To think no one is testing for Covid anymore?

[TwoTimesShoeShop]

A work colleague has just messaged our team WhatsApp in a bit of a rant as they've got Covid. They are blaming it on someone who came into the office earlier this week with a blatant heavy cold thing. Colleague with cold is saying that they don't think it's Covid, but haven't tested and don't plan to, and that Covid colleague could have got it from anywhere.

It's now going into an argument about testing - a couple of people are still testing any time they get cold symptoms, but most are saying they won't bother. Covid colleague says we all need to test now as we were all in on Monday together for a meeting.

AIBU to think no one is testing anymore, and it's not necessary?

Some of us never did test, OP - as with any bug we just stayed away from others if we caught something, took the paracetamol and so on

Obviously it's different for the very vulnerable who need to know exactly what's going on, but for the vast majority far too much was made of it all IMO

DH works with clinically vulnerable people so carried on testing for a lot longer than most folk but I can't even remember the last time he tested - in fact I threw most of the tests away because they'd gone out of date.

And tests are still available to buy - I saw them stacked up on the Pharmacy counter at our Tesco Extra the other day.

Unless your colleague is extremely clinically vulnerable they are being absolutely bonkers to expect others to test. If they want to protect themselves perhaps they should wear a mask!

Never had the vaccine. Never hsd covid. Tested once. Felt sick twice since 2017 and common sense told me to stay at home, had some honey, lenon tea ajd some steam sessions and in less than a week was well again. No where in the real life is anyone like this, going on about testing.

I'm sure journalists start these threads to see how many are just not getting on with their lives over a heavy cold. More concerning is the increase in more serious conditions happening

Yes I do realise that, but I've seen far more people with longer lasting effects of Covid than I have for flu or colds. All the people I've mentioned have had flu and colds before and been absolutely fine. My mum frequently has colds and flu and has never been hospitalised or close to death like she was with Covid. My two friends who are still suffering with long Covid were very fit, healthy and in their 40s. I work at a university and we've had several students drop out of their courses because of long Covid. I've never seen a single student drop out because of complications relating to flu. So I do believe there's a difference.

This

We still test. Repeated Covid can cause other health problems such as clotting issues. I don't know why you wouldn't want to know.

Plus we would then steer clear of people. I think it's incredibly selfish not to.

I currently have it now for about the 6th time, I tested as last time my mum caught it she was in hospital for weeks. Pretty sure I caught it from the hospital as a few people were in an isolation room ( then were walked out through the reception so seemed pointless)

I would test if I thought I had COVID (for me, the symptoms are different than a cold and I tend to know if I have it). COVID is like the flu to me. I wouldn't go spreading the flu around if I knew I had it. A cold would be different.

But yes, I probably would test if I felt very unwell and was going to be commuting into work on a busy train or seeing clinically vulnerable MIL. I'd test for lots of things in those situations if there was an at-home test in my cupboard.

@Allnormalhere I had the 3 vaccines before catching it. The illness itself wasn't bad, just like a bad cold with fatigue. It was the after effects of it that floored me. Worst flare up of arthritis that I have had. I worked from home during the illness but needed over a week off for the flare up.

That was the narrative, but it never quite worked like that in practice when you dug down. Indy SAGE had some good data on this. Adherence with isolation was always very patchy, even at the height of the pandemic. Data they had here said full self isolation was less than 20%.

https://www.independentsage.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Crime-and-punishment-John-4.1-1.pdf

I know INDY Sage are controversial in many ways, But they were very pro testing and isolation, so I'm inclined to trust criticisms they have of the way those policies worked in practice. Bear in mind this is from early 2021, so the height of the pandemic when most people hadn't yet been vaccinated or had covid, and when they were breaking the law by not isolating.

The ONS released their latest survey of Long Covid prevalence in the UK today. Over 2 million people are affected, or 3.3% of the population in England and Scotland. This is higher than the figures reported around same time last year (2.9%) and suggests Long Covid numbers will continue to grow even in this "mild Omicron" phase. I don't know if I can put the link here but you can find the report on the ONS website. Over 70% of those affected had it for more than a year, which suggests Long Covid is a long-term or potentially even permanent disability. Over 74% of those affected, or over 1.5 million people, said the condition affects their day-to-day life. Similar studies in other countries have shown even worse figures.

A basic math calculation shows that about 1 in every 31 people in England and Scotland have Long Covid now. This is not a low figure. It means the condition is common and widespread. While post-viral disease exists with other viruses in circulation, it is more common and severe with Covid by a wide margin.

Rationally, testing and taking some precautions (e.g. wearing a FPP2/FFP3 mask in crowds or on public transport) is logical behaviour, as it is low-cost and high-reward. Why wouldn't you want to take some steps towards avoiding disability for you and others? Nobody is saying we need to be locked down again, but testing, putting on a mask on an airplane or at the doctor's office is not difficult or harmful in any way for most people.

All public health crises were minimised at the beginning. AIDS was supposedly something only gay men could get. People used to believe smoking is good for your health. The doctor who discovered the importance of hand washing died in a mental asylum after being rejected and bullied by his entire professional field. I think Long Covid is a serious public health crisis and people who are taking it seriously are not stuck in 2020- all the contrary, they are early. Just because a majority is pretending the problem has gone away it doesn't mean they are correct.

Another thing worth mentioning is that once you are disabled, society will try to throw you on the trash heap and Rishi Sunak will write speeches about how useless you are. Those who bullied you to be "normal" and not worried about Covid like a weirdo will not take care of you. So be smart, take care of yourself.

And what if people have to go to work ?
It's also incredibly selfish expecting people to not go to work and lose money etc because they have covid .

I’ve got Long Covid. Had it since July last year. Still can’t walk more than 15 paces and I’m totally housebound.

Everyonr who comes into our house tests. Dh tests everyday. I really do not want to get COVID on top of this.

Ive had flu 4 times. Its never affected me like this.

Of course not! Testing stopped 3 years ago and Covid is no big deal. Some people just like drama and enjoy being "ill".

Crazy, paranoid people are still testing.

Maybe either
wear a mask
or
tell people you have covid so anyone vulnerable or with vulnerable relatives or just doesn’t want to risk catching it can wear a mask themselves.

Taking protection is much the same as schools banning certain foodstuffs that can affect others severely.

I would test if unwell due to household vulnerability but wouldn't expect others to.

Oh don’t be ridiculous. Masks are pointless and it’s nobody else’s business what others are ill with.

If you’re so anxious and paranoid about catching it then stay inside, don’t try and force others to behave how you want them to.

You've posted that just as someone has said they're housebound from long covid? That's why people are still testing

I don't really care what others do but I won't let anyone in my home who is unwell, no matter what with

It's the same mindset that people with lovely houses and big gardens had during 2020 - because they were happy working from home in their home office, baking banana bread and growing tomatoes, they felt that everyone should be happy to be stuck at home. No consideration that some people were stuck in 4th floor flats for 23 hours a day like prisoners.

Please don’t attack other peoples thoughts because you have a different one.

If people at work don’t know if someone has covid how can they ever make an informed decision about whether to protect themselves from it.

That’s why I suggested informing the workplace so others can make that choice.

It’s hardly a big ask and long covid can have severe long term affects on people. More recent research is identifying more and more problems ie heart issues with those that just had a minor bout of covid.

Personally I don’t think being aware of my friends and colleagues health is much to ask.

I think last time was 2 years ago as it was mandatory to travel for our honeymoon. Wouldn’t even cross my mind to test now

This!
The only tests I did were mandatory at work.....never had Covid.
Unless you are CEV (my husband is and even he can't be bothered worrying about it anymore) there is no reason to test.
If someone is personally worried about catching covid at this point then they are the ones that need to take any precautions they feel are necessary to avoid it. Society has moved on.

Imagine saying that 5 years ago! Really, you have no right at all to know about anyone else's health - it's their business.

What about people who are asymptomatic with Covid? Aren’t you worried about them? Or are you expecting people around you to test daily just in case?

I agree, but would add that for me it was always up to the individual to assess their own risk and make whatever arrangements they deemed necessary

For me there's a major ideological issue with the sort of powers the government awarded themselves, borne out by the level of deceit which came to light. Worse still, god forbid we're ever faced with a virus with a genuinely huge mortality rate, because after what went before we'd be stuffed