Does anyone test for Covid anymore?

Yes we buy them online. I go to many places where people are vulnerable and wouldn't want to cause illness, spoil people's holidays etc. My son is disabled and vulnerable, and can't take the vaccination so I am very concerned about spreading it.

Baggs

Nope. It is no longer required where I work even though it is an organisation caring for, among others, clinically vulnerable old people.

There have been zero problems. Nobody has been diagnosed with covid amongst our clients.

There were no problems "during" the pandemic either when we were testing like billyo.

I have heard that PCR tests are not very good anyway and often pick up other similar viruses. Sounds like a money-making doobry to me.

Apart from all the elderly in care homes who died and also the poor souls across the country who ended up on ventilators and usually died. No problems at all Baggs, no siree! Were you living under a rock in 2020/21?

NotSpaghetti

"Holds and glue"
Colds and 'flu!

Love it! 🤣

We've just got back from having our Covid jabs and was told that they'd been really busy this morning. I understand that the take up of the vaccine by eligible folk is way down this autumn though. We still test before seeing vulnerable family or we have symptoms.

No, not tested in years...

Of course we do. A simple wee test, easy to do, and then we don't have the guilt of passing a still evolving menace onto vulnerable people.

My cousin died yesterday from Covid. My age.

We tested during ' a heavy cold ' and tested positive ( our first time ) .
It was 10 days until a negative, and 3 weeks later still no energy and a persistent cough .

I had it recently and had to get new test kits as the ones I had were out of date. I tested positive but with incredibly faint lines which disappeared soon after. I wasn't very ill either - I only tested as I started feeling ill while my DD was visiting from abroad. She stayed away for a couple of days but then stayed with me. We then spent a weekend with DS and his family too. No-one else got ill so my viral load must have been very low. If I hadn't had plans to be with family I probably wouldn't have tested and I'm sure many people don't test any more. The fact that most of us are fully vaccinated means that we don't generlly get seriously ill with it now but we might put unvaccinated people at serious risk.

Oopsadaisy1

My cousin died yesterday from Covid. My age.

I'm really sorry to hear that. I can't believe that so many people seem to have become so complacent about it. I would definitely be testing if either myself or my husband had any symptoms.

I am a healthy, well was, 80 plus year old, never had covid, not had bad cold or flu since I was working fulltime, when I had cold or flue when working I stayed off work.
had all the jabs,, now after having the lastest jabs, I think I have it.. well ds is insisting I take a test,, I said I will stay away from people anyway.. it is awful.... I am really sorry for myself.. ie. not well at all. and I can`t get out, which is a necessary for me, I have to get out..

undines

Kary Mullis, who invented the PCR test stated definitely that it was not suitable to be used diagnostically, for illnesses. There is so much nonsense out there around the whole Covid thing. Anyone who is STILL having that experimental technology injected into their bodies...well, maybe it would be better to research a lot more deeply, outside the standard legacy media narrative. I would also ask, why all this panic and obsession about Covid? It might be Covid (whatever that is/was) or it might be flu, or a bad cold. If a person has an infection then it's only good manners to keep away from groups, and give others the choice about whether to come close and risk infection.

According to FactCheck there is no evidence that Kary Mullis said that.

"There is absolutely no evidence that the inventor of the PCR process said this. PCR is used for a number of scientific processes, and in general, it amplifies bits of genetic information so that they can be detected within samples. But PCR tests are specific to the DNA they are testing for, whether that’s of a person or a virus, so aren’t “designed” to pick up the genetic material of the person being tested."

My youngest tested as she and her OH were both unwell. They live W Yorkshire and both had covid. There was a family reunion that weekend so they couldn’t attend. Two older people with serious health issues so just as well but very disappointing,

The problem with testing is that the only way I can do so, is by going to the chemist's and buying a test, as I live alone.

Frankly, with a bad cold, whether Covid or not, I don't go anywhere, so I cannot test - and those tests are not particularly reliable and quite dear.

So, I prefer just to stay at home, until my colds clear up.

Thank you AreWeThereYet.
Whenever a new covid discussion appears is it always attracts the odd un evidenced unscientific rubbish post.

I had what I thought was a cold so I wore a mask when I went out. I had a horrendous sore throat and my dinner that evening didn't taste right followed by a cup of coffee that was 'wrong' I had slept through a good part of the day and had a raised temperature. It still didn't sink in. I was due to go to playgroup with my DIL and GCs so thought I ought to test as she said a high temp was unusual with a cold. It was positive. I couldn't believe it so tested again. I stayed at home and when I had to go out a few days later wore a mask. I think I caught it when on a bus or possibly when I was shopping and someone sneezed almost in my face. I wish people would be considerate. I managed to avoid it as was CEV so in a way I'm glad I caught as I know my immune system is ok although 4 weeks later I still feel tired and have the cough.

Dh tested today as he hasn’t been well. Negative.

Sorry to hear that Oopsadaisy1

Can't get out when you are feeling poorly? When you are well enough to go out and about, buy in a stash for future use.

Yes, I test if I feel unwell, my last test was negative but I am sure I had Covid, if it was then I have had it 3 times, but not too ill, just left feeling very tired. I test so that I can avoid spreading it, sadly not everyone does as you now have to pay for tests.

seadragon

I thought I had Hay Fever because of coughing and constant sneezing till neighbour said her DD was off school with Covid Both tested positive and we're more ill than 2 previous bouts and had brain fog and debility for a while after for the first time. Horrid! Think we had RSV - a kind of flu - so we both have had, not only RSV vax but also Shingles with Vivid back scheduled for December! We don't want to be that ill again....

Oh. I got my 2nd covid jag, the booster, April 2021. I got a very aggressive dose of shingles a few days later. On phoning surgery, the GP said they were seeing an upsurge in shingles following covid jags. After the first dose of shingles faded, well the shingles rash reduced but I still felt unwell, I got a 2nd dose of shingles within days. I've never quite recovered back to where I was health wise before the jag/shingles since. I am not a conspiracy theory person but I do think the covid booster caused me to be unwell. I actually "felt" the jag going into my arm in a way I hadn't ever felt from a jag before. Can't bring myself to get a covid booster and I do worry about people coming too close and coughing near me

Having the vax does not stop you from getting Covid, all it does is lessen the effect on you. So no matter how many are vaccinated it will still be about.

I've had all the jabs but still had Covid twice. I am very susceptible to coughs, colds, chest infections, have been all my life, so I try to keep away from people wih symptoms.
I still have some testing kits so when thought I had Covid a few weeks ago I did a test and stayed in until I tested negative again and was better. To me it does feel different than ordinary flu like symptoms.
So many people, family and friends are not testong anymore and they are the ones who pass it on without probably knowing.
Not much anyone can do though as we can't force anybody to test. I just hope my family and friends atay away from me if they feel bad.

Neither DH or I have had Covid - no idea why not. We have had all the jabs (latest ones on Wednesday) so now have sore arms but hopefully that is a small price to pay for protection (to some extent, I know). My cousin is still suffering from Long Term Covid that she got right at the beginning.

I'm a regular attender at our u3a so wouldn't EVER risk inflicting Covid on them - or indeed anyone, if I could help it. But this year has been my cancer-treatment year so I have had lots of strange symptoms so I just stayed at home till I felt better. I do have a few tests still in date in case I really feel it worth doing them.

We would still test if we had symptoms, and would not go out in public if the test was positive.

Realistically though, our attitude might be very different if we were younger and under pressure from an employer to carry on as normal, or had children in school who were bringing home some kind of virus every few days.