This is outrageous

[MadameBee]

DS was contacted by the council through the track and trace to be informed that he had been in a bar where there was a person who has tested positive for C19.

I took DS for a test (I had seen him anyway after he had been exposed) and we were both tested. He was positive and I was negative but obviously I am now isolating for 14 days.

DS works for a large national company (think call centre) and he is going into the office with others who are unable to WFH.

Rather than doing the responsible thing and sending everyone DS has been in contact with on full pay they have covered it up and sent a couple of people home but not told them why, leaving all the others blissfully unaware that they have potentially been exposed.

Luckily DS just seems to have mild symptoms and most of them are young but that is not the point at all here is it? I am actually quite shocked and fairly sure this breaks H&S laws.

Can you report the company?

Just to clarify - DS is not continuing to go into the office now!! They have asked him to return in 7 days and he has said the NHS have told him 10.

Can he contact his colleagues himself to tell them?

I think he has told some of them but he was then told not to say anything in the group chat but someone else who also works there (my other DC!) had already said something in her group chat.

Why aren't track and trace contacting the staff that he's been in close contact with?

DS works for a large national company (think call centre) and he is going into the office with others who are unable to WFH.

Unless I've misunderstood, what is outrageous is your DS going into work when he's tested positive!

Apologies if I've missed something.

Sorry just seen your updates.

No he’s not going to work - I phrased that wrong.

YABU. How many people are the call centre meant to send home though? And on full pay?
sounds like they’ve sent DS and the people he sits with home.

Surely anyone being sent home knows exactly why, though?

The country would have ground to an absolute stop by now on that basis. There are some specific circumstances when people should self isolate and / or take a test and there is nothing to suggest that your sons colleagues should be. Here are the self isolation guidelines. There are also guidelines on when to take a test and your son’s colleagues don’t fit any of those either, the workplace will have safe practices in place to prevent the spread.

My company did this before lockdown. One person tested positive and they didn’t tell anyone else and kept them working. A number of them became unwell, it was appalling behaviour.

They have sent DS home (obviously) and one other but haven’t told him why he’s been sent home.

@DizzyPigeon

Why aren't track and trace contacting the staff that he's been in close contact with?

Track and trace is not simply to identify any of the people he has been in contact with and put them into self isolation. It makes a risk assessment, considering where the interaction took place, for how long, a large national company will have safety procedures in place.

@Florencex are you saying that I am wrong to be self isolating then?

My employer has asked me to WFH for 14 days.......

@honeygirlz

YABU. How many people are the call centre meant to send home though? And on full pay? sounds like they’ve sent DS and the people he sits with home.

I think they need to make people aware though. For example we have been told that a parent in DC’s class has tested positive. The child has no symptoms and is staying home to be on the safe side, so there’s no need for any further action. All the same we have the information.

You could argue that it could happen in a thousand other situations and we’d never know so we always need to be alert, but that way lies madness IMO. I follow all the rules and take precautions but it’s still good to have any extra information available.

[quote MadameBee]@Florencex are you saying that I am wrong to be self isolating then?[/quote]
Have you read what I posted? There are only four reasons for self isolation, if you live with your son then you fall under the bullet point:

you live with someone with symptoms or as tested positive

So in that case, yes you should definitely be self isolating. However your first post was not about you, it seemed to about your sons employer and colleagues. There is no reason why they should be self isolating unless any of them live with you as well or they have been contacted by track and trace.

@Inthebleakmidwinteriwouldsingi I agree they should make people aware.

But OP said ‘Rather than doing the responsible thing and sending everyone DS has been in contact with on full pay’, which I think is excessive.

I’m not hugely close to this, but I thought the reason most of us are not allowed in the office is so that those that do go in can sit 2m plus apart, follow the 1 way system, use the designated loos etc. Specifically so if 1 person gets it no one else gets it (well, gets sent home, obv you might still get it but the point is they had motivations in place so could argue that you could have caught it anywhere).

I'm with the PP. this is track & trace's job. If your son was picked up as being in the same bar (ie not out out with a +ve person, if I have read correctly) then they'll be contacting his colleagues. Presumably T & T have been in touch with your son since he got his result?

**Mitigations not motivations
Damn predictive text

My son does not live with me but I spent several hours in the car with him getting tested.

I am pretty sure I am correct in isolating for 14 days, as even though I was negative when I was tested I could have caught it from him that day and my symptoms could take 14 days to appear if I am now positive.

I'm in Scotland - so things might be a bit different - but ask understand it adults should be annual distancing in work? So even if one person tests positive no body else needs to self isolate because they should've been keeping their distance, not sharing weekend etc anyway?

But rules are changing so often I'm struggling to keep up!

Pretty sure you only have to self isolate if you’ve been in ‘close contact’ with someone. Assuming the work place was covid safe and everyone was following the rules, then there should be no need to send everyone home ... ??