I count anything above what is normal for me as a fever. Your normal is 96 something so when you have 97 something it is a low grade fever FOR YOU.
Now the medical profession won't blink an eye or really care because they use 98.6 as "normal" for everyone....but like always there's that YMMV sticker even with "normal" temps.
Shortly after we joined Kaiser (I went to Kaiser kicking and screaming) my daughter who was 3 at the time woke up and refused to walk. I called Kaiser and had to go through one of their gatekeeper interrogations. I explained that my daughter suddenly couldn't walk. But first they had to ask me a litany of questions.
Kaiser: Does she have a fever?
Me: No, not really, it was 99 yesterday.
K:99 is not a fever.
M: I don't care if it's a fever or not, she CANNOT WALK.
K: We don't have children come in with a temperature of 99 degrees.
M: My daughter suddenly cannot walk.
K: You shouldn't even treat 99 degrees
M: My daughter CANNOT WALK.
K: Did she have a sore throat?
(not really, but I said yes)
K: OK let's get her in to see Dr. X
She had a post-viral myalgia. It went away on it's own. But GEEEEZ!!!!