Are people still testing for Covid even if they don’t have to for work/family members?

[Lucky457]

Just that really! I used to test for covid whenever I had any cold/feeling unwell symptoms but I’m wondering if people who don’t need to test for work or elderly/immunosuppressed loved ones are actually testing? I don’t work in a medical setting or care home, nor does my husband. Our eldest relative is 60 and well. We don’t have anyone immunosuppressed in our friends or family circle. My little girl has recently started at nursery and has a constant runny nose/sneezing/cough that she’s passing on to her baby sister and I think that’s what’s making me wonder if most people are testing still, as I’d be spending a fortune on tests in that case the way my little ones are picking things up. I’m just curious what others do.

I like to know what's wrong with me, and have an ice how long it might last, so yes.

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No, I don't bother. Does the information affect your behaviour in any way?

DH and I are rarely sick, but yes, I have a box of in date tests I'd use if we did get ill. We caught covid for the 1st time earlier this year and I was still positive on day 10. I too would test to know whether it is covid or not, plus I'd stay away from shops longer if it was.

No, at this point you're just testing positive for a cold

If you’re ill then does it really matter what kind of virus you have?
Obviously unless you’re really really unwell and have a bacterial infection you may need AB’s.

I don’t get the ‘need’ to know it’s covid 19 over any other kind of possibly contagious bug.

Yes. I've got tests so why not? I like to know what's going on with my health.

It's not a cold for me. I've had six days off work with two doses of covid in 18 months. Previous cold was almost five years ago. Previous flu was twenty years ago.

@JC03745 but why do you want to know if it’s covid or not? You know most colds/virus’s are contagious. So you just keep away from people which is generally polite if you have a cold.

I genuinely want to know what people want to name their virus. If your test is negative do you still try and seek out what virus it is?

I do so I know how long to avoid others for. E.g. v and d, temperature, chickenpox. Whooping cough all have different times. Also if someone else in house is positive, we'd test. Number of kids with long covid keeps increasing, so it's a hill I will die on.

Er no.

What would you do differently if you tested positive for covid rather than positive for flu?

Try telling my body that!

During my 51 years I’ve experienced endless colds. I’ve had flu twice and swine flu once. I tested positive yesterday (I tested as I care for my cv mum) and feel like a pile of crap. It’s on a par to how I felt with the flu.

If you’ve had Covid and it felt just like a cold then count yourself lucky but for me this feels anything but a cold.

I wish. I did a test as I am staying with my elderly parents one of whom has emphysema.
It was positive. I have been so fucking ill. I've had it a few times but this one has properly done me. Could barely make it to the toilet for a couple of days. Meant to be working this week and had to take it all off and God knows how I'm going to get myself home as a thought of the train is quite beyond me at the moment. Luckily DH has been able to look after the pretty self-reliant teens.
Its not been like a cold (which it has previously) but like serious flu. I was hallucinating last night which was fun!

We test. It’s the right thing to do.

Same here, I’ve feel bloody awful.

Hope you feel better soon.

Covid is a vascular disease. It suppresses the immune system and causes many many other problems. Act responsibly.

You too! I'm feeling very sorry for myself.

I am testing so I can plan accordingly. With "standard" cold I know I still can do simple assignments and will be back to normal in about 3 days, so can arrange for the weekend etc. With Covid it will be 7-10 and my brain will be absolutely fried from fever.

No, and nor does anyone I know.

Covid is doing the rounds at the moment and it is a pretty harsh strain of it. If you've had it and its been the equivalent of a cold than congratulations, that is not the experience of a lot of people. And yes, it does make a difference to know. With a cold you might dose up, venture out and continue on. With covid I'd like to hope you wouldn't!

Sigh.... This debate always depresses me somewhat. I always test if I think I have might have Covid. People say why bother - if you feel ill avoid people anyway. But the fact is many people may have a sniffle (Covid), carry on with their business and pass it on to someone else who becomes seriously ill.
This happened to us in the autumn. My child's voice went a bit funny briefly but he otherwise felt fine. I didn't even think he had a cold. It was covid. He passed it to my mum before we realised. She became very ill indeed, ended up in hospital. She was delerious thinking she was a little girl, asking for her mum. She was incontinent for weeks. Took her months to recover (not sure she fully has). So this logic of "If you only have mild symptoms don't bother testing and carry on as normal" is deeply flawed. Your mild cold could be devastating for someone else.
People are still dying of covid - I just looked up a random week last month and 168 people died of covid.
More examples - My best friend (a very healthy, slim woman in her 40s) has had long Covid for two years, lost her job and is using a wheelchair. I visited her last week. After 10 minutes of talking she needed to lie down.
I work at a uni and we have had several healthy young teenage students drop out of their degrees because of long Covid.
So people say colds and flu can cause problems too! But not to this extent. I have never seen a single student drop out of their degree course following flu. I've never had healthy young friends end up in wheelchairs for years because of flu.
So that is why I still test. It gets me down that so many people sneer at those of us who test as if we're pathetic.

Time to get smarter and safer friends.

Having already given Covid to a parent who went on and died I'm not going to make that mistake again.

If I got Covid it would just make me a little more mindful. I can't see the disadvantage of knowing even though I know that generally it makes no odds as I would be careful if I had flu or even a bad cold

I tested for it last night. Felt rotten in work, like I had been hit by a bus...
It was negative.

Thank you to everyone who still tests.