Was that a big risk?

[Novousername]

My dad is 70 and went to the hospital for an eye check up last Thursday, on New Year’s Eve. He had pain in one eye and floaters and mum rang the doctors and said to go to the hospital to get it examined.
My mum stayed in the car.
With all the anxiety about covid, I keep worrying he may have picked it up? It’s 6 days now, is that most likely ok?

YABVU

What was he supposed to do???
He was told to go to the hospital and they will be keeping COVID patients separate so no more risk than going to the Supermarket in fact probably less risk!

@Needahug72 I’m not saying he shouldn’t have gone, just assessing the risk.

It's a risk but the risk of covid needs to be measured against the risk of losing his sight.

Do you think symptoms would have appeared by now?

The risk is minimal.

Was he wearing a mask and the staff he saw in PPE?
It’s hard to say the exact risk as it varies depending on where you are but I’m guessing it would be quite low as hospitals would be careful to be as safe as possible

He was wearing a mask and assume all consultants are in Ppe? They’re in Cornwall too?

Very low rates down there. So he was safer there than anywhere else in the country.

Ok thank you 🙏

Around half of patients have symptoms by day 5 after exposure, and around 9/10 by day 10 if that helps. Hope his eye is okay

Hospitals are really careful about keeping the COVID and non-COVID sides as separate as possible, @Novousername. Dh was in hospital for a couple of nights last summer (they thought he might have had a stroke, turned out to be MS), and they were so careful.

Your dad needed to see a specialist - and I’m sure it will have been done with every precaution. Plus, as a previous poster said, rates are very low in Cornwall - I don’t think you need worry.

Hospitals are really careful about keeping the COVID and non-COVID sides as separate as possible
Which is fine except many people have the virus asymptomatically and attend appointments, in the same way as the OP's father did. My ndn works on non-Covid wards and they frequently have to transfer patients to covid wards.

Thanks so much for the reassurance 💓

I understand your concern as dh had a similar appointment today and is cv. Also has another further ones over next few weeks. However you have to balance one risk against another. Security were checking that those entering had a valid reason and little waiting around.

That is a good point, @Calmandmeasured1, but it comes down to a balance of risk, and in the case of the OP’s father, the risk of the existing condition worsening was greater than the potential risk of getting COVID.

I’d guess that the risk of encountering someone asymptomatic would be the same as in a supermarket, and might be lower because people are more likely to go to the supermarket than to the hospital - you’d only go to a hospital if you really have to.

Hospitals can only do their best - it isn’t going to be possible to eliminate all risk completely.

The risk is very low, I've been working with covid patients since March in a hospital and haven't caught it yet, and yes by 6 days he would probably have some symptoms if he had caught it. Try not to worry.

Very low risk. I was in a hospital on Saturday for an eye problem. Obviously the eye doctor was not working with covid patients and seemed very safe and quite to me.