NO SYMPTOMS - BUT RAPID TESTS REVEALED COVID-19
KIM TOBIN, 54, FROM SOUTHEND, ESSEX, WORKS IN A SUPERMARKET
“I had a very, very mild, sore throat, just a little scratch and that was it... I was all dressed for work, ready to go. And I went and had the test. And we had to wait for 20 minutes, I think it was. And the lady that was doing the test came up to me and said, ‘You need to go home right now because you’ve got it, you’ve tested positive.’
“And I was so shocked, I just couldn’t believe it, because, apart from that very, very slight sore throat — which I’d been for a run the day before so it wasn’t that bad – I had absolutely nothing wrong with me, I felt fine, I was ready to go to work. So I had a PCR test to confirm the result. And obviously that was positive...”
The household self-isolated and the other members were tested. Kim’s daughter, Eva, also tested positive.
“There’s a lot of people who could have no symptoms and if you don’t know, if you’re not feeling any of those symptoms, you would probably assume that you haven’t got it.
“The thing is, it’s a bit like, at the moment, because all the numbers are down, and you think, ‘Ah well, there’s not so much of it about, so maybe it’s not so important that I need to take it,’ whereas before it was at its peak, and I think everybody was just like, ‘Yeah, I’m definitely taking this because there is a strong possibility that I might have it.’
“But I do think it’s important because we know how quickly it spreads just by one person having it and giving it to somebody else.”
EMMA STANNARD, 22, IS A PR EXECUTIVE WHO LIVES NEAR WORCESTER
“I take rapid Covid-19 tests for peace of mind and because I work in an office and want to keep my colleagues safe. It’s been proven these tests are very accurate.
“I found out you could order them online through nhs.uk/ Get-Tested and at any participating local pharmacy. I’ve got them from both and they’re easy to use. I wake up, test myself, get showered and whilst having breakfast, the result appears and I can scan the bar code of the test and record my result on the Government website all before finishing my first cup of tea of the day!
“I got used to being tested last year when I worked in a care home for a couple of months. “We were regularly tested by swabbing the back of our throat and nose.
“I thought it was a really good idea because you could have no symptoms and it’s always better to know. I had three negative tests then my fourth one came back as positive – it was a shock because I didn’t have any symptoms and I was following the rules. In fact I was so shocked, I think I cried ....
“Luckily everyone I had seen at the time and in the care home tested negative. I was absolutely over the moon because, for me, the biggest thing was not infecting other people. To have that reassurance that no one had caught it off me was a huge weight off my shoulders.
“In August I got a new job as a PR executive at Sanity Marketing. When I heard rapid Covid-19 tests for everyone had been introduced,
I got some because I had been in the routine of getting tested and it seemed like a nobrainer...
“Lots of other people at the company are doing the same. If one of us at Sanity gets Covid-19, then the rest of us will. We live in different households and see different people and it’s so easy to pass on if you don’t know you have it. So taking the test is peace of mind.
“When people say they don’t want to take a test, I think to myself: if you have a chance to potentially save a life, why wouldn’t you take it?
If you have no symptoms, get your free, rapid Covid-19 tests at nhs. uk/Get-Tested — or call 119, where there are over 200 different languages available.