NWR new zero tolerance covid thread

Or, given their apparent emotional age, they are considered sissies if they wear one..
 
I've been absolutely knocked sideways yesterday afternoon and today by what appears to be a brutal cold. I tested both days for COVID (negative) and I do now have the sniffles - so maybe I'm just an early adopter of the new-season cold strain? i guess for those who have underlying conditions, this is the kind of thing in autumn that will stretch the NHS.
I'm generally lucky with this kind of thing and generally have my annual "I've got a cold" week around autumn. Last time I was sick was my underwhelming Covid experience back in March 2020!

Roll on a magnum of Nightnurse tonight.

edit: what I was going to say (but forgot in my somewhat frazzled state) is that I've been working in the office all week - taking trains (not tube) and also went to the pub Thursday. I would imagine this kind of standard cold in normal times would not register, but now I'm banning myself from the office for a week out of respect for my colleagues. Interesting how behaviour changes so quickly - 2 years ago I'd have struggled in
 
I've been absolutely knocked sideways yesterday afternoon and today by what appears to be a brutal cold.
We are suffering from the same thing, one of the drawbacks of babysitting for grandkids just after the return to school, a normally fairly vicious combo. We'd quite forgotten how nasty the common cold can be not having caught one since Boxing Day 2019, but ran through the covid test stuff until we got bored with it, no, it's just a cold! The much shorter incubation period is a bit of a giveaway...
 
For double-jabbed people (i.e. most of the population), three of the four most common Covid symptoms are the same as the symptoms of the common cold - runny nose, sneezing and sore throat. Ideally you should be able to get from the NHS a PCR test with those symptoms, to better inform whether you should self-isolate, but they are not officially recognised here in the UK.

(Second most common is headache, and fifth is loss of sense of smell.)

Repeated lateral flow tests are better than nothing, but if the first gives a false negative, subsequent ones may give the same result for the same reasons the first one "failed".
 
I would imagine this kind of standard cold in normal times would not register, but now I'm banning myself from the office for a week out of respect for my colleagues. Interesting how behaviour changes so quickly - 2 years ago I'd have struggled in
Sound sensible to me.

I suspect this is going to be part of the "new normal" . Hopefully along with more mask-wearing among people with viral infections, and better ventilation in buildings. If it reduces cold and flu infections, as well as Covid, so much the better.
 
I’m another cold sufferer, two nasty ones in quick succession. Had two pcr tests during the first one as travelling to Spain both negative.
 
Last edited:
Yep. Been through that one too. Two pretty heavy weeks. Two negative lateral flow tests.
I thought that I was pretty au fait with the symptoms but was horrified to find that exactly as per Steve’s post the symptoms for the double jabbed are exactly those of a summer cold.
The one thing that makes me tend to think the lateral flow results are correct is that I spent a week in close contact with four others, none of whom subsequently came down with anything. I would assume that if it were as transmissible as Covid delta you might reasonably expect other victims in that situation.
 
I thought that I was pretty au fait with the symptoms but was horrified to find that exactly as per Steve’s post the symptoms for the double jabbed are exactly those of a summer cold.
In fact they are not too different for the unvaccinated, but the precise top 5 list might not be exactly the same

The Zoe project is responsible for indentifying the main symptoms, and its leader, Tim Spector, regularly criticises the government for not publicising them. Apparently some foreign governments have been more open on the subject
 
Are you currently in England? Any reason not to use the free NHS one?

Sorry for the basic questions but I've always used the gov.uk website to book a PCR and my local testing centre is fifteen minutes walk away and always empty
 
Are you currently in England? Any reason not to use the free NHS one?

Sorry for the basic questions but I've always used the gov.uk website to book a PCR and my local testing centre is fifteen minutes walk away and always empty
I checked a couple of days ago, and it seemed that you needed to have "official" symptom to get an NHS test, or a positive lateral flow. Is that wrong? Must admit I only skim-read the information
 
The advice is to get a PCR test if you have any of the following symptoms (I don't):
  • a high temperature
  • a new, continuous cough
  • you’ve lost your sense of smell or taste or it’s changed
 
That's a good point but who's to say precisely what symptoms you have? Plus if your symptoms are those of a vaccinated person with Covid (as you say) surely that list is out of date
 
That's a good point but who's to say precisely what symptoms you have? Plus if your symptoms are those of a vaccinated person with Covid (as you say) surely that list is out of date
Still the official current list, but ignoring research results that have been known for weeks/months.

I think that is what's called following the science. It's certainly not keeping up with it.
 
Comments today suggest it was partly because of better immunity outcomes, partly AZ's occasional clotting effect, but also because the MRNA vaccines are less suitable for the developing world because of the cold chain required compared to AZ.
Yes I remember reading that tests were ongoing and South Korea also had a small sample trial of AZ and PZ which performed best with a higher response than two AZ doses so guess it makes sense. I will try and find the UK results.
 
Comments today suggest it was partly because of better immunity outcomes, partly AZ's occasional clotting effect, but also because the MRNA vaccines are less suitable for the developing world because of the cold chain required compared to AZ.
Additionally, some time ago there were suggestions that a booster of a different type (and most over-50s were AVed) might be more effective, but I haven't heard that has been substantiated
 
Interesting they are running with the mRNA vaccines for the booster. Moderna a half dose at that.
The reason (at least in theory) was that human body will generate anti-adenovirus antibodies after two doses of adenovirus vector vaccine (such as AZ), which would decrease the efficacy if the booster use the same type of adenovirus as carrier. Like the body also learns to recognise and stop the carrier vans, not only the stuffs inside.
Then there was a research showing even all three jabs are AZ, the third dose can still boost antibody level (apparently some vans can still deliver when you send out 50,000,000,000 vans at once). But theoretically it's less ideal.

Moderna has 100mcg per dose, BNT has 30mcg. Most scientists think it's higher than necessary. There were studies showing even a quarter dose of Moderna can generate good antibody. Though the original phase 3 clinical trial was done with 100mcg, so they don't want to change that for the first two doses scheme.
 
Top