Do you take time off for "just a cold".

[ImFree2doasiwant]

Sore scratchy swollen throat, pressure in my nose, sore eyes, cough, sneezing, streaming nose. Been awake over an hour. DC1 also has it and feeling very sorry for himself, started school last week and is just so tired. Dc2 has been coughing in the night.

We could all do with a day or 2 off but its "just a cold". I can WFH but pretty sure work won't be happy (recently upped our days back in the office)

If it was just me I'd just 'soldier on'. But poor dc1 is suffering. It seems all his class are too.

[AttaGirrrrl]

I’m not sure if you’ve heard, but there’s a nasty virus going around. There’s a simple test to check if you have it or not. You can order one here:
www.gov.uk/get-coronavirus-test

(If you’ve already done that, take the day off. Duvets on sofa. Hot water bottles. Mint tea. Relax)

[Gladioli23]

I try not to have days off for "just" colds but sometimes you just have to. They aren't all equal, something that gives you a bit of a bunged up nose is not the same as something where you feel like death warmed up. I had one a couple of years ago where I had a temperature of 39 and was semi delerious. I went into work feeling moderately unwell in the morning, people took one look at me and sent me to work from home and then by the time I got home I was feeling so rough I just lay on the sofa in a daze for hours. Retrospectively it would have been much better to just give myself time to get better because it knocked me off kilter for weeks.

[cushioncovers]

Yes absolutely a cold can leave you feeling utterly wretched. If you are ill don't go in

[PattyPan]

I’d take the day off and I’d want anyone I worked with to as well - 1) so they’re not spreading it and 2) if you take time off to rest then you’ll recover more quickly so it’s overall better for productivity.

[Hels20]

OP you don’t mention if you have PCR - sounds exactly like some of my Covid symptoms. Have you had a PCR? If not, please get one

[saraclara]

...and cash the cheque while you're at it.

[purplesequins]

if I can't do my job due to illness then I don't go (or log) into work.
be it a cold or a broken finger.

due to covid with cold symptoms we are not allowed into the work place, but we can log on and work from home if we can.

[BogRollBOGOF]

Most winters there's a couple of weeks where we end up run-down and coldy so knock off the extras and have an easier week on essential function.

In my first winter in teaching I went in with an unpleasant cold and my voice went through the day so that by last lesson, I was teaching by thumping on the board and writing messages. I had to be off for 3 days until my voice came back. It was a useful lesson for me (and I had met someone with permanently damaged vocal chords following a virus) so there is a point of feeling lousy where I will (or for the DCs) down tools for a quicker recovery. We're not the types to be off with any slight sniffle though.

This year we'll be more cagey about colds just because the disruption of the overlap with Covid symptoms. We got away lightly last year. We had a series of colds on going back to school that didn't meet the testing threshold (and there was a shortage at that point) and because so much of the winter was spent outdoors or with minimal social contact, we didn't get anything else.

[Thirtyrock39]

@Stressedoutgirl45

Daughter started school last week and at the weekend came down with such a heavy cold and not eating. On Monday morning she was just so full of cold; sneezing, snore throat, streaming eyes etc… and extremely tired. I’ve kept her off school and won’t be going in today either. She would have just been so miserable going in.
A few days home, wrapped up and resting.

When you’re ill, it’s best to stay off work and school and get better I feel.

Hope you all feel better soon.

These are the exact symptoms my two positive covid kids have - hoping you were able to rule out covid

[Almostwelsh]

Even if it is just a cold, why are you going into the office to spread it when you could WFH? That's really antisocial. If we've learned one thing from the pandemic, surely it's to try and keep viruses to ourselves?

It might just be a cold to you, but someone you work with might have or live with someone who has a condition that will make them really poorly with it.

[OverByYer]

I had a heavy cold a few months ago.
I WFH while I had it.
I think these days it’s bad form going into the office spreading germs, making others worry you may have COVID.
Stay home

[Silkiescatz]

It really depends how ill you are feeling, if you are feeling not well enough to work, need to be in bed most of day then would stay home. If its you can take paracetamol and some tissues and manage then I would go in assuming you are negative on covid tests.

DH has been ill for nearly 2 weeks now with what appears to be a cold, never normally ill and vomiting and cold symptoms and so drowsy all the time. Negative on PCR. He is wfh but doing very little. DD and I have come down with it now and feel ill like flu but it is more like a cold but heaviest cold ever, hard to breathe, going to ears and DD is being sick. Also negative on covid tests but very wierd, normally with colds feel rough for a day then just a bit annoying.

[dreamingbohemian]

I really hope that post covid it will be more acceptable to stay home with colds, if everyone does this (who can) then fewer people will get sick in the first place.

Our school have said stay home with a cold if there's coughing or sneezing, of course they are still sending round threatening emails about attendance which is not helpful

[Coronado2]

I know a few people who have had the worst colds they've ever had recently, tested negative but been so ill they've been in bed most of the time.

I rarely take days off sick, but when I do, it tends to be for colds. I cannot work through them. When I've got a bad cold I really struggle to work through it. The lack of sleep and the blocked nose mean I just can't focus.

[mdh2020]

I would hate it if you came into the office and sat near with me with a bad cold. If I give my husband a cold he will develop bronchitis and probably pneumonia as well. I am also a carer for my elderly mother. It’s unsociable to go to work if you could be spreading germs.

[Trinacham]

As others have said hopefully you're getting a PCR? I thought I just had a cold as I had sneezing, runny nose etc. Then a colleague tested positive who I'd been around. I then tested and found I was positive for Covid too.

[noblegreenk]

If it's a really bad cold, which it sounds like it is, then take some time off. I do soldier on for general colds, but if it's a real stinker I take time to recuperate.

[Waxonwaxoff0]

@dreamingbohemian

I really hope that post covid it will be more acceptable to stay home with colds, if everyone does this (who can) then fewer people will get sick in the first place.

Our school have said stay home with a cold if there's coughing or sneezing, of course they are still sending round threatening emails about attendance which is not helpful

Low paid workers often can't afford to, we need better sick pay.

[lljkk]

If we've learned one thing from the pandemic, surely it's to try and keep viruses to ourselves

Except for the immunity debt thing.
Frequent exposure to prompt the immune system to keep protecting us, might be the best community protection strategy against too much severe disease from respiratory viruses.

Best way forward is not a simple decision. We live in an ecosystem with all these microbes.

[ADreadedSunnyDay]

We have been more unwell with 'just a cold' (yes PCR tested to rule out Covid) than all the families we know who currently have Covid.

[PutYourBackIntoit]

I'm in same boat today. Really needed to work today, back to back decision making meetings and as a contractor I only get paid for the days I work.
But I just can't, I'm bed bound, nose is a waterfall. My eyes are so sore, head ache & face ache.
My dd had it earlier this week, tested negative with pcr.
Take the day off and rest x

[dreamingbohemian]

@Waxonwaxoff0 I know, my DH is one of those low paid workers... that's why I said if everyone 'who can' stays home, I know a lot of people can't. But a lot of people could and still drag themselves into the office because 'it's just a cold', then they get everyone else sick (including people who really can't stay home).

We used to live in Germany, they have a very generous sick leave policy and you are expected to stay home as soon as you have a sniffle. People actually get upset with you if you come into work ill! I wish every country would do this. We all got sick so much less when we lived there.

[Iliketeaagain]

My DD has "just a cold" and she just had a positive pcr test yesterday. Picked up on LFT, which I did to reassure myself she could go to school . Thank good ness I did, confirmed by positive pcr test.

Hardly any coughing, no temp, just lots of snottiness, but otherwise feeling fine and like a typical cold kids get at the start of term.

[colouringindoors]

Nasty one going round. My son has it as does a colleague. No point going into work and school spreading it further. Take a day or two to rest and flush it out 💐

[TheTurn0fTheScrew]

I had to go in with a cold the other week (PCR negative). Unfortunate but unavoidable as there was no-one to cover. I think the increased awareness of masks (wore one all day), ventilation, hand hygiene and distance helps, as I didn't pass it on to the two colleagues I share an office with.

I went in as I was snotty with watering eyes, but otherwise felt absolutely fine. If I had been feeling unwell, rather than just snotty, I would have no qualms about staying off.