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AIBU?

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Original poster

To go on long coach journey with a cough?

110 replies

Ribrabrob · 19/07/2020 17:06

I have a cough. It’s not corona virus, however it is a strong, persistent and annoying cough which has lasted a few weeks (I will go to the doctors next week).

I need to make a coach journey next week however I am worried about any nasty remarks or people being concerned I may have the virus! I’m in a country where masks are mandatory everywhere and my temperature would be checked before hand. But it’s also a country where I am noticeably ‘a foreigner’ which may bring more attention to me!

So aibu to take a coach journey with a cough at this time? Would it concern you? I can post pone the journey for a little longer however would rather not do so as it’s basically an ‘essential’ journey.,

OP posts:
cuntryclub · 19/07/2020 17:49

Between now and then you could catch Covid and be spreading it through your persistent coughing.

Anybody could catch and spread Covid though. Are you seriously suggesting that nobody with a cough leaves their house now?

CottonSock · 19/07/2020 17:49

No way, don't do it!

NameChange84 · 19/07/2020 17:52

@cuntryclub

Wow...that’s a bit of a leap you made there.

I’m suggesting someone with a persistent cough, that they can’t keep under control, shouldn’t be going on a coach trip and sitting coughing in a confined space for a long journey (let’s face it a coach trip is never 20 minutes) and possibly making other people ill.

Honestly, Covid or not, if there’s a chance you could spread a respiratory illness like a bad cough and the coach trip is non essential sure it’s just basic human decency to reschedule?

Toilenstripes · 19/07/2020 17:56

Honestly, if you’re in America I wouldn’t do it.

SengaStrawberry · 19/07/2020 17:56

I’d go.

Even the official guidance if you have a confirmed case says you can start going out again if you otherwise feel OK after the isolation period but still have the cough. Coughs can last for months. I’m totally pissed off of people making up rules then berating others as “selfish” for not complying with their made up version.

heartsonacake · 19/07/2020 17:57

This is why people with hayfever need to get it under control a lot more this year

SunInTheSkyYouKnowHowIFeel What a silly comment. Ignorance at its finest.

You do realise that nobody has “out of control” hayfever on purpose, right? That sometimes you can take and try everything and nothing works?

Gogogadgetarms · 19/07/2020 17:59

I wouldn’t.

Gogogadgetarms · 19/07/2020 17:59

What happens if they ask you to disembark?

cuntryclub · 19/07/2020 18:04

@Gogogadgetarms

What happens if they ask you to disembark?

They? Who? The other passengers?

NothingIsWrong · 19/07/2020 18:08

@SunInTheSkyYouKnowHowIFeel

I can see you've said you've been tested so know its not Covid, however if you do catch covid between now and the coach trip you'll be spreading the germs so much more by coughing. This is why people with hayfever need to get it under control a lot more this year, as if they are asymptomatic then their hayfever sneezes will unwittingly spread the virus.

Is there another way you can make this journey? Eg drive or ask a friend?

Also, the other people on the coach wont know you've been tested, I think its unfair to everyone to put them in that position.

Delay the trip and see how you are in a couple of weeks.

Oh yes I definitely choose to have a cough from hay fever. Why would anyone choose to not control a cough if they could?!?
SunInTheSkyYouKnowHowIFeel · 19/07/2020 18:10

In answer to the people asking how to control hayfever, I know what you mean & apologies if I suggested its an easy thing to do!

I know its often impossible to get rid of all the symptoms but people with hayfever have been advised this year in particular to try and contol their symptoms as much as possible, for example there are lots of people who have hayfever who don't consistenly take their medication throughout the season, as their level of coughs and sneezes doesn't bother them too much, and under usual circumstances don't really register with other people. This year though as much as is possible I do think its important to take your medication, nasal sprays etc so you are doing as much as you can. If that still leaves you with some symptoms then obvs there is nothing you can do about that, but you'll have probably lessened them a bit and done your part in reducing transmission. I dont think people with hayfever should lock themselves away, and sorry if it came across like that.

The OP sounds like this is a newish cough that will likely go away in a couple of weeks, they also said they are able to delay their trip for a while, so I think in these cases then they should wait a bit. That's different from asking people with 12 year old coughs to never travel on public transport.

annabel85 · 19/07/2020 18:10

I wouldn't be leaving the house with a cough until this is all over.

NothingIsWrong · 19/07/2020 18:12

@annabel85

I wouldn't be leaving the house with a cough until this is all over.
Do you seriously suggest I don't leave the house between April and August?
Todaythiscouldbe · 19/07/2020 18:14

@annabel85

I wouldn't be leaving the house with a cough until this is all over.
Really? My husband had better not leave the house again then. I also have a hayfever cough so I need to stay home too, how ridiculous!
annabel85 · 19/07/2020 18:15

Do you seriously suggest I don't leave the house between April and August?

If it's a persistent, virulent cough i'd certainly be avoiding enclosed public spaces wherever possible. It's not being fair to other people.

TimeWastingButFun · 19/07/2020 18:16

Absolutely not! The testing is not 100% and you will have 30 pairs of eyes boring angrily the whole way top.

AnIckabog · 19/07/2020 18:16

Tests only catch about 70% of positive cases. This isn't a seasonal cough or a longterm cough, it's a new persistent cough that has come on in the past few weeks. There is a good chance you could be in the 30% of positive cases missed by tests.
Way too high a risk to go on a long coach journey and expose others in an enclosed space.

TimeWastingButFun · 19/07/2020 18:17

*too

SimonJT · 19/07/2020 18:19

@SunInTheSkyYouKnowHowIFeel The NHS will no longer prescribe the only drug that reduces my post nasal drip. Huge numbers of hayfever sufferers are now denied medical treatment as NICE removed it.

TicketToTheWrongFilm · 19/07/2020 18:25

@annabel85

I wouldn't be leaving the house with a cough until this is all over.
😂😂 I have cough variant asthma. I can’t live indoors for two years. Apart from anything else, I have medical needs of my own.
annabel85 · 19/07/2020 18:25

Really? My husband had better not leave the house again then. I also have a hayfever cough so I need to stay home too, how ridiculous!

Our workplace is opening back up but one of the conditions is if you've got any of the main symptoms of Covid (i.e. persistent cough) then you'll be ordered to go home and isolate and WFH to until the symptoms disappear. Not jump on a coach for 12 hours and terrify the rest of the passengers.

eausolovely · 19/07/2020 18:31

She doesn't have hayfever, or athsma or a chronic cough like people are suggesting. She is sick, even if it's not COVID you shouldn't be exposing people to your illness anyway.

I wouldn't do it covid or not if I was unwell as you may get someone else sick. Also people will be very spooked if you are coughing, I appreciate what people are saying about people who have long term issues but that isn't this situation. It must be shit if you have a chronic cough right now as I imagine people aren't too friendly.

annabel85 · 19/07/2020 18:34

She is sick, even if it's not COVID you shouldn't be exposing people to your illness anyway.

This is why we have the worst figures per head for Covid in this country. Total lack of consideration for other people.

It's one thing having everyone cough and sneeze all over you on trains and in offices through the winter because it's sacrilege to take a sick day, but unless it's an essential trip stay the fuck at home. Especially now.

Shieldingending · 19/07/2020 18:38

Not relevant to the OP but I’d love to know how to get mine and DD’s awful hay fever under control! If only it were that simple Hmm

Celan · 19/07/2020 18:43

When I get coughs, they last for months. On that basis, I should be allowed out in public for about three months of the year.

Coughs existed before Covid, though a lot of people seem to have forgotten that. I'd go, OP.

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