To ask you to please not rely on lft's if you have symptoms.

[Coronachristmas21]

About 10 days ago Dp went on a work training course with someone he wouldn't normally have much contact at all with (work in the same place but not close by). His work is pretty social distanced but the training day was not. He was sat near to the guy all day on training course for one day. The guy was sniffing, sneezing and coughing all the way through but he said he had got a negative lft so he was 'fine' in his words.

Very next morning less than 12 hours after last contact, the guy tested positive on a lft and comfirmed by pcr. Just a few days later Dp tested positive and isolating until later in the week. Thankfully not overly unwell and pretty much over it.

Now our autistic son has tested positive. Thankfully mild symptoms but he's had an hour long meltdown because in his words 'he has the virus' and 'Christmas will be rubbish'

Probably get through me and Dd as well.

I know we could have caught anywhere but we try minimise the risk. I'm not working currently and don't really go very far and get most things delivered, dc are primary age and there has been next to no cases in their small village school! Dp's work is usually distanced. We don't go to crowded places, wears masks etc. We've avoided it for 21 months.

I am pretty pissed at the situation, but I know there's not much j can do about it. But the point of my post is to please don't rely on lft's this Christmas when you have symptoms. They can work, Dp had a strong instant positive when asymptomatic but sometimes don't work when you are actually ill?! 🤷‍♀️

To add, please don't think it's covid if it's like a cold. Both Dp's and DS's symptoms are cold like. Sneezy, runny nose etc!

To add be careful when thinking about sending your dc to school. Ds could have gone school all week. He had two negative pcrs on Monday and Wednesday (despite actually having symptoms on Wednesday) re-tested him yesterday which was positive, it can change so quickly.

Just want to rant. I've had the most rubbish year or so with bereavement and other things as well as covid and I feel like I just want to curl up and cry.

I am grateful that neither Dp or Ds is particularly ill.

I also care for my grandma but haven't been in because of this. Even though I'm still negative, I don't wanna risk anything 😪

@OnlyHereForTheClothes

You're getting angry with the wrong people. Speak to the jokers in charge. They make the guidelines to only test if you have the main three symptoms.

I'm not angry! Just annoyed and sad at the whole situation!

I am pretty pissed at the situation

From your op. Does this not mean you are angry?

None of us had the traditional symptoms. I tested as I knew that the positive cases at school had all had runny noses and cold-like symptoms. DS was another person who had negative LFTs and a positive PCR (and became ill about 36 hours later).

But yes, many children school with "just a cold" without any sort of testing. Last Christmas I was isolating after a positive case in my class, lost 2 weeks of my summer holiday the same way. I'll be bloody fuming if I catch it again in the next week.

Yes indeed, a few people I know had what they thought was a cold and it was in fact covid. Unfortunately it is spreading quite a lot due to people assuming it’s simply a cold. There should be more support for people to test and isolate though and I agree it’s completely ludicrous that the symptom list is what it is with the three things.

And also your whole op and title is about not relying on LFTs if you have symptoms...but then you mention having a cold. That isn't a main symptom according to that bunch of jokers.

I repeat; if they want people like me who would not get paid and may end up out of a job if I start taking days off every time I get a cold, they need to state that and make it financially viable. If you badly want that to happen, good for you. Take it up with the people who have it within their power to actually change that guidance. Not people who are doing what they are told (only testing with one of main symptoms).

I'm getting fed up with people being bossy on here and thinking that adding please makes it ok. If it's legal, I'm going to decide for myself if I'm going to do it or not, thanks.

@Jacaranda75

The GP on This Morning said that LFT’s don’t work if you have symptoms. Not sure why?

Total rubbish. Both ds and dh turned positive while symptomatic this week.

I should add however that dh’s only turned positive on the third day of symptoms. He had guessed he was getting it (thanks to ds) so fortunately hadn’t been anywhere.

Yes it’s all got so confused.

LFT positives are v reliable - only 4% are false. But LFT negatives far less trustworthy.

The wording when booking a PCR has changed slightly and it does allow you to book one without the main three symptoms, without lying.

www.gov.uk/get-coronavirus-test

The wording hasn't changed enough to make it clear to employers that their employees should be allowed to take time off with symptoms other than the three main ones (which are still listed here). They need to make financial provision for people to take days off at a time to wait for pcr results if they cannot work from home.

What do you mean by symptoms? Because unless you have a temperature, cough or loss of smell, you’re not supposed to book a pcr test?

@Sportsnight

What do you mean by symptoms? Because unless you have a temperature, cough or loss of smell, you’re not supposed to book a pcr test?

It's common sense really to get a PCR if you have any cold symptoms as it's widely accepted now that many cases don't necessarily have the 3 typical symptoms.

DH had symptoms last week (did end up just being a cold) and his work told him he still had to go in if his LFT was negative. They basically guilted him into not going for a PCR straight away saying he would be losing at least two days' wages for nothing and told him to just keep doing daily LFTs. It's a new job so he didn't feel he could argue the point with them over it. He sorted a PCR on his day off though but it's a public facing position he's in so could easily spread something to a lot of people with them doing that.

@Givemebackmyhulahoop

DH had symptoms last week (did end up just being a cold) and his work told him he still had to go in if his LFT was negative. They basically guilted him into not going for a PCR straight away saying he would be losing at least two days' wages for nothing and told him to just keep doing daily LFTs. It's a new job so he didn't feel he could argue the point with them over it. He sorted a PCR on his day off though but it's a public facing position he's in so could easily spread something to a lot of people with them doing that.

Sounds like my work!

Seriously, they would laugh in my face if I said I had to take a PCR test and therefore two days off because I had a head cold for example.

It's pretty easy to say "it's just common sense 🤓...", when you have a job where you can WFH or where you still get paid for sitting at home. There are huge number of people (outside mumsnet) for whom that simply isn't the reality.

@CherryAndAlmond

I'm getting fed up with people being bossy on here and thinking that adding please makes it ok. If it's legal, I'm going to decide for myself if I'm going to do it or not, thanks.

I'm not being bossy. I'm just deeply concerned that people are relying on lft's for false reassurance in a critical time with covid so high! Calm down 🤦‍♀️

Well, your op comes across as pretty bossy in fairness...and not super chill yourself, so maybe pipe down yourself a bit?

@Jacaranda75

The GP on This Morning said that LFT’s don’t work if you have symptoms. Not sure why?

I had a sciency person explain this to me but it was sciency language. As far as I can recall/understand, its because they are designed to detect tiny amounts of viral matter. Once you get to the symptomatic stage, the amount of viral matter in your mucus is too much for the test to deal with so it will potentially return wrong results because the test chemicals don't work if the virus amount is too much...I will google and see if I can find anything else

@OnlyHereForTheClothes

I am pretty pissed at the situation

From your op. Does this not mean you are angry?

Please tell me where in the op, I've spoken in a way they portrays me as angry?! I'm just deeply concerned at it all!

Sorry, does "I'm pissed" not mean "I am pissed off"? Which is slang for angry? Or are you pissed as in drunk?

@OnlyHereForTheClothes I do not work from home, I work in a factory and I do not get paid if I'm off.

You don't need to take 'days' off work to get a PCR. I took DS for a test last Friday at 4pm. Results through at 4am on Sat. It is pretty quick these days...

[quote Waxonwaxoff0]@OnlyHereForTheClothes I do not work from home, I work in a factory and I do not get paid if I'm off.[/quote]
Well, lucky you that you can afford to take the hit to your wages every time you get a cold then. Not everyone is in that position.

@ChirpyChirp

You don't need to take 'days' off work to get a PCR. I took DS for a test last Friday at 4pm. Results through at 4am on Sat. It is pretty quick these days...

My dd had a PCR test last week and it took over 48 hours to come back

If I or my children had a negative LFT then I would use that as an indication that they were free from covid, if I did these on a morning and they were negative then I would carry on as normll - how can you do anything else. I would not be keeping children off school or take time off work on the off chance the test was wrong.

@OnlyHereForTheClothes

Well, your op comes across as pretty bossy in fairness...and not super chill yourself, so maybe pipe down yourself a bit?

Ok! 😂 of course I'm not super chill given the circumstances and idiots on MN.

I have had an autistic child crying to sleep that he's going to die because he's watched news round at school and people have died. Obviously I've reassured him...

Wouldn't be happening to us right now if one person hadn't relied on a lft when they were poorly - he had a cough so had one of the main three too!

But as mentioned above. Many people are testing positive without having one of the three anyway. Covid has been very much like a cold for many people I know including dp an Ds.

Yep I know of lots of people relying on LFT's when they have symptoms. A colleague had symptoms but several negative LFT's through the week so carried on going to work. On the Friday she had a positive LFT then positive PCR. Two colleagues had to isolate as they'd been in contact with her but weren't fully vaccinated yet, two more colleagues went on to test positive.