Have you caught Covid recently - updated poll 2022-23

[Callie]

I was pressured into going to a work thing last week - first time 'out out' in almost 3 years. Of course I am now positive and feel dreadful, have ruined my family's christmas, plus have the terror of medical services not being available over christmas should anything go wrong with my dodgy asthmatic chest. What a fool I am.

That sucks. I don't know what it is about pushing people into office space if they don't have to. It's not just the risk of the office itself but all the associated things like travel and travel prep. Gits

I'm currently unwell. Absolutely minging sore throat. I should have done an lft by now but I keep having strepsils this would be my third time if I'm positive ...last time was in August!

 

[Callie]

Would be most novel if it was something else! RSV, human metapneumovirus... One of the boring coronaviruses

 

[cesare]

Would be most novel if it was something else! RSV, human metapneumovirus... One of the boring coronaviruses

GWS whatever it is x

 

[Callie]

My LFT was neg yesterday but I have lost my sense of taste/smell this morning. Marmite on toast was giving me weird greasy dog vibes?

I did lose my sense of taste/smell of once before COVID so it's not definite. Will do another test later. Hope it doesn't ruin Xmas :/

 

[frogwoman]

My mum caught it quite badly a few weeks ago, I live with her and didn't get it at all.

 

[NoXion]

One of my coworkers who I've been in contact with the past couple of days just tested positive for covid. I'm feeling like I'm starting to get sick, but I have no access to any tests. That's two fucking years without getting it, and just in time for my holidays. Fan-fucking-tastic. I really, really would have appreciated that fourth vaccination. Fucking fucking fucking fuck.

 

[cesare]

One of my coworkers who I've been in contact with the past couple of days just tested positive for covid. I'm feeling like I'm starting to get sick, but I have no access to any tests. That's two fucking years without getting it, and just in time for my holidays. Fan-fucking-tastic. I really, really would have appreciated that fourth vaccination. Fucking fucking fucking fuck.

You can get tests from a pharmacy.

 

[Agent Sparrow]

Just totted up my year wrt COVID. Assuming my most recent positive tests were reinfection rather than a resurgence in antibody levels, I’ve had three confirmed cases of COVID this year.

 

[Orang Utan]

I’ve only had one symptomless recorded case, but this year, I’ve had the worse case of headcold I’ve had in years, which has floored me and put the kibosh on any Xmas travel. I guess our immune systems are off guard a little bit.

 

[Callie]

I’ve only had one symptomless recorded case, but this year, I’ve had the worse case of headcold I’ve had in years, which has floored me and put the kibosh on any Xmas travel. I guess our immune systems are off guard a little bit.

Yeah I'm wondering this. I'm still LFT neg but whatever i have is worse than just a cold. I suspect a couple of years of lower exposure to viruses might mean my immuno system has gone a bit haywire/overreacting.

I kind of want lateral flow tests for all the other possible culprits now but that would mean doing at least 10 in one go to hit the main suspects. Don't think my nose could take it it shall remain a mystery

 

[Riklet]

Theres loads of flu around at the moment. If you do a LFT properly when youre properly ill they're very accurate. If it says negative you most likely are negative.

I would put money on another lurgi if youve had covid earlier this year too tbh.

For anyone struggling to get LFTs a lot of people have a stash and could drop a few off. or you can order a pack on Amazon prime for 9 quid...

 

[Combustible]

Finally caught it in China after nearly 3 years. At least now we can just stay at home when positive.

 

[weepiper]

Blurgh tested positive this morning. Big fat line straight away. I have been coughing my guts up since I woke up and was losing my voice yesterday which is what prompted the test. Also feeling generally a bit crappy, runny nose/sore eyes/feel hot etc. This is the first time I've ever tested positive although I think I have had it once before.

 

[planetgeli]

Finally caught it in China after nearly 3 years. At least now we can just stay at home when positive.

Bad luck. You'll be one of the dozen today then.

How accurate are China’s Covid death numbers?

With one of the lowest coronavirus tolls in the world, China has been routinely accused of downplaying infections and deaths for political reasons

www.theguardian.com

(Get well soon)

 

[weepiper]

This is shite and I'm bored of it now. Now getting a sore throat and losing my sense of taste. I can still taste things but it's like someone has turned the volume down. Nothing tastes very interesting. Still got the runny nose and eyes and coughing although less often now. Am quite achey all over too. At least my guts seem to have settled down a bit.

 

[RD2003]

This is shite and I'm bored of it now. Now getting a sore throat and losing my sense of taste. I can still taste things but it's like someone has turned the volume down. Nothing tastes very interesting. Still got the runny nose and eyes and coughing although less often now. Am quite achey all over too. At least my guts seem to have settled down a bit.

Seems like the luck of the draw. I've been working, socialising, shopping and everything as if Covid never happened for most of this year, all unmasked except where it's strictly required, All after being ultra-careful (mostly) since the beginning, and actually catching a mild dose in June. Threw caution to the wind this Christmas: house gatherings, several care home visits to a relative, and even a modest pub crawl, to crowded places, on Christmas Day, for the first time since 2019. Half-expected the latter to be the crucial event, and feared the worst when Mrs RD woke up with a scratchy throat this morning, but she self-tested negative and feels ok now... Both of us four times vaccinated. Yet others we know, also with all the vaccine shots, have done more or less the same and are coming down with their first, second and even third infection.

Hope you feel better soon.

 

[moose]

Day 13 and I'm really fucking bored with this, and don't seem to be getting any better. Dreadful headaches, awful cough, eyes stuck together and sooo tired. Make it stop!
Hope everyone else is improving.

 

[weepiper]

Feeling a bit better but still got crackly ears, phlegmy cough, annoying nasal drip. And my sense of taste is pretty much completely gone now I've just had a cup of tea and a couple of slices of toast one with marmite and one with honey and I couldn't tell the difference. Tedious. 8 days post first positive test.

 

[MrCurry]

It took until about day 10 before my wife tested negative and now finally after 21 days from onset of symptoms the snottiness has relented. It’s been a long one, but at least her sense of taste and smell returned just in time to enjoy the Christmas food, which is something to be grateful for.

 

[story]

So, is there any consensus on how long the incubation period is for the current version of covid?

Someone I was with on NYE has tested positive.

Woke up with a scratchy throat this morning but I feel fine at the moment.





I had a chesty cold a few weeks ago, tested negative throughout that but it sounds like current covid is kinda like what I had.

 

[Aladdin]

Thanks for that, it looks like it's still hit and miss, so her being told to go back into work after 5 days is within health guidelines but then they say to isolate until 2 days after a negative test i'm no better off understanding.

I looked everywhere before for something similar to the link you posted, I couldn't see for looking
I think we'll play it safe and wait until she's negative to see each other - i come in contact with lots of oaps day to day and i don't want to take any risks with the old dears.

It took my dad 4 weeks to have a negative test.
Older people can be +ve for ages.

 

[prunus]

So, is there any consensus on how long the incubation period is for the current version of covid?

Someone I was with on NYE has tested positive.

Woke up with a scratchy throat this morning but I feel fine at the moment.





I had a chesty cold a few weeks ago, tested negative throughout that but it sounds like current covid is kinda like what I had.

I think (and this may be a bit out of date but is likely not far out) it's 50% by 3 days and 95% by 8 days. So if you were going to get it from that exposure it's highly likely that you'd already be ill, but it is possible (5% of the time) to start showing symptoms 9 or more days after exposure.

If you can get hold of a test though (especially one that samples the throat and not just the sinuses) it'd probably be worth doing it, in case of that 5%?

 

[story]

I think (and this may be a bit out of date but is likely not far out) it's 50% by 3 days and 95% by 8 days. So if you were going to get it from that exposure it's highly likely that you'd already be ill, but it is possible (5% of the time) to start showing symptoms 9 or more days after exposure.

If you can get hold of a test though (especially one that samples the throat and not just the sinuses) it'd probably be worth doing it, in case of that 5%?

I have some tests but I don't want to use them unnecessarily (because ££). I’ll definitely use one if I get sick. But they’re not relatively accurate.

I’m still feeling fine, with a slightly scratchy throat.

I’m meant to be seeing a vulnerable friend tomorrow. I’ll explain the situation to her and let her decide.

Also meant to be travelling to Brighton on Saturday for a 60th. Very keen to go, intending to buy train tickets in advance, can ill afford to lose money on cancelled tix.

Tricky...

 

[sparkybird]

I have some tests but I don't want to use them unnecessarily (because ££). I’ll definitely use one if I get sick. But they’re not relatively accurate.

I’m still feeling fine, with a slightly scratchy throat.

I’m meant to be seeing a vulnerable friend tomorrow. I’ll explain the situation to her and let her decide.

Also meant to be travelling to Brighton on Saturday for a 60th. Very keen to go, intending to buy train tickets in advance, can ill afford to lose money on cancelled tix.

Tricky...

It's possible to have COVID with few or even zero symptoms. If you have a test I would highly recommend doing it, it could save you the price of your train ticket and/or hopefully reassure your vulnerable friend.
I know the tests are not free anymore but they are still cheaper than many countries in the world.

 

[elbows]

In that situation I'd take a test but I'd wait till closer to the time where I was going to come into contact with others, in order to increase the chance of it managing to show up an infection.

I'd also look into whether the tests that say to do both throat and nose are actually any different to the ones which say to just do the nose, or whether it was only a case of the instructions having been changed at some point in time. If its just an instruction leaflet change then I'd do throat too.

 

[Riklet]

Box of 5 tests is 9 quid, making one less than £2. Even in these tough times that's surely affordable before going to meet someone vulnerable? Might be worth asking mates it not as someone will have a box of nhs ones left for sure. There's a few under my bathroom sink still I think but theyre the annoying older ones.

I have a sore throat and feel grotty but dont think its covid. Im going to do a test tomorrow before work.

 

[elbows]

Its especially tricky for people to guess accurately these days due to what the combination of vaccines and prior infections has done to some peoples symptoms, combined with the number of other viruses that are circulating at high levels at the moment. And traditional assumptions many made before the pandemic werent terribly safe either, eg assumptions about 'proper flu' vs 'man flu' were never reliable since flu symptoms also range all the way from none at all (plenty of flu is asymptomatic) to the really obvious sort of flu where you are bedridden for some time. And even in the pre-vaccine era there were asymptomatic covid cases.

 

[story]

Thanks all.

I do have some tests but I’ve got a kind of hoarder mentality going on about stuff. I will definitely use one sometime tomorrow because I have to do public-facing work on Thursday so need to let them know in advance if I’m not going in.

But in any case, can’t go to see vulnerable friend tomorrow because of the train strike (and she’s remembered that it’s her wedding anniversary…!)

Still feeling mostly okay. Sneezing more, throat a little sore.

I was more ill a couple of weeks before Christmas with something quite chesty. Tested negative for that., stayed in bed for three days.

 

[weepiper]

story if someone you were out with at Hogmanay has tested positive and you're getting symptoms then I would treat yourself as if you've got it with or without a positive test. Stay at home for a few days.

 

[story]

story if someone you were out with at Hogmanay has tested positive and you're getting symptoms then I would treat yourself as if you've got it with or without a positive test. Stay at home for a few days.

This is the correct answer



If I theoretically caught it on Saturday night, can I go out next Saturday? Does that allow for the five days thing the government are currently advising?