Awful cough after negative test

[lurchersrule]

A colleague who had been isolating since Monday after developing a cough returned to work today following a negative test result. I thought that was against the rules but it turned out she had an awful cough still! Not persistent as such but when it came I'd never heard anything like it in my life! She was sent home after a few hours but I had sat about 2m away from her for some of that time - not face to face, sort of behind her.

I'm so anxious now and angry as well. Why would anyone do that?

@Shuddawuddacudda

A negative test when you've symptoms means that your symptoms are not caused by coronavirus.

However! Prior to a sniff of COVID, my pet hate in life was idiots coming to work, snottering and sniffling and coughing all over the gaff.

Therefore - yanbu to not want to catch what she has, but whatever she has is not COVID.

Prior to covid many people would have been under disciplinary procedures for sickness and absence if they stayed off work every time they had a cough or sniffle!

It seems the test only picks up on coronavirus from the time that symptoms develop which is why a negative test with no symptoms counts for nothing.
I don't understand how the tests can't pick up on the presence of coronavirus - symptoms or no symptoms. If you're incubating it, it's in your system, so you'd think a test should detect it. But, given the advice, it appears that it doesn't.

I don't know whether anyone has tested positive but had no symptoms whatsoever? Does anyone know? I.e. no cough, no aches, no nausea, no pain, no runny nose, no sore throat - nothing?

Does anyone know of people who've tested postive who were asymptomatic?

@lurchersrule

A colleague who had been isolating since Monday after developing a cough returned to work today following a negative test result. I thought that was against the rules but it turned out she had an awful cough still! Not persistent as such but when it came I'd never heard anything like it in my life! She was sent home after a few hours but I had sat about 2m away from her for some of that time - not face to face, sort of behind her.

I'm so anxious now and angry as well. Why would anyone do that?

If she had a Covid test because of symptoms but the test was negative there is no rule saying she can't come to work or that she has to self isolate.

it is possible that a cough is because of another infectious illness ( flu, cold, other virus) so isn't ideal to spread that either but we don't usually make people stay home from work with just a cough if they feel mostly ok otherwise . I imagine she felt well enough to come to work I can understand why you feel uncomfortable about her coughing but I think given the fact that she has had a negative Covid test, I don't think she has actually done anything to warrant being called selfish or to be angry with.

Prior to covid many people would have been under disciplinary procedures for sickness and absence if they stayed off work every time they had a cough or sniffle!

Prior to covid, because I have asthma, every respiratory type illness I picked up left me unfit for work as it resulted in a chest infection - therefore, I was frequently under review for sickness absence through no fault of my own. But the martyrs coming into work hacking around the place, blowing their hooter with gusto and leaking snot and other unsightly bodily fluids onto everything they touched probably didn't develop chest infections so easily so were utterly selfish fuckers as most of them had rare absences as they were generally hale and healthy.

Unfortunately asthma isn't a disability I don't think so I've never pursued a discrimination complaint, though in my eyes, that is what it was.

Even with Covid, employers will start to get annoyed with people who go off sick. I imagine a lot of people will lose their jobs through being off sick.

Whenever I get a cold it's accompanied by a hacking cough which lasts a couple of weeks after the cold has gone. I go to work, I have no choice as the company won't take kindly to me being off for weeks.

What about the people with chronic coughs? I currently have a chronic cough that I've had since March which is caused by a combination of allergies in the summer and acid reflux and stress now. I'm still going out if I need to, I can't stay in as it may never go.