Have you been tested?

mugsymugsy

Stephen Gawking wrote: »

They have my current address in Co Meath on file. My GP is a 5 minute walk from me.

Seems strange! Best of luck with it.

CIARAN_BOYLE

donaghs wrote: »

If 20% of problem with covid have no symptoms, then what is the point of only testing people with severe symptoms? Apart from determining the appropriate care for them.

Number of tests they can do.

Basically the people with the new case definition symptoms are testing positively enough that it was judged useful to test them all at a higher priority.

The low case numbers was because people with low odds of being positive were clogging up the test centres.

branie2

No, and I don't think I will be

IAMAMORON

gmisk wrote: »

Shortness of breath (pain when breathing in especially if deeply this is a lot worse today)
Sore throat.
Cough
Aches and pains all over especially chest.
Fecking wrecked as in I could barely get up and seriously struggled to have a shower .

I am also never sick and as I said previously I almost died from pneumonia before.
But no fever so no test seemingly.
Told to ring an ambulance if I get worse though...

I suggest you attend a hospital immediately if you are concerned, for real. The roads are quiet, an ambulance is not necessary, your boyfriend can drop you down.

But as I said earlier on, knowing if you have the bug now is not going to sort out your chest pains. If your condition is severe get yourself to hospital and good luck.

STB.

IAMAMORON wrote: »

The fact of the matter is that we neither have the test kits or the resources to be implementing tests. Testing every Tom, Dick and Harry ( or Nuala from down the road ) will not be curing the virus. The greatest prevention thus far is social distancing. Contact tracing is a complete waste of time at this point, the virus is in Ireland for weeks now. Resources now need to be focussed on treating people, not hanging around GAA stadiums sticking swabs up peoples noses.

Statistics will not cure the virus. The whole country was negative 4 weeks ago. Testing everyone is not a priority , treating people is.

Why would the HSE contravene WHO advice? Straight question?

The fact of the matter is these are the basics required to stop our ICU's and hospitals from being overwhelmed from widespread contagion like in Italy, Spain, UK.....

The whole country was negative four weeks ago ? You only find positives by testing. When did testing start ? End of February.

The greatest prevention of further contagion is rigorous testing followed by isolation of those infected. This is a fact . It is the World Health Organisation's headline advice.

Only then can social distancing be effective.

The people who presented through their GP's having fulfilled the criteria put forward amounted to 40,000 over 2 weeks. These people are those community level. 45% of the positives so far in Ireland are at community level.

For reasons unknown, the HSE admin did not have enough testing kits despite a lot of advance notice. The testing kits are the basics. All of the drive through testing centres are useless as a result.

The labs - we have one dedicated to the general community. It can run the tests on 3000 samples a day. Nobody knows how many tests were run between 13th and 24th March, but it didn't put a dent in the numbers still waiting. I am assuming it wasn't high and that infact it wasn't a capacity problem of the labs, it was simply a lack of kits, hence not a whole lot to test.

We are only at the start here. We haven't got a handle on how deep this is in communities. We need people tested as we cannot fight this blindfolded. But we have abandoned those scheduled for tests now. There may be a few messers in there. But may also be a lot infected. This is not a guessing game.

Its a mess. And so is the call outs from frontline staff on social media, as guess what, the HSE didn't organise enough protection equipment either. Its a mess. Are the unions involved ????????? Frontline staff are worried. And not surprising, given 25% of the positive results were medical staff a week or so ago. This is not a coincidence.

This is not a good start as it is being painted.

bren2001

Prospectors wrote: »

I know someone who was tested 7 days ago and still has not received any results. They are presuming they are negative as the symptoms have passed without getting too bad, and would hope that it's a case of communicating positive only results.

I was tested last Friday and still waiting on results. My symptoms started 14 days ago from tomorrow and I have been fever free for 5 days (never actually had one). At this stage it's kind of irrelevant what the outcome of the test is, according to the HSE website I meet the criteria to stop self isolating. It's hard to justify a reason not to go to the shops to purchase stuff I need. Obviously I won't without clearing it with my GP first but the delay in testing and giving results kinda defeats the point of doing it.

I'm kind of hoping it does come back positive because it means I will have developed immunity. On the other hand, I'd prefer it to be negative as it means I didn't transmit it to someone else when I was asymptomatic.

calfmuscle

IAMAMORON wrote: »

Testing for what exactly?

I mean people really don't seem to realise that they are taking a swab from your nose and the back of your throat which could indicate that you have a novel virus which is probably only a few months old, less than 120 days if we are to believe the WHO.

So you get your test and you get your results. Yippidy do dah. What next? If you test negative you still need to act the exact same way as before and if you test positive unless you are in a serious condition you are just going to be sent home to bed.

If you are suffering badly from the virus the chances are you will know all about it. Time for some ICU for you, see ya later. The last thing you will be worried about sitting in an ICU room on a ventilator will be when your getting your results, I reckon anyway.

The HSE are bang on for calling out every hypochondriac in the country who are joining queues and clogging up a system which is not built for it. We have been told from the start that this virus is only dangerous to the elderly and people with chest issues. Everyone else needs to be simply getting on with their lives.

I agree with a lot you said but unfortunately the most common comorbidities among those that died are heart disease and diabetes.
All ppl with underlying chronic conditions should be extra cautious not just those with chest issues.

P2C

There is a world wide shortage of testing kits and your blaming HSE admin. It is nearly impossible to procure personal protective equipment. There is supply chain issues all over the world. Every country is in the same boat but yet it is the fault of the HSE admin. We are testing more than anywhere else but yet the HSE admin fuc..d up. Oh wait a minute there just sitting in the office drinking coffee shooting the breeze. A lot of departments are redeployed. My team of 6 have had to set up a 3 new testing teams, new centres, new ICT system, booking testing, contact every person coming to the test, contact tracing and surveillance, admin support for PH, train up other teams on the new system all since last Thursday. We are working 7 days a week from 8 am - 10 pm. We are doing are best and we can control the tasks that we handed very well but what we can’t control is procurement of testing kits and other equipment that is not available to any country in the world. Maybe you know where to get some .

STB. wrote: »

The fact of the matter is these are the basics required to stop our ICU's and hospitals from being overwhelmed from widespread contagion like in Italy, Spain, UK.....

The whole country was negative four weeks ago ? You only find positives by testing. When did testing start ? End of February.

The greatest prevention of further contagion is rigorous testing followed by isolation of those infected. This is a fact . It is the World Health Organisation's headline advice.

Only then can social distancing be effective.

The people who presented through their GP's having fulfilled the criteria put forward amounted to 40,000 over 2 weeks. These people are those community level. 45% of the positives so far in Ireland are at community level.

For reasons unknown, the HSE admin did not have enough testing kits despite a lot of advance notice. The testing kits are the basics. All of the drive through testing centres are useless as a result.

The labs - we have one dedicated to the general community. It can run the tests on 3000 samples a day. Nobody knows how many tests were run between 13th and 24th March, but it didn't put a dent in the numbers still waiting. I am assuming it wasn't high and that infact it wasn't a capacity problem of the labs, it was simply a lack of kits, hence not a whole lot to test.

We are only at the start here. We haven't got a handle on how deep this is in communities. We need people tested as we cannot fight this blindfolded. But we have abandoned those scheduled for tests now. There may be a few messers in there. But may also be a lot infected. This is not a guessing game.

Its a mess. And so is the call outs from frontline staff on social media, as guess what, the HSE didn't organise enough protection equipment either. Its a mess. Are the unions involved ????????? Frontline staff are worried. And not surprising, given 25% of the positive results were medical staff a week or so ago. This is not a coincidence.

This is not a good start as it is being painted.

IAMAMORON

STB. wrote: »

The fact of the matter is these are the basics required to stop our ICU's and hospitals from being overwhelmed from widespread contagion like in Italy, Spain, UK.....

What exactly are " these " , you are not being very clear here.

STB. wrote: »

The whole country was negative four weeks ago ? You only find positives by testing. When did testing start ? End of February.

The number of people tested has realised results of circa 6% positives. So given todays figure of 1,500 odd positives it means we have tested 25,000 people. So what? The only figure that matters is the amount of beds available to treat the seriously ill. All we know after testing 23,500 people is that they don't have the virus( at that particular time). Such information is irrelevant at this stage.

STB. wrote: »

The greatest prevention of further contagion is rigorous testing followed by isolation of those infected. This is a fact . It is the World Health Organisation's headline advice.

Only then can social distancing be effective.

Your initial argument here is grossly incorrect. The greatest current prevention is social distancing and isolation. Your assessment is incorrect. Testing is irrelevant unless persons are practicing social distance.

STB. wrote: »

The people who presented through their GP's having fulfilled the criteria put forward amounted to 40,000 over 2 weeks. These people are those community level. 45% of the positives so far in Ireland are at community level.

Great stuff, some lovely facts here, but what is your point? What do you mean by community level exactly?

STB. wrote: »

For reasons unknown, the HSE admin did not have enough testing kits despite a lot of advance notice. The testing kits are the basics. All of the drive through testing centres are useless as a result.

Your basically cranking here. Why are you doing that? How does the slow response time ( apparently ) affect the effectiveness of the drive through test centres, your logic is not rational here in fairness.

STB. wrote: »

The labs - we have one dedicated to the general community. It can run the tests on 3000 samples a day. Nobody knows how many tests were run between 13th and 24th March, but it didn't put a dent in the numbers still waiting. I am assuming it wasn't high and that infact it wasn't a capacity problem of the labs, it was simply a lack of kits, hence not a whole lot to test.

We are only at the start here. We haven't got a handle on how deep this is in communities. We need people tested as we cannot fight this blindfolded. But we have abandoned those scheduled for tests now. There may be a few messers in there. But may also be a lot infected. This is not a guessing game.

Its a mess. And so is the call outs from frontline staff on social media, as guess what, the HSE didn't organise enough protection equipment either. Its a mess. Are the unions involved ????????? Frontline staff are worried. And not surprising, given 25% of the positive results were medical staff a week or so ago. This is not a coincidence.

This is not a good start as it is being painted.

I see your basically cranking the HSE. I would be patronising you if I said that was ok, it simply isn't. All your doing is unfairly criticizing an overstretched system at a great time of need. Spoofing about the unions at this point is simply the most idiotic suggestion I have read here in a while. Do you think industrial action at this point is going to solve anything?

I think you have a slight agenda, I don't care what it is, but I think you would be better off concentrating on ways in which you could help the HSE as opposed to typing thoughtless criticism of our only health service, it is disrespectful if nothing else.

smallgarden

Has anyone received a negative test text. Have these been sent out yet?

michellie

smallgarden wrote: »

Has anyone received a negative test text. Have these been sent out yet?

I was tested Saturday and haven't received a thing yet

retro:electro

Did anyone have a stabbing pain on their lower back, like waist level?

michellie

This thread has really gone off course

uncle_sam_ie

I was tested on the 18th and no results yet. I work in a nursing home. They need me back at work but, I really need to know. The risk for the residents is too great.

IrishHomer

I was tested yesterday 4pm Tullamore.

I came back from Spain developed a cough and obviously in self isolated.

I asked nurse yesterday how long for results and she said 24 to 48 hrs

Bannasidhe

IrishHomer wrote: »

I was tested yesterday 4pm Tullamore.

I came back from Spain developed a cough and obviously in self isolated.

I asked nurse yesterday how long for results and she said 24 to 48 hrs

I was tested on 24th in Cork and they said about 3 days for results.

uncle_sam_ie

IrishHomer wrote: »

I was tested yesterday 4pm Tullamore.

I came back from Spain developed a cough and obviously in self isolated.

I asked nurse yesterday how long for results and she said 24 to 48 hrs

I was also told 48 hours, that was 8 days ago.

IrishHomer

How do you receive results?

Is a a phonecall from GP?

michellie

IrishHomer wrote: »

How do you receive results?

Is a a phonecall from GP?

Text if negative, phone call if positive. Its not from GP.

I was tested on the 21st and told upto 72 hours. Nothing yet

iguana

One of the other reasons that testing is important is so that other ailments causing symptoms can be diagnosed and treated. This is my 9th day of shortness of breath and constricted chest. I have no respiratory condition, have never had so much as a chest infection and normally have genuinely excellent levels of cardiovascular fitness. I can do several hours of high intensity exercise without feeling in anyway breathless. On the 18th I exercised at a really moderate pace for about 30 minutes. I got breathless quite quickly and it took ages of resting to regulate my breathing afterwards and since then I started to get breathless from any sort of effort. For days, a few minutes of a phone conversation or making lunch would leave me gasping for breath. I also developed a severe sore throat, headaches and muscular aches and pains. I have brief spikes of high temperature (38.1 at the highest) followed by chills but nothing sustained. I'm averaging between 8-9 hours of sleep and staying in bed most of the day but was absolutely exhausted.

After two days of this, I called my GP who referred me for a test. She wasn't overly concerned about me having Covid 19. She said if I have it, she thinks I was very likely to recover with a week or two of home rest. But that under normal circumstances shortness of breath can be a symptom of a more serious issue and ideally she'd like to examine me and listen to my lungs. She was worried that I might have a blood clot. She referred me for a test and said that if I got a negative result and was still experiencing shortness of breath to come in and she could work out what was causing it. That if it got worse in the meantime to call an ambulance immediately. Respiratory issues can be very serious and shouldn't be ignored.

So now, I'm bumped off the list. Still experiencing the same symptoms though I think I'm slowly improving. Unfortunately as soon as I think I'm mostly better I do a bit more physical activity and breathing gets harder again. Yesterday evening I washed the ware and wiped down the kitchen counters while listening to upbeat music and I haven't been able to catch a satisfactory breath since. I don't want to go near a doctor as I've read reports of people with confirmed Covid 19 having exactly my symptoms and know a lot of people who can't get a test are experiencing exactly this right now. If I do have it, I really don't want to infect anyone, if I don't have it but should be on antibiotics for a chest infection, I can't access that treatment.

I fully appreciate that in a situation where the HSE has limited capacity to test, they need to test people at higher risk. I get that completely. But that is not in anyway a good thing. There is value in negative results because a negative result would allow me to get health treatment I may need. And a positive result would mean that anyone I was in contact with would be contacted and tested. I didn't have a huge amount of contact with people but I had some and those people really should be traced and checked. It is a very real failure on the part of the Department of Health that we can't do that. They are currently doing the best they can with what they have and I'm confident we won't suffer as badly and Italy, Spain and possibly the UK. But they prepared too late and are not able to do what they actually should and we will do worse than countries like Korea, Singapore and maybe Germany. So it's understandable that they have changed the criteria for testing. It's the best they can do with what they've got. But it's still a failure and it still has numerous negative consequences for many people.

IAMAMORON

iguana wrote: »

One of the other reasons that testing is important is so that other ailments causing symptoms can be diagnosed and treated. This is my 9th day of shortness of breath and constricted chest. I have no respiratory condition, have never had so much as a chest infection and normally have genuinely excellent levels of cardiovascular fitness. I can do several hours of high intensity exercise without feeling in anyway breathless. On the 18th I exercised at a really moderate pace for about 30 minutes. I got breathless quite quickly and it took ages of resting to regulate my breathing afterwards and since then I started to get breathless from any sort of effort. For days, a few minutes of a phone conversation or making lunch would leave me gasping for breath. I also developed a severe sore throat, headaches and muscular aches and pains. I have brief spikes of high temperature (38.1 at the highest) followed by chills but nothing sustained. I'm averaging between 8-9 hours of sleep and staying in bed most of the day but was absolutely exhausted.

After two days of this, I called my GP who referred me for a test. She wasn't overly concerned about me having Covid 19. She said if I have it, she thinks I was very likely to recover with a week or two of home rest. But that under normal circumstances shortness of breath can be a symptom of a more serious issue and ideally she'd like to examine me and listen to my lungs. She was worried that I might have a blood clot. She referred me for a test and said that if I got a negative result and was still experiencing shortness of breath to come in and she could work out what was causing it. That if it got worse in the meantime to call an ambulance immediately. Respiratory issues can be very serious and shouldn't be ignored.

So now, I'm bumped off the list. Still experiencing the same symptoms though I think I'm slowly improving. Unfortunately as soon as I think I'm mostly better I do a bit more physical activity and breathing gets harder again. Yesterday evening I washed the ware and wiped down the kitchen counters while listening to upbeat music and I haven't been able to catch a satisfactory breath since. I don't want to go near a doctor as I've read reports of people with confirmed Covid 19 having exactly my symptoms and know a lot of people who can't get a test are experiencing exactly this right now. If I do have it, I really don't want to infect anyone, if I don't have it but should be on antibiotics for a chest infection, I can't access that treatment.

I fully appreciate that in a situation where the HSE has limited capacity to test, they need to test people at higher risk. I get that completely. But that is not in anyway a good thing. There is value in negative results because a negative result would allow me to get health treatment I may need. And a positive result would mean that anyone I was in contact with would be contacted and tested. I didn't have a huge amount of contact with people but I had some and those people really should be traced and checked. It is a very real failure on the part of the Department of Health that we can't do that. They are currently doing the best they can with what they have and I'm confident we won't suffer as badly and Italy, Spain and possibly the UK. But they prepared too late and are not able to do what they actually should and we will do worse than countries like Korea, Singapore and maybe Germany. So it's understandable that they have changed the criteria for testing. It's the best they can do with what they've got. But it's still a failure and it still has numerous negative consequences for many people.

How did you get a referral from your GP without first visiting them for a check up?

Pretzill

I originally said I was showing symptoms - late last week (can't take it back now in the poll) but I didn't contact my GP, because even though I'm in the at risk category I decided to wait and see how I felt after a few days - felt much better on Day 4 and have steadily got better - I reckon it was a cold, and nothing more. I weighed up the fact that precisely because I'm in the at risk category I have been a veritable hermit since early March with only a few necessary visits out and also that the county I'm living in are showing very few cases at the moment. So the chances of having caught this are low.

I think they are right to change the criteria, they need to get a handle on who has this, and how many - and sniffles, flues, colds and hypochondriacs like myself need to wait a little while or just forget about testing. I imagine once high fever, and shortness of breath kicks in for anybody it would more likely be GP, then hospital.

Stay well everyone.

amadangomor

Anyone else develop asthma from a respiratory infection lately?

The source of the respiratory infection is unknown as I will not be tested now.

Infection is gone or almost gone at least. (Probably would not show positive on test at this stage anyway even if it was Covid causing the infection.)

Am in early 40s and now have to find out how to manage with asthma. Hopefully won't be a long term thing I have.

tringle

uncle_sam_ie wrote: »

I was tested on the 18th and no results yet. I work in a nursing home. They need me back at work but, I really need to know. The risk for the residents is too great.

Waiting since 19th for results here. I got referred very quickly, called GP 18th and tested next day. Still coughing here and dont have full lung capacity.

michellie

Is there any updates anywhere for the delays of test results? It's shocking some are waiting so long to receive results

IAMAMORON

tringle wrote: »

Waiting since 19th for results here. I got referred very quickly, called GP 18th and tested next day. Still coughing here and dont have full lung capacity.

Did you not visit your GP to enable your referral?

Do you have underlying health issues?

michellie

IAMAMORON wrote: »

Did you not visit your GP to enable your referral?

Do you have underlying health issues?

You ring the GP for referral. People are told specifically not to go to a doctors (unless they're asked to by the doctor)

iguana

IAMAMORON wrote: »

How did you get a referral from your GP without first visiting them for a check up?

On the phone. That's the official recommendations. If you have symptoms you phone your GP and do a phone consult during which the GP will advise you on what to do. If I have Covid and went to the GP in person I could literally kill someone. No-one with respiratory symptoms or fever is meant to physically go to any medical facility without prior arrangement with the doctor/medical staff.

IAMAMORON

michellie wrote: »

You ring the GP for referral. People are told specifically not to go to a doctors (unless they're asked to by the doctor)

I don't know a doctor in the country that would turn a patient away if they were experiencing problems.

Anyone who feels their GP's have acted negligently should be reporting them to the Medical Council. Cranking on Boards.ie is kind of pointless and extremely counterproductive, by not escalating the issue to the authorities you are putting other patients at risk, that is reckless.

IAMAMORON

iguana wrote: »

On the phone. That's the official recommendations. If you have symptoms you phone your GP and do a phone consult during which the GP will advise you on what to do. If I have Covid and went to the GP in person I could literally kill someone. No-one with respiratory symptoms or fever is meant to physically go to any medical facility without prior arrangement with the doctor/medical staff.

This is garbage, where did you read that?