Chickenpox - how careful do I have to be?

[PrincessWatermelon]

My DD has chickenpox and I know we have to avoid people who haven't had it until it scabs over. Im just wondering how incredibly careful we have to be.

School run - can we drop my DS off (nipping in and out of the playground)? Bearing in mind she will have been contagious for 2 weeks prior to now!!

I could theoretically arrange a friend to take DS, but it'd be a nuisance to all and I don't want to seem too precious and overkill.

What about playing at a park, as long as she's away from people? Or a quiet shop to pop in and get something?

Just wondering how far others have taken the quarantine! Thanks

We stayed at home (only playing in the garden) until completely scabbed over. It was a pain as they got it one after the other (so double the time at home) and we were moving house bang in the middle 🤦🏻‍♀️. I wouldn’t have felt at all comfortable taking them to a park or a shop etc.

No you're not supposed to take them out into public due to the risk it can cause some people to catch it. It's inconvenient and a PITA for a few days but IMO it's selfish to put others at risk

Complete quarantine here. DC in car for school run (school were happy to accommodate for the duration). Otherwise at home. Sure they were infectious before we realised but it would have been extremely selfish to have continued once we did know. That half term was beyond dreary but we could and did have people over who had had it.

Personally, I can't see any problem at all with taking DS to school. The risk is being in an enclosed space with 'infected' air in circulation. You're not going to get that effect out in the open air.

I wouldn't take her to the park however as it's slightly different - she may well have the virus on her hands or cough/sneeze on the play equipment.

It doesn't take long for them to scab over. Have some duvet days on the sofa with some films.

It can be extremely harmful to pregnant women who haven’t had chickenpox. Life changing sort of harmful. Please do not take him to school and please keep him away from others

My immunosuppressed 8yo would face hospital time on antivirals if she catches chickenpox, however, her nurse specialists said it requires 15 minutes contact.

You can avoid putting anyone at risk without getting hysterical about it. I wouldn't dream of risking passing it on to anyone (and bollocked DH when he took a poxy DS to ASDA once) but that is NOT going to happen by you standing out in the playground for 5 minutes.

It's very easy for a few children to arrive at a park and it's suddenly not empty and if your dc is anything like mine if they are having fun they will not want to leave without a protest.
The 'quiet shop' - so no staff?? No staff who many be pregnant, problems with their immune system etc?

Please don't go to these places.
I'm sure you and dc can cope with a few days Inside playing with toys and watch g cbeebies

Thanks for the input. I appreciate hearing your viewpoints.

I will do all I can to keep my DD away from everyone. Good to know I won't be thought over the top if I make other arrangements for school run.

Hopefully they'll scab up as quickly as possible!