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.

@NoIDontWatchLoveIsland
3 coughing episodes in a day isn’t that extreme for a mild cough. Continuous simply means not the odd cough here and there. If you have ‘ a cough’ you would be coughing (having a coughing episode) more than three time per 24 hours.

A cough (if new and persistent) is an “actual identifiable symptom” of Covid. In young, otherwise healthy people it’s the one mostly likely to flag that they need testing.
I work in a school and am fit and healthy but many of my colleagues were shielding or vulnerable and one still hasn’t returned to work as she is still recovering from the Covid that put her in intensive care back in April.
I am delighted to be back at school and desperate to stay open, but it is exhausting having to spend so long explaining these guidelines over and over again to people. There are two ways that people making up their own “common sense” rules about when they should test could end up closing my school. The first is that we end up with a full-scale cluster of cases as a result of leaving bubbles open that should have been closed because parents of children with symptoms decided to just wait out the 10 day isolation rather than testing, meaning that we leave an outbreak unchecked. The second is that vulnerable colleagues feel unsafe in school and are signed off by their GPs leaving us unable to staff the school safely. Both are a realistic possibility if people continue to insist that they don’t need to test for Covid symptoms because they’ve decided that those symptoms aren’t caused by Covid.

Continuous (in the guidance) does not mean coughing all the time.

@ShouldWeChangeTheBulb

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.

Again, this is not logistically possible.

If, by your definition, everyone with A COUGH got tested, there wouldn’t even be enough trained scientists to run the testing, let alone enough testing kits or money from the treasury to pay for it. The number of tests required would run into millions, and deplete other disease areas of resource and supplies.

Consider that the original testing was carried out by volunteer scientists, including PhD students, postdocs, industrial scientists on furlough. It was a miracle that so many tests were processed then.

The issue isn’t number of tests. It’s testing strategy and using the tests we have for maximum benefit.

The reality is that for most people it's not: have a cough - get a test

it's: have a cough - no tests available - self-isolate yourself and your entire household for two weeks.

How on earth is this going to be feasible to self- isolate in that way every time someone in the family has a cough? Children miss out on even more schooling, income & employment could suffer quite badly. Coughs are so common and we're only just starting into autumn.

I feel so strongly because I had a cough last week. It was the tail end of a cold and I was convinced it was just that - a cold. But never mind: I will get a test. Except there weren't any. So determined was I to test that I paid £150 for a private test. It was negative of course - as I suspected - I had a cold.

Can I really afford to pay £150 every time we have a cough throughout the entire autumn and winter? And let's assume I would be able to - how many people will be in such a financially comfortable position in an economic downturn?

Get the testing sorted, stop blaming people for 'wasting' tests and then most of us will happily test for every new and continuous cough I am sure.

@Osirus you have a cough so I hope you are isolating and getting a test?

@secretsnowsquirrel again not my definition it’s the government’s.
If you are right then the guidance needs to change not just be ignored because people make up there own rules.

It is "episodes" of coughing. Not single coughs. Its coughing fits, which you do not normally have been coughing to clear mucous from a post nasal drip cough.

You arent convincing anyone OP. Toddle off.

Having ‘a cough’ is not just the odd cough. For example I might cough sometimes when I get dust up my nose. This is not having a new continuous cough’.
I someone coughed a few times in a row (a coughing episode) more than 3 times in 24 hours when they don’t normally they have ‘a new continuous cough’ and by the governments guidelines should be tested. If this person also has a cold they still need to be tested.

@NoIDontWatchLoveIsland ‘toddle off’

Nope. Every time I get a cold - even the tiniest little cold - I get a cough. I have a chest problem, and have always been prone to coughs.

I'd never stop having tests if I went down that route. Either that, or I've had Covid several times since January.

There really are some batshit threads about Covid.

@NoIDontWatchLoveIsland coughing ‘fits’ is not mentioned in the guidance

@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.

Symptoms - head cold, sneezing = positive test result

Filing this thread under “like playing chess with a pigeon”.

The original question was AIBU.

The answer was a resounding yes YABU.

It is not reasonable, feasible, or ethical to get every single person with a cough to get tested.

@ShouldWeChangeTheBulb totally admire your effort. You are correct of course.

so you think we should all make it up as we go along?

Pretty much, yeah. It's what our esteemed leaders are doing

@secretsnowsquirrel
At least we can definitely agree on something. Playing chess with a pigeon sums it up nicely.

Perhaps some thought needs to be given by the powers that be into the wording of the symptoms. Perhaps then it would not be open to interpretation.

You'd be really pissed off with our GP. My husband had a new cough and some cold symptoms which he mentioned while visiting the GP with an unrelated sports injury. He asked if he should get a covid test (he's in a customer facing job) and the GP sent him on his way telling him he was fine, it was just a cold and not to bother!

I get that doctor's don't know everything and can't diagnose without a test, but he's not the only medical professional advising not to get tested every time you get a new cough or some cold symptoms.

@NiceLegsShameAboutTheFace
Agree with you there. I just don’t think ignoring symptoms is going to put us in a better position.
My DS is positive with a mild cough and other cold like symptoms. Many others say they are the same.
Having a cold Like symptoms doesn’t mean it’s not Covid.

We have all had colds and coughs and, as adults, should know the symptoms. Too many people are rushing to be tested when they should be asking themselves the question “Have I felt like this before?” In most cases the answer will be yes, it’s a common cold or cough. If however you feel lousy, have a temperature and a dry cough and have lost your sense of smell and taste, then get a test.

@Viciouslybashed
I agree. The ‘episode’ terminology seems very open to interpretation.
I hadn’t realised how much my understanding differs from so many until DS was tested positive.

@bossyrossy ‘have I felt this way before’ is a mean less question to ask yourself. Covid can feel exactly the same as other viruses and illnesses.

*meaningless