New covid symptoms

[Trackman]

I was tested positive about a month ago, just a fever and continuous cough otherwise I wouldn't have bothered ordering a kit.
I'm Ok now, but still had 'Covid legs' for about week later. Thank god it wasn't a long term 'long' covid thing.

 

[D6130]

I've just tested positive this morning. I had a really burning throat and tongue last night, with a cold fever, a runny nose and intermittent dry cough. Feeling somewhat better this morning, but didn't sleep much last night....so very tired. That's this weekend's trip to Eastbourne for the CAMRA annual conference cancelled.

 

[greyman42]

While the list of Symptoms has expanded, your are only advised to stay at home if you have a high temperature, or feel really bad:

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/symptoms/main-symptoms/

Just a continuous cough or change of taste and you can mostly carry on as normal. So the symptoms have expanded, but the recommendation to isolate has been reduced.

As long as you feel well enough, just ignore the recommendations and get on with life.

 

[island]

Even if that was true, surely it would only appeal to those workers who are able to live on statutory sick pay,
which doesn't go far these days, especially with the recent rise in utility bills?


Or am I missing something??




MARK

Quite a number of jobs have paid sick days.

 

[Enthusiast]

Living with COVID isn't burying your head in the sand pretending the illness no longer exists like some members of this forum sound like they want to do. It is about understanding the impacts the illness will have on people (right now, and going forward in time) and mitigating against them if necessary (e.g. annual vaccinations for the more vulnerable like we do with flu etc). Part of that has to be knowing the symptoms surely?

The symptoms that have now been added to "possible Covid" diagnoses are identical to diseases which are not discreetly diagnosed (colds, 'flu etc.). If somebody has a sore throat, runny nose, aches & pains etc. he might have a cold, he might have 'flu or he might have Covid. If he becomes so ill that he needs medical treatment then a test is obviously desirable so as to decide on what form that treatment should take. Other than that, why should we need to know which individual respiratory disease a patient might have? All that adding further possible symptoms to the list has done is to encourage people to "think the worst" when they become ill. Prior to Covid nobody dreamed of taking tests to determine precisely what disease they had when they developed cold-like symptoms. With general testing a very welcome thing of the past, why should we now worry about the symptoms that individual common respiratory illnesses might present?

 

[Freightmaster]

Quite a number of jobs have paid sick days.

Fair enough, but surely people who are happy to break the law by "skiving" from their jobs
while perfectly healthy would do so on a regular basis anyway, irrespective of Covid guidelines?




MARK

 

[Ted633]

Fair enough, but surely people who are happy to break the law by "skiving" from their jobs
while perfectly healthy would do so on a regular basis anyway, irrespective of Covid guidelines?




MARK

They do, but the excuse of feeling a bit rough/a cold is nowhere near as good as "I've tested positive for COVID".

When the government requirement to self isolate was in force at my place of work, being sick with COVID didn't count towards your sick record. Amazing how many people 'caught' COVID in the final couple of weeks of the self isolation requirement.

 

[greyman42]

Fair enough, but surely people who are happy to break the law by "skiving" from their jobs
while perfectly healthy would do so on a regular basis anyway, irrespective of Covid guidelines?




MARK

It is hardly seen as breaking the law.

They do, but the excuse of feeling a bit rough/a cold is nowhere near as good as "I've tested positive for COVID".

When the government requirement to self isolate was in force at my place of work, being sick with COVID didn't count towards your sick record. Amazing how many people 'caught' COVID in the final couple of weeks of the self isolation requirement.

Exactly. As i said, a skivers charter.

 

[Freightmaster]

They do, but the excuse of feeling a bit rough/a cold is nowhere near as good as "I've tested positive for COVID".

When the government requirement to self isolate was in force at my place of work, being sick with COVID didn't count towards your sick record. Amazing how many people 'caught' COVID in the final couple of weeks of the self isolation requirement.

Exactly. As i said, a skivers charter.

But as per the two bits of Ted's post that I have highlighted, that nonsense is all in the past now, so workshy staff no longer
have carte blanche to just say "I'm not coming in to work this week cos I've got Covid, innit" and get away with it...




MARK

 

[Ted633]

But as per the two bits of Ted's post that I have highlighted, that nonsense is all in the past now, so workshy staff no longer
have carte blanche to just say "I'm not coming in to work this week cos I've got Covid, innit" and get away with it...




MARK

Unfortunately, they can. They just can't do it too regularly. As an example, in my company if you have 2 periods of sickness in 3 months, you go onto a 'stage', and if you are sick more regularly you go up the stages (I think to 4), and you can then be sacked. Therefore, you can have Covid every 3 months and not get any bother, especially as no manager is going to force you to come in, because its Covid. These people would of gone 'sick' every 3 months anyway, but its a much more convenient excuse which no one of authority will question.

For info, sick pay in my company, you still get all your basic pay, just no shift pay.

 

[nw1]

Unfortunately, they can. They just can't do it too regularly. As an example, in my company if you have 2 periods of sickness in 3 months, you go onto a 'stage', and if you are sick more regularly you go up the stages (I think to 4), and you can then be sacked.

A general point (unrelated to Covid): it seems extraordinarily unfair to 'punish' people for being ill twice in three months. What if for example you get flu in early November, and then the norovirus in late January? Very realistic thing to happen. I know in some winters (last one was 17/18, I think) I have had two viral illnesses in three months which have been bad enough to warrant time off work. Such rules are actually the opposite extreme of excessive cautiousness, as they encourage people to come into work and spread let's say flu or norovirus around because they're worried about being put on some sort of caution for being ill - as if they've committed a minor criminal offence.

If the law permits this (which it evidently does) it needs to change. Companies should only apply disciplinary measures if people are telling blatant lies about being ill when they're not, or they're exaggerating a very minor cold into something more serious.

 

[Ted633]

A general point (unrelated to Covid): it seems extraordinarily unfair to 'punish' people for being ill twice in three months. What if for example you get flu in early November, and then the norovirus in late January? Very realistic thing to happen. I know in some winters (last one was 17/18, I think) I have had two viral illnesses in three months which have been bad enough to warrant time off work. Such rules are actually the opposite extreme of excessive cautiousness, as they encourage people to come into work and spread let's say flu or norovirus around because they're worried about being put on some sort of caution for being ill - as if they've committed a minor criminal offence.

If the law permits this (which it evidently does) it needs to change. Companies should only apply disciplinary measures if people are telling blatant lies about being ill when they're not, or they're exaggerating a very minor cold into something more serious.

Off topic, but I'll explain a bit further. The first stage (ie 2 sickness in 3 months) is quite literally just a very quick, informal meeting with your manager to tell you you've gone onto a stage. There is no punishment, no formal meeting and it's nothing unusual. If there is genuine evidence for being ill (hospital admission, doctors note etc), these sicknesses will not count towards your sick record. Its only when you go very regularly with out evidence (ie, ring up 'I've got Covid', 'I've got a cold' etc) that it can become an issue.
Hope that makes some sort of sense!

 

[nw1]

Off topic, but I'll explain a bit further. The first stage (ie 2 sickness in 3 months) is quite literally just a very quick, informal meeting with your manager to tell you you've gone onto a stage. There is no punishment, no formal meeting and it's nothing unusual. If there is genuine evidence for being ill (hospital admission, doctors note etc), these sicknesses will not count towards your sick record. Its only when you go very regularly with out evidence (ie, ring up 'I've got Covid', 'I've got a cold' etc) that it can become an issue.
Hope that makes some sort of sense!

OK, that's good to know - thanks. Sounds more reasonable.

 

[greyman42]

If the law permits this (which it evidently does) it needs to change. Companies should only apply disciplinary measures if people are telling blatant lies about being ill when they're not, or they're exaggerating a very minor cold into something more serious.

And how are companies meant to prove that employees are telling blatant lies?

 

[nw1]

And how are companies meant to prove that employees are telling blatant lies?

Doctor's letter?

 

[greyman42]

Doctor's letter?

Doctors don't do letters for less than a week.

 

[Cloud Strife]

but the problem is that, particularly with Omicron, there is little to enable you to distinguish Covid symptoms from flu or cold symptoms. So it is not a particularly useful list.

The age-old rule of thumb of 'stay at home if you don't feel well enough to go out' seems perfectly adequate to me.

I've caught Covid, and despite being fully vaccinated, it's an absolute nightmare. I've got constant migraines, I'm sleeping most of the time, and even kicking a ball from one side of the garden to another leaves me tired. It's even a struggle to walk up stairs without feeling tired.

Fortunately, at least in PL, we have sane sick leave policies. The boss simply wrote and said "take as much time as you need". I'm off work until the end of next week, but it is absolutely normal to take as much time as you need to get back to full health. If I'm not better by next Friday, I'll go back to the doctor and get another week off. No big deal.

In terms of "trying to live with the virus" - surely part of that is understanding the various symptoms people get?
As for colds and flus - we understand and document the symptoms colds and flus give. We don't "hide away" some symptoms from official resources like you seem to want to do for COVID.
Living with COVID isn't burying your head in the sand pretending the illness no longer exists like some members of this forum sound like they want to do. It is about understanding the impacts the illness will have on people (right now, and going forward in time) and mitigating against them if necessary (e.g. annual vaccinations for the more vulnerable like we do with flu etc). Part of that has to be knowing the symptoms surely?

Couldn't agree more with this. There is a very clear agenda on the part of some individuals to downplay and ignore Covid as much as possible, and it is quite surreal to read. I don't have flu or cold symptoms, I have something different, and it's driving me nuts. I know how to deal with colds, I know how to deal with the flu, but I've never been in a situation where my ultra-strong medicine is failing to shift a migraine.

 

[Watershed]

I've caught Covid, and despite being fully vaccinated, it's an absolute nightmare. I've got constant migraines, I'm sleeping most of the time, and even kicking a ball from one side of the garden to another leaves me tired. It's even a struggle to walk up stairs without feeling tired.

Fortunately, at least in PL, we have sane sick leave policies. The boss simply wrote and said "take as much time as you need". I'm off work until the end of next week, but it is absolutely normal to take as much time as you need to get back to full health. If I'm not better by next Friday, I'll go back to the doctor and get another week off. No big deal.

I'm sorry to hear that. Unfortunately a small percentage of people do have more significant symptoms when they have Covid. And it's quite right that you take time off to recover from this, as you would do with any illness.

I think the point is that Covid should no longer be treated differently to other illnesses. People's actions should purely be based on how they feel, not whether it's Covid, the flu, or something else.

 

[Cloud Strife]

I'm sorry to hear that. Unfortunately a small percentage of people do have more significant symptoms when they have Covid. And it's quite right that you take time off to recover from this, as you would do with any illness.

I think the point is that Covid should no longer be treated differently to other illnesses. People's actions should purely be based on how they feel, not whether it's Covid, the flu, or something else.

Yes, and I can agree with that. Covid is a strange beast, and I'm quite bewildered by the fact that I haven't been able to shake it off easily. If you listen to some of the propaganda, it's "just a sniffle, get on with your life": but that's not how I feel! I don't even feel capable of driving a car right now, so it's definitely more than just a sniffle.

But I do agree that it shouldn't be treated differently. It is strange to read about how Covid is treated differently to other diseases that are just as severe - why would we treat flu differently, for instance? At least so far, this infection is nothing compared to a rotten case of the flu I had about 10 years ago.

 

[yorkie]

The majority of Sars-CoV-2 infections are mild or asymptomatic.

Of course a small proportion of infections in vaccinated individuals will be as unpleasant as yours, but that is very much a small minority.

I know absolutely loads of people who had it very mildly but very few who have said similar to what you said; I think you need to accept you are in a minority.

A minority of influenza infections are also as severe as your symptoms.

Over time the proportion of infections that are as unpleasant as you are experiencing will continue to reduce as we build more population immunity and the long term expectation is that Sars-CoV-2 will affect us more like similar viruses such as OC43 and influenza will once again become the bigger threat.

As for your experience of Sars-CoV-2 not being as bad as the 'flu you had 10 years ago, that wouldn't have been your first exposure to 'flu and this is just one experience of one individual. For most people infections are very mild or asymptomatic, whether you accept that or not.

 

[Jimini]

I've had it twice. Not a single symptom either time. Only reason I knew I had it was because of testing policies at work.

That said, I get that it affects people in different ways. Feel better soon, @Cloud Strife

 

[Eyersey468]

So basically at one time or another, covid has exhibited pretty much every symptom is possible to have (except possibly turning your water purple).

It wouldn't surprise me if they added that symptom to the list to be honest. They seem to keep moving the goalposts with it

 

[Cloud Strife]

I've had it twice. Not a single symptom either time. Only reason I knew I had it was because of testing policies at work.

That said, I get that it affects people in different ways. Feel better soon, @Cloud Strife

Thanks! It's incredibly frustrating, because I don't have a fever or anything that outwardly says "sickness".

I've been looking up scientific literature on the topic, and there's a suggestion that people who normally suffer from migraines are experiencing more intense migraines as a result of infection. I'm hesitant to jump onto that explanation, though I suppose we'll see in a couple of weeks as to whether there's been any significant change.

It is very fascinating how it affects people differently, though.

 

[Pacerfan142]

The 'new symptoms' have always existed, this is just the government fearmongering people.