AIBU to say if you have a cough get a test

[ShouldWeChangeTheBulb]

I’m getting increasing pissed off with people online and IRL about not getting tested because ‘it’s just a cold’ or it’s ‘obviously not Covid’. FWIW I don’t get annoyed if someone visits family even though their not supposed to in their area. I think it’s inhuman not to have social contact so I can understand that but for god sake if you actually have symptoms lockdown straight away and get tested. I know it’s a pain in the arse but not wanting to do something is not a good reason for not doing it.
For context we are currently locked down as DS has it (he caught if from his teacher). When I tell people his symptoms I’ve lost count of how many people say ‘my dd has those symptoms but she had a runny nose last week so it’s just a cold’. You cannot tell if it’s Covid or not, the symptoms can be the same as any other illness.

You're presumably not a member of the SAGE group, or a clinical advisor, so I'll maybe go with their advice. Ta anyway. [coughs]

YANBU.

It isn't the general public's job to manage the rationing of tests by picking some subset of new coughs not to test for (like those that feel like coughs they've had before, or that come with a runny nose).

It's the job of the testing system to manage the rationing of tests, where required, by changing the test criteria. It would be the work of moments to add "unless it feels like the sort of cough you usually get with a cold" or "unless you have a runny nose as well" to the criteria. Unless and until they do add that, none of us ordinary unqualified people should be deciding a new continuous cough doesn't count and doesn't need testing.

@JS87 that sounds like a very sensible idea.

I suspect the government are purposely not defining the cough more as they know that if they made it clear that a mild cough with a cold should be tested the system will fall apart. If they keep it ambiguous then they can blame it on individuals for not testing a mild cough which has a small chance of being positive

@waitforitwaitforit
I am quoting the current Government guidelines informed by SAGE.
I am not suggesting anything new or my own rules in any way.

I don't think I've ever been more frustrated reading a thread.

I know I don't have Covid, because it doesn't feeeeel like Covid. We'll fuck me, let's all self diagnose our way out of the pandemic.

Getting a test because you have a new, persistent cough is not a hysterical over reaction. It's doing what we're all meant to be doing to try and contain the spread.

I honestly don't understand how people still don't get this.

@JS87 since this thread has made me aware of just how differently people are ‘interpreting’ the advice I am coming to the conclusion myself. I thought the rules were really clear. But obviously they are not.

The most common symptom of covid is fatigue followed by headache and they’re not even on the list.

However, out of all people suffering from headache and fatigue only 1% tested positive for COVID.

covid.joinzoe.com/post/early-covid-signs

In fact, only 1% of people who reported fatigue and/or headache on our app ended up testing positive for COVID. So while headache and fatigue are commonly found in people who have COVID (alongside other symptoms), having either or both of those symptoms alone is unlikely to be indicative of COVID.

The reality is we have got to draw a line somewhere. We will not have capacity to test every single person who is feeling a bit off. We may miss some cases with less common symptoms (e.g. young children). We may miss asymptomatic individuals. The question is which combination of symptoms gives us the maximum "hit rate" within our current (quite large) testing capacity.

My view is that we should keep the current list and potentially remove coughs for young children (under 10). Based on Zoe data, very few young children with COVID actually develop a cough.

@Tonkerbea
It’s hard to believe what your reading sometimes isn’t it. Luckily I’ve got plenty of time on my hands at the moment. It’s been somewhat entertaining albeit frustrating.

@wintertravel1980
Interesting, it’s certainly not a perfect system is it.

@Tonkerbea

I don't think I've ever been more frustrated reading a thread.

I know I don't have Covid, because it doesn't feeeeel like Covid. We'll fuck me, let's all self diagnose our way out of the pandemic.

Getting a test because you have a new, persistent cough is not a hysterical over reaction. It's doing what we're all meant to be doing to try and contain the spread.

I honestly don't understand how people still don't get this.

I agree...it is unbelievably frustrating (although tbh, most of mumsnet is at the moment!)

If one of the Covid symptoms was losing a leg, there would be 100 threads saying, "my leg fell off below my knee...so I won't test, as it's not a full leg"

Ok, tin hat on and im coming in! DH has has a standard cold starting last weekend he has a chesty cough. Been on 111 covid sympton checker, only answered yes to this question .....

"Cold or flu symptoms, Cough. Headache. Aching muscles. A blocked or runny nose. Sneezing. Sore throat. Pain in the face. High temperature (fever)."

Answered no to everything else and its told him to self isolate and get tested....so irrelevant of the type of cough or what constitutes as a continuous cough 111 says to get tested.....DH can't as hes had symptoms for more than 5 days AND there arent any tests available anyway.
My dilemma now is should i be isolating - has he just got a cold as we both suspect or do I now stay off work 'just incase'?

As a teacher, I tend to send kids to the nurse when they are coughing about once every 2 minutes, or about 20 times in an hour. The ones who only cough half a dozen times, I leave in the class. I have to say, though, if my own kid was coughing half a dozen times in an hour, every hour, I wouldn't send them in. The other kids in the class don't look too happy either. I don't send them to the nurse, because I think I already send more kids than any other teacher in my school and I have to draw the line somewhere, so I only send the worst ones.

I send a few kids a day, so obviously my definition is a lot stricter than a lot of mums.

I've got a cold. Had a streaming cold l, snotty nose with a sore throat. Whenever this happens I get a cough afterwards, which I have now, as expected. It's not a tickley cough, it's a chesty cough, this always happens. No need to have a test, it's just a cold

I feel I've kind of slipped into some parallel dimension. How TF are people following the government guidance causing the pandemic to spread by taking away tests from people who actually need them?!

People need them to a) prove to their employers/ schools that they don't need to isolate for 10 days as they aren't risking spreading the virus they don't have and b) give the country some understanding as to the prevalence of the virus and whether it is under control.

So not everyone tested will have covid. That's kind of the point... But it provides confidence to society that symptomatic people are "safe" to return...including people with a new continuous cough. Of course, anyone who wants to could isolate for 10 days instead, though that obviously isn't preferable for most people.

The testing is also showing how prevalent covid is among people with symptoms that could be covid. Including cold-like symptoms. So symptomatic people who could have colds are exactly the kind of people who should be testing. Anyone who can't get out of bed with breathlessness and fever should be isolating anyway (or in hospital), and is hardly at risk of spreading whatever they have through the community

Or am I going mad?

Trust me. If you take a test with what you think are cold symptoms you won't be taking it from someone who needs it. The people who are taking tests away from people who might need it are those who panic when they are identified as an exposure and book a test when they don't have a single symptom. Not even a symptom that might be a cold.

[quote ShouldWeChangeTheBulb]@ChodeOfChodeBall but you could have it and be spreading it. Being susceptible to coughs doesn’t mean you don’t need to be tested. If you have a new continuous cough get a test.[/quote]
No, in short.

Though do you actually think I've had Covid five times since January? I've obviously not got it at the moment, as I'm not coughing.

Why not just say everyone needs to be tested every single day, or preferably twice a day? Because what about all those really frightening people who are asymptomatic carriers?

Batshit, I say.

We'll fuck me, let's all self diagnose our way out of the pandemic

Sounds like a plan to me. It cannot possibly turn out any worse than the current ridiculous guidelines. 10pm curfew? Yeah, right. Cos we all know that the virus only gets busy after 10pm. FFS.

I'm with the 'We do not consent' brigade

@NiceLegsShameAboutTheFace

We'll fuck me, let's all self diagnose our way out of the pandemic

Sounds like a plan to me. It cannot possibly turn out any worse than the current ridiculous guidelines. 10pm curfew? Yeah, right. Cos we all know that the virus only gets busy after 10pm. FFS.

I'm with the 'We do not consent' brigade

Well said.

@LilyLongJohn can you just read the responses I’ve given to everyone else who has said the magically know they don’t have Covid despite having a new continuous cough

Isn't it all a bit like an MOT anyway? You know the bit where it says that an MOT is not a guarantee that a car is actually roadworthy, just that it was roadworthy on that particular day.

A person can have a cough, get tested, have a negative result and contract COVID at the services on the way home. If they are already feeling rough with a cough and a temperature they aren't going to know that they now have COVID, they will surely just assume they are still ill with whatever they tested negative with?

I'm sure I read that an almost instant test is in the pipeline, I reckon something like the blood drop test for blood sugar that you can do at home every morning would be the best way forward.

DD had a snotty sneezy cold a week ago with vomiting (due to being snotty - she's always sick when she's congested). I spoke to the GP at length who told me to bring her in as she also developed a UTI (again, normal for her). He agreed it's not coronavirus but prescribed antibiotics. Half the class have it, seems fair, given that they've all been stuck inside all summer.

LilyLongJohn have you read the thread? I don't know what you thought you'd gain by posting your comment, the op and many others have already told you that you need to be tested and/or stay at home for ten days. The chances of you having covid are low, the chances of it causing any serious harm are low but they are not zero. You could have it, you could pass it to your family and colleagues, someone could get seriously ill or even die, a school could be forced to close, all because you self diagnosed.

@ShouldWeChangeTheBulb yes I have read 'most' of your responses (granted not the complete 100+), but by saying the same thing over and over again doesn't always mean it's right, it also doesn't mean everyone has to agree with you

@lilylongjohn

If you read one post please read useless cat's post

UselessCat Sat 26-Sep-20 19:18:19
I am an actual doctor in an NHS hospital. OP you are absolutely right and I have no idea why that is at all in doubt. I cannot believe this thread

The guidance is ANY new cough (so not chronic coughs or those caused by medication or other conditions). Any cough that you would describe as 'having a cough'. I live in an area with plenty of testing capacity, and yes we are testing literally every patient with any cough

It doesn't matter if you also have a cold, or if you had the same thing last year or last week. If you have a cough then you need to get tested, and if you can't do that then you need to isolate