Aibu ti be slightly annoyed with DH for taking a Covid test

I have repeatedly said that the nature of the virus is secondary. What matters is that the OP not only mixed with healthy young people at the work she (not unreasonably) had to attend, but also chose to socialise in close quarters with many people, including the elderly. She at no point followed sensible ‘be careful’ guidance for ANY infectious illness - only mix with people for essential reasons; keep distance; ventilate well; practice scrupulous hygiene.

I follow ‘be careful’ guidance as if I have Covid / flu every time - to me, that is much more important than whether I test or not (I do also test if for any reason I cannot be careful, or if visiting someone very specifically vulnerable)

As so many other people have said it doesn't necessarily matter what you had you still went out and about and potentially infected many people with an unpleasant illness just before Christmas. Some of them might get pretty ill even if most of them won't. It's not the fact that you didn't know it's covid that gets me riled it's the fact that you spread your germs around because you wanted to enjoy your social activities. Going to work because you might not get paid and can't afford not to is entirely different to continuing with socialising.

I’d take a lot more notice of of your critics here if each and every one of them had said whenever they had cold symptoms they immediately use one of the Covid tests they keep at home ready to use at the first sniffle and that their whole household does not leave their house until they are all fully recovered. And of course, that should apply to any illness, not just Covid.

They don’t say that because they don’t do that.

As you can see from this thread, lots of us are still testing!! I test to prevent spread to vulnerable people! Because I’m not selfish!

Regardless of covid19, you went out socialising knowing you were unwell with something contagious. The mind boggles

Whoops, it won't let me edit it, but that should read "continuing to socialise with anything contagious is incredibly selfish".

But Covid is not a mild virus, though infection with it can be mild. This doesn't protect you from Long Covid, or the long-term damage Covid can do. We still don't know the full implications. Even a mild case can cause long-term damage to major organs, including the heart, the lungs and the brain. That's your children, possibly damaged for life. There was some worrying research that suggested there may be a link between multiple Covid infections and early onset dementia.

Please don't treat like a mild virus. It isn't. If you think you may have it, test. If you can isolate, isolate. If you can't, wear a mask.

Always, always test so you can keep the people around you safe.

If they aren't, they should be. Covid is still putting people in hospital and still killing them. If you know you are positive, you should wear a good mask to protect others, and make sure they know so they can avoid you if they want to. I always test if I get anything that seems like a cold. Covid can be quite mild, but it's no less dangerous.

Doing the test means you can at least now stop spreading it around.

Yep.

If the government had struck to "strongly recommended" with things like masks and testing, more of us might be doing so now, out of common sense. But as soon as these things crossed the line into compulsion, many of us saw this as the beginning of a very slippery slope. We came dangerously close to compulsory vaccines. And then Partygate was the final nail in the coffin of government telling us to do anything.

Because the Covid virus is much worse for some than the common cold and you surely know that?

Honestly, I think continuing to socialise when you have anything contagious. Especially so coming up to Christmas.

Did you warn the people you were meeting up with that you were sick?

A friend visited us with a heavy cold before our holiday a few years ago. My husband caught it and it sucked the enjoyment out of the holiday we'd saved all year for. So selfish. We could have seen her a week or two later and not spent the holiday with him feeling miserable.

So can you magically tell what's a cold and what's Covid?

For those of us who are immunocompromised, please take the test and stay away. Your cold is our serious illness.

Words fail me.

The point is that if you were genuinely careful you would not have spent a weekend in close personal contact with an 80 year old.

If at the birthday celebrations and the other social events you stayed well away from everyone, ensured good ventilation, were absolutely scrupulous about tissue and hand hygiene - then I suspect you would not have posted.

So yes, being careful and following good hygiene is indeed the point - but nothing in your posts about how you spent your time while ill indicate that you were genuinely careful.

I had mild cold symptoms a couple of weeks ago and unavoidably had to go to my elderly parents for a critical household appointment . I warned them in advance, kept distance from them, managed hands and tissues appropriately, ate lunch in a room with good through ventilation and was outside or in another room whenever possible and compatible with the task being done. Whatever virus I had that was causing my mild sniffly nose, that was ‘being careful’.

You're still claiming no one is testing any more despite the responses you have had on this thread? Good grief.

That presupposes PPE was available…

But a cold doesn't make you so unwell that you have to take time off from work and stay home, even for a day. That's the moment you should have taken the test, because it the most likely options were cold or flu.

Quite!

Perish the thought - perish the thought - that people should be considerate of others!

You were well enough to go back to work AFTER you were sick enough that you couldn't work - the people you passed it onto in the days before Christmas now have that part to look forward to.