Have you had a positive covid test with a runny nose and cold symptoms?

[StellaGib]

I keep seeing people repeat on here that runny noses are not a symptom of covid, and if you have a cough with other cold symptoms like a runny nose it can't be covid.

The two people I know who have had covid though (unrelated to each other, never met) both started with cold symptoms and a runny nose then developed a cough

So my question is - if you or your child has been diagnosed with covid, did you also have a runny nose?

Yes I agree. The zoe app gives you an exemption to tick but after I couldn't get a test within 150 miles I admit to giving up.

Yes

@PineappleUpsideDownCake

Hiw aee these people with colds but no cough getting tests?!

My daughter had a cold that turned into a coigh and school wanted them in...

It's easy to get tests in some areas, I know people in my area who have had no problems and the threads about difficulties seem to have dried up.

Maybe people have just given up trying which is making it easier for others but I know of 6 friends who've had their children tested last week because of their schools, all negative

www.kcl.ac.uk/news/six-distinct-types-of-covid-19-identified

^This shows just how narrow the uk’s symptom list is.

Pleasant I didnt mean due to too many people gettinf tears, I meant I thought you had to have one of the 3 symptoms to get one?

People here are saying they dont have the 3 main symptoms but got a test.

I recently had a negative test - symptoms started with a cough in the middle of the night. Had sore throat, headaches, muscle aches. Only got runny nose on day 6 so was convinced it was Covid . It wasn’t.

The rest of the family has had it too but it looked more like a classic cold in two of us.

So odd how the same non Covid bug can look different in different people.

Unless it was a false negative....

I was be getting an anti body test

I thought I had a cold but because I'm hip got tested and no one more surprised than me when it came back as positive. I've since then had the antibody test which was also positive so seems it was correct

I thought I had a cold but because I'm an HCP got tested and no one more surprised than me when it came back as positive. I've since then had the antibody test which was also positive so seems it was correct

The other problem I have is that I consistently lose my sense of smell and taste at least once a year with my annual winter cold. I don’t know why, it just always happens and gradually comes back over the month afterwards.

I might wait till that happens then get the test. I don’t want to be adding to the lack of testing issues by getting one unnecessarily.

I also love to know I how people are getting the test with only cold symptoms?

My DH is currently isolating because his work colleague tested positive after showing symptoms. He applied online for a test, but as he didn't have any symptoms himself and isn't ill at all he wasn't eligible and was told just to isolate for 14 days. The rest of us (me and 3 & 4 year old) don't have to isolate unless he starts showing symptoms. So school and nursery are carrying on as normal.

I have had a cold, (sore throat followed by blocked sinuses, runny nose, feeling generally grotty but able to carry on) but according to the online assessment, I can't get a test unless I show the big symptoms of temperature, cough etc. So I've not had one either as I didn't want to lie.

I'm just intrigued by how people are getting passed the online assessment with only cold symptoms without lying.

@LittleMissBrainy I live in an area that never really came out of lockdown. We were hugely encouraged by the local government etc to go get tested regularly. For a small town we had about 4 testing centres within 10 minutes of each other and nearly all were walk-in. Earlier this week DC year bubble burst and he'd been sneezing and coughing so I got him tested as I am high risk. No issue at all, they didn't even ask if he displayed any symptoms. In and out within 5 minutes. But yesterday a friend (who works with vulnerable people), took her DC and she told me they refused to test unless a person is showing symptoms (didnt specify which ones), because they said they are running out of tests. I think in areas where covid has been consistently high more testing has been available and was actively encouraged. Until now as tests are running out.

Had an outbreak at my DS’s school. Him and his mates who tested positive all had classic cold symptoms.

I've got a horrid cold atm, but no cough, temp or loss of taste / smell. I'm an AHP so I'll speak with my occupational health dept tomorrow (I'm off work) and will have a test if they say I need one. I don't think they will, but want to give them the heads-up. I really don't think I have COVID, as I feel like I normally would when I have a bad cold, and colds are still a thing even in these COVID times.

I do think you should absolutely play by the rules and only get a test now if you have a cough/temperature - but it just goes to show that runny noses, sore throats plus coughs are pretty common in covid.
Worrying how many people (and schools!) seem to think that having “cold symptoms” means you’re fine to go to school coughing
Or that it’s easy to tell a “normal cold” from covid without a test when it clearly isn’t.

AIUI, while having a cold and covid simultaneously isn't impossible (it's possible for an individual to be infected simultaneously with two strains of flu, anyway, eg that's how the recombination that sparks new pandemics happens) it's highly unlikely. The first viral infection you get puts you into a kind of antiviral state - releases of lots of interferon? - ie the same changes aimed at stopping the first virus spreading also stop the second virus getting a foothold. As I say, it's not impossible - especially if someone is immune compromised I suppose - but the Occam's rasor assumption is that all the symptoms reported by people with positive covid tests are covid symptoms.

I teach in a primary school. I have literally watched the nose fountains spread along my middle row and now of course I have it. I only sent one child home who started a persistent cough but he was back two days later. Who knows if COVID is in my classroom!

We have 4 positive 6th form students who literally just had a cold. Started with one with a surprise positive test now 3 more have tested positive whilst isolating. 7 more now waiting for results after showing symptoms. Same for Year 8 (but slightly lower numebrs becuase they listen when we say don't touch each other). All of these people saying "oh I have a runny nose so it can't be COVID" have no idea what they are on about. You can have a cold and also have COVID at the same time.

You can have a cold and also have COVID at the same time.
Honestly it’s more the case that mild covid symptoms are “cold” symptoms. The only way to tell the difference is a test.

In addition to the two children I mentioned upthread...one of the dads of a child in my sons class had confirmed covid about a month ago and described as a mild cold as well.

Ehm.... the sars-cov- 2 literally is a type of cold. All corona virusses are colds. So you can't really differentiate that distinctly between the two. But not surprising that the UK is trying to.

My only symptom was a sore throat. Had a positive test and I've had much worse colds. Very mild illness. Other people I've known who have had positive tests have said the same. I wonder if it's the fact we are all wearing masks that means that we are getting a lower initial infection?

Yes, my dd and her friend.

Dd got a test and would’ve gone back to college as she felt better- then got the surprise result.

Friend was annoyed that dd tested positive due to the impact on her as they’d mixed socially. Said adamantly that she herself clearly just had a cold. Another person persuaded her to take a test And surprise, surprise it’s positive too!

You want to know the thing that I have found most bizarre though? Two people have suggested to us the result could be as a result of having a COLD AND ASYMPTOMATIC Covid at the same time. Yes, that’s way more likely than the UK’s official symptom list being misleading! Not...