I think I/we might have Coronavirus thread (release your isolation-frustration here)

18 days after symptoms (noted on here) started. I'm nigh on back to normal now but I still don't have all my taste/smell back?. I'm back on the rollers which still feels like a little bit of a struggle. This thing sticks around!

Hope you all completely recover soon.

My smell/taste was gone for almost a week with no other symptoms. It only disappeared after my headaches and fatigue went away so I decided after some internetting that it was post-viral anosmia.

It started coming back yesterday (after losing it last Sunday) and today I could finally taste my dinner again! Such a relief.

Glad there's a few of you guys feeling much better and @russmeyer - I hope overtaking the lady on a Dutch bike was worth the exhaustion!

Good to hear that. I did do turbo in the end on Saturday, then surprised myself by doing an hour and a half yesterday too. I was totally wiped out after that though.

A weird thing I've been finding is I can do two and a half hours on a turbo over a weekend and my lungs feel fine, but went for a gentle walk on the marshes this evening and felt slightly short of breath again, like my lungs don't like going beyond 90% capacity and going beyond that is uncomfortable.

I'm fine on the turbo, just get it when I walk. Which is odd.

Day 18 for me now, still feel not great. I thought I was better but yesterday I had to run around after my boy, take a dirty nappy down to the communal bins (3 flights of stairs), and then do his bath and pyjamas/bedtime which can be pretty strenuous, all one after another and I suddenly realised I was so short of breath and light headed I almost fainted. I had to just lie down in the hallway immediately and it took about 20 minutes for me to feel OK enough to stand up again.

It's my first day back working from home today but if I'm honest I don't feel well enough to, but I'm having really bad anxiety about being put on SSP so if I don't work I'm just basically frozen with worry about money.

Mate. That's rough. The bedtime teatime bathtime routine is a stressor. It knocked me out on "clap for the NHS" day. I had to go to bed.
Take it as easy as you can.
As for work, in my team we're doing 4-5 hours a day (if we've got kids). Can you push for that as a target and see what can get done?

Hayfever? I mean. It is pollen time. It might be one of the reasons why a walk is a problem.
IANAD.

My work is being really unhelpful and it's stressing me out more.

It doesn't help that because I've been unwell all through how it's unfolded, I don't really know how colleagues are coping with work/kids, official work statement is:

2. Childcare & caring responsibilities when schools are shut: All employees are expected to work a full work day during normal business hours and the company will work with individuals having child care requirements on more flexible schedules. Anyone who thinks they may need to work different hours than their norm, please contact your line manager and HR directly so that we can discuss a different arrangement to make this work for you and the company.

Maybe I'm expecting too much but I just feel like it's a bit unfair tbh. If I contact HR and say I can't work normal hours because of childcare, then the expectation will be to work my full hours just at different times of the day. So my day from wake up to sleep is just childcare/working. Which will just drive me insane. I can barely cope as it is.

I just really want to curl up in bed and cry but I can't even do that because then Em can't work because she has to look after Ezekiel.

Call me a workshy millenial but I'd just really like my company to acknowledge we're in a global pandemic and perhaps be a little caring.

Call me a workshy millenial but I'd just really like my company to acknowledge we're in a global pandemic and perhaps be a little caring.

You're not being unreasonable.

People are lying about what they're doing.

In my house it's 4 - 5 hours of work a day. Shift ends/starts at 9 and 1.
How much is really getting done in that time?

Are you only getting paid for 4-5 hours work then or are they just being extra nice?

Sorry to hear that. Not sure how some of my colleagues are not going somewhat nuts, my son is happy to draw/play games, but my manager has a triplet of 6 year olds so I honestly don't know how she copes!

Do you think they are receptive to letting you work 4 days a week until you are back to 100% so that you can avoid the super low SSP?

Or even working part in the weekend? Which we can, if needed.

Which still sucks but then at least if you need to take some hours to sleep during the week or go for some fresh air you can.

Dude, you need to take it easier. How's your partner/the other parent, could they step up for a little while longer?

Edit: sorry, read your other post now. Can you be the workshy millenial as much as possible? No one's going to thank you for working hard and ruining your health as I'm sure you're aware. Do as little as possible.

I'm public sector.

A work day is 7.5 hours right?
5 hours in these times is ok.

Agree with others, def chill with the 8hrs per day. Try to get 4-5 hours in of decent focus and you'll probably get more done than most people does in a day in a busy office. In these times though, just do what you can. Don't take the piss, but be reasonable with yourself and don't over-do it. Don't treat it as a temporary thing where you dig in and then return to normal after a week or two, plan long term.

Also, if you can, make sure you work in a different room and keep it as quiet as possible. Alternatively headphones on and volume up.

I did 6 months with my partner where we worked 6hr days (me 06-12, her 13-19) while the other one looked after our child. It was fucking hard and worn us out big time, so don't aim to get 6hrs in, I think 4 or possibly 5 is far more sensible.

Stay strong and vent here as much as you can, you're not on your own in this.

UPS have said they weren't able to deliver a parcel to me today because I wasn't in...

My brother, who's a GP in a London practice, got tested today after having suffered all the usual symptoms for the last few days. Now it's time to wait for the results.

My Niece, front line nurse at Hull Royal, had some of the symptoms, cough and raised temperature. Went to a drive through centre at a nearby hospital, got her results back in 24hrs. Thought that was quite good. She was a little disappointed that it wasn't positive, due to the mild symptoms. But at least she is back at work tonight.

I was wondering a few days ago if that would still be used as an excuse and here we are...

They'll come back? Or is it "where is the depot" time?

According to Big Little Brother it's 2 days for results in London's famous London. The testing centre was in an IKEA car park. No Swedish meatballs for sale though.

3 weeks after the peak of my symptoms, seem to be back in the game now.
Occasional cough, but headaches gone, energy levels back. I’m unfit, but that’s to be expected!

Was also worried that the headaches would persist, as someone that never gets them, I was paranoid that they’d be a lasting problem.

Just thought it’d be worth mentioning for those who are maybe in the midst of it that it does pass eventually!

A friend who is a senior A&E consultant has had symptoms consistent with Covid-19 over the last month (but clear for the last couple of weeks). By the time they were actually tested they were over it and, unsurprisingly, the test for active Coronavirus came back negative. It goes to show how "testing" is not that simple.

If you consider the stages of an infection:-
a) Uninfected
b) Initially infected, pre-symptomatic but viral load low (so not contagious)
c) Infected/contagious and either symptomatic or asymptomatic
d) Recovering but still contagious (i.e. significant viral load)
e) Post infection, low or zero viral load

An "active SARS-Cov-2" viral test (usually a nasal swab) should be positive for stages (c) and (d).

A "have they had it" antigen/antibody test (more than likely a blood test) should be positive for stage (e) and, depending on specificity and sensitivity, possibly stage (d).

I think new furlough guidelines allow for parents with no access to childcare to be furloughed. I don't have a source for that other than my wife's work is potentially offering it. It's an alternative to paying people full time but not getting full time output from them.

There was also issues with oral swabs showing negative but anal swabs still showing positive.