I’ve got Covid - help!

[justbananas42]

I started feeling a bit under the weather on Wednesday but put it down to a common cold, as I was sneezing with a runny nose and didn’t have a cough.

Yesterday lunchtime I noticed I’d lost my sense of taste and smell, so did a lateral flow test at home and it’s positive! I did another one to be sure and that was also positive. DH also did one and surprisingly his was negative.

A few questions:

1. Do I have to self isolate for 10 days after symptoms started (so until Friday 12th/Saturday 13th)? Am I okay to start going out and about after that?

1. I have a 14 month old DC and am terrified they will catch it as I have to be in close contact with them obviously. Although I am also wondering if they’ve already had it, as DC has randomly been very cranky this past week for no obvious reason.

1. Can DH still go out and about if he continues to display no symptoms and his lateral flow tests are negative? Or does he have to stay home even with a negative LFT?

1. How long should it take me to feel better and when can I expect to get my sense of taste and smell back?

Thanks!

Are you counting 11 days then?

Every time I have had to isolate it is the day 10 days plus the one the symptoms/positive started.

So symptoms day +10.

does the isolation period for COVID-19 start?
Your isolation period starts immediately from when your symptoms started, or, if you do not have any symptoms, from when your test was taken. Your isolation period includes the day your symptoms started (or the day your test was taken if you do not have symptoms), and the next 10 full days.11 Oct 2021

Gov.uk

For god’s sake OP of course your husband should isolate.
You seem to be really concerned that you have covid but give no fucks about spreading it.
This is why the UK’s cases are so high.
Use caution in counting days and yes of course your husband should stay home.

Can you let the government know that then please @Burnamer. Because I have more than one child in my class whose family are ill with Covid, but I’m expected to teach them in a small, badly aired classroom for hours every day.

@Burnamer

For god’s sake OP of course your husband should isolate. You seem to be really concerned that you have covid but give no fucks about spreading it. This is why the UK’s cases are so high. Use caution in counting days and yes of course your husband should stay home.

This. I usually ask what precautions people have taken not to catch it before I rush to offer help. IMO if you're not wearing a mask indoors, or social distancing, I can't be arsed to reply. Obviously OP hasn't said either way what they're doing. And what with being so terrified that DH/DC will catch it, maybe they were.

@Caliexpidocioussuper (great name btw) The government have done an atrocious job of protecting people in the UK. You shouldn’t have to work in the conditions - I’m sorry.

DH was in contact with a case (another parent sat by and chatting to at daughters netball match who told DH at the end that his wife wasn’t there as she had COVID and he subsequently tested positive 3 days later).

In those three days, and without knowing the guy was positive DH infected me and two other of our friends. He is mortified. The kids luckily are ok.

I was fairly relaxed about it all until then but if it is at all an option (work being the main issue) I would really consider all staying home until he has finished his isolation.

For god’s sake OP of course your husband should isolate.

@Burnamer why should he isolate when he doesn’t have Covid and the official guidelines say he doesn’t need to?

Sorry I mean until you have finished your isolation.

Because it really is a small sacrifice in the grand scheme of things. Yes other people might not be doing it but if you can (& obviously if he has to go to work then he can’t) why not be the bigger person.

@Yafilthyanimal oh, thanks for that. So if symptoms started on Wednesday then my last full day of isolation is a week today. It’s going to be a long eight days!

Oh and I had cold symptoms from
Mon but lost my taste and smell on Thurs and the T&T lady said I need to start my isolation from the Thursday. Prob not what you want to hear, me either, so feel free to ignore!

See @Toottootdrive ‘a post. That’s why your husband should isolate.
The UK government’s guidelines are lax compared to other countries and that’s why the UK’s cases are so high. You must be able to understand that the lateral flow testing isn’t fool proof so the safe route is for him to stay home.
Take some personal responsibility in all of this. Don’t you want to help other families avoid the worry you described in your first few posts?

@Toottootdrive I just don’t understand why he should stay home when

1. He doesn’t have Covid and
2. The official government guidelines say he doesn’t have to?

Oh and I had cold symptoms from
Mon but lost my taste and smell on Thurs and the T&T lady said I need to start my isolation from the Thursday.

Oh no, so I’m actually on day 1 today!!

Absolutely. I understand and I would feel the same as you if I hadn’t just had the experience I have.

Knowing you have infected people is fucking awful, I’ve spent the last week crying. Maybe you and your husband are made of sterner stuff? Or maybe he just stays away from people he knows so if he does get it and is infectious then at least he won’t know them!

The first day you get symptoms is day zero not day one.

[quote justbananas42]@Toottootdrive I just don’t understand why he should stay home when

1. He doesn’t have Covid and
2. The official government guidelines say he doesn’t have to?[/quote]

You don’t know he doesn’t have covid. LFTs are known for high false negatives. So they may say negative when he isn’t.

He should get a PCR too a few days after yours to be sure.

The government guidelines about not isolating are just to keep people going to work. Sadly people will still spread covid that way - I know that’s how a teacher likely got it as a pupil’s family were positive, the pupil LFTs were negative and the pupil had no symptoms. But they didn’t do a PCR (they should have as a close contact!)

@justbananas42

Is there any point doing a PCR when the lateral flows have come back positive and I’ve lost my sense of taste and smell? I mean, I clearly do have it!

I had this, I didn't bother with a PCR I just isolated anyway.

Point number 4
I'm on 8 weeks off sick from work at the moment and no where near better.
I've started going out for walks to try and help get fit again in the last two weeks.

[quote justbananas42]@Toottootdrive I just don’t understand why he should stay home when

1. He doesn’t have Covid and
2. The official government guidelines say he doesn’t have to?[/quote]

Because your OP says you are terrified your DC will get Covid and there are people out there who feel the same way about their DC getting it. So out of consideration for them and so your DH doesn't spread it. It's actually really simple, if you can imagine that other people are in the same shoes you were in.

Meanwhile knowing that there are people taking such a laissez-faire attitude to this means that many CEV are still not able to safely go anywhere. Which generally people don't give a fuck about as long as they get to carry on themselves.

Yes, you are only just starting isolation. As I said upthread, isolation starts at testing or symptoms but the only symptoms they count are core covid symptoms.

Yes, you are only just starting isolation. As I said upthread, isolation starts at testing or symptoms but the only symptoms they count are core covid symptoms.

Yes, so today is my day 1. What a pita.

Does anyone know about contagiousness? Am I highly contagious until about day 5? I will feel slightly better when I’ve got past the highly contagious stage, as at least I’ll be less likely to infect DH/DC then.

I’m starting to feel really low about it now it’s all sunk in.

[quote justbananas42]@Toottootdrive I just don’t understand why he should stay home when

1. He doesn’t have Covid and
2. The official government guidelines say he doesn’t have to?[/quote]

He doesn't have it according to his most recent test.

His next test may show a positive. If he has been out and about between today's negative test and tomorrow's positive test, there is a strong chance he was infectious during that time.

My DH and I have covid currently, he got it first and I caught it from him. After his positive test I was doing a LFT every 24 hours. I got 3 negative ones before getting a positive, and symptoms started that same day. Now, I don't know exactly when I would have become infectious, but there is no reason to assume it would neatly line up with the positive test. In DH's case, he was definitely infectious around 12 hours before symptoms started, because two friends who he saw the night before also caught it.

True @DreamThrum.

When I did the lateral flow tests the positive lines were very strong. Does that mean I’ve got a heavier viral load than someone who gets a faint line?