Confused with Covid Delta variant & runny nose...

[Alphacentaurius]

Hello!

Recently all our family members, one after another, had very runny nose, sneezing and fever (temperature not very high, around 37.2). This lasted for 3-4 days and passed. My wife and my daughter did the home Covid test several times during this and it was always negative. (Also me and my wife were vaccinated before).
I also heard that many people around us have similar symptoms.

Now, recently I heard that in our region (South West London) there are quickly rising numbers of Covid cases with the Delta variant. And some news (like Guardian) just published that runny nose is a symptom of Delta variant.

Two days ago two teachers from my son's school were Covid positive tested, now they are in self isolation, we called them and they say they they have runny nose/sneezing...

Now my son is saying that many kids in his school have runny nose and sneeze, and now the school reported of Covid cases in several more classes which all went to isolation.

So I am now totally confused. Is this runny nose & sneezing actually Covid Delta (Indian) variant? Why does it pass so easily and quickly then, and indeed number of hospital admissions and deaths is pretty low.

However during recent outburst in India the decease was very severe and no runny nose symptoms were reported.

Did anybody here have these symptoms (or their friends)?

Any ideas?

Out of my 3 children 2 have had a very runny snotty nose recently and one has a sore throat now. If we had all isolated to take pcrs each time it would have been a logistical nightmare for our places of work. We all take lateral flow tests twice a week and report them all each time. If we should be taking pcr tests the government should make the guidance on symptoms much clearer. At 7am on Monday when one child feels a bit under the weather it's a tough call to keep the whole family at home for 24 hours for a pcr just in case.

Dd was asked to isolate for 6 days via the app 5 days after supposed exposure( day out at theme park, all outside and nobody she was with )
However she has had a bit of a sore throat, snotty nose and a very occasional cough.
None of the symptoms required for a PCR test, however to be safe we have been testing daily with lateral flow tests, all negative.
I've had no symptoms either.
Hard to know whether its covid or not 🤷‍♀️

I had a cold a couple of weeks ago with headaches and runny nose. Bit of coughing and tiredness. Had a Covid test and it was negative. It was the kind you go to a test centre for.

I’m literally permanently congested. Have been since the pandemic started oddly, it’s chronic Rhinitis apparently. On top of that I have hay fever. Last week I had a headache and sore throat. I did a LFT every day for that week all negative. I went on website for 111 but was told I didn’t qualify for a test. I’m fine now but it is worrying when we’re told one thing but then official guidance still only states the big 3 symptoms as a requirement for PCR testing.

It’s going to be problematic if a runny nose & sneezing are the main symptoms. Heyfever is killing me this year, I’d need to test every single day 🙈 but equally I assume if it’s just a runny nose & headache then it’s pretty mild & won’t be overwhelming the NHS. So swings & roundabouts.

For anyone who would like to be able to take a PCR test for a wider set of symptoms without having to lie: if you log regularly on the Zoe app, it is likely they will ask you to take a test if you log any symptoms. That is then officially sanctioned (the Zoe app project receives government funding), so no ethical dilemma involved.

The concerning thing is if people don’t know these are apparently common delta symptoms they’re likely to (reasonably!) assume they just have a cold and carry on with their day, thus spreading it.

Those of us with hayfever can have sneezing and a streaming nose every day for months, so where do you draw the line with testing? To be honest hayfever is pretty distinctive for me as I always get insanely itchy eyes, but if I had a consistently runny nose / headache / coldy feeling I’d try to get a test …

I don't know why Gov website doesn't upgrade the symptoms. If the virus mutates like this, and people don't keep up, I think the virus is going to outsmart human and spread won't stop until herd immunity is achieved.

In some countries a runny nose was considered a covid symptom from the start of the pandemic last year.

Practically everyone I know is sneezing their head off with a runny nose this week because the pollen count is through the roof.

Have the symptoms changed, or have tonnes of people got hay fever symptoms, got tested for covid, and incidentally got positives when they would have been an asymptomatic case?

Yes I wondered about this. If I had any virus right now I’d also have itchy eyes, sneezing and a runny nose but does that make them symptoms of that virus?

DD has hay fever, she has a bit of a blocked nose but nothing much and only tested because she saw the news and it's going around uni but no one she has seen. She's positive. I saw her on FaceTime and she doesn't look or sound like she has a cold or hay fever, the symptoms are very subtle in many.

@JeanClaudeVanDammit

Practically everyone I know is sneezing their head off with a runny nose this week because the pollen count is through the roof.

Have the symptoms changed, or have tonnes of people got hay fever symptoms, got tested for covid, and incidentally got positives when they would have been an asymptomatic case?

Yes I wondered about this. If I had any virus right now I’d also have itchy eyes, sneezing and a runny nose but does that make them symptoms of that virus?

If this was a new thing, then yes, this could be a possible explanation - but tbh there's nothing new here. If you look at symptoms reported last year, a LOT of people were reporting runny noses, sore throats etc. This was particularly true in younger people.

It's a bit difficult though isn't it - e.g. imagine if the guidance was "If you have a bit of a sniffle, get a PCR test and self-isolate...."

The sensible way to deal with it is, if you have reason to believe a sniffle MAY be covid (i.e. close contact), then lie to get a PCR test.

The sensible way to deal with it is, if you have reason to believe a sniffle MAY be covid (i.e. close contact), then lie to get a PCR test.

Exactly. I had to do this yesterday when ds came home with cold symptoms, sore throat, lethargy and stuffy nose. None of those symptoms are reasons to test but there's been quite a few cases in his school so it seemed sensible to test.
Got a test within 20 mins of booking and got negative result this morning. Just a cold.

@swapsicles if you’re asked to isolate via the app, you can also request a PCR test via the app.

I went to a meeting last Monday and on Tuesday one of the other attendees who “had a cold” got the most positive lateral flow result ever!! He’d started with cold symptoms the previous Thursday, negative LFT Friday, gone about his business all weekend, all came crashing down on Tuesday morning. PCR confirmed - Covid. I come out of self-isolation on Friday (LFT daily + PCR on day 8, think I’m ok).

His partner seems to have caught covid from him - despite having had his second jab back in March - felt rough and has now lost his sense of smell & taste.