Thought I'd share my (potential?) covid story.
My mum came down with a cold a few days after Christmas day. Coughing, sneezing, congested head etc. Mum has suffered from bronchitis regularly every year whenever she gets a cold. No surprise, it went to her chest and in no time she was having trouble breathing. Having covid symptoms, she did a RAT to confirm it was not covid. Test was negative.
We booked mum into the local medical clinic, which also happens to be the local respiratory clinic, but the earliest appointment via online booking was for Thursday 30th Dec. Mum called the clinic on Wednesday 29th and the receptionist could hear mum was struggling to breathe and advised her that she couldn't come into the clinic because of her covid symptoms but that she would need to turn up to the respiratory clinic, get a PCR test and then see one of the doctors working in the clinic for an assessment of her condition.
Test taken, doc seen and prescriptions for antibiotics dispensed and mum home for some rest.
With little surprise, my daughter then developed the same symptoms on new years day. She spent the best part of two days not moving from her bed. She has a history of colds developing into an ear infection, and it did so again this time. We organised for a telehealth call from the doc, who issued her with some antibiotics, too. She also did a RAT which returned a negative result.
And again, with little surprise, I developed similar symptoms on 2nd Jan. I then spent two days in bed as well. I also did a RAT, again negative.
My mum has still not got back her PCR test result.
I know, by the guidance provided by the Vic government, if I'm symptomatic and even though I may have a negative RAT result, I should still get a PCR test. But, with all of the delays in getting PCR tests completed and results returned, is there any point in going to get a PCR?
And then, I read this article this morning. And in particular, this comment:
Quote:
Ellen Maxwell from Melbourne Pathology, which has had to temporarily close its COVID-19 testing operations to deal with a backlog in cases, said there was a critical need to ease the pressure on PCR testing labs.
"Honestly, if you've got symptoms, then you've got COVID at the moment," she told ABC Melbourne.
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So, even though all three of us returned negative RAT results, what's the thoughts; good chance we have covid?