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I have, as I know many others have, found it a struggle to know when it is safe to go back to work during the coronavirus pandemic.
The concern that I might be infectious to others is one that I find very difficult to tolerate.
I have, as I know many others have, found it a struggle to know when it is safe to go back to work during the coronavirus pandemic.
The concern that I might be infectious to others is one that I find very difficult to tolerate.
Trying to work out what is and isn’t a symptom - and what is and isn’t a returning symptom! - when so much rides on the answer, has been challenging.
After my original symptoms I was one of the last to be offered a test by 111 under the old system.
After my original symptoms I was one of the last to be offered a test by 111 under the old system.
I was tested weeks ago at a drive-through facility in Parsons Green. While I waited for the result I drew up an extensive list of people and places I’d come into contact with in the preceding weeks so that I could help PHE to contact trace in the event of a positive test.
Frustratingly - almost unbelievably - I was called a week later to be told that my sample had ‘leaked’ in transit and that it had not been processed. I was not offered another test. Since then my potential symptoms have persisted in some form or other.
Very early on I may have had a mild fever, I had shortness of breath and I’ve had a mostly mild cough most days, if not every day, for weeks and weeks. I have, among other things, had chest sensations, fatigue, intermittent tummy stuff and persistent sinusitis.
I’ve had night sweats, too, and earlier on I had a runny nose.
Attempting to work out, even with medical advice, what is and isn’t indicative of coronavirus has been anxiety-inducing. And I haven’t found trying to interpret the government’s return-to-work guidelines easy.
Attempting to work out, even with medical advice, what is and isn’t indicative of coronavirus has been anxiety-inducing. And I haven’t found trying to interpret the government’s return-to-work guidelines easy.
I decided not to use the private system: I’ve worried that I might be taking a test away from the NHS and PHE (and those who need it most) and, anyway, been unsure how trustworthy testing is outside the public sphere.
Finally, as of this morning, I have been able to register for a test on the government’s website as an essential worker.
While false negative test results for the virus are, we are told, more likely than false positive test results, a negative result would obviously provide helpful reassurance (taken together with the government’s advice on what to do after getting a negative result).
I have missed being on air on LBC more than I can say at such an important time and I cannot wait to get back to doing what I love. It’s an enormous privilege and one that I am hugely grateful for.
Radio is playing such an important role in this crisis and it’s gutting not to be doing my bit at the moment. But my priority is to keep others safe and to be responsible.
I’m someone who usually ploughs on when I’m feeling unwell. I’m physically fit and strong and almost never have to stay in bed. If coronavirus were not a public health emergency and the risk of infecting others so serious, I would be getting on with business as normal.
Until this pandemic I hadn’t missed a single show since starting at LBC in 2016 and I wanted to share this thread first and foremost to explain my recent absences from the airwaves to my listeners - whom I miss enormously!
But I also share it in the hope that it may reassure those who have found this time challenging to navigate, for whatever reason, that you are not alone.
