I still don't know what counts as a continuous cough.

[safariboot]

I've still got no idea what counts as "a continuous cough". The NHS say "coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours", well what's a lot?

Background, I was woken up yesterday with a blocked nose and spent much of the morning and afternoon coughing and sneezing, with my nose running. Yet not so often that I couldn't work from home. And felt aches and pains in my arms later that day. A lot better today but still a bit of a sore throat.

I've rarely been out. Supermarket on 21st, drove another household member to a clinic on 24th (and stayed in my car while they went in). But then that supermarket visit to now is just about right for incubation period isn't it.

To be honest my symptoms are much more typical of hayfever - but I've never had hayfever before! I'm in my mid 30s, seems like a bit of a coincidence for it to suddenly appear now.

dry persistent cough is a ‘classic’ symptom of coronavirus, according to Dr Sarah Jarvis, GP and Clinical Director of Patientaccess.com.._

She says a dry persistent cough is:
1 New for you (or different from your normal cough if, for instance, you have a ‘smoker’s cough’)
2 Persistent – not just because you’re clearing your throat or because you have something caught in your throat.
3 It needs to last for at least half a day
4 A dry (rather than ‘fruity’ cough) is more likely to be due to coronavirus, but you need to self-isolate regardless of whether your cough is dry or productive.
The NHS describes a "dry cough" as a cough where no phlegm or mucus is produced, which is also irritating and usually associated with a tickly throat

Sorry copying and pasting that messed up the format and put in a huge space but the content is there on defining a new persistent dry cough. I hope it helps? Still a little vague.

The sneezing and runny nose sounds more like a cold.
Coronavirus mainly hits your chest

Probably one of those things where you know when you have it

Probably one of those things where you know when you have it

My NDN has tested positive and hasn't had a cough. She thought she had it back in December/Jan. Works in a care home.

She has been extremely tired and has had sneezes and cold symptoms, occasional fevers but not much before her employers sent her for the test. She feels a lot worse now, but they told her to self isolate for 7 days from when her symptoms started - which was 7 days to when she got the positive result.

There is some dangerously wrong advice on here. People with Covid present with a wide range of symptoms, and symptoms are not always severe. OP, I would say impossible to know for sure whether your symptoms are due to Covid, but I definitely wouldn't rule it out.

I wondered what a continuous cough was too as I found the NHS’ 3 times in 24hr period quite vague. Dr Hilary Jones has said a continuous cough is coughing 5-6 times an hour for at least half a day but more than that, likely 2 days. Link here 👉🏻 www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/health/coronavirus-symptoms-dr-hilary-explains-18019193

I woke up with a cough a couple of days ago but not as often as above 2-3 times in 1.5hrs. I also felt wheezy, my nose was itchy and I sneezed a few times too. I’ve not suffered from allergies in years but it did seem a bit like that. I took a Benadryl tablet and it cleared up right away. Still fine now 2 days later. Tree pollen is quite high at the moment in our area and I think it may have been that. Obviously I can’t say if that is the same as your case and it may be better to err on the side of caution and presume you have Covid but just wanted to let you know what a continuous cough is described as. Hope you feel much better soon!

The problem with Covid 19 is it really does seem to have many possible symptoms.

Sneezing is unusual, so is a block nose but some folk who tested positive reported those symptoms.

I also agree the contentious cough is so many times an hour. My gp asked me if I had had 3 bouts of multiple coughs in an hour but some people I know tested positive yet were not coughing much and certainly not that badly.

For me back in February before I knew much about Covid my probable Covid continuous cough really was just that for 72 hours... If I got 10 mins between coughing I was lucky.

Its very hard without a test to know if its a cold, flu, allergy etc or Covid 19.... Given the present situation though I agree with others and veer to caution and see how it progresses.

I really hope you soon feel better and its only a cold or the tree pollen. Be kind to your self though for a bit, what ever is causing it.

Theres lots of symptoms
My friend has had

Cough
Runny nose
Aches and pains
Diarrhoea
Headache
Loss of smell
Loss of tast
Chest tightness
Little cough
Little bit of a sore throat

But mostly a headache and diarrhoea

She tested positive...
It developed into low oxygen levels but luckly only spent a day in hospital on oxygen before her o2 sats returned to noemal

I think the symptoms you describe warrant self isolation OP. Probably not covid but I wouldn't risk it.