Dr Catrin Elis Williams from Bodnant Surgery in Bangor has kindly agreed to answer your questions about Coronavirus, Covid-19.

From a large amount of questions submitted, a selection have been chosen for Dr Elis Williams to answer.

 

(Q1) I know many people who had symptoms before Christmas with a high temperature, cough and Flu like symptoms, do you think this could have been Coronavirus?

(A) It’s highly unlikely that the illness you had before Christmas was specifically the Coronavirus which causes Covid 19. Fever, cough and flu-like symptoms are common during the winter time anyway and there are several different types of Coronaviruses that affect humans, mostly causing similar symptoms to the above. There’s no way of knowing for certain in truth, and it shouldn’t make a difference to way we behave now to slow down the spread of the virus.

(Q2) Why does Coronavirus make some people very ill and others only have very mild symptoms?

(A) Like many other respiratory conditions, Covid 19 can vary widely between patients. The vast majority of confirmed cases are considered mild, involving mostly cold-like symptoms and mild chestiness according to the latest and largest set of relevant data. Scientists are working to understand why some people suffer more from the virus than others and on the whole suggest that people most likely to develop severe forms of the illness are elderly and those with pre-existing illnesses. For reasons that aren’t entirely clear, some people, especially the elderly and sick, may have dysfunctional immune systems that fail to keep the response to particular ‘bugs’ in check. There’s a lot more that we don’t know so a great of deal of research is yet to be done.

SELF ISOLATING

(Q3) ) I have a cough but no temperature and I feel fine, do I still need to self isolate?

(A) If you have a new and persistent cough, even if you don’t have a fever and otherwise feel ok, you should continue to self isolate to minimise the risk of virus spread to other people. As not many tests for Covid 19 are being carried out you can’t be certain you have the virus or not, but it seems we can’t be too careful at the moment. We should all continue to follow government guidelines.

(Q4) I’ve been self isolating for 14 days but still have a cough, is it safe to return to work?

(A) The government advice on self isolation is available on the gov.uk website under the ‘household isolation’ section. The advice is that any cough related to covid 19 may persist for several weeks in some people, despite the actual infection having cleared. ‘A persistent cough alone does not mean that someone must continue to self isolate’ is what the government advises. In terms of returning to work, it would be sensible to discuss with your employers and they may wish involve an occupational health advisor.

(Q5) One child in the family had a cough and we have been self isolating for 10 days, now a second child has developed a cough, do we all need to start the self isolating again?

(A) Again quoting the government advice, ‘should a household member develop coronavirus symptoms late in the 14 days household-isolation period, the isolation period does not need to be extended, but the person with the new symptoms has to stay at home for 7 days. The 14-day household isolation period will have greatly reduced the overall amount of infection the rest of the household could pass on, and it is not necessary to restart 14 days of isolation for the whole household. This will have provided a high level of community protection. Further isolation of members of this household will provide very little additional community protection’. Therefore, the answer to your question is no, you don’t all need to start self isolating again.

(Q 6) I have asthma and come under the ‘shielding group’ but I haven’t received a letter yet?

(A) Shielding is the mechanism by which those at very high risk of severe illness from Covid 19 are protected from the virus as much as possible. It seeks to minimise interaction between people in this category with other people. This should keep their risk of them coming into contact with the virus to an absolute minimum.

As far as asthma is concerned, it depends how bad your asthma is to decide if you’re actually in the ‘shielded group’. The Asthma UK website has some useful, specific advice. If you believe you’re in the ‘shielding group’ but haven’t received a text message or letter yet, you should follow the shielding guidance anyway, which is the following:

  • Strictly avoid contact with someone who is displaying symptoms of Covid 19. These symptoms include high temperature and/or new and continuous cough.
  • Do not leave your house/property.
  • Do not attend any gatherings. This includes gatherings of friends and families in private spaces, for example family homes, weddings and religious services.
  • Do not go out for shopping, leisure or travel and, when arranging food or medication deliveries, these should be left at the door to minimise contact.
  • Keep in touch using remote technology such as phone, internet and social media.

There’s a lot more detailed information on the gov.uk website which I hope will be helpful.

Testing

(Q7) I’ve heard the diagnostic test kits are just for Coronavirus and not specifically Covid-19, are you able to clarify this?

(A) The diagnostic kits would need to be specific for Covid 19, otherwise they’re pointless. Coronaviruses of some form or another are around us everywhere and the tests results would be useless information if all types of coronaviruses were detected indiscriminately. So I hope the information you’ve heard is wrong!

General Questions

(Q8) The numbers of patients with Coronavirus in North Wales seem lower than elsewhere, do we need really need the same ‘lockdown’ rules as everywhere else?

(A) Indeed, the numbers of confirmed cases of coronavirus in North Wales does seem lower than some other places (although some areas in South Wales have higher figures per head of population than London even). On 30/3/2020 there were 82 confirmed cases in the Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board catchment area (11.7 cases per 100,000 population), although it’s likely the true figure is far higher as only a small number of very sick people are being tested. Testing has picked up a little this week, with health care workers with specific symptoms being tested as well, so the picture may change quite a bit as a result.

To answer your question about ‘lockdown’, it’s important we continue to follow the same general rules as every other part of the country as we may find ourselves with far higher numbers if we don’t. Although the North Wales figures may seem low at the moment, it could be that we’re just catching it a little later than other areas and the picture may change significantly in a short time. We can’t be complacent, particularly given the state of our healthcare service even before this pandemic began.

(Q9) Can you catch Coronvirus more than once?

(A) We don’t have enough evidence yet to know if recovering from covid 19 gives us immunity from catching it again, or if any immunity gives us long lasting protection against it. Some scientists are saying that as we don’t get a long lasting immunity from ordinary coronavirus infections (which explains why we can catch the common cold over and over during our lifetimes), that this could be the case for covid 19 as well. But other specialists are more optimistic, for example Martin Hibberd from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, who says ‘the evidence is increasingly convincing that infection with (this specific coronavirus) leads to an antibody response that is protective. Most likely this protection is for life’. So even the experts don’t know for certain yet, although I think I’m safe to say that early signs are reassuring.

Dr Williams added: “On behalf of partners and staff at Bodnant Surgery, I’d like to thank all our patients for their understanding and co-operation during this stressful time for all of us. We and other local surgeries are doing all we can to provide services under difficult circumstances, and very much appreciate all the support we’re being shown. Diolch yn fawr.”

Thank you Dr Elis Williams for taking time out of your busy schedule to help us in this way.

Please note this article is intended to be used for general advice and if you feel unwell or suspect you have Coronavirus please follow the advice on the NHS website https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/ More information about Coronavirus is also available on the at the government website: https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus