Coincidence or....?

I am convinced it was around far earlier than we were led to believe, I was really poorly over Christmas and New Year, then I developed a hacking cough which lasted for weeks, and left me totally exhausted. I was given antibiotics but the dr told me it was unusual but that he had had several patients with the same symptoms but they didn't know what it was and really couldn’t afford to do any investigations.

My DD & GD were both very ill end of last year and had weeks off school and work. It took many more weeks before they fully recovered. I had a short burst of the same thing early this year.

My daughter, myself and three grandchildren were all ill in November 2019. I spent two days mostly in bed as I felt so ill (most unusual for me) We had headaches, aching joints, sore throats, runny noses and coughs but put it down to the Winter flu bug. I think we have had a version of the C-19 virus and that it was here long before the official date.

I have had the theory that Covid has been around in the UK for longer than officially stated, or at least a variance of it at least.
I also think that there are people that, without realising it are carriers of the virus or have had a very mild version and not realised.
What about all those groups of teenagers wandering the streets in groups that many communities have been complaining about ? I really can't believe that they are totally immune or is it a case of some of the immunisations that they have had have in some way been providing a protection?
Will we ever know?

I had the worst sore throat for about 3 weeks in March and weird rashes and weepy red eyes and now wonder if I had it. I know quite a few people who have had antibody tests - both private (and expensive) and NHS ones who almost certainly had the virus (including 2 doctors) and they have all had negative antibody tests. Either the tests are very unreliable or the antibodies last for a very short time.

No coincidence... why do you think it’s called Covid-19..... they’ve known about this longer than you might think!

I'm pretty certain I had it mid January as had a pesistant cough, was very hot, couldn't breathe very well and had "pink eye" which is also a symptom but as I cant get a anti-body test I wont know

It does make you wonder. I became ill on New Years Eve with a dreadful cough which continued for weeks. Doctor said I had a virus and I could hardly get out of bed for weeks and I do wonder if perhaps that I had the virus as we were abroad at the time.

I had ‘flu’ when I was away in Gran Canaria with my friend in January. I remember waking up on the morning of January 21st (2 days before Wuhan went into lockdown!) with the most awful painful cough, shivering, temperature and basically feeling horribly poorly. This lasted for 4 days which ruined my holiday. I put it down to a rogue flu virus because I’d had the seasonal flu vaccine September before ?‍♀️ Strangely my friend didn’t catch. Looking back I’m now wondering if it was Covid! I probably infected half of GC and most of the passengers on the plane going home!! Oops! I work for the NHS in the community so I’m hoping at some stage I’ll be able to get an antibody test. I’m curious to see if it was perhaps Covid19 ?

The symptoms your family had do sound like those now acknowledged as being linked to this virus. There is now also scientific evidence showing that various rashes are seen in some people with Covid 19. I think the research is showing it’s an immune system response, often in those that don’t end up needing hospital admission for breathing difficulties. Here is a link to the recent information.

covid.joinzoe.com/post/covid-skinrash

You can take the antibody test, just google it, but you have to pay for it. Daughter took it, she came back from Geneva airport with the super spreader end of January, and was ill for weeks afterwards, still has no sense of taste or smell. Her husband then became ill. They sent off for the tests, paying £99 each. His came back positive, hers negative. Apparently can give false negatives.

Interesting article in the Telegraph on Sunday, if you had been exposed to SARS your T cells from that would attack CV-19 and get rid of it before you had a chance to make antibodies.

My son is an Intensive Care consultant in London - he took the antibody test last week and it came back negative, as it did for many of his co-workers who had definitely had the virus. Friends of mine who were convinced they caught the virus in late December/early January were also tested: the husband’s result was positive; the wife’s negative even though she had been more ill than him. It’s not a reliable test - and according to my son, just because you don’t appear to have antibodies does not mean you are not immune.

I’ve read that scientists believe it’s been in the Uk since late December early January, it just wasn’t detected at that time but it was slowly spreading by then. My DD is same she was poorly in January with temperate cough and lethargic for a week, she wants a test but a lot of fake anti body tests around so it’s hard to know where to get legit one from.

The NHS and Imperial College London are doing random antibody tests via NHS patient lists in England. I received a letter this week. I have to wait a few weeks to see if I will be included. All a bit random plus they make a point of it not being 100% accurate. I feel fit and well so would be surprised if I have been infected but you never know. All a bit iffy really. I was picked at random after registering I may or may not be included and if I am I might have a false reading.

Petalpop how did you register?

At the time of the New Year I went down with a nasty cold and cough and breathlessness. I was also very hoarse. I had recently met a friend for lunch who had a hacking cough. At that time nobody in this country knew about Coronavirus. I am still wondering if I had it. My husband is currently at the hospital having tests for a 'post Covid clot' as he has had a cough for ages. I am wondering if we both had the virus. We are both in our seventies.

I work with children and at the end of November I came down with what I thought was flu...I was ill in bed ...very high temperature and a terrible headache that lasted about a week and a dry cough. I took paracetamol regularly.I didn’t get better after a few days so I went to the GP who said my chest was so bad I needed steroids ( never had them in my life before) and antibiotics. After a week I returned to the surgery and I was given another course of antibiotics as my chest was still noisy...after yet another week I had my third course of antibiotics....I’ve never been so ill in my life. I had a flu jab before all of this...I know it’s way earlier than is being reported but I do wonder what I had?

My DD works in the Chinese faculty of a university, and is convinced that she had Covid 19 in January. She had a cough, sore throat and tightness in her chest, and felt generally unwellShe called both her GP and 111, but was told that it was highly unlikely. End of story. She told them that two of the Chinese staff members had just come back from China and been at work before discovering that they should be in quarantine but they still weren't interested. She too would like to have an antibody test.

This is fascinating! We should all report back on here if/when we get tested. See how many thought they’d had it vs how many actually test positive. My colleague at work recently had symptoms so had the antigen test and hers came back negative. She was so ill with classic symptoms that she’s convinced that was a false negative.

My little grandson was in hospital with viral pneumonia at end November. Everyone in family had coughs around same time, 2 of the men had coughs that lingered for several months, for rest of us it varied between 1-4 wks. We have photos of an 18 month old gripping onto an oxygen mask for dear life before he was put into an oxygen tent. We all think he had Covid, at time the Drs couldn't work out what was going on, they said was viral pneumonia but atypical. We're lucky my DD reacted so quickly in taking him to out of hours Dr, located within our hospital, and that he was transferred to children's ward immediately. I believe it's been around since about October as that's when our coughs all seemed to start building up.

Fevertree. No a letter just turned up. I would be interested to know the result so I hope they do send me the test kit but they say not 100% accurate so does that make it 99% or 50%.

I arrived back from Australia on 2nd February, and there were lots of people on the planes wearing masks. I think I am probably very lucky not to have caught it while travelling.

My sister was very unwell following a trip to Portugal in October, and a friend was eventually diagnosed with pneumonia after having severe flu-like symptoms, a dreadful cough, loss of smell and taste, just before Christmas. Both are now convinced they had the virus. Neither want to waste NHS money now being tested because they are now OK.
It seems it’s been about far longer than the Chinese have admitted.

The first UK nationals were evacuated from Wuhan on the 31st of January 2020, to a hospital on the Wirral. The virus was known about in China well before they admitted it.
However, we would have seen the rapid spread of cases if it was the same strain.
The NHS staff in the hospitals are not looking forward to the Winter, with C-19 plus the usual I’ll people it’s going to be mayhem and people will die unnecessarily.
The government needs to try harder. Cummins need to stop giving Boris advice as it hasn’t been too good, so far. Eh

I went back over my WhatsApp messages from my son in February because he was taken very ill at the start of that month. Sure enough, he talks about the symptoms and how he can't move because he feels so breathless. He had Asthma as a child (last bout aged 4 and he's coming up for 30) so he was given mega doses of steroids and antibiotics which helped but it took ages for him to bounce back. Meanwhile his 4 year old son had milder symptoms but a peculiar rash...they put it down to hand, foot and mouth too.