Is it a cold.... or is it Covid?

[loveyouradvice]

I think a lot of people are going to be thinking this this autumn, given that the symptoms are now basically the same....

So, teenage daughter, flowing nose, headache, sore throat.....since today only

Lateral flow negative

Is that it? Or do we test again in a couple of days or what's the protocol now?

I'd get a pcr for that

@SingleStrongWoman1

Sounds like the side effects of cannabis, have you drug tested her?

It also sounds like a cold.

Get a pcr test

Ooh DS had this! But also ran an on and off temperature so I did a PCR. Such a hard place at the moment worrying about if its Covid or not. Mostly due to the outdated 3 main symptoms. And I am sure people will tell you LFTs are not meant for symptomatic cases but to get in early and say, there just can't be used as the sole test. DS was negative btw.

LTF are only to be used for testing when you have no symptoms. If you have symptoms you need to have a PCR.

If the entire country start testing for cold like symptoms in winter, we will rapidly run out of tests & everyone will be complaining!

I’m still sticking to the 3 advised symptoms, temperature, continuous cough, taste/smell .. and I’ll do LF for colds. If they want to update the guidance, then I’ll follow it. But they would need to significantly up their testing capacity in winter for ‘runny nose, congested, headache’ ..

On the other hand…I’ve recorded similar symptoms on the Zoe app, and the day after they sent me an invite to get a PCR.

The Zoe app lists the following as common symptoms
Headache
Sore throat
Runny Nose
Fever
Cough

Also anecdotally DCs school advised testing for these symptoms when cases were rife in July pre school holidays. Pretty much everyone I know who has had the Delta variant recently has had some or all of the above.

Get a test. My son in law thought he had a cold, but did a PCR test anyway. It was covid.

My Dh had cold symptoms, blocked nose and headache and tested positive on lateral flow. I had a sore throat and tested negative on lateral flow. We both had pcr that day and tested positive, so did dc with no symptoms at all.

DD had positive lateral flow this morning with sore throat and runny nose. Waiting for pcr results to confirm but 3 lft’s taken over a number of hours have all come back strong positive within a few seconds ( before the pink control line appeared), so little doubt really. Lft at school on Monday was negative.

Just to balance… my whole household has had a cold recently with those symptoms. All 5 of us negative PCR. So a bog standard cold.

LFTs aren't reliable enough to rule out covid so a negative test cannot be relied upon.

Delta seems to have cold symptoms so best to do a PCR

@Bobholll

If the entire country start testing for cold like symptoms in winter, we will rapidly run out of tests & everyone will be complaining!

I’m still sticking to the 3 advised symptoms, temperature, continuous cough, taste/smell .. and I’ll do LF for colds. If they want to update the guidance, then I’ll follow it. But they would need to significantly up their testing capacity in winter for ‘runny nose, congested, headache’ ..

People would be complaining more if people were not bothering to get tested and going round giving others Covid. I had it recently and it was just like a cold, many people with Delta variant have cold symptoms rather than the typical cough. LFTs aren't reliable, mine all tested negative but PCR positive. Loads and loads of similar stories.

A “cold” and covid needn’t be mutually exclusive. There’s no such distinct illness as a cold - it can be caused be over 200(!) different respiratory viruses - mainly rhinoviruses, parainfluenza viruses, respiratory syncytial virus AND coronaviruses. A cold is defined by its symptoms, not by having a test. If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a…… Do you take 200 PCR tests every time you have a cold to find out which specific virus, strain and variant it was?!
Sick people stay home, healthy people carry on as normal. Stop getting yourselves in a tizzy about testing.

DS was like this and tested negative then positive PCR. Didn't test positive with LF until after a few days.

@dementedpixie

LFTs aren't reliable enough to rule out covid so a negative test cannot be relied upon.

Delta seems to have cold symptoms so best to do a PCR

Problem is that you can’t get pcr’s if you have bog standard cold symptoms so only have lft’s to fall back on. DD’s lft on Monday was negative today with a sore throat and runny nose it’s positive. Dh developed a cold last Wednesday and has been doing lft’s every day as he hasn’t had any of the symptoms that qualify for a pcr. All tests including todays have been negative yet Dd has same symptoms and is positive today. We are now convinced he has had covid all along. He works from home anyway so not an issue and he didn’t visit his parents at the weekend which he would normally have done as he didn’t want to pass on his cold. No point in doing a pcr for him now as he is almost better and if we work back to first day of symptoms his 10 days will be up at the weekend anyway.

My 5 year old has been in all week with those symptoms. No pcr needed. Unless she gets one or more of the three listed symptoms. And screw people who think you're wrong for not doing so!

I think it's more a question of not being able to get a pcr with these symptoms... clearly it could be covid.... clearly it is more likely to be a cold as there are (I think) more colds around than covid.

So given what people are saying on here, I think best bet is to keep doing LF tests daily.... no other option really. Unless anyone has any other advice?

We just went to our local test centre for pcr no questions were asked, no one mentioned symptoms, they just said here to get tested? and in we went.

My understanding is that it is possible to get a PCR test on request even if you don't have any of the three "official" symptoms acknowledged by the Government.

At different stages lat flow have different results we've had two negative and one positive and positive pcr

Your DD has three symptoms commonly associated with Covid and is also in an age group that has particularly high Covid rates. Please ensure she gets a PCR test!

You can get a PCR without the 3 main symptoms too