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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To not be surprised that Covid is rife

60 replies

Pugmomma · 08/01/2022 00:22

Background - myself and DP were due to attend an event on New Years Eve, as such had to prove we didn’t have Covid by providing a negative lateral flow test. On NYE we did the test - both of our tests were positive with the darkest red line you ever did see.

Now neither of us have ANY symptoms, no cough, no aches, fever, headaches, loss of taste / smell - NOTHING. Both felt 10/10.

We went for PCR’s to confirm, convinced the lateral flows were wrong as we were both just completely normal - both PCR’s were positive.

We’ve isolated since obviously, but had we not been due to attend an event we wouldn’t have done a lateral flow as we are both so well and symptom free - we would never have known we had it. Only purely by chance due to the event did we take the tests.

AIBU to think that many more people have COVID than what we’re aware of? Just carrying on completely as normal totally symptom free?

If we hadn’t of had our event I’d of been out shopping / gone to work etc etc as we felt totally fine!

Currently on day 6 after our positive tests and still were both completely fine with not so much as a tickly throat, not a single symptom.

I will add that around a month ago, we got some kind of super cold / flu that floored us both, a week of work each, living of night nurse, absolute hell - we did tests every day convinced we had Covid - all negative. That absolutely sh*t on the Covid we apparently have yet we’re totally fine!

Surely many more people are like us but are blissfully unaware? We can’t be the only ones!

OP posts:

OnwardsAndSideways1 · 08/01/2022 10:01

All those saying: but we knew that already, well, great, but....

a) PCRs have only been for those with symptoms (and now we are not even supposed to do them after a positive lft even though lfts are really not great at picking up Omicron in particular)
b) the NHS website still states the symptoms that should be tested with and these are the wrong ones!
c) if you test twice a week, with Omicron, that's 5 days you are not testing on and it can develop very quickly
d) it costs a lot to supply the entire country with LFT to endlessly test
e) there are people still on here saying well don't go out then. What, ever? New research shows that going to the supermarket is the most risky thing you can do- and yet people on here were all shopping in person during lockdowns whilst decrying those who did normal things like see a few family!
f) it's the fact it's so unpredictable which means everyone ends up disagreeing over covid- if your experience is family in ICU you are going to have a very different risk perception of what ought to be done if you know of asymptomatic cases

Asymptomatic cases are intriguing and it may be there are more of them with Omicron. Policy hasn't really reflected this at all, it was all about the 'coughs' and the bloody NHS website is still banging on about that!

LittleRoundRobin · 08/01/2022 10:03

YANBU, but also, it's a good thing that people aren't aware, as that means it's having less impact, and making people less ill. Around TEN people I know have got it right now, (or have had it in the past 6 weeks,) and they don't have/didn't have symptoms any worse than a slight cold. A few of them have/had NO symptoms. A good sign IMO, as it shows it's weakening.

Exhausteddog · 08/01/2022 10:08

@tigger1001
We also have 3 positives in the house. All of us have had cold symptoms but all slightly different,
DH - sore throat, coughing, tiredness, general aches ,diahorrea
DD - sore throat, sneezing, headache, earache, general aches
Me - sore throat, hoarse voice, sneezing, runny nose, headache

All similar bit not quite the same. from the start I thought that the difficulty with covid was that it encompassed so many reasonably common symptoms (as well as some asymptomatic cases) that could quite easily be something else. It's not like chicken pox for example that has very distinctive spots that are different from a rash in bite.

GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER · 08/01/2022 10:17

@NOTANUM

There are also people who are not doing any LFT at all because they don’t want to know. That’s whether they’re vaccinated or unvaccinated.

Too true. A dd knows one such and the person works in a public health role! She declined to test her dcs despite their having been in contact for several hours with children who tested positive soon afterwards, and sent hers back to school regardless.

MomOfTwoGirls2 · 08/01/2022 10:39

While Omicron variant is pretty mild, Delta variant is still out there too. In Ireland it was reported that most of those in ICU have delta variant.

tigger1001 · 08/01/2022 10:42

[quote Exhausteddog]@tigger1001
We also have 3 positives in the house. All of us have had cold symptoms but all slightly different,
DH - sore throat, coughing, tiredness, general aches ,diahorrea
DD - sore throat, sneezing, headache, earache, general aches
Me - sore throat, hoarse voice, sneezing, runny nose, headache

User135644 · 08/01/2022 10:43

The asymptomatic nature has always been the key problem.

If it wasn't for that, it'd be easier to say 'stay at home if you're ill' like with flu.

People can panic if someone coughs near them, when the person sat next to them all day could have an asymptomatic case.

VelvetChairGirl · 08/01/2022 11:53

its all bollocks in this country me and my son had the Chinese one before 1st lock down, we didn't have any of the symptoms on the list (UK list being less then half as long as other countries), we voluntarily self isolated for 2 weeks, it wasnt the rule at the time, i went by South Korean recommendations i trust them to be right not Tories.

nothing since, at one point they were testing positive like mad in his class about every 3 to 5 days. but every time we are sick like a cold they are demanding tests even when I know its not covid because it doesn't feel anything like it, then when they find out this horrible things that cause dizziness, vomiting etc isn't covid they want my son back in school ASAP, they suddenly don't care about any other illness as long as they don't test positive on a home test, they don't even see,they just ask and trust your not lying.

lljkk · 08/01/2022 12:00

There is literally no way of knowing how it's going to affect you

Well not with absolute guaranteed certainty...

it seems so random

Not true. Because the risk factors for severe illness are known & are the same since the start.

People age 70+ get it much worse than under 50s
Males get it worse than females
Non-white ppl get it worse than while people
Morbidly obese ppl get it worse than non-morbidly-obese

I mean, fine, move heaven and Earth to prevent Transmission & follow the Financial times Lead in advocating Zero Covid if you think that's best, but don't say it's "random" who gets harmed by covid -- it's not random. There are very strong known risk factors. For mortality and hospitalisation.

For long covid the main risk factor difference (from mortality etc) is that women get LC much more often than men.

AllThatFancyPaintsAsFair · 08/01/2022 12:28

@lljkk