Testing is available in several different locations in a 3 mile radius from me (NYC burbs 20 miles from Manhattan) including a drive-through CVS less than a mile away.
The CVS website says “See if you qualify for coronavirus (COVID-19) testing. Test supplies are extremely limited. Help those who need testing the most by answering truthfully.”
When I answer truthfully it tells me that I qualify for testing. I have a cough, sore throat, runny nose, fatigue, headache, shortness of breath, but It feels like several other upper respiratory infections I’ve had over the years. I don’t have any underlying health conditions.
AFAIK I haven’t been exposed to anyone, except maybe at Costco or Trader Joe’s where I was masked but saw people with masks not covering their noses. I’ve been working from home. Maybe my husband or daughter brought it home from work but they’ve been masked there too.
On the other hand I want to be cautious considering that I’m 60. A 62 year old friend who lived 4 miles away had it last April and died; 2 of my son’s friends who live a mile away had it mildly in May.
Would you test or not? Is it worth calling my doctor or the Nurse hotline from my insurance provider?
By following the guidance you can get tested, so I think it is reasonable and prudent to do so. You can call your doctor, but from what you said, it’s not necessary.
I think the key is, would you do anything differently based on the results of the test? Either way, with those symptoms, you should probably be isolating yourself right now. Suppose it isn’t corona; suppose it’s actually the flu or something: You don’t want to be spreading that around, either.
Seems like a good idea to me. Most upper respiratory infections are also viruses- how would you got one of those, if not through the same mechanisms as COVID-19?
Masks aren’t a panacea vs. COVID; they just reduce the transmissibility. So you could have got it at the grocery store or from your family even though you/them were wearing masks.
I’d get tested if only for peace of mind and the knowledge that you probably SHOULD go to the hospital if you start feeling particularly bad, vs. toughing it out if you know it’s just a cold.
Update: Yesterday I did a video visit with my doctor, who recommended a test, which I did at CVS drive-through (their website says 2 to 5 days for results) The doctor said that while it sounds like a head cold to him, why not rule it out. He prescribed a nasal spray for the congestion, an inhaler in case the shortness of breath gets worse, and said to call him if I test positive or feel worse.
He doesn’t think it’s flu since I had a flu shot, don’t have a fever and he hasn’t heard of any local cases.
As to what I’d do differently with positive test results? Really isolate very seriously, send my husband to get tested (he has a cough and cold too), take off several days from work to rest rather than trying to keep up and power through.
If I had a sore throat and a runny nose, which I have had recently, and it BEGAN with a sore throat, I would- and did write it off as a cold. Sore throat was about 3 days, diminishing in severity each day. A week later, nose dried back up to usual.
If I had fatigue, and especially any breathing issue, I’d consider being tested.
This was me last week. Just like a standard cold, no loss of taste or smell, some slight sweatiness and fatigue. I haven’t isolated and didn’t go for a test after running through the relevant self-assessment questions. In any case my current WFH status means that I don’t come into contact with anyone other than my family and they aren’t mixing with others either.
There is certainly a risk in not getting a test but by the same token it’d be a problem for me to clog up the testing system when the guidance says I don’t need to. Sure enough I’m right as rain again and the family seem fine as well.
It is a problem that Covid seems to be so wide-ranging in symptoms and severity but what can you do? It seems like the biggest red flag for testing is the loss of smell or taste. Were that to happen I’d be straight down the testing centre.
I think you did the right thing to get tested. If you are positive (I hope you’ve received your results and you’re not), your daughter and husband would have been exposed and are working outside the home, so they’ll know to isolate (and possibly get tested as well).
Thanks all, my test results came in 5 days after the test and they’re negative.
I felt better the last couple of days, did laundry yesterday, but crashed again last night, woke up in the middle of the night coughing and wheezing, took meds and slept til noon today. Whatever this upper respiratory bug may be, it’s tenacious.