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.

@Osirus

I ALWAYS get a cough with a cold. My daughter caught a cold from school this week. She didn’t have a cough. She gave me the cold. I now have a cough. I’ve not had a test and I won’t because it’s just A COLD.

How the fuck do you know that for definite?

I have a cough every year as asthmatic it has currently flared up, no need to test.

In my child’s school they have said that they don’t expect every child that has a cough to get a test as there wouldn’t be hardly any children in the school if they did that. They have described the cough to look out for as have the government health department, the run of the mill cold and cough doesn’t need to be tested for Covid, It’s a waste of everyone’s time and takes away a test from a person who actually needs it.

@FrangipaniBlue
It’s point number two if you have a new continuous cough get a test! It doesn’t say if you also have a runny nose don’t bother because it’s probably a cold.

Frangipani I can’t work out if you’re serious. The “+ runny nose” but is totally irrelevant. It’s the cough bit that matters. If the cough is “new and continuous” then you self isolate and get a test regardless of what other symptoms there are with the cough.

@MrsVeryTired

This thread is depressing, no wonder its spreading like wildfire, people are so selfish, how can people tell the difference between a Coronavirus Cough and a cough you get with a cold when medical professionals can't? Plenty people have got tested positive with what they thought were "cold symptoms". If you can't get a test you isolate, its not rocket science!

I despair

Exactly this!

@Al1Langdownthecleghole we are saying the same thing
If you have a cough (a new continuous one) get a test

continuous cough, OP

It has to be a really quite fucking bad cough to qualify.

Ps. My doctor told me a continous cough would be expected to manifest as quite prolonged exhausting coughing fits. It really is not like a child coughing once or twice to clear mucous from a cold.

Has testing capacity suddenly increased tenfold? People with actual, identifiable CV19 symptoms can’t get tests; how is someone with a bit of a cough going to magically be able to get a test?

@Okaro if your cough is worse than normal you need to lockdown and get tested. Sorry if that’s inconvenient for you.
If your local guidelines are different to the National ones then obviously follow them. But your school should not be making up rules.

@FourEyesGood a cough is an identifiable symptom

Again. this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours

What’s that saying about you can lead a horse to water?

[quote Al1Langdownthecleghole]YABVU and irresponsible.

A key reason people with actual symptoms can’t get tested is because people with Facebook symptoms have booked them. And don’t get me started on the just in case brigade.

For anyone who can’t use google, here is the link to the relevant section on the NHS website. And if that’s still too difficult for you, let me help you out.

a new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours (if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual)

www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/symptoms/[/quote]
But a cough is an actual symptom (assuming it is a new and continuous one). It can be a cough on its own, or a cough with fever, or a cough with runny nose, or a cough with an alien emerging from your innards. If it is a new continuous cough, as defined (though, admittedly that can be hard to determine in some cases) you "should" get a test. Obviously, not everyone "can" get a test, but that is another issue, and isn't the fault of someone with symptoms doing what they have been asked to do.

Buying more than one toilet roll seems to be a crime because "leave some for vulnerable people".

Perhaps there should be a similar approach to the tests.

Personally I wouldn't go round to anyone's house if I was unwell in any way, whether it's a cold, flu, or something worse.

There are not enough tests because the government hasn’t organised the testing capacity. Not that people with symptoms who have been asked to test are testing.

YABU I have a cough. I won't be getting tested. Why? It's caused by a nasal drip which is a nice way of saying I can feel snot trickling from my nose down my throat. This makes me cough. It happens every year.

@Al1Langdownthecleghole the definition of an episode seems to be slightly open but a runny nose does not take away from the need for a test.

@MrsAmaretto many people have this symptom and test positive. The guidance is any cough. You should test.

This thread is depressing, no wonder its spreading like wildfire, people are so selfish, how can people tell the difference between a Coronavirus Cough and a cough

I wouldn't know the difference between a covid cough and a normal cough. But I would know the difference between a normal cough and an abnormal cough for me, as do many sensible people.

But of course we're all "selfish". If you are losing the argument, just call everyone selfish.

There are not enough tests for everyone to test for every little thing.

@ShouldWeChangeTheBulb I don’t need a test.

The school have been sent a letter from the local council which has been forwarded to us so our school is not making up their own rules. The council are saying people are getting tested when they don’t need a test.

OP please can you acknowledge that it is not simply a cough in any form

It is a continuous cough. This means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours.

Coughing a lot for more than an hour is really quite noticeable/bad. This isnt simply any mild cough.

They have included that word continuous and the definition therein for a reason. It is to filter out people wasting precious testing capacity on any minor cough.

@MadameMinimes

OP- I don’t understand how what you are saying can be at all controversial. You aren’t saying anything that the government guidance isn’t. The rules are clear. People making up their own rules about only self-isolating and testing if you have a dry cough, or only if they have a cough without a runny nose, or only if they have a cough and a temperature, or not testing children regardless of their symptoms because all of the symptoms in children with covid are actually caused by other illnesses they have and not the Covid, are muddying the waters and confusing what is actually very straightforward.

Completely agree with you

A normal cough for you could be caused by Covid. Why do you think it’s not a symptom because you’ve had a similar type of cough before?

THE GUIDANCE IS NOT ANY COUGH!!!!!

It is a NEW, CONTINUOUS cough as per the definition!

Ok op so why is the bloody word continuous in there?

bangs head against wall screaming CONTINUOUS CONTINUOUS CONTINUOUS CONTINUOUS CONTINUOUS CONTINUOUS CONTINUOUS CONTINUOUS CONTINUOUS CONTINUOUS