Does dh still have to sleep on the sofa?

[Bdayupset]

Evening.

We started self isolation on the 18th March, because dd was unwell, with covid symptoms, 9 days before that date. Ds became ill on this day. He's still exhibiting symptoms. I became ill on the 1st April (April fools!) I'm still exhibiting symptoms. It sucks.

None of us in the house are vulnerable (I have very mild asthma), dh has only been going out to food shop once a week, has done 2 shifts in care homes, a couple of weeks ago, ds hasn't been out at all (he was made for this) and my daughter just has a lingering cough, so she's been out on walks. I've been stuck inside since the 1st April. The youngest is getting a bit of a cough, but full of pep.

My dh has been sleeping on the sofa. Totally devoid of any symptoms (as always; he says he should be studied) and gallantly running around after all of us. Does he still need to sleep on the sofa? I'm sure he'd get better sleep in an actual bed!

Sorry, I feel like I've totally over-explained everything, I'm blabbering.

A very short funny story though - when my son was helping unwrap a pack of new Knickers for me earlier, he held them up and said 'wow, so big!'. Well played kid (he's 5)

According to the advice I took from the NHS link, your dh was ok from day 15 of first isolating. He hasn’t shown symptoms for all this time. However he definitely should not have been working in the isolation period. Just a couple of shifts in a care home (ffs) and a couple of trips to the supermarket does not make it ok.

The announcement that everyone in the household should self isolate if someone has symptoms was on 16th March so if your DH worked in the care home before that then that's fine (doesn't mean he didn't pass it on but the guidance wasn't there before that). If anyone has symptoms they have to isolate for 7 days (or 7 days plus however long it takes for the temperature to subside) but the cough could persist for weeks so you can go out with the cough after completing 7 days. The rest of the household still has to isolate for 14 days though so your DH shouldn't have been shopping.
In answer to your question though, I'd say let him back in bed

I think you should all be isolating still, no, if you’re still symptomatic? And he should not be out, let alone in care homes if he has someone at home who is still exhibiting symptoms. He may be a carrier and they’re likely to be supremely vulnerable.

Why is your daughter going for walks if she still has a 'lingering cough'....? Get a grip and sort yourselves out.

All the self righteous anger on here by people who ironically don't know the rules.

People self isolating are allowed out to walk/exercise. It's very clear.

Wow. I was expecting some actual advice and maybe some knowledge? Bit thin on the ground. Most people clearly don't know what they're talking about, and probably shouldn't be giving advice. And I thought i was clueless

@Bdayuoset don’t ask for help and then be rude and sanctimonious about the responses. If you think you know more than the people on here, why are you asking for help?

Did your dh self isolate for 14 days when the first person got symptoms? If that 14 days passed without him getting symptoms then he no longer needs to isolate. When each person gets symptoms that person needs to isolate for 7 days and can come out of isolation after that time if they no longer have a temperature/ feel better. The cough can linger for weeks afterwards.

Can you explain your timeline better

Jesus christ I can't believe you've just managed to write that update. I'd laugh if your ignorance wasn't do terrifying! Wtaf is your husband thinking going to work, in a care home of all places.

You should have all quarantined from first symptom of any family member.

Isolating does not mean shopping once a week or working 🤦‍♀️

This shows when people can come out of isolation. If he has shown no signs over the period from 18th march (or did first symptoms start before that?) Then he is ok not to be in isolation now. The cough can linger for weeks.

Jesus christ. He isolated for 14 days, as advised by the government. Before he went to work, he called 111, and his agency, both of whom said he was OK to work. Is he to stay in the house for the rest of his life?! What are people not getting here?

I think if you ate sharing a home/bathroom sleeping on the sofa is pointless unless you are really strictly isolating from each other. He will likely have been exposed to whatever it is. He might be asymptotic.

So he did isolate for 14 days? He could have had it asymptomatically as apparently a fair proportion do. If he's done his isolation then he's ok to be out and about. Your OP suggested he was going out/ working in the 14 day isolation period which is why people were being snarky

No. That's not what you said, you said your first sign of symptoms in the household was on the 18th.

That would've meant your DH needed to isolate until April.

You then say he's done two shifts at a care home a couple of weeks ago. A couple of weeks ago would be 25th/26th March. Smack bang in the middle of the isolation period.

There was never any sense in him sleeping on the sofa in the first place and he should not have been outside of the house at all a couple of weeks ago.

You also said you've been "stuck inside since first April" if you became ill on 1st April then surely you've been stuck in since 18th March?

Please go back and read the governments instructions as it sounds very much like you've know idea what isolation entails or how to prevent spreading the virus

What are people not getting here?
Why you have this attitude?

Maybe if you rewrote your OP and timeline to be clear and linear, we'd find it easier to advise you.

I think you’re the one who isn’t getting it OP. Your timeline is muddled, you’re vague about when he went into a care home (as @shineaflight says, it appears it was in the middle of the family isolation period) and your getting stroppy because no one has said how brilliantly you’ve isolated.

If you isolate, and then finish isolation and there has been a clean break in isolation and no one has symptoms - then you need to reisolate at the next set of symptoms as you do not know if it was COVID or not.

If one partner has symptoms then the other partner should sleep else where if possible

Ok. So he isolated for 14 days. That’s fine then. The way you spoke made me think you didn’t do that. Others including shineaflight thought the same.

He was definitely right to sleep on the sofa on the 18th as you didn't have it. The guidance says to sleep apart then , if you can. He isn't in isolation now. It depends on whether you think he can recatch it from you, which seems unlikely. Although if he is also the carer for ds, who has not had it, then he should stay on sofa.

He can DEFINITELY leave the house himself.

From the stay at home guidance quoted below

"Should a household member develop coronavirus symptoms late in the 14-day household-isolation period (for example, on day 13 or day 14) the isolation period does not need to be extended, but the person with the new symptoms has to stay at home for 7 days. The 14-day household-isolation period will have greatly reduced the overall amount of infection the rest of the household could pass on, and it is not necessary to restart 14 days of isolation for the whole household. This will have provided a high level of community protection. Further isolation of members of this household will provide very little additional community protection."

The government advice is for strongly believed Covid symptoms. It’s becomes problematic when the first isolation was for similar symptoms. I know a few families who have had to isolate twice and still none the wiser if they have had Covid.