Sick of my family panicking.

[Strawbz8988]

Covid It's all My family talk about. Think about. I have a cold and I'm happy to stay away from everyone. My sisters saying I should get a test so I can go see my parents. My parents are fully jabbed and getting some flow tests today just because. I have no fever. No dry cough. I have a runny nose and a tickly throat. I have 3 family members texting me today. Sister thinks I should get a test as she presumes I wanna see my parents over Christmas. Adult niece has been testing all week and says maybe I should test but would I like to go walk with her and her dog aswel. Mum's saying I need to stay home and keep away and get a test yet asking me what I was doing and she heard I was in bed early. Now my niece is asking me if I have any tests here.

I am so sick of people panicking when I'm not even going near them. I have a mild runny nose and a tickle in my throat when I lie down..why can't I just keep away from them if they don't want to take risks?

@Strawbz8988

I will stay away from people I'm not going into any shops etc. I was under the impression the test was for fevers. Coughs. Loss of taste and smell. I am not sure where you draw the line with it really without becoming ruled by it. Ofcourse it's important to not go near others and protect the vulnerable.. but if its mainly a mild cold then what is all the panic about if I keep away and feel OK? It's not going anywhere and I'm finding that people have forgotten how to live now and their lived revolve around this .

The symptoms for omicron are different. You have the symptoms. Runny nose, scratchy throat. At least do a lateral flow.

I have no symptoms but as my bf was coming over yesterday I took a test for his sake. Guess where I'm going with this ...

As you have symptoms, it would be a good idea to take a test 1) before you go out and 2) if you have met anyone in the last few days that you might have infected before the symptoms appeared. People are visiting one another at this time of the year and they won't thank you for not warning them that they might be infected.

It's not panic-making to take a test. It's being thoughtful towards the people you come into contact with.

If you want to make a point, you could take the test in secret and only tell them if it's positive.

Your relatives are right, you should be tested (unless you plan on not leaving the house and seeing no-one for a couple of weeks).

@Peaseblossum22

In general I agree and the panicky media are ridiculous but the two main Omicron symptoms are a tickley throat and runny nose so yes in your case I would get a PCR .

My friend’s main symptoms are runny nose and tickly throat - he has covid as has his wife and their son. As PP said get a test and stop moaning about your family.

Or is it actually that you don't want to take a test because you don't want to quarantine as it would be inconvenient?

This is a novel coronavirus - it is unpredictable how our body will respond. I take my own risk assessment but I am also aware that how I behave impacts on society around me. A LFT or PCR is not such a huge challenge is it - I don’t drive and the postal service for both has been pretty good. It allows us to get on with our lives - not the opposite.

This will become like flu in due course. There will be broad spectrum vaccination (I think the seasonal flu vaccine works on what is predicted to be the three most common strains) and highly effective anti-viral treatments. We’re not quite there yet - but not far off. Precautions such as vaccination, testing, mask-wearing all help along the road - and will get us there quicker?

Doesnt sound like they are "panicking" at all. They are being sensible, are concerned for your health and suggesting you stop acting like a petulant teenager and get a test, thats all. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Colds are symptoms of Omicron. Do an LFT and if it’s positive, a PCR. My DIL has a cold, is double vaccinated and boosted and tested positive for Covid on Christmas Eve. She’s also due to have a baby any day. Please just do an LFT and take it from there.

Or what @ravenmum said

Just get a test. You have the symptoms of covid. Don’t be an idiot.

I get why you might not bother with a test OP if you were genuinely not planning on leaving the house for the next 7 days but can you honestly say you will be doing that? Do you live alone? You have enough milk and bread at home to last you a week?

If you have a box of LFTs at home then just take one to start with? And if you don’t have any book a PCR.

I think (hope) guidance will change mid to late January, once everyone eligible for booster has had the opportunity, and the evidence on omicron severity is finally firmed up.

We may even start to see a charge for PCR testing, as we move towards Spring. Its hugely expensive in its current form, and lots of people are PCR testing unnecessarily. Ive never had a PCR, nor has anyone I know; none of us has ever had a positive LFT (which is the only thing that would prompt me to PCR test).

Your post is all over the place OP but you do have symptoms that match the omicron variant so you should really test. I'm guessing you don't want to because you don't want to isolate but you also don't seem to want to see your family. It doesn't sound remotely like your family are panicking though, they sound like the sensible ones.

Are they not just worried about you?

I’m on day 4 of Covid, I am double and booster in November. I am still in bed at nearly midday.
It all started with a sore throat, the next day my is was tuning, the following day I woke up with aches all over and couldn’t get out of bed, that’s when my LF that I’d been doing all week turned positive. These are still my only symptoms apart from absolutely overwhelming fatigue. Omicron is nearly always cold symptoms.
A lot of people will just have a cold but it’s definitely worth doing a test for to be sure.

.. the next day my nose was running ..

@WoodenReindeer

It seems mad and dramatic to me to choose to isolate for 7 days (really - no shops/no seeing people/no walks) when you could just do a quick 5min lft.

It would have to be 10 days if not bothering to test. You can only leave isolation on day 7 if you test negative on 2 consecutive days.

I have a cold and a thickly throat. It’s not even a particularly bad cold. Nothing else. I have Covid, presumably Omicron.

I took the PCR for work (GP surgery) after DD had positive LFT. I also had two negative LFTs after taking the PCR - which eventually came back positive. Unless, you’re not planning to see anyone at all, or go to the shops, for the next week+, I think you should take at the very least be taking daily LFTs.

*tickly not thickly!

For what it’s worth the nhs site currently still says cough/fever/loss of smell as a reason to test and if everyone gets a PCR for cold symptoms then the system will grind to a halt as it’s over-run. That being said LFTs are not sensitive enough to definitely rule it out and should not be used if symptomatic. I think this thread neatly demonstrates the complete lack of knowledge people still have about when to test and which test to use…

Accidently pressed YANBU , I think you are being inconsiderate to your family and the inconvenience to you to take a test is minimal

I'm finding that people have forgotten how to live now and their lived revolve around this

FFS
You’ve chosen not to go out or see anyone because you have symptoms yet you’re saying the tests are causing people to forget how to live
Don’t cut your nose off to spite your face.

Your family don’t sound like they are panicking, they sound sympathetic to your illness and they’re using common sense by saying get a test so you don’t have to isolate unnecessarily.

LFT's are unreliable. A guy in our work came in full of it saying he'd done had a negative LFT. We persuaded him to go home and he tested positive with a PCR. Just book a PCR and be done with it.