit3 · 27/05/2021 00:23

Hoping the test comes back quickly! Not looking forward to having to do this whenever one of the kids develops a cough. With a cold or allergies my kids always develop a cough!

Torvean · 27/05/2021 03:13

@Muddydoor

YANBU but you mentioned the dreaded cough. She is quite right that the test is for people without the classic symptoms and if you are going to test, you need to do the proper one.
Covid has a consistent cough with episodes lasting and hour. Or 3 severe coughing episodes in 24 hours. An occasional cough is not the same thing.
garlictwist · 27/05/2021 04:37

Ok I genuinely didn't know you can't do a lateral flow if someone has symptoms. Why not? Surely a test is a test and if you have covid it will be positive?

Spinningaround21 · 27/05/2021 05:19

Not everyone with covid gets those three symptoms for mild symptoms it could be similar to a cough with a cold, a pcr test which can be back within hours isn’t that big a deal to help keep cases low surely.

Spinningaround21 · 27/05/2021 05:24

@Carycy

Trying to imagine my nhs bosses reaction if I said I can’t come into work because my husband has a bit of a cold and a cough.
My NHS manager would require me to isolate until his PCR test was negative. We can’t risk spreading covid to our patients. They tend to come back quickly so it’s sometimes less than a day off. Covid symptoms aren’t always those three named. Lots have had started with just mild coughs.

Lots went through this merry go round last autumn when coughs and colds were circulating.

AlmostSummer21 · 27/05/2021 06:02

Morning.

I do understand how you feel, but, the three top symptoms in the U.K. we're chosen as markets a long time ago (cough & temp initially and taste/smell much later) because most people -when tested have one of them.

However, as time has gone on people are recognising common earlier symptoms with 1/3 other symptoms showing up a few days later.

Other countries have recognised this and have a longer list of symptoms to prompt a PCR test.

The problem is with coughs that people decide aren't 'continuous' & a runny nose is that lots of people with those test positive, IF tested, but if not tested assume it's a cold, but may have very very mild symptoms BUT still pass it on to others. & think 'see it was just a cold'.

It's a tricky one to navigate, but he really should get a PCR, the results are coming back very quickly now, he should have the results in under 12 hours.

I'm hoping that by winter there will be an even quicker test that has a better accuracy once symptomatic that you can do at home even if you still need a PCR if the other one is positive.

So yes, I can see why you were told you shouldn't be in the chemist.

tara66 · 27/05/2021 06:15

Why would you want to test for a cold when you and everyone else is worried it might be Covid?

Covidatemyhomework · 27/05/2021 06:29

Carycy - My NHS boss would also insist I stayed home and isolated until PCR results came back as negative. In fact, if they found out that I hadn’t done that - I would be subject to discliplinary action.

ComfyBed · 27/05/2021 06:33

In my experience of having colds during a pandemic and facing the testing dilemma, there is another key issue that people don’t seem to talk about.

And that is the anxiety one faces if you have cold symptoms. I have found it hard to feel confident about seeing others while I have a cold as even though the symptoms were not typical Covid, it was still very worrying to have those ‘what if’ thoughts. This can lead to a situation where you feel morally that you SHOULD test, just in case, yet that decision sets the ball rolling for self isolating blah blah blah

All the posters who think it’s simple and clear cut are probably (a) not working with the vulnerable and (b) not had an atypical case in the household (c) not had a cold lately or (d) believe that the official symptom list is correct

I have experience of all the above scenarios

OP, I sympathise! But as soon as you mention being ‘on the safe side’ no one will listen or understand.

ScissorsBike · 27/05/2021 06:36

Just get the bloody PCR, it would have been quicker than going to the pharmacy. You book for an appointment which you usually can find within the next 30 mins. Results are back with you in around 12 hours, so this wouldn't have involved isolating for more than a day.

I've had covid twice, and both times my only (early) symptom was the mildest of coughs coming occasionally.

Lovelydovey · 27/05/2021 06:38

My DM thought she had a cold but decided to test regardless. Turns out it was covid and she and my DF passed away from it. Follow the rules and self isolate until you can confirm properly (via PCR - which you can drive to and get delivered via post) whether it is or isn’t covid.

Cam2020 · 27/05/2021 06:40

YANBU. It's going to be very difficult to ever get back to any sort of normality with people reacting like that!

ComfyBed · 27/05/2021 06:41

@ScissorsBike you are missing something here, though. If the DH had tried to book a test online, he would have had to lie about symptoms in order to get a test! He didn’t meet the criteria! The issue is with the symptom list not the OP’s attitude or decision making.

Aqua55 · 27/05/2021 06:41

I wouldn't be too concerned about it when it seems most of the public can't be bothered wearing masks where they should, or keeping their distance.

Fishandhips · 27/05/2021 06:41

I worked in a pharmacy during swine flu, people would come in for their tablets they'd phoned up for and would say yeah have x symptoms so come to collect the tablets. I thought you selfish arseholes but its frowned upon to say. From the pharmacists point of view you went in and said can I have some LFTs please because my husband has a cough and he just wants to make sure it's not to be extra careful or whatever; can't you see how someone might be a bit Hmm?

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