The elephant in the room

[Needsomegoodnews]

So some people are desperate for lockdown to end. Fewer hospital cases. Fewer deaths. These mostly in hospitals and care homes. Mild illness for most etc etc

I’ve been ill now with classic symptoms for SEVEN weeks (otherwise v healthy, slim, active etc). Not tested (so will get flamed that it’s not covid) but HAVE now had a chest X-ray showing ongoing classic infection signs in my lungs. 3 lots of antibiotics haven’t improved things so likely viral and likely covid. I have a fever right now (again - comes and goes). No one has any idea if I’m still infectious or whether I will eventually get better (or worse) and I’ve heard of many others in a similar boat. Without better testing and knowledge of how this virus progresses how on earth can anyone predict the implications of letting it spread again even more?
I have two small children and trying to keep up with a demanding job when I can so I fully appreciate the desire for normality but nothing after lockdown can be normal. I wouldn’t wish how I’ve been feeling on anyone.

My sister is in the same boat as you, OP. She keeps feeling like she's getting better and then relapses. It's so worrying and there's nothing anyone can do. She's mid-forties and slim but does have asthma. She's only had one lot of antibiotics and no chest x-ray though.

That’s the whole point though isn’t it @Coronabored - an apparently fit and healthy person who has still been laid up for weeks with probable Covid. Perhaps because of an underlying condition she didn’t know about? Who knows?

Makes you wonder how many others thinking they’re healthy might have an unknown condition meaning that they get it very badly.

@needsomegoodluck are you reporting on the Covid app? A number of people who have reported symptoms have been offered a test

Once you are ill you can't work anyway.
If more people catch it and then can't work the economy will be affected by having a large number of people on sickness.
You cannot know in advance who will or won't be ill.

I have also been ill with Covid for 7 weeks which means I caught it before the Lockdown

@SeasonFinale not true I’m afraid and that is my point. Until they fix the monitoring they don’t really have a clue.

I’m not talking about never releasing lockdown - I’m talking about the fact we need so much more knowledge of what’s going on - much more than the current testing strategy.

To those who feel ranty - I don’t want your sympathy or disbelief. I’m trying to discuss the way out. And I really hope you and your loved ones don’t catch it or have a bad reaction.

@Coronabored here's a fact - people with no health issues are getting it & dying from it - young fit etc - do you have any proof (as a qualified health expert) that only people who are unfit get this badly? because it has been noted that 5% of people who die have no known health issues by the NHS etc

I'm maybe being dense here, but what is the elephant you refer to? Yes, if the lockdown is lifted, even slowly, there may be a resurgence of cases. There also may not.

But one thing is very certain - if we continue with the lockdown as it is until there is a vaccine or treatment, then there will be an even worse recesssion to end all recessions. Millions are already claiming benefits who were previously working. Millions more are facing redundancy at the end of the furlough, if not before then. Many businesses of all sizes will either never open again or seriously retrench their business. That is not an elephant, it's a bloody herd and they are trampling all over the dahlias!

I'm sorry you are so ill with something that may or may not be Covid-19. I had a bad case that also took weeks to get over, although not, from what you describe, as bad as yours. But in order to stop a few people getting the disease badly, even at the risk of death for some, are you seriously suggesting we kill the economy. Because recession will kill just as many, if not more, than this disease is.

I'm not suggesting that the deaths or illness don't matter. They always matter, No matter whether it is flu related, cancer, old age or whatever. Every death is a tragedy to someone. So are the suicides that are happening because people can't live with the lockdown. So will be the early deaths of people living in poverty because they lose their jobs and end up struggling to get work in the future - poverty reduces life expectancy in the UK by a decade and more.

There are a lot of elephants here. People are simply going to have to pick an elephant they can live with.

www.gov.uk/apply-coronavirus-test

If you have had the symptoms as long as you have you would get a 111 referral. So you can get tested.

@cornabored

That is not a fact .there are perfectly healthy people that have contracted the virus and had a long illness and problems with health afterwards .

They may be a minority but you just saying something Is a fact does not make it true.

Most people recover quickly from most viruses but some people get post viral issues that take months to go away fully.

@Coronabored

Obvious a troll .

'My smiley face was cause I love all these fit and healthy but never been tested anecdotal cases we keep reading about. At least this time it was the person themselves and not their nextdoor neighbours cousins uncle.'

@Coronabored try a bit of empathy and kindness, now isn't the time for 'nextdoor neighbours cousins uncle blah blah' sarcasm.

Op I would ring 111 say you've had symptoms for longer than a week are now breathless and I think they'll test you.

I’m really surprised you can’t get tested. There are quite a few community testing and my sister in law and son in law are both manning mobile testing in Sussex both in the army. They say it’s going well and running smoothly

Yes and what ever elephant gets picked , everyone and everything will be blamed except the virus .

You can buy private lab tests as well from reputable companies . They are a bit expensive but someone really wants to know they are out there .

Nope not a troll. Just don't believe everything I read.

people with no health issues are getting it & dying from it

Quite. Look at our prime minister. He appeared strong, fit and healthy just a few months ago, and was apparently one of those people who was never ill. But he very nearly died of coronavirus.

I do find people's attitudes to this bizarre. Yes, the majority of people who catch the virus experience a fairly mild dose and recover quickly. Yes, most of those who die are either very old or have underlying conditions. But there's a sizeable minority of otherwise young and healthy people who become very seriously ill with it and some even die.

I am sorry you are ill, but I have to agree that I really don't think it's helpful to come on here (where there is a lot of fear and panic already), untested, and post with certainty about how you 'have it' and how unwell you are. ComtessedeSpair makes a very good point. All sorts of infections cause people to be ill for weeks without apparent reason. I had a year once with repeated pneumonia and infections that left me referred for investigations for suspected bronchoectasis (before it all spontaneously resolved). I also think it's particularly unhelpful to imply some kind of moral causality between your suffering and other people's need or indeed desire to resume something approximating a degree of day-to-day life - tbf your OP doesn't do this but people on these kinds of threads always do.

I am the same OP except after 3.5 months I think I am over it. It was horrendous in the first 3 weeks, end of Jan. Then a couple of days of OK and I then stupidly drank from a bottle which I had used while ill and the very distinctive cough and ill feelings came back for about 4 days. I was then ok for 2 weeks then my dc came home with a cold and the whole thing kicked off again. This carried on for weeks, on and off. Then chest pain and darkened fingers. During this time I talked to people about what would happen for my dc if I died I felt so horrendous.

I was healthy before this. I know I was healthy as I have had tests for various things around the times of pregnancies and have been declared healthy. I usually fight off things. I rarely need antibiotics or anything like that. My only weakness is high stressors from time to time which I cannot avoid.

Basically science has identified that you can have "relapses" with this virus, that in between you might test as negative because even the most sensitive tests will need a certain level for a positive. The advice is that you quarantine/take social distancing very seriously for 2 months or so if you get the virus - 2 months - and that is not known as definitely ok yet for sure.

The good news is that the scientists are taking this very seriously in terms of doing more research, from the sound of it. But you are right to be worried OP and you aren't the only one.

I can link a video about this if it helps, an interview with Prof Kim WooJu thought you'd want to watch the first interview with him first.

Sorry about length of this, it has been playing on my mind for ages!

YANBU!

If you have had the symptoms as long as you have you would get a 111 referral. So you can get tested

Yep. The government’s website seems pretty clear on that.

I'm not - before I'm accused of being so in view of my last post - a business-as-usual fanatic. I'm in a country that is starting to relax restrictions and I think that some of it is definitely too much too soon, and won't be availing myself in the near future of a lot of the things that are opening up.

I can’t believe they are willing to X-ray you and not test you. Absolutely dumb behaviour.

elephantiam, have you tested positive for coronavirus at any point? If not, where do you think you picked it up from?

What the OP has referred to is a really important issue - the fact that the virus is known to come and go in individuals who may test positive then negative then positive and so on. Also the symptoms can change and can be quite random. So being tested is not going to answer all the questions. Of course it is an issue.