To think it's about time we limited the spread of ALL viruses?

[Saladmakesmesad]

I've always been a bit puzzled by the way we all pass around coughs and colds every year, and just accept it. People are allowed to sit in meetings and offices and on trains and in churches and pubs and at dinner parties coughing and sneezing, blowing their noses, looking pale, admitting to being dosed up on Lemsip because they had a temperature that morning etc.

Having a cold is unpleasant and horrible. Yes not deadly for most but can be absolutely rubbish, and yet it's socially acceptable to spread it to others.

Does anyone else think it's about time that keeping away from other people when you're sick became the norm (or at least wearing a face covering to stop you spraying your germs)? There will always be exceptions and people that absolutely have to go out, but I'm not talking about those people. I'm just talking about the general culture of it being normal to spread viruses (even, in some companies, more noble than taking sick leave).

YANBU - It's not ok to spread any viruses
YABU - It's fine to go out and about with a cold

Kind of 50/50 YANBU/YABU.

It would be great if people when they felt ill felt comfortable taking sick leave until they recovered. But not everyone gets sick leave or has supportive employers or colleagues. If you had a mild cold and no sick leave or backfill it can be pretty tricky. Also some people are malingerers and would embrace the chance to pull sickies over every little sniff. The common way around this is med certs but why overburden GPs.

Plus those not in paid work with caring responsibility don't get a choice sometimes.

I hope the pandemic will help as people are more aware of hand hygiene, we may have a cultural shift in our attitudes to face mask use and that soldiering on is actually not just detrimental to your recovery but spreads disease.

I'm not in the UK but whenever I have a cold I might have one day off and then go back to work. If you take time off you sometimes have to provide a medical certificate - I refuse to waste a doctor's time by visiting a surgery with a cold! Also, when I get a cough it lasts for weeks - I would not get paid to be off work for weeks. When employers take it seriously and don't penalise people for being off ill then I will stay at home, but not before that.

*Is it really necessary to get 2 - 3 colds a year though"

We get colds/viruses constantly, we only notice the one's with symptoms. Symptoms are good because it's showing the immune response. TB is actually still around, we just fight it off. Hep B is another virus that we get over, if we have the needed immune response. There's lots of viruses that we come into contact with daily.

Doctors ate saying that there's evidence that people who've had lots of colds since birth, can fight off Covid better. Which could also give a link to why the BAME community doesn't do so well with it.

I think we should all consider our health more and hygiene measures, but unless there's evidence, we shouldn't be overzealous about not catching harmless viruses.

I agree and now we know that flexible working cab work for a lot of people I'm hoping companies won't force people in when they're ill

"Doctors ate saying that there's evidence that people who've had lots of colds since birth, can fight off Covid better"

How does that work? The older you are, the more colds you will have had, but the more likely you are to have the severe form of the disease if you catch COVID

I’ve grabbed myself into work before after being in hospital the night before after having a gallbladder attack.

I was on ‘sick report’ after having time off for a molar pregnancy.

I got sent home and a further bollocking for coming in when so sick.

I also went in when I had no voice and a raging temperature because they wouldn’t accept my husband ringing in on my behalf or a text.

Some employers are just shite.

But maybe now, particularly for those office based that can wfh that might become the norm that you do that instead of spreading many germs.

It would be nice but dsis2 works in a school and the amount of kids sent in with chicken pox and norovirus...i doubt things will change though they absolutely should.

I've worked in places where they dont pay for the first 3 days of sick leave, when you're on minimum wage that's a lot of money to lose.

I've also worked for companies who demand a sick note from a GP instead of allowing us to self certificate.

I felt guilty needing to phone in sick a few weeks back even with covid doing the rounds! Our culture is to power through!

I hope this isnt necessarily going to mean we need to not go to work with a cold, but certainly that if we do feel rough that we can phone in sick to work and not be penalised for it. DH work has a sickness report trigger after 2 episodes of sickness. I get a bad cold easily 2-3 times a year, and even hayfever can make me feel horrific and I want to spend a day in bed occasionally.

I worked in a school where there was a culture of dragging yourself in regardless of how sick you were. The head was the worst, she would have sickness and diarrhoea and be in work, doing nothing and looking for attention (and spreading fucking germs). If anyone was sick she expected them to get a doctors appointment THAT DAY, even though most illnesses don’t need to be seen by a doctor (and spreading germs to surgeries too). I left. It was a counterproductive policy.