New CV symptoms similar to bad cold - have we already had this virus in Jan and Feb?

[dorabella]

Reading about the latest reported symptoms of those testing positive - runny nose, anosmia, hot chest and back, sore eyes and cough - they look remarkably like the usual symptoms of a bad cold. If these are the experience of those with mild symptoms of CV I am now wondering how long this virus has actually been around in the UK and elsewhere?

A lot of people on this site and others that I have talked to - and I am including myself here - had one or two doses of mild and heavy cold back in January and February, and of course there was no guidance to get tested at that point. The second dose that I had in February left me with 2 weeks of runny nose, sneezing and a cough / constant throat clearing that lasted a month. I suppose it is to be expected that there will be similarities of symptoms in all of the current viruses - CV, cols and flu - since they all form part of a general coronavirus group, but it does beg the question - since there is as yet no mass testing of the population - how many of us have actually had it and not known it much earlier this year?

Anyone else had the same experience?

[flappergirl]

Yes sort of. Earlier in the year a lot of kids at the school I teach at were off with a cough and high temperature. I do also wonder if it’s been around longer than we think 🤔

[BlueIris]

I'm still a bit snuffly from a near-endless series of colds I had over winter that left me with no sense of smell, to the extent I managed to eat some food that was apparently very definitely off.

I can't help wondering.

[dorabella]

Yes curious isn't it? I work in offices on a big university campus in London, and the start of this whole thing coincided with the return of international students from all over - Europe and China - even before anyone took any notice of what was developing in China. Seems to be a similar case in a lot of cities hosting major universities - London, Birmingham, Glasgow even. Also coincided with the return of many UK citizens from winter holidays in Europe, from all over the UK.

I'm sure I'm not making observations that many others haven't already done, and it could be entirely coincidental that all of this was happening in the height of flu and cold season. But it does perhaps highlight a trail of the spread of this virus at a much earlier period. The later incidences of reported infection in this country from mid-February were probably the results of a slow incubation period before it started to spread.

[WiseMonkey]

Yes curious isn't it? I work in offices on a big university campus in London, and the start of this whole thing coincided with the return of international students from all over - Europe and China - even before anyone took any notice of what was developing in China. Seems to be a similar case in a lot of cities hosting major universities - London, Birmingham, Glasgow even. Also coincided with the return of many UK citizens from winter holidays in Europe, from all over the UK.

I'd say this is very probable, as I'm sure the CV would have been floating around in Wuhan towards the last months of 2019, before they realised what it was! We here in New Zealand have a large Chinese population who regularly fly back to visit their relatives there. The vast majority of cases here (NZ) are from those returning from overseas trips or close family members of these people. Once the first case of CV was detected, all those coming into the country had to go into self isolation with their family for 14 days.
I do wonder how many returned just having a mild case and before testing started.

Luckily, the school year resumed after a 6 week break (and being Summer early Feb), children returned relatively germ-free. Info was already circulating about the CV so the schools (and parents) were on high alert and monitoring their children's health. Any children with colds had to stay home. So far there are only 4 cases of non-travel associated CV, so it's just got into the community.

NZ is in lockdown starting tomorrow (Thurs) for 1 month, so only essential services will be available. There has been an influx of NZers returning home from overseas and they are all being quarantined, so hopefully we will have a slight chance of being ahead of this virus and can stem the flow.

[dorabella]

NZ is taking a very sensible approach. We should have done similar in the UK back in February and forcibly quarantined incoming air passengers or at least have stopped non-commercial flights - similarly with the Eurostar and ferry services from the continent. Incoming travellers were left to 'self-isolate' on their own recognisance which you can bet many of them ignored.

[WiseMonkey]

NZ is taking a very sensible approach. We should have done similar in the UK back in February and forcibly quarantined incoming air passengers or at least have stopped non-commercial flights - similarly with the Eurostar and ferry services from the continent. Incoming travellers were left to 'self-isolate' on their own recognisance which you can bet many of them ignored.

Luckily with the small population we have it's easier to keep tabs on people. Those coming back from overseas are in quarantine and police are checking up on others. It sounds like NZ is a police state but it's not like that usually, I'm glad they and the armed forces are out there. Unfortunately those Kiwi's who didn't get back into NZ by the lock down time will have to stay put where they are!

I saw a video of some young Brits still whooping it up on the city streets! I guess with Boris in charge saying contradictory things (his comment on herd immunity), people just start to ignore the seriousness of the problem (when lock down is called for) and do as they wish, the same things are happening in Australia. Over there each state is responsible for their own populace, so it's difficult to co-ordination a nationwide response.

Here's hoping we all come through this in a few months time.

[Panicattacka]

Luckily with the small population we have it's easier to keep tabs on people. Those coming back from overseas are in quarantine and police are checking up on others. It sounds like NZ is a police state but it's not like that usually, I'm glad they and the armed forces are out there. Unfortunately those Kiwi's who didn't get back into NZ by the lock down time will have to stay put where they are!

I saw a video of some young Brits still whooping it up on the city streets! I guess with Boris in charge saying contradictory things (his comment on herd immunity), people just start to ignore the seriousness of the problem (when lock down is called for) and do as they wish, the same things are happening in Australia. Over there each state is responsible for their own populace, so it's difficult to co-ordination a nationwide response.

Here's hoping we all come through this in a few months time.

NZ sounds like one of the best places to be right now. Can you confirm rumors that many CEOs/billionaire types flew to NZ in February just before Covid started ravaging western countries? I've heard stories like "Elon Musk has flown to his bunker in NZ" and "Jeff Bezos private jet was seen landing in NZ". Any truth to these rumors?

[WiseMonkey]

NZ sounds like one of the best places to be right now. Can you confirm rumors that many CEOs/billionaire types flew to NZ in February just before Covid started ravaging western countries? I've heard stories like "Elon Musk has flown to his bunker in NZ" and "Jeff Bezos private jet was seen landing in NZ". Any truth to these rumors?

Definitely fake news/rumours, they're not in NZ!

[WiredIncorrectly]

Yes. I've said in other posts but skim back through my post history back to mid January and I was putting posts up about a crazy flu we had that was unlike no other. My partner honestly couldn't breath. She walked to the top shop, which is spitting distance and when she got back she had to sit on the outside steps to get her breath. She was genuinely struggling. Went around my family and friends. My friend had 2 rounds of antibiotics and it didn't touch it.

[WiseMonkey]

Yes. I've said in other posts but skim back through my post history back to mid January and I was putting posts up about a crazy flu we had that was unlike no other. My partner honestly couldn't breath. She walked to the top shop, which is spitting distance and when she got back she had to sit on the outside steps to get her breath. She was genuinely struggling. Went around my family and friends. My friend had 2 rounds of antibiotics and it didn't touch it.

Quite likely but scary stuff as no one knew what it was back then! Even Prince Charles symptoms are described as mild as he doesn't appear to have any underlying conditions. I'm amazed that he was actually out and about still fulfilling his royal obligations in the last ten days as CV in the UK has been gathering speed for weeks!

As I've said in another thread, your PM Boris has given contradictory advice to the nation, the most stupid was suggesting the 'herd immunity' then later demanding a lock down so imagine the confusion!

He's not alone, I read today the Australian PM threatening that some more services would be shut down if numbers of CV continue to rise ... well Hello PM Morrison, of course your country's CV cases will rise because you need to lock all of Australia down and just have essential services open ... I really wonder where these PM's (and their advisers) keep their brains!! And don't get me started on Trump, his populace will be sadly following the rest of Europe's model :ohmy:

[MyNameIsTerry]

Quite likely but scary stuff as no one knew what it was back then! Even Prince Charles symptoms are described as mild as he doesn't appear to have any underlying conditions. I'm amazed that he was actually out and about still fulfilling his royal obligations in the last ten days as CV in the UK has been gathering speed for weeks! As I've said in another post, your PM Boris has given contradictory advice to the nation, the most stupid was suggesting the 'herd immunity' then later demanding a lock down so imagine the confusion!
He's not alone, I heard the Australian PM threatening that some more services would be shut down if numbers of CV continued to rise ... well Hello PM Morrison, of course your country's CV cases will rise because you need to lock all of Australia down and just have essential services open ... I really wonder where these PM's (and their advisers) keep their brains!! And don't get me started on Trump, his populace will be sadly following the rest of Europe's model :ohmy:

To be fair to BoJo it's the UK's chief scientific officer who raised the herd immunity issue. But yes there has been a lot of confusion caused by the government due to the ambiguity of their advice.

Also public services recommending we take exercise at parks as they removed their entry fees then a week later complaining when lots of people turn up.

We then have the supermarkets. We can't get certain items even now. They are telling people to start going back into the shops to cut down on online shopping because the elderly can't shop online due to the overwhelming demand. Friends of my dad were told it would 3 weeks to get their order to them. They are elderly, followed government advice and now are forced to go out to shop. We are having to go to more shops than we ever would to find items we just can't get, often without success.

[WiseMonkey]

To be fair to BoJo it's the UK's chief scientific officer who raised the herd immunity issue. But yes there has been a lot of confusion caused by the government due to the ambiguity of their advice.

Also public services recommending we take exercise at parks as they removed their entry fees then a week later complaining when lots of people turn up.

We then have the supermarkets. We can't get certain items even now. They are telling people to start going back into the shops to cut down on online shopping because the elderly can't shop online due to the overwhelming demand. Friends of my dad were told it would 3 weeks to get their order to them. They are elderly, followed government advice and now are forced to go out to shop. We are having to go to more shops than we ever would to find items we just can't get, often without success.

The UK's chief scientific officer needs a bullet and I assume he appeals to the Brexiters! You can't do that with a population of humans!! Then PM Boris changed his mind and ordered a lock down, and sadly by that stage in regards to CV the die was cast.

Terry I have family (cousins) in England and I feel for them. My cousins daughter is a theatre nurse and is risking her life every day to save people. By looking at the Italian and Spanish models I hold grave fears for the nation and for America and Australia (unless they act immediately, which won't happen) :sad:

[MyNameIsTerry]

I saw it as a discussion of a possible strategy rather than advice he gave, at least that's how his interview appeared. I've been wondering just how much this was really policy behind the scenes or whether it's the media being selective about how they represent what he said. He also talked about staggering the spread whilst keeping it away from vulnerable groups. As ever there are people on all sides playing politics with this.

It's going to be interesting to see how the Oxford study is received.

We will have to see how this lockdown goes. It's looking good in my area where people are staying in and the shops are now getting quiet. But we have problems like the tube in London which is just a massive Petri dish.

One nurse was complaining they had cut down the number of tube trains due to less people travelling which just put her more at risk as they were now crammed in again. It's just so all over the place...

I hope your family stay well. The risks must be so high for those working in hospitals right now. Part of the territory perhaps but nonetheless concerning when something like this happens.

[WiseMonkey]

Thanks Terry, luckily our PM has acted early and we have an enforced lock down. People can go out for a walk but have to keep 2 metres away from anyone who is not in their bubble. A bubble is made up of the people who are only in your home in lock down. So no visiting friends or neighbours. One person from your bubble can go to the supermarket but have to stay 2 meters away, there are markers on the floor and the checkouts have perspex shields to protect the attendants. Only a limited number of people can enter a supermarket at any time. There are guards on the door. Only 1 customer in a dairy at a time.

Police have teamed up with defense forces to patrol cities and check on anyone who is not going to an essential service. No one is allowed in parks or beaches unless you live close to them so no travelling by car to another area.

Buses are only running for people who are working in essential services (medical staff, pharmacies, supermarket and dairy workers). Dairies are similar to UK corner stores.

Every day the PM, the health minister and police commissioner all discuss what's happened over the last 24 hours so we all know whats going on. All political parties have pulled resources and are working together to try and quell this virus.

Take care and I hope things eventually improve with time x