How careful/paranoid should I be?

[WAMS]

So the last few days I have had a headache that won't shift with paracetamol etc. 2 days ago one of my teenage DCs said he had earache which is getting worse. My other teenage DC has a very sore throat today. I don't want to be lax, what with an elderly disabled mum, but nor do I want to over react to the slightest sniffle. However it's looking like we have a bug in the house...so should we get tested, do we avoid people, or given none of it looks like covid symptoms particulalry do we carry on as usual? I really dont know!

Don't be paranoid, get tested, sounds unlikely but I am not a medic.

How often do you see your mum? I'd avoid seeing anyone vulnerable if at all possible.

I would have said go get a test but capacity seems to have gone right down recently. Other countries and the WHO have a far longer list of possible coronavirus symptoms::

www.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus#tab=tab_3

Most common symptoms:

•	fever.
•	dry cough.
•	tiredness.

Less common symptoms:

•	aches and pains.
•	sore throat.
•	diarrhoea.
•	conjunctivitis.
•	headache.
•	loss of taste or smell.
•	a rash on skin, or discolouration of fingers or toes.

So you do have symptoms, just not the NHS's "main" ones....

Of course, it might just be a heavy cold or another virus.

It is possible to book a test without any of the three main symptoms, although not officially "recommended". I don't feel it's wrong to get tested under these circumstances if there is capacity near you.

Thanks for the advice Augustbreeze....seems to be good availibility here so will get tested.

Hope you're all OK. Are your DC due back at school this week?

Vulnerable people are not just vulnerable to Covid. Other viruses can have exactly the same consequences.