Covid-19 in the community

Well, the lateral flow is much easier, ‘cos it’s just a, up your nose. It’s the back of the throat that’s on the PCR which is awful, ‘cos it does, it try they say, don’t touch your tongue. Don’t ah, don’t touch your tonsils. Ohhh. And that’s the bit. Have you had when you always gag, uh, ‘cos it’s, ‘cos it’s gotta go back so far. And then, yes, so but I’m used to it now. I don’t mind.

Ricky: You were feeling a bit unwell. But not, nothing, we didn't think for a second it was Covid. It was just obviously we got four young kids, so we just thought it was a cold. But because her auntie was coming across, she got tested because she had an operation planned and if you don’t get tested and then go into hospital, obviously, we didn't wanna be responsible for her not being able to have the operation.

But when I got this when I got this feeling of soreness and so on, I said to my wife, “well, let me just check, you know, and see what’s going on,” and it turned out that I, it was positive [laughs]. So, then I tested my wife, and she was positive and then my son, he was positive [laughs].

So, we then…my wife just did a PCR test, ‘cos she plays Mah-jong with a group of much older ladies and it’s part of the pact that they have that have respect for each other. They all do a lateral flow test before all meeting up on whatever day of the week, Friday or a Monday. And so I thought this was exactly seven days after I’d gone to the football match and started to feel really ill that I thought I’d join in and do the lateral flow test as well. My wife’s was negative and mine was immediately positive. And I mean when I say immediately, I if it was ten seconds it wouldn't surprise me if you know, the drop going in. So, we, at that point just spoke to the NHS and they said, can you get to a PCR testing centre this morning which we did and we both tested positive.

And when the test came back positive for you how did you feel… seeing it there?

I think, I was relieved to be honest with you. I know that, ok that is the reason I was feeling tired… You know, you know it’s almost like an uncertainty in the, why is this? And oh now I know this is Covid. You know and I was not feeling really tired, I was just feeling a little bit tired in the first week but then I thought oh that’s how it’s going to be for me and that’s when it properly hit me, that’s different. In that first full week I was still working through it. Everything was… I was feeling tired but I’m, I’m ok but I didn’t know what is making me tired. But when the test came back positive oh, that’s the reason why. So it’s like ok, that’s good.

I went to the, I booked myself and then I went, you know, and there they take the, the samples and they find out that I, I also have Covid-19, you know. But my Covid-19 was dormant, you know. I couldn’t , I couldn’t, basically, you know, I, I have, I could do anything and I could-, I didn’t feel that I had Covid in any way whatsoever. I was a normal person apart from that they told me to isolate I think for 14 days, so I was in the house for 14 days. People would bring me food, left at the door and things, and I would stay in the house, you know.

I know when I’m about to get a cold because I get a very sore throat and I did have a very sore throat on Tuesday. So I knew something was happening. I knew I was going to get ill. There was no coughing but there was a lot of phlegm. It felt in the evening, that night and the fever also started that night as well. So yes, so Tuesday was very sore throat, cold symptoms. I did a test, so I did lateral flow test on Tuesday. All my friends did and they all, we all came back negative. So that was that was, that made us feel, oh, I felt, I said, “Oh, it’s just a cold then. Oh, managed to just pick up a cold from Newcastle, We all have.” But then my friend was convinced it, then my friend, he did a PCR test that day, the same Tuesday, and that came back positive and I booked my PCR test on Wednesday, as did my other friend.

It was frightening, it was frightening. My, at that time we couldn’t do any of the testing, so we didn’t have that conclusive diagnosis. The GP said he thought it was highly likely it was Covid. My husband still isn’t convinced, I don’t quite understand that to be quite honest because it fitted all of the symptoms, it’s just that we didn’t have the conclusive test. But it was frightening, and it was particularly frightening because I knew that a, I knew overall, I knew that children are less likely to die from it but there was a 13-year-old in our local hospital who died from it.

I took a sample from my husband and made him spit in a tube. I had some, as a molecular biologist, I had ordered the reagents that I needed to test for Covid and I confirmed in my lab that he was positive. So, I don’t think he was infectious at the time, but he clearly had a lot, he was still coughing so I think it was a lot of dead virus that picked up on my, on my assay.

I can’t remember a huge amount from the very beginning. I think it was just, so and so has come into contact with so and so who was positive. Then that group became positive. Then the next group was positive and we were like “Ooh, we need to try and get our hands on some tests.” And that was at a time when it was really, really difficult to get tests. Because you had to, because also we didn’t have the big 3 symptoms, so we had to then lie on the government form. And you had to put in so many details about your symptoms and your life and blah blah blah. And I had to do it for all of my housemates. And it was the biggest palaver which is ridiculous because now you get these lateral flow tests and they’re like free and they just send them to your house without any bother. But I can’t quite believe how difficult it was to get tests at the start.

So, I applied for my Covid test on the website like most people did and I was told to go just outside [city] near [town] for my Covid test, so that’s where I had to go. I mean I would ask, like the early days of this pandemic if you don’t have a car, how do you get there? You’re not gonna get there on public transport because you’re not supposed to be on public transport. If you feel, if you think you’ve got Covid you shouldn’t be near anyone should you? So, the entire set up is just absurd.

I tried to get a test. I couldn’t get tested. I remember the day that Matt Hancock said there would be a lot of tests available, I went onto the screen, the whole thing just crash right in front of me. I took a screenshot, sent it to my boss and I sent to the GP and said, “Can you not get me a kit? I can’t believe you cannot get me a kit.” So keep trying and there was nothing available. The home kits are available and I couldn’t, it took too long to go there because I don’t drive and nobody is willing to pick me up because I’ve got Covid to go to the to the centre, which I will then be exposed to other people and you are breaking the law for doing that.

When the NHS made available free lateral flow tests, we just went to our local chemist who gave them out. We picked up a, you know, batch of them and we thought they may well come in useful or again, if we were going to go and see friends or family who were particularly vulnerable we’d want to make sure that we’d test ourselves before we went.

We’re seeing you know, we’re seeing key workers and others all scared to take Covid tests because it means they’ll be out of work for ten days. They can’t afford it. I have a friend who is a keyworker who works actually in Emergency Services, and he said to me that amongst his colleagues nobody wants to take, nobody wants to use Track and Trace, nobody wants to take a Covid test because it means they can’t work for ten days. They’d rather just risk you know, the potential that they’re carrying Covid so they can carry on providing food for their families. I mean what a shocking state of affairs but this is, this is what’s going on because unless you have a system, a welfare system that works for everyone, unless you have a proper system in place that will make sure that everybody gets sick pay, everybody regardless of what they do can, you know, pay their rent, pay their mortgage and everything during a pandemic, you know, people are gonna carry on working aren’t they?