How many of you have experience of testing being refused despite symptoms?

[mrjellyisnotscary]

Inspired by another thread where MrsSpenserGregson (can't tag for some reason) said that her GP wouldn't test despite having all the symptoms, as he hadn't recently returned from Wuhan etc, nor been in known contact with someone infected. More worrying was that he said if he had it he'd get over it. I'm sure he will, but how does that help with reducing infection rates?

I thought that it was now accepted that people were testing positive with no known travel / person link?

[TeacupDrama]

there have been 25,000 tests in UK this is not a random sample but 25,000 people who have either arrived from highly infected areas in China Iran and Italy or who have had close contact with such people only 1% have tested positive so all the rest (99%) who were tested either have a different virus or nothing this 99% were considered much much higher risk than normal but still very very few had the virus
so if it is only 1% in a high risk contact group it is going to be much much less in general population

[YouAreTheEggManIAmTheWalrus]

DS and I last week. Had all the symptoms to a tee.

Live/work/travel on public transport in area mostly populated with international tourists mainly Chinese/Japanese.

No test done due to criteria but GP said don’t go to surgery as she can’t be sure it wasn’t cv. We self isolated just in case, mainly because we were so ill.

[Jerseygaly]

The Italian drs.
It's approx 1w incubation but can be short or longer than 14
At which point fever ( day 7)
Cough a bit later. Maybe day 14 after contact
Then it just gets worse into breathing difficulties of it's going to
There is a chart somewhere. As I'm not sure exactly of time frame.

[seasmize]

I've not read anywhere that it takes a month to die, so perhaps you can provide something to support that claim?

It’s been mentioned in many studies coming out of China. I’ve read it so many times I’ve honestly lost track, but from a paper I currently have open (studying 391 cases in Shenzhen) the median clinical course for recovered cases was 32 days and deaths occurred 35-44 days after symptom onset.

www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.03.03.20028423v1.full.pdf+html

How long it takes depend on state of care—in Wuhan at the peak of their crisis people were dying on average 18.5 days after symptom onset (remember it take 5 days on average from infection to symptoms) because they didn’t have the facilities (ventilators, ECMO) to keep everyone alive.

www.thelancet.com/pb-assets/Lancet/pdfs/S014067362305663.pdf

[VanGoghsDog]

Being right and giving conflicting information are not the same thing.

I didn't say they were necessarily "right", but I think their advice has been clear and not conflicting. Obviously they change the advice as they know more, and we need to keep an eye on the advice.
I've not read anywhere that it takes a month to die, so perhaps you can provide something to support that claim?

[seasmize]

Hate to break it to you @VangoghsDog but the authorities aren’t always right. The virus has been present in Italy well beyond 14 days. It takes a month for most people to die from this and there are a lot of dead people in Italy.

[VanGoghsDog]

The NHS/PHE/ information is not conflicting. It's very clear.

The "conflict" comes from reading the press and social media.

[Frustratedandworried]

There is so much conflicting info it's difficult to know what to do / when to be concerned it. I returned from Italy ( southern) on 20th feb and developed a sore throat and temp almost 2 weeks later ...it passed for a few days and now I have a dry cough and headaches but no fever. The NHS online thing says as I was in italy over 14days ago it doesnt count

[Iotswold]

There isn’t enough capacity to test everyone who just has flu symptoms, I read the uk labs only have capacity to process 3000 tests per day. This is why they are only asking those that have been somewhere high risk of contact and symptomatic to test.

I say this, currently in isolation awaiting testing - it’s been 2 days since I called 111, met criteria and was ‘booked in for a call back to arrange testing’. When/if I do get tested, it’s 72 hours for the results also in isolation, then even if I test negative the advice is to isolate until you are symptom free.

For all of those denied testing, what would you do differently if you were given a test? The advice is going to be the same regardless of the outcome. The reported figures for cases are almost certainly understated, but at the same time lots of people, 99% of those tested so far, have had symptoms but haven’t had covid-19, because the symptoms are the same as a number of other viruses prevalent at this time of year.

[VanGoghsDog]

Bog roll has sold out in case of isolation. If you have a family of four who are usually out of the house all day and suddenly all four of you need to be contained for two weeks it stands to reason you need more food and loo roll.

I've had a cough since Boxing Day, I really hope we are not told to isolate with any symptoms at all as I'm self employed and that will be the end of my income.
Of course, I don't actually know I still have the same cough, I could have caught a different one at some point. But it doesn't seem to have let up much - I was on the verge of going to the GP when all this started and now I can't be bothered!

[OhTheRoses]

How to the elderly with chronic illnesses treated in hospital for months catch it. I can't imagine they are jetting to Italy, China, wuhan, etc.

Personally I think it's all a bit ott and we should all be carrying on. It's neither small pox nor the plague, the symptoms don't include diarrhoea so why has all the bog roll sold out

[TeacupDrama]

The vast majority of people with symptoms will actually have normal cold and flu viruses rather than covid 19 unless they have contacted someone with covid 99% of those tested either had nothing or ordinary virus

[Purplewhitelie]

My kids school is huge and all came back from an Italy trip. They all have cough and cold now.

[ladyflower23]

I read that about 100 GP practices were authorised to test patients who presented with cold symptoms so I guess if your GP practice is one of these and you call them direct rather than 111 you may end up being tested?

[Tartyflette]

DH was tested after he came back from Northern Italy just over a week ago with a fever and bad cough and was quite poorly.
He phoned our GP who said get straight on to NHS 111 special CV hotline, we were then phoned back within about 20 minutes by a Dr who questioned him closely about where he's been, symptoms etc.
They arranged for us to go more or less immediately to a hospital about an hour away from us, i drove as he was not at all well, we had to go to a designated 'pod' in the hospital car park, stay in the car and they came out to us (covered head to toe, gloved, masked etc) to do the swabs.
They didn't test me i had no symptoms and hadn't been to Italy.
We then returned home and he, not me, had to self isolate until the result came through.
We just got the result back and he is clear of Corona Virus, he has flu and a chest infection. (He was really quite ill which is v unusual for him)
I was impressed by the speed and efficiency, as soon as he said Northern Italy and his symptoms , they sprang into action.
I hope anyone else going through this is treated as quickly and efficiently as we were (and Also gets an all-clear)

[Kwkwjwkek]

I work for 111 as a health advisor. It’s only if you’ve been to high or critical risk areas or been in contact with a confirmed case will you be tested. But I don’t understand this myself. A lot of people have been reported in the news to have corona virus without actually knowing they’ve been in contacted with a confirmed case.

[Bunnyfuller]

Surrey bloke went to his GP, not A and E. Obviously wasn’t horrifically ill at the point of presentation, and yet tested.

I think much like the widely varying 111 advice, different Trusts will be doing their own thing to a degree.

[Nat6999]

They didn't offer ds any form of testing despite the fact he returned from school trip to Italy on 22 February & started with symptoms within 7 days, school just sent him home & told him not to return until he recovered. I rang GP who referred me to 111 as they said he had been to Cat 2 area, 111 said the area he had been to was safe ( Bay of Naples) school still wouldn't allow him back until all symptoms had cleared. Now just over 2 weeks since he returned & all of Italy is virtually shut down.

[idonttrustboris]

What happens if you test positive? Are you stuck in hospital then or allowed to stay at home?

[MsMeNz]

I said thousands probably have it and brush it of as colds as that is what it is like for most people. I imagine that we are in the early stages just as Italy was a few weeks ago. Where lots of.ppl get cold like symptoms or next to none or a bit of a fever and mild.cough.for a few days then most recover... However for the unlucky few at this point it gets worse over the following week and seek medical help then get tested then the stats start to jump just like in Iran Korea and Italy. It's already here and spreading as while the death rate isn't as bad as MERs or SARs it's spread rate is incredible.

[SisterAgatha]

I would assume the people tested and confirmed community spread presented at a hospital with a bad enough case for the to warrant doing the test so that should they die, it would be clear why.

[todayisnottuesday]

In that case, how did they find out the ones with no known travel/contact - the Surrey chap and a couple of others? To give them the diagnosis they must’ve tested them, right? If so, why, if the current policy is to only test in the prescribed circumstances

Some inpatients where I am working (critical care) with symptoms have been tested, whether that is standard/ national policy or discretion is applied, and whether for cross infection/ treatment/ epidemiological purposes, I don't know (none have been positive as yet though).

[mrjellyisnotscary]

Stuck that's kind of what I was thinking. If scenario 2 is correct, and it is much milder than expected ergo the impact on people's health isn't going to be as catastrophic as was feared.

[GalOopNorth]

Stuck I think these are the cases that are now popping up as ‘community transmission’. I think there are going to be a LOT more of them over the next couple of weeks

[PickAChew]

The people with no known contact would likely have been diagnosed after being hospitalised. If they hadn't become that ill, they probably wouldn't have been detected.