People in the UK who suspect they may have coronavirus have complained about receiving confusing and contradictory advice from health authorities.
Guardian readers across the country reported they had been left unsure about how to respond when they started feeling unwell.
The UK chief medical officers are currently advising anyone experiencing a cough, fever or shortness of breath who has travelled to the UK from mainland China, Thailand, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia or Macau in the past 14 days to stay indoors and call NHS 111.
As of Wednesday, more than 1,750 people have been tested for the virus in the UK, of which nine were confirmed positive.
Three of those tested were Jemima, her mum, Zoe, and dad, Oliver, who were cleared nearly two weeks ago after Oliver returned from China with some symptoms.
Jemima, whose dad is a WWF charity worker, said the advice being given to them by people at Public Health England (PHE) kept changing and was confusing. “After he recovered following some symptoms, he was told he didn’t need to be tested and should just stay at home,” she said.
“It was only a week later, after mum and I started not feeling well, that PHE said we should self-quarantine and not leave our rooms until they could bring us in to get tested. At this point, they didn’t think Dad needed testing because he wasn’t showing any symptoms.”
The family were then told that all three needed testing and that they should drive to the Royal Surrey County hospital in Guildford, where they would be met. “The level of disorganisation from PHE was terrible,” the 24-year-old said.
“We were told there would be a space for us to park, but there wasn’t. We looped the car park and after 5-10 minutes people in protective gear were walking towards us shouting at people to get out of the way.”
Zoe, who works at a school, said the tests were quite straightforward. Their temperatures were taken, as well as nose and throat swabs, urine samples, blood pressure and blood tests. The family were given the all clear.
“We’re so relieved,” said Jemima. “The most stressful part was thinking we could have been infecting other people during the time when PHE advised us it was fine to go outside.”
Another reader, Steve, told the Guardian that he had been given contradictory advice by the NHS 111 helpline, Public Health England and his GP about who could refer him for testing after he developed symptoms following a trip to Singapore.
“I believe that the miscommunications and lack of a joined-up approach caused a delay in my testing of 24 hours and that if my wife had not directly contacted our local NHS hospital (against the advice given by NHS 111 and Public Health England), then I could still be waiting to be tested,” he said.
He said his GP did not feel that testing was urgent and that the hospital doctor removed his protective equipment when testing him. “I’m now continuing to self-isolate at home while waiting for Public Health England to provide the results of my testing, but with no confidence that this will be done in a reasonable timescale,” he said.
One reader said she developed symptoms after returning to the UK from the Philippines. She put herself into quarantine following advice from 111, but has no way of taking herself to get tested at a hospital. “They are asking me to get a friend to take me to the hospital to get tested,” she said, suggesting this was counterintuitive as the friend could get infected.
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