Corona virus testing

A family member was here yesterday and she got a call from school to pick her 12year old from school, he was coughing and wouldn’t be readmitted until he had a negative Covid test.
He really did just have a cold and hasn’t coughed once since she picked him up.

The first test she was offered, after many hours was 67 miles away, the next was nearer, Bradford.
She refreshed the page until she got him one 2 miles from home.

It was at noon today, there were ten bays to park in, only 2 being used, when she left only one car there.
What is going on.?

My daughter and grandson have just had covid. They were totally unable to get a test.

Was it diagnosed as COVID? GagaJo?
There is a cough going around and some who have it were tested negative for COVID.

I ask because thinking they had had it, if it was another virus, could give them a false sense of security.

I wish more antibody tests were available. The only ones that seem to be offered are private ones and fully booked up.

No. They tried to get a test but never did. Her friends family had it tho. Toddler caught it in the nursery. 3 houses on our street have had it.

My sister in law tested positive last week...few days later had a phone call from the council asking her to attend for another test...the original test apparently was from a faulty batch!!!!
The second test proved negative...unbelievable!!!
At our test centres it is d.i.y...you either drive in or walk in and are given a test kit....I've read that a lot of false negatives are showing up as some people aren't doing it right!

test results depend on the viral load picked up, the swab needs to go deep and be moved about. A medic friend said that if it doesn`t make you gag and make your eyes water then it hasn`t gone deep enough. Hence many negative tests.

I have 2 relatives with confirmed covid, living in the NW, far from me. It is vile, they are in day 8 and it is cyclical, better one day and much worse the next. Watch out for feeling better soon and then a downward spiral around days 7-14

Its a good idea to have a drawer with essentials to help cope with this, particularly if living on your own. Oersonally I have a thermometer, an oximeter, medications etc The 2 ill ones are using the oximeter often, they know the number at which to get urgent medical aid

My newly purchased Oximeter will not assist me at all. The highest reading I can ever get on it at any time on either hand is 91 - and that is rare, usually around 89. So I did tell GP and she called me in and got a reading on hers of 94, which she said is okay.

reading an oximeter needs the person to be still and warm, most have errors of +/- 2% and it is always good to know your own base levels of temperature and O2. Mine reads 97 which is a good level

Craftyone - taking it now - very warm, sunshine is streaming, sitting totally still, highest reading I get is 89. Even with a 2% error, either I should be worried, or perhaps the machine is wrong. Think I will return it.
At GP surgery her oximeter gave me 94 with which she was satisfied, although reading on threads here, should make me quite poorly. I am not.
Do wonder if we put too much emphasis on machines rather than how we actually feel. I do have thermometers, but rarely use them. I know if I have a fever - do not need a reading to tell me,.
We are now entering the season of colds and coughs, children will be getting these one after another - if each time people need to get a Covid test in order that those children and their families can continue with their lives, it really is going to be a very long and extremely difficult winter.

GagaJo

No. They tried to get a test but never did. Her friends family had it tho. Toddler caught it in the nursery. 3 houses on our street have had it.

It would be good to know for sure; I'd like to know myself.

However, it's not certain how long antibodies will last anyway.
I hope they both feel better now.

Franbern

Craftyone - taking it now - very warm, sunshine is streaming, sitting totally still, highest reading I get is 89. Even with a 2% error, either I should be worried, or perhaps the machine is wrong. Think I will return it.
At GP surgery her oximeter gave me 94 with which she was satisfied, although reading on threads here, should make me quite poorly. I am not.
Do wonder if we put too much emphasis on machines rather than how we actually feel. I do have thermometers, but rarely use them. I know if I have a fever - do not need a reading to tell me,.
We are now entering the season of colds and coughs, children will be getting these one after another - if each time people need to get a Covid test in order that those children and their families can continue with their lives, it really is going to be a very long and extremely difficult winter.

So what do you suggest? Isolating a toddler until all symptoms have gone?

craftyone

test results depend on the viral load picked up, the swab needs to go deep and be moved about. A medic friend said that if it doesn`t make you gag and make your eyes water then it hasn`t gone deep enough. Hence many negative tests.

I have 2 relatives with confirmed covid, living in the NW, far from me. It is vile, they are in day 8 and it is cyclical, better one day and much worse the next. Watch out for feeling better soon and then a downward spiral around days 7-14

Its a good idea to have a drawer with essentials to help cope with this, particularly if living on your own. Oersonally I have a thermometer, an oximeter, medications etc The 2 ill ones are using the oximeter often, they know the number at which to get urgent medical aid

People thought I was bonkers when I prepared my "if I'm ill supplies". I also have a hospital bag packed (like expectant mums have) and I've made sure that there are reliable people with keys to my house and my emergency phone numbers are up-to-date.

One of the reasons I'm so keen not to be infected (apart from obviously not wanting to be ill) is that I know from experience how difficult it is when you live on your own and don't have family or close friends nearby.

growstuff

Franbern

Craftyone - taking it now - very warm, sunshine is streaming, sitting totally still, highest reading I get is 89. Even with a 2% error, either I should be worried, or perhaps the machine is wrong. Think I will return it.
At GP surgery her oximeter gave me 94 with which she was satisfied, although reading on threads here, should make me quite poorly. I am not.
Do wonder if we put too much emphasis on machines rather than how we actually feel. I do have thermometers, but rarely use them. I know if I have a fever - do not need a reading to tell me,.
We are now entering the season of colds and coughs, children will be getting these one after another - if each time people need to get a Covid test in order that those children and their families can continue with their lives, it really is going to be a very long and extremely difficult winter.

So what do you suggest? Isolating a toddler until all symptoms have gone?

Of course not any more than we have always done when toddlers have their constant coughs, colds and sniffles. Those people who may be at serious danger should stay away from them, everybody else get on with normal lives.

Just fortunate that the daily death toll from Influenza does not usually (or now) get shown on BBC news every day, as then the whole country would be in total panic forever. And, before anyone jumps in to inform me that we have a vaccine against ;flu. Yes, I know, I get it each year and also know its not very good efficiacy.

I'm wondering if there is much point in getting tested. It seems to involve a lot of unnecessary travel and effort when feeling unwell.

My grandson had a cold and the school insisted he was tested before returning. That involved hours on the phone (trying to get through) a long car journey and a few days wait for the result.

What difference did it make to him? He could return to school after 9 days rather than 14 - that's all. Of course, had he tested positive, the whole year group would have to isolate, but meanwhile, the infection would have time to spread anyway.

Franbern I posted the death rates for flu a few days ago. I can't be bothered to search for it again, but it's lower than Covid-19 and doesn't leave people with debilitating after effects. I o wish people would stop spreading misinformation.

"do"

Hetty58

I'm wondering if there is much point in getting tested. It seems to involve a lot of unnecessary travel and effort when feeling unwell.

My grandson had a cold and the school insisted he was tested before returning. That involved hours on the phone (trying to get through) a long car journey and a few days wait for the result.

What difference did it make to him? He could return to school after 9 days rather than 14 - that's all. Of course, had he tested positive, the whole year group would have to isolate, but meanwhile, the infection would have time to spread anyway.

Exactly! That's why we need a testing system which is fit for purpose.

If he had been infected, the whole group could have been told to self-isolate and potentially stopped the spread to other year groups and the families of those pupils.

The symptoms for children are different.

The top five symptoms in school aged children who test positive for COVID are; fatigue (55%) headache (53%), fever (49%), sore throat (38%) and loss of appetite (35%).

This was different compared to the App’s data on adults; fatigue (87%), headache (72%), loss of smell (60%), persistent cough (54%) and sore throat (49%).

In addition to this, research from the app has also found that one in six (15%) children who test positive for COVID also present with an unusual skin rash.

covid.joinzoe.com/post/back-to-school

NOTE Most children do not have a persistent cough or loss of smell, which makes it more difficult to differentiate between a cold and Covid-19.

From NHS website

Symptoms of coronavirus in children

a high temperature
a new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot, for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours
a loss or change to sense of smell or taste – this means they cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal

That seems to be rather different from your stats growstuff

Headache seems to be one of the main symptoms in adults, too. That must surely cause a problem in that when people get a headache they take painkillers that will lower the temperature of the body. But the body fight infection by raising it’s temperature.

My grandson had a sudden onset of runny nose, coughing and sneezing at school, after lunch. He was 'treated like I had the Plague' - upsetting for a teenager!

Furret

From NHS website

Symptoms of coronavirus in children

a high temperature
a new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot, for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours
a loss or change to sense of smell or taste – this means they cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal

That seems to be rather different from your stats growstuff

Another study has claimed that the symptoms might not be the same on children.

www.independent.co.uk/news/health/coronavirus-symptoms-children-stomach-upset-vomiting-diarrhoea-a9706231.html

The findings from the Belfast research are consistent with the findings from King's College:

“Half of the children with Covid-19 reported no symptoms, and gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms (such as diarrhoea and vomiting) were also more common than cough or changes in the children’s sense of smell or taste, which may have implications for the testing criteria used for children."

www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/health/covid-19-more-likely-give-18843786

It's a bit worrying that half of the children with antibodies had been asymptomatic, although they are just as capable as adults of transmitting infection.

Pretty sure my daughter and 2 year old grandson had it about 10 days ago. No test available at any point, despite THREE people trying to get one booked for almost 5 days, more or less continuously.

Interestingly, daughter who was very ill (I was poised, ready to fly home in case she went into hospital) has recovered well, no lasting symptoms. Grandson, who was less ill (and was VERY hard for daughter to cope with while really ill) has had ongoing symptoms and still has ill/down days almost 2 weeks on.

I keep asking about Covid toes, but so far, his feet/extremities are OK.

Are tests more available in the UK now?