The advent of spring weather, teamed with a particularly good season for crops, has caused pollen to travel across the region, leaving sneezing, wheezing residents in its wake.
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But with many hayfever symptoms replicating the signs of possible COVID, people have been left questioning whether or not they need to get swabbed every time they sniffle or sneeze.
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Victoria's chief health officer Brett Sutton said it depended on whether symptoms were ongoing.
"There will be some people where it is an itchy nose for a short time in the morning, a couple of sneezes and that's all... totally resolved after minutes and then there's no ongoing symptoms, there's no cough, there's no fever, there's no headache, there's no fatigue," he said.
"That doesn't require testing but for people who have ongoing symptoms even if they may think it's their hayfever, if they're compatible symptoms with coronavirus we would ask them to get tested."
The NSW Health Department advises residents "if you have any possible COVID-19 symptoms (even if you suspect it's just your first allergy attack of the season) you need to immediately get tested for COVID-19 to confirm your diagnosis."
"If your COVID-19 test result is negative, and you continue to have symptoms or recurrent allergies, talk with your GP about a management plan during the COVID-19 pandemic," the department advises.
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Digital journalists with The Border Mail.
Digital journalists with The Border Mail.
