Covid rife in my class and now I have “a cold”

[Asking4Advice]

I literally never get ill and before half term nearly half my class had tested positive over the course of about a month. I’ve now got a cough and a fairly mild cold.

Obviously I’ve booked a PCR but I’ve taken multiple lateral flow tests whilst both symptomatic and asymptomatic (which is how basically all the positives in my class were picked up) and they’re all negative.

SURELY it’s covid?! I mean what is the likelihood of my body not getting covid but allowing a common cold to walk right on in 😂

My lateral flow tests were negative for the first 2 days of my symptoms, didn’t show a positive until the third day and even then it was a faint pos. I would wait for the PCR result to come back and isolate in the meantime. Hope you feel better soon

As someone who can't shift colds once I get them I've been sniffling and coughing for 3 weeks, my dd 2, every single lft and pcr has been negative. There's a nasty common cold going round so it might be that.

Come on - you're a teacher, you KNOW how this one works. You teach in the average class of coughs, colds and snot all term without a sniffle - then you relax for half term and Friday night the cold starts to make you feel like crap for most of it.

Totally normal - wait on your test but yes, it happened every year in teaching pre-covid and it'll happen every bloody year in teaching for all eternity.

@CoffeeWithCheese very true! It happens every time 🤦‍♀️

I know people with covid who have never tested positive on LFT. There are lots of colds going round and if you are double vaccinated, it could be one but could also be covid. Hopefully the PCR comes back soon.

Also, every single one of my kids who got it had it picked up through routine asymptomatic testing, so at least I haven’t had anyone actually coughing or sneezing etc in my class.

There’s a nasty cough/cold/sore throat doing the rounds. I’ve been in several Covid-infected classes over the term, covering for teachers who’ve tested positive, and not tested +.
However, half term and I’m sneezing and snotty and negative.
Apparently lockdown last winter and Covid measures reduced our exposure to winter bugs and so this winter...

I usually get horrible aches and exhaustion over half term/any holiday which I guess counts as getting ill, but I get a cold about once a year and always in the autumn/winter. And it’s usually much worse than this…
I know it’s pointless speculating until I get my PCR results!

what is the likelihood of my body not getting covid but allowing a common cold to walk right on in
Quite likely! It's happened to lots of people.

I am a primary school teacher. There's been covid in my class and I've has two rotten colds since September. The second one just this week. Negative tests both times. In fact the colds were way worse than actual covid for me which I had in march. So it is very possible you've caught another bug as there are so many circulating atm

Colds are rife at the moment and they appear to be far worse this year with everyone mixing more. I do know some people who have tested negative on LFT but then positive on a PCR taken the same day so your doing the right thing by double checking. Hopefully it's negative.

Lft tests often don't detect it. It could be covid as you say or it's just as likely to be a cold!

Teaching colleagues have had positive PCRs, but never a positive LFT, and no symptoms (tested PCR because their children had it and they were advised to by T&T).

If you are 40+, even if double jabbed then the symptoms would probably be a lot worse.

If you are 20s then it could be Covid manifesting as a little sniffle.

My DD has had a cough since the start of half term. I and DS both had covid a few weeks back. Her school is riddled with it.
She has been negative on LF every single day, and done 2 PCR both negative. No temps, not unwell, no other symptoms.
So looks like she dodged covid and caught a bog standard cough. I guess it happens.