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.

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

That was what I was getting at. It's really up to track and trace to tell people to self isolate, and not employers.

@MadameBee

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

So the one other won’t be having a test and may be mixing with others?

Dee1975 has it.

If all is well, your son should not have been in close contact with anyone at work because it will have been made COVID secure and 2m and mitigates etc maintained.

If he has been in close contact with them, per the definition of close contact, then they should isolate.

If he has been adhering to social distancing at work his employers are not doing anything wrong .

@Florencex

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.

You are totally correct and I am came on to say this.

I think I have a right to be informed if someone I have been in contact with (used the same loo/kitchen at work etc) has tested positive.

I am back in the office and people aren’t really social distancing all the time.

I think 'cover ups' are rife.

Not telling people is not being open and trustworthy though.

So the other person who has been sent home just said 'oh ok' and left?

All companies can really do is follow the government requirements. The government rules are clear: make sure your workplace is covid safe and therefore people are socially distanced etc. If they are, then an isolated case does not require everyone to be sent home, you need to look at level of contact etc. - which is what it sounds like the company have done.

It isn’t realistic to think that companies are going to go above the government requirements and send everyone in the same workplace home on full pay because one person has caught covid, when there is social distancing set up, and without being able to put those who don’t have it on sick leave or similar under government rules.

So if you are annoyed, it should be at the government rules, not the company.

@nokidshere

I don’t know, I wasn’t there.

I can see your point OP but perhaps they didn’t want to make it obvious who was the covid staff member.

Even if people knew about it, they can’t be expected to self isolate for 14 on the off chance they may have it. If they were following correct procedures, technically they shouldn’t get it.

No company is going to pay all staff to stay off. You have to draw a line somewhere. If they start showing symptoms then they get tested. Again, if they are adhering right SD rules then they shouldn’t pass it on anyway.

Firstly I think you are right to self isolate in the circumstances whether or not it's strictly necessary. Pleased your employer is ok with this.

I'm not sure what the employer has done wrong though other than not telling the person sent home why they've been sent home (sure he suspected?). Ideally they would be more transparent about it but I can see why the employer doesn't want gossip spreading all over the place (of course if all staff are whatsapping anyway that is counter productive). Ideally everyone is social distancing and if so there should be a very small amount of people sent home.
Are you expecting them to ask everyone to self -isolate?

Also admittedly not had any contact with T&T but I would expect if positive and contacted to say that I had been in close contact with x y and z and for T&T to contact those people if appropriate to tell them to self-isolate. Although in all honesty I'd probably be in touch with them myself first.

Not expect the employer to make a decision as presumably the individual has a better idea of who they've been in touch with than the employer? Or have I completely misunderstood how they work

The current evidence based on case studies of outbreaks around the world show that in certain circumstances it doesn't matter how far away you are from the infected person.

If ventilation is poor, the space is small and you are there often enough / long enough then you can still pick up a significant viral load through aerosol particles which hang around in the air.

So a call centre office could well be risky depending on its size / ventilation set up.

@HowManyToes

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!

that is what i understand

Didn't the person sent home ask why?

We have had a case in my office, we were notified and the areas used by them deep cleaned but no one has to isolate.

You are right to be doing though as you were in prolonged close contact with your son whilst taking him for his test, can't understand why others are saying you don't need to tbh

If you were in less than 2 meters apart for more than 15 minutes you would be asked to self-isolate for 14 days by track and trace in Scotland. You haven't stated where you live so info might not apply.

Presumably that other person has been told what the reason is but there is no reason to announce it more generally (both for privacy reasons and to prevent unnecessary worry). More importantly why on earth did you waste a test on yourself despite not being even close to eligible?

*nokidshere
**
I don’t know, I wasn’t there.

Well how do you know he wasn't told why? Just because your ds didn't hear it doesn't mean he wasn't told or didn't ask.

I would question why you drove your son to the test centre, when he doesn’t live with you? Despite having seen him after he had been exposed, you might not have met the guidelines to need to isolate for 14 days! Had you been in close enough contact, for a long enough time, prior to driving him in your car?

I know he is your son (what age is he?) but you have possibly put yourself at an unnecessary risk. If it had been my mum, and I had been notified through track & trace, the last thing I would have done is put her at risk in a situation like this, i.e. no way would I have let her drive me to a testing station!

As for sending his colleagues home on full pay, this would be completely impractical! How many key workers would have been left to carry on with their essential jobs, if they had all went off because a colleague had been diagnosed as having Covid19? I do however think they should be told that a colleague has tested positive, so they are aware of it.

I'd want to know if someone in my work building tested positive, especially if theres a chance we shared loo facilities, kitchen etc, if only so it means I don't go and visit elderly relatives for 14 days. It's just the responsible thing to do, it isn't fair for the company to gamble with the health of others, they should be told so they can get a test if they choose to

Non issue your son should give his details to track and trace with details of who he has had contact with and they do the rest contact people asses risk and advise .
Call centres are normally vast sound board separating desks they will have covid procedures oneway system sanitising .

hilarious that the company is the only bad guys nothing to with your son going to the pub and also having to be sent home why did he even go into work .

You self-isolate if you have been with a positive person in a situation without social distancing. Therefore a work colleague is unlikely to be affected as you have been wearing a mask and 2 metres away from them.

However if you had broken social distancing and been eating with someone at less than 2 metres distance, or been in a room or car together without masks, or hugged them, then you'd need to self-isolate.