3 symptoms but negative test

[novacaneforthepain]

If you had the specific 3 symptoms, but a negative test result, would you still isolate?

No. They’re still pretty generic symptoms for a huge range of viruses.

I would stay indoors until I felt better because frankly no one needs a virus with 3 symptoms of CV spreading around and then I would go out and about

Particularly fever - I wouldnt do anything until the fever had gone

I wouldnt expect my family to though

Isolate until 24/48h after fever is gone is the advice with the negative test result... so like the 48h rule for Vs and Ds

No. I would stay at home until I felt better but wouldn't isolate for 10-14 days or expect DH to.

It's probably another virus, don't spread that! Stay at home until you are better

It'd depend on what sort of cough I had, whether I could wfh, whether other household members could wfh, what advice I could get from GP (preferably) or 111.

The cough and the fever can be from a wide number of other illnesses.

If I also had the complete loss of taste and smell though I would be very cautious. That is a much more unusual symptom and strongly (but not uniquely) linked to Covid.

I'd actually be inclined to isolate and test again, if that was the case.

Thanks everyone. It was regarding someone I work with who has come back to work. I didn't feel comfortable about it, but I am dramatic about the whole thing.

They shouldn't be going to work with a fever anyway. A cough/sneezing, etc., is ok if they have since had a negative test.

yes you are being dramatic. They had symptoms isolated and tested themselves and have come back to work

as long as they were not contacted by track and trace (in which case you do isolate) they are doing exactly what they should be. Had time off being ill and then going back

You’re supposed to stay home for 48 hours after a temp, well according to my DS nursery

I know that we would be expected to come back to work in that scenario (a negative test). You can self-certify for 3 days at my work and anything over you need a doctors certificate. Without that it’s no pay and potential disciplinary route.

Yes you need to isolate while you are symptomatic other than a cough even if you test negative (but can leave isolation when symptoms disperse if you test negative), and if I ran a business I would want employees with these symptoms to isolate unless a specific and non-contagious cause had been identified. From a business perspective it makes far more sense to be one employee down for 14 days than it does to take the risk of losing several employees for a few days each while they get tested after contracting whatever virus the employee has that is likely to present in a similar way in others.

Wouldn't isolate because it's a negative. That said i have a friend, daughter had mildest symptoms of the whole family.& Tested positive. Rest of them all negative but they all clearly had it and worse. So 20% true positive.

I'd still not isolate though if i felt well enough to do things as can't lose the money and the rest is what people are supposed to go by

The fever & cough could be any number of things. Having had COVID loss of taste & comparing it to cold loss of taste it is quite different but you wouldn’t know that unless you’d had one to compare with the other.

I was in a similar situation last week. My manager asked me to continue to work from til the symptoms went. Although I tested for negative, it didn't make sense to trigger a new wave of colleagues having to isolate/test by going back in too early

I would stay indoors until temperature had been normal (unmedicated) for at least 24 hours, ideally 48

Although roughly 30% of tests are false negatives!

There's a common cold knocking around. Stay safe 💝

Covid symptoms were around before this year meaning people can still have the symptoms and it not being connected to the virus