To not wait for PCR Result?

[Lividlavidacoco]

DS and I both had colds this week and because he was coughing and had a slight temp (37.9) we both needed PCR’s. For clarity though, we are very confident the tests will be negative, we’ve both had stuffy noses and sore throats so it’s just a cold.

We went to a drive through test centre at 9am on Thursday, it’s now Sunday and we still don’t have our results. It’s been a nightmare because we had lovely Christmassy plans this weekend we’ve had to miss and we’re all gutted.

Firstly, is there somewhere we can contact to check the status of our tests?

Secondly, the dog desperately needs a walk. WIBU to take the dog out tonight at midnight when no one else will be up in the field?

On another thread I have been looking at the latest legislation (no obligation to isolate if someone else has covid as long as you are vaccinated and take lateral flows). It is such a complicated set of regulations. Where does it say if you have the 3 classic covid symptoms it is the law to order a PCR test?

I can see it is the law that if you are reported by phone or email by track and trace (but not simply pinged for those rich enough to have a phone that takes the app - not all of us have a phone like that) you MUST isolate but not found the bit about if you have XYZ symptoms you are required by law to get a PCR test.

Definitely walk the dog. Very low risk and important.

Please do wait for your results...my family (except my 5 year old) are all double vaccinated & booster, we had cold symptoms for a couple of days with all our lateral flows showing as negative. We are super careful too, as we are in a vulnerable group.

Then on day 3 they all came back as positive, just before a weekend of Christmas activities we had planned. So waiting on PCR's now. We now have absolutely no sense of taste or smell.

Please wait for your PCR's they should be back with you soon.

In Scotland its a negative PCR that releases you from isolation if a contact
Although they say household contacts 'should' isolate for 10 days. They can't say 'must' as they don't have funding to cover everyone isolating I suppose

@dementedpixie

They have a high false negative rate so a negative test on an LFT doesn't mean you are actually negative. That's why they aren't supposed to be used to rule out covid (although they are actually more accurate if you have symptoms)

they do not

It's a mumsnet urban legend

Did a brief google and look on BMJ or similar. Accuracy is very high. Very very high >97%

Definitely walk your dog! Who are you going to see?!

I tested positive when I only had a stuffy nose and a sore throat.

@RisingStarsToday

I’ve never heard something so stupid in my life *@Lividlavidacoco* if you even did a quick Google you’d see the two main symptoms of Omicron are stuffy or runny nose and a sore throat.

Your ‘confidence’ it’s not covid is based on how I’ll informed you are. That’s why you wait for your result as you should.

How are we so far into this and people still assume the outcome that suits them best is the correct thing to do.

What on earth are you attacking me for? I’ve followed the rules you complete loon

I'd walk the dog but not go out to crowded places till you see a negative result.

They're very specific so if you get a positive result then you likely have covid
They are not as sensitive though so may give a false negative result even if you have covid

Thanks everyone.

I don’t know what to tell you about how I called 119 - here’s my phone record though Jessica Fletcher first call was when I got randomly cut off, second call (17 mins) was when I spoke to them.

Third call was just now when I was trying to grab this screenshot for you and accidentally dialled

Re: dog. He definitely needs to go out so if I’ve not got a result by the end of the day I’ll need to take him out tonight. We live rurally so I can walk him where I can be confident no one else will be at that time. I’ll wear a mask too (it will keep my face warm!). We’ve got a big garden he’s been playing in and we’re just hiding some treats round the garden for him now. He’s a scent hound so enjoys that a lot.

Re: lateral flows. We have symptoms so a lateral flow isn’t appropriate, we needed PCR’s. I’ve done a lat flow anyway on Thursday which was negative but that’s obviously not confirmation that we don’t have covid, hence we’ve been isolating. Didn’t seem worth mentioning since it’s irrelevant.

Calling them back now.

Use your test bar code to track your result. My covid symptoms have included a heavy cold, sore throat and slight temp alongside various other things.

Maybe it’s just this omicron thing that the lateral flows aren’t great on but seemingly everyone I know has Covid right now (me and DH included) and we’d all had several days of being symptomatic but testing negative on LFTs before eventually getting a positive result. We were only still doing them out of curiosity while awaiting the PCR results which are taking days on end. Mine started with very mild cold symptoms (sore throat and slight headache), then chills and feeling a bit achey, and then eventually turned into feeling absolutely deathly with the classic fever and dry cough. DH who’s a few days ahead of me has lost taste and smell too. I think it’s absolutely ridiculous that they’ve got us into a situation where LFTs are difficult to get hold of and PCR results are taking so long to return, the week before Christmas when people are travelling.

How ridiculous that you ring 119 who have the result but can’t tell you over the phone. My Son rang after waiting 5 days, but he hadn’t registered the barcode correctly. As soon as he did the negative result came through, but they wouldn’t tell him on the phone. Hopefully you will get result through soon. We have a border collie who is walked 3 times a day, so with 4 adults in our house, we are hoping that we don’t go down with covid at the same time, so at least the dog gets a walk each day.

I had a cold two weeks ago, it wasnt covid. Got another cold this week, positive result came through this morning
I would have walked my dog if I had to. Hope yours comes back negative

I still dont understand why the government wont update the symptoms as per this post people still think that a cold or runny nose isnt a symptom at all

Ignore those attacking you. I hope you get the all clear

For the sake of a few hours you might as well wait for the results. Without knowing how busy your woods are, it's impossible to say about walking the dog. If nobody is there then no harm, but if there might be people about then it's a bad idea.

@MiddleParking I always find it’s the low intelligence people who resort to patronising people. If you suspect you have covid (which op clearly does) the advice is to do a PCR and isolate. That is the official advice.

As others have said, your symptoms ARe symptomatic of Covid so hold tight.

Yes, of course walk the dog where no one will be around. You can't give people Covid if no one is around. It's a case of common sense here.

@JustUseTheDoorSanta

For the sake of a few hours you might as well wait for the results. Without knowing how busy your woods are, it's impossible to say about walking the dog. If nobody is there then no harm, but if there might be people about then it's a bad idea.

We’ve got a thing booked this afternoon we can go to if we get a negative result hence why I’m chasing 119. We had a full weekend planned but obviously most of that was cancelled. Hoping we can do this last thing if I can get the results back in time. We should have the results really, we’re over 72 hours now.

Re: lateral flows. We have symptoms so a lateral flow isn’t appropriate, we needed PCR’s. I’ve done a lat flow anyway on Thursday which was negative but that’s obviously not confirmation that we don’t have covid, hence we’ve been isolating. Didn’t seem worth mentioning since it’s irrelevant

You can still use a Lat Flow.

I know people who used them and got a positive so isolated while waiting for the PCR to be delivered.

There is no reason NOT to use lat flow if you have symptoms.
The advice doesn't forbid this.

The reason for doing PCR is they ask you for your iD and a lot of info, so it's a means of compiling data and showing results across the country.

A lat flow can still show a positive if you have enough virus.

I'd try 119 again if it's reached 72 hours. They only get helpful at that stage.

Last time I and my partner had a PCR test she got the results the next day but I didn't. When I chased they said they wouldn't investigate until 3 days had passed.

When that time had elapsed I called them again and was told they would investigate, and I couldn't get a new test. They didn't come back to me and after 5 days I got the standard text and email with the results section blank...

@WhoopsWhatsMyNameAgain

As others have said, your symptoms ARe symptomatic of Covid so hold tight.

Yes, of course walk the dog where no one will be around. You can't give people Covid if no one is around. It's a case of common sense here.

That’s my thinking, thank you. I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t completely unreasonable to break the rules to walk him under the circumstances.