I have cold symptoms but no temperature or cough, lft negative should I pcr?

[MacNTosh]

I’ve got a sore throat, runny nose, tired, sneezing a little I feel ill, but not absolutely dreadful. If covid didn’t exist I’d say it’s just a cold. The symptoms for a pcr are high temperature, cough and loss of smell none of which I have so do you think I’m right in just monitoring my temperature and not testing. I spent Christmas Day with an elderly relative, but will stay away from now on. We’ve all been boosted.

Oh Xenia honestly. You're the expert, which law are you talking about? Something general like breach of the peace? Wasting NHS time - not aware of a law in that area?

Delta seemed to lean quite hard on the gastric side, Omicron seems more coldy.

What is a waste imo (but not illegal) is doing loads of lateral flows while waiting for a PCR result. I'd only do an LFT if it would change my actions, not if I'm isolating anyway.

I understood that LFT are not particularly effective once symptomatic. I have had PCR four times in 14 months. Last two with classic cold symptoms (both had returned negative on LFT) - I had a slightly raised temperature from my normal and so didn’t think I was lying to get a PCR. Second PCR (October) was positive with main symptoms being a really bad headache and sneezing.

So. yes - I would get a PCR

LFT are actually more effective if you have symptoms but arent sensitive enough to give a definitive answer if you do have symptoms. If you get a negative result when you have symptoms it may not be a true result so you need a PCR.

If you were using the Zoe app, they would have invited you to test with those symptoms and you could have booked a guilt free PCR.

Help slow the spread of #COVID19 and identify at risk cases sooner by self-reporting your symptoms daily, even if you feel well 🙏. Download the app covid.joinzoe.com/

@RedSnail

I feel the same as you, really bad sore throat, cold symptoms, no temperature or cough, negative LFTs. You can’t do a PCR anyway as the booking process won’t let you if you don’t have a cough, high temperature or loss of taste and smell.

It’s not an honestly test.

OP please get a PCR. Better to be safe than sorry. So many symptoms now are NOT the classic three. I’m stumped as to why the guidance hasn’t been updated. Or download the ZOE study app, pop your symptoms in there and it will probably ask you to get a test and that’s a tick box for a PCR on the gov website.

I have covid none of the 3 symptoms but my dh tested positive temp only. Whole household of 5 all now positive. Tickly throat and sore eyes seem to be main symptoms. My 9 year old had covid October and tested positive again. Can imagine there are all hell of alot people walking round with covid now thinking they have a cold.

Thought I’d update, I did take a pcr which came back positive. Still no loss of smell, high temperature or cough.

@MacNTosh

Thought I’d update, I did take a pcr which came back positive. Still no loss of smell, high temperature or cough.

Dh is very well. You'd never know he had Covid.

I'm unwell with a terrible cold. Ringing ears, sinus pain, headache, nose like a tap, sneezing, now coughing, heart rate in 80s. Lfts all negative. Had a pcr yesterday. I absolutely did not feel guilty testing and had decided to even before the cough showed up. Hopefully result will come through this morning.

So basically our lives are being dictated to by the scientists, our civil liberties cursorily removed....for a cold? STOP TESTING!!!!!!!!!!!! it just inflates their figures!

Dear Lord. My colleagues and I have constant cold symptoms (infant school teacher). If we PCR test every time we get a runny nose or headache there will be no teachers left, parents will be batching about lazy teachers again and the cost of all these tests will be huge.

I can’t get a PCR test in the whole country today

It’s probably just a cold and if it isn’t it’s once again shouting that omicron is basically a cold. I have had the super cold which would have knocked out a cev person but I didn’t have to isolate but if it wa omicron I would - madness!!

Hope you feel better soon OP

@MacNTosh

Thought I’d update, I did take a pcr which came back positive. Still no loss of smell, high temperature or cough.

I think we're all agreed that the original 3 symptoms are so out of date now as to only be relevant to those who are super rule bound when it comes to ticking the box on the testing website.

Doesn't everyone know that omicron presents as a typical cold?

Hope you feel better soon.

Doesn't everyone know that omicron presents as a typical cold?

Doesn't that beg the question of why are we isolating for a typical cold?

@Getyourarseofffthequattro

Doesn't everyone know that omicron presents as a typical cold?

Doesn't that beg the question of why are we isolating for a typical cold?

No, not really.

Same symptoms as a cold doesn't logically mean same effects as a cold.

When there is more data that decision can be made, If omicron turns out to have the same impact on hospitalisations and deaths as the common cold I would agree with you but we aren't in a position to know that yet,

Same symptoms as a cold doesn't logically mean same effects as a cold

For most people it is though, or not even that. One in three people with COVID have no symptoms at all.

When there is more data that decision can be made, If omicron turns out to have the same impact on hospitalisations and deaths as the common cold I would agree with you but we aren't in a position to know that yet

It's funny because when the data is incredibly negative they seem to know incredibly quickly. When it doesn't seem to be so bad they are dragging it out for weeks saying ohhhh we don't knoooooow. Why is that?

@Getyourarseofffthequattro

Same symptoms as a cold doesn't logically mean same effects as a cold

For most people it is though, or not even that. One in three people with COVID have no symptoms at all.

When there is more data that decision can be made, If omicron turns out to have the same impact on hospitalisations and deaths as the common cold I would agree with you but we aren't in a position to know that yet

It's funny because when the data is incredibly negative they seem to know incredibly quickly. When it doesn't seem to be so bad they are dragging it out for weeks saying ohhhh we don't knoooooow. Why is that?

I'm not sure I quite understand your point, isolation isn't because people feel ill or have symptoms, it's to try and slow down transmission. It doesn't matter if an individual feels only slightly sub par and could quite happily go to work.

I can't speak to the speed of decision making but as a general rule common sense would say to take any kind of action quickly if you think there might be a negative outcome and be circumspect if you aren't wholly sure of a positive one in any situation

I'm not sure I quite understand your point, isolation isn't because people feel ill or have symptoms, it's to try and slow down transmission. It doesn't matter if an individual feels only slightly sub par and could quite happily go to work.

I know it's to stop transmission, but do we need to do that if people are not getting ill? As in we don't try and stop transmission for colds because they don't put very many people in hospital or keep many people off work.

That general rule would make sense but that's not what the government have done up till now so why the change.

We are only meant to PCR for a temperature, loss of smell/taste, or continuous cough!

Just do daily lateral flows and be sensible about contacts. Problem is there is not capacity for everyone with a cold to test on PCR. Several colleagues can't get PCR test needed to get back to work (NHS) so we need to be sensible about use.

@MacNTosh

I’ve got a sore throat, runny nose, tired, sneezing a little I feel ill, but not absolutely dreadful. If covid didn’t exist I’d say it’s just a cold. The symptoms for a pcr are high temperature, cough and loss of smell none of which I have so do you think I’m right in just monitoring my temperature and not testing. I spent Christmas Day with an elderly relative, but will stay away from now on. We’ve all been boosted.

Yes. Well, according to my GP you should. They texted just before Christmas to say to please PCR for any cold symptoms.

Wow. It’s almost as if someone must be getting very rich off all these tests.

When it doesn't seem to be so bad they are dragging it out for weeks saying ohhhh we don't knoooooow. Why is that?

There has always been a lag between infection, hospitalisation and death. Sometimes the cycle has already happened in other similar countries so it is easier to model what is coming here.

In the case of Omicron here, it is currently spreading mostly in the young. Many people isolated from older, more vulnerable people to "save" Christmas but did then see them over the Christmas period. Any potential infection, hospitalisation, death from that time will not be in the statistics yet.

Omicron was spotted in Gauteng, South Africa. The population profile there is quite different to here. For example, the median age in South West England is 44 years, in Gauteng it is 27. So the way things play out might be quite different. Also the South West has vaccinated 86% of adults and Gauteng only a third... so it is hard to compare.

I know it is frustrating, and I frequently mistrust the government handling, but on this occasion I think that they really genuinely cannot tell yet.