My dad was told he had Covid 19 this morning.

[Hollyhobbi]

My dad had the test last Wednesday and was phoned this morning to say he had tested positive. He was on a flight from Spain just over a month ago and had been beside someone who was coughing all the way back on the flight to Ireland. But my dad had no high Temperature and only a chesty cough when he went to his gp 9 days later, so not typical symptoms. Anyway his GP was going to have a think about whether to refer him for the test. My dad was told the next day to go for a test but then the testing criteria changed so he didn't meet the criteria which included a high temperature. He was surprised to be called again last week to have the test but decided to go. I think the fact he has sleep apnoea and uses a Cpap machine every night has saved his life. The only people he has been in contact with are two of my sisters and my mother. My sisters were in work and shopping and my mother was in the chemists recently. Now they are worried they might have given it to a vulnerable person although they were hand-washing and social distancing. Just shows that not everyone has a high temperature or a dry cough even people over 75.

Hope your dad is okay x

Hope your dad is ok.

Surprised he got a test, that is a hopeful sign. Do you know how he managed to qualify for one?

Just going to the GP spreads it. We need to talk to GPs on the phone, not spread it around surgeries, when people are not very ill. I’m glad he’s not too bad though.

This is why we think more people have had it then the numbers suggest. Most people are only tested in hospital and many have not gone to hospital or seen a medic.

Glad to hear his symptoms are mild, OP.

He rang his GP and the GP told him to come in. They both wore masks. I was at my own GP a few weeks ago too. They aren't all just doing phone consults. I'm surprised he got a test too after the first one didn't hsppen. But he is on long term steroids, has diabetes due to the steroids, has high blood pressure and his pituitary gland was removed about 10 years ago through brain surgery as the surgeon had tried the trans nasal route and it was unsuccessful. He also had radiotherapy after the surgery. And he had a mild heart attack a few years previously while on holidays in Spain and had stents put in. He managed to avoid the hospital and his GP says he is no longer infectious. One of my sister's is wondering if more people should be put on Cpap machines sooner to save life's. I'm sure that's why my dad is still here. The GPs are only admitting one person into the surgery at a time and also practising social distancing.

Forgot to say we're in Ireland. We are also testing people in the community.

But presumably he is not on the CPap machine all the time? It sounds like he is just really lucky that he only had a mild case that did not require extra treatment. I hope his recovery continues well.

@Hollyhobbi the HSE will contact chase.

Not to worry.
The HSE will advise that all who were in regular contact with him need to self isolate, including you.

If you get any symptoms phone your GP and you’ll be offered a test.

Try and remember where you went and who you spoke to. You may be asymptomatic, but you’re still contagious.

If your dad’s symptoms or breathing get worse, he’s to phone for an ambulance, and he’ll be admitted to hospital and managed there.

I recovered last week, I got it in early March.
I’m in Ireland also. It’s being well managed here.

What date was the flight? Curious as to how long it is in someone’s system for as we are told to SI for 14 days if someone you lives with develops symptoms. So he developed symptoms 9 days after? And tested positive after a swab on wed? Trying to get my head around it all

I hope he recovers well & you other family members don’t develop symptoms.

Why do you think the CPAP machine saved his life? (Curious as I've got one!)

I would be surprised if he caught it on the flight over a month ago and still tested positive now.

Masks just covering the nose and mouth do not stop the virus entering via the eyes.

The HSE will not contact chase. They will not advise people who've been in touch with him to isolate - what a load of nonsense.

If he's on a cpap machine make sure he turns it off before anyone visits. It's counted as an aerosol generating process and requires Ffp3 masks etc. Hope he feels better soon.

My mum has already given her and my two sisters names and phone numbers to the HSE with regards to contact tracing. I think my mum will definitely have a test as she had a lumpectomy 2 weeks before they went to Spain and is supposed to be going to Dublin for radiotherapy. She didn't want to go 'cause all the cases are down there'. The irony. I live 50 miles from them so haven't been in contact with them for ages. Also they are cocooning and getting shopping left on the doorstep by my sisters who live near them so no one is visiting them in the house. A Cpap machine would be the next step if oxygen through a mask/nasal prongs wasn't helping a patient. The step after that would be ventilation. I also think that 14 days is too short of an isolation period from anecdotal evidence. 7 days definitely way too short anyway. The test was on Wednesday last. I'm going to check the exact date of the flight. Its weird that the HSE haven't contacted him and my mother before now as I would think that other people were infected as well especially as they would mainly be elderly people like themselves.

Checked texts from my mum. Flight was the evening of Friday 13th March. He was at the GP on Fri. 20th March. Tested positive on Wed. 8th of April. He seems OK now, thank god. Seems that people should isolate for 21 days to be safe.

When did he go into isolation - its possible he caught it at a later time than the obvious one of on the flight.

As soon as my sister dropped them back from collecting them from Dublin Airport.

Yes according the studies in China people test positive seberal weeks after catching it so perfectly fits he caught it on the plane. I think WHO advice is you can be infectious for up to 14 days AFTER your symptoms dissappear.

I think I've had it (two GPs think so too) and I didn't have a high temperature. Not everyone has a fever with it.

@HopelessLayout

Why do you think the CPAP machine saved his life? (Curious as I've got one!)
When patients deteriorate with Covid-19 they have trouble breathing and go into respiratory distress. As long as you can breathe by yourself still, the CPAP machine keeps the airways continuously open. It ensures the lungs' alveoli are stented open and thus more of the lung's surface is made available for ventilation. It stops your airway from collapsing and it ensures you are correctly oxygenated.

This is obviously going to have helped the OP's father to breathe, even if he did use it only at night for sleep apnoea.

This is really interesting OP and I do hope your dad recovers quickly.

My dad was referred for a CPAP machine months ago but his referral was lost by hospital and now they aren't taking any new patients. He has dreadful Sleep apnoea, hypertension, diabetes, many of the same issues as your dad.

He's just called me to say he thinks he needs to go in or call 111, he's no sense of taste or smell, shortness of breath. No fever.

He's been isolating for over a month though and rarely leaves his street anyway, so I'd be surprised if he's got it.... horrible.

Thanks for that explanation of the Cpap machine @Everything. One symptom he did have was being more fatigued than normal.

@goldpendant how is your dad now. The shortness of breath isn't good. Has your dad been out walking or in a shop or hospital in the last month?

@NotEverythingIsBlackandwhite Thank you for the explanation!

He's ok thanks @Hollyhobbi - 111 sent an ambulance and the paramedics assessed him
And do various tests for over an hour. They said he's okay and if he does have it seems to be coping very well.
They did say he needs to push for the CPAP but it's not going to happen anytime soon I don't think.