Dd had negative covid test yesterday, now has a cough.

[TeddyIsaHe]

Ffs this is getting ridiculous!!

Dd had a temp on Friday morning, wouldn’t come down with calpol, so I booked a covid test. Got the results on Monday morning at 3am and it was negative.

She’s not got a snotty nose and a bit of a chesty cough (new and continuous) do I need to retest?! And keep her off nursery?

I’ve had this dilemma, guidance isn’t clear.
DS has temp and cough and I had coughed like 6 times that day. Because I’m healthcare worker decided to err on side of cautious and booked tests for us both.
We had tests on Sunday and his came back positive, mine negative.
Since then my cough has got steadily worse, and another DC has started with temperature and cough.
I booked test for other DC and wasn’t sure what to do about me.
The Covid Zoe app invited me to test though, so dilemma solved.
Am pretty sure I have it, my cough sounds just like theirs, I think it was just too early to test (or a false negative).

The advice is to test again if new symptoms develop after a negative test.

No I'm sorry, I wouldn't do this if it were my son. DS always, always gets 2 or 3 days of a temperature and runny nose, followed by a hacking cough. He's follwed that pattern since he was a baby.

I'd get him tested at the temperature. I wouldn't get him tested again 3 days later when the cough started.

My BIL is an ICU doctor and he says that's fine.

Considering the symptoms she’s had and still got it sounds more like the test result was likely to be a false negative i.e. she was positive but the test result may have been incorrect.

Why is it likely to be a false negative; do you not think it's more likely it's just a run of the mill cough? Or do you think every cough is covid?

This is frying my brain 😂

I’m going to keep her off today. But nursery are fine with her coming in. I’m not going to test again unless the symptoms worsen.

But who bloody knows!

@DottyWott

I’ve had this dilemma, guidance isn’t clear. DS has temp and cough and I had coughed like 6 times that day. Because I’m healthcare worker decided to err on side of cautious and booked tests for us both. We had tests on Sunday and his came back positive, mine negative. Since then my cough has got steadily worse, and another DC has started with temperature and cough. I booked test for other DC and wasn’t sure what to do about me. The Covid Zoe app invited me to test though, so dilemma solved. Am pretty sure I have it, my cough sounds just like theirs, I think it was just too early to test (or a false negative).

I'd feel differently in that situation, where you know someone else in the household is positive and so chances are very high that you've caught it too. I think it's different testing a toddler 'just in case', especially since the test is so upsetting for them.

@Completmentfille I think given we are in the midst of a pandemic I think its better to err on the side of caution this year.

I maybe being over cautious as I have had a parent dying of covid, my best friends partner is currently in hospital with it and I have a few vulnerable family member, friends and neighbours. So I believe we should all try to do our bit to try and limit the spread of this rather than bending the rules and adapting the rules to suit ourselves.

Considering the symptoms she’s had and still got it sounds more like the test result was likely to be a false negative i.e. she was positive but the test result may have been incorrect.

Actually it's more likely that she has a different virus. Just because COVID is around it doesn't mean it's the only virus people are catching. Whilst it's possible to have false negatives, it is actually more likely that the test was true. There are more 'true' tests than 'false' tests overall.

There are still many other non-COVID viruses out there which people, including children, are catching.