I don’t think there is any way to tell. My DIL had a “cold” and her employer required her to stay home until after the results of a covid test. She lost 8 days salary. I had the same “cold” but since her test came back negative, I decided not to take the test. Also, I limited my contact with everyone and wore a mask in my own house.

@YARNLADY That’s my point. They can’t know for sure unless they get a test. Yet, they feel sure it’s not covid.

At this point in New Jersey, it seems almost impossible to schedule a test. If I were sick in any way and could assume it was not likely to be Covid, I would isolate. If I developed more serious symptoms, I would call my doctor to try to get me an appointment for a test.

For myself, I know what my allergies feel like because I have had them forever. If I got a test every time I had a scratchy throat and sinus issues I would have taken over 10 tests by now.

Maybe they can still taste and smell.

ᵂʰᵃᵗ @ᵗⁱⁿʸᶠᵃᵉʳʸ ˢᵃⁱᵈ.

ᴵ ʰᵃᵛᵉ ʸᵉᵃʳ⁻ʳᵒᵘⁿᵈ ᵃˡˡᵉʳᵍⁱᵉˢ, ᵃⁿᵈ ᵏⁿᵒʷ ʷʰᵉⁿ ᵃⁿᵈ ʰᵒʷ ᵗʰᵉʸ ᵐᵃⁿⁱᶠᵉˢᵗ. ᴵ ʰᵃᵛᵉ ˢⁿᵉᵉᶻᵉᵈ ᵒʳ ᵇˡᵒʷⁿ ᵐʸ ⁿᵒˢᵉ ᵃⁿᵈ ᶠᵉˡᵗ ᵇᵃᵈ ᵇᵉᶜᵃᵘˢᵉ ᴵ ᵏⁿᵒʷ ᵗʰⁱˢ ᶜᵃⁿ ᵇᵉ ˢᶜᵃʳʸ ᶠᵒʳ ˢᵒᵐᵉ ᵖᵉᵒᵖˡᵉ.

ᴵᵗ’ˢ ⁿᵒᵗ ⁿᵉᶜᵉˢˢᵃʳⁱˡʸ ᵈᵉⁿⁱᵃˡ, ᵉᵛᵉⁿ ᵗʰᵒᵘᵍʰ ⁱᵗ’ˢ ᵖᵒˢˢⁱᵇˡᵉ ᵗʰᵃᵗ ᴵ ᶜᵒᵘˡᵈ ᵇᵉ ʷʳᵒⁿᵍ. ᴵ ʷᵒᵘˡᵈ ⁿᵉᵉᵈ ᵃⁿ ᵃᵗ⁻ʰᵒᵐᵉ ᶜ¹⁹ ᵗᵉˢᵗ ᵏⁱᵗ ᵃⁿᵈ ᵗᵃᵏᵉ ⁱᵗ ᵈᵃⁱˡʸ ⁱᶠ ᴵ ʷᵉʳᵉ ᵗᵒ ᵗᵉˢᵗ ᶠᵒʳ ᵉᵛᵉʳʸ ˢʸᵐᵖᵗᵒᵐ.

I didn’t mean seasonal or year round allergies, but that can be tricky. I mean people who get random “allergies” for one week and then get better, which is my MIL. That’s a cold. Sometimes she gives that allergy to her husband for a week also. Oops, not an allergy. My MIL is always in denial about being sick unless it is so obvious there is no denying it, like someone else catching it. People with regular seasonal allergies, or allergic to dust, etc, I can understand why they would assume it is their allergies if everything felt as always.

I don’t trust when strangers say their congestion is allergies, not after my experience with my MIL and some other people. I steer clear or make sure I wash my hands if I have to touch something they touched. That’s always, even before covid. With people I know and trust it would be different.

@kritiper Well, yeah, they just pick and choose which symptom will make it actually covid, but not everyone has every symptom.

Why are you going visiting?

My neighbor just told me his father got Covid when there was a Thanksgiving family gathering of 30 people. The father got it from that and is now in the ICU. He’s in his 80’s and they hope he survives. My neighbor stayed home on Thanksgiving but saw the father another day and now my neighbor has Covid. This is an example of how they say just stay home so it won’t be your last Thanksgiving. This is also an example of how selfish people who insist on having their get-togethers are what’s keeping the virus spreading around. Apparently, the people at the Thanksgiving dinner all felt fine but weren’t fine.

@Dutchess_III I visit with friends distanced, outside, with masks. Not often, but here and there. This particular woman lost her husband two months ago and I know it has been hard for her so I went for a visit. I felt bad that I up and left on a dime once she said she wasn’t feeling right. She didn’t get any sicker, I don’t think she had covid, but I did not want to chance it at the time. I was actually on her back lanai and was just realizing no windows were open (I had made it clear ahead of time I distance, mask, outside) and was going to ask her let’s move outside outside by her pool when she told me her throat had been bothering her.

In many cases, They’re crazy and in denial.
If they are practicing safety precautions (mask, social distance when feasible), then any communicable illness should be worrisome. Because it means whatever germ they have broke through all the safety precautions.
Two weeks ago, I came down with a cold, despite all my precautions. (I haven’t even touched a public door or gas pump handle since last March).
I immediately arranged for a Covid test the very next day. (It was Negative).
In California, any resident can get a free Covid test.
Maybe in other states where such a thing is harder, then I can see why someone would be reluctant to pay $75 for what they think is a mild cold.

I don’t care if they get a covid test, I care if they’re sick stay away from others. I felt that way even before covid, but now I would hope everyone is on the same page.

The woman who I went to visit, I can visit with her any time. It easily could have waited a week. If she didn’t feel well, then postpone.

Because one or two symptoms in and of themselves aren’t really enough to leap at Covid. Especially when many of those symptoms are common to a number of illness.

Because you can’t have Covid and be completely asymptomatic? Yes, you can.

Or, you can be like the mayor of Atlanta or Miami and have just cold-like symptoms. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5r-37KAoGv8

Did I imply anything of the sort? No, I did not.

^^You are saying if it feels like a cold people think it probably is and so people go ahead and risk getting others sick. Or, what are you saying if not that?

I’m saying that a sore throat or a bit of nasal congestion isn’t enough to assume Covid. Lord knows, I’d be going to get tested every day if that were the case.

Every day is different than feeling something coming on.

@JLeslie

Do you go get screened for stomach cancer any time your stomach feels a little off?

@Darth_Algar I’m not going to give my friends stomach cancer if I do have it.

I don’t visit my friends if I have a cold. When I had shingles I didn’t go to my gym that always had tons of children and babies.

You risked yourself @JLeslie. No one made you visit the woman. I certainly don’t blame HER.
Reminds me of my dad’s wife. She’s scared shitless of Covid….yet she pays her bills in person rather than through the mail, online or over the phone.

@Dutchess_III I completely agree with you that I put myself at risk. I trusted she would never do such a thing, but I was wrong.

She was extremely careful before her husband died. She was on Facebook telling people to wear masks. I know she wasn’t going many places. She had said her husband was very high risk, he was in the last stages of ALS.

Now, that he died, she isn’t as cautious, but I know she still is on board with distancing, etc. I just didn’t factor in she was one of those people who would think a sore throat is just an allergy or cold. Tons of people like that.

@JLeslie

Once again you prove masterful at missing the point. Minor symptoms, especially ones that are common to a huge number of illness, are no reason to presume upon a larger, more threatening, illness. Especially when more severe symptoms are not present.

@Darth_Algar There is a pandemic going on. Any unusual symptom that fits the covid parameters is worth being cautious in my opinion. We had a jelly tell a story about a woman who made her did Thanksgiving dinner and dropped it off for him. She was feeling a little off. He wound up in the hospital. No point in taking unnecessary risks right now. @Dutchess_III is right that I took the risk myself by going to visit, but I still have a hard time wrapping my head around people who don’t feel well endangering others when completely unnecessary. You prove again to me that there are a lot of people who will assume it isn’t covid, and even if it is a cold they don’t give a damn about spreading around their cold.

Get better friends.

It sounds like you need to isolate.

@JLeslie

Yes, there is a pandemic going on. I’m acutely aware of that. I’m more vulnerable than most are, and if I did catch it the chances of me surviving it are probably not great. As isolated as I’ve remained during this I must, nevertheless, leave the house here and there to attend to things that must be attended to. I cannot, unfortunately, brush off every appointment and errand whenever I may have a sniffle, a sore throat or some head congestion. Millions of others are in that same boat. It’s not necessarily a matter of not giving a damn, it’s a matter of not having that luxury.

@Dutchess_III I do have better friends. This woman is not in my close circle, but I am friendly with her. My close friends we distance, mask, always outside, and tell each other if we had an interaction that maybe put us at higher risk than usual. I was supposed to visit with a close friend a few days later, and we canceled it. She brought me chicken soup, lol, but I was never sick at all. She just had too much chicken soup in her fridge and it was already three days old.

@_____ Are you talking to me? I did stay away from others for several days. I checked to make sure the person I was near felt ok the next couple of days, she was fine. It was fleeting thing.

^ No, I mean that you should just isolate until pandemic is over.