If you've felt sick within the last few weeks and generally run down, it thankfully doesn't mean that you have Covid - and if you keep testing negative, it doesn't necessarily mean it's a faulty test.
Although the best thing to do is test and isolate until you receive a negative result, many people are wondering why they feel so awful and yet their test is not showing up as positive.
While Covid may not seem as dangerous as it was at the start, this is simply down to a vaccine being created which helps protect against hospitalisation and death.
At present around one in 14 people are said to be infected with the virus with omicron, and it's sub-variant, stealth omicron, helping case numbers rise.
First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon stated that we have to be cautious as restrictions ease shortly before Scotland ended many of its legal restrictions yesterday (March 21).
Despite this, face masks were extended.
Speaking at the Scottish Parliament, she said: "Given the current spike in case numbers, we consider it prudent to retain this requirement in regulation for a further short period.
"I know this will be disappointing for businesses and service providers such as day care services.
"However, ensuring continued widespread use of face coverings will provide some additional protection - particularly for the most vulnerable - at a time when the risk of infection is very high, and it may help us get over this spike more quickly."
Ms Sturgeon said the government remains optimistic the risk of covid will move from medium to low over the spring – and expects mask-wearing will be converted to guidance in early April.
But with cases rising again, why are people feeling so ill if they are testing negative?
The reason you may be feeling ill despite not having covid
Even though your mind may jump to Covid, it could just be a cold or a later-than-usual flu.
This is because just like these past few years, people have been staying indoors and now that restrictions are easing again, more people are mixing - and soon, they'll be meeting up without masks.
The flu usually appears between December and March when the air is said to be more dry and people tend to stay indoors in a bid to avoid the cold weather, reports the Mirror.
Dr Philip Lee, a West London consultant physician in acute medicine explains why there are more flu outbreaks now.
However, Dr Lee said that we might be seeing the flu making rounds a bit longer than usual.
He explained: "It's a bit late in the year for flu. Usually we'd expect flu to peter out by around Easter, but we are seeing more patients test positive for flu, as well as other common cold type viruses.
He explained: "Having had two years of washing your hands singing happy birthday twice, and wearing masks everywhere, all things that help stop all respiratory diseases; it's unsurprising to see a rise as soon as all those things stop."
Other viruses, which are around at the moment, include respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, which the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) have warned might cause mild, cold-like symptoms.
Dr Conall Watson, a consultant epidemiologist for the UKHSA added: "For most people RSV means a common cold, but it is easily spread and is the leading cause of bronchiolitis in infants – inflammation of small airways in the lungs."
In most cases, both influenza and RSV clear up on its own. However, it can lead to respiratory issues and hospital admissions in young children, babies and anyone with pre-existing respiratory problems.
Another highly infectious virus that has seen a rise in infections in recent weeks, is the norovirus. The virus which impacts the stomach causing vomiting and diarrhoea is highly infectious and easily transmitted, but usually passes within a few days.
Professor Saheer Gharbia, gastrointestinal pathogens and food safety directorate for the UKHSA, said: "Norovirus, commonly known as the winter vomiting bug, has been at lower levels than normal throughout the pandemic but as people have begun to mix more, the numbers of outbreaks have started to increase again."
What is the difference between Covid symptoms and symptoms of other viruses?
Covid and the flu do have some similar symptoms. However, the NHS highlights three classic symptoms of Covid as:
- A new, continuous cough
- A fever/high temperature
- Loss of or change to smell or taste
The loss or change to sense of smell or taste, which occurs with Covid rarely occurs with the flu. However, a cough does tend to be quite common with a cold or flu.
People with the flu also experience symptoms like muscle aches, chills, headaches, tiredness, a sore throat and a runny or stuffed nose.
The main difference is how long the onset of the virus takes. A flu tends to come on quite suddenly - or within one to two days of being exposed to the virus. For Covid, symptoms typically appear two to 14 days after being exposed to the virus.
In case of the norovirus, symptoms tend to include sudden onset of nausea, projectile vomiting and diarrhoea. Sometimes, people suffer from a high temperature, abdominal pain and aching limbs due to the virus as well.
If you have norovirus, it's recommended that you stay home from work or school until 48 hours after symptoms have completely cleared.
Whether you have Covid or some other infectious viral illness, it's important to wash your hands and keep away from vulnerable people if you have symptoms of any of the viruses.
