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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To think you don't need a bloody PCR test for everything?!

147 replies

JuneDr · 13/12/2021 09:08

I went for a meal on Saturday night and last night/yesterday afternoon started with the tell tale food poisoning signs.

I was up last night vomitting and could feel how green I looked! Still feel off this morning but a little better. I have told work I won't be in today because of this.

They have said I should get a PCR before returning to the office.

WHY?! I have absolutely no cough, no fever, no change in taste or smell, no cold symptoms of any kind. I have been sick after eating a meal out and already feel a little better.

Is this ridiculous or just me? Do we just have to have a test now every time we feel slightly unwell no matter what it is?

OP posts:
SivvyPlath · 13/12/2021 11:44

@Wideawakeandconfused

Of course you need to do a PCR! It’s such an easy thing to do why would you not?
No you don't 😂
HarrietOh · 13/12/2021 11:44

Yep my friend who had it recently, her only symptom was severe nausea. She didn't test for a few days as 'didn't have any of the COVID symptoms' but her GP suggested she did, and it was positive.

PinkSparklyPussyCat · 13/12/2021 11:51

God, I must be a walking Covid symptom! I have a permanent cough and blocked nose, I have a rash, I often feel sick or have a dodgy stomach or a bad headache. I wouldn't even think to get a PCR as I'd be there every day!

CupcakesAndCastles · 13/12/2021 11:56

I just got over covid. My symptoms….vomiting and diarrhoea, lady from track and trace told me it’s becoming more common

Gwenhwyfar · 13/12/2021 11:57

Diarrhoea was a common symptom of Covid at the beginning, maybe a bit more so in children, but also found in adults.

Gwenhwyfar · 13/12/2021 11:58

@PinkSparklyPussyCat

God, I must be a walking Covid symptom! I have a permanent cough and blocked nose, I have a rash, I often feel sick or have a dodgy stomach or a bad headache. I wouldn't even think to get a PCR as I'd be there every day!
No, but if you had a NEW symptom it would be different, wouldn't it?
Gwenhwyfar · 13/12/2021 11:59

@CupcakesAndCastles

I just got over covid. My symptoms….vomiting and diarrhoea, lady from track and trace told me it’s becoming more common
More common or more talked about. I remember people talking about diarrhoea from the beginning (not so much vomiting, but obviously they can go together) but it was not added to the official list of symptoms.
StartingAgain33 · 13/12/2021 11:59

It’s not stupid. Those symptoms you describe can be covid symptoms. And because omicron spreads so quickly the guidance (buried in scientific literature) is that even if you do a lft and it’s negative before a gathering, unless you did it literally an hour before it could still be misleading.

A lot of energy being spent here on moaning when you could have just gotten a pcr test.

CaptaNoctem · 13/12/2021 12:00

By lying and saying you do I imagine

That's what I did. Very positive LFT ( result in seconds) but only mild cold symptoms. None of the classical ones. I now do have a cough but it showed up at the end just like any other end of cold one. The website is way out of date.

StartingAgain33 · 13/12/2021 12:02

The people suggesting lying here - how would you feel if you lied, then gave it to a vulnerable colleague who got really sick? Do you really think that your not being bothered to get a test / thinking workplace is being overly cautious when according to the science they are not - justifies a lie like that?

If you’re not up for doing a test just have a spine and tell work that you don’t want to and will work from home.

Don’t lie FFS.

saraclara · 13/12/2021 12:05

@Kylereese

You won’t be eligible for a PCR test if you don’t have any the symptoms that qualify you for one.
Yes you will if your employer has asked you to take one. It's on the website.
Bashfull900 · 13/12/2021 12:09

YANBU. Surely they mean an LFT. I'd do an LFT for my own peace of mind but asking for a PCR test is ridiculous.
Tell them the earliest they could book you in is after Christmas and enjoy a few days off. Wink.
I'm kidding of course.

MumInBrussels · 13/12/2021 12:10

@camaleon Belgium does, for one.

www.info-coronavirus.be/en/testing/#sick

It says, if you have any of the following symptoms, you should do an online questionnaire and see if you need a PCR test. (The questionnaire says yes, if you have one major or 2 minor symptoms. Minor symptoms also include sore throat, headache, runny nose, sneezing, etc )

Cough

Respiratory problems

Fever

Aches and pains

Fatigue

Loss of sense of smell or taste

Diarrhoea

JuneDr · 13/12/2021 12:11

Yes you will if your employer has asked you to take one. It's on the website

No, it's not.

To think you don't need a bloody PCR test for everything?!
OP posts:
JuneDr · 13/12/2021 12:12

[quote MumInBrussels]@camaleon Belgium does, for one.

www.info-coronavirus.be/en/testing/#sick

It says, if you have any of the following symptoms, you should do an online questionnaire and see if you need a PCR test. (The questionnaire says yes, if you have one major or 2 minor symptoms. Minor symptoms also include sore throat, headache, runny nose, sneezing, etc )

Cough

Respiratory problems

Fever

Aches and pains

Fatigue

Loss of sense of smell or taste

Diarrhoea[/quote]
And still none of those are vomitting.

OP posts:
XenoBitch · 13/12/2021 12:14

YANBU
I have seen people being told to get tested for things like toothache, or aching legs even though they have explained why their legs might be aching.

PinkSparklyPussyCat · 13/12/2021 12:14

No, but if you had a NEW symptom it would be different, wouldn't it?

Well it would depend what it was! If I randomly feel sick I'm not going to have a PCR. I don't have headaches every day so should I be testing when I do get one? I had backache yesterday, what about that?

JuneDr · 13/12/2021 12:16

I do think there is an issue where you could find at least some people who've had absolutely any symptom you can think of alongside a positive result. It doesn't make it common or something you should test for solely.

As PP said, you can Google anything and the word Covid and there will be something somewhere to say it's a symptom.

I've booked one anyway, but I still think it's crazy.

OP posts:
TisTheSeasonToBeVegan · 13/12/2021 12:16

Do you struggle to do the tests OP? Do you struggle to get to a testing centre or order a home test? If yes to any of these, talk to your employer and explain why you can’t do one.

If no, you seem to be making a huge fuss over this and just get it done.

RuthW · 13/12/2021 12:17

Yes you do. Sickness is sometimes a symptom.

RuthW · 13/12/2021 12:17

LFTs no good with symptoms

TisTheSeasonToBeVegan · 13/12/2021 12:17

I've booked one anyway

Great.

PinkSparklyPussyCat · 13/12/2021 12:18

I presume OP wouldn't need to isolate until the test results came back as they aren't any of the main symptoms?

GraceAndFaith · 13/12/2021 12:20

@RuthW

LFTs no good with symptoms
Good job she doesn't have any? Throwing up a few times and then feeling better again in the morning and by the time you do your LTF is not having symptoms. It's far more likely to just be a bog standard 24hr tummy bug. They do still exist, I know people like to think they don't.
SoupDragon · 13/12/2021 12:20

It’s such an easy thing to do

I wish people would stop saying this.