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Original poster

Covid etiquette now?

112 replies

Rainallnight · 08/10/2023 19:52

What is Covid etiquette these days?

Very few people in our area are testing, and school is letting kids in with positive tests, as long as they have no temperature.

We are testing and three out of four of us have it. DS very poorly and has been all week. Hasn’t been able to go to school and I’ve been home away looking after him. Haven’t tested DD yet - she sounds like she’s got a cold so probably has it too.

On one hand, I don’t want to isolate if we’re the only idiots doing it.

But on the other, it feels irresponsible to just go round the place giving people Covid.

But then, given no one where we are is testing, everyone is probably going round giving each other Covid anyway.

You can see I’m going round in circles with this.

Tell me, what are you doing?

OP posts:
Cascais · 08/10/2023 21:52

Stay home

Whoopsmahoot · 08/10/2023 22:27

Husband and I both had Covid recently- he was positive for 13 days, me 9. I’m immunosuppressed so get free tests and antivirals. Husband worked from home but was in bed 5 days, I was off sick. I think a hellova lot of people are wandering about positive with “colds”.

OceanicBoundlessness · 08/10/2023 22:28

Did they find out that asymptomatic transmission was less of a thing than they thought?
We were asked to wear masks all the time in public spaces to protect other people in case we had an illness we didn't know about.
So how much point is there in testing if people can be wandering about symptomless and spreading it around anyway?

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

Covid-19
gotomomo · 08/10/2023 22:33

Before covid what did you do?

If your child is unwell to the extent of running a fever, feeling lethargic and generally feels bad then you kept them at home for 2-3 days until they felt better. Well it's the same with covid, if they are ill keep them at home - you don't need to test, use your instincts, the test isn't relevant

MatthewsMumFromTikTok · 08/10/2023 22:48

Cascais · 08/10/2023 21:52

Stay home

Well, no, no I won't be

I have to work!

welshweasel · 08/10/2023 22:56

Frontline NHS here. Our policy is stay home if you have a high temperature (but don't test), otherwise come to work if you feel well enough. If you do happen to test and it's positive, then you can still come to work so long as you feel well enough.

So basically we're back to how we did things pre Covid. It does feel weird though - I had it again last week and spend all week in work trying not to get too close to elderly patients (pretty unavoidable if you want to do your job properly).

Cadenza12 · 08/10/2023 22:58

Testing if unwell and would stay at home until negative. Had it at Christmas and wouldn't dream of knowingly give it to anyone else.

Alighttouchonthetiller · 08/10/2023 23:14

I teach. There was a kid in one of my classes last week who was clearly very unwell - coughing, sneezing, high temp. He told me his mum didn't believe in testing for Covid. He sits directly in front of my desk and requires quite a lot of support and intervention, so I spent time working closely with him.

I now have a really bad dose of Covid. My daughter is also very ill, and my husband. We are all too ill to go to work/school and due to health complications, I am having difficulty breathing and am really struggling with what feels like the mother of all chest infections. I will be out of the classroom for a few days (best case scenario) which means my classes will miss out on 'proper' teaching, including A-level and Year 11. My child will miss several days of learning. My husband will miss whatever stuff he does.

Please test your kids. Keep them home.

OriginalFloorboards · 08/10/2023 23:28

We isolated until negative tests but we can work from home easily. I just went out hacking on my horse to get fresh air but they are kept at home so wasn’t bumping into anyone. No idea what the etiquette is so we just did that. However, it’s easy for us to do so. I imagine it’s not possible for everyone.

Pinkglobelamp · 08/10/2023 23:33

I've always thought it incredibly selfish, antisocial and immoral to spread illnesses knowingly and I don't see why the illness being covid would make it ok.

IamRa · 09/10/2023 00:59

Normandy144 · 08/10/2023 21:07

Why aren't I testing? I don't have any tests for starters and I don't think you can get hold of them for free anymore can you? I don't want to spend money on tests. If I'm poorly then I'm poorly. I'll stay home anyway, take care of myself with paracetamol etc, I don't see what knowing or not knowing I have COVID will make me do any different. I don't think the guidelines are that you have to test so I just don't think it's necessary. You can pick up infections and viruses anywhere. I'm happy with that level of risk. The reality is that you can have Covid and not be ill and not even know it, but I don't think people are testing themselves regularly even if they feel fine just on the off chance? That's surely back at 2020 peak Covid?

Possibly it was a colossal mistake of the Government to provide them for free in the first place. I don't live in the UK and never had tests provided gratis. We bought them when needed and still buy them. (To a lesser degree, though.) Speaking personally, I tend to test only if I feel quite ill (I qualify for anti-viral drugs).

Purplerain1144 · 09/10/2023 07:01

Alighttouchonthetiller · 08/10/2023 23:14

I teach. There was a kid in one of my classes last week who was clearly very unwell - coughing, sneezing, high temp. He told me his mum didn't believe in testing for Covid. He sits directly in front of my desk and requires quite a lot of support and intervention, so I spent time working closely with him.

I now have a really bad dose of Covid. My daughter is also very ill, and my husband. We are all too ill to go to work/school and due to health complications, I am having difficulty breathing and am really struggling with what feels like the mother of all chest infections. I will be out of the classroom for a few days (best case scenario) which means my classes will miss out on 'proper' teaching, including A-level and Year 11. My child will miss several days of learning. My husband will miss whatever stuff he does.

Please test your kids. Keep them home.

But he shouldn't have been in school if that unwell with a temp. Has nothing to do with being covid or not

margotrose · 09/10/2023 07:07

I've never tested and don't plan to start now.

If I'm well enough to work then I'll work. If not, then I'll stay home - the same as I would with any other kind of illness.

VisaWoes · 09/10/2023 07:10

I work in a university and official advice for staff and students is if you feel well enough to come in then come in. So students are coming in and telling me they have covid and sitting in lectures. It’s spreading like mad. We have vulnerable staff but the attitude (which I understand to some extent) is well you could catch covid from someone in a cafe or the supermarket so we can’t/won’t protect you by telling people to stay off.

MuchTooTired · 09/10/2023 07:15

We’ve just had covid (well, me and my DTs, DH escaped it somehow!) which I’m sure we caught from school. I kept mine off until they tested negative, they might have been well enough to go in but I know their friends have cev family members (as do we) so I kept them off because I don’t want to spread it.

Stupid perhaps given nobody else seems to be doing that, but it seemed the right thing to do. Yes, I do also keep them off for other gross childhood contagious illnesses even if they seem ‘well’ enough to go in.

Yourebeingtooloud · 09/10/2023 07:17

I’m not testing because I’m not meant to be off work with covid which raises a whole load of moral dilemmas because I work with children & have some vulnerable colleagues. It’s easier not to know.

EfficientlyDecluttering · 09/10/2023 07:29

None of us have had symptoms for ages, but our old pack of tests is out of date now, apparently the shops are out of stock of them, and our workplaces have reverted to pre-covid sick leave policies, which are come in unless you are too unwell. We have kept a stock of masks and hand sanitiser at work. So probably wouldn’t test now.

kegofcoffee · 09/10/2023 07:30

I've recently had it and only isolated while I had the fever.

Once the fever was gone I went out and about but wore a mask and avoided crowded indoor spaces. So no gym, sitting in a coffee shop, taking dc to the playgroup.

Difficult one with school, if they are saying they can go in as long as they are well then I'd give them an extra day at home after the temp has gone and then send them in.

renata2485 · 09/10/2023 07:33

I would test if I had a really heavy cold or other symptoms eg fever and would isolate if necessary.
I wouldn't test for a slight cough or sniffle though.

fishfingersandtoes · 09/10/2023 07:36

I'm treating it the same as any other illness. No testing and off school/work if you're not well enough to go in.

Greybluewhite · 09/10/2023 07:40

We aren’t testing either. DH is a teacher and has had covid on and off since September, he can’t be off every single time and the school policy is get to work unless you’re dying. I don’t get sick pay in my job either. I had covid twice while pregnant with no ill effects.

If the kids are sick or have temperatures I’ll keep them at home as I always would have, otherwise we will go on as normal.

BogRollBOGOF · 09/10/2023 07:41

We realised very quickly in early March 2020 if you quarantine people on the slightest of symptoms, then society ceases to operate at a functional level.

That snuffle could be a cold, RSV, flu, covid and risky to some unfortunate person. Lat flows aren't 100% at identifying covid, so it could be a false positive... or it could be RSV making a baby poorly while adults barely notice... or anything else.

My line is to only test if it's medically significant. For people who need access to anti-virals, that's useful information. To the majority of the population including my family, it's a waste of single use plastic to clog up landfill.

I'm back to what I always did. Plough on if it's minor (6m of the year, it could be hayfever), stay at home if ill enough that function is compromised and a middle ground of scaling back to essentials if feeling drained but not ill- ill. Testing adds no useful knowledge to that. If I had close contact with particularly vulnerable people, I'd be cautious based on symptoms, a negative test doesn't mean all is hunkydory anyway.

Covid didn't invent post-viral conditions either.

My priority is undoing the damage of 2020-22, particularly to DS's education where his ANs are being ignored and just put down the general impact on the cohort. He couldn't participlate meaningfully in education for 6 months, which have left him with fundamental gaps in the basics. All not helped by another year of poor attendance due to some ongoing health issues that flared up on top of normal ranges of illness. School favour the gaslighting and threaten EWO approach, so I'm certainly not keeping him off because he sneezed twice. He's my priority because he's certainly not anybody else's. 2020 proved that when the social fabric was torn up and left to rot.

Londontown12 · 09/10/2023 08:15

Didn’t leave the house til I tested negative!
No way wud in willingly pass it on ! Husband testing daily never caught it but if he did he wud stay home x

Beezknees · 09/10/2023 08:23

I'm not testing, haven't been for a long while. I'm just doing what I've always done - stay off work if I feel too ill to go in.

tigger1001 · 09/10/2023 08:41

Not testing here either. Don't see the point, unless you need anti viral drugs.

Colds and flu can also be dangerous to vulnerable people. So if unwell stay home. I don't need to know what's making me unwell.