UK obsession with 3 Symptoms

[SLAW70s]

Anyone else utterly infuriated by the UK’s obsession with fever, cough and loss of taste/smell.

I believe that this may be contributing significantly to the failure of many to isolate and test when needed.

Compare UK / NHS guidance to CDC guidance (sorry can’t do a link):
*Watch for symptoms

People with COVID-19 have had a wide range of symptoms reported – ranging from mild symptoms to severe illness. Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure to the virus. People with these symptoms may have COVID-19:

Fever or chills
Cough
Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
Fatigue
Muscle or body aches
Headache
New loss of taste or smell
Sore throat
Congestion or runny nose
Nausea or vomiting
Diarrhea
This list does not include all possible symptoms. CDC will continue to update this list as we learn more about COVID-19*

Anyone care to summarise/ link to symptom lists from other countries? ( With translation if needed!)

What do others think?

I think the 3 symptom advice is contributing to the spread as many people will have had covid and passed it off as a normal cold/virus as they are not meeting the criteria for a test.

A couple of weeks ago I had nausea, diarrhoea, sore throat, runny/congested nose, fatigue, muscle aches and a slight cough. These symptoms lasted for a week. I didn't meet the criteria for a test, it's possible that I had covid but will never know. My dc also had similar symptoms but a worse cough however not continuous and neither of us had temperatures or loss of taste or smell.
We did isolate anyway (I'm working from home) but lots of people might not have.

I think the guidance needs to change but along with that the testing capability needs to significantly increase as the demand for tests will be much higher. I feel that this is why the UK are sticking with the 3 symptoms.

I think the 3 symptoms criteria is the right threshold based on currently known info. I don't believe that lots more testing would particularly limit spread.

Isn’t it because the majority of people (adults) with Covid have at least one of the three main symptoms, even if they also have other symptoms?

I think more of the problem is people who have one of the main symptoms are saying things about mild cough or wet cough or a temperature under 4 hours or couldn’t smell because it was a cold... and not getting a test.

I think the definitions need to be clearer- ie a temperature over 37.8.

Although I think we have lost control now. Not a huge benefit of testing, tracing and isolating anymore as it is so widespread now, especially in the North. And probably elsewhere- we just don’t know that yet.

If you add that lot, then firstly people will become confused and/or decide it's too much and ignore it. Secondly we'll end up with 50% of the population needing a test weekly at that rate.

So many people are dismissing a cough as not one of the symptoms because "I can tell it's just from my cold", "I always cough like this when I've got a cold", "it's a wet cough so it's not covid". Various places have added the wet/dry distinction to their guidance, when it absolutely isn't in the NHS or government guidance.

But also, the testing capacity had meant that people aren't getting tests when they should. People who would quite happily get a test if they could go to the test centre in their own town and have a result by the following morning, can't/won't take the time to keep trying on the system to get an appointment that might be miles away and then might not get a result back for a few days. Loads of kids at schools with coughs, who should be getting tested, but are just staying at home for a few days til they stop coughing, not the full 14 days. If it was easier to get a test those people probably would go and get a test.

I trust the scientists on this one.

They have to have a threshold somewhere. They aren’t going to be able to test everyone with those wide-ranging symptoms, that’s not realistic.

How many times I would have been tested in last 6 weeks based on isolated symptoms (I assume any severity or any duration is enough, even if the feeling ends after 10 minutes):

Headache: 3x
Nausea: 3x
Diarrhea: 1x
Congestion, runny nose: 3x +
Sore throat: 1x
Muscle aches: 4x a week probably
Fatigue: once or twice

I know someone having to isolate her family & get her 1yr old tested after tot had 4 hours of fever. Even that is obviously a poor use of resources.

Isn’t it because the majority of people (adults) with Covid have at least one of the three main symptoms, even if they also have other symptoms?

That’s my understanding.

It’s also important not to be so heavy handed people stop cooperating completely. The list above mentions a runny nose - it’s simply not feasible to have everyone with a runny nose self isolating for two weeks (which they would have to do because testing wouldn’t be able to handle that many people). Ditto sore throat, headaches and fatigue. People just wouldn’t do it, they wouldn’t sacrifice two weeks pay/two weeks of school for their kids because they had a headache one evening.

I think the lack of your sense of smell is the biggest thing to look out for.

I know someone who was perfectly fine apart from he lost his sense of smell for a few days.
Only because someone he had been in contact with tested positive did he go to get tested.
He was isolating although feeling completely fine.

I think it would be ridiculous to include headache as a symptom for which you should get a test. How would any system cope wih that?

There is no way everyone can isolate with every possible mild symptom. It just isn't possible at all.

@milkysmum

There is no way everyone can isolate with every possible mild symptom. It just isn't possible at all.

This. It’s not a neutral thing go ask people to do after all. It’s got a significant impact on people’s lives and testing capacity is stretched as it is without having more people meeting criteria for testing.

@PleasantVille

I think it would be ridiculous to include headache as a symptom for which you should get a test. How would any system cope wih that?

Or a runny nose or sore throat.

@Witchend

If you add that lot, then firstly people will become confused and/or decide it's too much and ignore it. Secondly we'll end up with 50% of the population needing a test weekly at that rate.

And maybe that’s what’s needed to get a grip. Mind you, it wouldn’t be so many people if we’d rested properly earlier...

I agree OP. Other countries, eg Germany and many others, do test for these wider symptoms. However, most require you to speak to a dr first, who is the one who orders the test.

I have a runny nose and a sore throat this weekend. I feel crap. No Covid symptoms though. My (highly anxious) friend is going off her nut at me because she feels I should have a test. I just 🤷🏻‍♀️

Tested*

@PennyCrayon85

I have a runny nose and a sore throat this weekend. I feel crap. No Covid symptoms though. My (highly anxious) friend is going off her nut at me because she feels I should have a test. I just 🤷🏻‍♀️

Those are Covid symptoms according to other countries though - the OP gives the CDC list, and I dint think anyone would say America has overreacted... You couldn’t get a test here with those symptoms. You could elsewhere. That’s kind of the point.

When I had covid I had a sore throat first and foremost. I also had chest pain and Indigestion. I only got tested after 48 hours of a sore throat when I developed a high fever and shortness of breath . You are right to say that fatigue sore throat etc should be included.

Well we both work from home and the kids are off for the next two weeks anyway so I have no plans to go anywhere really. But it’s far more likely to be bog standard virus - we have hardly any Covid where we are. They cannot test everyone with every remote symptom. They cannot expect everyone with any single remote symptom to isolate. It is just not realistic and a line needs to be drawn somewhere.

Yes I think if we really want to contain the virus we should include further symptoms, and get doctor's to assess whether a patient presenting them needs a test, which surely will be related to the patient medical history, and what is going around in the area.
But it looks like we do not have enough resources to do this at the moment, neither on testing or doctor' available. So it needs to be reduced.

But it looks like we do not have enough resources to do this at the moment, neither on testing or doctor' available. So it needs to be reduced
Yes, that’s perfect. We aren’t doing the job properly so let’s do even less so we can manage that.
Or, you know, they could bloody do something about getting testing going like every-fucking-where else in the world.

Irs hard enough to get tests as it is and for them to come back in a reasonable amount of time. You're suggesting that you'd get a test for pretty much any symptom of any illness - the testing capacity can't cope as it is - any more symptoms added would I imagine, make it next to impossible to get tests

Yes indeed. They do need to get those resources going. Then they should get doctor's to assess the symptoms.
What I mean is that if they arecstruggling now with 3 symptoms, they will not cope with the whole list. I do want the intestinal and sorethroat added pronto.
They say they are going to set a new lab around where I live. I do really hope they get it sorted soon and expand capacity soon!

I log daily in the Zoe Covid app, and have been asked to test twice. Both negative.

But per pp, I have “symptoms” all the time - chronic sinus problems, which often make me cough, my hay fever was off the charts this year, and frequent headaches because of working from home staring at a tiny laptop screen all day. Also aches and pains from hunching at the kitchen table! Oh, and I have IBS, so often a dodgy tummy.