Has anyone got a link to the sort of cough that means you need to stay home.

[cece]

Just that really.

I've developed a cough today. I have no real idea of what a Coronavirus sounds like. Is there full of someone coughing? I can't find one.

@twinnywinny14 new is new. If you've had a cough start in the last 7 days you need to self isolate until those 7 days are up.

I can't believe how many people think there's no point in self isolating because their cough started before the new advice was given. Where is the logic in that?

Yes new is to distinguish those who permanently have a cough from smoking or other conditions.

I agree Cece. It's not clear, Dh coughed (a dry cough) last night - twice. I watched him like a hawk after that. No more coughing. Phew - definitely not a 'continuous' cough. Now this evening he has coughed twice more and I'm really not sure - is this persistent? Is this continuous?

At least we have the weekend when we can easily self isolate and by Monday hopefully it will be clear if he has an actual cough or not.

It just means it’s not a one off coughing event. It is a cough that may have just started or have been going on for minutes, hours or up to 7 days.

This is what we have been told at work (111)

Coughing 4 times in a 24 hour period is clearly not persistent or continuous. Pre-coronavirus would you have commented on his cough or would 4 coughs in a day barely have registered?

It’s not clear, as by the time you self isolate you’ve probably waited too long and already passed it on. You won’t lock the door the minute you first cough so by the time you decide you have a cough then you’ve probably already had it for a bit anyway

@twinnywinny14 yeah you might have passed it on for the first couple of days - that doesn't mean you shouldn't start isolating yourself. You'll come into contact with more people over the next 5 days and if you're contagious it's selfish and irresponsible to carry on as normal. Just because you've infected one person doesn't mean it's ok to carry on infecting others.

Exactly. Dh's cough is not persistent or continuous but it is a new and dry cough. With advice (further down this thread) from people saying any coughing should self isolate it makes it hard to draw the line between panicky over-reaction, following rules or being too lax and selfish by possibly infecting others.

That’s very unclear Kwkwjwkek

“Continuous” and “repeated” does not mean “just not a one off”

Advice on www.nhs.uk is To stay at home for 7 days with a cough OR a temperature

The advice says “continuous” cough.

It has not defined “continuous”.

Poor.

I'm struggling to know too. I have had a cold for a few days. I have coughed 2-3 times a day for three days. I have had a sore throat which comes and goes. Dh has a sore throat that hasn't gone.

Well I've isolated most of today and will do so over the weekend whilst I decide whether my cough is continuous or not. I'm being cautious as I work in a school.

Honestly if you can't work this one out for yourself I'm not sure what more guidance you can be given. Nobody should need 'having a cough' defined for them. There is no magic formula of x number of coughs in a 24 hour period. How could there be?!

I think it's unclear. I have a continuous (in that I'm coughing a couple of times every few minutes) dry cough, I've had it for nearly 2 weeks, therefore I hadn't considered it new. I also nearly always get a cough this time of year due I think to tree pollen. I have no idea if this would come under the self isolation advise or not.

The guidance doesn’t just say “cough”. It should be clearer.

Many, many people won’t stay home or keep DC home for what they assume to be a cold and occasional coughing bout.

Thank you for being cautious in that way. With what is happening, there is nothing dramatic about self-isolating if you are not sure whether it's a "continuous cough". In fact, by so doing you could save some people's lives.

Just stay at home if there is a cough! Ffs, even if it isn’t corona you should be at home if you are ill! My toddler has had a cough and been snotty for about 8 weeks. GP unsure if it’s just a persistent low-level virus or allergies. Do you really think it’s realistic to never leave the house? I have also had a very mild cough for a couple of weeks - work (NHS) expect me to come in and I’d be laughed out of the hospital and probably subject to disciplinary procedures if I didn’t.

It's not the continuous part I don't understand, it's the new new in the last week, fornight, month? New in that not one you get if you suffer from allergies and therefore sometimes get a cough?

Sorry for typos!

We found it confusing too. If that makes me a bit thick, I'm OK with that.

My OH has had a dry cough all week. No fever, bit of a headache, no real other symptoms. He's coughing quite a bit but not what I would say is continuously. Also - and most interestingly! - he's not coughing when he's asleep!!!! Every proper cough I've known is worse at night and while sleeping but I've been working through the night so have been awake to hear - and he's not coughed at all until he woke up.

I don't think he's actually faking it - but he is a bit of a drama queen at times. I think his throat/chest feels a bit cold-like and tight (maybe) and he's coughing to try and feel clearer. I have said this to him and he agrees I might be right.

I have no bloody idea whether he should be self isolating or not. I don't think it's an actual cough where you can't help yourself - but he is coughing regularly - but not what I'd call continuous. He's self isolated and we've all stayed away from him in the home - I've been bleaching and wiping surfaces down and so far, the rest of us are clear.

So yes, I don't know what a corona cough is either....but I'm guessing it's probably more persistent and troublesome than what my OH has....

@ExhaustedFlamingo I have had exactly that! I've been coughing for weeks now (since early Feb). It's been fairly bad, but I've not coughed at all through the night.

Mine is starting to ease off a bit now but I'm still coughing - probably every 20 mins or so.

New cough - within the last 7 days.

Continuous - I think just means you "have a cough" rather than "I have coughed".

If you are coughing quite a bit, or coughing throughout the day, or a month ago if you were coughing like this you would have told people you "have a cough" - then it's a cough. Stay at home.

If you've been coughing for 8 weeks, cough because you have asthma, cough because you are a 40 a day smoker, or coughed once because you swallowed something badly - you don't need to self-isolate.