Is it a cough or Covid?

[FigmentSpark]

DS woke up this morning with cold-like symptoms... uncomfortable cough (not chesty, just airy throat clearing) and a bit of a stuffy nose. No fever or exhaustion or breathing problems. Is it Covid? Is it a cold? Well, we now have to be safe. He's quarantined and I had to cancel my hair appt. (yeah, I know, not the end of the world, but inconvenient) I got him a test for tomorrow, but they say it'll be 72 hours before they have answers. Luckily my other DS is on the cohort B and not scheduled to be in class until Wed.

So how do we know? Are we to stop everything because it might be Covid, but could also be a cold? I lean to better to be safe, but it also feels a little over the top for a cough.

What are other people doing?

Also, since the rest of us have no cough or fever, we can't get tested, even at a pharmacy, since you have to be recommended to get a pharmacy test. I guess we wait for his results and then we might be able to be tested?

 

[Disney Addicted]

Honestly, I don't even know anymore what the rules are. They have changed so many times. I wonder the same thing though. My Dad came down with a cold two or three days ago. He's been treating it with cold medicine, liquids and sleep. Today I discovered that yesterday he felt so much better he decided he was not sick anymore and went out to a club! I couldn't believe it. I reminded him that the meds relieve the cold symptions but he is still sick and contagious! Ugh...

Ohh, he got the extra strength flue shot less than a week. I thought it ironic he caught a cold so soon after when he hardly ever gets a cold.

 

[DLgal]

It's probably not Covid. I wouldn't have rushed out to get him tested, though I understand why you did.

My kids have had colds twice since March. My youngest had a day worth of a sore throat plus ear pain a week ago. In all instances, I called their pediatrician to ask what to do. Only with the sore throat and ear pain did they recommend he come into the office to be seen, and only because they wanted to rule out strep or an ear infection, which they did.

I asked about testing in all instances and was told they wouldn't recommend it without 2 of the 3 "primary covid" symptoms, those being: fever, cough, shortness of breath, vomiting, diarrhea.

Since my kids never developed more than one symptom and were only mildly symptomatic, they were cleared to return to school after a 3 day observation (during which if they had developed any new symptoms, they would have been referred for testing.).

During one case, one son began showing symptoms a week after I had been experiencing some sinus related symptoms, so I felt like I should be tested. My doctor wouldn't order one, so I found a private testing facility and paid $165 for a rapid test, just for peace of mind. It was negative, but it made me feel more certain that my son had just caught my cold.

 

[FigmentSpark]

I didn't know about the "more than one symptom" thing. I hope that he's only got a cold, but right now, we've quarantined him to his room, although, I've been in there a few times to get his laundry or bring him food/drinks. He will probably be okay, 17 and healthy (sporty), but DH and I are, of course, older, not to mention that if it is Covid, we don't want to be the ones spreading it.

 

[mjhtvchick]

Does your province have an online self-assessment tool or "811" line with a nurse to speak with? If so, you may want to check those out...they are very useful in differentiating symptoms and determining whether or not a test is necessary. The phone line could also answer your questions about the rest of your family.

My 15-year-old had a cold last week - to be safe, I kept her home from school for Mon-Wed and I worked from home as much as I could.

 

[DLgal]

I didn't know about the "more than one symptom" thing. I hope that he's only got a cold, but right now, we've quarantined him to his room, although, I've been in there a few times to get his laundry or bring him food/drinks. He will probably be okay, 17 and healthy (sporty), but DH and I are, of course, older, not to mention that if it is Covid, we don't want to be the ones spreading it.

Yeah, my boys are 14 and 16 and in all instances, they were feeling better the next day.

I did exactly as you did, though. They got moved to the guest room and quarantined until we knew they were okay or I had spoken to the doctor.

The more than one symptom, for us, is that is what our insurance requires to cover testing for Covid unless you have had direct exposure to someone who tested positive. Our free testing locations are few and far between and still require you to submit insurance if you have it, which they then bill, so free testing isn't really an option for us unless it is doctor ordered.

FWIW: I'm not Canadian.

 

[TammyLynn33]

I think it would depend on where I lived and what community spread infection rates looked like. Here we have 5 or 6 active cases. Now if I lived in Peel or somewhere with lots of cases I might feel more anxious .
Daughter 14 got a sore throat a month ago and I booked an appt and tested her immediately because I have other kids and I also work with vulnerable people. Also because no one would give her abxs for strep without ruling out covid first and I didn’t want her to suffer any longer . They actually swabbed her at the assessment Center which was a nice surprise . One stop shopping .
I took it as a dry practice run. I isolated her from the rest of the kiddos immediately she actually ate thanksgiving dinner in her room . Which made me horribly sad . We got negative results a little over 24 hours as I think they are being super cautious with students and pushing their results quickly.
Good luck. I pray he’s fine

 

[mshanson3121]

DS woke up this morning with cold-like symptoms... uncomfortable cough (not chesty, just airy throat clearing) and a bit of a stuffy nose. No fever or exhaustion or breathing problems. Is it Covid? Is it a cold? Well, we now have to be safe. He's quarantined and I had to cancel my hair appt. (yeah, I know, not the end of the world, but inconvenient) I got him a test for tomorrow, but they say it'll be 72 hours before they have answers. Luckily my other DS is on the cohort B and not scheduled to be in class until Wed.

So how do we know? Are we to stop everything because it might be Covid, but could also be a cold? I lean to better to be safe, but it also feels a little over the top for a cough.

What are other people doing?

Also, since the rest of us have no cough or fever, we can't get tested, even at a pharmacy, since you have to be recommended to get a pharmacy test. I guess we wait for his results and then we might be able to be tested?

Could it be Covid? Definitely. In a recent outbreak in our province several of the cases their only symptom was a runny nose.

Here, they are recommending that if you have symptoms you immediately self-isolate and be tested. I know at my husband's work, if you have ANY symptoms, you are not allowed to come to work until you have a negative Covid test.

 

[FigmentSpark]

I've got the testing appointment for tomorrow, but I've also got a call in to Telehealth (3 hour wait) to see what they say.

 

[SaraMc]

I had cold symptoms a few weeks ago, and a terrible sore throat. I quarantined and got the test. Took about 48 hours to get the results ( negative )

 

[Frozen2014]

Hope it's just a cold, but can totally understand your panic. At my kid's school, any sniffly nose or anything unwell, and they have to stay home. It's such a pain as before, you'd treat it like a cold. Now, it's a whole different ballpark. Hope he's ok, and all of you as well.

 

[pigletto]

What province are you in? This is a link to the school and daycare screening guidelines for Ontario. This is what we have used . We are just coming off our second round of isolation, testing, and waiting. It’s going to be a long winter at this rate.

https://covid-19.ontario.ca/covid19...ble school and child care screening_v3_en.pdf

 

[Aladora]

DS woke up this morning with cold-like symptoms... uncomfortable cough (not chesty, just airy throat clearing) and a bit of a stuffy nose. No fever or exhaustion or breathing problems. Is it Covid? Is it a cold? Well, we now have to be safe. He's quarantined and I had to cancel my hair appt. (yeah, I know, not the end of the world, but inconvenient) I got him a test for tomorrow, but they say it'll be 72 hours before they have answers. Luckily my other DS is on the cohort B and not scheduled to be in class until Wed.

So how do we know? Are we to stop everything because it might be Covid, but could also be a cold? I lean to better to be safe, but it also feels a little over the top for a cough.

What are other people doing?

Also, since the rest of us have no cough or fever, we can't get tested, even at a pharmacy, since you have to be recommended to get a pharmacy test. I guess we wait for his results and then we might be able to be tested?

DS called me Tuesday morning from school, he was not feeling well and wanted to come home. After we got home around 9:45, he did the self assessment and it came up that he should get tested. Because he is under 18, I called for him. Put in the first call at just after 10:00, got the call back 6 minutes later and he was booked in for his gargle test at 3:40 that day. I was shocked at how fast he got in for testing! We were told 24-48 hours for results and I called at 10:15 Thursday morning when they gave us his negative results.

I was 99% sure it was just a cold but it was better to get tested just in case.

 

[FigmentSpark]

What province are you in? This is a link to the school and daycare screening guidelines for Ontario. This is what we have used . We are just coming off our second round of isolation, testing, and waiting. It’s going to be a long winter at this rate.

https://covid-19.ontario.ca/covid19...ble school and child care screening_v3_en.pdf

Thanks for the link. We are in Ontario.

DS called me Tuesday morning from school, he was not feeling well and wanted to come home. After we got home around 9:45, he did the self assessment and it came up that he should get tested. Because he is under 18, I called for him. Put in the first call at just after 10:00, got the call back 6 minutes later and he was booked in for his gargle test at 3:40 that day. I was shocked at how fast he got in for testing! We were told 24-48 hours for results and I called at 10:15 Thursday morning when they gave us his negative results.

I was 99% sure it was just a cold but it was better to get tested just in case.

Was it just a cold? Did they tell you to quarantine, just in case?

Hope it's just a cold, but can totally understand your panic. At my kid's school, any sniffly nose or anything unwell, and they have to stay home. It's such a pain as before, you'd treat it like a cold. Now, it's a whole different ballpark. Hope he's ok, and all of you as well.

Thanks. He's off for his test now. Actually, he hasn't coughed at all today and seems to feel much better. In the before times, he'd probably have even gone out biking or with his friends on this (oddly) beautiful day (20C!!). I hope it was just a little cold/rhinovirus and nothing more.

The other thing I have to worry about is that we haven't been able to get Flu shots yet, so that would also have been a possibility.

 

[Aladora]

Was it just a cold? Did they tell you to quarantine, just in case?

100% just a cold. When I spoke with his school, they mentioned that a cold was making the rounds but it would be best to keep hm home until we had a negative Covid test, which we got Thursday morning. As it turns out, parent/teacher interviews were Thursday afternoon so it was only a half day so I kept him home even though he had the negative result. Friday he was back at school though!

Both DH and I work from home so we were already fairly isolated so with the exception of going to get DS's covid test, we all stayed home through until we got the results.

 

[MamaLema]

I would read your son’s school’s policy and start from there.

 

[FigmentSpark]

Got our results tonight (from yesterday afternoon's test).... NEGATIVE! Yay! Just thought I'd let you all know.

 

[ronandannette]

DS woke up this morning with cold-like symptoms... uncomfortable cough (not chesty, just airy throat clearing) and a bit of a stuffy nose. No fever or exhaustion or breathing problems. Is it Covid? Is it a cold? Well, we now have to be safe. He's quarantined and I had to cancel my hair appt. (yeah, I know, not the end of the world, but inconvenient) I got him a test for tomorrow, but they say it'll be 72 hours before they have answers. Luckily my other DS is on the cohort B and not scheduled to be in class until Wed.

So how do we know? Are we to stop everything because it might be Covid, but could also be a cold? I lean to better to be safe, but it also feels a little over the top for a cough.

What are other people doing?

Also, since the rest of us have no cough or fever, we can't get tested, even at a pharmacy, since you have to be recommended to get a pharmacy test. I guess we wait for his results and then we might be able to be tested?

This is such a tough one, and one most of us should think through and "make a plan" in light of our local requirements. My BFF got a cold; her first this year. She went from the tickle-in-the-throat to full on sneezing and snotting all over everything in about 12 hours, which is very typical for a cold. The symptoms started on a Sunday and we had been together that morning. She got Covid-tested on Tuesday and received the negative result on Thursday.

She strictly quarantined herself from the Sunday until the Thursday. I isolated in every way (even at home) except for going to work, which is really the big dilemma for most of us. It is very difficult for my department when anybody takes unexpected time off and we have no provision for or specific policy on what to do if you think you have been in contact with somebody who thinks they might have Covid. Had her test returned positive, all sorts of rules and procedures would have kicked in and while that would have sucked on multiple levels, at least it takes the guess-work out of what to do. Most of us are just out here trying to do our best to navigate the grey areas.

Does your province have an online self-assessment tool or "811" line with a nurse to speak with? If so, you may want to check those out...they are very useful in differentiating symptoms and determining whether or not a test is necessary. The phone line could also answer your questions about the rest of your family.

My 15-year-old had a cold last week - to be safe, I kept her home from school for Mon-Wed and I worked from home as much as I could.

We do here in Alberta but I have heard many anecdotal reports as well as had personal experience that as soon as you mention cough and/or fever, it's an automatic referral for a test. Nothing wrong with that I guess, better safe than sorry, but it doesn't really do much to help with other potential ailments. I called 811 back in April when it was the only way to access non-urgent health services. I had a raging UTI (super-obvious to any woman who's ever had one) and because I did have a fever, I had to report for a Covid test before I could be seen or treated for the actual problem.

 

[Sue M]

Got our results tonight (from yesterday afternoon's test).... NEGATIVE! Yay! Just thought I'd let you all know.

Glad to hear it’s negative. My dd works in a daycare. She came home with a bad cold, daycare told her not to come in until she had Covid test. She had runny nose and cough. Her test was negative. A week later DH had fever and not feeling well. I phoned for him to get test as he was set to go in a golf weekend with friends. Negative too. This was back in September.
I don’t know if we can tell at the beginning if symptoms are Covid or not. But I err on the side of caution. My friends 2 (adult) daughters just got Covid. They were exposed when one daughters boyfriend tested positive. Both girls went in for test as they share a condo together and tested neg. that was before they had symptoms.