" I was quite sure I just had a cold"-says almost everyone who actually has mild Covid. 
I keep thinking I have Covid, but itās actually a cold.
I test negative every time, thinking it must be Covid. Hopefully I donāt end up being the lady who cried Wolf.
Feel better soon!
@Nrdsb4 I actually felt a bit silly getting tested because I was so convinced it was just a cold. Glad I did as I would have felt awful if I had exposed the new employee especially as she has a baby at home.
I was actually on my way to work and worrying about it a bit so went and bought the test then went back home to take it and texted my boss Iād be late and why Good choice in the end
So keep getting tested even if it turns out to be a cold.
This was my sonās exact experience. He was shocked, and a little embarrassed when he tested positive.
An FYI for those taking a home test. My doctor told me he canāt call in an infusion based on a home test so asked me to get a PCR in case I do feel any worse and he thinks I should get one (if the hospital has them).
He said false positives with at home tests are not common but that false negatives are quite common so keep that in mind if you have symptoms.
I heard a doctor on our local NPR station here in Chicago say there are no colds around right now. If you have a cold, you most likely have Covid.
Strange, a relativeās family all has colds or something that gives cold-like symptoms, and repeated testing of all of them found no COVID-19.
The common cold is a covid virus, so yes you do have covid. If tested, it isnāt going to be Omicron or Delta.
Common colds are caused by many (more than 200) kinds of viruses. Although some are coronaviruses, there are many others which are not (rhinoviruses are the most common; there are also adenoviruses and others).
I think that the tests are not so sensitive when it comes to Omicron. Recently a study was published that proved exactly that. Best to assume that right now, if you have a cold, itās probably Covid.
Very possibly from the family you visited in FL, since you probably were around them without masks.
S2 and GF got Covid ten days ago. S tested negative on the rapid test despite being symptomatic, but when his GF got sick, she got a PCR and he decided to as well. Both are double vaxed; not yet eligible for a booster, and the country where they live hasnāt approved boosters yet anyway.
My younger brother and SIL also just got it ā they are double vaxed and boostered, but live in a county where 38% are fully vaxed, so they werenāt surprised it finally hit them. Both are symptomatic and home from work for the week; they finished tiling the shower yesterday and are enjoying long naps. They will be home five days, then will go back to work and wear a mask, which theyāve been doing religiously during this entire time.
@parentologist Nope. None of the FL family have it. DIL works at a medical clinic and is tested frequently (twice this week that I know of). Nor do my brother and wife who were visiting from the UK and had to be tested before coming to the US, before returning to the UK, and after returning to the UK. nor do my daughter and her husband. Im pretty sure I picked it up somewhere on the 2 day drive home.
That just sounds silly. There are always cold viruses circulating. There are literally hundreds of them.
I think from a public health perspective it does make sense to consider cold symptoms to be Covid, particularly in the absence of a test. But I donāt believe there are ānoā colds making the rounds in Chicago right now.
Just not doable, at least not easily. The kids live more than 1,000 miles away and flew in here to our town, which is a four-hour drive from my momās. And they flew out of the airport by her house. So changing the order of the visit would have involved either expensive ticket changes if even possible or many extra hours on the road driving back and forth.
If you entered any indoor space unmasked, that was a risk factor, and even if you were masked, if other people were or had recently been unmasked in that indoor space, you were still at risk. As we all know, masks are better at preventing aerosolization from occurring, rather than at keeping aerosols out. The mask we wear protects the other people around us, and vice versa. But the other thing Iām thinking of is the gas pump handle. Until about May 2020, I used a disposable glove to pump gas. After that, when it seemed that the vaccine was protective, I just covered my hand with my shirt sleeve or shirt tail to touch the gas pump. Now Iām going back to the disposable glove for pumping gas. Iām being more conscientious about not touching with my bare hand, surfaces that other people touch. Perhaps that was where it came from. Another thing is that weāre finding out that the tests are not as sensitive for detecting Omicron as they were for the previous versions of Covid.
Regarding the pump handle at the filling station, if you are that concerned about surface contamination (that is pretty far down in terms of COVID-19 transmission), there are usually paper towels there to use.
I was thinking about doctorsā exams rooms when I was there this week. I bet many people take off their masks there thinking they are safe because they are by themselves. (Or in my area they donāt wear them anywhere.) But those rooms are so tiny and not well ventilated. In our area, youāre usually there for 30-60 min. If the person in there before you was infectious and not masked for 30-60 min, that would not be a good place to be.
Correct! Other than in your own home, taking off the mask indoors anywhere is a risk, touching surfaces anywhere is a risk. Just before Christmas, Iām pretty sure that I caught an upper respiratory virus that might have been Covid from a visit to a doctorās office - and I was masked the entire time, as was her entire staff.
@parentologist yes, Iām assuming I got it from somewhere on the journey back. Starbucks, fast food place, hotel, rest stop. I always mask in public places as does my husband. Thankfully he is symptom free. Strange as I donāt think I went anywhere he did not (ladies rest room maybe) and we were in the car next to each other for many many hours and even drank from the same water bottle (I know, stupid).
He had a third full shot of moderna before the half dose booster was approved. He has a lot of health issues including a cancer history so was eligible for the 3rd shot. I was not eligible but got the booster Dec 8. Doc says it should have kicked in.
So many questions so few answers.
They would not be there themselves, since physicians and other staff will be there doing the exam.
But if people are not wearing masks indoors generally, they may not want to wear them in the medical office unless the medical office is strict about it.