would you give up work if you were worried about catching coronavirus thorugh your work?

[EnidBlyton]

because i am contemplating this

No

Your admin job is more likely a source of coronavirus.

Because the "oldies" you visit sit at home all day, go nowhere, see no-one. They come in to contact with 5 people a day MAX. Their chances of getting and passing coronavirus to you are tiny.

You colleagues in your admin job go to see friends, they go to busy bars and restaurants. To the supermarket, visit family. Go to the GP, hospitals. They mingle with hundreds of people. Their possible sources of infection are vast.

If you are going to give a job, give up the admin job.

I can't afford to give up work. As a single parent, I'd have money. I work in a big secondary school. I reckon there's a good chance I'll get it.

*no money 🙄

Have you always been anxious? Perhaps this work just isn't good for you . If you don't need the money quit the job.

Neither myself nor my colleagues ( all frontline HCPs) have considered quitting our jobs due to COVID-19.
As long as you follow correct procedures and guidelines that your employers have put in place you are giving yourself and others the best level of protection.

Enid, I understand the nerves. The media aren’t exactly helping people keep it in perspective.
But there at 65,000,000 people in the UK. 20 have caught corona virus. 8 have recovered & been sent home from hospital, leaving 12 cases. That’s roughly one person in every 6 million.

If you want to give up work, do, but don’t fret about corona yet. Double your basic hygiene and be calm.

I am a doctor- no way would I give it up. In fact I would happily do the caring for those infected if it meant a couple of my immunosuppressed colleagues didn’t have to.
Part of the deal of being an HCP

Although easier for me to say when I get paid a shit load in return for these kind of things (not in the UK) and I might feel differently if I was on minimum wage and was breaking my back for not very much and having to take that risk

but at least in NHS you get masks and protective wear.

Why do you need masks etc when none of your patients are going to get CV ?

I'm a respiratory nurse, so it would be a real shame if my colleagues and I decided to chuck it all in just now.

Do it if your life depends on it. Put yourself first in situations like this, think about your survival.

If you're worried, have already considered leaving and you don't need the money then leave, but leave and own the reason is you don't want to work there.
Don't blame coronavirus when you're probably more likely to catch it in general life and pass it to your patients (who probably get out less than you) than you are to catch it from them.

OP, I think you’re worrying more than you need to about this.

You’re a community cater, so visiting elderly / ill people in their homes, yes?

Realistically, the patients you visit are at low risk of spreading Coronavirus. If they’re infirm or ill enough to need a career, they’re probably not going out and about a lot and getting lots of exposure to it.

There’s not been many cases in the UK yet, and AFAIK most of those are people who’ve returned from trips abroad to affected areas.

So really your patients are unlikely to give Coronavirus to you. You’d be more likely to catch it from your colleagues at the admin job, or day to day things like going to shops or other public places. And while it is of course a worry you can’t practically shut yourself off from everything until it goes away.

The sensible thing to do would be to be vigilant about personal hygiene, hand washing and so on, and follow all the procedures and guidelines you have from your employer.

I’m a dentist. I wear all my PPE but it’s a high risk job for catching things.
I won’t quit but if the schools close I will be the one who takes an unpaid leave of absence to look after DS. DH can work from home and I don’t want to put grandparents in their mid 70s at risk.
I worked through the swine flu epidemic without giving it a thought, I think I worry more now- combination of having a child and 24 hour news/ social media.

I don't know why you're getting such a hard time OP. I'm worried about my friend who works at an airport. It is true though that the elderly are less likely to catch the virus because they are in less contact with other people, however if they do then the results are much mor likely to be fatal for them.

Could you get a face mask and gloves - would your employer provide these if you ask ?

I don’t know why you’re getting a hard time. It’s a job you’re thinking of giving up anyway and corona is tipping the balance. It’s not your life long vocation by the sounds of it. You’re probably being paid a pittance to do a hard job with a degree of risk. I’m sure you won’t be the only one.

I’m more worried that so many hcps have been treated badly and underpaid that this will be the last nail in the coffin.

Well no, because I couldn't afford to stop working.

But if you want to and can afford to then crack on. Bit hysterical in my opinion but none of my business.

If you hate your job, leave. Social care jobs are poorly paid, hard work and employers give little thanks.
If you want to use this as a reason, crack on.

My employers have not put out any new guidelines, i did ask about masks and was poopoohed,
we wear gloves
thanks for the more recent reasonable responses

And of course the other carers go out and socialise, my point was they would pass it to the old folk, with whom we are in close contact.

But if the old people had no carers that wouldn't be ideal either. I'm surprised that your employers are not at least stressing importance of hand washing and providing hand gel and masks.

I hear you! I'm not going to until it's all over London (which won't be long) but then I refuse to travel on the tube which means I won't get to work.

I do think you're letting the media hysteria get to you. The figures so far indicate that the figures are no worse than the numbers for a winter flu. If you're fit and healthy then its unlikely that you'll catch it.

You should be practising good hygiene as a matter of course - proper hand washing with hot water and soap, sneezing into hankies, not into the air, and throwing them away immediately and so on - the things you should be doing if you're moving from home to another.

Maybe you should look into getting help for your anxiety?

No I wouldn’t. I need my job to feed and clothe and keep a roof over mine and my kids’ heads. If you don’t then fill your boots but I think it’s stupid.