I don't believe that COVID only arrived in the Uk in February

[GlitterToast]

I remember in February (I think) when the apparent first case of corona came to the UK, and there was much talk of a "superspreader".

However, I am convinced that if the virus has been evident in China since November, then it would have arrived here much sooner.

Personally, I was horrendously ill in late January. Everyone told me that I had a bad cold, but it was honestly the worst cold I have ever had in my entire life. I kept having hot and cold flushes and I had an awful cough. I couldn't get out of bed for a week. I'm not saying that I had corona, but I had something awful.

I too had the awful Christmas/NY bug, I caught it from a colleague - a few of us caught it and one went on to develop pneumonia. It was like nothing I've ever experienced. I gave it to DH and DD but thankfully they didn't suffer too badly.

DH also went to a world conference in London mid January with hi hundreds of nationalities, many Chinese - he became ill for several days after that.

How were they diagnosed later? Once they were better?

Hahahahaha

The people convinced that they had Covid 19 in December in Luton and not any other respiratory virus, no, definitely not, it WAS coronavirus, all right, and they have defied those scientists who know less than them etc. will not be swayed by logic.

MyOtherProfile - I should double check with her. But looking back over messages I know she saw paramedics for respiratory issues early March and then had over the phone appointment with GP (too ill to go in) 4 weeks ago which is when she messaged me to cancel meeting up. No swab as far as I know - just told to stay at home and contact them if it gets worse.

The whole family have been isolating ever since - so before lockdown started. She's still in bed but getting up for a couple of hours a day. Describes feeling like she was drowning.

Her girls and husband had a cold at staggered intervals for the 2 weeks after they got back (late Jan) but they have been fit as fiddles since then.

I had an awful virus in mid January. I think it’s possible that it could have been C-19 partly because I work at a large university with a sizeable international student population. I have at least one close colleague who visited mainland China over Christmas, and my office is beside a very busy lecture theatre used for a course with a high proportion of Asian students. Given the youth of a university population I think it’s feasible that a virus like C19 could be present within a student population, making people sick but not actually killing people for quite some time.

Symptoms:
Beginning with a sore throat (I thought tonsillitis initially)
Fever - high for a couple of days then moderately high for 2+ weeks. I took max dose paracetamol throughout and noted that it was taking a long time to pass
Quickly dropped into my chest, feeling like airways on fire. Tight chest, breathing was an effort at one point
A horrid barking cough that lasted weeks and weeks and which I was unable to control or stop
The worst headache, like a migraine lasting weeks on end, thought I was about to have an aneurism each time I coughed.
Rib pain and painful breathing - feeling similar to pleurisy
Fatigue - actually fell asleep at my desk a few times, slower walk to work, falling asleep at 8pm each night
Brain fog/confusion - a wholly unproductive month at work, only able to keep things ticking along, was quite useless really.

I passed it on to a couple of colleagues, and my 3yo was unwell at the same time. He kept waking up coughing and crying that his chest hurt. We saw the GP a few times but always viral. Questions about travel to mainland China at each appointment.

I think it was probably here, just bubbling away, just like I think that was the case in China before the number of cases rocketed. Just remember that only 10% supposedly need hospitalisation, and infection rates even now are at

I have a student who got ill in early February (postgraduate student originally from China, but I don’t know that they had been home to China at that time, live in central London). They were really ill for several weeks. Recovered but then went home to China in mid March when our university decided to close. Had first testing in Shanghai and tested positive for COVID-19 (confirmed, I’ve had to log their medical records). They were no longer symptomatic so believe they were infected in London in late January or early February.

When we finally can get tests, you can do an antibodies test, then we'll all know the truth.

Moi aussi (in January). I get a winter bronchial infection, about once a year.
This time it was different 1) started with a sore throat. 2) had a temperature. 3) the antibios that normally zap it - didn't, (its a virus !).
Went on for a month (normally just 2 weeks) before I was able to shift it.

I don't think I have or have had Coviid but something nasty is going around. I don't have a temperature but I get shivery, I get shaky and I'm definitely off my food, no appetite, I have had a persistent, non productive cough, for months. I attribute being shaky to lack of food as I am pre diabetic. I know I'm not the only one with this cough and I've isolated for two weeks but not really much better. Does anyone else identify with these symptoms? My cough is aggravated by change in temperature, i,e, leaving a house to go outside where it is colder.

I became ill on 20 February. It took me almost six weeks to recover. I don’t know who I caught it from but my children go to school with overseas borders including a number from China, with children whose parents originate from countries all over the World and regularly travel to those countries, and with children whose parents regularly travel internationally on business. Also, one of my colleagues has a holiday home in Northern Italy and regularly travels there. The fact of the matter is that once it originated in China it probably arrived here within a few days.

I read that waste water is now being tested for Corona, can't remember which country, and shows traces of the virus 4 weeks before the first case.
I think it was here in mid Feb

My sister in law went skiing in Italy in January and came back with the flu, she ended up ringing 111 as she couldn't breathe in the night. I'm convinced she had covid-19, hopefully she will get a chance to do the antibody test.

Pretty sure I did. My father met up with a load of people from Wuhan in November. They all travelled to this country for business meetings. My father was so ill in December we didn’t think he’d be able to go on holiday just before Christmas. I spent most of January ill with something that started on Christmas Day. Both my sons and I had whatever it was pretty bad.

Obviously we can’t know for sure, but all those people from Wuhan? Coincidence?

I think it was here in mid Feb

Mid Feb which year? We definitley know it was here at the start of Feb 2020 with the York student so quite possibly undiagnosed others at the Ned of Jan with less severe doses.

There are other viruses than coronavirus that exist although most Mumsnetters insist that every cough, headache, sneeze and sniffle since July last year must have been coronavirus.

Yes. Some of them are doctors too. People who actually know that they're talking about. Imagine that.

I had the weird winter bug others are mentioning. I assume it was flu but who knows?

I came down with it in December ten days after being at a residential conference (so having all meals together, etc) with people from all over the world including China. I was horribly ill and had the highest fever of my adult life. Plus aches, fatigue, no appetite, etc. By days 5/6 I was starting to feel better. On day 7 my fever spiked again and I started coughing. I dragged myself to the gp who diagnosed bronchitis. It took me about six weeks to feel properly well and for the cough to fully go. A fit male friend of mine had it just after me and had the same pattern but with pneumonia rather than bronchitis for the second part.

If I had the same symptoms now I would be sure it was corona.

viruses don’t have brains they cannot strategise and decide to initially only give mild symptoms then end up giving sever ones later. That can only happen if it randomly mutates to become more fatal but so far I haven’t seen evidence to suggest that. It seems much more likely the reason there wasn’t many cases confirmed in the UK is because it only stared spreading in the UK in Late January.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quorum_sensing#Viruses

could play a part in virus reproduction and transmission...

Even doctors can't know for sure unless they have tested themselves as afaik we don't have a reliable antibody test.

We will all have to wait and see when a test is available

A friend of mine definitely had it immediately after Xmas. She ended up in hospital with pneumonia. It went on for weeks. She was very poorly. She hasn’t been abroad and has no idea how she caught it. The lethargy and cough was constant.

I also had a terrible cough I couldn’t shift in December and can only remember having a cough once before in my life. My daughter was ill at the same time.

When people say only those who travelled abroad got it before March this is because they only tested people who had been to China or Italy. Possibly others had it but weren’t tested.

I would be interested to know if anyone on Mumsnet has had corona in the last month or so and also had the coughing bug in December/January? If anyone has had both it would suggest that the December/January cases weren’t corona.

Yes chocolat I said my DD has had coronavirus symptoms in the last couple of weeks (very clearly) and the bad coughing virus at Christmas.

The thing is we can all look back and say we think we had it. March 2019 I had a horrible virus. I had an awfully sore throat like it was full of thorns, I couldn't breathe properly, dreadful cough. I don't think it was flu (I have the jab but I know its not 100% effective) no sense of smell and taste. I was so scared and my poor GP was incredibly reassuring. It took me a month to recover. Now I know damn well it wasn't Coronavirus being as it didn't exist back then but had I had those symptoms in January or Feb this year I probably would have convinced myself that it was.
There are lots of viruses that indeed make you feel pretty shit.

Katysun - sorry i missed your first post.

@Northernsoullover I've never ever had a thing like COVID 19, (or the virus DS had) so know I haven't had it, unless it turns out I was asymptomatic. I doubt I'm that lucky

I read that the first person who got it in the UK had come back from skiing in Austria. That was mid January.

I had an illness over New Year and although I did get over it I was completely struggling to walk any distance for about 6 weeks after.
Just walking from the car to the supermarket and I was exhausted

Just a question out of interest to health professionals on here...

My baby was hospitalised with bronchiolitis over the winter (confirmed rsv after swab testing) and the wards were full of babies with bronchiolitis. Does RSV cause the same sort of respiratory issues in adults? Just curious if some of the people who had respiratory symptoms had RSV rather than Corona.